Nov 8th, 2010

Andri sporting his new hat & scarf from Grandma Janet. All the kids received a beautiful set. Alesia with the kids at the Walker Sculpture Gardens. It was a good day.

Halloween, Natasha, Jaclyn Sophia & Andri dressed up.
Jonathan posing for a school photo. (9)

Jaclyn posing for her photos (12)

Pumpkins carved. Sophia posing for her photos (11)

Sophia earned trophies for soccer.

We are hanging in there. A few rough days lately. Hope all is well with you as you enter into November, and Christmas time.

Alesia's Dad is doing well so far, today he has his 3rd round of treatments. Chris' Dad will have hip replacement on Wed. We have no big news. Just one day at a time around here.

Love Chris & Alesia

October 14th,

Here's Katya playing volleyball. I finally made it to a game, the game times are at the same time as so many other activities.

Katya really liked volleyball and would like to play all year, but it's not easy to find a group to play with all year. Her Junior High team is done. They won a lot of games this year, and lost maybe 3. She had a lot of fun.

Katya, Natasha & Andri have school off tomorrow, and we'll all be heading to an art museum.

Chris hopes to take the dock out at the cabin this weekend.

Jonathan is on the big Squirt hockey team so he is happy. Jaclyn, Andre, and James also started up hockey as well.

Sophia has her championship soccer game on Saturday. If they win, they are #1.

Alesia's Dad has his 2nd round of chemo tomorrow, and will probably experience some ill effects this weekend. He has been doing really well so far, and we are so grateful for this.

All is well here, and we'll try to get more photo's for next time.

Alesia & Chris

Hello Again...

Fawn-doe-rosa for Alesia's Birthday.

James/Andri Football, Chris is coaching.

Go Andri & James!

We toured a unique sculpture park as well. Andri did the photos here.

Andri & Lexi the lynx. Go Sophia soccer girl! (in Blue)

Well, as per the last blog, no one stayed overnight at the hospital and if you have further questions, ask Katya, and let her know how much you care.

I've decided to lighten up a little (and no that doesn't mean smoking, but I can understand why some might need a fix here and there!).

My dad has been diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer, and that could really get us down (and does sometimes), but he loves the Lord, and he is a respectful, strong fighter, and Mom & Dad love each other a lot, and really, looking at their love for each other, and remembering all the good things, there is a lot to be thankful for despite this. Dad is responding well to treatment so far, but it's only treatment they say, not a cure, so we're cherishing our moments with him.

Top 10 things I'm glad we did before adopting:

1) Didn't read all the stories of past adoptions that could have left us changing our minds, but rather just plunged right in to our own host of experiences!!!

2) Didn't listen to all the horror stories our social worker told us, nor let them split up our 4 siblings, so that we could have our own stories to tell, and pray that someday our 4 will love that they could stay together.

3) Walked our dog daily so Alesia could get a little in shape for walking in Kiev.

4) Didn't get a degree in Psychology, or I would be literally going crazy right now (instead of almost going crazy).

5) Learned a little Russian so that I could tell when the kids are speaking Slava Ploho (bad words).

6) Called the orphanage often to let them know we were coming so that I could be fully "in love" and "attached" to them to offset the desire to detach at times once at home!

7) Cleaned out our last room in the house, the laundry room, so we could lock the cats in away from the rest of the house for 90% of the time. I didn't have the heart to get rid of them.

8)Gave up trying to have a perfect home, as it will never happen with 9 of us here!!!

9) Homeschooled our 3 so that I could get an interesting comparison of the school system vs. homeschool. I think there are positives to both (if I look hard enough!).

I am proud of Katya for surviving her first month of school (and we hear interesting non-academic lessons as well), and the grade school offers Andri and Natasha a balanced education. I think Sophia is enjoying homeschool, but is interested in public as well, and I think Jaclyn, Jonathan, and James have a deeper appreciation for homeschooling this year.

10) Trusting Jesus as our Lord & Savior. He's the only one who could give us the strength to make it through the daily schedule, the peace to sleep at night, and the sense of humor to keep us plugging despite setbacks.

May your day be filled with HIS love and strength. You can trust him, he never lies.

Love Alesia & Chris

Please Pray...9/12/2010

We have one in the hospital tonight. If you know us well enough to e-mail us or call, we can talk freely. I do not wish to put it on the blog.

Everyone is safe, and we welcome your prayers, concerns, visits, etc. I am physically, mentally, and emotionally tired, and not exactly sure how I feel other than...

We are all prone to wrong doing, we all make mistakes, and we are all in need of a savior and a good friend. And we need to stick close to our families and not speak poorly of them.

Thank-you for your prayers and concern. Alesia & Chris

Here we go....

Sophia started soccer. Sophia, Jaclyn, & Katya are posing in her new "costume" or uniform. She called it a costume. Some of their language is so sweet to hear. She wanted a photo with Mama too.

Here's Katya posing with a sweet photo at the zoo. Jaclyn playing violin at the State Fair.

Jonathan with a butterfly at the Como Zoo. Here's the gang posing at the zoo. Sophia, Natasha, James, Jaclyn Jonathan, Andri, Katya (from front to back).

Giraffe's at the zoo, Chris at the State Fair.

