Readoption

Hiwot and Tesfaye were legally adopted in Ethiopia on February 9, 2011.  When they arrived home in April of 2011, they automatically became U.S. Citizens.  So why did we readopt them in Tennessee?

Readopting Hiwot and Tesfaye, helps to secure our parent-child relationship under U.S. law, eliminating the need to continue relying on our foreign adoption paperwork.  This is also allows us to obtain Tennessee birth certificates for our children and (finally) legally change their names.

So, today (2 years later), at our County Court House, Judge James F. Butler helped us to finalize the readoption of our children, Tesfaye and Hiwot.

With Chancellor Butler in his chambers:

Afterwards, we celebrated with coffee (buna).

And their names have been legally changed, planned since they've been home and now made official.
No longer are their names Tesfaye Michael and Hiwot Michael - their legal names after our Ethiopian adoption (in Ethiopia, children take their father's name as their last name).

They now have the names Jackson Tesfaye Getachew and Hanna Hiwot Getachew. 

We have given them both a family surname as their first name, matching the rest of our children; and have given them back their full birth name, to honor their heritage and birth family.
Despite a new first name, we will still be calling them "Tesfaye" and "Hiwot" : )

Dress Rehearsal

It's that time . . .
After having so much fun (and working too!) for the past 9 months, the Dance Recital is almost here.
Hiwot and Maegli can't wait!

Today, my girlies were thrilled to put on some lipstick, wear their fancy costumes, and perform their dance on stage in the Dress Rehearsal.

The dress rehearsal was so much different than last year - it was amazing to watch them up on stage.  Their group of seven were veterans: they're Preschool II; they've all been their, done that; this was no big deal.  The girls were full of confidence on stage and were wonderful.
And, despite only having 7 in the group, they're singing at dress rehearsal was loud and clear!  

They can't wait for the Saturday Recital . . . and flowers! 

Their dance is to the song "Pink is for Little Girls" . . . and yes, their costumes are blue.
But, with the lyrics, the costume choice does make sense.  The final line of the tune is "No matter what you think of pink, we're also nice in BLUE!". 

*And a super big thanks to our friend (and neighbor!) for taking care of the rest of the crew while I was busy dressing and cheering on ballerinas at their rehearsal - thanks!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day for remembering all the brave men and women who have died serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.  Memorial Day also marks the start of Summer. 

It's a great day to be with family and friends, to be outside, to watch the annual National Memorial Concert, to decorate patriotic coloring sheets, and to talk with our children about bravery and sacrifice. 

It's also a great day for fireworks - even simple backyard bottle rockets. 

And catching frogs and toads.

We are thankful for the sacrifice of others to secure the freedoms we enjoy today. 
We are thankful for neighbors to gather with for a fun and simple evening outside. 

My Big Brother

 . . . is awesome
: )

(Burke is wearing is very favorite "Hulk" tee . . . he wears it everyday, except for when we're able to sneak it away for washing.)

Special K

All the sudden, our Kolpin is looking like a mighty big boy.

Although I know we are all to quickly approaching the big "FOUR", legs seem to have sprouted over night.  He's wearing big boy underpants (which I was beginning to think would never happen).  He's playing with the big boys, running outside and acting so tough.  He wears a cape and runs around with a shield, letting us all know that he's Captain America.  He has become very good asserting himself and has adopted an appetite rivaling his bigger brothers - this boy is always hungry and thirsty!

But he's still my baby boy, and as much as he may dislike it as he grows even bigger, he'll always be my baby boy.  
And yes, sorry, just as I (accidentally) do with his bigger brothers, I too will be calling him "sweetie pie" and "sweetheart" and "baby" in front of his friends. 

Moms get to do that sometimes.

Thankfully Kolpin has retained some of his sweet little boy sweetness.
He purrs and meows like a kitty cat and crawls into my lap, nuzzling my neck.  He loves to give hugs and kisses, on the check.  He still talks in his incredibly unique Kolpin way, starting every word with a "d" - which makes our decoding slightly easier ("di dant do dun doutside!").  And I love that he insists on sitting in my lap while we are reading books, after insisting on at least two books.  He strokes daddy's bead when daddy lays with him in bed.  And although he's sleeping in a big boy bed in the big boy room, he still looks like my baby boy when he's asleep; curled in his blankets and wrapped around a stuffed animal.  

He's our Special K.
He's growing up so fast.

I want to always remember this cute, cuddly, kissy, car playing, Playmobil battling, purring kitty cat, Captain America 3-year-and-9-month Kolpin. 

Kolpin also tells the very best jokes . . . of his own creation.  His most repeated favorite:

"Why did milk go to school?" (sounding more like "die did dilk doe due dool?")
"So they can drink it!" - after which he starts giggling loudly.

