Each day, I wait for Dada.

Oh, Joy.

So, I am running a bit behind on this, but yesterday was the greatest day in our little corner of adoption land. Four sweet families passed court. Four families will leave within weeks to travel to Africa to pick up their sweet ones. Please go congratulate the Ivy's, the Clevingers, Laura, and Sarah and Davis and check out the sweet little mugs of their newest additions!!!! We had the privilege of visiting the Ivy boys while we were in Addis, as well as little Mercy, Laura's baby. Oh, it fills me with happiness.

Congrats, all of you!!!!

Playing Catch is Hilarious!

Please excuse the bad lighting and lack of clothing on the bebe.

Status Update

Current State of Mind: caffeine-jittery and "Oh, I still have to...."

Reading: Way too many things with my tutoring students. To Kill a Mockingbird, My Name is Asher Lev, A Wrinkle in Time, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and The Hobbit. On a related sidenote, Michael and I are pretty sure that we both have students who are hiring Strong Bad to write their essays.

Watching: Nothing. We don't have a TV anymore. WHEN WOULD I WATCH TV? I'm teaching through 97 books right now.

Thinking: about our future. That's all I have to say about that.

Loving: my little Ru and how she is currently mimicking our handgestures and vocal tones. It is amazin' cute. Amazin' cute.

Hating: that I'm still not cloth diapering. Parasites have a way of dampening one's cloth ambitions.

Why: am I blogging? I need to clean the house. I am avoiding. Yes. But I am thinking of all of you, too. All of you slogging through referral waits, court date waits.

I pray for you.

URGENT--please consider helping!

From Tom Davis:


URGENT! Help Feed Hungry Kids in Ethiopia and Swaziland


Friends, I need your help this month to deliver 120,000 meals to Ethiopia and Swaziland. The food situation in both countries is dire, and I'm asking you to help today with a gift.

Last month, Children's HopeChest walked right into the food crisis in Ethiopia. While I was leading a team in Swaziland, I received this urgent message from our staff in Ethiopia:

Tom, I've just gotten back from Moses' Children's Home here in Ethiopia. Their needs cannot wait and the food situation is beyond critical. I'm doing what I can to get food to the kids, but we need money right away to secure regular food for the next few months. If not, many of the kids here will risk starvation. Please help.

Moses' Children's Home is one of the orphanages in line for sponsorship (Through US, the online community!!!) Until two months ago, private funding was supporting this work. Now, those funds are gone, and the kids are hungry.

I was in Swaziland in January, and it's the same story there. So many hungry kids. We're launching several new carepoints, and want to make sure they are set up for feeding as many kids as possible.

Children's HopeChest has crafted rapid intervention to get food to Ethiopia and Swaziland. Here's the plan and how you can help:

$3,125 is needed immediately to send 20,000 meals to Ethiopia. This food is bound for Moses' Home, Abenezer's Home, and some of the orphanages where Ryan Brown and Gladney are working.

An additional $10,000 is needed to purchase a container to ship 100,000 meals to Swaziland for use in the CHC carepoints there. The container will remain in Swaziland and our staff will use it as a storage container for ministry items.


$13,125 for one container and 120,000 meals.
Can you help us?



Use the DONATE link below to go directly to the giving page.

Put "FEBRUARY FOOD PROJECT" in your note.



FEBRUARY FOOD PROJECT DONATION



*Update*
Read Tom's blog for the latest..... They are so close to raising the funds! :) Donate!!!!!!







****From Jana---We actually know some of the "staff in Ethiopia." We recently realized that the sister of one of Michael's childhood friends works for Children's Hopechest is helping set up the infrastructure for the orphanage sponsorship program in Ethiopia! It's a great organization!

Hope and a Future.

I want to tell you something.

Since returning home from Ethiopia, I've spent a lot of time looking through the pictures we took of the older children at the government orphanages, and at the Gladney foster care home for older children. I keep looking at their faces. I'm not sure what I'm looking for; some days I have a feeling I'm searching their faces, looking for our next family member. I think about those children often. I'll have to tell you more about my visit to the older children's foster home some day---about the overjoyed screams of "Ferenge!" (Foreigner!) and the many, many, kisses on the cheek I was given.....

So, this video just sends me. Michael and I were at Kebebtsehay Orphanage the day Chris and Heather filmed some of this footage--I even caught a little glimpse of Michael, and an even tinier glimpse of Ruthie (being held by one of the older girls.) I remember this sweet face from that day---though I didn't know it would belong with Drew, Carey, and Zoe. Congratulations, Drew and Carey! We are overjoyed for you. And for your sweet, precious daughter!!!

You know what? I've turned into a flake who cuts off email conversations suddenly and doesn't respond to facebook messages....oh, and voicemail messages. Forgive me. Life is beautiful and hectic. I am not keeping my stuff together very well right now.

In between nap-battles with the Ru, I've uploaded a few clips to my etsy site. I will upload more soon, hopefully! Additionally, if you see one you like that gets sold, let me know and I can probably make another one, as long as I have the notion. Get it--it's a sewing pun! Dumb. I'm also working on a few special orders. Thanks for your encouraging words about my clippies.