There are five of us so far in our little branch of this family. Jessie is a Machinist for the Tennessee Valley Authority. He is the leader in everything for our family and cares for our 8 acres of land and our animals. We have several brush goats, dozens of chickens, 4 dogs and a constantly changing number of cats.
Mary, that's me, is a woman with many hats. I homeschool our children, direct our home and publish my own books. I am excited to share with you that our fourth book is now finished! The title is "Oakie of the Oak Tree, A Parable of an Acorn". Click here for more details!
You can access the Adoption Digest through the Eastern European Adoption page in our Garden of Links. Through this e-mail list, I have been able to help other adoptive mothers learn how to breastfeed their children. I have also been able to help them find herbal supplements that will aid these children become healthy.
Jessica, our oldest child, has become the kitchen supervisor, chief babysitter and bread-baker in our family.! She has finished her first book "The Tudor Family: From King Henry VIII to Elizabeth I". Click here for more details! She has also written commentaries and articles for our newsletter.
Emily, our middle child is the poet in our family and she loves to cook! She has written a cookbook that will tempt the tastebuds of the most finiky eater! Click here for more details!
Then there is Parker-Daniil. He has such a persistently joyful attitude. This little man loves to give hugs and can always elicit a smile from the crankies person. GOD has blessed us tremendously through this child.
We love to go camping and hiking for his Gotcha Day! Click here to see the pictures and read about our favorite places!
Parker Daniil loves music, legos, and trucks. He is currently fascinated with trailers! He is still totally enthralled by way things go together and we have to keep a watchful eye on what he plans to disassemble next! He just loves life!
We homeschool our children in the Charlotte Mason style. I have developed my own philosophy of education highlighting several of her key ideas. These are: short lesson times, narration, copywork (that's from Cindy Rushton,) real living books, art studies, and classical music. Our children have thrived in this way! Through David Quine's Making Math Meaningful, Jessica has gained new confidence in her math skills. This is a great way to build their thinking skills! His math just makes good sense! Through Laurie Hicks, "Simply Phonics" we have taught Parker-Daniil his alphabet and their corresponding sounds, and Emily has vastly improved her reading skills. Add to all of this the liberal use of Bible and great read alouds and you have our curriculum.
If you need help homeschooling join us on Cindy Rushton's e-mail discussion list at TimeForTea@egroups.com. All your questions are welcome and you will find a friendly, relaxing forum to learn in. As the name implies, we are a group that loves to relax and chat over a cup of tea!
We prayed copious amounts before making this decision. We just had to be sure that this was GOD's will for our lives. A valuable resource for me during the ensuing nine months, and even now, is the A-Parent-Russ e-mail adoption list.
By utilizing this resource you have access to Adoption Agencies, qualified physicians in adoption issues, and a plethora of experienced parents with copious amounts of valuable experience. Any question that you can ask, any problem that you encounter, some has been there, done that.
After nine months of document preparation, in October 1998, Jessie and I traveled to Kostroma, Russia and brought home our son, Parker-Daniil Alan Woodis. We thank GOD and American Int'l Adoption Agency with EAC for uniting us with this treasure! Russia is beautiful and I can't wait to go back and get our next child!
If you are interested in international adoption but have questions, please feel free to e-mail us. This just happens to be one of our favourite subjects and we would be honoured to help you in whatever way we can. GOD used so many different people to bless us during our adoption adventure and we feel called to help you also!
