A little more of this and that.

Update on Russian Adoption Ban~ We are waiting for an update some time tomorrow to see if we will be grandfathered in since we have already registered and have met our child.  But all we know as of now is that all Russian adoptions are banned.  Your prayers are appreciated.  

And to keep my mind on something other than this horrible news here are some of the other gifts I made for the kiddos.

Sadie's upcycled kitchen, both pieces were bought at Goodwill for $3.99 a piece.  I painted them and sewed the curtain and oven front.

Made these cookies as well, more food are in the works.  It's a little addicting, they were fun to make.

Madi's vintage suitcase dollhouse, I found the tutorial here.

Tatum's puppet theater.

I still have to photograph a few more gifts, I will post those soon.

I made some yarn trees, they are very addicting as well.  I can't stop myself!

Some of my favorite Christmas ornaments.

This and that.

First things first, my friend Amy is in Russia right now visiting her sweet Davis for the first time.  I was overjoyed to see this picture this morning on Facebook.  Gosh that is the sweetest thing EVER!

Update:  We were not able to make our November 20th deadline for our paperwork.  Our social worker has been dealing with health issues so we asked the judge for an extension.  She gave us until the end of December to get everything in.  We are currently waiting on one document, why does it always seem we are waiting on one document, from our social worker and will be able to mail it all out once we receive it.

I'm sure everyone has been busy, busy with getting ready for the holidays.  It's no different here, since the day after Thanksgiving we have been working on many projects.  Ash put up a plank wall for me in the living room which I am in love with!  Can you be in love with a wall?  Definitely!  We just have a spot to caulk in the corner and it's done!  We used leftover wood we had from our kitchen project, gotta love a free project:)  I took a look at all the pinterest pics I was pinning and all the rooms that I liked were white, so I painted the entire living room white and it feels so much better and bigger in there.

I had written about doing a handmade/thrifted Christmas this year in a previous post, and I have been working really hard.  Here is one of those projects, this is for Ainsley:)

If you'd like to make your own you can find the dollhouse and doll patterns here:)

Me and the kids have been doing Christmas crafts, we made our mason jar snow globes.

And pine cone Christmas trees.

And I love the fun things they bring home from school.

I have lots of things in the works so more pics to follow:)

Before I forget....

Pray and believe

As we hit yet another hurdle with documents I immediately go into stress mode...my faith is so weak.  I feel weary of this paperwork mountain that constantly looms before me never ending.  Frustrated with others, "why can't they just understand that we need this document right now?",  "that a child is waiting for us to come and get him!".   These are just a few thoughts that go through my mind and to be honest these are the nicer ones.  We are so close and every time we get to almost being finished something else happens to throw it all off.  I throw out a feeble and weary prayer to the King of Kings, not even giving Him the respect to come humbly before His courts to offer thanksgiving for all that He has blessed us with.  Instead I question His every move, not even putting into consideration that He was the one who breathed us into creation and that He already knows every detail of what is going on.  To Him it is already past tense.

As I wake up to an early morning phone call from a courier in CA telling me that our documents were rejected because the signature didn't match their records I immediately feel the anxiety overwhelm me.  The questioning starts and I reduce my God to a disobedient employee.  I take the kids to school all the while trying to figure out how to fix this mess, because of course I'm the only one who can fix this mess...right?  Come home to sit down and do my devotion, to give God His 15 minutes of my day, but no more than that because I've got stuff to do.  I open my daily devotion and precede to read...

PRAY AND BELIEVE

Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

"'When ye pray, believe.'"

When there is a matter that requires definite prayer, pray till you believe God, until with unfeigned lips you can thank Him for the answer.  If the answer still tarries outwardly, do not pray for it in such a way that is evident that you are not definitely believing for it.  Such a prayer, in place of being a help, will be a hindrance; and when you are finished praying, you will find that your faith has weakened or has entirely gone.  Prayers that pray us out of faith deny both God's promise in His word and also His whisper "Yes," that He gave us in our hearts.  Such prayers are but the expression of the unrest of one's heart, and unrest implies unbelief in reference to the answer to prayer.  This prayer that prays ourselves out of faith frequently arises from centering our thoughts on the difficulty rather than on God's promise.

You will never learn faith in comfortable surroundings.  God gives us the promises in a quiet hour; God seals our covenants with great and gracious words, then He steps back and waits to see how much we believe; then He lets the tempter come, and the test seems to contradict all that He has spoken.  It is then that faith wins its crown.  That is the time to look up through the storm, and among the trembling, frightened seamen cry, "I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me.

I reread this passage two more times and cringed each time.  And at the same time felt so loved at His gentle correction that seriously cut me to the core.  

So I am praying that I will not let all that contradicts the "Yes" He spoke to my heart almost two years ago rule my every thought and emotion and question my Lord's abilities.  I want my faith to win it's crown.

Halloween 2012

This year we had a cheerleader, Super girl, The Nana, Princess, Scarecrow, Super baby, Tony Stark and Bat girl.

I have been really busy getting the last documents needed to send to Russia. We were told we needed everything in by the 20th so we are in a bit of a rush.  I only need a few more documents and then I'm done! After almost two years of paperwork I will be so happy to be done!  After everything is submitted we should have travel dates very soon after.  Please if you would keep us in your prayers:)  And please keep the Kelley family in your prayers as well, they left early this morning for their first trip to meet Isaac!  So happy and excited for them!

2 Months...a few days late

And just because this one was too cute not to share:)

Instagram photo frame

Hi all!  I've been keeping busy doing paperwork for court, we were told that we had to submit our paperwork no later than November 20th.  So I have been a busy bee taking care of that, snuggling with Radley who is becoming quite the chunk and loving on my home a little bit.  Doing fun little projects here and there.  Also working on Christmas presents and decorations, my goal is to have a handmade/thrifted Christmas this year and it has been a lot of fun! Pictures to come:)   I love the chance to be creative, especially when it comes to my home.  I feel I have wasted so much time waiting to see if we were moving back to AZ or moving houses period or worrying about resale.  This is our home and I want it to feel that way, God will work out the rest.  I made this little instagram frame from a thrifted frame from Goodwill I painted white, red and white baker's twine hot glued to the back, mini clothespins and instagram photos my husband took.  I love it!

I don't know where to put it yet so for right now it hanging out here.

Right next to my new sign that my lovely friend Amy sent me.  I love it Amy, thank you!!!!!