Bayat excited to have some buna! 
Kidist stirring in her sugar! 
Group Photo at Alems: Dawn, Julie, Kidist, Bayat, Bond & LoriIt was a great visit, the only thing that would have been better? If Addisu and his daddy could have been there.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Ethiopian food - twice in two days!
Sunday afternoon Bond, myself and the girls drove to downtown Milwaukee to meet Addisu's mom, Julie and her friend Dawn for dinner. We went to Alem, Ethiopian Village and it was pretty good. (I think the least favorite part of our visit was that they didn't have any booster seats, so Bayat got to try out the Milwaukee phonebook first and then the wonderful accommodating waitress brought Bayat a stack of clothing to sit on. Of course the phonebook wasn't 'comfortable', and the stack of clothing was!) Julie and I were able to update each other on our kids and family doings, etc. It was a great time! We also let the girls drink some Ethiopian buna, or coffee! They are really small glasses as you will see in the picture, but none the less, the girls were excited to have some buna!
Bayat excited to have some buna!
Kidist stirring in her sugar!
Group Photo at Alems: Dawn, Julie, Kidist, Bayat, Bond & Lori
It was a great visit, the only thing that would have been better? If Addisu and his daddy could have been there.
Bayat excited to have some buna! Kidist stirring in her sugar! Group Photo at Alems: Dawn, Julie, Kidist, Bayat, Bond & LoriIt was a great visit, the only thing that would have been better? If Addisu and his daddy could have been there.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
What a great weekend!
We had a great weekend! Some good friends came to visit and the girls had their first sleep over. We spent some time at the farmers market in Janesville and of course there was the water, the slip and slide, the pool and the sprinkler.
Bayat petting calf
Kidist petting goat
Both girls with goat
Being totally silly at the Farmers Market!
There were some street dancers at the Market too! They were part of the Janesville Performing Arts Events.
Jeff took some great pictures of the girls on the slip and slide (I'm hoping he'll share so I can post at a later date.) This is the only one I have. I have to admit that I used swim time to run to the grocery!
The girls had their first sleep over too! They were excited to have their friend Grace spend the night! I think Grace might have been excited too. So we watched Shark Tales, kinda cute!
And this is two exhausted girls after worship and a big lunch on Sunday after company left. Aren't they adorable?
Bayat petting calf
Kidist petting goat
Both girls with goat
Being totally silly at the Farmers Market!
There were some street dancers at the Market too! They were part of the Janesville Performing Arts Events.
Jeff took some great pictures of the girls on the slip and slide (I'm hoping he'll share so I can post at a later date.) This is the only one I have. I have to admit that I used swim time to run to the grocery!
The girls had their first sleep over too! They were excited to have their friend Grace spend the night! I think Grace might have been excited too. So we watched Shark Tales, kinda cute! 
And this is two exhausted girls after worship and a big lunch on Sunday after company left. Aren't they adorable?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Two Wells for Ethiopia! Hooray!
Way to go Lori! No, not me, another blogger that has adopted a little girl from Ethiopia. You can see her blog here and read about the amazing work that Team Ethiopia has done! A whole bunch of bloggers came together and donated through Lori's blog, final destination being Charity Water, and raised $10,000 dollars!! Enough to build TWO, yes 2, wells in Ethiopia! That's a whole lotta people getting some good clean water! Congratulations to Lori for her ambition and for making her dream come true!
Friday, June 26, 2009
It's Friday!! YEA!! (& we have visitors)
We all slept in this morning and extra 1/2 hour and the girls had to put their socks and shoes on in the car! Opps! But we made it to school on time and even took Fenric the dog with us.
When we returned home from dropping the kids off, I find Bond in the backyard. We go and investigate . . . Bond says very quietly, "Look up in the trees, I think the turkey vultures are roosting up there." I look and sure enough see about 1/2 dozen or so vultures hanging out in our very very tall pine trees in the backyard. It's actually pretty neat to see just how big of a bird they are.
Now we know exactly where all the feathers in the yard have been coming from. We keep finding feathers and a few days ago, a really long feather that clearly couldn't be a crow, so now we know. . . it's a turkey vulture feather! Mystery solved.
When we returned home from dropping the kids off, I find Bond in the backyard. We go and investigate . . . Bond says very quietly, "Look up in the trees, I think the turkey vultures are roosting up there." I look and sure enough see about 1/2 dozen or so vultures hanging out in our very very tall pine trees in the backyard. It's actually pretty neat to see just how big of a bird they are.
Now we know exactly where all the feathers in the yard have been coming from. We keep finding feathers and a few days ago, a really long feather that clearly couldn't be a crow, so now we know. . . it's a turkey vulture feather! Mystery solved.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Well, the backyard waits until. . .
