Fire Alarms

This afternoon during speech the fire alarm went off. Igor was scared, this was his first experience with a fire alarm in a building. His teacher and I quickly explained that there might be a fire so we needed to leave the building. While I was gathering our things Igor took off running. He hated the sound of the alarm and was very confused. Thankfully his speech teacher was right on his heels. When I arrived outside Igor was crying, he dislikes loud noises (unless it's music) and likes routine and this was not routine. He settled down enough to ask "why it makes that loud noise" and "who's going to call 911"! His speech teacher and I tried to reassure him that everything was going to be all right. The fire fighters came to check out the building, it was a false alarm.
The rest of the day Igor was very concerned; would there be a fire at our house, would there be another fire at speech, what is inside of fire, fire can hurt you...... It was an emotional day. Igor was still scared at bedtime. When he prayed he asked God to keep him safe from the fire. He normally tells me, "you go mom" after I tuck him in. Tonight he held onto my hand as he fell asleep.

Do not enter

I wonder where Igor learns things such as- Do not enter. Yesterday, Igor wanted a piece of paper and markers so he could make a "Do not enter" sign for his room! I chuckled quietly but wondered, what sign will he put up when he's a teenager?
Igor cannot spell yet and he didn't want my help in making the sign. He made his sign and then read it to me, "No Mommy and No Daddy come in my room!". Since daddy was at church, Igor asked me to write it out on the bottom of the paper so daddy would know to stay out. After the sign was complete we posted it outside his bedroom. Igor has not “enforced” the sign but he enjoys “reading” it! What will he come up with next?

A tasty treat

It's official, today is the first day of our new fundraiser- Caramel Corn*!
I made the first batch this morning. While the caramel corn was baking in the oven, two repairmen arrived. They could smell the caramel corn in the oven. One of them said, "I can smell a tasty treat." I almost gave him my sales pitch- we are raising funds for our adoption. Our newest fundraiser is caramel corn. All proceeds will go to the purchase of our son's airplane ticket home. Maybe you would like to sample a few pieces and buy some?
I thought that might be crossing the line so I said I was making caramel corn and left it at that.
I wish you could be here. The house smells wonderful.

To ensure freshness, I make the caramel corn after I receive your order. I guarantee you will love it! You may order and pay through paypal (on the left side of the page). If you have questions e-mail me.
Sample taste (1 cup) $1
Snack Bag (4 cups) $5
1/2 Gallon $10
1 Gallon $15
*Ingredients: White Popcorn, White Syrup, butter/margarine, brown sugar, salt, baking soda
Before and After

A taste of Ethiopia

Yesterday, five AWAA families were in Ethiopia to meet their precious children for the very first time. It was so sweet to read their blogs and see pictures of their little ones. Reading their descriptions of Ethiopia, the hotel and transitional home gave us a taste of what our journey will be like.

Speaking of "tastes of Ethiopia", we met the Schmidts and Raymers at an Ethiopian restaurant last night for dinner. We arrived at 5PM when the restaurant opened. We had to wait outside a few minutes while an employee repeatedly knocked on the door for someone to let us in. That allowed us to get to know one another a little better.

The Schmidts love Ethiopian food so they recommended some of their favorite dishes. For an appetizer, I ordered Dabo Colo. It's wheat nuts made from wheat flour, sugar and salt. We joked that they looked a lot like communion wafers. I really liked it. All of us ordered The meat Combination. We had the choice of three out of four house specialties: Kay Wat, Yebg Wat, Doro Wat and Yebeg alicha. We picked Lamb, chicken, beef and salad. Rob enjoyed the meal much more than I did. It was nice to spend time with other ET families!

Igor went with us and was the photographer.

Snow, snow, please come today

Igor has been looking out the window for days asking when will it snow. He remembers several snow storms at the “old house”. I've told him that we’ve moved south and it doesn’t snow here very often.

Over the last few weeks the weather man has predicted a chance of snow but no snow has fallen. Thursday night the weather man said it would snow on Saturday. On Friday, Igor’s nursery school teacher told the children that King Winter and Jack Frost were coming!

This morning we woke up to rain. After it rained all morning, I told Igor that I didn’t think it was going to snow today. I was wrong! At 2:30, Igor squealed with delight as he saw the first snow flakes fall. He asked dad if they could make a snowman and go sledding. A snowball fight was offered up instead. Igor is having a ball in the snow!

And then there were two...

No we haven't heard any news about son # 2..... Igor had a friend over this afternoon. I don't know how we will feed two boys! They have an endless amount of energy AND bottomless pits for stomachs!

