Home For Christmas

For the first time in the 12 years Scott and I have known each other, neither of us got on a plane to go somewhere for Christmas. I also did not have to juggle a Christmas work schedule and both sets of our kids Grandparents were with us during the holiday. All of these things made Christmas awesome.Annie was so excited for Santa to come, she made individual baggies with carrots for ALL nine

From Our Home To Yours.....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Snowed In

We woke up yesterday to a true Minnesota snowfall. Problem is DC doesn't have the MN equipment so getting anywhere was challenging. Although Scott and I were laughing at the panic that had set in to the area with full wall to wall coverage on all the news stations and everything was canceled before the first flake flew.Today things are bright and sunny, but there is a lot of talk of school being

The Dr. Will See You Now...

E-man went back to the eye doctor Tuesday and he thought E-man's eye looked great. It is healing and you can tell it is more open than before. This is good news since with the last surgery it was already back to its original state at this time.The eye Dr. is a funny guy who seemed to take a liking to E-man. Maybe it was the fact E-man wanted to examine his eyes or that he kept telling Dr.

Happy Thanksgiving

Awesome All Stars

Abegail had her All Star tournament this weekend. They played a total of 7 games. The above picture is after their first game, a 2-1 win.Then they saw the mascot of the Freedom teamThis is early Saturday A.M. as the tournament is just beginning. They had a total of 12 players, only ten got in the picture along with their three awesome coaches. From left to right is Laura's brother Alex & main

A Rare Picture

Emmanuel had his eye surgery on Friday and the anesthesia knocked him out for several hours. He is doing pretty well but he has a very sore and swollen eye. We are hoping for the best. Having been through this before, he was a true champ waking up from surgery and was one of the best behaved boys there!

The Hair Thing

When we were in the process of adopting everyone wanted to talk to us/me about black hair. Black hair is very different from white hair. It doesn't grow fast at all, it is coarse, and for Abegail hard to comb out.But black people worship their hair. To them it is their crown. In Liberia people didn't have food, water, or plumbing but they had perfect hair. Many women spent their days

Meet Alice: Our Newest Member of the Family

Mommy's minivan mobile, was not doing so well. He made loud noises when you turned him on, he did not like going up hills, his brakes grinded to the floor, the Minnesota winters showed its wear and tear so much that you could actually see the outside through the rust. When E-man or I kicked it, metal came crashing to the ground. Plus it smelled like old soccer cleats.Last Thursday Scott went

Bobbing for Apples, The Pirates Wife, and More

Mom standing in the rain with no umbrellaE-man was Batman, I could not get a picture of him standing still. Abegail was Gabriel from High School Musical, and Annie was Thumbelina. My Mom and Dad came down for the occasion and suprised everyone with costumes. They went as pirates. It's the first time I've ever seen my Mom without her real hair. No one knew who she was. People kept saying to

Abegail's Soccer Banquet

Abegail had her soccer banquet last night. Her last game is tomorrow. I have grown to love her team and their families. There is even a family on her team who are originally from Minnesota. The girls are adorable and the families supportive and wonderful. We are sad to see it end. Thankfully Abegail will be with her awesome coaches for three more weeks because SHE MADE THE ALL STAR TEAM!

You'll Be Missed

Despite the pending federal charges, I must say the balloon boy's Dad has got me thinking. Wouldn't it be great if I could just send E-man up in a helium balloon when he had a big mad? I have actually been day dreaming about it since it happened. It would be at least a six hour break depending on how far he traveled. I probably wouldn't even mind the helicopters buzzing above or the

My Little Lawn Mower

He might not be the boy to take to a restaurant but he can mow a mean lawn. E-man loves to push things and without the grocery store full of old and disabled people to run into, the lawnmower is the next best thing. I have decided 6 is the perfect age to start manual labor.He mowed our lawnHe mowed our neighbors lawnOur other neighbors lawnAnd our back lawn, then he was done.

