Happy Holidays to all!
We had a wonderful day yesterday and celebrated with a couple of other families--the tradition continues!
The kids had FUN in the morning--George was ticked off at Santa who evidently did not take the gift that he (G) left in Tihitina's stocking...oops!! I told George it was because Santa knew that we were going to celebrate with T.when she gets home! That satisfied him...phew!
Going to try to do NOTHING for the next two days and then on Wednesday, George will attempt n MRI with no sedation--cross your fingers, please!!
And since I've been a total slacker, here is a pictorial overview of the past weeks:

 

 Pictures at Heritage Park--who needs a professional??!!

Tiny Dancer (more dance photos if you look at the Picasa albums)

George's Boy Scout troop visited a local fire station--FUN!

 Nikol and Olivia came for Thanksgiving!!!

Fernbank with Nana's new boyfriend, Darwin!

Natan's 6th Birthday--yeehaw! Cowboy party!

Christmas at Heritage Park!

Christmas Tiny Dancer!

More B-day pics...

The kids really got into the idea of "giving-not-receiving" which had them making and finding gifts for everyone--Nana received this empty box from Natan!

Christmas Eve

Waiting for Tortiere--our Christmas Eve dinner tradition

Jason cooked EVERYTHING for Christmas Eve and Day meals! 

This is the Tortiere made with pork and venison--super delish!

Ready for Santa...cookies and milk and ready for bed!

Santa brought the Polar Express toy!

Good thing Santa's elves know about Angry Birds!

Mimi's Magic Kit from Santa--Nana trying to help!!

December 16th...anyone remember the date? I do--and Jason will too, at some point today. He'll look at the calendar, like I did, and remember the call that his parents had been in an accident--still hard to believe.
Update:
Still no date to go to Ethio, but Mimi got her passport back in under ten days--woo hoo! She is VERY excited for upcoming trip! It is just her and me, since I have learned the hard way to only travel with people you know well. Since the one non-family person who would be game to go and who I would travel with is very pregnant right now, it will just be Mimi and me!
The MPC Children's Choir that I direct presented a musical that I wrote and arranged and we pulled it off! I was blown away, actually, by how well we did!
The Tussahaw Young Singers (my community treble choir) will perform their Christmas Concert this weekend and we are READY!!
Jason is finished today--woo hoo!
Natan's birthday party is Tuesday--cowboy theme at his request! Surprisingly, I cannot find any plastic cowboy figures to decorate with. Mimi and I are making all the decorations for our "Natan's Dude Ranch" party--a fake bonfire, cacti, and some ranchy animals! We'll see how it all turns out!
Christmas shopping was easy this year, since my budget for all four kids was $200--makes it easy! And, amazingly, I came in under budget! And, even more amazing, they will be just as happy as the kids who get HUNDREDS of dollars worth of toys each! This year, they get the one Santa gift they ask for and a gift from Mom and Dad. And, of course, there are several packages from a certain aunt and uncle!
The one thing Jason and I have learned from our "paying-off-the-debt" period is that you CAN cut back, even more than you would imagine. You CAN give up things and it turns out, you learn that you didn't need them to begin with. I have a $10 cell phone and it costs me $5 a month. That's it! Anyone who complains about money--my question to you is: do you NEED the expensive phone? Do you NEED the trips? Do you NEED the new clothes? Do you NEED the fancy car? We have proven that no, you do not need that to be happy.
Of course, just when we get ahead and are under two years away from the last payment, George's MRI gets bumped to 2012...another $500. Insert explicit language here.
I do have pictures to post, but another time! We are having a last day of school fun day which basically means I clean the house and do laundry while the kids play outside! Missing my second day of running because of  my knee--curses!
Mum is complaining because it's hot...Christmas in Georgia!!!!

Lots of things to write about...
Our trip was amazing but hard to write about. Mainly because people want to hear cushy good news and not the reality of this little girl's life. She has some pretty severe needs which we will be dealing with. Coming here is not an instant cure-all or fix to her issues. Hopefully she will feel loved and cared for and part of her new family over time. Our main hope now is that the return trip comes quickly so Mimi and I can go bring her home! We'll deal with it all later...The kids are definitely super excited about meeting her and having a new sister! Mimi is excited because she gets to go on the next trip with me!! I am excited about zipping her around Addis and also having her meet the kids that Jason and I were fortunate to hang with at T's orphanage. We may even get to visit with our friend, Selam who lives a couple of hours south of Addis. Jason and I got to talk to him on the phone and I just about cried hearing his voice! OK, we cried a lot over there. Only a rock wouldn't. At least now Jason understand my love for Ethiopia and why, in a heartbeat, I could relocate.
The boys are pissed that they are not going.
George--cannot go because I would toss him off the plane during take off once he started his, "What's taking so long? Are we there yet? Why does it take this long? How much longer?" rampage.
Natan--snores. "Nuff said.
Vinny--would not be terribly helpful. No offense.
Mimi is the perfect choice. She is a doer. She loves to help with babies--T is only about 10 pounds, so Mimi can hold her. She is also a good conversationalist, sleeps well, and eats anything put in front of her! She is already anticipating some Doro Wot and injera! That's my girl! Her passport is being renewed as we speak, and one of her gifts under the tree this year will be a Hello Kitty backpack full of little travel-sized items! Very fun to put together!
So...some photos:

 Autism Centre near our guest house

 Flat Stanley waiting for take-of!

 We all finally meet...great day!!

 Killing time playing Phase Ten! We were REALLY lonely without the kids...

 Traditional Fare--always our first choice!

 Road from our guest house to the main road and Layla House

 Our home away from home!

 Law Office

Charcoal for sale

And they just keep coming!
Now they want meet old, single people--or  is it old, single females?? And why are they using a picture of someone who looks YOUNGER than me if I'm being solicited as a senior?? I am too old for this!! 
FYI... sending "Flirts" to old people?? Ewwww....!!!!!!!!

