Asian GIft Ideas from Etsy and Friends

While I was over at Etsy looking at justplainbecky's cool site, I found some other cute Asian gift ideas -- just in time for Christmas. Thought I'd share a few in case anyone is interested.

There is this 3 piece Kokeshi Dolls Magnet Set for $6.

This vintage inspired China doll fabric apron at $23.75 is really cute!

This sweet China Doll shirt for $20.00

Lilly, part of "The Rice Babies" collection is $15.00. This seller also has customized Asian stickers that are so cute -- 5/$2.00

The Love Glass shop sells these beautiful pieces of glass to hang. She has several Japanese pieces including this one called Keiko. A deal at $12.99 if I do say so.

Princess placemat with customizable face -- ADORABLE and $11.00. This same seller has stationery, wall prints and other customizable items. Cute!!

Beautiful Asian girl watercolor artwork, $15

AND, last but probably two of my favorites is not from Etsy, but from my high school friend, Terri, who makes all kinds of cute things, including this children's apron, crayon bag, tote bag and toddler tote. Visit her blog for more details on how to order. I've ordered lots of her things for Ellie and as gifts. They are great.

And from my friend, Andrea, who makes custom t-shirts, bibs, cups, etc. She does all of Ellie's custom shirts and can do ANYTHING you can come up with.

Help support these "artists" during the Holidays!!

Looking for an Asian Baby Doll for Christmas??

For those of you who have sweet little Asian baby girls (or even boys!!) and are looking for a cute Asian doll for a Christmas present, check out "justplainbecky" over at Etsy who has made these adorable Asian dolls. She will customize for you as well. These are only $20 so a GREAT deal. She is also adopting and using this as a fundraiser for her adoption. And, lest I forget, she also makes Caucasian and African American babies too!!

She also has some other cute things so check it out!!

Thankful: November 10

Today is my neice, Danielle's, birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!!! Isn't she beautiful?? I can't believe she's already 16. Where did the time go from when Kevin was carrying her on his shoulders through Washington, DC when she was just three??

Onward ...

I am thankful for Kelly Stone who taught me how to save money on my groceries by using coupons. It has been such a blessing to us and others. Because of what she has taught me and shared with me, I've been able to share with others and help them both save money for their families AND to have food in their homes. Is there anything more rewarding than helping others? I don't think so.

And a few updates:

As you all know, Kevin has a new job. While we are very, very thankful for it, I know the days are long for him as he leaves home at 6:15 and returns home between 6-7 pm. He's spending 3 hours a day driving to and from work. It is also eating into the time he gets to spend with Josh and Ellie and I know that is really bothering him. Continue to hold him up in prayer that God will allow him to find a job a bit closer to home -- in His time and within the realms of His plan.

And, I will admit that by the time he gets home I am flat out exhausted and ready to go to bed. Today alone from 3:30 - 4:30, Ellie poured out an entire salt container, knocked over a can of coke, took all the magnets off the refrigerator, took lots of things out of the cabinets, wanted to go outside and play and threw her dominoes at the cat and all over the living room. Each time I finished cleaning up one of her "projects", she had another complete and ready for me to work on for her. In the midst of that, I made dinner and tried to pick up downstairs and do laundry. Now it's 8 p.m. and I've got to sit down and get to work on paperwork and prepare my day for tomorrow. Whew -- how do single parents do this??

An update on the CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE to put a pie in my face. I've had $30 donated online and have several people who have told me they will make a donation in person. I need 94 more people who will be willing to help sponsor a child's Christmas. $5 is all it takes. If you need to write me about it or ask questions, email me at mblatham@charter.net. This is something that is really, really important to us. Of course, we have not made our donation yet either, so that will help with our total. I really want to be able to support 100 kids. You can't imagine the difference that will make in their lives. These children are ORPHANS and 100% goes to them. Can you help? Click here to go to John Wright's online site to donate.

Ellie has gotten really dramatic lately and will throw her hands over her mouth, make an "O" with her mouth and go, "OOOOhhhh". It's hilarious. I want to catch her and get a photo of it.

Josh recently had a project on Egypt and had to make Egyptian pottery and a pyramid from sugar cubes. Here are the final results. He indicates his pottery is the kind they used in the mummification process to hold the spices and herbs (which is represented by the white flour). At least he is creative!!

Thankful: November 9

I am thankful for Ella.

Her mom Betsy called me tonight to tell me that she was reading my blog when Ella (who is four AND A HALF -- the half is very important) came over and was asking who it was on the blog, what it was about and so on.

Betsy explained to her that these children lived in orphanages like she used to before she came to live with her mommy and daddy (Ella is from Korea). She told her that we were raising money for the children to get Christmas presents. Betsy asked Ella if she would like to help.

Apparently Ella got VERY excited and ran off to get money. She returned with a dollar and some coins and told Betsy she had some money. The funny part: she had gotten it from Betsy's purse!!

