Believe it or not, we've crossed the finish line on our adoption fundraising!
Please allow me the privilege of bragging on our God and blessing your heart with a testimony to His ability to provide for our every need by checking out this post on our adoption blog: Finish Line.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Tee Shirt Fundraiser to bring Karis Home!
We really didn't expect to need another fundraiser to finish our adoption process, but we do.
Airline fares are not nearly as low now as they were last month...we're looking at $2900 per person. Ouch!
Add to that our in-country expenses of about $1300, plus Karis' visa for $400, and we're looking at $7500!
Taking into account some funds that remained in our adoption account and some gracious gifts from friends this past week, and we have $1945 of that.
Still...we need $5555. And if we do have embassy next week, which remains unseen until Wednesday, we may need to raise that money in just TWO DAYS.
So, I ask you to hop on over to our adoption blog, and check out the fundraiser info in the right sidebar. We have some awesome long-sleeved t-shirts designed by none other than Rebecca Litteer and digitized by Eric Wood!
And if you decide you don't need another shirt, your donation is appreciated just as much. Thank you for being a part of bringing Karis home!
Airline fares are not nearly as low now as they were last month...we're looking at $2900 per person. Ouch!
Add to that our in-country expenses of about $1300, plus Karis' visa for $400, and we're looking at $7500!
Taking into account some funds that remained in our adoption account and some gracious gifts from friends this past week, and we have $1945 of that.
Still...we need $5555. And if we do have embassy next week, which remains unseen until Wednesday, we may need to raise that money in just TWO DAYS.
So, I ask you to hop on over to our adoption blog, and check out the fundraiser info in the right sidebar. We have some awesome long-sleeved t-shirts designed by none other than Rebecca Litteer and digitized by Eric Wood!
And if you decide you don't need another shirt, your donation is appreciated just as much. Thank you for being a part of bringing Karis home!
 |
| Design on brown long-sleeve tees...just $20 plus $5 s/h! |
Saturday, November 13, 2010
"Just Like Starbucks" Pumpkin Spice Latte
This is one of my favorite recipes of the season!
At the fraction of the cost of stopping off at Starbucks for one, you can enjoy the creamy goodness right at home in your jammies in front of the fire! (Um, purely hypothetical scenario...)
I can't take any credit for it; I originally found it at prairiecotttagerose.blogspot.com!
Without further ado...
Ingredients:
2 c. milk
2 T. canned pumpkin
2 T. sugar or sugar substitute-adjust to taste
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 c. strong brewed coffee (or 1/4 c. espresso)
Directions:
In a saucepan, stir together milk, pumpkin, and sugar. Cook and stir over med. heat until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pumpkin pie spice, transfer to blender and process for 15 sec. or until foamy. (The whole blender step can be skipped and just whisked in the pan with no loss in taste).
Pour into a large mug (or more if you decide to share), 1/2 full. Add the coffee or espresso on top. (Or, if you're like me and decide to serve to a large number of people for a special occasion, it can just as easily be doubled or tripled and all be mixed into your crockpot and kept on warm for a few hours). Of course, whipped cream on top with a sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon takes it to a whole new level!
At the fraction of the cost of stopping off at Starbucks for one, you can enjoy the creamy goodness right at home in your jammies in front of the fire! (Um, purely hypothetical scenario...)
I can't take any credit for it; I originally found it at prairiecotttagerose.blogspot.com!
Without further ado...
Ingredients:
2 c. milk
2 T. canned pumpkin
2 T. sugar or sugar substitute-adjust to taste
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 c. strong brewed coffee (or 1/4 c. espresso)
Directions:
In a saucepan, stir together milk, pumpkin, and sugar. Cook and stir over med. heat until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pumpkin pie spice, transfer to blender and process for 15 sec. or until foamy. (The whole blender step can be skipped and just whisked in the pan with no loss in taste).
Pour into a large mug (or more if you decide to share), 1/2 full. Add the coffee or espresso on top. (Or, if you're like me and decide to serve to a large number of people for a special occasion, it can just as easily be doubled or tripled and all be mixed into your crockpot and kept on warm for a few hours). Of course, whipped cream on top with a sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon takes it to a whole new level!
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Faith Mountain Academy: P.E.
I love it when I can use P.E. as an excuse to press "pause" on the academics to get out in the mountains to enjoy the sunshine and fresh snow! We have almost a foot of snow already from yesterday, and so we snowshoed up to the sledding hill.