He's so funny : )

Kolpin is typically grouped with the "littles", which means he's grouped with 3 girls.  At bedtimes, he always requests a "boy book" - which recently has been "The Cat in the Hat."  Love our little man : )

Critters

Our carport boasts a fantastic critter exhibit each Spring.  Curator and critter-catcher extraordinaire would love to spend all of his time tending his amazing finds if he could.  He has become incredibly knowledgeable about the various frog, turtle and snake species in our region and will happily tell you all about them : )

The kids discovered "Jerry" - a male Eastern Box Turtle, on their way back from releasing last week's guest, "Janet".  Since Jerry, they have collected five other turtles: one more male and one female Eastern Box Turtle, two Slider (including one large Slider proudly found by Hiwot), and a small Stinkpot.

In addition to the turtles residing in the plastic pool in our carport, we also have a small rat snake, tons of small tadpoles (growing legs and starting to hop), several super fat bullfrog tadpoles, and a few frogs. 

As with all of our critter guests, they're only allowed a short stay before being released to the backyard.  Not a problem . . . the kids will happily capture new ones : )

The tadpole was enjoying a piggyback on the Stinkpot.

We've found the female Box Turtles are typically more shy than the aggressive red-eyed males.  "Jerry" is quite a handsome fellow. 

Nursery Work

We're making progress on our painting and re-organizing plans . . .

First project to tackle: the new Fourth Bedroom.

This newly created space upstairs gave us a small fourth bedroom - just shy of an 8' x 8' square.  This room has a ton of natural light pouring though the shuttered opening overlooking the downstairs sun room.  There was no space to build a closet in this bedroom, so we built one just outside the door in the hallway.  Currently this room is Maclaren's, but will eventually house the new baby too.  With the construction complete, it was time to finish this space, making it a sweet nursery for two. 

The existing space had a large chalkboard painted on one wall.  We wanted to keep a chalkboard wall in the room, just on a different wall.  We sanded down and painted over the existing chalkboard, and created a new chalkboard wall.  On the remaining walls we did a neutral gray stripe. 

To create unity with the rest of the house, we used the same light gray color from our downstairs great room, and the same darker gray as our (currently being painted) upstairs hallway. 

 
The gray stripes give the rooms a lovely relaxing feel and the chalkboard wall has become a popular spot.  The kids have loved drawing pictures for Maclaren - a constantly changing art installation.  Even Maclaren has gotten a kick out of drawing on her wall. 

The paint is finished and the room is ready for some decorative touches. 
We have a large map to hang above the crib, and freshly painted aqua frames for kids pictures to add pops of color to the neutral space.  We will also be swapping out the changing table for a slightly larger dresser to accommodate two kids : )

Next projects:  painting the hallway, the boys rooms, and a large chalkboard downstairs : )

Mother's Day Weekend - Away!

While the trip wasn't planned as a Mother's Day celebration, I certainly felt celebrated.
It was a wonderful weekend in Chattanooga of fun family time - a much needed mini-vacation.

We packed a cooler full of food, splurged on hotel accommodations, and enjoyed 3 days away together - what a treat!

Happy Mother's Day! 

We have been blessed by the mothers in our lives.  Our own mothers, our grandmothers, our sisters and friends, and the beloved birth-mothers of our children.  I am so thankful for the gift of these precious women - for their love, generosity, teaching, caring, encouragement, and for life.

And, I am thankful for the incredible blessing to be a mother to my eight, soon-to-be nine, children. 
Praise God!

A great way to spend this day to celebrate mothers was with a great weekend as a family, enjoying special experiences with my children - we had fun.

After enjoying lunch at our favorite pizza place, Crust Pizza in Sewanee, TN, we ventured to downtown Chattanooga to cheer on the Lookouts to victory.

The kids had a lot of hands-on experiences at the Tennessee Aquarium: 

snakes, stingrays, sturgeons, and butterflies.

It was perfect for our critter-loving kiddos!

We walked downtown, ate at a fabulous Greek cafe, enjoyed ice cream.

And (the most highly anticipated part of the weekend) we went swimming in the hotel pool.

The kids love staying at a hotel.  

Fancy big breakfasts, cable TV, swimming pools, big beds, family slumber party. 

The only downside - our family now requires two rooms.  

We had a "girl room" and a "boy room".

And two nights : )

Our final day, we checked out Point Park on Lookout Mountain, as well as Chickamauga Battlefield, where Union and Confederate armies clashed during the Fall of 1863. 

Chickamauga was one of the first Civil War battle sites made into a National Military Park, 

along with Vicksburg, Shiloh, and Gettysburg.

While at the park, Hendrick earned his third National Military Park Junior Ranger Badge.  

Completing three, he was excited to receive the Junior Civil War Historian Patch. 

A perfect end to our Civil War history unit.

We were blessed to be able to enjoy these experiences together on this wonderful weekend away.

It was a great weekend : )