Off to Grade 3 - sniff sniff...

Can you believe it - my little Mekonnon is at his first day of Grade 3! He was soo excited to go this morning...I tried to convince him to let me go with him...but he was not having any of that!! I am glad that he is soo excited for school...but am sad as I will miss him during the day! He is growing up too fast!



(Ok 3 posts in one day..that is a record for me!)

Just like my Big Brother

Tenaye always wants to do whatever Mekonnen is doing and always repeats what ever he says....she wants to be just like him. Most times it is humorous but Mekonnen is learning to handle it when it is more annoying :)

Anyway here is a cute picture - Mekonnen was playing ball with Dad in the backyard...Tenaye decided to join in!

Behanu Medaya

I would like to introduce to you Benhanu Medaya - this is the boy in Ethiopia that Mekonnen is sponsoring for a year.

For Mekonnen's 8th birthday he decided to ask for donations to help kids in Ethiopia, instead of presents. He collected donations from his friends and family and raised $360 - enough to sponsor a child in Ethiopia for one year.

This is Behanu Medaya - an 8 year old boy in Ethiopia. We received a little information about Behanu. He is very personable who will be attending Kindergarten this fall. He lives with his Mother, a single parent, and one brother.


The Money Mekonnen donated will provide Berhanu with a safe place for him and his family to live, a daily meal, enrollment in school with Tuition, uniforms, shoes and school supplies. After school he attends the Youth Centre where he will recieve a meal, remedial Education, life skills training, counseling and medical attention. In addition they also have the opportunity to explore their talents and abilities through membership in one of the child run clubs at the Kid's Hope Center such as the Music club, child's rights club, or the gymnastics club.

Mekonnen will be able to correspond with Berhanu.

Upon getting the information Mekonnen first realized that Berhanu was the same age as he is. Then he realized that it said the he was going into Kindergarten (Mekonnen is going into grade 3). Because of Mekonnen's sponsorship Berhanu will get to go to school for the first time ever! Mekonnen quickly realized this and said - "Mom, I am going to do this for my birthday next year too, so he can go to grade 1 and grade 2 etc."

What a hudge difference Mekonnen is making in the life of one boy in Ethiopia - all for the small sacrifice of no birthday presents! We are very blessed and fortunate here in Canada. If you feel that you could give $30.00 a month to sponsor a child in Ethiopia (or elsewhere) it is amazing the difference that we can make in their lives. If you want more information - Mekonnen's is sponsoring Berhanu through an organization called CHOIR (Canadian Humanitarian Organization for International Relief) http://www.canadianhumanitarian.com

There are others like Compassion, World Vision - but this particualr Organization is near and dear to our hearts because it is a sister organization to Cafac - the agency that helped us bring Mekonnen and Tenaye home.

If you are moved by Mekonnen's efforts to sponsor a child, and decide to sponsor a child yourself - please leave me a comment here to let him know - it would be great for him to see how his individual efforts can effect positive change!

HP Photosmart printer to be won

Yes - they are giving one away..check it out here
http://www.5minutesformom.com/2203/photosmart/

I know...way too long since my last post!

Its been a bit of a crazy zoo around here...leave for camping, come home for 2 days unpack, do laundry, repack and off we go again..that is what the whole summer felt like...but it was all good!

Anyway here are a few pics from the summer and around the house here for your enjoyment!

A Close Up!



Tenaye's hair is growing!! Tenaye with BIG hair!



Tenaye Sporting Mekonnen's skateboarding gear.





The Boys working in the Garage!



Mekonnen doing his favorite thing...anything sports related!



Tenaye in her new BIG Big Girl Bed...with her trusted Pal Bandit! (There's a story here I'll tell it after the picture).

So when it was really hot here, for a few days, we all slept in the basement - Tenaye on this extra single bed that was down there. Bandit slept with her the whole time - I think because he realized he got more room with her than with anyone else! Anyway, now for the rest of the summer Tenaye would ONLY sleep 'downdairs' for her naps and at night. So the other night we decided to bring the bigger bed up to her room in hopes of getting her to actually sleep in her own room. Bandit was all out of sorts and just sort of sat in the middle of her room...wondering 'where am I going to sleep now". So the first night - off to bed she goes...and we are back to her getting up every 30 seconds! This, fortunately only lasted about 10 minutes before she gave in and fell asleep. So the next night (last night) she asked if she could keep her bedroom door open - we have always closed it - so we did. Bandit was happy he could now sleep with her, and she was happy and never got up once!! GO figure!

This is what happens when I let Bill dress Tenaye!


This is what happens when Bill tries to FIX what Tenaye is wearing!


Face Painting at the Cafac BBQ...Tenaye watched kids for over an hour - before she decided what she wanted.


Tenaye watching and wondering...hmmm what will Mekonnen get???


SPIDERMAN!! Was there ever any doubt! (In case you forgot that is what he got last year, and every single time he has ever gotten his face painted!)


The Spiderman Boys! Mekonnen with his friend Dawite


Playing together nicely ....(sometimes this happens..although about 5 mins after this pic was taken ....it wasn't so nicely :) )


Hopefully ALL these pics make up for the lack of posts over the summer!