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the 1000 view update
we have officially hit 1,000 views on our etsy site! my friend, amanda, suggested that there has to be some way to figure out the views:sales ratio. so, i think 1,000 views is a pretty good litmus test. so, here are the stats:
for every 1,000 views, the following things will happen:
this was a bit of a challenge, because it opens up a whole world of questions that i am NOT about to answer for other people's kids. i thought that by explaining what adoption is, and how a child is born "out of another mommy's tummy," it would raise questions like "well, how does a baby get out of the tummy?" and "how did the baby get in there to begin with?" so, i tried to prepare for those questions... along with heartbreaking questions about orphans and children being born with "no family." so, i prepared for those questions too.
what i could not prepare for was the questions they would actually ask. after completing my whole talk, then reading a book called "a family is forever" the hands started going up. i called on one little girl and she said "do all girl scouts have mothers?"
ummmm... yes, even girl scouts have mothers.
then, my personal favorite, "do dinosaurs adopt babies?"
seriously!? what, are you in first grade or something kid? oh wait, you actually are... "umm, well, have you seen the tv show called dinosaur train!? that show is about a family of teranodons who have a mysterious egg hatch in their nest. when he hatches, he is a different kind of dinosaur, but he is still part of their forever family!" booya. (shout out to pbs for that one...)
it also opened up conversations about blended families, the foster care system and how all families are different. after our discussion, each of the kids got to illustrate a booklet and write about their own family. some of the pictures and words were actually super sad, and others were really cute. but, as i was walking past annalee's desk i saw her first line:
my family is speshul! soooo speshul!
so, there you have it. our family looks a little different than the average family... but, we're gonna keep pluggin' away with this fundraiser because someday, somewhere a precious little baby is is going to be born and will need a home, and will eventually join our family. and, as lucky as we will be to have him or her, they will be pretty lucky to have us... because i've heard we're pretty speshul.
for every 1,000 views, the following things will happen:
- we will sell approximately 60 items!
- a tall man will partially pay for 2 items, and then disappear.
- we will sell 1 item to my oldest childhood friend, thanks brooke!
- we will sell 1 item to a perfect stranger from new york city.
- people will come out of the woodwork, with their woodwork. (more on the cutting boards later...)
- one sweet and generous friend (eh hem, abby) will throw a pampered chef fundraiser event to raise money for our adoption.
this was a bit of a challenge, because it opens up a whole world of questions that i am NOT about to answer for other people's kids. i thought that by explaining what adoption is, and how a child is born "out of another mommy's tummy," it would raise questions like "well, how does a baby get out of the tummy?" and "how did the baby get in there to begin with?" so, i tried to prepare for those questions... along with heartbreaking questions about orphans and children being born with "no family." so, i prepared for those questions too.
what i could not prepare for was the questions they would actually ask. after completing my whole talk, then reading a book called "a family is forever" the hands started going up. i called on one little girl and she said "do all girl scouts have mothers?"
ummmm... yes, even girl scouts have mothers.
then, my personal favorite, "do dinosaurs adopt babies?"
seriously!? what, are you in first grade or something kid? oh wait, you actually are... "umm, well, have you seen the tv show called dinosaur train!? that show is about a family of teranodons who have a mysterious egg hatch in their nest. when he hatches, he is a different kind of dinosaur, but he is still part of their forever family!" booya. (shout out to pbs for that one...)
it also opened up conversations about blended families, the foster care system and how all families are different. after our discussion, each of the kids got to illustrate a booklet and write about their own family. some of the pictures and words were actually super sad, and others were really cute. but, as i was walking past annalee's desk i saw her first line:
my family is speshul! soooo speshul!
so, there you have it. our family looks a little different than the average family... but, we're gonna keep pluggin' away with this fundraiser because someday, somewhere a precious little baby is is going to be born and will need a home, and will eventually join our family. and, as lucky as we will be to have him or her, they will be pretty lucky to have us... because i've heard we're pretty speshul.
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To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
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When daddy is in charge of lunch
jaws of life
when in doubt, my sweet son harper tends to err on the side of being terrified of things. last night, after tucking him in... he called for me repeatedly to come in and make the "woof" go away. there was (obviously) not an actual wolf in his room. when i mentioned that there was no wolf he replied "yes there is! he's pretend and he's right there!"
this is not the first run-in with imagined predators in harper's room. one night a while back, after tucking harper in with his blanket and little stuffed shark, i closed the door and stood outside his room to see how the scene would unfold. here is what i heard outside his door:
upon the click of the door, harper instantly began saying "oh nooo, mama... oh nooo." he sounded desperate and heartbroken that i would ever leave him alone to nap. as if that wasn't enough for me to feel awful, the scene escalated. his "oh nooo's" quickly turned to "no! no! NO! NOOOOO!!" he was screaming as if he was literally being eaten alive by something with very sharp teeth. i thought that something had actually gotten in his room and he was actually in danger... his screams were so real, and so urgent!
