the Life of Olena

 

My very good friend April Brown was finally successful in starting her dream...she opened and is running a local food bank.  Open Cupboard!   A few weeks ago we called the Ronald McDonald House at our Detroit Children's Hospital to inquire about what needs they currently have.  They called her back today and said that they are in desperate need of help and they asked her if she would be able to donate all of her food to them for the Month of May which would hopefully get them through the summer! This is amazing and we are so excited! I am SO EXCITED for her.  In addition to that United Way has asked her to participate in their distribution program.  They would give her food, and she delivers it weekly to the "charity" of her choice, in this case for the month of May, it would be the RMH.  What a rewarding experience this has been and I look forward to sharing this with her! With that being said, if anyone is interested in donating in any way, please contact me for det

So while weeping over the fact that my daughter is no longer my "baby" I browsed my usual sites over the weekend and begged God to help me find a way.  $30-40K! it is absurd.  I know they say it is necessary but I find that hard to believe, especially when we managed to bring Olena home at $19k.  If my prayers are ever answered, you better believe that one of these beauties (or any other ones) are coming home!! DO B: 2009/2010 HIV+/HIV- The brother "Jonah" was born June 2009. The sister "Lila" was born November 2010. The children must be adopted together. The siblings were born to an HIV-positive birthmother and we believe the brother is positive and the sister is not. Additional photos available. In-country travel is easy. Experienced agency with HIV adoptions from RU. Married couples or single women can apply. 3 trips. Trip 1, both parents travel 5-7 days. Return home for 2-3 months. Both parents travel about 7 days on trip 2 for the court hearin

One day a two wheeler, the next day a motorized scooter...next thing you know she will be driving a car, getting married and starting her own family.  I will post more soon about the weekend Olena aged 2 years, but some of the family is anxious to see this new video.  Back story: Olena seen that Lyra had a scooter and all she talked about is how badly she wanted one.  My mom, the grandma who spoils, went and got one for her for Easter.  I really didn't think she would be able to ride it but being that the day before she jumped on the two wheeler, I figured she would prove me wrong.  And boy did she ever.  This video is her in the school parking lot.  On our way home from my grandparents, J and I decided to stop here and see what she could do.  This video is her within a few minutes of getting on. Since Sunday, she has spent every free second riding this thing.   She has now progressed onto "cool tight turns" and going as fast as she can.  She has even developed a bi

We have been trying to teach her how to ride a 2 wheeler for weeks now.   Today, Jason and I go to the grocery store while Rickie and Olena hang out back at home.  As we are coming back, I was focused on the neighbors cat in the street while warning J when I looked over and seen this tiny little girl zooming along.  I had to double take when I realized it was MY DAUGHTER!! I started yelling to Jason OH MY GOSH....Look it is Olena she is riding her bike. We pulled up in the drive way and Rickie, while smiling ear to ear, said 5 minutes after we left O came into the house, told her to come watch her and she was riding without an issue.  Just yesterday the 3 of us ran up and down the street with her and wasn't too successful! guess today was the day! :)

Here she is practicing the two-point position.  I do love the way the picture came out! Two-point position is the position that a rider takes as they are approaching a horse jump As a rider is preparing to go over a jump with their horse, the rider will move forward and into two point position- they will be riding with two points in connection with a horse. The two points are referring to the contact on each leg on each side of the saddle.   Two-point takes considerable balance and muscle strength.  In two-point the rider doesn't just lean forward over the horse's neck, but balances their weight farther back over the seat of the saddle. In this way the rider isn't off balancing the horse, but is centered over the horses body in a slightly crouched position