Saturday

Princess Von Pout Pout

We went to a birthday party today, all 6 of us. The kids had a blast. The people throwing the party had it at a house that has been turned into a giant playhouse. Each room has a different theme. The kids can make a huge mess and they don't have to clean up.

Here are a few pics. I have to say, we're very frustrated with our camera. It hasn't worked well since the Ethiopia trip. (The previous one quit working after the Taiwan trip.)
Luyushu and Ansley playing in the 'house' section. Luyushu and Judson have been friends since they were about 18m old in the same Mother's Day Out. Now Luyushu and Ansley go to Dumplings together. Amelie, the birthday girl, was also in the same Mother's Day Out program that Judson and Luyushu were in and now also attends Dumplings. (Didn't get a good picture of Amelie, thanks to my camera)

While the Cat's Away (keep reading 3 posts in 24 hours)

Randy has been out of town on business all week. So what is a mom of 4 to do while Dad is away? Let's just say a Mom's work is NEVER done.

1) Cut Turner and Ansley's hair on Sunday night. (No, I'm not brave enough to do Sawyer's hair by myself)
2) School for Sawyer on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
3) Karate on Monday night. (Kids weren't in bed until way after their bedtime)
4) Tuesday, we woke up late. Kids were in pj's when OT arrived for Sawyer's therapy. We survived.
5) Tuesday night, basketball practice for Judson. (the other 3 had to tag along)
6) I was brave and took them to eat at our favorite restaurant on Tuesday. That went well. However, on the way back to the car A and J ran out in front of a car. I now have many more gray hairs than I had just a few days ago.

7) Lots of books being read and dress up. Cool to the bone, even in a purple dress and squished Easter bonnet.

My little Bag Lady

8) Rain, Rain and More Rain
9) Thursday night, more basketball practice. I put everyone in bed by 7:30 so I could have some silence. LOVE IT!
10) Friday. Pray snow/ice doesn't hit Newark Airport. Meet friends for dinner(YES with all 4 kids. Hey, if the friends are Crazy Nice enough to meet me with 4 kids, who am I to deny them the blessing of being with my kids)
11) Hope Randy makes it in in time to meet us for dinner (or all plans are off and I have yet another night of keeping the littledevils angels all by myself)
12) Saturday, go to Amelie's birthday party!!!!

Honestly, it's all gone very well. They've done well. I, on the other hand, am ready for my dear husband to get home. Can I just say, the "you owe me" card will be played for some time to come. I have 4 very good kids. They do as well as any children their age do.

Check this out

Then go over to Charissa's blog and read her first hand account of the family undertaking this endeavor. Charissa and her husband adopted Ava from the Ukraine after seeing her on Reece's Rainbow. (see how these things keep coming full circle).

Funny Story

Tonight was basketball practice. I had all 4 children with me. I was speaking with the main person in charge of the league/age group in which Judson plays. He asked me if I was a foster parent or if I adopted. I told him that my husband and I had adopted some and birthed some (or something to that effect). The next question out of his mouth was, "Which ones are yours". Now this guy is YOUNG. REAL YOUNG. I have no clue if he's in college, just out of college but YOUNG. So, I chuckle and say, "Why, they are ALL mine". He did acknowledge is error by saying, "OK, really poor wording on my part". His next sentence cracked me up. He says, "Which ones did you adopt". Now, I Know it was a legit question but it just cracked me up. I think I had a smart remark but I didn't mean it to sound as bad as my sharp tongue quiped. I said, "I'll give you hint, my husband is Caucasian". Now, we could have adopted the two Caucasian children too but it just struck me as funny somehow. Of course, upon later thought, I did think I should have said it differently. I was not mad at all as I love talking to anyone about my kids. I was just a bit too sarcastic I think. Go figure, ME, sarcastic. (I promise to do better next time)

Need a Calendar?

Check this out: http://www.cafepress.com/ETAdoptshop

Be sure to check out the June picture. It's very special.

All proceeds from the sale of this calendar go to Miskaye Orphanage Project of Ethio-American Family Services.

