Do You Know What These Are?

If you guessed shoeboxes the your right. Do you know what there for?

This is the start to our boxes to fill for Samaritans Purse for next Christmas and I am sooooo very excited. We saved the shoeboxes we got at Christmas and we will fill a box for every pair of shoes we buy for our family this year so only God knows how many we will be filling this year.

If you have never heard of Operation Christmas Child then please, please click here to learn. By simply filling a box for a child for Christmas you are giving a child a chance to spend eternity in heaven. The children getting these boxes get a chance to learn about Jesus! Don't wait until next fall to start filling your boxes, why not start today and then maybe a few more kids will get a chance to know Jesus. It is also just a shoebox that you fill so it doesn't have to cost much at all. You can even fill them with things from the dollar store.

The reason I am posting this today is because I signed up for a giveaway at Wee Share and I won and the item I won will be going into one of my shoeboxes. I'm hoping I win several things this year to fill shoeboxes up with.

Some things we have put in our boxes are: stickers, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste. We put in stuffed animal, school supplies, small toys and candy. My favorite things to put in them are things that people make for adoption fundraisers. I LOVE, LOVE , LOVE when I can support an adoption and at the same time give it to someone else to bless. A couple adoption fundraiser things I put in the boxes this year were: Beading To China silverware (no knives) and fancy children's aprons.

If you make boxes up would you please leave a comment of some things you put in your boxes to give new people doing it ideas? Also how do you decided how many boxes to do?

Why Is It.....

I am sitting up late due to kids keep making noises that are waking me up but I have a question for all of you my friends.

Why is it that I could handle childbirth with 2 kids, 7 weeks of labor with one of them, flying to the other side of the world for our 3rd child (I'm terrified of flying).

I have had broken bones in my life.

I have handled many, many things.

For some reason though I cannot handle a broken toenail that I got on Christmas morning. I am not kidding you. I caught my nail on our wood floor while opening gifts and I won't go into details but I almost passed out. Chris has been taking care of it for me and again tonight when he went to change the bandaid I almost got sick and passed out and had to lay down.

IS THAT NOT CRAZY?

Do You Believe In Miracles?

I'm talking about the real kind of miracles, the kind of miracles that you actually see with your eyes. It's easy to say when someone is in an accident "oh it's a miracle you survived". There are things we say everyday "oh that's a miracle that happened." Have you ever really wondered though if God actually does real, real miracles today?

I have a friend that has a disease that causes tumors to grow all over her body. My friend has had a lot of these tumors removed but it is rare for them to be cancerous. Within the last year or so she got the horrible news that some of her tumors had become cancerous and due to it being so rare they really had no idea how to treat her and pretty much just wanted to experiment on her for science.

My friend is in her early 30's and a mom to 3 young boys that need their momma around. They have prayed and prayed for God to heal her and were beginning to think God was not listening.

About a month or so ago they found a cancerous tumor that they said they needed to remove. They thought they could hold it off until after Christmas and all that good stuff. Two weeks before Christmas my friend went to see the surgeon and he gave her some really bad news. The tumor was growing very, very fast and they couldn't wait it needed to go now. One week before Christmas my friend went in for surgery.

The night she had surgery her husband called me to tell me that the tumor was not there. The Dr. searched and searched all over her and NOTHING. They have 3 pictures of this tumor and it was no where to be found.

God removed that tumor for her. My friend got a physical MIRACLE from God for Christmas!!!

Have you seen God do a real physical miracle? If so can you share because I love nothing more than BIG GOD stories?

WOW, What A Week

Wow, this has been one crazy week full of fun.

A week ago we took Paige to her very first movie. Paige loved it and was quiet the whole time. A word of warning to parents though. The movie that you see in the picture behind her has a lot of evil in it that I would not have let her watch if I would have known about before going. Next time this momma will be a lot more cautious even when it seems like a movie for children.
Chris celebrated his 33rd birthday on Christmas Eve. Daddy always gets a special cake decorated by his precious kiddos. I found these really cool markers for decorating cake and it was perfect for the kids. Did you see what Amaya wrote on the cake? She didn't even ask how to write it (OK, I know we need a little practice on the S's.)

Isn't he just the cutest? God truly blessed me with an incredible husband!!!

We have a tradition in our house that after Chris' birthday party is over the kids get a special Christmas Eve gift of new PJ's. They are showing off their new PJ's here.

So after cleaning the house, decorating cake, having party, getting PJ's and putting them on it is finally time to make cookies for Santa. Yes, I was one worn out momma by the end of the day.

We had a wonderful Christmas! Now I have sick kiddos and a messy house but oh well. I hope all you had a wonderful Christmas too.

Where's Your Shoebox?

I am so excited because I just got our email from Samaritans Purse saying our shoeboxes went to Benin. I had never heard of Benin and then I read more and they are in Benin, AFRICA!!!

My heart has been in Africa for sometime now so I am very, very excited about where God shipped our shoeboxes to.

This is my favorite project and it's fun that we can see where the boxes go now.

So where did you boxes go?

PS If you don't know what I'm talking about click here.

