Smocked Clothes For Sale

Rosalina "United Nations" jumper size 3T. Great for all year: short-sleeved blouse in warmer weather and turtleneck or long-sleeve blouse in winter. Price:$25 plus approximately $5 shipping.

Rosalina Christmas bishop size 3T. Beautiful! I found our older daughter's Christmas bishop in a box in the attic- size 3T so I only need one of these dresses. Don't you need the other one???? Price $30 plus approximately $5 shipping.

These are brand new dresses with tags. I purchased them this summer before looking in my hand-me-down box in my attic. And, now that we are ******* again, I need $$$$ much more than my daughters need these dresses. They are size 3T.

Leave a comment with your e-mail if you are interested or have questions. And tell a friend if you are not. Thanks :)

Happy Reformation Day

Do you recognize any of these precious little ones? Tonight they were Laura Ingalls, a cowgirl, Obi Wan Kanobi (sure I butchered that spelling, I can hardly say it much less spell it :), spiderman, a ballerina who decided half way through the night that she was in fact a princess, not a ballerina, and last but not least a Chinese princess. We visited grandmoms and grandad, an aunt and uncle, and ended the night at our old church where we had great fun visiting with old friends, playing games, and eating delicious speghatti. Oh and I forgot the kids' favorite part- trunk or treat!
We have discussed a more important reason than "Halloween" to remember October 31 and that is the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. On that date in 1517, Martin Luther hung the 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to protest the abuses of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther was the "Father of the Protestant Reformation" and helped secure much of what we enjoy today as Christians in terms of our theology and having the scriptures to read rather than depending on the priest to read and interpret them for us.

Also wanted to say, I haven't had a lot of time to blog lately as we have been rather busy here. I am not able to say exactly what we've been busy doing, but it is all for a good reason. I'll share more soon :) By the way, I did leave a little clue!

We seldom take a silly shot, but mom called for one - after so much sugar, it seemed fitting. Our little characters manage "silly" quite well! That is except for Ellie who is more of the serious type (like her mother) and was too busy noticing her crazy siblings.

This is only after 2 stops- both at grandmoms' houses. Can you sense the sugar-high that Ethan already has? We were predicting he would be the first to complain of a stomach ache. He very wisely chose to pass on dinner and thus was not the one with the stomach ache by the end of the night. That would be Ellie. She tried to eat supper, but she too made a wise decision and stopped after only eating a third of her food. And if you know Ellie, she does not normally leave any food on her plate. I just knew she was going to be sick. Thankfully, she fell asleep quickly and slept all night. I say this in jest, but yet it does concern me at how little self-control my younger children have. And we were trying to limit their intake of candy.

3 Less Orphans

Just had to share some great news. In just a few short months, there will be 3 less orphans. No, we are not adopting 3 at one time :) But, we do have several close friends who are all in the adoption process. It's so exciting- maybe it will be contagious! Actually it already is. I think I left part of my heart in China, and I long to go back again and witness the miracle of adoption. One night as my sister Michelle and I were discussing the plight of orphans and my desire to adopt again, she said, "Adoption must be addictive." In some ways, I guess you could say it is. When you witness a miracle of God, you do long for more. It's difficult for me to put into words.

Jen and her family who are the proud parents of Lainie (adopted with Lilly) are adopting their second daughter, Mia, from China. Mia will be 7 in January. To learn more and see Mia's beautiful picture, check out their blog at: thebarbeebunch.blogspot.com

Elaine and her family who adopted Sarah Mei back in 2007 from the same orphanage as Lilly are adopting their third daughter from China. Isabel is in the same city where Ellie lived for her first 2 years of life, Kunming City in Yunnan province. Isabel has several complex congenital heart defects so please pray that God would protect her until Elaine and her family are able to travel to adopt her. To find out more, visit their family blog at: thehortonhome.blogspot.com

Last but not least, my good friend Kim who adopted Cate last September, is heading back to adopt a precious little girl who will soon be 2 years old. Kim is in the thick of the paperwork madness. She should have some pictures up soon of Cate's mei mei. Check it out at:
catecomeshome.blogspot.com

Ellie's 1st Gotcha Day!

Ellie's first Gotcha Day Anniversary was very special for all of us. We are on a break from homeschooling so it was a pretty laidback day, if there is such a thing in our household : ) Ellie and I took time for a photo shoot. She enjoyed dressing up and being in the spotlight all by herself. Shelby managed to get a few good shots of Ellie and me which I am excited about! Ellie is such an observant child as she goes about her daily life. She stops and notices everything- unlike her mother who is always too busy. I should take some notes and learn a few things from this child. Today during our picture taking, she delighted in the butterflies and the yellow flowers. Later, we continued the celebrationwith Chinese food for dinner. We also gave Ellie a panda bear puppet that we purchased in China. She loved it! Speaking of gifts, Ellie is a gift, and I am so grateful that out of all the women in the world, God chose me to be her mother. I definitely don't deserve it, but she is my daughter by God's grace for which I am forever grateful.

