Simply Thankful

Our Thanksgiving holiday and weekend went by all too quickly. My brother and his family came to stay with us for a few days. It was great to have them here--our plan is for them to come stay with the girls while Tim, the boys, and I travel to Korea. I wish I had taken pictures with them--the kids had a great time doing "shows", riding scooters and roller blades, and just hanging out.

In the middle of the month, we did our traditional (remember how I am about traditions?!) tree of thankfulness. It starts with a walk to find the perfect broken branch on the ground. We put it in a glass vase filled with marbles or sand. (It makes for a very fun and colorful center piece.) We take turns writing or drawing on the leaves, then sharing what we are thankful for. Not so pleased with the picture, but here it is:

The leaves always range from sweet to silly to serious. This was one of my favorites this year. I can't remember which girl drew this one because they each did one, but I got a picture of Lindsey holding this one.

Can you tell what that is? The kids were all thankful for their little brother or sister in Korea!

And as I sat listening to each child and Tim share and thank God for what they put on their leaf--I smiled with thankfulness. I listened to a little girl, who was orphaned for reasons we will never know, pray for Jesus to bring her baby home.

So, this is where I thought I could come up with some really spiritual saying, to sound impressive and holy-like, but simply put.... I am thankful.

We are pulling the plug...

on our paypal button for the "got love?" long sleeves and hoodies tomorrow (Monday, November 29th) at noon. A huge thank you to all that placed orders. I'll email you when they are in and ready to mail @ December 9th!

48 hours left..

to order long sleeve and hooded sweatshirts with the BOLD and SIMPLE of adoption:

got love?

adopt.

147 million orphans

We are placing the order for the long sleeve and hoodies Monday morning. We should have them ready to mail to you around Dec. 9.

LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS are 2 for $30, OR $18 a piece

and

HOODED SWEATSHIRTS are $25 and includes a free CAR DECAL

We still have plenty of t-shirts (all sizes), cotton totes, travel mugs and car decals (which make a great stocking stuffer!).

These makes good gifts for any and all advocates for adoption AND it helps us bring home our son or daughter. A GIFT THAT GIVES TWICE!!

-we have something new coming to the Minus 1 Project blogspot. it isn't a "got love?" item--but it is a super cute gift for all the girls on your list. Check back on Monday and be the first to place an order!!-

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

THANKS BE TO GOD FOR HIS INDESCRIBABLE GIFT!! 2 Corinthians 9:15

~We are enjoying time with family. I hope that you all are spending the day in thanks for all that you have and mostly for God's gift of His Son. Let us be preparing our hearts for the advent season to come! ~

A Bear Grylls in the Making!

Tim and Ethan set out on the Appalachian Trail Saturday morning for a hike and camp out. Ethan is our big survival, outdoors, start-a-fire-with-two-rocks, stick whittling kid. He loves to be outside and is sure that he can survive any catastrophe.

He has read and reread his survival handbook preparing for this adventure. (He cracks us up!!)

Despite trying to sleep in 35 degree weather...they had a wonderful, bonding time. I am so thankful that Tim enjoys this kind of thing...

because I am a more stay-at-home kind of lady. I did, however, make popcorn balls with the other three and painted the kitchen door "perfect plum"! (Of which I don't have any pictures, trust me it is very pretty! :)

Any one else out there know who Bear Grylls is??? First one to answer correctly wins a "got love?" car decal! :) Happy Monday!

I lied....not on purpose!

My previous post stated that we would take orders through tomorrow for our

LONG SLEEVE AND HOODED SWEATSHIRTS

but that was a lie!! Sorry. After talking with our printer people-who are swamped-we are going to take order until Sunday, November 28. All orders will ship to you around December 10...still in time for Christmas!!

So...now that we have more time to take orders for our

LONG SLEEVE AND HOODED SWEATSHIRTS

We are having a SALE, SALE, SALE, SALE, SALE....

You all know the cost of adoption...you need to do some shopping anyway...you love and support adoptions...so here is YOUR chance!!

2 LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS FOR $30.00

and with every HOODED SWEATSHIRT ORDERED, YOU GET A FREE CAR DECAL

What a deal!! You also get to feel great about helping our family pay the ransom to bring home Apisa #5~~ Don't delay!!

Adopting a child won't change the world, but it will change the world for that child.

