Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas from the Strawns!

Here's a little "year in review" on our family:

Chuck: Still mourning the loss of the “sweater vest” but reveling in the early Christmas gift that Santa brought to the Ohio State University. (If that made absolutely no sense to you, feel free check out the OSU blog that Chuck writes for when he’s not directing fun at APU or at home: http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/)

Carrie: Turned 40. Actually likes it. Has been doing some writing for World Vision when not chauffeuring kids to activities or organizing play dates at the park. Every once in a while updates this blog.

Zinash: Learned to ride a bike. Got 100% on the 5th grade states and capitals test. Has gone from beginning English language learner to intermediate in one year. Enjoys ballet, art, and watching movies. Graceful, smart, and kind.

Mihret: Wants to be a musketeer when she grows up. Practices kicks, forward rolls, cartwheels, and “en gardes” every day in our living room. Loves preschool and her new found ability to draw rainbows and write sweet, mostly legible notes (I LUV U). Energetic, strong, and loving.

May God bless you and your family this Christmas and throughout 2012!

The Bottom of the Box

Mihret, with one of her many boxes in the background

Last night I was trying to help Mihret find something in her room. I was digging through one of her precious cardboard boxes (yup, she's a box hoarder--I mean, collector--but that's another story). As I got near the bottom of the box, she stopped me and said, "Mama, promise you won't be mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you, Mihret?"

"Ummm....just promise you won't be mad?"

Now I'm starting to get worried. What would I find at the bottom of the box? Something broken? Something ooey, gooey? Something of mine that had been "repurposed"?

"Mihret, just tell me..."

"Ummm...well...umm...."

I smile, trying to be non-threatening... "Just tell me, honey. It will be okay." (I'm hoping...)

"Um..." she pulls back the last layer of stuff at the bottom of the box to reveal....two small potatoes. "I took the potatoes so I could make noses on some aliens."

I couldn't help it. I busted up laughing. Scenes flashed before my mind's eye of a sweet little baby girl who had a slight potato obsession.

Once I caught my breath, we did have a little discussion about working on potato aliens in the kitchen instead of the bedroom. After all, I wouldn't want potato aliens taking over my house, which with this girl, is a real possibility.

Halloween Fun (on film)

Last Saturday we took the girls to an "LA Pumpkin Patch" (i.e. an empty gravel lot transformed into a pumpkin selling station and bounce house area). Unfortunately, the pumpkin patch we visited was charging $10-17 for a normal-size carving pumpkin and $2 for 5-7 minutes in one bouncer. Ugh...good old capitalism... We offered the girls the choice between 5 minutes in one of the bouncers or a movie rental of their choice from Blockbuster. Zinash chose a movie; Mihret chose the crocodile bouncer/slide.

Brave Mihret entering the mouth of the crocodile bouncer/slide.

Zinash and Chuck waiting patiently for the little jumper.

Posing for a free picture with overpriced pumpkins.

We ended up at the grocery store choosing $3 pumpkins from a cardboard box. I always felt sorry for kids who had to get their pumpkins from a cardboard box at the grocery store rather than off the vine at the pumpkin patch, but honestly, the girls were thrilled with their grocery store pumpkins.



On Sunday we had a great time carving pumpkins (results seen here), and on Monday we went to a Harvest Festival at Mihret's preschool and then trick-or-treating at one of the residence halls at Azusa Pacific University.

The Jellyfish and the Princess

Mihret dressed up as a "Princess Rapunzel Unicorn Fairy who likes fashion" (I was soooo glad when Halloween actually came because her costume got more complicated by the day...)

Zinash dressed up as a jellyfish. We found the costume idea online at Disney's Family Fun website.

Chuck dressed up as himself (aka "a Buckeye fan") and our friend Matt dressed up as Michigan's coach, Brady Hoke. Our families actually hung out and trick-or-treated together at APU that evening. It was a Halloween reconciliation miracle. :)

I dressed up as a mom from a decade ago - you know, the type that carries a film camera. I can't tell you how many times I looked at the back of the camera to check the picture only to find a black plastic camera back. Oh well... (On a happier camera note, my new digital camera arrived! Hooray!)

We all had a great time and the girls came home with enough candy to last us for a year. Actually, we'll probably still have some left next Halloween... On a completed unrelated note, guess what you'll get if you come trick-or-treating at our house next Halloween?

The Easter Story

according to Mihret-

"What did you learn at chapel today, honey?"

"Easter stuff."

"What type of Easter stuff?"

