Ruby-doo's Birthday!

Better late than never! Here are the pictures from Ruby's birthday party! Since we did not do presents, she went to Monkey Joes for her birthday! Well, actually the day after her birthday because Wednesdays is 1/2 price at Monkey Joes!

She dressed up as a princess for her party with her favorite flower in her hair!

Everybody with their party blowers lined up for Ruby's meal of choice: Hot dogs, baked beans, and macaroni and cheese!

Twisty straws too... just for fun! And Lettie and Silas dressed up too! Silas got out his Spider Man mask!

There were also party poppers! The kids love those! The rule was you had to yell Happy Birthday and pop them on Ruby... just not too close!

The group with the cake picture... uh, oh... does daddy have a suprise?...

Boom!

The after-reaction! Most are laughing, but I love Jovie's face! She was not scared or impressed! See the confetti hanging from the streamers?

My pretty birthday girl and her cake! I can not bear to get them absolutely nothing, so I do put something special on their cake! Ruby wanted a princess cake, so she got her own birthday princess crown! Hooray Wal-marts bridal section!

The king and his two princesses! After the cake we watched Enchanted. They had not seen it yet! They liked it a lot!

Time for some fun at Monkey Joes!

Me and Callie going down the huge slide! I love her little petrified face! After that she would go up and down it all by herself! She is a brave little critter... but she is still scared for you to lift her even a little bit above your head! Weird girl...

See Callie at the very top... fearless! & Ruby jumping!

The curls going up and the curls going down! I LOVE the curls going down picture!

Addis Under Construction

I said I was going to write more on our trip during the last week. And frankly, I got busy. But I think I will intermix posts about our trip with posts about just life in general and then one day I will hopefully succeed in showing you our whole trip!

This post may only interest some. But I thought it was fascinating!

Addis Ababa is growing by leaps and bounds! They are in the process of building some beautiful tall buildings. Although many of them are still under construction, I look forward to going there in the future and seeing the finished product! The city is growing at such a rate that the electrical grid can not keep up so they have rolling blackouts now and then and certain sections of the city have sceduled time where they know they will not have electricity.

The thing that fascinated me was their method of construction. They did not have the big machinery you see in the United States. Everything is done with very primitive construction methods, yet the finished product is very modern and you would never know that the modern building you are visiting was built with this type of scaffolding:

All the scaffolding is made from thin trees and sticks tied together with rope. If you look at the top of the building you will see a very simple elevator.

The next picture is of a man who was working on the addition they were adding to the hotel we were in. There was no one else on site. Just him and a hammer with a ax blade on one end widdling a scaffolding stick down to size. No big machines. A lot of hand tools.

Here is the addition he was working in.

There were no bulldozers that I saw. When we first arrived at Addis, when I saw this following scene I quickly got out my camera and snapped a picture. 10 men doing the work of a bulldozer. The picture does not do it justice. Dirt was flying and it amazed me how quickly they filled up that hole!

Here is a picture from the 12th floor of our hotel looking down on the contruction site. The men were sawing the rebar with hand saws. I saw them pouring the concrete a few days later. They would make it on the ground in a small mixer (no concrete trucks) and send it up in a bucket with a crane. Fascinating to watch.
The electrician bending his poles with an old bucket of hot coals.

Anyway, I know this post will not appeal to the majority. But coming from a contruction, big equiptment, concrete background... I found the whole thing really fascinating! It is amazing what great things are built through simple means!

One Year Ago Today!!!

Do you remember where we were?

Here is a hint:

Can you believe it?!

This is a picture from the morning of May 11, 2008! One year ago we welcomed Yonas, Ruby (Selamawit), and Silas (Yomane) into our family! They were small, did not know a bit of English, scared to death, but very ready to have a family!


Although we anticipated their arrival... we were all still strangers!


Now they have grown 2 clothing sizes each, can talk your ear off, and we can not imagine what life would be like without them! They are no longer strangers, but my beloved children whom I love as if I gave birth to them! We became family on Mother's Day last year! What a perfect day to add 3 beautiful children into your life!

I know their smiles, their tears, their voices, their laughs, their habits, their likes, their dislikes, their joys, their fears... I know them because they are my children!

Here are some pictures from our trip to Ethiopia! In the hustle and bustle of settling into family life when they first got home I never shared pictures of our trip to Ethiopia! During the next few days I will share some pictures and some stories of our trip!

