the Life of Olena

It is hard to believe this year is already coming to an end!  I guess when I really look back though, the first 7 months were a bit tough to say the least and once that over and we took some time to heal the fall was already coming to an end and now here we are, only 2 days away from Christmas.   I have so many things to be grateful for this year, of course including this amazingly unique daughter of mine who will be 10 in one month.  I can't believe it! 10 YEARS OLD!  She makes me happy, drives me crazy, makes me wonder, and steals my heart all at once.   I can't wait to see what we have in store for us this year.  I don't have a lot of time to update but I wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone and share a few pictures of little "believer".   

OH DEER!!! ;)  

Sorry it has been awhile, we have been busy and to be truthfully lots of times I just forgot about the Blog.  Until my number 1 fan, my momma, complains at me for not updating. I always found that amusing considering she knows more about what is going on in my daily life than anyone else.   At this time I am feeling particularly unmotivated to accomplish anything else, and this seemed like a good idea...so here I am. As you have already seen in the pictures above, somewhere over the last few months my baby girl has become a young lady! The day I took this photos I looked through the lens and almost fainted.  We have all been so focused on everything going on in our day to day lives we often stop to really see what is happening right under our noses.  I had a shoot scheduled for that afternoon, and I was so disappointed I never had a chance to have her wear this dress (that I bought I ...

I can't believe that Fall is already here.  I know we had an exceptionally long winter here, but these last few months have flown by.  Olena told me in the car last night that July and August are really short months!  I reminded her that they have just as many days as the rest and she said "well it sure didn't seem like it, it went by fast"....tell me about it kid! So what have we have been up too?.... A few exciting things have happened.  Olena is a huge fan of the reality show "Fast and Loud" a series based on a car garage in Dallas named Gas Monkey Garage, they restore cool cars.  She is in love with the star of the show, Richard Rawlings.  We made the attempt to meet him when in Dallas over the winter but sadly he was out of town that weekend.  Well, here in Detroit, we have a huge car cruise called the Woodward Cruise, and Mr. Richard Rawlings was in town to make an appearance for the new Dodge Hellcat.  So  these 2 parents did everyt...

Things are finally starting to settle down and we are doing our best to get back onto a good schedule and have started the "retraining" process on Olena.  She has fallen off of the wagon so to speak, which is understandable, but no more excuses time to get her butt back into obedience mode.  She has taken on a sassy mouth and a bit of laziness, so we have been on her like white on rice this past week.  She hasn't been to happy about it, but she will straighten out quickly again.  An obedient child is a happy child :) She recently moved into another bedroom and we made it a bit more "grown" up for her.  She was really excited and I have to say she did a great job and picking everything out.  She wanted red walls, but I was not too excited about that idea so we compromised and we painted one wall red and the others a light grey.  We went to look for red bedding but she insisted on something with black, so she ended up picking a white comforter with bla...

This post is very hard to write, just as it will be very hard for some of you to read.  Most of you will judge, some of you will cry, and some of you will think "job well done".  But regardless of what you think,while you read this and when your done, remember one thing, this is MY life.  OUR life.  We struggled with our choices, we prayed and in the end we did what we felt our Faith and hearts were telling us to do.  Exactly 5 months after walking through our door as a family of 4, I watched my father's van drive away with the screaming and crying little girl I was once willing and hoping to call my daughter.   And once again, we were a family of 3.  I cried.  I cried for her, I cried for the family she was returning to, I cried for the "promises" I broke, I cried for my family...who was lost and breaking.  It was the hardest decision of my life and though I was stricken with guilt, fear, and heartbreak, once the decision was final, I k...

Well if you haven't noticed, I have updated the Title of my blog.   And it is an expression of exactly how my life feels right now.   I have sat here staring at a blank posting page several times over the last week.  Thinking about what exactly do I say?  How do I even explain what we are going through?   I decided I would be honest.  I would bare the internal soul of this house for everyone to read.  I decided this for several reasons.  1. I think it is only fair to other potential adoptive parents for me to keep it real.  Share how damaged these kids REALLY are and how not to take on more than what you believe you are capable of  2. hopefully I can inspire others.  Granted this hard and I will tell you things that will make your jaw drop, but it is not impossible.  I have faith and hope, though very slim at the moment.   I also know what me and my husband are capable of and I refuse to let an 11 year old ...

