LOTS of Ways YOU can help!!!

So much to share...I know many of you are probably wondering how you can help. You can't (won't :-)) adopt, but you still feel like you want to help in some way.  Right now, a few blogging friends have some pretty awesome giveaways you can participate in. Please read on... (not all are for orphans/adoptions)

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The most urgent (because it ends tomorrow - Sat at 11am CST) is the Mulligan Stew giveaway. Julia has pulled together an amazing giveaway that helps SO many different families and orphans. Please go check it out HERE.  Two very special girls - Laurel and Harmony - are VERY, VERY close to "aging out" and becoming "unadoptable" due to their age. They are both turning 16 this year. Please pray their forever family finds them soon!


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The giveaway nearest and dearest to my heart is THIS ONE. This giveaway is for LYLA.  Now, let me tell you, Lyla's story is like none other. You may remember my dear sweet friend, Summer, whom I met in region when we were adopting Elijah and they were bringing home their sweet Belle. Well, I could try to explain it here, but the whole story is better told HERE and HERE. I know it is a long read, but please read it (and get a tissue :-)).  The bottom line is that the Spitz family needs financial help to rescue their princess. Please pray about how you can help them (and possibly win some pretty awesome prizes too)!


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This online auction is to benefit families with children suffering from mitochondrial diseases. I have been following Noah's fight for his life for several years now. Some of you may have noticed the "Praying for Noah" button on my sidebar. His mom shares about his life and prayer requests HERE. I cannot begin to imagine how much this family has gone through, but I know they love their little boy very, very much.

Here is a little bit about Noah, his family and the foundation that was established in his honor.

From Kate Estes:

Noah is our five year old son and he has been battling a mitochondrial disease his entire life. In spite of fighting as hard as anyone ever could, Noah is reaching the end of his days here on earth.

Mitochondrial diseases have very little awareness and therefore there is little funding or support for families whose children are fighting this monster.

 In spite of his suffering, Noah wants to help other children who are sick with mitochondrial diseases.  In his honor, we've established Noah's Hands of Hope, Inc.   Please visit us at www.noahshandsofhope.org to see what we do to help catastrophically ill children and their families.

Noah's Hands of Hope is a non-profit corporation.  We're working toward 501c3 status, and while we don't have it yet, we're hoping to be approved by late summer.

We have a 7 member board of directors that oversees all of the activity of Noah's Hands of Hope.

The online auction ends on April 1st, so please head on over and bid on a few items. (There are some really cute name badge holders, some great homeschooling items, and TONS of other stuff too!)

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Ok, it is way past my 10pm computer curfew (for Lent), but I really needed to get this post done. I have lots more opportunities to share of how you can help, especially those "in country". I also still plan to go back and update you on "life" around here, but it may very well be after Easter. My crew doesn't leave  me much blogging time during the day...but you know what, I wouldn't have it any other way! :-) Plus, we are gearing up for some very special visitors the weekend after Easter. Can't wait to share about that too!

What we've been up to...

Wow, I guess it has been quite a long time since I've posted about our life here! A lot of good things have been happening. The weather has been crazy! Good crazy!

These snow photos were taken on March 3rd. This "storm" was the biggest of the winter. A VERY wimpy snow for us here in WI (in my opinion), but the kids loved it nonetheless. Elijah and Rachel got in on the snow fun this time too. (Usually they are napping when the fun outside is happening..)  Elijah LOVED it. Rachel did great once she got over being scared by the sound of the 4-wheeler pulling the snow tube. 

Rachel got brave enough to ride on her own!

Elijah is having a "moment"...he is still learning that we need to take turns. :-) Anna is helping him get his hat back on. 

Elijah is trying to convince Daddy it's his turn again...

Rachel was ready to come in.

Now, this is just TEN days later...on March 13th...like I said, this weather is crazy!

I glanced out to check on the kids and thought to myself..."Wow, that's a lot of kids. The neighbors must be over."  Ha ha - the joke's on me! It was just I had never seen ALL seven of my children outside together at the same time. LOL 

Elijah always enjoys playing with any type of ball.

Sarah got some cute close-ups too.

Please forgive his snot-encrusted nose...but it was too cute not to share. He's little personality is growing everyday.

A few Ds moms have teased me that Jonathan really doesn't have Ds since he has such a  pronounced nasal bridge. LOL I can assure you that he does, but this is a good photo of it. If he never needs glasses, we should have an easier time fitting him. :-)

Rebekah

Anna

Happy handsome boy!

