Water Fun

This weekend we hit the pool for a little bit of family fun....I guess I only got pictures of some of the kids. The ones that we had to keep our eyes on at all times. The kids had a blast and Maximus got pink eye, of course.

Disney 2010 and Fundraising

Wow, I can't believe that we are leaving in only 18 days!!! Crazy! The kids are getting super excited and so I am! But oh, the packing!

We are taking a couple of days to get down there. With one night in Kentucky and one in Georgia before we roll into DISNEY WORLD!!! We are usually a drive straight through kind of family but with this being the babies first major trip we have decided to ease into it, to try and avoid some major meltdowns!

We have Mickey and Minnie backpack/harnesses for Maximus and Emersyn, we are going to attempt to pack using storage totes this time and see if we can get a better use of our space. (Thanks Duggars for that idea).

Any other suggestions for traveling with two 2 year olds and a bunch of other kids?


On that note only 12 days to place your orders!! December 10th will be the last day to order!! We want to make sure that we get everything shipped out to you before we leave so that you have your orders before the Holiday! Africa w/ Love (our etsy store)

We have been unbelievably blessed by all the orders we have received so far, I am actually sort of amazed! I just want to say thank you, I know it's hard to support everyone and especially at this time of year it can be overwhelming. You all are amazing and getting us closed every day to our #7!

I FAILED!

I can't believe it! All that work, all those posts on nothing, all comes down to one day where I just forgot. I wasn't out, or doing anything, I have no real life, I just plain FORGOT!

I feel like such a failure or as the Teenager would say.....Epic Fail Mom.

NaBloPoMo, you totally kicked my ass.

Whatever.


'til next time

me

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bellies are full....babies are in bed.....and rest of us are going to watch Avatar the Last Airbender.... most of us will probably fall asleep.

Totally great day.....tomorrow shopping!

'til next time

me

Still Have One...

Still have this this one set of 3 ornaments left! You want them just hit donate for $12.00 (or more) and they are yours!

We applied to our agency this week and were APPROVED!! We are now going through the big pile of policy documents that they sent us and are hoping to have them turned in sometime in the next week or so! I forgot how much paper is involved! My poor printer was going for about 20 min. straight last night and that was not even for the dossier guide!

I tell you even though this is our 3rd adoption, hearing your approved by your agency still makes my heart smile! We are going to for either gender up to 24 months. Our new agency does things a little differently, here once you go on the waiting list you get your number. You can be on a bunch of different lists at the same time. Example: #12 for infant boy and #33 for infant girl.....I think this will be kinda neat, before we never really knew. I can imagine with my personality though I will become obsessed with it very quickly!!!!!

The kids are all in a big discussion right now about boy or girl....and most of us have chosen sides, because this next little person will break the tie in our house!! So much pressure for someone who is probably not born yet!

We are still in the process of putting money together and getting everything lined up, Brian is great at helping me slow down.....it goes something like this.....

me: "Maybe we should....."

Brian: "No"

Good thing I love that man! He has also been working very hard to get all orders done in a timely manner! I have had to give him a bedtime or he will just keep going. Now I just start shutting off lights one by one until he gets the hint!

By the way we will be taking orders until Dec. 10. So only about 2 more weeks and then we will shut down until after Christmas and come back with some different things! Please consider placing an order, they make great teacher gifts, ornaments for your tree, or presents! And every order gets us a little closer to our goal! Africa w/ Love (our Etsy Store).

Thanks so much,

til next time
me

Another Quickie.....

One Set Gone!! One More Left!

Another quickie...(which I have come to realize isn't the best title but go with what works). Today I had a couple big ornaments to make and had LOTS leftover, guess that's what happens when Brian isn't here to reign me in! LOL

These are French Blue and Granny Smith Green with some Silver mixed in (just a touch was left!) Looks the like Earth from space. The picture is not doing them justice, I promise. For some reason my camera hates me today. Ok, most days. And blogger wouldn't upload my individual pictures just kept giving me an error message.

So I have 6!! of these, they stand @ 2 1/2" tall and have a clear bead on white string. The first two people that hit that donate button for $12.00 (or more), get a set of 3 mailed out to them tomorrow!

