You are what you eat??

So this post is funny and GROSS!!! prepare yourself!

This week I ran across a Facebook post that Todd's cousin posted. It was the following -

Our fast "food" display is now 2 years old. The word food is questionable, since the bread-like and meat-like substances have not molded or spoiled in any way. Bugs won't even bother with it. Please think twice about giving this to your kids. You have a choice, but they don't. We truly are what we eat.

This was from his wellness center that I believe a local doctor decided to do... and the scary part is that it was from 2 years ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

So of coarse I immediately showed this to Todd because lately I have been feeling like the list of foods  I feel good about giving our kids is getting shorter and shorter... I literally don't go to over 1/2 the grocery store these days! I'm not claiming perfection in feeding our children just scared that I'm poisoning them! 

Anyway I digress, after I showed this to Todd I was surprised that his response was "NO WAY, that's not real!"  I couldn't believe it.... as they say on nemo - "DENIAL"  lol... so bless his heart we now have this gracing our kitchen counter -

YEP that's right our own at home experiment! I am so excited about this because not only will it be great for my husband but also for our kids! We can teach them that just because something claims to be "food" it may in fact NOT BE!!!! 

So I will give you an update in 30 days! If in 30 days this burger and fries has not changed a bit, has not molded, shriveled, etc, etc,. Todd says we will no longer eat fast food (mind you we rarely eat fast food but steps in the whole food direction are great)  so with that we will see?  You can't deny anything if you do the experiment yourself, right???  Maybe you and your family would like to do one as well? The basic burger and fries costs us just under $2.50 - a cheap experiment if I say so myself. 

I know that the organic - whole vs "regular food" can be a huge debate, and I am definitely not here to judge but please comment with your thoughts. I am just dipping my toe into all this information, thoughts, and , ideas and would love to hear all of yours!!!

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

Adoption Application

Exciting news! We have submitted our adoption application to America World Adoption Agency. We are now waiting to be approved for them to represent us in this exciting process and then will move forward. 

Once approved we will begin the home study process and work our way to what they call a "paper pregnancy"  The whole process we are told to expect to take around 2 years. I can't imagine how my patience will be tested during that time, but I feel the Lord calming my spirit as I begin to worry or over think anything. I pray that it continues to be a peaceful and joyful experience throughout. I am sure we will hit some bumps and frustrating moments, but we are sure this is the path God wants us to take and so we walk in confidence! Of coarse we appreciate all your prayers and support. I will continue to blog about adoption details as we go through the process. I will have plenty of time to keep you informed ;)  Until then I want to leave you with this song that I heard a few weeks ago on a Christian radio station. I haven't been able to get it out of my head and feel like it is going to be our adoption anthem! Would love for you to check out the video and lyrics below. Great song and expresses my heart as we start this journey!!

 You might wanna close your eyes
It’ll take some time adjustin’
Welcome to your life
You’re everything you’ll someday be

There’s a weight off my shoulder
There’s laughter in the air
You are the answer to every midnight prayer

You’re mine to love
We have all been waitin’ on you
You’re mine to love
Come into these open arms
It took some time to wait it out
But I see it now, you’re worth all the dreaming of
You’re mine to love
You’re mine to love

You might wanna take your time
Takin’ all this technicolor, yeah
We’re on your side
Let us be the one you need

There’s a life on my shoulder
Laughter in the air
You are the answer to all those midnight prayers

You’re mine to love
We have all been waitin’ on you
You’re mine to love
Come into these open arms
It took some time to wait it out
But I see it now, you’re worth all the dreaming
You’re mine to love
You’re mine to love

Every time that my heart was broken
Every time that I’ve lost my wings
I forget when I look into your face

You’re mine to love
We have all been waitin’ on you
You’re mine to love
Come into these open arms
‘Cause I’m right here
It took some time to wait it out
But I see it now, you’re worth the dreaming of
You’re mine to love
You’re mine to love
You’re mine to love
You’re mine to love

So you might wanna close your eyes

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

Owen's Monster Birthday

Owen's birthday party was quite an adventure!

The plan was to have his "monster party" at the Dream Come True park

but.....

at 3:30 (30 minutes before his party started) the rain clouds rolled in heavy,

the temperatures dropped, and I got a little frantic!

as quickly as possible I tore down everything at the park and raced back home to

set it up as quickly as possible. 

it wasn't exactly what I had been planning but it was fun and needless to say

we were all "cozy" in our town house!

the important part was that we were able to celebrate Owen's birthday with

friends and family (and we stayed dry)!

Owen's party was a monster theme! I wanted to go with something that 

wasn't typical for boys and since he still doesn't really care what I choose I went

with the bright colored monster theme!

We had monster treats and little monsters everywhere.

The pic below are the monsters that were up for adoption.

I will blog a little tutorial on these later. They turned out very cute

but I can't lie - they were a lot of man labor!!! 

Worth it though because they all found a new home where they could be loved!

monster cupcakes were courtesy of Pinterest (of coarse.) they turned out just as cute

as the pin (that doesn't always happen for me!)

Owen's favorite were the "monster eyeballs"  made of spice candies and

edible eyeball candy from target.

a kid coloring table with colors and monster color pages

all the print offs were from the etsy shop

dimple prints

our last minute inside activity was "pin the eye on the monster"

everyone was a good sport

and surprising Owen wanted to do it - blind fold and all

the party was full of lots of new friends! we feel so blessed to 

have made such great friend here in virginia in the time we have lived here!

it was great to celebrate with all of them even though we missed our midwest family

and friends very much! we were blessed to have todd's parents in for the special event

and a weekend visit! 

Owen blew out his candle like a champ and everyone enjoyed their

monster cupcakes.

he was spoiled with lots of great presents. sporting his new sunglasses

and getting some help from his buddy kelton

Their were so many fun pictures of the crazy party it was hard to choose what to feature! But you get the idea! we had a lot of fun and didn't let the crazy storm ruin the party!

and now Owen will tell you "I 2"

Thank you again for the love and support - whether you were able to attend the party or you continue to support our family through love, prayers, and encouraging words. We feel blessed beyond words!

Lots more family stories to share! Stay tuned.....

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

Craft Fair

Last weekend wasn't just a fun filled Easter weekend for our family but it was also a first debut for a little side business Crafted In Grace as a craft booth.  This is not our primary at home business - that is our Amway business. This is more of a crafting adventure turned into a side niche. The craft fair was definitely a success and look forward to doing more. It was just on a whim that I asked a new friend here in VA if she would want to do a craft booth with me and try taking our craft skills to the public. From there it has just snowballed into a fun adventure!

We have started with girl and boy accessories - hand made hair bows, hair bands, bow ties, and ties. But we plan to expand with hats, onsies, dresses, burp cloths, and who knows what! Our main goal is to share our crafting fun with others! 

We would LOVE for you to LIKE our facebook page! You can order from there as well as see some fun customer photos! I just love seeing the little men in there bow ties and babies with big bows! 

https://www.facebook.com/craftingrace

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

oh and p.s. - I am so excited to say my little blog has reached 10,000 page views. This is a big deal for me and the next milestone will be 100 followers :) more fun blogging adventures to come!

Easter 2012

This Easter was our first holiday without any family to share with here in VA. We really missed family but were thankful to have some new friends to share this wonderful holiday with. The kids had a great time at our new church family's Easter egg hunt! The "eggstravaganza" was full of fun with a bouncy house, cotton candy, hot dogs, games, and of coarse the egg hunt with 15,000 eggs (that's a lot of egg stuffing)! I'm pretty sure it is the highlight of their year!

On Easter day we do our best to keep the focus on Christ and the Cross and so our tradition that we have  is to go out to eat instead of having the added stress of preparing a meal after church. We were able to enjoy a wonderful service and the day of celebrating "that God died so we can go to heaven and be friends with God" as Eliana puts it. Then went to Kyoto with friends for lunch. Eliana wasn't so sure about the show of fire but really enjoyed eating with chopsticks! We were blessed to have friends join us and made for a wonderful day!

This Easter I was especially overwhelmed with the thought that Christ died so that my children can have LIFE! This thought continues to play through my mind and overwhelms me with HIS love!!!

I hope you had an Easter filled with HIS love, mercy, and grace as well!

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn