Getting Closer............

This was three years ago.....

This is three weeks ago.....

It looks like we really will move in January.

It seems kind of surreal to have a life long dream about to become real.

I love houses. As a child I would love to see the inside of any house, I wanted to see how people lived.

Let's get real...I wanted to see how they decorated and even as a very young child I would silently redecorate the homes we visited. In my mind I would move the couch, change the curtains, hang family photos, paint wooden floors and on and on. These decorating 'dreams' would even be what kept me up at night. I just love to rearrange, choose paint colors, shop for curtains, take something that someone else has thrown on the trash heap and transform it with soap, water and paint but most of all love.

Yesterday as I started to pack I got so emotional at the thought of truly leaving the place I have called home for the past decade. Not so emotional that I want to stay, but still tears were flowing. When we moved here Josh was 8, Heidi was 5 and Greg was 4. They were still so little that all of their clothes fit in one dresser. Now they are 19, 16 and 15 and have a sweet sister Lilly from China. We are about to decorate our 10th and last Christmas tree here in this tiny little house. We have celebrated in this house. We have mourned the loss of loved ones inside these four walls. We have argued and made up. We have laughed and cried, lived and loved. And now we will bring all the people and pets that we love the most and fill up our dream house. There will be joy, there will be sadness and by God there will be DECORATING!!!!!

My Hero Lydia

She did it!!!!

Lydia's faith was so strong that in 8 days she raised $26,550!!!!!!!!!!!!! They only need $20,000 to adopt Darya and they have friends who have delayed adopting because of lack of funds...no more! Anything over the $20,000 goes to their friends so they too can adopt a baby.

I was obsessed with checking their blog to see if Lydia did indeed get her Thanksgiving miracle.

Can you imagine the joy in that house tonight???

What a wonderful Thanksgiving that I will always remember.

Sleep tight Darya, Mommy and Daddy are soon on their way to bring you home FOREVER.

What Thanksgiving is all about....

This is one unbelievable story so fix some tea or get a snack but get comfy and prepare to be amazed.

 This morning I stumbled upon a blog. I believe this story has moved me beyond words but I am going to try to explain. Lydia is the 11 year old daughter of some amazing parents in Tennessee. Her parents have instilled such a trust and belief and faith in God inside of her that she came to her mother with the dream of adopting sweet little Darya. Darya is a litte girl living in an orphanage in the Urkraine. She has Down Syndrome but this does not daunt Lydia's parents because they have already
have two children with Down Syndrome. Hope is biological and Charlie is adopted.

I told you these are amazing people.

Simply amazing.

So when Lydia came to her mother with this idea her mother told her that if she could

raise $20,000 then they could adopt Darya and possibly even another baby with Down Syndrome.

Is the word amazing coming to mind? 

Did the number 20,000 stop Lydia? Nope. She quickly did some math and said this is only 200 people giving us $100.00. Smart girl. Break down a big number and suddenly it doesn't seem so scary. So she was off and running and in the past few days she has raised more than half of what they need. $10,000!!!!!!

In something like 10 or 11 days.

ONE GIRL.

One AMAZING girl, with some AMAZING faith.

I want to be just like her when I grow up.

They have washed cars, baked cookies, painted wooden candy canes...you name it.
They are willing, willing to go all out for God.
And Darya.
Lydia has been asked to be on the local news Thanksgiving morning and tell her story. I am praying that she will have all the money when she is interviewed.
Visualize this!

God can do this THROUGH us so go here. Find the DONATE button and pledge what you can.
Five dollars makes a difference. Skip some part of your traditional

Thanksgiving meal if you have to but please help bring Darya home to a loving and forever family.

I just heard about Lydia and her family this morning and want to do my part.
So I am spreading the word and the LOVE.
This is what Thanksgiving is all about isn't it?

Lydia, you amaze me and I am inspired and uplifted by you.

 I can only begin to imagine the greatness in store for you as you continue to demonstrate such devotion and faith. To those of you who come visit here from time to time or those of you were led here today for the first time,please, please, please help change the course of Darya's young life.

Go to http://www.the30dayjourneyforhope.blogspot.com/

RIGHT NOW!

If you are inspired by this please just take the few minutes to do this. If you are like me you might be so moved by this but think to yourself..."I will donate later, tomorrow, next week" and then you forget.You don't mean to you just get busy.Please just do it right now.Whatever is waiting for you can wait five more minutes.I am so thankful for your big heart and generosity.

Go Lydia!!!

Go God!!!

xo

Kimberly

You know what is really weird???

