Turtle Cheescake Pie? Yuck.

Even though we've been home for over a year, we still have a most difficult time with some words. And even if we know a word, we may not know it in the context used. Which makes for some hilarious conversations!

The funniest part is that Charlie usually thinks that he is right and you are wrong, even though I am the one that has lived in the United States all my life and he just got here. Sometimes makes you want to pull your hair out when you have a 10 minute conversation trying to explain that you take a backPACK to school, not a backTACK. He still thinks I'm wrong and he's right. Whatever.

So, here's Charlie's latest antics, taken from the Spencer County Children's Ministry Blog. He has had some really funny conversations with Nicole lately, to the point of getting frustrated with her when he doesn't understand what is going on. Sorry Nicole, but thanks for putting up with him!!

So I'm taking the kids to school this morning, and Charlie Cook is in the back seat with my girls. They are all looking at the pie sale forms from their school and reading about the pies. This is what I hear:

(Insert Ethiopian accent here)

"Turtle cheese cake pie? What? You eat a turtle, and a pie, and a cheese on it? Oh, no, I can't eat a turtle and I don't like cheese. I can't sell any pies."

Oh, my. I know I should have clarified. But, it was just too funny. I just left it alone.

If you think that's funny, try explaining DVR to an Ethiopian. He still thinks I have movies TAPED (as in scotch tape) to my TV that are now stuck, therefore I can't let him borrow them.

Hmm. Never did really figure out how to fix that one.

Oh, my.

The Dot

Some things are just better seen in person. But some things are worth repeating, even if you just have to create your own mental image.

You remember back in the 90's when those red laser pointers came out and you spent hours torturing your dog or cat or little brother, watching them chase an inanimate object all around the room, just for your own personal kicks and giggles? Well, the same hilarious, pee-in-your-pants type action happens when you introduce a 3-year-old Ethiopian to one of those little red laser pointers.

While playing outside in the spectacular fall weather a couple of nights ago, our friend Dwayne decided to mess with the kids a little. Let's just say that Sam thought the red light was some kind of fear provoking creepy-crawly and induced a terror filled scream and a panic driven dance until he could get as far away from the dot as possible. I would be lying to say that we didn't continue to shine the little light near him just for our own entertainment. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.

And before you call CPS for us torturing our kids, we did show him that it was just a light and it could do nothing at all to hurt him. Didn't matter. He was in flight-or-flight mode until he was assured that the dot had been put away.


Funny Sam face! Sorry. I think you can see his tonsils via his nostrils.

Pumpkins

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. Especially this year since we've had an extended (and extremely hot) summer. I was done with being hot around the end of May.


Me trying to be creative. Did it work?

So, to kick off Fall, we painted the baby pumpkins that Charlie and I picked while on his field trip yesterday to Boyd Orchards.

We started out with paint brushes, but soon abandoned them for our fingers. Charlie's pumpkin was work in progress and had many faces along the way. Displayed at some point or another was a monkey (of course), a volcano with red hot lava, a snowy mountain, and an actual jack-o-lantern face. The finished product looked nothing like any of the above. I'm thinking he went for a more abstract look.

Sam just kept wanting to use orange paint, which of course, didn't show up on the orange pumpkin. He had the same problem with a white crayon and a white piece of paper the other day. He's just gonna have to figure that one out on his own...


Notice the tongue. Such concentration.



This painting pumpkins is serious business!


The finished product! We had to take a bath to get all the paint off. Of our bodies.

Meme?

So, I was tagged in a "meme" post by friend Amy from Alabama. She is about to have a little Sam running around her house, too. Except he will be #4 for her. Good luck with that! So, here goes...

What would your dream job be?
Well, it really depends on how old I was when you asked this question. From about 10 to 13 years of age, I was dead set on being a veterinarian. I'm fairly sure I probably went through the whole "I'm gonna be a doctor/lawyer/astronaut" stage at some point, too. In high school it changed to an Athletic Trainer or a Physical Therapist. (Probably due to spending huge amounts of time rehabbing my bum knee.) Even started my college career in Sports Medicine. Changed my major to nursing. And ended up with a degree in Early Childhood Development. From animals to kids. I wasn't too far off. All that to say, I have my dream job as a mommy and a wife. Can I get a collective "Awwwwww"? Now, if someone was going to actually pay me, I have always wanted to do some kind of advertising. Maybe for non-profits or something. Sometimes my creative juices just need an appropriate filter.

