Zach's First Dance...

Tonight Zach is going to his first school dance. It's called 'The Swirl'. He's going solo and meeting up some friends. Isn't he so handsome? Look at my boy!

Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group!

Good Morning Everyone! Today is the launch day for the Starfish Foster Home Supply Raiser! If you would like to help, please contact me at timnkim@gmail.com or leave a comment with your e-mail address so that I can contact you.
All supplies will be sent to Amanda, who is woman in China who started her own foster home to help China's most fragile special needs babies who may not survive in a traditional orphanage. Her orphanage is what we would consider a mid-sized apartment and she has up to 15 children living there at a time.
She raises money on her own through LWB to pay for their lifesaving surgeries and goes with them to provide the love and support that they need to survive the procedures. She loves and cares for them as she prepares them to be available for adoption.
If you join in, please put the graphic on the upper left hand corner onto your blog sidebar to show your support. Also, please feel free to do a post to help the cause, I would really appreciate it.
If you would like to send a note for Amanda and the children, I think that would be wonderful and if you want to make a donation for the postage you can, but it is not expected. We are willing to cover the cost of shipping.

Starfish Supply Raiser...

Starfish Foster Home is always in need of small-item donations! Some things are just difficult to get in China. At the moment, we need the following items. Due to import regulations, it is better to receive new items.

1. Long sleeved onesies or body suits from 0-3to 2T. We need some for next year
2. Winter sleepers, the ones with covered feet from about 6-9 months to 3T.
3. Any summer clothes, Preemie to 2T.
4. Summer shoes from 0 to 6 children's.
5. Vick's Baby rub
6. Infant Motrin and Tylenol
7. Gripe Water from Amazon.com
8. Pelican plastic bibs
9. Baby sunscreen
10. Plastic backed changing table covers
11. Plastic backed bibs
12. Playtex Bottles (the ones with the bags in them)
13. Playtex nipples (the have four different kinds some of each will do)

If you would like to help the Starfish Foster Home by supplying any of these items or any other items for small children, please leave a comment or e-mail me at timnkim@gmail.com
I will be collecting the items throughout the month of February and then mailing them to Starfish at the end of the month.

If you are not familiar with Amanda or the Starfish Foster Home in China, please visit their blog at 'Chinese Starfish'.

THANK YOU SO MUCH VERNA FOR ALL OF THE AMAZING SUPPLY RAISER GRAPHICS!

Half The Sky is asking for Help...Please Do What you Can...

Thank you for bringing this to my attention Jennifer.

*I just had a Secret Buddy e-mail and ask me what I thought about her making a donation to Half the Sky this month in the name of her person. I think that would be amazing. My Secret Buddy has done that for me in the past. I felt wonderful about it.

Dear friends,

Greetings from Beijing. Every year at this time we send you a note
celebrating and welcoming the Lunar New Year. This year, the Year of the
Mouse, promises prosperity (we hope!) and good fortune and there should be
plenty to celebrate.

But in these days leading up to the holiday the weather has dealt China a
heavy blow. You’ve probably heard about the millions of workers stranded
all over the country, struggling to return home to their families for the
Spring Festival Holiday. But I don’t know if you know how rough these
days are for our children in welfare institutions, who, of course, have no
families to go home to. You won’t read about them in the news.

Despite power outages and downed phone lines, our Beijing staff has been
reaching out to all Half the Sky orphanages by whatever means possible.
We’ve reached all but five. In some places, conditions are pretty grim.
We’ve managed to get word to all of our sites that we are going to do
whatever it takes to get the children the help they need. I am asking for
your help.

Today Half the Sky launches the “Little Mouse Emergency Fund” to help the
institutions purchase what they need to get through this disaster. If
there are funds left over when the weather clears and services are
restored, we will take the balance and help each site establish a store of
emergency provisions so that this never happens again.

You can give to the Little Mouse Emergency Fund by clicking “Donate Now”
on our website. Please note in the “Special Instructions to Half the Sky”
that your gift is for the Little Mouse Emergency Fund.

I am trying to get on an airplane right now (even airports are crazy!) but
I will write more details about the needs and conditions in individual
orphanages as I fly. Will send more just as soon as I can. I'd be very
grateful if you'd forward this message to others who you think might care
about the children.

Please be safe and warm and well….

