St. Joseph School honored for efforts to include boy with Down syndrome

St. Joseph School honored for efforts 
to include boy with Down syndrome

Brucie's story - Welland Tribune - Ontario, CA

Brucie's story - Welland Tribune - Ontario, CA

Down Syndrome student realizes dream of attending college

Down Syndrome student realizes dream of attending college

Love Conquers All

Christmas Fun

This is my family on Christmas Eve playing a silly game where we had to guess what word was written on a piece of paper that we had on our forehead by being given clues from the other people in the room.We had lots of fun!  Ruby was looking around at all of us like we had lost our minds.So funny!

My Husband

My youngest son

My son's and beautiful daughter-in-law

My sweet Mother-in-law

Me and my son's Grady and Aaron

Ruby wondering what in the world was going on :-)

Our tree Christmas Morning

On Christmas day my two youngest daughter's ,ages 7 and 9,received a set of play pots and pans,the girls were sitting in the living room floor playing like they were cooking.Ruby crawled over grabbed one of the pans and a ladle and started playing,too! She was stirring the pot with the ladle and then tasting the ladle with her tongue!I was so thrilled to see her play cooking with her sister's!

Wordless Wednesday-The Best Hugs

Ruby's first Braid

Lunar Eclipse 2010

My two oldest daughters spent the early morning hours sitting on the trampoline in our backyard and watching the lunar eclipse.This was the first total lunar eclipse to happen on the Northern Winter Solstice since 1638.

Psalm 136:9
 The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever. 3When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

Genesis 1:16

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

Psalm8:3When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

Peace Out :-)

Oh Christmas Tree

My daughter Meagan took pictures of us putting up our Christmas tree.My son Grady made the pictures into a video.

God's Provision

My husband had a little self -owned business that he had to close a couple of months ago,we have missed that extra income and have been having a hard time making it.We have been able to keep up with our major expense needs but have had to stop going on our big once a month shopping trips for food and my big pantry that my husband made me had been pretty empty.I mentioned to a dear friend, that I have been friends with since 4th grade,about missing my food shopping trips and being a little scared sometimes when it was close to pay day and I didn't have much to feed my children.I was just sharing my worries with her not expecting her to be able to do anything to help me,she and I have done that for each other many times over the years.

My friend went to some other ladies that she is in a vegetable co-op with and whom I had recently made friends with in a pottery class, (that I was unable to afford anymore), they started pooling a few dollars together every week so that they could bring me a vegetable and fruit box too.They were even sharing some of the staples out of their own pantry with me.What a blessing!

Then a couple of weeks ago one of the ladies came to my house and brought me a check saying that her husband's business was doing very well right now and he wanted to help us out!Then one of the other women contacted me on Facebook and said her and her husband wanted to help buy some Christmas presents for my children!She also showed up at my house one day and brought me a turkey and then on another day she brought me groceries that her husband's grandmother had gone shopping for to give me because they  told her about my family! I was so excited and thankful for all the groceries and the grandmother bought exactly what my children like,even the same brands and kind of cereal they like,it was like I had gone to the grocery store and picked everything myself!

Five people have given us clothes this month.Some hand-me-downs and some with tags still on them.What I couldn't use I shared with my best friend who was able to use some and then pass some on to her mother,who now has a pretty new pants suit to wear for her family Christmas party.

On Sunday I used up the last of my perfume and then on Monday in a bag of some of the clothes that were dropped of at my house were two big bottles of beautiful smelling perfume!

Today my son will be home from college for Christmas break and was able to fly home because my husband's Uncle bought tickets so my son wouldn't have to travel home on a bus.

At the end of the month of August when my husband was getting ready to drive my son to college the deacon's at the church we attend voted to give us money so that I could go with my husband and son on the trip, so I could help with getting him settled in and be able to see in person the college grounds.The day after our pastor gave us the check so that I could go on the trip I posted on my Facebook,"Sometimes God reaches down His hand to give us gifts through other people in our lives." That is how I feel about this whole month when so many people out of the goodness of their hearts have given us many gifts.


James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

The Muncks Quiver: Christmas Giveaway!

Over at The Muncks Quiver they are having a giveaway: The Muncks Quiver: Christmas Giveaway! The Munck girls are so talented.I would love to win any one of these beautful handcrafted items.

CSN Winner

I chose a winner by using Random.org for my CSN Giveaway .The winner is my fifth commenter Meeyeehere. Congratulations!

CSN Giveaway

I'm excited to have another  Giveaway from the CSN stores.I will be picking a winner to receive a $45 gift certificate to the CSN stores.I recently received an item from one of their stores and they have super fast shipping!( I will be reviewing that item later here on my blog.)

To enter the giveaway go and take a look at the TV STAND store and then come back and leave a comment. CSN has over 200 stores to shop from. I LOVE their Kitchen store.

I will be choosing a winner on  Wednesday,December 15 . Make sure to leave me your e-mail addy so I can contact you if you're the winner.This Giveaway is open to U.S and Canada.

