This is important

I have been out of the Blog World loop for about a month now.  We have been extremely busy with holidays, having family in town and busting our butts with adoption stuff.  Getting ready to send some BIG stuff out for Sergey.  Important stuff, the kind of stuff that has caused me to find at least five new gray hairs daily!  We need your prayers right now.  I am not allowed to talk about it but just know we are fighting tooth and nail for our boy and we need you to storm Heaven's gates for us with your prayers!

As I was looking around Blog land I noticed that a lot of blogs were spreading the word for a little boy named Xander.  Jeannett, the one who is hosting this fundraiser was the one who introduced me to Reece's Rainbow last Christmas in which we eventually found Sergey.  I cannot in good conscience pass by this sweet little boy and not spread the word that he needs a family!!!  Like right now!!!  There is an amazing amount of things you could win by just spreading the word for this sweet boy, although a donation would be nice too:)   Click on his picture to read all about his story.

I needed this today.

Theses pics were an unexpected surprise today and one that I needed.  I wish I could reach right through the computer and hug him...this mama's arms ache:(

The Thankful List

So I am short quite a few days for my thankful list but I think it's fair to say that I can add these seven people, hopefully soon to be eight people, to my list of what I am MOST grateful for!!!

As I thought about all the things I am grateful for over the last few weeks I noticed all of them were positive things that made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  And as I was pondering my list I was thinking that maybe the difficult things should be on there too.  God says in His Word that we are to be thankful and grateful for ALL things.  Because truthfully it was in those times of suffering that my patience grew, when I was humbled because of my own sin the Lord grew in me a compassion for others and when my disappointment was at its greatest that I felt Jesus comfort and draw close to me.  I can honestly say that I am grateful for these things because Jesus is using the not so good things to refine me and make me more like Him.  While I still have a very long way to go I'm thankful that He will never leave me and that He loves me so much to allow these things to happen so that I may grow.  I'm not saying that it will be easy to make such a list but it is something that I will have to choose daily for the rest of my life to praise Him in the midst of trials.  So if I am going to truly be thankful I have to be thankful for it all.

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord!  I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!"
                                                                                                                     Habakkuk 3:17&18

11, 12, 13, 14, and 15

The last few days I have been thankful for my warm, cozy bed and sleeping in...a fireplace that I can turn on with the flip of a switch to warm my cold feet...the smell of coffee in the morning that greets me like a warm hug followed by my husband's gentle "good morning" and hug...my Sadie's sweet kisses and hugs (which she calls squeezes)...and for today I am thankful for how the Lord speaks to me in ways that I never see coming:)
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This blog post spoke to my heart so deeply today...especially this part.

"It's been a year in which I've watched you be bigger than I thought you could be, while I cowered in a corner and feared what might happen if you weren't big enough."

Reading that convicted me and brought me to tears when I looked at all that God has done for us and others, and even in recognizing this I still fear at times that certain situations are just to big for Him.

Lord forgive me.

The little things.

10.  Today I am grateful for the little things in life that bring me joy.

Today my hubby brought me this!!!!

I know this picture may look like your average Reece's Peanut Butter cups...so let me give you a better perspective on the awesomeness of this gift.

Kachow!!!!  That's right...2 half pound peanut butter cups!  So maybe it's not the little things but the big things that bring me joy...ugh now I'm confused:)jk  Seriously is there any better combination than chocolate and peanut butter?  Another little thing that brings me joy is Avery in the picture above wearing her birthday crown from September with the sticker from her banana stuck on her forehead.  As long as I can remember she has always done that.  A little thing I love about her:)

Silliness

9.  Today I am grateful for silliness.

 Some silly things that happened today are...


1.  Madi continues to call the turkey she is coloring for her school project a rooster and sometimes a chicken.  No matter how many times I correct her.

2.  That I may or may not have fallen asleep (hopefully not with my mouth wide open and drooling)while waiting to pick up my kids from school this afternoon only to awaken to my children running around outside the van with some friend's kids.   And I may or may not have looked up to see the parents of those other kids laughing at me:)  I blame it on Daylight savings!
*And just to put your minds at ease I meet at the same place and time every day with two other mothers that I have known for years so it wasn't like my kids were not being supervised.  Thank you Kayla and Amy:)

3.  Finding a tube of vicks on the counter that had been squeezed by someone (not to name names Miss Sadie Lynn) and then confronting this two year old and asking her if she squeezed it to which she replied "no, that's bad girl".  I kept asking her knowing that she was not telling me the truth to which she finally replied "no, I bit it". So she was technically telling the truth and let me tell you it was really hard to keep a straight face.

4.  Tonight I ordered Domino's for dinner and was met at the door by the pizza delivery lady and three firemen and a giant firetruck outside my house.  I can't even tell you what my face must have looked like.  They said that they were going around with Domino's delivery people offering to check smoke detectors to see if they had working batteries.  And that if the detectors were working that they would give us a free pizza on our next order.  Ash had just put in a new battery a couple weeks ago so we got a free pizza!  I'm telling you I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!

5.  And lastly as I was downloading my pictures I found this...there were eleven more just like it:)

A bunch of random stuff

So here's a kitchen update.  I was thinking I was going to wait until it was all finished to show before and after pictures but a friend who lives out of state lovingly encouraged me to post pictures so she could see.  Basically she said something like "When are you gonna post pictures of your kitchen already?!!!!"  So I'm obliging:)  So we went with board and batten on the walls as you can see, I still have to paint it with two more coats of white paint.  I also have to say that I REALLY don't like the gray paint on the walls now, it looks baby blue and I'm not digging it.  So I will be working on fixing this soon.  There's still a lot more work to be done and we have quite a bit of wood left over so you better believe I have some ideas on how I will be using it:)

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos.

And another view.

Sorry for the mess.

Do you like my owl cutting board?  I think he's pretty cute...my husband on the other hand looked at me like I had lost it.

 I got him on a recent shopping trip to Anacortes with this lovely lady...the shorter one, lol!

Remember the pillow I made out of my husband's shirt from this post?

Well I've made a couple more since then.

Here's the backs.

And the fronts.

Here's how they look with the rest of my pillows.  We have a large couch so I need to get cracking on some more pillows and throw in a few with some warm Fall colors as well.

For Christmas pillows I am inspired by this picture from Pottery Barn.  I just need to find some plaid shirts from Goodwill or maybe a pretty tablecloth...oooh the wheels are turning!

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8.  Today I am grateful for prayer...more specifically people that are praying over us and for us.  I know of a small handful of people who are consistently praying for us regarding our adoption and I am so thankful for them.  Adoption can be a lonely road to walk at times and it is always encouraging to hear from those who are.  I have not really shared the depths of my heart about how our adoption is going lately with all of you here on my blog.  And quite honestly I'm not able to share specifics at this time but I am pleading with you all now who are following along with us on our journey to please be in prayer for us, for Sergey, for our agency,social worker and Eastern European partner agency.  As well as for the judge that will be handling our case.  We covet your prayers.  I would love to hear from you if you are praying for us it would be such an encouragement to me.  Thank you:)

New Friendships

7.  Today I am grateful for new friendships:)

The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense. Proverbs 27:9

The Happy Day Project

Today I am grateful for this:)

It's all about using your blog for good and bringing some sunshine to someone's day!  Go check it out:)

One less

5.  Today I am grateful that there is one less orphan in the world...Praise Jesus!!!  My friend Anna and her husband are the proud parents to sweet Blake!  Congratulations you guys!!

Movie Nights

4.  Today I am thankful for movie nights with the kiddos and hearing them giggle at the characters is always fun to listen to:)

P.S.  I have no idea why Madi is drinking out of a sippy cup.

Laughter

3.  Today I am grateful for laughter and the many little giggles that fill our home daily.   If our wealth was measured by our laughter we would be very rich indeed...and for that we are truly blessed.

