A Christmas Craft Idea

I know what you are thinking, "Christmas craft ideas in January?" Just hear me out! I got this idea from a friend who posted it on Facebook. These are icicle Christmas ornaments that you hang on your outside trees. You use cookie cutters and I used food coloring to make the different colors. The kids had a lot of fun making them and it was extremely easy to do.

I really like that these can be given as grandparent gifts. This project is not another hang on the refrigerator project. Though it was funny on the day of Christmas it was raining in Illinois! We just stuck the ornaments in the freezer.

Here is my new idea, make these as Valentine's gifts!. I thought you could have your children make heart shaped ornaments with the help of a cookie cutter and a little red dye.

Fluttering Angels

My mom for Christmas put these cool glasses in the kids stockings. At first I didn't know what to make of them, but I have come to the conclusion that they are really neat and I must add stylish!!!!! As you can see from the glasses they are called "Flutter Angels" and you put them on and look at the Christmas tree.

So here is a picture of what the lights look like through the lens of the glasses. If you look closely you can see little angels with their horns! If you are having trouble look at the angels on the glasses you will see that outline. Isn't it pretty neat???

I'm Back!!!!!!

Okay, it has been crazy busy around here and I haven't written a new post in a whole week!!!! Yikes! We were able to have two Christmas' one here in Illinois and one in Michigan. I have so much to write about but I just wanted to share to of my favorite gifts this year. If you haven't already noticed my picture quality has improved! My parent's got Ryan and I a new Nikon! We are very excited about it and just love the beautiful pictures!!!!!!

Ryan's parent's gave us many presents, but they gave us a night away! Here we are going on our date night without the kids! It was so nice to have a good night sleep and just spend time together! We went to McDonald's for dinner, I know yummy? We only went there so we could make the movie, Sherlock Holmes. It was good, I give it a B+.

We have been blessed with such supporting and loving parents. Thank you!!!

Tired from Shopping

I think the kids are all shopped out! Here is Ellie who fell asleep in the cart while we were in Target! Again, this has never happened before. I guess this girl can sleep anywhere! Now I'm off to go shopping by myself! Thank goodness for babysitters! They make it so much easier to shop without the three kids!

Find My Family

On Monday nights there is a new series called "Find My Family." I have mixed feelings about this show. So here is a little about the show if you haven't already seen it.

ABC.com - Find My Family - About the Show: "We all know people who feel incomplete, searching for something to make them feel whole. The heartache of separation is difficult on all of us, but it’s hard to imagine the struggle for those wondering about family they haven’t seen since birth, or who don’t know if a loved one is even alive after decades of silence.
The producer of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition created this show with one simple mission—to bring families back together. With the help of a dedicated team of researchers, hosts Tim Green and Lisa Joyner guide people searching for lost loved ones through the emotional journeys that will change their lives forever.
Each episode is full of moving moments and tears of joy, when mothers, fathers, daughters and sons who lost touch for decades are reunited. First we learn the emotional back stories of each family in search of lost relatives. Then with minimal information, the Find My Family team begins the difficult and often frustrating process of sifting through archives and tracking down records until they uncover the missing links. Host Lisa Joyner reaches out to the newly-found family members to let them know that someone from their biological family has been looking for them. Tim Green narrates each story as it unfolds and meets with the people who originated the search. When a family is reunited, they all meet at the Find My Family “Family Tree.”"

As I watched this show tonight I just cried and cried. I just love shows like Extreme Home Makeover, but this show struck a different chord for me. My daughter who is 3 years old is adopted. Her birth mother lives in another state and Avielle has birth siblings. As I watched the show I thought about Avielle and how she will grow up and I thought about the challenges that we might encounter with her being adopted. I must admit that does overwhelm me. I am definitely a feeler in many ways and I can worry about the future.

When I was watching I kept hearing that there was a whole in their lives. I guess I thought that for Avielle that her daddy and I will fill that whole and she won't feel anything missing. Then reality came into the picture and I thought there will be a loss for her and that will be difficult for her, but my husband, me and God will be right there for her.