Now ... is that not the perfect example of why Jesus loves the children and tells us to have the heart of a child in order to get into heaven? They are so giving, loving and caring -- so sweet and innocent.

Ella and her mom are funding Christmas for a child in Central Asia. Somewhere a child who struggles to forget their memories will soon have some good memories to replace those hard/bad ones -- because of the sweet kindness of Ella and her mom.

I am thankful for friends like them and for those who have a heart for the plight of orphans. I am also very thankful for the first person who made a donation in our name (I really want pie!!) to help an orphan. You know who you are -- thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The Great Coconut Creme Pie Christmas Challenge

Last night at dinner I had a piece of coconut creme pie with meringue that stood at least 6" tall. It was DELICIOUS.

Now, I want to allow my kids to throw a coconut creme pie in my face, but I need your help. Yes, I have certainly lost my mind, but read on and you'll understand.

While I was waiting to bring Ellie home, I became aware of an organization that did something called McChristmas and helped bring Christmas to orphans. I wasn't able to pull that off last year, but this year our family is determined to do something to help out the orphans in Kyrgyzstan have a Christmas they won't soon forget.

Close your eyes for a minute (after you read this of course) and focus on a life where, as a child, you live in an institution with no mom or dad to hold you when you are sick, to comfort you when you get hurt. Imagine not having anything that is really yours. Imagine not understanding the concept of Christmas and not getting anything for Christmas. I'm willing to bet it will be hard to put yourself there. It would have been for me too if I had never visited Kyrgyzstan and seen first hand the poverty there -- the needs. When it becomes a choice of feeding a child or giving them a Christmas present, you can imagine what gets dropped.

Kevin and I vowed that we would continue to help the children left behind in that country and this is our opportunity.

FOR $5 YOU CAN GIVE A CHILD IN CENTRAL ASIA CHRISTMAS.

Five Dollars.

Yes, you read that right.

TO GIVE: Click here.

This was taken last year of the kids getting their presents.

Last year, one family alone raised $1000. This year twenty families have pledged to try to raise $500 each which will provide Christmas for two thousand children. YOU can help be a part of something REALLY BIG for $5. I know times are hard and things are tight. They certainly are at our house, but we have made the choice to give to these children and to give up something that doesn't mean anything compared to these children's Christmas. It might be 5 days of $1 sodas at McDonalds for me. I don't know what yours might be.

Last year John Wright reports that "we were able to not only bring two orphanages to a day out including Circus, treats, and a McDonald's style restaurant, but another 300 kids not able to leave the orphanages were treated to a concert, gifts and treats... the price per child came in at only $5..." This sounds like not a very big deal to us, I know, but to these children it was HUGE. To read about the events last year, click here and here. You WILL be moved.

This is a photo of one of the children who went on last year's outing. This picture moves me at some level I can't explain. I just find it really hard to look at. I think it's the longing in the eyes.

I can assure you that every dime you give will go straight to a child -- 100%, no "administrative fees" or what not, just volunteers helping kids know they are loved. And, after all, isn't that what Christmas is REALLY about?

When we reach our goal, I get PIE -- I cannot wait!! We will post photos and share the details. Help this become a reality. Click here to donate by Paypal. Be sure to put my name: Maria Latham in the "please throw a pie at" box. We want to make sure I get my pie. Consider it my birthday cake!! :-) You can also give directly to us and we will make one donation after we have collected it all. We have until November 23 to collect all our donations.

Tomorrow, will you consider skipping the Starbucks or the fast food lunch or a car wash and donate that money so kids in Ellie's home country can experience Christmas? Were it not for a very few days' time in her adoption processing, she would STILL be there. There are many, many children whose parents are still waiting to bring them home. We continue to pray for them as well. Let's do more than just pray -- let's show them love.

Ellie says:

Will you please help my friends in Kyrgyzstan have Christmas?

It would mean a lot to me!

We thank you so much for considering a gift!

Gotcha Photos -- And More

My mom made me promise to post ALL of these pictures of me through the years -- not that I really want to because some of them are, um, interesting, but here you go. Get ready for some BIG hair toward the end!! Some of them are not the best quality because they are older. I really should edit them one day. Key word: one day.

This was that duck my grandpa got me that mama took the quacker out of.

This was my first birthday home, but my second birthday

Me and my daddy

Me and my mama -- love the plaid pants on her and the striped shirt on me!!

Eating a sucker in the sink -- does it get better??

It appears I was a bit of a messy eater.

Check out my SHOES and my PURSE -- Ellie would have loved me!!

Oooh, white gloves!!

My senior picture

I really thought I was some "STUFF" in this picture.

Prom -- can you say BIG HAIR -- well, don't say it too quickly because you are certainly going to want to say it when you see the next picture.

*sigh* SOMEONE should have said something -- I'm just saying.

Thankful: November 8

I am thankful for the ability to see.

