Lily's Baptism

This weekend we had a beautiful baptism for Lily and everyone was invited back here for a lunch. The weather was wonderful and everyone had a great time!
Here are some photos of the day, I wish I had of taken a few more of the yard all decorated.







This is the beautiful cake that Angela made! The picture doesn't do it justice, I wish it was put against a better backdrop.




Frank put a chinese scroll up on our maple tree. A couple of people (and kids) wanted to know what it said. For all I know it is the Chinese Karma Stutra! LOL I said it was a poem about family!




The priest had everyone come up do the sign of the cross on her forehead, there must of been 40 people. She was great, letting everyone come up to her! We were laughing just waiting for her to put her hand on her forehead and so NO MORE!! Instead she took the red ribbon and wrapped it around her head and laughed!



Frank and Isabelle read "The Red Thread" proverb while Lily and I called all the children up to the front of the church and we walked the ribbon around all the kids.



Here's the guest of honour, waving to her "peeps" from the front of the church!


I had a huge smudge on the front of my camera lens and didn't notice it till yesterday! so all my pictures of the last 2 days are "blurry". I thought it was my eyesight. Even started to wear my glasses again! then I happened to look at the lens and noticed the huge smudge! Pretty bad!
I guess I am showing my age!
The girls and I are off to visit my mom for a few days. We'll be back late next week.
Till then....have a Happy Canada Day!!!

Impressions Photo Challenge

Heather, at Digging a Hole to China has started a photo challenge, we get a theme and post our impressions in still photos. I have been so busy with the baptism and first communion and the party that followed, that I couldn't devote as much attention to this challenge as I wanted.
However, I am already thinking about next months theme.
Here are my photos, this months theme was "I Love.."

"I love.."

My husband..he is so wonderful and caring.





My daughters...
The look in thier faces as they play in the water...pure love, pure innocence, pure joy!!



This picture is a bit different for the theme..When I look at this picture, it says so much to me.
Isabelle had just fallen into the water and Abgiail ran to her and pulled her out!
As soon as I took the picture..I thought..."they really love each other!"

I've been tagged

How cool!! I've been tagged by the totally cool Heather
So after some careful consideration and some help from my BBF here's what I got:

4 Facts About Me:
1. I went to cooking school to become a chef. I'm NOT a chef!
2. My husband and I are highschool sweethearts, been together 22 years now..
3. I'm totally a Type A personality - big time!
4. I never measure when I cook - drives my BBF crazy!


4 Things I have discovered about myself:
1. I love my Rebel camera!! (now if I could just figure out how to use it)
2. I love blogging, who knew??
3. I can be own my own with my kids for 5 months and not go nuts while DH is away! again who knew??
4. I cannot be without my purses or shoes...I can't say how many I have...because the first step in admitting you have an addiction is being able to acknowledge it, and I'm NOT!

4 Things I Want to Do
1. My husband
2. Take a trip to Arizona with my BBF's Lu and Mary and visit my sister.
3. Make my old website (that was spammed so bad we had to take it down) from Lily's adoption and make it into a book.
4. Take a course on how to use my Rebel Camera!!

4 Habits / Obsessions:
But I decided to change this to Obsessions. Because I don't really have any habits...
1. My floors, especially my kitchen floor, I'll vacuum and wash that sometimes 3 times a day!
2. Coffee, I don't necessarily have to drink it, just like having one around all the time. Like a good friend.
3. I swear - A LOT - I have to constantly backspace, and delete ont his blog, because after I write something, I look at it and think, F*%&K Krista, you can't write that!
I've got SUCH a potty mouth!
4. Squirrels - I hate them! If they come into my backyard, I run out like a mad woman, shouting profranities at them. There is a long drawn out story to this...I'll see if I can get it off of the old website, but the short of it is that the buggers made a freaking 3 level condo in MY stuff that I had stored in Rubbermaid bins, on the 2nd floor of my barn, which is attached to my house, and it STUNK to high heaven!! It goes on...and on... with squirrel babies, feeding them by hand (not me)...kids mad...(cause I wanted to break its neck)...etc...ohhh god...

Well there are my 4 things......
I am going to tag:
Angela (but she has to wait till she is done my cake before posting!! LOL) and
Dianne
I have to think about 2 more people, it's already 11pm, and I have to get jewerly making!

