Nov. 29, 2009 - Time of Giving
(everything in this blog post can be copied and pasted into your own blog. I give full permission! We all appreciate the word being spread about our adoption fund raising efforts. )
It is the time of year, when many people consider giving. Salvation Army bells are heard at every store. Canned food drives can be found everywhere. It is also the time of year, when families like ours, are anxiously awaiting the day when they will have their first Christmas with their new adopted child.
A lot of you have followed our journey this far, as we go through the process of adopting an infant from here in the United States. You are all familiar with the various fund raising efforts we have been making. Our puzzle fund raiser, selling coffee through Just Love Coffee Roasters, and selling T-shirts through Mission Threads. But did you know that there are TONS of other families from all over the world making the same efforts as us? I have met a few of these families, and encourage you all during this time of year, to consider these families when you go to support a charity. Just like us, they are doing all that they can to raise funds so they can give a child a home.
That Stever family is a beautiful family with a heart for orphans with down syndrome. There are so many special needs children around the world that need homes. The stever family is also raising funds for their adoption. I encourage you to visit their blog, and if you feel led, leave them a donation. Their donate button can be found toward the bottom of their site.
Dawn is an adoptive mommy of two little girls from China, and is raising funds to bring home two more children from Ethiopia. She is selling handmade blankets and custom wooden growth charts in order to raise funds for their upcoming adoption. Her items would make wonderful Christmas gifts! Stop by her blog, and take a look!
The Langton Family is another family anxiously waiting to bring their child home. They have already been matched with a little boy name Alex. You can follow their journey of bringing Alex home on their blog. Like us, I am sure they are dreaming of the day when they will have their little Alex home with them. Their donation button can be found in their sidebar. Every donation, no matter how big or small, will get the Langton family one step closer to bringing their little boy home where he belongs.
I was very blessed to also visit the Sisemore’s family blog. Just as the Stever family has a heart for orphans with down syndrome, the Sisemore’s have a heart for orphans with cerebral palsy. They have one adopted child from China, and they are doing a bunch of other fund raisers so they can bring their little boy Jeremiah home from China as well. Jeremiah has cerebral palsy. You can take part in any of their fund raisers, and get them one more step closer to bringing Jeremiah home. Here are all the links you need to know about. Jeremiah’s Promise, tax deductible sponsorship, magazine fund raiser, and they are also selling coffee like us!
God has laid it upon the hearts of the Hodges family to pursue adoption. They too are going through the adoption journey. They were blessed with two biological children and are now praying that God will bless them with an adoptive child. You can follow the Hodges family as they do what they can to bring a child into their home. You can find their donation button in their sidebar.
Another family waiting to be united with their adoptive child, is the Calvaresi family. They are waiting, and raising funds so they can bring their little girl Ana-Sophia home. Ana-Sophia was diagnosed with developmental delays and autism. By sending a donation to the Calvaseri family, you are helping make it possible for them to bring Ana-Sophia home where she belongs. You can read their whole story, and leave a donation by visiting their site.
The Aus family is waiting to bring their son Chase home from China. They were blessed with two girls from China earlier, and now they are anxiously awaiting the day when they can add Chase to their family. You can follow their story, and even chip in a little toward Chase’s adoption by visiting their family blog.
The puzzle piece fund raiser, has been the most fun and rewarding fund raiser so far. We are not the only one’s doing it either! The Burgess family is also doing a puzzle piece fundraiser. Their puzzle is coming together really fast! They are doing an international adoption from China. You can donate through their chip in button, or you can make a tax deductible donation through Kingdom Kids Adoption Ministry. Just mention it’s a donation for Kevin and Karen Burgess’ adoption.
Adam, is an 11 year old boy in China, waiting for his family to pick him up. Beth and Mark are raising funds to be able to adopt this young man. It is very touching reading about their adoption journey, and the things they are doing to be able to scrape up the funds necessary to bring Adam home to them. You can help them to be able to afford their adoption by sending them a donation. By clicking their chip in button in their sidebar.
The Wibes family has two fund raisers going on so far. The are selling coffee through Just Love Coffee Roasters, and using onecause.com. Onecause.com (which I gotta look into for us!) is really neat! . You register and choose the national adoption foundation as the cause and then benefit crediting to babsie95@yahoo. com. Then you continue on with your online shopping like normal! Brilliant!
