The Good, the bad, our new friends, and the Great Stinson Mystery!!

Chandra and the kids have officially been home for 1 week, and life has been interesting. We have had many firsts for the fource from water bottles to door knobs to water fountains. One of the funnest times at our house is bath time. Lee Atnafu and Orin Mihretu, the 5 and 6 year old boys, are like greased pigs in the tub. In fact Worth and Jeremiah have asked us after their bath, "Can we watch them bathe?" And I have to admit it is well worth the time. They giggle, roll over and talk almost non-stop in what I believe is a lanaguage, although I can't understand. They splash around to the point that the entire floor is wet. We might be a little more lax with their splashing because they have so much fun with it, but shhh don't tell anyone. New words have become a fixture in our house. Conjo Amharic for good, Yalem Amharic for no. Worth and Jeremiah are even understanding them and may become fluent in Amharic, if anyone needs an interpreter. There have been some truly dark times. Monday of last week when the reality of organizing a house of 10 kids occurred, there was a time of weeping. This weeping has occurred approximately once per day for other random reasons. The darkest time was getting shots for the oldest. We spoke and acted with Levi Ashenafi, age 9, about everything in advance, and he understood; we could tell. From his records he had 3 shots previously in June. Everything went well until they actually brought the needles into the room. He lost it. I held him down while the nurses gave him 4 shots in the leg. We sat in the room for 45-60 minutes afterwards with him voicing his disatisfaction in more of a wail than a cry. He wouldn't let me hold him. He hid behind the table in a fetal position. When I finally decided we needed to go, Emmaline led the 3 others out while I bear hugged Levi and carried him out of the clinic, which was the back way. It wasn't the shots that bothered him, that pain was gone within a few minutes. It was me forcing him to do it. He calmed down by the time we got home. This is the response of a child who has endured great loss. We have adopted new friends, but not the kind you want. Wednesday night while Emmaline was braiding Evelyn Shega's hair we discovered a bug, not the type you pick out and wash away. The type that keeps on giving, LICE. By 1:30 in the morning we had all of the boy's hair shaved, Shega's hair trimmed, and all the blonde head's treated. In case you run into this problem I don't recommend attempting to get 12 boxes of Rid from 1 store. They don't keep that much in stock. The next day was spent sterilizing the house as well as bagging up all of the miscellaneous stuffed animals, blankets etc. Greater than 20 trash bags in all. This is a title we never desired, but have acquired-- Defeator's of Lice. The joy is we get to treat everyone's hair again on Wednesday... sooooo looking forward to it. AND...The Great Stinson mystery is underway. Each day I have walked into a random room and felt hot- thinking, "Am I having hot flashes or is the AC not working?" At the thermostat I find it set on heat or emergency heat. I'm sure there is a little finger pushing buttons but it is a mystery. No one has seen who is pushing the buttons but it continues to occur. So either there is a cold ghost in the house or we have a sneaky button pusher. We will see what time reveals. Overall, God has been good. Looking back the week had many firsts, moments of jubilation, new words, crying spells from the adults, and scary moments. But with all of that we have been sustained by God's grace and His calling.