Pumpkin Patch Weekend

It's Columbus day weekend so that means no soccer games, no religion class and a full weekend to prepare for Halloween. For my sister, holidays are full celebrations, not a beat is missed. She is always prepared for the kids to enjoy every activity that comes with the season.For me, holidays are another thing to try and survive, but I'm trying to have a more positive attitude.Saturday was rainy

Bus Driver Appreciation Week

So I finally decided I would volunteer for the room mother position. Politically correct is room parent, but lets be real, only moms do this job, no slight to Dads, its just the way it is.Yesterday there was a room parent meeting. In Minnesota, I think the room parent planned a couple parties and went to the ice-cream social. I could be wrong, I was not a room parent there but that's the

Yoga

Emmanuel has been a bit of a challenge lately. OK that is one of the biggest understatements I've ever made. Let me start over, in the past week E-man has peed on the church lawn in front of two priests, punched, scratched, and pushed numerous kids, spit on me, and given me cleat marks all over my shins. And that's just what I'm capable of remembering.After coming home from CCD last Sunday and

The Big Mad That Got A Big Break

Last Thursday Abegail's soccer team was having a special coach come and work with them. He allowed Emmanuel and the coach's son to participate at the very beginning in the drills section. But then he needed to work with the girls and Emmanuel was encouraged to go kick the ball with a little boy his age.E-man would not hear of it. He immediately started to have a BIG MAD. I tried everything,

Grandpa Chuck's Half Marathon

We headed to Rochester this weekend. My Dad and I ran the Rochester Half Marathon. My Dad joined a special training group and trained for this for weeks. My training consisted of eating a lot of carbs. My Dad did awesome and even seemed to get stronger as the race progressed. He finished in 2:27:24. There was also a full marathon. The leader of that race finished the same time we did. You

2nd Day and Ballet

Abegail helps Annie change to tap shoesBy all accounts the second day of school went well. Both Annie and Abegail are making new friends, although Annie is having trouble remembering the name of her new friend and is right now just known as "my new friend." Everybody seems to like their teachers so far.Annie had her first ballet and tap class last night and loved it.Things I never thought I'd

1st Day of Kindergarten and 3rd Grade!

The Boys (that's the official name for our cousins) go to school too! From left to right, Cameron (2nd grade) Chase (Kindergarten-2022 will be a big year in our family) and Owen (4th grade)

School Open House

Obviously these are bad pictures with our video camera, but you get the idea. The kids had their school open house at Ravensworth Elementary today. Annie and E-man are in the same class (they are going to try E-man in a regular class, best of luck to them) in morning Kindergarten. Their teacher is Mrs. Ramage and she has an assistant Ms. Turner (that should be hard for everyone to remember).

September Morn

Abegail with Tarry and Maima in NJCan you believe it is September? It's a beautiful day here in DC, the humidity has broken, the sun is out, temperature in the mid 70's, a perfect running day.E-man has soccer practice at 5:30 tonight. But at 8:00 this morning he was up, dressed in his soccer uniform and cleats, looking for his shinguards. He is insisting we can't go anywhere today because we

Fat Seagulls

I bet you never thought you'd see that as a blog title, but I can't get over how obese the seagulls are in New Jersey. They are so fat they can barely walk. They look like they need hip replacements. You might be interested to know it's not just me who noticed this, it's been studied by a University (I do think it was the same university who found that if you don't get enough sleep you'll be

Big News....With The Diving Board!

Annie did it! She jumped off the diving board and swam to the side without a life jacket and then she did it about 25 more times. "Mom, you can stop clapping now," she said.I hate not having my camera, but I've been assured it will be fixed in a weekE-man discovered earlier this month he can go off the board and doesn't need a life jacket.I love the age of 5. I know I say that at every age

To Akins...With Love...

