Run for the Roses

In this case, the run is for people, not horses. We went on a road trip to Ames this weekend to participate in Emily's sorority philanthropy event for the year, the AOII 25th Annual Run for the Roses. Proceeds from the race benefit arthritis research. The littles were very excited to hit the road and get to "Emily's school". I was pretty excited myself to visit with my eldest daughter.

Our first stop was the AOII house to check out Emily's room, shared with roommate Jeanette... (appearing incognito later in this post).

Emily, Anna, Sarah, Thomas and Candace

Checking out Emily's bed... the top bunk is so awesome.

After a delicious dinner at a downtown Ames eatery, we went back to the hotel for some swimming and hot tub fun.

Sarah

Warming up in the hot tub

While Emily and Anna went out for some sisterly bonding, Tom and I put the littles to bed with some soothing Disney channel programming (we girls) and college football (the boys). The next day, we were up and at 'em for racing. While Tom waited for his 5K to start, we posed for pictures with Stella the Panda, an AOII mascot.

Hmm... Stella looks an awful lot like Emily's roommate, Jeanette.

We couldn't find Daddy at the start, so we hurried over to the finish line to catch him there.

Tom at the finish

Finally, it was time for the kids' Fun Run. Thomas chose to run with the 5-7 year old age group with Candace and Sarah. They got off to a good start, first third of the pack. Thomas was a little speedster and passed many kids and finished third. Candace and Sarah were sixth and eighth. All of the kids were awarded a participation ribbon and a great time was had by all!

Thomas making his move.

Candace





















Sarah

Well done, runners!

School day

Today I had a special experience... substitute teaching at Thomas' preschool! Luckily, I was really a substitute teacher's aide. Thomas' teacher had to attend an out of state wedding, but her very capable aide was still in class to run the show and I moved into the position of assistant. Thomas attended with me this morning as well his regular class in the afternoon. We had fun coloring the Ten Commandments train (car number 8, "don't tell lies"), sharing show and tell items, having a snack and enjoying lots of free play time.

In between classes, Thomas and I paid a surprise visit to Candace and Sarah's elementary school for lunch! The girls enjoyed introducing Thomas to their teachers and friends, and we got to enjoy some pizza and chocolate milk for lunch. We stayed for recess, then headed back to St. Mary preschool.

Sarah and Candace enjoyed showing Thomas
around the cafeteria.

Enjoying my lunch with the littles!

It was a fun but pretty tiring day for both Thomas and me!

This and that

Today I have kind of a mixed bag of pictures to share. The first one is actually from last week. I rescued an entire family of deer mice from the middle of the road. (Yes, I get out of my car to do that kind of thing regularly.) This little guy got left behind, separated from the family unit. He was so tiny; only about half the size of my thumb. After a call to my veterinarian friend, Lisa, I was persuaded he would be okay if I took him back and left him near where his family was last seen.

Winston the baby deer mouse in a plastic container on my kitchen counter.

Next up, we have a picture of the littles enjoying movie night on Mommy and Daddy's bed. It was an effort to get them to settle down. Moderately successful at best.

Candace, Sarah, and Thomas enjoying Bambi.

Finally, Anna's cheer picture for 2011-2012.
Hard to believe she is a senior!

We're so proud of her!

How low can they go?

Or in this case, how deep can they go?

The littles have been keeping themselves amused during these lovely days of Indian summer by digging a big hole. Yep, that's right. Digging. Almost as fun as collecting sticks was early in the summer. I love seeing this kind of hands on, free-form outdoor play.

Busily working. Candace did reassure us at dinner that she didn't think they would make it past the earth's crust to the mantle. Whew. That's a relief; I didn't want to have to add seismic disturbance to my list of worries.

Very proud of their hole in the sand. Possibly, so I've been told, the biggest hole ever dug by children.

Taking it personally

This is the first picture we ever saw of our son, Feyissa Thomas. It was taken in May of 2010 when he was relinquished to the orphanage. What do you see here? I see a sad and scared little boy, and also a child that we would call malnourished here in the United States.

His intake paperwork, however, doesn't mention a thing about malnourishment. Is that because they were trying to be deceptive? No, I don't think so. I believe it's all a matter of degrees. In the third world, malnourishment can and often does look more like this:

Obviously, this is a picture of a severely malnourished child. Malnutrition has many levels of severity. The pictures of malnourished famine victims coming out of the Horn of Africa strike my heart very painfully these days. Thomas comes from an area of Ethiopia considered endangered by the extreme drought that is affecting Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. My son could be one of these children, if circumstances were just a tiny bit different. His own blood relatives, as subsistence farmers, are endangered.

For us, it is good to know that after just a few months at the orphanage, with good nutrition and medical care, Feyissa Thomas looked like this:

It's hard to tell in these baggy clothes, but he gained weight quickly. His face is rounder; his skin looks brighter; he is healthier. He continues to grow very rapidly, as you can see from his photo in my previous post.

My fervent prayer is that all of the children in the drought area get a chance to live a healthy life. I once again encourage you to consider an emergency donation to the aid organization of your choice. Just Google "Horn of Africa Famine Relief"... you should find several worthy groups.