Sorry,,,,

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit! I've been SWAMPED with preparing for lily's baptism this weekend. I have 70 people expected on Saturday, including children. I am feeding all of them!

So, since I have a minute here at 10pm, let me fill you in...

The baptism is at 11:00am on Saturday, we're having a private one since Frank's uncle is the Priest! (It's who you know baby!!!)
We will have Lily's adoption video playing while people are arriving. Then during the "ceremony"
we have a long red ribbon (thanks to MaryEllen), and all the children will be invited up and Frank will read the Red Thread proverb and Lily and I will go around the kids and intertwine them with it, then Abigail and Isabelle will read a passage out of the book "A Pocket Full of Kisses" by Audrey Penn. (Thanks Penny for your suggestion, the girls REALLY wanted to recite it, but I wouldn't let them! LOL).
I would always give my girls a kissing hand whenever I sent them to preschool etc..

First I'll read: Mrs Raccoon placed Chester on the groud and smiled at him with the soft loving eyes he knew so well. "I think someone needs a Kissing Hand" she said in a voice that was warm and inviting. She took Chester's hand in her own and spread open his tiny fingers into a fan. Leaning over, she kissed him right in the middle of his palm. Chester felt the warmth of that kiss rush from his hand, up his arm, and into his heart. And when he pressed his hand to his cheek, he could hear his mother's words in his head. "Mommy loves you," they said "Mommy loves you."
then the girls read:
Every night, just before the sun goes down, it reaches out with its rays and touches every star in the universe. One by one, the stars light up and shine down upon us. Even on nights we can't see the stars, the're up there sparking away. No matter how many stars fill the sky, the sun will never run out of light, and its rays will never stop reaching out to them. That is the way it is with the Kissing Hands. When somebody loves you, their kisses are like the sun's rays - always there and always shining. No matter how many Kissing Hands mommy gives us she will never ever run out!

Then the actual "church-ie" part starts. It won't be long. Maybe 30 mins.

Then we all head back to my house for:
Couscous greek salad
Mesculin mix tossed salad with assorted dressings
Fresh baked whole wheat and white rolls
Pork tenderloin and
Chateaubriand (sliced thinly)
assorted mustards
big ass deli pickles (still am trying to find those).
Raspberry pie
Blueberry pie
triple layer chocolate cake
and this made by the VERY talented Angela


a 3 tier cake - mint green faundant, with white picket fence, but instead of those flower present things on top there will be ladybugs and lilies.
oh, and we'll have:
lots of beer
red (yum) and white (yuck) wine
and a water cooler

For the kiddies:
Pizza and fun ice cream treats. I figure they are NOT going to stand around and wait for salad and meat.
The kids have bubbles and skipping ropes and ribbon wands (for the older ones) and I have a ball house and little toys for the "babes in arms".

Now for the decorations:
I found this beautiful red iridescent material and am putting it all around my arcway leading into my backyard, and also around my porch entrance into my house.


I have red and gold hellium balloons on each fence post (6 in all) and the tables should be covered in red tablecloths (Mother in law is in Boston looking for some as I type).
We have a HUGE maple tree in the backyard, and we're hanging a chinese watercolor print that we got in china, it has chinese characters written down it, not sure what is says, but hey it looks cool. Knowing our luck it's probably chinese porn!

And I'm sending everyone home with a goodie bag filled with chinese candy, biscuits, tea, etc.. and a thank you card with this poem (which I found on the internet) on the left side:


and this picture on the right:

So, whatcha think?? Am I forgetting anything? Any sugestions?
We are prepared that if it rains, everything comes inside! But I won't be happy! I am trying to keep everyone OUTSIDE!
So here it is, now 10:36pm and I still have to make a braclet for Abigail's teacher for tomorrow morning, as its her last day of school. I already made Isabelle's teacher a beautiful necklace yeaterday! shit I should of taken a picture of it, I'll never be able to do it again, I'm sure it was a total fluke, seeing as it was 1am!!

Anyway, I have some spare time between 3:23am and 4:15am does anyone need anything done?

Poem Help

Ok, I'm in a bit of a panic. Lily's baptism is on Saturday and I want to have her 2 older sisters read a poem during the service.
We are reading the Red Thread already, but I was looking for a poem on growing your family through adoption, sort of like Not flesh of my flesh, etc... But something more appropriate for the girls. (and nothing too long either!)
Can anyone out there help me with some suggestions?
Thanks

Fotofusion

I've had a few enquiries about some of the pictures I have posted.