The Boettler’s are another family digging up financing. All of us families who are going down the adoption path, is familiar with bumps in the road. The Boettler’s have overcame obstacles, and are now waiting to be matched with a child from China! You can help the Boettler’s overcome the financial obstacle, by donating toward their adoption fund. Their chip in button can be found in their sidebar.
Taking in special needs children is a big undertaking. I was so inspired today by reading about the Boyd family. They have adopted 7 children from various places in Eastern Europe, and are now in a crunch trying to raise funds to bring home 3 more children waiting for them in Bulgaria. Their story is amazing!
These are just a small handful of families who have hearts for adoption. All of them are willing to go through this huge process, and spend all of their finances, in order to give a child a home. These children have the hope of having a forever family. There is no better way to support the orphans (James 1:27) than to help unite them with the families that are so desperate to reach them. Please consider helping some of these families!
Even if you are not able to donate to any of these families’ adoption funds, I do encourage you to at least stop by and read their stories. And if you are up to it, copy this blog post, and post it on your own blog! The more the word is spread the better. I pray that these families will be blessed.
The Telfer Family Puzzle Update
It’s been a while since I have posted any pictures of our puzzle, or given an update. I am sorry about that! Unfortunately, the only camera I have is on my phone. I wish I could be taking photographs with a really nice Nikon D90, but for now, all I have is my blackberry. So please excuse the blurryness!
I have had a couple of new sponsors over the last couple of months. One from my cousin in California, and the other today from a random blogger. Thank you so much! We have rounded the corners, and have the top and most of one side of the frame together.
Here is what it looks like so far! When ever we get a sponsorship come in, the kids get really excited. I always shout out ” We get to build on the puzzle today!” Then I tell the kids who sent the donation, and we write the name on the back of the puzzle piece. Here is Anna and Gable putting in today’s sponsored piece. And like I said, the picture is REALLY blurry. But oh well. I even caught the stroller and the baby swing in the shot! We have been storing baby items in the bedroom, anxiously waiting till we can have a new baby sleeping in there.
Thank you today, to Alison Lowry! We have 66 puzzle pieces sponsored. 996 to go! When we reach 1000 we will have half of our adoption paid for.
To read more about our adoption journey, and learn of other ways you could help us with our adoption fund raising efforts, come visit us at www.mygodgivenmissionfield.com
Nov. 29, 2009 - Thanksgiving 2009
I love Thanksgiving. I love the smells, the food, the family and friends, singing those Thanksgiving songs only sung on this day, everything! This year was no different. We don't have family here, so we invited some other missionary families that live here.
The first family we invited was Marcy and Kevin Carlson, and Marianne Reed, Marcy's mom. We've known them for awhile, but are looking forward now to knowing them better. Marcy's grandfather is William Reed, the first ever American missionary in Ecuador. She is one of those rare people who is still living in the house where she was born. We had a good time with them and I'm hoping to spend more time with her.
The other family we invited was Jim and Caty Tate with their children, Phillip and Eliana. Anna and Eliana are good friends and we enjoyed spending the afternoon with Jim and Caty. We've been friends for several years, but don't get to spend much time just sitting and visiting. That's one of the things I like best about Thanksgiving.
The food was traditional and very good. I tried out some new recipes and they were, for the most part, good. The new recipe I used for my mashed potatoes was REALLY good and they disappeared quickly. Just as well since I am a mashed potato fiend! I'm posting it below the picture. It's too good to keep to myself!
All in all, it was a wonderful day, full of contentment. And I'm very thankful for that.
left to right: Jim, Eliana, Caty, and Phillip Tate, Linda Muse, Marianne Reed, Marcy and Kevin Carlson.Day Before Mashed Potatoes
6 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in potatoes, and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes.
2. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl, and mash until smooth. Mix in the cream cheese, sour cream, onion powder, salt, pepper, and butter. Cover, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.
3. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
4. Spread potato mixture into the prepared baking dish, and bake in the preheat oven about 30 minutes.
Nov. 24, 2009 - NEA Puts Power Ahead of Kids
It's really no surprise to anyone ever that the NEA was more interested in protecting its power than educating children. What is surprising is that they actually feel confident enough in their power to admit it. Here's the NEA's General Counsel admitting as much in his retirement speech this past summer.
"Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of our creative ideas. It is not because of the merit of our positions. It is not because we care about children and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power....
