PQ's Praise Party!

PQ planned a PRAISE PARTY for this evening. He has been prepping for his praise party for the past two days. He really wanted to spend the evening praising God for everything that we have. He wanted to spend the evening listening to praise and worship music. He wanted to spend the evening reading the Bible and having devotions. He wanted to play Bible games until his heart was content. (Seriously, how can a parent get any more proud of their son?? He's 7 years old and he has a deep love for God. He never ceases to amaze me.)

A party isn't a party unless we invite some guests, right? Well, look who came to join us for PQ's praise party!!!

It's Minnie!!!

Who knew plastic spoons could be so fun??!!!??

After the past several weeks of GO-GO-GO, tonight's praise party with friends was JUST WHAT I NEEDED! Thanks again to Country Mouse, Husband, and Minnie for coming over to praise with us! We are definitely praising God for our relationship with your family! We love you, guys! xoxoxoxoxo

Lots of Love...

This past weekend was an outstanding weekend! We managed to raise nearly $1000 over the weekend (by working at a craft fair, pottery studio, cupcake bakery, and from tutu sales)! Papa H pointed out something really interesting over the weekend and I wanted to take a few minutes to share...

Every single item that we have sold (whether it be headbands, tutu's, t-shirts, hot/cold bags, or jewelry) has all been made by people who are excited to meet our child. People are offering to help in ways beyond what we ever imagined. Whether it's friends sitting around the table making headbands with us...or girlfriends offering to make tutu's with us...or friends donating handmade jewelry...or graphic designers praying over every single t-shirt that they make for our adoption...or friends sewing hot/cold bags for us to sell....EVERY SINGLE ITEM that is made is made with LOTS of love!

Thank you again and again for all of your support, everyone!

Yet again...

Completely blown away YET AGAIN! If you haven't already heard, we received a phone call from a local bakery that is opening it's doors TOMORROW for their opening day. The owner asked me if she could create a H FAMILY CUPCAKE to sell on Sunday during their business hours. For every H Family Cupcake that is sold on Sunday, they will donate $1.00 to us for our adoption. I was at a loss for words when I heard her proposition. Amazed.

You see, on Sunday afternoon we will be having a fundraiser at the local pottery shop. After hearing about that fundraiser, the owner of the bakery thought that she would piggy-back the efforts for our family. The two shops are right next to each other so it's a win-win for everyone!

Amazed....humbled....encouraged....overwhelmed....GRATEFUL.

Where does time go?

*This photo was taken 11/28/2008!*

Still making tutu's-$15 each for the adoption

A day off from school means a playdate for PQ while I make tutu's to sell for our adoption fundraiser. We have a craft fair this upcoming weekend so I'm trying to get caught up on orders...and prepped for a busy few weeks ahead. The tutu below (light pink, light purple, and light blue) was completed for Dani.

As always, if you or anyone you know has a little girl that would like a tutu, please let me know. The handmade tutu's are $15 each and they come in all sorts of colors/combos: light pink, bright pink, dark pink, light yellow, harvest yellow, light purple, bright purple, orange, green, navy blue, and sky blue.

Sorry for my blogging efforts

I've been slacking with my blogging lately. For that, I'm sorry. I feel like I barely ever update this blog...and that makes me sad. Blogging is more fun for me because I get to spill my life in more than 80 characters (like facebook). We do get more comments on facebook so it's easier to feel validated because people opt to 'like' your status. It's still so bizarre to us...but it has served a purpose with our adoption.

I only wanted to say SORRY to everyone in blog world. For now, my posts might seem small and infrequent but I do promise that once this adoption goes through, there will be PLENTY of blogger posts from Mama H and the family. Who knows, maybe PQ will be "guest blogging" at some point this week. It's time....he's about due...

Counting our blessings...

Over the past several weeks, we have received countless blessings. We are overjoyed by the numerous blessings and we are humbled by the love that surrounds us. We recently decided to keep a list of all of the blessings that we've received. Without getting into too much detail, I wanted to post a few of the blessings on our blog. Some of our recent blessings include:

*Friends supporting us through prayer
*Strangers supporting us through prayer
*Meeting a new friend at a local fair who taught me how to make tutu's to sell
*Seeing our son with a twinkle in his eye because he's helping with the adoption
*Having a 10 year old boy share $10 with us for the adoption
*Friends sitting with me as I make headbands to sell
*Friends helping me sort and choose the headband combos
*Receiving $50 from a 14 year old girl
*Strangers emailing us with words of encouragement
*Increasing my work hours from 2.5 days to 4.5 days (just for this school year-so we can put more money away for the adoption)
*Having the school determine that they made an error in my pay increase...and it ended up being more money in my pay than we originally planned.
*Receiving a phone call from a stranger who heard about our adoption and wanted to make us a quilt for the baby
*Raising over $2000 in just a matter of a few weeks to put towards the adoption. Seriously, this whole process is MIND BOGGLING! (As Kathy inquired: How big is your God?)
*And this is our most recent blessing...after having more car problems this past weekend, we decided to inquire about trading in our Nissan. After researching several options (both new and used), we were EXTREMELY blessed by our recent visit to the VW dealer. Not only did they give us more money than what we owed on the Nissan, but they also offered some SERIOUS rebates for the 2010 models that they needed to get off their lot. With no money down, we were able to get into a much larger vehicle (with all the bells and whistles) for the same amount as what we have been paying on our Nissan. We actually ended up saving ~$1500 on the deal because we won't have to buy new tires for the SUV...and we won't have another car payment due until mid-December. Did I mention that we got rid of the Nissan...the 'problem vehicle'??!!?? Without a doubt, this entire transaction is a GOD THING! There is no way we would have been able to afford such an amazing vehicle had it not worked out the way it did.

And that leads me to my last and final comment. NONE of these blessings were earned. It is, however, through the grace of God that all blessings are given. God is good all of the time.