Sending a little love to Ethiopia

Green

What happens when you let 4 and 5 year old girls do your landscaping?  LOTS of pink and purple.

  And...
We made a garden.  Seriously. If you know me in real life, you're kind of impressed.... as well you should be, because gardening isn't really my thing.

 Love this picture... the girls working diligently while Kai wanders around draped with a rainbow ribbon. Sigh.

 If we can keep some of the plants alive, we'll be getting a whole bunch of tomatoes, peppers of varying spiciness, cauliflower and broccoli.  There is much excitement.

Cuteness

Orange.

Echo

I never saw the resemblance....

Until this picture took my breath away.

Is it possible for your heart to smile and weep at the same time?  Such a thing to lose.... looking like one's family.  I'm so glad she looks like her. 

I'm so sorry she lost her.   

First and Last

First day of school

 Last day of school

We've learned a lot!

Courage

Okay... You know my kids, right?

Hana is 5 and Meron is 4.  They are little. Like... really little.

A couple of weekends ago they participated in their first tournament.  I was nervous... it is a lot of pressure and a bit scary for kids who haven't done it before. There are TONS of people that they don't know, lots of rules to keep track of, and lots of things that they really have to do on their own.  So, my girls (I mentioned that they are 5 and 4, right?) Were told to line up with the other competitors. They waved good bye to me and walked right down to be assisted by the black belts, most of whom they didn't know. Can you see them? They are the tiny brown dots way in the front... on the opposite side of the gym from me.

They waited nicely through opening ceremonies and followed directions to get to their rings and sit down.  And they sat.  For a LONG time. I mean, a really, really long time.

 Then, my tiny girls stood up in front of 4 black belts and Masters that they didn't know, told them their name and the form they were going to perform and did their patterns. By themselves.  Again... notice how freakin' tiny they are?!

I can't believe how brave they were. So incredibly poised for their ages. I was so very proud. And they can't wait to do it again.

Topics

Topics covered in the 20 minutes I was in the car with the kids yesterday:
What are belly buttons and what is their function?
Explanation of umbilical cords
How exactly do babies get into tummies?
Girls have EGGS in them?
Do chickens sit on the eggs to make the mommy have a baby (quarter in the therapy jar)
Since girls have eggs in them (said with horror, shock and giggles) are we gonna have BABIES now!? (there goes another quarter)
Why can't Kai have a baby in his tummy? That isn't fair (crying from Kai, running out of quarters)
What exactly happens to kids when they grow up (immense relief from me... was expecting how does a daddy have to help make the baby?)
Can we live with our mommy and daddy forever?
And finally...
Why is it not okay to play with our penis in public?
Shwew. Today we're having a sing along instead.

Faster and Faster

I love that when my children are told to put on running attire they returned looking like this:

A little stretching...

 A few push ups (although I wouldn't recommend using Mer's technique unless you have the hair to sustain it)

 A little pre run jogging...

 Stretching with dad (hmm... wonder where they got their idea of what one should wear while running)

 On their marks, get set,

Go!!