Kids and cars

Hope you’re all having a great weekend!

Hope is on the way

We just watched it. The speech. It was another tear-fest for me. That man is destined for greatness. He will win. If he doesn’t… God help us all. I liked the line “change doesn’t come from Washington, it is coming TO Washington.” Obama is going to Washington, as president. There is no doubt. It’s going to happen. Then, maybe my family won’t have to pay 30% of our income in order to have health insurance. Maybe. I also loved the promise to recruit an army of new teachers and to PAY. THEM. MORE. He has a presence and strength unlike any other leader I can think of. He started off by calling his wife “the love of my life.” That was sweet. What a great family they are. I wish his mama could have seen him. Maybe, she did. Obama. My new hero.

P.S. Grab a cup of coffee, and take five minutes to check out the new video (American Prayer) in the sidebar. It’s worth the time.

Pain and Glory

Looks like the games are over already, but I still need to do a quick shout-out this morning for Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya, 112 pounds of tough. We watched the finish of the Men’s Olympic Marathon on TV Saturday night (I haven’t watched a single show all summer, not one, so this was an event!), and yes, it made me cry. Imagine that. Nothing makes me cry like a marathon, running one or watching one. There is just so much pain and also so much joy involved. For a moment, I thought Wanjiru was the same runner who won the Rock and Roll in San Diego, but no. He did, however, set the course in the Arizona Rock and Roll in 2007. In any case, it was also emotional to see the rest of the finishers. For Ethiopia, I’ll give you the quote from the link: ”Kebede Tsegay earned the Bronze Medal with a time of 2:10:00. Kebede Tsegay displayed a strong leg kick upon entering the Olympic Stadium to over take fellow Ethopian Deriba Merga who finished in fourth place.”

So, third and forth to Ethiopia. Beautiful. Second was to Morrocco. The Americans coming in at 9th and 10th looked great, especially Ryan Hall in 10th, who seems like a really nice guy. Finally, here’s a cut-and-paste of the medal winners (note to Kebede: nice taste in jackets. Just like mine. )

 

Despite high expectations and statements such as that from the Aussie who came in 60th and, sadly, declared himself a total failure, the truth is, they are all winners.

The kiss of death?

Will it be a kiss? Or a bite? The little guy is always willing to take a risk.

Their brotherly and sisterly love keeps us hopping!

Back to school

I’m back to the world of paid work, almost. We had workshop this week, which was sort of relaxing. I got to just sit in the auditorium and listen. Nothing was required except that I be present. MUCH easier than the usual routine. (edit: By that I meant the usual routine of kid care. And easier isn’t always better. In any case, my actual job is pretty manageable, and I sort of enjoy it — usually. ) It is always sad for me to leave the kids though, even if it is only for a few hours. They just break my heart. They all got up early every day, asking me, “Mommy are you going (running / to work) AGAIN?” Never mind that I was home by 1:00 every day; they let me how “bad” it is!!

We are going to homeschool again this year. The esposo is a huge homeschool fan and I am too, except that I am also a bit more practical. Or maybe I’m just less optimistic and ambitious. Depends on how you look at it. He is planning to be home with the kids every morning, then work on his project assistantship for 3 hours in the afternoons and write his thesis after that, in the evenings. So it’ll be the same routine as last year for the most part. We have agreed to try one year of public school the year after, simply to free up some time and resources, although in an ideal world we’d homeschool all the way to college. The world isn’t always ideal, though.

In happy news, Mommy got a new car! We got an awesome deal on a low mileage 2003 Toyota Matrix. Much safer than the granny car, and much less of a gas guzzler. I remember back in 2004 that I wrote to Oprah’s “big dream” contest, saying I’d like 2 things: to be able to adopt some kids, and a Toyota Matrix to drive them around. And now here I am, with my baby girl and my Matrix. I’m not really a car person, but wow, I love the new car. Maybe I should have asked Oprah for a house, too, and I would have gotten that as well! When I feel the walls closing in on me, I just remember how far we’ve come. I’m so incredibly blessed, really. I’m almost afraid to keep dreaming of more good things ’cause I don’t want to be greedy, and maybe I’ve had my fair share already.

That was a dry and boring post, wasn’t it? Guess that’s all I’ve got today. In any case, here’s a little more  cuteness to start off your weekend. Sweet baby. :)

The little guy turns 5

Hey guys! I’m a bad blogger, and deserve no hits!!! Sorry! I’m having a hard time finding time to get on the computer. But anyway, finally, here are some birthday pics from Saturday. We started the afternoon with lunch out with Grammie and Grandpa. Here’s Zufan working intensely on her homework:

In the late afternoon, we headed to the place pictured below. It’s the only place we’ve gone where Zufan can be as loud as she wants, and no one notices. It suits us perfectly. She’s been asking for “Kuk-kie” ever since.

There was a little dancing,

some drumming,

and some saying “cheese” and singing to the birthday boy.

Now, this is what it would look like if I had ten kids. Yeah, me and my girlfriend Angelina, we think alike. Although, if they were all mine, there would be a couple more Ethiopian or Haitian faces in the family picture.

After the friend party, we headed out to the campground to open presents from the grandparents.

Zufan preferred to stand ON the table, of course, teasing us by threatening to tobble off.

Finally, since they hadn’t had enough action, the esposo took the kids swimming in the campground pool. All in all, I think the now-five-year-old had a really good day. We all did.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

When I started this blog he was only TWO years old. Wow. That is incredible.

He loved his birthday party, his first party with friends. I’ll get those party pics up sometime; until then, here’s the birthday boy, and Happy Monday everyone!!

Cuteness

We are having a busy birthday party weekend, as the 4 year old is becoming the 5 year old. Until I get some party pics up, here is Zufan, being her cute and crazy self.

Like Angelina described her “Z” in the People magazine article on their family, our Z is also the “life of the party.” (No, I don’t normally read People magazine, as I couldn’t care much less about most of those people, but it’s worth making an exception for Brad and Angelina and their family. I love Angelina. I identify so much with her that… Maybe I am Angelina. Yeah. Almost. Go ahead and laugh ) Anyway… gotta get off this computer. I’m needed elsewhere.

Check out the book club

It’s new, it’s awesome, and it’s HERE. Thanks, Julie!

Invent a project

I’ve found that the best way to make a long day short is to choose a project for the day. Anything you do with kids is going to take an afternoon, no matter how simple. So, today’s project was to check out the view from the top of the capitol building. We’ve been meaning to do this all summer.

See who gets her very own smoothy? She isn’t much into sharing. That’s OK, according to the big siblings. They say she “backwashes” too much anyway. Her water is always suspiciously foggy after a drink or two. Delicious.