I am thankful everyday that I have Avielle in my life and that I'm her mother. I am extremely thankful to her birth mother who gave her to us to love and to raise. I truly know that God has an amazing plan for Avielle and I do have a peace in knowing that God is the one writing her story and that He is ultimately in control. He as asked her daddy and me to love her, protect her, and to bring her up in the ways of the Lord. I have complete peace that we are providing that for her. Time will tell the difficulties that we will face with Avielle and our other two, Anderson and Ellie.

I do like the idea of an open adoption, though I don't think that it is good for every situation, especially if the birth parents are not in a good situation. Avielle's birth parent's do receive pictures of her all the time and have access to her baby website and this blog. We are planning a trip in May to go meet her birth family. I'm both excited and nervous at the same time. I think that Avielle's age will be the perfect time for the two families to come together. I don't want there to be an acquired experience and being that she is 3 she won't really know if there is one. I want her to know that her birth family is not a secret, but that she will know them and know the love they have for her.

I think the reason that I was crying during the show is that each of the adopted kids felt like there was something missing in their lives. They were saddened that they had birth parent's out there that they didn't know. So, for Avielle I don't want her to feel like she is missing something, but I do want her to know her birth parents. I am her mother, but I want her to know her birth mother who carried her for 9 months and brought her into this world. Though I must be honest it is hard to share Avielle with her birth mother, but I know that I will overcome this with time.

So that is my thoughts. If you have adopted I would love to hear your thoughts!

Christmas Party!

The last three Christmas' we have had our good friends over for dinner to celebrate Christmas with them. Like I said in my last post these friends are our second family and it is just a fun evening, especially for the kids.

That night we had the kids dress up in their Christmas dresses and kept them in them for about an hour before they were in their pajamas. We just had to take pictures of them! In the picture below Ellie is missing, because she didn't want to be in the picture! Her dress does match her sister's.

I made pot roast for our main dish. Doesn't look very appetizing raw, but it tasted so good. Pot roast is a really easy meal to prepare, but it just takes a while to cook. Also in the pot roast pan is potatoes, carrots, onions. The house smells heavenly while it cooks!

Then we made a craft. Since the kids are learning their letters we focused on the letter "J." The kids colored a picture of Mary and Jesus and then we made a candy cane with red and white beads on pipe cleaners. It was totally age appropriate for kids 18-4 years old.

Candy Cane Poem

"Look at a CANDY CANE, what do you see?

Stripes that are RED like the BLOOD shed for me!

White for my Savior, Who's sinless and pure!

"J" is for JESUS, My Lord that's for sure!

Turn it around And a staff you will see---

Jesus, my SHEPHERD, is coming for me!"

Later the kids opened presents. In the picture below Josh is helping his daughters, Mackenzie and Stephanie open their present.

My two favorite boys! My husband, Chevy and my son Anderson!

For dessert the kids made cupcakes of rein deers, though they made their own concoctions!

Our two adoptive miracles! Here is Avi meeting Katie for the first time. Katie is two months old and I'm so happy that Katie and Avi get to grow up together and that Shari and I will have each other for support. The two of them are almost exactly 3 years apart! They were both born in October! Aren't they both so beautiful?!?!

Special Gifts!

Yesterday we had our dear friends over and we celebrated Christmas together. Our friends are so special to us and we support each other and call each other family. I will share more about our little party with you later, but I wanted to share these adorable gifts that we received from our friends! In the above picture we got this adorable ornament from the Lyman's! I just love family ornaments. Wow, are family is so big!

Below the kids are wearing T-shirts with their first initial on them. Auntie Barclay made each of the kids these shirts and they are so precious! Now Barclay doesn't sew, but with the help of her mother she made these for the kids! I'm impressed Barclay!

Then our dear friends the McMahon's got the girlie's these cute hats! I just love how cute they look on the kids. Avi just loves wearing it! She looks so hip.

Thank you friends for your well thought out gifts we will cherish them, but most of all we cherish your friendship!