Some pictures from the visit

We are already more than halfway through our visit with Will's parents. Our time with them has been great, and it's rushing by. I started choosing a few highlight photos, and I ended up with way too many for one post. Will has also been posting some on Facebook, so I'll link to those below. I'm trying to choose different ones to share here. Some are from their camera, some from ours.

We've spent a lot of fun time just playing and being together at home, and we've taken some great outings too. All the late nights added up for me, though. Will had planned to go into the office today, but he let me sleep in first. By the time I woke up, it was really too late for him to go in, so he took everyone on some kind of adventure instead. I stayed home for a little more quiet.

Most of the photos in this post are from days that we have stayed home, but on their first morning here Bernie and Julie got to visit the Agape office and hear about the mission.

With Alex Fedorchuk of Agape

A favorite pastime

Frisbee in our road

Lots of reading

And card games

More reading

Presents!

Silliness

One night we had a bonfire and roasted hotdogs.Will posted some of those photos already, but I just love this one, so I had to share it again:

Tea by the fire

We have also eaten lunch and taken folk art classes at the big mall, gone on our own walking tour of Kherson, and visited an Agape adaptation center out in a village nearby. Pictures of those events will have to come later.

Here are photos that have already been put on Facebook, in case you're not on there, or aren't connected with Will's mom:

• Bogdan collecting firewood
• Bonfire
• Jaan in the tree
• Granddaddy and Bogdan
• Jaan, Baba Julie, Asya
• Sitting by the fire
• More of the same
• Yet more
• Roasting hot dogs
• Silly play
• Baba Julie and Bogdan
• Baba Julie's Ukrainian folk art
• Moon over the Dnepr
• Bogdan at lunch
• Children's table at the restaurant
• Bernie and Julie at lunch
• Down by the Dnepr River
• Riverside
• Raia fixing Baba Julie's scarf
• Feeding the pigeons, taking pictures
• Feeding the pigeons
• At Park Slavy
• Asya and the lion
• In a bus

More later....

Random recent photos

While we wait for Will's parents to get here, I have a few random recent photos to share. And maybe a video, if it loads.

Our neighbors have a dog with puppies.

Princesses and prince

We've made a lot of grape juice lately.

Pink and purple fruit of our labors

Playing outside

I let them go wild with markers one evening not too long ago. There are a few more of these crazy photos here, and here, and here.

And... yes! The video loaded. Today Raia and Asya sang in the choir for the first time. Raia is right in the middle, and Asya is below her, in a kind of hard-to-see spot.

Back from Agape school

Yes, Will got back from Kiev on Sunday. He was exhausted, and we were exhausted, and it has taken us a few days to recover. But we're so glad that he could go! The next session will be in Uzhgorod in the beginning of December.

Will's class
(I pulled this photo off Facebook.)

I thought I would round up and translate the bits of news about the school that were on Facebook and the Agape site. Here is the first:

The tenth Agape bible school opened on Oct. 14. We were hospitably welcomed by Kiev Bible Institute. Students came from Belorus, Russia, and eleven regions of Ukraine. The grand opening was attended by guests and friends of Agape: Rustam Nazimovich Fatullaev, pastor of Tabernacle Church; Sergey Vladimirovich Manelyuk, president of Kiev Bible Institute; Alla Vasilevna Nechiporuk, dean of KBI, Oksana Valsilevna Malischuk, coordinator of distance learning at KBI; and senior pastor of Crimea, Pavel Vasilevich Fedoruk. All guests were asked to address the students with welcoming remarks and wishes. On the first day of training, Pavel Vasilevich Fedoruk taught fundamental truths about the formation of the character of God's ministers, about the importance of humility and total dedication to God. On the second day Boris Borisovich Gnatyshyn taught the "Seven Laws of the Learner" seminar.

And then there was a little more on Facebook:

Tuesday there was a warm evening of fellowship and getting to know each other. On Wednesday the school's students went to Tabernacle Church. On the third and fourth days of the training, Oksana Sidorchuk, the director of the charity "Circle of Friends," taught the students of the Agape school. Today (Friday) Tatiana Ryazantseva, a teacher from Tavrichecki Christian Insitute spoke about the structure and methods of Bible lessons.

When Will got back, he wrote: "Very impressive level of professionalism, from child psychology to pedagogical methods. I barely kept up, but thoroughly enjoyed myself."

And that's all I have. Thank you for praying!

Too tired

I was going to write something, but by the time I uploaded these photos, and I had forgotten what, and I'm too tired anyway. So, here are a few random photos from the past week:

Today was absolutely beautiful, by the way. Golden autumn!

