So the reason for my stalled blogging….A SURPRISE PARTY for my sister, Leslie! (OF course) I’ve been planning this for something like 6 weeks. Leslie has been so excited to turn 30 and I’ve always been about showing people that I love them so it just worked well. As I said in a previous blog, she is my locovore expert so some details about the party:

It was held out here at Camp. I bought only food that was grown within a 60 mile radius of us. (Except of course the chips and pop but those are necessary at all parties if you ask me). So here are some food pics.

The beer that Frankie and Emily picked up. All locally brewed all amazingly delicious, including one that was jalapeno flavored (I know, who knew?)

I had to include this. The wonder twins from Sierra Leone were infinitely fascinated by the keg.

Burgers with free range cattle grazing just 5 miles North of us.

Oh this concoction. I spent the better part of last week collecting potatoes, squash and onions for this delicacy. And boy was it worth it! 30 minutes on the grill (or 4 hours in the oven, depending) made this worth…every…bite.

Shishkabobs from Frankie and Emily. Some had steak, some had chicken, all were delicious.

And the desserts. Oh the desserts! Made by Leslie’s aunts and grandmas who were sent from heaven for many reasons but one of them HAS to be their ability to make fantastical desserts. Seriously, you have not tasted pie until you’ve tasted those.

Leslie with her cake. Did I mention the cake was amazing as well?

And then the actual party…She had friends from Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Tipton come. They came from near and far to celebrate this amazing woman’s birthday. But no Klipsch party would be complete without feats of strength. So here we have Aunt Gayle doing the splits. Amazing, no warming up, just went straight for it. For the record I couldn’t be paid enough to try this.

And my favorite of all party favors, my brother-in-law, Jake’s shin slaps. Words can’t express the amazingness.

Leslie and her girls from Chicago/Minneapolis.

And finally, sisters. Emily, Leslie, Kait and myself. Kait wrote a great song for Leslie that she sang beautifully. Loves, the beautiful ladies I get to call sisters. Love them so much.

Today was another “hurdle” in the older child adoption ride.

Tariku is starting to remember Ethiopia. On one hand I think it’s great; I’ve been looking forward to this. But what we adoptive parents (myself included) don’t tell people is that we’re often hoping for the good memories. “Oh I was playing with my mom and dad and laughing, etc, etc”.

The reality is there was a lot of loss, devastation and hardship that led to Tariku becoming part of our family. Naturally he remembers everything. There’s been some good, there’s been some bad. Today he told a bit of his history that I knew because it was in his referral information but he had never told me. I had been able to read it and, of course, be saddened by it but was able to kind of push it away.

Today it became very real that my 3-year-old son has been through things I hope I never have to. That his reality is so different than mine ever has been. That he is a bigger fighter and a braver person than I could hope to be. I am so honored to have him for my son yet I would do anything to make him forget that.

I know that sounds awful as that is part of his history but my goodness, he seems too young, to joyful to have to bear that weight on his shoulders. How I wish I could lift it off and put it on mine. I hope maybe that’s what he was trying to do by sharing it with me. I hope he was trying to say, “Mommy will you take care of this too?” I wish I could communicate to him that I would do anything to make him never feel that again.

The perks of older child adoption are so numerous and I truly believe this is still one of them. Because of course he remembers some ugly but he remembers some rather beautiful moments too and I can’t wait to remind him of them as he gets older. But I’m his mom, do we ever want them to feel an ounce of pain?

I love you dearest Tariku and will forever envy your optimism and beautiful, joyous personality.

About 17 years ago my brother, my mom and myself went out for some ice cream. My mom wanted us to share because (like now) I very rarely finish a whole ice cream blizzard myself. Well I wanted a Snickers blizzard and my brother wanted Cookies and Cream. My mom, knowing I love(d) any kind of ice cream “asked” me to consent. Well, I swore up and down that I HATED Cookies and Cream.

So my mom bought me a Snickers and my brother a Cookies and Cream. And we each ate half. And I hadn’t eaten Cookies and Cream for 17 years because I wanted to prove that I didn’t like it.

Until now. I just had a bowl and fell madly in love. So on my to do list for tomorrow: must call mom and apologize for the last 17 years of stubbornness. Only now do I realize $2 to her was 17 years of never really finding happiness for myself. 🙂

Zach and I had a 5 minute debate on which part is best…Cookies or Cream. I say cookies, he says the marinade of cookies in cream. The man is a genius. And so is whoever created cookies and cream.

So it’s my sister-in-law, Leslie’s birthday today.

I know it’s been said a lot here at hotflawedmama but that sister of mine is one amazing woman. In her 30 years (7 of which I’ve been honored to know her) she has accomplished quite a bit. I know without a shadow of a doubt that my life would have been completely different if 30 years ago her mom (Hi, Mary!) wouldn’t have had her.

