The Brillante Weblog Award...Thank You Cyndi

My dear friend Cyndi from 'Waiting for Lilly Rae' has awarded me with the Brillante Weblog Award. I tell you, I have been feeling so behind in blogland lately and have been trying to get out there and touch base with everyone. It really brought a big smile to my face to see this when Cyndi's blog popped up.

I am supposed to pass this award along to 7 others. I will tell you that it wasn't easy for me to choose. I have been going through a tough time on my journey and there have been some women who have been holding me up and inspiring me.

Amy from 'A Mother Singing'. Amazing woman, always has been. But I was reading one of her posts about how she now 'sees' the orphans of the world. They are not anonymous to her, she is aware of them and loves them, they are always on her mind and urging her heart. She is doing what she can to help and to cause change..even if it is one child at time.

Which brings me to Daleea from 'One Child At Time'. My friend who had a vision of something that could be amazing and she worked and worked and created a project that is saving the lives of children in China.

Holly from 'Purpose Driven Family' is someone I am just beginning to get to know, but I am very challenged by her faith and by her dedication to advocate for the adoption of children with HIV Aids. And I mean challenged in a very positive way. I am blown away by this woman.

Steffie B. you all know her, 'Never Too Many' She has been my life vest lately. If I didn't have her to talk to, I don't know if I'd be making it through all of this. Thank you my friend for always being there.

Kim from 'Isabella Bison'. Kim is always the first to read almost every post I write. I don't know how she does it, but I'm so glad to always be able to open my comments and see her words there.

Jane from 'Much Ado' is a constant source of inspiration for me. She is a wonderful spiritual compass, always showing me an example of what I should be focusing on and how I should be living my life.

Janet from 'Tuininga Treasures'. I have been completely inspired by her Africa adoption journey. If you haven't read her account of bringing home her children, you really need to go to her blog. It is absolutely amazing.

Prayer Warriors Alert!

THIS PRAYER REQUEST IS FROM MY FRIEND HOLLY. SHE IS AN ADOPTION ADVOCATE WITH 'NO PLACE LIKE HOME'. SHE IS ASKING FOR PRAYER FOR HER FRIEND NAMED CARE WHO IS A CHRISTIAN WOMAN WHOSE FAITH HAS GIVEN HER THE STRENGTH TO PERSUE THE ADOPTION OF A LITTLE GIRL WITH HIV AIDS. CARE IS IN ETHIOPIA NOW WITH HER DAUGHTER SELAH WHOSE HEALTH HAS TAKEN A DANGEROUS TURN. PLEASE JOIN ME IN PRAYING FOR STRENGTH AND HEALING.

IF YOU COULD VISIT HOLLY'S BLOG TO LET HER KNOW THAT YOU HAVE JOINED THE PRAYER GROUP, IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL 'THE PURPOSE DRIVEN FAMILY'.

BELOW IS HOLLY'S POST ASKING FOR HELP THROUGH PRAYER.