Tommorrow to be mowed! We are in the basement again. Yes, another Tornado spotted northwest of us and will be here in about 20 minutes! So the girls are practicing their tornado drills, on the floor with head covered!
We finally break down and turn on the air conditioning, Bond is outside mowing the very long grass and I really think I hear something. Well, my ears didn't let me down, Yes it was the Tornado Siren, so we all gathered once again and headed for the basement. Only 12 minutes to go and then maybe it'll be a little cooler outside too!
Until the next weather reporting. . .
We finally break down and turn on the air conditioning, Bond is outside mowing the very long grass and I really think I hear something. Well, my ears didn't let me down, Yes it was the Tornado Siren, so we all gathered once again and headed for the basement. Only 12 minutes to go and then maybe it'll be a little cooler outside too!
Until the next weather reporting. . .
First week of Summer School and Swim
Another first!
Girls first day of Summer School
Just to keep routine and to work on those basic skills the girls are taking "Getting Ready for Kindergarten" and "Getting Ready for 1st Grade" Second day and they are still liking it! It's a good thing.
Girls first day of Swim
The girls also are taking a swim class through our school district and it's for three weeks: 45 minute sessions. First day parents were allowed to stay and watch and of course listen to all the rules, but today. . . well, we were highly encouraged the first day to just drop the kids off so that we wouldn't be a great distraction. So that's what we did!
And it's so true! The first day Bayat is turning around and waving at us and of course not listening to the instructor. But, when it's her turn in the water, she is all serious and won't even take a second to look at us. Kidist on the other hand, ignores us during instruction, but upon entering the pool, it's look at me, total eye contact! Just what the teacher does not want to happen! So we decided to just drop them off!
Girls first day of Summer School
Just to keep routine and to work on those basic skills the girls are taking "Getting Ready for Kindergarten" and "Getting Ready for 1st Grade" Second day and they are still liking it! It's a good thing.
Girls first day of Swim
The girls also are taking a swim class through our school district and it's for three weeks: 45 minute sessions. First day parents were allowed to stay and watch and of course listen to all the rules, but today. . . well, we were highly encouraged the first day to just drop the kids off so that we wouldn't be a great distraction. So that's what we did!
And it's so true! The first day Bayat is turning around and waving at us and of course not listening to the instructor. But, when it's her turn in the water, she is all serious and won't even take a second to look at us. Kidist on the other hand, ignores us during instruction, but upon entering the pool, it's look at me, total eye contact! Just what the teacher does not want to happen! So we decided to just drop them off!
Bicycling
The girls got bikes! Memorial Day weekend!
The bikes were second hand, but in excellent condition!
The bikes needed a little TLC!
Bond was able to get the bike that needed the most work fixed up!
This Saturday, mommy (that would be me) put on her little girls training wheels! All by myself! I know it's really not a big deal, but it was pretty cool!
The girls and I walked their bicycling route (very short route too). I was a laxed mommy and did not require helmets the first time. (OK, bad parent award coming, I'm ready).
OMG! How did I ever learn how to ride a bike? I don't remember training wheels. I remember sitting on my bike with one foot on the curb for stability and taking off and then stopping and doing it again, and again and again. . . . get the picture??
I truly understand why Bond wants full face masks, knee and elbow pads, gloves, etc. I forget that the girls have not ever ridden a bicycle, perhaps a tricycle, but not a bicycle. They want to use the Fred Flintstone method of braking!
It was just a little nerve racking for me! So we practicing a figure eight pattern between our driveway and my neighbors driveway and that seemed to work out ok. And it did work OK! Take a look.
So everyday now when there is a free moment you will be able to find me on the front porch watching and giving little tips and tricks to the girls while they continue to practice riding their bikes!
The bikes were second hand, but in excellent condition!
The bikes needed a little TLC!
Bond was able to get the bike that needed the most work fixed up!
This Saturday, mommy (that would be me) put on her little girls training wheels! All by myself! I know it's really not a big deal, but it was pretty cool!
The girls and I walked their bicycling route (very short route too). I was a laxed mommy and did not require helmets the first time. (OK, bad parent award coming, I'm ready).
OMG! How did I ever learn how to ride a bike? I don't remember training wheels. I remember sitting on my bike with one foot on the curb for stability and taking off and then stopping and doing it again, and again and again. . . . get the picture??
I truly understand why Bond wants full face masks, knee and elbow pads, gloves, etc. I forget that the girls have not ever ridden a bicycle, perhaps a tricycle, but not a bicycle. They want to use the Fred Flintstone method of braking!
It was just a little nerve racking for me! So we practicing a figure eight pattern between our driveway and my neighbors driveway and that seemed to work out ok. And it did work OK! Take a look.
So everyday now when there is a free moment you will be able to find me on the front porch watching and giving little tips and tricks to the girls while they continue to practice riding their bikes!