I Started Another Blog

I started another blog because of my new found addiction. I really hope to use this blog to share adoption fundraisers, great Etsy finds, other great handmade finds and well GREAT GIVEAWAYS!!!

I don't have much on there yet but I would LOVE for you to hop on over and become a follower. You might just come across some hidden treasure!


www.onthesearchforhiddentreasure.blogspot.com

Oh I Have A Headache

Can anyone else relate? I have had a headache for 2 days and couldn't figure out why.

Could it be that Chris' birthday is in 3 days?

Maybe it's that Christmas is in 4 and I'm not ready yet?

Maybe it's that Jaxson's birthday is next week?

Wow, why did 3 very important men in my life have to have birthdays all in the same week?

I love it though and would trade Jesus, Chris or Jaxson for the world =)

Our First Christmas Together

Last night right before I went to bed I had an email from Rett saying she blogged and I was in it. When I read the post I about wet my pants because she ask me to tell about the first Christmas Chris and I spent together.

PLEASE take this as a warning that I don't want to offend anyone here! I have my personal taste and well if your like Chris well then you like things different than me.

When I was single I went through a spell of being a tad bit crafty. I LOVED Christmas and I would even make my own wrapping paper. I would take that brown paper you mail stuff in and use shaped sponges to paint things on it. Then after wrapping the present I would make beautiful raffia bows and glue them on the package with babies breathe and country flowers.

Our first Christmas when we got ready to decorate I found out that marriage isn't always easy. I wanted my real tree that smelled wonderful. Chris wanted a FAKE tree. I wanted white lights and well Chris wanted colored. I was used to decorating the most beautiful country tree with flowers, raffia bows, rustic birdhouses and snowmen and just so ME.

As the woman in the house I figured I should get to choose how to decorate "our" tree. I had a HUGE problem though and that was my MOM. Oh how my mom loves my dear husband. When we first got together sometimes I thought she even loved him more than me. My mom would do anything or make anything for Chris. My dear mom also couldn't handle Chris not having his style of tree.

So let me tell you about my dear husbands style. Chris wanted a FAKE tree with colored lights. Chris wanted that shiny garland and tinsel and those round shiny ormaments that come in a box and they all look the same but different colors.

I thought I was going to cry.

At the time we lived in a 600 square foot home. Did you see that 600 was all the space we had so our living room was not big in any way? MY MOM told Chris that if I had to have my tree my way then he needed one his way too. I couldn't believe it!!! So we had 2 Christmas trees in our little tiny living room that year. One beautiful rustic one and one well you get the idea of how I felt about the other one.

After that year we came to an agreement on how to do one tree. We now have a real tree, colored lights for him, wooden beads for me and then just plain old regular ornaments that mean something (most of them anyway). I really, really do miss my beautiful country tree.

I would show you a picture of our ordinary tree right now but I'm about to throw my camera out the window so you will have to use your imagination.

What Happens To Them

For those of you that followed me when I first started fighting for Duncan from Reece's Rainbow you will remember how emotional I got. This morning I saw this video on a blog and it explains why I was so emotional for Duncan.

This video shows what happens to kids in many countries around the world when they have certain disibilities.

Wonder what breaks God's heart? Watch this.






There are many, many children right now on www.reecesrainbow.com waiting for someone just like you to save them from this happening when they turn 4.

I Just Have To Share

I love when people share really cool finds so I am going to share one with you. We live in an almost 100 year old home. The house heats pretty good but it is also a large 100 year old home so the wood floors get kinda cold. I wanted to get slippers for the kids for Christmas and I found the girls some really cute ones in the store but I couldn't find ANY in Jaxson's size. So either every little boy out there wears the same size or he is in between sizes for slippers.

Jaxson would have been so sad if they had both got slippers and he didn't. Finally (talk about last minute) I thought "OK, you can find anything on Etsy so why not slippers." I searched for children's slippers and look what I found.

Do these not look so soft and warm?

Problem was is that she didn't have any in his size either so I emailed and asked her if she could make some in his size and get them here before Christmas. She emailed back and sent me pictures of the fabric she had on hand and she is making them and shipping them TODAY. I ordered them at like 10:15 last night. They are also cheaper than what I paid for the girls slippers in a big chain store even with shipping.

She also makes some really, really cute notebooks. You should go check out her store by clicking here.

OK, I really want to figure out how to start a review blog because that would be too much fun.

THANK YOU SLIPPER LADY!!!

Question Of The Day

For a very, very long time now I have put myself on the back burner. I am a mom a 3 small children so for about 7 years now (you so have to count pregnancy time with Amaya because I was deathly ill) I put everyone else first and me last.

I just realized this week that my babies aren't babies anymore. They can bathe themselves, dress themselves, clean their rooms (when their forced to), make their own snacks, help clean the house, feed the dogs, help fold laundry and well the list goes on.

When I was out shopping for Christmas on Saturday I was at a store that had 50% off of their wall hangings. I found one I fell in love with and ask Chris if I could buy my own Christmas present from him. I never, ever do this. I never get anything for myself. You know what? I love having something for myself! I really struggle with this though when there are so many people out there that don't have anything.

