"Help For the Home" Harvest of Ideas

I know I said I was taking a break from my themed posts,

but this one was too good to pass up!

Sticky Tack is your friend.

Seriously.

I use it for EVERYTHING!

I put in on the backs of picture frames to make sure they hang straight.

I used it to hang a little mirror in my desk.

I use it to put up little signs for the kids-so they’ll know where to put stuff away.

BUT…..this picture shows the best use I have found for it in a long time!

For a long time, washing the bibs after every meal has been bugging me,

because I have no place to let them drip dry for the next meal.

My friend Amy gave me the cool suction hooks you see the bibs hanging on, but I had nowhere to hang the hooks, because I had no smooth, hard surface, above a spot they could drip a bit. (Keep in mind, this is Colorado, so NOTHING stays REALLY wet long.)

Enter the Sticky Tack.

And a small plate of glass.

Put the “Tack” on the glass, &-Voila!!! (is that spelled correctly???)

We now have a place the suction hooks will stick to & thus, a place to hang the bibs!

I love it! We always have clean, dry bibs for every meal.

How would/have YOU used Sticky Tack?

(Oh, & one other thing-we only have two bibs in the house. That is another way we have minimized things-I got rid of all the other bibs when I found these. These can be totally soaked & washed in hot, soapy water & hung up to dry & they are dry by the next meal. They totally cover up the kids, too, so why bother with any other kind of bib?)

Remember-if you comment, I'll link your blog!!!

A New Look For School........

I found this desk at the thrift store for only $35!!!

It's a roll-top, so we can close up the mess at the end of the day!

Cool, huh?

The Result of TOO MUCH SUN

See her peeling nose?

For anyone who's wondering, yes, people with dark sking CAN BURN!

I knew this already, but somehow,

I missed re-applying sunblock to her face at the pool last week.

If you have any cute, brown babies like us,

DON'T MAKE MY MISTAKE!!!

Lather on that sunscreen!

(Just as an aside-she is TRYING to learn to smile for pictures-

isn't this a winner!?!? WINK!)

A Break From My Themed Posts....

(& possibly just less frequent posts-

just need a break, you know that goes!)

Have a bunch of pics to post, though!!!

So check back every once in a while for picture posts,

or, even better, become a "Follower"-link on sidebar!! hint! hint!

Poor Baby Boy.......

Drinking out of a PINK sippy cup!

Whatever works, right?

"Help For the Home" Harvest of Ideas

Now, another tip:

MINIMIZE!!

The second picture was the couch we have had in our living room since moving in.

I finally had the realization that it was just TOO big for that space-

And, even better, that we had just the piece of furniture to fit that space!

What do you think?

Looks better with LESS there, doesn't it?

This Picture Speaks Volumes to Me

It says......"A big sister who is a patient teacher."

&

"A little sister who admires her older one."

I know a bunch of you-my blogger friends-have pictures like that, too.

Tell me all about them, & link them in my comments. :)

Thursdays Before the Throne

Not I, but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted;

Not I, but Christ, be seen be known, be heard;

Not I, but Christ, in every look and action,

Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.



Not I, but Christ, to gently soothe in sorrow,

Not I, but Christ, to wipe the falling tear;

Not I, but Christ, to lift the weary burden,

Not I, but Christ, to hush away all fear.



Not I, but Christ, in lowly, silent labor;

Not I, but Christ, in humble, earnest toil:

Christ, only Christ, No show, no ostentation;

Christ, none but Christ, the gatherer of the spoil.


Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision;

Glory excelling soon, full soon I’ll see--

Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling,

Christ, only Christ, my all in all to be.


Refrain:


Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,

Oh, to be lost in Thee, Oh, that it may be no more I,

But Christ that lives in me.

Wordless Wednesday......"I Love My Dadddy!"

Our Story.....Part 6.....

(Links to the first five parts are in our sidebar)

We began the adoption process with talking to some of our family members,

just to let them know the direction our lives were taking.

I’ll skip part of the story…..

the part where we put our dossier together!

That’s even boring for people who HAVE adopted, ha!!! ha!!!!

But, around the end of June of 2006,

we had all our paperwork together.

We dropped off all our paperwork at our agency,

it was sent down to Guatemala,

& we waited for a referral.

About this time, my friend Lorraine

(who usually comes to visit once a year or so) came out to see us.

We love to take our friends into the mountains & hike-

or what ever they would like to do to enjoy the surroundings.

(We love visitors-hint, hint!! We are a pretty cheap hotel, too-ha!! ha!!!)

Anyway, on one such hike with Lorraine, July 20, 2006, we got the call.

And….wouldn’t you know it-I had the funniest feeling that day-

that it *might* be the day-

mostly because I knew I would be out of cell range most of the day.

I still remember exactly where we were when I got the voicemail notification-

but I couldn’t check it because I was out of range.

I just KNEWit was the call-

you understand, don’t you?

I had the presence of mind to snap a picture,

of where we were on our hike,

so I could always remember it-

just in case I was right when I could finally check voicemail!