I think one of the most wonderful functions of the human body is the eyes. As a "photographer" (I say that tongue in cheek), there are so many times I'll see something wonderful that I want to capture in a photograph. I take the photograph and then when it's one the screen or printed, it just doesn't seem to capture the full range of beauty that my eyes were able to transmit to my brain. Maybe it's the transference from three dimension to two dimension, but, regardless, it just usually doesn't seem to measure up.

I cannot imagine what life would be like without my vision and I am so thankful for it.

Family Photos

Just typing the title of this post created a mixed feeling of nausea and hysteria.

Today, we went to make family photos with my parents. It is what my mama wanted for Christmas and we had not had pictures made with them (formal ones) since Kevin and I got married (almost fifteen years ago now). We had not had a family photo made since we came home with Ellie (yeah, I know....) so TODAY was going to be the day.

We got up with the sun and left our house by 8:15 because even though I was the one who said we'd all dress in black tops and khaki bottoms, I didn't realize until yesterday that Josh had NO black shirt and no shoes that fit other than Crocs and tennis shoes -- not really the look we were after. So a quick stop at Target and we arrived at the photography studio ten minutes early. This alone should have given me a clue that our karma was off for the day.

Ellie -- oy. Enough said. She only, only, only wants her mama today. This makes it hard for her to have a photo taken with her grandparents, doesn't it? It makes it really hard to get a photo of her with her brother too. By the time all six of us were gathered for the group photo, she was in rare form. Hissy fits, crying, throwing herself down on the floor -- all were treats for us, the photographers and the other guests waiting to have their photos made. I suspect she was the one other parents were pointing to and going, "DO NOT let me see you behaving like THAT." Joy.

The pictures were not good -- at all. They were so not good that we asked if we could go eat and return to have my favorite photographer there do them. At this point I'm thinking we should all drive up to Ohio and let my friend Kim take them.

We hustled over to the local IHOP to eat and it took forever, it seemed. We were all starving -- Ellie was laying on the table, climbing on the table, crying, fussing. UGH. When we left Kevin commented, "Let's stop going out to eat until they are both 18." I agreed.

We made it back for our second session which honestly was pretty much a repeat (with Ellie) of the first session. However, we did like the group picture better and got a picture of me with my two babies, so all was not lost. During the first session, they got some really good pictures of my mom and dad together that I was glad to get as I don't think I have any of them (professional) since I was little.

They are due back November 19. I'll try to remember to post them. The best one is one of Joshua hanging Ellie upside down as she was screaming. It captured the entire experience.

When we got home later I decided, based on Ellie's runny nose and cough it was time to break out some medicine and I gave her Robit*ssin for the first [and, might I add, last] time. Imagine Satan on speed and that's what Ellie was like at Josh's basketball game this afternoon/evening. People were actually moving away from us before Kevin just left the gym with her. Screaming, back arching, crying, kicking, smacking, inconsolable. UGH.

NO. MORE. ROBIT*SSIN. AT. OUR. HOUSE!!!!!

She is currently passed out for the night. She got up at 3 this morning, stayed awake until 5 and then slept from 5-7. She's had about a 45 minute nap. I'm hopeful she'll sleep ALL night and get rested up.

Josh's team, the Dragons, had their first basketball game tonight. No pix as I forgot the memory card. They lost 13-39. Hopefully it will be a better week for the Dragons next week (and for Ellie).

Gotcha Day Story From my Mom

TEN HANDWRITTEN PAGES -- that's what my mom delivered to me today when I said, "You didn't email me my Gotcha Day story to post on the blog." She whipped it right out of her purse and said, "Here it is -- ten pages." Holy cow. So, as promised, here is my story from my mom's viewpoint. Enjoy!! [I'm told photos are forthcoming].

******

Forty years ago today our little angel came home with us to make us a family, and an angel she was too.

When you adopt a child you first ask each other if this is what you both want then you talk to all your parents to see if they will accept and love this child as their grandchild. Both sides of our family were excited and waited those long months to pass with us.

We wanted a little girl so this is what we prayed for. God said to ask and you shall receive so this is what we did. We filled out all the proper paperwork, home studies, etc. and then waited.

I ran to the mailbox every day to see if we had anything from the adoption agency. I had an aunt and uncle who had adopted a little girl through the same agency. I would call her and ask her questions. They were excited for us. It helped just having someone to talk to that had already been through what you were about to go through. We didn't have any idea how long it would take but the agency told us to start getting a room ready for a baby, and if a girl became available that is what we would get, but to decorate the room for either one. Our house had four bedrooms so we cleaned one out and made a nursery right across the hall from our bedroom so I could see the baby bed at all times.

I started buying either/or baby clothes. I worked at W**B** in the office as a secretary at the time and Charlie worked at Mi***Po***Ce*** in the office. After you came along, he took a job with them as a salesman so we could have more money and I could be a stay at home mom.

