Matilda Jane Trunk Show Sunday, March 1st...On Ivy's Blog

HELLO EVERYONE!

Welcome to my Matilda Jane Virtual Catalog Show

MATILDA JANE HAS DONE IT AGAIN, ANOTHER WONDERFUL SEASON OF DARLING CLOTHES HAS JUST ARRIVED IN TIME FOR SPRING.

Ivy's blog is: Hunan Spice

Matilda Jane Virtual Catalog Show

Hosted by Ivy Shaffer

Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 10am EST

Opening Day of the Matilda Jane Spring Season!

This is the fun part... All you have to do is view the collection online at www.matildajaneclothing.com beginning March 1^st * and put your wish list together. Then contact my trunk keeper for help with sizing to place your order. Beckie is a sweetheart and is helping to put this whole show together. Also let Beckie know you are ordering from my virtual show. She will be available to answer any questions throughout the day, just leave a message if needed and she'll get back to you promptly.

Beckie Winston

801.583.8381/801.573.3110

beckiewinston@aol.com

Show will close at 8p.m. Sunday Night.

*The collection could be online as early as February 28^th, please keep checking the website and the Matilda Jane Blog for more information. You may be able to view some of the new line on the MJ blog, they are simply darling!

* I have set up a Sophia Jane gift registry with Beckie and Ivy.

Good Morning and Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group!

Good Morning Everyone and welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group! There is quite a bit to talk about this week.

All 9 of the new babies at the Starfish Cleft Home are fully sponsored.

I will post a letter that Amanda asked me to put on the blog tomorrow. She has capacity for more in the home. She is now making plans to bring in more cleft children and bring the home up to capacity. She will continue to need our support as new children are brought in. I will share information with you as it comes to me, or you can always visit the Cleft Home Blog. The link is on my sidebar. I cannot thank everyone enough for their amazing support.

MARCH 1ST - We leave for China.

MARCH 2nd - We meet Mia Hope!!!

MARCH 7th - Mia Hope turns 3!

MARCH 11TH - Consulate appointment

MARCH 13TH - Homeward bound.

Robin is leaving this week to bring Mia Hope home. I am so happy for my dear friend!

**The Sat Chat is now closed. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Please Help Us Bring Sophia Jane Home...The Auction & Donation Site

All Roads Lead To You

Some big bills are coming at us quickly now, so we have decided to have an auction to help raise funds to cover our adoption fees. Please visit the site and see if there is anything you would like to bid on. Also, if you would like a sidebar graphic to help support the auction, just let me know and I will get the html code to you right away.

If you would like to donate something, that would be absolutely wonderful. If you sew, make blogs, make hair bows or paint pictures and have something you would be willing to have on the auction, please let me know.

Thank you so much to Daleea for designing this beautiful site. From the bottom of my heart...thank you.

We Have A Daughter...Sophia Jane and her Red Maryjanes

We have a daughter. I am still kind of in a daze I think. But yes...we have found Sophia Jane. We accepted her referral on Friday morning. She is absolutely beautiful and I wish I could show you her face, but our agency is very conservative, so it will probably be a couple of weeks before I can post her entirely. But I do have permission to post her little feet and imagine my surprise when I opened her referral photo and saw her wearing these :) I had prayed and prayed that God would give me a sign and show me which child was ours. I just couldn't believe it when I saw these little red maryjanes on her feet.
Sophia is three and a half years old. She is in Beijing. I just can't stop looking at her pictures. Eli has her little photo in a frame beside his bed, the older boys are anxious to have her home. We are over the moon!

Welcome to Amy's Baby Shower!!

Welcome to Amy's Baby Shower for Lynn Marie! If you would like her gift list and address, please rsvp by leaving a comment or send me an e-mail at timnkim@gmail.com.
We are chatting in the comments, so feel free to leave a comment and talk with all of us.

Amy is registered at BRU, Target and Amazon.

Each 5th person to rsvp wins a shower prize!

Christy is our first winner!

Amy's shower is over, but please leave a comment or send an e-mail if you would like her address and wish list :)

Good Morning and Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group!

Good Morning Everyone! Today is Amy's Baby Shower, so I hope you all can attend after the Chat Group.

There are still babies at the new Starfish Cleft Home who need sponsors. If you would like to help, please send me an e-mail. The information on the post below with the babies photos is accurate, so you can see which babies still need help.

THE SAT CHAT IS CLOSED SO EVERYONE CAN JOIN US AT AMY'S BABY SHOWER!

Amy's Baby Shower for LynnMarie! Please Spread the Word!

This Saturday is Amy's Babyshower for LynnMarie here at the Seventh Diamond. The shower will take place after the Saturday Morning Chat Group from 12 noon to 2 pm.
If you are unable to attend but would like receive her gift list and address, please leave me a comment with your e-mail address or e-mail me at timnkim@gmail.com. Amy's blog is 'When Love Takes You' and 'Amy's Random Thoughts'.

Starfish Sponsors

I am updating sponsor information regularly, so this is accurate, as well as the information below the pictures of the babies on the prior post. We still have children who need sponsors. Please help if you can.

I want to thank everyone for their support. Your response has been overwhelming. I have 25 sponsor families right now. I need 10 more for all of the children to be sponsored for this upcoming year. If you are interested in sponsoring one of the babies, please e-mail me at timnkim@gmail.com.

Also, if you are a sponsor family, please e-mail your address to me and how you have arranged payment for your sponsorship. I know that most of you had made arrangements on the Starfish Groundspring site. I am working with Patrick who is on the Starfish board and tracks the donations that come in. I need to supply him with a list of sponsor families, their addresses and method of payments.

Starfish Donations....Thank you Nicole!

Thank you Nicole for your wonderful donations to Starfish! All of the little outfits are just darling.

Starfish Donations....Thank you Jill!

Jill, thank you so much for these donations for Starfish! With two homes now running, she's really going to need these! Jill's blog is 'Waala's House of Fun'

I am Home...

We arrived home late last night. Today I am going in to work. I so need the normalcy of being there. I truly cannot wait to sit at my desk and have a cup of coffee.
The past 8 days have been the worst in my life. The great loss of my Grandmother and other losses too made it just unbearable for me.
It is true...there is no place like home. Especially after what we have all been through.

Thank you for your wonderful comments and cards. They really do help you get through these kinds of things.

My Grandmother Has Passed On...

My Grandmother passed away yesterday. I had been hoping and praying that she would find the peace she needed and be able to let go and move on into the light. But when the moment came and I was beside her watching her labored breathing and I realized that there wasn't going to be another breath...I just wanted to yell 'come back'.

I just want you all to know.

I am in Kansas City. I have been here since I received a call to come home because my Grandmother is passing on. She is losing her battle with lung cancer and I am home to be with her for her final days.
Right now I am focusing on sitting with my Grandmother, holding her hand and sleeping with her. My family is together and we are cherishing this time.

I am still very dedicated to the Starfish project as I know that it is very important. Please keep the sponsorships coming. We are so grateful for everyone's help, but we still have quite a ways to go. So please keep the e-mails coming. They are a bright spot for me in a very difficult time.

Please understand if I do not respond as quickly as normal, I am checking only once a day right now. I want to devote all I can to my Grandmother.

9 Starfish Cleft Home Babies Have Arrived...4 Are Due to Arrive Soon...Aren't they Darling???

These 9 babies at the Starfish Cleft Home are fully sponsored. Thank you so much to everyone who came forward to support these children.

Woo HOO! Our blog is up and running! http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com/

Tina is fully sponsored.

Tim is fully sponsored.

Stella is fully sponsored.

Nick is fully sponsored.

Karl is fully sponsored.

Jasmine is fully sponsored.

Clara is fully sponsored.

Bryan is fully sponsored.

Antonia is fully sponsored.

The Starfish Cleft Palate Home...A Leap of Faith

Amanda was contacted a couple of days ago by the Director of the orphanage in her area. There has been a large group of infants left, many with cleft palate issues and the orphanage has no room to take them in. There are 12 who are due to be released from the local hospital in the next couple of days with nowhere to go.
Amanda has been planning to open a Cleft Palate Home in the distant future when funds were in place, but because of these 12 little ones, she is converting the volunteer quarters into a the Cleft Palate Home and will take in these 12 babies.
She only has funds to support them for 3 months, so this is where we come in. We need approximately 72 families to come forward who are willing to sponsor a child for $25.00 a month. It costs approx. $150.00 a month for Amanda to feed and care for each child, so it it will take 6 families to step forward for each child. Or if a family is willing to contribute more, that would lessen the number of families needed. This would be a year commitment. Amanda will send out updates to the families and photos of the sponsored babies.

The amount is totally tax deductible and the donations will go through the STARFISH CHILDREN'S SERVICES and the tax number is 20-4682816

If you are part of a woman's prayer group, or work with a youth group, perhaps you would consider having your group sponsor one child for a year.

If you are willing to come forward as a sponsor family or group, please leave a comment below or e-mail me at timnkim@gmail.com

A new blog is being created for the home and we will have all of the details to you soon. But we need sponsors quickly, because these children are being released to Amanda in a couple of days if we can get everything together.

If you have ever sat in your living room and wondered how you could make an impact, this is it. Amanda is moving forward not knowing where the money will come from. These 12 children need a place to heal and grow. I need help finding approx. 72 families who are willing to contribute $25.00 monthly to support these children. I don't know that many people, so if you all could help spread the word about this project, it would be wonderful.

14 families have come forward to sponsor children...thank you!

5 out of the 12 children are completely sponsored.

The Starfish Supply Raiser is On Hold....