First week of Summer Activities
So the first week of summer is complete and we are in our second week, which is actually our first week of summer school. Confused yet? So anyway, we, the girls and I went to see grandma and grandpa for three days during our first week of summer vaca. Grandpa put up swings for the girls to swing on. They are hung from the big trees in the backyard and they are really cool.
We went quilting with grandma at church with the church ladies and I almost finished one of the girls library bags! One almost done, one to go! Although it's cut out and ready to go!
Tuesday it was rainy, cloudy and cold, just another typical day in the Midwest at the beginning of June! YIKES! So we stayed home and practiced being couch potatoes all afternoon watching some more of the wonderful Planet Earth series we picked up a few weeks ago!
We went home on Wednesday and I am glad we did!! It was still gloom and doom near the lake, cold, cloudy and looked like rain. By the time we got home it was sunny, nice blue skies and about 10 degrees warmer! It actually felt like summer! We put our gardening clothes on and we picked weeds so that we could plant our hosta plants! It was a great afternoon! We accomplished lots and planted 6 new beautiful hostas!
We went quilting with grandma at church with the church ladies and I almost finished one of the girls library bags! One almost done, one to go! Although it's cut out and ready to go!
Tuesday it was rainy, cloudy and cold, just another typical day in the Midwest at the beginning of June! YIKES! So we stayed home and practiced being couch potatoes all afternoon watching some more of the wonderful Planet Earth series we picked up a few weeks ago!
We went home on Wednesday and I am glad we did!! It was still gloom and doom near the lake, cold, cloudy and looked like rain. By the time we got home it was sunny, nice blue skies and about 10 degrees warmer! It actually felt like summer! We put our gardening clothes on and we picked weeds so that we could plant our hosta plants! It was a great afternoon! We accomplished lots and planted 6 new beautiful hostas!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Food, is there enough for everyone?
I am amazed at the amounts of food that my girls can put away in one meal. They can sometimes eat more than Bond and I have on our plates. It's amazing, but they have most likely seen real famine. We will never know what all their history is and how long they have had to wait for their next meal and where that meal might come from.
There are so many many billions of people in the world that need to eat. Read this article snd you will be amazed at how little people live on.
Here’s a post from Brandi’s blog (Living Freely):
FEED THE FORGOTTEN
Too often we hear heartbreaking stories like this (that I posted on Saturday) and do nothing. We feel helpless. . . and so we move on. Not this time. There are people DYING in Uganda right now. There are children who’s bellies are hungry and aching. There are mamas who are too weak to stand and babies begging to be held. There are people trapping termites hoping for food and eating dung in helplessness. DO NOT CAVE TO DESPAIR. YOU CAN DO SOMETHING.
Join us and Children’s HopeChest to FEED THE FORGOTTEN!!! (CLICK HERE TO GIVE NOW) (note: please write FEED THE FORGOTTEN in the notes section)
For $0.14, we can (and WILL) feed someone a meal of posho and beans. (posho is cornmeal, which is filling and beans are protein). Take that in for a moment. . .
$0.14 a meal
$2.86 for 20 days
$1 per FAMILY
$20 feed a family for 20 days.
How much was my Chick Fil A yesterday? How much is your Starbucks? The bigger question is how much am I willing to give up SO THAT OTHERS MIGHT EAT?
Remember Jesus story of the Good Samaritan? Remember how his very neighbors walked right by him? They probably looked at him with pity. . .probably thought “oh poor guy, that breaks my heart” but the fact is THEY DID NOTHING.
What will you do? These children are starving. . .
these actual children. . .
Will you help? The money raised will feed those precious children. There are 3 - 4 villages that we are targeting (I’m hoping for more after we see how much we can raise!) to bring food relief to asap. These people are literally starving. . and waiting for you to act. Will you help? Even with paypal fees (2-3%) even $1 will feed 6 people! You CAN make a difference.
Spread the word, blog about it, facebook it, twitter it, ask your church or school or business to give, post the blog badge anything. Truly, we are begging you. . .on behalf of these children not to forget this post and move on to the next in your google reader list. Stop, pray, act.
GIVE TO FEED THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN!!!!!
There are so many many billions of people in the world that need to eat. Read this article snd you will be amazed at how little people live on.
Here’s a post from Brandi’s blog (Living Freely):
FEED THE FORGOTTEN
Too often we hear heartbreaking stories like this (that I posted on Saturday) and do nothing. We feel helpless. . . and so we move on. Not this time. There are people DYING in Uganda right now. There are children who’s bellies are hungry and aching. There are mamas who are too weak to stand and babies begging to be held. There are people trapping termites hoping for food and eating dung in helplessness. DO NOT CAVE TO DESPAIR. YOU CAN DO SOMETHING.
Join us and Children’s HopeChest to FEED THE FORGOTTEN!!! (CLICK HERE TO GIVE NOW) (note: please write FEED THE FORGOTTEN in the notes section)
For $0.14, we can (and WILL) feed someone a meal of posho and beans. (posho is cornmeal, which is filling and beans are protein). Take that in for a moment. . .$0.14 a meal
$2.86 for 20 days
$1 per FAMILY
$20 feed a family for 20 days.
How much was my Chick Fil A yesterday? How much is your Starbucks? The bigger question is how much am I willing to give up SO THAT OTHERS MIGHT EAT?
Remember Jesus story of the Good Samaritan? Remember how his very neighbors walked right by him? They probably looked at him with pity. . .probably thought “oh poor guy, that breaks my heart” but the fact is THEY DID NOTHING.
What will you do? These children are starving. . .
these actual children. . .
Will you help? The money raised will feed those precious children. There are 3 - 4 villages that we are targeting (I’m hoping for more after we see how much we can raise!) to bring food relief to asap. These people are literally starving. . and waiting for you to act. Will you help? Even with paypal fees (2-3%) even $1 will feed 6 people! You CAN make a difference.
Spread the word, blog about it, facebook it, twitter it, ask your church or school or business to give, post the blog badge anything. Truly, we are begging you. . .on behalf of these children not to forget this post and move on to the next in your google reader list. Stop, pray, act.
GIVE TO FEED THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN!!!!!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thankful for the sirens
Really wanted to keep writing but the thunder and lightening was getting pretty bad pretty quickly.
So the tornado warning was supposed to end at 1:45am, extended until 2:00am and then cancelled about 1:50am. So we packed up our blankets and pillows and returned to our respective bedrooms. It seemed to rain, thunder and lightening for most of last night. So now my computer says it's 9:28am and we are all up, with headaches and all from lack of sleep.
The good Ethiopian Harrar Fair Trade coffee is brewing and I can't wait to get a cup.
What's so ironic about last night is that last night at dinner time, Bayat was asking if everyone had a basement. And did they go into them when it was a bad storm. Then we proceeded to talk about "What if" scenarios for a fire and where our meeting spot was to be, etc. So last night when the siren sounded, it took me a few seconds to register. After all was said and done, Bond admitted that he thought the siren was part of his dream.
We haven't heard of any damage yet, and hopefully no one was hurt in last nights storms. Off to get a cup of joe!
So the tornado warning was supposed to end at 1:45am, extended until 2:00am and then cancelled about 1:50am. So we packed up our blankets and pillows and returned to our respective bedrooms. It seemed to rain, thunder and lightening for most of last night. So now my computer says it's 9:28am and we are all up, with headaches and all from lack of sleep.
The good Ethiopian Harrar Fair Trade coffee is brewing and I can't wait to get a cup.
What's so ironic about last night is that last night at dinner time, Bayat was asking if everyone had a basement. And did they go into them when it was a bad storm. Then we proceeded to talk about "What if" scenarios for a fire and where our meeting spot was to be, etc. So last night when the siren sounded, it took me a few seconds to register. After all was said and done, Bond admitted that he thought the siren was part of his dream.
We haven't heard of any damage yet, and hopefully no one was hurt in last nights storms. Off to get a cup of joe!
The wonderous sound of the siren
It's currently 1:14 am and I'm sitting in the basement waiting out the tornado like conditions to pass. The sirens woke me up a little before 1:00, I budged Bond and then woke up the girls. Our first trip to the basement of 2009. As I write the sirens are going off again. It's super still outside and they are just announcing that there is a heavy cell just south of downtown. We are hearing some light thunder, but really that's it. It's more difficult to get Fenric to stay downstairs.
ok, time to turn off the computer now. more later.
ok, time to turn off the computer now. more later.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
First Day of Summer Break - Take a look!
This is the girls practicing for try outs! How cool is that! Today we went shopping for a couple basketballs and a soccer ball. The girls have been practicing dribbling since we got home. We took a break to eat dinner and then back at it. Take a look, they are getting pretty good we think!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Another First ~ Last day of school for the girls!
Another First ~ So today is the last day of school for the girls! They did very well, of course :-) This week has been crazy with all the different routines, end of the school year fieldtrips, game days, parties, etc. etc. and boy are we feeling it. I'm having a hard time getting through my last week of school, but the girls. . . . well, we've had to wake them up every morning because they are sleeping so hard! They have come home bouncing off the wall this week and boy do they have some massive amounts of energy! It's almost scary! Tomorrow is my last day of school and I'm going to try to be as quiet as I can so that everyone else can sleep in a little! It's daddy's day off too, so bonus! So it's quiet, quiet, quiet in the morning so that daddy and his little princesses can sleep, sleep, sleep. . . . .
And if I want to get a good start to my last day I'd better be off to bed myself! Good night!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
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