Rapunzel, Rapunzel

After Thing 4's comb-out/detangling.

Yeah, we got some hair goin' on!

"Mama! PLEASE stop taking pictures of me and

FIX MY HAIR!"

MUUUUUUCH better!

"Mama, I love it so much it makes me drool!"

(Don't be fooled, EVERYTHING makes my girlie drool. Blech. She's a wet one. Oh, and NO hair was cut, this is just the difference once it is sprayed with water/conditioner and lotion slathered on. Yup, it makes THAT MUCH difference!)

Everyday Miracles

Look what God plopped right in my back yard!

Breathtaking!

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." Genesis 9:13

What I Am Doing On My Summer Vacation

I am....

going back to Ethiopia! Woohoo! I am going on a 10 day mission trip to serve some sweet kiddos in several orphanages and will give you more details soon. I am SO very very excited, so thrilled that I have the BEST husband ever who said "You NEED to go on that trip!" and who is encouraging me and supporting me 110% while I leave him alone with 4 kiddos :). I will be selling some fun jewelry (made by moi!) and stuff to raise the money for the trip which I will feature right here on this very blog in the next day or so so stay tuned!!

Coffee Anyone?

Wow, you know you are tired when you doze off (and you are in that funny place between sleeping and awake where you THINK you are awake, but you are really not) and you are trying to warm up your coffee in the microwave, by pushing the buttons with a fork of course, only you wake all the way up and realize it is NOT in fact the microwave nor coffee but the laptop in front of you and you are making funny air jabby gestures with your hands, as if pushing microwave buttons, with a fork. I think maybe I need a little extra sleep perhaps. Or maybe just a little extra coffee, heated up in the REAL microwave, not the fork jabbed laptop from my dreams.

Perhaps it is because my kitchen has looked like this for the last month that I do not know where things are and how to make a simple cup of coffee these days:

Maybe a nice shower would wake me up, too, if my shower didn't currently look like this:

As you can see, still not much progress on the house repairs after the winter of misery. The insurance/contractor mess is taking a little longer to sort out than was originally thought (anyone surprised by that??) and they will hopefully start next week. BUT, we do have a nice new roof on the back of our house complete with ice barrier, one working early 80's blue bathtub that comes with rubber duckies and Dora stick up toys, and at least part of a working kitchen so I am not complaining!! Even if I have to go to my dining room and sometimes climb over the kitchen cabinets that are on the floor in there to find dishes or cups, I have a mostly warm home (currently minus some wall sections but whatever) filled with people I love. And, my coffee pot still works, just as long as I actually push the buttons on IT, not the computer, with my fingers.

(But now if I COULD make coffee be dispensed from the laptop, I might be on to something......)

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

What's black and white and red all over?

(besides our family at the beach)

An embarrassed zebra!

A sunburned zebra?

A zebra that works at Target???

Whatever. Just go read The Parable of the Zebra, it is a way better read than my lame jokes.

(oh, and then go clicky click on the Compassion link and sponsor a child, or two!! Some good answers to some good questions about Compassion's work can be found here. And of course, lots of amazing posts about the Kenya trip can be found here.)

The Final Visit!

We have our final post placement visit first thing tomorrow morning-woo hoo! That means it is our last visit with our social worker following our adoption and it also means we have had Thing 4 home almost ONE YEAR already-what?! When did that happen?? Oh and by first thing in the morning I mean FIRST THING-8 o'clock. Oh my. Our super sweet and accommodating social worker is coming then so as to be here when all the kids are here and mom and dad are both home before work and school so they don't all have to miss another day. Except, um, I HATE THE MORNING. Me and morning=ENEMIES. And yes, I am usually up by then (against my will) because I have to pack lunches and say goodbyes to Things 1 and 2 before school. But, I am usually in my jammies, eyes half closed still, and uttering unintelligible words while frantically trying to get my hands on a cold, extremely fizzy diet soda. The fizz MUST be strong-it's all about the burn, people! I gotta wake up somehow! What's that? Coffee? Uh, coffee is my go to for the mid-afternoon slump around 3 o'clock when I have to get through the second half of the day. I also prefer non-breakfast foods for breakfast like lasagna--yup, that's how I roll. (And also apparently I have a caffeine problem it seems) Anyhoo, now I have to get up AND be dressed in real clothes and have the kiddos dressed and ready to seen by the public by 8. Not a good thing for someone whose perfect schedule would be go to bed at 1 a.m. and up at 9 (or 10, whatever) Oh boy, maybe I should just stay awake all night and collapse from exhaustion after she leaves...hmmm, I'm sure that would highlight my responsible mom side, eh? I better go make lunches now and go to bed. And maybe I will just sleep in my clothes...I kid, I kid. (or do I??? I think that is just being efficient.)



ps-check out some AWESOME blog posts from the Compassion blogger tour in Kenya here!!! So amazing-and the pictures of the children are STUNNING! If you want to sponsor a child yourself, click the "go deeper" button on the top side of my blog!

My Heart Burns For Africa

I am love with Africa. I don't even know why sometimes, but I love it. We have friends from several African countries and there is just something about them that is just so wonderful-I love their accents, their beautiful brown skin, their ALWAYS present smiles (why are Africans so smiley?? It is unreal-every one of our African friends is super smiley all the time and often laughing!! Must be in the African air or something) And of course, my 4th daughter was born in Ethiopia so I have an especially deep love for that country and it's people. I long to go back in some capacity and I know God has Africa in our life forever. We are just waiting to see how that will all play out. We also sponsor a sweet boy in Ethiopia through Compassion, an organization I LOVE (have I maybe mentioned that one or a thousand times??) and who is truly doing GREAT things for children in poverty all over the world. Anyway, for the next week I plan to live vicariously through the group of Compassion bloggers who are in Kenya. Care to join me? Click here!!