Canning Jelly and an adoption update....

What a beautiful day it is here in central Indiana. I'm about ready to tell Israel that we need to work on school OUTSIDE!!
Right now, he is coloring pictures at the kitchen table, giving me a constant stream of chatter to keep me company.
I am making jelly! I bought 100% juice at the store a few days ago to make it with and I am planning to make some for ourselves and for gift giving. I bought a blueberry/pomegranate blend. I hope it's good!

A few months back, I told you our plan to adopt a little girl from Uganda. That didn't work out for us for various reasons, especially timing. The good news is that another family here in the States IS adopting her!!! Hurray for her!!

Now the big news ....again.....is that we are working on paperwork to adopt from the special needs adoption in China. We have picked out a precious little girl....I am in LOVE LOVE LOVE with her already. I hope it works out for us. If it does, we could have her home with us in 8 to 12 months!! She is about six years old....perfect to fit in with Israel!  He would love being a big brother by only one year! Her special needs are called "mild"....but they are still definite needs that will have to be addressed...she spends much of her time in a wheelchair.  She is beautiful, adorable, sweet, well tempered, and smart! I sound like her Mommy already, don't I?

I took my daughters out to eat at a Chinese restaurant in our nearby town lately and I spoke to the woman who owns it. She is from Hong Kong and she told me that if this little girl is not adopted, her life will be very bad...."she will have no chance at life" she said, to quote her. "There are so many poor there already, and to have a girl without family and in a wheel chair....." she just shook her head. I cried.


Would you pray for us as we make this long journey again? It is a difficult, costly, and emotionally draining one but it is one that I feel God has called us to make. We are trying to scrape together all the available money to get the process started. She is worth it.....

Have a lovely fall day!!
Blessings,
Beth

How to Dumpster Dive in One Easy Lesson....

Ok...I admit it. I like to dumpster dive. My hubby and I really get into it. Now....just to set the record straight, I don't actually GET IN the dumpster....that's what I have my DH for. In fact, on our first anniversary, we were all dressed up and we drove through a new neighborhood of mansions. I'd say "Mini Mansions" but there was nothing mini about any of them.
There was some pretty usable pieces of wood in the dumpsters so we proceeded to check them out. We hit the jackpot. While the wood was not usable for us, we DID find some pretty incredible ROCKS in the dumpster. We spent the next 15 minutes or so digging them out....with Roger inside the dumpster (With his nice navy blue suit on!) and me outside, making trips to load our tiny car with someone else's "trash rocks." We made QUITE a nice flower bed out of those rocks.......

We get all kinds of things from other people's trash. One time we got an entire wicker set with four chairs and a table...there was nothing wrong with them! We got a beautiful lamp shade (stained glass....pretty old!) and a huge mirror other times.

Lately, we have been looking through Costco for some really nice thrown away items. We got all the cardboard for the bottom of our raised garden beds by going through the trash. Israel has been with us for all of these foragings. We are teaching this little boy well....

However, my all time FAVORITE thing to dumpster dive for in Costco are the nice plastic containers they throw away after giving people samples. (Animal crackers, candy, etc. usually come in these handy dandy containers.)  I take them home, sanitize them, and fill them with things that usually clutter up the inside of my cabinets. I have made cute little "hats" to cover the lids and line them up on the top of my cabinets near the ceiling. Usually they look pretty cute. Right now, they need to be straightened.....

So anyway, my whole point of telling you all this stuff was to tell you about Israel's reaction to his learning to "Dumpster Dive." When I notice that they are giving samples away from something that had come in a nice plastic container, I say that we need to check the trash. Last Saturday, after his soccer game (which he played with MUCH enthusiasm!!) we once again went to Costco.  He RUSHED over to the trash container, peered over the edge and with a huge grin on his face, retrieved a very nice plastic container for me. He ran back to our shopping cart with the smile plastered on his face from ear to ear....and just to "save face", he announced to me...

"Gosh Mom!! You sure are EMBARRASSING!"