On the court.

Apologies in advance for the poor picture quality.  Remember, trying to catch little boys that move way faster than my camera. 

The boys are both playing basketball at a local church close to us this winter.  Charlie has several season of b-ball under his belt.  But Sam…oh, Sam.  This is his first season. 

And a quite humorous season at that.  It’s just funny to watch kindergarteners do anything, but to watch them try to play an organized team sport takes it to whole other level of funny.

Sam’s the tallest on his team.  Which isn’t hard to do when you are 5 and the size of a small 4^th grader.

 

But we are fighting against the stigma that being brown and being tall makes you a NBA all-star. 

 

It just makes you cute.

 He’s got some skills.  If he’s near the basket and has the ball, he’s one heck of a shooter.

 And he’s got that passing it from out-of-bounds down pat.  Best bounce passer I know.

I’d say defense is his strong suite.  That and funny faces.

Although a little timid on the rebounding though.  He employs the duck and run strategy.

Still working on our dribbling.  If you are a fan of The Office, you’ll appreciate the fact that he has the Stanley dribbling technique mastered.  Complete with his non-dominant hand behind him in the air.  I chuckle out loud even as I look at this picture.

 

 And sometimes we have to remind Sam that he’s playing a basketball game…

Hey Sam!  You awake?

 

“Oh yeah, Mommy!  I forgot!”

Sam’s cheering section was a tad bit pre-occupied.

 

 

Charlie is one of the tallest on his team too.

 

 

He is always on the run.  I’ll give him plenty of credit for hustling.

 

 

 

“Back off, bud!  This is my ball!”

 

 

Learning the art of the free throw. 

 

 

Getting a little advice from Daddy during halftime.  Although, if I know these two, they are probably talking about what we’re gonna eat for lunch.

 

 

“Go ahead.  I dare you to try to take that shot.”

 

 

They are having great seasons and are learning a lot, but I’m ready for some outdoor sports.  With warm weather included, of course.

 

Next up…soccer.

The year of the snake?

Today is the Chinese New Year.  The year of the snake apparently.

Interesting fact. The CNY is not always on the same day each year. And it's not like our Thanksgiving, where its the fourth Thursday of November. There seems to be no pattern.

Kenny acted like he knew this already, so I almost pretended I did too. But I guess I'm not that smart.

I've been doing a little research on CNY. We celebrate Ethiopian Christmas with the boys, so since this is the big Chinese holiday, we'll incorporate it into our routine.  I mean, adding holidays??  Sounds like a win-win for all involved!

Here's my understanding of part of CNY...they give each other red envelopes with cash in even dollar amounts.  And the most common number is $8.  Just don't slip up and give them $9.  Cause you give odd dollar amounts for funerals. 

Talk about awkward...

Happy Chinese New Year!  Wish our EK was here to celebrate with us...hopefully next year!

 

 

 

Idle bread?

It’s 60 degrees outside and February.  So in a brief reprieve from the dull roar of indoor play, I sent the boys outside to burn off some of the energy they seem to keep bottled up all day.

Sam is jumping on the trampoline.  Singing “Dude looks like a lady” at the top of his lungs, by the way.  I was unaware he knew anything about 1987 Aerosmith hits…

Charlie is beating his almost melted snowman with a stick.  And tackling his brother anytime he gets too close.

And I’m taking a “coffee” break.  Minus the coffee.  And doing a little blog stalking (necessary for my adoption induced ADD).

During my non-coffee break, as I was thinking about all I had gotten done today (and all that still needed to be done), something hit me…as anal and organized as I can be (or pretend to be), I am not a good manager of my time. 

I work part-time.  Three days a week.  Only school hours.  And I’m in the same building the boys are.  The way I see it, if I’ve got to work, I can’t think of a better set-up.  So, that leaves me at home the other two days, usually by myself.  I use those two days to clean house, do laundry, run errands, buy groceries, get ahead on cooking meals, pay bills…you get the point…all my wifely duties of managing the house.  (And I use the term “wifely duties” in the most positive light because I enjoy serving my family.)  I would also try to shove in those short 16 hours anything I needed to get done at the church for Sundays or Wednesdays.

 

But here’s the problem.  On school days, we are out the door at 6:45am.  Okay.  It’s usually closer to 7, but that’s the plan.  You can imagine then that on the days I’m also working that I arise between 5 and 5:30am in order to have myself almost totally ready before I get the boys up.  So on the days I don’t work, after the boys have been successfully fed, watered and clothed (and most of the time have their teeth brushed), it is terribly tempting to hop back in the bed and get another few uninterrupted hours of zzzzz’s. 

And unfortunately I had gotten in the habit of doing just that.