I had the room all fixed up by the first home visit. I had made curtains, bedspread and even found pictures for the wall that matched. Everything was light green and pale yellow. I laid my big doll that I had as a little girl up in the bed and when the lady from the agency came for the home study, she commented on the beautiful room. Then she saw the big doll laying in the bed and said, "Well, we had better get on the ball and find you a real baby."

Time passed and passed and passed with no letters. Then one day when we least expected it, we got a letter telling us to come in. They had a possible match. My heart jumped out of my chest. I cried and read the letter over and over then I called Charlie and we both got so excited. Then I got in my car and went to my uncle and aunt's house and let my aunt read the letter and she got excited. I just wanted to share with someone who had adopted before. When I left their house, I stopped by my mom and dad's house and they were so excited. I didn't know that my daddy and mama already bought some things, nor did I know that Charlie's mother had already bought a little pink dress. Now, was she praying for a little girl too?

We couldn't wait for the visit that next week. The lady took us in an upstairs office and talked and talked. I was thinking, "Get on with it." My heart was pounding out of my chest. I know Charlie's was too. She said, "We have a little girl for you all, but she is not a baby, she is 22 months old." She said if we preferred a baby they would keep on looking. We told her that it didn't matter that much so she handed up a picture to look at and I cried. I didn't look at Charlie to see if he was crying or not. She asked us what we thought and we both said we wanted to see her. They made arrangements for us to see you the next day. We couldn't wait. We got up bright and early and got ready way before time to go and just sat in the car.

I kept looking at that picture to see if I would recognize you when I saw you. They put us in a room to wait for them to bring you in. Our hearts pounded out of our chests. They door opened and there stood a woman holding the prettiest little girl I had ever seen. I remember thinking, "She's a little angel." The lady said we could take you out for the day and get acquainted. We didn't have to have a car seat back then so you sat in my lap. We went to Burger King. You ate a little bit of hamburger. Then we went to Baskin Robbins and you loved the ice cream. Then we went to a park down by the river and just sat there and watched the boats on the river. We talked to you but you wouldn't talk. You were very withdrawn and a loner. I knew right there and then it was going to take a lot of patience and training. I told Charlie that I didn't want to work and leave you and that you needed a lot of love and attention. He agreed so we decided I would quit work and be a stay at home mom.

The day wore down and it was time to take you back to the agency. I went and got in the car and Charlie had to take you and put you in the car with the lady to take you back to your foster family. You cried and reached for Charlie and that almost tore his heart out. We both left there all torn up and wanting to take you home, but they told us to come back tomorrow and if you talked to us or said anything, you could come home with us. But, if you didn't we did not get you. We prayed and sat up most of the night. I will never forget my thoughts all that night.

I didn't think morning would ever come, but it finally did and again we got there way early. I even remember what I wore that day -- a bright royal blue dress and royal blue high heels that were fancy. I still have those shoes. I sat down in the floor with you and you played with my shoes but still wouldn't talk. The social workers were looking through glass windows at us. I was praying, "Please God, let her say something so we can take her home." Then Charlie pinched one of your toes and you turned around and looked at him and said, "Kit - leave me alone." People came from every direction and told us we could take you home.

That was the happiest day of our lives.

We stopped on the way home and bought diapers and a doll [Good Baby] that we still have. Good Baby became your closest friend through the years. She went everywhere we went. You wore out the original body and Charlie's mother made a new one.

When we pulled into the driveway of our home, you were asleep in my arms. Charlie pecked you on the arm and said, "We're home." You popped up like a jack in the box, looked all around and said, "Home." We took you to your room first and then showed you the rest of the house telling you, "This is your home now and we are your mommy and daddy." You smiled and jumped up in Charlie's lap.

After a while, my daddy had stood it as long as he could without seeing you so here he came with a big yellow duck that you could ride one. It made a loud noise, "Quack, Quack". I thought I was going insane. You rode it from room to room. Finally, one day I took the quacker loose and told you it had broken.

I quit work and enjoyed every day with you. You would help me cook and work in the yard. When Charlie was out of town, we would go to the mall at Rivergate and stay until it closed. You were still a bit of a loner, but gradually you started having friends. You loved church and Sunday School teacher, Ms. Blossom Trotter. She made you a ceramic doll with a light blue dress. We still have that doll.

I am so very proud of our angel who is now the wife and mother of one child she gave birth to and one child that was adopted. It doesn't matter if you give birth or adopt, children are special and are given to you by God. They make your family complete.

We love you very much, Maria, and thank you for choosing the man you married (Kevin, we love you like a son) and giving us two wonderful grandchildren.

Happy Gotcha Day!

Mama and Daddy

Thankful: November 7

I am thankful for the fact that Kevin's new job offers health insurance.

We are quick to point out that universal health care is pointing us toward socialism. I have strong opinions against government mandated/sponsored/funded/run healthcare. I don't believe it is their place to make decisions about my healthcare.