2.  Today I am grateful for clean laundry!  Our washer and dryer finally kicked the bucket and I was without a washer and dryer for two weeks.  Thank God for good friends who have let me invade their home and bring mountains of laundry over.  We have since remedied our washer/dryer situation...another thing I am grateful for:)

Adoption Awareness Month

November is Adoption Awareness Month and around this same time last year was when I was introduced to Reece's Rainbow.  They are hosting their Angel Tree event again now through December 31st.  I encourage you to visit, pray and donate to help these children find their families.  Just look at some of these cuties who are waiting for a family!

Don't you just wan't to kiss those cheeks?!
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The kid's had a blast last night at our church's Trunk or Treat:)

I'm loving this idea that Amy shared today and want to do the same.

1.  Today I am grateful for words of encouragement.


Today I received an unexpected email from my sweet friend who is in country to bring home her son.  Her encouraging words were exactly what I needed to hear today and for her to think of me while she's in another country in the process of bringing home her son meant so much.

Moving forward.

Oh my poor neglected blog:(  We're still here, we had our fingerprint appt. for immigration on Oct. 17th and it went incredibly smooth.  We were in and out in less than 30 minutes, so now we're just waiting for our golden ticket!  Slowly but surely we are moving steadily forward!  Please keep us in your prayers:)

We are also in the middle of construction on our kitchen.  Remember all that wood I showed you?  Well it is going up as I type this.  Here is just a little sneak peak.  I feel incredibly blessed to be given this gift in the midst of our adoption.  Even though the house is in a bit of chaos it has literally kept me sane as it has kept my mind off of how long it is taking to bring Sergey home.

Also in the midst of all this lovely, beautiful chaos we have been loving the change in the season and have been making some yummy treats!

I had a lot of fun baking with my girls, Prestin is not in the pic because he would rather eat them than make them:)  

Guest posting

Hey Everyone!  I'm guest posting over on my friend Natalie's blog today and sharing a little bit of my heart.  So come on over and say hi!

Cheese me Mom!

Isaac's sweet Mama, Jaime, is guest posting today over on Natalie's blog.  Every time I speak with Jaime it's like I'm listening to poetry and her writing is no different.  So go read her story today I know you will be encouraged.

Shabby Apple

Shabby Apple is celebrating Halloween with a special treat!  Save $10 off ALL BLACK AND ORANGE DRESSES  with code "TREAT' which also includes FREE SHIPPING!!  This promotion will run through October 31st.  This dress is my favorite!

Beautiful Stuff!

So I'm sure you all know the talented Chrissie Grace, but did you know that she also has the most giving heart?  She is doing an amazing giveaway on her blog to help Amy bring home her sweet Davis!  Look at all this stuff!!!

So run on over to Chrissie's blog and donate to Davis' fund,  any amount will get you entered into the drawing!

And if all that loot doesn't entice you to donate then head on over to Natalie's blog where Amy is sharing her heart in a guest post.  Seriously beautiful stuff people!

Feeling blessed.

I'd like to introduce you to my new friend Natalie and her family.

This lady has a beautiful heart for the Lord and for her family, and wants to use her blog for a greater purpose...to serve others. Love, love, love this lady's heart!  October is Down Syndrome Awareness month, so for the whole month she will be doing posts answering any questions you may have regarding Down syndrome.  She is also giving away a beautiful handmade hair accessory of your choice with a $25.00 donation on her blog.

So pretty!  All the proceeds will go to help get these three boys home to their mama's who are aching to hold them.

Sergey for us, Davis for the Jupin family and Isaac for the Kelley family.  So go visit Natalie's blog to see and learn about the beauty and blessing of Down syndrome and if you feel led please consider donating.  It would mean so much to me.  Thank you Natalie for being such a wonderful example of Christ's love by serving in such a selfless way.  We are so humbled by your compassion and willingness to go out of your way for complete strangers.  Many blessings to you:)