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We have been in Georgia this past month with a team of bible teachers. We had very little internet access so that is why we haven’t updated this blog in a long time. Please forgive us. The picture to the left is a team dinner we had to celebrate Harald and Marjo’s 10th anniversary.Joys: Our team included our co-leader Valya, Luba and a family (Harald, Marjo and their two kids Micah (5) and Grace (3). Our kids had lots of fun with their kids. Teaching in two different churches every week meant much more of an impact than a short seminar. The Georgia Ywam team was hospitable and fun. A park close by that our kids loved to play at. Lots of prayer, coffee (and tea), helping with teaching, and lots of sleep at night.
Challenges: Difficult to set up lots of teaching opportunities because it was the first time we had been there. We lived in a small apartment with 6 adults, 4 young children and a 75 year old Grandma who wanted us to keep her apartment perfect (good luck with 4 kids!). No hot water for half of the month. Very little internet. The challenge of raising kids in that kind of environment. Plus to top it off, Angela was very tired (due to the pregnancy) for most of the month.
Thank you for praying for us. Our team has gone on to Armenia and we have come home to Kyiv to get ready to welcome the 4 teams back for debriefing. We have big plans for this month, please see our post in a few days from now for some prayer requests.
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It is hard to believe that during this past month in Georgia he has learned an enormous amount of words. Please, Thank you (in French, English and Russian), Sorry, Careful, Airplane, Train…pretty much anything you ask him to repeat he will learn. The ability of a child to learn languages is amazing! He has also hit his independent streak so he completely refuses help to eat, until he gets to the very end and then he says ‘help…please!’ This means a great big mess every meal, but it is all a part of growing up! Sometimes he poops at night so he wakes up saying ‘Daddy, Mommy, Poop…Yucky…Stinky….Poop!’ Until we come and get him out of his bed. Ben and I had the great idea to cut Jay’s hair ourselves, we should have learned from Cassie that this is definitely not a talent we have (as you can see from this photo!)
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Of course kids grow up. We know that.
Today Ben wanted to help Cassie do up her snowpants (there isn’t any snow here yet, but she is so excited for it that she wears them around the house), but of course ‘It’s okay Daddy, I can do it.’ Other feats this past month included getting herself up on the toilet (now she doesn’t need us for that at all), climbing UP a slide, jumping off the last few steps (of course with mom’s reminder, ‘careful!’) and getting very far in her reading skills! Pretending to play Doctor and Hide and Seek are her favorite games right now. She is also getting better at colouring and focusing on one game for a longer period of time. What a big girl she is getting to be! -
Christmas is coming and Grandparents are wondering!
Jay-
Toys:Anything that lights up or makes sounds. Airplanes and trains are among his favorites! Videos: Bob the builder or any other cartoons that have to do with machines are good! Clothes He is in size 2T – Pyjamas with long sleeves, sweaters, bibs
Cassie-
Toys: She loves the Disney Princesses (especially Belle, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella) so anything with their pictures on it, or dolls, will be loved. Barbies, little houses with furniture. She is a little girl with lots of imagination. She also loves stickers, colouring books, and crafts. Videos: Angelina Ballerina, Caillou (in French), Wonderpets. Books: Phoebe Gillman books (but we have The wonderful world of Jillian Jiggs and The wonderful pigs of Jillian Jiggs), any French Caillou books.Clothes: She is in size 4T – Pyjamas with long sleeves, Pants, Dresses (warm for winter) Tights, Dress boots with little high heels- she is in size 8.
Ben and Ang-
Food: Ranch dressing mix, brown sugar, peanut butter, reeses peanut butter cups, coffee crisp, ketchup chips, Starbucks coffee, any mexican seasoning packages (Tacos, Fajitas, Guacamole, etc.) Apple Cider Packages, Christmas teas Clothes for Angela: Pyjamas (with a stretchy waist band), Prego clothes (size medium), warm sweaters. Clothes for Ben: He is size Medium. Long sleeve shirts, new t-shirts, new hoodie. Nice pen set for Angela (good quality coloured pens), Nice make-up, lotions, lipsticks, nail polish for Angela. Adobe Video Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements for Mac for both of us. Books on Photography for Ben.
Hope that helps you Grandparents in your shopping. We tried to give lots of options, but please remember that shipping costs are ridiculous so just a little gift for the kids is great! Light and Small are the key words! A great shipping company is Meest 1-800-361-7345 which specializes in delivery to Ukraine and is much cheaper than Canada Post.
Address for packages:
Ben and Angela Doerksen, Sosuri Volodimira Street, Building 4, Apartment 29. Kiev, 02090 Ukraine
Phone Number : Cell: 093 230 3284, Home: 011 380 44 559 4500
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We’ve been working through a textbook – how to read in 100 lessons. Of course, making it through a whole lesson doesn’t always work, and sometimes Cas doesn’t totally ‘get it’, but it’s coming along and she can read some small words like cat, rat, and rug. It will be great when she can read to Jay, and to our new baby that comes along this May!!
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‘Can I peek Mom?’ To find out what Cassie wants to peek at, take a look under our videos. -
We wake up every morning to the screaming words, “Momma, Momma” coming from Jay’s playpen. If it takes us too long to get there, he moves on to “Dadda, Dadda”. And from there straight to freaking out – so we try to make it there before that happens…
After picking him up, he immediately begins asking for “bankie, bankie” and as we walk to the kitchen he tells us that he is “hungie, hungie”. He has just started eating his own breakfast, either oatmeal, muesli or cereal – but his favourite is definitely yogurt. He usually finishes breakfast with some “wata, wata” or “leau, leau”. Of course, if he threw some food on the floor, he might tell us what happened, “drop, drop”. It’s all pretty comical … except that its extremely tiring!
He’s not allowed, but he continually asks for “makas, makas” (markers) during the day. And if he sees someone on the computer, then he immediately calls out for “gampa, gampa”. He sure is growing up!
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Photo courtesy of Joshua Walker
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Photo courtesy of Joshua Walker
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Photo courtesy of Joshua Walker
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Photo courtesy of Joshua Walker