My dear readers,

I come to you with a most urgent prayer request. I have a sweet friend who is in Ethiopia RIGHT NOW with her new daughter(pictured above), Selah Yordanos, also affectionately known as "Yordi", and she needs the intercession of the saints urgently!Care (my friend) is there alone while her awesome husband holds down the fort at home with the other kiddos.Selah's HIV has progressed into AIDS and her health has rapidly declined. She is totally devoid of strength and she only weighs a mere 32 pounds. This sweet girl is my daughter's age and weighs the same as my 2.5 year old. She is vomiting her meds, which are VITAL for an HIV patient. She has been admitted to a local hospital in Ethiopia. Below is an excerpt from Care's message from an internet cafe in Ethiopia:
I have quickly stopped at an internet cafe to ask for prayer......I took Yordi to the hospital this morning....she has been admitted.....she weighed a total (WITH CLOTHES AND SHOES) of 16kg (32.4lbs) I have watched her decline and could not risk the flight without intervention. She is vomiting and coughing, she cannot handle her meds, yet that is her earthly lifeline (I KNOW that her heaven lifeline is FAR bigger)....she is ridiculously weak and often listless....I didn't like the look in her eyes and knew in my heart to take her in to the hospital...I tried to see THE doctor yesterday and was advised to take her somewhere else to see if she "NEEDED" to see her. I was furious and Yordi couldn't take being moved again....she cried and was so sick during the immigration appt....she begged for "no more"..." Go Guest house, momma." SHe perked up last night and took a dive this morning. NO MORE! I am praying that the IV fluids will give her the energy to get her home, there is not much else they can do. I question WHY she has not been hospitalized before this...The dr. at Hayat hospital admitted her right away and ordered tests.....like I said...I believe just to hydrate her will be about all they can do...I cannot wait to get her to U of C....her breathing is rapid and heavy, loud...but I don't think she has Pneumonia or TB at this point. But, I know her body cannot handle one more complication......Even the vomiting expends all the energy she has....The pain involved in any blood work or injection because of her weight is almost unbearable for her...this is the worst part. PLEASE pray for her, that she not have pain....this kind of sufferring is unexplainable....she is SO afraid...she was afraid for me to leave her at the hospital......she associates the hospital with death, and probably still assumes that I wouldn't want her in the shape she is in....If I could only convey to her how I love her...although we have had some serius bonding moments through this...I thank God for the continued strength for me.His mercy and grace is overflowing.......When I look out the window of yordi's hosp room there is the beautiful mountain range. It shows me that above ALL of the suffering and brokenness that God's majesty REIGNS...He is ever bigger than any situation.....He is holding me, but most importantly Yordanos.......He has big plans for this little squirt."I lift mine eyes up to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from You, Maker of heaven Creator of the earth." (from Psalms somewhere...sung by Sonic Flood) " Oh how I need you Lord, You are my only hope, you are my only friend......"
Would you please spend a few minutes in prayer... lifting up these daughters of God to Him, our HEALER, our comfort, our shelter, our fortress and our DELIVERER. Please pray for supernatural intervention. Pray for healing, for pain relief, for nausea to cease, for Care to remain healthy and strong and for Yordi to regain strength. Pray for God to be glorified and for many to turn to Him as they see His hand at work in this young girl's life. Please pray for favor with the paper that they are waiting on, that it will be processed quickly, that they will find favor with flights home, with comfortable seating, empathetic flight attendants as well as immigration/customs officers. Please ask the Lord to literally go before them and pave their way HOME. Pray for the children at home missing Mommy and pray for Daddy to overflow with grace and energy to meet everyone's needs while Care is away. The prayers of the righteous are POWERFUL and EFFECTIVE.
Will you stand with me in prayer for this PRECIOUS girl and her family?
please leave a comment to let me know you are praying... I am going to copy all of the comments in an email and send them to Carolyn in Ethiopia... I know it will keep her going!!
Love,
Holly

Like Father...Like Son

My husband comes for an outdoors family. He loves to hunt and fish. I can tell you that Elijah is proof that those types of interests can be passed down through the generations through the genes. Eli just loves to fish. He is only 3 years old, but can sit for over 4 hours on a fishing boat with his father and love every minute of it. He can cast out over 20 feet and reel in his fish. It really is just amazing to me. This past Saturday I was participating in a blog babyshower, so Tim took Eli out fishing. I just had to sneak out my front door to take these photos of the two of them.

Sunday...

Welcome to Dawn's Baby Shower for Lucy Joy!

Welcome everyone to Dawn's Baby Shower for Lucy Joy! I have been seeing a lot of people come in from Dawn's blog, so I thought I'd better get a post up to welcome everyone!

Dawn is asking for Books and Bows. Lucy Joy is almost 4 years old and has a beautiful full head of hair and Dawn needs some nice things to put in it. Also, if you'd like to send one of your favorite books, that would be wonderful!

If you have a favorite book in mind to purchase and would like to e-mail the title to me, I'll track them so that we don't send any doubles. timnkim@gmail.com

There are shower prizes for each 5th RSVP that I receive from a shower guest, so please leave a comment to rsvp and I will get you listed for a prize and e-mail Dawn's address to you. Please leave your e-mail address in the comments.

Meanwhile, we will be having a live chat session for the shower, so feel free to jump in and talk with us in the comments too!

Please take note that Dawn has created a travel blog where you can follow their journey to Lucy in China 'We Love Lucy'.


First shower prize goes to Verna 'The Bigs & The Littles'
Second shower prize goes to Heather 'Our Little Ladybugs'

*The shower has ended, but if you would still like to rsvp to send a gift, please do so in the comments section and I will get Dawn's address out to you. Thank you everyone for a wonderful time!

Good Morning Everyone and Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group!