Agape school

Now that we're in Kherson, I should be writing more about Agape. But, really, we haven't gotten involved yet. We've been enjoying a nice, slow time to settle in and rest. Now we're ready to jump in....

Alex Fedorchuk, the director of Agape, should be arriving in Kherson tomorrow! We had been waiting for him to get back, before even starting to figure out how we fit in to the ministry.

And, one of Agape's main ministries is teaching Christians how to minister in orphanages. Among other things, they do that through their yearly school, that meets in week-long sessions. People come from all over Ukraine and surrounding countries to study together. You might remember that we got to sit in on the final session of last year's school and graduation in June. This year Will is attending. He left last night for the first session in Kiev. We had wanted to go all together, but that didn't work out, so he's there for all of us.

This year Agape also has something new: a school for leaders of adaptation centers (homes for orphanage graduates). That starts October 28. Please be praying for the people learning how to serve orphans and for those who are teaching: at the new leaders' school, at Agape seminars in Russia next month, and at the school Will is attending. We won't be directly involved in the first two on that list, but we're praying for them!

I was right

Yes, this week was better.

Probably the biggest news is that Jaan started at music school today! It was a little bit more complicated to get him enrolled here than in Dneprorudnoe, but Will did the running around and got him in. First, Jaan had to have a medical document saying that he's healthy enough to be around other children. Everyone said that was simple to get, but it was a bit more complicated for us. Still, Will talked his way into getting it. Jaan's piano teacher will be the director of the music school, not a sweet babushka like he had before; Jaan is a little intimidated, but we'll see how it goes. Today he just had Solfeggio and Music Literature, and the teacher for those classes is nice. They also don't want students who don't have an instrument, so we'll probably have to be looking into buying a keyboard. (No room for a real piano!)

Other news:
We have bunk beds, and everyone is loving them. Bogdan has moved out of his crib and into his big boy bed without any fuss.

Will's going to be in Kiev all of next week for the first session of Agape's training school.

What a week

Our hamster died.

We've been sick.

Our internet has been off. (I did get that last blog post scheduled before it went out, so that posted, even without me.)

We were cold.

New Slavik

But there has been a lot of good, too:
Fun and fellowship with many people last weekend.

The new baby hamster is awfully cute.

Bogdan is really sweet and snuggly when he doesn't feel good.

We've had a lot of good family time, inside while it's been cool and rainy outside.

A committee of neighbors turned our heat on.*


And next week should be better.

*I have mentioned before that our landlady lives in Italy, but she has a family here help take care of everything related to this house. They do a wonderful job of it, too! Thursday night the landlady’s helper came by to check on us, and she was shocked and horrified to see me in a hat and sweatshirt indoors. (After 12 years in city-heated apartments, we're rather used to waiting for the heat.) I reminded her that she had told us to wait for her husband before trying to turn the heat on... more shock and horror, because apparently they had forgotten, and he had left for Kiev that morning. She didn't know how to start it up herself, but she said that she'd go for Babushka O,† since Babushka O. "doesn't have any men in her family. She knows how to do everything." And a few minutes later they came bustling back, with another woman along, too. This was late on a cold, rainy night! They got the heat all started up, showed Will how it works, and we've been warm ever since. So nice! (And so strange to be able to actually adjust the heat!)


†(Footnotes on footnotes: yes, I have been reading Terry Pratchett. Thank you very much.) This is the same babushka who did the bicycle trick I mentioned on Facebook a few days ago:

Pets

I wanted to write about our pets before, and I got photos ready a while ago, but then I didn't do anything with them. A small tragedy over the weekend pushed me to write now. This post is dedicated to the memory of Slavik.

Cute Slavik

Back in the middle of winter, a friend gave us four baby dwarf hamsters. They were so tiny! And so cute! We bought a cage for them, but they were so little that they could just walk back and forth between the bars of it as they wished.

There was a disaster that killed the three girl hamsters early on, but their brother survived and became a dearly beloved pet. Slavik put up with anything, and was really probably the cutest animal I've seen.

As I said, though, this post is dedicated to the memory of Slavik. Over the weekend, we had company, and as they were leaving, everything was pretty chaotic. Dina (the rat, more about her in a moment) was out, so Will grabbed her and stuffed her into a cage... the wrong cage. Slavik's cage. And Dina killed Slavik instantly. It was a very sad day. There was way more weeping and wailing than there should be over a hamster. I cried too. But, all's well that ends well. Will ran out and got us a new Slavik, and all the little people seem to be quite satisfied with him. (I don't have any photos yet. New Slavik is a baby, and moves very fast! I'm hoping that he'll settle down into a nice calm lump like his predecessor as he grows up.)