Annie missed the MUAA reunion and one of her good friends, Akins. So in response to his impromptu break dancing she danced for him. Akins even asked about her, "where's E-man's sister?"The Richardson summer party continues, I had a friend and her two boys come visit this week. Her kids are sweet, mine are....energetic? I kept telling her I grade on a curve. In fact that's my motto for the

10 Days in Oklahoma!

One Small Planet

A Liberian man now living in Minneapolis went home to Africa to see his family. He was talking to someone in Liberia and said, "There are these two Liberian kids in Minneapolis who have been adopted. Their names are Abegail and Emmanuel." The person said, "Oh, those are Alexander's kids." The person the man was talking to happened to be a friend of A&E's birth father, Alexander. The man

Neighborhood Trails

We have these great trails in our neighborhood just 1/2 block from our house. It is one of my favorite things about where we live. There is a 4.5 mile loop you can run or hike. From our house it's just a 1/2 mile hike to the playground and park with a mini beach and boats to rent. Swimming isn't allowed, you wouldn't want to swim here. But it is a beautiful area. I have already seen several

Aunt Sue Field Trip Day

To start, here are some real pictures of our house which we are loving!I took the kids and their cousins on another outing today. This time to Great Falls in McLean, VA which is a place I went in College. Then to an awesome, huge park nearby. It is made so disabled kids can do all of the activities too and there is a rubber floor on the entire park. Here are the snapshots.Mission Accomplished!

E-man Makes Washburn News

E-man was featured in this month's edition of Washburn Center for Children's newsletter. Click on the picture to see the article.

Two Years Already!

It took us two years from start to finish to bring Abegail and Emmanuel home. Now in the blink of an eye, I am in the middle of my two year post placement report. I get to do them myself now since we reached the two year mark. Time flies doesn't it?The one thing about totally uprooting your life is time seems to slow down a bit. We marked the milestones, we've been here a week, two weeks.

To Be Five!

Annie had a great birthday, a fun day at a great water park, the water mine in Reston, VA. We took cousins and a new friend, then presents and cake! She was beaming all day long.Annie and Cousin Chase, now they are both 5!

Cake Time Again

Tomorrow is Annie's 5th Birthday. It seems like just yesterday she was screaming her way all the way home from the hospital and then I hit her head trying to put her in the crib and made her finger bleed when I tried to cut her nails. We are headed to a water park for a special treat and then home for Mermaid Cake!E-man made his own version of a cake and enjoyed getting it all over himselfThe

Touring the Town

This week we went into DC twice. I took my kids and their cousins to the National Zoo and showed them where I went to college. They were extremely unimpressed with college, "you don't get recess in college??"Then Look Who We Ran Into....The Millers from Minnesota happened to be here Thursday on their tour of the East Coast so we met them on the National Mall for a trip to the

Getting Settled

I finally found the camera cord to download pictures, lord knows I can't blog without photos. We are getting settled. We are still getting lost a lot which means a lot of wasted time with the heavy traffic, but we have found the important things like the neighborhood pool, church, Target, the grocery story, and great running trails just down the street from us.Yesterday I took the kids on a

Onwards and Upwards

The kids are doing great. Me? I keep waving at strange people who I think are our neighbors. I have this card in a frame (which I can't find, but is in some box) that says 'This way ahead, looking back is no longer an option." Still it seems to be I am the one who is slow to adjust.We have met two families in the neighborhood. One directly across the street with an adopted daughter a year

The Misery of Moving

You know the feeling, you think a big change is a really good idea until you can't find a thing and everyone is tired and fussy. Here's some advice, DON'T MOVE! And certainly do not be dumb enough to think moving with three kids won't be the biggest effort you've ever made in your life.Let me start with the process of getting out of our house. I hired two men to load the truck. But Armand and

Keep in Touch

Our New Address:8011 Hatteras LaneSpringfield, VA 22151571-405-6789

Moving Day

I guess we're really moving. We have a really big truck in front of our house and most of our stuff is in boxes (in no particular order I might add). My life is pretty simple these days, I pack, clean, yell E-man's name, say good bye to someone and repeat. Pack, clean, yell, good-bye.

A Day At WCCO

I took my camera to work today, something I wish I did much more often. Then I took the kids and few of their friends on a tour of the station...here are the snapshots.The explosion at a Farm Supply Co-Op we we're coveringThis is what I look at everydayGoing 'live'My morning photographer in the live truck, working on getting a signal before our 5 a.m. hitHere we goThe kids visit, set number

Dudley's Truck

Our neighbor built a 1955 Ford truck. It is shiny red and clean like a whistle. He took the kids for a ride and they had a blast!

