Hope for Alea

Alea needs a miracle.

Without one she will not live.

Miracles are hard enough, but as an orphan in China, with no mom or dad to champion her, with no health insurance to cover her, a miracle seems even more hard to imagine.

Alea is currently being loved and cared for by the amazing people at  New Day Foster Home in China (the same amazing people who saved and cared for Cooper). But, with organs rarely available for donation in China and the cost of any surgery (in China or in the US) being incredibly high, they are not currently able to provide her the life-saving surgery that she so desperately needs.

As we see it though, there are four miracles that are possible for Alea:

1. Functioning liver
     *Miracle: God heals her and her liver begins functioning.

2. Surgery in China
    *Miracle: A liver donation becomes available. (Almost no organs are available in China, but they
      have put her on the list.....in case a miracle happens. If a miracle does happen, the surgery would
      cost approx. $65,000.)

3. Surgery in the United States
    *Miracle: Raise $300,000 to cover the immuno-supressant drugs Alea would need post-transplant. We have a hospital ready and waiting to provide this surgery if we can raise the money. All we need is MONEY. Aure, in this economy maybe that's hard....but really? Are we going to let a little money stand in the way of saving Alea's life?

4. Adoption
    *Miracle: A family comes forward to adopt her. FAST.

While that all might seem so intimidating, she has four miracles that are possible for her! Not one, but four.

We are here to raise hope for Alea in every possible way- helping to make one (or more) of those miracles a reality!

How can you help? 

Four different ways, of course.

1. Pray for God to heal Alea's liver.


2. Pray for a liver to become available in China, and help us raise $65,000 to pay for her surgery!


3. Help us raise $300,000 to pay for the immuno-suppressant drugs so that she is able to have surgery here in the US.


4. Pray for a family to come forward to adopt Alea. (Her adoption would be able to be expedited due to her medical need.)

The exciting news is that not one of these miracles is too hard for God! We just get the privilege of being a part of the story He is writing with Alea's life!

On Monday at the Hope For Alea website, we unveiled a HUGE Red Envelope fundraiser we have put together to give Alea HOPE! 

We want to make ALL of those miracles a possibility for Alea. So, we are going to ask God to raise an amount of money that New Day has never raised before in one fundraising push.......$65,000 and up to $300,000 to make these miracles for Alea a possibility!

Would you prayerfully consider giving to help save Alea's life?
Every dollar is tax deductible, and every dollar matters!
Skip Starbucks and give.
Eat plain pasta one night with your family, and give.
Find a way to cut $25, $50, or $100 form your budget this month to give.
I know, it's not easy.
Sacrifice never is.

But, it IS worth it. 

Alea has no mom or dad to champion her.
She has no health insurance.
Some would say she has very little hope.

But, it doesn't have to be that way!

Together, with God's help, we can be part of a miracle for Alea.

Don't miss your chance to be part of a miracle!

Alea

I'd like you to meet Alea.

Alea was born in China on September 28, 2011 and abandoned three months later on December 28th at the local bank.  The police were called but were unable to locate Alea's parents. She was taken to the local orphanage. There was a note with her telling of her medical condition. The orphanage realized they would not be able to provide the care (including surgery) that Alea would need, so they contacted New Day Foster Home asking if they would be willing to try to help save her. Alea arrived at New Day on February 22, 2012.

Alea was born with severe biliary atresia, and she needs a liver transplant to survive. On April 9th, I received this "Knee Time" prayer e-mail from New Day explaining that organs for transplants are virtually nonexistant in China. Without a miracle, Alea would not survive.

I don't know about you, but I read that and I think. That IS NOT okay. There has to be a way. I e-mailed Karen, the director at New Day, and asked her if the orphanage would allow Alea to come to the states for surgery if we found a hospital and doctors who were willing to do it pro bono. She said that they would allow that.

The next day, I posted a simple request on Facebook: who has a high-level contact at a children's hospital in the US that might be able to help little Alea?

Several people contacted me, and they all went to work contacting their contacts. Meanwhile, we prayed and waited to see what God would do.

And God did what God does: He showed up, and He moved mountains (a whole mountain range, in fact).

I cannot give any details yet, however there is a major children's hospital here in the US that is in the FINAL stages of approving Alea's liver transplant surgery thanks to the contacts, persistence, and hard work of another New Day mom, advocate for orphans, and friend of mine, Andrea.

This hospital is awaiting just one final approval from a woman who is on vacation this week and will return next week. We anticipate their final decision next week.

In addition, Andrea also made some calls and found an organization to cover the cost of Alea's medical visa, transportation to the States, and her passport. (Yeah, Andrea is no joke I tell ya, and she's got connections.)

WOW. And I thought that it might be hard. Not with God, it's not.

There is a thing or two that is not covered, and we will get to that....but for now, I wanted you to fall in love with little Alea, to print out her picture, stick it on your fridge, and for you to PRAY without ceasing for her.

Pray that all the final approvals will come through and we will get the green light to bring her to the states for the surgery to save her life.

Pray that the sea of red tape will part to make it possible for Alea to get here sooner than later.

Pray for Alea to remain healthy and strong while she waits and prepares for surgery.

Pray.....and thank God for His provision for Alea, and ask Him to continue to continue to move mountains for Alea, because there are many more to come!

For those of you who will ask me, "How can I help?".....stay tuned! There are a few things that Alea still needs, so if you would like to be a part of a miracle, then you will have an opportunity to very, very soon!


Meanwhile, just look at her little face and dream about what God can do in and through her little life....because He has already started!

Easter

I love Easter. I love it- it is my favorite holiday (in the sense of holy-day)- because of it's spiritual significance.

Cooper also loves Easter. Less so because of it's spiritual significance, and mostly because it involves an insane amount of chocolate.

We started the celebration a day early with an Egg Hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It's weird. The Easter bunny leaves CASH in some of these eggs. Why he doesn't do that at our house, I'm not sure! As a result of the cash, the competition is fierce

Yes, that's a $20 bill in Cooper's loot bag. He was the big Easter winner this year. Why can't I get in on the egg hunting action?

Easter morning, the kids had a quick egg hunt before we headed off to church.

We hosted Easter dinner for a total of 17 people, even WITHOUT a working stove top or oven. That was interesting. Chloe and I discovered Hershey's Kisses stickers, and we love them. We especially enjoyed these FREE printables for our Easter kisses!

After dinner, the kids dug right into their candy. I love how they went directly for the huge chocolate bunny! :)

All in all, it was a great day- but getting a great family picture? That's next to impossible! This was the best we could accomplish!

Thankfully, Chloe is alway photogenic.

It was a great week preparing for and then celebrating Easter. I thought the kids had a really good understanding (as much as a 5 or 6 year old could understand) of Christ's sacrifice for us and of what His resurrection means. The just yesterday though, Cooper prayed this prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you that you got down off that cross and you didn't died. Thank you for putting our sins in that big hole behind the rock. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.


So, I think maybe something got a little lost in translation there. We're gonna keep working on that!

One last note along those lines: just a couple of days before Easter, I discovered this awesome way to help your kids experience and understand the Easter story. I did some of this with the kids, but really limited because I didn't have all the stuff on hand. However, I am bookmarking it, and I am definitely going to do it in it's entirety with the kids next year. (In fact, if you have not already bookmarked the Impress Your Kids blog, then you are really missing out!)

Lastly, Easter morning service brought me to tears with an amazing presentation of the following song in church by a friend of mine. I had heard it before, but that morning, the truth of it moved me to tears. I meditated on these words all week long. I hope you are as encouraged by it as I have been.

I am His because He is ALIVE!

What We've Been Up To

Wow- our days have been full, and we've been them. Here is just a taste to catch you up.

Basketball. Chloe has never enjoyed playing any sport, but basketball may just be her sport. She's still all about socializing and making friends on the court (during a game), but hey....we're all a work in progress, right?

Cooper has taken to writing. He learned his letters and all their sounds INCREDIBLY fast upon arriving home, but recently has begun writing.  I left the room the other day and came back to this:

I thought that was pretty creative. I helped him spell "love" in this next sentence, but didn't know what he was writing till he told me to come look.

"I love mom." Yep....his first written sentence. He knows how to kiss up! :) Turns out that he also is a crazy puzzle fanatic, and he is unbelievably good at it. His concentration is amazing. He is NOT a quitter (as if I didn't already know that!).

