November 30, 2010

Santa, sisters and some news!

Santa
We made our annual trip to sit on Santas lap on Saturday. Obviously someone didn't find the big guy so jolly. Lucky for Rock, these are his favorite kind of Santa pictures! We spent the rest of the day soaking up family time. Our niece was home from college for the holiday and we were missing her big time. So thankful for our time together and so glad we only have to wait a few more weeks before we get to see her again!

Sisters

Tonight when I was laying next to Jo in her toddler bed (one of the few times I'm thankful to only be 5'2) the girls were laying in their bed and it had been quiet for awhile so I thought for sure they had both drifted off. Then I heard this little, tiny voice....
Amelia: Maggie, who's your best friend?
Maggie: you are
Amelia: No, I mean WHO is your VERY best friend?
Maggie: you are Millie
Amelia: Oh, you're my best friend too.

Oh melt my heart....makes up for the recent outbreak of cat fights:)

Some News
The most exciting news of the day....our homestudy was officially approved!!! YAY!!! We are so thankful for being one step closer and having all this paperwork behind us...just get us on that waitlist already!! Now just praying the dossier makes it through on the first try and we'll get that call with our number! We would love and greatly appreciate your prayers!

* Also, extending the baseball tee order. If you wanted to order a baseball tee just scroll down to the bottom of the page and place your order using the paypal button.

November 26, 2010

Giving Thanks


Counting our blessings...one leaf at a time

Thankful this holiday season for so many things but especially for these little people!
P.S. Mom, don't worry I saved the best picture for your Christmas card!

November 24, 2010

Snow Day{s}

{loving our bonus Thanksgiving vacation}

{thankful for unexpectated snow days}
{and fun with cousins}

looking forward to more sweet time with cousins tomorrow

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 18, 2010

And the winners are......

Thanks for playing along gals and thank you so much for spreading the word about Music for Compassion! The winners are........





Leave me a comment with your e-mail and let me know what shirt you'd like. I don't have all sizes and colors available but will do my best! This includes mens, womens and kiddo shirts and if you had your heart set on a baseball tee let me know and we can get one pre-ordered for you!! Thanks again for coming together to support each other as we care for others!

And because I can't stand posting without a picture....
{ The "we're feeling cooped up with lots of energy to burn" Dance Party}

November 16, 2010

hang in here with me...

Try to hang in here with me because I've got lots of great stuff to share and an update on our baseball tees!!

First I want to start by saying how amazing this little blog world is. I know, I know the world wide web is anything but little but let me tell ya....it's sure made our world feel a lot smaller. We have been so blessed by families all over the country. Families we will most likely never meet in person but because we share a common passion for orphans they are dear friends. Some I've been e-mailing, facebooking and blog commenting with for over a year. Others I just met weeks ago. Some live way down South and some just down the road. Regardless of location or how long we've know each other there is a spirit of fellowship, empathy and generosity. We are all in each other's corner~praying and cheering one another on and lending a helping hand when needed. One of those very special people just happens to live a couple towns away. Little did we know when we first started corresponding that we were practically neighbors. When we finally made the connection we quickly set up a date for coffee and I have been blessed by her friendship ever since. Linda has the biggest heart that just beats for the children of Africa. She is compassionate about all those in need but her passion is to help those in Africa through Sole Hope and Wiphan. Linda also has a passion for music and has started a program for music teachers to encourage them to take a portion of their monthly tuition and support a cause that will help others. I encourage you to visit her blog and share the news with all the music teachers you know. And just to make it more fun how about a t-shirt giveaway? Actually, how about four giveaways? To be eligible to win an adoption rocks t-shirt you can enter five different ways.

1. Leave me a comment {easy enough}
2. Visit the Music for Compassion blog and leave Linda a comment {pretty simple}
3. Become a follower of Music for Compassion {this is too easy}
4. Post on Facebook about Music for Compassion {come back and let me know you did}
5. One step further....share this with a music teacher! {this is on the honor system since I can't really track down the music teachers in your life:)}

Entries close at midnight on Wednesday the 17th. I'll be back with the winners on Thursday!

Now onto another giveaway and let me tell ya....this one is HUGE!!! Another adopting family that I just met a couple weeks ago via the wonderful web is doing one gigantic giveaway. You must go check this one out. To enter just buy a slice of their virtual pumpkin pie for $10 or buy as many slices as you'd like. There's actually a few more ways to enter but really...you must go check it out and help this family bring home their son or daughter from Ethiopia. And how can you not love a blog titled The Farmer's Wife Tells All?!!

