Okay, 14 year old boys don't like their little sisters taking pictures of them, so instead of seeing Evan's face you can see the back of his hoodie.
I Do Have Other Kids
Feeling like my other kids are not getting their fair share of blog space :( So, here are a few pictures of some of the other faces around our house.
Okay, 14 year old boys don't like their little sisters taking pictures of them, so instead of seeing Evan's face you can see the back of his hoodie.
Okay, 14 year old boys don't like their little sisters taking pictures of them, so instead of seeing Evan's face you can see the back of his hoodie.
So What Do Hamsters Eat?
So, before we left for Ethiopia, we "lost" our dear hamster, Blackberry. We thought he was eaten by a very voracious dog we were dog-sitting. We set the trap to catch Blackberry, in hopes that we were wrong, for three nights. In the past when he has escaped (his nickname is Houdini) he has always appeared in the trap the next morning, but this time he did not reappear. We left for Ethiopia assuming that the said dog had consumed Blackberry in one bite and therefore left no evidence of the crime (blood or fur).
Zoom ahead two and a half weeks - Aidan comes up from his room around 6:30 one morning and says, "I think I saw Blackberry walk across the floor." Dad says, "Okay dear, go back to bed." FIfteen minutes later, Aidan reappears and claims he's seen the missing hamster again. That evening we set the trap and go off to church. When we arrive home from church, who should be in the trap, but Blackberry, looking no worse for the wear. Which leads me to the question in the title, "what do hamsters eat when their supply of seeds is out of reach?" I would love to know what he has been chewing on in our basement and even more perplexing, what has he been drinking for 2 1/2 weeks?
I guess now we will call him Lazarus as well as Blackberry and Houdini.
Zoom ahead two and a half weeks - Aidan comes up from his room around 6:30 one morning and says, "I think I saw Blackberry walk across the floor." Dad says, "Okay dear, go back to bed." FIfteen minutes later, Aidan reappears and claims he's seen the missing hamster again. That evening we set the trap and go off to church. When we arrive home from church, who should be in the trap, but Blackberry, looking no worse for the wear. Which leads me to the question in the title, "what do hamsters eat when their supply of seeds is out of reach?" I would love to know what he has been chewing on in our basement and even more perplexing, what has he been drinking for 2 1/2 weeks?
I guess now we will call him Lazarus as well as Blackberry and Houdini.
News Flash!!!!
Blackberry (the hamster that was thought to be eaten by a visiting dog) is BACK! Hard to believe - stay tuned for more details.
New Words For Marcus
As you can imagine, every day brings new language development with Marcus. He is really a sponge when it comes to learning new things. Anyway, the whole language barrier thing is quite an issue at time. He will talk and talk and talk to us in Amharic and we just smile and say to each other, "so, what do you think he just said?" It has worked well for us at times because I think he's told us off a few times, but since we don't know what he's saying we just smile and tell him we love him :) Chris thinks he's saying, "Stick it in your ear, pinky!" Probably not, but it keeps us laughing.
He did tell Chris and one of the other kids that he loved them this morning (in Amharic - we do understand a few words) that was a huge blessing! He also gives lots of hugs and kisses. He really is a very sweet kid.
Anyway, I thought I would share his progress in the English language. Here are the words he will spontaneously say: horse, E-I-E-I-O, B-I-N-G-O, thank you and something about pinky (just kidding). As you can see, nothing really conducive to meaningful conversation, but at least we're coming along...
As long as we're talking about language development, here's what we know how to say in Amharic: stop, don't touch, I love you (to a boy or girl), truck/car (this one is VERY important to Marcus), good boy, be brave, come, thank you, and "who are you calling pinky."
okay, this strange post has been brought to you by my dear husband, Chris. Keep him away from the computer at all costs....
He did tell Chris and one of the other kids that he loved them this morning (in Amharic - we do understand a few words) that was a huge blessing! He also gives lots of hugs and kisses. He really is a very sweet kid.
Anyway, I thought I would share his progress in the English language. Here are the words he will spontaneously say: horse, E-I-E-I-O, B-I-N-G-O, thank you and something about pinky (just kidding). As you can see, nothing really conducive to meaningful conversation, but at least we're coming along...
As long as we're talking about language development, here's what we know how to say in Amharic: stop, don't touch, I love you (to a boy or girl), truck/car (this one is VERY important to Marcus), good boy, be brave, come, thank you, and "who are you calling pinky."
okay, this strange post has been brought to you by my dear husband, Chris. Keep him away from the computer at all costs....
Hallelujah The Laundry's Done
Okay, so that may not seem like a big deal to you, but I have been doing laundry, more or less nonstop, since we arrived home on Friday night! After load upon load, my laundry basket is empty (okay, it was empty until everyone got ready for bed). Just one more way that life is returning to normal (as normal as it gets around here, which would seem rather bizarre to most people).
We are very, very thankful for so many things in the past few days. It is amazing the difference a couple days makes in the adjustment of these two new kids. They learn things so quickly and they really are just wonderful children. Our concerns over them being terrified of our dog never materialized. They are both relatively comfortable with Snickers - no freaking out and climbing Mom & Dad like beanpoles :) Zoe actually likes the dog and tries to pet her - just no where near her head - although Snickers did lick Zoe in the face today and that didn't even produce the least bit of hysteria.
We had our first trip out as a family tonight as we went to the library. It was a success; without any meltdowns or other side effects. Zoe & Marcus both submitted to seat-belts and car seats without the least bit of fussing or fighting. The only issue that arose was that both Marcus and Raelea wanted to push Zoe's stroller. They are both learning how to share!
Well since I know you all want pictures, I will try to post a few.
We are very, very thankful for so many things in the past few days. It is amazing the difference a couple days makes in the adjustment of these two new kids. They learn things so quickly and they really are just wonderful children. Our concerns over them being terrified of our dog never materialized. They are both relatively comfortable with Snickers - no freaking out and climbing Mom & Dad like beanpoles :) Zoe actually likes the dog and tries to pet her - just no where near her head - although Snickers did lick Zoe in the face today and that didn't even produce the least bit of hysteria.
We had our first trip out as a family tonight as we went to the library. It was a success; without any meltdowns or other side effects. Zoe & Marcus both submitted to seat-belts and car seats without the least bit of fussing or fighting. The only issue that arose was that both Marcus and Raelea wanted to push Zoe's stroller. They are both learning how to share!
Well since I know you all want pictures, I will try to post a few.
We're Back
Just a quick post to let you all know that we are safely back in MN and very happy to have our whole family under one roof. We are tired from the long trip and the mounds of laundry seem endless at the moment. Marcus and Zoe are adjusting very well and the many meltdowns during the plane ride seem very long ago and far away (thank heavens). One tip - I don't recommend traveling for 22 hours with a 1 1/2 yo and a 4 yo :)
Okay, I will post more some other time, but I thought I should give you all a pic or two of the kids...
Okay, I will post more some other time, but I thought I should give you all a pic or two of the kids...
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