Thank You Minnesota

My Montage 6/09We said good-bye to a lot of friends this weekend and went to our last church service. Thanks to everyone for all your support and help. We pull out of town a week from tomorrow.

Abegail's Presidential Power

The awards keep coming for Abegail and with this one she is getting ready for her debut in DC. Her school had their final awards ceremony on Tuesday. She won the Presidential fitness award for passing five fitness test with 85% or higher. She got a certificate signed by President Obama. She insisted on wearing this sweat suite. This is the outfit she wore on her way home from Liberia and it

Park Therapy

We are starting our string of lasts (last time at the Y, last parish council meeting) and Good-Byes. With just 12 days left, each day seems to go faster. Monday was our last Home Therapy session with E-man's teacher from Washburn. Miss Laura thought it would be good to do something special so we went to the park Annie went to on her last day of preschool. They have this "bumpy" slide she had

Activities Galore

If you have kids in school, you know May and June are NUTS...this weekend we had field day at Abegail's school (see picture above), 3 ballet performances, 3 soccer games, a birthday party for our neighbor, and church. Here's a snapshot of Friday and Saturday.Annie's ballet class after their performance to Love Me TenderAnnie and Jane, best budsSee Mommy, this is how we startedAbegail's tap

Saylah and The Spronks

The Spronks came back Monday night before heading home to NY. I love visits like this. I told Suzanne I knew them but we just hadn't met yet. Here are their four children, Emma, Andre', Saylah, and Pascal. It is so much fun to meet the families who adopted children we met two years ago. I love hearing about their journey. The Spronks spent two periods of time in Gabon, West Africa the past

Julie's Race and Constant Chaos

I've been a busy blogger lately. It seems like everyday there is something at least partially blogworthy. The standard for being blogworthy is graded on a curve, see the end of this post and you will be saying well there's 30 seconds of my life I'll never get back. We spent part of the weekend in Stillwater, MN and watched my friend, Julie run the Stillwater Marathon. Julie helped me train

The Talent Show

Abegail and her friend Ellen performed a Taylor Swift (country for those of you not up on it) song with choreographed movements in their 2nd grade Talent Show Friday, here's a sneak peak with pictures.

Our Big News Is.....

After 8+ years in Minnesota, we're moving....to Washington, DC to join Daddy where he found a new job. We're leaving Minnesota June 15th and plan to live in Springfield, VA.

Saylah Swings By

Remember this little girl??? 4 years old at the AFAA house.She now looks like this. Saylah and her family, who live in Plattsburgh, NY, came to see us last night on their way to a family reunion in Southwestern Minnesota. I was sure she wouldn't remember me, but she seemed to remember the kids (it didn't take long to remember E-man)and when I tried to jog her memory doing a little ring around

Abegail's Art and Annie's Preschool

Last night Abegail received special recognition at the Bloomington Art Center for a piece of art she created. 15 students were selected from each Bloomington Elementary School to be recognized. Above is the piece she was selected for.Abegail goes on stage to receive her certificateAbegail's wonderful Art teacher, Mrs. LutzAnnie's preschool put on a program today of some of the songs they

Queen Annie

There are only three more days of preschool left. Annie says, "So I won't see Gaye Lynn (her teacher) any more?" I said no. She says, "but I can still remember her." Since there will not be school on Annie's birthday (July 1), they celebrated today and she got to wear a crown in class and as you can see at the dinner table.

