The Wedding

I had a wonderful time at the Ethiopian wedding I attended on Saturday. It was definitely an experience I will remember always. I will post pictures later, I promise.

The invitation I received said the wedding began at 6pm, but Mekedes told me to come at 7:30. I was a little confused, but I showed up at 7:30 to a location that looked sort of like a VFW hall, called the Environmental Friendship Center. I saw one of Mekedes' friends and he ushered me into the building and seated me on the left side of the aisle. There were about 6 unoccupied rows in front of me. Before long someone walked over and informed me I was sitting on the Mens side. Very embarrasing. A sweet girl behind me started talking to me and we chatted until about 8:15 when the wedding party arrived. They came in singing and dancing and clapping. The women make this trilling noise that I can't really explain, except to say I can't do it. It took about 5 minutes for them to get up the aisle. It was a very joyous entrance.

The service was what I imagine a church service would be like at their church with a bride and a bridegroom and attendents sitting on the stage. The church Father spoke to the audience and there was more singing, dancing and clapping. At a break in the service, Mekedes called someone over and whispered to him and he came and moved me up to the 2nd row. I had a seat of honor.

At some point we were all ushered outside and through a line to get our food. It was all Ethiopian food of course. I recognized some of it....injera which is a sourdough bread similiar to a pancake in shape and size. You use pieces of it to scoop up the food. You eat with your fingers. There was also the chicken and boiled egg dish...doro wat(?). I got an egg on my plate, which made me feel special. There are several foods that are similiar to chili. Most of it is very spicy. I actually like most of the Ethiopian food I have tried.

After the food there was more singing, dancing and celebrating, including the wedding cake. I left after they cut the cake, at about 11:30 and they were still going strong. Mekedes later informed me that the actual giving and receiving of rings was going to take place at church on Friday.

It was an awesome experience. The people were so friendly and nice and made me feel like a special guest.

Randomness

• Tomorrow: Small group bible study (Experiencing God) and two soccer games and an Ethiopian wedding (Mekedes is a brides maid and she invited us to the wedding). I am so excited about the wedding.
• Feeling: A little crazy! Friends are over and the kids are playing High School Musical Sing It on the Wii. So cute to hear them sing "Shake your booty and turn around."
• Happy Because: My kids are getting along well for the moment.
• Today I : took will to T-ball (he did great), made turkey chili dogs for lunch, did dishes and went to see Enchanted the movie. It was so cute. I was grinning like crazy when I walked out of that movie. Highly recommend it.
• Laundry: What laundry?
• Something I know: My kids are loud!
• Currently reading: PS I love you....written by the daughter of Ireland's prime minister, bought at airport in Newark. Can't recommend it.
• Wanting: A portrait lens for my camera.
• Favorite gadget: I got an ipod for Christmas, but I haven't used it yet. I bet it will be my favorite gadget when I figure it out.
• Thankful that: I don't have to be a super mom!
• Wondering why: I have such a hard time staying on Weight Watchers on the weekends.

Care to fill in any of these with your own answers? I copied this from someones blog, feel free to copy it from me.

Not a Super Mom!

I never want anyone to think I have it all together. #1, because I don't and #2, I would never want anyone to feel intimidated around me or feel inferior to me.

Today, I had to bring snacks to Will's t-ball game. Last night, we went to the grocery store and loaded up on snacks. I decided to use a basket I had lying around to tote the snacks and they did look "cute" in the basket. But as I was walking to the game with my "cute" basket of goodies, a friend of mine commented that I was a "super mom". If only it was that easy to be a super mom. Yes, I managed to pull together a snack for t-ball that looked appealing, but that doesn't make me a super mom.

Each of us is in our own stage of parenting. Each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses. Just because someone looks like they have it all together, they don't. No one does. So, if you have a friend that has all her scrapbooks caught up, or cooks delicious, healthy dinners every night, or decorates her home like the pages of Southern Living don't let that make you feel bad. You are you! You are good at some things, not so good at others. That is what makes you uniquely qualified to parent YOUR children. And when it comes to parenting there are lots more important things than "cute" snacks, gourmet dinners, home decor and photo albums.

Doha 2016

Just in case you didn't know, Doha is bidding for the 2016 Olympics! At first I thought no way, but you just never know.

