Armstrong Adventures

reminder: Give Away!

2011-05-04T21:50:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to remind you all that tomorrow is the last day to enter my give away! I am drawing a name and the winner gets to choose a set of Sarah's coasters!

I really want to help her get the word out about her adoption fundraiser. Not many people have entered... YET! So your chances of winning are GREAT people! To enter just post a link to her blog on your own blog or facebook page. Then leave me a comment and tell me which set of coasters you like best.

GIVE AWAY!! GIVE AWAY!!

2011-04-29T12:21:00.000-04:00

I am really excited to be hosting a little blog give away. I have never done this, but hope it helps my friend Sarah get the word out on her adoption fundraiser.

Sarah is currently in the process of adopting a little boy from Ethiopia. You can read about their family at Journey to Noah's Brother

So! What am I giving away??

A set of these awesome coasters!

What do you need to do to enter this give away?? (pick 2)

1. Post about Sarah's fundraiser on your blog. Include a link to http://ethiopiaminusone.blogspot.com/

2. Post about it on facebook and include her link.

3. Add Sarah's blog button to your blog and stay in touch with her.

4. Tell me which coaster design you like best.

Leave a comment and let me know how you entered to win!

What do you win??

You will win a set of 4 coasters...you pick your favorite design.

Giveaway will end on Thursday and I will draw a winner on Friday, May 6.

Sarah is selling these coasters for $15 (set of 4) Plus $5 to have them shipped.

Thanks for participating in the give away and helping to support another adoptive family!

Invite Someone to Church!!

2011-04-21T23:02:00.000-04:00

They showed this at Highview over the weekend. I love it!

Exciting News!!

2011-04-18T22:24:00.000-04:00

The last few weeks we have been having lots of fun. I definitely have things that I want to blog about. However, I have been super busy getting ready to start MY NEW JOB! Yes, you read that right...momma got a J.O.B!

A few weeks ago, Susan called from Arise for Children and offered me a position! To say that I was excited is an understatement. Although I wasn't planning on going back to teaching for another year, there was no way I could pass this up! I have been praying for an opportunity like this for a while. WOW! I can't believe I actually get to go to work and do something that I am passionate about.

So, needless to say I have been crazy busy finding a preschool for the kiddos. I FINALLY found one that I trust with Avery's allergies. And, boy, have I been pumping up preschool! Gracie has been great about talking it up too. ;) To my surprise, Avery actually has been excited about it. She was really happy this morning and couldn't wait to get there. BUT, once we got there that all changed! HA! Dawit cracked me up. He walked in and I got his things situated. I kissed him and told him goodbye and he smiled and said, "Bye!" to all his teachers. He was blowing them kisses and everything. He thought WE were leaving...not just me. :) He did fuss...for all of 30 seconds and then he was off and playing. Avery had a tough few minutes and really didn't want me to leave her. But, NO tears! So that was good. I was the only one who cried! Both kiddos were very happy to see me this afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow morning will go smoothly.
Here are my big kids this morning before their first day of preschool!

Gracie was doing something to make them crack up...I couldn't get a decent picture because they were laughing so hard!

My first day went great. I feel like I have to learn a lot. The process and requirements have changed a lot since we went through it. I am eager to learn and really get started though.

I am so excited and thankful to be working with all our families and to be working for such a great agency!!

Week 2 Total

2011-04-17T21:16:00.000-04:00

YEAH! James and I counted all the changed that is filling our bowl. I am so excited that half way through our collection month, we have a total of $68.11!! WHOO WHOO!
Our goal was to collect one hundred dollars...so we are getting close!

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by and thrown some change in....brought us bags of piggy bank change from home...and prayed for our friends in Ethiopia and the work of Eyes That See.

Month of Change-Week 1 Total

2011-04-09T21:02:00.000-04:00

We have been collecting change in a big fish bowl on our kitchen table for a total of one week now. The girls ask for our change everyday. If anyone comes over to visit, they ask for their change too! Well, this morning the girls and I counted all the change. Are you ready for the grand total for our first week??

$42.97

I am so excited that we collected this amount in ONE week! I can't wait to see how much we have collected by the end of April!

Our friends at Eyes That See have been posting some GREAT stories about students and women that benefit from their programs. Their son Ezra wrote an amazing post, from his perspective, about what life looks like for too many children in Ethiopia. I really encourage you to read it.

Who Let The Dogs Out?!

2011-04-06T21:14:00.000-04:00

Well, after I recently posted about Avery's lullaby request, many of you made a request of your own. :) No, this is not a video of me singing Who Let the Dogs Out.

While the girls were dancing tonight, I took video of them singing and dancing. Enjoy the show....

NeNe's Birthday Celebration

2011-04-05T21:32:00.000-04:00

Last week we celebrated my moms birthday! (march is another busy birthday month for us.) Most of our crew headed to Lindsay and Tim's house for our take on Qdoba. After we all had full bellies we sang Happy birthday and enjoyed some chocolate cake. Yummy...my favorite.

Mom loves to work the puzzles in the paper, which is where I got the idea for the cake.

Then, of course we tried to get a picture of NeNe with all the grand kids. It gets harder and harder each time we try.

By the time we tried to take a picture with Nanny and the kids...they were past the point of no return. It was chaos!

As I was scanning through the many out takes, I came across this one. It shows the new face Dawit has. Oh, he makes me laugh when he does it!

Month of Change

2011-04-05T16:03:00.001-04:00

We are so excited to partner with Eyes That See for a "Month Of Change". Throughout the month of April we will be collecting change for different projects in Ethiopia. The girls and I made our collection jar last week. While we were making it, I talked to to the girls about what the money will be used for. It was great to hear Gracie tell our neighbor that we are collecting money for moms in Ethiopia to attend school. And then to hear Avery pray for our friends in Ethiopia is sweet music to my ears.

Here is a note from Eyes That See that describes why we are doing this and the impact it will have...

This month you are joining people around the United States too see the lives of people in Ethiopia. The coins dropped here will benefit women within the Keziah Project and the students within our after school program.

For the past few months we have been working with a group of ten women. They have received meals, counseling, support, and community. At the same time, they have trained to become hairdressers. Through this project, many of the women have found a hope in Christ that they have never known before. As this month begins, these women are starting careers as brand new women.

We also work with 20 students who currently attend school. These students have no parents, yet have not used that as an excuse to give up on what God has for them. Each of these students come to our compound after school for a great meal, some free time playing soccer, and tutoring. They return on Saturdays with friends to learn to study the Bible. The joy on their faces shows that they are kids again. Few things are more satisfying.

I am really excited to be a part of this. I pray daily for the people of Ethiopia and specifically for the families that this change will impact. I also pray that my kids would have a huge heart for others.

The girls have emptied their piggy banks and our coin jar. I joked with Matt, from Eyes That See, said told him soon they would be searching the couch cushions! WELL GUESS WHAT? Today they brought some more change to the table and I asked where they found it. "Under the couch cushions!!"

So, if you come around my kitchen table....bring change! And don't be surprised if Gracie corners you, like she did my sister this morning, and asks you to empty your change purse! Remember it is going to a good cause! Head on over to Eyes That See and read about all the incredible work they are doing in Ethiopia. I am sure it is not too late to start a collection jar of your own!

lullaby

2011-04-04T20:58:00.000-04:00

It is part of Avery's bedtime routine that I sing her a lullaby. I always ask which one she wants me to sing...and after thinking about it, she ALWAYS chooses "mary had a little lamb." (always!)

Tonight I asked her which lullaby she would like me to sing. She said, "The one about the dogs."

I was confused.

"Which one about the dogs?" I asked.

"You know, who let the dogs out? woo woo woo." and she put her little hands up like claws when she said it.

TOO FUNNY!
Wondering why in the world my 3 year old is requesting that song? We have Just Dance Kids on the Wii and she loves that one. :)

On another note...anyone have any suggestions as to why blogger won't let me upload any pictures? It says "server rejected"

Books of the Bible-Gracie's Rendition

2011-03-30T15:31:00.001-04:00

I just showed Gracie and James the video that Avery did earlier of her singing the books of the bible. Gracie immediately said, "Video me singing it and put it on the blog!" Gracie does put a little flare into it and plays her ukulele while she sings. She is definitely our little performer!

Books of the Bible: Avery Style

2011-03-29T18:43:00.000-04:00

Gracie has been working hard to memorize the books of the bible for AWANA. We listen to her sparks cd with the song NONSTOP! So, needless to say, we have all learned the books of the bible! Avery is so stinkin cute doing it, I had to video her and share with you all. If you listen closely, you will hear that she makes up some of the names!

Swimming Lessons

2011-03-28T22:16:00.000-04:00

On Saturday the girls had their first swimming lesson. Since both girls are beginner swimmers, they are in the same class. (thankfully, for this momma!) I got to go in the pool area, watch, and take pictures....just this first week though. All went well, except when Avery drank about half of the pool!

Gracie would NOT let go of her teacher! No kidding..she was holding on for dear life!

Overall, I think they did good for their first lesson. They are already looking forward to next Saturday!

In case you are wondering where the pictures are of Dawit's swimming lessons....he missed his class. Stomach bug.

Gross.

Glad it was only a 24 hour bug.

That's all I am going to say about that.

BUT, we are looking forward to Friday when I get to take him. I know he is going to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

True Woman Retreat

2011-03-28T22:02:00.001-04:00

Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time with my Father and some girlfriends at Highview's women's retreat. We headed up to a lodge in Indiana and had a wonderful time! No diaper changes, runny noses, or a million questions!! I actually got to eat dinner and have some good, adult conversation. Then we had great sessions on prayer and biblical womanhood. Some of my favorite "take aways" from this weekend....

* Titus 2:4-5
"Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."
These are seven virtues of a godly woman....and I know I can't accomplish them on my own!

* Matthew 7:24
"Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."
My prayer is that I would actually DO more of God's word, not just read it.

Aside from great teaching, I had great company. Here are some pictures of the girls. Do you believe we stayed up until 3:00 AM talking???

My roomies (minus one)

I said, "Act like you are having fun!"

about 2:00 am

My tired roomies after a late night.

What's up with the kids???

2011-03-20T22:08:00.000-04:00

I am not sure why I haven't taken the time to blog lately. Actually, I do know why...we have been busy! But, busy doing fun things that I want to share! So, here is a quick catch up. (if I don't catch everyone up, my Umey is going to fuss at me more and I don't want that!)

Gracie is doing great. If you know her, you know she has her "own style" that is "very fashionable." Here is the outfit she put together the other day. My runway description: Gracie is wearing her suede, tan boots paired with her black skinny jeans rolled up to her knees. Her teal and green tunic top is layered with her navy blue school sweater.

Yep. I think she gets her "fashionable" style from her momma!

My next funny Gracie story is over the top! This past weekend she went to her friend Noah's birthday party. She loves Noah. We met him and his mom (Sarah) at an airport homecoming and the kids hit it off right from the start! Anyway, she was sooo excited about the party. She made Noah's birthday card. She kept asking James how to spell certain words. Here is the final product. Sarah said it was pretty much a marriage proposal. HA!

Here is the good part...

In case you can't read it, it says:

"You are loveing

You are handsome

You are cuet

I like you

You are like a flower"

I am laughing just typing that little Hallmark card she wrote!

Here they are at the birthday party!

Dawit is doing good as well. However, he has definitely reached the TERRIBLE TWOS! That boy gets into EVERYTHING! and when I correct him (which, is really quite often) this is the new look he gives me....
He wrinkles his forehead and tilts his head down. (I wonder if I ever look down at him over my glasses like that??)

And my Avery is as sweet as ever! She tells me everyday, "Momma, I love you more than anything." See, I told you she was sweet! Last week she got to play with her friends and celebrate a birthday too.

One more thing about Av....the girl never lays down in the afternoon for a nap. She won't sit still that long. BUT, she does fall asleep almost every day while we drive to get Gracie from school. The bad thing about this is that we just aren't in the car that long. Thankfully she sleeps hard enough that I can bring her inside and lay her on the couch without her waking up. Well, one day last week, I did just that and she was sleeping on the couch. I looked over and saw this...