Where would you like to live?
I'm pretty content in good 'ol Kentucky. I'm fairly found of the beach, but know I would tire of the constant sand in my britches. I like the mountains too, but Charlie's deathly afraid of bears, so that would never work. Maybe one day I'll live in a mud hut in some third world country. Or maybe in Australia. Or Colorado. I don't know. Next question...

In what century would you like to live?
I've most recently been reading (fictional) books that are based in a time where everyone was migrating West in their covered wagons. You know, very Oregon Trail-like. So, I'm fairly sure I don't want to spend my days riding in a wagon or making camp on the side of the road. I was pretty fond of the '80's where I had no responsibilities and someone else had to pay the bills. But I've already done that before. Maybe the early 1900's? I really don't have a good reason why except for life just seemed a little simpler. Minus the whole depression and war and stuff.

What would be your last meal?
I love food. A lot. Although lately, I'm going through this phase where nothing sounds or tastes good, so I have been eating a lot of buttered noodles. Healthy, right? I'm just carb-loading for the marathon I will most likely never run. Never hurts to be prepared. But my last meal would definitely be some kind of seafood pasta combination. With maybe a very rare steak on the side. And some dark chocolate for dessert. Well. Now I'm hungry.

What made you start a blog?
I started the blog way back in the Summer of 2006. We moved to Louisville the year before and family and friends were always wanting to know what was going on with us newly settled Northerners. Hence, the blog. It kinda came in handy when we started the adoption process. Kept me from having to say the same thing a million and a half times a day. And I can randomly ramble about anything I want and no amount of Kenny shaking his head at me or Nicole telling me I'm using too many words will make me stop. Plus, I can use big words like acquiescence and concurrence and hence. Still, no one can stop me.

What is your favorite piece of clothing?
A t-shirt. Really any t-shirt will do. Couple with comfy pants and my flops and I'm ready to conquer the world.

What's your favorite film?
Hmmmmmmm. My favorite film (Film. Really? Not a movie or a DVD?) is whichever one Kenny is watching, too. With me snuggled next to him. I know. We are SO sweet. I like to laugh. Loudly. So, find something that will make me laugh loud and we should be good.

What would you like to do before you turn 100?
Adopt again. Make it easier for people to adopt. (From a financial standpoint.) Play short stop again without getting hurt. Write a book. Buy and refurbish an old farmhouse. Travel. I was going to be specific, but I'm really up for going anywhere. I know for a fact I want to go back to Ethiopia. Be a better Christian. Totally sold out. Not just when I feel like it or it fits my schedule (Sunday School answer, but heavens knows we all need improvement). I really thought I would have more things I wanted to do before 100, but apparently I'm not nearly as interesting as I thought. And secretly, I don't think I want to make it to 100. I don't want to wait another 71 years to see my little sis again. (Written with a smile, no tears today.)

I'll tag Brittany, Lauren and Manda. If y'all want to do it, knock yourself out! :)

"All gone!"

The hair. It's gone. You know what hair I'm talking about. Cousin Tristan is well over 2 years old and just received his first hair cut a couple of months ago. This is so significant it had to be documented...

You remember him before. Looks a little like Richard Simmons gone bad...(I had fixed his hair this day. I looked better when his mommy fixed it.)


The process. I'm certain he lost at least 17 pounds when they cut his hair. And he only weighed 22 pounds before the haircut.



And the finished process. So handsome!


He kept touching his head and saying, "All gone!" And his cousin Charlie has asked me on numerous occasions, "Why Tristan's mommy make him a girl??" Ha. Sorry, but that's just funny!!

Either way, he is super cute and we miss Tristan!!

Da beach

So, we went to the beach before school started sans Daddy. (Hey, someone has to make money!) And yes, Kim, I'm just getting around to posting pictures.