Which meant instead of my day starting at 7am, it was closer to 9.  Or maybe 10.  Depending on how unmotivated I was.  I wasn’t asleep all that time, but once I laid back down it was super difficult to pull myself away from Live with Kelly & Michael or the book I was reading or from dozing without having little fingers stuck in my eyes to wake me up.

But then one day a couple of weeks ago, I had to get up and follow Kenny to work because we were taking his car to get some work done.  So, by 9am, I was back home and had done two loads of laundry and had the groceries bought, put up and dinner in the crock-pot. 

I was so motivated, I got tons more done that day than I normally do.  And instead of being crazy, Nazi mom on Saturday about getting the chores done that didn’t get done during the week (read as: didn’t get done while I was taking a nap!), we had a nice relaxed weekend and got other things done around the house.  AKA we got the closet cleaned out so we can start getting EK’s room painted, etc.

So I tried it again the next week.  And would you look at that, more done, more organized and a less stressed me.  Hmmm, seems somewhere someone told me this would work out good for me….

I was reminded about the part of Proverbs 31 where it talks about the woman rising while it is still night to provide and care for her family and her household…

Bam.  Convicted.

She rose while it was still night.  Not at 9 o’clock.  Or even 10.  Before the sun got up.  She was out bringing home the bacon…well, more exact, the wool and flax and food from afar (Chinese food?) while it was still dark out.  I just hope she was packing her mace.  Buying fields, making clothes for her family (I’m guessing the closest Target was just too far away), planting a vineyard (in all those fields she bought), making things to sell for the profit of her family (bet she wishes she had a Pinterest account) all making her arms strong.  I’m sure she had some guns after all that work.  Probably a six pack too, but it doesn’t say anything about that.

What it does say is that she didn’t eat any of that bread of idleness.  And as good as that bread might taste, that’s what got me.

Am I using my time wisely each day?  More importantly, am I using my time wisely to serve my family?  I wish I could say the answer was yes everyday.

But it’s not.

I’m not saying that I’ll never hop back in bed after the boys are out the door again or that I can’t sit and enjoy a TV show with Kenny or stalk a few blogs online just for the heck of it.  Shucks, I’ve wasted a good 45 minutes sitting here telling all you goobers how much time I waste everyday.

But what I am saying is that I’m making a better effort to let that idle bread get some mold on it so I don’t want to eat it.  I want to serve my family the best I know how. 
 

And I know I can do better than I was.
 

She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.  Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:  Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.  Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31:27-31

Now.  Let’s fix dinner. 

We’ve got to get up early tomorrow.

Snow Day!

The boys are enjoying an unexpected snow day. (AKA It snowed 2 inches, let's cancel everything!) And Mommy is staying inside. Because one, it's 10 degrees outside. And two, if Kenny found out I was playing in the snow a month after knee surgery......let's just say I'm pretty sure I'd be in trouble.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

UPDATE: The best spent $20 ever!

Because I know you are all waiting on the edge of your seats to find out how long my first batch of homemade laundry detergent has lasted, I am here to provide you with the details.

I went to Walmart just yesterday to buy the supplies to make my next batch.  So, if you do the math...June through the end of January...8 months...

$20 divided by 8 months of detergent...that's $2.50 a month.

Two dollars.   And fifty cents.

A MONTH!

You can't even buy one bottle of detergent that's likely to only get you 35ish loads for $2.50!

Yep. 

And remember.  I live in a house with 3 boys.  They make really dirty clothes.  And they smell really bad too.  And 2 out of the 3 can't eat without dropping ketchup on the front of their shirts.

And it cleans up their messes every single time.

In case you are at all intrigued, and I don't know why you wouldn't be, go HERE to find out how to spend the best $20 ever!

Bad dreams turned good.

I know most parents may dread the 3am visit from the 5-year-old who has had a bad dream.  I mean, who doesn't want to be woken abruptly by a scared kid who most likely wants you to give up valuable real estate in your bed, right??

I, on the other hand, have a different view on the whole situation.

For the first time in 3 years and 5 months to the day, Sam woke me up at 3:14am with a slap in the face.  Literally.  I'm not kidding.  He slapped me across the face.  It took me a minute to figure out what was going on, but once I realized he was standing there staring at me, I was immediately awake.

He had had a bad dream.  Something about a train.  He was busy climbing into bed with us before I could get the whole story. 

He needed his Mommy.  And snuggled himself right up against me and proceeded to go right back to sleep.

This is the child who was at an orphanage with 100 other kids before his first birthday.  And 18 months later, landed in Kentucky.  So, I’m just guessing here, but this is probably the first time he has ever had a bad dream and sought comfort from someone else.

That reality makes me sad.  But oh, so happy that I get to be the one he comes to when he’s scared, when he’s hurt, when he’s sick…bring on the bad dreams!  We can take ‘em!

