Annie Brings Mommy to Preschool

Wednesday was parents day at preschool so Jane's Mommy and I got to be preschoolers for the day. It was also their Halloween party. (so smart not to do it the same day as trick or treating and overstimulate, those teachers know what they're doing!) But Annie couldn't possibly wear her wicked witch costume because she had worn it to her preschool night time party and really what was the point

Abegail Gets Published!

Click on the image to see read the storyAbegail wrote a story in school about her summer trip to NY. She had it published in this month's school newsletter. We of course are very proud. Scott summed it up best, "some of my college papers weren't that long."We are expecting to have baby news about Sophia tomorrow, she will finally be induced!Meanwhile Maya, Mieko's Mom, had a healthy baby girl

Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza

We carved our pumpkins last night with some wonderful friends. Tori's (Abegail's friend) family invited us to their fall festival their church has and all the kids got to carve their pumpkins together. It was a lot of fun and I think this means we are ready for the big Halloween night!Annie has learned to spell and write her name! She is also big on singing the new song she seems to learn

Halloween Fun

Annie's preschool had a Halloween party last night, Abegail was off to her own School's night out. Emmanuel of course found a friend! Emmanuel had another visit from the tooth fairy this week when he lost his second bottom tooth.Sleeping BeautyIt's hard work being a princess!Hair Time!Martu was over today and I jokingly said to her and Abegail, you should do each other's hair. The next thing I

Picture of Papa

A family from St. Michael, Minnesota just brought their son home from Liberia and we sent along a photo album for A&E's Papa. Abegail said to me, "why does he just get to see pictures of me and I don't get to see any of him?" How quickly we forget, there is no camera! So I asked if Bob saw Alexander (by chance) snap a photo. Word travels quick in Liberia and we got our pictures which made

Living History

This weekend, we traveled to Iowa to introduce Abegail and Emmanuel to our good friends the Ogeas. Emma (with Annie above) is my goddaughter and we became close to them when Scott and I were living in Lincoln, NE in 1999-2001. So we met halfway in Des Moines and had an awesome time at Living History farms where the kids could see the difference between a 1700 farm, an 1850 farm, and a 1900

Did You Know?

I was at a school today in North Minneapolis doing a story. Fewer than one percent of the students are white. 99 percent of the students are African American or Hispanic. They are beautiful children with promise in their eyes. 97 percent of them are on the free lunch program. The average income of the families of the students: $14,000. Many are living in shelters. A year ago, the

E-Man's Straight Talk w/ Santa

E-man and I went to Home Depot last night to get some things for Mommy. He spotted a bunch of Christmas stuff all over the store and now wants to me to decorate our house like Clark Griswold's in Christmas Vacation.He also has been bugging me about this Spider Man game that he wants. The other day he was nagging me the whole way home from school about it. And having read the "Parent's Guide to

Harambee Village

Last night we went to the first of a series of workshops at Harambee Village. Harambee Village was started by Deb Reisner, the mother of 6 children, including 4 teenagers. She started it six years ago when she realized white parents with black children need resources, support, and black role models for their children. She says the first meeting they had five families. Within two months there

Mommy's Marathon

It's been five years and three kids since I've run a marathon. So I basically looked at this as my very first marathon in a new body. I made it and was thrilled to finish. It rained hard at times but that made me never want to stop as I knew I would freeze. The kids were awesome making signs and cheering. Scott is always amazing at these things, he's still got it when it comes to support.

Abegail's Mile

The Twin Cities Marathon is tomorrow and the day before, the marathon always puts on a day of family events. So Abegail and I headed out this morning for the Family mile. She said at first, "Mommy I have stage fright," and she was a bit apprehensive but I stayed with her until the start, at which point I almost got run over by kids. Then I went to find her and somehow missed her. We finally