Well, let me tell you......what's weird is when you have a friend considering using match.com to find a man. You help this friend sift through the options (this is not an easy job). You see several possibilities. You see several no ways and even find yourself uttering words like "Are you kidding me? Is this guy for real? and What was he thinking with that picture?" You wonder why men aren't smart enough to take off their sunglasses for their photo. That just screams creeper. You find yourself shocked at how many man are in their 40's looking for a 20 year old girlfriend. Ewwwww. Super gross ewwww. So after reading about fifteen profiles you see a guy and say...he's not bad and your friend says "I know I already read his profile before, he's cute, seems okay." Upon closer inspection of the photo (and a quick call to my mother for verification) you realize this "cute, okay" guy is actually your childhood friend. The one you built forts with, played in the creek with, the one you had a crush on - (think early, unrequited love), the one who lived next door to your grandmother, the one you had sleepovers with until you were 12 and then your mothers sat you down and told you that you could no longer sleep in the same bed and because you were such late bloomers you just cried and thought they were mean. Yeah, that very same little boy is all grown up and on match.com and your friend clicked his profile and he stood out from the sea of faces to me as a pretty cute guy.

Yep, that was really weird on a random Sunday night.

Really weird.

This is Lilly's high chair which I LOVE.

She is a big girl now and sits at the table.

:(

I can't wait to see our next daughter eat her meals in this sweet chair.

I really love being a mother, it is such a blessing and a privilege.

I take delight in something as simple as folding Lilly's little clothes or watching her focus intently on her sticker book or when she hears music and says "Mama, dance."

Her latest thing is noticing how many people are in public places.

She says "lots of peoples mama", not sure why this makes my heart soar but it does.

She just climbed onto my lap as I type this, book in hand and said

"ead mama" - translation: Read mama

So I guess this means goodnight to you all.

Sleep tight wherever you are.

xo

Giving Thanks

One time my mother told me that it was very comforting to her to know that she had taught me how to be a friend and that I had such a beautiful supportive group of women in my life. It made her proud and it felt good for her to know that I had these women to turn to in times of joy or times of sorrow.

I realize now just what she is saying because I feel so comforted knowing that Heidi (my daughter pictured on the right) also has such a great group of loving, kind friends. Alexa (pictured on the right) and Heidi first met in Kindergarten and they have maintained a friendship ever since. Alexa switched schools in third grade and even without daily contact they remain sisterly close. This comforts me. Alexa is like a daughter to me and she spends nearly every weekend with us and has been on vacation with us many times as well.

Last Sunday morning Alexa, Lilly and Heidi were cuddled up under a blanket watching a movie. I was doing the normal morning chores when I looked up and saw them all snuggled in. Tears came to my eyes instantly when I realized this wouldn't last forever. It was almost like I could feel myself ten years from that moment and what it will feel like for my girls to be grown up and moved out. I could feel the longing. Alexa and Heidi are juniors in highschool and will soon begin the next stage of their journey. They won't always be here curled up on my couch and I will miss that more than words can say. It reminded me how important it is to be in the moment and really see and FEEL how good it truly is right this moment.

And now I'm crying again.

Why we never order pizza out anymore.....

This is how it looked before it went into the oven, but sadly I cannot show you the just out of the oven photo because there isn't one............. it went straight from the oven to our mouths!

This is super simple and once you make pizza this way it will be hard to go back.

The Dough

2 cups flour

1 tsp.salt

1 pkg.yeast

2 tbsp.oil (olive or canola)

1 cup very hot water

1/2 - 1 cup flour

Mix the first 5 ingredients and stir together. Add 1/2 - 1 cup of flour until it is the right consistency to knead.

Knead for just a couple of minutes.

Place dough into well greased (olive or canola oil) bowl.

Cover with towel and wait about 1 hour.

Pizza stones are essential. Mine came from Pampered Chef and I have been using them for years and you really can't make good pizza without them.

One batch makes about five individual pizzas and I just stretch them out into a kind of oval shape.

Each person can have their pizza exactly as they want it.

Kids love this.

I skip the sauce and just use olive oil. Then cheese. I find a combination of mozzarella, provolone and just a tiny bit of parmesan or cheddar work best. If you go with just two cheeses stick with mozzarella and provolone. I cover mine with finely chopped veggies. My favorite combo is broccoli, red onion, garlic, orange pepper, mushrooms and tomatoes. The guys like to add pepperoni (of course).

Imagination is key.

 Create any combination that you can think of and please let me know!

We never order pizza anymore and I love it.

We try to eat as organic as much as we can.

I use organic flour, olive oil and vegetables.

The pepperoni? Not so much.

I love knowing that my family gets to eat one of their favorite foods and it is so healthy.

In the summer we cook them on a grate over an open fire.

Scott said the best thing this summer while building the fire at the new house as I prepared the dough.

He said:

 "It must be so good for us to eat food cooked over wood that came from the land that our home sits on."

I thought that was a great way to think of it and I am

 pretty sure it bumps

the nutritional level up at least a kajillion times.

At least.