My Thieving Rascal

“Buddy!” I exclaimed. “What do you think you are doing?”

My wonderful chef of a mother had just baked homemade granola bars and had brought some to Miss Bookworm, Buddy and I as we labored over our studies. Once again Buddy had tried to take the rest of my bar after his was gone. Guiltily running across the room, Buddy stood head down awaiting what was sure to come. Fortunately for him, a slight diversion aroused Miss Bookworm's attention.

“No! Sodo! No! Ed Look!” she cried.

Turning around I saw in a flash that my prized possession, which moments before had almost been taken from me by Buddy was now being stolen again. The naughty rascal was merrily chomping away when I reached in the slobbery dungeon to grab the now spoiled loot. Trying not to laugh, we dealt with the thief. Buddy was a great accomplice in the theft.

(Editor's Note: Please welcome Ed as a new author on this blog!)

Mixed Up About Mixed Vegetables

"Hey Mom, can I eat this for lunch today? I was standing in the kitchen, holding what appeared to me to be a can of vegetable soup.

"Vegetables?" Mom queried. "What else?"

I, in my disconnected state took this to mean that I needed some vegetables in my lunch.

"It's vegetable soup," I replied. "It has vegetables."

Mom proceeded to stare at me in the way that informs me that it is time for me to engage my brain. I busted up laughing. What I held in my hands was not a can of vegetable soup, as I had presumed, but a can of mixed vegetables. What a riot.

(Editor's Note: Please welcome Miss Bookworm as a new author on this blog!)

A Scare

by Miss Bookworm
July 4, 2008

(Editor's Note: This is a piece of writing that Miss Bookworm wrote about when she was at a week long camp a few weeks back.)

It was about 10 or 11 o’clock at night. Our cabin was hanging out at the Pop Shop, having a good time, when our counselor called us over. Our normally cheerful and joking counselor was now grave, and she was holding a note in her hand. She said that she had received it after supper. It said to go down to the front of the dining hall. She also told us that it said “NO TALKING” in all caps. That kinda scared me. As we walked down the beaten trail around the lake to the dining hall, the dark night and looming trees set my unsure mood. When we got to the dining hall, we sat down on the porch over the lake. As we were sitting down, someone whispered in my ear that we weren’t in trouble at all, but I didn’t believe her. Why would she know and no one else? I might have believed it slightly at first, but as time wore on, I was more and more certain that it wasn’t true. My counselor told us to sit quietly until someone came. Then she told us that she thought Chuck was going to handle this, but he was busy, so Hannah, the nurse, was going to instead. I was now thoroughly freaked out. Chuck was one of the camp leaders. If he was supposed to talk to us, something really must be wrong.

When Hannah came, she sat down and said something very bad had happened. She said that someone had gotten seriously injured at swimming time, and that someone in our cabin had hurt her, but the person didn’t know who it was. It was incredibly serious and they were going to write a report about it. She pulled out an important-looking notebook as she said this. Hannah said that whoever did this should come forward - “you know who you are.” I raced frantically through my memory for what we did at swimming time. Surely I hadn’t hurt anyone seriously!! Then Hannah said “Well, if no one will come forward, we could just go inside and have a pizza party.” At first I was sure she was kidding. Then I realized it was no joke; I had been fooled. I was extremely relieved that we weren’t in trouble. The girl who had told me we weren’t in trouble had been right!! Her mom had sent in money for a pizza party for the whole cabin. I was so glad as we stepped into the light of the dining room to feast. We had a great time that night and we got very hyper as our emotions swung from worry and stress to the excitement of having a pizza party. I promise you, they’ll give you gray hair at that camp.

A Journal Entry

(Editor’s note: Here is a journal entry from Miss Bookworm. She wrote it while we were in Ethiopia and another family with seven kids was at our house watching our six kids.)

Things around here have been hectic. But it’s been fun, too. We have had lots of music and dancing and singing.

I also think that we’re going to try to talk to my parents and Anna today in Ethiopia. Anna is so cute; I can’t wait for all of them to come home.

I really would like to go to Ethiopia and see how they live, and try to help. I like how they use their resources and admire how they are strong and not idle. I think it would be fun to learn their language and to be able to communicate with them with their own language. I wish to let them know that God loves them, and that they do have a purpose in their life on earth.

What has really set me off about this is the Ugandan Children’s Choir. I saw their faces and realized how much they loved God. I also saw that they wanted others to share their joy of having Jesus in their heart and lives.

It’s amazing how active they were on stage. They were a ball of energy, dancing and singing. As I stared at them I wished I could be up there with them, I wished I could know them. They were so eager to share their joy with others; it was amazing.

Family Love

(Note: In the post Telling the Kids I mentioned Miss Bookworm reading a journal entry to the family. Here is that entry.)

We used to have a cat named Smokey who was a bit too feisty so we had to take him to the Humane Society. Some time later, we found two cats from the same litter that a person couldn’t keep. A few days later, Cocoa and Patches were a part of our family.

Their colors were very different. Cocoa was brown with dark stripes and Patches was Calico with patches of orange, black, and white. Patches was a jumper, pretty light weight, while Cocoa was a little heavy and lazy.

We found out a few months later that they fought just like brothers and sisters. We think Cocoa starts it. They start batting each other then become a blur of fur until Patches breaks away and Cocoa streaks after her. Patches ends the fight by gaining higher ground – Cocoa usually doesn’t follow her.

It is the same with us kids. Someone starts a fight and they start “batting” – hurling insults back and forth until one person breaks away and gains “higher ground.” Higher ground is tattling to mom or dad.