Three months home... and all is well.

See that smiling face? That's how our happy little boy looks pretty much all the time. We had our first post placement visit with our social worker Monday, and we barely had a negative thing to report. This is in great contrast to our first three months with the twins, which frequently were, quite frankly, akin to the "living hell" one hears mentioned. I think I wasn't sharing about it much, because the only post I could find mentioning the high stress of our household at that time was this one, and it's pretty moderate.

So basically, Tom and I just keep waiting for something to happen... where is the grieving, the tantrum throwing, the sleeping and food issues? Thankfully (for now at least) not here. But I know the grieving has to be in that little heart somewhere. Just wondering when it will come out.

River City Rodeo

Omaha, Nebraska is host each year to the River City Rodeo, the second largest rodeo in the world.. behind only the championship event in Las Vegas. This year, Tom and I took the littles to an event hosted by YPO which featured dinner, a talk by rodeo roping star Stran Smith and of course, the main event. Rodeo!

Before dinner, the kids got a roping lesson
from a real, live cowboy.
Everyone got a lasso to take home as a party favor.

Sarah, Candace and Thomas in their best western gear,
including new boots for all.

Bare-backed bronco riding... it was terrifying, actually.

Candace was completely enthralled. She was ready
to sign up for rodeo lessons then and there.

Zoo!

On Thursday morning, we were surprised by a town wide power outage... extending to the greater Ashland metropolitan area, where we live. The result: no school! It was a gorgeous fall day, so we spent the day at the world-class Henry Doorly Zoo in neighboring Omaha.

Thomas, Anna, Sarah, Abbey and Candace pose on the lion statues near the entrance.

Peering through the spherical window into the gorilla habitat.

Mama gorilla with her baby.

Anna, Thomas and Abbey on the Skyfari.

In the cave exhibit... Thomas was a little nervous.

Aquarium

Hanging out in the canopy at the rainforest.

Technical difficulties

I'm having trouble with my camera/computer interface. My photo software, which is malfunctioning, is also trying to take over my computer. So, I have been hampered in my ability to post interesting things with pictures... and let's face it, blog posts without pictures should be used sparingly, because they are just not as fun. I think I have discovered a stop-gap method to use until I can take my computer in to the techie geniuses to be debugged... so thanks for hanging with me, faithful readership. Back soon with fun zoo and rodeo pictures!

A hungry child can't wait: Ask 5 for 5

Guest Blogger: Sarah Lenssen from #Ask5for5
Family photos by Mike Fiechtner Photography

Thank you Spears Family Nebraska and nearly 150 other bloggers from around the world for allowing me to share a story with you today, during Social Media Week.

A hungry child in East Africa can't wait. Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we'll respond and save her life. In Somalia, children are stumbling along for days, even weeks, on dangerous roads and with empty stomachs in search of food and water. Their crops failed for the third year in a row. All their animals died. They lost everything. Thousands are dying along the road before they find help in refugee camps.

At my house, when my three children are hungry, they wait minutes for food, maybe an hour if dinner is approaching. Children affected by the food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia aren't so lucky. Did you know that the worst drought in 60 years is ravaging whole countries right now, as you read this? Famine, a term not used lightly, has been declared in Somalia. This is the world's first famine in 20 years.12.4 million people are in need of emergency assistance and over 29,000 children have died in the last three months alone. A child is dying every 5 minutes. It it estimated that 750,000 people could die before this famine is over. Take a moment and let that settle in.

The media plays a major role in disasters. They have the power to draw the attention of society to respond--or not. Unfortunately, this horrific disaster has become merely a footnote in most national media outlets. News of the U.S. national debt squabble and the latest celebrity's baby bump dominate headlines. That is why I am thrilled that nearly 150 bloggers from all over the world are joining together today to use the power of social media to make their own headlines; to share the urgent need of the almost forgotten with their blog readers. Humans have the capacity to care deeply for those who are suffering, but in a situation like this when the numbers are too huge to grasp and the people so far away, we often feel like the little we can do will be a drop in the ocean, and don't do anything at all.

When news of the famine first hit the news in late July, I selfishly avoided it. I didn't want to read about it or hear about it because I knew I would feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable. I wanted to protect myself. I knew I would need to do something if I knew what was really happening. You see, this food crisis is personal. I have a 4-year-old son and a 1 yr-old daughter who were adopted from Ethiopia and born in regions now affected by the drought. If my children still lived in their home villages, they would be two of the 12.4 million. My children: extremely hungry and malnourished? Gulp. I think any one of us would do anything we could for our hungry child. But would you do something for another mother's hungry child?

My friend and World Vision staffer, Jon Warren, was recently in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya--the largest refugee camp in the world with over 400,000 people. He told me the story of Isnino Siyat, 22, a mother who walked for 10 days and nights with her husband, 1 yr-old-baby, Suleiman, and 4 yr.-old son Adan Hussein, fleeing the drought in Somalia. When she arrived at Dadaab, she built the family a shelter with borrowed materials while carrying her baby on her back. Even her dress is borrowed. As she sat in the shelter on her second night in camp she told Jon, "I left because of hunger. It is a very horrible drought which finished both our livestock and our farm." The family lost their 5 cows and 10 goats one by one over 3 months, as grazing lands dried up. "We don't have enough food now...our food is finished. I am really worried about the future of my children and myself if the situation continues."

