Adoptions in general

http://vimeo.com/4386155

Summit V - Why are you here? from Tapestry on Vimeo.

Okay, I've never tried linking anything to my blog before...so let's try this. I was reading some info on http://www.orphansunday.org/ and came across this video which touched me. Sometimes I spend time reading blogs and websites about kids that are waiting to be adopted or sponsored or assisted in some way....I can't help them all...but I wish I could!

On another note, we never did "Baby Dedication" for the boys as I didn't feel comfortable committing to raising them in the knowledge of God when we didn't know if we would be the ones who are raising them, however, now that they are adopted we are going to be a part of the next "Baby/Child Dedication" at our church. It will be November 8....which is also Orphan Sunday. Is this a coincidence? or the hand of God?! Of course, the other baby being dedicated is not an orphan....and ours were not technically orphans....still, I find meaning in this.

Last Week of October

Today begins the last week of October. Our alarm clock in the bedroom fell back an hour since it was preprogrammed to do so....right before the government changed the weekends to do so...so I'll need to adjust it correctly today, and then back next Saturday night. We had quite a bit of wind and rain this weekend which gave the grass a nice carpet of leaves. The trees are yellow and brown and orange and red right now...very little green...and quickly loosing their leaves.



Friday night, after everyone was settled, I left the kids with Randy and went to the neighbors "Creative Home" party. Another Christmas present checked off the list. Saturday morning we all tackled the basement and it's lovely and organized and cleaned....and even stayed that way for a day and a half since we've stayed out of it!



Randy is now hooked on watching "Top Gear" shows on YouTube. It's a BBC program. I have to admit some of them are pretty funny...but in general, I get tired of them before he does. Must be a "guy thing".



We attended church this morning as normal. And appreciated being there as normal also. Whenever I can't attend I miss it. Afterwards, Autumn went home with a friend. Josiah's friend came over after lunch. Later we picked up Autumn and dropped off the friend and went to my parents house for supper. 3 of my siblings (& families) were there also so we enjoyed hanging out with them and catching up with each other.



I got a creative impulse so have been scrapbooking away in an effort to get caught after. This afternoon I updated Zach & Mark's books to include their adoption story, their baby books, and a page in Janae's book. Now I need to tackle Josiah's book, Autumn's book, and the family album....but not tonight any more.



The projects for this week are:

• FUEL TAXES - Randy's quarterly fuel taxes are due by October 31....this includes IFTA, NYHUT, KY, and NM. Not difficult, just a matter of focusing and doing them!


• BCFPA Fundraiser. Orders are due by the end of the week. Then I need to organize and place them.


• And of course, the above mentioned scrapbooks need updated.


• not to mention the normal: laundry, cleaning (up), dishes, caring for children....

On the plus side, I have a relatively free week to tackle all these projects. I do need to go in to school briefly on Tuesday. And the children have a dentist appointment Tuesday afternoon. But otherwise I have all sorts of options!

Monday is my oldest little brother's birthday. Happy Birthday!

Friday

Yesterday we had a blast at our Open House. What a good excuse to hang out with a bunch of friends! And I even got some Christmas Shopping done in the process. Then later in the afternoon I went to a local craft show (held by friends from church) and did some more Christmas shopping in addition to getting some absolutely wonderful whoopie pies...so light and delicate with plenty of cream!

Today I went back to check and see if I missed anything since it was rather crowded yesterday and first thing in the morning it is less crowded. Then I headed to Sharp Shopper and also the egg place. Then I stopped by my sister's to drop off a nuk and the door prized she won from one of the vendors who was here yesterday and some diapers that are to small for my baby. Now I am having trouble getting motivated to begin anything. It is a cloudy windy day. The rain is supposed to come later. I love the fall leaves and the rustling...but today is just rather gloomy.

Well, I should come up with something for supper....and really, I should do a bit of wash (although it could wait until tomorrow)....and sweep the floor...

Tonight I am invited to a "Creative Home" (formerly Home Interiors) party. I'm not sure if I'll get there or not.

Today

Today a friend and I are hosting a "Holiday Open House" at my house with home party businesses and refreshments. Tupperware, Creative Memories, Avon, Southern Living at Home, Yellow Brick Road Bakery, Shaklee, and Jewelry. Oh yes, and refreshments. I'm looking forward to hanging out with a bunch of friends and shopping at home. :-) It's from 9-2 here and anyone is welcome.

My house looks wonderful in preparation for above....somehow it just doesn't stay that way!

Tuesday we had our first foster mom/adoptive mom play group. We had a great time even though it only suited 3 of us this first time (and 9 kids). We plan to do it again next month.

This weekend we currently have no plans. Life's been rather busy so I'm looking forward to a weekend with nothing set, where we can do things on the spur of the moment or just hang out together at home.

