Dear Doofus,

So tonight was our Fundraiser at Chick Fil A. We will get to keep 20% of all the receipts that we collected from the people that ate there tonight. Some of the people we knew, and others that we didn't know simply gave us their receipt. We had 3 plastic containers with the kids' pictures on them and a friend made us little posters to hold up along with the containers. The signs just said "SUPPORT ORPHANS! Donate your Receipts. Thanks!" That was all, but it cut down on explaining everything 5 million times thru the evening.

Most people that I encountered were polite. Some just shoved the receipt at me as they drove by (I was in the drive through lane) and a few asked questions and were generally supportive. A few rolled up their windows and ignored me, and that was OK too.

But then someone came through that really needed to be punched. As they gunned it to get away from me, a young guy yells out his window to me, "Who cares?! No one wants them anyway!" And then he was around the building and gone.

One of my best friends and her family happened to be standing with me when that happened. I was glad not to be alone, and they both were ticked off that he had yelled something so down right MEAN. I was shocked for a second, and then the words sunk in and I got choked up and started to cry. My friend's daughter was looking at me, and I didn't want to scare her, so I started talking about how my three girls were inside and ready to play with her. I stayed on the verge of tears for a few more minutes, but tried not to focus on something uttered by a complete moron.

So to this moron I would like to say: You're right. No one wanted them. That's what made them orphans. How astute of you to point that out. I would love to have talked with you and enlightened you on what we are trying to do, but since you shouted it out your car window like a COWARD and drove off, I can't. I can't ask you what your problem is. I can't explain their plight. I can't explain that it's people like you that are the reason there are so many orphans in the world today. Do you feel better now you mocked an orphan? Do you know they are God's special children? Do you know are worse off than my Ksenija, who you ridiculed?! You think they are worthless; but they aren't. You are. And not only are you a COWARD for doing a drive by mocking, you are STUPID as well because you have a custom plate on your car, and we all saw it.
But someone wants these kids now- they are still orphans, but they are wanted. They are loved. They are prayed for. Their pictures are printed and on refrigerators. And in July we will hug them and kiss them and bring them home.
And  you will, most likely, still be a walking-talking-waste-of-air TURD.

The Three Dogs ~By Jadyn

One of the last papers Jadyn did for her first grade school year asked her to write a story about dogs. I told her it had to be at least 3 sentences.

Here is what she wrote:

The Three Dogs

Otis is fun. Otis has puppy power to bark.

Gus is big. He is fun to. Lucy is cute.

She likes to play tug of war.

By Jadyn

(Otis and Gus are dogs belonging to my sisters and Lucy belongs to her grandparents.)





Snags, Bottom Lines and Cows

So we hit alittle bit of a snag this week. I got an email Thursday saying that there was a snag with the paperwork for our hosting (well, us and the Helf's kids) and the needed papers weren't going to get to Latvia in time for the orphan court's deadline. There is some rule about they have to have the paperwork 30 days before it needs to be acted on, or something like that. I'm a bit confused, but the bottom line is that our papers and the Helf's papers won't get there in time.

What does that mean? Well, I stopped breathing for a few moments while I kept reading the email. I had a heart stopping panic that I was about to be told that K wasn't going to be able to be hosted til Christmas. But 'all' it means is that she won't get here until mid-July instead of June 28th.

They are being great and letting her come later and stay until late August so that she can still be here for about 5 weeks. I'm grateful her trip won't be cut short. I'm grateful that she's still coming. I'm grateful she can fly with two other kids so maybe the plane ride won't seem so boring/long/scary. I'm bummed her visit won't overlap my sister's visit so they could meet. I'm bummed she will miss the 4th of July. I'm bummed I have to wait longer to hug her and I'm really bummed she has to wait longer to get here.

I am trying to look at the bright side and adjust my 'plans'. The bottom line is she is still coming and we will still have a great time. The delay will give us extra time to fund raise and find her clothes. By the time she gets here, hopefully there will be a lot of summer clearance already and good sales because of back to school. Also? Our county will be back in school for the last few weeks of her visit, so places will be less crowded. Having 4 kids in a crowded bounce house place just about makes me a nervous wreck, LOL.

And....we are still fundraising. The last 2 weekends we have done a yard sale at our house. We had LOTS of things donated (because our friends are awesome) and my garage is still full. This weekend our whole neighborhood is having a yard sale, so we will do 'take 3' on Sat.

But the neatest thing is that THIS TUESDAY, MAY 31ST we are doing a Spirit Night at the Chick Fil A in Loganville. We will get 20% of all receipts that are turned in. One of us will also be standing at the drive through collecting receipts, so if you are in the area and just want to grab dinner on your way by, you still will be helping us out. We will be there 5-8pm, and I'm sure to be all jacked up on their lemonade, so it will be a great night to stop by.

Still hate that dressed up cow, though.
**shudders**

I'm Guessing Boys Aren't Allowed?

I just got done teaching my oldest about some island countries (Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and the Bahamas). Her book just kind of hit the highlights of these places. I decided on a whim it'd be fun to let her make/design her own island. She drew a map and actually made hers a chain of islands.Then I had her answer different questions about her 'new country'.

So welcome to the Color Islands, where the main language is 'cute hippo'. They are an independent nation, and export butterflies and ladybugs. It is HOT half the year and cold and snowy the other half. Mostly they eat pineapples, pineapple milk (?), carrots and seaweed.

Pretty sure this is the Girliest. Island. Ever.