National No Whining Day

You may know it as Mother's Day but in our house it's national no whining, no hitting, no fighting, no crying, no big mads, no little mads, no hanging on me, no stealing my food, no walking in on me in the bathroom, no yelling, no begging...you get the picture...day.We actually accomplished some of this for a few minutes this morning and right now we are achieving the harmonious balance since I

Abegail's Beautiful Day

Abegail had her First Communion today and it was a gorgeous day here. 62 degrees by the time we were going to church. Here are some of the highlights.All dressed up and ready to go!The guest of honor making sure Annie is perfect!Cousin Martu is there for Abegail's big dayOur favorite pose!E-man looking sharp tooSay Target (Abegail and Grandma Marian's favorite store)Really Mom, a picture with

Thank You Washburn Center For Children

E-man graduated from Day Treatment today. We had a great morning visiting with his friends and his wonderful teachers. From left to right..Mr. Adam, Case Manager Miss Cinda, Miss Laura, and Miss Jessie. His teachers are the most patient people on the planet. They are doing God's work everyday with kids who have so much potential but have challenges with the smallest things. We are so

E-Man's Car Cake

E-man with 2 of his Washburn teachers, Miss Laura and Miss Jessie during Monday's home visitE-man's big graduation from Washburn Center for Children is tomorrow. He said he wanted a car cake for his big day so he helped Mommy make a race car cake.See a video on E-man's school:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w-qRhP4yYM#

To The Zoo

Annie's preschool class headed to the zoo today, you can see by the winter coats its still chilly here. But that didn't stop us from having a great time with the animals. Nothing like a day at the Zoo with four year olds!Quotes from E-man:What have you learned?E: I am not the boss.Big shoes to fill...E-man tries on Daddy's shoes. He doesn't care that its 45 degrees, he is still wearing his

Sisterhood....

An E-mail to share:Hi Sue, my name is Caroline Gbanjah.I learned that you adopted two kids from liberia.I am a U.S citizen but, from liberia.I really appreciate people like you.May God continue to guide you and your family and any thing you wish to do in life be sucessful.I got this in my work e-mail today. Whenever we meet people from Liberia they immediately thank us for adopting A&E. It

My Easter Funny Bunnies

Here Comes Peter Cottontail....

Bunny Cake Time with Grandma. Grandma is here with us we sent Grandpa to the other cousins.Here's Jeni, our superstar babysitter right next door, better known as Ava's Mommy!Can anyone come out and play?No More Training Wheels for the Big Guy!Go Fish Anyone??Happy Easter to all and to all a good night.Oh wait that's Santa, I mean a good spring!

Daddy's Home!

Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed???

I got up in the middle of the night and came back to my bed to find three bears fast asleep. Excuse me? Where can I sleep? Apparently they don't care when they are unconscious.Saturday At BalletMommy's HelperQuotes From Annie:Annie: I know what comes after summer...TURKEY TIME!

Bubble.....Bath....

Quotes From Annie:E-man: How do you spell Daddy?Mommy: D-A-D-D-YE-man: I'm smart, I almost know everything, I just have to learn how to read now.Annie: And BE PATIENT!

Swimsuits in the Snow

It was 55 degrees yesterday. A sudden warm day before all the snow had a chance to melt. The kids were itching to put their bathing suits on. That lasted about a half hour until they asked for hot chocolate. OK, so we're a little anxious up here. http://www.wcco.com/video/?id=56447@wcco.dayport.comQuotes from Annie:E-man: Spelling Annie's name, "A-N-N-I-E, Annie your easy."Annie: No I'm not, I'm

Donuts With Dad

Today was the big Donuts with Dads breakfast at Abegail's school. As you can see she chose a powdered sugar one. Scott says the place was packed with Dads and their kids! IN OTHER NEWS...The United States First Lady, Michelle Obama, and the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, are expected in Liberia in March to attend the International Women Colloquium, sources confirmed to APA on

Abegail's Integrity

Abegail was one of two students from her class recognized for her Integrity today. It was a surprise to her and a surprise that we were there to see her. Then the Principal and Dean got a pie thrown in their face because the kids reached their goal in raising pennies for patients. What a fun time and the Washburn bear was there to cheer everyone on!I walked into the dining room today to see

Abegail's Valentine Thoughts

Abegail made a Valentine's book in school. She had to talk about two things or people she loved, who she would send a Valentine to, and who one of her favorite people was. This is what she wrote.I love my family because when I need help they are always in need to help me. Another way I love my family is that we have so much fun together. Plus we love each other the same.I love my other

Baby Pictures

Abegail and Emmanuel have asked repeatedly if there are any baby pictures of them. So finally we asked Alexander if he had any. He said he didn't think so, at the time E-man was born they were moving out of Monrovia to get away from the violence. But he did manage to find two pictures. He sent them back with Karen who just returned home with two more children. They are small in real life,

Dance Recital

Here's the video from the recital...scroll down for the whole story and some great pics!