Good Morning Everyone! I hope that you have some wonderful plans for this weekend. The Saturday Morning Chat Group will meet until 11am and then we will swing into the shower for Dawn and Lucy Joy....hope you can join us! JUST CLICK ON THE COMMENTS LIKE YOU WOULD TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON ANY BLOG AND YOU WILL SEE US ALL IN THERE TALKING.



Gail from 'Aging with Grace' is in Hong Kong now. They are in China to bring home their son Will. You can follow their journey at their blog. I am so excited for them!

THE SAT CHAT IS NOW CLOSED, PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE BABY SHOWER.

The Grand Opening of Lady Peep Boutique!

Daleea's Children's Fashions On-Line Boutique.

Welcome to Lady Peep Boutique.

I will be posting pics of items that will be available to purchase. At this time I will not be taking orders.... only selling my designs as I make them. I am hoping the Lord will use this as a means to help my family, and to someday bring my Isabella home from China. Part of the proceeds will be going to various charities and families who are trying to bring their little ones home.
Thank you so much and God's Speed to your heart's desire.

Meadow Song...

Meadow Song
A Meadow filled with wildflowers, birds singing and your little darling as she skips pebbles upon a babbling brook.... it just doesn't get any sweeter than this.
Trimed in antique lace. A tiny pocket for secret treasures. 3 little mice buttons to call her own. Accented with powder blue bows.....
Welcome to the joy of Meadow Song.... Size 3T a Lady Peep Design
$60.00 plus $6.00 S$H
The first email I receive regarding purchase I will send you an envoice to pay via Pay Pal. Payment must be received within 48 hours or the item will go to the next email received.
Thank you so much and may God Bless You....
Jewelsofmyheart@yahoo.com


Shopping at the Boutique
At this time I will not be taking orders. I will list an outfit for sale when it is finished. It will be sold to the first email I receive stating that they want to purchase it. I will then send an invoice via Pay Pal. The item will be shipped withing 48hrs of payment. If you would like to be notified via email when there is an new item for sale. Please leave a comment saying so with your email and when some thing is available I will let you know.Thank you so much and may your heart overflow with the love of Jesus..............God's Speed sweet Isabella

Please let me know if you would like to display this link on your sidebar

Quote for the Week...

A Dog's Life...

This is our black lab Cooper. His favorite summer activity is retrieving the tennis balls that we hit out into the lake with a tennis racket. We launch them out as far as we can and he happily swims out and brings them back to us.

Cooper has a friend Max who lives 2 doors down and it's a race between the two of them to see who can get to the ball the fastest. Max is about 4 years younger, and a faster swimmer...so he usually wins.
Eli loves to get out with Daddy and the neighbor guys and play with the dogs. This is Nugget, she lives a couple of doors down.

Here's the race between Max and Cooper. Pretty neck and neck, but Max is a little ahead.

Another pic of Eli and Nugget. She is a golden retriever pup.

Update for Starfish Book Drive Participants...

If you are still working on putting together your small package for Amanda at Starfish, here is a needs list that she just sent to me yesterday. I bought things off of the original list she gave to me, and she still needs though too, so do not worry if you bought products that she had originally asked for. There are two new babies at Starfish, Karlee and Nicholas and they are very small. Both of them have been ill with some type of a flu virus. Nicholas had to be sent to the hospital, but is doing much better now. They both are growing which is wonderful.

This is the the e-mail I received from Amanda:

We went through our boxes and here is an updated needs list:

1. Overnight Original Desitin
2. Mucinex Expectorant for children 2 to 11 (liquid)
3. Little Remedies Saline solution (http://www.littleremedies.com/littlenoses_saline.html)
4. Little Remedies Decongestant Nose Drops (http://www.littleremedies.com/littlenoses_decon.html)
5. Little Remedies Laxative http://www.littleremedies.com/littletummys_laxative.html
6. Motrin Children (2 years and older)
7. Preemie diapers

We do not needs loads of the Little Remedies Nose drops and decongestant but we are always in need of Motrin, Desitin and diapers. If you can believe it there are no preemie diapers to be found in China. Karlee and Nicholas used the last in our storage. They are now using newborn diapers but they are too big. Hopefully soon they will fit into them :)

Thanks so much for all your help. I really appreciate everything you do for the babies and me. More than what I can say.
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda

Starfish Foster Home
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
www.chinesestarfish.org

Craziness...