Other pets that I wanted to write about:

Dina

I'm afraid that she is in disgrace right now. That's putting it mildly. But, she really has been a good pet (except for her one murderous act!). We're working on learning forgiveness. You probably saw her in all our school photos, right? That's enough about her for now.

And this one:

Zhenya

We actually gave him away before we moved, but I don't think I ever posted photos of how funny he looked in all his various no-scratch collars. And somehow--even though we don't miss him at all--our children still seem to count him as ours. So, he's our long-distance pet?

We've also kept hedgehogs. But somehow, we don't get so attached to them. One lived on our balcony and then at our dacha for a few years. We found another, a baby, just before we moved, and we were going to keep him. Will even moved him cross-country with all our stuff, but then he escaped right after arriving here. One photo of that guy, and then I'm done:

Zhatva and later

Today we went to a different church than the one we've been attending. We actually know more people at this one, and we had been invited to their Zhatva (Harvest/Thanksgiving) today, since they had a guest speaker and singer from Israel that our friends wanted us to hear.

So cute!

None of those little ones are ours, but they were just so adorable that I had to get photos.

But then, this cutie is ours:

As usual after a Zhatva service, the children get the fruits and vegetables that were on display. For some reason, Bogdan took two peppers, and he is SO proud of them! He came marching out to me, and said, "Бобо ням п'ТОМ" ["Bobo (how he refers to himself) yum l'ter."] I was thrilled, because in recent days we have had so many tears over the concept of "later"! Maybe he finally understands it now? That was the first time I had heard him say it himself. He brought them home to eat later.

Home again

Home tour

We filmed a little walk-through of our home today. Remember the pictures I posted before? Now you can see it with us living here. We're still not all the way unpacked, and we have some bigger purchases left to make (bunk beds!), but those have to be spread out over a few months.


I know I've been quiet here. There hasn't been much to write about: lots of school, lots of settling in. Asya did have a wonderful birthday. Will's been fighting with the electricity. Other than that, it's just been all little things.

A few funnies

Just like last month, I am copying my sister. I can't blame anything on my phone, though. My phone is proudly dumb. I'll just blame my lateness on not having access to computer and internet and then being busy.

From before we moved: when we approached the playground bird cage and saw that the peacock was showing off his tail, Bogdan said "WOW" and grabbed handfuls of his own hair on the top of his head, trying to pull it up, spread it out, and imitate the peacock. Just a very cute moment.

At some point, a friend of ours linked to a series of YouTube videos where adults reenacted a 2-year-old's conversations. I happened to watch them with my own 2-year-old and 5-year-old. Aforementioned 5-year-old absolutely latched on to a certain phrase. The original is approximately, "I'm naked, so I'm the boss," but she heard something a little different. Now, every time she hears the word "bus" in English--which is often, because we're doing a lot of trying to figure out how to get around here--she yells, "I'm naked in da bus!" Full volume.

Our neighbors seem to have a regularly scheduled screaming hour that corresponds with our bedtime. On one of our first few nights here, Asya asked me, "Mama, do we have any valerian?"
No, why?
"I wanted to take three pills over to Aunt Larisa. One for her and one for each baby."

I was serving out watermelon recently, and Asya said, "Please, ma'am, кавун." That's two English words and one Ukrainian, all in one sentence... from a child who usually speaks Russian. (At least she got it right this time! She used to say колдун. )

This is technically from September, not August, but it matches with Leetra's theme of things I can't believe I said. A certain child was whining along the lines of "why do I have to get dressed before school?" and I answered, "Because I don't want to do school with your underwear!" What?!? Where did that come from, and what does it mean? It worked, though. She skipped off to get dressed.

Social events

Even though we haven't been here long, our "social calendar" has been nice and full. Soon after we first got here, we met up with a new friend for lunch. She has been serving here as a missionary for five years. Last weekend she invited us to a picnic that she had planned for the children she works with in a nearby orphanage. We went and had a truly wonderful day. I can't post too many photos, because their faces shouldn't be out on the internet, but maybe you can imagine some. We played games, did a craft, listened to a lesson, ate, and did lots of chasing and racing around with wheelchairs. Our children are still talking about how fun it was to get to know that great group and spend a whole day with them. Raia especially really wants to visit them in their orphanage now.

Jaan on top of a sign near where the picnic was 

Asya and Bogdan with one of their new friends

Then, the very next evening after the picnic we went to another event: a Bible study and worship time for English speakers. There were three families there, including us--13 children!--and our other new friend, the one from the lunch and picnic. So much fun! (We just missed Papa.)

