The winner is......

He said the whole office clapped when he came in. HAHAHA!!!

Why we do what we do.........

http://www.kristinjphotography.com/Slideshows/Day4_Slideshow/Ethiopia_Day4/

http://teamalexander.blogspot.com/

It's been a year!

We've had Anna Mihret and Adah Derartu for a year now! It seems like they've ALWAYS been our daughters and I cannot fathom their life in Ethiopia. Anna still remembers some things as she is still apprehensive and ambivilent at times.

Here's a look back:

Anna Mihret in Ethiopia with her nanny, before we had ever seen her. She did NOT want her picture taken. Another adoptive family was taking the picture for us. Adah Derartu. She slept in that chair for I don't know how long.
This is how the girls looked when we got to CWAE to pick them up. They woke them up out of a dead sleep and handed them to us. Poor babies.
Sheka going over feeding instructions for Mihret with Sarah.
Nanny & Adah (who isn't at all sure she likes what is going on.) Look at how little she is. Thirteen pounds at eleven months. Wow.
Adah Derartu in the hotel in Ethiopia.
Anna Mihret in the Ethiopian hotel.
Home for a few days. Arianne & Anna Mirhet
Adah Derartu at the same picnic. She's so serious. :)

Getaway!

Steve & I went away last week by ourselves. GASP!! We went for three nights and four days to the Palm Springs area. We were able to go to Cheesecake Factory, Babe's, The Yard House, Serenatas, IHOP, and Baker's Square. Can you tell what we did most of the time? We also went to a couple of movies and when it was dark we hit the pool. We played Mexican Train dominos a few times and just lounged around watching the Olympics. It was too soon back to reality, but we've been busy, busy, busy ever since we came back.

Jesse, Sarah, Joe & James did a great job keeping the house going. Sarah was sick for a few days and Jesse had soccer here and there so Joe & James stepped in and helped get toddlers ready for bed and diaper changes. It's wonderful to be at the stage in life when I have older kids to help with younger kids.

Stupid Award

Today's award goes to an ebay seller with listing 230104506441. I don't get the humor of some people. Why in the world are people so stupid?

Getting injera ready

I started my sourdough starter yesterday.

Ordered the grill http://www.bethanyhousewares.com/products11.5-735.html and lid http://www.bethanyhousewares.com/products11.5-735.html

Ordered teff http://www.teffco.com/products.html (it was quite the dilemma to decide on the grain or the flour: I decided on the ivory grain.)

Ordered a cookbook: Exotic Ethiopian Cooking : Sociey... Paperback by Daniel J. Mesfin


Between their hair and the food, I'm learning quite a bit here. :)

Keyboarding

I started my keyboarding lessons yesterday. I can't believe how lazy my fingers are. Good refresher course. :)

They're droppin' like flies

We're having a "sick" week here at home this week. James was first with a 102* fever. I thought it was related to his mono that he had in December, now I'm not so sure. Joel came down with a 101.9 fever yesterday with a vomiting episode, he seems a little better today. Adah had a 102.1* fever last night but nothing else. Anna had no fever, but threw up in her crib about midnight, just in time for me to watch USA win Gold in gymnastics. We were supposed to go swimming at a friend's house today and the bay tonight. I can tell I won't be doing either. Oh, me and the babies ended up sleeping in the living room, them on the floor and me on the couch. At least our couch is comfy. :)

Great Cubbie Resource

Yesterday I was working on Awana Cubbie material for the coming year. I have the year planned out on paper; typed and everything. Can you believe it? One of the time stealers for me last year was trying to figure out what Betty Luken felts went with each story. I would look and look through panels of felts and didn't have much time to practice if at all with them to tell the story.

On this blog I have a resource link to CommanderBill.net which has this AMAZING list of required felts for EACH story. I think I died and went to heaven. I had even brought home the Betty Luken storybook that goes with the felts hoping to figure it out and to no avail. This list is a lifesaver. Thank you CommanderBill. I owe you one!

Are you the babysitter?

That was the question on the table yesterday when I went to the college bookstore to confirm a book that I had bought was the right one. The clerk behind the counter surveyed the situation, one white mom, one white boy, four black girls. hmmmmm...............Are you the babysitter? Um, no, I would be the mom. :-)

She thought they were all so adorable that she was giving them handfulls of free gum samples. I can't seem to go around discreetly even if I try.

Face painted

The girls had their faces painted at our company picnic last Saturday.

Cute!!

My little warriors

I wouldn't want to meet them in a back alley, especially with that bottle. :)

The girls have been donning those helmets for two days now. They get the swords and other weapons out. (Like their matching dresses?)

Jake's last day at work

Jake decided it was time to change jobs. He's been working for our family business for about seven years or so. The guys he usually works with decided to have a little fun with him. I heard it took like six or seven guys to be able to tape him up like this. He broke a $300 pair of sunglasses and gave one guy a groin injury. I also heard he was very strong. :)

Pondering Injera

So Mulu wants Injera and it seems to cost about $80+ when we go out for it and bring some home. Time for mama to figure out how to make this mystery bread.

I found great instructions at http://burakaeyae.blogspot.com/2007/02/step-by-step-injera-instructions-real.html

Copying and pasting them to Word and off to hunt for teff and berbere seasoning (for the meats that go on the injera)

There are also videos on how-to make injera for any other ferenjis. :)

Show me the money!

Steve called the other day to let me know he won $1000 from our bank. Really?! He entered a drawing and told the clerk he wanted to know who won because he was sure that NO ONE ever wins these contests. Well guess what? He did. (giggling over here) They want him to come in and take a picture with the check for their next newsletter, seems some people don't believe that anyone ever wins. (GRIN)

Jesse called today and he's for sure on the soccer team for San Diego Christian College and they're giving him a $1000 scholarship for the year. YES!!! So far that's like $6500 in scholarships for 2008-09. He still has to work on the other three years, but for now our bill has been lowered enough that he can attend SDCC instead of San Diego State University. Yes!

Joe's 13th bday

Today is Joe's 13th birthday. Joe & I celebrated by going out to lunch with dad at Island's. One of the workers gave us a free basket of onion rings for some reason. (They didn't know it was Joe's bday.) When I pondered why Joe said, "When life hands you a free basket of onion rings don't ask why, just eat them!" Okay! So I dug in. :) We then took his broken XBox to Game Stop where he was given $30 for it. He put that towards a hard drive for his new XBox 3 that he is buying from another family.

Joe came into the world at 10.10lbs and he's always been our biggest boy, except for that moment. James also weighed 10.10lbs believe it or not.
He's taller than any of his siblings have ever been at each age. Jared & Jake are about 6'2"-6'3" so I imagine he'll be at least 6'5" or so.

By the way, I saw the CUTEST baby last night at a baby shower. OH MY GOSH!!! This baby is gorgeous!!! You can see him at http://itsasunnylife.blogspot.com He is so handsome it's unbelievable.

Jesse & I went to SDCC to get his school books for the next semester. He couldn't believe he has to study this HUGE biology book in a semester.

I heard from my niece yesterday. Hi Jazzy! I haven't seen her in years and years and now she has two children of her own. Wow!

I think the time has come that I have to learn how to make Ethiopian food. The girls, especially Abi Mulu wants it more frequently.

School

I went to our local community college and took the English and Math assessment tests. I tested as high as I could for English, but not so hot for Math. I need high school algebra. (I knew that.) I signed up for online courses in Nutrition, Child Development and Keyboarding. School starts in two weeks.

VBS

This last week we had VBS. Steve was in charge of the whole program and Sarah I were in charge of crafts. Joe, Jesse & James helped with games. Addis, Mulu, John & Joel participated while Adah and Anna played in the nursery. Great fun was had by all!

Sarah's birthday

I'll post in small posts since my long one was eaten yesterday. What a waste of time!

We went to the bay last week for Sarah's 17th birthday celebration. She shared a party with her friend Taylor. Taylor's dad rented a boat and gave the kids boat rides and rides on something he had hooked to the back of the boat.

Everyone had a great time with volleyball, swimming, playing in the sand, s'mores, croquet, playground time and visiting with friends. We roasted hot dogs and burgers with salads, cookies and cake.

I posted and cyberspace ate it!

I posted a long post yesterday and cyberspace ate it. Testing now.