She had fallen off the couch and was STANDING there still ASLEEP! The funniest part of the story is that her knees kept buckling and she would start to fall and then shoot back up to standing. I tried to catch that on video, but of course, couldn't get it on tape. Take my word for it, it was funny.

We also got to celebrate Tagan's 2nd birthday. He is from Ethiopia and shares a birthday with Dawit. Neat, huh? The kids had so much fun at the gym.

Dawit LOVED playing in the ball pit. He would have stayed there all day if we let him.

Where's Avery???

All three kiddos start swimming lessons this week. That should be FUN! I will post about that over the weekend. I also have some other things to share. I promise I will do it soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAWIT!!

2011-03-08T16:58:00.000-05:00

Today our little man turns TWO!

He started his day at the doctors office for his check up...which was no fun. It took the doc a while to come in and Dawit kept saying, "All done....Bye" His actual checkup was great. His ear infections are gone and his tubes seem to be working now. He weighed in at 26.4 pounds (20th percentile). He is also 31 1/2 inches tall, which falls into the less than 5th percentile. Yep, he's short. Unfortunately he had to have some blood drawn and get a shot. Boy, did that make him MAD!! He screamed and cried. When his favorite nurse tried to let him pick a sucker, he swatted the bucket away. While he continued to scream I got a sucker and stuck it in his mouth. Immediately he stopped screaming. It was hilarious how quickly he stopped and was giving the nurse high fives!
Here he is in the car enjoying his sweet treat. Even though he is smiling, you can still see his big tears under his eyes.

And here is what happened when it was all gone....

We have done so much celebrating over the last week that we are keeping today low key. Here are some pictures from our get together with MawMaw and Amber.

We got him a Melissa & Doug block puzzle. If you put the front part of the animal together with the rear part, it makes the animal sound. :)

This is hilarious. I included all the pictures as we were bringing his cupcake to him. He was so stinkin excited he could barley contain himself. It was just so cute. In the last week, he has learned a new word: cupcake!

Attempting to blow out his candles...

He knows he needs to pray before he eats! :)

Avery enjoyed all the cake and (milk free) ice cream! She keeps asking when her birthday is.

We have a few more cupcakes to finish off tonight. I am going to try to video how excited he gets so I can show you. Too cute!

Happy Birthday Dawit!

We love you!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

2011-03-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

On Friday our sweet Grace turned 6. I can't believe my little girl is SIX!!

In the morning we stopped and picked up some doughnuts for her class. Of course, they were a big hit. Gracie was so cute in her birthday hat. They sang "Happy Birthday" to her and then they sang the "Birthday Bongo" song. That was funny. Here she is playing the bongo while her class sings. :)

Later that night a few of her friends and her cousin came over for a Pinkalicious SLUMBER PARTY!! Can I just saw how loud 5 little girls can be?? They had so much fun though! First they had dinner. Gracie chose to have pizza. I included pickles, cucumbers, and grapes....they had to eat green stuff. (haven't you read the book?) Here is the dining room all decked out in pink.

After dinner they played for a while. James and I had some good laughs when they were playing Just Dance Kids on the Wii.

After she opened her gifts, we had cupcakes. PINK, of course!

When James asked Dawit if he wanted a cupcake, he RAN to his highchair yelling "Yeah!"

Dawit was clean for all of two seconds! He had pink icing in his hair (smooshed in) and even behind his ears! How did he do that?

It was a fun night. A late night....but fun. At 11:30 I was beyond tired and they were still awake! Here are some more pictures of her fun night!

This morning daddy made PINK pancakes with pink syrup and strawberry yogurt. They thought the heart shaped pancakes were so cool. (hey...I am a cool momma!)

As a little gift to all her friends, we got them a bottle cap necklace from Deena with each of their names on it. They loved it! (thanks, Deena)

Needless to say, all three kiddos crashed tonight without so much as a peep!

One last party tomorrow after church. Mawmaw, Pawpaw, and Amber are coming over to celebrate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACIE!

WE LOVE YOU!

What a GIFT!

2011-03-02T22:23:00.000-05:00

Today a dear, dear friend gave the kids their birthday present. It wasn't the latest video game or newest cool toy. It was something WAY BETTER and WAY COOLER!! I feel like it is my birthday....I am so stinkin excited!!

Her family decided that they would sponsor a woman in Ethiopia in honor of my kiddos. SEE, I TOLD YOU IT WAS BETTER than a toy. What a sweet and thoughtful gift. I love to see the trickle down affect of our adoption. Adopting Dawit from Ethiopia has opened so many eyes to how good we have it and how so many people struggle. I can't say enough how much I appreciate this gift. My prayer is that Gracie would realize how special it is too.

Soon, a woman in Ethiopia is going to have HOPE and the opportunity to learn a trade that will provide her an income that will support her family. In the process she will also hear about Jesus and how much he LOVES her. How He has plans for her future.

Now, aren't you excited? This is life changing stuff here guys!

I strongly encourage you to check out Eyes That See and all the good work they are doing in Ethiopia.

Thanks again, Friend.

Field Trip

2011-03-02T13:08:00.000-05:00

Last week I was able to go on Gracie's field trip. I met them downtown at the Science Center. I haven't been there in a long time and Gracie has never been, so we were both looking forward to it. I think she had a great time. They got to watch an Imax movie, explore the museum, and take a class on creepy crawly critters!

Stephanie was nice enough to send these pictures she took.
Here the girls are shooting marshmallows on little spoon catapults!

I had a blast spending time with her! (although my teacher tendencies did come out a few times when kids were goofing off!) :)

Our American, Ethiopian Birthday with a Lebanese Twist

2011-02-28T22:39:00.000-05:00

On Sunday we celebrated Gracie's 6TH birthday and Dawit's 2ND birthday. I can't believe that I am a mom to a SIX year old! I just can't believe she is getting so big!

This is going to be another week long celebration. Gracie's birthday is actually on Friday and Dawit's is next Tuesday. We celebrated yesterday with a huge Lebanese feast. It was soooo yummy! Does anyone else think it is a little funny that my Ethiopian had Lebanese on his birthday?

Just like Christmas, Dawit wasn't really into opening his gifts. That was just fine with Avery! She opened all his gifts and blew out his candle. :) Even though he didn't care about tearing through the paper, he enjoyed playing with the boxes and eventually got to the actual gifts. His favorite was a leapfrog toy mom and dad got him....LOTS of noise and buttons to push! He also got some moola that we are going to put toward swimming lessons. Here his is opening his truck with NeNe. He got a firetruck too. More boy toys, yeah!

James and I got Gracie a Leapster and a Scooby Doo math game. She was really excited! Lindsay got her a Tangled spelling game to go along with it. She also got some really cute clothes....had to try them on when we got home and model in front of the mirror to "make sure they are cute."

I love this picture of mom and the girls.

Happy Birthday to Gracie!

Happy Birthday to Dawit!

Dawit LOVED the cake. Are you surprised??

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my boy!

While we were finishing lunch, Dawit was playing in the kitchen. When we heard him fussing I looked and saw this....

I couldn't figure out why he was crying. Then I saw this... Notice his diaper is caught on the drawer knob. I couldn't stop laughing!! I grabbed my camera and continued to laugh all the while he was stuck and crying! I just thought it was so funny! Every time he tried to stand up, he couldn't. He just kept pulling the drawer out.

Later this week Gracie is having a slumber party with her cousin and one of her friends. (AM I CRAZY??) It is a pinkalicious party...so my dining room table is a sea of pink as I prepare for Friday. Look for more birthday fun posts in the coming week. I think we have three more parties. Fun times!

I just love my little family!

Sweet Words, From Gracie

2011-02-10T12:05:00.000-05:00

As a teacher, I always loved reading the works of young writer's. I just think it is so cute how they sound out words. For me, sometimes it was like that game "Mad Gab". You have to decipher their words. :)

Gracie brought this home from Sunday school this weekend. She filled out little notes to God.

Let me translate...

God, I thank You because "you help me"

God, I am sorry because "I am sorry that I make bad choices"

God, please help "me to love some other"

I mean, REALLY, is that not the sweetest thing??

My Messy Eater

2011-02-08T21:49:00.000-05:00

Dawit is at that age where he wants to do everything. This includes feeding himself. Most days I don't care...I know he needs to practice to ever learn! BUT, I do dread the mornings when he has yogurt.

Yes, that is yogurt on his eyebrow. And yes, he is drinking out of his sisters princess cup. :)

Happy Birthday Papa

2011-02-05T21:39:00.000-05:00

Today is my dads birthday!! This morning we called him and all sang "Happy Birthday"....Gracie added in the "and many more, until you're 104." I guess that is something they teach you at school because I can't imagine where she learned it. :)

Tonight we all went to Lindsay's house to celebrate. My Granny asked Lin what she could bring. Lin told her earplugs!! (wait...our 5 kids ARE NOT loud!)

Dad loves to play cards so I made him this cake. Yum!

And these cupcakes

Here, Reese is practicing (read: yelling) her "happy birthday" song. Dawit saw the camera and came running. What a smile.

Our attempt to get a group shot...

Okay, they are being fairly cooperative...get Ellie...fast!

Papa and all his sweet grand kids. (I bet I took 20 pictures and this is the best I got. Dawit refused to get any closer to Grace.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

MIA

2011-01-30T15:25:00.000-05:00

Some of you may have noticed I have been missing in action lately. (at least I hope some of you noticed...ha!) The last few weeks have been pretty rough in our house. First Avery got sick...I will spare you the details and just leave it at "sick". She had been sick for about a week when Dawit got it. About that time Gracie brought home some unwelcome guests from school. I broke down and cried a few times on Thursday because I was tired of everyone being sick. (thankfully I have great family and friends that bring starbucks and dinner to help me out.) Wellll, guess who got sick next?? MOMMA! (figures) Now, after a few days of laying around I am finally feeling better (not great). Since I have an awesome hubby, he has taken over all household and kid duties since he got home Friday. The problem? Now he is upstairs laying down because he doesn't feel good. BLAH!

Hopefully we will all be back to normal and having fun soon. Then maybe I'll have better things to write about than being sick.

GIVEAWAY!!

2011-01-18T21:09:00.001-05:00

I have gotten lots of compliments on my Ethiopia necklace I ordered from Deena. I even got the girls one for Christmas and they love theirs. Gracie even showed her teacher and they got a map out and talked about Africa. :)

WELL....Deena has created some really cute new designs for her bottlecap necklaces, bracelets, and key chains! They would make great valentine gifts or fit nicely into an Easter basket. The valentines designs she has are pink and girlie. I think they would be perfect party favors for Gracie's birthday party! Won't the little girls love a cute necklace with their name on it?

Here is just one example of the cuteness!

Deena is selling them for $5 (only $1 to ship) and the proceeds benefit Ethiopia Reads. In case you are not familiar with Ethiopia Reads, they are an amazing organization that brings children's books to kids in Ethiopia. Did you know that before Ethiopia Reads was founded, there were no children's libraries in all of Addis Ababa (not to mention rural communities in Ethiopia)? Keep in mind that Addis is a city of close to three million people! No books for kids???? (of course, as a teacher...that is not acceptable!)

Please check out Ethiopia Reads and learn more about their programs...a favorite of ours...the donkey carts that bring books to kids in the countryside! Really!!!! Think bookmobile, but much more rural...a donkey is attached to a cart that is full of kids books and they deliver the books to kids in rural Ethiopia! So cool!

Please head on over to Team Marquis and place your order!! Right now she is having a giveaway too! Everybody loves a giveaway, right?

Friends in Ethiopia

2011-01-16T22:21:00.000-05:00

We had some Arise friends travel to Ethiopia during Christmas to meet their son! (Yeah...I just love that!) Lesli and Ryan's son is at KVI in Nazareth which was exactly where Dawit was! They were so nice and took one of our Christmas cards to give to Elsa and the staff there. Here is part of an email I recently got from Lesli... " Elsa was so sweet and said that she could hardly believe how much he's changed!! They were passing your card from room to room for the nannies to see :) "
It just reminds me of how much they love our little guy. We were so thankful that Lesli and Ryan were able to take the picture and let the staff know how great he is doing.

