Batman!

We went with some friends to the children's museum this weekend and had the good luck to be there on a day that BATMAN was making appearances! We joined in the long line to see him and after waiting for an HOUR we got to get a quick picture. Brecken was soooooo excited and Kait even thought it was pretty cool (she wants to show the boys in her class the picture). Of course Bella refused to get in the picture-- surprise, surprise. Then today I heard her playing-- totally decked out in a princess outfit-- and she was pretending to be "Batman's daughter"! Her fairy dress had special powers! Too cute!


a little trivia-- the outfit batman was wearing was actually one of the ones used in the movie-- it was pretty cool. I have never seen the movie but now I am thinking that I would kind of like to.

On the adoption front-- no new news for us but our agency has given several referrals lately, which is so fun, and there are quite a few people traveling or getting ready to travel-- exciting!!!!

Exquisite!

A great girl's weekend! A friend's cabin in MI, Mexican food, chocolate, late night talks with great friends (i don't know when the last time is that I have been up at 3am)-- and did I say chocolate?

After sleeping in (did I say no kids?!), we had pancakes and talked some more, then we went to do a little skiing on a gorgeous afternoon.

exquisite was the word for the day we decided-- Christian friendships, the scenery, the food! The thing that really topped everything off was the timing-- We were supposed to meet to leave at 3:00. At 2:45 I was bummed b/c I had called to say I couldn't come-- Kevin had been sick and didn't seem much better and now Bella was sick.

Enter wonderful husband, freshly showered (he had been in bed all day) and saying that he thought he was well enough to take care of the kids (even a sick one). Now you might think -- what a brat-- but since he was going to have to lay low anyway and Bella wasn't throwing up-- I started throwing things in my suitcase and and called and asked them to wait 30 min.

Oh I am so glad that I went! Why does it seem that there are always so many obstacles when you are going to do something? I feel like that happens so many times--sometimes we just give in to the obstacles but when you don't and you find a way to make things work it is almost always so worth it!
I am more energized and ready to be the mom and wife I love being-- good thing because all the kids were sick yesterday and today!:)

Speaking of determined (an area that i have a long way to go in) I hope you had time to reflect on what Martin Luther King Jr. did for our nation and the commitment and determination to make a difference that he had! What an inspiring man to teach our kids about!

snow days and other great news

Today started out great with a 2 hour delay that was scheduled last night (so we could sleep in). After eating pancakes we checked the news and found out that there was no school toady! Awesome!~ Snow days are definitely a perk to living in IN. They probably don't have those in FL. Brecken had been wanting to make snowflakes from coffee filters so we did that-- he is so funny, he loved every one that he made but it was basically a race to see how many he could make/ and how fast. He is soooo competitive (even against himself)!

On the adoption front there was even better news! We found out last week that Taye was moved from his orphanage to the House of Hope-- CHI's transition house! We have heard such great things about the HOH and were really anxious to have him there! I'm sure that they loved him at the orphanage but in this world of so many unknowns I really wanted to know he was at a place where I have seen pictures of (on fellow CHI adoptive parents blogs) and even know the names of some of the workers. We had been petitioning God as well as our adoption agency this last month and are thankful for the move! We are prayerful that he will adjust there and it won't be too stressful for him!
I can't imagine what he has already been through losing what is familiar now at least twice . I have to say that now having a face and a name to love and pray for has been so much harder than I could have imagined! The mom heart in me feels like it is breaking just thinking of him being there without us to love and care for him. It is so easy to know the Bible verses but to truly believe them and claim them for Taye as taken more effort than I would have imagined! but I know that God's word is true and that is what we cling to --

a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families! (psalm 68:4-6)

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart! (Jeremiah 1:8)

We know that God is the ultimate father and that he has a plan for Taye's life-- I am so thankful for that!
laura

Better than Basketball

Friday night, I made Ethiopian food for dinner. We had decided that we wanted to try to incorporate it into our family since Taye will probably have a special connection to the smells and taste. I took an "Ethiopian food" cooking class and we have tried the recipes that I got there as well as things that I found online. We actually LOVE it! The "wat"-- stew type food is sooo good. Kevin and I went on a date over Christmas break to and Ethiopian restaurant in Indy that was wonderful! http://www.abyssiniarestaurant.com/ I would highly recommend it! I was glad to find the recipes that I have found tasted similar to what they served there. Since the owner is from Ethiopia I guess we can assume that the food is fairly authentic. I got a recipe to make the berbere spice that is used and wasn't sure how close it was to the real deal.
http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/ethiopia/berbere.html
The berbere is a little time consuming to make but it made a lot so you can keep it in your refrigerator and have several meals from it.

The cool thing about the evening was how excited the kids were about dinner that night! They kept saying how good it smelled and actually ate most of their food-- talking about how they can't wait for Taye to be here to eat it with them! This is not the type of food that they would normally like-- a little spicy. I love that they seem to really want to connect with their baby brother!



looking much more excited than in the previous post

Doro Wat (chicken stewed in a red pepper sauce with eggs), Mesir Wat (lentils with the sauce),

Yataklete Kilkil(vegetables with ginger, garlic, and chile)

So you may notice that the food is on a tortilla and we do use silverware. :) I attempted Injera once and it was okay (barely) --then we went to Abyssinia and tasted how delicious their Injera was-- Kevin can't stop talking about how good it is and how perfect it was for scooping up the food and the sauce. In addition, I did not have any teff in the house -- shocking --and hated to bother Janet W. again (thanks Janet). So tortillas will have to do for now but I will try again.:) hmmmm, maybe Williams Sonoma will start selling those large flat stones they use for making the injera and I will get really good at swirling it while we are in ET... or... maybe we could buy extra at the restaurant and freeze it until Target starts carrying it ?! Adoption has been such a journey for our family. There are so many ups and downs - but the chance to have another culture that will actually become part of our family is something I love about this journey!

Court Date!

Yeah! We recieved an email Monday morning that we have a court date. March 13th is the lucky day (hopefully!). As our adoption agency has cautioned us several times-- there have been more delays in the court dates so we are optimistic but very prayerful about this too. IF all goes well we will travel 2-3 weeks later. I am so excited-- kind of can't believe that we are this far! I feel a little confused-- do we start getting everything ready-- room, some clothes, things like that or do we wait? What if things get postponed? The problem with waiting is that 2-3 weeks with 3 other kids and their schedules can go pretty fast. The problem with doing a lot now is that maybe it will make the wait go more slowly. Well , I'm going to have to make up my mind!