Tomorrow is The Big Boy Blog Shower for Noah!

Tomorrow is the big boy shower for Verna the Blogfairy's little Noah. He is two years old. Verna is registered at Target. If you would like the information to access her registry, please e-mail me at timnkim@gmail.com I know that she is looking for clothing in sizes 2T and above. When purchasins jeans or pants, please check inside the waistband to make sure that they have an adjustable waist. You will see buttons and elastic on the right and left sides of the waistband. Their family blog is 'Families Grow-Watch Ours', I know that they would love to hear your good wishes!

If anyone would like to help support the shower, please do a post with the above graphic. I would really appreciate it!

All Saints Eve...

Being the Irish family that we are, each year on the night after Halloween, we celebrate All Saints Eve. We light a candle for each person in our family who has passed on and we think about them and tell some of their stories. This year there is a new candle. We miss you Grandma Fran.

Some Halloween Photos!

This is Eli as Super Spiderman. He kept arguing with me that he was Superman, so we settled on Super Spiderman.

Eli and our neighbor Snow White.

We put flashing lights in the pumpkin and skeleton so that his Halloween wagon would light up!

This is Tyler and his teacher at his class Halloween party.

This is Tyler and his friend TJ who came over to trick or treat with him. Scary huh??

Blog Contest Winners....It's a Tie!

Wow, this was really tough. This is how the winners were determined: the celebrity judges (Steffie B., Mr. Brian and Christy) chose the blogs that they felt were the top 3 . I scored each of their choices and averaged them to come up with the top 2 blogs. One blog won the judges choice by one vote. Then I added up the popular vote for the top 2 blogs and the other blog won the popular vote by one vote. So...I went back to the judges asking for a tie breaker, but they could not choose between the two. So...the winners are: K1 and the Monkey King.
Congratulations!!! I will be sending each of you a Halloween Light Set. Please e-mail your addresses to me at timnkim.gmail.com

Thank you so much to everyone who participated. I hope that you enjoyed the contest. You did a fantastic job! We'll do it again next year.

Winners: I would be thrilled to see you post your award on your blogs!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Happy Halloween Everyone! There have been so many votes for the blog contest, I'll try to announce a winner today, but it may not be until tomorrow. Enjoy your day! Stay safe~and take lots of pictures!! I have Tyler's school Halloween parade this afternoon and tonight Eli is going trick or treating for the first time. Tyler is a spooky skeleton and Eli is Spiderman!

UPDATE ON HALLOWEEN BLOG CONTEST: 2 finalist blogs have been chosen, it was neck and neck when the judges votes and the popular votes were averaged. The judges have been asked to go back and re-visit the two blogs to make a final decision!

Halloween Blog Contest Update...

We have 12 blogs signed up to participate in the Halloween Blog Contest!
Here they are:

ASENND
Bringing Maura Home
Finally Five
Journey to Baby Lem
Our Journey to Gracie
Parker's Paradise
K1
The Monkey King
Makeup, Mess Up's, Me
LayDFrog
Nipper Family of 4
Salome and Cael

Please feel free to take a look at the blogs. If you would like to vote for your favorite blog, you can e-mail me at timnkim@gmail.com We will be having some surprise celebrity judges!

If I missed anyone or if you would like to add your blog to the list, please leave a comment...

Votes are coming in, so please vote for your favorite blog. Also, leave them a word of encouragement when you drop in to visit...they have worked hard to create their creepy places in blogland.

There are 25 votes in so far, so send an e-mail to support your favorite!

Sunday...

Welcome To My Final Halloween Blog Make-over!

This is it~the last time that I am going transform the blog for Halloween. Thank you for all of your sweet comments. I love HALLOWEEN! I'm still going to post graphics, and I love it when I see some of them floating around blogland. So...what do you think about this look???
All I can say is....just wait for Christmas.

Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group...

Good Morning Everyone! It's going to be a short chat this morning. I have to leave at 9:30am for Zach's hockey game. But please drop in and say hello. You all can talk with each other while I'm gone if you like. If there are any topics anyone would like to discuss or any questions that anyone has, feel free to bring your issues up here. I know that someone will drop by who can address them.

If anyone can recommend a good air purifier, please visit Amy's blog 'When Love Takes You In'.

I'm heading out for Zach's hockey game. I'll check in when we get back!

Pay It Forward...

This post is about the things that I have personally seen and experienced.

I received a package in the mail from someone I have never met and have not gone out of my way to do something for. She did it to pay it forward.

I received more cards when my mother in law died from on-line friends than from any others.

My mailbox overflows with well wishes and gifts from the heart. I keep every card. They are all displayed above my desk on a board with ribbons that I can place them on. They are priceless to me.

I got a duck in the mail to remind that this is breast cancer month and how important it is that I take care of myself. I also saw it sent out to many other friends. The coolest.

I have been included in sending needed clothing to an orphanage in China, something I would not know how to do on my own.

I have been included in raising money so that a family can bring their son home from China. An honor. I feel so good being able to help. And I have noticed just how many other families participated and it is just a beautiful thing.

I see pictures of children from all over the world who need a home posted and women who have never seen or touched them, trying desperately to help them find families.

At every babyshower, women come forward and send beautiful gifts to others, sometimes to families whose blogs they have never seen before.

Each time I have needed help, advice or information...someone has come forward to help...every time.

In my life, I believe that your close circle of women friends is critical. I have always surrounded myself with amazing, intelligent women who possess some of the same gifts that I have, but also who possess the gifts I lack. I depend on them for advice, strength and true friendship.

I have also done the same here in my blog community. I am blessed by each and all of you. I have grown and learned so much about what it is to be a woman, a mother, a human being and a citizen of the world. I have come to depend on you for support, knowledge and friendship. You have never let me down.

Truly, I don't know how I'd make it through all of this craziness on my own. Thank you for the inspiration.

Renewing Our Homestudy...

Our LID is Feb. 6th '07. Our social worker let us know that it is time to start re-doing our paperwork. We have to have new police clearances done, we have to be re-fingerprinted, we have to have the people who did our reference letters sign a document stating that they still stand behind what they said about us and we have to re-do everyone's medical forms. We also had to submit last year's w-2's and our tax statements.
The only ray of sunshine is that nothing has to be notarized and we don't have to pay for the new fingerprints.
For those of you with LID's close to ours, you may want to contact your SW and begin renewing your paperwork (if you live in the US).

We love you Sophia. We'll do whatever we need to do to bring you home : )

Happy Birthday Nancy!!

Happy Birthday to my great friend Nancy! Her blog is ASENND, and I'm sure she would love to see your birthday wishes!

100 Wishes Quilt...

I was working on Sophia's scrapbook for her 100 wishes quilt and discovered that I am very short on squishes. I still need to trade squishes with at least 30 more families. If any of you are working on your quilts, or would like to contribute a squish to our quilt, please leave a comment and I will get in touch with you.
This is a picture of our fabric and the cards that our wishes come on.

Happy Hump Day!

Quote for the Week...

Halloween Blog Contest!

As you all can tell, I love Halloween! I invite you all to participate in the Halloween Blog Contest. Decorate your blogs in any Halloween theme you choose: Classic Halloween Monsters, Vintage Halloween, Scary Movies, Fun Halloween, Pumpkins, whatever you like. The winning blog will be chosen on Halloween and a special prize guaranteed to add some spookiness and fun to your home will be yours! To enter to win, leave a comment with the name of your blog and I and some special judges will visit your blogs and choose a winner!

Baby Shower For Noah, the Son of Verna our Blog Fairy...

Please join us on Saturday, November 3rd for a Baby Shower for Noah James who is the new son of Keith and Verna! Verna is our very own Blogfairy and her blog is 'Families Grow Watch Ours'. I don't have a gift list yet, but I know that she is working on putting one together. We are not completely certain of Noah's clothing size, but believe it to be between a 2T and 3T.
Please go to their family blog for more information about Noah and darling pictures. I just love his cheeks! If you would like to support the shower, please feel free to copy the shower graphic and do a post or display it on your sidebar. Thank you so much!

Have A Great Monday!

I Remember...

I was tagged by my friends at 'Imagine Alyzabeth An' to do the I Remember tag.

Here are the things that I remember:

I remember taking a bath every Sunday night and watching the Wonderful World of Disney, I would kiss the tv when Tinkerbell flew out on the screen.

I remember believing that my mother's volkswagon beetle was alive and a friend of Herbie the Love Bug.