Remember....this is the picture I found on the wall at KVI when we visited Narareth on our trip.

This is what Ryan found on the wall when they visited in December....

LOVE THAT!

(Thanks for sending it Lesli!)

Celebrating ONE YEAR TOGETHER!!!

2011-01-12T22:59:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe that today marks the day that a nanny in Ethiopia placed Dawit in our arms! It seems like it was not that long ago that we were in Ethiopia, but on the other hand it feels like Dawit has been in our family forever.

I remember how tiny we was....a 10 month old in 3 month clothes. He couldn't bear any weight on his legs, couldn't sit up, and didn't eat well from a spoon. MY HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED!! He is doing so well now. I doubt his friends in Ethiopia would recognize him, aside from his big eyes and huge smile.

We are so thankful to have Dawit in our family. Each of our children are such a blessing. I can't imagine our life without him. We would have missed out on so much if we had not decided to follow Gods leading.

I put together a video that includes pictures from each month. I couldn't believe it as I looked at the pictures! It is amazing to see him get taller, fatter, have surgeries, get long hair.... WOW!

Still can't upload the actual video, so just click the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eded-G123Ow

Coutndown to Gotcha Day!!

2011-01-10T21:50:00.000-05:00

Dawit has almost been in our arms for an entire year. That simply blows my mind!! I wanted to post a video we put together a few weeks after we came home. We showed it at an open house mom and dad hosted. Everyone came to meet our newest family member and we wanted them to see the pictures from our trip. I love looking at all the photos and being reminded of our time in Ethiopia.

I'll warn you...it's long. :)
**Blogger isn't letting me post it straight to my blog. Not sure why. Anyway, just click the link.**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1VWXWfxqE8

Countdown to Dawit Day: 2 more days!!

Extreme Home Makeover Airs Tonight!!

2011-01-09T17:52:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder to turn on Extreme Home Makeover tonight at 8:00 on ABC. If you are local, WHAS is having a behind the scenes show at 6:30. Look out for my daddy...he'll be the handsome one. :)

Ganna Dinner

2011-01-07T21:55:00.000-05:00

Tonight we were able to celebrate Ganna (Christmas) with the Browns and part of the Henderson crew. We had a great time and, as always, dinner was delicious. The restaurant was packed...we saw many other families celebrating with their Ethiopian babes. Salem (the owner) told Gracie how cute she looked in her dress and told her "Merry Christmas" in amharic. :) It was a great night with great company. I am so glad to have walked this journey with the Browns and met Nat and her family along the way too. What a blessing they are to us!

Here are some pictures from tonight. The kids would not cooperate for pictures before we left. (are you surprised??) But, I did manage to get a few pictures in their traditional Ethiopian clothes. (I hate to say it, but this is the first time they have worn them!)

And here is our big group of cute (but loud) kiddos. :) Can't wait until we can go again with the Justin and Donna's boys! We'll need an even bigger table!!

Melkin Yelidet Beaal!!

Melkam Yelidet Beaal

2011-01-07T10:15:00.000-05:00

Melkam Yelidet Beaal....Merry Christmas!! Today in Ethiopia people are celebrating Christmas. Here is some info I found about how they celebrate...

Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in Africa. It still follows the ancient Julian calendar, so Ethiopians celebrate Christmas on January 7. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church's celebration of Christ's birth is called Ganna. It is a day when families attend church.

The day before Ganna, people fast all day. The next morning at dawn, everyone dresses in white. Most Ethiopians don a traditional shamma, a thin, white cotton wrap with brightly colored stripes across the ends. The shamma is worn somewhat like a toga. Urban Ethiopians might put on white Western garb. Then everyone goes to the early mass at four o'clock in the morning. In a celebration that takes place several days later, the priests will dress in turbans and red and white robes as they carry beautifully embroidered fringed umbrellas.

Most Ethiopians who live outside the modern capital city, Addis Ababa, live in round mud-plastered houses with cone-shaped roofs of thatched straw. In areas where stone is plentiful, the houses may be rectangular stone houses. The churches in Ethiopia echo the shape of the houses. In many parts of the country there are ancient churches carved out of solid volcanic rock. Modern churches are built in three concentric circles.

In a modern church, the choir assembles in the outer circle. Each person entering the church is given a candle. The congregation walks around the church three times in a solemn procession, holding the flickering candles. Then they gather in the second circle to stand throughout the long mass, with the men and boys separated from the women and girls. The center circle is the holiest space in the church, where the priest serves Holy Communion.

Around the time of Ganna, the men and boys play a game that is also called ganna. It is somewhat like hockey, played with a curved stick and a round wooden ball.

The foods enjoyed during the Christmas season include wat, a thick, spicy stew of meat, vegetables, and sometimes eggs as well. The wat is served from a beautifully decorated watertight basket onto a "plate" of injera, which is flat sourdough bread. Pieces of injera are used as an edible spoon to scoop up the wat.

Twelve days after Ganna, on January 19, Ethiopians begin the three-day celebration called Timkat, which commemorates the baptism of Christ. The children walk to church services in a procession. They wear the crowns and robes of the church youth groups they belong to. The grown-ups wear the shamma. The priests will now wear their red and white robes and carry embroidered fringed umbrellas.

The music of Ethiopian instruments makes the Timkat procession a very festive event. The sistrum is a percussion instrument with tinkling metal disks. A long, T-shaped prayer stick called a makamiya taps out the walking beat and also serves as a support for the priest during the long church service that follows. Church officials called dabtaras study hard to learn the musical chants, melekets, for the ceremony.

I think Ganna calls for a trip to the Ethiopian restaurant!!

James and I missed Christmas by a week or so when we went last year. However, we were there for Timkat. The streets were decorated with red and green banners. Many of the streets were closed so that the priests could walk down them (followed by other churchgoers). It was a very important day.

Winter Break Recap

2011-01-03T21:50:00.000-05:00

Winter break started early this year with snow days so we have been going NON STOP since mid December. Having three kiddos home everyday and being off our regular schedule was fun during times and totally crazy other times! We did lots of fun things to pass the time and keep things interesting.

One day we went to Lindsay's and made homemade pretzels. They didn't quite turn out like Auntie Annie's, but with lots of cinnamon and sugar they tasted great!

Avery rolled and squashed hers for eternity!!

Finished product...

While we were cooking the girls were downstairs playing (usually no big deal). We hear a big scream and Gracie comes up saying, "I didn't mean to!" OH NO...this can't be good!! She hit Reese with the plastic bat! After MUCH crying at least she smiled for my picture, BUT she did have a huge black eye!

Gracie had a sleepover during her break from school. Her friend C goes to church with us and is also in her kindergarten class at school. They are BFF! Gracie was so excited that she was coming over.

They fixed each others hair....great style.

They played dress up...

Poor Dawit!!! He HATED it and cried!!! I guess this is what happens when you have two big sisters. (I won't let it happen again though...this time I just couldn't stop laughing to stop it!)

We made gingerbread houses out of foam. I am a fun mom, but not crazy! No way was I going to get out the icing and other sticky stuff. Don't worry, they loved it and never missed the messy stuff.

We also got to play with friends over break. Gracie really wanted to see Kory and the girls. She was pumped when Kory let her feed M.

James and I spent one night making cookies with the girls. They had a blast and I think they used EVERY single sprinkle we had! These were Avery cookies. I am sure Santa loved them. :)

See, I told you....every single sprinkle!!

Gracie and my snow men

While we were decorating, Dawit got to eat some icing then decided to get into trouble. (he can open the dishwasher now. fun times)

So, that was our break. Everyone headed back to school and work this morning. Avery cried because she didn't want Gracie to leave. Gracie was so sweet and told Avery to just look at her picture whenever she missed her. :) It was so cute to see them hold hands walking to the car and then hug goodbye. Fast forward to this afternoon and things were back to normal. ;)

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T23:01:00.000-05:00

We had such a fun (and busy) Christmas! It all started at mom and dads house on Christmas Eve. The kids were excited about all their gifts....a few more than others.....They have been asking for pillow pets FOREVER!!

Gracie also got a mp3 player from Lin and Tim. She thinks she is hot stuff now!

We pretty much had to make Dawit open his presents. He found a dog that Ellie got and just wanted to play with it.

What a cutie!

Of course, we tried to get all the kiddos together for a picture. It actually went well. Proof:

It was such a blessing to watch all the kids on Christmas morning. I was really excited to see Dawit tear into his presents on his first Christmas home....but he didn't care in the least. In fact, on Christmas morning while we were looking at all the things Santa brought, he just kept asking to eat! (I shouldn't be surprised!!) After he ate breakfast and had time to play, he chose one of Avery's babies over all his boy toys. Seriously, we made sure to get him only BOY toys since we mainly have pink princess things.

I ordered both the girls an Africa necklace from Deena. They love mine and beg to wear it, so they were really excited when they opened one of their own.

The girls also got a barbie house. Another favorite.

Here is what our living room looked like BEFORE the kids woke up.

And this is what it looked like AFTER....

We rushed around a bit to get ready for our first stop on Christmas Day. We went to the Armstrong's for lunch. It is always a fun time. There are so many grand kids that our kids just love going over there.

It was so sweet. Lynn sat all the kids down and talked to them about how it was Jesus' birthday, that today was about Him and not about the presents. She gave each of the kids a cupcake with a candle and they sang happy birthday to Jesus!! I was praising the Lord at that moment for all He has done in James' family!

This was the moment I knew Dawit was over all the fun....

He was a trooper though, and so were the girls because after we left the Armstrong's we headed to celebrate with my dad's family. Oh! Was that fun. We did a gift exchange this year that was so much fun!! We also watched a video that my aunt Rhonda made of family memories. It was great. I know she worked really hard on that and did a great job. It was funny to hear all the little kids say, "was that you mommy?" :)

It was a busy two days, but great to see all our family and celebrate the gift of Jesus!
Merry Christmas from the Armstrong's!

Snow Days

2010-12-16T19:56:00.000-05:00

This week we have had snow and ice that resulted in no school on Monday (snow) and Thursday (ice). PLUS we just found out that school has been canceled tomorrow as well. Truth be told, I am going a little stir crazy. (OK, not a little....MAJOR stir craziness going on over here!)

I have tried to keep the girls busy with different activities. On Monday we made a Christmas scene in a shoebox with some foam stickers I got. The girls thought it was really fun. They pulled apart some cotton balls for snow and decorated their shoe boxes really cute. Here is a picture of Gracie showing off her masterpiece...
Notice the lights strung from the top and the falling snow! :) There are even stockings hung on her fireplace.

See the angel on top of her tree?

Here is what Avery created.

Monday night we did venture out to mom and dad's house for dinner. The kids got to see about 5 deer in the back yard. They thought this was really neat!

Here is the big buck.

We made chex mix on Monday also. Today I used some more of the cereal to make puppy chow! I even made it Avery friendly. I used dairy free chocolate chips and sun butter instead of peanut peanut butter. All that and she doesn't even like it!! (more for me and Gracie!)

Now I just have to figure out what we are going to do tomorrow! No way can I stay home all day again. And I definitely don't need to being cooking or baking something else for me to eat! So much for the 4 pounds I lost. :)

Dawit's First Haircut

2010-12-11T20:53:00.000-05:00

This morning I loaded Dawit into the car and the two of us headed to the barber shop down the street. I know... I gave in! I said I wasn't going to cut it, but this week his hair got a little wild.

We went to the same barber our friend Tedi used. We walked in and there were lots of people waiting...I bet we waiting over an hour! Thankfully Dawit was a trooper and did great.

His barber, David, was great. He gave me some tips on how to care for it and what products to use. His hair turned out shorter than I was hoping, but David assured me that it would come in healthier after this cut. Plus he said it was really hard to cut long hair on a baby that wiggles around a lot. I ended up having to hold Dawit in my lap, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures. :(
I was surprised when he said that I would need to bring him every 2 weeks! I told James he was going to have to start getting his hair cut there too!

So, here is my baby with his new do.....

I think I miss his curly fro.

