Princess Update

It has been way too long since I sat down & did a blog update on the princess. She is still doing "fantabulous"!

The biggest progress we've made lately is that she's come around to seemingly love Ethiopia. I know this is a process with many different phases, but for now she seems proud of her heritage. When the boys & I use to talk about wanting to go on a trip to Ethiopia, she would usually put her hand on her hip & say, "You go to Ethiopia. I'm staying in America.". Even though she know this is her home & a trip there would only be for a visit, she had no desire to revisit her former life. It broke my heart, but I reminded myself that she LIVED in Ethiopia...she knows the hopelessness & difficulty that Ethiopians live with on a day to day basis. Over the past couple of weeks, this has changed. This morning, she even said something like, "Momma, when we go back to Ethiopia. Maybe you'll be able to roll your R's" (my tongue just doesn't work like that & she was trying to teach me how to do it). Last week, when I was on cafepress.com ordering a new Ethiopia sticker for my vehicle, she started looking at the Ethiopia t-shirts & found several she wanted me to buy for her. So, for now, she is very proud to be Ethiopian & I pray that she will continue to love her homeland & that love will lead her to want to help & serve her people.

As for her school, she completed Kindergarten with flying colors. She is still "behind", but since English was her biggest deficet & she made amazing progress even after starting the school year late, we are proceeding with 1st grade. As for her English, her biggest challenge is with saying "he"...she always uses "she" whether she's referring to a male or female. Other than that her vocabulary is expanding daily & it's so fun to watch her continue to flourish. We have been doing some "school stuff" at home this summer, because she didn't qualify for any type of summer school...which we were thankful for as we felt she needed her first summer in America to be full of kiddie-style play & learning through play. Boogle, Jr. is my new favorite trick for getting her to work on "school stuff" while still having fun. For now, she's learning all about things such as bikinis (which she wants to wear, but we compromise with a tankini), lightning bugs and june bugs, fireworks and sparklers, etc.

Life is good & we are so thankful to be spending our first summer together as a family. God has blessed us beyond immagination.