Mum's the Word: December 2011

Monday, December 26, 2011

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!!

Friday, December 16, 2011

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!!!!

Saturday, December 03, 2011

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: