6 months!

We are nearing the 6 month marker for Sarah being home! It has gone so quickly and she has made incredible progress! She never ceases to amaze me! Sometimes she finishes my sentences when I can't think of the word. She has a wonderful sense of humor! We can joke together and we know what each other means. It has truly helped her deal with her minor insecurities and jealousies! She knows the truth and she knows things are pretty fair but she can't help but want the reassurance-  we do not mind giving it to her. Truly this wonderful little girl was meant to be in our family and we are so thrilled she is with us! A blessing beyond belief

Sarah can now understand our little Anna better than us. Okay, at first I was thinking "no way" but it is true! She often will tell us what Anna is saying. Because of her bilateral cleft Anna is sometimes difficult to understand. She is talking so fast and so much that I am often saying "What did you say honey?" and Sarah tells me what Anna is saying!

We got a trampoline in our yard this week. The kids are having a blast! You never see a sad kid on a trampoline! They are always smiling! It has been a draw for the neighborhood kids- Sarah loves it! Today she came inside and Dad said "Sarah, you have lots of friends!" She said "I know!" It is so nice for a child who has only been home 6 months and who has been home schooled the whole time to feel like she has lots of friends! I should have taken a pic with all the kids on it but I didn't- oops! Here is a pic of our kids having fun on the tramp! It is even bonding for family!

Meet #13!

PA arrived today!! WoooHooooo!! So this little darling will be coming home too!!

We are so grateful to our dear Lord for these two special blessing! 

This is an old picture of her. She is currently 5 yrs. I have a few new pics that I will post later but this is the one that we saw... and after seeing it we could not get her out of our minds. She was named Arizona on some of the special focus waiting child lists. 

Annie- you can place her in the matched category now!! Thank you for showing us our darling little girl!! If you would like to see pics of other waiting children go over to my sidebar and click on Wonderful Waiting Kids button!

We did not hear God voice when we saw this little cutie. I did mention to him that it would be nice to have the certainty that we just had so HE should feel free to do it again! But no audible words were spoken. We prayed over our adoption situation for  couple months asking God to reveal our child to us. I had this feeling inside that he was saying to me... I have.

And sure enough he had! 

She is all ours!!

Staying Focused

Struggling- that's what I've been doing. It is so natural for me to want to take over and control the situation. But the situation is not mine to control, it is his. There is no way I can do this journey without him, not for a second. This was not my brilliant idea but at times I like to take credit for it- this is his desire for me, for us. This is how he has commissioned us to serve him.

I cannot do it without him. When I try to take control emotions enter in, chaos, frustration, questioning and personal desires seep into what is his, what is beautiful and what is pleasing. I need to step aside. I need to give my heart and soul to him. I need to live in peace and obey.

Honestly, I am happier that way. It seems so right when he is in control. We live in a world where their are so many standards but they aren't his. They are the standards of people, people who are operating not my faith but by their own will. And they are certain they are right and quick to cast judgement.

Keep my eyes are on you, oh Lord, my desires are to follow you, to serve you in whatever capacity you direct me. You bring me great joy! You free me from the bondage of the world. Please keep me close to you, please strengthen me to follow only your desires. To you, I am eternally grateful.

Should Art be considered in the process of letting go?

Distracting visual clutter not only affects horizontal surfaces but also vertical ones. But should Art be considered in the process of letting go?

"You've inspired me to another level of desire for a simple living. However, I do enjoy art [...] There are always some that are in my closet, as I don't have the space to hang them all, awaiting their turn to be brought out" wrote one reader.

When recently discussing the subject of living simply with mostly bare walls, a friend told me that he was intrigued and he too argued: "One needs some visual pleasure (beauty) in the home, don't you think?".

I understand the attachment to Art, as I too used to fill my walls with it. I hung on to Art for reasons such as: A home has to have Art, Art shows that I am educated, Art proves that I am an artist. Today, I no longer consider these reasons valid.

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we now only display a handful of non-functional pieces: the occasional glass of flowers or foraged plants, the painting on our largest wall, the found animal skull in the playroom (Max enjoys science and biology) and a couple of pieces in our shared office/studio. But we're not forever-attached to any of them. I find that visual beauty abounds around us and does not need to be canvas-bound. Beauty "is in the eye of the beholder" and can be found everywhere and anywhere: In the yellow bird outside of my window, in the light filtering through my chihuahua's ears, in the new shoots sprouting from my living wall, in my kids smiles, and in simple functional items in the home.

Furthermore, I have come to realize that:

• Showing less allows each individual piece to breathe and allows the viewer to fully emerge himself into it, without the distraction of neighboring pieces. In quantity, the individuality of each piece gets in part lost to "the competition" (the ones next to it) on a wall. But when a piece is isolated, it is "put on a pedestal" and given every opportunity to shine, inspire, and amaze.

• Overtime, many pieces lose their appeal. After the initial excitement, they lose their visual novelty and get forgotten (you'll walk by them, and won't notice them anymore): Sometimes due to a switch in decorating style or frame, sometimes due to relocating (to a darker corner for example), sometimes due to a fading trend: Remember when the velvet paintings were cool? Pieces (along with their frames) as such can however interest collectors/museums or be reused by artists and made into "new".

• Walls with windows, do not need art: A window can be a frame displaying beautiful nature, a living piece of art.

• The lighter the load, the easier the move. Moving Art is no easy task.

• A functional item can often fill or balance an "empty" area: Relocating a live plant, a chair or a lamp will often do the trick.

• Supporting local artists is an honorable reason to collect, supporting ZeroWaste artists is even better, when purchasing Art, look for Art that is 100% compostable or made from 100% recycled material.

We have not missed any of the "beautiful" pieces that we used to own and have sold. We now rather find "beauty" in living simply.

I don't expect many of you to agree with me here... What do you think: Shouldn't Art be considered in the process of "forming better shopping habits, sharing with others, or making Zero Waste manageable" (as mentioned in this previous post)?

Emma's First Day of School!

Emma started school last Monday!

She was very excited to be in the classroom, eat her bag lunch and to ride the bus!

I have many "mixed feelings"...

This was not part of the original dream.

I had hoped to be able to keep everyone home and educate them at home.

But there were a few snags in the dream

and

reality has lead us to utilize some of the services outside of our home.

In case you are wondering what "snags" we incurred.

 I will share them with you.

1. More children have joined our family than originally planned- I love that part! BUT it has made it very challenging for this novice homeschooling Momma.

2. We have many medical needs and many appointments. Of course I always hope that will change in the future but who knows?

3. All of our homeschooling children are relatively "new"  and they all need ME and MY ATTENTION and my help.

I did try to have Sarah be more independent and recently realized that she had been completely skipping the writing, grammar and partial reading in the curriculum she was working on.

I was NOT happy...

(BUT, I blame myself...) 

 Although she is 13 yrs old, she has only been home for 4.4 years and when she has questions she needs me to be available. She also needs me to hold her accountable.

4. A few of our children have moderate to severe learning disabilities. We have had 3 tested so far and realized what we suspected is actually correct. They need someone with them full time so they can learn too. They need someone who is trained in teaching a child with that special need.

As one woman stated... I cannot be too proud to ask for help when I need it.

Since some of the children's needs are greater than expected we need more than just one teacher, more than just me.

 I will be honest in saying the burden to meet every ones needs academically, medically and emotionally was a little too much.

There is just not enough of me to go around.

So we had to make some prayerful decisions.

We are happy with the decisions we have made and feel that by utilizing services available to us we can better meet all of our children's needs.

We wanted to give it a try this spring and since the timing with the IEP worked out, Emma was able to go to a couple weeks of school before summer break!

A few of our children need one on one help. Some need repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition... while others need more challenges and supervision.

We feel so very blessed to have our children home from China. 

Sometimes I find myself wearing so many different hats that I don't get a chance to just be 

"Loving MOM".

I don't want to be robbed of that title and that opportunity!

I don't want to be frustrated with myself and with my child.

I want a neutral person to do some of the daily grind (as they so eloquently put it at the neuro psych evaluation).

We have worked really hard to get them were they are at right now.

We are so thankful to God and we are very proud of each child.

For some of our children learning is a big challenge.

If we did not like our local schools we would not have sent Emma.

We happen to live in an excellent school district with many resources!

She only has 4 more days left and then she will be home for summer break!

Emma is currently in 6th grade, 7th grade next year!

Beyond Excited!

Okay, Okay- I give up! I guess it's time! (besides I need those purging tips!)


We are beyond excited for our new addition!


It has already been an amazing journey- one that only God could orchestrate!


It took us completely by surprise but once HE spoke we new he was ours! Without a doubt he was our son!


It began in late November 2009. I was blog hopping and stumbled on a pic of an adorable little guy who would be coming up for adoption in the near future. We were in process for Emma and Ellie so I was not necessarily look for a child to adopt. I was just browsing blogs...


BUT


Then I heard God speak...


It took me completely by surprise!


God said


"HE IS YOUR SON"


I immediately answered back-


"What? Really? Your kidding me?"
"But God he is so young and well, we are not!"
"But God, hubby is thinking of adopting only girls?"
"This is not what we had planned?"


I knew after I said the last sentence how silly it sounded. "not what we had planned" like that even matters!


I had goosebumps from head to toe as I stared at this picture of this adorable little one yr old boy!


Hubby was just coming home from work and he looked at me- I must have had a silly smile on my face because he said "What happened?"


I looked at him and said "You won't believe it!"


We got dinner for the kids and sat down to talk. I was so excited to tell him that I had heard God speak and what He had said but at the same time I did not know how hubby would react. After all he had previously said no boys and no one younger than Anna (2006). This precious treasure was 2.5 yrs younger than Anna.


Of course, I was still smiling, bursting at the seams and in near disbelief at what had just happened!


I told him the whole story and without hesitation he said "YES". Now mind you, I have no idea what we were saying yes to- we had no referral, no information, no nothing- BUT we had Gods words! So I guess we were saying YES- to GOD!!


In the following months we tried to find out as much info as we could but it still wasn't much to go on and there was no referral available so we prayed and put our trust in God.


The process continued with Emma and Ellie and in July they came home! Still there was no referral and no new info on this little guy. Knowing that we are on the road to aging out of China adoption, we made the decision to bring home Sam and Ava. We felt nudged by God to continue our pace and get "our children" home.


I was concerned... had we gone against God's word? Were we testing God? Nothing good can come from that... We prayed that if doors opened we would move through them and if this was not his will he would close them. Our desire is to serve HIM and HIM only. (we often fall short but we continue to try)


As we proceeded with Sam and Ava's adoption and we continued to pray and pray for the little guy God had spoken to us about. 


The wait for him seemed endless and we often wondered - did we misunderstand, did we already miss him, why wasn't his referral showing up- anywhere??


I have heard God speak before, I was certain of what I heard and down deep our trust was completely with HIM. No matter what was going to happened we knew HE was in control.


Just as we were about to bring our 2 treasures home the referral came. Our agency had been searching for it and they found it!! Truly we were singing praises to our Lord! 


It brought me to my knees. The words that He spoke in November of 2009 were coming true in March of 2011!


I was speechless and every time I opened my mouth I felt like I was going to burst into tears- tears of joy! 


I wanted to share it with everyone but the time was not right. We needed to get our children home from China and start the new process for our little boy!


There are so many things that have happened already in this little guys life that have been miracles. Many of you already know his story. You have prayed and fasted for him. I will be sharing them with you in future posts.

Here is the picture that I was looking at when I heard God speak!

When I look at this precious child I feel my heart swell!

We cannot wait to get him home!!

I want to fall to my knees in gratitude to our Dear LORD!

This little treasure is number #12

We are waiting for our PA for #13.

9 Reuse ideas for Cardboard in a Zero Waste Home

My thoughts on cardboard use, reuse, and recycling, through the interview questions of a cardboard manufacturer.

How important do you feel reusing recyclable materials like cardboard is today?

For the sake of the environment, it is important to prioritize reusing before recycling. The recycling process takes energy and resources; that loss can be avoided with reusing. In reducing our waste, our plastic consumption has been almost completely stopped (the only plastic product we buy on a regular basis is my husband's contact lens solution). Thanks to its weight and recyclability, cardboard has replaced many of the plastic items that we used to buy. For example, our kids use cardboard school binders instead of the laminated kind. 

Would you personally prefer to recycle cardboard in the conventional way (e.g. using local recycling facilities), or would you rather find a way to repurpose the cardboard for something else around the house? 

To lead a Zero Waste lifestyle, my family applies 5R's in order (Refuse-Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-Rot). Reuse precedes Recycle, so we prefer to repurpose the cardboard that we cannot first Refuse or Reduce. 

Do you think people today make enough of an effort to reuse and recycle in general?

Your question is timely. I visited a waste transfer station last weekend and watched people unload cars and trucks full of (what they consider) "rubbish". The material that jumped out at me as being the most prevalent and yet, widely recyclable, is cardboard. Our society makes it too easy to underestimate the value of our planet's resources but consumers need, and can easily, rise above this needless waste. 