Snowshoeing worked nominally well...we put Anna in Andrew's snowshoes (they're too small for him anyway, and are the same size as Jacob's), and Andrew wore mine and I wore Marks. But poor Anna-she just couldn't walk wide-legged enough to make it work! Before we got too far she was down to just her boots, with me occasionally carrying her under one arm or on my shoulders. (Note to self: If you try to hold a 30 lb. child on your shoulders while maneuvering in snowshoes that are a bit too long with ski poles in one hand and the other stabilizing the child while making it through a foot of fresh snow, you're progress will be slow and your back will yell at you later for it). But Anna was a trooper and made it to the top of the hill, and was rewarded by being pulled all the way back down in the sled!
This might have been the first. time. ever. that Jacob thoroughly enjoyed being out and didn't complain once. His attitude is one of the main reasons I choose snowshoeing over skiing. But even with snowshoeing he can get overwhelmed at times...today was not one of them! He was a great encouragement to Anna, too...I was proud of him!
I think Andrew was already to the top of the hill long before Anna and I even made it to the base of the hill! He pulled the sled up for us, and helped me maneuver it with Anna on the way back down...such a helper all the time.
Ironically, the sledding wasn't even good! They went down once, and I dont' know if it was too powdery or too warm (those don't usually go together, but that's what it was like), and it wasn't worth going down again! But they sure had fun anyway, and the disappointment of the sledding was quickly forgotten when I mentioned "hot apple cider" before heading back down.
With beauty like this, can you blame us for heading out?
Snowshoeing worked nominally well...we put Anna in Andrew's snowshoes (they're too small for him anyway, and are the same size as Jacob's), and Andrew wore mine and I wore Marks. But poor Anna-she just couldn't walk wide-legged enough to make it work! Before we got too far she was down to just her boots, with me occasionally carrying her under one arm or on my shoulders. (Note to self: If you try to hold a 30 lb. child on your shoulders while maneuvering in snowshoes that are a bit too long with ski poles in one hand and the other stabilizing the child while making it through a foot of fresh snow, you're progress will be slow and your back will yell at you later for it). But Anna was a trooper and made it to the top of the hill, and was rewarded by being pulled all the way back down in the sled!
This might have been the first. time. ever. that Jacob thoroughly enjoyed being out and didn't complain once. His attitude is one of the main reasons I choose snowshoeing over skiing. But even with snowshoeing he can get overwhelmed at times...today was not one of them! He was a great encouragement to Anna, too...I was proud of him!
I think Andrew was already to the top of the hill long before Anna and I even made it to the base of the hill! He pulled the sled up for us, and helped me maneuver it with Anna on the way back down...such a helper all the time.
Ironically, the sledding wasn't even good! They went down once, and I dont' know if it was too powdery or too warm (those don't usually go together, but that's what it was like), and it wasn't worth going down again! But they sure had fun anyway, and the disappointment of the sledding was quickly forgotten when I mentioned "hot apple cider" before heading back down.
With beauty like this, can you blame us for heading out?
 |
| Anna and Jacob heading up to the top of the sledding hill. |
 |
| The view from the top. The small patch of orangish-brown on the left is our house, the church is on the right. |
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Two Blogs Converged
I guess that's a modern twist on a classic poem...
I am all caught up on blogging...right up to our trip to Ethiopia! And therein lies my dilemma, which is a great one to have!
See, I've had our adoption blog, Family Woven by Faith, ever since we started this process. The main purpose of the blog was to chronicle God's faithfulness to us in providing every step of the way. But after we got our referral, I wanted to a way to chronicle Karis Lemlem's life as we saw it through pictures. Since it's not allowable to publish pictures of adopted children until after passing court, I created a private blog, Karis Lemlem's Journey to Home, which has since been unveiled now that she is legally our daughter! (If you haven't checked it out yet, you really should-she's the cutest)!
So now, I have tons of pictures of our week in Ethiopia...they're obviously part of our adoption process, yet also part of Karis Lemlem's life! So, I have debated where to post what.
I think, unless anyone out there has a brilliant creative idea for me, that I'd best just merge the two blogs. I've never done that before, but I hear that it can be done, and blogger help can walk me through it! I'm hoping that the dates on posts meld nicely. What's even more remarkable to me, is that within a month from now...the adoption blog will need to just hang out by itself for a while...because Karis will be a part of our daily, Mountain Meandering way of life!!!
So that's to come. Maybe today, maybe not. But I'm very excited to share our time in Ethiopia with you!
I am all caught up on blogging...right up to our trip to Ethiopia! And therein lies my dilemma, which is a great one to have!
See, I've had our adoption blog, Family Woven by Faith, ever since we started this process. The main purpose of the blog was to chronicle God's faithfulness to us in providing every step of the way. But after we got our referral, I wanted to a way to chronicle Karis Lemlem's life as we saw it through pictures. Since it's not allowable to publish pictures of adopted children until after passing court, I created a private blog, Karis Lemlem's Journey to Home, which has since been unveiled now that she is legally our daughter! (If you haven't checked it out yet, you really should-she's the cutest)!
