So yesterday we offically put the kids in their Halloween costumes. They had ran around the house with them on, but had yet to have all the parts on at once. In preparation for the church Fall Festival we woke them up from their naps to get them ready to go. Micah is Captain Hook (without a hat because when we tried it on in the store he said no and threw it on the floor) and Hannah is Tinkerbell ( without wings because I bought them and now I have absotluetly NO IDEA where I hid them). FYI neither of them have any idea what they are dressed up as. We told them they would get candy, so they were ready to go.
We arrive at the Festival. The kids stand staring at this person in a giant dog costume. They weren't scared just a little suprised. Of course when someone asked them what they were, they got a blank stare in response. Both of them played every game and went on every jumpy thing. They were sure to pick up tons of candy at each booth. Micah went with Kurt to play a tossing game, when he finished he leaned over the candy bin and grabbed as much candy as he could possibly hold... I'm sure there was some rule about how much you could take but no one told him no. Kurt's cargo pants were full of candy because as new parents who have no idea what were doing half the time we forgot a bag to put their candy in...poor Kurt!
Micah was being particularly funny last night. He saw a balloon get let go and go up to God (how Micah put it). He told Kurt he wanted to let his go. So he let it go, Kurt caught it, Micah laughed, he let it go again, Kurt caught it Micah laughed, he took the balloon back walked away from Kurt and said, "Please, Daddy no." Micah let it go one final time and it went up to God too.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
good child vs. not so good child
Kurt and I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. As of Saturday, it did! Hannah has been testing the boundaries again and again. It is just like how she behaved while we were in Ethiopia. We tell her no, and she does it anyway. She spent the majority of her weekend in trouble. Micah on the other hand is being very good. He is of course sure to point that out as Hannah is taking the walk to the time out chair. The worst incident occurred at our agency's annual picnic. We were all sitting at a picnic talbe eating dinner. Hannah thought it would be a good idea to vigoriously shake her head with a mouth FULL of food. Oh yeah, our soical worker was sitting with us. This is an old behavior. She used to do it all the time while we were in country. I started counting, she continued to do it until I got to 2. Thankfully she stopped. I have decided that she likes the attention she gets from having bad behavior. The most frustrating part is that she is so cute, that most people around us when she is acting out think it's adorable. She sucks up all the glances and smiles. UGH!!!!
This morning I was leaving with the kids to take Micah to school. Kurt was working in the office. this is what transpired
I yelled," good-bye Kurt"
Hannah, "good-bye Kurt"
I said," Hannah you don't call Daddy that, you say Daddy."
Hannah, "okay, good-bye Kurt."
Kurt said," You can leave her here in time out."
Me, "Thanks, Hannah go to time out."
So frustrating. Micah just looked at me with raised eye brows as if to say, "oh well."
This morning I was leaving with the kids to take Micah to school. Kurt was working in the office. this is what transpired
I yelled," good-bye Kurt"
Hannah, "good-bye Kurt"
I said," Hannah you don't call Daddy that, you say Daddy."
Hannah, "okay, good-bye Kurt."
Kurt said," You can leave her here in time out."
Me, "Thanks, Hannah go to time out."
So frustrating. Micah just looked at me with raised eye brows as if to say, "oh well."
Sunday, October 14, 2007
First Days of School
Micah's first day of school was October 1st. He was so excited to go! I was way more nervous than he was. :) Hannah's first day at preschool was October 2nd. As you can see she was excited too! They both love school and each other. We have to count down how many days are left until they go to school again. Their teachers both say they are a delight to have in class. Everyone loves them!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Ethiopia Part III
Day 6- Embassy Day
Embassy day is the day that the U.S. government recognizes your adoption. You dress nicely, wait in a very sad looking waiting room, just to talk to a guy thru a glass window. I was expecting the US Embassy building to look a whole lot nicer than it did. I would show you pictures...but there were no cameras allowed. This was also the first time Hannah had to go into time out. She sat in a corner of the waiting area with me for a couple minutes, shed a few tears, and returned to playing with her friends. The whole Embassy appointment was a lot more uneventful than we originally thought.
Later that day, Hannah found herself in her second time out. This time Daddy put her in it. She was not happy. She proceeded to tantrum for an hour and a half while Kurt held her on his lap. Micah and I played in the room while Hannah screamed. Eventually she gave in and told Kurt she would listen to Daddy. I think everyone within ear shot thought we were torturing her. :) So on this momentous day no pictures, except for Hannah screaming while on Kurt's lap.
