When Love Takes You In
Monday, October 4, 2010
pascaline lautour
How are you? I'm a hero!!! I have just had the best sex in my life! You must have it too http://antoinemartinez.com/net.php
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Meeting the kids for the first time
Finally I have gotten the videos off our camera and onto the computer. This is the first meeting of the kids as they jumped into the van!
Now take a look at how active our children were (and STILL are!) - this was after about one month home.
Friday, October 23, 2009
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
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Wednesday, April 8, 2009
A LONGGGGGG overdue update...in words this time!
Yes, it has been, ummmm 5 months since I have taken the time to write. Seems like posting pics is a little more doable but I know everyone is wondering how we are REALLY doing. So here goes.
Let me just say, the winter was BRUTAL. Why do we live here? I swear if I never see another snowflake or hear the words "snow day" again in all my life it'll be too soon. February vacation nearly did me in. Four 6-8 year old very active kids who don't all speak the same language and 3 of which have never spent a full day indoors in all of their lives...you get the picture.
But it is all like a bad dream now I guess. Spring has sprung and things are getting better. I think it was about a couple months ago that Ken and I started to feel a bit more relaxed around here. The kids stopped speaking Amharic with each other completely around that time and they make strides in their English daily. Samira has been the slowest but when she started to put full sentences together they were very well done! She made us laugh the first time she said very clearly and enthusiastically "This is Awesome!" Haragwin is still a total chatter box and speaks English the best and Yohannes talks a lot but much of the time I can't tell what he is saying! It is very much like having 3 year olds - a million questions a day and always "why?" Tough to explain things when you know they don't grasp more than 50-75% of what you are saying and since they didn't grow up in this country they have very few points of reference. We're still very anxious to be able to understand each other completely.
It has been nice to see the sibling relationships develop. Yohannes and Lucas are playing together more and more every week and Samira has finally warmed up to Lucas too. They still all fight like cats and dogs but it is nice to see them play together too. We've been playing a lot of UNO together as a family and that's been fun. There are still daily problems with sharing and taking turns and playing nicely but at least (most days) no one is getting hit!
School is going pretty well. Samira is doing great (as is Lucas of course). She is right on target academically and is very well behaved at school. Haragwin has made great strides at school in her behavior. It still isn't problem free but she's come a long way. Yohannes is still a rollercoaster ride at school. Some weeks are good, some aren't. We are pursuing more services and help for Haragwin and Yohannes, it looks like they are going to need it.
The kids continue to bond with us and us with them. Yohannes is our greatest challenge at home and we have to work extra hard with him. They are grieving the loss of their life in Ethiopia and talk about it daily but they like their life here too - so it is a tug of war for them I am sure. Haragwin often talks about wanting to go back, but wanting me to come with her.
We were lucky enough to be able to go on vacation in Florida at my parents/sister's house. It was a much needed break and the weather was beautiful! The kids had a great time and had a hard time coming back to the cold. They say - "Ethiopia hot, Florida hot, America no hot!" (they think where we live is "america" but Florida isn't!)
The pics below of the girls in dresses were from the Father/Daughter dance. It was a proud moment for mom - they were so beautiful!
So we are settling in and becoming a family. It has been a tough road and we still have a long way to go but I am confident we will get there!
Let me just say, the winter was BRUTAL. Why do we live here? I swear if I never see another snowflake or hear the words "snow day" again in all my life it'll be too soon. February vacation nearly did me in. Four 6-8 year old very active kids who don't all speak the same language and 3 of which have never spent a full day indoors in all of their lives...you get the picture.
But it is all like a bad dream now I guess. Spring has sprung and things are getting better. I think it was about a couple months ago that Ken and I started to feel a bit more relaxed around here. The kids stopped speaking Amharic with each other completely around that time and they make strides in their English daily. Samira has been the slowest but when she started to put full sentences together they were very well done! She made us laugh the first time she said very clearly and enthusiastically "This is Awesome!" Haragwin is still a total chatter box and speaks English the best and Yohannes talks a lot but much of the time I can't tell what he is saying! It is very much like having 3 year olds - a million questions a day and always "why?" Tough to explain things when you know they don't grasp more than 50-75% of what you are saying and since they didn't grow up in this country they have very few points of reference. We're still very anxious to be able to understand each other completely.
It has been nice to see the sibling relationships develop. Yohannes and Lucas are playing together more and more every week and Samira has finally warmed up to Lucas too. They still all fight like cats and dogs but it is nice to see them play together too. We've been playing a lot of UNO together as a family and that's been fun. There are still daily problems with sharing and taking turns and playing nicely but at least (most days) no one is getting hit!
School is going pretty well. Samira is doing great (as is Lucas of course). She is right on target academically and is very well behaved at school. Haragwin has made great strides at school in her behavior. It still isn't problem free but she's come a long way. Yohannes is still a rollercoaster ride at school. Some weeks are good, some aren't. We are pursuing more services and help for Haragwin and Yohannes, it looks like they are going to need it.
The kids continue to bond with us and us with them. Yohannes is our greatest challenge at home and we have to work extra hard with him. They are grieving the loss of their life in Ethiopia and talk about it daily but they like their life here too - so it is a tug of war for them I am sure. Haragwin often talks about wanting to go back, but wanting me to come with her.
We were lucky enough to be able to go on vacation in Florida at my parents/sister's house. It was a much needed break and the weather was beautiful! The kids had a great time and had a hard time coming back to the cold. They say - "Ethiopia hot, Florida hot, America no hot!" (they think where we live is "america" but Florida isn't!)
The pics below of the girls in dresses were from the Father/Daughter dance. It was a proud moment for mom - they were so beautiful!
So we are settling in and becoming a family. It has been a tough road and we still have a long way to go but I am confident we will get there!
Friday, March 27, 2009
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