Igor has been having some difficult days. Another mom who adopted from Russia suggested that her son, Misha (10 years old) come over and play with Igor so we scheduled a play date.

Today, Misha came over after school. Igor hid under a chair for a little bit because he was too shy to play. Soon, Igor was brave enough to come out and play time began. The boys had a great time together. We did a science experiment to see if we could grow crystals from sugar and water. The boys had the never ending snack (they almost ate an entire loaf of bread at snack time along with oranges, apples, chocolate milk, blueberry muffins.... and STILL ate all their dinner!).

The boys found a stray dog in the backyard. Igor came running in to tell me that he had a new dog for our family. I quickly located the dog's tag and called the owner before Igor became even more attached to the dog. The owner was grateful for the call and she came by to pick up the dog, Taxi.

Misha read Clifford books to Igor. It was such a sweet sight.

Igor was very sad to see Misha leave. I promised Igor that Misha would come back and play. Today was a very good day.

We are back

Rob whisked me off to Winston-Salem, NC to celebrate our anniversary. While we were there we visited the art district, went to the movies, enjoyed sight-seeing and had a wonderful anniversary dinner.

We saw The Bucket List which had us crying at the end. We recommend seeing the movie.

Locating the perfect restaurant for our anniversary dinner was a comedy of errors. Rob thought we would explore the city and find the perfect place. I am much more of a planner but since he put this anniversary event together, I agreed. Downtown Winston-Salem doesn't have a restaurant district so after the movie we drove around searching for a place to eat. We ended up feeling a little bit like Goldilocks.

• The first restaurant was too casual (sandwiches and salads)



• The second restaurant's wait was over an hour



• The third restaurant was too smokey



• The forth restaurant was too expensive



• The fifth restaurant was a pizza joint



• The sixth restaurant was perfect!

We had a great waiter and the food was excellent. It was a wonderful anniversary. We had so much fun we decided every year we should go away for our anniversary.

Igor had a wonderful time with his grandparents while we were away!

Today is our Anniversary

Rob informed me last night that he has a surprise for our anniversary. We are going away and his parents will take care of Igor! We leave this morning, but I haven't been told where we are going.

I'm looking forward to our adventure.

Have a great weekend!

Fundraiser idea

As we get close to bringing home our son, I think we need an additional fundraiser. Don't worry, coffee regulars, we'll continue to sell coffee!

For our second fundraiser, what do you think about my home made caramel corn? I gave caramel corn as Christmas gifts again this year and I received so many rave reviews I thought it might be a fun & delicious fundraiser. For those of you who have never tasted my caramel corn, it is my grandmother's recipe and it is sooo yummy. It's similar to the caramel corn sold at Garrett Popcorn Shop in Chicago.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner.... what better way to say I love you??
I checked some websites for pricing and came up with the following:
Sample taste (1 cup) $1
Snack Bag (4 cups) $5
1/2 Gallon $10
1 Gallon $15

I need your help!
1) What do you think about caramel corn as a fundraiser? Good idea or not?
2) Are the prices- too low, just right or too high?

I really want your feedback so please look to the left of the screen to give me your opinion! Or if you have comments post them here (anonymously is okay).
thanks for your feedback!

Merry Christmas!

Today is Christmas in Ethiopia and Russia!

Ethiopian Priests on Christmas morning

Russian Father Frost

(Photo credit: Russia-InfoCenter.)

This morning we headed to the Schmidt's house (also adopting from ET). We picked up Igor's Russian/Ethiopian Christmas present, silks. You may order them at http://www.schmidtcafe.blogspot.com/

This afternoon, Igor's present was wrapped and waiting for him under the tree. They are now hanging around his bunk bed/fort.

Hiking Trip

Here are some pictures from the 7 mile (round trip) hiking trip. Igor walked all but one mile!

Michigan wins

This post is for my dear husband who LOVES all things Michigan... Yesterday, Rob had us all dress in Michigan gear to show support for his beloved Wolverines. Michigan won a very close and exciting game.

Rob is a bit of a sports fanatic... he is passing this down to our son. Here's Igor as we change the flag. He is running with the Pistons flag (showing his support) before we hang it out front.

Happy New Year!

We are back from Christmas vacation and ready to start the new year. I hope the Christmas tree will come down today. However, Rob's #1 priority today is to watch the Michigan vs. Florida football game. Both Rob and Igor are dressed in Michigan gear. Rob has requested that I wear a Michigan t-shirt. This afternoon we are headed to a friend's house (an Ohio State fan) to watch the big game.

We had a nice break during Christmas. We went to Rob's parent's house on Christmas day and stayed for 5 days. Activities included opening gifts, shopping, going to the zoo, day hikes and more.

Here are some pictures.