We avoided the oil-ridden water in favor of playing in the sand and hanging at the pool. I stand by my earlier statement that going to the beach with kids is the last thing from relaxing. Really, doing anything with kids and relaxing don't go together, but we still had a blast. Sam decided mid-summer that he no longer needed to cling to another human being in order to be in the water and the three (yes, three) flotation devices would most likely keep his head above the water. So, that little bit of independence from him did make this beach trip a little easier than the first one this summer.


We did have a casualty while in Pensacola. Sam's monkey went MIA. Pretty sure he got left in the hotel hallway and walked off from there. It really upset Charlie more than Sam, who forgot about the monkey four and a half seconds after we lost it. Charlie still reminds me that Sam's monkey is "in the beach". Oh, well. I guess I left my mommy compassion at the beach, too. (That's another post altogether.)

The boys decided to total cover themselves in sand, which results in a natural exfoliant and super soft skin. I used to complain about those kids that got in the hotel pool to finish washing the sand off. Now I have those kids.



We tried to take some group pictures, but due to the sun shining, which it tends to do on occasion, what we ended up with was a lot of funny looking squinty faces and very few actual smiles.





And a few randoms...

Misfits

This morning, Sam decided he would give me a little more help than I actually wanted in dressing him. He wanted to do it himself, so I let him take the lead, giving help where needed. Long story short, we ended up with our pants on our head and one leg in the neck of our shirt and the tail of the shirt tucked into our underwear. That's how he wanted it. So, we ran around house like that for a few minutes until I squashed his imagination and made him put things in the proper places. I just didn't really think it was appropriate to take him with me to get my haircut with his Thomas the Train undies hanging out. We were showing a little too much leg for the general public.


Fast forward to this evening, which was backwards night at AWANA'S. Everything you can comfortably get on backwards, goes that way. (I don't recommend wearing zipping pants backwards. Makes going to the bathroom with a partner imperative. Just my observations...) Now, you would think Sam would be all for this arrangement after our morning adventures, but for some reason it totally stressed him out to have his clothes on backwards. We handled it long enough for Mommy to take a picture and then our hat and vest were returned to their rightful places.

RIP: Louie the Lumina

If you knew me in high school, you can look at this picture and immediately know why I'm distressed. That's my first car! Louie the Lumina!

September 6, 2010: Volunteers from the Morris Fire Department, above, use a new K-12 saw on Wednesday to cut into a car during a demonstration of new equipment purchased with a $5,000 grant from the Cawaco Resource Conservation and Development Council. www.njeffersonnews.com

Sam and I were in Alabama for part of the long weekend, for several reasons, the top of the list being that mom decided to flood their house last week, resulting in the unscheduled gutting of the 1st floor. Several long trips to Home Depot and Lowe's followed. And somebody had to act as decorating consultant. (Dear State Farm Insurance Adjuster Guy, please read the sarcasm in the above sentence. Obviously mom didn't purposely flood the house, since it happened at 3 AM. But it makes for better reading if I state it that way.) I have strayed so far from the original point of this post...

Refocus.

Saturday mom came in with the front page of The North Jefferson News. This story was featured about how the Morris Fire Department was experimenting with their new emergency equipment. On my CAR!! Rewind a couple of years ago and you'll know that my dad donated 'ol faithful Louie to the MFD, which I guess is okay since it hadn't actually run in quite some time.

Still, my first car is no more. But at least Louie has now devoted himself to helping others. At least until he is in too many pieces to care anymore.

I promise to return to the boy's recent atics tomorrow. I know you could care less about a 20-year-old car.

Little School

Sam started "little school" today, which translates to mean he is accompanying me to Mother's Day Out where I will be working several days a week.

His biggest concern was where his new lunch box was and what was in it. That's all he's talked about all day. We couldn't even walk out the door this morning until he was assured that his lunch box was safely tucked away in his backpack. We do have priorities, you know. That, and cars. He needed to know he would have cars to play with.