This weekend we visited another family that we had met when we were here in the spring. They wanted to teach our girls how to make borsch, but sadly, playing won out over that. Still, we had a great time of fellowship and a wonderful pot of borsch made by the adults. The TV was on, and we heard that it was even "Borsch Holiday" that day, so I guess we chose an appropriate day to get together for that.

And yesterday we went to "the big church" for their first day of Sunday school. There were balloons and presents and even a puppet show. Asya got to go up on the stage with the other little ones just starting school; so cute! It was the first time that all of our children have gone off to separate Sunday school classes on their own. Even Bogdan went to the toddler class, but he was very careful to be sure that I went with him and stayed close. That sweet-talking preschool teacher was scary!

Today we had our first just regular school day of the year, and tomorrow is Jaan's TENTH birthday.

First Day

I already posted two photos from today, here and here. Now for a few more!

First day of school, 2013-2014

Jaan, age almost 10 (and Dina)

Raia, age 8

Asya, age almost 6
Just starting school!

Bogdan, age 2

Serious students?

In our new school room

Starting school

I have had a whole day of quiet here. Even though I'm surrounded by boxes, I've been ignoring them and trying to plan for starting school. It's a challenge! I've never had to do it all in one day, and I've never had to do it so soon after moving, and I've never had three students. But, by God's grace and Will's babysitting help, I think I'm at least ready for tomorrow.

On the September 1st Jaan and Raia started getting a little upset. They saw everyone else going to First Day celebrations, and they begged me to start school with them, too. At that point Will still wasn't even here, and all our books were with him. I reassured them that we would start soon. Yesterday, in frustration, I said something like "maybe we just won't do school this year" out loud. Right away, Jaan grabbed Bogdan and offered to take him outside so that I could work.  But I still didn't really get anything done until Will took everyone out today.

So, my plans for tomorrow are:

• pancake breakfast and discuss our schedule
• first morning school session
• first nature study (paint!)
• bake for afternoon tea
• new quiet time schedule (more about that later)
• dress up and go out to take pictures
• special tea with poems and wishes for the year
• watch Masha and Medved?

Beyond that, I do have an idea of what we'll do daily. Plus, I got most of our school books unpacked. Will set up our school area for me first thing (and it looks great. Pictures coming tomorrow.) It's probably a good thing that we're having our First Day celebration on a Friday, because I can work a little more over the weekend, and then we'll jump right in.

Please pray with us as we start off this new year of school!

All in Kherson!

Will got here on Monday, and we're slowly settling in now. Our internet connection is still very iffy, but it worked for a little while last night, and I hope it will come on today for me to post this.

We have been enjoying this little house so much! After dreaming of something like this for years, and then pretty much deciding that it wouldn’t ever happen (and learning to love apartment life), now my old dream has come true. Even after I decided that I loved having neighbors under, over, and all around us, I still had moments where I wished that I could just step outside for a little while, without it being a social occasion. Here I’ll be able to do that sometimes.

Although, we certainly haven’t gotten away from communal living. This is a whole new level of collective. Our closest neighbors are the young family that rents the other half of the house. Then there are also the “Aunt” and “Uncle” who live two houses down and look after this place. Also, for the first week, our landlady was staying here. Apparently, she comes (all the way from Italy!) for a few weeks every year. And all the other random, less closely “related” neighbors are in and out, too, of course. So, while the introvert part of me has been cringing a little, the people-loving part has been thriving.

The other family has two little boys, both younger than Bogdan. They’re 1 and 2 years old. (Really! The Russian wait-at-least-five-years-after-first-baby mandate isn’t nearly as strong in Ukraine.) Our children have already fallen in love with them. Bogdan wakes up in the mornings, asking for the “babies” and then wants to spend all day with them. Both of them are quite comfortable toddling in and out of our home, as if it was theirs, too. We’re enjoying their company and getting to know each other. I love having a few more little ones around!

Unfortunately, the yard has been a bit of a disappointment. Our neighbor sees it all as hers, and doesn’t think children should do anything other than sit still in her yard. So, we’re going to have to work things out with her and learn to try to please her. It really is too small for running, but I would think a little noise and dirt and climbing would be okay. Not so, at least at this point.

But, the house is wonderful! And we’re enjoying being here. We've had a lot of quiet days, exploring our new surroundings, and also two big, fun highlights: an orphanage picnic and an English-speaking family gathering. Hopefully I can tell you about those soon, but for now we really need to get unpacked and started on school. And, like I said, internet is a still a work in progress. We'll see how much I can write in the next week or so....