Recital Insanity

I will start by saying they did a great job. Abegail and Annie had a dance recital this weekend and they were fabulous and of course some of the cutest kids there. Scott promised me he would post the video later today. In the meantime I'm posting photos both of the dress rehearsal and the afternoon show yesterday. Yes, there were two shows, the first at 1 p.m. and the 2nd at 6:30 p.m. yesterday

Liberian Adoptions Temporarily Stopped

1/27/09 Excerpt from the President of Liberia's State of the Union Address delivered last night. The gross mismanagement of the adoption program (which aims primarily at placing orphans in homes in the United States), by both Liberian and U.S. personnel in the concerned NGO is the subject of a report by a Special Committee which I appointed for this purpose. Essentially, we have

Grocery Store Emmanuel

We've always said, there's "Emmanuel," there's "Emmanuel without his medication" and then there's "Grocery Store Emmanuel."Emmanuel's favorite thing to do besides play soccer is go to the grocery store. We really have improved at this over the last year and a half although it is always an adventure. From the beginning, Emmanuel has always insisted on pushing the cart. My best efforts to detour

Riding Bessie

This is Scott's life. He has to be in this contraption six hours a day to rebuild cartilage in his knee. We got tired of calling it the contraption so we named it Bessie. He is constantly counting to six trying to figure out how many more hours he has to ride Bessie. He is not hard to find. I, on the other hand, have never been harder to find. I am not even trying to pretend to anyone that

Derek Ellerbeck, The Superkid

You might remember reading on the blog that the son of one of Scott's best friends (who was the best man in our wedding) had cancer. We are happy to report he beat it! A benefit was held last weekend in Des Moines and the local news did a story.http://www.kcci.com/video/18510717/index.html

Abegail Turns 9

Abegail had a nice birthday last Saturday. She had a few friends sleep over. The first picture is of the next morning with pancakes. The kids had fun playing make-up and games and of course eating cake with twinkies on top. Hard to believe she's already 9!E-man's First Basketball GameEmmanuel is playing basketball this session at the Y. We thought we'd try something new. He really loved it.

Sue is COOOOLD!!

WCCO put this on their website and titled it, "Put A Reporter Out In The Cold, She'll Get Sassy."CBS stations in Miami and Los Angeles are airing this very clip on their evening shows!!There's very little for me to add. I promise not to forget our anniversary this year. I may even have to fork out a little extra for a trip to Florida this year! Sue deserves it.It's winter in MinnesotaAnd the

The Sleep Over Cake

Abegail's birthday is tomorrow and she's having a couple friends sleep over. So I attempted a sleep over cake. Before I started, Scott said, "that's ambitious," knowing my artistic ability. But it worked with the bodies as twinkies and the heads as vanilla wafers. Hopefuly it will taste good too. Scott is hanging in there. He has this contraption he has to be in six hours a day to get the

In the House & On the Couch

Scott's Microfracture knee surgery went well today. He is doing well so far....on to recovery.

Emmanuel's Head Case

With a child with the initials of ER it was bound to happen. But even I am shocked we went 18 months without a visit to the emergency room or urgent care. That was until yesterday. We attempted to go sledding and ice skating with the Petersons. Janie loaned me and all the kids ice skates. I put Emmanuel's skates on first. But as soon as we got to the outdoor rink he said he wanted the

The Real Reynell

One of Emmanuel's goals at his special school is to make friends, to think of how his friends feel, and to call them by their names. Every time his teacher visits we talk about how Emmanuel is doing. And several times I would hear Emmanuel say he likes to play with Reynell. I was wondering who was this boy, and what type of child was he that he and Emmanuel got along so well? Did he really