Pool's Open!

It's been barely warm enough to swim, and the kids are READY! SJ went in fast, B took it slow. :)

Snuggle Bunnies

HAIR!

SJ's hair has grown so much in the year since we received her referral picture (see a few posts below). This is her hair combed out before I braided and beaded it, so cute!

Not only has her hair grown, but she's grown 6 inches and gained 10lbs in the past year too. Wow.

Quick Funny

SJ just stood in front of her brother, who was busy watching TV, and yelled, "Wendom Joanna Coffey, you listen to me!"
Wendom-Amharic for brother, it's what she calls B
Joanna-SJ's middle name

B's 6th Birthday!

Our boy B celebrated his 6th birthday last weekend. He asked for a Ben 10 party, wanted to build aliens, and to have a party at home. We had a terrific day with all of the cousins, B's best buds, and a couple of fellas from school. Later in the evening, all of the grandparents came over for pizza and presents.

B also received his first pet, a hermit crab from Auntie Anna. He has named him Gilbert and woke up in the middle of the night to check on him!

In honor of B's SIXTH birthday, SIX things we love about B:

1. Creativity. This boy thinks outside the box and we love that. It's fun to see his creations and dramatizations.

2. Sensitivity. B is a caring, sensitive soul. Seeing others hurting makes B sad, he feels deeply for others.

3. Energy. Although his energy often wears Mama out, it's great that he can GO and GO. Our daytrips and outings are so much more fun with an energetic guy. One day his high energy level will serve this world well...

4. Smarts. We love that B has started reading on his own and is reading for fun. He lays in bed reading until he falls asleep each night. His current favorite is Calvin & Hobbes, recommended to him by his cousin BB. B enjoys reading about a topic he is interested in, he soaks up all of the information he can.

5. His love of the outdoors. B loves to be outside, especially with SuperDaddy. They ski, disc golf, shoot bows and arrows, hike, and swim. Mama likes that her high energy guys can work off some that legendary energy!

6. His love for his sister. B is so proud of his sister and her heritage. He often wants to take SJ's mementos to school for show and tell, her flags, her baby book, sister herself! If he sees someone checking out our family, B says proudly, "This is my sister SJ, she was born in Ethiopia". B watches out for her and has so much fun playing with his sister.

Because They're Cute

The kids playing together nicely, I enjoyed it while it lasted!

Costume Phase Update!

B is NOT growing out of his costume phase after all. He wore costumes the past 2 days and is getting SJ to wear them too. Yesterday we went to the gym and B wore his Anakin suit with cowboy boots and an Indian headband he made out of leaves. Today he's wearing his Robin suit and put SJ in the Superman suit.

I love his creativity and confidence, 2 of his many fine qualities.

<---- This is a homemade monacle with a toy lens and tape.

Photo Tagging!

I've been tagged by Janet, http://philjanetevieandrew.blogspot.com/. I'm to take the 4th picture of the 4th file on my computer and explain it.

This is Batman standing by the Batmobile at a Comic Show when he was 3 1/2. He's growing out of his costume phase, boooo, I loved that he wore costumes so much and had such an imagination.

I'm tagging Theresa, Stacy, Tracie, Karey and Julie, my Ethiopia adoption buddies!

Quick Funny

When planning for my beach trip, I decided to braid SJ's hair so that SuperDaddy would not have to worry much over it. I'm new at this girl-hair-braiding business, so I did the best I could and let it be. I thought she looked cute.

I got a call from SuperDaddy while on the way to SC. He simply said, "Is her hair supposed to look like this?". I said "Yep, it is, I'll be back on Saturday."

I've Been Tagged!

This post is not finished as I can't figure links out! Tomorrow, I'll get someone to help and finish the post correctly.
My sweet adoption buddy, KAREY, tagged me; so here goes:
1. I ate my pet cat Louie. I grew up in Ghana, Africa, and Mr. M, my mother's househelper, was asked to get rid of the cat because he meowed constantly. Mom didn't think about Mr. M's tribe being "cat eaters", and he innocently prepared the cat for dinner. We didn't know it was the cat until a little later, calm down.
2. I played Bible Bowl all through my high school years. It's basically a quick quiz game based on Bible knowledge. Our team did ok in competition, but we had sooooo much fun we didn't care.
3. All through college, I worked as a lifeguard. Piece of cake job as the supervisor let me pick my own hours. So, lazy bones that I am, picked the morning shifts so the pool was empty most of the time and I got paid to study.
4. I got married at Park West Hospital. SuperDaddy's dad was a patient there when we decided to "elope", so we met our minister there one afternoon and got hitched. My parents were there too, but we couldn't track down his mom. Oooops, she said we were forgiven when she got a grandchild. She didn't know she would be waiting 8 years for our little B to come!
5. I worked for 3 years as a Personal Organizer. You'd never know it now that the kids have sucked out my brain cells!
6. I love to listen to the radio shows on NPR on Saturday morning. I don't always get to, (due to the aforementioned brain cell suckers) but love to listen and laugh too loudly.
7. I love, love, love to travel. Even overnight business trips to a nearby city with husband thrill me. So a week in Ethiopia was heaven, not to mention getting our amazing girl. :) When we retire, we want to travel the world, the dream travel list is getting long.

