catching up

This weekend was my grandmother's memorial service. My sister and I flew to AZ to attend the service. It was a sweet time to remember my grandmother with family.

Sunday was Orphan Sunday. Rob wore this shirt- sharing the plight of orphans along with his sermon on social justice.

Sunday night was the lantern walk at nursery school. It is inspired by St. Martin, a fourth century army officer who - according to legend - went out into the night searching for people in need of help. As we walked around the pond the only light was from our home made lanterns and candles along the path. We hung our lanterns in the trees. Then we warmed up in front of the bonfire and ate baked apples and cookies.

What are you going to do? By Pete Kidd

Pete and Andrea adopted their little girl from Ethiopia last year. Check out his blog post:
What are you going to do about it?
Or you can read his post below.

Nearly three years ago, shortly after making the decision to adopt a baby girl from Africa, Andrea and I had an after dinner conversation that ended up laying the foundation for a mission and a passion that we never could have imagined.

As we sat around our dinner table that night, we were just beginning the process of getting informed on the basics of the country that would present us with our third child - Ethiopia. We had just begun learning about this poor landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa - bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, and Somalia to the east. We learned of a third-world country roughly the size of state of Texas that had been ravaged by HIV/AIDS, famine, poverty, drought and flood, and home to an estimated five million orphans. That’s right, five million orphans.

And one of them was my baby girl Gabrielle.

As we sat around the dinner table that night, we discussed what Gabrielle might want to know someday about her native country, her culture, her heritage, the circumstances, and the reasons. We vividly imagined the day that Gabrielle would approach us, look into our eyes, and ask us THE question:“What happened to my mother and father?”

As we speculated on how this conversation may unfold, we realized that although we might not have a specific answer to this critical question (unfortunately it’s very common for Ethiopian orphans to be left without a trace of his or her family history) we recognized that we could at least explain the likely circumstances leading her to becoming one of the five million orphans: poverty, disease, hunger. Strangely, this gave us some level of comfort - comfort that we could provide Gabrielle with a rationale (as awful and evil as it is) that might satisfy her need for answers at some level.

BUT our comfort evaporated when we thought further about her next logical question:
“What did you do about it?”

It was at that very point that Andrea and I started to realize that this adoption was just the beginning of something much more than simply adding another child to our family.
“What did you do about it?”

Can you imagine getting that question from your little girl and not having an answer? We had to have an answer, a good answer! We could no longer ignore the massive injustice and problems occurring on the continent that was to provide us with our daughter. We now had skin in the game….
“What did you do about it?”

Can you imagine having an awareness of the fact that there are five million orphans in Ethiopia alone and doing NOTHING about it?
“What did you do about it?”

Can you imagine knowing that 5500 Africans die every day of AIDS (a preventable and treatable disease) and doing NOTHING about it?
“What did you do about it?”

Can you imagine knowing that nearly a million Africans die each year of Malaria and doing NOTHING about it?
“What did you do about it?”

I plan on having a really good answer to this question when it comes out my little girl’s mouth. And if it goes well with Gabrielle, I may just repeat my answer the day when I meet God face to face and have to give Him an account....
What's your answer? (http://www.hopechest.org/)

Halloween & Igor's paintings

It was 80 degrees on Halloween so we had to make some modifications to the costumes...



Igor's painting- two oil paintings



one water color

143,000,000

I saw this on Becky's facebook page. It's hard to imagine how big the number 143,000,000 is until you watch this video. There are 143,000,000 orphans in the world. It's hard the fathom... it's hard not to be overwhelmed by the number. However, you can make a difference in one child's life!
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Please consider donating to Children's Hope Chest. Any dollar amount would be appreciated. 100% of the donation will be used to meet immediate needs of orphans while we are in Ethiopia. Go to www.hopechest.org, click on "Give" and then specify "Ethiopia Vision Trip" in the notes section.
We are also collection items for the trip.
Suggested items:
new children's underwear
pencils
pencil sharpeners
toothbrushes
tooth paste
packages of balloons
small bottles of lotion
small boxes of crayons

The Fair, lost tooth and Fall Festival

I grew up attending fairs in the summer. The fair reminds me of my childhood- they make me feel warm and cozy. My dear husband did not grow up going to fairs and they are not his favorite thing but he goes to the fair because I love it. This year was Igor's third trip to the fair and he loves all of it- the food, the rides, the animals. Henry was a little overwhelmed by it all but he had fun!

Igor lost another tooth! here he is making a goofy face...

Today was Fall Festival at Nursery School. I forgot my camera and my cell phone is dead.

(three words-Henry, cell phone, water..... if you have a Verizon phone you are not using anymore, e-mail me please)

I was able to take a picture when we arrived home. Henry is asleep so you cannot see how cute he looked. Ms. Joya had all the children in capes, leaf crowns and leaf wands.

For the last week, Rob has been on a mission trip in Arkansas. The boys cannot wait for Daddy to come home. Tomorrow they will carve the pumpkins together!

The boys

Last Friday was Crazy Hair Day at school:

Henry and Igor are excited about costumes! Here's Igor in his Bibleman mask and cape. I think Henry makes a dashing Bob the Builder.

On Wednesday Igor asked me, "Mom, why does dad like you?" hmmmm... I wondered what this was all about. Then he asked what were the first words dad said to me. Later at dinner Igor asked how Rob and I first met. I thought Igor might have a crush on a girl. So, I asked him if there was a girl he liked. He said he did and shared her name. Our boy has his first crush.

Henry's vocabulary continues to increase. He has learned the word "MINE!" at nursery school. We are trying to teach Henry to say his name. He cannot say "Hen" yet but If you ask him his name he says, "Ree" (the second syllable of Henry). I am also teaching Henry to say I love you. He tries to say it but it doesn't sound anything like "I love you". He will come up to me whispering something in my ear. I'm sure he is saying, "I love you".

Ethiopia Mission Trip

There are several items we need for the mission trip to Ethiopia. If you want to help, feel free to donate the following items:

• new children's underwear
• pencils
• pencil sharpeners
• toothbrushes
• packages of balloons
• small bottles of lotion
• small boxes of crayons.

E-mail me at mblueberry.madamblueberry@gmail.com if you would like to mail your donation. Or if you live out of town or do not have time to shop, you may make a tax deductible donation by clicking in this link for Children's Hope Chest.
Once on the Children's Hope Chest page click on GIVE (right hand side of the page).
In the Notes section of the donation page please type in "Ethiopia Vision Trip" so the funds go to the correct account.
We will be visiting 6 orphanages or care points in Ethiopia. The funds donated will be used by our team to purchase things such as beds for an orphanage, mosquito netting, ongoing meals for orphans who may not eat more than a few times a week, or medical care. Once we get there we will have a better sense of the need at each location.

I will also be raising money for the Ethiopia trip by selling caramel corn. To ensure freshness, I make the caramel corn* after I receive your order. I guarantee you will love it or your money back!
Here are two caramel corn reviews from last year:
This is the best caramel corn I've ever had
- E
WE LOVE IT! That is the best stuff! We are addicted!
-Susan Schmidt

*Ingredients: White Popcorn, White Syrup, butter/margarine, brown sugar, salt, baking soda