This is not to say that the concern of NEA and its affiliates with closing achievement gaps, reducing dropout rates, improving teacher quality and the like are unimportant or inappropriate. To the contrary. These are the goals that guide the work we do. But they need not and must not be achieved at the expense of due process, employee rights and collective bargaining. That simply is too high a price to pay.
(View YouTube video on this subject here.)
If you're a parent with children in the public schools you can voice your objections here. But the best way to object is by removing your children from their schools. Without your children they have no real power.
In a related story, future teachers in Minnesota are being "reducated" and become "culturally competent"
Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin in order to obtain a teacher certificate.
-Spunky
Cross-posted, with permission, from SpunkyHomeSchool
Nov. 27, 2009 - Preparing For Advent ...
Last year we started a new family tradition for Advent. We count down the days to Christmas by unwrapping one of our Christmas books and reading it for bedtime. We also do a small activity or something small that is related to the book. This year's line up is as follows.
- The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey - Put up our Nativity.
- An Ellis Island Christmas - Bring one favorite stuffed animal/doll to storytime.
- Christmas Tapestry - Look at and do some repair of my childhood quilt with kids.
- Grandfather's Christmas Camp - We will have hot chocolate with crackers.
- The Crippled Lamb - We will talk about what makes each of us special and unique.
- Christmas in the Trenches - Listen to songs by John McCutcheon.
- Too Many Tamales - Eat Mexican food, maybe some Tamales?
- The Animals' Christmas Carol - Put out some birdseed treats for wild animals.
- The Biggest Snowman Ever - Make snowmen out of marshmallows and eat them.
- One Winter's Night - Attend the live performance of Return to Bethlehem at a local church.
- The Chanakkah Guest - Have a Jewish meal and play a Jewish game.
- Gingerbread Baby - Have gluten-free gingerbread while Daddy reads.
- Jingle the Christmas Clown - Make star cookies for the neighbors.
- The Christmas Day Kitten - Wrap up cat treats for Grandma's cat.
- The Dog Who Found Christmas - Wrap up dog treats for our dog.
- The Legend of the Poinsettia - Make Poinsettia ornament.
- All Is Well - Collect a box of give-away for Goodwill.
- Woodland Christmas - Sing the 12 days of Christmas.
- The Steadfast Tin Soldier - Eat biscuits with a small toy baked into them.
- Merry Christmas Strega Nona - Have late night pizza.
- Silver Packages - Wrap sibling gifts.
- Drummer Boy - Play music together.
- The Christmas Candle - Read the story by candle light.
- The Christmas Story - Go to church.
We place the advent books under the tree. The kids will have fun taking them out each day and then doing the little activity.
Blessings,
Dawn
Nov. 23, 2009 - Mandie update...
Well, she's home.....took awhile to get in the the van, but we made it. Hopefully, at home she will be able to rest better than in the hospital. She is in a great deal of pain, but is thankful to have been spared.I'm anxious to see how her night went. We will be watching little Bobby J for them today. Dillan has already offered to "totally take care of him". He knows Dillan much better than me so thats good.... Lilah has a program today at her preschool that I would like to go to. I'll have to see how Dillan is doing with Bobby. Gearing up for T-giving here with lots of family, a couple elderly folks , and at least one friend- young girl with a baby who would otherwise be alone. There is much to be thankful for. It will be interesting to see how we will do this with the new kitchen layout. I have a few ideas up my sleeve:)
What do you do when there's "nothing to do?" ... why you make pine needle people, of course.... Devan, Cade, and Sam had fun doing this one day last week..... I wondered if you saw this, Jen..... you were doing a lesson at the time...
Nov. 21, 2009 - Awesome giveaway!
5 Minutes for Mom is giving away an INCREDIBLE HP TouchSmart 600 computer for Christmas! Check it out here!
Nov. 21, 2009 - DONE!!!!!
The room is done! There is even some furniture moved in already. It came out great, a little bit smaller than we had hoped for, but GREAT none the less... The whole experience was great! The contractor was super GREAT! The workers were great! The project came in $600 under the proposal so we had some additional work done. Our contractor went out of his way to get us deals. He went two counties away to get us bamboo floors that were sitting in a barn ~ the leftovers of a business that had gone under. We got them for $1 a linear foot ... they retailed for over $5 a linear foot. They are perfect!! He also looked our house over and found a few things that were in desperate need of repair and fixed them for almost no cost. Let's put it this way. Part of our home had to be jacked up because of a failing support beam. He did the job for $76 ~ the cost of the beam and a little extra to pay for his helper. The mess was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be .... So, you all want me to stop carrying on about how great it was and let you see the results for yourselves!?!?
Yay! Well, this is all you are getting right now. The big reveal will be just after Christmas. This year we are giving no toys (except stocking stuffers) so that we can decorate the children's bedrooms. I'll show you all the rooms once we have curtains up and such.
In the meantime we will be painting the rest of this room. We decided to paint the floor insted of refinishing the wood becuase it is so costly if you have a professional do it. My dh has refinished two floors in our home, but it was a really grueling project, and they have not held up as well as we would have expected. So for now we will paint this floor instead. We will need to do all of the trim work and no furniture can go on it for a week.
That is all for now!
Blessings,
Dawn
Nov. 20, 2009 - Bubble Pizza
I've tried out several "new to me" recipes this week. Most bombed, but today I tried out one that turned out pretty good. It's called "Bubble Pizza." I am trying to break our habit of commercial pizza every Friday night. However, when Friday rolls around it's all want! So I found this recipe (on the All Recipes.com site) that I thought might satisfy my desire for pizza on Friday. I liked it pretty well. We had 5 people come unexpectedly for lunch, and most had seconds. I guess that's a pretty good sign! I served this with a basic green salad. I haven't posted a recipe lately so I thought I would post this one. Below the recipe you will find what I did differently. Enjoy!
Bubble Pizza
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/ 4 pound pepperoni sausage
1 (14 oz) can pizza sauce
2 (12 oz) packages refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough
1/2 onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 (10 ounce) can sliced black olives
1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over meium high heat until evenly brown. Stir in pepperoni, and cook until browned. Drain excess fat. Stir in pizza sauce. Remove from heat, and set aside.
2. Cut biscuits into quarters, and place in the bottom of baking dish. Spread meat mixture evenly over the biscuits. Sprinkle top with onion, olives and mushrooms.
3. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Sprinkle top with mozzarella and Cheddar cheese. Bake an additional 5 - 10 minutes, until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
What I did different:
1. Biscuits- I made these from scratch since we don't have canned or frozen biscuits here.
2. Pizza Sauce- I bought a can of pizza sauce imported from Italy since they don't carry one from the USA anymore. The can is a bit smaller than what was called for so I opened another can and used part of it. I didn't measure, just dumped part of it in. The sauce is very different from what they sell in the states so I added some Italian seasoning for a little extra flavoring.
3. Olives- I used green instead of black.
4. Cheese- I used only Mozzarella.
5. Mushrooms- I did not have any to put on.
6. Extra ingredientes- I added thin green pepper strips with the onion and olives. I also added some cooked bacon leftover from breakfast.
7. Ants- I'm having an ant invasion in my kitchen these days so I'm pretty sure some were included in this recipe! (but not too many, and they are very very small. I don't think anyone noticed!)
Nov. 20, 2009 - Please pray...
Dillans girlfriend , Mandie, was in a very bad car accident last night. Thankfully, she was not killed, you'd never guess it by looking at the car. She was driving her Moms new (4days new) car- on her permit. So even above all the physical stuff, hip broken in acouple places, broken pelvis and femar, she feels terrible about the car and says she doesn't ever wnat to drive again so...... she could use your prayers. She is going into surgery right now and is fearful of getting put under....
November 18, 2009 - Our Early Thanksgiving
Our friend, Sean, is moving from Roseville to Indianapolis over Thanksgiving week. We wanted to treat him to a going-away Thanksgiving dinner, so I made a full turkey dinner a week early!
Shortly before dinner, 'A' lost his third tooth! We were glad that he did not have to watch how he ate!
Menu
Dilled Deviled Eggs
Spinach Salad with Blackberry Vinaigrette
Roast Turkey with Sage Garlic Butter
Turkey Gravy
Pancetta and Apple Stuffing
Marjoram Mashed Potatoes
Coconut Cardamom Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans with Lemon Bread Crumbs
Cranberry Sauce with Apples and Ginger
Dinner Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
After dinner, we all wrote out things we were grateful for on paper rings and created a paper chain that will help remind us to be thankful for all God's blessings.
The spread...
This is Sean, leaving with plenty of leftovers!