HOWEVER, having said that, there is a crisis in the United States over healthcare. There are many people who do not have health care insurance who need health care insurance. God has opened my eyes to this first hand.

We had an option to take out Cobra when Kevin was laid off from his job. However, even with the Obama Stimulus 65% Premium Reduction, it was an expense we struggled over before deciding we were going to try to "gamble" and wait it out.

God has blessed us during this time in that we have all been relatively healthy. However, this week, Ellie has come down with something like a cold. Her nose is a little runny and she has a cough. This, in itself is not enough to worry me, but in the back of my head I'm going, "Is the cough getting deeper in her chest? Could it be the flu/H1N1?" No fever, so I'm thinking we are still ok. HOWEVER, there is the chance that before the new health insurance takes effect, she will have to make a trip to the doctor. NOW, what if we could not pay for that trip or the medicines associated with it? What if, there was a catastrophic illness in our family and we had no insurance? What if we needed really expensive medicine on an on-going basis?

We have been blessed with health insurance all our lives. We've not known what it's like to have to make choices that some people/families make on a daily basis. When I wonder why God allows things like Kevin's lay-off to occur, I can usually walk away with a reason for it. This time, God has opened my eyes to the plight of others who are unemployed, who don't have insurance, who worry about paying their bills, buying groceries, making choices of health insurance or something else. He has allowed me to be more empathetic and not quite so assuming -- assuming that there will always be health insurance for me or my family and that if we are sick we will receive medical care and not worry about it being able to pay for it. He is allowing me to understand how in my children's future hard choices might have to be made in order to simply be well. God has opened my eyes to a blessing He has provided for us that I regularly took for granted.

AND... remember the church sign I reported that said, "God's blessings are never late or short."? Well, that sign was up for a long time -- most of the time Kevin was unemployed. Today, we went by and the sign now reads, "In all things, give thanks to God." Well, there you go; it's my personal sign from God. And, yes, I did give thanks -- shouted it from the rooftops and would have gone prostrate had I not gotten the information in someone's yard while I was working. THANK YOU GOD for Kevin's job. I've told everyone who has prayed for this to take a moment and pray a prayer of thanks to The One who gives.

Yes, I am certainly now much more appreciative of health insurance.

Thankful: November 6

Happy Gotcha Day -- TO ME!!! Forty years ago today (gosh, I'm old!!), my parents picked me up in Clarksville and took me home forever. I'm going to ask my mom to write up the story and I'll post it here later. MAYBE she'll even find, scan and email me a picture to add. Wouldn't that be cool?

I am so thankful for my parents who put up with all my "stuff" through the years and still continued to love me. One never appreciates their parents until they have kids of their own and let me tell you, I certainly appreciate my parents now! HA! My parents instilled in me honesty, good morals and a wonderful work ethic. They were strict on me because they loved me, but now I realize they had to be. They raised me in a Christian home and taught me what it means to be a Christian. They were supportive of me and anything I wanted to do with my life and I appreciate and love them more than they will ever know.

Tomorrow we are going to have family photos made -- it's the first time we've had one with all four of us since Ellie came home and the first time we'll have had professional pix made with my parents ever that I can remember. It will be fun -- at least, I hope the kids will allow it to be fun. My last experience with them at this studio was not so much fun. Afterwards, we are going to for breakfast to celebrate my Gotcha Day. I'm hopeful that we go to IHOP because I hear they have new "holiday" pancakes and I LOVE pancakes.

A Little More Coupon Tripling

So... I went back for round 2 today at Harris Teeter and Kroger. I only wanted to get a few things and could be more selective because I didn't need anything (so why was I there??? I just can't pass up free food!!).

I managed to spend $54 and got $276 in groceries. So far, this month my average savings has been 75.1%, meaning that for every $100 of groceries I get, I'm paying $25. I am STOKED!! Thank you Kelly Stone for teaching me how to save money on coupons!!

The good deals today were:

Walgreens 75% off Halloween candy -- not black and orange so using it in our Operation Christmas Child boxes (a separate post coming on that soon). Two HUGE bags, (1) 6 pack of toothbrushes and a pack of M&Ms (needed a filler) - $.75 out of pocket. WHOO HOO!!! All of that is for the boxes.

Harris Teeter - Dried pineapple (3 bags) - $.42, Tonys pizza, free; Country Crock butter, free; Crest toothpast (for Operation Christmas Child boxes) - $.14 ea; Starkist tuna pouch, free; Jet Dry - $.24;

Kroger - Perdue Shortcuts chicken (precooked and ready for fajitas or salads) - $.25; Tyson pre-cooked meat (like Perdue) - $.95; Rice Krispies - free; All detergent - $1.99; Glade air freshner - free; Life Savers candy bag (for Christmas boxes) - $.49; Act II Popcorn - $.85 (box-10); Krusteaz cookie mix - $.34 box; McCormick gravy mix - free; Welch's juice - $.24; and THEN there was the envelope that came in the mail from Kroger with the following FREE coupons in it -- every item was FREE (is that cool or what???): Tony's pizza; Kroger canned soup; Durkee Fried Onions and Kroger frozen veggies.

It has been an EXCELLENT couponing week. I think I'm done unless HT gets in some more of the cat food I was paying $.24 a bag for. But then, there's also that free Surf detergent .... hmmm... and the Pampers wipes for $.79 each. Maybe ONE more trip before Tuesday. *smile*

Thankful: November 5

Today I have WONDERFUL news to be thankful for: Kevin got an offer letter in the mail for a job!!!!!

After an almost two month period without a job this is such a blessing and an answer to prayer. Ironically, when you wait, God can make things that you wouldn't think you'd be appreciative for, look very appealing!!

And in all honestly, I'm going to miss having Kevin at home. We've been a lot more laid back, without a true schedule. He's taken the kids to school and picked them up. He's washed laundry and dishes, run errands and cooked dinner. I told him it was like having a wife -- *smile*. But, it has just been nice having him here. Now, he will leave really early and be home late -- it's a 1.5 hour drive each way to his new job. All of the things he was doing will come back to be y responsibility. And, while I'm a bit intimidated by it all (it seems like I have a new job too), I'm happy that he has a job and I know he is happy to be going back to work.

God was so faithful and good to us during this time. There were a few times that I worried -- I am human -- but He continued to remind me to use the phrase, "We are ok today. I only have to worry about today." And, one day at a time, we got through this with His strength and His help. And, He has been faithful to provide a job. THANK YOU GOD!!!

Thankful: November 4

Where do I begin about Ellie and how thankful our entire family is for her. We prayed for this child and God has given us what we asked of Him. And while this little one didn't grow in my tummy, I spent four years "laboring" to bring her home to her family. I travelled across the globe twice and fought a system that was certainly invasive, expensive and fraught with difficulty to get her here. And I would do it all over again.

For years we knew that we wanted another child, and then God gave us Hannah for a few days and confirmed for us that we wanted a girl in our family. We thought she would come domestically, then we thought she was in China, Vietnam, Taiwan and then finally we found her in Kyrgyzstan.

She has been the reason that I learned what waiting for God's blessings truly feels like. She is how I have learned that God will bless you in bigger ways than you can ever believe or ask for. She has strengthened my faith in the God I serve.

She is a beautiful little girl who is so full of life. Every day she makes us laugh and smile and sometimes I find myself just watching her going about her day with such fascination in everything. She never meets a stranger and is such a social little girl. I know our life with her will be filled with people and fun.

She is also a cyclone -- taking apart a room in mere seconds; a tornado, throwing a full-fledge "hissy fit" complete with screaming and thrashing around; she is a breath of fresh air who has just begun to give kisses and hugs on request.

God's blessings are good. She is such a blessing to me and our family. I can't wait to watch her life and see how God uses her life to further His kingdom.

Thank you God for this sweet, sweet girl.

Couponing

I've let my coupon blog fall by the wayside -- so many things to do yet so little time. For a quick update, Harris Teeter and Kroger are running triples Wed-Tues this week, and today I went. It was a long and hard day because so many things went south (mainly due to both my and the cashier's incompetence), but I managed to spend right at $155 and got $644 worth of groceries, saving 67%. I'm VERY pleased and know that we won't need groceries again (sans milk and probably diapers) this month.

Some great deals:

FREE:

Yakisoba noodles - free

Carnation evaporated milk - free

Yeast - free

Tabasco sauce - free

Healthy choice lunch meat - free

Rotel canned tomatoes - free

Snuggle fabric softner - free

Starkist tuna salad pouches - free

CHEAP:
Butterball Turkey Bacon - $.85
Birds Eye Frozen veggies - $.49
9 Lives 3 lb bag cat food - $.24 bag
Tyson Ready to Eat Beef Tips meal - $1.75
Creammate Creamer - $.49
Welch's Juice (64 oz) - $.24
Hunt's Canned Tomatoes - $.25 ea
Ms. Smith Pies - $.75 ea
Pillsbury ready to bake cookies - $.34
(3) bags Hershey's kisses - $1.00 (for 3)
Betty Crocker pouch potatoes -$.55 box
Sweet Sue chicken (can) - $.74
Sweet Sue chicken dumplings - $.25
Poptarts (lg box) - $.85
Keebler cookies - $.24
Pampers wipes - $.79
Hostess cupcakes - $.38
Duracell (4) AAA batteries - $1.24
Smart Balance butter - $.49
Lean Pockets - $.06
JFG coffee - $1.04
Scrubbing bubbles cleaner - $.24
Hormel lunch meat - $.75
Tony's pizza - $.17
Jet dry dishwasher liquid - $.74
Jet dry dishwashter cleaner - $.74


When I got home and had Kevin, Josh (and Braiden who was visiting) come out to help carry the stuff in, they all three were like, "WOW! That's a LOT of food" and it was -- back of SUV full and back seat pretty full. I think we are good to go well into December. I had a couple of credits at Harris Teeter for $20 (from purchasing prescriptions there) and used one of those to buy meat because I never have coupons for that. I have another one and will use it this week for some more meat. I want to stock the freezer for the winter so I won't have to think about meat for a while. Triples runs through Tuesday at both Harris Teeter in Nashville and Brentwood and at Kroger in Belle Meade and Bellevue.