Banana Bread and Frozen 'Yogurt'

The past several weeks we have been given a case of bananas a week. My kids could live off bananas, but even as much as they enjoy them, we haven't been able to eat them as fast as we need to before they get funky. I don't ever post my recipes, mostly because I feel like no one cares and/or there are SO many on the Internet that mine would be just 'white noise'. I also don't really think my recipes are special enough to warrant their own post.

However, I make a really good banana bread (from a recipe I found on-line), so I am going to share that. Also, tonight I made a fruity frozen yogurt that is REALLY good, so I'll post that as well. The problem with the FFY recipe is that there is no solid measures for anything I used. I'll just tell you what I put in it, and what I did to the ingredients, and you will have to add more or less depending on your personal preferences.

Fruity Frozen Yogurt:
*fresh sliced pineapple (I used maybe 1/4 of a pineapple and then food processed the HECK out of it)
*(4) bananas (more blender action)
*low fat vanilla yogurt (blend)
*about 1/4 cup (mango) juice (we want to try it with apple or orange juice next though)
*blend
*transfer to something you can freeze it in (if you can resist the urge to stick a straw in it and call it a smoothie, that is!)


Banana Bread
*1 cup sugar
*1 stick of butter (unsalted)
*2 large eggs
*3 bananas
*1 tbl spoon milk
*1 tsp ground cinnamon
*2 cups all purpose flour
*1 tsp baking powder
*1 tsp baking soda
*1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter/spray a 9x5x3 in pan

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cin. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add bananas to the creamy mixture and stir until combined. Add the dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Set aside to cool for 15 min. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing. (Or just leave it in the pan like I do and serve it from there.....)

I actually put it in a bigger dish than it calls for and it bakes faster. I also think this makes a totally acceptable breakfast item. I think it makes a great after blogging snack, too, and LUCKY ME, there's some fresh out of the oven!

Manners? Not so much........

So this weekend we noticed something (and I am being 'real' here): our kids have pretty bad table manners. I don't know if they were good, and they took a turn for bad, or if they have been bad all along and it's just obvious now because they are older. I'm not sure I want to know.

In the efforts to improve their manners, we are doing two things. One is, we read the 'manners' section in one of Jadyn's school books. Two: we wrote down all the table manners we could think of, and then I let the kids cut them out, so that there was one per piece of paper. We put all the slips of paper in a cup and each night at dinner we will pull out one and work on that specific manner all through the meal. Then we'll keep going through all the manners until they have all been worked on. I'm sure we'll have to go through them all a few times to really 'get it'.

If we are only working on one at a time, I am hoping it will sink in deeper and faster. I also hope it will help me and Gabe not NAG at them the entire meal, since it's just one rule. Because really who wants to be nagged at the whole meal. And Gabe and I would like to eat and not be the Manner Nazis.

If anyone wants to weigh in on this, feel free. And if you want to take this idea, please do.

I'll let ya know how it goes!

Ten Unsucky Things

I have a friend that when she is in a bad mood or having a bad day, instead of posting her crappy news on Facebook (like I do) she writes a quick list of things that are good.

My last two days have sucked. So I will write a list of TEN THINGS that DO NOT SUCK.

1.) I learned how to make mocha frapachinos that taste (almost) as good as Starbucks. They are delicious and way cheaper AND I dislike ice, so I can make it with just a LITTLE bit of ice. (Which means that I can fit more in my cup. In yo' face, Starbucks.)

2.) My shoulders are almost done peeling.

3.) When I had to call to make Hootie's drs appt, they were able to get me a 9:15 appt (they open at 9) and I was outta there by 10.

4.) There were already summer clothes on clearance at WalMart that I was able to get for Ksenija. For less than $25, I was able to get her 3 REALLY cute shirts and 2 pairs of shorts.

5.) My oldest actually put away laundry. And some of it wasn't even hers!

6.) The soccer coach told me that Bean has 'natural talent' for soccer.

7.) I haven't killed the Gerbra Daisies that are by my front door.

8.) We are almost done with our school year.

9.) There was a $5 off coupon for the vet's office online, making the Rabies shot less painful for the wallet. Can't say the same for the cat, though.....

10.) My hubby has made a bunch of calls for me today so I don't have to do it.....



So there's my list of things, and I do feel slightly better. I'm probably going to have to make another list when I get back from the vet (because nothing says FUN like 3 kids and a cat at the vet).

And the cat for sure will need to make one...............................

Mother's Day Thoughts

I have been thinking the last couple of weeks about Mother's Day and what to get/do for my mom and my mother-in-law. Which led me to think about my own kids and what they will remember about me as their mom.

Then I thought about Ksenija who were are hosting from Latvia this summer. Does she remember her mom? Are they good memories? Was she loved and wanted? I thought about N who we hosted last summer who has admitted anger at her birthmother and how she never wants to be like her. And I thought about Oksana, who in broken English explained, "My momma, bleh (thumbs down). You momma, yes (thumbs up)." Her mom did nothing as they were taken away and never tried to get them back. And now these are the mothers they have to remember.

I am asking you to consider something. Instead of purchasing something for your mom, that you don't know if she'll like, wear, watch, use, enjoy, want or need.....donate to Ksenija's hosting fund. In honor of your mom and all she did for you, you can help this eleven year old without a momma.

If you donate any amount by Thursday, May 5th at 12pm, I will send you a wallet sized picture of Ksenija to put in your Mother's Day card so your mom can see the face of the child that was helped in her name. (To donate, please use the Paypal button at the top, right hand side of the blog.)

Personally, I think that's a pretty cool thing. Investing in someone's life will never fade, break, tear, wilt or go out of style!

  

Acts 20:35

".....remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "