Tag- An Interview with Elly & Eden

Interview with Elly, age 3.5 years.

1. What is something mother always says to you? Uh...hmmm...I'm thoughting out. LOVE YOU!

2. What makes mother happy? Uh, please.

3. What makes mother sad? Mmm...Momma makes sad is doing the not right things, just walking off and not doing the not right things, that's when your mom is sad.

4. How does mother make you laugh? Do silly things.

5. What was mother like as a child? You liked animals.

6. How old is mother? I don't know.

7. How tall is mother? Big, like this big (holding hands out).

8. What is her favorite thing to do? I'm thoughting it out first. You like to do grown up stuff.

9. What does mother do when you're not around? Grown up stuff, I mean, when Eden's gone.

10. If mother becomes famous, what will it be for? ?? You are famous.

11. What is mother really good at? You're good at doing games like UNO.

12. What is mother not very good at? Uh, not playing sharky games.

13. What does mother do for a job? Hold on a second...ok...do grown up stuff.

14.What is mother's favorite food? Your favorite food is cheese.

15. What makes you proud of mother? Hugging.

16. If mother were a cartoon character, who would she be? Lightning the Queen.

17. What do you and mother do together? Play.

18. How are you and mother the same? We have just ponytails.

19. How are you and mother different? We're just in a our styles and stuff.

20. How do you know mother loves you? You're just weird.

21. What does mother like most about daddy? When he pops your neckel. ????

22. Where is mother's favorite place to go? Pizza Ranch (that's more like her favorite place to go!)

Interview with Eden, age 6 years.

1. What is something mother always says to you? I love you Eden Lily Pants.

2. What makes mother happy? When I follow the directions.

3. What makes mother sad? When I fight with Elly.

4. How does mother make you laugh? Tickle me.

5. What was mother like as a child? A girl with three sisters and it was hard to get along.

6. How old is mother? Thirty!

7. How tall is mother? 6 feet.

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Type on the computer.

9. What does mother do when you're not around? You type, eat, or play with Elly.

10. If mother becomes famous, what will it be for? That you were a rockstar.

11. What is mother really good at? Being nice to others.

12. What is mother not very good at? Biking.

13. What does mother do for a job? Babysit.

14.What is mother's favorite food? Healthy stuff with the rice and carrots and all that healthy energy stuff.

15. What makes you proud of mother? Because you always be nice, you always be friendly, you're a very nice character, and you always love me.

16. If mother were a cartoon character, who would she be? A cat named Killy Kaller.

17. What do you and mother do together? Do puzzles.

18. How are you and mother the same? That we both have the same hair, brown.

19. How are you and mother different? You wear glasses and I don't.

20. How do you know mother loves you? Cause you always say you love me, and that makes me proud.

21. What does mother like most about daddy? That he kisses you and always kisses you and kisses you and loves you.

22. Where is mother's favorite place to go? Panchero's.

TAG! Laura M., Jill B., Angie G.

She Was All Up In My Bigness.

Because in the next few days, there is a hotel pool in our future, I thought I would browse the swimsuit section of Target today. I do have a suit, it's just a maternity suit that I bought when I was pregnant with Eden SEVEN and a half years ago...oh and there's that small fact that no one who is non-preggo looks very cute in a maternity suit...anyway, so Elly and I were strolling through the swimsuit section. She asked what I was looking for and I said, "A swimsuit." She replied, pointing to a skimpy bikini, "There's a swimsuit!" I chuckled a bit, and said, "Well, that one would not work for..." She cut me off here and said, "your bigness." Thanks Elly, I was going to say my body type.

80s Night

Eden's school had an 80s Night to raise money for Dance Marathon a few weeks back...it was great and the kids enjoyed dancing and dressing up in 80s gear. Elly's hair was meant for the side-ponytail.


Oh yeah, we popped the collars.

I thought it was sweet that Eden was not too cool to hang with little sis at the dance. Dan and I were there too...we dressed up in our best 80s duds. Unfortunately, we showed up to find we were the only parents in the spirit of the evening!

Psalm 27:14

Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

More pics...

Eden's mini-Metropolis made from Littlest Pet Shop toys, books, and other smallish toys.

Experimenting with the new Sleepy Wrap...it's actually for Esias but at this rate, he may be 50 lbs before we get to try it on him. Elly liked it a little too much.

Catching Up on Photos

This is what Elly was silently doing while Dan and I got interviewed by the Associated Press:



Orneriness makes one tired...


Elly's cuteness got her a free ride on the carousel one day...

Eden's rendering of Grammy...

And Papa...sorry, Dad.

Quite Ellyquent, Part 19

Elly had a weird look on her face and then finally said, "I can't yawn! My yawn keeps going away from me!!"

Life 101.9

Elly always says she does not need to go potty when I ask her. So I have been pressing her with questions like, "Are you sure? Are you positive you don't need to go?"

The other day we were in a store and we had just been in the bathroom where Elly had told me she positively did not need to go to the bathroom. Well, lo and behold as soon as we are in line to check out...

Elly: MOM! I DO need to go to the bathroom!
Me: Elly!
Elly: I am NOT positive and I am not uplifting!

(if you don't get this, check out life1019.com and check out their slogan)

This is how to write Esias in his country's native language, Amharic!

