Adoption Rocks

I think Bryce's shirt says it all. We are so happy that we followed the call to adopt. We can't imagine life around here without Grace. It is so hard to imagine what she would be doing right now if we hadn't pursued her adoption...

Could you be called to adopt? Are you plugging your ears, trying not to listen like we did at first?

I'm so glad we listened. There are so many ways to care for orphans...how are you called? Adoption? Sponsorship? Mission work? Helping other families fund their adoption?

We can all play a part. I never want to stop advocating for the 147 million orphans still waiting - I've met hundreds of them...they are all beautiful. They all should be able to have a brother, sister, mom or dad who wears an "adoption rocks" t shirt.

About Me...Hmmm...

Well, a few days ago (I lie- it was more like a few weeks ago) my blog friend Brittney "tagged" me to do a post about myself. Why is this so hard? It just seems WAY more fun and interesting to write about my little Ethiopian princess and her adventures. Well, in an effort to hold up my end of the deal (was there a deal?) I will try to write answer a couple of questions about myself.

What would your dream job be?

Easy. My background is in education. I loved working in the school system. I have a masters degree in counseling and worked as a school counselor prior to staying home with my kids. I have worked as an elementary school counselor, intermediate school counselor and middle school counselor. I loved working at each of these levels. My dream job would be to work part-time as a school counselor and/or work in the field of adoption. I would love to work as an adoption counselor and advocate. My passion for adoption and orphan care would make working in the field of adoption so much fun.

Where would you like to live?

I really do love living in the Wisconsin. We are lucky enough to experience all four seasons. We treasure our summers (because they are so short) and we make the most of the winter months (skiing, sledding, etc.). The one thing missing for us now is the fellowship with other adoptive families. I know there are tons of adoptive families in our state (some of our best friends have adopted), but somehow it seems like there are more adoptive families in the southern states (is it just me?). Maybe it is just because we worked with an agency in KY, but boy, there sure seem to be a lot of awesome adoptive families in KY, TX, and TN!

In which century would you like to live?
Easy. This century. I am way too much of a wimp to survive in another past century...

What would be your last meal?

I love ethnic food. My last meal would probably include something Italian or Mexican. I would be sure to include some good wine or fun flavorful margarita. I would top off the meal with something chocolaty - probably some decadent chocolate raspberry cheesecake.

Why did you start this blog?
I started the blog to document our adoption journey. It is so wild to think that I started the blog less than a year ago - my first post was when our dossier was mailed. In less than a year's time our little girl has been brought home! AMAZING! We are so lucky. It is obvious that God's hand has been in every aspect of our journey...seriously, less than a year and we have our beautiful little girl home!

Favorite piece of clothing?

Easy. Jeans. I LOVE wearing jeans. I am a bit of a jeans addict. I am always so happy when the weather starts to cool off and I can start wearing my good old jeans again!

Favorite film?
This is a tough one. I haven't really been watching too many movies lately. I love the 80's movies directed by John Hughes. I LOVED The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles (I even own a shirt that says "I heart Jake Ryan"), and Pretty in Pink. I am really excited for my 13 year old daughter to watch them with me some day soon (I think I need to watch them again to remember how appropriate they are...I know I loved them, but I don't really remember everything about them...).

What would you like to do before you turn 100?

I would love to travel more - many trips to Ethiopia, Europe, Hawaii

I would love to do some mission work in Ethiopia - perhaps focus on the Wolayita region of Ethiopia for starters (this is where Grace is from).

I would love to watch my children become kind, loving, successful people with loving families of their own.
I would like to live life remembering how lucky I am and not take so much for granted.

Now I get to "tag" a few other bloggers to write about themselves...Gayla, Kendra and Bonnie...TAG! You're it!

New Necklaces!

Well, it turns out that bottle cap necklaces are not just for little girls! As I started to look for supplies to make the key chains and necklaces, I discovered a whole world of more "mature" looking supplies. I thought I would try a few and then start offering them for sale to help with our fundraiser. As a reminder, all of the proceeds from our key chain and necklace sales go to Love In Action Orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We had the pleasure of visiting LIA while we were in Ethiopia and I promise you, they are going to be doing amazing things for the kids who live at the orphanage as well as the kids they sponsor and families in their community. So...back to the new "design." I have a LIMITED number of these black and white necklaces available. I have SIX available right now. They come with a flattened bottle cap charm and a black ribbon cord. The cord is about 18 inches long and is actually made up of four thin black cords and one organza ribbon.