Beautiful sunset for a beautiful day

Rebekah goofin' around as usual

Rachel is learning to ride the little bike. This bike was handed down to us by Pat's sister. Her youngest is a junior in high school! It has seen it's better days, but it still works. :-)

The day before this, March 12th, Sarah got some very beautiful photos of a rainbow out our front door. Please click HERE to go  her blog to see more photos and read the beautiful post she wrote about God's promises and "her" precious Lyla. (If you aren't already following/reading Sarah's blog  http://matthew18vs14.blogspot.com , you really should. She's a great blogger and advocate too.) 

I have much more to update about (like Elijah's first week at school, the Block Party and the AWANA Grand Prix), but this is long enough for now. Hopefully I'll get back here soon!

Not just Elijah! And chunky monkey update!

It's not just Elijah that's addicted that loves Signing Time! Jonathan has recently started taking an interest in the TV.. esp Signing Time. :)

"What are you taking pictures of? What wrong with me? This isn't blog worthy, I just like Signing Time!"

Sarah here..

Jonathan is pulling up on just about anything and everything!! And he's crawling super fast, and walking with assistance (video coming soon!)! He's also getting into everything and doing crazy things like pulling the heat register out of the floor! LOL

He also likes to take books away from the people who are reading them and eat read them himself. But when you are done with a book and hand it to him, he wants nothing to do with it. Same with a toy Elijah or Rachel has. Typical kid!

A smile close to his cheesy smile, but not quite. Just ask his therapists or Me-mom/"Nana" what it looks like! :)

His naughty face - I tell him, I'm not as easily persuaded as Summer (love you friend!) is to let him get away with something if he smiles. LOL But sometimes I lose and he wins! :)

The other day, he was playing with a bag (not a plastic grocery bag!), and I told him not to put it in his mouth, and he gives me his big cheesy grin.  I turn back and he puts it back in his mouth, I turn and tell him to get it out of his mouth. He takes is out and gives me a big cheesy grin. Repeat the sequence several times, and I finally took it away from him. He whined and told me what he thought of me. Stinker-doodle! He may be 1, but boy, does he understand a lot!

He's doing great in therapy, he just started OT (Occupational), along with PT (Physical) and ST (Speech, which also works with him on feeding issues like new textures). No health concerns, besides mama and sissy's arm which are about to fall off from holding E and J, who do not hold on, and treat our arms like recliners!! :) He has gained over 6 pounds since he came home, which is a lot since he was so big already. He also seems to be a lot taller too as of late. He's grown about 3 inches since he got home, but it seems like more than that since he was so floppy. His tubes seem to he helping, he is a lot more alert, and responds to his name a lot more (when he wants to).  All around, he is a happy chunky little monkey! :)

Here's a video of him and Elijah -

SPREAD THE WORD TO END THE WORD

(I copied this from Sarah's blog. :-) She's a MUCH better blogger than me!) I also posted my personal thoughts on this subject HERE.

Today is the day to raise awareness about the R-word (retard. retarded). To put an end to the use of it. When you use the word, it hurts those with special needs (such as Down syndrome, like my brothers have), their families, and their loved ones.

Why does it hurt? The R-word hurts because it is exclusive. It’s offensive. It’s derogatory. The R-word is hate speech. (Taken from here, click to read more about the history of the R-word.)

Today, I'm going to ask you to PLEASE stop using the R-word. 

You have no idea who you are hurting by using it, and it's socially unacceptable. You can sign the petition here (or click on the button below) to stop using the word. Thank you!!

Let's replace the R-word with a new R-word: RESPECT!

"You're allowed to be humiliating, degrading and hurtful. I'm allowed to petition you to at least recognize what you say and be aware of the option you have to stop." Tim Shriver

Also please take some time to watch this awesome video! :)

Lilly's Birthday Bash

I know it's been a long time since I've posted! I have lots of updates to share, but just two things tonight.

1. A few people have asked me how court turned out for the Evensen family I posted about a couple weeks ago when they needed urgent prayer. Thank you all for praying because they passed court and hope to have "Gotcha Day" tomorrow! Praise God! But their journey home is far from over. Their sweet little Micah has literally spent his life in a crib. The trip to get his passport photo taken did NOT go well for this precious little one. If you want to read about it, click HERE. (Rachelle had to close out the boys' bank accounts at the same bank Elijah's account was held. I also walked past this bank dozens of times (4x/day for 3 weeks). It was fun to see the same street vendors in the exact same places over a year later! :-)) Anyway, please continue to pray for their journey home, especially for Micah's journey. Thanks!