"You know, dada... Jesus died, blah blah blah, he rose from the dead".

Oh.

The Bike

Zinash has wanted a bike pretty much since we brought her home from Ethiopia. Thanks to my sweet parents, we were able to give her a scooter, but a bike just wasn't in the budget. We said, "You can put it on your wish list for Christmas," so she did( along with a dollhouse and half the toy section at Target). She made it clear, though, that the bike was at the tip top of the list.

We spent Christmas in Illinois with Chuck's family and then spent some time after Christmas with my family in Nebraska so we didn't give the girls their "big gifts" from us until we got home on January 4th. Chuck created a little scavenger hunt for Zinash that led her to her helmet (which she already was using with her scooter) and a white envelope inside. She opened up the envelope and it had a picture of a bike. She looked at us kind of confused at first but once we explained that she could help pick out a bike for herself she screamed with joy and ran around the room saying, "This is the best Christmas EVER!" It took a few weeks for she and Chuck to find just the right bike but in the end she got her wish for a purple bike.

Of course, the next challenge was figuring out how to ride it. I'm so thankful that Chuck took the lead on that one because he did a fabulous job of teaching her.

The Purple Bike

One of the first things he said to her was, "You're going to fall today because everyone who is learning how to ride a bike falls, but it will be okay and you will be alright." She was not thrilled with that idea and almost tried to back out of the whole deal, but Chuck convinced her that it would be worth it. They started on the grass so that the falls would be cushioned. We saw one of her friends at the park and her friend said, "Don't you know it's easier to ride on the sidewalk?" True, but the grass is a much friendlier landing pad.

Phase One of Operation Bike Riding

After Zinash had developed some confidence and ability to balance, they moved over to the sidewalk. She did remarkably well for her first day of bike riding and only had one major spill where she couldn't figure out how to stop and crashed into a small tree and a bush. She only got a couple small scratches but it scared her and she wanted to stop after that. Chuck wisely told her that she needed to ride at least once more before we left the park. I'm so glad that he did because I'm not sure we would've gotten her back on the bike another day if she hadn't had a couple successful rides post-crash.

Phase Two of Operation Bike Riding

As I watched the second video later I realized that Mihret said to me, "My throat feels like it's going to throw up." My response? "Oh dear....Look at her go!" Think I was distracted? Oops...probably not my "Mom of the Year" moment. In the end, though, Mihret was fine (in spite of my response) and Zinash learned to ride a bike thanks to great effort on her part and wise instruction from her Dad.

Catching Up

I have a bunch of stuff I'd love to put up here but haven't had the time lately, so hopefully you'll be seeing some posts over the next week or so that will cover the past month of activities - undoubtedly in random order. In the meantime, here's a short video I was surprised to find on my camera.

I guess this means that Mihret has figured out how to use the video camera - or at least turn it on...

White Christmas

Our girls experienced their first white Christmas this year while we were visiting Nana and Papa and the rest of the Strawn family.

It was the first time Zinash had been in the snow and she loved it!

Mihret, who remembered playing in the snow at Big Bear with Grandma and Grandpa last winter, showed Zinash how to throw snowballs.


She was a quick learner.


And then Dada got in the action and hilarity ensued.

It was a perfect way to spend a Christmas afternoon. We hope you had a joy-filled Christmas day as well!

Little Princesses

We have wonderful neighbors all around us. They are super kind to us and to our girls. One family absolutely blew us away last weekend, though, when they blessed our girls with these beautiful dresses, a fun play outfit each, and a bag of little goodies. I wish you could have seen the absolute delight on the girls' faces when they first saw the dresses!

They wore the dresses to church on Sunday morning. After they got dressed and twirled around in front of the mirror, they both said that they felt like princesses. Mihret said, "I'm a princess and Zinash is a princess and Dada is a king!" I said, "Oh, does that mean that I'm a queen?" She said, "No, you're a mama." Ah...good to know.

After that, she made her bed without being asked because according to the royalty expert, princesses make their beds and are kind and dance. I think I can handle having those kind of princesses as daughters even if I'm not a queen.

In any case, this mama is so thankful for neighbors who make my daughters feel like loved, precious, beautiful princesses.

Mostly for the Grandparents...

Mihret was in a Christmas program on Thursday at her preschool. It was adorable!

The first song/poem is something I often hear from the hallway when I'm waiting for Mihret at the end of preschool - usually followed by squeals of delight. :)





The second song is one they learned for Christmas.




I especially loved Mihret's little friend at the end of the row with the bells on her nose. Gotta love 3-year olds!

Learning from the Expert

Today Mihret wanted to play "art school" in which she was the art teacher (appropriately named "Art Teacher Mihret") and I was the student. She divided the white board on our easel into two parts and showed me what I was to draw by drawing on her half of the board. The results are seen on the video (although unfortunately I couldn't videotape the actual lesson since I was the student). She explains in the video about the pictures and adds some stories as she goes along in typical Mihret style.





Entertaining little moments like these are among my favorite parts of parenting. It's hard to believe that the delightful little girl in the video was throwing a fit about 45 minutes earlier because I wouldn't take her to the park that instant. Such is life with a three year old!

From the Mouth of Babes, Part 258

Today while we were watching my beloved Cornhuskers on TV, the camera panned over to one of the mascots, Lil' Red. Mihret gave me a concerned look and said, "I have no idea what IS that!"

Lil' Red

I love, love, love my Huskers, but really, can you blame her?

**********************

Later on, in a feeble attempt to keep up with Chuck's indoctrination of our daughters, I was trying to teach Mihret the words to the Nebraska fight song. It starts out:

There is no place like Nebraska
Dear old Nebraska U
Where the girls are the fairest
The boys are the squarest
Of any old place that I knew

I usually forget the rest of the words and sometimes get the girls and boys lines mixed up, which is why my attempts would have to be classified as feeble at best.

Anyway, at dinner tonight Mihret was singing my favorite song and said,

"There is no place like Nebraska
Dear old Nebraska U
Where the boys are the squarest
The girls are the circles...

Is that right, Mama?"

Actually, sweetheart, I think it might be better.

Guess what season it is?

Yup-

Happy New Year!

Today marks the Ethiopian New Year, called Enkukatash. We went to an Ethiopian restaurant, Tana, in Anaheim to celebrate and had a delicious meal of injera, doro wat, and tibs. Yum!

Melkam Addis Amet!

And She's Off!

Today is Zinash's first day of school! She woke up happy but nervous, and still had a smile on her face when we got to school.


We all walked her to school today and Chuck got to meet Mrs. Mitchell. There were actually tons of parents at the school this morning- both moms and dads. I'm not sure why, but it really surprised me to see so many parents there. It was sweet to see, though!

Mrs. Mitchell introduced Zinash right away to the girl that she had chosen as her seatmate and she was off! As we walked away, Mihret said, "I'm going to miss my sister!" and she started to get a little sad, but then we talked about the fun things we would do today.

And so a new chapter begins...

Evening Update: Zinash had a great first day of school! The first thing she said when I saw her was, "I made TWO friends today!" I got to talk with her teacher for a few minutes and she said that they had a great first day as a class. She seems like a dynamic teacher who is not at all intimidated by having 35 kids in her class. Amazing! Anyway, Zinash told me all about her day on our walk home and seemed to really enjoy it. Thank You, God!

Mihret and I had a good day too! We both missed Zinash at points throughout the day but had fun doing some "Mama and Mihret" things. The day went much faster than I expected, and before I knew it, it was time to go get Zinash. All in all, a happy first day of school!

Next week, Mihret starts preschool! More on that later...

Jump In...The Water's Fine

The girls have been taking swimming lessons this summer through the City Parks & Recreation department. They have learned a lot and grown much more comfortable in the water. Best of all, they have loved taking swimming lessons in spite of the fact that it pushed both of them outside of their comfort zone regularly.

Mihret has gone from wanting to sit on the steps of the pool the entire session and screaming bloody murder any time the water touched her face to loving the water and not being afraid to put her head under water. Zinash has gone from not knowing anything about swimming to being able to swim on her own for short distances. Both girls have gone from needing to be "helped" off the diving board to jumping off themselves and enjoying it enough to do it multiple times!

Mihret being "helped" off the diving board a few weeks ago

Mihret jumping off the diving board on her own this past Thursday!

Zinash jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side

The last day of swimming lessons, Zinash even jumped off the high dive with the help of her swimming instructor. I was impressed! I've never done that myself.

I'm so proud of both of my girls for facing their fears and working hard. They've grown as swimmers over the past couple months, but more importantly, they've learned that they can do hard things.

Family, Family, and More Family

This summer Zinash has met many, many family members: grandparents; aunts; uncles; and lots and lots of cousins. The girl who had no connection with or knowledge of extended family in Ethiopia now has more family than she could possibly know what to do with. And she loves it! Absolutely loves it. (Phew...given that there is nothing we could do about it if she didn't like having all those relatives doting on her!)

