Drought in Ethiopia/You can help

It's not really being talked about in the media but there is a drought going on in Ethiopia right now. This combined with rising food prices is causing starvation in Ethiopia. It's getting worse everyday. Some of the hardest hit areas are in Southern Ethiopia, which is where Abera is from. We feel pretty helpless, and at this point have chosen to donate to Doctors Without Borders. We chose them because of their reputation and because they are working right now in the area where Abera is from. He is from the Tembaro district and they have set up emergency clinics there. I've posted a link to Doctors Without Borders. If I did it right, there should be a video and an article about the food shortage. On their website is information on how to donate. Also, keep Ethiopia in your prayers.


http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=2800

The Pool

Well, the neighborhood pool is open!!! Yesterday we went and all the kids were great! Gerald actually came (he hates the pool). The kids all had fun in the baby pool and Gerald finally took the boys over to the big pool. We tried to get Samantha over there but she insisted on going to the baby pool. She wasn't afraid of the big pool, she jumped right in when I was there to catch her. She just prefered to splash around in the baby pool. In the big pool Gerald got the boys to sit and wait on the steps while he took one of them on a ride across to the other side of the pool and back. Amazingly, they all sat there nice and quietly when it wasn't their turn (where are my real kids?)

One lady asked Gerald if the boys were triplets!!! LOL She also asked him how we got them so well behaved (really LOL now). Eventually, Gerald went home to get dinner ready (cook out) and I stayed with the kids in the baby pool. I was pretty nervous when it was time to leave because I didnt' want any meltdowns or defiance. There were a couple of initial "no's" when I told them it was time to leave but I explained to them that if they don't all listen then we can't come back to the pool (wasn't just a threat-there's no way I can drag all of them home kicking and screaming across the street). They seemed to understand and were content in knowing we would come back the next day. Thank goodness!!!!!

The only thing that ruined the day is that silly me forgot to put sunblock on my legs!!!! I got Gerald to put some on my back and I remembered my arms and face but completely forgot my legs :( OMG, I didnt' even know I was burnt until I got home. It's pretty bad-really bad! Reminds me of my childhood. At least it's just my thighs and not my back! BTW, even though Samantha had 4o spf on her she still got a beautiful tan. She can thank Daddy for that. Glad they don't have my pasty skin.

I'll try and remember to bring a camera today at the pool (for the kids, not my legs)

Some of the dumb things my kids fight about

Gerry:"My head is bigger than yours"
Abera:" No, my bigger"


Abera "Brandon, you a machina (meaning car)
Brandon (crying hysterically) "I'm not a machina- You're grumpy!"

We ran into one of Gerry's old preschool teachers at school. As we drove home the fight went as follows:
Brandon "Miss D is my teacher"
Gerry "No, she was my teacher:
Brandon (once again crying and screaming) NOOO she's my teacher!!! (maybe next year she will be his teacher-God help her.)

Samantha "Abera's a poopy, baby, diaper head"
Abera "You grumpy"
Samantha "You grumpy poopy baby diaper head"

The good news is that most of these fights stay verbal fights. Just a few weeks ago, silly argument like these would have ended in a WWF-style cage match- especially between Abera and Gerry. They seem to be getting used to each other and dont' have to resort to physical fighting to solve all there problems. I hope I don't jinx myself-today was a really good day.


Also, here's how it went putting Samantha to bed tonight.

Walking out of her bedroom the first time: " Mommy, I have to pee"

2nd time out: " Mommy, I have to go poopies" (she didnt really have to go)

3rd time out: "Mommy, I throw up (she pretended to but didn't really have to- she gets sick alot and for a while, we would let her stay in our bed after she got sick. Now she thinks if she throws up, she'll get to stay in our bed

4th time out: "Mommy, I love you"

5th time out: "Mommy, I need more water" after I gave her more she said "Aww mommy, you so nice to me, thank you so much"

6th time out: "Mommy, I go to sleep now-see you later"

And she did go to sleep-Thank God!!!

Just some random pics

Just a boring day around the house. The kids always have fun posing for the camera. Don't ask about Brandon and the puzzle pieces. I'll have to make sure I find a pic of Brandon actually smiling next time-if that's possible. Can't you tell Abera is pretending to be asleep! Don't you love the smiling ninja Gerry and the smiling pirate Samantha (when she really smiles hard, she closes that left eye-dont' ask me why.).

A new mommy in the house

We had a good day today. It started off rough. There was no school today so all the kids were home. By 10am Gerry and Abera were fighting and after I got that under control, Gerry decided he wanted popsicles. I told him at least 20 times to get out of the fridge and physically had to take him out of the kitchen several times. We tried time out but he still kept trying to get in the freezer. After giving him several warnings, it was time to get serious. All the popsicles when down the kitchen sink. It was extremely traumatic for Gerry to see all those yummy popsicles go to waste but I think he got the point that I was serious. I'm usually not that strict but it was getting out of hand. At that point it was time to get out of the house or I was going to go crazy. After a good long cry up in his bed, Gerry recovered well and we all actually had a good time at the playground. Abera didn't have any meltdowns (we had a bad one the other day at the playground).

But the afternoon was the best. We got back from the playground and then played some more outside at home. When we got inside we actually did NOT turn on the TV. I was playing dolls with Samantha in her room and I decided to see why it was so quiet. I went out in the hallway and Abera said, "shh-babies sleeping. I mommy, you daddy". I looked down and Gerry was pretending to be asleep in his sleeping bag. Brandon was pretending to sleep in his bed. Abera then picked up a toy and tucked it under Gerry's blanket. He then pulled back the blanket and showed me like 10 other toys tucked in with Gerry as well.(Abera likes to go to sleep with a toy, so I assume he was showing me what a good mom he was by supplying all those toys for his "baby"). The best part is that Abera then bent down and kissed Gerry and Brandon on the forehead while they were "sleeping". I then went to kiss Brandon too and bumped my head on the top bunk. I asked Abera if he would kiss my boo boo and he happily kissed my forehead and started laughing. That just melted my heart.

The rest of the afternoon went really well with only one other fight between Gerry and Abera.
We'll see want tomorrow brings!

If anyone's still reading

It's midnight now and I can't go to sleep. Because the house is so chaotic during the day, I'm forced to actually do my work at night instead of finishing it up at the last minute on Wed morning. There is just no way I can be on the computer for 2 hours in the morning. For one, the boys will destroy the house. I'll also be having to stop every five minutes to break up a fight and then I'll feel really guilty that I'm not paying attention to them.

Besides the chaos and fighting (actual fist fights and scratching going on) things are going well. Abera is learning English very quickly. Although I have to admit that we watch waayyy too much TV. Even if they are not really watching, it's usually on anyway. This morning Abera was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for breakfast and he started saying, "Little Bear is coming up next" like a TV announcer. He also goes around the house saying "We did it, we did it, we did it , hooray!" Today, I was on the floor playing Trouble with Gerry and Abera came out of no where and plopped down on my lap and let me hold him like a baby...it was sooo cute. He had a big smile on his face!

Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, so we will be going to the playground. Hopefully everyone will play nice.

Finally an update!

This was an Easter sunrise that we saw as we were driving to Hosanna

Mr. Abera with his cool sunglasses. He kept trying to wear my glasses so I bought him some sunglasses from a street vendor-it was worth every Birr

A traditional straw and mud hut called a tukul

chillin' on the couch (Samantha was at school when I took this-sorry Sam)

Well all the kids are asleep and I'm still awake. I think the jetlag has finally worn off. We got home Friday morning and until last night I couldn't stay awake past 7pm. And there is no way I've been able to post anything significant during the day. I'm not sure where to start. Ethiopia is a wonderful country. I can actually say right now that I miss it. The countryside is beautiful. The people are so friendly. I was part of a wonderful travel group. I traveled alone but never felt lonely (except the first night I arrived when I lost it emotionally). Everyone in my travel group was so helpful to me- I could not have done it without them. Especially in the airport (Abera is a runner and he was testing me big time in the airport-try lugging two pieces of luggage and having your passports handy while trying to keep a "spirited" 4yr old with you-a 4yr old who doesn't speak English!) It was an emotional trip-Ethiopia is so culturally rich but still so poor-it was hard to deal with such a culture shock. I really miss playing at the care center with all the kiddies.

I don't miss the plane ride. It actually went relatively well as Abera slept most of the time-but, man, a 17 hour planeride is a killer. It was great flying Ethiopian airlines though because the staff was very helpful with translating for me and Abera when necessary. The other passengers were so helpful too. Ethiopians love children and by the end of the flight, most of the airplane knew Abera's name and were best buddies with him.

It's been a hard week. It's not easy bringing a scared 4yr old into a family. Brandon has not helped. For those who know Brandon well - this is not a surprise. He is not friendly to other kids (he's gotten into fights with kids at church) and hates to share and can get very spazzy when he's upset. He has come a long way though but Abera brings out the worst in him. There has been a lot of fighting in this house. (including hitting, pinching, and kicking). For the most part Gerry is great with Abera-Gerry thinks Abera is the best kid in the whole world which is not a surprise if you know Gerry. He's the complete opposite of Brandon. Gerry thinks everyone is his best friend and loves to please. But they've had a few brawls too. Samantha and Abera pretty much leave each other alone-although they had a breakthrough tonight. Abera loves "Little Bear" (Samantha's favorite show). Tonight they were sitting together laughing hysterically while watching that show.

Abera is not afraid of Jake and will yell ,"Mommy, mommy" to get my attention and then lean over and give Jake a big hug. Poor Stinky is no longer with us. We ended up returning him to his previous owner. Which really is a good thing because originally we were only keeping him temporarily until the previous owner got her housing situation worked out. It's for the best because I don't know how I would have dealt with Stinky this week.

Abera was mostly very happy and excited in Ethiopia and even gave me spontaneous hugs and one kiss while there. Once we got home though, he was different. For one he totally loves Gerald and has wanted mostly his attention at first. He also got very sad the first few days (for obvious reasons-lack of communication-moving to a strange country in a strange house with complete strangers). He would flinch away if I tried to hug him or rub his back etc... But today he really seemed to open up. He was much more smiley and was singing his happy song (a cute little Ethiopian song he sang all the time in Ehtiopia). I was sad he wouldn't sing it once we got home but tonight he was singing it as he went to bed and he kept smiling at me as he sang. He actually asked me to pick him up today a few times and let me rub his back while he was going to sleep. I'd call that progress. He loves spaghetti and beef noodle soup so no complaints there!

Now I'm getting tired. Enjoy the pictures!