The Dress That Keeps on Giving

I need to be sewing my children's Christmas gifts so this is a brief post, but I just couldn't pass it up. Above you will see some very special dresses on our girls. They wore then today for church.

Way back when Nate and I got married, my mother-in-law sewed all of the cumberbuns and ties for our wedding. When Mini-Me was born, she used the scraps from that fabric and created a dress for her. Pretty cool, huh?

A few weeks back, my mother-in-law asked me if I still had that dress because she had an idea. Well frankly, I had forgotten about that dress and I didn't know where it was. I took a gamble and there it was in my cedar chest. Eureka!

Well, guess what? That dress just happens to fit Daughter of Purpose and it gave my mother-in-law another idea. Since there was not enough of the wedding fabric left, she made a complimentary dress for Mini-Me to now wear alongside Daughter of Purpose. I suppose you could say that special dress has now come full circle. That dress is now extra precious to us. I think that when she's done wearing it, I will put it back in my cedar chest to save for my grandchildren. It's the dress that keeps on giving.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Drowning in Christmas

To all of those who are still faithful enough to check this blog:

I confess I am drowning in Christmas. I have not a gift for even one child in my home yet and I still have yet to sew my "ambitious gifts" for them. So the clock is ticking away and I am wondering if my children will get gifts for Christmas or rain checks.

Top this all off with a mommy with a stuffed up nose and a child with croup (probably more will join her ranks) and now you know why I haven't written for awhile. I dare say that I will probably not get a chance to write again until after Christmas--unless hell freezes over--and it is close, but not quite. Okay, so maybe it's not even close, but it sure feels like it to my wimpy self.

So in the meantime, if you're looking for something Christmas-y to read, head on over to my other blog, The Mommy Map, and click on the Christmas label on the right. It will take you to my Christmas thoughts. Merry Christmas!

Procedure Cancellation

Just a quick update...Daughter of Purpose was scheduled to have her procedure done last week, but Shriners had to cancel it to fit in a child with an emergency need. So she has been rescheduled for the end of January. Please continue to pray for her health that she would not be sick for her new date!

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Before I sewed her real name on her stocking, I thought I'd give you peek at the stocking of Daughter of Purpose. I have sewn the stocking of each one of our children in a quilt-like pattern with fabrics that mean something to them. It's a lot of work, to say the least. Although I knew this one was coming I still wasn't prepared and really didn't want to go through all of that work again. I wanted to do something different this time. I came up with the American flag pattern on one side and the striped pattern of the Russian flag on one side. It was simple and I think it embraces who she is--just what I wanted. I was also glad it only took me one night to produce because as we started putting up Christmas decorations this weekend, I could tell she felt a little left out because everyone else had a stocking hanging and she did not. Speedo sewing to the rescue.

By the way, yes, we are one of THOSE families that gets out their Christmas stuff the day after Thanksgiving, if not ON Thanksgiving! It actually originated out of pure need because back in the day when Nate was primarily in the Lighting and Production world, after Thanksgiving was over we'd never see him again until Christmas day. That's was our way of life since everyone has something they need lit up at Christmas! Even though we are not subject to that schedule anymore, we still are in the habit. I don't mind it much. We get to enjoy the Season of Lights that much longer.

I am looking forward to sharing Christmas with you through the eyes of Daughter of Purpose. So far, she just knows there is a tree with lights (but I can tell she doesn't really understand why), but she has to wait on that for a bit. For now, she finds all of this decorating interesting. I can't wait to take her to see all of the houses decorated up with lights. I think I better bring the video camera for that--to capture the sheer delight I think she will have!

I hope I never forget the memory of yesterday as we opened up all of the boxes and began decorating. It was priceless to hear our older children explaining to her what Christmas was all about. It was neat to hear their interpretation of what we've been trying to teach them all these years. I know Daughter of Purpose doesn't really understand what in the world is going on and what all this Baby Jesus stuff is all about, but it will come in time.

Just one more precious moment to bore you with. One of the things the kids love about opening up our Christmas boxes is the special Christmas books that only come out at this time of year. They could not wait! As I glanced around the living room and saw each one of them looking through the books, it made me so proud to see each one of them realize that a whole new world was open to them. They could read the books themselves or at least read more of the books this year! The image of The Negotiator is ingrained in my head as he sat there on the couch reading and I could tell he was totally engrossed in the book. I love that!

Until another view of Christmas comes up...

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Fall Bike Ride

Earlier this summer, we purchased bikes and a bike trailer for everyone. We hemmed and hawed over whether we should go for such an expenditure, but I'll never regret that we did. Our thought was that the bikes are a great form of exercise, mode of transportation and easy entertainment--even if we have no money...we can still go for a bike ride! Great family fun. It's especially even more of a blessing to us because where we live there are wide trails everywhere that we can enjoy. Also, about 3 miles away from us is a huge park so today we rode there, stopped to play and then moseyed our way back home. They are actually building a park of equal measure less than 1/2 mile away and we are very excited about that, but part of me still wants to ride to the farther one just for the exercise. However, I don't think I'll get my wish. I have a feeling the new one will be my new backyard and we won't be able to get enough of it!

I wish you could see in my mind's eye what I saw today. All those beautiful trails were filled with the beauty of God's creation and creativity. Fall leaves were everywhere--from the crunch of leaves beneath our tires to the view of the colors. What made it even more memorable was the joy of seeing my family enjoying life as we rode along. You just can't be grumpy on a ride such as this! Here is Daughter of Purpose trailing along behind Daddy. At one point, she said she needed to stop for water because all of this riding was wearing her out and she needed some water! Such a comedian. She also serenaded us along the way by singing her version of "God Bless America."

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Thankful

Our Thanksgiving was really quite uneventful. We ended up hosting Thanksgiving at our house for both sides of the family. I suppose that sounds so crazy, but really...it was not a big deal for a host of reasons. One, I'm on only child and my extended family lives out of town so the total sum from my side of the family was 2 adults.

Next, Nate's side of the family boasts 3 adults right now--parents and 1 brother. His other brother's family lives out of state right now. So really it wasn't as huge a crowd as it sounds. It also was made manageable by everyone pitching in. Thanks everyone! It was fun and yummy!

Here are just a few pictures of Daughter of Purpose with her first Thanksgiving meal and a peak at what the kids found to do after our meal.

My very simple thankful thought for today is that I am thankful Daughter of Purpose is here with us in our family and no longer across the ocean!

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Seven

A few weeks back, we had some family pictures done to make sure Daughter of Purpose was included. There were so many good ones that this was the best I could do to get them on here for you to see! Sorry some of the heads are cut off in some of the pics. I wish I could figure out how to get http://www.bighugelabs.com/ to not cut off our heads! I am going to put a photostream from Flickr that will have these pics so just in case you'd like to see our head--you can click on those!

These pictures were done by my friend, Candice, over at http://tomakehimknown.blogspot.com/. She and her husband are adopting from Korea. As a fundraiser, she is willing to come and practice her new-found love for photography on your family if you will make a donation to their adoption fund. For us, it was a win-win situation. We got the family photos we needed to take and we also get the privilege of knowing we are helping one more orphan come home to their family! Candice gets to practice her photography and be one step closer to bringing her daughter home! If you'd like more info on this fundraising opportunity, please let me know!

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."