I also said to Chris the other day that if I keep winning jewelry with my new addiction that I might even become a "fancy mom" as Amaya would say. I never wear jewelery now other than the stuff I have got for free.

I won't even begin to tell you how old my clothes are and I'm sure there are people out there including Rett that would love to just take me and give me a makeover.

I think this next year though I am going to work towards doing some things for ME now that I have a little time to do that with the kids getting older.

What are some frugal things you do to take care of you?

Best Christmas Present Ever

Can you believe I am doing 2 posts today?

I just read my friend Rett's post from today and boy did it get me thinking. Yesterday our pastor ask us what the best gift we ever got was and then Rett just asked the same thing. It really got me thinking about the best gift I ever got.

I have been the type of person that it has always been very hard me me to make a Christmas list even as a child. When I got married my husbands family makes you do a Christmas list and that was the hardest thing ever.

When I was a teen (I think about 15) my mom ask what I wanted for Christmas and I couldn't think of anything. I decided I wanted to give up my entire Christmas to give to an inner city child in Chicago. I found out later that the teen was able to get on a bus and go to California to see family with the money I sent. Do you know that is the only Christmas present I can ever really remember getting? Isn't that weird that the only present I really ever remember getting is one I gave instead of getting.

I'm not telling you this to make you think that I am special or anything because trust me I'm not.

What got me thinking is that as a mom now it would kill me to not buy my child any presents. What if my mom would have said "Sarah, that is a wonderful idea but I really want you to have Christmas too"? What if she would have just sent the money but also went ahead and gave me Christmas? What if my mom would have taken the only Christmas gift that really ever meant anything to me away from me because it would have been hard on her not to buy me something?

I pray that I can be the kind of mom that puts away my selfish desires to let my children serve God. Thank you Mom! Thanks Rett for your post!

What are some special things you remember about a Christmas gift?

Thankful Thursday On Monday - I Won Again

Wow, I was so excited to open up my email this morning to find that I won another giveaway. I am very excited about this one because Chris and I had just decided to take our house off the market for awhile. We were totally depressed about this and I told Chris if we were going to do this that we were going to stop looking at our house as something we will sell someday and that we would make it "our home." For so long we have been in the "we want to sell our home" way of thinking that we didn't bother decorating to make it a home.

I have to tell you that we have one room in our house that I really, really do not like. Our bathroom is tiled more than 1/2 way up the wall in PINK and green tile. Since the day we moved here I have never done anything to it because what do you do with a pink and green room?

Well, God gave me a little blessing this morning and I won the perfect picture to put in my pink and green bathroom. You can go check it out here if you want and go look at the other amazing photographs. Have I told you I LOVE Etsy???

Has anyone been signing up for giveaways since my last post?

I Have An Addiction

OK, since you guys were AWESOME yesterday helping me to stay warm with your wonderful comments I'm going to be very real with you today.



I HAVE AN ADDICTION



Yes, my friends I have become addicted to a certain website. The website I have been addicted to you can check out by clicking here. I can't believe I am sharing this with you.



A couple months ago I won a giveaway on a friends blog and in her giveaway she asked people how they found her blog. Someone mentioned the site above so I went to it and that is all it took. Come naptime or bathtime everyday (after I check my farm on Facebook) I have to go check out this site.


Not only can you sign up for giveaways (by the way I have won a few of them) but you get to find incredible ETSY stores.


I know I am lowering my chances of winning but since you guys are awesome I will share just this one time. Don't tell too many people please!

I AM SOOOOOO COLD!!!

OK, it is way to cold out for my blood today. With the wind chill it is -3 degrees (Jeanette please don't tell me how warm it is there). I love my 2 little Furry babies but man it's not so fun taking them out to go potty on a day like today.

All I can think of is coffee and cinnamon rolls and wishing something hot was brewing in the crock-pot.

My dear hubby is in a men's leadership bible study and they are getting together tonight with us wives to go to a town that has a special Christmas thing that you are supposed to walk all around town. Can you tell I'm shivering even thinking about it?

To help warm up my day would you please leave me a comment with a recipe of your favorite hot food or drink??? PLEASE!!! Also I really want to learn how to make homemade cinnamon rolls so if anyone has an easy recipe for these please give it to me.

I just know you all will help warm me up with recipes because you guys are just AWESOME.


Thanks!

How We Keep Christ In Christmas

Thank you all so much for your comments yesterday. You really helped pull me out of my funk a little bit. I decided this morning I was going to make ME time and I spent some time in the Bible and exercised and that helped too.

Holly ask me to post about how we keep Christ in Christmas and I have been thinking about that since I read her comment.

Well, to be honest we keep Christ in Christmas the same way we do everyday. I'm not one that stresses about making sure I push Christ like crazy to my kids around Christmas because that is something we do everyday whether it be Christmas, Easter or I don't know May 1st.

Oh, we love Santa coming to our home. We make special cookies for him and we have a special plate and cup thanking Santa for coming to Celebrate the birth of Jesus with us.

