ethiHOPEia » Photos

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 03:18:13 +0000

The past several months of j’s hard work is beginning to flourish. The tomatoes are tall, very tall; the squash and zuccini he purchased as seeds from Baker Creek have been delicious, even if they are a bit strange to look at! c has had the greatest fun picking black berries and we’ve already had two cobblers from his diligent work.

It is a Worm Poop Kinda Day

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:53:29 +0000

Here in our little neck of the woods worm poop has been a hot topic. And it needs to be if we’re gonna turn this red clay soil into something that will be a thriving place for our summer food. Our stomachs are depending on it afterall!

We’ve got some beautiful places popping up here and there in our yard. I got this library book out and while we didn’t use any of the garden ideas in it, it sparked some creativity in j’s garden planning. If you have some space and some children you want to introduce to gardening, this book may be a nice addition to your library.

What are those poky green stalks you ask? Oh, that is is our brocolli. Before the squirrells got ahold of it. Who knew. I guess we need to plant some oak trees while we are at it…

The kids have been helping j make this spot and they have been loving it. We switched from animals to plants in science just as we started planting our seeds indoors.

I can’t get enough of little h’s backwards shoes. It won’t be long till she’ll get it right everytime. I resisted the urge to correct her because it is just so darn cute! And the tongue? I couldn’t resist that either.

Our little outdoorsman finds great joy in the simple things-”the tag garden” is one of his newest.

If you’re in the area-give a shout out and we’ll hook you up with some worm poop. Just what you wanted, right?

We’ve Got Snow!!!

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 03:28:15 +0000

We woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland yesterday! I heard reports of snow from the weather man but didn’t put any stock into what he said…and then was shocked to see a good solid 8-10 inches! It is certainly the most snow I have seen in seven and a half years here in the Upstate of South Carolina.

I have loved looking out the window and seeing the snow covered trees for the last two days. The birds have been swarming our feeder and I’ve refilled it twice this week! We see cardinals, chick-a-dees in abundance, titmouse, and gold finches most often. There are several brown birds that stay on the ground below the feeder that I haven’t identified yet.

The boys, notice I say, “the boys” have been outdoors sledding with the neighbors and Daddy helped them build a snow igloo. Or as e would say, “egg-globe”. Little h doesn’t like the cold, she must have inherited that gene from her Mommy! haha.

I also learned a whole new tradition that I am convinced MUST be southern. I’ve talked to a few good ol’ notherners and none of us grew up with “snow cream”. Perhaps I am wrong and I just was deprived as a child but we made some snow cream yesterday for the first time. Basically I mixed up 1/4 cup honey, 1/2 cup half and half, 1/2 tablespoon vanilla and stirred it till it was uniform. Then we added in around three cups of fresh, clean snow (not the yellow kind) and stirred till it was a good consistancy. I must admit they are on to something…it was good!

So we haven’t left our little home for two days and I expect everything will look the same tomorrow. We’ve been spending the evenings down in the den by the fireplace, soaking up the heat. We actually had to block off our sunroom totally because it was sucking all the warmth out of the main house. Heat pumps do NOT do well in this weather! *sigh* I think we’ve been running on emergency heat for the last few days!

Enjoy the fun!

Birthday Photo Shoot

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 02:27:48 +0000

For my birthday, my amazing husband took some photos of us in our woods. Isn’t he a great photographer? Actually c took the ones of j and me. Maybe we have a budding photographer on our hands?

Enjoy.

The Syphon Project

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:23:18 +0000

Here’s a little video J did with his friend. Yes, we might like coffee a little much…

nah. Enjoy.

The Syphon Project from Jacob Forrest on Vimeo.

A close-up look into the process of the coffee syphon.
@sprobro
@j4studios
@coffeecrema

5D MkII
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

Thoughts on the Kiddos

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:45:31 +0000

We have wrapped up a year and a half since e and little h joined our family! They truely bring much to our little family, lots of joys and smiles. Little h has the biggest smile and tends to be a happy toddler. She is now speaking very well (for a toddler!) and tries to interact verbally as much as she can. We’ve been working on things like puzzles, which she loves and coloring. Little h seems to enjoy singing and music like her older brother, e. She is not as interested in outdoor activities unless it involves her sandbox!
E has the most handsome smile and it lights up his whole face. His eyes brighten up so much when he is laughing and smiling. I think we still have some communication issues with things we tend to take for granted him knowing. When he came he caught on so quickly to english that I think we forget there is much he still doesn’t know. Just now he will ask us the meaning of a word we use if he doesn’t understand the meaning. He speaks of Ethiopia quite often at times, although I feel most of his talk comes from listening to his older brother talk about the adoption. He seems curious at times about his life before he came into our family, but I feel like he doesn’t really remember much of it at all. For sure he has forgotten Ahmaric. When we come across Ethiopians and they speak to him he thinks they are speaking “gibberish”. There was apparently trauma with dogs or dog like animals because for much of our last year and a half he has been greatly scared of them. It has only been a recent occurance that he is calm around them if he has been prepped to being near them beforehand. E loves to ride his bike and play legos or make forts out of cusions with his siblings.
C is now learning to be big brother and he takes on the role quite well. In fact, he loves to give orders to his siblings to prove his seniority! He loves the outdoors and could spend loads of time looking for bugs or working on gardens or any outdoor projects. He also loves legos and building things. Just now he is starting to enjoy coloring and drawing.
Click on the images for a full size version!

Mothers Day

Mon, 10 May 2010 02:38:40 +0000

j made mother’s day quite delightful as he literally slaved away in the kitchen for most of it. He made a spectacular dinner of london broil, smoothered in rosemary and some of the best mashed potatoes ever. I seriously could have eaten a plate of the potatoes and been 100% satisfied! He is big on the avocado right now, and so we had some in a nice salad with homemade dressing. To top it off, he made an amazing cake, yes, from scratch! This little number was on the cover of the December issue of Southern Living and he has drooled over it since. I looked at how long it would take to make and saw the 6-7 hour time-frame and decided that I’d let better women than I tackle that one. I must say, he was busy for most of the night and day today making it. I think he deserves a huge blue ribbon for what he pulled off! Thanks Babe!

It’s been pure joy having these three children all together this past year. The ups and downs have come and continue yet…and I pray my Maker is making me into a better Mom for it. It was a sweet day indeed.

Soccer

Thu, 06 May 2010 03:17:02 +0000

C has recently started playing a 5-year+ soccer league. One could hardly call it a league, I suppose, but it’s great for us. There are 2 games a week for one month. So far, he has had a lot of fun, and it will be great for him to learn team work and following the directions of the coach/refs.

The first game was rainy, which made it all the more fun. And an extremely abnormal trip to DQ (we’re not health nuts, but DQ is definitely not on our radar) sealed the deal. I told him I’d get him whatever he wanted, and just like his old man, he got a full-blown banana split. Good work, son.

Here are a few photos (look for #1 – he was given that number, seriously)

One Year Video

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:28:48 +0000

OK, so we’re a few days late. And the video ended up being almost 20 minutes long. And it’s over 100 Mb.

So, if you don’t make it through, we understand. And if you’re on a slow connection, all apologies. But here it is. The past year in a nutshell. And, at the beginning and end, some back-story, making it 3+ years in 18+ minutes. Not bad.

Hope you enjoy.

P.S. It’s Canaan, I know. It’s 2:26 AM, and I do not want to export this thing yet again. Maybe tomorrow.

UPDATE: A few subtitles added to explain a few photos. Canaan now spelled properly.

Thanks to all our viewers out there. Your kind words are much appreciated.