Scattered Bits.........

1. This is how Shana dressed for school yesterday. But alas, school was cancelled due to fog. Since no one got to see her stunning choice of outfits, I decided to share a photo here. Isn't she lovely?

She really needed some poofy, teased bangs to go with the ensemble, but I swallowed the temptation to cut her hair for the day. Why was I going to let her out of the house like this, you ask? Well, in anticipation of our school's Homecoming game this Friday, the students are supposed to participate in Spirit Week activities. They are encouraged to show their school spirit by dressing in certain clothing every day. Monday was Pajama Day, and yesterday was Decade Day (hence the stunning photo above). Today is Nerd/Mix It Up Day. Here is another beautiful photo of Shana's impeccable style for your viewing pleasure:

One more close-up shot:

And here's a photo of the other 3 kids on Mix It Up Day:

2. Chris and I have to travel to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS - a division of the Department of Homeland Security) building in Cincinnati on Friday. We went there a year ago in June to be fingerprinted for our adoption, but as of yesterday, our fingerprints have expired. Huh? How do fingerprints expire? These are the same fingerprints that I had a year ago! Nevertheless, we have to go get re-fingerprinted and then wait for a new FDL (basically, a letter from the U.S. government approving us as adoptive parents) before we can travel back to Ethiopia. At this point, I will do whatever it takes to get my boys home! And thanks to Chris's Marriott points, we are spending the night in Cincinnati before heading back home on Saturday.

3. A few nights ago, I couldn't sleep. My mind was racing around thinking of all sorts of different things. For some reason, my brain came to rest on a thought about my camera. And I remembered a day, several years ago, when I forgot to put my picture card in my camera. I took some photos that day, which were saved right to my camera's internal memory. And I have never been able to figure out how to get them off of there. Anyway, I was unsure why I was remembering that bit of information right then, but I suddenly felt an urgent need to go downstairs, get my camera, and see what date the photos were taken. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that all of those photos had been taken on October 10, 2008. The very same day that my beautiful Ethiopian twins were born. For almost 3 years, it has bothered me that I couldn't erase those pictures from my camera's internal memory; now, I am overjoyed that I have photos from their birth day permanently etched on my camera's brain. Now we know exactly what we did and how we spent the day that the newest members of our family were welcomed into this life half a world away. I knew that I had visited the O.B. department in the hospital that morning, like I talked about here. But I had forgotten how we spent the rest of the day. Amazing!

4. We were really hoping that our boys would be home by their 3rd birthday, but it looks as if we won't be able to celebrate with them this year. I have collected a few presents to send to them, though. My friend April is traveling to Ethiopia to meet her children for the first time, and will arrive there a few days after my boys' birthday. She is going to deliver the gifts for us, and offered to take photos for us as well. I am sending them some photos of us together from our first trip, a card (I'm hoping one of the staff members at HH will translate it for us), some Matchbox cars (they LOVE mekinas!), some fruit snacks, 2 stuffed animals, some suckers, a light-up ball (they love to play kwas, too!), 2 shirts, some balloons, and a recordable storybook called "All the Ways I Love You." Chris and I took turns reading the pages, and even though the boys won't be able to understand the words yet, I'm hoping that they'll recognize and remember our voices.

5.  We've been enjoying the cooler weather - it definitely feels like Fall! This past weekend we visited our town's Fall Festival and had a bonfire with some friends. I hope you're all enjoying your Fall as well!