Dawit's Ornament

2010-12-09T21:07:00.000-05:00

Several people have asked me about Dawit's ornament. Kory gave it to us last year for Christmas, right before Dawit came home. She ordered it from Mandy's Moon, which specializes in multicultural gifts.
My blogger won't let me post a picture at the moment, so just scroll down to my last post and check out his ornament on our tree.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2010-12-08T13:33:00.000-05:00

Today was full of Christmas preparation. This morning, we headed to Lindsay's house to bake cookies. What cookies, you ask? Only one of the best cookies EVER! The problem is we only get them at Christmas and usually we only get one. (mom gets a bag each year...I get one, Lin gets one, and mom gets a couple= bag empty) Yesterday when I was talking to Kory, she told me that she made a family recipe for cookies..."spring something" she said. "SPRINGERLEE??" I yelled. I was so excited! They are so yummy....licorice flavored....even better after they sit for a week or two....yummy! So this morning Kory came over and we made a couple of batches. I can't wait to cook them tomorrow. (they will go great with some Ethiopian coffee!)

Kory was so sweet. She brought each of us a cute apron. She also brought Christmas CDs to listen to.

Here I am making sure Lindsay is doing it right! :)

Here is what Lindsay thinks about that!! I didn't realize she did that until I down loaded these pictures!!

All our hard work.

A big mess. but worth it!

Tonight after dinner we put the Christmas tree up. (finally) Dawit didn't really get it, but the girls had fun putting on the ornaments. We let them put the unbreakable ornaments on the bottom half and James and I put the others up top and out of reach of little fingers. Here is the final product.

Upon closer look, you can see the part the girls decorated....

And right beside it....

I guess they just kept going right back to the same spot. James even turned the tree a bit in hopes they would decorate it somewhat evenly. Nope. I left it like that. It gives it character. :)

Here is the branch with each kiddos ornament...

And, of course, I tried to get some cute shots in front of the tree.

Now we just have to keep Dawit from breaking all the ornaments.

Let It Snow

2010-12-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

We woke up on Saturday morning to maybe an inch of snow. The girls were so stinkin excited and immediately started asking if we could go outside and play. I put it off and was a party pooper for a while....but I finally gave in. Boy, am I glad I did!! Their squeals and laughs were well worth all the wet, dirty clothes and my wet floor.

See, I told you...not much snow! but enough for them.

To my surprise Dawit LOVED it! I thought he would want to come right back in, since he HATES his big puff coat I got him. Once he saw the girls sled down our little hill he was ready to go. He slid down that hill over and over with the girls. He did take several face dives at the bottom, but didn't care. He would laugh and squeal all the way down....then go as fast as his little legs would take him back up the hill. (which was extra slow since he had on so many layers of clothes!) :)

love this laugh!!

What a cute smile. Neither of the girls would hardly stop long enough for me to snap a picture.

And down he goes!

Daddy and I even took a few turns on the sled! It was a fun morning. Since Saturday, I think it has snowed a little every day. I like to look at the pretty snow, but I don't like to go out in it. It's just so cold! I guess that explains why Avery and Dawit never got out of their fleece footie jammies this morning!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T23:14:00.000-05:00

I have so much to be thankful for!

A great hubby...

Three sweet children....

A wonderful family...

A picture with all the kids looking and smiling...

The list goes on...

We had a fun Thanksgiving on Thursday. We started the day with lunch at the Armstrong's. I ate WAY too much. I always do. They cook a lot of dishes that include cheese, which you know I don't get very often. Aside from my ham, I had mac n cheese, broccoli and cheese casserole, potato casserole....you get the picture. The kids had LOTS of fun playing with all their cousins.

Next, we headed to Sis' house for dessert with my family. None of the kids fell asleep on the ride over like we thought they would. (equals trouble...read on)

Avery and Reese put on a little harmonica concert for us. How cute are they? I love how they have their arms around each other.

After our dessert and after this concert, things started to get a little hairy. The kids were all starting to get fussy, however Lindsay and I were determined to play some family games. We even woke dad up from a nap so we could have even teams. (boys vs girls) All the adults were loud since we were playing, then the kids started getting loud and wild. At one point there was tears, but we kept playing. It was comical really.

Once we had all the kids in bed, I got ready for my Black Friday shopping. Let me preface this story by saying that Lin and I have never shopped on Black Friday. This year, we decided to try it. We mapped out our plan and were going to start at Toys r Us and then head to Old Navy at midnight. After that we might hit Walmart if Ellie was being good. (Yes, you read that right, Ellie was going. )

So, Toys r Us opened at 10, we pulled up at 9:45ish. OH MY GOODNESS!!! We were so naive! We couldn't believe the line. It wrapped around the building TWICE. (and it was cold and rainy!) We really couldn't stop laughing and saying "NO WAY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" We were so loud exclaiming this, that poor little Ellie woke up screaming! :) We turned right around and passed Old Navy and people were in line there also. It didn't open for 2 more hours!! We decided that people are CRAZY! Since Walmart was already opened, we went there next. It wasn't that bad. I found one thing that I was looking for, but realized it didn't go on sale until midnight. Luckily I ran into James' uncle and they already had a cart full so they got it for me.

Black Friday Lessons Learned:

DON'T GO!!

FIND A FRIEND THAT GOES!!

We had a great Thanksgiving and I hope each of you did also!!

Christmas Card Preview

2010-11-20T20:57:00.000-05:00

I did it! I finished my Christmas cards today and ordered them. Boy, am I on the ball! I love the way they turned out. The pictures that Brandi and Aaron took look great. I found a design (and deal) that I really like on shutterfly. I can't wait to send a few to our friends in Ethiopia. They aren't going to recognize Dawit!

Rejoice Lord King Religious Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Our Son

2010-11-18T13:16:00.000-05:00

On November 18, 2009 a court in Ethiopia declared that Dawit was OUR SON! Here is the blog post I wrote that day. As I read that post and looked at the pictures, I can't believe how much he has changed! One thing that hasn't changed much is that laugh!! :)

What a great day that was! I feel like we should celebrate or something!!

WE LOVE YOU, DAWIT!

8 Years Ago Today...

2010-11-16T22:39:00.000-05:00

8 years ago today I married a wonderful man! He is such a blessing to our family!

pictures courtesy of Gracie

And how sweet, he surprised me with roses! We celebrated on Friday night with dinner while the girls were at Cousin Camp. (and of course, we ended the night with some Christmas shopping)

And one more picture because Gracie was having fun with the camera...

Happy Anniversary Babe! I LOVE YOU!!

Cousin Camp 2010 (fall edition)

2010-11-15T14:40:00.000-05:00

On Friday we packed the girls up and headed to my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Alan's house in the country. You might remember that in the spring they decided to have a little sleepover for some of the kids that are around the same age. We dubbed it, "Cousin Camp". Well, since then the kids have been looking forward to the fall when they could do it all over again.

We dropped them off at 5 and they got to play for a while before dinner. Here they are waiting for cousin R.

After dinner they got a BIG surprise! They got to go on a hay ride in the dark! The stars look a lot brighter in the country.

After the hay ride, they played for a bit longer and then it was time to settle in for bed. They said that Avery was the last one they heard talking.

Aunt Kathy said they were up bright and early (7:00....why don't they sleep that late here??)

Saturday brought lots more fun....

Another hayride

Hide and Seek

Playing with the Walkie Talkie's

Playing in the dirt.

Riding the 4 wheeler

And, for Gracie, learning a new song and dance. "I like to Dugey Dugey. I like to Dugey Dugey. All the girls love me."

It took us a while to figure this out, but we THINK that cousin E taught Gracie the John Wall dance. (let me know if we are right or wrong)

The girls had a BLAST! Aunt Kathy and Uncle Alan are troopers for having the kids out. I am sure they slept good Saturday night! Poor Uncle Alan even sacrificed watching the UofK basketball opener AND senior day for football. Now that's love!

THANKS ALAN AND KATHY!!

LOOKING FORWARD TO COUSIN CAMP 2011!

Celebrating Arise For Children

2010-11-10T14:22:00.001-05:00

Recently, Arise for Children celebrated its 2nd birthday! On Saturday, many of the Arise families got together for a big birthday party!! It turned out fabulous, as we had about 150 people attend. Many people traveled from out of town. I got to meet my bloggy buddies, Deena and Jana. I was so excited! It was awesome to see all the kiddos running around, seeing each other for the first time on this side of the world. :) You could tell that some of the younger kids didn't really understand.

One older girl that James and I got to visit with while on our trip didn't believe me when I showed her Dawit! She said (in her sweet little Ethiopian accent, wrinkled forehead, and finger waving in the air), "That is NOT Dawit!" She kept saying it. Even her parents tried to explain how his lip had been fixed and that INDEED was Dawit. I still don't think she believed us!

It was a wonderful time of fellowship and celebrating. Unfortunately, I was too busy running around to take pictures. (I can't believe it!...not even one!) Our dear friend, Brandi, was sweet enough to take pictures in our "picture booth". That was a big hit. It was too cute to see old friends from Ethiopia with huge grins on their faces as they posed for the picture. Here are the ones of our family....

Dawit would not put down his cup!

After the party, we had dinner with the Henderson's, Marquis', and the Henessey family. I was really looking forward to spending time with them. I have been following along with Deena's family since they started with Arise at the beginning of the year. It was awesome to meet her in person. (side note: she commented on my "sweet southern accent" which cracked me up! She should meet some of my real southern friends!) Ronda and Brandi :)

LOVED finally meeting Deena!

Natalie, Deena, and yours truly

Her little Grace was adorable. Grace and Tedi are from the same village and were best buds at KVI. Can you tell she really enjoyed having Ethiopian food?

Boys at one end, girls at the other.

Jana and her family are at the beginning stages, so it was great to talk with her and encourage her. Plus they had never had Ethiopian food, which made it even more fun and adventurous. :)

And after a long dinner with LOTS of adoption talk we had to call it a night. (unfortunately!)

One last picture...everyone at the restaurant probably thought we were crazy. We had our own photo shoot!

A great ending to an incredible day!

Already looking forward to next year!

Adoption Awareness Month

2010-11-03T22:48:00.000-04:00

November is Adoption Awareness Month. This coming Sunday is Orphan Sunday. As you read the following post from my friend, Natalie, pray for God to show YOU how YOU can help an ORPHAN. I don't think everyone is called to adopt, BUT we are called to care for orphans.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:27

taken from 5 Million Minus 1.....

From www.hfgf.org: (pretty consistent with other research)...includes USA foster care system

~Every DAY 5,760 more children become orphans

~Every YEAR 2,102,400 more children become orphans (in Africa alone)

~143,000,0002 Orphans in the world today spend an average of 10 years in an orphanage or foster home

~Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…

~Every YEAR 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans and AGE OUT of the system

~Every DAY 38,493 children AGE OUT

~Every 2.2 SECONDS, another orphan child AGES OUT with no family to belong to and no place to call home

~In Ukraine and Russia 10% -15% of children who age out of an orphanage commit suicide before age 18.
60% of the girls are lured into prostitution. 70% of the boys become hardened criminals. Many of these children accept job offers that ultimately result in their being sold as slaves.

Here is Natalie's most recent post...

Counting the Cost

Here is the question. The real question of adoption. What will it cost you? Yes, it is a loaded question because "cost" in this sense is multi-faceted. Will it cost you money? Yes, whether you adopt from Shelby County, KY or Saigon. Will it cost you pride? Yes. Will your heart pay? For sure. Will it cost you friends, family, acquaintances? It may. Will it cost time? No doubt...... But more than the costs.....COUNT THE GAIN... How will you change, how will you change others, whether you adopt or support adoption, you gain....gain life. Take a look at the costs...our cost.

1) Financial: The main HANG UP. Adoption can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $35,000. Most people who desire to adopt do not have that kind of money laying around, regardless of your yearly gross income. Looking down the barrel at $25,000, as was our case, you start to doubt your financial ability to pay for an adoption, afford a child or another child, make payments on your other responsibilities while raising money, find ideas for fundraising.....but you may doubt God...not openly but in the subconscious place you may not even be able to utter aloud. I admit that I did. JT and I fortunately were able to openly discuss our doubt and had friends who prayed over our doubt.