But sometimes with Cocoa and Patches, Cocoa starts licking Patches, just like sometimes the kids are nice.

Cold Day by Miss Bookworm

Cold Day
by Miss Bookworm

On a cold day-
it's a bold day-
when you're huddled up inside,
you feel the drawn-out power of
a good book in a land far away.
It grabs you and swirls you to your destiny,
while outside the winds howl fierce.
But you don't feel it, 'cause you're far away,
fighting powerful dragons
or exploring a cave-
never knowing, never caring, never giving a thought
to the winds though they blow fierce
nor the snow as it swirls around
trying ever so hard to get your attention,
but not you- no, 'cause you're safe and sound
now rescuing your princess, or finding a fortune
now drifting so gently, so gently, to sleep.

Kids Writing About Adoption

We had the opportunity to have a "writer's workshop" on adoption today since school was cancelled. Miss Bookworm's writing is in the previous post. Here are what the others had to say.



What Little Foot had to say.



I am going to Ethiopia and I bet we will have a good time there. I can see Ethiopia right now. They have dirt roads. They have fresh grass, but a little of it is dead. Some people are weak and some people are healthy.

(Editor's Note: The square in the picture above represents "all of Ethiopia" and the brown is a dirt road.)

What Buddy had to say.



When I think about adopting, I think about the kids. It might be hard to know when they have to go to the bathroom. They are probably going to be amazed at how much food we have. It will be about a month for them to learn our language. They will be scared because they don't know us in person.

What ED had to say.

Excited About Adopting!

I am excited about adopting because it will be cool to have two Ethiopian children in our household. They are really cute. I am also a little nervous because I don't know how to act around them. It will be hard getting used to having them around and communicating with them. Our family is so different. "We are marching to the beat of a different drummer."

F.G.'s Diary

(Editor's note: Our oldest daughter wrote a fictional diary today from the perspective of F.G.)

F.G.'S DIARY
by Miss Bookworm

January 14, 2006

It is about 2:00 p.m. I am waiting to be interviewed by a person from America. I am being interviewed so people in America can see if they want to adopt me. I am up next. The person asks me to sing a song, to count, say my name, and say "Hello America!" Then she gave me a stuffed animal. Now it is time to go home. I live with my parents and my older sisters. I hope I can be adopted!

July 2, 2006

Today I found out I am being adopted! I am so excited! I am also very sad. This means that I will have to leave my parents and sisters. But I am also very lucky. Not everybody gets to be adopted and I will be in a better place. Some Americans called the Meyers are adopting me. They sound so nice and yet I really don't want to leave my family especially since both my parents are very sick, but I guess it's for the best. All the same, I can't wait to meet the Meyers!

August 4, 2006

I went back to the person from America today. The Meyers have sent me a bag of stuff. They sent me a shirt, markers and a notebook, bubble gum, a doll, and a photo album with pictures of the family, the house, and another Ethiopian boy! One picture of the house had white stuff on it. The lady told me that the white stuff was called snow. The Ethiopian boy's name is K.D. He is going to be my new brother also! I got to meet him today! He got a bag full of stuff too. This is a day I will never forget!

January 21, 2007

Some people came to my house today and took me to an orphanage which was in the capital city and was a whole day's drive. I think they moved K.D. to the orphanage too but I haven't seen him yet. I am going to miss my family very much. I wonder if K.D. has any family living still. I think he has to have at least one person because he was living in a house but it could have just been a neighbor. I wonder what American food tastes like.

January 27, 2007

Now I know that K.D. is here. I've seen him a couple of times. The food here is pretty good but there's nothing like homemade injera and doro wat. In the rooms we stay in there are beds and chairs and a table even though we eat our meals in a big room. There are about five kids to a room. There's a boy section and a girl section. The people in the orphanage are very nice to us but I still miss my family. I'm glad K.D. is here. At least I have one family member here and a very kind and considerate one at that!

February 13, 2007

My new parents are coming in a week! My new American siblings are staying at home until my new parents come back with K.D. and me. I wonder who they are staying with while my new parents come to get us. I am so excited and sad. It feels like my emotions are playing a long game of tug-o-war in my heart. I can't wait until they get here!

February 20, 2007

My new parents came to the orphanage today! They got K.D. and me and took us to a missionary home. We are going to leave in about five days. Then I will get to see my new brothers and sisters. All the same, I am glad K.D. is here. I am glad I can talk in my own language to him. I learned that he has a dad who is still alive but is sick like my mom. My dad died about six months ago. At this point, I think excitement is beating sadness in tug-o-war. I am so happy!

February 25, 2007

Right now we are on a plane headed to Ohio which is where the Meyers live. The plane is so high up! It is very pretty up here. I have never been on a plane before. It is a long trip and I am getting bored. I think K.D. is too. My new parents brought lots of coats because they said it was really cold in Ohio right now. We are only a half an hour away and I feel like dancing! I am getting hyper. Watch out Mom and Dad here I come!

Afternoon

We have finally arrived! We are at our new home. Man this place is huge! Some old people are here. I guess that's who was taking care of our new siblings who are, at the moment, crowding around us. I can see they are almost as excited as we are if not as excited! The old people are excited too. I learn that the old people are our new grandparents. I have never seen anybody so old! Almost everybody in Ethiopia dies before they get this old. I am so happy that we have finally arrived!

March 5, 2007

Mom and Dad are going to home school us for a while so we can learn the language and stuff like that. I think this is going to be fun!

March 11, 2007

Home school is going well. But the exciting thing is that today we went to the store! Never in my life have I seen so much food and clothes! I think I am going to like it here in America!