Saturdays at 8:00am, where do we go? Ballet. Oh my. 8:00am....what was I thinking? But, Chloe really enjoys it. Good thing too, because it is at 8:00 AM on a SATURDAY.

We've also been working on Chloe's room. She wanted a "Paris" themed room, and I was happy to oblige. It isn't completely done yet, but for my first (ever) DIY project, I made her a changeable art gallery (a la The Louvre) for her room. This girl LOVES to create artwork, and she needed a place to hang her masterpieces. Now, she has it:

In between all that, we enjoyed a nice, traditional St. Patrick's Day. My 100% Irish dad might finally be proud because we made corned beef and cabbage. Scot is a great cook, so he even created his own recipe for sauteed cabbage with carrots, and it was delicious! (There is bacon in there too...yum!)

I handled dessert: Pot O' Gold cupcakes. Making them made me happy!  The kids loved them too!

Seemed appropriate, because I feel like the luckiest girl alive. I've been stopping to enjoy the small moments in life more, and it's been great.

Next up....a post about Easter! :)

Losing Our Marbles

Is it March already? Really? I'm pretty sure I just packed up my Christmas decorations!

I haven't been blogging for a few reasons, I've been busy with life, my life is boring (hence nothing to write about unless you want a run-down of my mom-taxi itinerary for the day), and.....well......one other thing.

We've turned into the Grumpy Family.

Has this ever happened to your family? You start to slip into bad patterns of speaking to each other? The kids spend the day tattling, name-calling, complaining, arguing, yelling at each other, having temper tantrums, and generally acting completely selfish. Then, the parents who are at their wits end (as if that is any excuse), spend their days cajoling, bribing, nagging and yelling, and then spend their nights crying, discussing, and alleviating some stress with some Ben and Jerry's Smores ice cream (you know, hypothetically speaking).

It took one really bad day- full of temper tantrums, talking-back, arguing, and really lousy attitudes- and one really delicious (hypothetical) pint of Ben and Jerry's Smores ice cream for us to decide that enough was enough. We are NOT interested in being this family, and we can make some changes.

I spent one morning out at the local craft store to get all I needed to execute our plan, and we called a Family Meeting where we unveiled this:

I wish it had a flashy name.

But, it doesn't. We just call them our marble jars.

I took a very simple motivational tool from my teacher days (the class marble jar), bumped it up a notch, individualized it and viola........we're on the road to treating people the way God would like us to treat them (and how we'd like to be treated as well).

It cost me a little to get these cheap candle jars and the scrapbook sticker letters for their names, but it was worth every penny (I had the marbles).

Scot and I discussed the things that really needed to improve around here: kindness, respect, and obedience being at the top of the list. Our church uses a curriculum that focuses on one virtue each month, so we decided that we would also  try to develop that trait in our kids monthly. So, each of these character qualities has it's own small jar of marbles.

Obedience, respect, and kindness will remain for a LONG time. So, I printed their definitions on sticker paper and stuck them to the glass. (I included a definition for each as well, but since kindness and respect had definitions that were very similar, I used a Bible verse for kindness instead.)

"Conviction" is the virtue for this month, so we just stuck that one on with tape. It will be replaced next month with a new virtue (hope).

The premise is simple: if you do things that are kind, respectful, and obedient, mom and dad will tell you to take a marble from the corresponding jar and put it into your marble jar. If you are unkind, disrespectful, or disobedient (including having to be asked several times to do something), you will be asked to remove a marble from your marble jar, and return it to the jar that corresponds to the trait you were having trouble with.

When the jar with your name on it has marbles high enough to go over the line, you earn a privilege or reward of your choosing (from a list that was mutually brainstormed and agreed upon at our Family Meeting). Some examples include a night out with mom or dad, a small toy, dinner of your choice, etc. Each child chose a reward to work towards, and (at Sawyer's insistence) picked a particular virtue they needed the most improvement on so they could focus on improving in that area. To my dismay, Chloe chose to focus on "conviction". That girl has enough conviction to last her a lifetime. She could work on being a bit less willing to take a stand and more willing to obey, in my humble opinion. But, since I give out the marbles, I'm not too concerned. It's sort of my ace in the hole.

