It's Not Cute

You know what is not cute? A little girl in super girly pink PJ's who stinks like skunk.

On Thursday night, I let our 10 year old dog, Portia, out before heading to bed. Before I shut the door she was sprayed by a skunk...right in the face. And right in our kitchen. Portia was foaming at the mouth, dancing around in circles, completely shocked. Poor girl.

It only took minutes before the smell was throughout the entire house. My Big Boy woke up and asked what had died. And at midnight Jonathan had to go to the store to get tomato juice, which by the way doesn't really work. We had to give Portia a tomato juice bath on the back deck and it was freezing and stinky and just really disgusting.

My poor hubby had meetings the next day. He asked his assistant to sniff him and she said he was OK to do a presentation. And my little guy's teacher assured me she could only smell me when she got really, really close.

Geesh! Don't you just love to ask people to smell you? And then honestly tell you if you stink?

OK I love my dog, but this about puts me over the edge. After spending almost all day cleaning and disinfecting it still smells in the house. It reminds me of someone who wore too much perfume, but you can still smell them long after they've left the room.

Five showers later, I wonder if you can still smell me after I leave the room. Guess I'll have to go ask my neighbor.

Friday Follow

Welcome Friday Followers! I love getting to know bloggy friends. Thanks for stopping by!

I love, love, love these pictures. They are part of an Adoption Celebration photo shoot by Maas Photography in Wheaton, Illinois. If you're in the area, and are looking for a photographer, they are fabulous.

Enjoy! And have a Happy Friday!

Pray for Chrissie

Bloggy friends and Prayer Warriors--

If you haven't heard about Chrissie please check out her mom's blog at http://allarepreciousinhissight.blogspot.com/

Chrissie just had open-heart surgery. And she's not doing well. She has technically died twice, they brought her back once. And the doctors aren't sure if they can get her back again. Check out the blog, and stand by this family in prayer. The blog is updated constantly. Just a few minutes ago they put her on a bypass machine.

They may be faced with making some impossible decision. Pray for them. Leave them a note of encouragement on their blog.

Talk to Me

My life revolves around speech therapy. I have to hurry up and get my Big Boy out the door and on the bus, so I can hurry up and take my little guy to preschool, so I can hurry to speech therapy. This happens three times a week.

Then there's the homework we do every day. All we do is speech. And there are some days I am so fusterated, I wonder if it's working. Today Princess had a meltdown because I didn't know what she wanted. Even with her pointing and grunting, I still couldn't figure it out.

She's also babbling like a baby and is going through the "no, no, no" stage. If you've forgotten what that is it goes something like this:

Honey do you want to go to the park?
She answers: no, no, no

Honey do you want ice cream and cake for dinner?
She answers: no, no, no

Honey do you want to ride the pony?
She answers: no, no, no

OK, we don't really have a pony, but you get the point. No is the answer for everything.

It's cute. The first time.

Every word is work. Constant work. Consistent work. Frustrating work.

So today, she really surprised me at naptime.

She folded her hands, shut her eyes, and prayed pretty clearly, "God is good." All by herself!

It took three words out of a three year old to remind me just how much God has worked in her life. Princess has come so far in eight months. I'm pretty sure before she got ear tubes in October she couldn't hear. And she didn't have a palate for the first two and a half years of her life. So she has made so much progress. I just need to be more patient.

God is good. And I have faith her will continue to be good in her life.

Security In Red

The wait to bring our home was possibly one of the most painful four months of my life. There were days I just cried for a child, my child, that was waiting for me. And the thing that stood in the way of me holding my baby girl was the paperwork. We received our referral in January and I did not get to hold my girl until August.

I remember taking the boys to see Up in May and there was an empty seat next to us. I cried through the whole movie. I cried for a little girl I'd never met but loved so much I couldn't explain it. I cried that she was not with us, not sitting next to her brothers eating popcorn and sipping lemonade. Then there were the days I'd cry when I was making lunches for two instead of three. We had an empty seat at the dinner table and an empty room full of little girl clothes and toys.

My heart actually hurt as I counted the days she waited in the orphanage for me. I prayed alot and honestly that's the only way I made it through. I did find peace knowing that my girl's Heavenly Father had her in his arms.

Then I saw a piece of artwork my friend Cassie Swierenga painted. It's called "Security in Red." My husband bought it for me on the spot. And my girl hung in my living room for months. During that time, I also wrote the book 1001 Tears, which is coming out in late 2012. Cassie is busy illustrating it. But after months of persuading, OK nagging, Cassie has finally agreed to sell prints of "Security in Red."

While the painting is beautiful, so is Cassie. She is the mom to four grown children, a grandma to one sweet baby girl, and a professional artist with some serious talent. I first met Cassie at a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and was just struck by her creativity and devotion to her family. I am so excited to be working with her on our book.

If you are interested in purchasing a print of "Security in Red" please email me at muse25@juno.com. The options to order are:
print size: 12X24 16X32 24X48
On paper $51.84 $92.16 $206.16
shipping up to $20 up to $30 up to $50

On canvas $80.64 $143.36 $322.56
around $15 around $15 around $15

It is beautiful and made the wait just a little easier.