Cipro? Check.
Extra Inhaler? Check
New underwear? Check
Paperwork? Check.
Packed? Fail.
So...we have a few days until we leave. Mimi is very unhappy, but also excited that we will meet her new sister! The boys are acting a little strange which I think has do with the trip--or just general strangeness!
My damn foot has tendinitis (yes, that was a personal attack against my foot). Haven't run since my 5 miler on Monday. Happy birthday to me, indeed! Nothing fractured, just getting-old-itis. 
Other than that, we are slowly getting ready. Someone I spoke to this week was shocked that we have only left the kids twice--once, we left George to get Mimi. Then, we left G and M to get Natan. I simply said, "We like being with our kids. We don't leave them." I loved the dumbfounded look on her face. There are parents out there, like us, who actually LOVE hanging with our kids. Our marriage is strong enough not to need weekends away. We had each other solely for seven years before having our kids. Now, we want to enjoy every minute we can. I feel sorry for any parent on whom that is lost. 
Many thanks to good friends who are helping out with childcare and food!
And...we are looking forward to a Thanksgiving visit with Nikol and Olivia when we return!!! 

Woke up to four sweet kids hugging me and expressing their undying love for me!! 
Enjoyed homemade cards and other things. Mimi gave me two dollars and George gave me a penny--I am rich!!
Last night, we enjoyed some of Celeste Green's DELICIOUS chocolate cake (bought for me by a very sweet choir member at our fundraiser yesterday which was a smashing success!) until Reggie counter-surfed and finished it!! FYI...Chocolate is not death to dogs. He ate a ton of it last night and is still kicking!!
On that note, sadly, Mike the Fish is in aquarium heaven. Funnily enough, I still look for him each morning. Weird...
Now, back to school!!

And there it is...2 weeks until our court date. TWO WEEKS. That's over Thanksgiving Break, which we were hoping for, but it's still TWO WEEKS!!!!!!! 
So, here we go. Paperwork. Shots. Packing. Finding people to keep our kids. Leaving our kids whom we have not left before. And, what about all those home projects I had listed for us to do on the break???
Oh well, this trumps all! Woo Hoo!

Recap.
Heart Walk was awesome, as usual! FREEZING cold wind made it almost unbearable but the sun came up and offered a little bit of warmth! Had a wonderful, supportive team of walkers--Mimi ditched George, Vinny, Natan and me for the 3 mile walk with her beau, Bob! We did the mile, which left us some time to visit with the Fox 5 ATL folks--always fun! The boys were allowed to sit in the new storm chaser van...very cool!!

Team George 2011 

Inside the Storm Chaser van!

Mimi with her partners, Bob and Nola!

Celebrated being heart healthy with a lunch primarily made up of french fries--FAIL!
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Survived Halloween--only two events to dress up for this year! Here they are at the Fall Festival.

Super Cow (she is wearing a very cool cape hand painted by your's truly!!), lion, Frankenstein, and an Angry Bird!

On Monday, we went to a friends' house for the annual dinner and candy fest event! Of course, the costumes had to change...a ladybug, a glamour witch, a "big fat duck" and the Challenger astronaut, Ron McNair. Here is the gang, one year older:

And...our second Halloween night tradition--visiting our friends' super-decorated home and N and G were very proud that they were not afraid of the scary music (many tears last year!)...probably helped that we went early in the day light!!

Even Vinny's dance class got into the spirit at their Saturday class with some costumes and Ghostbusters!!!

Today, at the kids' numerous requests...we turned on the Christmas music!!! We are READY to be in the spirit!!!!

Tomorrow is almost here!! Atlanta heart Walk! I came in just $200 shy of my goal of $1000, but I am super pleased with our team and what we raised! It's cool and rainy right now, but the forecast calls for sunny and cool--woohoo!
The kids are SO excited, and I am so glad they understand why we walk. It's not just about George, although he is certainly the reason we started Team George in the first place! And this year, the walk has taken on special meaning--we want more research as there are still no solutions for George's CHD. But we also walk for every baby, toddler, kid, teen, young and old adult who has some form of heart disease. Did you know that every 25 seconds a person has some sort of cardiac episode? And one per minute dies from a cardiac episode...
So...send out your good thoughts for a safe and super walk in the morning!

First things first--all four kiddos received a nice surprise in the mail today--cards from their faves, Nikol & Olivia!!!!
Here is their "thank you" (you have to click on it!):
Thank you, O & N!
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Lots happening which leaves little time to write about anything!
My community choral group, The Tussahaw Young Singers, performed on the McDonough Square last weekend and made the local newspaper--with a write up!!
We have, because of that article, been invited to sing at two more events in the next two months!! WooHoo!!
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The Heart Walk is this Saturday...super excited and we have a GREAT team walking with us! Go, Team George!!!!!

OK...I know I'll be 39** in a couple of weeks, but seriously?? THIS has to come in this morning's email? This tops even the mail received from the AARP earlier this week--thanks. I am not old. Leave me alone.  
**Oops...my previous post said "40"--not there yet!!!

I should be asleep...
Mimi can almost do the splits in gymnastics--this amazes me beyond belief.

Natan can tell time and has started reading (blends!!).
George is showing me all that is wrong with "regular" education and teaching ME to be a better facilitator...
Vinny. I think he gets sweeter every day...
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Hey! Don't forget the Atlanta Heart Walk coming up in a week--if you can't walk, DONATE!!!!! Any amount, big or small! If you or someone you know has high cholesterol, high blood pressure, a heart murmur, or has a history of heart disease...do it for them--or YOU!
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And now for what you really want...

Completed pumpkin pictures coming soon...