Explaining Santa Claus

Today my Mom sent a box of stuff for the kids for school and in it were a pair of tights. Abegail was going through the box and loving her new stuff and I went out to mow the lawn. Abegail came out in the tights and a shirt. I said, "oh, honey those aren't pants those are to wear under a dress." OK, she kind of got it. Then she opened the drawer of an old chest I had in the kitchen and

Abegail Meets Her Teacher

We had an open house at Abegail's school tonight. We met her teacher, Mr. Suzuki and she picked out her desk. Mr Suzuki (both kids love to practice saying his name) seems very nice and we've heard rave reviews about him. Abegail loved her school and says she is excited. I on the other hand am petrified. How on earth did I become the mother of an elementary school student? They had sign ups

Look Who's Coming to Minnesota

1-year-old Emmanuel Johnson, born in Liberia without an anus is coming to Minneapolis Sept. 7th to have permanent surgery that will save his life. He will have reconstructive surgery on Sept. 19th at Fairview University. The hospital and surgeon are donating most of the cost but 40-thousand still needs to be raies. If you want to help Emmanuel you can donate to any TCF Bank in the name of the

Health Updates

We finally got a stool sample from Eman and as we suspected he does have Giardia, a parasite common in third world countries. I may be hallucinating but I think for sure it is getting worse. I am 99.9 percent sure Abegail has it too but she doesn't poop enough to get a sample, still working on it! So no more baths together. If they hadn't come to the U.S. A&E would have spent their lives walking

Big Storm, No Power - The Sequel

In 6 years of living in Minneapolis, we've never lost power for more than an hour or so. But for the 2nd time in 2 weeks, we are without power again and have no idea when it will be restored. Last time it was 3 days. We're going on 24 hours now...so we're hoping sometime tomorrow we'll be back in business.It's funny, because A&E aren't phased one bit. They're used to generators. They say to

A Good Day

The Dentist Report: Emmanuel has six cavities, most of his top teeth are decayed, the stain is from some of the food they ate in Liberia. He and Abegail will see a pediatric specialist. Abegail probably has 3 cavities. Annie would barely open her mouth for anybody to see anything, but she does have the correct number of teeth!We came home and I went for a fabulous one hour run and when I got

Potty Power

The kids were in the bath tonight and Abegail started singing a song from Annie's video, "Potty Power." Here are the words she is singing:What do you like to doWhen you are sitting on the potty?When you're sitting on the potty for a while?There's a lot of things to doThat will make you happy too.Sitting on the potty. This song is already kind of funny...but it is absolutely hilarious with a

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Mommy You Come Back?

It doesn't matter if we're going to the bathroom or to work, A&E always ask Scott and I, "you will come back?" We always say yes we will come back. One day Scott was trying to be funny, I went upstairs for something and Eman asked 3 or 4 times, "Mommy come back?" And Scott said no. At which point both kids eyes became huge and Scott realized what he had done. They had a Mommy who didn't come back

Abegail & Daddy's Day at the Dome

Abegail and I got to spend a day at the ballpark...with HUGE hot dogs, blue snow cones, a new Torii Hunter t-shirt, and a run of the bases after the game...we had an amazing day!! I thought Johan Santana striking out 17 in 8 innings was pretty cool (and a Twins' record)...but needless to say, "TC Bear" was Abegail's #1 highlight.I'll just leave you this photo essay.

So Sweet When They Sleep

QUOTES FROM ABEGAIL:A: Mommy I want some coffee.M: No, honey little girls can't have coffee.A: Mommy I want some coffffffeeeee...M: No honey it will stunt your growthA: Mommy, I want to be short.Sadly our neighborhood pool closed today and the temperature has dropped to the low 60's. The kids keep saying, it's cold. I say, yes just wait, it will get colder. Aren't they in for a surprise.My

Update on Kids at the AFAA house

Another one of A&E's friends is home. Junior, is home with his new Mommy in Oklahoma! Hey we know some people there. Junior is in Tulsa. We hope to meet up with him Labor Day weekend in South Dakota.In the meantime, we got some photos of A&E's cousins, Martu and Mackie, (first photo) and a few of Abegail's good friend Tarry. The kids love seeing their friends!I took Abegail shopping for

The Entitlement Factor

No one has to tell my kids they've had a hard life. One look at the toys Annie had all to herself for three years and they figured out most kids in America do not spend their time braiding and rebraiding the same barbies hair. But living in a culture where most of your time is spent trying to survive leads to a whole new set of issues. As a reporter, I talk to families who have lost loved ones

Changes to The Adoption Process in Liberia

A few weeks after we got home, the U.S. Embassy in Liberia announced they would be changing the way visa's were given to Liberian children and basically slowing things down for adoptions. The reason: A new woman in charge named Alma. From my understanding Alma thought there were too many adoptions going on and the previous article shows some of the concerns. They now have stricter guidelines.

Liberian Translations

Liberian / American Translation Slippers / Flip FlopsShoes / Sneakers or anything that is not a sandalCommode / ToiletTissue / Toilet PaperSpoiled / BrokenFlash It / Spray ItTrousers / Pants or ShortsBriefs / Boys UnderwearPants / Girls UnderwearBlouse

Abegail Lets Her Hair Down

Here is a photo of what I think is a beautiful girl without her braids. But Abegail refuses to wear her hair without any ponies. We are doing a little better. Scott and I are getting used to the chaos, the continuous Mommy, Mommy, Daddy, Daddy. It's been an adjustment but we are getting there, all learning together. Sending them to the neighbors also helps.

The Car Open, The Car Open!!

Power has been restored, let the blog continue. So I picked E-man up from daycare (Annie is no longer welcome until she gets potty power) and all of a sudden he starts screaming, "Mommy the car open, Mommy the car OPEN!!!" I started having images of the first week we were home when he opened the van door, while I was driving. I'm thinking I thought I locked the doors. Meanwhile the screaming

Big Storm, No Power

We had a big storm here Friday night and lost power. We are not expected to get it back on until Tuesday night. If you need something, call my cell phone, 952-454-4230 or Scott 952-381-4964

EMAN'S FIRST TWINS GAME

E-man got some special time with Daddy tonight at his first Major League Baseball game!

Bridge Collapse

These are photos from a local photographer. The site is very hard to see now because its all blocked off, you have to get up on top of a building which is where most of the networks are. President Bush comes tomorrow. We did not use the bridge daily but Scott took it twice a week to softball games. It is very hard to avoid if you were going anywhere north of the city. The stories are

A White Man's Car

E-man told Scott today he drove, "a white man's car." This from the little boy who rides down the driveway in a pink car and wants to wear fingernail polish.He decided he had to wash his pink car today. So I thought, you can wash your car, you can wash Mommy's car. He did and did a great job. I think we found a new constructive way to keep the E-man occupied.