Thank you Cynthia for agreeing to model the black and white necklace for me. You look beautiful as always!

So...if you like this style, grab it quick. If there is a high demand for the black cord/ribbon necklaces, I will order more and make them available when they are ready. In the meantime, grab one of these with your order. Because I don't feel like making a special PayPal button for this design, just USE THE NOTE TO SELLER SECTION OF THE PAYPAL ORDER LINK TO INDICATE THAT YOU WANT TO PURCHASE THE BLACK RIBBON NECKLACE. So, first come, first serve on these six necklaces.

I also have a really cool version of the basic bottle cap necklaces that we have been selling...
Here is Brittney, my blog friend and fellow adoptive mom from Louisville, wearing another flattened bottle cap necklace. She choose to order the Africa Hope design on a flattened bottle cap for a more grown up look. Doesn't it look great on her??? The other difference with this necklace is that it is on an 18" chain instead of the standard 24" chain. If you would like to order a flattened bottle cap or have your necklace come on an 18 inch chain, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IN THE NOTE TO SELLER SECTION OF THE PAYPAL ORDER FORM. All necklaces are made with 24" chains unless there is a note on the order form. The 24" necklaces are best for kids - they can slip them over their heads easily.

Here is further proof that the necklaces are not just for little kids. Our mother/daughter book club met this week, and the girls and moms all loved them!

The girls have been wearing them to middle school, and the demand for them is spreading like fire...think Silly Bandz for older kids :) My daughter Alyssa is wearing the flattened bottle cap on a long chain. Her friend is wearing a regular bottle cap on a short chain.

Here is a long version of the flattened bottle cap necklace. What a cute little model!

You can see the difference between the flattened and regular bottle caps. As a reminder, the necklaces and key chains are $5 (plus $1 shipping) each and all of the money goes straight to Love In Action Orphanage. Thanks so much for your support of this project!!!

We Are Supposed To Be Doing Laundry...

Well, it's a beautiful Monday morning and Grace and I have NOTHING to do today. The plan was for us to get the house cleaned up and do about 4,000 loads of laundry. Hmmm...the plan did not get off to a good start, because Grace wanted to have her hair "pretty." She requested that I do a little something with tiny rubber bands (I think she keeps waiting for me to whip some braids into her hair...unfortunately, that's not going to happen any time soon - this momma has a lot of learning to do first). We came up with this very festive style and I think it turned out really cute. She loves the pumpkins and at least we got to use two rubber bands (although she really wanted to use three).
So, one load of laundry in and now it's time to clean...right? Right... Play doh instead. Then we saw the sun shining and the leaves calling our names. Why not just go outside for a little while to take a few cute pictures?

Sorry Grace, we really need to go inside now for some lunch and a nap. Huh? Not her idea of fun. I didn't take a picture of what ensued. So, with Grace asleep now I guess I should quit looking at blogs and do the remaining 3, 999 loads of laundry that are waiting for me ;)


NECKLACE UPDATE...We have sold more than half of the number of necklaces to meet our initial goal. Please keep the orders coming. The necklaces and key chains really are cute. I promise to add another cool design later today or tomorrow...here's a hint - bottle cap necklaces aren't just for little girls...

Ready for Snow!

One of the best parts about adopting a little girl instead of a baby, is being able to watch her experience so many "firsts." She shows pure joy when she encounters something new, and we get to watch. Things that we take for granted are such a big deal for Grace. We've seen such excitement when Grace discovered things like socks, a new doll to play with, and of course, mittens.

So just imagine the excitement that came when Grace was given her first winter coat and hat. She was beyond excited. After I showed it to her, I was afraid she was going to have to wear it out in public. It is starting to cool off a bit here in Wisconsin, but we are not quite ready for winter coats yet. We are trying to explain to Grace why we will need such a big, puffy coat, but for now, she just thinks it is fun to wear around the house.