'til next time

me

*I will marked the post with a sold when both sets are gone*

Check out my 10 Random Things at the next post down!

10 Things About Me....

Lots of clicks coming in from all over right now so I thought it would be fun to put some random information out there! Of course I am all about random right now because I only HAVE like 7 more posts and I have made it through this November post everyday mess.

10. I was an only child until I was 16 years old, then I got identical twin brothers, what 16 year old wouldn't want that right?

9. My first car was a 1992 Geo Metro in Easter egg blue. We just donated it about 5 years ago and I am not ashamed to admit I cried a little.

8. I always knew I wanted to get married and have kids young. I thought I would have stopped with the kid thing well before know though.

7. The older I get the bigger my feet get, how is that even possible?

6. I never thought about adopting once while growing up. It honestly never occurred to me until my husband mentioned it! And then I was all like, more kids, bring it on!

5. I have absolutely ZERO desire to hold down a "real" job. Serious lack of work ethic around here. I have so much respect for those people that can do it all. I can't even do half of it without the day job. Let me state for the record though that I can and have held jobs when needed!

4. Emersyn (our Ethiopian daughter) was a huge surprise, seriously everything we bought was some variation of blue. Babies R Us super hated us after that call!

3. I secretly envy Alainna (7) doing competitive dance, and am most probably living vicariously through her dancing. Yup, I'm that mom.

2. If I had more courage I would move my whole family to Ethiopia.

1. All I really want is world peace, or my own reality t.v. show. Both of which are unlikely.

'til next time

me

Quickie

***SOLD!!!!!***

Thank You!!

Most of the time when we are making ornaments to fill orders there is clay left over. We have been wasting it but yesterday I decided to remix it and see what I came up with. These 3 are it! Blue with a deep purple swirl and a little bit of silver glitter peeking through. It sort of reminds me of the night sky. I strung them on a black cord and added a silver bead. These 3 are smaller than the bigger version (they are 2 1/2" tall).

These are truly one of a kind. The first person that hits donate on the right hand side for $12 (or more) gets all 3! These would make a great teacher gift!

Below is a picture of each one individually.






'til next time
me

*I will post when these sell so there is no confusion!*

A Funny Thing Happened at Breakfast Today

Today we decided to take the kids out for some Big Boy breakfast buffet. It's always an interesting experience taking our family out as we challenge the norm in almost every possible way. Today though turned out very inspiring.

As we were sitting eating our breakfast a very nice women approached our table and explained that she had been a high school teacher for 18 years. She said that she learned in that time that to make a 5 minute assessment on incoming students and that when she saw our family that instinct kicked in. Basically she came over to praise my oldest son (12) on how she saw him treating his 2 year old brother. How she saw someone that took the time to see to the needs of his brother before seeing to the needs of himself. Making sure Maximus had what he needed and was taken care of. How she would love to have someone like Griffen in her class and the learing that they could do together. She then noted how cute it was that Maximus tried and tried to use his fork to eat his sausage and then finally gave up when he just couldn't get it and used his fingers. But that she loved the way he tried first. Silly boy. For Griffen's part he handled the compliment with a grace much older than his age and Maximus continued to eat his sausage with his fingers. Yet another proud moment.

Honestly we get comments like that more often than not, but every time we do. It makes me proud. We don't always see the things our big kids do for their younger siblings, sometimes all we see or hear in the bickering that happens. But when someone takes the time to compliment your children it does make me sit up and take notice.

Sometimes I just take for granted how our "big" kids help our "little" ones or how the "big" ones will stick together in situations. I don't see that they help with coats and shoes or food. I just expect it. Really I should notice more, because how lucky are we? I hope they are creating a bond that will stick with them long after their dad and I are gone.

But today we were just a family eating breakfast, doing what we do. It's nice to see that it's working.

As an added bonus, someone, not sure who, gave our waitress a $20.00 bill to give us to put towards our breakfast. Wow. Thank you. I hope one day we have a chance to pay it forward.