And for the record, I carefully delivered him back to his bed after about an hour.  While I enjoyed every second of his snuggles, we only have a queen.  And being sandwiched between your 6ft plus husband and a 5-year-old who is all arms and legs and elbows and knees, isn’t the best way to get a good night sleep.

A milestone.

My husband pointed out to me yesterday that I had not posted some important news on the blog.

And while he is correct, I'll point out the fact that the "waiting game" of adoption looks waaay different for us this time around. While we wait and wonder and day dream about life with three kids (maybe that's just me), the first two still seem to want to be fed and bathed and played with and have clean clothes...

Therefore, my time is devoted to things other than waiting this time around. And for that, I am extremely grateful!

I received an email the Friday before Christmas that our paperwork was on its way to China! Very exciting news...and I might have conveyed it to you, but I was busy being a hot, drugged-up mess following surgery the day before. I'm not real certain I totally understood what it meant then. And I'm hoping I didn't respond to the email because, as I said earlier, my communication skills were shot at that point.

But even more exciting is the phone call I received Tuesday.... We are LID!!! Note: China is very fond of their acronyms, as almost every step in the process has one. LID means "log in date". That paperwork that took off to China on December 21, has made its way to its destination and has been accounted for. Or logged in, if you will.

Which means...drum roll please...we can now receive a referral!

That news flipped Kenny out a little, but in all reality, it could be another 3-6 months before we get that paperwork, and another 2-3 months after that to travel.

The boys have given their predictions... Sam and Daddy guessed June, Charlie guessed July and I guessed August/September. I'm just being practical. It could be longer!

Top 10 Non-resolutions for 2013. Emphasis on NON.

10.  Teach Sam to tie his shoes.

I'm not even sure where to start with this. Kenny has tried several time, without any luck. Stupid bunny ears...

9.  Go a whole year without having surgery.  Or an ambulance ride.  Or any other weird, medical anomaly that no one else would ever have.

We've lived in KY for 7 and half years and I've had 5 surgeries, popcorn infections in my throat, torn ligaments in my thumb while doing laundry, several ambulance rides for stupid things like picking up babies, etc...all that to say, I'm a fairly healthy person.  Promise.  Weird things just happen to me.

I'm going for even MORE healthy this year!

8.  Renovate the laundry room.

Sounds silly, I know. Right now, it's a concrete floor, one concrete wall, 3 almost walls with floor joist and insulation taunting me by falling on my head every once in a while for a ceiling. All I need is some drywall, a little paint, some of that peel and stick tile, some cute hooks and shelves and it would make that tiny space much more likable. We've been talking about doing it for several years, just need to make it happen. 

7.  Take the boys to their first Alabama football game.

Alabama plays Kentucky this year in Lexington, so the plan is to hit them up while they are close to home. The boys have really gotten into football this year and I made the mistake of asking them if they wanted to go to the AL vs. KY game this coming fall. Which means I spent the next 3 weeks explaining to Sam that NO, we weren't going to a football game today and NO, not tomorrow and NO, I have no idea what you will eat.

I know better than to tell him stuff more than 3 and a half seconds before it happens...

6.  Buy a hair bow.

This one is totally up to China.  So no dragging your feet on this one, ok?

5.  Fix baby girl's hair with said hair bow.

Wanna know a secret?  I was in 8th grade before I did my own hair.  Yes.  Really.  I've never had a great affinity for styling hair.  Which is why the boys get a buzz cut every 3 weeks and I've had the same general hairstyle since...oh, about 8th grade. 

Some one's gonna need to give me a pigtails lesson...

4.  Refinish the ever growing collection of old furniture that is piling up in the basement.

The side of the road is an excellent place to shop for furniture, but also a really good place to frustrate your husband when your collection starts to overflow into his man-space.  I have a small chest that I'm going to turn into a changing table.  I also have two non-matching chairs that need a little repair and refinishing and then they will be used at my new farmhouse table.  Oh, you haven't seen my new table....me either...

Hey Dad!  Quit falling off ladders and get to work on my table!  Chop, chop!  And thanks, by the way...

3.  Paint a room.

Little girls room is currently referred to as the "yellow room".  Also, Kenny's room, Daddy's closet, the junk room, guest bedroom ...I could go on, but you get the picture.  It's the catch all and currently where all of Kenny's clothes are since our "master bedroom" isn't really all that masterful and only has about a quarter of the amount of closet space I would like.  So, some reorganizing is in order.  And painting, etc to make the "yellow room", yellow no more. 

And more fit for a precious little girl!

2.  Go to China.

Again, I have no control over this one.  But I'm going one way or another.  I'm planning on marking this one off the list sometime this summer!

