Monday Minte-isms and Menu

I hope you had a joyous Easter weekend! We sure did. By God's grace, it was just the weekend we needed it to be. We started it off Friday night with a wonderful Passover Seder meal with our Bible fellowship class, had a worshipful time at our church's service and then a relaxing time at home on Sunday. We very much needed some time at home, and God granted it to us yesterday. I feel renewed and refreshed and ready to take on the week! Here is a photo of my precious children in front of the sea of flowers on the stage at our church this weekend. (You can click the photo to make it bigger.) I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that Minte is with us this year. Last year at this point we were still on our journey to adopt a little baby girl, so this photo is a reminder of God's direction and His perfect will! (In case you are unfamiliar with our adoption story, or would like to learn more, click on the "our adoption" button in the sidebar. To read about how our journey to a baby girl led us to a 10 year old boy click on "a little background" below the picture.)

Minte (MIN-tay), our 10 year old Ethiopian son, has now been with us about 7 months. It has been such a fun journey so far! One of the most interesting and daily-evolving things has been his English language acquisition. I never knew it would be so fascinating (and funny!) to live with an English language learner! Fascinating because he is learning English at such a surprisingly fast pace. What a testimony to the intricate human mind, and to our great God who fashioned it so. Funny because, well, it just is. Transitioning an older, hurting, grieving child into the family can be hard some days. So, God sprinkles it with humor in various forms to cover more of it with joy and laughter. So, I thought I'd start off this Monday sharing a few "Minte-isms."

Here is how you should read them with the "proper" accent:

~All "r's" are rolled (I simply love this. It makes even the most ordinary word fun!)

~"a" sounds are pronounced "ah", so words like "asphalt" (what he calls the street) sound really cool. I think that word is the same in Amharic.

~short "i" is pronounced "ee" as in "beeg". "Mommy beeg lahves buna" was one of his first sentences to me. (Mommy big loves coffee. He figured me out right away. Of course, I was jet-lagged.)

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"Again heart my peenie!" = an exclamation after about the 5th time he stubbed his pinkie toe one day

"Men-eh-nems" = M & M's

"Big crap" = pick it up. Seriously, that's how he pronounces it. It cracks me up too much to correct him.

"Off it" = turn off the TV or light, or delete a picture from the camera

"I'm a-stinking" = I'm thinking. Another variation is "Are you a-stinking what I'm a-stinking?"

"Little bit no loud please." = turn down the volume on the TV or radio

"hiney" = honey

"lift" = leaf

"lift" = elevator

"lift" = escalator

"upstairs" = anything on top of anything else

"downstairs" = anything underneath anything else

"tim-ah-tim" = tomato

"Come on!" = Could you please come here a moment, I require assistance.

"peejah mah" = pajamas

"off-side" = outside

"What eez zas my name?" = what is this called? For example: "Spider house what eez my name?" - his reading sheet had a picture of a web on it and he didn't know what it was called.

"Longa or short day?" = Is it cold or hot today, do I wear shorts or pants?

"Whatzat mean-say?" = What does that mean?

"Zees one" = this one

"Zas way" = that way

"heart" = hot or hurt, depending on the context. For example, "Ees really heart!" requires investigation...

"bucket" = pocket

"han" = hair or hand, depending on the context

"I have a cushion" = I have a question

"Cushion me zis" = answer this for me

"power" (often pronounced "powah") = gas, of the intestinal variety

"Powah ees cahming!!" means, well... get ready.

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There are many, many more. I hope I can remember more, because it's been non-stop for 7 months, and he comes up with new pronunciations and words daily. I love it!!!



Now, here's what's cooking at our house this week:

Monday: BBQ brisket, mashed potatoes, grean beans, wheat rolls
Tuesday: Roast Chicken Chimichangas, black beans, corn casserole
Wednesday: Honey Pecan Pork Chops, baked potatoes, peas, corn on the cob
Thursday: YOYO (You're on you're own... leftovers)
Friday: Avocado Soup with Chicken and Lime

I'm not making anything Ethiopian for dinner this week, but I made some Ethiopian Lentils over the weekend, and I'm pretty sure we'll be whipping up some spicy pasta for lunch one day. He beeg loved the African Chicken I made last week, even though that's a primarily west African dish.

For more menus, to post your own, or to get a helpful menu-planning template, visit Laura. I hope you have a great week!