Packing for Ukraine

We leave in 2 days! I can't believe it's already here. The anticipation and excitement is thick around the clinic. Last night was spent packing the luggage with the abundance of therapy items that people have graciously provided. So many people have donated therapy materials and made monetary donations as well. I am so blessed with compassionate family and friends! Don't think I take it for granted! You are ALL greatly appreciated.

We packed 10 large suitcases full of therapy materials. It was an eventful night. I spent much of the evening dusting off and arranging picture cards into decks. Let me just take a few minutes to talk about picture cards. Being a speech therapist, picture cards are a part of my daily life. I LOVE picture cards! They can be used for such a wide array of vocabulary development activities. They can be used for receptive and expressive language - for identifying/naming objects, identifying/naming actions, describing similarities/differences, answering yes/no questions, exchanging to communicate desired items/actions, categories, associations, emotions, gender, auditory memory, articulation, story prompts, etc. I could go on all day about the way picture cards can be used. Given that I'm such a fan of them, we all knew picture cards would be a necessity for the Ukraine trip. AND, given that I'm a little obsessive at times, of course we had to make them appropriate for the language spoken in the area we will be, which is Russian. This may sound like a simple task, but Amy Love can attest to the fact that this was no simple task. I'm not even going to begin to count the hours that were spent with an online translator (that ended up being more an enemy than a friend), printing the words on cardstock, cutting the cardstock just perfectly to cover the English words with Russian words, covering the English words, and sending them off to be laminated. Thank you, Amy, for all your help and the fun we had while doing the work. At this point, I want to mention that our kind friends at ALPS laminating made a very generous donation in laminating, cutting, and even rounding the corners (which is a REQUIREMENT for MY picture cards) of 11 decks of picture cards. If you ever have laminating needs, please support this in-state business. I don't believe I made it clear on the phone exactly how much lamination would be needed because I didn't know at the time, but they did it all, without calling me on my slight (ok, maybe more than slight) under-estimation. Thank you, Michael at ALPS!

The box of laminated picture cards. It doesn't look like much in the picture, but the box is very deep.

Kym (AKA Vanna White) showcasing the lineup of luggage.

Having a little fun in our luggage train before the real work began.

Kym and Amanda sorting and packing.

Kate with her string of pop-beads.

Karen putting the wire bands in the bendy bumpers for the NICU.

Sorting picture cards. This makes me very happy. :)

Mostly packed and ready to close, but they won't really close until we leave.

Some of the Russian Bibles we are taking.

So we are almost ready to go. Again, please pray that all goes well, that we stay safe and healthy, and that God uses this trip for His glory. I have faith that everything will be just right, but I'm all about keeping with the prayers at all times! Woo hooooo!!!