The Starfish Supply Raiser is currently being placed on hold. Amanda contacted me today and would like us to shift our focus to raising support for the new Starfish Cleft Palate Home. If you have already made your purchases, please go ahead and ship them to me. Everything collected will still be sent to Starfish.
Please keep Starfish in your prayers. God is good and there are wonderful things coming on the horizon for these children and others too.

Amy's Baby Shower for LynnMarie! Please Spread the Word!

Please mark your calendar's for Amy's Babyshower for LynnMarie being held on February 21st here at the Seventh Diamond. If you are unable to attend and would like the gift list and Amy's address to send your special items and good wishes, please leave a comment with your e-mail address or e-mail me at timnkim@gmail.com. Amy's blog is 'When Love Takes You In'.
A special thank you to Daleea for this darling graphic!

Good Morning and Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group!

Good morning everyone! There is quite a bit going on right now. I hope you all had a wonderful Chinese New Year! The Starfish Supply Raiser is off to a wonderful start. Thank you all so much for your e-mails and participation.


Kim at 'Isabella Bison' is having a Scentsy party on-line, so head on over to her blog and register to attend!


Also, Holly at 'Purpose Driven Family' is doing a Pampered Chef fundraiser. This families blog is private, but if you follow along and know their situation, I am sure you will do whatever you can to help.

If you’d like to help, it’s easy with online ordering! Here are the instructions:

1. Go to www.pamperedchef.biz/mcdaneld
2. Click on ‘Our Products’
3. Under organization name, type: McDaneld Legal Fees
4. You can have the order sent to your home for an extra charge, or you can have it sent with the group order to my home here in Fayetteville NC for $4.25 and I will deliver it to you. (please don't chose this option if you life outside of the Fayetteville/Ft. Bragg area! Sadly, many of you...my blog readers do NOT!)
Thank you for helping us in our time of need! May you be blessed richly in return!

IF YOU ARE NEW AND WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THE CHAT, JUST RIGHT CLICK ON THE WORDS 'COMMENTS FROM A FRIEND' LIKE YOU ARE GOING TO LEAVE ONE AND THEN CLICK ON 'OPEN LINK IN NEW WINDOW' AND YOUR SCREEN WILL OPEN AND JUST TALK WITH US IN COMMENTS, IF YOU HIT REFRESH AT THE TOP OF YOUR SCREEN YOU WILL SEE EVERYONE'S NEW COMMENTS APPEAR AND THAT IS HOW WE TALK WITH EACH OTHER.

**The chatroom is now closed, have a wonderful weekend!**

The First Box Has Arrived...Thank You Desiree!

The first box for Starfish arrived today. Thank you so much Desiree for these darling clothes and baby supplies. I know that Amanda is going to love them! Desiree's blog is 'Our Happily Ever After Story'.

So Many Wonderful Responses...We're Off to a Great Start!

First I want to say thank you to Desiree who designed our sidebar graphic. I have never met her before and she sent me an e-mail offering to help. I am so grateful...thank you!

I have received so many wonderful e-mails from people who want to send donations again this year. I think that is particularly incredible because we are in a recession and I know that money has become tighter for everyone. You are such amazing women.

I had some ladies ask about the things that Amanda needs. She needs clothing in sizes preemie to 4t for both girls and boys. Coats, shoes and boots. (she does not need anymore of the infant full body coats, we sent her plenty last year). She needs children's/infant's tylenol and motrin, teething tablets, infants liquid vitamins, little nose's decongestant. She uses playtex bottles with the liners.

Truly, she told me to tell you all to follow your hearts. But the children still love Craisins and eat them for breakfast whenever they can.

What is listed at the bottom of the last post is what we sent last year. I hope we do well this year too. It seems like a lot, but 18 babies go through 126 sleepers a week and that's if no one spits up or gets dirty.

Amanda brings home the babies who are most in need, the ones who it is feared will not survive if they remain in the main orphanage. She spends her time trying to stabilize the new babies and arranging for their medical care. For the older children who have been healed, she prepares their adoption paperwork and prays that a family will choose them.

The goal of this drive is to help supply her with the things she needs. Last year, she truly was amazed by the beautiful clothes that you all donated. She said that when the children went out, people wouldn't believe that they were orphans and she loved that.

I know that many of you were touched when you saw the children wearing outfits you had sent. It really was an amazing experience and I'm so glad that you all are helping me out again this year...thank you.

**ALSO, many of you sent cards and letters for Amanda last year, and I put them right into the boxes and sent them off to her. If you would like to send items for Amanda, I think that would be wonderful. She's a woman who lives with 18 children, so as you can imagine she has little for herself. I know that she is always looking for a good book to take with her when she travels to hospitals for the babies' surgeries. I think I'm going to buy some Bath and Body Works and send it along to her, that always makes me feel great. I also know that she wears crocs in a size 10, wide if they have them.