Faith. Family. Friends. Love. Home life... so fun!

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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Trick pic answer


Kaitlyn, you got it right! Christmas lights from "Lights Before Christmas" at Riverbanks zoo!
...I'll try to share more pictures of our time during that visit home from Daddy later, but that happened last November... so it would really be called old news now ;). If I get to it before the new year, so be it. If not... so be it!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

I think it is time for another trick pic!

Trick pic, #6.
What is this picture of?

About the time we were working on all of those towel dresses...

...We were also having some lovely dental work done.
I wouldn't ordinarily have shared this news, just because it is so "ho-hum", but I thought that you might enjoy this funny comparison, Allie.
First read this post by my blogging friend Allie.
Then read this account..
Mommy, Tori, and I all had fillings done from the tenth to the thirteenth. (Oh, so fun, haha!)
In between fillings, we tried to go about normal life... aside for going to about five stores looking for a certain kind of ice cream... I love how Allie puts it... "Just goes to show how crazy our family is. :-) (And why we had (five) cavities filled)." To help us get through the "drama", you know ;).
And, yes, I am one of the ones who had two fillings.
Allie, I thought of you all that week ;).
It was sweet, though, how everybody at the dentist office was coming in with concern that we were moving :), therefore they wouldn't get to "keep seeing the children grow".

December posts coming...

...get ready ;). You're completely free to skip all this old news :)...
Late last November Mommy and I spent a few days making some tea towel dresses for the last Hidden Treasures auction for little Adam. We fully expected to just auction those off, and see how they went, maybe doing them for other auctions in the future if they went well.
 Well, they were extremely fun to make :). We used this tutorial with this pattern and took ideas from one that our neighbor had given us, and came up with this...



 I love this picture, haha!

...and a few others. They went well, and then I got an email from the lady who runs the auctions, that two ladies were interested in buying more. Daddy, Mommy and I talked about it, and decided we would take them up on their offer. We expected they would buy one or two each.
We got a couple emails soon after...
....one wanted three Christmas ones...
...the other asked could we make her, like, ten?
We were busy for a week ;). But it was fun!

I feel like I haven't blogged much lately...

...so how do I actually have eleven posts from this month?! That actually sounds like way more than I remember writing! Haha... we have been so busy lately!!! But, now that Christmas is over, I hope to have (just a bit) more time to catch up on telling some little bits of news that I have meant to share (half of which are already written out... in my head, haha.), along with pictures.... Maybe :)...

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I pray that the realization of this will stay with us all through out the year, even now that Christmas is over! Praise God for gifting us with his only Son to pay for our sins on the cross!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Over the past couple weeks...

...There was this new update on the Pleven orphanage.
A while back there was a new director placed in Pleven. She made many changes in the orphanage that has been greatly appreciated. The little children there have already shown signs of better treatment. But this doesn't stop the fact that the little ones need FAMILIES. Better conditions are good, but their real need is a Mommy and Daddy. Nevertheless, we do not want their circumstances to change back to the worse.
And there is danger of that. Or, there would be if God was not in control.
But we know that God "holds the government on his shoulders". And he will work this out for the best.
Please, those of you who read this. Pray. God will hear the cry of his people. Pray that the Bulgaria government would be lead by God to not re-institute the former director "who was enriching herself at the expense of tiny, hurt children who were and are completely helpless to defend themselves."
What she did was significant, and they know, or at least need to know, that. And, may I ask that, as one lady who reads Miss Susanna's blog mentioned, we would pray that God would work significantly in her life? That he would draw her to him in His saving grace.
Among other things, I have also been praying that this bit of news would break the hearts of those who feel God leading them to adopt and yet are holding back from fear. That the thought of that child that they would love to have in their home going back to those conditions would cause them to step out in faith in God.
But then another update this morning may mean that isn't possible.
This post (which leads to another post, which leads to the petition... sorry if it seems complicated...) tells that the government for the country these children are in may make it to were these children may not be able to be adopted by Americans. From the sounds of it... because they are trying to get back at Americans for something our Government did that offended them. They are trying to use children's precious lives to get even.
If you feel so lead, would you sign the petition? And please... PRAY. This doesn't just mean that the children who don't have a family committed to them would no longer be able to be adopted by Americans. That means even those who are close to being brought home here in America would not get home from the sounds of it. Please, pray.
This is Christmas, the time of anticipation... joy... hope... salvation... preparation... faith in God. And these children need families to anticipate and prepare for them, to offer them hope and salvation, through faith in God, to bring these children joy in this season, in their whole life! Families who will nurture these children and explain these concepts to these children, through faith in God.
I praise God that he has placed me in a family where our parents have explained to us what each of these things really mean. And I pray that the door remains open for families to do this for other little ones, too. To care for orphans is what God has commanded, and he will cause it to happen, no matter what. But he has also commanded us to pray. Let's do just that!!!

