Birthdays, Cookis, and a Haircut (again)

We started off our busy weekend by celebrating Emma's 8th birthday which was Friday. She and some of her friends went to see The Princess and the Frog (which is a really good movie). We were able to use the party room before the movie started which worked out perfectly for gifts and cupcakes.





Then on Saturday we celebrated again with Matt's parents and my sister and niece. We had cake and ice cream again and more presents.





Then on Sunday we got together at Matt's parent's house for our annual Keekle and cookie making day with his dad's side of the family. I know some of you are probably wondering what Keekles are and the only way I know how to explain it is they are like a doughnut only made with a potato dough and raisins. Once they dough rises, they are then deep fried. The women generally prepare the dough while the men do all the frying and "tasting" in the garage. It is tradition to eat Keekles on Christmas morning which are dipped in powdered sugar. Yesterday when we were all together we were trying to figure out exactly where Keekles come from. We know they come from Matt's Grandma's side of the family and her Great Grandma who was from Sweden made them. I have tried Googling Keekles but am unable to find anything out about them. To be honest I never heard of them until I married into the family. I personally do not like them, and have been told every Christmas that I am kicked out of the will. Oh well...



This is Matt's Paternal Grandparents. They are a very special couple who love their family more than anything. I love getting together with them because they are so much fun to be around. I have been a part of the family for almost 15 years now and I love these two just as much as if they were my own Grandparents. They have been married for over sixty years, have three children, have eight grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren with two more on the way. Their love for each other and their family is truly an inspiration.




The "testers" are in the middle


I know that some of you may be wondering why Emma is wearing a hat in all of her pictures. Well, on Friday before her party my friend that does hair was over and she was going to do a really pretty braid in Emma's hair since I can't braid at all. Anyway, I asked Emma to run up and get the comb and she said she didn't want her hair braided but went to get the comb anyway. She came back downstairs and as Krista began combing through her hair she said..

Krista: "You may want to come over here."

Me: "Oh no, does she have lice"

Krista: "No, you just need to come over here."

This is what I found when I went to look at Emma's hair...





When I asked her why she cut her hair she said "because I didn't want a braid." At that point I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. As much as I wanted to cry, I did laugh because I figured since it was her birthday what other choice did I have? Anyway, because of the severity of the cut and where it is, our only choice to cover it up is with a comb over. Now, how many 8 year old little girls do you know that can say they got a comb over for their birthday???

And The WInner Is...

The winner of the beautiful Junk Posse Ladybug Necklace is...








I am so excited for Tara who has three beautiful biological children and is also waiting to add a Chinese sister to the mix. I always look forward to Tara's comments because they are always so uplifting and inspirational.

Thank you to everyone for leaving comments and entering the giveaway. Friday was Emma's 8th birthday (sniff, sniff) and I will do my best to get pictures up from that but this is also finals week for me so I may be MIA for most of the week.

GIVEAWAY Deadline

Okay folks, I just wanted to let you all know the giveaway for the beautiful Junk Posse Necklace ends tomorrow. I will be drawing the lucky winner Saturday morning so make sure you get your entries in. Don't forget, you can have up to 3 entries per person. See the previous post for ALL the details.

1. Comment on this post = 1 entry

2. Blog about this post on your blog = 1 entry

3. Become a follower = 1 entry (if you are already a follower you automatically get one entry)

This would make a great gift for a special someone or would even be a great keeper. I love this necklace, but my all time favorite is the Wish Came True necklace.

I also just found out that Tracy is now making key chains for dads. How cool is that??? All you have to do is pick out which design you like best and she will attach it to a key ring. I love this idea!

Oh, and one more thing. If you order something from Tracy's Etsy shop and mention my name, she will send you a free pair of earrings with your order.

Thankful Thursday and a Giveaway

God showed up yesterday, in a BIG way. Let me back up just a bit. Last month we received out I-800 paperwork, and other paperwork to get filled out and get back to our agency before our LOA arrives. Well, as of today we are on day 66 of waiting for our LOA. I am hoping and praying it gets here soon, but I have this feeling we will not be with Drew in time for his 4th birthday.