What do we do to keep Christ in Christmas? Well, we do the same as we do everyday. We pray for orphans daily, we support and pray for a child through Compassion, we make sure that every week when we buy groceries that we also buy for the food bank. This is just a little of what we do and we do it because God has blessed us and we choose to bless others.

It seems like Christmas is a time when everyone is asking for donations, volunteering and you know how the list goes on. We choose as a family to do these things year round and not just at Christmas.

Don't get me wrong, our kids know the reason behind Christmas!

One thing I have done with Amaya though is to challenge her this week to do something extra special or help in a special way at school as a way of giving Jesus a birthday gift.

As my friend Rett said on her blog the other day:

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR EVERY SEASON!!!

Bloggy Blahs

Does anyone else go through this? Maybe it's because I had to work so hard on my blog the last month that I just have the bloggy blahs. I have not even kept up with my bloggy friends blogs very well.

Nothing too exciting is happening right now in our life other than we decided to stop trying to sell our house for awhile. This just stinks because we wanted to build our new house so bad but it's just not a good time to sell now.

We have no little ones coming home soon ( as far as we know anyway) so nothing exciting there.

We do have all the fun Christmas stuff coming up but other than that I'm just in blah land right now. I may not post a lot until I get over this and if I normally visit your blog and I don't right now I'm sorry.

Oh and the answer to the bead questions, you can buy them at Walm*rt.

Maybe if you leave me some good comments I will get over my bloggy blahs.

Raising A Child With A Limb Difference

When we first knew Jaxson was our son we had no idea what we would have to figure out with him only having one arm. I researched prosthetics, adaptive equipment and all kinds of stuff. The first day we had Jaxson we realized very quickly that we didn't have much to worry about.

When we took him to the specialist when we got home I even asked him about a prosthetic and the Dr. told me that it would only hinder him and that he really couldn't have one anyway since he was missing his entire arm.

After the visit with the Dr. we really didn't even think about it much anymore. Jaxson is our son and to us is the same as any other child. He does do things that blow us away once in awhile but those are things that a child his age should not be able to do let alone a child with one arm.

As you can see climbing trees is one of Jaxson favorite things to do.

Jaxson also loves to ride a bike and man he can ride at lightning speed with no adaptive equipment.

Jaxson is 3 and he dresses himself completely, he has been putting on his own shoes since the day we got him, he folds laundry better than any adult I know, he can carry half his weight and really we have not found anything he can't do.

When I took him in for his pre-school testing this is what shocked his teacher.

She couldn't believe how good he could bead. She said he was even advanced for his age in being able to bead like he does and that was if he had 2 arms and hands.

Jaxson was beading yesterday so I ask him if I could take some pictures to put on the blog and he got very excited.

As you can see he doesn't need 2 hands. Jaxson just figures out a way to do anything he wants to. He even cuts with scissors on the line using his feet to hold the paper.

As I was thinking about doing this post this morning I went to www.rainbowkids.com. This is a site you can go register with (very easy) to go look at waiting children. You can even pick what age, country, gender or special need you want to look at. I pulled up limb difference and just on that one site there is 3 pages full of waiting kids that happen to have a limb difference.

If you have considered adoption you should consider one of these precious kids with a limb difference. It may look like a bigger need but honestly I don't think it could be an easier special need.

If you haven't considered adoption have you ever prayed about it?

The Hunt for the Perfect Tree

This is one of my very favorite things to do in the year with my family is to go look for the "perfect" tree. Sometime we find that tree very fast when it is freezing cold but yesterday was beautiful and we could have stayed all day.

Daddy went up and got the tree cart while I got the 3 very excited kiddos out of the car. Then we were off on our search for our tree.
We finally found one that we thought looked like it might be the perfect size and we all like it.

Jaxson got to help cut the tree down and he was very excited.

This is the girls trying to pull the tree cart after the tree was on it.

This is our TREE and it is the PERFECT size.

The kids favorite part about going to find a tree is that they have goats there that you can feed.

I think Amaya would have stayed all day watching the goats if we would have let her.

My Last Winner and Winner of the CD is.....

LORI (KonaGold)

Lori, if I don't have your email address please give it to me.

Winner of Choice of Coffee or Cocoa from my Sidebar is....

LeaAnn (Olga's mommy)!!!

Only one drawing left and it will be done when Jaxson wakes up from nap.

Winner of the Pendant is.......

Rett!!!

Still 2 more drawings to go so you still have time to get those entries in.

Winner of the Hair Bows Is.....

AMY NICHOLSON!!!

Keep those entries coming we have 3 more drawings to do through the day.

I'm starting the giveaways soon!

If you want to get more entries in do it soon! We have a lot to do today so I'm going to have the kids just draw names throughout the day for the different gifts.

Final Giveaway and Final Thoughts

Wow, this last month has been an incredible journey and I thank you so very much to all of you that have taken part in my fight for Duncan or in my blog party. When God first ask me to start the fight for Duncan I fought it, I didn't want to do it. I finally said "OK God". The first week of my fight if you remember was a very emotional week for me. Boy the evil one was working on me big time and when I wanted more than anything to call it quits God told me it was time to fight harder. I had no idea the emotional roller coaster this little boy would take me on fighting for him as his Christmas warrior.
God heard my cry though and not only found this precious boy a family in 2 weeks of the Angel Tree but God also blessed me more than I could ever have imagined. This giveaway/fundraiser/fight for Duncan has been sooooooo much fun (after the first week of a fight with God).


