From Jonestown, With Love

Our dear friend, Paula Kissinger, created these one-of-a-kind gifts for our children this year.  Thank you so much, Paula, for your love and creativity!  These photos are for you!

Paint Colors

Here are the photos of the two paint colors we used recently in our home...I know some of my friends wanted to see them.  They didn't photograph really well, but you can get the idea.  They are both from Sherwin Williams...a very helpful place, I might add!  (And, no, I'm not getting paid to say that!)  Thanks again to my friend Tiffany who helped me paint...I wouldn't have been able to do it without her!  At least one summer project was accomplished this year!

"cay" in my craft room

"lighthearted pink" in Sophia's room

Painting Frenzy

I don't have any photos for this post, but I will take photos of the end result...I promise!  Yesterday my good friend, Tiffany, came to help me paint my craft room and Sophia's room.  What a job!  I am no house painter, so I naively thought it wouldn't take too long and we could get it all done in one day...well that didn't happen!  We were able to primer Sophia's room (it was a very bright yellow for Nathaniel) and get the first coat on in the craft room.  The taping and cutting in really takes awhile, I found out!  (That, and managing the scuffles of six children at the same time...)  But Tiffany is a self-proclaimed perfectionist when it comes to painting, and a good teacher.  She is making our rooms look great!  We were going to continue today, but one of my boys wasn't feeling well, so we are postponing to next week.  We should be done in one or two more days...I'll post photos of the finished project!  THANKS, TIFFANY!

Quilt Raffle to Benefit a Friend's Adoption

One of the perks of being on our adoption journey is the opportunity we have had to "meet"--via the internet--so many wonderful people who are on their own adoption journeys.  There is a comradarie and fellowship among us that only happens when you have experienced or are experiencing something similar.  One of the first women I met was Robin.  I fell in love with the sewing creations that she was making to bring home her daughter, Mia Hope.  Our little Sophia will hopefully fit in several lovely outfits I purchased to support Robin and her family as they saved to bring Mia Hope home from China.  Now, they are on a new journey to bring home another daughter from China.  They are holding a raffle for a beautiful handmade quilt that contains many of the fabric remnants Robin used in her clothing designs while sewing to bring Mia Hope home.  I encourage you to take a look here and if you feel led, purchase a number (or two or three) and help this family on their quest to fulfill God's desire for the orphaned.  Thanks!

For Dave's Exel Friends!

Little Tank says

"Thank You!"

to Daddy's friends at Exel in Carlisle

for the wonderfully yummy box of goodies!

Vacation Photos...Part 3!

Here are the photos from our ride on The Arcade & Attica Railroad. You can read the original post that I wrote on the day of our excursion here. It was quite the trip! Nathaniel was pretty scared on the first half of the journey since we were right behind the noisy engine, but on the return trip he just chilled. Our friend, Ruth, went along...you will see her in the photos, too. It really was a lot of fun and a day our younger sons will never forget!

Vacation Photos...Part 2!

One morning, while Dave and Sabastian were out fishing, the younger boys and I went on a little walk around the grounds of Odosagih. The conference center is located right on Lime Lake in Machias, New York, a deep, spring-fed lake used for recreational water activities of all kinds. Our friends, Matt and Ruth Stephens, have been coming to Odosagih for many years. They opted to stay in a cottage right on the lake so that Matt could fish 24/7 if he wanted to (and he wanted to!). Benjamin, Nathaniel, and I walked over to their cottage and went down the stairs to the lake and walked for a ways around it. These are some of the photos I took that morning...

The Arcade & Attica RR

Today I took my two younger sons to ride the Arcade & Attica Railroad! Aunt Ruthie went along, too. Between the two of us, we got some great photos of the boys and the train ride, but I don't have a way to upload photos right now...as soon as I get home I'll be posting quite a few from our time here! Suffice it to say that we all had fun, but Nathaniel thought the train's whistling and whooshing was a bit too loud at first. The whole first part of the ride he sat on my lap quivering and holding on to me while I held his head against me, covering his ears! Of course it didn't help that we were the first coach behind the steam engine! On the way back, we were the last coach and the sounds were much less loud...and Nathaniel enjoyed it much more! This particular railroad dates back to the 1800's when farmers in this part of New York wanted to get their produce and goods to Buffalo and thus to the rest of the U.S. It still runs today, but a lot of its revenue comes from these excursion rides. It really was fun, and a great way to spend a few hours with my younger boys who can't really take advantage of the fishing and such that their big brother and Dad can! Stay tuned for some great photos when we get home!

Sorry I've been MIA...

It's been awhile since I've posted, but I've had good reasons for it! Last week I taught four lessons a night at our church's VBS (and my voice shows it!), but praise God, several children made professions of faith, and the week went really, really well. This week we are enjoying great Bible teaching and fellowship at Odosagih Bible Conference in Machias, NY, with some friends. Funny thing is, the speaker this week is speaking on the exact same material I taught last week at VBS! Do you think God is trying to tell me something? I will have to post more about that at a later date, but suffice it to say that the material in question is from a great organization called Answers in Genesis which exists to share the gospel through Creation evangelism and what they call "The Seven C's of History": creation, corruption, catastrophe, confusion, Christ, cross, and consummation. They run the Creation Museum in KY which I believe I have blogged about before, as we were privileged to visit it awhile back--I highly recommend it! It's been a relaxing week with fun for everyone thus far. Jonathan is on a missions trip with his youth group, so he's not with us, but otherwise, we are all here and having a great time fishing, swimming, reading, shopping, eating, and the like. I've been so relaxed that I haven't even taken any photos yet! Shame on me! I'll try to remedy that soon. We still our $2000 shy of our agency fee, so continue to pray that we can raise that quickly and get our dossier to Taiwan ASAP. Thanks!

Summer Creativity

Heard at our house yesterday:

Benjamin (in kitchen at art easel): "Yessss! Yessss!"

Mom and Sabastian exchange quizzical looks in the living room.

Mom: "What are you 'yesssing'?"

Benjamin: "I drawed the Axiom!" (Note to those who have never seen the movie WALL-E...the Axiom is the spaceship in the movie where WALL-E follows EVE and saves the day for humankind...you must see the movie...)

Mom and Sabastian walk to the kitchen and look at the conglomeration of color and share an amused look over Benjamin's head.

Benjamin (with a huge grin): "I'm an artist now!"

Mom (with a smile): "Yes you are, Buddy!"

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As a Mom, I love to see my 4-year old being so creative. My older boys were adopted out of foster care. I missed out on participating in their more formative years, and, probably due to the circumstances in which they lived during those years, they rarely engaged in imaginative or creative play when they became a part of our family at the ages of 4 and 6. It's so refreshing to see our younger two boys developing their imaginations and creativity, and their sense of self-accomplishment. I know you are dying to see Benjamin's painting, so here it is:

Notice the brown line weaving around the other colors? That is the "footprint" (tread) that WALL-E left when he roamed around the Axiom trying to find EVE. (Again, you must see the movie!)

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We have made several trips to the library in the past week and a half. Jonathan, our 14 year old, has polished off two thick books already, and Sabastian, our 11 year old, is plowing through the Left Behind series for kids. Even I have gotten into the action...I've completed four novels for young adults thus far...maybe I'll post about them at a later date. In addition to books, our local library has a nice selection of jigsaw puzzles. Sabastian really enjoys putting puzzles together, so he also checked out a puzzle last week. He completed it last night. Here it is:

I'm looking forward to what other kind of creative fun my kids can find this summer...I'm especially excited that both Benjamin and Sabastian will be participating in Summer Art Camps at HATCH with my dear friend Beth. If you are in the Lancaster area, be sure to check out the schedule on her website...I know your kids will have fun and learn a lot!

Grand Opening: Hatch Studio and Gallery, Take 2!

I had a wonderful time at my friend Beth's studio opening on Saturday evening! She has posted all about it here, including some great photos (except the one of me...not that Beth didn't take a great photo, but I don't look so great in it...it had been a long day!). I couldn't walk away without purchasing one of the lovely things there, so I am now the proud owner of a new beaded bracelet from an artist in Thailand! There are so many lovely things in her shop...if you ever come to Lancaster for a visit, make sure to stop in! Congratulations, Beth!

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!

Adoption Fundraiser Opportunity

We have been blessed with so many donations to our upcoming garage and bake sale...continue to pray for good weather and lots of buyers! In this process, a couple of ladies from our church have also offered to help us do a "fundraiser within a fundraiser" through their home businesses. One such opportunity is through Avon. If you are interested in purchasing some items from Avon to help us with our adoption expenses, please leave a comment with your e-mail address, and I will send you a listing of what is available. Special combos of items have been created for this fundraiser in all the categories we know and love from Avon...perfume/cologne, makeup, lotions, etc. We will receive up to 40% of the retail price of anything ordered during the fundraiser, and all of it will go towards our international adoption expenses. Items can be sent anywhere as long as you are willing to pay the postage! Thanks in advance for your support and for helping us bring Sophia home from Taiwan!

This and That

Tonight I had a "Mom's Night Out" with a friend from church. Our whole play group was invited, but it ended up being just the two of us. We went to a Japanese steakhouse where I had my first experience with a hibachi. It was yummy! Then we mosied around a couple of stores and chatted well into the evening. My hubby deserves a special thanks for allowing me to go, as we have the flu bug going around our house right now, it seems, and Benjamin waited until Mommy left to get sick again...I'll spare you the details!

I have been really blessed by some great friends in our new town. Most of them have come through church, but some have not. They are helping me plan a big adoption benefit garage sale in April...stay tuned for more details on that...and are so excited to see our adoption come to fruition. I'm very grateful for the support they, and so many other friends from all over, are giving us on this journey.

Tomorrow Jonathan has a basketball game. He has been playing for three years now, and this year is doing very well. Both he and Sabastian brought home decent report cards today, for which we are also thankful. They continue to work hard and do their best (most of the time!) and we are really proud of them.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Sophia's Blessing Quilt...An Open Invitation

January 1, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

While we are waiting for the arrival of our daughter, Sophia Elizabeth, from Taiwan, we are working on a project that we REALLY need your help with. We are creating something called a "100 Blessings Quilt."

To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or "100 Good Wishes Quilt." It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. Believing that God has called us to adopt from Taiwan, we are calling our quilt a “100 Blessings Quilt”. God, not luck, will guide Sophia’s life, so blessings are more appropriate!

We are asking you to please participate in this project. We love the idea of welcoming Sophia into our home with a quilt that represents the good wishes and blessings you are all sending her way. Here is what we would like you to do:

1. Choose ANY 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from clothing or from a fabric store. It just needs to be a design and color that you like.

2. Cut ONE 7" (pre-washed) or one 8" (un-washed) square from the fabric. Tip... if you have no idea how to work with fabric, ask for assistance at a fabric store and show them this letter. They will probably cut it for you.

3. Include your "good wish/blessing note" for Sophia. We will place all your notes in a scrapbook that we will give to our daughter someday. Also, please include a small piece of fabric on the note so we can always remember which fabric was yours!

Ideas for selecting fabric squares:

*Select a fabric that is meaningful to you.

*100% cotton fabric is best, as it washes and wears better.

*If there are several members in your family, please feel free to send more than 1 set of scraps. It would be so special to include good wishes/blessings from all members of your family!! In China, these quilts were originally made from garments of family and friends, which would surround the child with luck/good wishes.

Ideas for good wish/blessing note:

What would you wish for a child to have in his/her life? Some ideas that come to mind are good health, perseverance, compassion, and sense of humor. Or, what blessing do you wish to give to Sophia? Perhaps a favorite Bible verse you find meaningful, or other inspirational quote. Use that as a guide for your good wish/blessing note. Keep in mind that she will not see your note until she is older, of course. Also, you could write down why you chose the fabric that you sent, if that is especially meaningful, as well. Remember, please include a small piece of fabric on the note.

Please take a few minutes from your busy schedules to help us create this very special keepsake for our daughter. We have created a blog entitled, “Sophia’s Blessing Quilt” (http://www.blessingquilt.blogspot.com/) that will have photos of the fabric swatches as they arrive, as well as the notes. You will be able to keep tabs with us as our “blessings” pour in! There is a link to the quilt blog from both our family blog (http://www.merrilymusingmom.blogspot.com/)and our adoption blog (http://www.oursilkroad.blogspot.com/). Feel free to pass along this information to others whom you feel might want to participate with us!

Thank you for investing in our family, and especially in our new daughter’s soon arrival from Taiwan. May God bless you richly!

Sincerely,

Dave and Terri Fisher

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If you would like to participate in this project, please leave a comment on this post that includes your e-mail address, and we will send you an e-mail with our physical address. I moderate my comments, so I will not include your e-mail address when/if I publish your comment. We can't wait to see what fun fabrics arrive from our blogging friends!

Out with the Old...In with the New

Last year around this time, my husband and I made a list of goals for the new year, 2008. I learned a lesson this year...if you want to accomplish your goals, put them somewhere visible! I looked at my goals, um, maybe twice this past year, and needless to say, when I pulled them out today to see how I did, I had forgotten about some of them! It felt good to check off a few things that I did, indeed, accomplish, and many will be ongoing goals for 2009. However, this year, I intend to post my goals in a visible location so that I can hold myself more accountable to actually do what I have listed! We will be celebrating the earlier part of New Year's Eve with several other families from church, and then returning home to put the little ones to bed and watch the ball drop from the comfort of our couch. Then, I will be working (time and a half!) at the store on New Year's Day while our traditional pork and sauerkraut cooks in the crock pot all day...yum! I promise to post Christmas pictures soon, and stay tuned for a special post on January 1 regarding our adoption and a special project you can help with...if you want! May each of you have a happy and blessed New Year!

Giving Thanks

In a few minutes, we will be off to DE for a Thanksgiving visit with my parents. It will be a short one, as I have the privilege (?) of working the midnight shift at the store on Friday...I'm sure I'll have a post about that at a later date! I want to wish all of my friends and family a wonderful Happy Thanksgiving, and leave you with the things I am really thankful for this year...

My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

My supportive and loving husband, Dave

My handsome sons...all four of them!

My daughter-to-be in China

My wonderful parents and parents-in-law

My sisters and bros-in-law and all my nieces and nephews

All of our extended family hither and yon

All of my dear friends, both far and near, new and old

All of our needs being met to overflowing...

Happy Thanksgiving!

My 100th Post...A Wonderful Day of Non-Labor

Today is Labor Day in the USA...the unofficial end to summer, set aside to honor the hard-working citizens of our country (at least I think so!) Typically, school starts after Labor Day, but in today's society, many children, including my own, were back in school last week, so today was a school holiday...already! We enjoyed the quintessential Labor Day picnic with friends, including the impromptu softball game with the insatiable male egos that diminished into moans and groans as the bodies reminded the minds of their real ages...you know how that goes! Dave limped home with a sore calf muscle that he hopes he can walk on tomorrow to go back to work...and I know he wasn't the only one! Jonathan and Sabastian kept up with the "big guys" (or "old guys" depending on how you look at it!) and were non-the-worse-for-wear it seemed, after the big game. Benjamin was the picture of youthful boyhood, dirty and sweaty, chasing two puppies around the park and playing on the swings and merry-go-round, as happy as a lark. Nathaniel faired pretty well, except for missed naps which resulted in a pretty grumpy fellow come 5 p.m. when we departed! All in all we had a great day of non-laboring with our dear friends and their family. Who could ask for more?

Last Week in a (Sorta Big!) Nutshell

Last week was a very busy, but fruitful and fun, week! While our oldest son went to a week-long camp last Sunday, the other three boys and I piled into the family van and drove a couple of hours southeast to my parents' home in Delaware for the week. The reason for the trip was to participate in the Daily Vacation Bible School my parents' church was having all week long. I was asked to teach the 2's and 3's which is a class for children of that age whose parents are working at the DVBS. I had six little ones, including my son Benjamin, and on two days, when there was no nursery, I had my son Nathaniel and another little girl. Fortunately, I had a great helper, too, so I wasn't by myself. The theme of this DVBS was "Digging for the Truth of God's Word" and the Bible stories were basically Creation and Noah's Flood. So, we did a lot with dinosaurs and animals which was really fun for me and the kids. Here are some photos to show you some of the fun things my little group did...

...we put on dinosaur masks and played "Dino Tag"...

...we stenciled dinosaurs onto t-shirts with sparkly fabric paint--too cool!...

...and we made dinosaur hats!...

Of course there are many hilarious stories to be told after working with this age group, but I won't get into all of that! Suffice it to say that it was very fun, yet extremely exhausting, and I was more glad than sad when the week was over!

Another happening last week was that our youngest son, Nathaniel, now 10 months old, finally figured out how to pull himself to standing pretty consistently. In fact, the toy box in our classroom served as a great stability object to do just that. Here he goes...

You can see he's pretty tickled with himself! I guess the toys were a big motivator for him, and he figured that since he was with the "big kids", he ought to start acting like one! (Now if I could only have Benjamin use that logic when it comes to going on the big boy potty!)


After the busy week of DVBS, I deposited the children with my hubby, and my mom and I went to Valley Forge on Saturday to attend the Creating Keepsakes Convention there. We had a blast shopping all the vendors and taking a few classes. When I totally complete the projects, I'll make sure and post photos...they are pretty neat if I do say so myself!



As icing on the cake, I received some pretty nifty stuff in the mail this past week. What a nice treat to come home to! Remember my post about Postcrossing, the site where you can send postcards to people around the world? Well I received two postcards this week, one from Indiana here in the US and one from Finland. I am really enjoying being a part of this site. Here are the postcards I received:






And last, but certainly not least, in today's mail I received a huge surprise treat from my good friend Beth at Red Yarn...Benjamin Bear (and other goodies!) made by my new friend Kathy at Lizzie Jane!

What sneaky gals, I must say! Ever since I saw Benjamin posted on Kathy's blog, I was enamored with him...and now he's residing at my house! Thanks, Beth, for being such a thoughtful and wonderful friend, and thanks, Kathy, for making such delightful creations!

Wow...I wonder what this week will hold! Whatever it holds for you, have a happy one!

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!