Thankful: November 3

I am so thankful for Josh.

When I was pregnant with Josh I SO wanted a girl. I didn't know anything about boys and so I wanted a girl to play with. When I found out he was a boy, I'll admit I was disappointed for a bit, but I was so happy that he was healthy that I soon got over it.

And then he came. And I remember laying in the hospital bed, holding him with my friend Martha visiting and telling her, "Isn't he the most beautiful baby you have ever seen?" She laughed and said, "All mamas think their babies are the most beautiful." I replied, "But he IS!"

Josh has led me down many roads I would have never travelled if he had indeed been a girl and I have been so incredibly blessed by the people we have met, the experiences we have had and the life we have lived because of him. But more than anything, I have been blessed by the lesssons God has taught me through this wonderful creature: this son of ours.

Because he was born late in November and we went directly into the Christmas season, that was the most meaningful Christmas I think I ever had. I knew how Mary felt; I knew how much she loved her son. I knew for the first time what the verse, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..." and knew that only God could have done that because a mother couldn't.

Thank you God, for this blessing, this life, this miracle, this never-ending, undying love for my son -- for my Joshua. May I never take this blessing you have given me for granted.

Beauty and "The Beast"

Enjoy these pictures of Josh dressed up as a gorilla. It was the only time YOU will see him dressed up as one; it was the only time WE saw him dressed up as one.


In this first picture, you get the reaction most commonly seen by Ellie when he put on the costume, but I thought he looked really cool. She, obviously, did not.

Sweet -- see how she is holding onto his costume.

I remember as a kid laying on the floor this exact same way, watching TV.

I LOVE this one of Josh -- it's so HIM.

And here is monkey boy beating his chest.
Hugs and squishes:
I'm so glad they have each other.

I like this outdoor version of the gorilla too!

Milestone

It's a BIG deal around our house.

There's your teaser.

As first time parents, we rocked Josh to sleep every night. We followed that by allowing him to sleep with us forever and then when he moved to his own bed we laid down with him until he was asleep. When we FINALLY broke him of that, we stayed upstairs in the next room until he was asleep. We did this for almost TEN YEARS. Now, I love my boy and I wouldn't trade the time for anything, but we weren't going to make the same mistakes as we did with Josh (and yet, we still do, huh??).

Our pediatrician has told us that we have to teach Ellie to go to sleep on her own so that she could sleep through the night on her own.

As the "Constant Readers" know, we've had sleep issues since we came home. Normally, Kevin puts Ellie to sleep and sits in the rocker in her room until she is asleep. Sometimes he goes to sleep with her *smile* and I have to wonder if that's the reason he stays!! So, while he and Josh were gone to Land Between the Lakes I decided IT WAS TIME to bring on "Operation Go to Sleep on your Own".

When she was really tired, we made a BIG deal of kissing all the babies and telling them "Night, night". Then, I gave Ellie ALL her blankies (there are a bunch of them she loves) and telling her "Night, Night Ellie". She still goes to sleep with her "baba" (and I don't plan on working on that just yet). I told her I would be across the hall and would be right back. Then she fell asleep on her own. The next day at nap time -- same process. Thursday night, same thing. Then when Kevin came home, I "taught" him the process. Knock wood, she has gone to sleep on her own every night without fuss since then. She still wakes up on occasion and we have to go in and pop in a pacifier, but overall, she is sleeping very good and sleeps about 10 hours. YAY!!! A big deal.

Coming soon -- Kevin's post about their trip to LBL.

Thankful: November 1-2

I saw on Facebook that a friend had decided to post one thing every day in November that she was thankful for. I think that's a fantastic idea even though I'm already a day behind. I'm not going to make it a "big" thing every day because I think you can (and should) be thankful for little things and it doesn't have to be wordy. So here are the first two:

• God -- where would I be without Him???
• My husband - ditto!! Even though there are days I absolutely want to poke straight pins in him (doesn't every wife?? -- don't tell me the answer, ok???), he is a good husband, a good father and a good man. God chose him to be my partner in this life and I am thankful for all he does for me and for our family.

Halloween

Oh, geez, my mom is blogging again ...

