Just a few more days...

The host kids go back to Russia this Thursday. Their return will be sad... but honestly, there have been days that I would have liked to have sent them back early! Once they are gone, I think I will sleep for several days, then I will get back to my normal routine (which includes blogging, watching TV, sleeping and eating)! :) I can not wait to take a bath or shower without 5 or 6 kids sitting outside the bathroom door waiting for me! SERIOUSLY! I can not even go to the potty without an audience outside the door. Even though that is annoying, what has really been difficult is the physical violence and disrespect that we were getting from the host kids.
We have defiantly had a rough go for a while. I even sent my older two kids to stay with family members for a few days, BUT I am HAPPY to report that we have things under control at the moment.

In the past week I have taken the kids to the Dentist for a cleaning and exam. The dentist found that Sergey needed 13 fillings on 11 teeth, Kolia needed 3 fillings and Valia needed 3 teeth extracted and needed to be on antibiotics due to an abscess! We spent a total of 3 days at the dentist having all of the work done! Valia was excited to learn about the tooth fairy... Kolia wanted to pull one of his teeth so the Fairy would leave him a present as well! Luckily, I was able to convince him that this would be a BAD idea!

We also had eye exams for all three kidos. The kids had fun at the eye DR - they loved touching all of the cool gadgets. I just knew that I would have to purchase one of those gadgets... they kept messing with everything. I could not wrangle all of the kids and keep a constant watch over what each one was touching! I think I grew a few grey hairs in that office!!!!

I took the kids by Josh's office after one of our many visits to the Dentist. They loved seeing "papa's VoK" (work). Each one took a spin in his big leather chair. They loved looking a his big computer screens (he has 2 large screens), and looking at pictures of the projects he has completed.

So as the hosting program comes to an end, please pray for us and our hose kids! Pray that we are able to leave a lasting impression on these children, that they know how a family should act towards one another, that a family should not hit/hurt one another, that mama and papa do not have to drink their worries away, that they should live a good life with Christ at the center, that God loves them and that we love them! Also Pray that they find a forever family. They are GREAT kids that just need the love of a family. In a little over 3 weeks we have seen a dramatic change in their behavior, their trust and their ability to give and receive love. I can imagine how they could blossom if given the chance to be in a family! It would be awesome! They just need consistency when it comes to discipline (FYI - we are only using time-outs and taking privileges away - NO spanking!).

A BIG Praise... out of 122 host kids that came on the winter hosting trip, only 32 kids have NOT found families! I think that is pretty good, but we can make that even better! Please FW this link to everyone you know! Also Please share this info at your church! Help us find families for every child!... So here's the link to the list of host children that have NOT found forever families: http://picasaweb.google.com/NHFCstaff/ForeverFamilyNeeded#


And to answer Kim's question... YES we will host again. I am not sure that we will ever be brave/crazy enough to take on 3 additional kids, but one more would be fine! Also, I might hesitate to host siblings again. There tends to be that natural sibling rivalry, add to that a language barrier... and you have yourself some major problems! They can go at it and you don't have a clue what is going on! Although I have picked up on some of the Russian Curse words. And no matter what language one speaks, you can tell a lot just by the tone of the conversation!
Our social worker had warned us that often times a sibling group can use the language barrier to their advantage and gang up on the family. I thought, "No Way - Not our kids" BUT boy was I wrong!!!! I will be working on my Russian language skills prior to hosting another child! Oh, and our middle host child acts like he doesn't know any English, but after observing him translate entire movies to his siblings, we learned otherwise! He still tries to act like he doesn't have a clue what I am saying, but I am on to him! I can now just give him "the look" and he will give in and speak English to me! Little Turkey!

I don't know if I will have time to post again before the kids leave on Thursday. If I have time I will! But until next time... here are a few photos: