Explaining About Our New Children

We pulled into the driveway as a family and began to carry our loads into the house. Our girls had spent the night at the beach with my parents and we were returning home with our kids. The girls carried in their backpacks and we worked together to bring coats and additional beach treasures into the house.

In the midst of the chaos, the girls noticed the pictures sitting on our kitchen table. "What is this, mama? Who are these girls?"

We told them that after they put away their clothes, we would watch a little video and talk about who those little girls are.

When they had finished, we explained that these girls live in an area that is very poor. They don't have a nice house to live in like we do. They don't have clean water to drink. Many days they go hungry or eat garbage.

Then we watched this video together.

Kylie watched and listened, but Ayla was in and out of the room. As I read the words to the video out loud to our girls, I struggled. This video is emotional and the reality of it brings me close to tears every time I see it. My voice wavered, but we made it through.

After the video we talked about the life these kids live. What would it be like to be hungry all the time? Would it be fun to play at a dump, with garbage? What if you had a sad life like this and didn't know that God loves you and cares for you.

Then we talked about "our girls". We now have two little girls we will support. These girls will learn to read and write, even though their parents are probably illiterate. They will have a school uniform, the nicest and maybe only clothes they own. Our girls will received medical care as needed and eat a healthy, balanced meal every day. And most importantly, they will learn the message of Jesus' love.

One of our girls, Akhila, enjoys drawing, just like Kylie. Our other little girl, Dharamjeet, loves to dance, just like our Ayla. Kylie had a book in school about pen pals and we explained that these girls will be like pen pals with our family. We will be able to write to them and send them pictures from Kylie and Ayla.

During this time, Ayla seemed distracted and was constantly moving, like always. Daniel and I were a little frustrated that the video and our conversation seemed to go right over her head.

Then as Ayla was lying in bed, she asked "Why do those kids play with garbage?" We explained that they don't have nice toys like she does. "Why don't they have a house?" We explained that they are poor and don't have the money to buy a home and nice things like we do.

I guess she really was listening all along.

If you would like to sponsor a child through Gospel For Asia, go here. 100% of the sponsorship money is given to the kids. Nothing is taken out for administrative expenses.

A Sentimental Tablecloth Meets My Grandma's Sewing Machine

As I was preparing to decorate a table for the women's brunch, I looked at the items I had set out. My centerpiece was prepared and I had borrowed a friend's dishes. The silverware was ready. All I needed was some cloth napkins. I tried out my brown cloth napkins, but they just didn't look right. I glanced down and saw an old tablecloth I had pulled out. The colors in the tablecloth matched, but it was too stained to use as a tablecloth at an event like this.

Why had I kept this stained, used tablecloth? My husband and I used it consistently the first year and half we were married. We lived in a very small rental. The kitchen was tiny and the house "came with" a kitchen table because it was the only table that would fit in the little eating area. (The table was even smaller than a card table.) The table was not attractive, but the size was right. To compensate for the ugly table, we had two tablecloths we used on the table. This one was my favorite of those tablecloths.

As I looked fondly at this tablecloth, I realized that it wasn't doing much good being stored away due to sentimental value. I would never use it because of the stains, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away due to all the fond memories I associated with it.

And then it hit me.

This tablecloth was the key to the cloth napkins I need for the brunch. I wouldn't use a stained tablecloth, but I would use slightly stained cloth napkins over and over again. I laid out the tablecloth, measured it, and began to cut it into 9 squares.

Then I pulled out my grandma's sewing machine and I was flooded with a new set of memories.

In my grandma's retirement days, she kept herself busy. One of her retirement hobbies was sewing and quilting. As she progressed in her quilting, she decided to buy herself a newer sewing machine. It wasn't anything fancy, but it would get the job done. I remember seeing quilts laid out in her living room and watching her work on them.

She hasn't been able to sew or quilt for many years now. First her arthritis made quilting nearly impossible. Today, her dementia has progressed to the point where I don't think she even remembers the sewing machine or her years spent quilting.

But I remember.

As I sat at the sewing machine, I smelled my grandma's perfume still lingering on the machine. I wished I could express to her how grateful I am to be able to use her sewing machine. While sewing, I fondly reminisced over our first couple of years of marriage. I am glad to have these new/old cloth napkins as mementos to keep and to use.

While setting the table for the women's brunch, I knew that the women wouldn't know that I made the cloth napkins the night before. They wouldn't know that the napkins were made out of a sentimental old tablecloth. They wouldn't know that I sewed them on my grandma's sewing machine.

But I knew.

I'm back! (And I have a new table!)

I find it hard to believe that it has been nearly a month since I have written a post. Yikes! It is amazing how fast time can go by.

Where have I been this last month? Well, mostly at home. You see, we had these super cute kittens and I just assumed that momma cat would do all of the work taking care of our precious kittens. Instead, she ended up getting very sick. She had a horrible abscess and was extremely dehydrated.

As a result, we spent a lot of time force-feeding Rosie (momma cat) and bottle feeding her kittens. They were very little and needed to be fed about every 3 hours. It felt like we had an infant again and we couldn't go anywhere!

In addition to that, I prepared for and taught the last teaching in our Bible study at church. (Curious? If you are really curious, you are welcome to listen to it here.)

Since then I have been preparing for the upcoming Women's Brunch at our church. I am new on this women's ministry team and am still figuring out all that goes into planning these events. Now I am also speaking at that event too. I am looking forward to that!

Other than these things, I have been very busy gardening when the weather has participated. I have moved plants, divided perennials, planted new flowers and planted many veggies, both seeds and starts.

This last weekend we bought a used outdoor dining set. I am so excited to have this now! We can actually all fit around the table with room for our plates and the dishes of food. Tonight we used it for the first time.

Look at that great table with some amazing food. Yum! The best part, though, is the loved ones sitting around the table. You can see Kylie and Ayla on opposite ends of the table and Daniel's hand working on some food. Also pictured are Daniel's mom, Alice, and her amazing fiance, Bill. I am looking forward to many more barbeques and outdoor eating experiences this summer!

Stay tuned! I am returning to this wonderful blogging world and even have another amazing giveaway lined up.

Birthday Fun at Painted Plate

For Kylie's 7th birthday, we held her birthday party at Painted Plate. It was so much fun seeing the little kids paint and create their own little masterpieces. As much as I enjoyed watching them, though, I must admit that I was a little jealous. Okay, maybe more than a little jealous. I really wanted it to be my turn to paint! Sadly, in the midst of the chaos of a kids birthday party (my own kid's birthday party), it was not possible.

So what did I do? I gave an extremely selfish birthday gift. A little over a month later I told my friend, Leila, that for her birthday I wanted to take her to Painted Plate and we could each paint something sans children. Thankfully, in my selfish gift giving, I knew it was something she also would enjoy.

We arrived at 4:00 and (courtesy of Leila) started our projects along with some amazing Olympia Coffee Roasting coffee. Could their possibly be a better way to get the creative juices flowing than coffee?

We assumed a couple of hours would be sufficient time for each of us to thoroughly enjoy our time without kids creatively paint our mugs and be ready to leave. The problem is that we are both very detail oriented and perfectionists.

One of the keys to good coverage is painting 3 layers of every color. Let me just tell you now that it is not a quick thing to paint the whole piece with three layers!

In the midst of our chatting, laughter and painting, we watched groups come and go... and still we painted.

At one point we realized how long we were taking and worried that we might need to return another day to finish. Relieved, we found out that Painted Plate was open until 10:00.

5 hours later (about 9:00), we were finished.

At that point, all we could do was wait the 5 days until our mugs were fired. I was a little tempted to ask if we could possibly put a rush on ours since I was so excited to see how it turned out!

In the end, the mugs were worth the wait. Here is Leila's very fun finished product:

I was very happy with how mine turned out as well. Here is my finished product:

After this experience, I think we might have a new birthday tradition on our hands. Yes, we definitely need to do this again.

Thankful for the Birth of Kittens

"When will Rosie have the kittens?

For months now our family has been anticipating the birth of kittens. I know, a cat isn't even pregnant for months, but it is still true. Our girls knew from the day we brought Rosie home as a kitten that we were planning to let her have a litter of kittens.

I am just as excited as my girls are. (This is a first for me too.) Last week I told my girls, "I am so excited that I have butterflies in my tummy!"

To explain how her tummy felt, Ayla responded, "I have butterflies and flowers and hearts..."

It was still another week before they arrived.

"Mom, Rosie is having kittens! Right now!" This is how Kylie woke me up yesterday morning. She was the first to discover the event.

I plopped in my contacts, put on my robe, and came to witness the birthing of kittens. When we arrived at the birthing box, Rosie had just birthed her second kitten. As we watched, Rosie silently labored, birthing a total of 5 kittens.

 

The following video is not very good picture quality, but it sure is cute hearing Kylie call Nana and tell her about the kittens.

Rosie has been such a good momma cat. She took care of each one of her kittens as they were born. I love to listen to her; as her kittens nurse, she purrs and purrs.

In the end, Rosie had 2 black kittens (one with a white tummy), two tabby kittens (one with white paws and a white tummy) and one kitten that is an almost black tabby. We are in love.

We are so thankful for each one of these kittens and that we had the privilege of witnessing their birth.

What are you thankful for today?

 Come join me (and my friends at Adventures Of Raising A Baby In The City )! Every almost every Thursday, I will post something for which I am thankful, and I would love it if you participate as well. It is medicine for the soul to give thanks and, when practiced regularly, results in contentment. It can be anything: silly, personal, or blog related. Just take a moment to give thanks!

Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens

Ever wanted to take a step back in time? Immerse yourself in someone else's life? Last Friday, I enjoyed a glimpse into the life of Hulda Klager. This glimpse is only a short drive south to Woodland, Washington at the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens. The appeal of the trip is the incredible lilac gardens, but there is so much more than just gardens.

Hulda Klager's Home

First we strolled up the walkway towards the beautiful historic house. This home is filled with the history of Hulda Klager, including many pictures of her family and stories depicting "normal" life at the time. Here is a framed story I enjoyed:

Hulda's bedroom with original dresser, bed and quilt.

Hulda's "mail order" stove.

"Hulda tells the story of her mother, Mrs. Thiel, when she lived in Germany. One fall day in the mid 1850's, Mrs. Thiel went out to her farmyard to feed her pet geese. To her dismay, they were lying on the ground apparently dead. Shedding a few tears but still the practical farmer's wife, she carried the geese into her big warm kitchen and proceeded to pluck off their feathers. While plucking the last one, to her astonishment the geese started to get up and stagger around the kitchen. Eventually all the geese were running around in the house sans featheres and quite a spectacle. Mrs. Thiel was so happy to see her pets alive again that she couldn't chop off their heads. 'What to do with naked geese?' she thought. Winter was close at hand and they would surely freeze. The family trait of originality popped up and she made red flannel underwear for the whole flock, thereby solving the problem until nature had replenished the plucked feathers with a new set of natural clothes for the pets. Mrs. Thiel later discovered that her geese had eaten some cider mash which had fermented. They had become thoroughly intoxicated and were in a 'drunken stupor' when she picked them up for dead."

After visiting Hulda's home, we went outside to enjoy her beautiful gardens. Hulda Klager's passion was hybridizing plants, but especially lilacs. It seems like we were a week or two early since many varieties were not yet blooming. Even so, there were many varieties in bloom. Here are a few of my favorites.

From a distance, this one looked like a pink cloud:

"California Rose"

"Anabel"

"Royal Purple"

"Nadezhda"

"Mrs. Bereasha"

"My Favorite"

 I loved how these pink buds opened to a lavender flower:

Pres. Grevy

Mm. Lemoine

 With a name like "Hallelujah", how could I resist taking a picture of this one?

"Hallelujah"

Pink is such an unusual color for lilacs and I especially enjoyed this dark pink bud and pretty pink bloom:

"Esther Staley"

 This is one of the select varieties labeled as "extremely fragrant".

"Katherine Havemeyer"

And would you believe it? Three of us unintentionally color coordinated for the visit:

If you enjoy lilacs, I suggest you take time to go down and visit these lilac gardens. They are open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The farm house will close on May 8th, but the gift shop and gardens remain open until May 14th.

Olympia Local Foods - Winner!

To determine the winner of this giveaway, I entered everyone's name into the list randomizer at random.org. 
 

Here are the results:

And the winner is: 

Krystal Austin!

Krystal, I will contact you through email so you can claim your prize. I hope you enjoy your free local groceries!

 

Thank you to everyone who entered!

If you have never tried Olympia Local Foods, I would encourage you to check out their site and order. Hope to see you at Olympia Local Foods picking up groceries on Thursday!