Gain.....we did gain money...but God showed us His love and grace... As JT now says, "God shows up when ordains something." We fund raised and God provided. He moves in the heart of those around you to support you. So when doubt starts creeping in (and I still remind myself of this), you and I have to remember that if we consume ourselves with doubt, we can not see what is trying to happen before our eyes.

"He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

2) Your Heart: While deciding to adopt, your heart will toss and turn like a third trimester pregnant woman. You will debate, get excited, get discouraged, become on fire, saddened at the state of the world.....you will wonder why children have to suffer.... Your heart will definitely Feel the cost while counting the cost. But your heart will be changed, your world will be changed. It will cost you the heartache wrought by hours of inner deliberation but will free you to live a life of liberation....You will now know what is beyond your small world.... With that said, the liberation of carries its own cost.... That is where I am now. I KNOW, so now what...what ELSE can I do now that I know AND have adopted. Thus, my heart is still counting the cost, but now I stand affirmed that it is worth it... see pictures below if you don't believe me.

"Don't say, "I didn't know it!" God can read your mind. He watches each of us and knows our thoughts. And God will pay us back for what we do." Proverbs 24:12 (Contemporary English Version)

3) Who: Who will support you, be your cheerleader, wipe your tears, hold your hand, plan your shower, help fund raise, financially help, plug you in.... PRAY for you? Who will cautiously stand back unsure of their stance waiting to see 'how it goes'? Who secretly condemn your decision without asking you questions, probing your heart and theirs? Who will openly attack your decision, your heart, your future child, your finances to the point of your tears, frustration and possibly crumbling of the relationship? I have been in each of the places...simply because our adoption.... Thankfully I can say the damaged relationships are now in perpetual repair, but it can be a difficult season.....the cost. But Oh the gain. We will never know the hearts that have been changed by our adoption, NOT BY US, but by God using us to adopt. We will never know on this side of heaven if someone straddling the fence decided to move forward with adoption because of Tedi and our adoption... we will never know if a heart filled with anger and distaste for different races and cultures has been swayed, softened and re-structured. We won't know the gain of others now...we do not need to know but we must remember such gain when we are adding up our cost.

I have struggled with each of these topics deeply and this is the only reason I feel slightly capable to write about these things.

~October 2009~

~October 31, 2010~

And here is what we GAINED...

Halloween Fun

2010-11-02T22:52:00.000-04:00

We had so much fun last week. The girls were VERY excited about their costumes this year. They counted down the days to our Fall Festival at church. I got a few pictures before my camera goofed up.

My little Fred.

She insisted on being Fred. I tried to convince her to be one of the girls and she would have nothing to do with it. She loves Freddy.

Scooby Doo

Jinkies! The Gangs all here!

On Halloween Night...

The girls had lots of fun and got way too much candy. (good for mamma though! and lots of chocolate that we never buy! Sorry Avery!)

Girlie Girl

2010-11-01T21:29:00.000-04:00

I know that Gracie is a total Girlie Girl. As much as we have tried to convince her to try a sport, she only wants to dance or do gymnastics. Tonight I was really excited to see her with Dawit's glove and baseball. (the velcro kind!) :)

Avery had the ball and Gracie wanted her to throw it. She said, "Here! Throw it in my hoot." (I am laughing just tying this!) Her HOOT??!! Where did she think of this??

Gracie.....Sports.....NOT A CHANCE!!

KNOCK KNOCK

2010-10-29T22:10:00.001-04:00

If you read my previous post about the girls jokes, you know that they tell jokes that don't really make sense. Well, Natalie taught us a new one!! YEAH!
Gracie learned it quickly and actually says it right!

Avery's version is somewhat different. (She forgets to interrupt.)

Dawit has heard them tell this joke WAY TOO MANY TIMES! Since it is the only one they know, the girls tell it OVER AND OVER. Anyway, Dawit started telling it also.

Is that not funny?? Normally he will say, "na na" for "knock knock" and then say MOOOO, but he wouldn't tonight.

Hope you got a good laugh.

Thinking Ahead: Christmas Cards

2010-10-29T21:25:00.001-04:00

I know that it is Halloween, but honestly I am already thinking about Christmas. I am making my lists and buying gifts here and there. One thing that I am determined to do is send Christmas cards. The last few years I have not sent out cards.....BUT this year will be different!! Last year we were preparing to leave for Ethiopia and cards were the last thing on my mind!!

Since Brandi and Aaron took our family photos last month, I have been looking for a cute card design. I found some really cute ones on Shutterfly.

I found these Christmas designs. I can't decide which one I like. What do you think?

Isn't it hard to pick? Next, I will have to pick the photos to use. :) Decisions. Decisions.

I know this post is about Christmas cards, but here is a cute gift idea: photo calenders. This is usually the gift I give Lynn (James' mom) every year. She loves them...and cries and cries when she opens it and looks through the pictures! Good tears, I think. :)

So, I promise to be on the ball this year. Be on the lookout for your card from the Armstrong's!

Take Cover

2010-10-27T15:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday some pretty bad storms blew through our area. Kory and her girls came over and a little while after they arrived the TV cut in with news of bad weather. Both of us watched the TV and got a bit more nervous by the minute. We decided that it would be best to gather some things...just in case. So I rounded up a flashlight, radio, and then the kids and we went downstairs. The best place for us was under the stairs of our unfinished basement. Imagine the fun of that....all 5 kids plus Kory and I under the stairs! I tried to make it a bit more comfortable by putting blankets down, but it really didn't help. :) The TV eventually went off and we had to keep winding up the radio so we could hear the news. After about 5 minutes the novelty of being in a "fort" wore off for the kids. I went to the shelf and found some pretzels and goldfish. Because of the configuration of the space, all we could do was hand over the food bags, which Dawit loved. He never let go of that bag and ate them ALL! We stayed under the steps for 30 LONG minutes before the Tornado Warning passed. Here are some funny pictures of our adventure.

It was a tight space, to say the least!

Eating snacks!

Getting antsy!

Ahhhh! FREE!

Makeover Pictures

2010-10-25T21:29:00.000-04:00

Tonight the rain held off and we were able to go to the Extreme Home Makeover. The kids were so excited to see Papa! When he came over the gate they ran to him and almost knocked him down. That was his minute of R and R for the day. (maybe, week)

The house is really coming along. They have done a lot since last night when I left. They are working hard to get the house ready for the rain that is coming tomorrow.

Gracie and her cousin E sporting their hard hats.

Here is Uncle Alan with Tara's little one. (his grandson) Do you think he and my dad look alike? Naa... :)

Dad and the boss man talking business.

This build is a family affair. My cousin Todd with his son B. I love this picture!

(all in all...my dad, uncle, and 2 cousins are working everyday. My other uncle and aunt brought up their RV for the guys to stay in. Then all of us girls volunteered.)

It was really fun to see all the work they have done. The house is going to be AWESOME! I don't have plans to go back up, but I really might have to change that. It is too fun! Plus the girls really loved seeing Papa!

By the way...no Ty sighting yet. But, I did see Paige and Paul. He was right in front of me snapping pictures with the crowd, but i was wrangling Dawit and couldn't get to my camera around my neck. We saw Paige when we were walking up. She said hi to the girls. Again, I was holding Dawit and the camera was buried in the diaper bag. :) Oh well.

Makeover

2010-10-25T12:39:00.000-04:00

Last night Tara and I were able to head down to the Extreme Makeover house and volunteer. It was such an amazing sight....wish I could show you pictures, but I forgot my camera. (I was kicking myself for that one!) My family is heading back down tonight as long as the rain stops so hopefully I can take come pictures.

The build seems to be going okay. They were behind yesterday and then it started to rain. I am not sure how far that set them back. As I write this, it is raining again. I can't believe that we have gone all summer with practically NO rain and now this week WHEN WE NEED DRY WEATHER, it finally rains!!

It is amazing to see so many workers, all doing different things, cranes, dozers, etc. and nobody has been hurt! The amount of work they have done in the past two days is OUT OF THIS WORLD! I am excited to see the project as it continues.

I did get to talk to dad yesterday. He requested gum and chap stick. He said the dirt/dust tastes bad! :) He seems to still be somewhat calm, so that's good. (it's still early though) :)

Thanks for all your prayers for the project. Hopefully tonight the weather will improve and I can post some pictures.

Makeover Update

2010-10-22T21:34:00.000-04:00

For now, Joey is updating the facebook page instead of the blog. So, if you are following along you might want to check that out too.

Extreme Home Makeover

2010-10-21T22:12:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow is the beginning of one CRAZY week for my dad and his fellow builders with Elite Homes! Tomorrow is the day they will begin work on a new house for one lucky family. Can you believe that they will start tomorrow afternoon and have a house built, furnished, and ready to go by next Thursday?? Needless to say, this is going to be a wild week! I am volunteering on Sunday and we will visit again on Monday. Maybe I will see Ty!! :)

Since this will be round number 2 for Elite and Extreme Home Makeover, they know what to expect. (They built a house for the Hughes family a few years ago.) Join me in praying for the safety and health of everyone involved....and no rain....when you are building a house from start to finish in 5 days, rain is bad!!

To follow along with the progress and see pictures visit their blog.
http://www.eliteextremedream2010.com/content/index.php?com=blog

Jokes

2010-10-15T14:20:00.000-04:00

The girls both love to tell Knock Knock jokes. However, they really don't know any yet. For example, it usually goes something like this....
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Daddy
Daddy who?
Daddy driving a car!
At which point they SQUEAL with laughter!

We are trying to teach them some, but they just don't get it. Yesterday as we were taking Gracie to school and she tried a new joke.

Gracie: Avery, knock knock
Avery: Who's there?
Gracie: Chicken
Avery: Chicken who?
............................long pause.......................
Gracie: ....oh......never mind
......shorter pause........
Gracie: Avery, why did the chicken cross the road?

I couldn't stop laughing!!
I have to post these so I can remember them. My girls crack me up!
Maybe I should get them a joke book for Christmas.

Abstract Art

2010-10-15T14:09:00.001-04:00

Gracie was coloring one day last week. I told her to stop scribbling and draw a nice picture.
She looked at me and said, "I am not scribbling, mom. Its abstract."

Here she is posing with her masterpiece.

I got love!

2010-10-11T11:02:00.000-04:00

I was really excited this weekend when I opened the mailbox and saw a package! I was hoping it was my new "Got Love" shirt and it was!!

The shirt says:

got love?

adopt.

147 million orphans

I absolutely love it! I think the message gets right to the point and hits you in the gut. Kelly and her family are selling these shirts to raise money for thier adoption. They are only $15! What a deal. Want one?? Visit her blog and check out her "got love" shirts, totes, and travel coffee mugs.

And as an extra bonus, I was lucky enough to get this special "thank you" along with my shirt. :) Is that sweet, or what??

Love this song!

2010-10-10T21:48:00.000-04:00

I absolutely LOVE this song. I heard it last year in church and just cried and cried!

Today Gracie asked her daddy to play it on the computer. She has been listening to it and singing it all day. What a sweet sound!

MeMe??

2010-10-04T23:10:00.000-04:00

A few days ago my friend, Jana, tagged me to do a post about myself. (yeah, thanks for that one, Jana. :)
So, here goes....

What would your dream job be?
I think (like most people) I have gone through a long list. I started college in nursing school then finished with my Masters (plus some) in Elementary Education. Honestly, it was stressful when I worked full time. I really liked it when I worked part time though. Do I look forward to going back? No way! I love staying home this year with Avery and Dawit. So, I am doing something that I love right now! In the future, I would love to be more involved in adoption or orphan care somehow.

Where would you like to live?
I am totally content right where I am! My parents and my sis live within a couple of miles of me. James' family is not much farther than that. I would cry lots of tears if I had to move away from them! However, if they could all move with me....a beach would be nice!

In which century would you like to live?
Sorry, boring answer....I am fine with now.

What would be your last meal?
This one is hard!! I LOVE to cook and have many favorite recipes. I made Indian food tonight and it was yummy. I love Mexican, but James doesn't so I am always up for that. And you know I love some Ethiopian food. Decisions.... Decisions... For the first course :) I will have my chicken and dumplings. Second course something Mexican. Entree would be the talapia from Queen of Sheba. And the dessert course would be the layered chocolate cake my mom makes. That about covers it, I think. :)

Funny my longest response is to the food question.

