Official Campers!

Whew! We made it through a grueling (!) week at Camp Calvin. Jason, Mary Liz (Ingram) and I led the "Music/Art/Drama/Dance" camp and had a blast! All 4 kids (all under three!) played and played and then played some more! Major Mary-K-K time for M, G, and N!
George is upstairs now crying, "I wanna see camp...I wanna see Steben (referrring to ML's Stephen!)..." Hard work getting their brand new camp shirts off--a very nice gift from Paul and Robin Humphreys!
Tomorrow we start on VBS, so our Ingram withdrawl will be delayed!
Today is Mum's birthday...she said she actually enjoyed an elegant meal at a fancy restaurant for the first time in a LONG time.
One month to go until we head to Nova Scotia for SaSa's wedding...and seafood for Jason, Swiss Chalet for Minna!
I'm tired...the pool is calling me...hope I can stay awake long enough to dive in!

We belong in the zoo!

Today was Natan's first trip to the zoo and he had a blast! We saw all the usual suspects, and of course, rode the carousel and train. He was a little scared and sat with George (great picture in the photo album!). All three kids snored for most of the trip home! They would go every day if we could!
Also figured out that Natan really prefers his food with hot pepper flakes...takes after Jason!
Things are fairly calm around here...I think Mimi and George have realized that "Nafinnatan" as they call him, is not just a guest, but a permanent fixture! A few little meltdowns but it's all good!
What a lame post...! Pictures from the zoo are in the picasa album.

Holy poop, Batman!

Wow--all three kids have diarrhea! Not just "soft runny poop" but full-out, run-down-your-leg, leave-a-trail-in-the-house, STINKY diarrhea!!!!! T.M.I.? I don't care--I think everyone should feel our pain!!!!!
On a brighter ( and cleaner) note, we had some folks over last evening to celebrate our tenth anniversary. They were instructed to create something out of aluminum/tin (it being our aluminum ann.) that represents what marriage means. Here's what we got: a beautiful heart-shaped peace creation...Chinese lanterns...a ball and chain...hands wrapped around a heart...a bed with an antique doll laying spread eagle on it(!), and a thong! I think everyone did a splendid job!!!!!! (Pictures are in the gallery).
Even sitting here, away from the kids in my studio, I can still smell the diarrhea--I think it's embedded in my nostrils!

NY Times, Baby!

The article is out! We are mentioned in it near the end, but I encourage you to read the entire article--it's quite good! Also, if you click on the photo under "Multimedia, Audio & Photos" there's a shot of Natan & I in Addis.
Happy reading...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/us/04adopt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp

Pancakes!!!!

Yea!! Natan ate three small pancakes this morning for breakfast! Add this to the list of other breads he'll eat--nice diet! Bananas are still good, and tonight I'll cook Injera and Lentil Stew...may not be as good as the original, but I'll do my best in my first attempt to to cook ET.
I'm really pleasantly surprised with how all three are adjusting. Amazing!
I'm just now going through my suitcase...It's fun to go through and find the stuff that I collected on the trip. I hung an African mask on the wall in the kitchen, and to my surprise, both Mimi and George noticed. And, this morning, I used one of my new ET mugs, and Mimi said, "that's from E-Opia." Man, I'm impressed!

Ahhh...time to breathe!

We are finally sitting back and (almost) relaxing a little. My youth choir presented its program on Wednesday evening and I have to say, they were fantastic! I am glad it's over though, so I can focus on planning music for the fall, and keeping three kids semi under control!
George's MRI went fine--his left artery is still small, but they will discuss this further at his next appt. in three months. He and Natan are up to no good instead of napping...we need to get a sister for Mimi to balance out the testosterone upstairs!
Someone asked me the other day, "Be honest--at any time during the trip, did you think you were making a mistake?" (in reference to Natan's adoption). Ummm...no. It's amazing how adoption is perceived by some...like it's a "satisfaction guaranteed or you can return it" process. Natan has been ours since the day we sent our application in. No mistake. No regrets. No wishing for someone else. We only specified "boy" and left everything else up to the choices made by the agency. And what more could we want...