I remember being Raggedy Ann 3 years in a row for Halloween. Loved her!

I remember seeing Ronald Reagan from a distance in Kansas City.

I remember George Brett signing my program in Royals Stadium with my hair in pigtails.

I remember pretending to be a tree, holding very still and moving my arms with the wind...and our dog Lady came by and peed on me.

I remember the day that Elvis died.

I remember the Lawrence Welk show, my Great Grandmother made us watch it along with Hee Haw.

I remember seeing Star Wars for the first time at the drive in with my family. I was swinging on the swings while watching it.

I remember meeting my cousins for Halloween at my Grandmother's house. We ran the streets for hours, no parents came with us, we got tons of candy.

I remember getting in trouble for talking a lot when I was in school...imagine that.

I remember my first love, Derek A. I met him in 8th grade at Presbyterian Camp. We shared a horse on a camp trail...who can resist a man on a horse? He made me a toothpick too.

I remember spending hours getting the feathers in my hair just right so I could go to the pool and jump into the water. Crazy.

I remember wanting to be a television reporter when I was in high school. That never happened.

I tag:
Loud Secrets
Jewels of My Heart
Mommy 24 Treasures
Our Journey to Mia Lin
Our Little China Girl
Sugar Spice and a Little Rice
Tuininga Treasures
When We Were Young
Parker's Paradise

Sunday...

Good Morning Everyone and Welcome To The Saturday Morning Chat Group!

Good Morning Everyone! I'm looking forward to this morning's chat. Just jump into the comments and say hello. The chat group is really an open house where you can come and go as you please and talk with me or any of the other ladies who are commenting. If the room is quiet for a minute or two, I'll be right back. I'm probably grabbing more coffee.

Morning chat is closed. Thank you for a great start to my day!

Look Within...

Average women do not go through months of paperwork, have their blood tested, have their home inspected, have their children interviewed, supply every private detail about their family in order to bring home a child from another country. Average women do not wait for months and months on end for a baby, holding onto a dream and praying for their miracle. Average women don't reach out and comfort and support the many ahead of them and behind them on a road that is rocky and uncertain. None of us are average women. Each of us is stronger than we know. We can do this and we will.

The Story of Tyler...My Miracle.

Thursday is Tyler's 12th birthday. He is my dream come true, my soul outside of my body, the holder of my heart.
When I was 9 weeks pregnant with Tyler, 30% percent of my placenta tore away from the inside of my uterus. I rushed to the hospital. I was coldly sent from one end of the hospital to the other. I was hooked up to an ultra sound machine and told that my baby was still alive, but would die sometime within the next few days. Go home and let nature take its course is what I was told. All I could think about was that my baby was dying inside of me.

I went home and waited, waited for my baby to die. After 2 weeks of waiting and bleeding, one of my best friends, who was my boss at the time, put me on bedrest. She told me to lay on the couch with my feet up and disregard what the doctor was saying. I laid on the couch and after a couple of days, the bleeding started slowing down.
I picked up the phone and I called the labor and delivery room at the hospital where I had delivered Zach. I spoke to a nurse and I told her my story. I asked her which doctor she would send me to if I was her daughter. She gave me a name. I called and the woman on the other end became my son's saving grace. She agreed to take me if I could get my own records to her because it wasn't protocol to take someone else's patient mid-term. I went to see her and she told me that things didn't look good, but that we would do whatever could be done.


I went to see my doctor every week to look for a heartbeat to see if he was still alive. Each week I would lie on the table with tears rolling down my face waiting to see if he was still with me. Each time alone because my ex-husband always had something else to do. I felt so afraid, but my doctor was a huge source of positive energy and strength. One week it took over half of an hour to find the heartbeat. I was sobbing, but she never gave up and finally was able to find it.

Tyler was born at 38 weeks, perfectly healthy, perfectly beautiful. We hugged each other and cried when she came to see me after the delivery. I still see the same doctor. She is more than a friend. I know that if it wasn't for her, my son would have died.
His birthdays are so precious to me. I am so grateful to God that my boy is here. His personality is the same as mine. I can always understand him, I always know what he is thinking and feeling. That is why I say that he carries a piece of my soul with him.

For all of my clown loving girlfriends....Happy Halloween from Pennywise!

Some Weekend Photos...

Tyler's Birthday Crew!

Pumpkin Carving