1.  Read the entire Bible.

I'm ashamed to say it, but there are actually parts of the Bible I've never read.  So, I'm throwing it out on a public forum...please feel free to hold me accountable and ask me if I'm sticking to this one.  The first week has gone great.  I found an app that lays it all out day by day.  It jumps around a bit instead of just picking it up in Genesis and hitting it for the long haul.  At the current rate, I actually should finish the first part of November.  I'm just praying I make it through week 2 without losing focus.

---------------------------------------------

So, there you have it.  My non-resolutions.  Because if I called them resolutions, it would just be something else to add to the list of things I won't get done this year.  I'm going with goals... 

The lofty goals of 2013, most of which involve getting home our newest family member or getting the house ready to bring her home.

You could say I have tunnel vision.....

It's okay.  I agree.

A scriptural honk.

If you know me...at all...you know I have a tendency to say things before they go through the God-given filter otherwise known as my brain before they come out of my mouth.  In other words, I speak without thinking, put my foot in my mouth, have verbal diarrhea...whatever you want to call it...almost daily. 

Okay.  Okay...

Almost hourly.

But the good thing is I don't have a potty mouth (aka I don't frequently say four letter words).  I just say what comes to mind before I have time to think through the ramifications of what I'm saying.

I had a similar problem in college when someone told me my spiritual gift was humility...for other people.  Now, if you think about it, that's a pretty funny way to tell me to shut my yapper!  Don't worry, it came from someone who didn't get my humor.  I wasn't offended.

Now that I've painted that picture for you, let me introduce you to "honk!"...

The "honk!" came from a recent Nissan commercial, which I find terribly funny.  Take a second and watch...

 



The gist is, the car honks when the guy takes things too far...

Brilliant!  All I need now is someone to follow me around to "honk!" when I step over that line.  Kenny and friend Nicole gladly took over that chore, and actually enjoy it a little too much I think, seeing as I get "honked" a lot.  Even when it's not totally necessary.

But earlier this week I found what I will refer to as my scriptural honk...

Oh that you would keep silent,
and it would be your wisdom!

Job 13:5

 

So, not only should I take my signs from Nissan, but it also appears God commands me in scripture to be silent...so that I can be wise...

 

Or at least appear that way.

 

Gonna need your help on this one, God!

 

Here.

Ok.

Sorry.

I had knee surgery 5 days before Christmas, which went fairly well, thanks for asking.  Then Christmas happened.  Then New Year’s.  And we spent a week driving all over the southeast United States.  With a mouse in the car.

But that’s another story.

Merry Christmas.  My apologies for my absence.  I assume no one is reading, then I receive demanding emails requesting more posts. 

So, I give the people what they want.

We spent Christmas day at home before taking off to see the family.  And Christmas this year was a little extra special around here, even if no one else felt it.

You see, the evening of December 14^th, following the horrific events of that day in Connecticut, Kenny and I had to answer some really hard questions from our 9-year-old about death.

But Satan didn’t have complete triumph that day as those questions led to us being able to pray with him to receive Christ.  It was a bittersweet day, knowing so many were hurting, but having a huge peace knowing that if the same thing ever happen to Charlie, as a follower of Christ, we would all be reunited again in heaven one day.

The illustration of adoption came full circle that Friday evening.  Charlie, a former orphan from Ethiopia who had been adopted by an earthly father, made a choice to follow his Heavenly Father, adopted again as a child of God.

Yeah.

Amazing.

And to top it off, our Christmas-countdown-we-are-thankful-chain-thingy ended with adoption on Christmas Day.

Talk about cool.

And just a little icing on the cake...I got a super cool travel crock-pot, new comfy black pants and a charming little shower curtain from some of my favorite people. 

No, it doesn’t take much to please me.

Unless you are a mouse.  And in my car.  Which is totally not cool.  In addition to freaking me out by playing hide-and-seek in the console and glove compartment, he ate my granola bar, which is no way to make friends with me.  His destiny ended with a slice of cheese and a mouse trap, so he didn’t make the return trip to Kentucky.

Our Christmas wrap-up:  a new brother in Christ, good surgery, fun Christmas, good travels and a dead mouse!

2013 awaits us…

Lo Mein and knee surgeries.

Ok, two things.

I'm about to share another fantastically fabulous recipe.  And you know if I'm sharing a recipe with you that it is something we will most definitely repeat again in the future!

And two...this past Thursday I had my 6th knee surgery.  Yes, sixth!  As in one, two, three, four, five, SIX!  I know, I've been keeping an eye out for my "buy 5, get the 6th free" card, but so far I haven't seen it.  This time around I tore my patellae cartilage while doing a cartwheel while we where in Lynch a couple of months ago. 

Yes, I agree.  I'm too old for cartwheels.  That was probably my last one.

All that to say, I'm still fairly doped up and I'm not always making a ton of sense.  You should see some of the text messages I've sent...like this one where I was talking to Kenny about getting ice for the fancy ice pack machine they had me hooked up to...it continued to go downhill from here...

So, don't hold me accountable for what I say in this post.  I'll proof it later to make sure it makes sense.

Ok, on to Lo Mien!

I know how to make a couple of Ethiopian dishes and in my efforts to increase my international cooking skills, I set out on a search for a good lo mien recipe.  I figured that would be a good easy first Chinese meal to try. 

I found a couple of good options and finally settled on one to try and let me just tell you...in my opinion, it was as good as PF Chang's!!  Now, I've never actually been to China, so I don't know how close this recipe is to authentic or if they even really eat lo mien in China, but it was sooo good!  And up until this experience, my Chinese had ended at stir fry veggies and soy sauce. 

But this recipe got that "Chinese take-out" taste just right!

 

Chicken Lo Mien from food.com



 

Photo credit: me
 

 Now, my changes.  Because I don't follow directions. 

I actually doubled the recipe.  Mainly because when I started cooking, I realized I had enough chicken to double it, so I did.  And I'm glad I did because Charlie had 3 helpings!  And the leftovers were just as good as the first day!

• I just used Kroger white cooking wine.  Mainly because I couldn't find dry white wine...I don't understand...does it come in powder form??  I don't usually buy cooking wine, so I was confused.
• And instead of sesame oil (which was like $9 for half an ounce), I bought already toasted sesame seeds and just added them to regular 'ol veggie oil.  I added some to the whole mixture again later because I liked how they smelled!
• I used powdered garlic...but I've been thinking lately I might give an actual garlic a chance again sometime.  Maybe.
• I omitted the water chestnuts because I figured the boys (including Kenny) might balk at those, even though I really like them.
• I also left out the frozen green peas.  I don't like green peas.  Yuck.
• I did use the spaghetti noodles and they worked fine, but I thought I might check out Trader Joe's or some place comparable to see if I could find actual Chinese lo mien noodles.

Now I'm on the look out for a good fried rice recipe per Kenny's request, so if you have a good one, send it my way.

Until then, this will be our go to Chinese receipe! 

Now to see if I can make an egg roll...I'm not holding my breath...

Merry Christmas.

It's that time of year again. 

You know, the time of year where you torture your children for hours to get just one good Christmas card picture, spend way too much time trying to find a good deal on printing said card, track down addresses from all the people you know have moved since last year, address a million envelopes and then rush them off to the post office in hopes of spreading Christmas cheer from your happy, jolly family.

No, really...I actually really do enjoy sending Christmas cards.  Promise. 

So, for those of you in blogland that didn't get a real card in the mail (no hard feelings), I will pass along our happiness and jolliness via the web.

See?  Happier and jollier already!

Lifesong for Orphans strikes again!

The masses have requested and we are happy to oblige...

I'm happy to share with you that we have finally been approved yet again by Lifesong for Orphans for an account for fundraising!  Lifesong helped us tremendously with the financial side of things with the boy's adoption and they are stepping up again and have set up an account to receive funds for Ellie Kate.

Any funds donated to Lifesong for Orphans on our behalf will be given to help cover our adoption expenses. LifeSong is a 501(c)3 organization and your gift will be tax deductible. 100% of all funds raised will go directly to cover our adoption costs--nothing will be taken out for Lifesong for Orphans administrative costs.

If you would like to contribute to our account and help us bring home Ellie Kate, you can donate several ways.

If you write a check, make it out to Lifesong for Orphans, but make certain you put "Cook Adoption, #3038" on the subject line.  You can mail checks directly to Lifesong:

Lifesong for Orphans
PO Box 40
Gridley, IL  61744

You can also give online via Lifesong's PayPal account HERE, but know that a 2.9% fee + $0.30 per transaction will be charged by PayPal and taken out of your donation.  If you choose this route, follow these steps...

• Select "One Time Donation"
• Select "Adoption Funding" as your Gift Preference
• Select "Family Specific" as your Adoption Gift Preference
• Family ID Number:  #3038, Family Name:  Cook

Now, I know all my independently wealthy friends are looking for the perfect place to make their 2012 end-of-the-year donations, and we are glad to provide you with an avenue to do so. 

No, no...don't thank us. 

We should thank you. 

P.S.  In all seriousness (which is actually quite difficult for me to pull off), we appreciate each cent donated on our behalf to bring home our little sister.  As most of you know, adoption requires a huge step of faith, and that step of faith is also wrapped up in your finances as well.  We had a great push in the right direction this time around and had no doubt that it was God's most perfect timing for us to begin the process again, but are still trusting Him to see to each tiny detail.