What would be your top tips for reusing cardboard? Are there any specific things cardboard can be used for in the home?

Broken cardboard school binder dismantled for reuse

Since we exclusively buy food in bulk from the health food store and  buy household goods secondhand mostly from the thrift store, the little cardboard that makes its way into our home is from our kids' school binders and toilet paper rolls. We also receive boxes from products that we've sent to manufacturers for repair and eBay purchases (we use this site for specific items and request shipping materials to be cardboard or paper). If we don't have cardboard on hand and need some, we go dumpster diving!

Here are ways to reuse cardboard in a Zero Waste Home:

Shipping something: When you receive a parcel, put the box aside to use for your own mailings. After all, your purchase likely paid for it, so why not reuse it instead of buying a new one at the post office? I have dedicated a spot for this in my office to make it easy and automatic to reuse the ones I get. The trick here is to not get overboard: Only keep a handful, and reuse the rest in other ways (see below) or donate them. In the US, UPS accepts them, along with bubble wrap and other packing materials, for reuse.

Padding a parcel: Speaking of mailing... Cardboard can also be cut to the size of an object to protect it during shipping. It is a durable and sustainable alternative to bubble wrap or plastic-padded envelopes (to emulate the latter, simply slide two pieces of cardboard in a paper envelope!).

Craft making: Why buy card stock when the very same material sits in your recycling bin? Our family no longer buys or stores art materials at home. When we need some for a school project, we reach into our recycling bin and use whatever bits of paper or cardboard we can find. And if a teacher asks for a poster board, we unfold and cut a box to size.

Packing for a move: If you're planning an upcoming move, start collecting large boxes in a spare room now. If not, make the ones you still have from your last move, available to others by posting them on a classified ad (on Craigslist for example). People who pack for a move themselves are desperate to find free boxes and would be happy to make use of yours. 

Moving furniture: Rather than carrying heavy pieces of furniture, set them on cardboard and slide them around. This will save your hardwood floors, and more important your back! 

Donating your stuff: Our household has been refusing plastic and paper bags since 2008, so when time comes to donate the kids overgrown clothing, we keep an eye out for a cardboard box to pack and transport our donation to a local charity. Boxes are much sturdier than bags, and with their flaps paper-taped up, I can pack them high and tight!

Protecting your floor: Whether you need to protect your floor from a paint job, heavy traffic during a remodel, or your toddler's food throwing skills, cover the area with unfolded cardboard boxes. But remember: if food comes in contact with cardboard, it's best to compost it (vs. recycling it).

Storing your stuff: Before the digital age, shoe boxes collected family photos, but cardboard boxes of different sizes are still predominantly reused for storing things. Don't underestimate other cardboard forms though: your empty toilet paper roll can too serve you well. Keep spare extension cords neat and tidy by coiling and sliding them into separate rolls.

Playing pretend: Give a child an empty cardboard box and you'll open a whole imaginary world for him/her. It can be more than a house or a rocket ship: my son's friend, Camilla, once went to a costume party dressed as a gift! And this B-boy would use it to start off breaking battle;)

What cardboard item can't you avoid, and how do you reuse it?

Luke or Ben?

People always say that Ben doesn't look like Luke... What do you reckon!?

Which one is which!?

Two beautiful boys.

Feeling so blessed.

Both boys are defiantly from the same nest :) hehe!! xx

Update on Mia!

BUT, not really...

 because her measurements show she has shrunk 6cm...

and the pictures are from 2010.

To be honest we are thrilled to have these pictures of her from a couple years ago.

All of our children treasure pictures of themselves when they were younger.

She was 8-9 yrs old in these pics.

I hope we are able to get even younger ones than this... 

and recent ones!

I guess while in the adoption process you don't get to pick and choose- you just take what you get!

Once she's home we will be taking plenty of pictures!

We also sent some question!

Mia is smaller than most of the children her age. She is under the 3% in height and weight. We think she is maybe a little bigger than Ava... Ava is 6 yr old, she will be 7 in June. Mia is 10.5... 11 in mid October.

We will be scheduling a visit to the endocrinologist once we are home! It is probably too late to be able to do much for her now but we will give it a try!

She speaks clearly (yay, no speech for this one, hopefully!)

Her Chinese is very good and she knows a few English words!

She is an average student but she learns very fast.

She likes to study Chinese and her favorite activity is dance.

She loves to play with other children. 

That is a good thing, considering the family she is coming home to!

In the pictures it looks like she is sporting some new front teeth!

They said she still had 13 baby teeth-

Hello, unreliable and forgetful tooth fairy!

(that would be me!)

They gave us the name of her best friend!

We look forward to learning more about our new daughter!

Time to Purge...

We have put this off too long. It is time to get rid of things, time to purge!


We are beginning to burst at the seams and it just shouldn't be this way. Yes we have a big family but we also have adequate space. We need to be more organized and utilize the space that we have in a better way.


I have seen others post on this and read how freeing it can be- I want that for us! 


My Mother passed away 3 years ago and we inherited many of her things. Being a product of the depression she believed every item she owned was worth a lot! On top of that everything had meaning to her. She was unable to go through her belongings herself- so we now have much of it along with my brother and sister. 


I love my parents dearly but I cannot store their things, cherish every item, remember where everything came from and have 13 children (did I just say that, hmmmm?)! I obviously am not very good at going through things and getting rid of stuff- it's genetic!


I honestly am praying over it all now. Praying for God to help us purge. To keep what he wants us to have and to give away that which we do not need.

For so long we hung onto things... thinking the older children would want them when they moved in to their own place but that has not been the case. No one wants the pink dishes from 4 houses ago... and it's time to realize no one will ever want them. Maybe to someone else they will be new, fun and useable!


It is a daunting task filled with emotion...


At one point I said to hubby if we keep going at this pace I will be dead before we get the job done! It's time to move fast and dispose quickly! 


I do not like to throw things away- I feel like I am being wasteful but keeping things makes our home cluttered and we cannot have that with 13 children in the family (did I just say that, again?)!


Have you had to do this? 
How did you do it?
What advice do you have for me?
Would you pray for us as we tackle this humoungous job!


WE have basement storage and an off site storage where we have my mom's furniture. Her furniture is little, petite, delicate and breakable- we are not any of those things.


I really hope and pray to get this humoungous job done in a timely fashion so we can move on in our life. I pray to be free of the bondage of STUFF. And free of the emotional guilt that can go along with STUFF.


One thing I have to say is - my brother(and sister in law), my sister and I went through everything in our mother's home without even arguing once! That in itself was a miracle! By doing that and still maintaining our relationships- I believe we gave her the best gift of all!


(I prayed continuously throughout the whole process- thank you Jesus! Prayer was answered!)

Volunteer Spotlight: Alina Spring

Family House has a staff of just 11 employees, and could not provide the services we do with the support of amazing volunteers. The heart and soul of Family House is the Operations team, who work directly with families and maintain both buildings. Operations volunteers, such as Alina Spring, are key in helping the staff with house projects. Alina is a USF Psychology Practicum student who volunteered for 100 hours this semester. She helped  on a day-to-day basis with house projects, including daily laundry and assisting to manage volunteer groups. She was instrumental in helping complete projects that make the house functional  at our 24-room location. 

When Alina is not volunteering or working on school work, she enjoys bike riding, figure skating, hanging out with friends and listening to music. Born in Germany, Alina also speaks German, and understands cultural diversity - which is very helpful when working with families at Family House.

Alina, thank you for your willingness to take on any project and always with a smile on your face!

Thank you so much for your support at Family House!

Get involved with Family House! Learn more at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html

Bursting at the Seams (with excitement)!

Oh, I am so bad. I cannot keep a secret especially when it is this exciting BUT I CAN'T tell you about it either. Not yet, it's not the right time, I need to wait until it is official. When it is official I will be shouting from the mountain tops! Right now we have a few hurdles to get past and a bit of homework to do.

FYI- I think it is pretty cool that God heard our prayers when we fasted. He gave us answers- they surprised me, I wasn't expecting them so quickly and the feeling of certainty that came with it. Have I told you how cool our God is! The prayers of our group continue- we kind of shared something special. I am eager to follow along and see God work in all our lives! Hey gang, please keep us all updated!

Okay back to the secret that I can't tell you. It may involve beautiful brown asian eyes? It may have something to do with an incredible smile that you can't seem to forget- but again I am not telling you anything. Not a word from me, my lips are sealed!

If you get a chance please include us in your prayers- like I said there are a few obstacles, a few bumps in the road but nothing that our awesome mountain moving God cannot handle!!

For adorable pics of a fun FCC outing please visit "the princess diaries" ! 

Trying not to Plan...

My heart is really having a hard time waiting. My desires to receive our TA and go to China are so deep. It feels like it has dragged on forever. I need to pray more and be at peace. I need to trust the Lord's perfect timing. At this point we seem to have different calendars going but mine does not dictate the timing of events- his does.

I am still hoping and praying for leaving on the 17th but am beginning to resign myself to the possibility of the 24th. A date I had previously never even considered. Don't even mention the following week to me- I'm not ready to hear it.

Just to give you a little insight- I had planned my c-section dates before I was even pregnant. Oh yes- now your understanding me a little more. Me? a control issue? well, maybe a just a touch of an itty bitty issue with that. Plus I am a planner- never go anywhere without my calendar. I now carry an eraser full time- gotta- I keep having to erase my trip to China.

So the girls (Sarah and Anna) will now beable to go to VBS at church- that's good. Sarah will start her park playdates. I will leave July open for all our adjustments.

The local clearance will not be a problem. Our agency will ask for it to be expedited if it gets close. They actually honor that for families that have TA's. That's good.

Our TA should arrive late next week or the next. At least it is on someone's desk at this point. (I'm trying to be positive).

Johnny's team outplayed the other team but lost by a freak goal- it was very disappointing for the boys but that's life. They have had an outstanding season! Now it will not conflict with China travel.

No info on the updates- still looking forward to that!

The list of to do's are not getting done. I now realize that if you clean the garage... it just gets dirty again, really fast. Why bother, why sweat it! The pile next to my bed- nawww, it is too nice outside to do that!

The weather is beautiful- we are planning to get out and enjoy it!

God bless those that have fought and are fighting for our country! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are America!

Party Time! Zero Waste style.

This weekend, I threw a cocktail party to celebrate my becoming an author. Our house's size limited our guest list, nonetheless, forty people RSVP'd. My full time work schedule did not give me much time to get ready. On Friday, I tackled the grocery shopping armed with a shopping list and a basket full of jars; Saturday, I worked from morning till 6:45pm, just in time to take a quick shower, take a few pictures to share with you and welcome our first guests.

My book describes Zero Waste entertaining, so this post is to show how I put some of my tips into practice.

Here is how we managed to make our soiree a Zero Waste event:

Glassware and plates

As mentioned before, when we host parties bigger than our table can sit (10) we serve a buffet of finger foods with our stack of cloth napkins (I only have 32, but was not worried about running out for our 40 guests, as I have learned from previous experiences that only half the guests actually use a napkin for finger foods). Our everyday glassware (two full shelves, about 50 pieces) eliminate our need for disposables. Our everyday (white ceramic) and camping (polished stainless) plates served as platters, a handful of turkey lacers as reusable toothpicks, and jars of plant trimmings as decorative items.

Reusable Ware

Food

To simplify my cooking, I took full advantage of items sold loose in my grocery store (one stop shop), including the salad bar, olive bar, prepared food counter, meat counter, fish counter, and cheese counter using jars; the bulk bins and bakery using cloth bags; and, the produce aisle using mesh bags. I also used home-grown and foraged (neighbor) herbs. Our menu consisted of:

Snacks

• Pistachios (bulk bin)
• Black olives (olive bar)
• Green olives (olive bar)
• Leo's breadsticks: He rolled leftover dough (onion tartlets) in a beaten egg, then in grated parmesan cheese (salad bar)

A few snacks

Veggies and Cheese

• Zucchini (produce aisle) slices topped with a chickpea mixture: Marinated chickpeas (olive bar), blended with an immersion blender and seasoned with ground cumin (bulk bin) 
• Mini Skewers of mozzarella balls, asparagus and cherry tomatoes: The ingredients consisted of a salad (prepared food counter), which we then separated and skewered onto turkey lacers.
• Onion tartlets: Homemade using bulk ingredients
• Eggplant spread and blinis: Homemade using bulk ingredients
• Marinated chili peppers (olive bar) stuffed with a mixture of feta cheese (salad bar) and cream (reusable bottle), then tipped in freshly ground pepper (bulk bin)
• Celery sticks (produce aisle) filled with a blue cheese (salad bar) mixture and a pecan (bulk bin) 
• Goat cheese balls: I rolled the mixture used to stuffed the chili peppers in 3 different ingredients, including chopped celery leaves (discards of previous appetizer), chopped herbs (home-grown), and chopped almonds (bulk bins). I hid a snap pea (produce aisle) for extra crunch in the first two types.
• Veggies (produce aisle) and hummus dip (salad bar)
• Three types of cheese (cheese counter) on a platter and toasted baguette (stale baguette)

Veggie and Cheese Appetizers

Meat

• Pate with toasted baguette and cornichons (recipe and origin of ingredients here)
• Chicken and Quinoa meatballs (prepared foods counter) with their honey-mustard dip (homemade using the recipe provided in the book by replacing sugar with honey).

