Crazy Busy

In spite of the dry late summer and early fall, fall has been really beautiful around here. Just enough cold and rain to make it feel like fall. And the colors, although not the best I've seen around here, still not too bad!

But, with fall comes a really crazy schedule (rather than just plain crazy). In addition to all of the holidays, Pat is a hunter. Hunting season starts at the beginning of October and ends some time in January--although, because of the high deer population this might be longer, I'm not sure. Anyway, add in the sometimes crazy shift work and Daddy isn't home much in the fall! Aidan and Mommy miss Daddy, but we try to make do.

Aidan is back in ice skating lessons and is doing really well. He picked up right where he left off and is now learning how to glide more in between his steps. It's funny because his instructor takes great pains to show the kids how to get up if they fall on the ice. . .Aidan just pops right up!

Yesterday was really beautiful, so Aidan and I walked back down to the church after his nap and played in the playground there. I even played on the jungle gym with him--thank goodness no one had a camera on me!






He and I have been suffering colds for about a week to week and a half now. I think we're finally getting over them. I didn't even need to use his nebulizer on him all weekend--and no coughing! That was good.

Yesterday was Orphan Sunday. Ironically, or maybe it was pretty cool, it coincided with my church's second Ingathering Sunday for our Annual Pledge drive. I didn't have to be with Aidan in Sunday School, so I went to the Adult Forum after the service. Our priest gives a talk having to do with the sermon and then ties it in to whatever is going on. He asked for testimony about giving/tything. After listening to a few comments people had made, and how their giving had given back to them, I uncharacteristically got up and spoke about how we had been given money which we then used to adopt Aidan. I pointed out that it was a leap of faith because Russia was shut down when we started, so there were no guarantees, and how we are receiving back so much! I heard many murmurs of assent about what I was saying. . .

Funny thing about our church--not just St. James' but all Episcopal churches, they seem just as obsessed about going and doing things in Africa as I am about Russia. And yet, the folks they help in Africa are part of families. . .many are even part of great family networks. And yet, these children in Russian orphanages are without anything even close to that. Aidan came from one of many orphanages in Krasnoyarsk Krai and it had 185 children ages 0-4 in it. One orphanage in one region of a country so large it takes up nearly half of the land mass of earth.

And my testimony was the only thing close to mentioning Orphan Sunday at my church.