Happy Holidays

The kids are enjoying the holidays this year. Turner and Sawyer love the Christmas lights. They all love riding the train, although today, Ansley plugged her ears because it was too loud. Funny how she can be heard OVER the train telling us the train was too loud.

Big Heart

Can I just brag on J for a bit. He has the biggest heart. He really does. He's always wanting to help someone. Today, I was preparing our donation to Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree Project. Judson said he wanted to take money out of his piggy bank and donate it. So, with Daddy's help, he counted out his money and we added it to our donation. He selected the children he wanted the donation to go towards. He picked three older children because "They needed it more". (So maybe someone would adopt them before they were sent to an institution.) He's a treasure!

Needing any other ideas to give? Try MochaClub.org

I read about it from Heather. I'm going to check it out and see what it's all about.

Do You Live with Passion?

I love THIS blog post. Take a moment to click on the highlighted THIS and read it.

A New Charity

A group of moms (2 I know personally) are helping a NGO orphanage/transition center in Ethiopia to get off the ground. Most of the funds will come from private donations. Anyone familiar with Ethiopian adoptions knows that the larger adoption agencies have their own transition centers where kids will be moved once they have a family committed to adopting them. Other, smaller agencies, do not have this. The kids they refer will stay in the orphanage they are in until such time as their family can travel to pick them up. The average time from referral until travel is 3-4 months.

It may not seem like such a big deal to stay in their same orphanage for that extra 3-4 months but sometimes it can be the difference in life or death. I know of 2 families in our local ET adoption group whose babies died in an orphanage while waiting for their family to travel. It was a large orphanage. (TB and pneumonia travel quickly)

The plan for this new center is that the smaller agencies can move their referred kids into this center. The kids will be given plenty of food and good medical care. They will be put on schedule (many larger orphanages cannot do this just by the volume of kids they have).

If you'd like to read more, go to this site: www.ethioamericanfamily.org/

How you can help: 1) Spread the word 2) Do all your internet searches through goodsearch.com and name them as your charity 3) Donations (Time/money/Items-they need a laptop)

So, check them out and spread the word.

All I Want for Christmas

Don't forget the Reece's Rainbow Christmas Tree!

That Girl

My conversation with Ansley this morning. (after being told she can not sit in a particular chair because she keeps flipping it backwards)

A: I don't love you anymore. I only love Daddy!
Mom: That's fine.
A: I want another mommy.
Mom: That's fine. I'm the mommy of this house. You need to go outside and look for another house with another mommy.
A: I can't go outside by myself!
Mom: Then you are stuck in this house.
A: This house is too noisy when the boys act silly.
Mom: When you turn 18, you can move out and find anther house that is quiet.
A: I want Daddy to go with me.
Mom: Sorry. Daddy stays with this house. (Whether he likes it or not)

On the Mend

I couldn't stand being in this sick house any longer. I got everyone bathed and dressed and we went out to eat. (Picadilly with the Sunday church crowd) Then we went and rode the Christmas train at the mall. It took all the energy they had. They are now in bed for a long winter's nap, hopefully. *knock wood* Turner never got the yucky-yucks. (Cast iron stomach)

The pictures didn't turn out very well. Turner was so overwhelmed, I couldn't get him to look at the camera. Just too much to see. Plus, the train was moving so they are a bit fuzzy. They had a great time, though.

The Best Laid Plans

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we were at home this Thanksgiving. I (being the planner that I am) had it all planned out. Put up the Christmas tree and go to the Christmas tree lighting at the village. Maybe even go to the Botanical Garden. Alas, my children had other ideas.

Starting Tuesday, while I was at the dentist office with Sawyer (His first trip ever),he proceeded to throw up all over me and him and the waiting room. Not a good omen. Thursday afternoon, Judson began throwing up. Friday afternoon, Ansley did the same. It's coming up on Saturday afternoon, just waiting for the next domino to fall. On top of that, Randy and I have nice little head colds.

Last night, I took Turner over to the village to see the lights and festivities. It started raining, so we headed back to the car and to get something to eat. Just mommy and Tee. Dad stayed home with the sick ones.

Who's next???? Just glad we had a long weekend!

Some managed to put the decorations on the tree.

Some did not.

Finally!

