Bringing Hope home

We were very blessed to meet a very special family that will be traveling in just a few short weeks to bring their precious daughter, Hope, home from China. You have to check out their blog and read about how the Lord brought this amazing little girl to their family. Hope is in an orphanage in Beijing for blind children. The orphanage founders story is also absolutely amazing! http://www.tmphillips.com/adoption/hope/

Kim (mama) is sewing the dresses below to help raise funds for their family to travel together to get their new sissy. Of course my girls NEEDED these sweet dresses :) I am so excited that they live close to us...we can't wait to meet Hope!!

Amazing Fingerprints & Portrait Jewelry

Have you ever seen a bracelet that was made with your child's fingerprints....or a charm where two of your kiddos fingerprints form a heart...how about a pendant where your babies faces are etched with raised detail?

Guess what...I have and they are WONDERFUL!!! So wonderful that I'm going to have a party so that you guys can all see these beautiful pieces and have a chance to buy them yourself. The beauty of this party is that 15% of all sales go directly to helping Christian's orphanage.

**Here's the pictures and I'll give the details of the party at the end of the pictures**

Imagine your sweet babies fingerprints on the links of this bracelet...It's BEAUTIFUL!!

The hearts are made of two fingerprint's together. Could be Daddy & Mommy's then the siblings...the possibilities are endless.

Peas in a Pod...How cute is that?!?!?!

Cheryl's beautiful children forever etched in this adorable charm.

Little Lauren's footprint and actual signature shrunk down to fit on this charm.

Okay, now that you've seen a small part of Cheryl's collection. Here's the scoop....Cheryl with CC Creations, in Murrieta, will be coming to my house on April 8 at 11:00am-??? We are doing the party in an open house style so come when you can and bring your kiddos. She will be able to take their fingerprints, etc. that day. These pieces are sterling silver...gold is available, too.

Be thinking MOTHER'S DAY...what Grandma wouldn't want her grandbabies itty-bitty fingerprints on a bracelet or pendant (Paul's buying me a fingerprint bracelet for Mother's Day...hehehe)!!! And FATHER'S DAY....how perfect would a key chain with Daddy's or Papa's kids etched in it.

But the best part is 15% of all sales from the party go straight to supplies for Christian's orphanage. Don & Michelle will be leaving very, very soon to bring him home and they will be able to buy items needed for his orphanage while in China. Cheryl has so generously offered to help and I am so blessed by her precious heart.

My Kids....Please Pray ~ part 2

I have to share a sweet story. As I was reading about the update on these kiddos (BELOW), my 2 older ones were in the room and they saw my tears and asked what was wrong. I told them and then I said, "Hey, you guys want a 6yr. old brother?" (you see, this little guy so deeply touched my heart when I first learned about him and to see he still needed his family just tore my heart...of course the 10yr. is an absolute doll but I know we could never adopt older than T). Anyways, both of them yelled, "YES!!!" And this is how the rest of the conversation went:

T: I get to go to China this time!
Tr: HEEEYYY, I get to go, too!!!
T: Nope, just me,
Tr: That's not fair, I'm going!
Mom: Wait a minute....(they would not let me get a word)
T: Wait, I bet he only speaks Chinese
Tr: Ooohh, we better hurry up and learn Chinese
Mom: Whoa...no one is going to China!!!
T: That's not fair that only you and daddy get to go
Mom: NO ONE is going to China....we need to pray for these children and ask the Lord to bring their families. but we are not going to China.

They both looked at me so disappointed. My heart was soooooo blessed that they didn't even hesitate about bringing this little one home....they were already on the plane to go get him!!! I LOVE IT!!!!

Just had to share!! PLEASE READ THE BELOW POST AND PRAY FOR THESE CHILDREN & PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THEM!!!!

PLEASE PRAY!!!!

A few months ago I was privileged to help spread the word about some precious children that needed their forever families. I was sooo excited when I heard the news that their families had found them.

Well, I just received the very sad news that 2 of the families did not meet China's qualifications and were just told they could not adopt these precious children (mind you these families had been waiting and dreaming about 'their' child for a couple months as they waited for Pre-Approval from China). I bawled as I read this news. I am asking that you guys please pray for these sweet babies and please, please pass this information to anyone that might be interested in these kiddos.

The agency that has their files believe they don't have much time to place these children. My biggest fear is that this is their last chance. A child's file is only sent 'out' so many times before they are considered un-adoptable. I can't even imagine that....oh, it just breaks my heart!

Here is some information about these sweet kids...a 10 yr. old girl and a 6 yr. old boy. I have pictures of these sweeties for those who are interested.