Outside the hotel! In the brochure they showed a nice green field that the kids could play in. When we got there the field was gone! They were adding on to the hotel and there was nowhere to play but the parking lot! We had a lot of "game on", "game off" moments as cars came in and out! I love the picture of Ruby with her purse, jacket, shoes, and sunglasses! They were all so proud of their sunglasses! And although it was 80 degrees outside I could not get that jacket off her! It was so dingy by the end of the trip! It never totally came out. That dinginess reminds me of Ethiopia and her love of that jacket!

Here we are at the Hilton! We went there almost daily and played on the same small patch of grass. The kids wanted to run about and there was no place to go in the hotel! It turned out to be a very nice place, especially for soccer games!

Most of our pictures from Ethiopia are taken by the kids! I wish I had more pictures that I took, but they were very taken with the camera and it gave them something to do! So I have a bunch of blurry random pictures taken by 3 fascinated children! It did not take long for them to figure out how to work it! Here is Yonas showing our driver a picture he just took of him! Also, one of the national symbols is the African Lion. There was a stuffed one outside the hotel! It looked like it had seen better days! When the lady removed the glass to clean she let the kids take a close up picture with it!

A view from the 12th floor of the hotel looking down on Addis! I also love this picture of Levi and Ruby! She was a daddy's girl from the beginning!

Every day was so exhausting! Here are the kids all warm and snuggly on the floor! We finally the last few days bought some cheap movies on the street and watched them on Levi's laptop. We finally "figured out" Ethiopia when it was time to leave! And this is them with their nurse from the orphanage! We were looking at pictures yesterday and they all forgot who she was. It was sad how quickly memories fade for kids! I try to talk to them a lot about Ethiopia and their birth families so they never forget!!!

More to come in the next few days....

I am Mother of the Year...

And I didn't even know it!

Thank you to my friend Amy for nominating me...

You can see the video footage of my award here:

http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=ZhxTMkw_tvD6g4ivmj70hjEwNzczMDA4&referred_by=8221285-3oUSuBx

Although she has probably sent this to many people... I felt very special to get it! Thank you Amy!

Close...

Do you know what makes this picture so cute?

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Out of all the house,

out of the whole downstairs,

out of the whole living room,

out of the two couches in the living room,

out of just that one whole huge couch...

that is where they all chose to sit!

Close!

By each other!

Nolan is home sick. I took the other 3 to the bus stop and came inside to find this! I love how much they love each other! I love the bond they share! If Yonas, Ruby, and Silas were home, I am sure they would have completely filled the one couch! The one thing I want most out of my family is that my kids be close and love and support each other! And so far, so good!

They are family... they take care of each other!

Life is good!

They always have to hear me say "We are family, we take care of each other..." The wonderful thing is, they live it!

Happy Birthday Ruby-doo!

She is the big:

7

today!

Happy Birthday

Princess Ruby!

I like to decorate their rooms for their birthday while they sleep so they wake up with the "this is my special day" feeling!

Since everyone has had a birthday since being home from Ethiopia, for this upcoming year (we sort of start "the birthday year" with Ruby, since 4 of the birthdays are in May and June) we are not going to do presents. Just a special event for each kid for their birthday! Tomorrow we are going to Monkey Joes (a infatable type place). Ruby picked! She is very excited. I decided to not do toys because, #1 They have a TON of toys, #2 We buy them toys at other times during the year and they never go without, #3 Their rooms have been a constant mess lately. I even bought IKEA cubby shelves for them to keep their toys in and they still end up all over the place and #4 They have not been taking care of their toys. Last time they got to buy special toys that they picked out themselves I found one left in the backyard to be chewed up by the dog, one completely lost, one stepped on and broken, one rained on. They have so many toys, once they can take care of what they have better I will re-institute birthday toys.

PLUS, with Christmas toys, Easter toys, vacation toys, bribe toys, just-because toys... they are fine! And the memories of the events will last longer!

So, for Ruby's birthday we are having her choice of dinner (hot dogs), her choice of cake (chocolate and ice cream cake), some party poppers and blowers, twisty straws, and... because I feel like they have to get something special... she wanted a princess cake, so I am baking a round cake and am going to put a nice tiara on it that she can wear! So... if the boys want a Spiderman cake for example, they will have a Spiderman toy on it! I am not completely hearless... and I can not help but spoil them a little!

