Thanksgiving 2011

There are so many things to be thankful this Thanksgiving. Where do I begin?
 

1) I'm thankful to God for all of our blessings he has given us this year.

2) I'm thankful for Brad. Married for 18 years and together for 21. I can't imagine my life without him. He's always there when I need him, whether in person or in spirit. He's always 'checking in' with me when he's at work or traveling. He's put up with my love of animals! He's understood my love of children and my need to help orphans around the world. He loves me even when I drive him crazy!

3) I'm thankful for my FIVE children who make my life exciting, overwhelming, fun, crazy, exhausting, loving, silly, goofy, dramatic, busy, but most of all, AWESOME!

4) I'm thankful for my Mom to be such a big part of my life and my families' life! She's always there to cheer on the kids, go shopping with, talk on the phone, make sure we are all healthy, reminding us what is important in life, showing all of us to think and care for others, listen when we just need to talk about our frustrations, hug us when we need encouragement, and love us when we don't deserve it!

5) I'm thankful for the extended family! We are so blessed to be a part of a much larger family of aunts, uncles, cousins, Grandma's, nieces and nephews. We celebrate birthdays, holidays, and special occasions with the whole gang, which make everything so much fun. Even as all the kids get older, we still try to make time together to be very important. People come and go in our lives, but family is a constant!

6) I'm thankful for some very dear friends in my life. They hold me up when I want to crumble. They listen, they don't judge, they care, they help, and they are just ALWAYS there when I need them!

7) I'm thankful for ALL of my pets! They love unconditionally. They know when I need a big, wet kiss, or when I just need them to be near me. They are ALWAYS excited to see me when I come home and they very rarely talk back!

8) I thankful for my home. Our home is not huge, but it's comfortable. It's not perfectly decorated, but it's homey. It's not perfect, but it's ours! We are lucky to have heat, electricity, running water, beds, blankets, food, appliances, and furniture. All things we take for granted!

9) I'm thankful for our jobs. Yes, I really don't want to go back to work right now, but I am happy that I have a job that I need to get back too. I'm happy that Brad has a great job that gives him many opportunities in the hunting industry with people he really likes.

10) I'm thankful for our freedom in the USA! Something we take for granted but is such a privilege we have living in America. I'm thankful that the USA accepts international adoption of children all over the world needing families!

 

6.6 million (reasons to go)

Cassie, Jordan and I have sent in our applications to go on a mission trip to Ethiopia and Uganda with VisitingOrphans.org next summer. Why, you might be wondering…because there are 6.6 million reasons to go...

The third most populous country in Africa, Ethiopia is among the world’s oldest Christian nations, and the only African state that was never colonized. Divided by the great Rift Valley, this land, which is twice the size of Texas, has an orphan crisis.  UNICEF estimates that one in ten Ethiopian children, about 4.6 million, are orphans. 

The land of the Mountain Gorillas...Uganda shares its Eastern border with Kenya and it's Western frontier is the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Uganda has faced many tragedies since its independence but now has one of the fasting growing economies on the continent, and is a welcoming haven for travelers who wish to explore the tropical jungles and unique ecosystems. Of the 2 million known orphans in Uganda in 2003, an estimated 940,000 were orphaned due to AIDS.

What we will be doing…

Dates: June 21 - July 4, 2012

Leader: Carrie & Joe Chlebanowski

Location: Ethiopia & Uganda

Cost: Estimated at $3700 - $3900(trip cost varies depending on flight costs)

Details:  This trip will visit orphanages in two countries in Africa: Uganda & Ethiopia. While in Uganda our team will stay at Canaan Children's Home in Jinja. While there we will minister to the children at Canaan's and also have the opportunity to serve at Amazima Ministries. The team will also spend some time with an exciting new ministry partner, Sixty Feet. While in Ethiopia, we will be working in partnership with Project 61 which reaches out to the children who live and work in the city dump at Korah. We will also visit children in 2 or 3 different orphanages throughout Addis Ababa. 

Now the true work begins. We will need to start fundraising to pay for the trip. We will be selling t-shirts, candy bars, greeting cards (that I will be making), and maybe even some necklaces. We might be selling our two horses in the spring of 2012 too, which will be hard to do. We will also be asking our family and friends to support and pray for us on this exciting journey!