Pate and Baguette

Fish 

• Smoked Salmon (fish counter) and lemon rind (produce aisle) on Blinis (homemade using bulk ingredients)
• Salmon Sushi: Homemade using fresh salmon (fish counter) on sushi rice (bulk bin, using a mixture of bulk apple cider vinegar, sugar and salt to season the cooked rice), and a drop of homemade horseradish (recipe in the book).
• Baked cheesy (grated, salad bar) shrimp (fish counter) toasts (stale baguette): This appetizer was my only hot item; once guests arrive I want to join the party and give them my full attention!

Smoked Salmon on blinis, topped with lemon  rind.

Sweets

• Five types of cookies (bakery self serve)
• Malt balls (bulk bin)
• Sugar coated peanuts: Homemade using salted peanuts (bulk bin)
• Fresh strawberries (produce aisle)

Sweets

Drinks

• Revive Kombucha, sold in reusable growlers at our grocery store (the bottles are returned to customer service to be reused by the company)
• Two types of beer, the growlers of which we get refilled at our local brewery
• Red and White wine, the bottles of which we get refilled at a local winery
• House Cocktail: Vodka (360 brand, available in flip-top bottles which we reuse for wine refills), French pomegranate lemonade (the bottles of which we also reuse for wine refills) and orange juice (I reuse and fill our milk bottles from the squeezing machine in my grocery store)
• Flavored water: Rosemary and Lemon, simply squeezed into flip top bottles and then filled with water.

Cocktail and Flavored Waters

These accompanied with beautiful weather, great music and our favorite people, made for a successful and memorable event. And even a couple of days worth of leftovers!

Have a party scheduled? Questions? Ask away!

Anna Update and the Zoo Again!

Thank you so much for all the comments regarding Anna! I think you were right on- she needs time, extra love,  and some individual attention. Anna is almost like a birth child. Whereas the others where adopted older, she was not. This family life of ours is wonderful and yet a bit confusing to her.


We have been especially in tune to meeting her needs since I posted my question- extra love, extra kisses, making room on our laps for her and allowing her her quiet time away from the others. I have also talked to her in a more grown up way and had a sense of humor with her. She has responded well- although I know we need to continue to work on this I can tell she is doing an ounce better and appreciates the effort- how can I tell?? It's my Mommy barometer- I sense she is whining less and that makes me happy!!


Yesterday Anna asked if she could do the reading that Ellie is doing (Which the fact that Ellie is even doing some beginning reading makes me want to cheer and do somersaults! Yay God!). So I decided what a wonderful way to give extra time- we sat down in the school room and began to read the kindergarten HOP (Hooked on Phonics) book. I was shocked- she knew all the words! She did it perfectly!! I think allowing her to forge ahead in her schooling is helpful and self esteem building to her! She also was as still as can be- no fidgeting or dancing in circles which furthers my thinking that she is completely bored with some of the things we have previously been doing.


We went to the zoo again- this is what happens when a family gets a season pass to the zoo- lots of zoo pics, probably more than you wanted!

This time we visited the farm animals at the zoo! It was a perfect day! About 70 and filtered sun!

Anna was thinking that these goats are a little scary!

She decided it was safest in Daddy's arms!

The kids got to brush and feed the goats!

Anna warmed up to them after a little while!

Sarah, Sam, Emma and Ava are all crazy about animals!

I think Ava was planning to bring this little guy home with us!!

The truth comes out! Ellie let us all know that -

"Me no likea farm"!

They must have known we were coming!

These two didn't read the sign or couldn't read the sign and sought refuge with the goats until Momma (that would be me) got them outta there!

The pigs were interesting- kind of! Okay they were tired and boring so we worked on our numbers and everyone counted how many piglets there were!

Here's our piglets!

The corn on the cob lathered in butter and salt was delish!

Then we were off to see the chicks hatching!

But they were a little slow soooo off we went!

The moose was putting on a good show and was right up against the fence!

It was a great day and this time Daddy was able to join us!!