'till next time

me

So Much for Saturday

I will not fail....I am 20 days in and I plan to finish this NaBloPoMo crap out.

At this present moment I have company in the house. Men sitting on the couch watching grown men in spandex "fighting" each other. I really just think that it's an excuse for men to feel to each other up! I'm not judging, just saying.

The kitchen is cluttered up with left over Chinese food, bean dip and queso. I should be cleaning that up or enjoying my company but instead I am here.

The younger boys are downstairs vegging out in front of video games and the little girls are playing tag around the kitchen table. I should be doing some Mario or some tag your it, but instead I am here.

My forever friend Kelly, whom I never see and with who I conduct most of my friendship with via text is here. I should be visiting with her. But instead she is reading my blog on her Blackberry. And I am here.

I leave you with this one thought. How can they not be knocking on my door offering a t.v. show. You can't make this stuff up!

'til flipping tomorrow

me

Friday for Fundraising!

This family received their referral recently. And so they are doing this fundraiser for travel. I have to admit these dolls are CUTE!! Just a $5 donation gets you a drawing to win your choice.

Pick me, pick me....except, wait, I need like 123456....crap, 7 please.

I also have to admit I seem to be having a little (big) problem with other peoples fundraisers. They are all so cute that I keep buying and buying. :) Stop making such super freakin' aborable/cute/awesome/meaningful stuff please!

Really though, knowing the hard work that they have put into their efforts makes it worth it to pass up my daily Mocha. And WTH, how did that become a daily habit? I swear the strangest things happen when I am not looking!

'til next time

me

Africa w/ Love (our etsy store)

Quiet Around Here

The little ones are all in bed, the big ones are with their dad catching the midnight showing of the new Harry Potter!

I am enjoying a rare quiet time in my house and catching up on my DVR shows, then I am going to go cozy up in my bed with the books that I picked up from the library today!

What I am reading right now:

Jen Lancaster Books, written as memoirs, so very funny and heartwarming at the same time!

She also has a blog Jennsylvania. Which is totally worth a look.

If I wasn't so boring I would absolutely write memoirs. Hell if I wasn't so boring, I would have my T.V. show by now! (hint, hint any talent scouts out there?)

'til next time

me

*By the way I am totally kicking NaBloPoMo's ass!

There is Nothing Better

than snagging your big sister's after school peanut butter and banana sandwich when she's not looking. Thanks sis!


Also I see that I am getting lots of traffic linking in from other sites.

Welcome! I hope you see something that you like! We are hoping to get everything rolling w/ our new addition by March 2011 so every small step is a step in the right direction and we can't do it without you! Please feel free to share with EVERYONE!! :)

'til next time

me
Africa w/ Love (our Etsy store)

I Got Nothing..

Because I am sitting on the couch with a Diet Pepsi and a bowl of microwave popcorn watching The Biggest Loser.

Because Brian is playing with his new Ipad. That he bought with his saved up weekly spending money! How does he do that?

Good job honey!

Now he has to start saving that money for our new little person! He will probably out save me!

Because of those things, I leave you with gratuitous pictures of our puppy, Leo. Ain't he precious?

'til next time

me

And the Winner is......

Congratulations Emily!!! And thanks Alainna for being my little name pulling model!

Emily let me know your choice, any handmade creation or 2 of our large Africa ornaments!

'til next time

me

NaBloPoMo

Today is November 14th. I have kept up with the NaBloPoMo. I still have 16 more days to go. I don't know if this is such a good idea.

Who came up with this idea? What are they hoping to accomplish, and I know, gets people writing, blah, blah, blah, holds you accountable, blah, blah, blah. Whatever. At this point all I think that I am accomplishing is annoying myself and others.

Let's face it, I am just not that interesting. Oh I can fake it for a post or two a week, but everyday?

I would love to be all like, well this weekend we took the kids to the Children's Hands on Museum where they learned how to make a spaceship out of macaroni noodles and then we walked over to the planetarium and learned about the stars. After which we ate an all organic meal consisting mostly of fruits, veggies and free range chickens. Then we came home and watched a documentary on llamas (watch out, they spit).