I will post pics of my cake creation later! In the mean time, here is a very sleepy Ruby:

Well, I suppose you can't call her fickle!

Remember this post!

Well, Nolan's Secret Admirer struck again!

He was really non-chalaunt about it this time. He came home and just simply stated, "I got another love note today" like he was saying something as blase as "I went to lunch today!" I guess it is just another day in the life of Nolan Jeppson! Haha!

Man, this girl has it bad!

It reminds me of my first grade crush. His name was Chris. I even remember his last name, but I do not want to post it here because it would still embarrass me if he googled himself and found his name on my blog. Especially since he moved in 2nd grade and probably does not even remember me. Anyway, I decided that "he was the one" because we were going around the room during one of the first days of school and saying our birth dates. And get this:

His birthday was the same as mine!

So, there you go! To a first grader that would mean we were meant to be! Plus, he had an earring and wore a black leather jacket (this was the 80s people)... I always had a thing for the bad boys!

I even remember walking up to him and informing him, "Now remember, you are my boyfriend!" Poor kid! We never held hands or kissed or anything. Heck, it wasn't ever even mutual... I suppose I was a 'Rasputia' in that way! If you do not get the reference, check out seconds 20-35 of the following clip (and I don't want to hear it Chad... I still find this movie hilarious and totally worth it the watch):

But I was never a note writer! I would never have wanted a permanent record of my crushes! That did not happen till I was a teenager and started journaling. Now I have a permanent reminder of how silly and flighty I was as a teenager. I will have to re-read some of those passages when my kids get that age so I can attempt to understand them and to humble myself and realize I was just as crazy once upon a time!

So... fess up... who was your first crush or boyfriend? Did you ever send love notes?


It must be the eyes! What girl could resist?

Cheer up Jovie!!

What a pitiful face!!!


Why so sad Jo-Lea???

Our refrigerator went out! We have been trying to save it for over a year now! It starts to get warm and we (well I) defrost the freezer coils with a hairdryer and it works for a few months. This time it only bounced back for a few weeks. It was time...

but as I watched the delivery men heave our old refrigerator out the front door I heard a little whimper behind me! I turned around and saw the saddest Jovie face! My camera was right there, so I snapped a picture! How could they be taking away HER refrigerator?!

The new fridge looks a lot like the old fridge! Just a different brand and the water and ice dispenser is separate in this one rather than it coming out of the same place and having to press a button!

Once Jovie noticed that fact (and the benefits of it for a little one who can not press the button and gets frustrated when only ice is coming out when she wants water)...

It met her approval!











As a kid I would also get attached to things and would hate it when they broke, wore out, or just needed to be updated! I still remember when my mom changed the front door of our house. I was sad to see the old one go! Which is weird. The old one was just a plain old solid door. The new one had the fancy window in it and everything!

Do you remember being sad when something weird had to be thrown out, replaced, or changed?

Silas' Hair Shearing!

No... Silas did not have a hair cut... he was sheared... like a sheep!

The clippers would get stuck his hair is so thick! I had to go slow and in small sections! And it came off in a tight sheet of hair, kind of like the picture of the farmer shearing the sheep! It was hilarious!
I let his hair grow out and we tried dreads. But his hair is too thick and too curly. I will have to wait until he is older and can twist it himself. But he enjoyed having his hair long, so I put off cutting it. But it was getting too hot and his hair was too thick and getting fuzzy and half of it was locked, so I convinced him it was time. But no, it was not a hair cut. It was a hair SHEARING! His hair was a thick as a lambs coat! He and Ruby have the THICKEST hair!

He liked the Mohawk! He wanted to keep it that way!

I am so happy is cut! I felt hot just looking at him! Now... his hair is so airy and cool! He is a handsome boy!

Yonas' first tooth fairy!

Although he has lost a tooth before, this was Yonas' first visit from the tooth fairy. He was asking me to explain the tooth fairy, but then he cut me off and said, "Yeah, it is a little thing that looks like a little rat!" Hey, Good enough!

It is not until you have kids from different cultures who are older that you realize how hard it is to explain the tooth fairy, Easter Bunny, and Santa Clause. When you have to explain it from the beginning and it is not something they just grow up hearing about, it all sound very ridiculous. Remarkably, they are very willing to believe...