THREE!!

3 years old today!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOLOMON NATNAEL!!

'1 year old'

'2 years old'

'3 years old'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOLOMON NATNAEL!!
WE LOVE YOU!

Sweet little hands...

dis fromage ~ aka Madison ~entered the contest for i ♥ faces which was themed 'hands on fun' ... so of course with all her cute shots, I had to post some !
what fun it is to have a aspiring photographer in the house!!

Today is Solomon's 2nd GOTCHA DAY!!

This is the very moment when the nanny at Solomon's orphanage picked him up out of his little bed... he smiled and said 'Da-deeee'... just as if he knew all along that his Daddy had arrived to get him!

...first touch... instantly bonded

Sisters Madison and Adeline went to Ethiopia with Montie to get little Solomon...
here they are feeding him his bowl of 'mush'...

He was a happy little guy, even though he was quite sick and couldn't hold any food in!

Forever Family at the airport ....

Home at last....

Sister Esther already with her bossy tone!!

...but lots of laughs and giggles too!!


First steps...

wanting his Da-Deeeee!!

First Birthday ~ February 27, 2009 ~ with his owl cake.... still loves owls!

Our handsome little guy is growing up... full of personality... a funny little guy... still loving his Da-Deee the VERY most!!

We do SIMPLY LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU
Solomon Natnael

Smiles...

Ansley

Ava Sidisse

She LOVES love LOVEs it straight!!

Esther's dream has come true.... after a fun visit with some friends yesterday... we learned how to 'do' Esther's hair in a new style!! She was delighted!! It makes her look so much older!! And so Madison dressed her in yellow to brighten these awfully cold, snowy, dreary days and captured just how delighted our little Miss Esther is with her new 'do'!!
I really love her curls ! so a quick dip in the bath will do the trick !

Happy Valentines Day!!

sister love!!


the boys
and yes that's Gabe's ball python named Zando (Amharic for serpent!)

as you can see... some in our family don't like Zando!!

Valentines in Saudi

Sweet little Sienna is the daughter of one of my very best friends... lives all the way over in Saudi Arabia !! miss you girlie!!

just look at those palms blowing behind her sweet little face!!

Peace POPPY DIP

Sweet little Ella in herMOD PEACE PINK POPPY DIP!!

Need as last minute VALENTINE Poppy Dip?

ALL SOLD!! thank you thank you thank you!!

Whipped up a couple Valentine POPPY DIPS........
will ship TODAY!!
$15 + $5 Priority Mail shipping (to get it to you FAST!!)

hit 'contact' at the top

left to right
What a Hoot size 2 SOLD!!
All My Heart Strawberry size 3 SOLD!!
Chinese Take Out (not really 'Valentine' !! but had it made) size 2T SOLD!!
All My Heart Strawberry size 5 SOLD!!

Cute as Cupcakes

Dance Baby Dance!!

Annie and Catherine ~ sweet little ones of the BEST blog designer on earth!!

Sewing Seeds for Haiti....

Sewing Seeds ~ a post on a blog that I follow ~
(because I buy a lot of my fabric for POPPY DIPS from her Etsy shop~ Randi is one of my very favorite sellers!!)
~ is a great way to help.... if you sew!! I'll copy her post so you can get the scoop on how your can sew a TWIRL (skirt) or 2 or 3 or more!! to help little girls in Haiti...

"With the recent devastation in Haiti, there is a great need for all kinds of love to be sent to the people there. Right after the earthquake I began wondering if we should do something about it in the form of Sewing Seeds , but I wanted clear direction. A few days later I was at our homeschool co-op and one of the dads asked for prayer for a cousin of his who is a missionary serving a community right at the earthquake's epicenter. I knew this was it!

My friends are Mennonite and so are the missionaries. They serve in a number of ways, but they do serve lunch to over 100 schoolchildren every single day (that was the number prior to the earthquake). Many of these kids are now without basic necessities. I am so excited that we are able to help in this small way of making skirts for the girls. I have gone back and forth on whether or not to add shorts for boys this time, but my heart tells me to stick with the skirts. This leads me to believe that the boys will be taken care of in another way. That's the way God works in my experience. Do what He leads you to do and all gaps will be filled by Him.

"Sow the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you."---Hosea 10:12

Since the missionary group is Mennonite, I ask that all skirts be at least knee length. This is not their request, but rather mine out of respect for their customs.

Here are a couple of skirt tutorials:

tiered skirt tutorial

tiered, ruffle skirt

I am only linking the tiered skirt tutorials because of the lengths needed on the skirts. Please feel free to use a pattern of your own and make it any child's size that you want to (keep it knew length or below the knee). I always make the skirts in Aubry's size and that way it feels more personal. Basically, do as you please. :)

***In regards to postage, there is a possibility that the skirts will be transported for free. I will let you all know as soon as I know.

If you would like to make a skirt (or two or three) please leave a comment on this post. If you leave your email address I can send you my home address so you can mail the skirt to me. The deadline for skirts is Friday, March 5th. ~~~ Randi "

Be sure you hop over to Randi's blog and leave your comment with your email, so she can send you her address!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So if you sew ~ here's another chance to serve!! I'll keep you posted on where to send these...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And speaking of skirts and TWIRLS and little girls

~just to let you know~

prices have changed for POPPY DIP TWIRLS.... depending on length now!!

up to 13" in length $30

14" and longer $40

Our little Esther (size 5) is wearing a POPPY DIP TWIRL 11" in length with leggings. These little skirts are so full, they really are very cute shorter!!

Singin in the Snow!

...but how I will SING when it's GONE!!