Sure, this is complete behavior modification.  They are not currently exemplifying these behaviors because they know that they are right, they are doing it to earn marbles. (But previously they weren't exemplifying the behaviors at all, so it's a win for me!)  However, in theory, this will draw their attention to the negative behaviors and attitudes, and motivate them to use the traits to earn marbles thereby reinforcing good behavior and (hopefully) creating new habits.

Today was Day 1.

And it went VERY well. Seriously, I think I got new kids.

They were bending backwards trying to help each other (prompting a suggestion of a jar for "helpfulness"), I only had to ask once and they were off to do what I asked, and they suddenly were SUPER focused on having a good attitude and going above-and-beyond to do what is right because they want to get a marble. 

This mom wasn't too concerned about their motivation. My sanity got a BIG boost today.

One word: WINNING.

And, with a little intentionality and laser focus on making better choices, these things will become habit. I'm sure of it.

My favorite part of today is that I was upstairs for a bit when I heard Sawyer get really frustrated with Chloe. In the end, he totally yelled at her.

I didn't say anything.

A little bit later, I gave him a marble for being kind to Chloe. When I did, he said, "Ok, but a little while ago I yelled at Chloe, so I think I need to also take out a marble to put back in the 'respect' jar."

Ahhhhhhhh, now that is progress. I've got them consciously thinking about and focusing on their behavior. It's just a matter of time now.

As an added benefit, it has completely stopped a couple of Cooper's temper tantrums before they actually started when he obeyed, and I awarded him a marble just as he was about to throw himself down, stomp, cry and completely lose it. Of course, when he screamed at Chloe and had to take a marble out, he made up for it with a nice big meltdown, but hey, you can't win them all. (As a side note: I'm reevaluating whether or not he's mature enough to handle this or not. He'll hate not being included, and he TOTALLY understands the concept- when he calmed down tonight, he was able to explain exactly why he didn't get a marble. However, emotionally, he may not be able to handle the whole "take a marble out" thing.  I may have to make some modifications for him- maybe that I'll correct him and tell him he won't get a marble, but not actually have him take one out. Then, I can just take one out when he doesn't notice. I don't know.)

I know that this is a phase. We've been through it before, and truth be told, it's a short phase. When we've corrected it before, the kids remember how we want to be as a family, and things get better. We just let it go too far this time, and we needed a more formal reminder.

I'm encouraged when I remember what someone once said (and this is bad paraphrase): you aren't a bad parent if you make mistakes. You are a bad parent if you see those mistakes, but do nothing to fix them.

We make a whole lot of mistakes, but we are not afraid to put our family on an improvement plan so that our family, as a whole and as individuals, can be a reflection of God's character and used for His glory.

Birthday #2

When Cooper's birthday rolled around, it was during a bad week for me. LOTS of stuff going on, and not a lot of time be be all creative with the party theme.

Cooper is O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D. with Cars (with a capital "C"). Lightning Mc*Queen. Finn Mc*Missle. You name it. He loves it.

I liberally feed his obsession because a) I'm a complete sucker for him and b) I might be a recovering Cars-aholic myself. I decline to say more about that, but suffice it to say, the cars don't buy themselves. With Sawyer, my excuse was "potty-training rewards". I have yet to find my excuse for Cooper. Does "I think he's wicked cute so when he asks for something small I can't refuse" count?!?!?

I digress.

On the afternoon before the party and the morning OF the party though, I felt a bit guilty that I had not come up with the personal touches for Cooper's party that I had for Chloe's party. So, I quickly whipped up some things.

And, I was even impressed with myself- maybe I haven't lost my innate ability as a teacher to create something pretty cool out of nothing in a very short period of time. It also helped that I've seen the movie and read the books nothing short of a billion times.

First, I printed the signs I knew I wanted to use off the internet. I have NO idea where I got these pictures. I literally used a search engine to find what I was looking for and printed off what I liked. No time for bookmarking.

I put a sign over the goodies table to make it into "Flo's V8 Cafe". (As you can see, I purchased a banner for Cooper at his request. Have I mentioned I'm a sucker for him?)

On the goodies table, I brought back the apples and dip after it was a huge success at Chloe's party. This was even more popular with the boys I must say! I put some cones from our home-made "Cozy Cone Motel" around it just for fun.

My favorite thing was our "Casa Della Tires" plate. Also a huge hit!

For refreshments, I had two options: Fillmore's Organic "Fuel" (water or juice)..........

 (I got the "fuel" labels at GwynnWassonDesigns on Etsy. I highly recommend her shop. TONS of stuff, well done, quick service, reasonable prices. I literally purchased the labels less than 24 hours before the party and had the bottles totally ready to go 2 hours after purchasing them! Awesome!)

.....OR "Allinol" (soda), the Official Fuel of the World Grand Prix (in Cars 2).

I put the goodie bags in an actual army footlocker that my Father-in-Law has restored for each of the boys with a sign designating it as "Sarge's Surplus Hut".

As an added bonus, I got the Cars Pe*z dispensers for $0.75 each after Christmas! AWESOME!

I set up another coloring station with printables from the official Cars website.

 And, of course, had a place where the boys could all play cars to their heart's content! This was by far the ht of the party!!

As for a cake, Cooper is all about getting the "same thing" as the other two kids. So, he immediately nixed my plans to make special Lightning McQueen cupcakes and instructed me to go to the grocery store and buy a cake "just like Chloe's" (meaning he wanted a store-bought cake form the same place Chloe got hers).  So, this is what he chose:

I guess it saved me time anyway, and it was cute. 

In the end, I was VERY happy with how it all came together, the guests had fun, and Cooper was beaming! It was a wonderful way to celebrate all things Cooper! 

Happy birthday, Buddy! I don't think I'll ever stop praising God for blessing us with you! You are indeed very wonderfully made, and a precious gift from God to our family!

Birthday #1

Now that I got that off my chest, time to talk about the FUN stuff!

I don't love having two kids with birthdays closely following Christmas (and closely following each other). There is no post-holiday lull around here. When Christmas is over, we rip down the decorations to create the illusion that there is some time between it and Chloe's birthday. When Chloe's birthday is over, we move right into Chinese New Year, and usually DURING the CNY celebration week, Cooper's birthday arrives.

Last year, we were newly home from China, and I was still having day-long headaches. We kept everything to a bare minimum. This year, however, I really wanted to give the parties some attention and make them special in small ways.

When Chloe said she wanted a "Tangled" party, I knew EXACTLY where to turn for inspiration: Rebecca. I've read her blog for a LONG time. Long before either of us brought our children home from China, but recently, I have LOVED her blog for a whole new reason- she provides me with ENDLESS inspiration. These days, I am inspired by her fun, intentional, easy, creative kid-friendly ideas on almost every topic on a near daily basis. Seriously, you should bookmark her blog- you'll be glad you did!

Anyway, when Chloe said she wanted a Tangled party, I remembered Rebecca's post about the Tangled party she threw for her daughter. SO.....I clicked over and had enough ideas to make an AWESOME Tangled party for Chloe. (I'm not going to re-link all her links. If you want to know where I got all my ideas....just head over to Rebecca's post! :) )

First, we made some super-cute party favors. (We spent a couple "Friday Mornings with Chloe" doing these together.)

On the day of the party, we set up a few different stations where kids could have fun. They could be an artist like Rapunzel:

Or they could read a book (or maybe two or three) in the reading area. Scot thought this would go largely unused by party guests. I'm happy to report, it was more popular than coloring! :)

All books chosen by my kids.

We also played "Pin the Nose on Flynn Ryder"- that was the biggest hit of the party!

Of course, the menu also reflected the movie: guests got their drinks, (root) beer of course,  at the "Snuggly Duckling" pub,

we "repurposed" Maximus' favorite treat, apples, by slicing them and offering chocolate and caramel dipping sauces (notice we served them in a frying pan....also Rebecca's idea....genius, I tell you!),

But the biggest hit of the party treat-wise, were the "Boats on the Lake". All the adults loved how they looked, all the kids LOVED how they tasted! :) Score!

My creativity stopped at building a cake tower, but when the woman at the local grocery store said they did not have a "Tangled" themed cake, I wasn't sure what to do. She said, however, that she thought she could make us something we'd really love. She'd seen the movie and was willing to create a design entirely her own if we'd trust her. "Sure thing", we said! She did not disappoint!

All in all, it was a really great day. I enjoyed putting together some creative touches with Chloe to make her party special, and Chloe had a GREAT day!

After this party, I had just enough time to rest up and plan for Party #2. Details coming soon!