I think he had a good day. I asked his teacher if he had obeyed during the morning. She immediately replied, "Yes. Well...no." All I need is a little honesty. I know he has trouble sitting still and obeying directions that haven't come from mommy or daddy, but if his teacher is oblivious to the fact, it's gonna be a long year for all involved. I'm hoping the exposure to this new group setting where he is expected to participate and follow directions will go a long way. Plus, he's just so darn cute, how can you not just laugh at him...


Excuse the snotty nose. It's just part of who Sam is these days...

Chunky Cheese

I don't remember the last time I went to Chuck E. Cheese's, but I can for sure tell you when I'll be going back...Not for a very long time. Can we say sensory overload??

One of the things about Charlie's little personality that makes me laugh is his ability to be so melodramatic and blow most things out of proportion. He is most certain that life is so unfair and he never gets to do anything. Now, aside from the fact that his first years of life were spent in a third-world country most likely just trying to survive, which IS totally unfair for any child, he now has it pretty good. Despite this, every time he sees a Chuck E. Cheese commercial, he lets me know that he has never been and he wants to go. My response is typically that we will talk about it later, mainly because I'm usually in the middle of making him breakfast or some other task to make sure the remainder of his day is perfect. I am always met with a HUGE sigh and a melancholy statement like, "I never get to go Chunky Cheese." Chunky Cheese. Notice that we are so certain we need to go to this magical place he sees on television that he doesn't even know the actual name.

All that aside, we decided some time ago to take the boys to "Chunky Cheese" on their "Gotcha Day" as a special treat. We made sure that they knew it was a VERY SPECIAL TREAT, so as to not have to go back any time soon. Hopefully.

I hope they had fun, because I have no intentions of returning soon. The chaos was worth the smiles we got...

A better fit

Well, we overshot ourselves a little bit with 2nd grade and ended up back at square one in a new class, new teacher, new friends and new grade this week. Seems that 1st may have been a little more suited for our little guy and despite his best efforts to talk us out of it, that's where we are.

This doesn't change his genius status, after all, he still belongs to me. We were just missing so much of the foundational things that you learn in kindergarten and 1st, that even comprehending what was being taught was a struggle. Kinda hard to diagram a sentence when you don't even speak in complete sentences yet.

I knew we had made a good decision when he came home Monday talking non-stop and telling me all about what he learned and what they did in class. Last week, he couldn't tell me anything because his little brain was working overtime just to try to compute what was going on.


Another shot of the first day of school...Aren't they cute?? Now, if I could only get Sam to wear cute bows like that...

Let the fun continue...

First day as a family of four...August 24, 2009!


And a year later, minus the forehead stickers...August 24, 2010!


The boys look like they are on crack and we look exhausted because we had just returned from a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. More on that later. Can you say overstimulation? Never again...

Lifesong Rocks. Period.

Lifesong for Orphans is the organization our church partners with to assist with the financial side of adoption. The hard part.

Without help from Lifesong, Highview and Louisville Orphan Care Alliance, Charlie & Sam may still be on the other side of the world. And that, my friends, is not okay!

Check out their post from today...

Gotcha.

This very moment a year ago, I was trying to choke down (and I use that term very loosely) a little breakfast (also, used loosely since what I really wanted was a McMuffin) in anticipation of meeting the two little boys we had fallen in love with only on paper.

Of course, in typical Ethiopian fashion, no one was in any kind of hurry to go any where this particular day, so I quit pacing the lobby of our guesthouse, sat down and figured I had waited this long…what was another couple of hours? Although, if I had been forced to wait much longer, there was a goat on the front stoop who was about to strike a trail with me on its back.

365 days. It wasn’t a leap year, was it?

8,760 hours. 525,600 minutes.

31,536,000 seconds.

31,536,000,000,000,000 nanoseconds. Really. Look it up. I honestly can’t even say that number.

But that’s how long I’ve had both these boys in my hands. And God willing, I will keep them here a billion times longer.

One year ago, we went from two to four. Will never go back. Wouldn’t change one nanosecond of this blessed chaos...



Happy “Gotcha Day”, Charlie & Sam!!

Recap

Well, a recap of the past few first days of school...

