I Can't Come Up With a Title That's Good Enough

for this story.

I heard about this situation at our small group last week. Karen works for the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) here and does a lot with orphans and adoptions. At prayer time, she asked us to pray for a situation that came up with a couple here to adopt. Briefly, they were here to adopt a fifteen year old girl. They devloped a relationship with her and submitted all the paperwork; things seemed to be going along fine until it was discovered that a typo had been made regarding her date of birth: a typo that would prevent her, by U.S. law, from being adopted because she had already turned 16. Can you imagine the heartbreak?!

We discussed this a little, and to be quite honest, the majority felt there was little that could be done. But we prayed.

Today, I sat in church with tears running down my face as I heard that this situation went all the way to Secretary of State Clinton. And, as of last week, the law of our land has been changed so that this child and many more can go home!

Folks, we serve a BIG God!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's such an understatement!

So, grab a seat and a kleenex,

click here,

and read the whole story.

Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid;

do not be discouraged,

for the LORD your God

will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

May you believe Him for Who He says He is and what He says He can do today in your life!

Reality TV

...is not necessary in my home
because
we have real life going on 24/7,
365 days a year.

See what I mean?

Baby Girl had her first
"towel head."

And we hatched a dinosaur
on the other side of the house.

Y'all have an exciting weekend!

P.S. In regards to my strawberry scented T.P. (see here): How do I like it? I don't. Does a berry scent waft throughout the room to greet you? No (maybe if I kept it on the heated floors?). Does it hide other smells? No. Does it take care of business? Yes and no- it's as if you cut a roll of paper towels in half and put them in the bathroom; this works and is certainly softer than the brown stuff they try to pass as t.p. here, but we've moved on.

Berry Unique

There is a grocery store that delivers for free if I spend 600 UAH (about $75).
Um, yes please.
I'll take 2 cases of milk, 2 bags of Tide,...
and some toilet paper.

I understood I'd be getting white t.p. with strawberries on it,

but there was no way of knowing that it'd smell like strawberries, too!

Jealous?! ☺

Valentine's Day Inside the Yellow Hat

February 13
Daddy-Daughter Date
at the embassy

February 14
Happy Valentine's Day!

After lunch snack:
"crispy critters and chocolate covered ants"
(explanation here)

I froze several cupcakes from this birthday party
to have as an afternoon snack on Valentine's Day.

Online Shopping Deals/Discounts

Just a few things that caught my eye because 99% of my shopping is done online:

Looking for a baby gift? Visit Udder Covers for a free nursing cover with cost of shipping. I believe that if you purchase one, you'll get an additional code at their sister company, Seven Slings- same deal (free sling with cost of shipping). Use the code "valentine."

Strasburg has a sale going on online if you're shopping for portrait dresses- clearance items are marked down quite a bit.

And I stumbled upon Polkadot Posies- they make bows, headbands, flowers, and hats. They have the most reasonable prices! I ordered A LOT of bows for my girls, she shipped at lightning speed and they're adorable.

My friend Amy and I eyed these cake stands on sale at Macy's for a week. We kept debating if we needed them or not, square or round, and exactly how many. We finally decided we each "needed" all 3 square sizes and would order together to get the free shipping. Plus, there was a 15% off code. Bad news- the code was gone when I went to order, but there was another for 20% off! Woo-hoo! I just looked- the stands are still on sale but only a 10% off online coupon (you can find printable ones for more): "lovehome."

{All store names have links when you click on them- my link color is so close to the regular type color and I can't get it to change- I'm tech-tarded.}

Slipping This in Under the Wire

I {think} I have mentioned before that I keep a basket of seasonal books out for my kids. Currently, we have the "winter basket" out which is full of cute storybooks about fun in the snow, games, puzzles, and a stuffed snowman in the event we need a prop.

This is one of our favorites, and I wanted to post about it

so you could snag a copy at your local bookstore or library before Monday:

(you can find a copy here to purchase)

It's a funny {and endearing} story about some bears who make an extra effort to get up during their winter hibernation to celebrate Valentine's Day. We like to eat some of the same treats they enjoyed during their celebration:

"chocolate covered ants"

and "crispy critters."

(Thanks Jen, for getting these to us on time!)

If you have a favorite Valentine's Day title,

please share in the comments!

Baby Girl's ABC's

A is for her "abraham" that she wears when she helps me cook.

B is for "but when can I do ballet like Big Girl, Mama?!" and the "bergers" I told her she'd better not wipe on the wall.

C is for "co-wd" when she really means hot.

D is for Daddy and she adores him.

E is for "my e-mail" that she thinks will be put in her new PBK mail bag.

F is for "com' on, friends, let's..." when she pretends or "was that fun?!"

G is for "go-gles" that her daddy wears swimming.

H is for hopping to the left and right, and "praising God with all my might!"

I is for "I'LL do it!!"

J is for Jesus and she loves Him already.

K is for the kitty birthday she reminds about daily and the kisses she likes to give on the cheek.

L is for "I love YOU, Mama!"

M is for Miss Pattycake videos.

N is for "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" when she's fighting with her siblings and "I don't want to take a nap!"

O is for orange, the only color she can name (although she sorts by color perfectly!)

P is for the purse she loves to carry around, princess/pony/Pooh undies, and playing.

Q is for "I want to ask you a question."

R is for "ro-teek," the Ukrainian for mouth, and running which is completely forbidden in the house now!

S is for "snackles" in her nose when she was done crying (sniffles), when she hears Daddy "shaking" his whiskers in the morning, and for all the singing she does.

T is for the new tooth she wants Daddy to get her, two years old and now closer to three.

U is for her tiny umbrella she marches around in the foyer with.

V is for "is Ms. Helen coming to visit?"

W is for the whining she's finding out goes nowhere in this house! and wrestling with Daddy.

X is for the xylophone she plays while she sings Jesus Loves Me.

Y is for the strawberry yogurt she loves.

and

Z is for zipping up her own pj's each night.

A Bedtime Prayer

Dear God,

Thank you that you love us.

Thank you that you care for us.

Please help all of my friends to believe in Jesus.

Please help me not to forget to be kind

and to practice that tomorrow.

Amen.

The Boy

February 3, 2011