God's just cool like that.

Traditions.

Can I be a dork here and document some of traditions we've started in our silly little family?  Either way, I'm gonna do it...

Cause it's my blog.

1.  Last year we started a tradition of a Christmas countdown...but tied it into our Thanksgiving Day festivities.

Each person writes down things they are thankful for and we use those over the next month during dinner or at bedtime to talk about why we are thankful for said item (some examples include Daddy, our house, adoption, etc). 

I have to give the boys more credit for this than myself.  I make sure we do it, but then usually forget about it.  Despite the fact that it's hanging on the wall so we don't forget... one of them usually has to remind me to take off an item each night before bed. 

Last year we did a simple chain.  I tried to get fancy with a pennant this year.  Only thing fancy did was totally outlast the boy's attention spans leaving me to finish by myself and leave me with a string of thankfulness long enough to run across the front of the house.

But we made it work.


2.  We of course continued our Waffle-House-go-pick-out-a-Christmas-tree tradition on Friday morning.  It's always nice to be in a public place and have someone acknowledge how well behaved your children are...

I just didn't tell them it's because there was food in front of them and they'll do anything to make sure that food ends up in  their bellies.


3.  This year we started a new tradition.  One that I feel certain will stick since so many people in this house LOVE food.  (Anyone else noticing a food related theme with our traditions?)

We certainly did the traditional turkey and dressing, etc, etc on Thanksgiving Day.  But on Friday, we ran by our local Ethiopian restaurant and picked up an order of injera and I made a small Ethiopian feast that night as we gave thanks for the boy's Ethiopian heritage. 

Let's just say they fought more over these leftovers than the turkey.  (And I may have too...it's sooo good!)

On Saturday, we hit up the local Chinese buffet to celebrate the upcoming Chinese part of our family.  And we have at least one Ethiopian that thoroughly enjoyed Chinese food!  Charlie even mastered chopsticks within minutes.  I was impressed!  But now I need to work on my homemade Chinese food since it's been requested for dinner several times since our outing.


4.  Kentucky Horse Park's Southern Lights.  Yeah, we've done this one for several years with the Jolly Family.  Interestingly, the boys got more into the lights this year than usual.  I'll attribute that to a few new attractions, including Star Wars and Transformer figures.  Someone around there knows how to get the attention of little boys!

We let the kids choose a one thing to do and this year Grace and Sam chose to ride the camel.  And Charlie and Emma chose to ride a pony.

I'll let that sink in for a moment. 

And remind you that Charlie is nearly as tall as I am.  I'm 5'3".  Barely.  And a pony is a basically a miniature horse.  (In case you didn't know.)

You put a boy that tall on a pony that short and it was really all we could do to not laugh at his feet nearly dragging the ground!  And his reason for not choosing the camel ride...it was too high.  I told him next year he was gonna have to get over his fear of the camel if he wanted a ride because he was almost tall enough for the pony to ride him. 

He didn't think it was funny.

Nicole and I also got kicked off the train ride by our own kids.  Can you believe that??

We've always ridden in the same little car as them (see below).  But it appears that they've all gotten too big for us to smash in one car.  We warned them if they made us ride by ourselves we would probably embarrass them.  And they did.  So we did.

December 2009 @ Southern Lights

We sang Christmas carols at the top of our lungs for the duration of the ride.  Grace and Emma were absolutely horrified!  We were officially the loudest adults there.  The boys actually thought it was funny and sang along with us.  But I'm not sure how much longer that will last. 

Or the boys are just so used to my erratic and fanatical behavior that they totally expected something like that.  That was probably the case.

The daddy's just entertained themselves while all this singing and train riding was going on...

I'm not really sure what was going on here.  Grace seemed to have things under control.  But Emma didn't exactly fit in her pants.  And Charlie's foot was the wrong color.  And Sam feel asleep.



Grace (12), Charlie (9), Emma (7) and Sam (5)

And I'm totally pumped to add a stroller to this outing next year!

Where do we stand?

Who wants an update on our little Ellie Kate??  I thought so.

Monday we received our I-800A approval!!  You know, the approval we've been waiting on since October. 

Yeah.  It's kinda a big deal.  I've been stalking the mailbox waiting for it.  Of course Monday was the day I forgot to check the mail until 10pm. 

Fun fact:  they actually received our paperwork on October 16, which is our anniversary!

So what does all this mean? 

Well, that was the last piece of our dossier that we were waiting on.  The rest of it was already in Alabama at our agency just waiting on this approval.  Over the next two or three weeks our little packet of papers known as our dossier, that is basically a summary of our entire lives, will make its rounds to the county and state for seals.  Then on to the consulate in Texas.