Book

My latest book read was "How to Become a Sweet Old Lady Instead of a Grumpy Old Grouch" by Marilynn Carlson Webber. This was published back in 1996 by Zondervan. And I enjoyed it immensely.....hopefully I absorbed the message and will be the "sweet old lady" as I age.

Another weekend

The end of last week I was dealing with extreme fatigue and a sore throat..but seem to be better now. The flu is so prevalent around here that I am just waiting for the kids to come down with it.

Thursday at MOPS we made some neat crafts...pictures are on my camera which has dead batteries.

Friday the older 3 spent overnight at grammy's house. Randy & I and the little boys enjoyed spending time with friends.

Saturday I accompanied Randy to NJ to load his truck. First time I was along in a long, long time. His mother kept the little boys, the older ones were still at my mom's. I took the afghan I'm working on along and got a few inches added. We ate lunch at the infamous diner, Louise's. Upon returning home, he ran to E-town for trailer tires and I went to pick up the kids. Then we babysat some of our friends' kids for the evening while they went out.

Sunday morning we went to church. In the evening I went again and Randy kept the kids home to get them to bed early.

It has been very wet and cold and rainy recently but this week is supposed to be a bit milder. I get to go to the dentist this morning.

Weekend

Today it is freezing! Well, not literally, but definitely colder than it was...and from what I hear colder than "average" with the temps predicted to drop...we need to start the wood stove! I do have the electric heat on.

Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon we went to a "Missions at the Airport" event held at a private airstrip in the area. The had displays of what all is involved with working with the missionaries and providing transportation of people and cargo. Hayrides and "train" rides for the kids. Airplane and Helicopter rides. And cheap food. When I got there I thought we'd only be there a short time but we ended up there for 2-1/2 hours. My brother & his family joined us also. The kids loved the rids. Randy went up for an airplane ride. And I really, really should've taken my camera! Then we spent the evening at my brother's house...very nice.

Saturday night we watched the 1939 Shirley Temple version of "The Little Princess". I'm never sure why movie producers think they need to improve on the book?! Anyway, it was interesting, but only had about 1/3-1/2 of the movie that resembled the book....of course, this was produced in 1939 so perhaps they made the switch to it being during wartime to reflect the world at that time.

BOOKS: Recently I've been reading the O'Malley Series by Dee Henderson again. I enjoy those books. Most recently "The Guardian". I've also been reading the books about Lord Peter Whimsey by Dorothy Sayers. Ms. Sayers was a contemporary of C.S.Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. The books are fascinating mysteries. And then I found a Lucy Walker romance on the paperback swap at the library that I hadn't read so I read that. I checked out some Munsch/Murtchenko books at the library. They are so much fun to read to the kids. This week we have "Pigs", "The Paperbag Princess", and "Show and Tell". And I also found "Olivia....and the missing toy". I love the Olivia books!

Today a friend kept Zach while Janae, Mark & I went to K-Mart and the library. Tomorrow I will fold and put away the many loads that I washed this afternoon but did not fold (as I was reading my library book..."The Guardian"...mentioned above).

Fair

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took the kids to the New Holland Fair last week. Below are a few pictures of Zach & Janae on some of the rides. The pictures I have of the older kids include cousins--and I try not to post pictures of other family members without permission.

Life...

Really nothing much to post....but I noticed I last posted on Thursday....so I guess I'll update this.

We had a lovely weekend at home with minimal plans...always a nice treat! Josiah went to a friend's house overnight Saturday and we had 2 cousins here...so we had 4 girls & 2 boys for the weekend. The girls all played so nicely together I hardly knew they were here. Sunday morning we had Communion at church. In the afternoon I took the girls to a neighbors birthday party.

This week is not very eventful...yet. Today was the first "neighborhood play group" of this year. We meet once a month from October-March. Wednesday morning a friend is coming over to discuss the "Holiday Open House" we are having in a couple of weeks. Thursday is "Day for Play" that my cousin's wife invited me to come to....basically just a bunch of moms and kids getting together at a church gym and letting the kids run for a couple of hours. Friday night is a benefit banquet for our friends in Honduras. Then the rest of the weekend is free....oh, except for an hour or so on Saturday when we're helping with the church stand at the "Brecknock Fall Festival".

More Pictures

Autumn with balloons from the adoption party.

The lake at the cabin. Some of my family is on the far side around a campfire. It was a lovely weekend...just the right temperature for the fire. Later that day (Saturday) it rained and continued to rain off and on through Sunday.

Josiah enjoyed fishing with his uncle's rod.

He caught this fish.

We celebrated Mark's birthday on Saturday night. Janae was happy to blow out the candle for him.

And he was very sad when I took the cake away to cut it.