Why did you start this blog?
I started my blog in April of 2009 as a way to keep everyone up to date on all of our adoption news. I said I would not have a blog since I am not (was not) very good on computers. I am glad I did it though. Now, I have a journal of our adoption journey. Since I am not a scrapbooker and really don't even print off pictures, this works good for me.

Favorite piece of clothing?
My favorite piece of clothing would have to be an adoption t shirt and jeans. I have about 5 shirts that I purchased from families raising funds for their adoptions. I love them. James jokingly (not really, he is serious) tells families beginning the process to make shirts for a fundraiser because I will definitely buy one! I am eyeing a few currently that James can get me for Christmas. :)

Favorite Film?
Before I only watched princess movies and scooby doo, I loved Gone with the Wind and Grease. (I still love them) I am embarrassed to say that I never really watch movies anymore. I can't remember the last movie James and I went to see. I think it may have been Fireproof. I think a date night/movie needs to be in the near future!

What would you like to do before you turn 100?
LOTS! I definitely want to adopt again...and maybe again. We'll see what He has planned. :)
Find a way to help others adopt.
I also want to go on missions. I would love to go back to Ethiopia with that purpose as well.
Travel would be great. I have always said I want to fly to the Keys and rent a convertible. That sounds fun.
I will have to do these things long before I reach 100! :)

So, there you have it. Me in a nutshell. Hopefully you weren't bored to death and are still reading. :)
Deena, Lesley, and Natalie...Tag! You're it!

Finally...Family Photos!

2010-09-30T18:30:00.000-04:00

It was about time we had some family pictures taken. Dawit has been home 8 months and I was really feeling guilty about not having them done. I still am looking at an 8x10 of Grace, Avery, and Reese when Reese was a few months old! I know...I am horrible at keeping up with pictures! :)

Alas, we finally had them taken. Our good friends, Brandi and Aaron took them and they turned out great. As great as can be with three children under the age of 5 that aren't interested at ALL about looking at the camera! :)

So here are a few of my favorites that I will get printed....eventually....I promise! And when I said "a few", I lied. I can't help it, there are a lot that I like.

Avery always makes this face! I think it is hilarious that they caught it in this picture.

My favorite boys!

Miss Priss....where does she get this??

LOVE this picture of my girls! They look so sweet!

I can't tell you how hard it was to get everyone to look at the same time!

How sweet is this??

Like I said, just a few of my favorites! Thanks go to Brandi and Aaron for taking such cute pictures and putting up with my wild crew!

Nothing Slows Him Down

2010-09-18T21:53:00.000-04:00

After surgery we thought that it would be a rough few days. We were going off our last surgery experience and the fact that this surgery was more in depth. Boy were we wrong!! Wednesday was bad. He was really inconsolable.

However, once he woke up on Thursday he was much more like himself. He still cried and pulled at his diaper but otherwise he was acting fine. He was walking laps around the nurses station and waving to everyone. He was loving his jello. (first time he has had that.)

By the time we got home Thursday afternoon, he was running around like a wild man! I really can't believe how well he is doing. We can already tell a difference in his speech. He is making new sounds. He has also invented a new sign for "eat". I will try to video that soon, it's cute...not sure how it relates to "eat" though.

Unfortunately he does still have to wear the arm restraints while he is sleeping. This time its not as hard on him though since he isn't a thumb sucker anymore.

So, he came away from the hospital with stitches in his mouth and down below. He also came away with a black eye! Our busy little man was all over the place while we were waiting for surgery. He tripped on my foot and fell on the garbage can. Poor guy. He still has it today. It is a lot worse than this picture shows.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers sent his way!

We are headed back to the ENT, plastic surgeon, and urologist in two weeks for checkups.

Surgery Update

2010-09-15T15:10:00.002-04:00

Dawit's surgeries went well this morning. He finally arrived in his room around 11:00. It is obvious he is in a lot of pain when the meds wear off. It is really hard for him to get comfortable. Currently he is sleeping on Daddy's lap. Hopefully he will stay that way for a while.

Continue to pray for his recovery! Thanks!

Prayer Request

2010-09-13T21:51:00.000-04:00

Wow...what a weekend. If you read my last post, you know Gracie got sick on Thursday night. Guess who got sick Saturday?? ME! (wait for it....I'm not done...) THEN, Avery got sick Sunday night! I am SICK of being SICK! Thankfully, today was a symptom free day for us all.

On Wednesday morning we are heading to the hospital with Dawit for more surgeries. He is going to have his pallet repaired and also have the dreaded circumcision. Needless to say, it is going to be a rough few days. He will have to spend the night. I really don't know what to expect. All I have to go off of is his lip/nose repair and that was an awful 10 days.

Pray that the surgeries go well and also for his recovery.

I will update sometime Wednesday and let you know how things went.

The Best Part About School...

2010-09-10T08:23:00.000-04:00

Last night as I was washing Gracie's hair, I was telling her proud I am of her. She is doing great at school. I asked her what her favorite part of the day was.

"When I get to come home."

I started cracking up, then so did she!
(I was surprised she answered that way. I know she really likes school!)

Speaking of school, Gracie is staying home today....sick.....YUCK! Praying she feels better soon and the little ones don't get it!

Family Palooza

2010-09-07T21:52:00.000-04:00

On Monday morning we loaded the kids up and headed to a local church for Family Palooza. The girls got to get their face painted, play on the bouncies, ride ponies, play games, and eat snow cones. Needless to say, they had tons of fun!

Here are Gracie and our friend Jackson going down the slide. I was surprised, even little Avery climbed up there and slid down.

I was so excited that one of my oldest and dearest friends, Christina, and her son (above) met us.

The kids enjoyed the pony ride.

Dawit was soooo good! He was really too little to do anything, but he was content with his balloon and snack bowl full of cheerios....which I had to refill. :) Keep him happy=keep him fed!

Reese + Avery = BFF

We had plans to play in the morning and eat lunch, then head home and get good naps because we were going to get our family pictures taken that evening. Well, we stayed later than I planned....naps were not taken by the girls...so I was preparing myself for some crazy kids! On top of that, I forgot to take sunscreen so we all got a bit red. Thankfully Brandi and Aaron took out pictures and already know my wild kiddos. I am going to look at them tomorrow. I am sure there will be some good ones of Gracie, because she is my ham. Dawit is stinkin cute, so I am not worried about that. Avery was just plain being a stinker and I am hoping to get a few good ones of her. I know one turned out...Brandi was standing over her (while she was being a stinker) and just snapped it. Funny how that one turned out so cute! Keeping my fingers crossed on the family photos. Trying to get all three kids to look in the same direction and smile was darn near impossible!! :) Hopefully I will have some cute photos to post soon.

Date Night, Doughnuts, and GO CARDS!!

2010-09-04T21:47:00.001-04:00

Lots of blog worthy stuff has been going on around here today. (at least I think it is blog worthy! :)

Last night James and I dropped off the kiddos at my parents house and actually went out...alone....on a DATE!! The kids even stayed the night! It was the first night since we met Dawit that he stayed away from us and he did really good. It is safe to say that he is my best sleeper, so we didn't really worry about him! James and I went for pizza since that is something we can't have with Avery. Then, after dinner we did what every couple does on date night...ran errands!! (isn't that what you do?? ) It was so much faster and we got so much done!!

This morning we woke up bright and early to pick up 95 dozen doughnuts from Kripsy Kreme. We got to talk to some customers at the store while they were finishing bagging our boxes. One man was so nice, he gave us a donation! I made James wear one of the hats while he loaded the car!! (he is such a good sport...he knew this picture would end up right here!) We headed to Arise with all 95 dozen, minus a few we ate on the way!

Vince and Allison were busy putting Arise postcards on all the boxes. Vince and his wife, Kelli, leave in October for trip #1 to Ethiopia!! YEAH!!

The Scott's were good sports about wearing their hats for my picture! Eli wanted nothing to do with it though!

Look at these two cuties helping dad deliver their doughnuts.

I really appreciate everyone helping with the LIA fundraiser! We were able to raise over $400 for the orphanage!! The wheels are already turning as James and I try to think of other ways we can help with orphan care in Ethiopia and funding adoptions.

In other news....if you live anywhere near us, you know that it was GAME DAY.

U of L vs UK

Of course, we all had on our red and black. We tried to teach Dawit to say GO CARDS, but it just wasn't happening. :)

We had our friends, The Browns, over to watch the game with us. (even though they root for the wrong team!) The kids had so much fun playing with Hiwot and so did I. I just love that girl. At one point James was tickling her and she was cracking up...while she was laughing, I started tearing up!! I can't help but think of how hard her life was and how sick she once was. Now look at her....

I told you the kids loved playing with her...You can't see her, but Hiwot is in the middle of that pile!

Avery kept making her laugh!

We even got a picture with every eye opened and smiles!!

Unfortunately, UL lost. I was happy that we played a close game. I am hoping for a better season than the last few years. Maybe next week, right?

African Adoption Picnic

2010-08-28T22:07:00.003-04:00

Today was AWESOME!! Our church hosted an African Adoption Picnic. The weather was great, but the company was OVER THE TOP!! I wish I could find the words to express how incredibly wonderful it was to see all the Ethiopian children with their brothers and sisters, moms and dads. Here are a few of the moments I will never forget, and I will probably cry as I write about them like I did when each of them happened...(seriously, I cried a lot today! Tears of JOY!)

* One mom asked me how Dawit was doing. She wanted to make sure her son, Nati, saw Dawit. (James and I spent time with Nati and his brother when we were in country.) Nati's mom said that when he came home, he carried a small, worn picture of our Dawit in his pocket. He would ask, "Is he in America?" "Is Dawit with his mom and dad?" "Mom, he was sooo small. He is such a small baby."

Are you crying yet?? Because I sure was!! I don't think that could be any sweeter. He was so worried about Dawit and wanted to make sure he was with us and okay. Of course, we re-introduced them. Nati smiled really big and we explained that he had surgery to fix his lip. (I was afraid he wouldn't recognize him.)

** One of the families just got home a few weeks ago after adopting a sibling group of 5. (After coming home in January with a little one!...and having 4 kids before that!!) It was awesome to see them playing and when an old friend walked up the sidewalk, the big sis would yell to her brothers in Amharic to come here. They would get so excited to see each other. Each child would shake hands, kiss, and hug. It was sweet the first time this happened and every time after that!!

*** I remember this particular sibling group from our time in ET. I wondered if they would remember Dawit. I brought the oldest brother over and pointed to Dawit. I said, "That's Dawit." he just looked at me and pointed back to himself. (His name was Dawit too!) Anyway, I went on to try to tell him that Dawit was at KVI. He said, "Dawit...KVI?" I shook my head and pointed to my lip, thinking maybe he would remember. HE DID! He yelled for his brothers and sister. He told them something I didn't understand, but at the end of it, they each got excited and hugged and kissed our little Dawit.

There were so many families that came. The kids played soccer, ran around, played in the sand, and had lots of fun!! I took lots of pictures and tried to just soak it all in.
It was amazing to see. Today could not have been any better!

The kids playing in the sand and getting really dirty!

Bennett and Tedi hanging out by the soccer field.

Avery and Bennett having fun. I told Brooke, if you want to find Bennett, look for Avery. She loves him!!

Here is all the crowd.

More families....The Scott's with a friend I met through our pediatrician. Before today she only knew one Ethiopian adoptive family (us). Now, she knows lots and her little guy made lots of friends!

The Henderson's, April, and Danett.

Justin, Vince, and Justin's dad.

More of the fun...

Hiwot and Feven with their Daddy's.

The Brown Family. (home last week.)

Avery LOVES Feven. Her baby dolls are even named Feven! Unfortunately, Feven wanted to play and not take this picture! :)

And, of course, we couldn't end the day without a picture of ALL the kiddos!

Is that AWESOME or what?? More families came after this picture, so there were even more than this!!

I feel like I said awesome...wonderful...amazing....a lot during this post.

BUT IT WAS!!

What a blessing it is to be surrounded by other adoptive families and so many beautiful children. Thank you LORD for each of these children and the families that said YES to adoption!

