This little piggie...

This little piggie is Jamie's best rodent pal in the world-Sam. Little Sam has cheerfully endured the many hours of aggressive snuggling and Indiana Jones reenactments required to be a part of Jamie and Henry's lifestyle. I could imagine being a bit moody if your primary parents were four and six year old guys... but not Sam, he seems thrilled with the attention.
I realized the other evening that our favorite guinea pig has trained me quite handily. I got into the habit of dropping a carrot or some other delicious pig snack into his cage before I go to sleep. Now, if I forget to do this and Sam hears me getting ready for bed, he squeals at the top of his cute and noisy little lungs until I deliver him his bednight snack. I suppose that I should be embarrassed that the house rodent has conditioned and trained me to do his bidding, but truthfully, it kind of cracks me up.

Safety Net

My kids are lucky to be surrounded by people in their lives who support them and hold them accountable. Mary graduated from middle school the other day. As her name was called and she marched to the front, she received a bible from the headmaster and hugged the principal. Hugged him with warmth and affection you can really see in the photos. And it wasn't just her... As I am watching every kid get their big goodbye principal hugs, I realized how wonderful it was for these kids to have this safety net of school in their lives. Those years between 11 and 14 are more then tough... everything goes weird and out of sync as they try and figure themselves out. Even if they were completely angry and embarrassed by their parents, knowing that they had their school on their side meant a lot. When I was in middle school, I had a sense of "us V. them" with my teachers and the school principal was the leader of the "them." Mary is fortunate not to be able to relate to that experience. She had supportive and caring teachers and a principal who she is crazy about. She knew that they were all on her side and would hate to let them down or disappoint them...just what a kid needs to get them through middle school. Thank you Mr L. and all of the teachers for being there for my girl and helping her get a solid start before she says hello to high school.

Jumping Up and Down in my Brain

"They kept calling other kids names, and I knew I didn't get one, and then they said Lily G. and I was amazed and I started jumping up and down and screaming- but only in my brain, not for real- and then I went up and shook hands with my science teacher and everyone was clapping and it was very good and I couldn't believe it. For the rest of the day I tried to forget that I got it so that when I remembered that it was true I could be happy about it all over again."

That's how Lily described winning a science award at school.I imagine it was a real "come on down!" Price is Right moment going on in Lily's brain, but her outer self was cool and composed.She won a certificate and a medal. The certificate was promptly scotch taped to her bedroom wall under another piece of paper that says "awards."The medal she wore for the rest of the day taking it off only to sleep. Because really,a second grade science medal is pretty cool bling.

Guys in White

Henry had his first tennis lesson with Jamie yesterday... he had a great time and was so proud of himself. He even managed to make contact and whack the ball a few times! Jamie played a little last year and was happy to be the big cheese on the court and show Henry the ropes. Henry was excited to play, but not exactly sure if he was big and cool enough to play. It's like he was torn between the safety of being a little guy and sitting on the bench with mom (way boring) and joining in the big kids (uber fun). His uncertainty was most evident when it began to thunder and the coach told all of the kids to quickly pick up the balls before the storm. Henry froze in his little tracks... looked at me with big worried eyes, then to his teacher.... you could almost see him trying to figure out if he was a big dude or little guy. After a few seconds of consideration, he rose to the picking up tennis balls in the threat of a thunderstorm challenge. All of the while talking to himself about his nerves..."I'm really scared and being brave of this..." I really don't like the sound of that thunder, it's freaking me out and making me so nervous." Who knew Pee Wee Tennis Ages 4-6 required so much strength in the face of adversity? Way to go little Henry.

Bravo Lily

Lily performed the minuet 2 in her violin recital last week. It's funny, last year she did the same recital, same group of parents and teachers, same venue at her school and was pretty confident about the whole thing... no real jitters. This year was a different story. She was nervous. She did great, but the violin recital nerves of steel she had at age 7 are history at 8.

Baby Robin Bird

We found a baby robin in a rainstorm... very soggy, very cold, very pitiful little fellow.

The kids honed their worm hunting skills and dangled and dropped them into his wide open beak and I took the less blood thirsty route of feeding him cat food. Henry became the most attentive bird daddy ever. Here he is with dinner for his little baby robin bird.



Henry is more proud of our baby bird then any daddy bird in the whole history of daddy birds.

Yesterday our little bird flew away to join his fellow robin pals in the big wide world. As Grandma Bird I worry... he was a fabulous flyer, but I'm not sure if he was the most skilled worm hunter.My hope is that those million year old hunting instincts kick in now that he is dependent no more.
So... here is my final charge to my favorite feathered grandbird... Go forth and fly little guy... hunt those delicious worms and enjoy them. Find a nice lady robin, start a family, love your happy little bird life!

Disappointing news from Ethiopia

Our court date in Ethiopia has been delayed.
There is not a problem with our case or our little girl, but rather an issue with all cases of our nature. So the Ethiopian courts have decided to all halt adoptions similar to ours until they work out this problem. We have no idea of a timeline as to when it will be resolved and we can be re-issued a court date. Once we make it through court, our little girl is legally ours and we travel to bring her home. Until then we wait and worry. The simple act of joining a child who needs a family to a family who is excited and happy to make them an important part of their lives, is unbelievably heart-breakingly complicated. She needs her new family and we are waiting- not so patiently. We wait and wait and hope and pray for whatever problem that is keeping us apart to be resolved quickly so that we can go get our little one and bring her home.