relaxing

I have not done much of anything since they arrived 

we are having fun 

with Grandma Mimi and Papa Julio

relaxing

hanging out

visiting

eating

playing

today we are off to the zoo

she always renews our yearly zoo pass in Milwaukee so we are able to go there for free whenever we want

it's such an awesome gift and we all love it.

kids get off of school today

and daddy too

it's much more fun to have him home with us too

we have had such beautiful weather

we will be enjoying our day so I hope you do too!

 

Happy Memorial Day

Grandma Mimi and Papa Julio arrived!

the kiddos are so excited

they will be here until June 3rd

so if I am missing in action for awhile

you know why

hopefully we will have some exciting news to share soon too.

keep the prayers coming

We serve an awesome God!

Ordinary Hero Grant Contest again
$500 goes towards the top 3 sellers
come shop for Father's Day
graduations
friends
or just for yourself and help 2 fold
we get half in our adoption account! 
Lots of new tank tops and great donations to children in Africa.
This ends Sunday
so spread the word and don't forget to go through the site on the right and click our name during checkout.!
Thanks for all your help!

We made it!!!!

 Olivia reading on the chair

We have finished packing up and putting away all of the things that were left from our rummage 

we got rid of a lot of things just had some clothes and household stuff left for Goodwill. 
I also have some Uganda hoop earrings, a few cd's from Michael W Smith, and Steven Curtis Chapman left too.  Please email me if you are interested. 

 Goodwill pile minus the table
we are keeping the table for homeschooling!

We have been blessed again

God is so good!

We have made $1100 towards our adoption.

We surely didn't sell as much food as we have the other years
but we will always eat leftovers
thank you for everyone that donated things to make this happen
clothing
jewelry
books
 housewares
furniture
tables
extra hands to help
donuts and chocolate milk
and my mom who helped me endlessly and last but not least my husband for helping and
 putting up with me !!!!
Also thank you to all the wonderful people that prayed with us and all the new people we met and touched in some great ways!
God is good!

exhausted/blessings

the rummage hasn't begun and I am beat
made 48 batches of funky bun frosting 
made cupcakes for snack for Olivia's class tom.
made 20 batches of puppy chow so far
pre-cooked 110 brats to sell 
my mom made all the beautiful signs
and has helped me every day getting organized
I am very OCD when it comes to rummage sales
you just cannot have t-shirts mixed with pants 
everything is separated by size and sex and what it is
got some wonderful donations from various artists like Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W  Smith and some handmade items
Jeremiah accidentally peed all over the floor between this all
finished making 2 homemade bird's nest necklaces for Jeremiah's teachers
today is his last day 
 my mom will be going with him for a program of singing and a lunch party at the park.
bought extra hangers because I hang mostly everything
got a huge donation of like new kids clothes from a wonderful family at church on Sunday
totally surprised us
they gave us like 10 huge Rubbermaid's
i was so happy I about cried
priced and organized  and hung
got another huge donation of some beautiful furniture and housewares from a wonderful family
thank you to all you helped us move everything
kids are crazy running in the yard
every night we are working on this
my feet are sore I think because this time some one in my belly is stealing all my energy
I am emotionally exhausted from my daughter 
trying to keep my head up every day with her and getting through this tough phase we are in
I went to the grocery store yesterday and felt like I was ready to drop over
It felt good to cry all the way there
just keep praying
just keep praying
just keep praying
today we set up the tent that my parents so graciously pay for
set up all the tables 
making funky buns all day
bringing loads of stuff up from downstairs
and tedious little stuff
I might be missing in action the next few days
so just keep praying for us and that we get rid of everything and that God blesses us big time!
thank you again to all of the families that donated to help us on this journey
please stop by if you can
Thursday 8-6
Friday 8-6
Saturday 8-5 and everything half price
Blessings!
 


 
 
 

Happy Mother's Day!

The Proverbs 31 

Mom is a virtuous woman.

Proverbs 31:10-31
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

  She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.

  She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.

She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

  She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.

  She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.

In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

  She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

  When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

  She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

  Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

  She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

  "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

  Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

 randomness

we have been working on our rummage like crazy

hanging poles, clothes, pricing

got a bunch of cool things from Steven Curtis Chapman and from Beth Moore

when you have a rummage and almost move it seems like you get rid of a lot more stuff

we are simplifying and cleaning house

boy does it feel good!

thanks to all those who have been praying for Olivia

 she has been going through some hard times lately

what a better time for Satan to attack, right.

it's been going on for a month now but just wanted to say thanks again to all of you who have prayed for her 

she is doing a lot better and we are so grateful and thankful

have a great Friday!

i am off to do some rummaging myself!

                                        We won a prize!

Our  local grocery store has a bike rodeo every year
where you can ride a fun little course on your bike, get it registered and get a free helmet.
all put on by local sponsors and our wonderful police department.
the store also gives the kiddos goody bags with all sorts of snacks and treats in, root bear floats and a chance to win some awesome prizes.
we happen to win this bike.  it's kind of funny we because we never win any contests.  we added Olivia's basket and she is raring to go!