Time To Give Thanks

So much to give thanks for but most of all, I give thanks for:

Him (the one under the pile of kids). He is the best husband and father anyone could ask for. (Heck, he puts up with me. He's bordering on Saint.)
And Him. The one who asks questions like: "Can anyone stop global warming? Who?"
And Her. Who lately says she only loves Daddy, not Mommy. (She lives to frustrate her momma)And Him. Who loves unconditionally and lives life to the fullest.And Him. Who amazes us everyday with his ability to love and laugh and delight. (And Her. Who gave us the opportunity to love Him through her unselfish love and whose eyes I see every time I look at Him.)

Sucker!!!!

That's me. There's one born every second....

Today was Judson's basketball meeting for the parents. Before I left, Randy predicted I'd come back as a coach. For the record, he was wrong. I'm not a coach. AND I'm not in charge of snacks. That was THE one job I did NOT want. So, what may you ask am I. I am an assistant director. Pretty impressive title, huh? Ahhh...but what does an Assistant Director of 5 and 6 year olds do? I get to order people around. Now, you see why I'm perfect for the job. (Albeit, 5 and 6 year old people and I suspect if they are like my 6 year old, they'll ignore me. )

It was funny, no one signed up for that job. No one. So they were asking if anyone would take it. I said, I'm not against taking it but I don't want to lead prayer. You see, it's an interfaith/church league. I don't do public prayer. No problem. As Asst Dir, you get to ask someone else to do that. Cool. I'm the woMAN for the job!

I'm not alone. Two other parents agreed to do it too. So, we three are all suckers. But I bet we have fun. Plus, the man in charge was like, "you have 3 more kids coming up? Cool. I'll get you for the next 8 years"

Stay tuned as we try to coordinate Daddy's work schedule(Including a week of travel in Dec), Daddy and Judson's karate schedule, Mom's helping with basketball, all of Sawyer's school/therapies, and all the Christmas schedule. I have a feeling my New Year's Resolution/Request/Plea is going to be a week in solitary confinement.

Fun Pics

The kids love love love playing dress up. They hop in the trunk and pretend it is a boat or a car or a train or a flying carpet or whatever it happens to be. Turner absolutely loves hats of all shapes and sizes. (even faux coonskin Davy Crockett hats) As a side note, one of the things I used to hate was seeing kids with snotty noses and dirty faces. I couldn't understand why their mom couldn't get them clean. (Have I told you that already?) Note the snotty nose of Turner and the toothpaste residue of Judson. You pick your battles. Clean faces is one I can't win, so I just don't even try.PS. I haven't taken one of Ansley today. If I did, you'd see a child with 4 (yes, four) short sleeved tshirts on. Now the day started off cool, with the temps in the upper 30's. It's now in the low 60's. So, layering isn't out of the question but really, 4???? All short sleeved??? The other morning, I asked her to remove her pj's to get ready. I told her to take the pj shirt off before putting on her 'day clothes'. (Knowing we'd have too many layers if we didn't) She takes off the shirt and to my surprise, she has another shirt on underneath. She asks if she can wear that shirt. I say "NO" take it off too. THEN, to my surprise, she has on yet ANOTHER shirt. Yes, I made her take that off too. She had worn it for at least 2 days.

Ethiopia

Serenity Now!!!

After reading Meredith's blog (Emma's Hope), I thought I'd share what my house looks like today.

The blue bin in the den that holds books (the kids are very good with their books and they love to take them out read several times a day) spewed books today. Why? Because Sawyer wanted to play 'train'. He hopped in and said "All aboard". Of course, then a fight ensued because EVERYONE wanted to ride in the train.
The 'tea party room' (aka Ansley's bedroom) had a spewing problem today too. Apparently, you must dump out the whole drawer in order to find just the right items for play. I found Sawyer putting his notebook with his 'list' in his tinkerbell purse(apparently hiding in one of the dumped drawers) and heading out to run errands.
At night, we have 'clean up' time and all is well with the house until the morning when it starts all over again.

At the Breakfast Table

Judson: I think we should name Ansley, "Princess of the House von Pout Pout"

Ansley: "That's right, Judson. I am a princess."