Grab bag

I’ve been too busy at work to actually blog anything.  So instead you get a bunch of little tiny posts, all rolled into one.

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First of all, no, we don't have any more info about our munchkin.  Our agency told us we would have a court date before the end of the year.  Possibly he meant next year, cause it sure doesn't look like it will be in the next two weeks.  We are hearing from other people who got referrals around the same time we did that court dates are out in February.  And hearing from other people that the process in Ethiopia is really slowing down.  Note that both of those we heard from "other people."  As in... not from our agency.  We expected to be frustrated by the wait time, but the utter lack of communication from our agency is by far the most frustrating thing about the whole process.

We did, however, get another medical update, which included new pictures and some details that I sooo wish we could share with you.  But we can't, at least until this is all legal.  Which we are really praying doesn't take another 11 months...

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We took our kids on a big ol' bike ride the other day.  First we headed over to the park, where the kids practiced their tree climbing.

Then we rode over to Sonic for a late lunch.  Paige found a wounded little bird on the side of the road and had to stop to rescue him.  He rode with Luke in his trailer.  At least there is no doubt where Levi gets his love of all little woodland creatures (since there is no way I would stop to help a bird.  Creepy little suckers that peck your eyes out!)

The kids are getting pretty good at their bikes.

Of course, that was on the way back from Sonic.  On the way there, we had this...

Paige thinks I am a mean 'ol dad for posting this.  However, I'm merely interested in the physics.  And fairly impressed that Noah went down that hard and walked away with only a beat up finger and a scraped chin.  And then got right back on the bike and rode the rest of the way to Sonic.  With his eyes fixed firmly ahead.

And I'm impressed that I managed to get off my bike and to Noah in 3.2 seconds, without dropping my iPhone.

Noah's finger, the worst of the damage (he excitedly told me today that the scab fell off!)

By the time we got home Luke was pooped.

And the little rescued bird?  Nowhere to be seen.  Guess he didn't want to be saved.

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Speaking of Luke, he has now learned how to crawl in and out of his crib.  So I took the side rail off his crib.  Paige wanted to wait until we had a bedrail to put along the side, since she was sure he would fall out and injure himself.  But since he was already dropping 3 feet down the side of the crib, I figured a roll out the 1 foot side wouldn't hurt him.

And no, this post doesn't end with some story of how I was wrong and we ended up in the ER.  Just a cute picture of Luke, almost falling out of his bed.

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Our church home group leaders live right across the street.  The other day, their youngest daughter was selling lemonade (yes, you can sell lemonade on the sidewalk in December in Phoenix.)  Ella walked over to get some, and shortly came back.

"Dad, I need five dollars."

"For what!?!?  Are you buying the whole pitcher?"

"No.  Just one glass."

Aye carrumba!  Their daughter has certainly got the whole profit margin thing down, but possibly not the supply and demand part yet.  And my daughter was totally willing to fork over $5 for a single glass of lemonade.  Later that night, we saw this sign posted at the end of the street:

Ahhhh, too funny!

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The other week we went to Chunky Cheese to celebrate a birthday with friends.  Yes, our kids call it ChuNky Cheese, no matter how many times we tell them the cheese isn't chunky.

Observation #1:  We may have been the only white people there.  Since when did Chucky Cheese become an all minority thing.  Very weird.

Observation #2:  Levi and Noah have somehow picked up admirable boat steering skills.  I'm not exactly sure how, but I was impressed.

Observation #3:  Luke does not like to share his video game with anyone.

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Back to bike riding.

After Noah's big wipeout, Levi decided five days later that he didn't need training wheels.  Not sure what possessed him, but he got Paige to take them off.  And then, without missing a beat, he rode down the street.  He was so excited, he had to take his bike out for a nightime ride to show me when I got home.

And then the next day, Noah decided he could do it too.

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Our HOA had a big Christmas party in the park at the end of the street.  This was as close as our kids would get to Santa (Luke was home napping, but likely would have stayed even further away.)