Did you have fun at school? "I don't know." Did you learn anything at school? "I don't know." What did you eat for lunch? "I don't know." Did you make any new friends at school? "I don't know." Did you play on the playground? "I don't know." What did you do in music class? "I don't know." Who do you sit by in class? "I don't know." ...Is this what I have to look forward to for the next 10 years of our school life??

As you can see, some of the details have been vague. Very vague. What I do know is this...It is totally not fair that he has to do homework at night after being at school all day. Even though if done correctly the first time (which doesn't always happen because we have a most difficult time paying attention), should only take him about 15 minutes to complete. And no one played with him on the playground. When questioned further, no one was playing with him because he was sitting on the sidewalk. Not playing. Kinda difficult to play if you are sitting on the ground. Still working on those social skills.

He has been most excited about going back to school since our uncertain first day. Although he told me this morning he was too tired and needed to go back to bed. Even requested to go to bed at 7:00 pm instead of 8:00 pm so he wasn't tired! Ha!


Wednesdays are Chapel Day. Doesn't he look most handsome in his Chapel Day uniform? Like a little man!!

And Sam has done great being home with just Mommy! I was a little worried about how he would do, but he seems to thrive when he has time to play on his own. I've discovered a love for books I didn't realize was there and we have actually made great progress on learning our letters and the sounds they make. Which we have been working on since we came home, but I guess the individual attention makes all the difference in the world. He talks all the time, which is also a new thing. I guess with Charlie around running his mouth all the time, Sam didn't feel like he could get a word in edge wise. Now he can!! And my favorite part? Having my little buddy join me to snuggle in the bed in the morning to watch cartoons. That never happen when they were both up and ready to go!

First Day of School

I just sent my oldest out the door for his first day of school. And I didn't even cry. Yet.

And I've only been a parent just shy of a year.

And our first day of school isn't kindergarten or even 1st grade. We are skipping straight to 2nd. Yeah. He's a genius.

Some things just never pan out the way you imagined they would, like sending your oldest to school after only having him home a year, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

He was a mixed ball of scared and excited, but I think he will do great. He teeters on the edge of driving me nuts all day long with his questions about everything, so I have no doubt that he'll be teaching me things by the time he gets home this afternoon.


He's pretty stinkin' cute though, you have to admit. With his belt wrapped around his waist four and a half times.

And you want to know what is in his lunch box for the first day of school? Requested especially by him? No, not a PB & J or even a ham sandwich. Chili. Only my little Ethiopian would want chili for lunch when it is 3,000 degrees outside. Anything for him.

I'll let y'all know how the first day goes. I can feel myself getting dumber the closer he gets to school...

Grilled peacock? Tastes like chicken.

On one of our recent trips to the zoo, Charlie and I had a conversation while in the bird area that went a little like this…


“Mommy? I not see this porkchop.”
“Huh?”
Points to a picture on a photo board. “This blue porkchop. I not see him today.”
“Ummm…that’s a peacock, not a porkchop.”

Long pause.

“Oh.”

We have grilled porkchops on a pretty regular basis since that’s one of our favorites. I wonder if all this time that’s what Charlie thought he was eating. Poor peacock.

Poor Charlie.

Yeah. Those kind of friends.

We all have those friends that are from our early years that no matter the time or distance that seperates us, you always pick up exactly where you left off. Well, those friends came to visit a couple of weeks ago.

I'm not going to go into huge explanations of pictures, because there are just some things you have to be present for in order to appreciate their hilarity. And even then, you might think us slightly disturbed. (And these are not even the funny pictures.) We are, after all, pushing 30 and still acting like middle schoolers when we all get together. There are other pictures and video, that will only surface again when we are long gone and our children are going through our things. And even then they will question our maturity levels.





Thanks Dara, Emily, Jennifer & Jennifer for visiting!

Preoccupied

We've been a little preoccupied enjoying the last few weeks of summer and up to our necks in, well, sand.


But don't cry...we'll be back soon.

Conservation Tip #458

It's important to save all the water you can. Even that pesky water that gets stuck in your ears after Daddy squirts you with the water hose. If you do this Ethiopian tribal dance, you are gauranteed to remove any object stuck in your ear. Maybe.