On a lighter note, there is a little fundraiser going on to help bring Tommy home...
And precious Garnet and Kramer have families working to bring them home!!!
And, have you seen who the next Hidden Treasures action will be for? I think Payton is adorable, and he is a very good example of the change that the new director at his orphanage has brought to help bring better health to these children, if you've seen the pictures of him a while ago! It starts in February, so any of you would have plenty of time to think of something to donate this time, if you would like. I know, I've always mentioned the next one while it is running... I know that does next to no good for somebody who would want to donate something that would take a week to get ready, I'm sorry :)...

Friday, December 14, 2012

This is so sad...

A shooting in a school in Connecticut took place this morning... so very sad. Please pray for those families who have lost loved ones. God is in control, and we know that he has a plan and purpose for even this... but even Jesus wept, and we know how very badly the families of those who died are hurting...


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Nothing much...

I just wanted to share this link to a video from YouTube on a cast on stitch. One of these days, I hope to start a page with links to crochet/knitting/tatting techniques and stitches, along with all the alternate names for each of them, that I come across. Like that will ever happen ;)...
Turkish Cast-On/ Eastern Cast-On
That's it :). I'm using it to convert a pattern for a Christmas present. If it works, I'll tell you how I made it. If it doesn't... well, you'll know, because you won't see it ;)!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Most of you won't find this interesting,

 but it was easier to post these here then on Facebook for someone...





 






















Friday, December 7, 2012

I'd love to write a detailed report right now,

But I may not be around much until next year. There is a major time crunch for me to finish Christmas presents, and we're still working on the house :). I just wanted to remind you that the Hidden Treasures auction ends at midnight tonight!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Prayer and calls are being requested for a Senate vote tomorrow

"We received word this morning that the US Senate plans to vote tomorrow on whether or not to ratify the United Nations Disability Treaty."...
..."One of the dangers of the conjunction of these two laws could be that US parents could find it increasingly difficult, and eventually impossible, to get permission to bring orphans with special needs into the US."
Go to http://theblessingofverity.com/2012/12/alert-please-call-your-senator/#comments to read more.
Praise God that he is in control of all that happens!!!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Praising the Lord for a working sink!

Our sink is draining freely again!!!
Mommy finally tried holding a hairdryer under the pipe, and gave it to Tori so that Mommy could go do a bit of cleaning. I looked over, and at 12:29 a.m. last night (yes, I checked the time!) the sink drained by itself for the first time in about nine hours.
I had prayed just a few minutes earlier that it would drain by 12:30...
And when I pulled up my dashboard to start this entry last night, I saw a neat milestone for my blog: I had had exactly 5,000 page views since I have joined blogger :)...

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Two clogged sinks, a pouring dishwasher and a lovely burn later....

That would happen to be Mommy's Facebook status two hours ago, after we had spent a couple hours trying to unclog the sink. 
Please pray for us! I know this is something we will laugh at in years to come, but it is not funny in the least right now!
I was cooking hamburger for supper this afternoon, and after I drained it into the sink, the water was turned off... prematurely. We didn't find out until it had solidified, causing the water from the dishwasher to back up, pouring out of the door, onto the floor.  We found the source of the problem, and have tried everything we can think of to unclog it: hot water, vinegar, baking soda, plunging one side while the other is closed off(pulling apart our plunger, in the process, but it screwed back on easily...), during which time Mommy burned her arm. Next we're going to try Drano...
Thankfully, God prompted me to make lunch (our big meal) for tomorrow, and then prompted Mommy to decide to have leftovers for supper tonight instead, and we just made bread, so we have meals for the next two days. We also have no clean dishes to speak of, haha...
Anyway, we just really appreciate if you would pray that the sink would cooperate, and any suggestions would be WONDERFUL, also...

Okay...

I've already planned all my Christmas gifts... But I thought that the books in this post were adorable, and they are homemade! They would be so fun, and it would be fun to personalize them for each child! Maybe this will give one of you who actually needs some ideas,  some ideas :).
I think I have gifts planned for Peter's first two years of life, haha...
We have a lot of crafting coming up. Christmas presents, and an advent chain are needing done very soon (24 days 'til Christmas!), I would love to make Peter a couple hats (he is the first one to really keep hats on his head, so fun :)!), and there are a few other things I would *love* to do before the new year! We'll see... and I may keep you updated if I have any time in between :)... I have a Thankful Thursday and some posts from when Daddy was home, and then I'm not so sure how much I'll be around :).
Merry Christmas to all who see this post! (My stats say I have had 670 page views over the last month! That has been a huge jump up from a few months ago, and, although I'm sure I don't know most of you, I pray that God may work through my blog to minister in some way to you all! I'd love to see a comment from any of you!)

Awesome Adam Auction!

The next Hidden Treasures auction is up and running to help bring little Adam home! Make sure you hop over and check it out! It will be running through the seventh. Please be praying, and bidding if you see fit :). Mommy and I had so much fun making the items we donated this time, there were a lot of strange new techniques that were really fun to do :).... Although we could have lived without dealing with the computer ;)... we had a lot of laughs while trying to send pictures, haha!
Also, have you seen the latest post on "The Blessing of Verity"? Praise God for Theodore's family! Please, also pray for the little ones who have been turned down, again. They are loved by God!!! May he bring their families to them in his timing!
And praise God, also, for the double blessing he is sending the Musser family at this time :)...