In early May, my parents came to visit for Zinash's birthday.

Zinash and Grandpa
(By the way, this picture was taken during Zinash's first visit (ever!) to the ocean.)

Mihret, Grandma, and Zinash at breakfast on Zinash's birthday

In late May, we took a trip to Oklahoma where Chuck did some training at Southern Nazarene University where our friend, Michael, and Chuck's brother, Scott, work. Zinash got to meet her Uncle Scott, Aunt Cambra, and cousins, Will and Sam, in addition to our dear friends, the Houstons, who are like family to us.

Zinash and her youngest cousin, Sam, absolutely adored each other

Zinash and Mihret with cousin, Will, and the Houston boys

"Tackle hugs" with mama and the cousins

In mid-June we took a two week trip to the St. Louis area. We spent the first week with the Shike family, all of whom descended upon the St Louis area for our annual family reunion affectionately known as Shike-a-Palooza. Chuck's parents and one of his brothers live near St Louis, his nieces from Texas were up visiting their grandparents, and his brother from Oklahoma drove up for the week, so we got to spend the second week having a family reunion with the Strawn family (Strawn-a-Palooza?).

Shike-a-Palooza 2010

Zinash and Mihret both had a blast playing with their cousins!

Riding scooters in the backyard of the rental house

Painting glass stones

At the City Museum in St Louis
(AMAZING place, by the way - check out the link)

Zinash found a true friend in her cousin, Sophie. She keeps asking when she gets to see her again. When I say, "Next summer!" she gives me her sad face and says, "Soooo long time..."

Sophie and Zinash at the St Louis Zoo

Zinash and Sophie playing chase in the backyard of the rental house

After a full, fun week with the Shike family, we drove an hour or so to the Strawn abode. The girls were thrilled to spend time with Nana and Papa and even more cousins!

Nana, Papa, and a bunch of cousins

Zinash and Janae sitting in a replica of a chair that was made for Robert Wadlow, the world's tallest man. He happened to be from Alton, Illinois, which is close to where Chuck's parents live.

Jordan taught Zinash how to play "Mary had a Little Lamb" on the piano.
Thanks, Jordan...

Zinash walking over the water pit at the City Museum
(We took the Strawn cousins back to the City Museum because we had so much fun the first time!)

Silly cousins on the way to the St Louis Science Museum

It has truly been a blessing to get to spend so much time with our family this spring and summer. We are thankful for the ways in which our extended family supports and embraces us and our girls. And we are grateful that our girls LOVE spending time with their family!

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families...
Psalm 68:5-6a

Look Who's Three!

Whee! I'm Three!

Our sweet little girl turned three on Friday!

We started the day with breakfast at the El Monte Airport - one of Mihret's favorite places. You can eat at a restaurant overlooking the airfield and watch small planes and helicopters take off and land. It was the first time that Chuck and Zinash had been there and we really enjoyed sharing it with them.

Showing Zinash the airplanes

The girls both enjoyed trying to take pictures of the airplanes. Mostly we got beautiful pictures of the sky, but this one turned out pretty well!

I love how much fun these two have together!

Zinash took this picture of me and Mihret. She's becoming a "Shike" already!

In the afternoon, Mihret had her birthday party at a nearby park. We invited a bunch of her friends from our MOPS group. It was her idea to have her birthday at a park and I LOVED having it there - so much easier than hosting it at home!

Zinash enjoying the slide. You can see the balloons for Mihret's party in the background.

Mihret at the top of the small rock wall.

Mihret with two of her dearest friends, D and C, and C's mom, Aisha. She calls D and C her "brothers."

Mihret chose her cake this year. Not taking any chances on a repeat of her first birthday cake fiasco. Of course she chose a cake that was covered with candy. That's my girl!

Mihret also wanted a pinata for her birthday. She was really, really excited about it but when it came down to it, she didn't want to hit it. I think she just wanted the candy that was inside. Do we see a theme developing here??? No worries...the other kids enjoyed breaking it apart for her.

Mihret was unusually shy at her birthday party and I think got a little overwhelmed by the attention, but she still had a great time.

After all that sugar, we went home and ate some dinner. Then Mihret got to open her presents!

Ah, the good part!

Oh, this is what I've always wanted!!

Thank you to all who celebrated Mihret's third birthday with us! She felt very special all day and kept asking us, "Is it still my birthday?!?" Now that she's got it all figured out, she's ready to do it all again next month. She acknowledged that next is Zinash's birthday but figures that then it should be her turn again.