Excitement of today

Let's just say today is one of those days I would prefer to put to rest and not revisit. Tristan has been a bear!! I don't know if it is his teeth or what but he has had a major beef with life today. I loaded all the kids up this morning because Tristan had an eye doctor appointment. Overall it was okay! I was rapidly reaching my breaking point but we made it home without incident. Shane kept telling me he didn't feel very well and at one point I found him asleep in his bed. That is not normal!! We did a little running around this afternoon and yup - he vomited in the van! I will spare you the gory details. Eden has been very happy but that is normal. Especially when she has food in front of her. These pictures of Eden eating are for you Sharon. I know you were pretty amused watching her continuous eating at mom's yesterday.

Here is Shane resting on the couch watching a movie. I think that is the boys' favorite part of being sick. I am a little more lax with movies - the normal "watching" limits get overlooked. Shane is so so sweet when he is sick. He never complains - just deals with it. Unlike some of the other characters in the house.
Here is Judah with a smile because he finally was able to get his little chicks today! He has been wanting to get a few chickens so we did some research and decided to let him get a few. We figured chickens were a fairly safe animal purchase. If you regret the decision in a few months you can just go ahead and eat them! (not really) We were supposed to get some two weeks ago but the order got messed up somehow. So, the mill placed an additional order and we got our phone call today. To say Judah was excited is a little bit of an understatement. As much as Judah enjoys gardening and animals her really should live on a farm. Here are the five little chicks - two rhode island reds and three black sexlings. The little black ones are only a day old. Makes me a little nervous. I have never taken care of little chicks before. I just don't want them passing on to their next life too soon. I guess they will start laying eggs in about 6 months. We are getting ready to build a little coop for them - something that resembles a garden shed I think. I don't want a coop that is ugly - it needs to have some charm.
One last picture of Eden for today. I just love her pouty mouth!!
And Tristan stuffing his face. Fun times, fun times.

And now for the little info I said would be coming this post. I will try really hard to make this brief. I was talking with someone from our agency two weeks ago that has become a dear friend. She is leaving in a few weeks to bring her new daughter home. She informed me that there is a tremendous need right now at Toukoul orphanage. The orphanage is set up to care for 300 children - give or take a few. Normally there are 25-30 infants at this orphanage at one time. They are equipped and staffed to care for that number of infants. Right now they have somewhere around 200 infants!!! It is a staggering number!! She said she really isn't sure how they are caring for them all but somehow it is happening. There are different speculations as to why the increase - there is a famine right now in parts of Ethiopia which creates desperation to survive. Also, Toukoul orphanage has been around for close to 25 years. They have great relationships with the police stations and usually are the first ones contacted if a baby has been found or relinquished. I really don't have all the answers as to the influx right now. I was just asked to help get the word out. If anyone who is reading this has thought of adopting from Ethiopia and you use an agency that is connected with Toukoul I am pretty confident you will not be waiting long for a referral. We are once again so happy that Eden is home and isn't getting lost in the shuffle. Toukoul is a great orphanage but there is no way that many babies are getting the love they deserve.

No pressure on anyone reading - just being an informant. A friend of ours in State College called us last week and gave us the number of a couple they had just met at a graduation party. This couple left for Ethiopia on Saturday and they had some questions. We called them and found out their daughter was at the same orphanage Eden was at. Ironic? I think not. She is 3 1/2 and they will be arriving home this Saturday. I cannot wait to see if she is one of the children I spent time with while there. We are thrilled to have another family so close with a daughter from Toukoul. Lets just get some of those handsome boys home too!!