And then...drum roll, please...on to China!!  Woohoo!

We are pretty pumped too!  It's a big step.  I'll let you know when it officially heads to China!

Thanksgiving, brotherly love and outtakes.

This Thanksgiving we have a lot to be thankful for...you know, all the typical stuff like family, friends, our church, jobs, house, cars, food on the table...

But this year as we prepare to welcome another into this dysfunctional family of four, I can't help but be thankful for the relationship the boys have as brothers.  They are fiercely protective of each other, but will turn on the other in a heart beat when one doesn't get his way.  Yes, Sam bit Charlie on Monday because he wanted to play with the car Charlie had.  (Side note:  This Mommy promises you that will be last time he ever tries that!)  They take turns and share.  But argue over the dumbest things.  They want to be together all the time.  But jump at the chance to have solo time playing video games. 

I know they love each other.  And I know that the depth of that love comes from only having each other for a season during their lives.  They depended on each other because they had no one else. 

I'm thankful their relationship has been a constant for them.  I already see a love for their little sister, even without knowing what she looks like.  I just pray that the Lord grafts her into our little family perfectly and they grow together as siblings...loving each other, hating each other, picking on each other and protecting each other.  They way sibling love should be.

Changing gears slightly...

I try to get in one good photo shoot each year with the boys.  Since they loathe having their picture taken, it's not easy.  But it's just something they're gonna have to get used to with this camera-happy Mommy. 

This year we went up to Taylorsville Lake State Park.  Nicole drug the girls along too.  I thought it might make it go easier for the boys, but all it really did was make Sam super silly.

As for the good pictures, you'll have to wait until the Christmas cards go out to see those...enjoy the outtakes for now...


Of course the monkies had to come with us.  It's the only way to get them to genuinely smile.

Goofball.
 

Notice Charlie in the bottom left...yeah, he was pinching Sam.
 

Taking pictures of girls is way different than taking pictures of boys.  But clearly in the bottom picture, they were DONE.
 

Pictures with Sam are always an adventure.  The faces this child can make are endless...

 

Who needs to smile for pictures when you can climb on picnic tables??
 

See pic on bottom left.  This is a prime example of how taking pictures with these two goes...
 

Sam COULD NOT make his hiney stay on this fence!  And he was afraid he was going to fall into the water.  Yeah, in the lake that is probably half a mile away in the background.
 

Behind the scenes.  We may not look it, but we're exhausted.  We just spent two hours trying to keep the two little ones somewhat clean, combating attitudes from the two big ones and acting like fools to get all of them to smile.

 

Yeah.  That pretty much wraps up how I feel too, Charlie. 

Hope you were able to spend the day with people you love!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Name calling.

Baby girl does have a name.

Other than baby girl.  We call her by her name around her, so I guess it’s time to share with the rest of the world.

A little background on how we come up with names around here.  Both the boys’ names are family names.  And their middle names are their given Ethiopian names, giving us Charles Nuredin and Samuel Edaso.  Merging their two heritages together.  Yes, their names are fairly traditional.  On purpose.  We are fairly traditional people.  Well, most of the time.  Their names are also shortened to what we actually call them…hence, Charlie and Sam.  Keep that in mind.

Fast forward to discussions about what to name baby girl.  We soon found ourselves agreeing on only one choice.  Really there was no actual discussion.  It was suggested and agreed upon almost in the same breath.

Most of you know that I lost my little sister in a car accident about two and half years ago.  Her name was Katie Elizabeth.  In her honor, our third born will bear Katie’s name as…

Elizabeth Kathryn

AKA Ellie Kate

See…traditional, yet easily shortened and honoring her aunt and the sweet sister that she was to me!  And yes, we will take her given Chinese name into consideration and add it to her name in some fashion.  She just may hate us come standardized testing time when she has to bubble in four names…

The only downside…the last few times someone has asked me about her name, I’ve been unable to actually answer the question because I don’t have full emotional control over myself.

But that's Katie's fault. 

Now you have a name...so join us in praying for Ellie Kate to be safe and happy and healthy and to join her family SOON!

What happens next?

Many of you have asked, so here is a breakdown of what’s going on and what steps are next… 

1.      We are still waiting on our USCIS approval.  Hopefully that will show up in the next month or so.

2.      We went last week for fingerprinting.  It was very different from last time since we had appointments this time around.  We were at the courthouse less than 20 minutes.  And other than a clerk that almost experienced the wrath of Preschool Teacher Jana because he refused to use his words and instead just jerked me around where he needed me to stand to get my fingerprints, it was an uneventful process.  Plus, I scored a lunch date with my husband in the process.  Win-win for all involved.

