handsful

It’s that time of year. When I’m buying school books and supplies…organizing school schedules…re-vamping how we do house responsibilities, etc. etc. During all this flurry of activity, I tend to also look at things that I’ve been slack on or missed in the past. Things like…

Let’s just call this the “things my boys should know by now but somehow fell through the cracks” book. They’ve jumped right into reading it. It looks very formal, but it’s not. Written for teens, it’s engaging and funny – but touches on all those areas that make moms swoon…how to pay a compliment, take a phone message, accept an apology. I love the chapters titled “knowing when to keep your mouth shut” and “how to act in places where you are bored”. I’m already seeing an increase in “yes ma’am” and “thank you”. I may have to write this author a thank you note….guess I should make sure to read THAT chapter beforehand.

Speaking of chores, I did something new this year. Rather than making my own charts, I ordered them from www.creativechanges.com Can’t wait for them to arrive – they include charts for the bigs, charts with pics for the littles, and charts for me to help keep all those balls in the air. Heh heh. I’ve already cleared off the side of the fridge in anticipation.

This falls under the category of “things I neglected to teach my kids through the years and I hope it’s not too late”. Abbey may be a lost cause, but we’ll see. Not sure why typing (i.e. correct positioning) escaped me. Guess I’m not the perfect homeschool mom.

Oh my.

On to the next item.

“Mom must make time for reading all the books my friends recommend” And, this one comes highly reviewed. It’s full of real-life stories of Chinese women. Not what the government has told them to say, but the stories of their lives and the choices they’ve made – or been forced to make. I expect lots of tissues with this one.

Right now, I’m reading Red Scarf Girl, by Ji-Li Jiang. An autobiography, it details her life as a young girl during the Cultural Revolution. I’ve become more interested in that time period, after reading Lisa See’s “Dreams of Joy”. Oh my, that was such a wonderful book! And, it opened my eyes to just how horrific the effects of Mao’s ideas and policies really were. And, made me want to read more about it – even though the details can be absolutely heart wrenching.

A few things I felt like sharing…feel free to tell me your “must haves” for this upcoming year! I’d love to add them to my list…

Bought one yet?  I’m going to…

Click on the Wild Olive Tees link on my sidebar…the owner of this site has 8 children, 4 adopted from China and another China daughter on the way!

I wanted you to know about this publication I’m a part of called Serious.Life Magazine.  They just published the February issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.

The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content.  The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (www.riggsfamilyblog.com). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries.  Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.

Again, the subscription is free, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues.  www.seriouslifemagazine.com

Sheri at www.theshaniaproject.blogspot.com has started a little business venture to help with their China adoption costs.  She’s making the most adorable charms, and to say I like them is an understatement.  I’m a huge fan of jewelry that SAYS something :)  The one above is a favorite…on the back it says “24/7”.  Yep, that’s me. 

I like this one too, I’ve always loved initials on jewelry and this one is so sweet and romantic looking, don’t you think? 

So, if you like these too, head over to her jewelry site… www.charmaddiction.etsy.com  She’s also having a charm give-away…free jewelry is always a good thing. 

In case anyone would like to see a few pics of our resident 2 year old (come on, you know you want to…), go to this blog:

http://www.slnstudios.com/blog/

You’ll have to scroll down, almost to the bottom of the page for the blog post titled “China Doll”.  Lainey had her pictures taken by Stacy, at SLN Studios.  Stacy is affilitated with a national organization called “Celebrating Adoption”.  They connect local photographers with families that have recently adopted, and offer a free portrait sitting (and usually other perks!) if you’ve adopted within the last year.  When I checked out the site, and started looking for a photographer, I had my doubts that one would be close enough.  Sure enough, Stacy was barely 30 minutes away.  And, she was wonderful!

If you’re interested in finding out more…go here!

http://www.celebratingadoption.org/ 

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ll remembering reading how we were led on the path to our Lainey.  In a nutshell, we had difficulties having our children, going through fertility treatments that were eventually successful.  We had our oldest daughter in 96 and added 3 more blessings 2 years later.  At that point we were “done” and proclaimed it loudly that we were. 

Years went by, and we started considering the possibility of adoption, slowly and in the backs of our minds.  In 2005, Randy forwarded me the website of a friend of his who had recently adopted from China.  I don’t remember the exact wording, but Randy’s email to me made me think he might be considering this for us…he didn’t really SAY that, but I felt it.  I ended up spending hours reading, sometimes through tears, about their journey to Lily.  I was hooked, and this thing called international adoption was starting to feel personal, like something we were meant to do.  Lots of thoughts, talking and prayers later, we turned in our paperwork to CCAI, the same adoption agency used by Sean and his wife Melissa. 

All that to say…this family that started us on our path to Lainey, changing our lives forever in the most amazing way, is RIGHT NOW in China, adopting their little Emma Faith!  I’d love for you to stop by their blog, and follow their journey along with me!  I’m sure they would love to know that others are watching and praying for them. 

www.seanjohns.blogspot.com 

I found Tracy and her company “Junkposse” (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5208670) when I came across one of her creations on another blog.  I immediately emailed her, asking if she’d be willing to make a custom piece for me.  After talking back and forth, and deciding what we wanted, this is it.  I just love it!  I assume you can see it (I wasn’t able to zoom like I wanted to), but each of the kids names are on the fingers and the heart in the midddle says “blessings”.  We thought it worked well with our “handsful” theme, at the same time explaining that having our hands full isn’t a negative thing (as a lot of people seem to think), but truly a blessing from God. 

She totally surprised me by putting my name on the back!! 

Tracy is such a sweet woman who truly loves creating perfect pieces for her clients.  She’s also an adoptive mom herself and has made many pieces for auctions and charities that benefit adoption, as well as giving portions of her proceeds to adoption charities.  Go check her out, I promise you’ll be thrilled that you did!