If you have taken part in this in any way, even if you have just been reading, you have seen how much fun it has been. You have also seen how many kids have found families through the Angel Tree. You have seen that we have been able to support people in the fundraising to bring their children home.


You know I strongly believe that God handpicked each winner too. Not that if you didn't win that you didn't deserve it but I heard some real "GOD TIMING" with the winners.


Guess what? It's your turn, I am challenging YOU! Become a warrior for a waiting child, fight to raise them a grant fund, fight to find them a family, FIGHT WITH PRAYER. Have your own blog party and support those families that are having fundraisers to bring their kiddos home. Yes, it will cost you to have a blog party but guess what you get out of it? You get to bless a winner with your giveaway, bless the family in supporting them with their fundraisers and better yet you are helping to bring a child home. You don't need to do expensive things just have fun with it and I promise you that you will be the one being blessed. Will you take my challenge? Are you willing to use your blog to change the life of a child?


OK, before I start crying lets get on with the giveaway.


This CD is actually the very first item I chose to giveaway. The Children of the World choir came to our church about a month ago and WOW did they make an impact. They shared a couple stories of kids in the choir and they were orphans that had been through way more than any child should have to go through in their life. We bought a CD that night (not this one) and it has now been played everytime we have gone anywhere in our car for the last month. It is our favorite CD. If you want to check out the website you can go to http://www.worldhelp.net/ . I can't wait for someone to win this and be blessed with the powerful worship of these children!






Since I am sitting here with cold feet and hands right now I decided it would be fun to do a second giveaway too. So I am going to give away your choice of coffee or cocoa from the link on my side bar!!!




I have to tell you a little story. When my soap dish came that I gave away last week it came broke in the mail. I emailed the girl (yes, it is a girl not and adult) that makes these. I hated having to email her to tell her because I just wanted to support her in what she was doing. Right away she mailed out a new soap dish but when it came the box was HUGE. I opened it and do you know she sent me the soap dish to replace it, she also sent me a soap dish for ME. I have wanted one of these since I first saw them but I couldn't spend that kind of money on myself so that's why I gave it away in my giveaway because I wanted you guys to have something I wanted. I cried and cried when I saw it. That's not all though, she also sent me homeade soap and 2 pendant necklaces. You can check out her Etsy store here.


Guess what, I'm giving one away!!! I'm not telling what it looks like though it will be a surprise. That's right we are having 3 giveaways!

OK, not really. WE ARE HAVING 4, four names will be drawn tomorrow night!!!


I bought some hair bows from an adoption fundraiser a while back and I have just been holding on to them waiting for something special to do with them and I think this last day of our giveaway is something very special.

So here's how to enter today:

Please make sure to leave me your email address with your comment in case your the winner.

1. Facebook and/or blog about the last day of our blog party.

2. Leave me a comment letting me know what your favorite part of my blog party was.

3. BONUS ENTRY (worth 5 entries) Take my challenge and agree to use your blog to be a warrior for a child on http://www.reecesrainbow.com/ and/or agree to have your own blog party sometime in the next 2 months to support families that are trying to raise money to bring home their children.

If you decided to have your own blog party I can help you in finding families to support if you need to or you can just use the ones we have used in our blog party this week.

It's your turn now, make a difference in the life of a child!!!

Winner Of Day 6!!!

Guess who won today???






Yes, I make her close her eyes even though she can't read.


The winner is.......

Mark & Melanie!!!

Come back very soon for our last giveaway! I am really sad that I will be posting the last one tonight.

Day 6 - We Have Some Things To Celebrate

We have some BIG things to celebrate today. First of all I just checked the angel tree at http://www.reecesrainbow.com/ and 26 kids have found forever families through the angel tree. TWENTY SIX precious children have been saved from a life in an institution where most of them would die in the first year. PRAISE GOD!!!

Second is celebrating the fact that because one child had the faith that God could rescue a child with down syndrome from an orphanage she ask her parents if she could raise $20,000 in 8 days if they would bring her home. Of course her mom and dad said yes thinking that could never happen and well I believe God loves to use children to move mountains and the last total I saw was $26,000 in 8 days. So not only is one baby coming home but they are going to help a friend start the process to bring home one. If you didn't read the story scroll down 2 posts and you can go read about it.

Now lets celebrate this precious little girl with the most amazing smile.
Little Olga here is also being rescued from a life of institution but better yet being saved by friends of ours from our church. That's right this pumpkin is going to be coming home very close to us!!!

Olga's new mommy is going to start making tutu's to sell to raise money to help bring Miss Olga home and she has donated one, along with a hair tie to match for me to giveaway at our blog party!!! Below is a picture of it and let me tell you my camera does this no justice at all. It is soooo cute and it is adjustible because she used a ribbon (a very cute polka dot ribbon) so it just ties in the back. These would make GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFTS.

