Crayons, markers, glue, glitter are all things I try and stay away from. I am a mom who does not like arts and crafts I admit it. I do, however, appreciate art and want my kids to learn by making things and playing with texture, colors and their imaginations. On top of my refrigerator I have all the glue, crayons, markers, tape and scissors my kids need to have some artsy fun. My two home-grown kids have enjoyed making things, drawing pictures and in general making a mess since they could hold a crayon.

When we brought Mita and Enu home I noticed that they did not... more

Early in our adoption process I found a book named, There Is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene. While we had already chosen Ethiopia to be where we were adopting from, this book really helped us feel Ethiopia's need for help with AIDS orphans. I immediately bought it to keep forever and to re-read again someday.

Greene is an adoptive mother herself, from Ethiopia and other countries, as well as a writer by profession. She did an amazing job researching, interviewing and then sharing what she had learned. The book is full of facts and theories,... more

In my early morning reading of emails, I noticed the following article from the BBC: UN 'runs out of aid for Ethiopia'. The article mentions several reasons why this is happening and also points out how things could be made easier. I will not go into the details since the article is an easy read, and I do recommend that you read it.

After seeing this email I jumped over to the World Food Programme page and found some really educating (but not boring) information... more

Since school is out and all the summer activities have started (summer school, VBS, Scout Camp, etc.) I have felt like Ethiopia has gone to the wayside lately. We missed our monthly Ethiopian Adoptive Families group this month simply because we had had a long week and the kids needed some down time. I haven't cooked Ethiopian food in a while either. I did add some berbere to spaghetti the other night, when I couldn't find cayenne pepper in my pantry. It had quite a kick to it too!

I am extremely happy that I have made reservations at an Ethiopian... more

Last week I quickly read through my daily update on the East African world. A mere glance was all the attention it got that day. I saw that the Ethiopian Government was planning on building hydropower dam in a rural part of Ethiopia, near Somalia, I believe. My first thought was "Great!".

Electricity is such a problem right now in Addis Ababa, and all over Ethiopia for... more

We traveled as a family to pick up Mita and Enu. This is not the usual way of doing things, but it is what we as a family needed. So it was Hubby, me, Meg, Elle and Grandma. We had so many plans to travel with the girls and see the sights of Ethiopia.

Once we landed in Addis and met with our agency's supervisor we realized that our plans were a bit overdone. Some things we had not considered. Our new girls were not used to going on family vacations. We should have realized this. In fact they had never been out of the city of Addis Ababa. For those of you without kids... more

I just looked up Ethiopia on Wikipedia and thought it was a great, comprehensive source of information on my second favorite country! I recommend reading this link when you have some time on your hands.

This Thursday is celebrated as "Downfall of the Dergue" in Ethiopia. This is the youngest holiday in Ethiopia. The Dergue ruled Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991. They were a communist government that overthrew the last of the Ethiopian Emperors. That time in Ethiopia was filled with... more

While I am far from an expert on Ethiopian news, history and culture, I do try and keep up on the basics of what is going on. This is important to me and I believe it will be important to my kids in time. Plus we want to go back in a few years and I want to know how to prepare!

I find it easy to celebrate the holidays and the fun activities. We watched the Olympics last summer and cheered as the Ethiopian team walked on the track. I tracked down the Olympic Coca-Cola cans with Amharic writing on it and the kids enjoyed that Coke immensely and they keep a can in their Ethiopian... more

While I was in the process of adopting from Ethiopia, any news about International adoptions or Ethiopia could send shivers down my spine. I was so worried that adoptions would be halted or the process would somehow change. At one time I considered changing countries because of rumors that Ethiopia was considering not approving adoptions unless the Ethiopian child was at least two years younger than the youngest child in the home. As we were adopting out of birth order these rumors made me very scared.

Yesterday I found out that Ethiopia has halted... more

Today is World Aids Orphan day. I have linked the official website and encourage all families with Ethiopian children or who are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia to check out this site.

Of course many countries all around the world are affected by AIDS. Africa is being decimated by this virus. Two of my children have been affected by this pandemic and it is a cause close to my heart.

Here is some info from the site linked above:

Over 15 million... more