The time has come.  Though our adoption is not final we are comfortable sharing a bit more information and sharing a few details of what types of days we have been facing. Iryna  (pronounced Ear-ina) is 11 years old from Ukraine, the Donestk region.  She likes to go by the nick name of Ira. (ear-a).   She was sadly placed in an orphanage for the mentally impaired at a young age, however, you can clearly tell that was not where she belonged.  In my own opinion her story is divine, amazing and nothing short of a miracle.  To be in the "older child" category, in a home for the handicap, and just about to age out of that current home in a matter of days.   Hope for finding a family at this point is usually slim to none. But by God's amazing grace a family from the US was willing to call her their daughter.  For a girl with such tragety in her short life, most would imagine that this story went on and ulitmately had a happy ending.  Her ...

I took this picture of Olena about a month ago.  I edited it and was sitting here looking at it when I glanced up at my cork board where I have the picture on the left hanging of her bio-brother....WOW!  I couldn't believe the likeness in this picture.  He is much younger here, I believe he is 4, but it was too striking to ignore. 

American Heritage girls had award night.  She received 4 badges that she earned from her projects and she also won the "Highest Achiever Badge" for selling the most candles for the fundraiser in all troops combined! Thanks to her Dadu for helping her sell so many. 

It seems like just yesterday I was helping his momma bring his beautiful little soul into this world.   He has won my heart with those big blue eyes and I see my best friend in his little face every time I look at him.  I couldn't love him any more than as if he were my own.   I was lucky enough to get the chance to take his 1 year photos and we had a lot of fun with the cake smashing shoot! :)  Happy birthday little man.  Silas William. 

Along with spring comes new life...new beginnings.  Thankfully, here in Michigan, the record breaking winter has decided to move on, the flowers have started sprouting and the birds have come back home. There has also been lots of changes in the Warchol house.  Our family has expanded again and we are now a family of 4.   Late last year, an opportunity to adopt through disruption presented itself and after much prayer and discussion we decided God was handing us exactly what we had requested...an older daughter, Ukrainian heritage, no out of country travel, no physical challenges (....hhhmm if you don't count clumsiness) and it has been a fairly "easy" adoption process. So how is it going you ask? HOLY TOLEDO!!!! I thought becoming an instant parent to a toddler was difficult, try doing it with a teenager....a hormonal one at that.  :) First lets start with the amazing facts.  She is beautiful, inside and out.  She has a gorgeous smile.  She c...

Don't worry we are still here and buried in nearly 6feet of snow.  Things have been very busy and pretty hectic these days.  As I may have mentioned, we are in the process of adopting again!   I can't share anything yet, I am trying to respect the privacy of family involved so I have to spare any details until the adoption is final.  However, we are excited, Olena is adjusting well, and I forgot just how busy the adoption process keeps you.  It was one thing to do it last time around with no kids and working part time.  This time - I am working full time, have kids running around my home like wild banchies, dogs and a foster dog, and I am homeschooling.  YIKES! doctors appointments, evals, counseling sessions, finger print appointments, go back to the doctor to get the TB read, go back later to pick up paperwork, run here, fax that, scan this, oh and don't forget pee in this cup!!!!  LOL.  Not complaining, but of all the things I didn't ...

One of the big highlights of the last month has been Olena's birthday.  My darling, crazy, extreme, goofy, and wild child turned the big 9.  Her biggest dream and wish...to visit the Gas Monkey Garage from the show Fast and Loud.  Well it is not like the kid needed any toys, so her dream came true, well most of it.   We packed up the suburban and drove 18 hours for 2 days all the way to Dallas.  We enjoyed 60-70 degree weather and she was thrilled! She would have really loved to meet the star of the show, who is her self proclaimed future husband, but he was in AZ for the weekend at the Barrett Jackson Auction. The weather here is just to unbearable for good outside pictures so her 9 year old photoshoot will need to wait until the spring. I will try to get some videos uploaded in the next few days.  Michigan has had something like 48 inches of snow in the month of January, which is more than we have ever gotten in a full seaso...