I'm almost done. Promise. But one last announcement while we're on fundraising. We are going to do one FINAL printing of the baseball t-shirts. Yay! So we don't get stuck with a boxful of t-shirts we're going to do this by pre-sale. If you are interested in one of these......
As seen on my gorgeous friends

To place an order scroll to the bottom of the page.
Shirts run small so take that into consideration when ordering. We will take orders until November 26th. Thank you once again for supporting our journey!



November 13, 2010

Disappearing Act

Where in the world did these four disappear to? Seriously? As I'm browsing through old pictures trying to clean out files I'm reminded how quickly the time flies. Lord, thank for the gift of these four little monkeys. Please help us not let a moment pass us by and prepare our hearts for the next little one.


Sam {9} Amelia {2} Maggie {7} Josie Kate {2 days}

November 5, 2010

You and Me Together....

....We can do anything.....
I've always had a thing for Dave Matthews. Well not really for Dave but for his music. I've said it a hundred times that if I had to pick one artist to listen to the rest of my life it would be Dave Matthews. It's not just that I love his music but it takes me back to the time when Rock and I first started dating. Love that. I was on a run this afternoon listening to my i-pod and my newest favorite Dave song came on...You and Me. In the midst of this adoption process you must really examine your marriage and relationship. It's actually a requirement. I was so anxious about our first homestudy visit. Five hours of questions and sharing was a little intimidating. But our time went by so quickly and at the end of the day I was sitting on a couch looking at my husband and loving him more than ever. We are a team. Sometimes I forget that. Often I take it for granted. As we poured our hearts out to this perfect stranger I realized how much we have endured together in our 13 years of marriage. We had such a short time in our marriage before the monkeys started to arrive. Such a short time to be alone. Absolutely no regrets. But I do dream of the day when he's all mine again. Nope...won't be for a LONG time and I'm truly okay with that. I'll take our stolen moments and rest knowing we are a team looking to our ONE Leader to guide us along this crazy path of marriage and parenthood. My favorite line......When the kids are old enough, we're going to teach them to fly~ And just in case you're missing out on a great one.....

November 2, 2010

Where we are

After months of gathering, writing, reading, taking on-line courses and notarizing we are finally done (almost) with the paperwork. We had our last homestudy visit last Thursday and now we wait for the report to be written. In the meantime we need to have a few more documents notarized but other than that we are almost ready to send it all in. There were times when it felt like we would never make it to this point and everytime someone asked "how are things going" I was always saying the same ol' thing...."just working on paperwork." Now while we are relieved to be nearing the end of this phase we are mixed with excitement and a bit of anxiousness about the next phase because there is nothing to do but wait. We are not very good waiters. But I know this will be a time of refining and growing and trusting in God's perfect timing. And it's not like we don't have a few monkeys around to keep us busy. Here's the only one that would cooperate with me today.



And then she's off~there are chickens to be chased.

Thankful today for my monkeys and the warm sun in November.

November 1, 2010

Seasons

So before we officially end the month of October (think I'm a few minutes late) and enter into November I thought I'd quick get up some pictures of late and the happenings around our house this past weekend. Friday night the Daceys and Papa came over to help us with the pumpkin carving festivities. Apparently there's a bit of a pumpkin shortage this year~or we're just really late picking out pumpkins. We managed to find some little ones and everyone had a great time working on their creations.
Papa helping Josie clean out the guts
Our four little Pumpkins....hopeful there is five next Halloween!
On Saturday we spent some much needed and overdue time with the Poulin cousins. The day went by way too fast and it was hard to have everyone go home. Can't wait for the holidays! This crew has sure grown but it wasn't the same without our Madi.

We were so blessed with a beautiful warm evening for Trick or Treating! We had a pair of Dorothys, Pippy Longstockings and a scary boy. We spent the evening with cousin Owen downtown where all the businesses on the main street hand out treats. The kiddos had a fun night and those sweet little Dorothys crashed hard after a fun, full weekend!

I can't believe how fast this Fall is going. I'm pretty sure I say that every year and every year it just seems to fly by faster. We are so busy, everyday. It's good busy and they are all great activities. But this mama is feeling like something has to give. There was a time when I really loved the rushing and the activity and Rock and I seem to do pretty well with constant motion. Lately though it seems too much. I know I'm not alone and when I talk with other mama friends it seems to be the same. I just want to make sure our family is spending our time doing the things that really matter....the eternal things. This coming month I'm looking forward to a time of thanksgiving and reflection. I'm praying for direction and a plan for making our time count. Recently I found a note from a woman I dearly love and admire. She wrote this note to me over four years ago but the timing of her words and scripture could not be more perfect for this season.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.                        
Psalm32:8
Today I am so thankful for the amazing way God weaves the details~
Happy November