Blogging marathon

I've been too busy to keep up with my blog, so am doing a posting marathon today.

Once the kids got out of school we entertained each other all day so not so much time for computers! And now I am back to work so even crazier! Of course, no matter how much we do they are still bored. They miss their friends in Ethiopia and the activities they did there. It sounds like they had a very active lifestyle with lots of socializing, friends, foos ball, sports and games.

The amount of laundry has been the one surprise in the new realm of parenting. How can two little kids go through sooo many clothes? And get them sooo dirty? One bonus ... as I work at an appliance showroom we have a working laundry display. They have always said I could do my laundry at work and now with the kids I have taken them up on the offer. I get it all sorted and pre-treated at home, then pop it in the machines at work and voila! ... all done. What a lifesaver.

Snippets of life in America ...

Happy Birthday! -- the twins turn 9 ...

We had a FUN FUN FUN first birthday in America! We had a pool party at the townhouse complex with family , friends, and neighbors. It was a gorgeous warm, sunny day and we all had a great time. It was hard getting the kids out of the water long enough to take a quick photo with their cake before before we cut it and served it up. I did learn a lesson about outdoor parties ... the candles wouldn't stay lit long enough to blow them out! And it was too chaotic to open gifts ... always a guest favorite ... so we took all the presents to the house and those still there got to witness the storm of paper ripping and flying.

Learning to Swim

The kids' first swim experience was when I went to get them in Ethiopia. They now have two weeks of lessons under their belts and are practically pros. They can both swim all the way across the deep end of the pool in my townhouse complex. The love it! We swim every day!

Road Trip

For Memorial Day weekend we went to Montana so the kids could meet Grandma - "mommies mom" in Montana. I tried to prepare them for the drive, telling them it was a long, long way ... a "big go" as they say. It was great having my little GPS, because whenever they would ask how far we would just reply in miles. That was much more satisfying to them than "it's still a long ways." My typical 8-1/4 hour trip took 9-1/2 hours on the way up and 9 hours on the way back (guess we learned a bit). We took a portable DVD player thinking it would be a lifesaver for the long ride, but it made them both carsick. So much for techno-travel! But we had a good time and they loved Grandma. They were a big hit at the retirement home as well. Everyone thought they were so well behaved. Wish they'd act like that for Mama! At church my mom likes to sit further back as her mobility is diminished, but the kids like to sit up front -- they LOVE Jesus! So we sat 4 rows from the back and the kids 3 rows from the front. Again I got rave reviews for their behavior. Sigh!

It was a Happy Mother's Day

It was a whole different experience celebrating Mother's Day as a mom. I got to stand up in church when they honored the moms - which was the first time being a mom felt odd. And my sweet, wonderful children had beautiful cards and a new camera (to replace the one I lost en route to pick them up in Ethiopia). OK, maybe they had some help from their uncle, but it was still so much fun and a blessing to me.

Mythbusters & Challenges

We are doing GREAT!!! It is so fun being a mom!!!

MYTHBUSTERS: We have joined Mythbusters on a couple of common adoption expectations (at least for us!)

1). Stay at home for awhile:

All the adoption training talks about cocooning, kinda holing up at home for awhile after the kids arrive. Mine visited school the first week and the second week began attending full time. They love it and are doing great. The teachers are amazed at how quickly they are picking things up. Mom too!

And they also like nothing better than visiting friends, especially Habesha (other people from Ethiopia) - "mom, go?" - or having company.

2). They won't know how to play indoors:

In Ethiopia, my twins walked into the room, picked up the remote, turned on the TV, switched channels, turned up the volume, and kicked back onto the bed to watch television! At home they like nothing more than watching videos - "mom, film?" - playing on the computer, and using electronic games. They are familiar with a lot of the American movies and are mad at me because I won't let them watch "The Lord of the Rings" - it is PG13 and they are only 8 years old.

FEARS & CHALLENGES:

One of my biggest fears and my biggest challenge has been food. My fear was because I don't really cook (I'm kind of a cheese and crackers kind of gal). The challenge is that they don't like anything! Thank God for eggs, bananas, oranges and bread. Forget anything related to dairy - milk, yogurt, cheeses (no pizza, no sandwiches with cheese, no mac & cheese), butter, etc. Also no peanut butter (rats!). For a non-cook to begin with it is quite frustrating, but we are discovering a few successes - rice, sloppy joe ... okay, that is all I can think of right now. Other than, of course, chips and french fries and cookies and the things they just can't have all the time.

My other trepidation with having a daughter was taking care of her African hair. I've tried to braid with limited success but hope to get better. I did just run across a cornrow tutorial on YouTube, and I'm so excited because I think I have it down now. Can't wait to practice tonight as it is time, once again, to re-braid!.

More photos from Ethiopia ...

I can't get the captions to sync up with the photos, so here is a rambling of what is below:

Meeting at the CWA foster home (4) ~ Getting backpacks and toys (1) ~ Looking at family photos (1) ~ First swim (4) ~ Getting new braids (2) ~ Spiffed up for U.S. Embassy visa appointment (2) ~ Playing checkers (3) ~ Viewing video (1) ~ With our missionary friends (1) ~ Signing "I Love You" with favorite taxi driver, Kassahun (1) ~ Sacked out! (1) ~ First ice cream (1) ~ Posing on hotel room balcony (1) ~ Hair again! (1) ~ Picked up by CWA to go to airport (1) ~ IN AMERICA! going through immigration (1) ~ Airplane from Washington D.C. to Denver!!!!! (2)