Together we CAN make a difference!

And a huge thank you to all of you who have donated and purchased!!

Got your "got love?" winter gear?

We are still taking orders for our long sleeved shirts and hoodies. LAST DAY TO ORDER IS FRIDAY!! Saturday morning we will place the order. (We are planning on order some extra to sell, but to insure we have your size, it is best to preorder before Sat.) You can still order our t-shirt, travel mug or/and tote.

But wait....have you seen our newest car decal? (It is the PERFECT stocking stuffer.) In case you missed it. Here it is:

My boys are requesting that someone local buy one. They think that it would be pretty cool to spot one while out driving--I have to agree, that would make my day!!

Did I mention what I did last week? In one word: BIRTHDAYS!! It so happens that three of my four kiddos' birthdays fall within 5 days of each other. So we started the birthday week off with Lucille's 4th:

A day of peace and rest and then we celebrated Ethan's twelfth:

Did our best to complete two days of school before celebrating Benjamin's tenth:

Needless to say, I was thrilled when we found out that Lindsey had a summer birthday! Birthday week was fun, but I it was a nice feeling to put the "Happy Birthday" banner away for a while.

Seven Correct Guesses!!!

HERE IT IS:

Thank you for all the guesses! We had fun reading them and they even gave us some ideas for our next item. As the title states, there were seven comments guessing bumper sticker or car decal/window cling. We put those names in a bowl and picked:

ARMSTRONG ADVENTURES

Armstrong family-send me an email with your address. I hope you like your new "got love?" car decal.

I think it was the first clue that had people second guessing their guess. The clue referred more to the car (may empty and fill it several times a day) than the actual decal, but it was the first one and it needed to be a bit tricky.

I am VERY excited about our car decal. What a fun and easy way to spread the adoption message. The audience will be huge--the message simple. I couldn't wait to put one on our van.

These are ready to mail starting tomorrow. Only $5.00. Let's be the voice...spread the message.

Picture of the day from Tim

Tim spends a good bit of time in his car traveling to job sites. Occasionally during the day he will send me pictures from his travels. I received this picture with the email subject line reading, "picture of the day...yes, that is snow!" I opened the attachment to see this:

About 45 minutes later, I received another email with the subject line reading,"OK, now THIS is the picture of the day". I pictured another beautiful landscape or wild animal and almost fell out of my seat when the attachment opened to this:

Is that not hysterical?? Have you ever seen anything so strange?? I love that my husband thought to take the picture, while driving very safely, I am sure, to make me smile during my day! He knows me so well!!

We have had some great guesses...can't tell you if any were correct. I will share that it is NOT a "got love?" dishwasher (empty and fill) or a human bladder (thank you Mr. Anonymous). It also is NOT "got love?" sweatpants with the logo on the behind. (And on the side--if you or your daughter own any of those..get rid of them!)

CLUE #4: It will open others' eyes but might hinder your view!!

Leave your guess and you might just win one!! The big reveal will be on Sunday evening--also will be ready to order and mail out. This is one for EVERY adoption supporter--

~~please, consider ordering a long sleeve or hoodie~~ great Christmas gift for the colder weather. We will take orders through Nov. 18 and will mail out 12/1. Merry shopping!!

Why "got love?"?

This is a post from several months ago when we were first introducing our "got love?" fundraising theme. I was thinking with all the Christmas shopping links, there are many who are visiting our blog for the first time. I decided to repost an earlier post from our blog.

For all of you that have been on the edge of your seats pondering day and night what it takes to adopt....your wait is over!! I think everyone, whether you have adopted or not, know how long and detailed the process is. It does take a lot of things..I don't in anyway want to minimize that.

CALLING--I would venture to say the first thing you would need was a calling from the Lord, who is true and active in the lives of His children. Is every person called to adopt? I don't think so, but I do think that more believers ARE and miss it. How are we loving our neighbor when so many of them are hungry, sad and lonely? Are we forgetting to care for the fatherless? Get real with the Lord and don't be afraid to ask him.."do you desire for me to adopt?" GOT A CALLING?

MONEY--That one is no secret, but neither is the fact that the Lord will fund what He has called you to. He cares for you and will continually provide for your needs. (That may not include all those "wants" that we have.) GOT TRUST?