Day 7
We went on a sight seeing trip with the other two families who were picking up there kids. We traveled up to Entoto Mountain on a "minibus." The view of Addis Ababa from the mountain was breathtaking. We found out that many of the Ethiopian olympic runners come from the village on top of the mountain. They train by running up and down the windy road. I found the donkeys traveling down the mountain with wood and eucalyptus on their backs to be hilarious. They just followed the road and would trot down with all these branches bouncing on their backs. The heart wrenching part was seeing women with just as large of loads walking up and down the mountain, knowing the very little amount of money they would be paid for their effort.
We toured a beautiful church, said to be where the Arc of the Convenant had been hidden hundreds of years earlier. We also visited a church carved out of rock in the side of hill, the Arc was hidden there prior to moving into the other church they built to house it. Then we traveled down the road to visit the weavers. Men and women work on the weaving machines making different linens to be sold. It takes them five days to make one tablecloth.
This evening we went to dinner with all the families and some of the CWA staff to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. Micah and Hannah were the only ones not wearing their traditional clothes we had bought them while at the weaver's stores :( Hannah ate a TON of food. I could not even beleive everything she shoved into her mouth. In ethiopia it is custom to feed the people you love. Since you eat with your hands, you are being fed from the other persons hand right to your mouth. So here is Hannah with her little fist over flowing with squishy spicy ethiopian food holding it up to me to eat. Of course you have to eat it all, otherwise it would hurt her feelings. I was sweating...the food was SO SPICY. My stomach was quite upset after that meal. We just let Hannah and Micah eat as much as they wanted because we knew it was the last time they would have Ethiopian food while in Ethiopia. Unfortunately both of the kids were VERY SICK the next day. We learned that we need to put some limits in place with eating otherwise they would make themselves sick.
Embassy day is the day that the U.S. government recognizes your adoption. You dress nicely, wait in a very sad looking waiting room, just to talk to a guy thru a glass window. I was expecting the US Embassy building to look a whole lot nicer than it did. I would show you pictures...but there were no cameras allowed. This was also the first time Hannah had to go into time out. She sat in a corner of the waiting area with me for a couple minutes, shed a few tears, and returned to playing with her friends. The whole Embassy appointment was a lot more uneventful than we originally thought.
Later that day, Hannah found herself in her second time out. This time Daddy put her in it. She was not happy. She proceeded to tantrum for an hour and a half while Kurt held her on his lap. Micah and I played in the room while Hannah screamed. Eventually she gave in and told Kurt she would listen to Daddy. I think everyone within ear shot thought we were torturing her. :) So on this momentous day no pictures, except for Hannah screaming while on Kurt's lap.
Day 7
We went on a sight seeing trip with the other two families who were picking up there kids. We traveled up to Entoto Mountain on a "minibus." The view of Addis Ababa from the mountain was breathtaking. We found out that many of the Ethiopian olympic runners come from the village on top of the mountain. They train by running up and down the windy road. I found the donkeys traveling down the mountain with wood and eucalyptus on their backs to be hilarious. They just followed the road and would trot down with all these branches bouncing on their backs. The heart wrenching part was seeing women with just as large of loads walking up and down the mountain, knowing the very little amount of money they would be paid for their effort.
We toured a beautiful church, said to be where the Arc of the Convenant had been hidden hundreds of years earlier. We also visited a church carved out of rock in the side of hill, the Arc was hidden there prior to moving into the other church they built to house it. Then we traveled down the road to visit the weavers. Men and women work on the weaving machines making different linens to be sold. It takes them five days to make one tablecloth.
This evening we went to dinner with all the families and some of the CWA staff to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. Micah and Hannah were the only ones not wearing their traditional clothes we had bought them while at the weaver's stores :( Hannah ate a TON of food. I could not even beleive everything she shoved into her mouth. In ethiopia it is custom to feed the people you love. Since you eat with your hands, you are being fed from the other persons hand right to your mouth. So here is Hannah with her little fist over flowing with squishy spicy ethiopian food holding it up to me to eat. Of course you have to eat it all, otherwise it would hurt her feelings. I was sweating...the food was SO SPICY. My stomach was quite upset after that meal. We just let Hannah and Micah eat as much as they wanted because we knew it was the last time they would have Ethiopian food while in Ethiopia. Unfortunately both of the kids were VERY SICK the next day. We learned that we need to put some limits in place with eating otherwise they would make themselves sick.
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