Will you help a child like Baby Suleiman? Ask5for5 is a dream built upon the belief that you will.

That something I knew I would need to do became a campaign called #Ask5for5 to raise awareness and funds for famine and drought victims. The concept is simple, give $5 and ask five of your friends to give $5, and then they each ask five of their friends to give $5 and so on--in nine generations of 5x5x5...we could raise $2.4 Million! In one month, over 750 people have donated over $25,000! I set up a fundraiser at See Your Impact and 100% of the funds will go to World Vision, an organization that has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for decades and will continue long after this famine has ended. Donations can multiply up to 5 times in impact by government grants to
help provide emergency food, clean water, agricultural support,
healthcare, and other vital assistance to children and families suffering in the Horn.

I need you to help me save lives. It's so so simple; here's what you need to do:

1. Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)


2. Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.


3. Share #Ask5for5 on Facebook and Twitter!

I'm looking for another 100 bloggers to share this post on their blogs throughout Social Media Week. Email me at ask5for5@gmail.com if you're interested in participating this week.

A hungry child doesn't wait. She doesn't wait for us to finish the other things on our to-do list, or get to it next month when we might have a little more money to give. She doesn't wait for us to decide if she's important enough to deserve a response. She will only wait as long as her weakened little body will hold on...please respond now and help save her life. Ask 5 for 5.

Thank you on behalf of all of those who will be helped--you are saving lives and changing history.

p.s. Please don't move on to the next website before you donate and email your friends right now. It only takes 5 minutes and just $5, and if you're life is busy like mine, you probably won't get back to it later. Let's not be a generation that ignores hundreds of thousands of starving people, instead let's leave a legacy of compassion. You have the opportunity to save a life today!


Thank you, Sarah, for starting this program... I encourage others to join in and support Ask5for5!

Almost... disaster

I like to nap. I try to take a nap every day... and Sunday afternoon is my favorite time to nap. This past Sunday, Tom was watching football, the big kids were off doing their own thing, and the littles were playing nicely outside... perfect time for a nap.

Except that sometime during my nap on Sunday, disaster almost struck. Thankfully, mercifully almost.

A frantic Candace came running into the house to get Tom; desperate for help and not very coherent. Tom runs outside to the swing set to find Thomas, crying hard, with a very frightened Sarah and... a jump rope. A jump rope that for some inexplicable reason, Sarah thought she would attach to the top of the slide. Then it seemed like it might be fun to tie it around her neck and slide down. According to Sarah, she "fell asleep for a little" while she was hanging face down on the slide, her body weight stretching the rope taut. Candace said "her eyes did this" and demonstrated by flickering her eyelids and rolling her eyes back. She was unconscious. Thomas and Candace saved their sister's life by untying the rope; Thomas at Sarah's neck and Candace at the top of the slide. Candace then ran for help. Our beautiful daughter could be gone if they hadn't thought quickly.

We have been a little nervous about letting the littles go out back to play since then. What other dangers are lurking; things we never even thought we would have to explain? We also feel terribly guilty that neither one of us was supervising at the time. Bruises, scrapes and maybe even broken bones I would expect from playing on a swing set... possible death? Never even entered my mind.

We feel very grateful that it all ended up with nothing more serious than a rope burn and a bruise. Thank you, God, for watching over our beloved child.

What I learned this week from Punky Brewster

Remember that spunky little tyke from the eighties, with her crazy clothes and Bohemian style... abandoned by her mom in a supermarket with her trusty dog, she is able to forge cheerfully ahead with her life, charming a crusty old coot and creating a new family for herself, all the while spouting adorable tidbits of wisdom beyond her freckle-faced years?

Yeah, that Punky. Well, she is out promoting her new book Happy Chaos and dishing up advice on motherhood and family this week. Okay, okay it's really actress Soleil Moon Frye, all grown up and married and with kids of her own. Still. I happened to catch her in an interview on The Today Show, and something she said actually resonated with me and made sense. She was talking about the chaos and clutter, both literally and figuratively, that make up the years you spend with your small children. She said something about embracing the chaos, because it will be gone before you know it... I'm paraphrasing wildly here... and living for the time we're in with our kids now.

Wow. That's good advice, Punky.

Up until two years ago, I had gotten pretty good at living in a non-chaotic house. We had a lot of activities etc., but our actual house was reasonably peaceful. Peaceful and clean. Then some crazy notion hit me about having an empty nest... soon! I freaked out. I wasn't ready for that! And I'm still not. I love, love, love having more littles around. Alas, I tend to get pretty worked up sometimes about the mess and yes, the CHAOS of our home. But little Punky was right... or maybe it's grown up Soleil... anyway, it's time for me to embrace the chaos. Because it will be over way too soon. And even though I'll be sixty-two years old when Thomas graduates from high school, I bet I'll still be sad that my nest is going to be empty.