Enkutatash- Early

New hairstyles

I don't YIKE it mommy!

No lijoch on the stage please.

Ham and cheese served all day

Happy Early New Year.

Degmen Tegenagnen - We Meet Again.

Photo by Tanya

Tanya’s car pulls into my parents’ gravel driveway. She is honking the horn, and waving her hand out the window. Meazi, Melese and I have been outside waiting for them to arrive from their five-hour drive from St. Paul, Minnesota. Peeking in her car, we see her boys Mintesinot and Tesfaamlak sitting in their cars seats, identical to ours, one with a cow pattern and the other with a butterfly pattern. My children have met lots of other kids adopted from Ethiopia. We have a large Ethiopian-American community in Los Angeles with whom we get together all the time. This August morning, at my parents’ lake house in northern Wisconsin, is the first time my kids are seeing kids whom they knew back in Ethiopia two years ago. They have come to spend the day and night with us....

Read the rest HERE.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Eskista.

She's got moves.

Friends

Me: Meazi what do you like most about Aster?

Meazi: Everything.

Me: What do you like most about Judah?

Meazi: Hmmm, not sure mom. He is a little crazy.

It's good to have friends.

And So It Begins....

You think the kids are just innocently enjoying a movie in the other room....

Not so much.

A Book in Their Hands

Dear Kololo Cuties,

Did you know that not only do you have family in Los Angeles, but you have family all over the country? If family are the people who love you the most, want the best for you, and would do anything to make your life better, then you have family in Maine, South Carolina, Upstate, Tenne ssee, further Upstate, Massachusetts, Washington, New York,  Georgia, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wisconsin, and pretty much every other state in the US, and in Canada, France, and the UK.

I wish you could have been there. People were talking about you all night; what you need, how they could help you. Ordinary extraordinary people. Mothers, fathers, readers, writers, artists, and educators.

Your school and library are fully funded, well beyond kindergarten. Tesfa and Ethiopia Reads will break ground in your village as soon as it stops raining, most likely in October.

Get some rest. You are going to need to be at your best to absorb all the new and wondrous things you'll see. Dust off your small hands, you're about to hold your first book.

Don't worry, I'll thank your family for you. It will be my pleasure.

I Can Meet the Artist, Get to Know Her Personally- Heather Foster

(I should have definitely had a "guess the amount of ugly cries" contest). Heather Foster is my best friend, and an extraordinary painter. I have already featured her here  on the blog.

One of my most favorite new mom moments happened this past November in Santa Fe. Meazi and Melese got to attend Heather's latest show.

They also saw Heather's studio, and got a real feel of what it is like to be an artist. This link, from Heather's gallery, has a great article about Heather and her work. You can also see many of her paintings. She has had great success over the years. Her paintings sell for thousands of dollars.

Heather has donated the above painting "Reading" and the one below "A Selection" for our auction on the 17th.

'A selection' will be featured in the online auction that will accompany the event. (More to come on that if Melese takes a nap today).

I could go on and on about Heather and her generosity but I really want you to see these so I will hit publish now.

Thank you so much Heather. Incredible.

I Can Meet the Artist, Get to Know Her Personally- Cindy Mirkes

The amazing Cindy surprised me with these beautiful pieces.

Oil on canvas. unattached diptych. 8 x 10 sized panels.

I am in love with these, and I'm so thrilled that they are going to be a part of the auction on April 17th.

Cindy, her husband Craig, Steven and I used to all live together in one room in LA.

Ok, not really. But they did come to visit.

I am thrilled that I will see Cindy again soon. She is coming to the fundraiser.

Thank you Cindy, for this beautiful donation, for your gorgeous inspired writing, and for your friendship.

I am bidding on this one myself. You guys will have to fight me for it.

I Can Meet the Artist, Get to Know Him Personally- Marshall Garlington

When Marshall Garlington isn't busy creating sound for movies, he is taking pictures. He takes beautiful pictures. I can't help but admit that whenever I receive an Evite to a local event, I look for Marshall's name. If he is coming, a shout out a little 'yay!' (because I like him), AND because I know there are bound to be some gorgeous pictures of the kiddos.

Many of the photos on this blog are swiped from Marshall (like the M&m's on the sidebar). He is amazingly talented and I am so happy that he is donating several prints for the auction on the 17th. Here are a couple more...

Thanks Marshall, for you talent and generosity. Thanks for capturing my ugly cry at our baby shower, our first real family photo, our 2nd Genna, and so many more great memories. We love spending time with you and your adorable family. (That last link is to one of my all time favorite adoption videos).

See you on the 17th!

Like Turo Mommy!

We had the pleasure of meeting Sara, her husband Jose, and their adorable son Turo, in January. I can't believe that it has taken me this long to write a post about it, and about Sara's incredible contribution to our library and school. Sara made these beautiful bracelets and sold them on Etsy.

 
I didn't post it here on the blog because I knew she would be inundated with requests, and she has a toddler boy at home. In my experience it is not easy to handle small, fragile objects around an active toddler boy. Speaking of that toddler boy, how cute is Turo?

And I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Sara for potty training Melese (almost). Turo used our potty when he was here. Melese was in the other room complaining to me that, "Turo has my potty!" and "Give it back! Mine!" Ever since then Melese wants to use the potty and whenever he is successful he yells, "Just like Turo Mommy!" So thank you Sara. Thank you so very much.
 

 Sara played dentist with the kids for hours. She has so much patience. I could tell that she is a fantastic teacher. My kids adored her. And, in what may be the world's worst hostess story, Sara and her family came to our house, Jose went out to pick up pizza for everyone, paid for dinner, AND bought ice cream that we never served. Nice. Dinner at Julie's is clearly BYOD. We owe you dinner in Michigan very soon. Oh and a sippy cup too. Melese has picked out a pink one with flowers for Turo. How will that go over?

Sara thank you for your handiwork. Meazi brought the bracelets to school for show and tell. She told her whole class about how she was trying to put a school and library in her hometown, and how lots of her friends were trying to help.

There seems to be one 'Melese' still available.

Thanks Sara. I think you are a lovely person (and not just because you potty trained my two-year old).

How do you say grateful in Amharic?

As you know, we are trying to build a library and a school in rural Ethiopia. If we are successful it will be the first school this village, Kololo has ever had. There are so many amazing things that have happened. There are so many ways that people are helping -runners, jewelers, 5k organizers, runners, pasta party planners, quilters, artists. People are reaching out in inspiring and wonderful ways. And those are just some of the people that I know, or who read this blog. I found someone to donate 180 t-shirts, and I found someone else willing to donate the ink to put Yadi's beautiful design on them. The first responders are going to work at the event. Things are coming together. We are raising the money.

Yesterday I discovered that my friends Amy and Jodi had created an entire clothing line. The proceeds of sales will go to the school. Unbelievable. Astonishing. Jodi has been working for months making the designs. Here are some of them, modeled by my favorite models who, unfortunately, seem to have a natural knack for this modeling business.

Dear Jodi,

You are an amazing person. Thank you. You didn't tell me what the name of your line is so I am calling it, "Jodiwear".

These are most of the current creations. Jodi will be making more, and is open to orders. Styles and designs will vary.

So. Incredibly. Grateful.