Will's Birthday Party

We had a busy weekend! Will had his birthday party on Friday and it was so much fun. We had it at our home and just played party games and had pizza, cake and ice cream. It was a good, old fashioned birthday party without all the extra stuff you feel like you need these days to have a party. We did have snazzy Spiderman decorations that we bought at our school's silent auction.

Abbey organized a ring toss using some of her bracelets and bottles of soda pop. We had a web walk (cake walk) with prizes. We played pin the spider on the web and guess how many spider eggs (cotton balls) are in the jar (Cole helped with this one). Bill played a game outside where the kids used foamy spray in a can (kind of like silly string) to spray a picture of one of spiderman's enemies. The one that totally covered his picture first won. All was well until after the game and then it was a free for all. The boys had much fun spraying each other and us with the foam.

I must give my husband major credit for the party. He kept the 8 little boys ages 6-8 entertained and relatively calm the whole party. He's the best!

note: I love my cupcake tree. It makes a super cute centerpiece for birthdays and is easier than making a cake.

Ugggg.....

I am having trouble with my blogger since they decided it would be cool to change the language on my blog to ARABIC !

I'm Addicted

I'm addicted to blogs and these are a few that I love, love, love....

scribbit.blogspot.com/ (a mom living in Alaska....she cooks, crafts and writes well about motherhood and such)

thevoiceofadventure.blogspot.com/ (My first "friend" made through blogging. She is an inspiring gal.)

notesfromthetrenches.com/ (Great photographer, funny and well written) She recently started a new blog telling of her experiences as she takes "One Year Off" from consumerism and clutter....only buying things they truly need and getting rid of junk in her home. Very interesting!

fiddledeedee.net/ (funny!)

owlhaven.wordpress.com/ (Amazing mom to a whole bunch of kids, several of them adopted from Ethiopia. She yard sales, cans vegetables and homeschools.)

Just Click

I added something new to my blog....can you find it? Compassion is a great organization that is doing amazing things for children in poverty around the world. I have been sponsoring a sweet little girl through Compassion for about 3 years now. She is about the same age as my youngest. I get the sweetest pictures and letters from her and I send her letters, stickers, and postcards. I pray for her and also support her financially. Her last letter to me was so sad.....she said her Dad was with another woman and she is staying with her grandmother and her grandmother cries a lot.

I know this little one needs all the encouragement she can get. I feel privileged that I am the one that gets to sponsor her.

It is sooo easy to sponsor a child. For the less than the price of dinner out, you can provide food, education, bible teaching and hope to a child for a month. I promise you, you will not even miss the money.

Just click on the logo and it will take you directly to the Compassion website. It's that easy!

Dreamin'

My two youngest children had both snuck in bed with us this morning when I awakened to hear them talking in hush hush voices about their dreams. Then I heard one say "Let's go back to sleep and see if we can dream the same dream together."

Dreaming dreams together.....pure sweetness! Makes you glad you have a sister.....makes you glad you have a brother.

Yours

I was wondering how it would be....coming back to Doha. Did we really like it as much as we thought we did? Was the "honeymoon" over? Was it just fun because it was new and different?

I am happy to report, that we still like it here. The weather is wonderful right now, crisp and cool....but, not too cold. It feels like fall to me. The kids went back to school today and it was so good to see all the moms at the bus stop. Everyone was sharing about their holidays. One family went to Switzerland and Italy, two traveled to Sri Lanka, and one to Lebanon and Egypt. It made me think of this awesome song by Steven Curtis Chapman, "Yours".

Psalm 89:11 (New International Version)
The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it.

This big ol' world belongs to God, even Doha, and our job is to make him known among the nations!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to me!

We are home in Doha. We got back last night about 9:30 pm. I slept all day today. The flight was hard, really hard, but not unbearable. The kids were so good and really tried to help out. I am beginning to feel normal again, although I am awake at 1 am. The kids do not seem to be suffering from jet lag. They were up all day playing and are all asleep at the moment.

In case you are wondering, the flight from Houston to Newark was almost 5 hours and the flight from Newark to Doha was 15 hours. We also had a 4 hour layover in Newark.

Our close friends also arrived last night. I mentioned them in an earlier post. They are moving here from Dubai. They came over for hamburgers tonight. It was so wonderful to see them and knowing they are going to be here makes me so happy.

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! I am sure the details will come to me at some time, but right now everything is a blur. I hope you enjoy these pictures in the meantime.