Happy 1st Birthday Charlie!!

CHARLIE AND HIS SILVER SPEEDSTER FROM THE LAND OF NOD
CHARLIE DESPERATELY TRYING TO GET AWAY!!

Tuesday was my godson Charlie's first birthday. He is Juliet's brother who has made the blog several times as she is almost four and has a "big" personality. I was pushing her on the swing on Tuesday and she asked me if I would come to her wedding. Uh sure... it's not any time soon is it?? Then she proceeded to ask if I was at her mother's wedding... yes, I was, I stood up next to her and wore that dress with the brown bow.. there are pictures. Sigh, well, I wasn't there!! Yes, you were not born yet. But yes, both your mother and I will be at your wedding. Good. Are you kidding me?? Well, at least she's better prepared than I.. perhaps, she will be married before 40.

Anyway back to Charlie.. both sets of grandparents were there(one set lives in Conn), our friend Shandell and obviously his parents and Juliet. I stopped and picked up a cake from Sweet Mandy B's in the city on my way.. yellow cake, fresh strawberries and buttercream in the layers(3 layers) and vanilla buttercream frosting. I love this cake!!

Charlie opened his gifts, I got him a riding toy from the Land of Nod-- which I had difficulty putting together(user friendly directions, my a$$)-- Jim's stepdad had to put the steering wheel on for me and Jim needed to tighten all the bolts the next day. It was an awfully cute toy though and he seemed to like it!! Maybe it will help with exercise, he is a very big boy!!

Well, a very happy 1st to you Charlie!!

Happy 40th Earth Day!!!

Happy Earth Day to everyone!!! Been a very busy week with lots of activities.... I will bring the camera home this evening and post all about them... but want to make sure that everyone knows today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day which began in 1970!!!

Crafts... HELP!!!

Hi,
I'm looking for craft ideas to take with me to Ethiopia.. This is one of the crafts I did last summer.. but since I didn't know that I should bring crafts.. I ended up spending many nights by candle light cutting out spider legs etc... So, my plan this year is to come prepared. So, if you have simple craft ideas... please pass them on to me.. along with a list of what supplies I'll need..

And if you are able-- I would be thrilled if anyone was able to put together craft kits for the kids.. if there is an age group you think you can do this for, email me and I'll let you know how many kids are in that age group... One of my friends is having her daughter's Daisy troop make up some kits for a badge project...

Alternate Plans... or a trip to Mekele..

Okay... so the thought is if I don't go down to southern Ethiopia/Awassa.. then where do I spend the rest of my time that I planned on being in Ethiopia(my flights are already booked)... I figure I have about 2 weeks or so open.
My next thought was go visit Abebe and Lola House. Abebe for the 3 of you reading this blog who don't know him personally was the social worker at AHOPE while I was there. Abebe himself was an orphan from the Tigray region in Northern Ethiopia and has always planned to open an orphanage for HIV+ children in that area, as there aren't any. So, after getting some good experience while working for AHOPE, Abebe left this past fall and begin his own place in Mekele, Ethiopia. It is called Lola House and is starting with 15 children with the hope of becoming much larger.
I know Abebe, I trust Abebe.... so I Facebooked him. (it still kills me that you can do that across the world. :) ) He got right back to me and said, of course we'd love to have you.. just tell me when.
So thoughts anyone??? My gut is saying this is probably the right thing to do for me and for whomever I am working with, as you have to go in it with the right spirit.. and I am not feeling that at the moment for my other option.. though it is hard for me to change directions mid stream, just not my style... Anyway, as I have been thinking about this.. I started doing some research into Mekele.. these are photos I've found online... the Starbucks one really kills me!!

Safari in Tanzania!!

I've booked a safari in Tanzania for the end of my trip this summer-- I arrive in Tanzania August 4th and return home on August 12th. Now, I'm not saying I will have gorgeous photos like this, but these photos were taken in the same places I will be on safari-- so maybe I could get lucky?? Amazing, eh?

Questions about summer...

Okay, so most of you know that my plans for this summer is to go back to Ethiopia. Part of the time I planned on spending in southern Ethiopia, near where I was when I went to find the Donkey Mobile Library. But recently I received a note that really upset me- without going into the details, I'm just not sure how I feel about volunteering my time and continuing to financially support this organization. I'm sure that they are doing good things, I just don't know if I feel comfortable working side by side with someone who I feel may look at things so differently than me. So at the moment I'm investigating some other opportunities while I am there. I'll keep you posted. But for now, take a look at my table set for Easter brunch tomorrow. It is a real shame that I'm not dating anyone, I am one darn good hostess!!

Enjoying the 80 + degree day in early April!!

I spent yesterday(Friday) with my friend from high school, Lynn and her girls. It was unbelievably warm-- sleeveless dress warm. We walked up to the Starbucks, got lattes and headed to the park. This is Dana, Lynn's youngest. I was practicing with my new camera. I ended up purchasing a Nikon D5000 and I love it!! Her big sister was not particularly happy with us as she blamed us for getting a skinned knee on the way home from Sbucks. I love being able to spend the day outside!! Lynn made us all lunch and then I went to deliver Juliet and Charlie's Easter basket. Didn't take pictures, but it was a chicken themed basket this year.