Eliana: wah wah wah
Me: Eliana, stop it
Abigia: Why did you say 'stop it,' Mom?
Me: Because Eliana is about to throw a fit and I can't take it
Abigia: But Mom, you can take it, because you are a mom.

Ok. True

Mmmmmm.... injera

What a fun day today!
Really, I started off cranky. Abigi was in timeout before we even made it downstairs this morning, and that can make the day look bleak.
But, the Farmer's Market yielded many tasty foods.
Lunch at the Ethiopian restaurant with my mom and our Ethiopian adoptive family friends was delicious and relaxing.
Playing at the playground afterwards with same friends was fun.
Dinner with Matt before he ran off to work was nice. Ok the food was crappy, cheap pizza, but time with my hubby is always sweet!
Graduation party for a friend, attended by other friends, was surprisingly great. I expected the kids to be too wired and nuts to have fun. I thought they would be cranky and wild and not listen to anything I said. But they had a great time and no one melted down and I was so glad we went.
Bedtime took a but longer than is ideal, but again no one freaked out or got crazy.
A good day.
I am going to pretend I don't have a mountain of paperwork to do and finish my book to round out the day.

My babies

Some weeks are hard.
Grief in a child is so hard to witness, so hard to soothe.
One rough night for my child can leave me with a week of pain.
How does one know the right things to say?
Guilt in a child is gut-wrenching to observe.
Not 'I stole an extra cookie' kind of guilt, but a deep self-enveloping guilt.
Logic, understanding, and hugs only help so much.
But, so much more than ignoring and pretending and wishful-thinking.

Thank goodness it's the weekend.
Tomorrow should be a super-fun day filled with injera, friends, parties, playgrounds and the Farmer's Market.
Last weekend we camped for 3 nights and had a great time (minus that storm that hit just as we got the tent set up). Before summer is over we still have another weekend away at an Irish Festival, a trip to an amusement park, a Renaissance Festival to attend, and a night away for Matt and me. Summer is good.

Pictures coming.

fruit slush

* One recent night at bedtime I was tying up the girls' hair. Eldana and Abigia sleep with silk or satin scarves on their heads to protect their hair. That night Eliana (predictably) asked for one, too. I tied it on her head, with some of her long straight hair hanging down on both sides of her face. She looked ridiculously cute - I wish I'd had my camera handy. Eldana looked at her appreciatively and said 'Wow, Eliana, that looks good. You look more like a pirate, now."

*Last week during her swimming lesson Eldana heard me use the phrase 'freeze your pants off.' She thought it was hilarious. Today the girls were swimming in the inflatable pool in the backyard. Abigia was shaking with cold and Eldana called out, "Abigia is shivering her pants out!" Hahaha. Now that is hilarious.

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I can't believe summer is about 1/2 over. We have been having a great time, but I feel like there's so much more I want to do. There is really not enough time in each day. Or this whole work thing takes up too much of my day. Oh! To be independently wealthy!

Fourth of July

Picnic at our house:

I have photos of the kids looking at fireworks.... but none of the fireworks. Or of the Firemaster.
Thanks for the fun, Poobaugh!

I know this is blurry, but I wish I would have had the video camera handy to capture the high-stepping action Eliana took to smash her bangsnaps. Laugh-out-loud-funny.

The dispensing of the Bangsnaps.

Waiting for fireworks:





This was a great fun day! I love our family and friends!

Summer fun

Summer IS fun!
We've really been having a lot of good times around here.
Eldana is in the midst of a 2 week swimming course and she thinks she is hot stuff.
She has also gone a couple of days (spread out over 4 weeks total) to a Sport Camp. She has a GREAT time, loves to play games with the teenage volunteers (Who needs peers your own age when you can hang with the lanky, blonde, cute guy with floppy hair, right? Ugh) and the folks running the camp say she does a great job.
The littles have done a couple of days of Toddler Camp that they also love. They have so much fun and seem to be doing really well. One of the therapists running it told us that she's never seen toddlers that are as good at sharing as Eliana and Abigia. How sweet! A mother's dream come true.

I am considering this summer Preschool training time. Since they are both signed up to begin Preschool in the Fall, I have been wondering how that's going to go. You know: listening to another adult, sitting still for more than 3 minutes, playing well with others.... well these are skills that we'd not realy tested much, yet. So, in addition to Toddler Camp we've been going to Storytime at the library about once/week. It's been going well, I think. I can definitely see better paying attention and less all-around craziness after going just a few times. Look out Preschool1 These girls are gonna be ready!
Oh, except for that whole potty training thing. Abigi is good. Eliana is SO close.... which is starting to get a little frustrtating. I know it's all about us. I feel like if we could get a few consecutive days of potty bootcamp in, then she'd really be on to it and we'd be homefree. But somehow the adults in this house are always sidetracked by one thing or another so we're not as diligent as we should be. Well, 2 more months to get it down.
This month (is it really July?!) brings a 4th of July party at our house, camping, finishing Toddler and Sports camps, more library time, more playdates, and more fun!

I'll try to get back with pictures soon. Really. Promise.