Happy Autumn

Custom Building Blocks

YAY.. my heirloom blocks are now being carried by Simply Spoiled Rotten Boutique. Each set is handcrafted with attention to detail, non toxic, completely custom, choose your colors and personalization. you can visit them on the web at http://www.simplyspoiledrotten.net/ or you can always message me if your interested in a set.

Adoption Bug

I discovered the most awesome facebook group called Adoption bug, It is a group where adoptive parents, pre- adoptive parents, birth mothers and adoptees..can share thier stories, offer support and meet others going through the same experience.
I have met so many great people that have gone down the same path, had the same fears, shared the same tears. Couples that have their children home with them and those that are still waiting. It has been such an inspiration to hear the stories of love shared. It's just amazing!! They have a new website now, if you have adopted, or are in the process of adopting, you might want to check it out. pretty cool stuff! ;)

Welcome Home Ava Grace!! :)

We had a Welcome Home/Birthday party last weekend For Ava Grace!! What a special day!! We combined her Adoption party and her first birthday party because we got her after she turned a year old, so we wanted her 1st birthday pictures for her baby book. She had so much fun and couldn't understand why everyone was making such a huge fuss over her... We've been dreaming of you for a long time baby girl.. That's Why!! ;)

Her guests arriving and signing her welcome home banner.. all of the guest wrote their wishes for her and we will have it laminated.

Opening presents with Mommy's help!

Her Welcome Home sign.
it has her adoption announcement up top and our court picture below..

My pictures are a little backwards.. ;)

I could just gobble her up!! :)

My angel! :)

Her cake.

I melted here..( in case you didn't notice my face and all..) when she finished opening her gifts, she ran to me and threw her arms around me.. what a wonderful, beautiful child!!!!

Here's to a lifetime of happy memories baby!!! Mommy loves you!!!!!!

Our Dream Come True!!

I have been waiting a long time to write this post. Maybe you remember my post about the new journey my family was taking to adopt through the foster care system. We went to orientation and we were preparing ourselves for the long wait that we were told we would have. God had other plans for us ( I think he realized how old I was getting!!!) On March 17th we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl through a private adoption only a few short months after we took the first steps to adopt. What do you say to a mother that has done something so selfless, and put the needs of her child above all else? who made the agonizing decision to let someone else raise her child? I find myself thinking about this all the time. Thank you doesn't quite cut it.

I know that I have a miracle lying next to me right now, I realize people wait years for a baby, I don't know why God chose to bless my family with this precious, perfect child, but I am so thankful that he did. I say that we just decided to adopt, but I have always known that I would adopt, even as a child, so in some ways, it seems like it happened so fast,and in other ways, it's been a lifetime.

I will be posting more often now, it's been torture for me to post and not share this news, but I really wanted to wait until it was final before posting pictures and talking about her too much. We have had custody of her for a couple of months now, but she is now officially my daughter!! So please let me introduce you to our dream come true!!

Breanna Ava Grace

With mommy and her baby(Faith) that we gave her on our finalization day.

I'm sure I don't look too proud in this picture!!

Ava Grace,

I knew from the moment I held you that you were my daughter, I prayed for you and God answered my prayer. For seven years I have been watching other parents dreams come true, now I know that God was waiting on you. You have brought such a light into my life and I will be eternally greatful that I was chosen to be your mother. I love you!!

after our finalization court hearing.

Our first official family picture!

I think they love each other.. what do you think?

Who could ask for more?

With her big brother! He's so proud of her!

So get ready for lots of bragging posts!! there comin'

Amazima Ministries= AMAZING

If you have never heard of Amazima Ministries, Please check out the website.. They do incredible work! I am amazed at how God can take one girl and change thousands of lives, If you want to be inspired, if you want to see Gods amazing grace and love, if you want to make a difference, go to Katies blog..See what God is doing through her and her amazing staff over in Africa.

Over at Just Stuff they are taking volunteers to sew rag dolls for the children. I was so happy to be able to contribute in a small way to the great things that are being done over there. The thought of a child holding and hugging a doll that I made.. makes me all warm and fuzzy! :) My dream is to go to Africa one day and just sit and rock children from sun up to sun down..one day..:) Until then, I will just be happy knowing that I had a small part in bringing a smile and comfort to a child that needed it.

Here is a finished doll ( Gabbie named her Grace!)

Cut out and ready to made into dolls..I have a boy doll in the works!

If you sew, and would like to contribute dolls, please visit Just Stuff for information and to fill out a volunteer form. Lets make some children SMILE!! :)

Praying for Daddy

My dad has been in the hospital for over a week, he was in ICU for 4 days and then moved to a regular room on the floor...he was released Sunday afternoon and by Sunday night, we were back in the ER. Please say a prayer for him.. he's a very special man. I love you daddy!

I'm still here...sort of..

I can't believe I have neglected my poor little blog for so long..and all of my bloggy friends..so sorry. Alot has been going on around here lately that has me a bit preoccupied.. but I hope to get back to blogging soon. stay tuned! ;)

Great contest over at Momdot!

I am still drooling over this highchair!!! I want it, and I want it bad!!! if you have never checked out Svan High Chairs you might want to... run over to momdot and check out the contest!!

BLOG PARTY!

I'm new to the whole blog party thing... but it looks like loads of fun.. 5 minutes for mom is hoasting the Ultimate Blog Party! there are some great prizes and it's a great way to check out all those great mom blogs you could be missing out on! :) check it out!! :)

Awesome giveaway!!

I love giveaways.. and this one is really great!! head on over to The Fabric Shopper for a chance to win Amy Butler Design Kimberly Bag pattern and a $25 gift certificate to Fabritopia... does it get any better than that?? I think not!

some crafty stuff..

I have been painting sign for a long time now, but I wanted to try something different, so I decided to try fabric room signs.. I am a fabric addict after all.. I'm surprised it took me this long to come up with it!! Here are a couple of samples that I took to a local boutique.

I made this shirt for a very special big brother that we just met..( more on that later!)

and this for a very special baby!!

( more on that later too.. betcha can't guess...)

Contest Winner

We have a winner!!!

Thanks to everyone who participated.. I plan on having more giveaways, so check back often! :) I'm planning my next one now! :)

Random Sequence Generator

Here is your sequence:
8
6
7
14
2
1
9
4
5
3
12
10
13
11
Timestamp: 2009-02-28 13:09:29 UTC

AND THE WINNER IS:
Comment #8


CanCan (MomMostTraveled) said...
I travel all of the time, I would love to have my own little travel tissue cover! Too cool! :)

Congratulations.. I will be emailing you for your mailing information!

My very first giveaway!

Time for my first giveaway!

I make lots of stuff..lots of stuff..

so I thought I might like to have a giveaway here and there..whatcha think?

Winner will win a travel tissue cozy or cover ( which ever you prefer to call it, fine with me)

Winner will be chosen by...well, if I can figure out the Random.org thing.. then Random.org.

If I can't ( and it's quite possible..if you know me, you'll understand) I will have my trusty assistant AKA Gabbie, pick a comment out of a hat ( do I even have a hat? maybe a bag.. I know I have bags! ;)

Winner will be chosen on next Friday, Feb 27th.

Here's whatcha gotta do to enter..leave a comment on this post.. that's it!

to earn extra entries you can do one or all of the following. just leave me a seperate comment for each.

1. subscribe ( or let me know that you are already a subscriber)
2. twitter this post ( and leave your twitter name)
3. grab my button and add it to your sidebar ( or let me know if you have my button)
4. blog about this giveaway
5. follow me( or let me know that you are a follower)
6. add me to your blogroll ( or let me know that I'm on your blogroll)

Please make sure to leave your email if you are a non blogger so that I can contact you if you win!

I am thinking about an apron giveaway next.. so stay tuned! :)

A heavy heart on St. Valentines Day

A celebration of love.. that's what it's all about isn't it? I sit here so thankful today, as my kids open up their valentines gifts and give us little homemade cards and kisses in return.. simple.. sweet. They know they are loved, cherished.

But today, my heart aches for a little girl that I have never met, that I already love, and pray that today she is safe and hoping that someday I will be able to watch her joyfully opening her valentines as she was supposed to be doing today.
http://forkeeps-michelle.blogspot.com/2009/02/sad-day.html

I am thinking of you today little one, I love you!

Pencil Pouches

Here are the pencil pouches that Gabbie forced me into making ( I'm glad she did now, I think they turned out kind of cute) I had to make about 3 patterns before I got it how I wanted it, but I'm happy with the final result and more importantly, Gabbie is thrilled. I haven't sold my items in a while, I kind of took a break, but now that we have decided to adopt, I have reopened my shop.( every little bit helps!) This will be listed in it later today.

The back of the pouch is the brown and the lining is the red and white polka dot fabric.

I want to add an item to this lot and sell it as a set.. I'm thinking maybe a little lunch money holder?

Finally, some sewing..

Finally back to sewing, my machine has not been feeling well lately and had to go to the Dr. She's home now ( and although I'm not sure I agree with her diagnosis, I'm glad to have her back where she belongs!) Still not up to par..she did manage to help me get a few of these made.

Tissue Cozies

Next I'm working on pencil pouches at the request ( or rather demand) of my daughter who has informed me that she's sick and tired of loosing pencils.

I'm thinking about having my very first giveaway.. would you be interested in winning one of these tissue cozies?

Serious life Magazine

Maybe you've noticed the button of little Abby on my sidebar..She is an amazing little girl and she and her family are such an inspiration . They own this magazine , please take the time to check it out, you'll be glad you did!

I wanted you to know about this publication I’m a part of called Serious.Life Magazine. They just published the February issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.

The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.

Again, the subscription is free, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues. http://www.seriouslifemagazine.com/

Special moments

I know it's not Wednesday, but I'm going to let these pictures speak for themselves. Hope your all having a great Sunday afternoon!

Ok, time to spill the beans..

Remember at the end of this post, when I said I had an announcement to make? I have finally pinched myself enough to realize that it is in fact a reality, so I guess I can actually speak it ( well, y'know.. type it)

www.forkeeps-michelle.blogspot.com

Stop by and check out our new blog
Can you believe it?? finally..MY TURN!!

I HEART FACES 2

I decided to enter a photo in the adult catagory of the iheartfaces contest, because I love this picture that I took of my dad . I wish it had come out a little sharper, but I think it captures the cowboy in him! :)

It's been really cool to see all of the great photography out in bloggyland! you really should check it out! :)

I HEART FACES

I just discovered this site iheartfaces It's a photography site and they have a contest each week. It doesn't matter if you are an amateur or professional, It's all in fun! :) I love photography, I am a complete wanna be! ;) Here is the photo I submitted, This is my niece Madelyn, I have always been entranced by her eyes!

Why not check it out and enter your own photo.. come on, it'll be fun! :)