Quick Funny and Update

SJ's latest cute saying:
When I went on my recent trip to Louisville, I brought back injera (Ethiopian bread from a restaurant there) and cooked up some lentil stew for dinner when I got home. Yesterday, Daddy went on a business trip, we told SJ he was going. Her response, "Yay! Daddy bring Opia food for SJ!" Apparantly anyone travelling must return with injera, you've been warned.
Must brag:
SJ, who did not speak a word of English 5 months ago, can now recognize some written letters and can sound out most letters. Her highly verbal brother has come in handy!
Update on whining about motherhood:
We have gotten our little guy back within decent limits of behavior. I've taken steps to be more firm, not allow negotiation and to spend lots more 1 on 1 time with B. He will always be a challenge to me, but it's definitely more fun being his mom when we're not fighting all day! B also started karate classes. In just 2 classes, I can already see an improvement in listening and maturity.

Opians Running

SJ and Mommy have been watching the Olympics and had fun cheering the Ethiopian track team on. While in the shower tonight, SJ set up her guys. "Mommy, look. Opians running!" Opians means Ethiopians, if you haven't already figured that out.
By the way, SJ has been home 4 months. She's fluent in English, loves to play jokes on her brother and has grown 4 inches since January! This girl is living up to her name, praise the Lord.

So I'm not Crazy!

About a month ago, at the beginning of our machine/vehicle/appliance breakdown period, my keys mysteriously disappeared too. It's been a rough month, $8K toward repairs/replacements, managing repairmen and scheduling, and doing without AC for a week in August.
When the keys disappeared, I thought I'd lost my mind. I'm generally pretty good at putting my purse in the armoire, plugging in my phone, and keeping track of my stuff. I had arrived home one day, and when I next was ready to leave, my keys were nowhere to be found. I hadn't used my keys in between and was so confused.
This morning, my SIL called and said she had found my keys in their diaper bag! I figure SJ (who I can't keep out of my stuff) must have moved my keys from my purse to the bottom of the diaper bag while SIL was visiting. The keys literally walked out of my house, no wonder I thought I'd finally lost it!

Church Fun

B and SJ with special friends and cousins at church.

Crimefighters

Flip Flop Bandits

"Where are my shoes, I left them here just a minute ago?!"

Jelly and SJ strike again.

Jelly is SJ's cousin, my brother's daughter. No, that's not her real name :o)

Insanely cute

2 cute things already, it's only 8 am.
-SJ says "fuffin" for "muffin".
-At breakfast, I handed B his cereal and SJ whispered to B, "Wendom, say thank you Mommy"!

Super Powers

B continues to believe that Super Daddy and I have super powers. We can "see" him in the next room about to break something even when the door is closed, I can tell without looking that he has stuck his feet out of the car window, I know when he has to use the potty, etc. It's just the stuff you learn about your kid and the use of the side mirrors on the car, but even when we explain our "powers" B won't buy it, he insists we must have super powers.
Tonight on the way home, B said "I'll never have super powers, I've been praying to God and He still didn't give me any!" It's tough being 5 (and a half).

Our Nudist Colony

The warmer weather has caused my children to put on their "birthday suits". They've spent lots of time outside and playing in the pool, and most of it has been BUCK NAKED. I love baby nudies, it's so innocent and refreshing.

SJ's language is improving daily. She is able to tell us what she wants easily, but is quite stubborn if she does not get her way. She's enjoying sleeping in her big bed, and sleeps all night as long as we stay with her until she falls asleep. The girl is crazy about shoes, loves to brush her teeth often and is a Kissing Bandit. If you get close, she'll grab you and give you a big kiss.

B is doing well too. He's got his 5 yr Dr. check up and kindergarden shots tomorrow. Believe me, there will be unabashed bribery involved! He's also learning how to annoy his sister, I think all brothers master that skill quickly. I had to teach her to say, "Wendom, NO". (Wendom means brother) B is lately into Ben 10, Pokemon and loves to spend time drawing the characters.

These sweet naked darlings are keeping us busy and laughing. Thankfully the joyful days outnumber the tough ones. What blessings we have!