Anyway, God's timing is perfect and I just have to trust that He will unite us with Drew when He is ready. So, as most of you know things have been pretty tight around here since Matt was laid off back in August. Although he is back to work now, we are still playing catch up. So in an effort to get us caught up and continue to pay for Drew's adoption Matt has been working as much overtime as possible (not much is offered) and he is also doing electrical jobs on the side.

Along with the I-800 paperwork we received last month was a statement in the amount of $540.00 that was due on or before our LOA arrives. With the side job that Matt has been working on he assured me we would have the money. Matt and I were talking last night and he told me that the job ran into some problems and he is hoping to at least clear $400.00. Well, that is going to leave us about $140.00 short. So, I told him I would go through some of the Christmas gifts and see what I could take back. (We have cut way back this year and are only buying for our kids in an effort to save money)

So, as I was checking my e-mail this afternoon and telling myself that this is just one more mountain we need to climb, He shows up in a BIG way. I am sure you all remember Tracy, I have posted about her a couple of times on here and how she is donating a percentage of her China sales to us to help us bring Drew home. Whenever she has a donation for us she just sends it through Paypal. As I was reading through my e-mails today I noticed one from Tracy sent through Paypal. As soon as I opened it and saw the amount I about fell off my chair. I immediately began to tear up because the amount was $137.50! Can you believe that?

Once again I am in awe of those who are reaching out to help us get our son home. If it weren't for people like Tracy, and those that have helped us in the past, our dream of adding to our family may not have been possible. God opened our hearts to adoption, and He is making sure we know it is His will that we add to our family. God has once again shown me that by believing and trusting in Him, we WILL bring Drew home. He is walking this path with us, He is there to knock down those hurdles, He is there when we are at the bottom of a hill not knowing how we are going to get over it. He. Is. There.

As if donating a percentage of her sales to us isn't enough, Tracy has offered to give away her newest design. This necklace is absolutely beautiful and would make a great gift to someone, or even yourself. There is no money involved with this giveaway. All you have to do is..

1. Comment on this post = 1 entry

2. Blog about this post on your blog = 1 entry

3. Become a follower = 1 entry (if you are already a follower you automatically get one entry)

So, there you have it. It doesn't get any easier than this. You have the opportunity to get 3 entries. So, what are you waiting for, leave a comment, become a follower, and then go post about this on your blog.

You have until December 9th to enter and then I will randomly draw the winner.

EVERY Child

Originally I intended on posting a picture for Wordless Wednesday however, that all changed as soon as I read a news letter from the agency we used with Mylee. There was a link to a you tube video that was written by a dad of 3 boys (2 adopted and 1 foster). The song is called "God Bless the Children" and is written and sung by Wayne Warner. This is an amazing song and I pray that you will take four minutes out of you busy schedules to sit and listen to it.

Drew's Thanksgiving

Although Drew is in China, New Day not only celebrates Chinese Holidays but American ones as well. Once again I am completely amazed and in awe of all the wonderful people working with New Day to insure all the kids are taken care of. Below are pictures from the New Day sight of the kids getting ready for their Thanksgiving meal. You can see more pictures here.

Weekend Recap

As much as I enjoyed the long weekend it is also good to get back to normalcy at least for now. The kids were out of school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday, so you can imagine the excitement around here this morning as they were all getting ready for school. NOT!

Anyway, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of food, family, and shopping. Yes, I am one of those. Those who venture out at O'dark thirty hunting for the best deals. I started my hunt at 4:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning. One of our local stores had the Wii Fit for 1/2 off! It is originally $89.99 but because of a early morning door buster I was able to get it for $45.00! Once Blake heard I was going he wanted to go so I let him and my friend's 14 year old daughter tag along. I think they were more excited that they got to wear their pajamas to the store. We got there a little after four and stood in line until six which is when the sale actually started. Blake stood in line for me while I did a little more shopping so it worked out great the Kelsie and Blake went with me. The only thing I forgot was my camera, but we had a really good time.

