The Yearly Yell... And Why...

What do you do when you get notice that it will be ugly sweater day at school in two days and no one has an ugly sweater and the last thing you want to do is go to the store????

You make your own!!

Well...

We didn't make Little Girl's.... I  bought her adorable Christmas outfit last April when it was on sale.

But all the boys had were matching PJ pants and red shirts.

But with a bit of felt and some beads and string...

We happily made our own!!

To match Little sister's....

Win!

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Thank you to everyone who took the time to click on Ernest's picture.

He went over the 1,000 wall and beyond.

To all those who reached out in the last few days to thank me for reminding them about the Angel Tree/MACC... Your Welcome.

And here is your reminder again....

As of this evening...

60 babes still need to cross the 1,000 wall.

Yesterday morning I took the bit of Christmas money I had and was able to bump a child or two over the wall.

It was the best part of my day yesterday.

Those babes had NO IDEA I loved on them for a few minutes.

Their future families (Oh please families step up) will never know that I gave to their little one to help bring them home.

It doesn't matter to me that they are unaware.

The pleasure is in the act.

Knowing that in the future - my little gift is going to make it a tiny bit easier on a family.

Do me a favor.

Just click THIS LINK.

Scroll down and look at all the faces of all the children.

The top 9 children have families who are racing across the ocean to get them.

The rest...

They are waiting.

And waiting.

Go click.

Look through the waiting babes.

11 years ago I did.

I had NO INTENTION of adopting at that point.

Not international. Not special needs.

I clicked because someone shared.

I picked three children off the tree that year and gave to their grant accounts.

I felt good.

I felt like I had done something beautiful and holy.

I had no intention of adopting.

None.

But after Christmas I went back.

I looked again.

I looked for those three children.

And then I clicked farther into the website.

And a little face popped up at me.

And the rest is history.

He wasn't on the Angel Tree.

Yet God used the Angel Tree to break my heart.

He used the Angel Tree to connect me to that picture.

So each year I yell.

Knowing that somewhere - someone might just CLICK HERE.

And they may just give and that is amazing and wonderful.

And they may go back.

Look again.

And the Holy Spirit just may speak.

So click. Look. Pray. Give, so that we can get all the babes over 1,000. And if you feel called by the Lord - Adopt!!

Teeny Tiny

I promised a friend I would yell for him back in November.

I promised that I would share him and get him seen.

Time got away from me and I didn't yell as I wanted to yell. 

Every day something took my time and energy and I just couldn't pull myself together to get a blogpost written.

Every time I checked the Angel Tree I would look for him on there. Up until yesterday he was hanging around the  bottom of the tree - his grant account rising slowly. 

Then last night I checked and saw that he was less than 50 from jumping over the 1,000 wall.

I was happy to see him jump, but recognized I had failed in my desire.

He needs to be seen.

He needs me to stop and share with you how precious and worthy he is.

His Reece's Rainbow name is Ernest.

He's not just small... He's teeny tiny.

Do you see how teeny tiny he is???

His little chin barely makes it over the table.

Oh Mama!!

He's got a beautiful smile and a precious personality...

Packed in the tiniest little body.

SEE HIM!

He's 6 years old.

His diagnoses are bigger than his tiny body.

He won't survive over there.

If he's transferred to a mental institute like Aaron's he won't survive.

He's too tiny and fragile.

Mama - Where are you??

Papa - go pick him up!

He need less than 50.00 to reach his 1,000 goal which is wonderful. but his family still needs to find him.

Please share Ernest. 

Please shout for him today.

Please pray his family SEES him.

Teeny tiny boy so desperately needs to be seen.

Click here to help Ernest get over the 1,000 wall.

CLICK HERE to see a whole host of other very worthy children who desperately need a Mama and a Papa too. Many of them are NOT over the 1,000 wall and we only have 5 days to reach that goal.

A Motley Crew

Martha Stewart would laugh us out of her catalog.



Our ornaments are an acquired assortment of ragtag balls and memory-laden pieces with the wild mess of homemade ones added in.

None of them are worth anything except to us.

Our tree is no longer the hand cut tree we acquired each year tramping around on the Christmas tree farms. We loved hunting for our perfect tree although none of them would have ever made it into a catalog.

One year our hand cut tree died half-way through the Christmas season. By Christmas day it was a bare naked tree with a million needles littering the floor.

Our tree is now a store-bought one due to having to exile the last hand cut tree to the garage for the duration of the Christmas season after Ben had a serious allergic reaction to it. That year our presents were pretty forlorn without the tree standing over them.

Our kids hang the ornaments.



Wherever they want.

They have no sense of design.

They don't think about balance.

They just enjoy putting our ragtag assortment on the branches.

They hang based on their height or reach.

Which makes our tree lopsided and heavy-laden in certain sections. Usually down-low.

I've never rearranged.

Not since our first born hung his first ornament on the branches.

It's their tree.

It's their fun.

I don't need a perfectly balanced tree with gorgeous ornaments.

I don't need to 'fix' what they have done.

I may rehang one that has come tumbling to the floor.

I may rescue one that is hanging precariously on a branch.

But I'm fine with our mess of a tree.

I don't need picture-perfect.

Our lives are not picture-perfect.

We are a motley crew.

We rarely dress up pretty. We don't go out to fancy places. We are a crew of ragtag kids, homegrown and brought from overseas.

We live chaos and crazy most of the time.

From the outside looking in we look a bit of a mess, unbalanced, uneven and definitely ragtag.

But we love.

And we are fine with how we look.

Who cares if we don't make the Martha Stewart catalog.

Who cares if we are not picture perfect.

Who cares if the lights on our tree this year have completely died!

We love our motley tree and we love our motley crew.

And that's all that matters!