State Fair

2010-08-26T22:36:00.000-04:00

On Monday night we loaded up two cars and headed to our state fair! Two cars...12 people...6 different concession stands for dinner....equals quite an adventure! But LOADS of fun for all. (right guys?) After we finally got everyone fed we headed towards the animals. This was all the girls were talking about. Not how cute they were, but how much they stunk and not to step in poop. (I promise, this really is ALL they talked about.) First we saw the "chicklings" That's what Grace called them. :)

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the cows. I was looking forward to this since Dawit just learned that a cow says, "ewwww" :) We did get to see some BIG piggy's and even some piglets.

While the girls rode their tricycles at Safety City, Dawit got his first sucker. You guessed it, he LOVED it! I really didn't want him to have it, but one of the state troopers brought it over for him. I just couldn't tell him "No Thanks." I did take it away pretty quickly...to loud screams.

We did hit the Midway for some games and rides. Avery and Reese had fun on the carousel . (So did Sis and Lin, truth be told.)

Avery and Gracie rode the airplane. I love this picture.

Here are the kiddos when they were still being good in their strollers. :)

NeNe and Dawit. He's out of the stroller and free!

We thought the kids would totally crash on the way home. I even brought jammies so we could take them straight upstairs. However, there was no sleeping in the car! The were too hyped up!

They had lots of fun and James and I had fun watching them. (Now we have to start saving for next years trip to the fair! Why is it so stinkin expensive?)

New Favorite Adoption Shirt

2010-08-26T15:13:00.000-04:00

I absolutely LOVE this shirt! I have been eyeing it for a few weeks and am going to break down and get yet another adoption tee! :)

it says,

"got love?

adopt

147 orphans"

They also have the same text on tote bags and coffee mugs. If you like them as much as I do, click here!

If you visit this site before tomorrow, you can be entered to win a tote!

Injera: Final Product!

2010-08-24T14:46:00.000-04:00

Today I was excited to cook my injera after the three day wait. I added 2 cups of water and I let that sit for 40 minutes, per the recipe. When I poured it into my hot pan, it looked like this. I thought, "WOW. I think that looks right...this might actually turn out!"

Then, very quickly it turned into this...and I knew the outcome was not going to be good!

Try #2 turned out the same way.

So did try #3.

I tried less batter, lower heat, anything I could think of! Nothing made it better. Darn! No injera with our doro tips tonight. Hopefully next week I will have the courage to try my other recipe. (I get discouraged when my food doesn't turn out.) My other recipe is the one from our favorite restaurant, Queen of Sheba. I should have just tried that one first!

Injera: Day 2 & Combined Worship

2010-08-23T10:49:00.001-04:00

So, I am in to day 2 of the fermentation process with my injera. Originally, I covered it with ceran wrap since the directions just said, "cover." Then I realized that it probably meant "loosely" so I now have it covered with a clean cloth. It definitely is developing that distinct sour smell! I am going to try making it tomorrow night with doro tips. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I feel like the hardest part is going to be actually cooking it.

In other news...last night we had combined worship at church. I LOVE combined worship. Brandi and I were laughing because it never fails that we both cry. WHY? During a song...during a prayer...WHATEVER! It was a great service!
Afterward they had ice cream and bouncies for the kiddos. Tera called me over to one of the bouncies to point out something totally AWESOME! The bouncie was full of about 10 kids.....ALL from ETHIOPIA....ALL from the SAME ORPHANAGE! How awesome is that? What an incredible sight!

Zoey Hiwot's Welcome Home Cake

2010-08-21T20:59:00.000-04:00

Last night James and I got to visit with Justin, Donna, and Zoey! I tried really hard not to bug them since they arrived home on Sunday...I waited 4 days to call. (better than I thought I'd do) I just couldn't wait to see her again! James and I spent a lot of time with her while we were in Ethiopia and ever since I have been praying HARD for that little one to come home!

I decided that I wanted to make her a "Welcome Home" cake. Normally I use a box cake mix, but she is special and I wanted her cake to match. I decided I would make a mocha cake. Instead of using instant coffee like the recipe called for, I decided to use my Ethiopian coffee. (hoping I was doing it right!) Here is the final product...

I think it turned out cute, and they said it tasted good too. (always a plus, right?)

Zoey and Momma....

We had such a good time visiting with them. Miss Zoey Hiwot is a joy and I am so glad she is home! I can see many, many play dates in our future!

Welcome Home Brown Family!!!

Injera: Day1

2010-08-21T20:00:00.000-04:00

So, here goes... my first attempt at making injera. I have two different recipes, so I just chose one to try first and we will see how this one turns out.

I used 1 pound Teff Flour, 2 tbsp yeast, 1 tbsp fenugreek powder, and 1cup water. To start, I soaked the yeast in hot water. Once that was cooled I kneaded it (by hand) into the flour. Once that was combined, I sprinkled the fenugreek powder on top and covered it. It has to sit for three days! (this gives it the sour taste)

(I got all my ingredients at our local Indian grocery store.)

Here is the result

Now, we wait......

I'll let you know.....

First Day Recap

2010-08-17T21:01:00.000-04:00

Upon picking Gracie up today, she told me the following:

- We got a popsicle! (yelled this as soon as she got into the van.)
- She ate all her lunch
- Rules? We don't have any rules.
- Well, we have two rules. 1. No hitting 2. No biting
- I sat by Chloe
- I met Ethan
- I had FUN!

She even said she wanted to go back tomorrow! :)

Tonight she prayed for her teachers...to cute!

Here's hoping tomorrow goes as smoothly.

First Day Of School!

2010-08-17T10:03:00.001-04:00

On the night before school starts, I have always had trouble sleeping. I didn't really think that would be a problem this year, since I don't have the stress of teaching. Boy was I wrong! This year I couldn't sleep either...I guess I was worrying about my BABY STARTING SCHOOL!

I really tried to pump Gracie up for the big day. Yesterday we met Daddy for lunch to celebrate her last day of summer vacation. Her friend came over to play. We made popcorn last night. I let her pick out her lunch and outfit for the first day. After all that, when I asked if she was excited her reply was always a simple "NO." :)

This morning she did good. James and I walked her into school. She saw NeNe right away. I think that helped. She kept telling me she would be fine as long as NeNe and Becky were there. :) We walked her down to Mrs. Cline's class and she walked right in! No tears from Gracie or Mommy! However, Avery did cry because she missed her sissy! (funny, since all they have been doing lately is fighting!)

My big girl! Ready for her first day.

Showing off her tote bag that we "blinged up" a little. She insisted on decorating it with glitter....it was EVERYWHERE! And probably will continue to be everywhere.

Heading into school.

One of Gracie's friends from church is in her class. I am so glad! Here mom sent me this picture she took after we left.

I can't wait to hear how her first day went! She will probably come home tired and hungry!

A Fun (busy) Weekend

2010-08-15T21:01:00.000-04:00

We had a very busy weekend packed full of fun! On top of breakfast with the girls and a birthday party on Saturday afternoon, we got together to celebrate 2 of my cousins graduation. Sarah graduated from UL Law School and her little bro Zach graduated from UK. They asked everyone to wear their team colors. It was fun to see all the red and blue. I wish I could say we represented well, but we were definitely outnumbered. :)

I had my camera, ready to snap some pictures of all the cousins in their red and blue cuteness!

Missing one little guy in this picture. You can't win em all, I guess. I was impressed we got one this good!

This is the face that Dawit makes when he says "cheese"!

Don't you just love that jean diaper and those thighs!

After all that fun, we added more today! Tonight we had the Allen family over for dinner and got to spend some time with their new family member! She and Dawit are going to be great buds, I know it!

Is she beautiful, or what?

Then, to put this weekend TOTALLY OVER THE TOP we headed over to the airport to welcome home the Brown family! I laughed as we were pulling in....at least 5 cars in a row were all waiving to each other. All adoptive families that knew each other and were excited to celebrate with our friends! (I feel like I should get a "frequent visitor parking pass" or something. :)

It was AWESOME to see Hiwot! We got to visit with her in January when we traveled. I am so happy to see this family together!

Is that a cute family, or what?

So, I'd say this weekend couldn't have been much better!

Do You Like Doughnuts?

2010-08-14T22:23:00.000-04:00

If you like doughnuts, then I have a deal for you! I am heading up a fundraiser for Arise and Love in Action (the new orphanage in Ethiopia). Several of us Arise families in the Louisville area are selling KRISPY KREME (yum!) original glazed doughnuts for the great price of $6.50. For every box we sell, LIA will receive at least 50% of that.

If our little Ethiopian beauties have pulled at your heart and you would like to play a part in caring for other orphans in Ethiopia, PLEASE contact me. You can place a doughnut order OR make a flat donation. I am taking orders until August 30. Our Doughnut Day :) is Saturday, September 4. You will be able to pick them up that morning at the Arise office.

Hope to hear from you!

Dinner Menu: Top Chef Recipe

2010-08-12T21:45:00.000-04:00

Tonight I tried the winning Ethiopian recipe from last weeks episode of Top Chef. I made a few adjustments though. I couldn't find currants anywhere, so I used raisins. I thought that worked fine. I also cut the recipe in half. Honestly, I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, so I made half of this recipe and also made my doro tips recipe. (tried and true...we know that's good!) Overall, I thought the dish was good....not great, I can't wait to have that again, just good. We did have the Henderson family over and JT liked the new recipe better than my doro tips. I think next time I try it, I will use less tomato puree. Also, I chopped a jalapeno instead of a habanero...but didn't even use it. I stopped by the Queen of Sheba and bought some injera to round out the meal...YUM! Today I also got everything I need to make injera. I have a recipe in my Ethiopian cookbook that I am going to try. I have never done anything fermented and on top of that I have heard making injera is hard. So wish me luck!

Is anyone else brave enough to try and cook this stuff??

Another Surgery

2010-08-09T22:16:00.000-04:00

Today Dawit got tubes in his ears. His ENT is Dr. Gould. He is the dr. that went to Ethiopia right after we got Dawit's referral. He was great and took Haberman bottles and taught the nannies how to feed Dawit. After that trip, our little man started gaining weight! We are so thankful that the LORD worked in that way and provided Dr. Gould! This is a picture of Dawit in Dr. Gould's arms.

Here is another picture of Andy, Dawit, and Hannah (the great nurse that cared for Dawit in Nazareth) Notice his tiny legs!

Last week was the first time Andy got to see Dawit (in person) since he came come in January. Of course, he was surprised to see Dawit is a little chunker now!! Here is a picture I took this morning.

Wow! What a difference! (chunky thighs!)

Dawit was really happy and in a good mood before his surgery. (saying cheese to the camera)

Then the nurse gave him his loopy medicine.

Poor guy..

Dawit did really well through surgery. Hopefully this will help. He has failed both hearing tests, and this will definitely improve his hearing. (which we hope will improve his speech.) Our little guy is a trooper!

I Can't Forget It Either

2010-08-08T20:28:00.000-04:00

James and I listened to this song a lot during our adoption process. Now that we are home, I "get" this song that much more. Once you visit a place like Ethiopia, your lives are not the same. You think about things differently. You spend your money differently. Things I complain about seem so trivial. I have a bed to sleep in and a roof over my head. Some people don't. I can go to the sink and get a glass of clean water. Some people walk to a creek full of animals and people bathing and they fill an old gas can with water and drink it. The water makes them sick! My children go to school. Some kids skip school so they can beg in the streets to get money for food for their family. I go to church and hear the Gospel. Some people have never heard about Jesus.

I have been thinking and praying hard lately about what we can do. In our ABF class this morning, Rob said sometimes praying like that can be dangerous...you never know how God will answer! :)

God laid Ethiopia on my heart. Waiting for Gods plan to unfold.....

Top Chef- Ethiopia

2010-08-05T21:04:00.000-04:00

If you know me, you know I love to cook. I like to watch Next Food Network Star and Top Chef....reality shows of cooking. Well, last night on Top Chef for the challenge the chefs had to cook an Ethiopian dish! I like that they were giving a little love to Ethiopia!

Here is the winning recipe, chosen by an Ethiopian chef. Let me know if you try it before I do.

The next two top recipes can be found here and here.

Happy Cooking!

See? I Told You!

2010-08-04T22:14:00.002-04:00

This afternoon my neighbor came over to tell me that she saw the tree in my backyard brushing against the power lines. She proceeded to hear CRACKLING NOISES, see SPARKS, and watch the tree CATCH ON FIRE!

SEE, I TOLD YOU IT WAS HOT! :)

She wanted to make sure the kids weren't out there. And yes, LG&E should be out soon to do some trimming.

Water Fun

2010-08-04T13:31:00.011-04:00

It has been so stinkin HOT here in the 'Ville lately! If the kids and I do something outside, it almost has to involve water! Last week we went to the zoo and headed straight to the splash park. The kids had a ton of fun! I decided not to wear my swimsuit. Last year when I took the girls, I didn't really get that wet. The difference between last year and this year?? DAWIT!
The little man wouldn't stand still. He also wouldn't play in the baby section. Oh no, that wasn't good enough. He wanted to be in the action. The more he got sprayed in the face, the better. Since I was chasing him everywhere, this means I got sprayed too....and was soaked by the end of our time there! Here he is running from me. :) He wouldn't even stop for a picture!

The girls loved sliding down the slides!

Did you notice Dawit wasn't in the last picture? That is because he was right here...

Can you tell Dawit had lots of fun??

Last night we played in the water again, only this time it was at the Armstrong Splash Park! :) Eli came over and the girls were very excited! The had so much fun playing in the pool. I wish you could hear the laughs in these pictures!

I wish Eli would have told me he was thirsty!

I love this action shot! Our neighbor heard all the fun we were having and had to join us!

FUN TIMES!

Arise For Children T-Shirts are here!

2010-08-01T20:43:00.006-04:00

Arise for Children, our adoption agency, is selling some really cute t-shirts. They are yellow and have the Arise logo (the green leaf) on the front. It says,
"ONE MORE STORY OF... FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE"
Then at the bottom it reads,
"and these three remain: faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13

Here is the back of the tee...

Currently, Susan only has children sizes. (youth xs - lg) The cost is $20, which will go towards funding Love in Action (their new orphanage in Ethiopia). If you would like one (or more!) they are at the Arise office. If you out-of-towners want one, let me know and I will figure out shipping and get that in the mail to you!

Here is a picture of Gracie sporting an Arise shirt. She is wearing an extra small. (I can wear a youth large if that helps you figure out sizes)

Buy one and help support those sweeties in Ethiopia!

If you would like to see the work being done at Love in Action (LIA), check out the blog posts from Dallasburg Baptist Church. Some great people from their church are currently in country on a mission trip working on LIA and sharing the gospel. The posts are GREAT and it is so neat to see the progress they have made in one week!

Happy Birthday and Happy Birth Day

2010-07-31T21:32:00.006-04:00

Last weekend we did a lot of celebrating! July 24 James turned 32!! We had some family over and I cooked his favorite dinner. We had spaghetti. He has never been a big cake eater, so I made him an apple pie. Mom wanted me to just get the one from Sams, but I couldn't. He definitely deserved a homemade pie, and he helped me peel the apples, so it wasn't so bad. (I know, I know...I made him help with his birthday pie! But, have you ever cut and peeled 3 pounds of apples??)

That same morning, my phone rang at 2:30 in the morning. I knew it must be Kory, and sure enough, it was time to head to the hospital! It was such an awesome experience to be there for Molly's birth! (I was at Hannah's also!) Kory did so good. She labored really well through the early morning hours. I started looking at the clock a little more about 8:30 am. I knew that I had to meet Cindy at ARISE at 10:00 for Dawit's 6 month post placement. James was going to meet me there, but time was running out! (My plan was to leave at 9:30) At about 9:15, in between pushes, Kory looked at me and said, "Brittney, you have to leave at 9:30. I'm trying!" HA! Leave it to Kory to be worrying about me! 9:30 came but I couldn't leave! Finally at 9:35 she was born. I left three minutes later! And yes I was late to my meeting. (Like Scott said, they aren't going to send him back to Ethiopia if I am 10 minutes late!) I hated to leave, but I did make it back to the hospital later that day. Molly is such blessing and little cutie!

So, I will always remember Molly's birthday since she shares it with James!

Another little tidbit...Molly was born in the same hospital room as Avery, Reese, Ellie, and Hannah! Neat, huh?

Are we there yet?

2010-07-31T07:07:00.004-04:00

During the few hours between deciding to go to Florida and actually leaving, I talked to the girls a lot about how we would be driving in the van for a really long time. I was trying to avoid the, "Are we there yet" comments. All my prep didn't help. Before we made onto 65, they were asking, "Are we getting close?"

Since we drove through the night, they did sleep most of the way. However, they were awake enough to keep us laughing! :)

Avery: "Are we almost to China?" What?

Avery: She said something about the color "yeyo" (she can NEVER pronounce it correctly.) When we tried to show her how to say it, she said, "We I turn 5 I'll say YELLOW." Plain as day...she said it right. Then went right back to saying "yeyo" :) Can you believe that little stinker?

Avery and Gracie were playing house at the condo, Gracie was introducing me to her husband (Avery). Sis asked Avery where she worked...."I work at China." (not sure about her connection to China this week.)

One day Avery needed a band aid for a "scratch" on her finger. Gracie said she would take her upstairs and get her one. This is how she looked when she came down. The girls thought this was HILARIOUS and wouldn't stop laughing.

Something else I thought was pretty funny.... Sis and Gracie slept in the same room in twin beds. The first night, Sis went to bed and read for a while. Gracie layed in her bed and decided she wanted to read like Sissy. She went into the living room and got a copy of Coastal Living. She "read" that magazine every night! :) I am sure it had good articles!

Funny comments were abundant and so were bathroom brakes! As we prepared to leave on Friday night after dinner, all the kids went potty. Before we were even on the bridge leaving Destin, Avery said, "I gotta go!" I made sis call Tim and tell him to stop. :) After this stop, we stopped 2 more times. I think we drove 20 miles in that first hour! YIKES, its going to be a long drive.

Florida Pictures....Finally!

2010-07-30T08:00:00.002-04:00

We had a wonderful time in Destin a few weeks ago. It was a VERY last minute trip. As in, I decided to go and booked our condo at noon on Friday and we left at 8:00 that night! :) Unfortunately, James was unable to go because of work. Boy, did I miss him! Thankfully, Sis drove with me and helped me with the kids. Since mom, dad and Lindsay's family went, we had lots of help at the beach too! I needed it! Each one of the kids LOVED the beach and never wanted to leave the water. It was great to see them having so much fun. Dawit ate lots of sand. If we brought him back from the water and sat him by the chairs, he would stand up and waddle back down to the water by himself! Avery loved to just lay in the water. Grace brought back lots of pretty shells she collected. When it was time to leave, the kids were already asking when they could come back!

SO I have been working to put together a slide show of all the pictures. I actually accomplished that, however now I can't seem to upload them to the blog successfully. So here are just a few...
Contrary to what it looks like in this picture, Dawit loved the beach. Here he is just mad that I am holding him and he can't run down to the water!

This next pictures was the only one we got during that entire trip that had ALL four kiddos in it! They never sat still!

Our little bathing beauty.

We went to Baytown Wharf one night. They had a movie night under the stars so we took the kids to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Even though it was a late night, the kids were really good and had lots of fun!

Here are two of our kids playing in the pool. :) No kidding, the little ones wanted Tim all week. They knew he would throw them up, tump them upside down, and take them far out into the waves! They love their Uncle Tim!

Making sand angels!

LOVE this picture of Dawit!

(ok, so that was more than just a few!)

If you want to see the rest of the pictures (all 287 of them) just click here.

Dad Life

2010-07-26T13:25:00.000-04:00

For a good laugh, take a couple of minutes and watch this! It is too funny!

Grew by Two

2010-07-22T16:23:00.005-04:00

Our family grew by two!
Gracie will tell you, "We got 2 puppies!" However, MOM and DAD got 2 puppies. :) I am fine with her thinking that. (no way are we getting a pup! Plus, its a lot more fun to play with them and not have to clean up after them.)

Here they are...
This is Beau.

Here is his sis, Bella.

Are they cute or what? They are yorkiepoos and should grow to be about 6 pounds. A perfect snuggle dog! The girls are absolutely in LOVE.

New Blog Design

2010-07-21T23:12:00.003-04:00

Okay...I have been working on this for way too long. I am not computer savvy so I have been working on this new design for a long time. Does the header look fuzzy or is it just me?

I know I haven't posted anything lately....we went on vacation and I am working on getting the pictures together from our trip. I also want to post about a few new additions to the family. I promise, they are coming soon. :)

And seriously, let me know about that header. And if you can make it better, please speak up! I could use the help. And since I am asking, how do you change the font color?

Welcome home (pt.2)

2010-07-05T09:04:00.005-04:00

Last night we headed to the airport for "Welcome Home #2" for the weekend. It was so sweet to see the parents walk out with their three daughters and I got even more teary eyed when their 2 sons ran to greet them! The girls were precious! The middle one was hamming it up and talking in Russian to her brothers like they really understood! :)

Two different families asked James and I,"What is going on?" It was a great opportunity to share about adoption.

It was such a great night!

Welcome Home T Family!

Welcome Home Pt. 1

2010-07-03T20:53:00.002-04:00

Tonight was the first "welcome home" of the weekend. JT and Tedi arrived to meet mommy! Natalie got a pass and got to meet them at the gate. When they made it out the crowd there were lots of smiles! Finally a family or 3...all together and simply precious! Congratulations Henderson Family!!

Vacation Bible School

2010-07-01T14:50:00.003-04:00

On Sunday night we started VBS at HBC. The theme for this year was Saddle Ridge Ranch. Even though I had to rush three little ones through an early dinner and put them to bed WAY too late every night...IT WAS SO WORTH IT!! I taught 3rd grade along with my girls, Brandi and Kory. I loved my kiddos and pray that seeds were planted in their sweet hearts.

The theme made things really fun. Lots of kids wore cowboy hats and handkerchiefs. :) We did too.

The songs were cute too. Gracie loved it! It was not her first year in VBS, but last year she was not in Kindergarten and didn't do all the fun rotations. Anyway, she and Avery have played "VBS" every day this week. They would drag my boots out and teach their babies all the songs. One of the girls on the worship team was "Patty." She told the kids the first day that her name was Patty...Cow Patty. Of course the kids laughed and she explained what that was to the younger ones. Well, when Grace was playing on Monday I heard her introduce herself to her babies. She said (in her best cowboy accent), "My name is Cow Poop" Seriously...what am going to do with her??

The late nights really got to Avery. Manda really thought this picture was hilarious. I have to agree. Doesn't Avery look like she is having fun at VBS??

Despite the picture, she did have fun. We all did.

5 Million Minus 1

2010-06-29T22:10:00.006-04:00

Our friend JT and Natalie have been admiring pictures of their little Tedi for months. Guess what? Now they have pictures of Tedi and his daddy together!! JT is in Ethiopia as we speak along with two other Arise families. I am so excited!! I feel like I check my email and Natalie's blog all day long for updates! :) (and I cry every time I read about it or talk to her!) Head on over to her blog, 5 Million Minus 1, to read about JT's trip and see pictures.

This weekend is going to be the ultimate airport weekend! The Henderson's fly in on Saturday and our friends the T Family are arriving home from Kazakhstan with THREE daughters on Sunday. :) Funny story: daddy told the girls that the entire city would be celebrating their arrival with fireworks. :)

Splish Splash

2010-06-28T08:50:00.007-04:00

I told you how much the kids loved our recent trip to the pool. Dawit continues to be brave and fearless...dunking his face in the water every chance he gets! Here are some pictures of our fun time!
My little fish!

Uncle Tim had all the kids doing tricks. Dawit LOVED when Tim threw him up in the air.

Avery and Gracie took turns going down the slide.

Gracie "jumped" off the edge. (really she squatted as low as she could and stepped off the edge.)

Gracie was being silly.

The kids are looking forward to their next trip to the pool. I am trying to convince Tim and Lin to just get a pool. :)