To my locovore sister. The woman who has taught me the simple pleasures of farm fresh eggs and tomatoes. A lingering glass of wine and 2-hour coffees. The mother who does everything right and the woman who dances when no one is looking. She’s a conservative (in some ways), sexy sister of mine who also happens to be one of my very best friends.

Much love this beautiful lady today! I look forward to our next 70 years as sisters!

(And this was the only picture I have of the both of us on my computer right now!)

Must apologize. I reread my last post after Jessica asked if I was pregnant. I AM NOT PREGNANT. I’m just still blaming my two previous pregnancies for lasting effects on the body. I see how you could’ve read it that way but must be very sure to let you all know it’s not happening. Especially after I watched the video last night and saw how my face alone was 10lbs heavier as a pregnant woman. And then the labor part. No thanks!

I’m not as young as I used to be. This sounds funny coming from a young buck like myself but this young buck taught 3 classes today and can hardly move. Ice packs on the knees, Bengay on the joints, this is not how I pictured life just a few short years ago. I bet Lolo Jones doesn’t have to put up with this crap. I’m blaming pregnancy, pregnancy gets the blame for a lot of things going on with my body. Just another reason people should adopt.

Moving on…do you ever miss someone you never really knew? My paternal grandpa died when I was really young. I have pseudo memories of him; ones I imagine come from pictures and stories. I see the picture or hear the story and weave in my own tall tale. I’m missing him tonight. I hear he was a story teller (which, I’m guessing, is where I get this nasty habit). That what my grandma lacked in kindness he more than made up for. He was a hard worker and a retired Navy guy. Had a limp lasting his whole life because of shrapnel in his leg when a kamakaze hit his ship in WWII (See again, I might have made that whole thing up, but I think it’s fairly close).

What I miss most about him tonight is how he felt about his sons (all 4 of them!) and how he would’ve surely been proud of the way they kept his grandkids and great grandkids as the best of friends. I’m really wishing he was here tonight so we could stay up late telling crazy stories (granted, he’d be something like 97 and probably wouldn’t remember but this is my dream and I get to dream it like I want to).

And Zach just put in the “Here comes Trysten” tape. I think this is reason #2 in a single blog for adoption. Good, God!

I have pictures, lots of pictures but they’re in the car and it’s dark outside so they’re not coming. I just wanted to write and remind you all that Plumpy’nut and the children of Ethiopia still need you! Jody (finally) blogged about it on her uuber popular blog so I’m going to paste her post below this (I know there are some of you out there like me who are really bad at following links, ahem, mom). So dig in the pockets, in the heart, in the head, whatever it would take!

Here is Jody’s blog. She writes it a lot better than I do.

plumpy nut.
This is a post a long time coming.
It’s been mulling around in my head for over a month now.
It’s a project taken on by our small group at church that we are trying to evolve into a kind of orphan ministry. Right now it is comprised of mostly adoptive and foster care moms. But as we wrestled with the issues in our lives due to our role as adoptive and foster care mothers, we understood that there is a much bigger picture. That adoption is a tiny, tiny piece. A small, small band-aid on a huge crisis. And our ultimate desire being a world where adoption is no longer necessary.
And thus, we began to dream and explore how we could always keep that in front of us. That we would never forget the places our children came from, the circumstances that brought them to us, the injustices suffered, and the millions left behind. And the mandate God gives us to care for the poor and the widow and and the orphan.
Shane Clairborne says, “Sometimes we speak to change the world, sometimes we speak to keep the world from changing us.”
And that’s how i see these new projects we are going to take on. I am really excited about them. Because I know you guys. And I think as a collective force of mommy bloggers and precious friends and family, we can make a huge dent. I will feature them on the blog about once a month. Giving you—IF you want it–an opportunity to look outside of ourselves. Outside of our own homes. And into the reality of millions of children.
So our first project was Plumpynut. If you haven’t read about it, you need to. Look here. Basically it’s a ready-to-eat, vitaman rich mixture that is saving lives around the world. I believe it looks much like peanut butter and has a two year shelf life and it is literally keeping children alive in parts of the world where drought and famine are making it impossible for moms and dads to feed their children. Ethiopia in particular right now is in a crisis famine. The above article tells the story of herds of mothers emerging from the field, having walked miles and miles through the night to bring their sick children to a malnutrition clinic and hopefully be able to return with a jar of Plumpynut. A miracle to them…they have watched dying children recover with it. Yet there is only enough to give the most severe cases. And many are turned away. If you need visuals, go here.
We understand that $77 buys enough Plumpy nut packets to feed 50 children a day.
77 dollars keeps 50 children alive today.
So as a group we just said, let’s see how much Plumpy Nut we can buy in the next month. Go, talk, collect, save and we’ll bring the money back next month and make a big donation to UNICEF for Plumpy Nut (we did tax record checks and they will allow us to make the donation straight to Plumpy Nut. I know some people are not crazy about UNICEF…but for this one, we thought it was our best option). Ready, Set, Go.
I’ve been hearing stories about the money raised by some of my friends. And I can’t believe I let them get ahead of me here.
So this is what I’m doing: All month I have been grocery shopping. And then right before check-out, I have been putting 5 things back. It’s so stupid really how pathetic it is with a cart full of groceries. But it kept me thinking. I went without some silly snack things and have completely given up drinking soda at home. And the money saved has gone to a little account for the end of the month donation.
I am also going to throw some things in a Garage Sale this week-end and hopefully set up a Lemonade Stand with the kids there…all money going to Plumpynut. (If you want to come buy a really expensive glass of lemonade, email me and I’ll give you our location.)
And I am giving you the opportunity to join us if you want. I am going to put up the donate button again on the sidebar for the time being. If you trust me, you can donate there. It goes to my personal paypal account, but all money collected there in the next week will go to Plumpynut. If you want to mail a donation, make the check to UNICEF, and send it to me (again, email if you need an address).
So there you go. Just an opportunity to do something. To keep the world from changing you.
There will be another project soon. I can’t wait to tell you about them. Some people think I am crazy, but I keep telling them–You don’t know these girls. These moms. These grandmas. These blog readers. These friends of mine. They get it.
Thanks much.