4 Flu Shots & 1 Chest X-ray

Yesterday was a typical day. The 4 older kiddos came home from school around 3:35pm and Tinsae was very excited to see them. Everyone was eating snacks and talking and I decided to give the doctor’s office a call to see if they could give the older 4 their flu shots and maybe if the doctor could check Tinsae out, since he has had a bad cough for over a week. The receptionist told us to come right over and they could fit all of them in. Wonderful! Or, so I thought!

The nurse took all the kids and I into a room. The kids all got their flu shots, but not without a little bit of whining from Jordan! J Then the doctor came into the room to check out Tinsae. Tinsae was pretty happy, because he didn’t have to get a shot! After listening to his breathing, the doctor thought he should get a chest x-ray to make sure Tinsae didn’t have pneumonia. OK then. I didn’t think he was THAT bad! I didn’t think we would all be gone for more than 30 minutes. It was a school night. I never started anything for dinner. The kids all had homework. And we had to go to the hospital in Waupaca now for a chest x-ray of my youngest child. UGH!

So we were off to Waupaca...all 6 of us. I called Brad and told him to give us a call on his way home, so he could at least pick up some of the kids on his way home. We arrived at 5:13pm to register. The receptionist paged the technician and I was told to go to another waiting room area. Noah, Cassie and Muluken waited in the main lobby for Brad to pick them up while Jordan, Tinsae and I headed to the glassed-in waiting area. And we waited, and waited, and waited. 

Forty-five minutes later, the receptionist from the front desk came in by us and asked if anybody came for us yet. Um, nope! She opened up a door about 10 feet behind us, yelled ‘hello’ and sure enough, somebody answered. We overheard her ask about her page and the technician say that he never got it. That he’s been SITTING right there! UGH!!!! 

The technician came out, told me he was in the ER (yeah right!) and took us back. His pager went off and he ACTUALLY ANSWERED it. It was our doctor! It was NOW 6pm and she was leaving the clinic. She had to give him her cell number in order for the radiologist to call her at home, so she could call me and let me know the results.

The technician had to call in ANOTHER man to ‘help’ him with my little guy. (Are you kidding me?!?!) Two professionals (so I thought), get the little boy where he needed to be and they take the x-ray. Oh yes, that’s right. You actually need to put the film in the machine to take the x-ray! (rolling my eyes now!) They took a front and side view and we were done. They stated that the radiologist would call my doctor.

We left there and headed to Culver’s for dinner. I knew we had to stay in Waupaca in order to pick up any prescriptions AND we hadn’t eaten anything yet. Tinsae kept coughing and hardly touched his food. He just kept trying to snuggle ~ I knew he wasn’t feeling good.

My phone rang at 7pm and it was the doctor. She was wondering if we ever had the x-ray taken!?!?! She never heard from the hospital yet. So, we hang up and she had to call the hospital. After at least another 20 minutes or so, she called back to let me know that the wonderful technicians NEVER finished entering the information into the computer for Tinsae, in which the x-rays were NEVER sent to the radiologist. UGH!!! Can you imagine?!

So, we FINALLY find out that Tinsae has bronchitis on the way to pneumonia. Our doctor called in the prescription to Walgreen’s and I went in to give them our insurance card. After 10 minutes of waiting, the pharmacy tells me that Tinsae is NOT listed on our prescription plan on our insurance card. WHAT?!?! Are you kidding me?!?!? After making a phone call to the insurance, I ended up paying $117.00 for an antibiotic, which would have been $5. Unbelievable!

We finally got home at 8pm and we were all EXHAUSTED! What a night!

Here’s a picture of the little man calling the ‘doctor’ on his cell phone today!

 

"Doctor? Tinsae coughing. Medicine."

 

 

Tinsae's 4th Birthday

Tinsae turned 4 years old on Friday, 11-11-11. What an awesome date to celebrate such a special little boy’s day of birth! This was probably the only time Tinsae has ever celebrated his special day, so it took some “prep work” to explain to him what was going to happen at his birthday party that evening.

For the past two weeks, I have been telling Tinsae that his birthday was coming up and he was going to be 4 years old. This didn’t mean anything to him, so we also told him that we were going to have a party for him with cake and balloons. Finally, we were getting somewhere. Tinsae loves “cake”, which he thinks is anything from pumpkin bread to banana bread to brownies to an actual cake with frosting. And balloons, well he has LOVED those since most adoptive parents bring them to the care centers and let the children play with them. Just the talk of cake and balloons was enough to get Tinsae excited about his upcoming birthday.

