I fought the Samoas....

....and the Samoas won.

Allison! Abby! Amelia! Quick--get in here and take on the Thin Mints for me!

I WON!!!!

Another International Adoption Net mom has a beautiful blog called Forever n Ever n Always. (Jill's blog is also listed on the right.)

I have never had the privilege of meeting Jill, but she must be some kind of wonder woman. In addition to mothering (and home schooling!) eight kids, Jill is a fabulous writer, website creator, ministry supporter, adoption lover, generous giver and all-around woman after God's own heart.

(And to think I feel pretty good about myself when we are all basically clean and clothed--ha!)

Every week, Jill's blog offers a "Totally Terrific Tuesday Give-Away." She gives away books, music, jewelry, art, dolls and more.

This week's give-away is a beautiful dress for a baby girl....and I WON!

Here's the dress. It's called a "purple smocked safari dress." Isn't it beautiful? Won't Meelsie look fabulous?

This darling dress is from Ella Marie Boutique. 100% of proceeds from Ella Marie Boutique sales go to Room for One More, an organization that advocates adoption, helps fund adoptions, and supports orphans and orphanages.

How can it be that there are so many wonderful people working so creatively to help children?

In this current climate of fear and problems, I thank God for the breathtaking beauty that is all around us.

Not My Husband Monday (aka Laundry Wars)

So an unnamed daughter did not take the initiative to start a load of laundry today.

And an unnamed husband did not come down on the unnamed daughter for "usurping his laundry plans." No way. Not him!

(This was before the unnamed husband realized he wants to encourage the unnamed daughter when it comes to laundry. And so he did encourage her.)

We love you, Dave / Dad!

(How do laundry plans get usurped, anyway? And if laundry plans are, indeed, usurpable, please, anyone, feel free to usurp mine!)

Finally Official

In an overdue post, allow me to announce that Amelia can officially be one year old now!

No thanks to her parents, Amelia recently had the opportunity to smash birthday cake between her fingers and smear it on her face/hair/sisters. We all know that the smashing of the birthday cake is a rite of passage for one year olds.

Our small group was thoughtful enough to surprise Amelia (and us, too) with a special "#1" birthday cake, birthday hat and decorations. Thank you, Small Group! Where would we be without ya?

We were at Erik and Susan's house...

Blow out your candle, Little Darlin'!
Amelia appears a bit dazed, I know. I think it was the cake, the frosting and the fork--just too much excitement to take in!
She is clearly fascinated!
And our group even provided a special birthday character for the party!Oops, I guess that's actually Corey. Sorry, Corey!

She skis blacks!

Abby recently spent a day skiing with her bestest friend, Morgan. Morgan's dad (AKA one of our bestest friends, Derek) used to be a ski instructor, and he took the girls to Eldora for a day so they could learn to use poles and try some blue slopes.

WELL!

By the time they came home, the girls had skiied some blacks. Crazy!

Thanks, Derek!

(Derek happens to be the husband of Abby's teacher at school. Shhhhh! Don't tell Abby's teacher she missed school to go skiing--ha!)

Up they go!

They look like naturals...

It was a beautiful day...

She's got the moves...

They look so sweet and proud!

(Yes, Abby is the tallest in her class....and I think Morgan might be the smallest!)

It was a fun and successful day.

I love Abby and I'm so proud of her. She's an earnest, smart, sincere, sweet, beautiful girl. The Lord has been very good to me in the Daughter Department.

Amelia is doing better

Amelia is doing much better now. Yea! Her appetite is back, she's turbo-crawling and cruising around like nobody's business.

Me? I'm re-learning how to put on a bit of make-up and get fully dressed for the day, now that we leave the house again!

Just because it's cute...

Apparently a family in Maryland came home recently to find, um, a guest had come in through their doggy door:

This is so cute, I can hardly stand it!

Serious. Life Magazine

I wanted you to know about this online 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 (and free!) 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 articles. 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/ .