Ipod Touch Giveaway

Ipod Touch Giveaway at " A Perfect Lily" to help raise money for the adoption of Olga.Please,help keep Olga out of a mental institution.
Follow the link below to the Giveaway:



A Perfect Lily: The Most Important Post I Have Ever Written

Wordless Wednesday

The  young couple that will be adopting little Marlena have started a blog called The Reynold's Wrap
They will also be adopting another little sweetie named John Mark.Wont you go by and take a look and leave some words of encouragement?

Last night, quite by accident ,I stumbled upon a movie on Netflix called,"Who are the Debolts," about a couple who have a large family with biological children and some adopted children.All of the adopted children have disabilities.The movie was made back in the 70's so all of the children are grown now.
I am so touched by people who adopt children with special needs.I have always wanted to adopt a little girl from China because of all the girls there that need homes, but I honestly have to say I never thought about adopting a special needs child until Ruby was born and brought such joy and blessing to our family.Here's a link about the Debolts .

Wordless Wednesday

My Thanksgiving

1 Chronicles 16:34

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
 
We had a great Thanksgiving!I cooked Thanksgiving dinner at my house this year and we had all of our children here except for my third oldest son who is away at college ,he went to spend Thanksgiving with some of my husband's family who have a house in South Carolina.We are so thankful he had family he could be with! My sweet mother-in-law was able to come and eat with us,too.
My children for some reason always seem to get sick with a cold for Thanksgiving, although my youngest boy was sniffly on Thanksgiving day everyone manged to wait and get sick this weekend.

Pilgrim Hat's the kid's made at church

Oreo Turkey



Ruby showing Granny where her eye is



Not feeling good :(

Amigurumi

These are some little Amigurumi animals I made for my kids.Amigurumi is a Japanese word meaning crocheted or knitted animal.They are so fun to make and my kids love them.Ruby kept trying to grab them and throw them while I was crocheting.She kept saying,"Ball,ball!"  :) I think I will make her a set of different colored soft balls to throw.

Amigurumi Frog



Amigurumi Frog

Amigurumi Octopus

Marlena has a Family!

I'm so happy to share the news that Marlena has a family that has committed to adopt her! Please donate so she can get to her family quickly!

An Update on Marlena

From a missionary who visited with her in November 2010: " I'm so excited that Marlena is listed! That little angel has totally captured my heart and I would love to see her find a family at a young age. Here are my observations: Marlena has been in and out of the hospital several times over the past couple of months. She is tiny and seems to be struggling as a result of her heart defect (trouble breathing, etc.). Nevertheless, she is a content little girl, eats well and is very alert. She loves to be held and will make eye contact for long periods of time. I believe she will truly thrive in a family. She needs a family quickly and I know she will be such a blessing to whoever is fortunate enough to call her their own. I've attached two photos of Marlena the first was taken at 6 weeks, the second was taken just this morning (the bandaging around her arm is because she was being given IV and her tiny little hands just cannot support it). "

Wont you please donate so that Marlena can be adopted soon.You can donate on the 'Chip In' on my sidebar.

CSN Blogger

CSN contacted me and I'm going to be doing a review on one of their products.They are giving me a $45 gift certificate to purchase and review an item!
CSN has over 200 online stores to shop from. I love their drop leaf tables isn't this one gorgeous!

Effects of a High Nutrient Diet and Weight Loss

Effects of a High Nutrient Diet and Weight Loss

Trying for weight loss with Eat to Live

A couple of years before I got pregnant with Ruby I weighed almost 200 lbs. I had never been that heavy  before and my body started complaining about it.I would easily get out of breath during any kind of exercise. I started having heart palpitations where my heart would feel like it was fluttering and I was having pains in my chest sometimes.
I have all these kids depending on me to take care of them so I figured I better start exercising and eating right.When I first started out I was using the, "Walk Away the Pounds ,"dvd's by Leslie Sansone and then I talked my husband  into purchasing me a stationary bike,I also started jogging once my weight started coming off..I was exercising,losing some weight and feeling better. I found a book called, "Eat to Live,"  by Dr.Joel Fuhrman and started following the suggestions in the book.My weight loss really picked up then and I ended up losing 40 lbs in 3 months.
After having Ruby I still have 15 lbs to lose to get back down to the weight I started out with before my pregnancy with her.I'm sharing all of this hoping it will motivate me to start eating healthier again and stay with my exercise program.I started working out last week using the Bowflex with my husband and teen sons and I plan to ride my stationary bike everyday.Today I made some delicious 15 Bean Soup to put on my romaine salads.Hopefully I'll have some before and after pictures to share after a few weeks.
Here's a link to Dr.Fuhrman's website: http://www.drfuhrman.com/weightloss/about.aspx

Pictures from Ruby's First Year

Ruby on the day she was born

I loved her precious little head



I was afraid to cry in front of the NICU nurses.I didn't want them to think I didn't want my sweet little girl.



Ruby and her Granny the day Ruby came home

Proud Sister

So glad to have my baby home

Home in her cradle.

Lifting her head at 3 months

She loved to look at the bumper pads

Sister love

I would set her in this seat to watch Baby Signing Time

Big Brother

My little Helper

So sweet

Buddies

Beautiful Smile