I know I have been terribly slack with my blog posts. This weekend was very busy with Halloween and since "the boys" came back from Land Between the Lakes and the 6th grade field trip, I've just not seemed to find any time to blog. I'm on a mission to catch up tonight.

We started Halloween at my mom and dad's house getting pictures of the kids. The disk, however, is in Kevin's truck, so that will be a post for another time. Mom and Dad gave the kids lots of goodies (books, toys, some money in a card, you know -- cool stuff!).

After leaving there, we went to visit my Grandmother at the nursing home so she could see Josh and Ellie in their costumes. HOWEVER, after Josh got his pictures made at MeeMee and DeeDee's house, he never put his costume (that he HAD to have) back on again. *sigh* It's probably a good thing, though, because he was a gorilla and some of those folks at the nursing home might have gotten quite a scare with a gorilla roaming the halls.

Ellie was more interested in the balloon than anything else!

After we left the nursing home, we headed to our church for Trunk or Treat and Harvest Festival. On the way there, Ellie fell asleep. She slept through about a half an hour of the festivities, including the picture we took of her and her BFF, Addie.

When she woke up, she dug through her bag and got out -- PRETZELS??? Obviously, she didn't realize there was chocolate.

She soon realized the error of her ways and found a sucker and tried to eat it with the wrapper on.

She also discovered how much she like cotton candy (ah, she is her mother's child!!).
Josh didn't wear his costume here either. He did, however, go around and collect treats. We didn't see him for a while because apparently we were "too slow" for him. He met back up with us at the food/drink section and we got a picture of my two sweeties together -- it's the only one I got. I think mom got some though. I love this picture of my beautiful kids!!

We were so excited to see Ellie's friend, Kacy, at Trunk or Treat -- she was dressed as a rock star. Ellie loves Kacy!!

Ellie also loves Ms. Brittany who was a "Sparkly Tie-Dyed Fairy Kind of Girl with Pink Hair" -- seems to be an accurate description. They are both princesses who like sparkly things!

And, THIS is Elaina who is wearing the costume that Ellie was supposed to wear last year but didn't because we skipped Halloween. Isn't she adorable as an "Ellie-phant?" She's adorable everyday so this was not a special occasion!!

Josh has the best time and the best luck at the cookie crawl (think cake walk with cookies). He won EIGHT bags of cookies. And then, my sweet boy saw his teacher and her kids arrive at Trunk or Treat late and they didn't get any candy and he gave her six bags of cookies to share with her kids. I LOVE this kid!!!! Check out this silly smile and his "stash" ...

After we left Trunk or Treat, we went over to Owen Farm to go through the corn maze after dark and to enjoy time around the bonfire. It was SO cool to go through the corn maze when the moon was full. We had flashlights, but we certainly could have gotten through without one. The moon was SO bright. Then we had nice time visiting with Linda and Ty for a while. Time got away from us and it was soon 11 p.m. and we knew we needed to head home.

All in all, we had a nice time.

These photos are of Ellie in her Halloween pjs. I had forgotten to post them throughout October and need to "get them in". This seemed like a good time. She loves to pet the kitties and many times they will set there and let her. Lucy lets her a lot more than I would have ever thought.

Sunshine - Our Dear Dog and Friend

Today we had to make the hard choice to put our sweet friend, Sunshine, to sleep. We had been struggling with this decision for several weeks due to her declining health. We think she probably was having renal failure as she was becoming incontinent and was drinking lots and lots. She was sleeping much more, but BOY when she went outside, she was like a puppy again for a while.

Sunshine "found" use back in September 2000 just a few days after we went to a shelter and got Bear. We posted "Found" signs everywhere but had no one to claim her and she just became ours. We felt like she had been abused because she was very skittish and walked around with her tail in between her legs. Poor girl's teeth were worn down in the front as well and occasionally she would have "episodes" that reminded us of mini epileptic seizures. We decided to name her Sunshine so she would have a happy name to live up to. And, she did.

She LOVED the kids that I was keeping at the time and they loved her. She played with them all the time. She mothered them to death, but I never had to worry about them when Sunshine was around. She allowed us to put all kinds of things on her: reindeer horns, sunglasses, I think she even had a skirt on one time way back when. She never complained about any of it -- as long as she was getting attention, she was happy.

Through the years she was terrified of storms, lightning and loud noises. It was the only time she would come in the house -- she really preferred being an outside dog. We knew that she was beginning to get older when she decided to move inside the house back during the summer of 2008 while we were in Kyrgyzstan and never really went back out again to stay.

This is what we were seeing more and more of from Sunshine.

It's so hard to make the decision to euthanize an animal. There is the guilt that you feel as if you are "killing" them, but then there is the pain you feel watching them feel so badly day by day. Regardless, we felt we made the most humane choice for her. I felt badly for Kevin because he was the one who had to take her and bury her.

This is the last photo we took of Sunshine this morning. We will miss our friend terribly.

This has been a hard, hard year for us. I'm ready to move on to a different year.