Chugging along....

So this weekend we had a big yardsale fundraiser to help offset travel expenses. It was a great success and all because of our village! All last week I watched the weather which kept hovering at 50% rain for Saturday and finally saw on Friday morning where rain would come but later in the evening....that meant, we're a go! So, I posted on Facebook that we needed tables and people came up with so many tables that we could use! People donated items and use of their tables to the sale, friends took our littles to a football game while we got everything ready for the following morning, people shopped, bought t-shirts, and gave additional donations....it was overwhelming the amount of kindness we were shown! Some of what I will never forget about this event were the great moments of seeing our friends as they came by, some even new that we met as they walked by on their evening walks, and got to visit with them. We are so blessed with the friends and neighbors who have surrounded us! We'll have one more big sale on September 13th, I *might* have time to whip up a bunch of baked yummies to have available ;)

Sooooo....I promised a pic of the infamous bedskirt, it turned out pretty good, and I'll tell you a secret....there's not one stitch of thread holding it together! That's right people, permanent fabric tape all the way, it's even washable, check, check, check it off my list-bed skirt conquered!

The picture below is the front and back of her little quilt that will travel with us....btw it is not held together with a magic formula of fabric witchery called tape, it is sewn with many stitches, all by hand. My first quilt I've ever made. I've said it many times through the last several months and I'll say it again....how else can you come to love someone you've never laid eyes on thousands of miles away other than His hands, binding you together? I love her, I can't wait to be her mother.

I'm still working on her crib quilt, but I'll post pics once it's done...there will be no in-process pics because quite honestly, those might be comprised of me laying across the quilt saying, "Nooooooo!", as I realize that I pinned it to the carpet or that I *might* have sewn it to myself(remind me to one day post on the dangers of quilting while holding a project in your lap).....or even better-get to a step that I have zero directions for completing....uh yeah, you can bet your sweet hineys that these projects are full of shenanigan level improvisation! There are no less than 3 Hancock/JoAnn trips involved in any one project....do you guys measure difficulty in your projects by how many trips to the related store it takes you? We totally do....so you could have a one trip to Home Depot which is on the easier side of the scale or you could have the combo Lowe's/Home Depot 5 trip project which clearly puts your project on the more difficult end of the scale, right?

We're in the midst of getting the fall/winter garden ready...kinda sad to see all the pretty/fluffiness of the summer garden disappear. What do you plant in the fall/winter? It never seems like a lot to choose from.....Our figs surprised us by throwing a ton of fruit! We had thought they suffered too much winter damage, but they are producing so many figs! We have to keep a metal basket around both our figs to keep the yellow lab out of them....he is crazy for figs, blueberries, and cucumbers....so crazy!

Well, we are getting close to having travel dates! Yes! Yes! Yes! Hopefully we'll know in the next couple/few  weeks when we'll get to meet our Pigtails! We got an update picture, our last until we travel of our little girl....she's grown some, she's gotten even cuter if that's possible, and the best surprise of all....she had pigtails in this picture! All her other pics, she's got super short hair, but apparently my little lady's been growing out her locks getting ready for her debut in 'merica.....little bit's got pigtails!!!!!

Sunday at church our senior pastor gave the sermon on our side(we have a contemporary in one building and a traditional in the other). It was the concluding sermon on a series called "Signs". I've really enjoyed this series. It was based from the book of John and specifically the miracles Jesus performed. If you've read this blog you know what a journey filled with special moments that only He could orchestrate this has been. I imagine you have your own experiences with His gifts that come so unexpected. Sometimes, I get mired down in the junk, the minutia of daily life, forgetting to lift my eyes up and focus on Him. I think I probably miss some pretty good things happening during those times, because when it's "eyes up" around here, I am always so amazed at how He weaves our stories together.

Our sweet, sweet neighbor got a taste of it just recently....she had found a lady selling Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, so she wanted to purchase them for our Ruthie. She met the lady and found out the dolls were handmade. When my neighbor told her they were for a little girl soon to arrive home through our adoption, the lady said that her friend that made them for her has little ones from Ch*na....what my neighbor didn't know at the time was that wasn't the only tie that binds....my nursery as a baby was done in Raggedy Ann and Andy and the week before, my mom had brought me a couple of Raggedy Ann and Andy mementos that I could pass to Ruthie....love His ways!

I thank Him for those moments where we get to "see" Him moving in our lives. Every person I have met when dropping off or picking up yardsale items has been adopted, adopted, fundraised for adoption, or thinking about starting the process themselves....I know He places us exactly where we're supposed to be and I cherish each and every of these encounters. They restore me, remind me of what's important, that this is His story, our journey to our Pigtails. I will admit the past few weeks where getting certain paperwork here and there can make a huge swing in when you travel has frazzled me at times. I might have pouted quietly for a couple of days....I might have eaten a pound million pounds of chocolate-and anything else in arm's reach. Pretty sure I am not making Him proud in those moments. When will I get it that we will travel and meet her at the exact moment He orchestrates, to just trust?? It's so hard not to be excited about meeting her and seeing her in person! I know He places an empty spot saved just for her in our hearts. It's supposed to be a little painful at times, this pruning and preparing of our hearts, but I still look forward for what's to come. Her daddy has been getting glimpses of the little girl clothes coming in to her closet and don't tell anyone, but he totally tears up....I can see him melting! I think he's pretty excited and maybe a bit nervous of the job of being a daddy to a little girl. He has no idea that he'll be great! The boys have already moved where they sit in the car, picked out where her carseat will go. One wants her to sit with him all the way home on the plane....love their hearts for her. They both made sure that clothes bearing BOTH team logos will travel with us, they've kindly decided that instead of her being the tie-breaker, she can cheer for both Alabama and Auburn, it would be a lot of pressure they thought, to ask her to choose just one :) Love them!

Well, lots to do, lots to prepare for over the next weeks. My nesting seems incurable, so I'm just going with it...this week I have shampooed our carpets...and yes, I did move all the furniture from one side to the other and then swapped to clean the other side as well...not just high traffic areas, we're talking all the carpet. I've washed curtains, arranged, rearranged closets-have we talked about my ROYGBIV method of organization in closets?-and straightened the pantry....how is my house a bigger mess!!??

I hope this post finds you in a good place, tucked right next to the ones you love, and "eyes up" for all He has in store for you. I've seen the locations/countries that some people are from who read this blog, some are going through extreme unrest and strife I could not fathom. For those that are maybe experiencing the worst your life has seen, some seeing horrors and actions we think humans aren't capable of, but sadly are....just know, you have an army of people praying for you. You aren't forgotten, you aren't in such a dark place that you can't be reached. Death didn't conquer our sweet savior, He can move mountains and loves us. Keep that fire burning! Those that are safely, quietly living your lives-I implore you-step out of the boat! Amazing, tough, wonderful, hard, beautiful, messy things are awaiting you....let's not even keep one foot in it...I'll cannonball in with you(or we'll pry each others fingers off the side)! Be loud for what you believe in and follow that narrow path that few choose, not the wide path knocked down by all doing the same thing!

kk