Simply Family

~*~Simply Blessed & Thankful~*~

Crockpot Doro Wat & My Little Assistant

I snagged this recipe from my friend, Elya, who had posted it on FB. I decided to try it out for K'Tyo's birthday dinner & had a few people ask for the recipe, so here you go! I even included a picture of the finished product. We either ate it over rice or dipped sourdough bread in it.

My only criticism of the recipe was that it definitely needed salt. Supposedly, to make it really authentic, you should use 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper vs. 1 teaspoon.

Now, that's just crazy talk. The teaspoon provided plenty of heat for this family's taste buds.

According to K'Tyo, it was "yummy" and made his belly warm! ;o)

Today, I got busy making homemade rolls for Thanksgiving at my mom's. This has become tradition & is a must as far as the kids are concerned. I try to make extra after finding out that the hooligans kids got up a couple of years ago after I went to bed & got into them.

This year, I had a little assistant to help with the efforts. Bless her heart, I think the swing lasted all of 5 minutes. She much prefers being held.

But it's all good. Soon enough, she won't care to "help" but instead join the rest of said children in sneaking the rolls after Mama goes to bed.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!

Happy Birthday, Kyler & K'Tyo!!!

Funny thing...Out of all the days in the year, the Ethiopian government decided to give K'Tyo the same birthday as Kyler. Go figure.

Kyler is a good sport & doesn't mind sharing. So, over the weekend, we did a bit of celebrating early for these boys. K'Tyo has been patiently waiting his turn for a birthday since coming home.

I'm not gonna lie. These last few days have totally caught me off guard emotionally. I can't seem to keep from choking back tears at any given moment. First, my oldest son is now 15 years old & bigger than I am. Crazy. And then you throw my youngest son into the mix with his excited anticipation of having a birthday party for the first time with our family. It just totally got to me!

It was right after this picture was taken that it hit me. We were singing, & K'Tyo looked me square in the eyes with so much joy. Beforehand, he had asked for cupcakes, so when they were made, he was so excited & kept saying, "You made those for me?!" And then when it was his turn for "Happy Birthday", that look on his face will forever be etched in my brain. He liked his presents, for sure. But even more, he really seemed to grasp that he was being celebrated.

Kyler & K'Tyo ~ We celebrate you & all that you are!

We love you!!!

Look Out for Her Cuteness . . .

. . . because I think she's a bit ornery, too.

Ahhh, I have not completely fallen off the face of the earth, but I have been victim to some sleep deprivation & a nasty cold. Yuck! I actually have a few blog posts rolling around in my head, but I need a few moments that I can make something coherent come out in words.

In the meantime, thought you might enjoy a little chuckle at my expense.

You see this sweet little pumpkin? We had her one month post-placement visit with a social worker yesterday.

But don't let all of that baby cuteness fool you.

This little one has tricks. And timing.

Yesterday was wacky b/c the social worker needed to see EVERYBODY. Yikes. Not an easy thing to pull off, so I decided the best time to accomplish such a feat would be right after school. Yes, the wildest time of the day. So, there was lots of chaos activity, but we were all taking it in stride. But Kendi decided she needed to eat, so being the efficient mama that I am, I plopped down to make sure she had dry pants before partaking of her bottle.

I put her down on a blanket so that I could keep talking to the SW while changing her. In the midst of it, Kami is in & out looking for everything for her team pictures, a friend is over, Joe is just walking in the door...you get the picture. A bit of hustle & bustle. As I open up her diaper, life took a turn to complete insanity.

The child projectile pooped like someone stomping on a mustard bottle. I had poo up my sleeve, splattered on my pants, & even on my tennis shoes. Seriously. And did I mention that Kaya & K'Tyo were laying there on their stomachs with hands under chins to witness the whole thing?

They never even flinched. They thought it was completely awesome & hysterical all at the same time, & I'm sure it's the subject of sharing time at preschool today.

Maybe with the eighth child, I was getting a little over-confident. I thought I'd seen everything, but I am humbled yet again. It's these cute ones you gotta watch out for.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

CHRISTMAS!!!

Crazy, right? Actually, it's not very far away, & there's a very cool giveaway on a blog that I follow to start getting in the swing of this fun time of year.

The reason I'm linking to this is b/c there are some very cool things that are being showcased, & they are all connected with adoption in one way or another. Christmas, gifts, & adoption...what's not to love!?!

Go check it out!

Adoption Blog Hop

November is National Adoption Month. I am passionate about adoption, & I love to hear the stories of families that have also traveled this road. So, when I discovered this blog hop, I decided to participate. I've never done one of these before, but I am sooo looking forward to checking out some new blogs & connecting with some new friends.

Seriously, I was hesitant to start this whole blogging thing, but I have developed some beautiful friendships & received some awesome support as we have journeyed to each of our children. From the time I began blogging last year right before we were able to adopt our daughter from foster care, we have now completed two more adoptions!

If you're visiting for the first time, I thought I'd give you a couple links to posts about each of our adoptions b/c I don't know about you, but I can get a little overwhelmed trying to find "the stories" & end up spending wayyy to much time at my computer...lol!

As I mentioned, our first adoption was from foster care. You can read about it here & here.

Our second adoption was from Ethiopia where we brought home our 4.5 year old son, which you can read about how it got started here & here. There are actually a lot of posts about our journey to K'Tyo, but this is the first one & one with pictures.

Most recently, we brought home our daughter through infant domestic adoption, which you can read about here, here, & here.

Thanks for visiting. You can also participate by linking up your blog! I look forward to checking out your stories!

It's Been a Year!

This week seems to be full of milestones. A year ago today we finalized Kaya Ashley Faith's adoption. I can hardly believe it's been a year...It just seemed as though we'd never get to that day.

It was a long road to get there, but we're so thankful to have had the opportunity to travel it.

Recently, Kaya was being a bit ornery & one of the kids said, "Kaya, quit acting like a princess."

Kaya's response: "But I am a princess!!!"

Yes, Kaya, you are, & we love you!

Six Months Ago Today...

we met K'Tyo for the very first time. It seems like such a long, long time ago. It's amazing to see the changes. Here is K'Tyo's referral picture...we saw his face the first time on October 12, 2009...

Our first moments on May 2, 2010...

And now...

They say that pictures are worth a thousand words. When I look at these pictures, they speak volumes to my heart about the importance of family to the human soul.

Thanking God for allowing us to be a part of K'Tyo's story.