Bowling!!!

Well, since it is very cold here (yes, cold!) and snowy, we needed to find indoor activities.  Cousin Brandon threw out bowling and an idea was born!!  This was Declan and Terefech's first time bowling and they had a blast.  Declan would wait anxiously to see how many pins he hit and was beside himself with joy no matter how many fell.  They both said it was fun and would do it again in a heartbeat.  It was fun to have lots of the family together and have a crazy, fun time together.

Snow Day!

It started snowing late on Christmas Day.  That is why, Terefech claims, it took her and Declan hours to fall asleep.  "I was so excited for snow."  And that is probably why she was up so early in the morning....So she marched out on her own this morning.  In her crocs...only to discover that the snow is wet and cold and boots, of any kind, work a lot better.

Declan thought eating snow was really filling.  We had to give instructions as to how to look for good snow...not yellow or brown snow!

We did some sledding and made snow angels.

There was a second round of sledding during the day with cousin Connor and neighbor Bree's sled.  Much better than the ones we have.  Thanks Bree!

As usual, Terefech was the daredevil...no need to hold onto the sled!  She has said she likes the snow but does not want to live anywhere where it snows often.  Tooooo cold!

Christmas...in reverse order!

Riding scooters from Nana!

Building Lego with cousin Colin.

Skyping with the Kings and Olschners in Singapore with cousin Suza.

Comparing loot!  Terefech asked for a yellow clock with numbers from Santa...and she got it!

Trying to comprehend what this Santa business is about.

Enjoying a treat from Santa!

Declan got a robot from Santa!  We had to do some reading so we could communicate with the robot!

Injera Tacos

Yep, you read that right...injera tacos.  Yesterday, Rich stopped at the Ethiopian grocery store by us and bought a nice big package of injera.  This endears him to the kids as they are both lovers of injera.  

Tonight we were having chicken tacos.  The kids love tacos but the chicken part they weren't too excited about until I said use the injera.  Above is Declan's version of chicken spinach injera taco.  Below is Terefech's reaction to me wanting to take pictures of her eating an injera taco!

Making cookies

It is a tradition from when I was a kid to make and decorate cookies.  We started with some pre cut out cookies that Grandma had.  That kept the kids busy while I worked on getting things ready for the mass cutting out of cookies.  Needless to say it was a day long project and I had to make them eat real food later in the day after realizing we hadn't eaten for most of the day.  I wonder what they were eating?

A few of our masterpieces...

Declan declared that my cookies tasted the best.  That could be because mine weren't hidden under an inch of icing and another inch of sprinkles.  They had a great time!  Declan taught Terefech the finer arts of decorating like licking your fingers (one of our rules...always lick your fingers), using multiple sprinkles on one cookies, and eating as you go!

Uptown Charlotte

We ventured into uptown Charlotte (that is what we call downtown here in Charlotte, downtown is a whole other place!) on a snowy Saturday!  For once our usual over preparedness with gloves and hats paid off.  We weren't expecting a little snowstorm.  Terefech squealed in delight catching snowflakes on her tongue.

Terefech and Declan loved how big the trees in the Bank of America building were, how large the ornaments were, and how little they were compared to the tree.

We went to see the Leonard Bearstein Symphony Orchestra perform their Christmas tunes.  Declan loved it as he has for 3 years.  Terefech was unimpressed.  "They just sing, they don't even really move that much."  They both did think it was funny that there were bears with the same names as 2 of their classmates, Violet and Ella.

We tried to get some loving sibling pictures...this is how they usually turn out.  But notice the snow out the window!!!

Someone told us about the giant gingerbread house at the Ritz Carlton so we stopped in to see that.  This was the best picture we got of them.  They were severely disappointed that you couldn't go in the house.  We all imagined that the sink inside probably has hot chocolate coming out of it!  

Books!

Check out this blog if you are looking for books with "brown" characters/children! Brown Like Me book reviews

Gingerbread Train

Look at that sibling harmony!

Terefech finished up the Gingerbread Train by oozing icing all over the train!

Choo! Choo!

Just when you need it...

You know how you have those days, weeks, maybe even months where it you feel like you should win the bad parent award daily. Nothing seems to go right and no one is happy. We have had a week like this. We attribute is mostly to the fact that Declan is still struggling with having a new sister and he rebels against that every so often. He does it in subtler ways, like struggling with simple tasks so he gets help or needing you to stay with him before he goes to sleep. His not so subtle ways are things like screaming at her even when she says she doesn't understand or just saying no to anything she wants. This week it has made me crazy. I have lost it several times with him and said I am done with his ridiculousness. This afternoon, he was really getting to both of us. So, Rich and Terefech left to pick something up from the store and he decided to wrap his present for cousin Connor. We found a bag it would fit in, tissue paper and then he made a tag....

and wrote on the back....

and I remembered why I think he is such a great kid, love him so much, and that I need to remember that he is a kid going through huge change. His world in the last 7 months has become something unrecognizable to him. We have had job changes, family changes, and school changes. I wish I could make it easy for him, but I can't. All I can do is breathe deep and love him!

It is snowing...

Not really...today's activity from the advent calendar was to make paper snowflakes (thanks Jill). They had lots of fun folding and cutting to see what they could make! Now where to hang them...

A once in a lifetime event!

Yep, that is Terefech eating a vegetable. Obviously, Declan is amazed.

A library and a school

There is a group called Ethiopia Reads that wants to/is going to build a school and library in the region that Terefech is from. It is very likely that children from her village will attend this school. Read more about it at the blog The Eyes of my Eyes are Opened. I wish I had come up with a blog name that so aptly describes this experience of visiting Ethiopia. There is so much we take for granted in this country that people there can't even imagine having. And simply, a school and a library are two of those things that the Kembato-Tembaro Zone need. You will continue to hear about their fundraising efforts both here and on Facebook. It is a cause near and dear to our hearts.

Merry Christmas!

Here is our festive house in the day and the night!

I got an early Christmas present which was an advent "wreath." The kids are so excited to light the candles each Sunday! Yep, those are dreidels. Declan got them at school and they live under the advent candles!

The kids all decked out for church. I realize now that I will never get him to tuck his shirt in.

Cookies for Kids' Cancer

While the kids were stuffing their faces with cookies, I was...well, doing the same thing. I worked the Cookies for Kids' Cancer bake sale here in Charlotte with my friend Jill. Cookies for Kids' Cancer is a charity set up to raise awareness and funs for pediatric cancer. I found out about the charity several years ago when they had their first fundraiser. They wanted to have a giant bake sale and sell 96,000 cookies. They managed to raise $400,000! Now people all over the country have bake sales, both big and small, to raise money for Cookies for Kids' Cancer. 100% of the money raised at bake sales goes to fund research in pediatric cancers.

The inspiration for Cookies for Kids' Cancer was Liam Witt, the son of Gretchen and Larry Witt. If you want to read more about his life, you'll find the link to his blog, Prince Liam the Brave, on my blog.

This year, Glad is matching the funds raised in bake sales for Cookies for Kids' Cancer. The sale I worked is one of the biggest in the country raising over $20,o00. It was an amazing day! So many people were out on a freezing cold day doing their Christmas shopping but were willing to give to such an incredible cause.

So, if you can't think of anything to get someone, check out the Cookies for Kids' Cancer website and consider ordering cookies for your loved one. They are delicious and will make a difference in the lives of countless children.