Family Update

Abigail is finishing the last few weeks of first grade and is reading very well.  In just the past month her reading ability just skyrocketed and she’s willing to tackle lots of new words.  She does very well in math this year since we switched to Math-U-See.  We love the Sonlight curriculum and can’t get enough of the great books we get to ready together every day.  Abigail loves to draw and color.  Every day there are at least two or three more masterpieces to add to the overflowing box of artwork.  

Matthew is completely obsessed with Wall-E (If you aren’t familiar with Wall-E, he’s a Disney/Pixar robot.)  Matthew eats, sleeps, draws, watches, dreams, Wall-E.  On the same day that he learned to write his name, he learned to write “Wall-E”.  Nearly every day he tells us which of the Wall-E robots he still needs for his collection.   Matthew is very eager to join Abigail in home school.  It will be a bit challenging for me to figure out how to balance time with both of them but so many other homeschooling moms do it that I know it can be done!  

Elizabeth is now 2 ½ and can say anything she wants to. She isn’t one to wait around for mom or dad to help and will figure out a way to accomplish almost any task that she puts her mind to. This often leaves us picking up the pieces but it’s hard to tie down a “go-getter”. Her sweet displays of affection enrapture us and we never tire of her enthusiasm for life (although we are relieved when bedtime finally comes). We really enjoy seeing the differences in personality between the kids and discovering their individual strengths.

George has been way too busy.  We thought that the intern pastor would relieve more of the load, which he has, but there are other responsibilities and challenges that all too quickly fill up that space.  There have been many challenges at church.  One person in particular has done some things that are in stark opposition to the church’s values and principles.  Trying to address these problems has taken lots of valuable time and added a lot of stress.  On a positive note, George has been recently approached by a couple of people (one of them a Roman Catholic priest) and asked to mentor them.  George is also providing some pre-marriage counseling to a young couple planning to marry in May.  George has been very encouraged by the Timothy Leadership Training that he just hosted and he’s eager to see this program grow and develop here in Ukraine.

I spend most of time with the kids but really enjoy leading an English Bible study and participating in a book club.  I spend my free time reading blogs and Facebook and sometimes get the opportunity to make a video of the kids or work on their photo albums.