3.      I am getting our dossier documents together (AKA all the stuff that goes to China on our behalf).  That will all be sent immediately when our USCIS approval comes in (AKA I need to get that done soon so as to not delay that process.  Like tomorrow…).

4.      I apparently like to use AKA.  And parentheses.

5.      Next, we wait.  For a referral.  Usual timeframe is 3-6 months.  Maybe longer.  Maybe less.  Who knows?  This is the part that I have to completely trust in the Lord for.  Because I’ll get all worried and wonder when it will all happen.  It’s a lot of unknowns and I don’t do unknowns.  I do lists and calendars and planning and preparing.  Not unknowns.  Just ask my husband.  Because he will bear the brunt of my stress over this.

6.      We get a referral.  YAY!  Timeframe from there is roughly 3 months.  Again, this is international adoption.  And while China has a very stable and predictable program unlike how Ethiopia was when we were in process with the boys, you are still dealing with the government of another country.  Things could change, go faster, go slower at any time with little or no notice.  Oh, you’re stressed out by all the uncertainties??  Yeah.  Me too.

7.      Let’s go to China!  When we travel, we will spend a week in her providence and another week in Guangzhou.  If I had to guess/plan/project, I’d say we will travel sometime next summer.  Now, China did not approve this plan or ask my opinion, it’s simply my thoughts on how it should go (AKA I can’t proceed with life without some sort of plan, so I pretend I know what’s going on…).

8.      Come home.   

That’s what our next few months will look like.  Sam asks me on a regular basis if he can see a picture of his baby sister.  Like I’m holding out on him and not letting him see her.  And Charlie is just worried about where he will stay while we are gone.  Clarifying that he wants to stay here.  Not go to China.  My poor child…just like his Mommy needing to know every step of every day…

Sam, on the other hand, asks every other time we pull out of the driveway if we are on our way to China.  He doesn’t quite have that concept of distance and oceans and miles and miles away…

So we continue to gather paperwork.  And wait.  And trust that God has our precious baby sister hand picked and waiting at just the right time for her forever family.

Camping.

For the boy’s Fall Break at the beginning of October, we met my parents near Nashville to go camping.  Only Daddy didn’t get to join us because someone has to work around here to keeping things moving.  Sad.  A lot of fun and a bunch of dirt.  All without him.  

 

I took a million pictures, so instead of talking about it, just look…

Playing in dirt.  The way boys are supposed to be playing.

On our way to our first fishing experience...

Fishing.  This is serious business.
 

He's smiling now.  But that's because no one has made him touch a worm.  And he hasn't yet had any fish dangling from this fancy stick he is holding.

Look at that face.  He is scared to death.  But will bodly tell you all about the fish he caught.  Leaving out the part where he refused to touch it...

 Sam, on the other hand, was thrilled with his catch!  Although truth be told, Papa actually caught the fish and Sam just reeled him in.  Because fishing requires more patience than Sam has in his whole being.

 See?  He was done here.  And this was only 5 minutes in.

 Smiling for camera happy Mommy.

Look closely.  Tristan has Sam tied up on the dog's leash.  This soon led to barking...

Hanging with Aunt Kim.  And waiting on Papa to finish dinner...

Exploring via bicycle.

Being silly...

Everybody but Kenny...

Ninjas. Hiya.

Halloween.

Oh, the joyous time where we spend way too many hours trying to come up a costume to wear for such a short time.

No really.  Joyous.

We went from Batman & Robin, to Power Rangers, back to Batman & Robin, on to Transformers, back to Power Rangers again and finally settled on ninjas.  Believe me, it was not a fun trip to Walmart.  Especially when you factor in Charlie's indecisiveness, my lack of patience due to the indecisiveness and a Sam doped up on benedryl and in bad need of a nap.  Not to mention that we were 24 hours into a Daddy-less weekend.  (He was in Tuscaloosa at the Bama game.)

It wasn't my best mommy moment.

But my little ninjas were happy nonetheless.  Mainly because this choice meant they got new swords.  And that's all that matters.  I'm hoping that's what they remember from Halloween.  Not my exasperation at the plethora of superhero costumes at which to choose from.

It really worked out for the better.  Halloween turned out to be quite a chilly night.  And our ninja costumes allowed for lots of layering underneath.

Puffy ninjas.  That's what they called themselves.

Just for clarification, a true ninja has his face covered.  According to my ninja expert, Charlie.  Of course, this revelation wasn't made until 3:30pm on Halloween afternoon when Ninja Mommy needed to be headed to Main Street to get set up for our church's event.  So ninja eye masks prevailed. 

This was at Trick-or-Treat-on-Main-Street on the day of.  Which is what we do in Spencer County.  My kids have never actually been trick-or-treating...because the whole county is on Main Street. 

Another Halloween under our belts.  I mean, under our swords.