So now, I have tons of pictures of our week in Ethiopia...they're obviously part of our adoption process, yet also part of Karis Lemlem's life! So, I have debated where to post what.
I think, unless anyone out there has a brilliant creative idea for me, that I'd best just merge the two blogs. I've never done that before, but I hear that it can be done, and blogger help can walk me through it! I'm hoping that the dates on posts meld nicely. What's even more remarkable to me, is that within a month from now...the adoption blog will need to just hang out by itself for a while...because Karis will be a part of our daily, Mountain Meandering way of life!!!
So that's to come. Maybe today, maybe not. But I'm very excited to share our time in Ethiopia with you!
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Jacob is SIX!
Oh, how I love this boy! He has an unwavering enthusiasm for life, has more energy than the energizer bunny, feels everything (love, joy, sadness, injustice, and everything inbetween) very deeply, and has an uncanny knack for getting hurt. Thus, I am even more confident in God's great plans for his life, because he's still alive today! He gives the most ferocious hugs, and needs lots of physical contact to feel loved. If he's having a hard day (and is thereby creating a hard day for me), the best response is to pick him up and give him an unending bear hug! He has provided the greatest number of parenting challenges, which provides an equally great number of moments filled with love and joy.
And so we celebrated his 6th birtday with gusto! He was SO excited to be "real 6," as opposed to the "pretend 6" for his party. Chocolate-chip pancakes in the shape of dinosaurs and relief from dishwasher duty started his day off right!
On his birthday, we had Mel and her family and Nana and Papa over for dessert. Jacob opened a few more presents, including from Grandma and Grandpa M. the ever-popular blue jeans (he pretty much refuses to wear any other kind of pants) with cowboy and indian toys, which used to be Mark's, stuffed in the pockets! He was pretty excited!
With a pan of gluten, dairy, and egg-laden brownies for the adults, we were able to stretch the party cake another day!
Happy Birthday, dear Jacob! I love you to infinity, and beyond!
And so we celebrated his 6th birtday with gusto! He was SO excited to be "real 6," as opposed to the "pretend 6" for his party. Chocolate-chip pancakes in the shape of dinosaurs and relief from dishwasher duty started his day off right!
On his birthday, we had Mel and her family and Nana and Papa over for dessert. Jacob opened a few more presents, including from Grandma and Grandpa M. the ever-popular blue jeans (he pretty much refuses to wear any other kind of pants) with cowboy and indian toys, which used to be Mark's, stuffed in the pockets! He was pretty excited!
With a pan of gluten, dairy, and egg-laden brownies for the adults, we were able to stretch the party cake another day!
Happy Birthday, dear Jacob! I love you to infinity, and beyond!
Jacob's Birthday Party
Jacob had, according to him, "the best birthday ever!" Obviously, Buzz Lightyear is the prevailing interest lately. No, we haven't even seen Toy Story 3 yet! Thanks to my friend and creativity coordinator Amy, we pulled off a little more fun than usual!
One of Jacob's most obvious characteristics? His capacity for pure joy!
Jacob had remembered, from over a year ago, some Buzz Lightyear fleece we saw at Jo-Ann's. And lately he's been complaining of being cold at night...sooooo, my mom made him a new fleece Buzz bedspread! Add to that a set of Buzz Lightyear sheets I found for free, and the boy is set! There were many other gifts that he has been really enjoying...pure joy!
One of Jacob's most obvious characteristics? His capacity for pure joy!
Jacob had remembered, from over a year ago, some Buzz Lightyear fleece we saw at Jo-Ann's. And lately he's been complaining of being cold at night...sooooo, my mom made him a new fleece Buzz bedspread! Add to that a set of Buzz Lightyear sheets I found for free, and the boy is set! There were many other gifts that he has been really enjoying...pure joy!
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Faith Mountain Academy: Kindergarten Reading
This was a quick activity I definitely need to repeat! In chalk, I wrote all along the deck the letters whose names/sounds Jacob has been working on. When I gave either the name or the sound, he had to run to and then stop at the correct letter! He LOVED this, and it gave me the evaluation tool I needed while he was doing what he does best...moving! 
Refreshingly Modest!
Anna has a new princess nightgown (love those hand-me-downs!). She likes the princesses. Except for Belle and Ariel. Her reason? "They're showing too much tummy" above their dress! 
French Braids
I love that she will sit still to let me do this...it always brings back good memories of doing my nieces' hair whenever we go back east!
Monday, November 01, 2010
Jacob's 1st Lost Tooth!
Jacob was SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY to finally lose a tooth! His front two teeth had been loose for a while...we finally noticed that his two permanent teeth were already coming in behind them! He was a trooper, asking me to pull it out when it was finally so loose that it was bugging him. The second one he pulled out himself the next week!
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