Blake and I were back home and in bed by seven and didn't wake up again until nine, just in time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I LOVE the parade and look forward to it every year.

While we watched the parade I finished up a dress I made for Mylee and Emma to wear to dinner at Matt's Aunt's house. The dresses turned out beautiful, but once again I forgot the camera. I will get some pictures as soon as they come out of the mountain of laundry that has been accumulated over the weekend.

We spent Thanksgiving afternoon with Matt's side of the family eating, laughing and having a great time. Once dinner was finished those of us who are crazy enough to venture out for Black Friday started going through the ads in search for the best prices. My MIL and SIL go together and then we meet Matt's Aunt and cousin for lunch to discuss what we were able to get and whether or not there were any good stories of the day.

This year I got a little crazy and was at Toys R Us when they opened at midnight. Yes, midnight. I am sure you are asking yourself what I couldn't possible do without at that hour especially since I was up at four in the morning earlier that day. Well, they had the Leapsters that are originally $59.99 for $29.99. Once again, I was trying to save some money by getting the best deal. I also had a list of stuff to get for my sister in law and Matt's Aunt. So, once again Blake, Kelsie and I set out on an adventure. We left my house at about 11 and were at Toys R Us by about 11:15 p.m. and as soon as I pulled into the parking lot I knew we were in trouble. The parking lot was full and the line was enormous. Blake and Kelsie got in line while I ran across the street to get us something to drink. Since it was a bit chilly out I decided we would just wait in our car until the doors opened and then go in. Well, as soon as the manager came out we got out of the car and headed up to the front of the store to wait for the end of the line so we could go in. Apparently everyone else had the same idea and people were coming out of no where. The store manager had a megaphone and was telling everyone to go to the back of the line or he was not going to open the doors. After about five minutes of no one moving, he called the cops. As soon as the cops showed up I decided that it was not worth it for one of the kids to get hurt so we left and went to Wal-Mart because I remembered that they were price matching.

Unfortunately I was not able to get my sister in law's stuff or Matt's Aunt's, but I was able to get the Leapster for Mylee and a DS game for Emma without waiting in line at Toys R Us. I just wish I had remembered it soon, but then the kids wouldn't have an exciting cops story to tell their friends today.

As soon as we were done with Wal-Mart I took Blake and Kelsie home (which they were not happy about) which was about 1:00 a.m. I dropped Blake off at home and since I was meeting my SIL at Old Navy at three I thought I would go ahead and go back to Toys R Us to see if I could get the rest of the stuff on my list. There was still a line outside and they were only letting people in as people left. I stood in line outside for about half an hour before I got in the store. By this point I was just so darn excited to get IN the store. I quickly spotted the items on my list, grabbed them and went to get in line only to find out that the line was all the way around the store and woven in and out of aisles. So, I set the stuff down and headed on over to Old Navy instead.

Old Navy wasn't much better although they did not have to call the cops. I met my SIL Julie there and we waited in line for about half an hour outside in the freezing cold as they like Toys R Us were only letting people in as people came out. Just as we were almost to the door we noticed several people coming out without any bags. So, I headed up to the front to see what was going on and boy am I glad. Some people were coming out saying that they only had two registers opened and that they had been in line for 40 minutes and got tired of waiting so they were leaving. I went back, told Julie this and we decided to go back later in the day so it was off to Kohls.

After Kohls we met my MIL and from there everything went pretty smoothly. We were even able to go back to Toys R Us and Old Navy and were able to get the items that we wanted.

So, after being up for over 40 hours straight I came home around six and crashed. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 8:30 a.m. the next morning. The only thing I wish I had done was taken my camera so I could share with you all how incredibly long some of the lines were.

Saturday Emma danced at the Festival of Trees and then we went to Church, and then Sunday we put up our Christmas tree and other decorations.





I found these last year and bought the red one and was very excited when I found them again this year. Mylee absolutely loves them and calls them "my Chinese." For those of you who are interested, I bought them at Pier One Imports.