Happy 1st Gotcha Day Ellie!

In a previous post, I mentioned how Shelby loves to bake. Today was no exception. She decided to pull out that Williams and Sonoma kids cookbook and bake Ellie a "Gotcha Day Cake". It turned out very cute and more importantly, it was most delicious! Of course, all the children were happy for Ellie on her special day and thrilled to help her eat her "Gotcha Day Cake".

September 16, 2008 Kunming, China

Life is much different for all of us today, September 16, 2009 compared to a year ago. However, Ellie's life certainly changed in amazing and dramatic ways. She sure has blossomed over these last 12 months, and my heart is full of love for this precious child given to us by God.

The Chenzhou Trio

We recently had a wonderful reunion with the Hortons and the Barbees who adopted their daughters Sarah Mei and Lainie from the same orphanage as Lilly. These three precious girls were listed on the same special needs list with Christian World Adoption back in December 2006. All three girls were heart babies who resided at Chenzhou Social Welfare Institute until they joined their forever families in May and June of 2007. What a blessing it is that we live within a few hours of one another so that these little girls can grow up as friends who share a very special bond.
Enjoy the pictures.

Sarah Mei, Lainie, and Lilly

Trey Barbee carried Lilly around for a greater part of the day. At one point the children were playing tag in our front yard and Trey was still toting Lilly as he was running around. When they came to the steps to take a break, Lilly said something to the effect of "Whoo! That was hard work!" Then she sat down like she was so tired. We all laughed because it was actually Trey that had done all the work!

Isn't Will Barbee just the cutest? My apologies to Fulton, Katie, Jillian, Anna Grace, and Michaela for not having any pictures of you all. It was such a busy day that I didn't get near the number of pictures that I should have :(

The Chenzhou Trio pretending to be horses as the older kids rode Oreo.

Lainie having a ride on Oreo with Shelby.

Ethan had a blast playing with Will, Trey and Fulton. He and Fulton have been spending a lot of time climbing trees lately. This day was no exception, and Will joined them in the fun. This picture was taken at the end of the day. Do you see all the dirt on this boy's face? A sure sign that he had great fun!

Ellie had fun too with the Chenzhou trio. Here the girls were finishing up their banana pudding so they could head back out to play.

Shelby's Cafe

Shelby loves to cook and bake. She has spoiled us many times with her homemade, from scratch, blueberry muffins which are so delicious. (Beats the box muffins her mom makes:) ) A few weeks ago, she made a complete meal all on her own. Again, no boxes involved! She treated us to "Crunchy coated chicken breasts" and "Oven baked carrot fries" . Both recipes were from her Williams and Sonoma: The Kid's Cookbook. She also included a side dish of creamed corn which tasted better than mine! Seriously, it did, and I told her so. She combined frozen yellow corn with a can of creamed corn and added some secret ingredients. Yummy! You know how some people simply just have a special touch when it comes to cooking? Well, I do declare that my Shelby has it, and it was most likely an inherited trait from her great-grandmother, "Granny". Thanks, Shelby and when will you be cooking again?

A Special Father - Daughter Evening

The Purity Ball:

I was very thankful that the girls were able to wear the dresses from my sister's wedding to the Purity Ball. I was afraid that they might complain that they looked like "twins", but they didn't mention it! The ball was held in a hotel not too far from home. We found out about it through our homeschooling accountability group. Shelby and Katie were very excited to go to a ball with their daddy!

David and the girls just arrived home as I was posting this. They had a wonderful evening and said they each felt a little like a princess. They signed a pledge to remain pure until marriage which David also signed. They each received a tiarra and a framed picture with the signed pledge. Oh, and 2 people asked them if they were twins! They actually get asked that pretty frequently even when they aren't dressed alike! What a special evening and one that I hope Shelby and Katie will always remember.

It's Homeschooling Time Again!

We started school on July 13 so that we could do "year round schooling" and take weeks off during the year. I have found that I am a "sprinter homeschooler". I work very hard and then I simply run out of steam and border on burnout. So when I am about to pull my hair out, we'll just take a few weeks off, regroup, and then start another sprint!

Our 7th grader: (Junior High- oh my!)

Our 5th grader:

Our 3rd grader:

As I was doing this post, I realized I did not ever take an "official" 1st day of school picture of Fulton. Having 6 children has definitely caused me to forget things I never have before. I have forgotten family and friends birthdays, forgotten dates of doctor's appointments until the last hour, etc. Oh well, I'll get the official picture later. This is a silly picture of Fulton hard at work on some school work. (Note the green headband in his hair)

Our kindergarten student:

We decided to bring Ethan home this year as he had been attending a half-day church kindergarten as his older siblings did. In the past, the children have graduated 5K from there and then came home for 1st grade. It was a tough decision, but I am so happy that God led us to bring Ethan home. He is doing fabulous in school, and we have seen positive changes in his behavior- praise God for that! I am really enjoying teaching him using My Father's World curriculum (mfwbooks.com).

Our cute preschoolers:

Last bit of fun before school started:

This picture simply does not do justice to the hilarious event that took place in my kitchen back in July! We had 2 friends come stay with Shelby and Fulton for a weekend in July while our Katie went to stay at their house with the rest of their family. Fulton was on kitchen duty and had to sweep after dinner. His friend, Luke, was ready to go play so he offerred to help Fulton. Well, Fulton works at the speed of a turtle - on a good day. Luke grabbed the broom and swept so fast that the rest of us started rolling with laughter. I've never seen anyone sweep quite like that. Then Ethan joined in, and it became more of a show than a chore. I don't know how many crumbs those 3 boys managed to actually get off the floor, but they sure gave us a good laugh. I wish you could have seen it- hysterical!

Laundry day always ends up with the little girls playing in the "boats". They have such fun! Oh and that's marker on their faces. Their big sister Katie practiced her face painting skills earlier in the day :)

!

My cousin's daughter, Kylene, also came to stay with us for a few days in July. She and Katie are only a few weeks apart in age and have always been close. Kylene loves horses so she had a wonderful time with Oreo. It was alot of fun, and we hardly noticed she was there. I pointed that out to David saying maybe we could adopt just one more! I wonder how many comments that will generate. I am beginning to think no one is reading this blog anymore :)

Prayer Need

Fasting for Cindy- Monday, July 27

I had never really fasted before, but Cindy's story touched me so that I had to participate in this fast organized by Linny (aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com). I did not eat breakfast this morning, but I will readily admit to having my coffee otherwise my children/students would have had a rough day in homeschool land. I also typically eat a mid-morning snack which I also skipped this morning. As my stomach growled, and I thought of how delicious the juicy oranges would have tasted as I peeled them for my children, I prayed for Cindy.

You see, Cindy is a MoM just like me (Mom to Many) She has 10 little blessings - wow - which makes my 6 look like such a manageable number! She also has a heart for adoption just like me. However, there is one huge difference in our daily struggles. Cindy has been fighting cancer for a long time. Please join me in praying for Cindy. You can read more about her story of courage and strength as she battles for her life at faithfulpromises.blogspot.com

Summer Fun

After seeing the cute little wolf driving a car on the Great Wolf Lodge commercial, we decided to give it a try. It was a great time, and we highly recommend it. Tons of fun all in one place, and something for all ages. Enjoy the pictures.

Lilly came down with a mild stomach virus on our first full day at the Lodge. She did have fun for half a day on the day we arrived. She was a trooper though and bounced back quickly so she could have some more fun the next day.

Lilly wasn't quite up to full-speed yet which means she was about like the average child :)

Have you figured out why Ethan was not in the 2 pictures with the rest of his siblings? Yep, that strong-will was exerting its ugly self. Oh well, by the grace of God we will survive his childhood and live to hopefully see him parent some children just like him! I remember my mom telling me that, and I just said it. Oh no!

The 2 little girls whom God used to start a beautiful friendship. On the way to the Great Wolf Lodge, we stopped by to see our dear friends, the Barbees. We had a wonderful visit as we always do.

Tea for 3? No, subs and chips please! Lainie was still warming up to Lilly and Ellie whereas Lilly and Ellie saw new toys and just made themselves at home.

All together: 4 adults, 10 kids. It still amazes me how God brought our 2 families together. He placed a love in our hearts for orphans, called us each to adopt a child from China, and then led us to 2 precious girls from the same orphanage in China. In His perfect way, He has created a beautiful friendship that I will always treasure.

Vacation Bible School is always a highlight of our summer. This year was no exception. We all had an awesome week at "Son Rock Kid's Camp".

Fulton at bat! He and his team had a great season and actually won the championship for his league. We are so proud of Fulton for all of his hard work. His coach said he was the most improved from last year. Way to go!

One of Fulton's biggest fans with the best seat in the house. Little Ellie cheers for Fulton with her whole heart. The blow-pops and other sugar treats are just an added bonus for the siblings of the players.