Update June 23, 2009

Sneaking into your sisters room does NOT scare her...it only brings her wrath down on you...just ask the boys!

Joseph when you see the kitty drinking out of the toilet it doesnt' mean to shut the lid and try to flush the cat. Gideon does NOT like the swishing motion of the toilet water.

Balloons pop when they get too close to the rose bushes and you get an oooffooo (amharic for owie) when you reach in to retrieve your balloon. This is after you are told MANY times to STAY OUT of the bushes.

Ate at a chinese restaurant. Fried rice, crab ragoon, and egg rolls are a yes. Hot tea (chai) is a YES ME! 3 of the 4 BEGGED the entire meal for the ASA (fish - actually it was the KOI in the large fish aquarium). The owner of the restaurant did not oblige and cook any of her pets. We did have our heads hanging because they wanted to eat them.

HOT TUB is FUN FUN FUN. Even funner when you figure out how to turn on the jets. WHEEEE! Mom's rule...DON'T shint a bet (PEE) or spit in the hot tub! UMMM....so many rules for EVERYTHING. But we had alot of fun!

Sitting infront of the front loader washer watching the laundry go round and round provides LOTS of entertainment.

School is still fun, we are learning to do our work and come when the teacher blows the whistle. WHAT...school has rules too???

Prayer supposed to be...God is good, God is great...Kiddos say...God is good, God has GRAPES???

Joseph asked to go on the potty and actually peed, well...really he peed on mom, the floor, ALL OVER the toilet, that little man needs to keep the hose where it goes and tuck it in. oh well, I know some other boys that need practice aiming too...

We went out to eat and Sophie said to a friend of ours...Me ferenge american, Joseph ferenge american, boys ethiopia. Ferenge means white. I don't think she passed for a white american but the kiddos are the cutest ferenge americans I have ever seen!

The Sound of Music was WONDERFUL. Actually put the kids in a transe like state. Took us 3 days to watch it at our rate.

Our favorite new song...My Jesus Stronger...but when the kids sing it, it gains an african beat and the shoulder and hip and head dancing.

90 plus degrees, 95 percent humidity, mom melting, kiddos running playing tag outside for 3 hours. Many water breaks, many times asking if they can to to the hippo NO, Alligator NO lake. The answer is still no we don't drink that water.

We had WONDERFUL visitors last Saturday. The Borchers came to visit. What a blessing to get the children together again. Picture this...2 men, 11 children, 2 wives in wheelchairs. You would think it is a movie...oh wait...Julie and Carey are both in wheel chairs from broken legs and ankles...NOT FUNNY...(well the picture is worth words....will post pic soon)

Louie leaves Friday.. Gone a week to bring our Gabrielle and Moses home. We are praying for health and safety during this trip.

June 3 UPDATE

Playing outside is a YES. It is NOT ok to play outside NAKED...Oh...Look...those are Doc's kids...the naked ones...

Going outside to play does not mean go outside, take shoes, pants, shirts, etc OFF????

We DO bless our food, medicine, teachers, school, papa's working, mom broke it, fruza mama broke it...lets just say it takes quite a while to get through prayers for meals, snacks, medicine.

School started this week for 4 weeks, 3 hours a day, an ESL program. So far so good. Teachers say A OK....they are only 3 days into it!

The kiddos LOVE School.

Joseph interchangably uses amharic and english. His favorite is Hello and mama dabo. They call him the dabo monster(kind of like cookie monster except dabo is bread)...Seems like Katie used to be the bread monster...oh wait...she still is.

Mom still does not exist when PAPA is in sight for Joseph.

The kiddos use their amharic and english names interchangeably now.

Joseph still sits on the potty, the big one, now NOT the little one, and continues to run naked out of the bathroom. He does say diapa now and gets a diaper when he needs one. I wish he would sit on the potty and actually GO potty...OH WELL...

Joseph...just because you can't reach the sink when you want to wash do NOT wash your hands and face in the toilet...ewwww

Joseph...we do NOT flush the WHOLE roll of toilet paper.

We are learning to SLOW down on our bikes BEFORE we run over our sister. Stopping is a work in progress.

Remembering that zippers are not your friend does not mean to NOT wear underwear but turn your pants and wear them backwards???

Sloppy Joes are YUMMY. Pickles are NO ME.

Eggs and lamb tibs are YUMMY.

Planet Earth DVD is a ME YES! The kiddos get about 1/2 hour of TV a day and this has been a HIT!

Only 1 LARGE tantrum last week. There are minor ones that we just work through.

The Kiddos are learning we do NOT HIT each other when someone makes you mad. This is MUCH less than when we first came home. We are STRONGLY working on this one.

Mama is still the boss, even when we don't agree with her....(just ask dad...hahaha)

WHen you don't like the food on the table do NOT sneak it to the dog. Oh...the dog is perfectly happy with her place UNDER the table stalking each chair waiting for the food to drop. Her favorite place...under the baby!

Joseph now says "mama tank you" and blesses his plate 3 times when he is finished. This give mama exactly 3 seconds to retrieve the plate before it hits the floor!

Gideon the cat loves to play with the older kiddos, he will walk very soft and slow by them...then Joseph the 2 year old comes by and the cat RUNS for the hills. He still likes his FUR ATTACHED. Joseph likes to try to rip it off by the hand fulls as he is saying NICE KITTY KITTY.

Going to a MOVIE was FUN FUN FUN. We LOVE popcorn.

We are COUNTING DOWN until Gabrielle and Moses join the family!