MMMmmmmm....chocolate

Well, yesterday I had a wonderful shower for Piper. It was thrown by a lady whose son was in my class at Parent's Day Out. She has quickly become a friend and she hosted an awesome time! We played only one game, to everyone's pleasure :) and had and delicious cake, but let us not forget....the chocolate fountain. MMMmmmmm. Piper got lots of stuff and it just got me all excited all over again about having a girl. Even girl gift bags are so much more fun than boy stuff! A big fat thanks to everyone there for sending me off more prepared for her now!

I will post pictures later...for some reason, I can't get it to work, now.


Piper is so loved and it makes me feel so good.

Here's a tip.

Annoying:

1.

Pass the mustard.

It's MUSTER...the word was used in the military and referred to assembling troops for inspection and such. Look it up. That is what my dad made me do long ago and why I know this. And now I am tortured until I die with people saying it wrong.

2.

Is Dennis babysitting?

This is a new one. My friend Jeanene pointed out to me that no one calls it babysitting when we watch the kids, so why is it when Dad is? No, he's parenting, not babysitting. And since she pointed that out, that bothers me.

3. Emails sent without verifying with Snopes.com. Please check with them if it sounds too good to be true, someone is going make money, get something for free, or is gathering info for a science class.

4. People who don't tip well and send food back.


Not a whole lot going on right now, obviously.

Haiti

So while I am not loving the wait, I am loving the security of knowing that we are through the courts and that part is done. When I have the wait of that uncertainty that we had to compare to this one, this is a breeze.

I have lots to do with the kids and still getting our Sunday School classrooms ready for our big move to a permanent facility on the 8th, so that really helps.

Did anyone see Oprah today? Sometimes I forget that I don't have to watch cartoons during the day, and today was one of those days where, since we had been inside all day, I kicked the boys out on the porch to play (since our yard is like a jungle right now w/all this rain) and turned the station to Oprah. It was a good one about people who saw injustice and instead of wishing they could do something about it, they did something about it. I especially loved the story about the man from Haiti, Jean-Robert Cadet, who was a child slave, moved to the US as a slave for the same people, and ended up getting a college degree in International Business (I think). They are called Restavecs. They are sold by their families into slavery, with the intent to return them to their families when the "masters" no longer need their services. I love Haiti and I am so glad to see it mentioned. I love Africa, too(especially now!), but Haiti never gets mentioned, while it is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. I loved the whole show anyways, because it highlighted the fact that one person can make a difference. Lots of people don't get that. They think that they have to have Oprah money or be one of those weirdo missionary women who don't shave their legs, or wear skirts with black socks and Birkenstocks, ya know? Really hope I didn't step on any toes, there. Anyways, I forgot where I was going with this....it was just a good show.

UPDATE: I would also just like to say that I am a weirdo missionary woman, myself. Without the black socks and birkenstocks. Sometimes I shave my legs.

No Tartar this time

Last night I went to Aster's Ethiopian restaurant with my mom and my sister, who is in town visiting. She likes the food, but we can cross it off my mom's list. Not her thing. I tried a couple of other things this time (it was definitely a smarter order), and it was good. As long as I stick to the milder dishes, then I am fine. I'm not much of a spicy foods eater. I can't wait to take Piper there so she can eat something familiar. It is definitely a different food from what we are used to. The coolest thing was that we saw that they have Sesame Street videos in Amharic! How cool! I will definitely get her one from there, if I don't find it in Addis.

I have started daydreaming again, since now I know she is ours. I hardly went into her room or even looked at her picture when we were waiting between court dates, because I was so scared. I was scared not only because rainy season was coming, and if it didn't go right, we were going to have to wait until later this year to get it cleared up, but also because, what if it was an issue that couldn't be cleared up? Thankfully, it's all good, now, but that was a horrible feeling!

I really wish that I could have videotaped Cam when I told him that she was coming home soon. He started jumping up and down and started laughing and saying over and over, "Sissy's coming home!" Then he ran into the kitchen to tell Dad (like he didn't know :)
It was awesome.

By the way, there is a funny blog on the Rooney blog. It is about the non-cuss words we use, especially around kids, when we really feel like letting one out. There are some pretty creative folks out there. It had me laughing. Go visit them and add to the list!

Mineminemineminemine....

After a day of incredible stress and nervousness, we celebrate Piper Chaltu Elliott coming to Texas in mid July!! We just found out....she is OURS!!!

The sound of crickets....

I am so nervous...Court Date day is almost over there in Ethiopia....tick tock....tick tock...tick tock

Chancin' this post

My brother says that I am probably a Christian Democrat. I had never heard of such a thing, the term, I mean. I honestly don't think I am. But I'm not sure that I am completely Republican. I certainly lean very far in the conservative direction. However, I am not pleased with either side of the line at all. When it comes to most issues, I am very conservative. Can I be a bleeding heart Conservative or Republican? Honestly, I am not political at all. But these times kind of force you to choose somewhat, or you are just one of those fence straddlers who don't care enough to choose. But it seems we only have 2 choices. I am NOT anti-Bush. But maybe I am not 100% pro Bush either. And if I only get 2 choices, then I go conservative. And I have nothing to back myself up, since I don't know much about politics or care to get into it all, either. I just realized that I don't think that I have a proper representation out there.