A Weekend With Friends

You all remember this little sweetheart, right?

Well, this weekend we had the fun of going to the beach with her and her Mommy.  Neither she nor Eliana had been to the beach before and we were certainly not disappointed in their reaction!

Little Miss G absolutely loved it and did not seem to mind one bit that it was really quite chilly. She kept begging to go splash in the water all weekend.  It didn't matter to her if it was chilly or raining, she wanted one thing and one thing only, to stick her little toes back in those waves that chase you!

Eliana enjoyed the sand just as much, if not more, than the water.

I told the boys to just get their feet a little wet...

 Be sure your pants don't get wet I said...

You can change into swim stuff later I said...

Oh well I said...

All in all it was a fun weekend spent with fun people at a fun location.  It doesn't get more magical than that!

 

I am linking this post with Sunday Snapshot over at Ni Hao Y'all.

 

 

*** Ipad Mini Raffle Fundraiser ***

As most of you know I am planning to go on a trip to China with SuperKids Charity next month.  I am thrilled to be able to do this!  Our team will have the opportunity to work with children in 6 different orphanages in 3 provinces of China.  We will be working to improve the children's quality of care in the orphanage and also advocating for the children we meet thus dramatically increasing their chance of having a family of their own.

Before we were matched with Eliana she had been evaluated by SuperKids volunteers.  When we were reviewing her file it was so helpful to speak with someone who had met her in person.  Few people have this advantage and often files are hard to understand, outdated, or mis-translated. I believe that SuperKids volunteers made a huge difference for our little Eliana and I feel so privileged to be a part of that blessing for other children and families.

So here is the deal.  I am trying to raise funds to help with the cost of travel.  It certainly costs a great deal to fly to China, and then there are travel and lodging cost when we are there.  So I thought you all might like an opportunity to help with those costs and have a

chance to win an IPAD MINI   (Wi-Fi,16 GB)

How you say?

Well, it is really easy...

Every $5.00 you donate gives you a chance to win this little beauty in your choice of black or white.  It will be brand new and unopened. It has a value of $339.00.

* Each $5 donation into my SuperKids fund gets you 1 entry into the drawing. $10 gets you two entries; $25 gets you 5; $100 gets you 20 and so on! (Just look on the top right of the blog for my “Donate” button! It’s easy to donate with a credit or debit card this way. It’s easy and safe and there is no charge to you! You do not have to have a paypal account to send us a donation! We will have a record of each donation, the amount donated and the giver’s information.)

After you enter,  can also earn additional entries simply by sharing a link to this post on Facebook or on your personal blog.  You can earn an additional entry each week the raffle is open simply by sharing.  Just be sure to leave a comment below so I know you shared it!

This raffle will close on June 15 at 7 PM EST.  At that time a winner will be chosen and announced here!  We will use an online random number generator to choose the winner.

1,2,3 GO!!!

The New Purse { Wordless Wednesday }

{ I think she likes it! }

I'm linking this post to Wordless Wednesday over at 5 Minutes for Mom.

If You Give A Girl A Cupcake...



She is going to want to frost it...

And not just any frosting will do.  She is going to want pretty frosting.

After I posted this recipe I got some questions on the technique used for getting striped coloring in the frosting.  It is a bit time consuming and messy, but the results are oh so pretty! 

I use a Wilton #22 star tip on a frosting bag.

Once my bag is ready, I choose the color I want to use, I use only the gel coloring for this.  I get a cocktail straw, dip it in the coloring and make several stripes of color in my empty bag.

I then fill the bag with frosting.

And pipe it on the cupcakes starting on the outer edge and spiraling in toward the middle. 

And that is it!  Now you have lovely frosted cupcakes!

The really messy part comes when you need to put more color and more frosting into your already messy bag.  I do not have pictures of that part, but generally I have color and frosting pretty much everywhere!

For these cupcakes I used a basic Buttercream Frosting recipe instead of the cream cheese peppermint frosting I posted here.

If this little tutorial did not answer your questions just leave a comment and I will try to get back to you!

Mother's Day 2013 { mostly in pictures }

 

Yesterday was a quiet family day.  We went to church in the morning, relaxed at home in the afternoon, then went for a walk at a near-by lake in the evening.  It was a beautiful evening and we had a lovely time.

It is amazing how much I love this crew!  I am one blessed mommy!

To My Daughters' Mothers

I do not know you.  I don't know where you live or what you look like.  I wonder how tall you are, what your voice sounds like, and what you enjoy doing.  I do not know you, you do not know me, but we are as intimately connected as women can be.  I do not know so many things about you, but when I hear my daughter's laughter (the most adorable little giggle in the world) I wonder if it is an echo of your laugh. 

When I see how Annika spins and twirls through her days I wonder if her grace comes from you.  Sometimes when she says something it is as if I am speaking, or other times she does something that is just like something her daddy would do.  But then there are times that her grace and beauty catch me off guard and I wonder if I just caught a tiny glimpse of you.  Where did her spunk and independent spirit come from?  I know she learned some things from us, but not all, I'm quite sure not all...  I wish I could tell you how amazing she is and how much we love her. 

And watching my Eliana with her tender little heart I wonder, did it break your heart to need to give her up?  When I see how she so quickly endears herself to everyone who knows her I wonder if you are one of those special, gentle people who leaves a quiet impression on everyone?  When I hear my little girl sing I wonder, did she get that gift from you?  If I could talk to you I would tell you first how much we love her!  I would tell you how she puts her little arms around my neck and squeezes.  I would tell you how she laughs and cheers while she is ice skating and how she begs for ice cream.

I do not even hope to ever meet you, but we will always be connected.  The mothers who carried my daughters, the one who gave them life, and the mother who gets to be their "Mommy".  You have given me an unimaginably beautiful gift and tonight I pray that you somehow feel my enormous gratitude, that you feel a whisper of love and peace in your hearts. We are sisters, joined by bonds stronger than blood, and I love you more than you will ever know!

Harrisburg Homeschool Convention 2013

Our family is relatively new to the world of homeschooling.  Last year we attended the annual Harrisburg Homeschool Convention as a perspective homeschool family.  We enjoyed some of the workshops.  We chuckled at the homeschooler jokes.  We largely ignored most of the curriculum displays because we had already decided what we were planning to use.

Now fast-forward a year.  It is convention time again.  Here we are with a year of homeschooling behind us.  We have learned a lot and this year I had questions! This year I joined the throngs of homeschool parents on a mission.  This was my opportunity to compare curriculum and ask questions.  This was my opportunity to try to wrap my mind around what combination of curriculum will work best for our family.  And guess what?  It was fun!

Since Keith wasn't able to go this year I did not even try to attend many of the workshops for parents.  We had to keep it relaxed and child friendly, after all, five to one can be a challenging child to parent ratio.  But there were fun workshops that were geared toward children and we all enjoyed browsing the hundreds of items on display.

We did not actually purchase curriculum yet.  We bought a few books and a couple of audio books but my very favorite purchase?  Well...

This bag has a story... the lady I bought it from was excited and eager to tell me about Grace, a widow in rural Swaziland, who made this bag. Grace knows two English phases, "Praise the Lord" and "Hallelujah".  Hers is a story of grace and redemption and I felt privileged to hear it.

Besides, what woman doesn't like a beautiful bag?  It is big!  It has pockets and zippers. And it is pretty awesome to think about a widow in Swaziland making a bag that I can buy and take with me when I travel to China. See why it is my favorite?