One Year Post

Can it really be?  Have I not posted anything since January?  Well that just won't do!

I will cut myself some slack as it does feel like I'm in some whacked-out time warp game and I'm constantly losing time!  Lots has happened in the last 5 months..wonder if I can remember it all...I know the answer to that already..NO WAY!  But I'll do my best to catch up.. oh what fun we've had!

(Confession:  that last sentence is what I HOPE my children are thinking.  My own declarative statement goes something like:  What the *&$% just happened?)

Here is the first known pic of sweet boy Ty..as at  7 mos of age he was no doubt super sweet!

Sweet Boy Ty learned quickly the messy ways of his gender and hasn't bothered to look for alternatives.  He has changed so much in the first year home, it's amazing to consider!  Now we know that his obsessive ability to clean his plate, and then move on to ours, was really a product of his previous environment and his love for all things digestible.  Now days he will walk away from his plate after eating what he wants the most, and has been known to show off his great arm with chunks of chicken flying across the table.  Of course we encourage him to eat as we do his sisters, but we know the accomplishment this is..this new level of security for him and it just makes us glow inside.

For our one year celebration as a Fabulous Family of Five we celebrated at Goha, our favorite Ethiopian restaurant with our favorite Ethiopian family!  We dined on all of our favorites and then topped it off with an ice cream treat. The girls have adjusted well... they love their brother dearly as long as he's not using them as a mosh pit (which occurs often).  Brian loves coming home to 'big hugs' and already sees the soccer potential in his little guy.  And me, well I'm still trying to figure out what this boy business is all about...and hope that one day soon I can share it with the world!  Until then, I'll be on alert for trucks in the plants, toys in the toilet, dish soap on the floor, cat food in the to go containers, missing shoes, long distance charges, missing library book pages, Q tips in the nose, and flying chicken. 

This Grateful Heart is taking a beatin' and still lovin' life!

O

Sharing The Dream

Today I woke with just one kiddo in the house, the other 2 were having a sleepover at their grandparents house. I had been thinking about this day all weekend. This MLK Day. It has always been a day of appreciation for us, appreciation for a man who showed us all that if you know it's wrong, if it doesn't sit well with your soul, then share it with any and every one who will listen, without violence, use your God given talents to communicate and do something about it. That takes EXTREME courage, and Dr. King paved the road. So this morning, with my little guy in my lap, we pulled up YouTube and listened to Dr. King's speeches. Ty enjoyed the videos, and at times I believe he either thought that we were Skyp-ing with Dr. King or he was joining in and agreeing with the message, he was anxiously sharing his thoughts with the video. I watched and listened, and today I heard his words with new ears. I will not pretend to know what it is like to suffer, for though I haven't walked without obstacles, my hurt is no comparison to those Dr. King felt led to fight for. In his We Shall Overcome speech he says" The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone." Their Freedom IS Inextricably Bound To Our Freedom...powerful. I couldn't be there then, but I am here now and I know that equality among all of God's Children is still a work in progress, and it is crucial that I continue to recognize it and help to correct it. Nearly one year ago I had the opportunity to meet 10 other families who were led to adopt, all of us from Ethiopia, meeting our sweet black boys and black girls soon to join our families as our sons and daughters. I know that Dr. King, and the others who believed in the message, helped pave our way to them. No doubt about it. I am grateful, beyond words. So here I sat, at 8:30 this morning, with my sweet little boy, his skin darker than mine, approx 230 miles from the location of his assassination, and I am so glad he shared his dream with the world!

"Deep in my heart, I do believe, WE SHALL OVERCOME. And with this faith, we will go out and adjourn the councils of despair, and bring new lite into the dark chambers of pessimism. And we will be able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the bouyancy of hope..and this will be a GREAT America!"


"I have a dream that one day,....little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

Love this poem...

BY E. E. CUMMINGS

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it(anywhere i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)
i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Summer 2011...

Before the year ends...thought I'd squeeze in a sweet little summer clip I recently found. Love my little family! More to come soon..and so glad for that promise!

Opry Fun!

Minute to Win It Christmas!!

We had a few family friends over and led some friendly competition, Minute to Win It style! I had found a great link to someone's blog that had done this same type of party...so since they were sharing... kind of. I have to tell you, it was the MOST fun! Feel free to hijack the idea and spread a little laughter this weekend with your crew!
Minute to Win It Games (for those who don't know..all Minute to Win It Games are to be competed in one minute..thus the name..aha!):
Balancing Act Objective: Partners try to hang as many ornaments as they can from a yard stick that is balancing on an empty paper towel roll.
Hanging Ornaments Objective: Partners attempt to hang ornaments on a suspended string NOT using their hands at all.
Rudolph Nose Objective: One partner applies Vaseline to their nose while the other comes armed with pompoms and a good aim! Separated by 6 feet or so, the goal is to land a nose on your partner and for the nose to stay there for the remainder of your minute. Our winner won by landing the nose in 14 seconds and keeping it on the rest of the time..way to go Suzanne and Grace! (Another way to play..attach a pompom to a string, have the player put the string in their mouth and attempt to flip the string and land the pompom onto their nose)
Snowball Fun Objective: one person per team plays..toss marshmallows through a wreath, into a bucket (or large bowl)on the other side of the wreath from a distance of 4 feet. We propped a wreath against a baking bowl, set it on a chair and had the players sitting on their knees.
Cookie Face Objective: Place a cookie on the forehead, without using your hands (or any aids) inch the cookie down to your mouth and take a bite..Jenn rocked this one!
Christmas Tree Cup Stack Objective: Using 28 Solo-style cups, player uses one hand to stack cups in a pyramid with a seven cup base. Other hand must be kept behind their back.

We also played:
How well do you know Christmas Carols?
The MC calls out a line from a Christmas Carol with a missing word... the kids really liked this too!
Example: Song: Santa Baby Line: Santa honey, I wanna -----, And really that's not a lot. Answer: Yacht

Here's a fun video of some very competitive friends! Too cute!

Holiday Cheer

After MONTHS of using a stand-in computer, I think I may have all of the links to start posting again..yay! So much has been happening at our house, I am going to try to get more pictures up soon. Until then..a little holiday sweetness. This was Ty's first encounter with Santa, and he was not at all scared. Brian shot this clip right after they took pics of the kids on Santa's lap and at this point Santa started asking about their wish list. In the background you'll hear a fan of Ty's, Olivia. I'm sure Ty will get that sippy cup she is so concerned about! It was a great day spent at the Opryland Hotel with our sweet family and friends.