Lately I've been reading quite a bit about anonymous commenters leaving nasty notes behind on peoples blogs. I've been hearing about people harassing through e-mails. I'm going to tell you that I think it's nuts and I know it's hurtful.
A blog is a journal and if you are blessed enough to be let into someone's life...even on the small level that a blog allows, you should be supportive and allow yourself to be enriched by it. If you think someone's blog is boring...don't read it. If you think their children never do anything fun...then stop dropping by.
Unless a fellow blogger makes a commitment to you, they do not owe you anything. It is not their job or their goal to entertain you.
I have seen too many wonderful blogs that I was benefiting from having to go private or shut down altogether because someone decided that it was their right to become hurtful and go into attack mode. It isn't your right. A blog is a reflection of someone else's life...not yours. It is their forum to speak their own thoughts and share what pieces of their lives they choose.
No one should feel outside pressure to post or curb their thoughts or ideas to please someone else out here.
I have been very fortunate and haven't had to deal with this, but I will tell you that if someone decided to start leaving me snarky comments...I would hope they would have enough spine to at least leave their name. Anonymous is a pretty cowardly way to launch an attack.

These issues are why I have the Blogging Without Obligation graphic on my sidebar.

The Next Baby Shower....Welcome Lucy Joy!!

This Saturday I am hosting a shower for Dawn and her Lucy Joy. Now, Lucy is almost 4 years old, so this is more of a little girl shower. Dawn is asking for hair bows and accessories and books. So please join us this Saturday. There will be shower prizes and a lot of fun. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DISPLAY THE SHOWER GRAPHIC ON YOUR SIDEBAR, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL GET IT OUT TO YOU! The shower will run from 11am to 2pm. If you can't make it during that time, that is ok. I will be checking for comments throughout the day and you are welcome to rsvp by leaving a comment and I will get her address to you.

Monday...

I hope that you all have a great Monday! My SIL came back over with my two nephews yesterday and stayed over. They are heading out today to their new home in Missouri. My BIL was here over the 4th of July but has returned to Korea to continue his 1 year tour there. So, that leaves my SIL with another 6 months without him and having to coordinate the family move to the next Air Force base where he will be stationed. I am sad to see them go. My SIL is a very special person and I love being around her.

Sunday...

Good Morning Everyone and Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group!

Good Morning Everyone! There is a lot going on in our group, so hopefully I don't forget anything this morning.


Next Saturday I am hosting a baby shower for Dawn at 'Our Little China Girl' to welcome her beautiful daughter Lucy Joy. Please let me know if you would like to display this darling sidebar graphic to get the word out. Thank you Daleea for designing it, it is absolutely darling!

April at 'The Road to Siji' is selling her taggies to make money for her adoption. These are the ones you all have been bidding on at the auction. They have bringing in some wonderful bids. So, if you want one, get over to her blog and place an order!


Lastly, Marina is home with her beautiful daughter Sarah, Congratulations to the family! Their blog is 'Over the Rainbow'. Please drop by and welcome their new child.

*THE CHAT ROOM IS NOW CLOSED...HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!

You Have the Power! Bring A Child Home from Ethiopia.

You know 'that girl', our gypsy friend of a thousand blogs? She's looking for a sign. She is looking to Ethiopia and waiting for confirmation that she is on the right path. Here's her barter with herself...if she raises $250.00 by her 40th birthday...she is going to Ethiopia for a child. She has $102 raised so far, so not much more is needed.

Let's support 'that girl'

7.09.2008

Ginormous Leap of Faith
If I raise the $250 application fee for our adoption agency, I'll take it as God's stamp of approval to go to Ethiopia. I made the deadline my birthday, August 8th. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I have to at least try, I am tossing/turning over this every night.

Quote for the Week...

Zach's Birthday Photos..

Zach's cake..I tell you I was stumped at what to get for a 16 year old, but I think D&W did a great job!

This is Zach and his Godfather Walt.

This is Zach and I. It's strange to see him so much taller than me : )

Happy 16th Birthday Zachary!

Today is my son Zachary's 16th Birthday! I can tell that this is going to be an emotional day for me. This is a big birthday. He will be getting his driver's license and is buying a car from his father. I am so proud of him. He doesn't want a 'big deal'. So, I got him some chocolates from Mary Ann's which are his favorites. He has asked for money, so we are giving him money for his birthday. I have a cake to pick up at noon and friends and family will be sharing his special day with him.

Happy Birthday Zach. I love you more than I could ever put into words. You have carried my heart in the palm of your hand since the day you were born.

17 Months...

Our 17th month passed by on 7/6.