But the truth is a little closer to we sat around the house, drove the Teenager to her numerous social obligations, took the babies to a birthday party (super fun) fed them Wendy's on the way home so they would stay awake, therefore insuring that they would nap and give us a couple quiet afternoon hours, while I watched Some Kind of Wonderful w/ the kids because I wouldn't want to deprive them of their 80's movie education.

The kids played video games and on the computer for hours and hours (by the way Zoobles have their very own website! Yeah!) We took the kids to Meijer and let them pick out some new toys (I know that X-mas is like a month away, and?) On the way home we stopped and got McDonalds, have I mentioned that Maximus's first word was "frenchfrieschicken"? And to top off the weekend we watched A LOT of football, which is kind of crazy because only one of us in the house even likes to watch football.

I think the point here has been made. Not interesting, annoying and unfortunately still committed to finishing out this stupid NaBloPoMo.

In my defense, this wasn't my idea. Please send your hate mail to:

Brightidea@ican'tbelievei'mreadingthis.com

'til next time (which will be tomorrow)

me

Giveaway Ending!

Last day to enter to win a custom creation of your choice.

How to enter:

1. Blog Post about this blog

2. Post on FACEbook w/ link to this blog

3. Post on Twitter about this blog.

4. Place an order.


You can have up to 4 entries!!

Giveaway ends today @ 11:59 p.m.


'til next time

me
Africa w/ Love

Cheaper by the 1/2 Dozen.....Not So Much..

"The Teenager" 14

"The Boy" 12

"Drama" 9


"The Diva" aka "Miss Competitive" 7

"Miss E" 2 (almost 3)

"Little Man" 2

"?"

I think I am spending way too much time thinking about our #7. I don't know who he/she is going to be yet. I don't know when we will be able to start, though I have a time line in my head, I don't know if it's meant to be.

I struggle with patience, like the fact that I have none, not even a little bit. I am the type of person who likes to jump in head first and worry about the outcome later. Especially when it comes to something that I want.

I tend to focus on how long it's taking and how much time I feel is being wasted. Told you, no patience. Then I take a long look at "The Teenager" and I could swear just yesterday she was saying, "Up momma, up." And today it's all, "Hey, can you pick me up at 11 p.m. from so and so's house."

It goes so slow and at the same time so so very fast. All in all I wouldn't change it for the world, because I think it's the journey that shapes our lives.

'til next time

me

Friday for Fundraising!

One thing that we didn't bank on when deciding to do a bit of fundraising this time around was all of the fabulous people that would want to help us. Whether it's ordering something, encouraging us, offering to help us sell things or helping us to promote what we are doing. It really means a ton to us!


I want to do a shout out to Amy from Building the Blocks, for listing us along with some other great people on her Give Gifts that Give Life post! Thanks!

Our family is really excited about the prospect of adding another member and every purchase or help promoting us gets us another step closer. So thanks to you to!



If you clicked in from another site please take the time to look around. Brian has been working like crazy getting items made and I am trying to keep up with the shipping and blogging! LOL I think I have it way easier! Brian in his "workshop".

Last night we added our last "new items" to the mix.




Sno Family! You can have 1-4 children. And the bottom can be personalized with your family's name and the year. Top picture to see whole ornament.

$20.00 (+$3.00 shipping)


And our Sno Kid! Can be either blue or pink and your child's name in the circle.

$15.00 (+$3.00 shipping)



Of course we still have our

African Princess $25.00 ($3.00 shipping)

Our Africa Ornaments with heart cut out over your personal country of choice!
$15.00 ($3.00 shipping)

And our African Prince
$25.00 ($3.00 shipping)

Everything is handmade by Brian out of polymer clay. Because it's handmade all the items will be slightly unique!

If you combine items please add only $1.00 per item after your first item for shipping!

To order use the donate button on the right! Or our Etsy store

Have a great weekend and don't forget to enter my Giveaway! Just let me know you posted about us on FACEbook, your blog, or twitter. Or ordered and you will receive one entry for every place you posted or every item you buy! If you win you get YOUR choice of item FREE!!!


Thanks!


Jillienne
Africa w/ Love