Splish Splash

Last week, my friend was house sitting at a house with a pool, so me and the kids spent TONS of time over there. They had the coolest slide that entertained the kids forever. My friend & I even joined in on the sliding. It was such a hoot! We are having the BEST SUMMER!

Roller Skating

One hot, Sunday afternoon we decided to head to the Roller Skating Rink to take the kids skating for the first time. It was the weekend after Michael Jackson died, so it was a fitting memorial for me since most of my childhood memories of skating in the 80's include "Thriller" & "Beat It" (they even played those songs as we skated that day). It was hilarious & SUCH A GOOD WORKOUT! We laughed so hard & were thankful to leave with no broken bones!

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.

Vacation Baby!

We just returned home from the most amazing vacation ever! Since it's been 4 trips to Disney World since we went to the beach, I can honestly say I haven't kicked back & chilled this much in way too long! The best part, though, was that our princess was with us & we were all together as a family! We all loved every minute of it!

Sharkie

This post should have been months ago, but it's summer & I'm totally trying to catch up! Anyways, Gabriella & Troy's elementary school had their first walk-a-thon this spring. Siskel, Ebert, & I planned to spend most of the day at the school helping out with the event, but we didn't bargain for what we got...an afternoon of Mommy playing the school mascot, Sharkie! Ebert & Siskel were great sports & pretty much entertained themselves all afternoon while I danced around the gym like a crazy lady..I mean Shark! The best part was when it came time for the 1st graders to come do their walk. Troy had no idea that his mom was the Shark, so I danced with him, hung out with him, & teased him...all without him knowing it was me. The biggest treat for me was getting to be a "fly on the wall" & see how great of a kid he was when he thought I wasn't around (& trust me, some of the kids were obnoxious & pulled on Sharkie & abused her the whole time)! It was a great afternoon! I've never been so tired & hot in my life, but I'll do it again in a heartbeat! Oh, the memories!!!!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom...no training wheels!

This afternoon, the princess woke me up from my mother's day nap with the sweetest words...."Hurry, come Mom! I ride my bike no training wheels all myself by"! She started trying to do it yesterday & she was determine to do it! I have been so blessed to have her to share this Mother's Day with, but her Ethiopian mothers are very close to my heart today. Their sacrificial love gave her an amazing foundation for life & allowed her to join our family.

Almost-Summer Fun

The kids are soooo ready for summer (gee, I guess the adults are just as ready, too)! The princess is having a blast taking in lots of new, warm weather activities. She has loved helping us pick out & plant our summer flowers. She also had her first slip-n-slide & water balloon experience! Then, Friday night, after they were already in their jammies & ready to settle down for movie night, the ice cream truck came! And, oh, how she loved that!!! We are so blessed to have such an amazing little girl to share all these new experiences with! God is so good!