Even though this has nothing to do with either of my current kids (though loosely it could be associated with baby E)...Tiel told me a story the other day that was hilarious. She was updating some of her Sunday School class on our adoption and how it was going and they were asking about the poverty in Ethiopia. She was trying to explain to them that it is on a different scale than what we are used to. She told them that we were planning to take donations to the children in the orphanages because they need shoes, clothes, etc. One of the boys, I think he was a freshman (and a riot) said, "I think I smell a bake sale coming on."

Violence in Kindergarten

Me: How was Mrs. H. today?
Eden: Not good. She got really, really, really mad because Abigail, the good-est person in class punched Lars IN THE EYE!

We're Baaack...

We're back from our restful weekend at my parents. Elly and I feel much better (did I forget to mention she tested positive for Strep too?). Dan had a terrible tension headache today probably from taking care of us all week and weekend, but he seems to be better now too! So here's to a short week! I promise to update the blog soon with more pics and antics from the circus that is our life.

Strep Froat

This is a public apology to everyone I have been in contact with over the last few days. I felt fine yesterday all day until the end of the day when I began getting tired. At midnight I woke up with a nasty sore throat, or sore froat as my kids say. One gaggy throat swab and some giant horse pills later, I am officially down-and-out with my old friend Strep. If you've never had strep, let's just put it this way: it feel like your tonsils are the size of coconuts and you have a straw stuck down your throat from which to breathe. Add to that the aches and pains that remind me of doing a 60 min total body workout the day after giving birth. Ok, well maybe I am exaggerating...nonetheless, you don't want it! So sorry Codi for any possible exposure!

If You Were A Fly on The Wall...

We may not be a homeschooling family, per se, but this video proves that we do teach our kids important things so they will grow up to be well-rounded adults! These guys are prepared for the next wedding reception. Check out Dan...watch for the eye contact. Is he not the cutest?

Puke Days Can Be Great Days

Picture it...North Liberty...2009. It's midnight and you've been asleep for several hours. Suddenly, you're dreaming about a little girl in another room coughing, coughing, coughing until she vomits. You wake up and realize it's your little girl. All you can manage to say it "UH-OH! UH-OH!" and your groggy husband jumps out of bed and carries your sick 3-year-old to the bathroom. You try to roll over and go back to sleep but guilt overtakes you and you rise to check on them. You peer through the cracked-open door to view what looks like a forensic crime scene investigation. I'm talking about spatter here people. You take shaky, sobbing child into your room and plop her on the bed as you begin to undress her and get her into clean dry clothes. The three of you settle into the bed, relatively unscathed and go to sleep.

6am...you are again dreaming peacefully when you hear a child crying. Another child climbs over you and goes to check on crying child. Then she comes running in again yelling, "Eden's going to pooook!" Ug. And "pook" she did.



By 7am this morning we had two pukers in our bed and Dan and I were hosing everything with Lysol and other Earth-harming cleaning agents. We've been passing this around for a month now and it is just annoying. I think Eden has vomited like every 8th day or something like that. Sheesh. And poor Dan, all he wants to do is take a sick day but he can't catch anything for the life of him! He's healthy as a horse.

Ok, so what's the title all about? Well, let's just say that we often yearn for a day where we don't need excuses to stay home, to clean, organize, prepare for the week ahead without guilt. That is what puke afforded us today! Puke Day turned into The Day The Kitchen Floor Finally Got Cleaned and The Day I Managed to Seriously Scrub Down the Bathroom (spatter, people). It also became The Day the Kids Got to Go Outside For Fresh Air and the Day Dan and I Laughed and Laughed and Danced in the Kitchen. So, for us today, Puke Day was a great day!

Tag!

I saw this tag on ethiopia or bust...and since I have become a little lackluster in my blogging, I thought it might be fun. Here are the rules:

1. Find your photo folder on your computer and open the fourth folder.
2. Open the fourth picture inside the fourth folder.
3. Post the pic and tell us what's it is about.

Here's mine.



This is from our camera phone, I think, taken when Elly was under one. Not sure of the date. Daddy and his crazy little girl!

I'm Downstairs...

...listening through the vent to Elly yelling for me from the bathroom. She can't hear me respond because she is yelling. Then I hear her yell, "EDEN!!!!!!! I need you to wipe me. You're like a grown-up."

Call to Prayer

I also emailed this out- sorry if you get it more than once!


I am sending out this list of prayer requests in the hope and belief
that if we ask God He will work miraculously in this adoption and
bring Esias home! If you would join us in prayer that would be
fantastic! Here are my specific requests:

1. Our current court date is March 26th, 2009- Pray there would be an
opening in the schedule and that we would be the ones to fill it!

2. Pray that ALL the witnesses that are needed to show up at court
would show up and ALL the paperwork would be correct and error-free.

3. Pray that the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) would comment favorably
and in a timely manner on our case.

4. Pray that Esias would remain healthy and growing and happy and
that his caregiver would be blessed. Also pray for Amira, Esias'
cribmate that she would be healthy too. We are hoping to eventually
travel with her family.

5. Pray for Milkiyas (our agency's in-country director) that he would
be able to accomplish some of these things even when they seem
impossible. Pray he would be well rested and that he would be blessed
for his efforts (he works very long hours and cares deeply for all the
orphans and specifically for Esias, we've been told. He is a man of
great faith and is in prayer about this case daily).

6. Pray for Dan's and my heart to be united and to not become stressed
over these details and lean not on our own understanding.

7. Pray for Eden and Elly and the transition they will have when we do
get him home.

Thanks for praying for this! We are in good spirits and know that God
has this all in His sights. Thanks for your continued support and
prayer.