I downloaded fotofusion for 39.00$ (The basic package) and I have to tell you! I absolutely love it!
As for those splat pictures of Lily, You just have to choose your frame:


For this one, I choose the flower frame. This only took me about 3 mins.

Heather Rocks!

LOOK AT MY BLOG!!!! LOOK AT MY BLOG!!!!

Isn't it beautiful!!!!!

Heather fixed it!, (cause I'm a dumb-ass) and have NO idea how to do these fancy, bigger-better computer things!
Whenever I sit at the computer, it's usually in the evening with a glass (or 4) of wine (Red, Casillero del Diablo, Cabernet Sauvignon) my god I actually shuddered as i typed the name!
It's cheap but good, just how I like my man!
whoa...way off topic there for a second.. "Blog...Krista...focus...."

So you see, if I continued to try to frig with this darn thing, I would have to spend all my free time at Alcoholic Anonymous meetings.

Heather, You totally rock!!! You did this out of the goodness of your heart. You could of told me to bugger off, but you didn't! Thank you! Everyone, please check out her blog it is listed under my favorites. "Digging a Hole to China".

A group of adoptive parents with children from Lily's orphanage has created an International website, there is lots of information, and there is a section with photos of the babies still there waiting for their forever families who are just waiting for travel approval etc..
I am responsible for asking for the photos, receiving them and then posting them. Even though I am not expecting a referral, I scour Rumour Queen for new referrals looking for Dianjiang babies, then I can contact the family and say.."hey, here are some photos of your daughter taken just last week! or when she was 3 months old". I want to put a smile on their faces.
There is a point to my rambling.......
Not many people know that I've been doing this for almost a year now, but I'm not doing it for recognition, ..I think that if a person does something nice for someone just because ..then down the road it will come back to you and put a smile on your face! That is what Heather did!
She made me smile a whole bunch today!! I hope someone makes her smile soon too. (maybe DH later tonight?) ;)

Thanks again Heather,
Oh and I really do like those ladybugs..Can you put them on the blog?

Well I thought I would try one of Donna's Family FotoFun Friday Challenges.
This weeks challenge is Messy!

Lily LOVES her yogurt, mind you she is not so messy now! Here are some photos of her when she is 16 months old! We had only been home for 4 months!
Wow! She looks so little in them!
Her hair is soo short! lol

I think she was using the spoon as a teether!

New Look

update #2: I've changed it again!! (It must of been while you were posting Diane!)

update #1: I've changed the colors a bit, (as per your suggestions) lol, I wish I could be online with you guys as I change colors. I am terrible at this stuff!! LOL

ok ....... after many many days, many questions, many drinks, and many many obscenities,
I've finally have made a new banner for my blog!

Now I need comments..suggestions and opinions.

Now how do you like it???

Sidewalk art

The girls decided to have some fun with daddy last weekend and draw an outline of his body in chalk. Lily thought that when we said to "draw daddy" it meant "on him" not around him!!







What a good sport, she was coloring in his "hair" LOL..should he take this as a hint?



Maybe black wasn't the best color to wear today!! (he has just arrived home from work and didn't have time to change before the girls had him on the pavement!) LOL

bugs

I pity the insects in my backyard!! Lily picks them up, carries them around, kissing them.
Meanwhile the poor bug has succumbed to death by crushing!

Isabelle had to write a little report on ants today, and when it came to "natural enemies" she wrote "my little sister!!" Too funny.

The loves of my life!!

too close for comfort (for mommy)

At the same hayride, there were big beautiful horses at the back of the farm.
Once Lily spotted these beasts, she was in love with them. She got way way too close for my comfort level!

Taking a peek........getting close....



Hmmm...harmless enough......closer.....



even closer.........



closer.......




WHOA.....WAY too close for mommy!! Her head was against the horses' nose!!
He could of eaten her!

No fear....I tell you...this kid has NO FEAR with large animals.

Children's Bridge Hayride

Here are some pictures from the Hayride with our adoption agency.

Candace and Hope!





Shirley and Isabelle


Krista and Diane... Look at us Diane...chatting away with Joe in the background probably thinking.."Thank god I'm not in that conversation!!" LOL


The famous pollywog pond. (Yes, 1 kid did fall in!)


There's Penny doing her "thing" (and she's good at it too!)