TIME AND PATIENCE FOR PAPERWORK, APPTS., ETC--We make time in our lives for what we see as important. The mounds of paperwork and requirements slowly dwindle and get done. GOT A NOTARY?

~And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1Cor 13:13

~For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish by have eternal life. John 3:16

got love?

adopt.

147 million orphans

Clue #3: From near to far, from here to there, you'll spread the adoption message everywhere!!

Back home and ready to ask...

the Lord, "What is my kingdom assignment?"

I just got home from the Mid-Atlantic Orphan Summit. It was AWESOME!!! I traveled with my friend who is also an adoptive mom (from Korea) and has such a heart for adoption and orphan care. We listened to great speakers, gathered information for our church's adoption/foster care ministry and met some blogging friends!!

I have been looking forward to this get-away for months. I was excited to learn more about getting our church on board with adoption/foster care. And as if trying to leave for a weekend isn't crazy enough, about an hour before I was to be picked up....

Never fails, does it? At least I returned to a very clean stovetop and floor!!

The conference was so encouraging--loads of information that will take time to sort through. I am looking forward to sharing some of it on here. But, for now, it was great to get back home to Tim and the kids. They had a fun, busy weekend without me. Not so sure what to think, when the newest picture on the camera is this:

(I am thinking dads, at least in our house, are much more fun than mom(s).)

'GOT LOVE?' NEWS: We are taking orders for long sleeved and hoodies through Nov. 18th. Preorder yours today!! We will mail orders out on 12/1!

CLUE #2: You will leave the message of adoption behind you where ever you go and others will look forward to it.

(remember to leave us a guess as to what you think the newest "got love?" item is. Those who guess correctly will be entered in to win one!)

The cold weather is coming...

and we now have "got love?" long sleeved shirts and hoodies!! We will be taking orders starting today through November 18th. We will be able to ship orders out by the first week of December...just in time for Christmas and the colder weather!

Long sleeved shirts are $18.00 and hooded sweatshirts are $25.00--shipping included!

Just like all of the "got love?" gear...the message is bold and simple. But, more importantly EVERY PENNY FROM EVERY DOLLAR that is sold goes directly to paying the ransom for our little almond-eyed bundle!! Please consider supporting us in our efforts!!

And now, for CLUE #1 (remember you are guessing what the other newest "got love?" item is. It will be ready to ship in about 10 days--a great purchase for every adoption supporter!!)

YOU MAY EMPTY AND FILL IT SEVERAL TIMES A DAY.

Costumes and a Contest!

I just approved the art work for a new "got love?" item. When my creative and witty husband gets home tonight I am going to have him come up with clues to what that item is. Those who guess it correctly (assuming there will be more than one) will be entered in a drawing to win one. You may guess as many times as you would like...starting today, but you may want to wait for at least one clue.

I am thinking that we will have them in and ready to ship in about 2 weeks, so we will run the contest and add clues for the next 10 days or so!! (Oh, I love contests and guessing games!!) I am excited that we were able to order these--can't give too much away!!

On another note, for those of you who may not know me well, I am big into traditions. Meaning, we have several things we do for certain celebrations and holidays that we started doing years ago, some before we had kids. For fall time, we always make caramel apples and eat them watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".

Later in the week we walked down to a local market just down the road from us and bought pumpkins. My parents were here visiting.

And, yes, that is a bottle of local wine in our wagon. :) We got home and started carving!

Finally, Halloween arrived. (Thank goodness, for that bottle of wine!! Just kidding) It was several fun, sugar-filled days.

I have to say that I am looking forward to a quiet week. Be sure to check back in for the clues and leave me a guess!

Shopping with a Purpose

I am excited to be a part of another fundraising site--where you can shop from the comfort of your home in your "house" clothes, avoiding long lines and germy carts!! :) (Am I the only mom out there that has her same "house" clothes that she wears everyday until around lunch time?)

A Place Called Simplicity is having a "Shopping with a Purpose" site where you can buy all kinds of different things...where you know your money is making a difference. All these families, like the Christmas Frenzy, are in the throws of fundraising to bring their child(ren) home. I am hoping that this exposure will lead to more "got love?' sales for us.

We have made several gift purchases from this site already. Be sure to check back in as more families and great gift ideas are being added daily!!

Grab your credit card and click HERE!!

What a great feeling to find that special gift for someone and help families bring their special little one(s) home!!