(Belated) Mothers' Day post

So, my dearest Diana woke up God knows when to prepare me a Mothers' Day breakfast of arepas, pan de bono and cafE.

Seriously, she was SO sweet!  And then after church, I came home to a house that had been broken into!








... by dear Diego, who came over early to begin preparing a super-tasty lunch of calabaza and smoothies, eaten with the left-over breakfast.  Liz even came over to visit... and crash out under the magic blanket.

My own children showered me with special drawings and non-surprise earrings.  Ha!  I am blessed!

What I've been hearing...

"Hey Sophie, if you suggest one more method of tapping, you're going to have a time-out," said Rob, because of Girumy's incessant and inventive drumming.

During a game of SkipBo, Ty said to Girumy, "The fruit of the Spirit is patience.  Be patient!"

Today, Sophie asked Rob why he only ever wears his green tie.  "Because it's a handsome tie."  "Are you talking about me?" asked Ty.

The falafel bite

So, my dear Colombian daughter Lizeth asked me to bring some food to her thesis defense.  And thus was born The Falafel Bite!

Our first tastes of the garden

One spear each: It's only their second year, so we need to let them develop more.

scallions and mint for a TASTY garbanzo and barley salad

My children

A few days ago, we were each scraping together a breakfast.  Ty came up with Ethiopian dabo k'olo, some rye crackers and Nori rolls!

Soaking in the heat from the vent behind the chair.

After a late night out, Girumy suggested breakfast in bed.  And so they were served tasty scones and their beds were filled with crumbs.  :)

the whittling brothers

Our little piece of paradise

What a rush!

The birthday rush.

We began by celebrating Diana's birthday with a family meal at Café Corazón.  Fun, tasty and special.

Then, we continued with Rob's birthday:

That's our new (reusable!) candle (I refuse to buy any more "real" ones.) and Rob's present of office plants.

O, yeh.  Diana made Rob's birthday breakfast: bagels with cream cheese and lox!

Followed by Lizeth's giant Colombo-Mexican birthday bash and then Girumy's special day!

The elation!

Birthday love

The rush to activities.

Recently, I finally took advantage of our city's recreation department and signed all the kids up for swimming lessons and Ty up for gymnastics.  It's a lot of driving around the city, but the kids love it so much.  Ty is the best floater, by far, and he is really good at handstands already too.  The kid is physically talented, for sure.

The rush of memories.

So, we have received another Ethiopian into our large, ever-changing family.  To prepare for his arrival, Milion and I made quite the Habeshan feast.

On J's second day here, it was a beautiful Spring day.  I was outside in the perfect weather, oh-so-warm and sunny, happily digging in the garden.  There were Ethiopian tunes wafting (They always waft for some reason.) outside and the sound of our friends, yell-talking in Amharic.  It took me right back to Ethiopia and I was so, so happy.  Oy...

The rush of my heart...

... from dancing.  "Where?" you ask.  "In Miami.  At the PErez art gallery... Oh yeh, at Juanes' concert!"

My sister and her co-worker, who let me be Jewish for an evening, seriously hooked me up!  He sang all of my favorite songs, minus one, and I sang and danced and had so, so much fun.  What a lovely little vacation!