Well, here we go for school, 3 at public, Katya at middle school, Natasha & Andri at grade school, Jaclyn, Sophia, Jonathan, and James homeschooled. We made it to the open houses, met teachers, picked up information, toured the schools, etc. I'm working on my own "school" schedule and things at home (slowly).

We managed to see the State Fair this year, as Jaclyn had a violin gig there with her teacher. We also went camping last weekend near Chris' aunt & uncle's, Joan & John's, home. It was a big blessing, especially the wonderful dinner Saturday night.

Our oldest five took a homeschool biology course this week for 2 days and did great at it. They had absolutely no issues with friends or sitting through 4 hours of English. I think it was a great introduction to school for the fall. Andri brought home 2 fish eyes, a fish brain, fish heart, and some skin (yeah!).

I am a little down with health issues with my parents, and weariness from kids sassing, and wishing for little things that just seem like an eternity away. Chris is busy with work presentations, fixing our deck, helping the boys with football, and helping his parents here and there.

We're looking forward to a nice weekend around the house this Labor Day.

Love from Alesia & Chris

School Starts Soon...

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary Mima and Papa. It was truly a "Golden" day.

What Mama looks like playing 500! Come on, let's get out the cards. It helps to be winning also!
Katya is pouring herself some punch at the Golden Dinner.

Jaclyn playing the piano in the background. A beautiful Haak family photo.
Katya, Chris, Jonathan, Alesia, Jaclyn
James, Andri, Natasha, Sophia.

I'm not sure what I like better, the juice mustache on James, the super happy smile on Andri, the loving life giggle look on Natasha, or the life is wonderful look on Jonathan. I'm changing this one to my laptop.

Hi everyone,

School starts in a couple weeks, and Chris has volunteered to enroll the kids who are going to school, Katya (8th), Natasha (4th), and Andri (2nd). We'll have the other 4 at home. (Which is now done according to Chris). Sounds like Katya will be in choir which is great for her singing. And our neighbor girl is in the same grade so she can show her around school.

I've started working on my schedule. I think it's coming along nicely.

Chris' cousins Ann & her husband Joel, are coming over tonight to play with our children and give them "time and attention" : ) Which Ann gently reminded me that they need, but that I'm only 1 and they are 7 so it's hard some days. Ann asked me to let her know if we needed a break, and I did let her know right then, with tears in my eyes. They are so sweet to help us out.

(We just got back and all went well. They even said they would like to do it again!!! We had a nice time at a Mexican restaurant, running some errands and taking the dog to a pet store! It's the first time we had a sitter who paid for the kid's pizza, and we didn't pay them for sitting. It's a real encouragement to have friends willing to step in and help us out like this. We might last a few months on this one!)

So far so good without any meltdowns (except mine) lately. Hockey season is gearing up starting Sept 7th with fall clinic. We'll have 4 in hockey, 1 in soccer, and 2 in dance. The three boys just started football so that overlaps fall hockey a bit.

Love Alesia & Chris

Horse'n around.....

Photos taken at a friend's farm when she hosted a picnic for families hosting childred from Ukraine. I managed to get 1 photo of Jaclyn and Jonathan and none of James, Chris or I.

That is a pretty accurate representation of who is getting left out in this adventure.

James is just falling to the wayside. Him and Andri "had it out" yesterday and missed movie, popcorn, and treats.

Chris and I did get away, to cover some "business". It was a start I'd say.

Gearing up for school and fall sports. I'm going into auto mode here, so if you get a chance and can figure out a way to drag me away for coffee, I could use the change of pace.

Alesia & Chris

Some Good Problems...

Thistledew camping. Wed-Sat. We had a very nice vacation even though it was busy and it's hard for Chris and I to find alone time together. Chris slept with the boys in the tent and the girls slept in the camper. We also had a cousin visitor, Livvy, stay with us one night and during the day a couple days and she was a good companion for Natasha. She even lost her tooth with us!

Sophia at the ECAS picnic. All the kids had their face painted different ways. It was a good day.

Taking a "shower".

Natasha getting a hug from Chance.

Livvy & Jaclyn seeing who can stay up on the log longer. No laughing!!!

Katya showering. She joked about sending the photo to her friends and saying she has to shower and sleep outside. No mom or dad! She was just kidding!

Chris and our setup. We brought Chris' Dad with us as well, and he even hiked the Stairway to the Giants.

Campfire at night. We really did have a nice trip.

Andri lost his first tooth. I'm so glad we were there to see these first teeth fall out with him.

Some little good problems. Katya & Sophia cleaned so well, that I went crazy because I couldn't find my stuff and felt like the girls were taking over. I said I was sorry and I just need to find new hobbies, like organizing shelves and closets, and mowing. : )

We're having some money problems from going to the doctor and dentist, and wondering what activities we can afford.

Chris wants to spend more time with me, but that means at night after the kids are in bed, or if one of us organizes it, and lately, I'm too tired to organize the date, so hoping that he will take a turn at this.

All in all the kids are getting along well together, we're healthy. Chris and I are getting worn out and need to work on that. We're looking forward to one more camping trip before school. And need to get organized for school, and homeschool.

Love from Alesia and Chris