A New Look

I closed a chapter in our lives today by writing the last post on Sophia's adoption blog.  So, I decided to give this blog a makeover...what do you think?  I will try to be more consistent in posting her on our family and such.  I have been quite negligent, I know!!  But now that I only have one blog to worry about, I promise to be more faithful.  Thanks for sticking with our family and catching up now and then on our merry happenings!!

Awesome Cooking Blog

I just had to share this link with you: http://stolenmomentscooking.com/. It is a blog that I recently found that has the most awesome recipes that are economical and easy enough for this cook! The premise behind the title of the blog as I understand it is that the author has set out to make her meals during times of the day when she has a few stolen moments, in between being a home schooling mom of four kids. That way she can spend as much quality time as possible with her family. Many of the recipes make good-sized portions, especially the muffin recipes, which is great for our family of six big eaters. I have tried quite a few of the recipes on the blog already, and they have all been hits with my five men! Tonight we are having savory muffins with cheddar cheese and bacon...these stay in the fridge and heat up in the microwave so well as a quick breakfast or snack. I think you could freeze them, too, but they never make it that far in our house! If you try any good recipes from the blog, let me know! Enjoy!

Hide N Seek Woodland Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

This is a beautiful dress being given away on a blog called Shabby Apple. As I want to learn to sew someday, the blog intrigues me. This little dress is just magical, in my opinion. Check it out: Hide N Seek Woodland Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Grand Opening: Hatch Studio and Gallery

Please join me in congratulating my friend, Bethany Hissong, on the Grand Opening of her dream, Hatch Studio and Gallery! I am so excited for her! If you live in the Lancaster, PA, area, you might want to come on out on Saturday, May 2, between 5 and 10 p.m. to check it out for yourself! All of the Grand Opening information is on her website, as well as information about the first adult photography class and the summer children's classes--of which my sons will be a part for sure! Beth is a fantastic artist in her own right, as well as an Art teacher. She is displaying and selling creative works from her friends around the world, including some adoption fundraising cards made by me and my mom. Please join me in congratulating her by visiting her blog, Red Yarn, and leaving a comment! Hope to see you on Saturday!

A Favorite Blog

One of the blogs I love to check on a regular basis is Second Sister Suaviloquy. I found this blog through the Etsy shop Second Sister Jewelry, when I was searching for jewelry related to adoption. As it turns out, this family is waiting to adopt a daughter from China, too! Second Sister Suaviloquy is hosting a ten-day giveaway that you might want to check out. The fun starts on December 5...and check out the Etsy shop, too, for great jewelry at reasonable prices!

My Sister

My youngest sister and her husband are currently in Haiti spending time with their two newest sons. Haitian adoption is quite unpredictable these days, so they have no idea when they will be seeing their sons again and finalizing the adoption. You can read about their time in Haiti, and see darling photos of my newest nephews at my sister's adoption blog. I hope you check it out and leave her an encouraging comment. I know that it will be very hard for them to leave their boys next week...please pray for them!

Another Busy Week

This afternoon I am headed to Delaware to stay with my parents for the week. I will be teaching the 2's and 3's at their church's Daily Vacation Bible School--pray for me! :) I don't know how often I will post this week, but I'll do my best! I have some photos from this past Thursday night when we took Benjamin to see his first movie to share with you when I get a chance. Jonathan and Sabastian both had good weeks at their respective places...I'll try to share more on that later as well. Happy rest of the weekend to all!

My First Blog Award!

Thanks to my dear friend Beth, at Red Yarn, I have been nominated for my first blog award, and fittingly, it is in Spanish! Here are the rules for this award:


1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.
6. Write an acceptance speech in the style of the Academy Awards, thanking everybody's mother, father, sister, brother, aunties and uncles and kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant!



So, here is my Academy Awards style award acceptance speech (you'll have to imagine the tears of happiness and gorgeous gown!)...

A year or so ago, I barely knew what a blog was, but thanks to my youngest sister, Steph, and my dear friend, Beth, I was quickly bit by the blogging bug and began to read various blogs quite faithfully. It wasn't until this past January that I decided to write a blog as a personal journaling venue--and now I'm hooked! I wish to thank my dear husband, Dave, for working second shift so that I have nothing better to do late at night than read and write blogs...just kidding (well, sort of!)...and for supporting me on this endeavor. I would thank my kids, but I don't think they have a clue about this blog...maybe I should thank them for that! And I wish to thank my faithful blog readers, many of whom are now new friends via cyberspace because of this blog and the blogs of others. You encourage me and inspire me in so many ways--thank you for being there--wherever there is!

And now for my nominations for the Brillante Weblog Award...may I have the envelope please?
(I'm afraid I won't have seven, though...I don't know that many other bloggers who haven't already been nominated!)


My sister, Stephanie, at Garcias2Chile...for a glimpse of life with three small children in a foreign country, check out her blog! She's also adopting two babies from Haiti...you can see that blog here.

My long time friend, Ricardo, at Sudaca Americano...we go way back to my high school days in Chile, and he is just starting his blog after some encouragement as a way to keep in touch with family and friends in the US and Chile. I hope my nomination encourages him to keep going with his blog!

A friend and homeschooling mother of (almost!) eight, Lisa, at A Second Generation of Homeschooling...her ability to juggle teacher, mom, and wife amazes me!

Another homeschooling mom of seven, Laura, at Laura Williams' Musings...she has great money saving tips, links to contests, and just glimpses into her family's life that are neat to read!

A fellow adoptive mom and blogger, Angie, at The Downtown Boutique...her blog has information on all kinds of goodies, but I especially like how she highlights various Etsy shops and also has giveaways each week for homemade items!

And now the orchestra is playing and I'm supposed to stop talking...have a great week everyone!

Unplanned Blogging Break Explained

I'm baaack! Sorry it's been a few days since I've blogged or commented here or there. We have been pretty busy with the 4th of July and the weekend and Vacation Bible School, but those are not the real reasons I have been MIA in WWW. land--my dear husband decided that my computer needed to be defragmented (whatever that means) and it took over THREE DAYS! I guess that means my computer had issues, but all I know is that I missed getting on-line and checking my blogs and e-mail. Now my DH says I need a new hard drive...I hope that is a shorter process than the defragmenting! More soon!

New Blog...Check It Out!

See that fancy, smancy button underneath my profile on the righthand side of my blog? The one that says "Our Silk Road"? Click on it and you will be taken to our new blog! Many thanks to Ragan and her expertise at designing the blog (and the button!) for us. You can find a link to her work on the new site if you are at all interested. You will also find in the first post the reason for the new blog...if you can't figure it out by the blog header! We are excited about taking the first baby steps in this new adventure for our family, but we know that it will be a long journey. The new blog will be solely dedicated to our adoption story, while this blog will continue being our every day life blog. Thanks for joining us on our journey!

Interesting Article

One of the blogs I subscribe to via e-mail is Tech Savvy Mama. She posted an interesting article regarding age appropriate technology from the NY Times. You can access her blog post and the article here. I commented on the article from both my mother and educator perspectives, so check out the comments!