Here is the picture I took that day:

(The west face of Pike's Peak-taken from Mueller Sate Park, CO)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

& here was the picture we opened on e-mail when we got home:

We were supposed to decide if we anted to accept the refferal or not.

RIGHT......like "no" was even a possibility-NOT!!!

We said "yes" & thus began the Guatemalan side of things.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS......could someone please give Ana some comments?

She asks me everytime I get on the computer if anyone has commented yet.

Ana Started a Blog!

It's private, & I'll have to send you an invite,

but she is dying to get a few comments.

If you comment on this, & you don't want your e-mail addy published,

just let me know in your comment, but that way,

I can get your addy to send you an invite.


Someone please send her some luv!!!!

Another "Sisters" Post

"Help For the Home" Harvest of Ideas

Have I ever mentioned that LAUNDRY is the BANE of my existence?

Since the beginning of my married life,

I have struggled to stay on top of it.

I don’t know what it is-

that it just never ends-

or maybe it’s that I don’t like putting away things that don’t neatly fit into one category or another.

(there always seems to be that stray sox that doesn’t match or something)

Who knows?

I finally found something that seems to work, though.

Here’s a picture of a chart I have inside my laundry basket:

& just today, I had the brainstorm to add the places in the house each load will come from! (If one area is already caught up,
that’s when I’ll throw in a load of towels or something)

I’m so excited that HOPEFULLY this way, I can keep up better!

What are your tricks & strategies for laundry?
Leave me a comment, & I’ll link your blog!

Our Story.....Part 5.....

I know I should post some Independence Day Pix, but one of our kids was sick, & we really didn’t do much special for the Fourth this year.

Instead, I figured since so many of you are adopting families as well, you might like a bit of a glimpse into how our story unfolded. I know I love reading all of your stories!

We are now ready for Part Five of the Story, & the first 4 parts are linked on my sidebar.

So….., in February of 2006, we moved from asking questions into researching agencies.

But, even here, the Lord was orchestrating events long before we got there.

We knew we wanted an International Adoption, but we began by talking with a lady at a domestic agency-to get a recommendation for an International agency.

She asked me (& the WAY she asked strikes me as funny now),

“How do you feel about little brown babies?

Because I know of an agency that has a very successful

& quick program in Guatemala. Would you like their name?”

(It just seems funny because I have always had a THING for little brown babies-love them!)

While all this was going on in our little world,

I sometimes sit & think of what was going on in our child’s Birthmama’s life.

She was probably on a set course in her mind that this was the right thing to do……

but the paradoxes amaze me.

We, here, beginning the process, & having no idea what the future held for us.
Her, there, KNOWING how hard this would be for her to do.
Both of our lives on a collision course to encounter one another.

We took the agency’s name down, & with in a few days,

I called them to ask for an info packet.

The NERVES began again,

as we waited for the package to arrive.

(I had also asked a few bigger names in the adoption agency world for packets

& we waited on them as well).

But, we didn’t have to wait for long.

Within 2 days, the package was in our mailbox,

from this tiny, little no-name agency.

We called some of the people the agency gave us the names of, & asked all the questions we had-& to make a long story short, we began to feel this little agency was the right one for us.

Tune in next Tuesday for Part 6!

And, for more FFF, run over to Sarah's blog!

Thursdays Before the Throne

Have you ever had moments where the Lord seems to be working on you in such private ways, it seems hard to share them with others?

Right now, there is a major part of my life that the Lord & I are working on together.

& I am in a huge struggle to be obedient to His Word & His working in my life.

Please pray for me……& if you leave me a note, I will pray for you, too!

Wordless Wednesday....."On a Hike!"

Do You Have a Close Relationship With Your Extended Family?

I am one of the privileged ones.

I have some extended family I thoroughly enjoy spending time with.

I think the fact that my mom placed value on us knowing our cousins & aunts & uncles gave us many of the relationships we hold so dear today.

There is just something about viewing life through some of the same experiences……

Last week, one of my cousins came to visit us……& much to our delight, brought her violin.

Excellent does not even begin to describe her talent on the violin.

She ROCKS!!!

She is working toward her doctorate in violin performance,

but here she is, entertaining my kiddos & letting Ana try her hand at performance!

Love you!

Big Changes........

Heee!!! Heee!!!

Do you wonder what they are?

No, we are not heading off to another country to pick up any more children-breathe a big sigh of relief all you worry-worts!!!!

3 is all I can handle, & some days, I even wonder about that!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a hint:

This was taken three summers ago......look at how little Ana & her friends were!!!

This is how our backyard has looked since we moved in.

But not any more!!!

DRUMROLL, please!!!

No more weeds & dirt as a backyard!
No, we now have real grass!
& landscaping!

(Next summer, I plan on planting all the fun stuff to make this bare-bones look "pretty.")

Thursdays Before the Throne

From ev'ry stormy wind that blows,

From every swelling tide of woes,

There is a calm, a safe retreat

'Tis found before the Mercy Seat.


Ah, whither could we flee for aid

When tempted, desolate, dismayed?

Or how the hosts of hell defeat,

Had suffering saints no Mercy Seat?

~John Newton~

Wordless Wednesday