At dinner tonight...

Declan:  Terefech, what would you do if you were Old MacDonald and you had a farm e i e i o!
Terefech:  Hysterically laughing...
T and D:  Looking at each other laughing hysterically...

They are a hysterical twosome!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Declan and I spent the morning at the Levine Museum of the New South.  His first time, not mine.  It was free which was a special enticement.  We went with some old preschool friends since we were all off of school.  There was a large exhibit on a family and community in South Carolina focusing on their fight against separate schools.  We talked throughout the exhibits about the inequities in schools, homes, rights, everything.  We have talked about this before so he wasn't new to it but I think he got a better perspective seeing pictures of real people who this happened to.  We saw pictures of a burned church and burned home and he read the quote about the firemen just watching the house burn.  We saw drinking fountains with signs above them and looked at them, really looked and he noticed how different even the drinking fountains were.  There are places in the museum where you answer questions, putting your answer up on a post it note.  We chose to answer "Do you think race matters?"  We talked about our family and does race matter to us.  He said, "Yes, because my family has different colors."  Shortly thereafter, an African American man said to me, "Your son is going to be a good man.  A really good man."  Not sure why...I am hoping it is because Declan knows in our family that race does matter.  It is part of who we are and makes us different.  There will be things that Terefech that encounters in her life that we can never understand, but we'll try to be there to support, listen, and be her family.

Weekend fun

We are trying to plan more active family activities this year....camping being one of them.  So, we got our tent out today since we have never taken it out of the bag.  The kids had a blast playing in it outside this afternoon-yea! for being able to be outside.  The ice has finally melted enough to make that doable.  We are looking forward to warmer weather soon and hitting the outdoors!

Declan and Terefech both got gift cards for Christmas so we went to the mall (with the rest of humanity) this weekend to spend them.  Declan purchased a Creator Log House from the Lego store.  It makes 3 different house and opens on the side so you can play in it.  He is very happy to have a house.  T has a house and now they have a neighborhood so they can live near each other.  They talk about this often.  How when they grow up, they will next to each other on the beach.  

Terefech hit Build a Bear and bought clothes for her existing bear.  She was so happy to realize they fit her other dolls as well.  She loved picking out frilly dresses and got her bear a bear ipod that plays jammin' bear tunes!  Thanks Olschner clan for the fun shopping.

I love my hair!

Terefech let me do something to her hair today.  Don't have a picture of the actual hair do.  These are the after effects.  She had me take her 2 pigtails out after dinner and then had a ball making her hair do all kind of funky things.  We had to take pictures to mark these momentous hairstyles.  And with goofy faces of course!

I think she really does love her hair!

Ice, ice baby!

Here are some of our pictures from our ice capades this past week.  It didn't allow for much fun outside.  The kids loved eating icicles and throwing chunks of ice but that really only lasts for about 10 minutes.  It was really hard to get around outside since it was like a skating rink.  The dog struggled mightily so we tried to go break up the back yard so she might be able to access it!

I never eat December snowflakes. I always wait until January.

Declan evidently agrees with Lucy that January snow is much better!

He claimed this was his tray from the cafeteria.

Terefech built herself up a little higher on the swing with snow.  Not sure why...but she did.  Must have been cold on the tuckus!

Snow dog

Filling the rain barrel with snow.  They filled and stirred and stirred some more.  Not sure about that one either but they had a blast using sticks to investigate the water and ice.

Terefech ended the day with some sledding with Daddy!  And tomorrow...no school again!

Melkam Genna

Yesterday was Christmas in Ethiopia.  Christmas in Ethiopia is not at all like how we celebrate Christmas.  People often spend the day and night at church often moving from church to church.  We celebrated by having dinner with family, giving the kids small gifts of clothing (an Ethiopian tradition on Genna) and we had hoped to play hockey.  In Ethiopia, they play a game similar to hockey but with a ball.  It was rainy and cold by the time we got to that part of the day so we didn't get to play.  The kids had fun and hopefully this is the beginning of adding Ethiopian traditions to our lives.  If you want to know more about Genna and other Ethiopian holidays...here is a link.

Christmas 2

We were lucky and we got to have Christmas again on January 1, 2011.  Rich's parents had been visiting his sister so when they returned, we got to celebrate all over again.  The kids were thrilled to have their grandparents back!  

Terefech and her Itty Bitty baby and their matching pajamas!

Declan is admiring our new door mat.  Yep, I asked for a new door mat!

Suzanna and Aunt Della in deep discussion over the directions to the Kindle.

Terefech had been wanting a beanbag chair (mostly because Declan has one...it is that way with most things, the burden of insta twins!)

Declan and scientist Suza working on Declan's circuit board.

The whole family watching "Faces of a Vanishing World" which was my gift to Rich.  It is a video about a young photographer who photographs cultures that re on the verge of extinction.  In this particular DVD, he is in the Omo Valley in Ethiopia returning some of the photos he has taken to his subjects.  This area of Ethiopia is very close to where Terefech is from.  

An inch of rain in Rich's new rain gauge.

The kids love their new stomp rocket.  Daddy holds the height record so far...