2. Lilly's Birthday Bash!!!!

Click on the photo to read more about Lilly's Birthday Bash

Please head over to Sarah and Rachel's blog to read about Lilly's Birthday Bash! Sarah and Rachel work very hard to make items to sell to raise money for Lilly's grant fund. The hearts these two have for orphans is absolutely amazing to me. I wish I could take credit for Sarah's passion, but it is truly God-given. I know Sarah and Rachel would like nothing better than for Lilly's family to find her and SOON! To help the girls celebrate Lilly's birthday, you can do several things: Adopt, Donate, Buy, Share, Grab, Follow, and PRAY! Click HERE for more details. :-) If you do any of the above, please email them and let them know so you can be entered in their give-away.  Be quick though as it ends tomorrow (Monday)! Thanks for your help!

New Do!

Little boys....

...always look cuter with spiked hair, no?

**Hair do courtesy of his big sister Sarah... aka me! :)

Lovin' the Vacuum!

Yesterday we discovered Jonathan's LOVE for the vacuum! :)

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST!!!

I have just a minute as a couple kids are already buckled in the van as we are heading out for a Valentine's party, but this is IMPORTANT.

A wonderful family is in country right now and need us all to storm heaven on their behalf. A judge is not sure they should be named the parents of two very special orphans after court today, but will meet again tomorrow. One of these little guys has a very fond place in my heart as he was in Elijah's grouppa. He has since been transferred to a nearby institution - the same one Elijah would have been transferred to if he had not been adopted - but this is the first international adoption from this facility. PLEASE PRAY for a softening of the judge's heart and that the Evensons would be named Gideon and Micah's parents. They desperately need to come HOME.

See Sarah's blog http://matthew18vs14.blogspot.com/2012/02/please-storm-heaven.html for pictures and more details. And most definitely stop by the Evenson's blog http://addtothebeauty-evensen.blogspot.com/2012/02/court-bad-news-and-good-news.html and leave them an encouraging comment to let them know you are praying for them.

Just a reminder - THIS IS WAR!

Handmade Potholders by Anna For Sale

My daughter, Anna, made potholders to sell for money for a girl named Ellie. Ellie is an orphan with Down syndrome in Russia and recently turned seven years old  Of course, she desperately needs a family! Anna has really developed a heart to help the orphans and this is one way she feels she can help raise her grant fund. Anna did a guest post on Sarah's blog about Ellie. You can read it HERE.

The potholders are made from 100% cotton loops, so they do not transfer heat or melt like the nylon loops (from W*l-Mart) would. Anna gifted me with one of these potholders and I love it! I use it all the time. It is just the right size to grab a cookie sheet out of the oven or to used a trivet under a hot pan. They measure just under 6" square each. They are very thick. She is asking for a $3 donation to Ellie's grant fund for each potholder. They are $3.00 each. (Although I do know the paypal fees would be less for RR if the donation was over $5.) Shipping is free.

Please email me at contentmentathome @ gmail.com (remove spaces) with your preferred choice from below and your address. Click HERE to donate to her account and we'll get your potholder out to your right away. Anna designed the potholders herself and took the photos too. :-)

Note: More coming soon!! :)

Potholder #9

Potholder #8

Potholder #7 - SOLD!

Potholder #6 - SOLD!

Potholder #5 - SOLD!

Potholder #4 - SOLD!

Potholder #3 - SOLD!

Potholder #2 - SOLD!

Potholder #1 - SOLD!

Please help Anna earn money for Ellie's grant! Thanks for your help!

Can YOU do this?!?!?

Elijah is ever so slightly addicted to Leah's farm, a Signing Time episode. So much so that he's constantly asking for it, and when he does get to watch it, he watches it like this -

Yup, he is doing the SPILTS, with his legs flat against the cabinet, craning his neck up to see the TV. And if you look closely, his right arm is also twisted around so his palm is facing up.

Can YOU do that?!?!?

Ya, I didn't think so. That's ok, I can't either! :)

Here's a segment from the song - 

Mom's goal is to learn all the signs. :) I'll be sure to post a vid of her doing it here when she has it down... hehe