If you would like to order one to help them bring Olga home you can go to their blog and leave her a comment letting her know. She said she is going to be working on getting some on her blog in the next day or so.

How to enter for day 6:

Please make sure to leave me your email address in your comment in case you win.

1. Go to Olga's mommy's blog and leave her a comment either telling her just how precious her daughter is or something really nice. Have I told you people LOVE getting comments on their blogs???

2. Facebook/blog about our party.

3. Tell me what you think of my blog party.

4. BONUS ENTRY ( worth 5 entries) Go to the Reece's Rainbow site (you can click on Duncan's picture on my side bar to get there) and give me the name of a child that DOES NOT have any grant money yet (would you please pray for them at the same time?).

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'll be back tomorrow night with the winner and our last giveaway (I'm a little sad about that).

Winner of Day Five!

Today's winner is......

AMY NICHOLSON

So Amy, I guess you need to go over to www.reecesrainbow.com and find a little one that will be able to wear the apron. Congratulations!!!

Come back soon to find out what day 6 giveaway will be.

Crazy For Jesus!

I wasn't planning on posting anything else during the blog party but I have to share this. There are some kids that just blow me away with how God can use them. I pray that someday our kids do BIG, BIG things for God.

If you want to read an amazing story of how God used a girl in a very BIG way click here.


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

PS Don't forget to check the blog party post under this.

Day 5 of Our Blog Party

Can you believe it is day 5 already of our party? I'm posting this a little early today because I want family time tonight with my family.

First let me just say HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Isn't this a perfect time to be celebrate family with this being Thanksgiving week?

For day 5 we are giving away a very nice childs apron that looks like this:

Isn't it cute? IT COULD BE YOURS!!!

This is being sold as a fundraiser also for a family adopting you can check out their blog here and you can check out their ETSY (did you know that I'm crazy about Etsy?) store here.

Here is how to enter today:

Make sure you leave me your email address with your comment so I can contact you if your the winner.

Don't forget you can enter by doing one thing or you can get several entries by doing all of them.

1. Tell me what your thankful for this Thanksgiving.

2. Give me your favorite Bible verse.

3. Facebook, Blog or both.

4 BONUS ENTRY (worth 5 entries) go to this site by clicking here, go to the top where it says Learn Why, then go to Why This Matters To God. Give me one fact that you find and you will get 5 entries.

Please take some time to pray for those that don't have a family to celebrate with this Thanksgiving.

Have fun and have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I will be back tomorrow night to post the winner and the drawing for day 6.

Winner of Day 4

Would you look at this little girl with the biggest smile? This little girl is the one that was very, very sick last night so thank you for your prayers.


I decided to do the drawing a little early tonight because I just want to spend time with my family tonight and love on my cuties.



So the winner of day 4 is.......


I am so excited because we have our very first double winner!!!



The winner is........








Tiffany (Ninemire)




Tiffany also won the bracelet on Monday. Congratulations Tiffany!

I will post day 5 giveaway very soon so keep watching.

Day 4 Of Our Blog Party

I know this is a party of full of celebration but I have one very sick little girl tonight so I have to be quick.

For day 4 we are giving away something else that you get to choose!!! Isn't it fun when you get to choose?

I'm sorry no pictures tonight you'll just have to go check out this blog. A family is working very hard to bring home a very cute little boy with severe CP. They are doing a jar fundraiser and have TONS of choices to choose from. I decided it was best to let the winner decide. So you need to click here to see what you might be winning.

You can also click here to read the families story.

So here is how to enter for Day 4:
Make sure you leave me your email address with your comment for your entry.

1. Go to the above blog and tell me which thing you would choose for your jar if you won.

2. Tell me what we should celebrate today.

3. Of course you still need to Facebook.

4. Blog about our party.

5. BONUS ENTRY (worth 5 entries) Go to my sidebar and click on Duncan's picture. You will then be at Reece's Rainbow's Angel Tree. Scroll to the bottom of the page with the kiddos and tell me how many kids off the angel tree have found forever families.

OK, I have to go Paige is very sick. Please pray for her.

Day 3 Blog Party Winner Is.....

Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?

Oh, did you want to know the winner of the choice of ANYTHING from Beading To China???

ADEYE is the winner!!!

Have you read Adeye's blog? If not you have got to go check it out by clicking here. She has an amazing story.

Check back soon for day 4's giveaway.

Day 3 Of Our Blog Party

Today is a very special day because we are going to celebrate my friend Holly. Holly is just one of those people that you pray you can grow up to be like. Holly has the BIGGEST heart for the orphan ever, Holly has the biggest heart for God ever.

Holly amazes me not only because of those things but there's more. Holly is a mother to 3 beautiful children, Holly homeschools, Holly fights for the orphan and does all this while her husband is serving in Iraq.

Holly has a PASSION for HIV orphans. You know I think most people are probably ignorant to the actual fact of HIV. I honestly don't believe it's our own fault but it's what the media has taught us. Problem is that there are so many beautiful, precious children that are innocent that need a home. Every Tuesday Holly fights for these kids on her blog with a "Take Me Home Tuesday" day that she highlights a child that is waiting.

Holly had a death in the family last week so I don't know if she will be posting it this week but you really should read her blog.

Holly, if your reading this day 3 of our blog party is all for you my friend.

So want to know what I'm giving away for day three? I am sooo excited I can't stand it!


It could be this beautiful, snowman set for Santa.
It could be this very cool monster set.

It could be this beautiful spoon that was designed by her daughter to raise awareness for breast cancer.

It could be this very cool fiesta set.

It could be this amazing emerald set (pictures do this no justice at all). This set is one I ordered so I know how beautiful it is.

Guess what? Holly and her family makes these. Holly has a son that has faith like no other that God has a sister waiting for him in China. Holly knew she had to do something to show him she was working to bring home his sister because he asked her constantly (this child has wisdom way beyond his years). Holly hasn't been able to start the adoption process yet because her husband is in Iraq so she decided to start this business to raise money for when they can start.

I had never heard of beaded silverware before but I can tell you I'm hooked now. Does this not just scream the perfect gift for a teacher, co-worker or someone hard to buy for?

Go click here to check out her store. Go back and scroll through all the old posts to see all the things she has to sell or in your case to win.

OK, I could go on forever but I'll get on with the giveaway.

Day 3's giveaway is YOUR CHOICE OF ANY ONE THING FROM HER STORE. You get to pick the giveaway item if you are the winner of day 3. How cool is that?

Here's how to enter today:

Make sure you leave me your email address with your comment so I can contact you if your the winner.

1. Go to Holly's blog and leave her any comment you want as long as it's nice. Holly has had a hard week so let's make her smile. Then come back and leave me a comment telling me you did it.

2. Go to Reece's Rainbow by clicking here and then just click on a country of your choice and tell me which HIV waiting child you think is the cutest.

3. Blog about our party and leave me a comment telling me you did.

4. Facebook about our party and leave me a comment telling me you did.

5. BONUS ENTRY (worth 5 entries) I am going to take you on a scavenger hunt. I want you to click here and it will take you to a site called From HIV To Home. Once you get there scroll down and on the right side you will find a place that says FAQ. Click on that page and come back and leave me a comment with one fact about HIV. Not that anyone at this party would cheat but just to make sure I will not post any of your comments until right before drawing time but go ahead and leave them so I can start working on getting your entries in.

Have fun getting your entries in and man I wish I could sign up for this giveaway. I'll be back tomorrow night with another winner and to post the next giveaway.

Day 2 Blog Party Winner

Drum roll please..........






The winner of the bracelet is........




TIFFANY (Ninemire)


Congratulations Tiffany! I haven't looked yet to see if I have your email so if I don't please leave me a comment with it.

I will be posting the next giveaway after the kiddos go to bed so make sure you check back soon.

Day 2 of Our Blog Party!

It is now day number 2 of our blog party and I don't know about you but I am having so much fun. I'm not only getting really good comments but I get so excited to see who is the winner.

Today at our blog party I want to celebrate our freedom of family. You know sometimes (a lot of times) we take our freedom for granted. We are so blessed right now (this could change at any minute) that we can choose the size of our family through birth or adoption. The country Jaxson is from they don't get to choose. We have the freedom to adopt kids with special needs that deserve a family and life just like anyone else. I found out a couple of weeks ago that not all countries have the right to adopt a child with special needs. At this moment in time we have this freedom but have you noticed we are losing more and more freedoms everyday? There could be a time when we don't get to choose and that time could be sooner than you think.

I learned that there is some families in Uganda right now that are from Canada that thought they had the freedom to bring kids home (you can read about it by clicking here). They have now learned at the last part of the process to get their kids home that they may not have that freedom. We need to celebrate our freedom but we also need to start fighting more for our freedom of family.

I know you want to know what I'm giving away for day 2 of our blog party.

It is this BEAUTIFUL bracelet!

I have to tell you a little behind this bracelet though. When I got the bracelet all I knew is someone was making it for an adoption fundraiser, I had no idea of the story behind this bracelet. Grab a kleenex and go read the story here. This family could also use your prayer now to have God remove a roadblock so that they can get to their child. If you want to order one of these beautiful bracelets you can go to her Etsy store by clicking here.

HOW TO ENTER FOR DAY 2:
Make sure you leave me an email address with you comment so I can contact you if your the winner.

We're having a party right? Let's invite some friends. You can do one thing or all of them to get even more entries in.

1: BONUS ENTRY (worth 5 entries) go to either a blog you follow or you can go to one of the blogs listed on my sidebar and leave this comment on their blog "Have you been to the blog party yet at http://www.arewethereyetla5.blogspot.com/? It a party to celebrate family!" You can copy and paste the message to make it easier. Come back and give me the link to the blog you left the comment on and you get 5 entries. I love getting comments on my blog and I know other people do too.

2. Facebook about our party.

3. blog about our party.

4. Become a follower of my blog because I love to see who is visiting, make sure to leave me a comment saying you did. If you are already a follower just leave me a comment saying you are and you get an entry.

OK, get those entries in and I'll be back tomorrow night with the winner and a new giveaway.

Thie winner of the adorable alien is......