                                         Meeting place
so Jeremiah's class is studying safety all week
they asked each kid where their meeting place is in case there was a fire

his answer: downstairs
the fireman said: you need to get out of the house
Jeremiah: then we would die then I guess
they are so real
that is all he knows is that when there is a tornado you go downstairs
so you should go there for everything, I guess

So we decided to run through a drill with them and have a meeting place
we tried it a few times and Jonah the goof off was  having fun dragging behind pretending his booty was on fire
so much for teaching them these things

sword fights

our kids seem to battle with swords any  where they are
apparently this time they needed helmets.
we are off rummaging today
hoping to find some good deals


keep the prayers coming we are hoping for good news in a month or so


also, getting ready for our rummage which will be on May 17-19th
if you have anything you would like to donate feel free
Have a great weekend!

Odin's letter

remember Odin's letter he sent to god a few months ago

well a wonderful mail carrier at the post office  wrote back
she is not our mail carrier but she was touched by his letter
she made him a card and wrote a little message

he thought we wrote this.....

date with dad
 

these 2 went on a date
we haven't done a date with any of our kiddos in a while
we were waiting for nicer weather but really
no excuses
they headed to the wonderful fishing pond that is perfect for little ones
you drop your pole in a you get a fish
Jeremiah decided to throw the pole in on the first cast and the whole pole broke into little tiny pieces
Dave was not sure what happened but they had no pole
so they came back home and got another one
they only got 1 fish that day but Jeremiah had fun and was happy
Then he was off to play in the play land at McDonald's
they had a wonderful time.
i always get a kick out of all the moms that see Dave when he is with the kiddos and they ask him if it's his weekend....
funny

Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for YOU, plans to prosper you and not to harm you..."

keep the prayers coming
we still have a couple moms looking at our profile this week
thank you!!!
 

Monopoly

We have been on a Monopoly kick for the past week

I am telling you I wish there was an end to the game.

The kiddos wake up and we start playing at 5:30  in the morning

we eat while we play

stop only to get dressed and brush teeth

and then we are off to school

I told them I secretly play it by myself during the day...

I am totally  kidding

They get home from school and that is what we play until dinner time

then maybe even after dinner time if we have our chores done and everything else.

 

i like Life better

Odin

This guy finally got a haircut

his bangs were past his nose

and he was constantly sweating

he's got a cheesy smile going on but it turned out great.

Ok...at first he didn't like it

the poor guy cryed in the bathroom for 10 minutes

now he is used to it and loves it!

Profile Books

I went to Office Max to have some more profile books made for our agency today.

It is like one big scrapbook of yourself

It is so fun to make and really shows the birth mom what your family is all about.

Our agency has been sending some out lately

so keep the prayers coming that we would be matched soon.

Also we are getting ready for our rummage sale on May 17-19th

So if you have anything you would like to donate bring it on over.

Please come out and visit and grab a bite to eat!

Mulligan

We have this wonderful cute little pet bunny that lives in a cage in the basement
i got him kind of as a wedding gift
we went to a farm show and ended up coming home with him when he was only 3 weeks old.
i fell in love with him at first site
black little lop that loved to give kisses
well 
he has been having problem breathing for about 3 months
he sounds like he has a bad cold
so I took him into the vet
thinking
it was probably time...
so he did a check up and said his heart was pumping away great 
but he definitely has a bacterial infection
maybe pneumonia
so I said I will get some medication and we can try that but nothing more than this.
I am not one of those people that will spend oodles of money I don't have on my pet
sorry if you are....
He comes back and gives me some medicine and then he forgot to check his eyes and ears 
so we did that
and he says
ya know what
your bunny is 100% blind
I said I kind of figured that because he has been knocking his food over all the time and his eyes have been looking really different to me
So glad I took him and cleared some things up a bit.
This little guy is 10 years old already. 

Wigs

we love wigs in this house.
I have to say I did a lot of funny things with wigs
I played sports all through high school, had good grades and dressed crazy and stayed out of trouble
I hung out with whoever I felt like
all different kinds of people
about once a week a few girls and I would drive around town
we would stop at various places like McDonald's, the park, Walmart, grocery stores, the movies, bowling alley, you name it we went there.
the hitch was that we dressed in different attire everytime.
we tried to do themes or crazy vintage/goodwill outfits that we could piece together
I loved patches on all my clothes and bandannas everywhere.
never matched and never cared  what people said or thought
 I was happy and self confident
my parents were fine with what I wore
I never dressed promiscuous or trashy
We try to teach the kids to do the same.
No one ever said you  had to match
just be yourself!

Jeans

Olivia and I were in her room this morning picking something out to wear

and all of a sudden she decides she wants to wear jeans

this girl has never owned a pair and has never even worn a pair 
so i went to a couple resale shops to see what I could find
I found some cute plain basic blue jeans that fit her perfect.
Jonah and her are the same size but he is much taller
so my mom  cut off about 4 inches from the bottom and 
presto
they worked great!