On Friday, I went in singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Tinsae as he was waking up in bed. He was all smiles and asked if he was getting cake and balloons! (He’s such a smart little man!) We headed into town and did some shopping with Grandma Lenz and then lunch at Culver’s (he loves his chicken tenders and fries). He took a “little tegna” (nap) and was all smiles when he woke up. His brothers and sisters all came home from school and the excitement shown all over his face. They all started singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to him and he was just boucing around the house. He was so ready for his birthday party…so I thought!

We went to Aunt Kris’ home for the birthday party, which was all decorated with balloons and more. He was a little quiet but ran off to the downstairs of toys and fun. The next time he came upstairs, you could see the fear in his eyes. There were more people now and he wasn’t quite sure of anything. I went to pick him up and show him his cake, but he was trying to take in all the people, noise, etc. 

After we all ate an awesome fish dinner (thank you Uncle Steve B), we decided to sing and have some cake. That’s when you could see Tinsae morph back into his pre-adoption photos. No smile. No emotion. He just sat on Ally’s lap while everyone sang. WAY TOO MUCH!! He was able to blow out the candles, but he was still on edge. I brought him a piece of cake as quickly as possible, and he started to relax again. 

As soon as everyone ate their cake (or Packer cookies) I asked that we do presents. Tinsae had NO CONCEPT of receiving a birthday present (or any present for that matter) or how to open the present. I had Ally show him how to open the present but he was SO CAREFUL. It was like he didn’t want to rip the paper. I had to help him out a little bit the first time but after that he turned into the typical little boy opening up his birthday presents. Tinsae LOVED everything he received! He was so cute, precious, adorable, and sweet! 

We LOVE you Tinsae and hope you had an AWESOME 4^th birthday!

Getting ready to go...

Picture of party central (aka: Aunt Kris' home)...
 

Tinsae LOVES his birthday balloons...
 

Tinsae & Ally's awesome birthday cake & Packer cookies...
 

 The look of fear on his face while everyone sang, "Happy Birthday"...

And finally, opening of the presents...

And finally, the birthday boy with his cousins...
 

First Snowstorm of the Season...

Last Wednesday morning, the first snowstorm hit Wisconsin. We really weren't planning to get any snow, so when the first big snowflakes starting coming down by 8am, we knew we were in for something big.

Due to the heavy, wet stuff coming down so hard, we lost our computer and television reception by 9am and then the power was knocked out from 11am to 4pm. It was a VERY long day for Tinsae and I, since Tinsae had no use for a nap! 

At least the snow was pretty...

Tinsae's Thoughts for the Day...

"My Mom is SO COOL!"

 

"My Mom is SO MEAN!"

"My Mom is AWESOME!"

"My Mom is REALLY MEAN!"

A day in the life of Tinsae... this too shall pass.
 

Don't Forget to SHUT THE DOOR....

This is what happens when Brad forgets to shut the van door...

Yogi even tried to "break out" of the van by crashing his horns against the windshield!
 

 Yogi is looking for his Diet Mountain Dew can...the one that Brad took out of his mouth! 




Gotta love my goats, Yogi and Boo-Boo.

Sunday Sweetness...my boys...

Cassie's 1st College Visit - UW Madison

 

On Thursday morning, Cassie, Tinsae, Grandma Lenz and I all headed down to UW Madison for a campus visit. Cassie has always dreamed of becoming a veterinarian (or maybe a chemist or pharmacist) and for the past few years told us she wanted to go to UW Madison for college. I have NEVER wanted to go to a BIG city university, so this was WAY OUT of my comfort zone. 

We were signed up for the 10:30am campus informational meeting and then the 100-minute campus tour! It was a BRISK, COOL November day in Madison for a campus walk! Cassie LOVED checking out all the sights and sounds of the campus, while I was huffing and puffing, pushing Tinsae in his stroller. I always heard that the campus was REALLY spread out, but you don’t get the full affect until you EXPERIENCE it! I knew the campus was along the lake, but I didn’t really that there were so many HILLS on the campus. Cassie wasn’t offering to push the stroller up the hills, so I was pretty worn out. Grandma was a trooper and helped push the stroller, walked the entire campus tour and didn’t complain that she was FREEZING!

Overall, I (and Grandma) actually like UW Madison more than I did before the visit. Cassie REALLY likes UW Madison! Will Cassie go to college there?! Only time will tell!