Girl : was abandoned on December 1997. She was born with a cleft palate and cleft lip, but she had a surgical repair for her cleft palate and lip and seems to have recovered well.

Boy : was admitted on May 2001. His DOB was estimated to be April 2001. He was diagnosed with albinism.

I have pictures of these beautful, beautiful children and more detailed information regarding them that I can share.

His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5

It's begun!!!!

I can't believe it's begun already!!!! My 6 year old daughter has turned into the fashion police. I sure thought I'd have a few more years.

I was getting dressed today and she said, "You aren't wearing that today are you?" I said, "Yes, why not?" And she said, "Because your shirt doesn't match your pants." I was absolutely floored. She then proceeded to my closet to chose a different shirt. After I told her that it wasn't kind to critique people's clothing, I shooed her out of my room and just about fell on the floor laughing. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I love taking her shopping with me because she'll honestly tell me what an outfit looks like on me.

BTW...My shirt matched just fine thank you very much...LOL!!!!

Tr. loves changing her clothes a zillion times a day and loves to accessorize. It will be interesting to see what she's like as a teenager. In the meantime, we will continue to work on sensitivity!!

"Give me a kiss"

5 Kids = too many toys

I need to know....how do you organize? What is your most favorite organizing tip? I LOVE to organize and be organized but I feel like I'm peddling backwards these days. I need new, fresh ideas on how to control the clutter.

I am commonly called the toy nazi by my friends because I do limit the amount of toys our kiddos can have. They joke about having me come over and clean out their kids toys so I'm the bad guy and not them :) It's not because I'm anti-toys, it's called SURVIVAL!

5 kids equals more toys than I could have ever dreamed of!! Here's an example from Christmas...our 3 girls ended up with 4 baby dolls EACH...that's 12, yes...TWELVE baby dolls. That doesn't count the one's they already had. Should I even talk about how many legos and matchbox cars we have/had?!?!?

So, in an attempt to get some control of the toys, I have moved all of the toys to the garage and organized them in totes (like I always have). The kids can bring in one tote at a time...when they are done playing with it, it has to go back to the garage. We started this a year ago with movies and board games and it has worked beautifully. Now to see if it will work with their toys.

I love the idea that if something comes in, something must go out. So, if the kids are given 5 books then we need to find 5 books they no longer read and donate them. We did this right after Christmas and it was great! The kids were actually okay with it, too :) How many barbies and stuffed toys can a child play with anyways?

I want my kids to appreciate what they have and be content with what they have. We live in a city (actually, country) that is very blessed. It's so easy to take that for granted...to always want more and feel like there is always more we need. I want to live a content life!!

Sooooo, I need your help...give me your best ideas!!!!

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 1 Timothy 6:6-8

I am only one

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
- Edward Everett Hale

So simple, yet so profound. We often think that we can not do great things because we are just one voice. But when your voice is guided by the Lord, HE can do mighty, great things through your one voice!!! What is the Lord calling you to do?

I can do ALL things through Christ who stengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

Junk Posse Adoption Jewelry

I am so very excited to share with you, Tracy, with Junk Posse Jewelry. She has an amazing gift for making special jewelry. I first found out about her through a friend, Erica, who was adopting from Ethiopia. She had posted a picture of the sweetest necklace that I've ever seen...it was in the shape of Ethiopia and had a precious heart cut-out of it. I loved it so much that I contacted Tracy about making me a necklace that represented our miracles.

I was excited to find out that she, too, was an adoptive mother and is anxiously awaiting the arrival of a grandchild from Ethiopia. Her daughter and son-in-law are adopting from Ethiopia and the sale of the necklace's are going towards their adoption expenses. Anyways, I discovered that she was working on pieces for China, Guatemala, USA, and general adoption pieces. Her and I worked together on a custom piece that would perfectly represent our miracles from the US and China.

I received my necklace on Friday and have worn it since (btw: it is made of silver). I LOVE IT!!!! It's absolutely beautiful and soooo unique!!! I am so blown away with how beautiful it is. Take a peek..........

She has a very precious, generous heart towards families adopting. Please go and check out her site and see all the wonderful items she has listed. She has selected a family for each country she makes items for and is giving a portion of the sales to help with that family's adoption expenses. Feel free to contact her about making a custom piece for you...she has amazing ideas!!! Make sure you check out her other items by using this link: http://www.etsy.com//shop.php?user_id=5208670

Our Miracles!!

Thought it would be fun to post some pictures of the miracles in my life!! It's absolutely amazing how fast they grow up!!