Love and thanks,
Jenny

Jenny Bowen
Executive Director
Half the Sky Foundation
www.halfthesky.org

Half the Sky was created in order to enrich the lives and enhance the prospects
for orphaned children in China. We establish and operate infant nurture and
preschool programs, provide personalized learning for older children and
establish loving permanent family care and guidance for children with
disabilities. It is our goal to ensure that every orphaned child has a caring
adult in h er life and a chance at a bright future.


Want to receive our free Half the Sky newsletter, full of stories and photos,
via regular mail? Just go to our website www.halfthesky.org and click on "Join
our Mailing List."

Mother Meets Child...A Heartwrenching Account.

I have been having an incredible experience this week and I can't keep it to myself. Do yourself an amazing favor and read Lynn's day by day account of what is happening to her right now in China as she is creating a relationship with her daughter Olivia. Start at the very first post and do not stop. Grab a box of kleenex. Lynn's ability to put the emotions into writing is just so amazing. Every night I have to read her latest post. I know that one day I will be in her shoes . One day I will be with my Sophia and will face this transition with her. I am really just in complete awe.

www.bringingoliviahome9.blogspot.com

7 Things About Me...

I have been tagged by Kim at 'Journey to Baby Lem' to reveal seven things about myself that you may or may not know...

One...I love fire, not a pyro, I love candles, fires in my firepot on the porch in the summer, campfires, my fireplace, you get the picture.

Two...I am a cat person.

Three...I love classical art, I took many classes in college involving art and art history.

Four...I love classical literature, I am an English major.

Five...I love cooking and baking. Paula Dean is my hero.

Six...I believe in ghosts, ufo's and that there is a huge conspiracy surrounding the death of JFK.

Seven...Toes gross me right out, unless they are baby toes. I love baby toes.

Wishing for A Good Night's Sleep with the Hubs...

Well, let me tell you about the nights around here (and no girls, it's not going to get you all giddy). My man snores. My man snores badly. I have shared this before and I got some really good advice. My husband went in last Sunday night for a sleep study. They hooked him up to all sorts of monitoring nodes and tracked what his sleeping behaviors are. We are waiting for the results. I just know that he has sleep apnia (don't know about the spelling). He literally stops breathing for a number of seconds and then jolts awake enough to start breathing again. This initiates the snoring and it's all a vicious cycle that ends up with me on the couch every night. Well, the snoring compounded with the fact that Eli likes to climb in bed with us every night.
I'm excited for the results of the study.
I'm hoping that they will have something to help us. I miss waking up with my husband. When we first were married I was a very sound sleeper and his snoring didn't bother me, but when Eli was born my mother's ear returned and I wake up instantly whenever Eli is restless. I wake up also when my older boys are up in the night, but it isn't as often with them.

Seventh Diamond Secret Buddy II

I have been thinking about starting a new Secret Buddy Group for 2008. If you are a member of last years group, nothing is changing with you. This is a new group for people who would like to be a part of a Secret Buddy circle.
Please keep in mind that this is a commitment to send a monthly gift of around $20.00 a month to another person until they bring their child home. With the wait times becoming what they are, this could be a commitment that lasts for years. I will tell you though from personal experience that it is a lot of fun. It's fun when you are shopping for your assigned person and it is fun waiting for your special gift to arrive in the mail.
If this sounds like something you would like to be a part of, e-mail me at timnkim@gmail.com and let me know your name and LID. Also, you don't have to be adopting from China, we have people who are adopting from all over involved in last years group.
Do not try to sign up on this post, or people will know who you are....remember, it's a secret!

Quote for the Week...

One Month...Two Secret Buddy's! Thank You!

This month there were some changes to the Seventh Diamond Secret Buddy Group. Our dear friend Lynn is in China right at this very moment to bring home her daughter Olivia. Their blog is 'Somewhere Under The Sun'.
So, with Lynn leaving our group, some new matches needed to be made and I stepped in as a substitute secret buddy for the month and was able to send a gift and also receive one. So, I got two wonderful secret buddy gifts this month!
And isn't this darling? This is the Panda Dress that is hand made by Robin at 'Red Thread Stitches'. Thank you so much! I just love it!

Are You In The Bow Swap?? Need A SB Gift??

I know that most of you know Gwen from 'The Oatsvall Team'. She just brought Maggie home from China.
Well, their family is anticipating the arrival of another child, a darling girl named Savannah Hope. Gwen's MIL is making these bows to raise money to bring Savannah home. So, if you are assigned to me in the bow swap, these are the bows I'll be ordering. ANGEL BOUTIQUE BOWS

Sunday...