What Will Happen Next?

So, in the midst of shopping, organizing and packing for our trip something has to go wrong, right? Right. Last Thursday I came home from work, expecting to make progress on checking things off the multiple lists I've been writing. So far the lists just seem to be getting longer. Anyway, I walk into the house and this is the scene that greets me:

Imagine loud noises, hammering and grunting coming from upstairs. Clearly it was Jason attempting to fix something. It was the toilet in our master bathroom. He had come home to find a minor, and I'm going to stress the word minor, leak. According to Jason all it would take to fix this minor leak would be a few twists of the screw. Okay, fine. I went to start making dinner. Moments later, clearly forgetting what happens if you break the rules of physics, Jason came running downstairs yelling, "It's broken! It's broken!" This sounded so odd to me I really had no idea what he was talking about. He quickly explained, "The leak wasn't stopping so I just kept twisting the screws and the toilet split in two." Yeah, the toilet split in two. And...scene.

So, $250.00 later, in the middle of the night, Jason installed a brand new toilet where previously stood a perfectly good toilet with a minor leak. The only bright spot on this otherwise murky horizon? He bought a toilet with a seat that goes down automatically. :)

In other news we spent the weekend doing more prep work for our trip. Isabelle continues to be a really good helper and is getting lots of practice taking care of her baby dolls.

Here she is changing "Baby Hannah's" diaper. We gave her this doll as a Christmas present three months before we decided to adopt from Ethiopia. She immediately started calling her Hannah and only later did we sign up with AGCI and start thinking about traveling to Hannah's Hope to bring Baby M. home. Is she psychic or could it be divine intervention?

Isabelle's big job this weekend was to go through all her toys and if they fit inside this toilet paper roll they were to be put in a different basket out of reach of Baby M.

My weekend project was to put together a notebook of care instructions for Isabelle. My parents will be coming up to stay with her for the week and they're going to need all the help they can get! Just kidding Mom and Dad, I'm sure you'll be fine! The notebook has all our emergency information, Isabelle's daily schedule, meal plans, activities to do in the area and lots of other things. It's a big relief to have this done!

Kindergarten tidbit of the day: As you know St. Patrick's day is upon us and we'll be cooking the traditional corned beef, Irish soda bread and mashed potatoes for dinner tomorrow night. (There might also be traditional Irish beverages involved) We've also been doing a lot of St. Patrick's day activities at school. Last week we made a book about looking for leprechauns and the children wrapped shiny green paper around toilet paper rolls to make a "leprechaun lens" to hunt for leprechauns. Well, one of my students who is clearly still trying to master his command of English began shouting, "We're hunting for lepers! We're hunting for lepers!" Oh my, what must these parents think I'm teaching their children?