She loves the hat too. So, tell me moms out there...what in world am I going to do about her hair in the winter? Am I seriously supposed to stick her cute little hairstyles into this fuzzy hat and let her hair go crazy? I don't know if I can do it. I might be the mean mom that makes her kid freeze all winter because I don't want to sacrifice her hair by sticking a hat on her head...please don't call social services. Does a headband with a big flower on it count as a hat? Maybe I can pull the headband over her ears while we are outside...

Grace modeling another cute winter look.

Now we just need to get boots and try to explain snow to her. I hope snow is at least another month away, but if not, we are getting ready!

OK...one last plug for necklaces and key chains for the week. Thanks to all of you who have ordered. I have heard such great responses from you and am so happy you like them. It is such a fun way for us to raise money for Love In Action and it is also a great little item for you to use to spread the word about adoption and orphan care. Please keep checking out our blog because I have a new style to show you soon. It is a more "grown up" version of the necklace and I am sure you are all going to love it. Also, if you ordered a key chain or necklace and would like to model it for me, please send me a picture for our blog. I want to show off your beautiful faces too...Grace can't be my only model, can she? I love her little hand on this picture...the necklace says I love Ethiopia- so cute on her!

Just An Average Wednesday...Grace Style

Wednesday is dance day...Grace waits all week for dance day now. She asks every day if she gets to go to dance. Today she choose her purple dance outfit. Seriously, could the striped leg warmers be any cuter?
After dance class it was time for lunch...guess what? My girl still loves her injera! She requests it frequently. It makes me happy to be able to provide her with a small reminder of, or comfort food from, Ethiopia. Our freezer is chucked full of the injera that our sweet relatives brought us all the way from Omaha.

So today's menu...injera with chili. Who knew? We do injera with all sorts of interesting things. Injera with chunky vegetable soup is also a favorite. If you have any other great suggestions for me, please let me know. I love to watch Grace eat with the injera. Of course it reminds me of our trip to Ethiopia. The girl can really work her tiny fingers to scoop up her food. She can also fit the biggest bites ever in her little mouth. It is seriously crazy how wide she can open her mouth to stuff in injera.

So, there you have it. Grace's exciting day in a nutshell. In addition to watching me get necklaces ready to ship out to people (thanks so much for your orders!!! Please keep them coming), she also had the privilege of going to her brother's baseball game tonight and then driving back to the dance studio to drop her sister off for some of her classes...It took Grace about 30 seconds to fall asleep tonight. I love it when that happens because then I know she had a day full of "adventure."

Home Three Months

It's hard to believe that Grace has only been home three months. It's really hard to believe that English is her second language...she talks like crazy. Some days I wonder where she gets all of her words from...did we really teach her to say all of the crazy things that come out of her mouth? She will say things that, clearly, I am responsible for teaching her - like "wait a minute" or "What did you say?", but other things just crack us up. She is still very literal. I asked her how she got to be so stinkn smart and she looked at me with a sad face and said "I am not stinky." I guess we can't really use humor or sarcasm and expect her to understand :)

It has been a wonderful, exhausting, crazy three months. Transitioning to four kids has not been too hard, it's transitioning to an additional three year old who has her own special opinions, behaviors, and background that is a little strange at times. All in all, we wouldn't change a thing about her. I know that her independence, assertiveness, and self confidence will all be traits that serve her well in the future. Not a day goes by that I don't look at her and marvel at how resilient she is. I can not even begin to imagine how hard it would be to leave the country where you were born, travel to a new continent with virtual strangers, and do as remarkabley well as Grace is doing. Grace's adoption continues to bless us every day.

One more plug for the cute little necklaces we are selling to support Love In Action orphanage in Ethiopia...Grace is showing just how cute they look when you receive them...they are perfect little birthday gift add-ons or stocking stuffers.
The tag inside explains that the purchase is helping Love In Action.
If you are interested in the necklaces or key chains, please use the PayPal link on the side of our blog to place an order. Just click on the description (it says I love Ethiopia) and the other choices will be available for you to add to your shopping cart. Thanks so much for your support! ***Notice the awesome green fingernail polish that our little diva wanted to wear to match her outfit? I predict this child will be a big name in the fashion industry some day...