Sorry you can't see the paper but it's Jeanette!!!

After the kiddos go to bed I will post tomorrows giveaway and the fun new ways to enter. Don't forget you can enter everyday and you entries stay in until the end of our party so you could win more than once. Don't forget to check back very soon.

Daily Giveaway!!!

If you did not read my last post yet please go read it before getting started.

OK, so I'm breaking the rules a tiny bit on my first daily giveaway but it's worth it. While I was on Etsy looking under adoption (looking for fundraisers I could support) I found this little guy and couldn't resist. He first caught me with "adopt an alien." OK, I know but isn't he cute???
This though my friends is what made me click the order button. This is what is written in the description:

Kazea, a yellow crazy print newborn is up for adoption and needs a loving home. He was found on Mars cleaning himself with his tongue...he was even able to get to his own back. He is a healthy bundle of joy approx. 6 1/2 inches tall, 5 inches wide, and 5 inches long. Adopt Kazea and adopt a smile!

(this is were it really gets good)

All the aliens at this agency are up for adoption. They all need love and care, and they all need to be adopted! Each one, like any child is unique and special (OK, that's where they got me). Each one comes with their very own birth certificate. Have it in your heart to bring home one of these beautiful baby aliens and bring home a smile.

So do you see why I couldn't resist this little guy? And just think he could be YOURS!!!

Here's how to enter today (if you have entered in the past your entries are still good. You can do any of the things or all of them to enter. Also your entries are good until the very end of our giveaway party) :

1: Facebook about our blog party and come back and leave me a comment saying you did. Make sure you leave your email address in your comment in case you are the winner.

2. Go visit http://www.reecesrainbow.com/ and come back and tell me which child stole your heart. Come back and leave me a comment with your email address in case you win.

3. Blog about my blog party and come back and leave me a comment letting me know. DON'T FORGET THAT EMAIL ADDRESS I NEED IN CASE YOU WIN!

4. BONUS ENTRY (worth five entries) - Tell me what you love most about your family.

Now get busy getting me your entries because this little adorable alien needs a home.

The drawing for this little guy will be Sunday night around the time my kiddos go to bed so one of them can draw the winner. I will then post the next giveaway.

Grand Prize Giveaway!!!

The time has finally come for our grand prize giveaway. Oh you do not even know how hard this was to decided what to do for a grand prize. I kept thinking and praying about it and I thought I would give away an ipod (you would have liked that wouldn't you?) but something just felt so wrong about that. I know that sounds crazy when it would have been a cool gift but I strongly feel that is not what God had in mind and this is his fight for Duncan so I have to let him be in charge.

Finally last week it came to me that this was not about the giveaway or the fundraiser but this needs to be about celebrating that Duncan has a family. It is about celebrating family that is brought together through adoption or the "normal" way. It is to celebrate those that step out and are the hands and feet of God and accept the call of taking care of orphans. That my friends is you! All of you that entered my giveaways in one way or another were answering God's call to care for orphans. By spreading the word about these kids and by donating you were caring for them.

Don't you think that calls for a party?

So here's the thing, a good party come with LOTS of gifts. I am not giving away ONE grand prize but I am giving away SEVEN. That's right my friends 7 gifts I have waiting for you. If you have enough entries in you could end up winning all 7 so I'm not shipping any gifts out until the end of the week. I will have a giveaway a day for the next week and everything I'm giving away has something to do with adoption or orphan care. They may not be big gifts but they are all very special gifts for a very special cause.

To make things better I am going to have a special BONUS entry everyday!!! I am going to send you on a scavenger hunt or ask you a question for your bonus entry which by the way will be FIVE entries if you do my bonus entry.

I can't wait for the fun to begin and please join me in our celebration!!!

We Have A Winner!!!

Yeah!!! We have a winner and it is.......










MARK & MELANIE!

Let me just tell you a little about Mark and Melanie. OK, I don't really know Mark that well but I met Met Melanie almost 20 years ago (wow, that seems like a long time ago). You would not even believe how we became friends. Mom and I had taken a lady to the Mayo clinic in Minnesota and when we went we had no idea how long we would be there. We stayed at this little motel and Melanie and her late husband were managing the motel.

We ended up being there longer than we thought and we became very good friends with them. They took us siteseeing, shopping, we would have dinner together and they even let us become maids to make some money to help us through our time there.

This friendship become one that they have even come to Indiana to visit us. Melanie lost her husband in a car accident and then she married Mark and she even brought him here to meet us. Isn't it amazing that for nearly 20 years we have stayed in contact with the managers of a hotel we stayed at?

Melanie is now almost ready to graduate from nurse practitioner school and Mark is a truck driver. They are waiting for God to bring them a very special gift through domestic adoption. If you know anyone looking for amazing parents for a baby please send them to Mark and Melanie's blog. They would give a baby more love than anyone could ever imagine!

I will be posting about the GRAND PRIZE giveaway very soon so keep your eyes open.

PS After I wrote this I noticed Melanie had put Duncan's beautiful little face on her blog. I went to see what she had wrote. You have got to go see what she posted on her blog this morning at the same time I was posting on my blog about her being the winner.