I’m restless. Restless for peace, restless for insight, restless for guidance. I know where I’m at right now is not the final picture. I know there is supposed to be more than what I’m doing with the “me-ness”. I’m restless to prove to God I’m not a total failure as one of His people. I’m…so…restless. Blah, I’m restless and suffering from allergies. The combination has given me a few sleepless nights.

On a lighter note, Doozie (Ms. Dailah if you’re nasty) is officially poop potty trained. She has been for a couple days now but I’m just getting around to congratulating her now. I can’t take any credit for it, however, as she has become quite persuasive in her pursuit for growing up. I think watching big brothers have all the fun on the potty has led her to believe she’s missing out on something big by not doing so herself. So…hopefully soon to come will be being potty trained in full and then no more diapers for camp Klipsch.

P.S. 10 cyber dollars for anyone who knows which song I referenced with Dailah’s name.

First I want to give a big “Shout out” to my favorite daddy. He celebrated his birthday yesterday and I didn’t have internet to give him a shout out then. I must say I am so very thankful he is my daddy and such a good one at that. Though quiet by nature, his presence is always felt and as good as he is as a dad, he might be an even better grandpa. It’s baffling to think about but my dad, John, doesn’t even mind that Doozie calls him “Papa Don”. He’s an awesome man, and I know had he fathered everyone else in this world (that would be weird!) the world would be a much better place. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today found us heading the horse barn so the kids could have a quick ride. My mom-in-law, Terre, was (and still would be if not for that fake hip and whatnot) a pretty great equestrian from what I hear and her youngest son’s (my hubby) “got skillz” as well. He’s eager to see which of his offspring will follow in those big (and stinky) footsteps. If today is an indicator, it looks like the one who saw his first horse 4 months ago. Imagine that. Enjoy these.

Doozie watching Tariku, “Hmmm, I’m not REAL sure I want to do this.”

Ok, I think I can get used to this.

Old hat at this, he’ll be leading next time and we’ll see if he’s as confident.

I just thought this was funny. One of the junior high kids who helped the horse wrangler this summer named a horse, “Zach”. I’m not quite sure if that’s a good thing.

Then we went to a River Bandits game. Here are two of my favorite people sportin’ their shades.

Sometimes the camera turns on me.

Dan, Becky and Baby Cates joined us to make Dailah’s night by holding the baby.

And perhaps my favorite picture of the day. Clearly this should be in a picture frame somewhere.

(Can you tell I finally got internet after 2 days? Hence the 4 posts)

Last night I offered to watch my nephews while my bro and sis-in-law went to their FINAL HOMESTUDY (yippee!) to bring home my niece from Ethiopia. Zach had to work so it was just me, 5 kids, and 3 dogs. I was nervous, admittedly, but things went along swimmingly.

I even, just to prove I could, decided to cook a homemade meal. This meal was complete with stuffed chicken breasts (with made-from-scratch stuffing) and homegrown tomatoes. After dinner I spoiled them with berry cheesecake. Seriously, am I an amazing aunt or what? Shoot, let’s just round up and call me an amazing woman. Check out the pic (obviously much tastier looking in person).

And some more just for your enjoyment…

Abe’s namesake.

Doozie didn’t have pockets so she borrowed Puddin’s to store her toy.

They are the best of friends, seriously.

Yes, I was proving a lot to myself last night. I bet Zach I couldn’t fit 5 Klipschs in a tub. I won.