then i opened the door.
sitting on his bed, harper had streams of tears pouring down his face. his eyes were shut as tight as he could squeeze them, and his chubby hands were wrapped around his little stuffed shark, which he was holding up to his throat, mid-shark-attack. he had opened the mouth of his shark, pushed it up against his throat and let 'er rip.
when i went in, it took him a few yells of his name before he realized that i had even come in. he was, obviously, quite busy being eaten alive and didn't hear me come in. i calmed him down, banished the shark to the playroom and forbade him from using his imagination during naptime ever again.
whenever i give my mother an inaccurate account of my childhood, she always says "if that's how you remember it, it might as well have been that way." i think of that sometimes with my own kids. i think of what they will report back to me someday about their lives, about me as a mom, and about how they felt growing up. what will be my failures in their mind? what will be my shortcomings? the injustices they endured in this house? who knows... but, their fears, their experiences (real or imagined) can be pretty traumatic.
i am keenly aware of my faults and shortcomings as a mother, trust me on that one. but, in spite of a million weaknesses, i know of one strength i have for sure: i will fight for my kids. come hell or high water, i will take them back from whatever it is that has them by the throat, and i will fight for them.
the other night, my sweet friend sam gave me a bit of encouragement about this whole adoption process. she said, "if you were adopting internationally, would you feel just as guilty about doing a fundraiser? if you thought of it as raising a ransom for your child, would you still have such a hard time asking people to buy a t-shirt?" she also said to me, "when this is all said and done, and your child looks at you and says 'mama, was i worth it?' what will you say?"
ugh. friends like her are so obnoxious with all their conviction and rightness. but, the girl's got a point. i don't care what it takes, i will fight for my kids. even the one i don't have yet. so, while it may take me a year or even two... i am going to grab the shark and tear it away from the throat of this kid. whether that shark be expenses, or self-doubt, or fear... in the name of jesus, i am going to tear that shark a new one.
this is not the first run-in with imagined predators in harper's room. one night a while back, after tucking harper in with his blanket and little stuffed shark, i closed the door and stood outside his room to see how the scene would unfold. here is what i heard outside his door:
upon the click of the door, harper instantly began saying "oh nooo, mama... oh nooo." he sounded desperate and heartbroken that i would ever leave him alone to nap. as if that wasn't enough for me to feel awful, the scene escalated. his "oh nooo's" quickly turned to "no! no! NO! NOOOOO!!" he was screaming as if he was literally being eaten alive by something with very sharp teeth. i thought that something had actually gotten in his room and he was actually in danger... his screams were so real, and so urgent!
then i opened the door.
sitting on his bed, harper had streams of tears pouring down his face. his eyes were shut as tight as he could squeeze them, and his chubby hands were wrapped around his little stuffed shark, which he was holding up to his throat, mid-shark-attack. he had opened the mouth of his shark, pushed it up against his throat and let 'er rip.
when i went in, it took him a few yells of his name before he realized that i had even come in. he was, obviously, quite busy being eaten alive and didn't hear me come in. i calmed him down, banished the shark to the playroom and forbade him from using his imagination during naptime ever again.
whenever i give my mother an inaccurate account of my childhood, she always says "if that's how you remember it, it might as well have been that way." i think of that sometimes with my own kids. i think of what they will report back to me someday about their lives, about me as a mom, and about how they felt growing up. what will be my failures in their mind? what will be my shortcomings? the injustices they endured in this house? who knows... but, their fears, their experiences (real or imagined) can be pretty traumatic.
i am keenly aware of my faults and shortcomings as a mother, trust me on that one. but, in spite of a million weaknesses, i know of one strength i have for sure: i will fight for my kids. come hell or high water, i will take them back from whatever it is that has them by the throat, and i will fight for them.
the other night, my sweet friend sam gave me a bit of encouragement about this whole adoption process. she said, "if you were adopting internationally, would you feel just as guilty about doing a fundraiser? if you thought of it as raising a ransom for your child, would you still have such a hard time asking people to buy a t-shirt?" she also said to me, "when this is all said and done, and your child looks at you and says 'mama, was i worth it?' what will you say?"
ugh. friends like her are so obnoxious with all their conviction and rightness. but, the girl's got a point. i don't care what it takes, i will fight for my kids. even the one i don't have yet. so, while it may take me a year or even two... i am going to grab the shark and tear it away from the throat of this kid. whether that shark be expenses, or self-doubt, or fear... in the name of jesus, i am going to tear that shark a new one.
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To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
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london hijacks the big-girl bed.jpg
like father, like son
harper: "do you see my handsome eyes?"
me: "i do, those are handsome eyes!"
harper: "who do i look like?"
me: "you look like a handsome guy."
harper: "no, i look like jesus! and a little moses too."
not sure where moses came in, but if you gotta choose two guys to look like, jesus and moses are pretty solid picks! and for a kid who may always wonder who he looks like, it is nice to know that at 3 years old he already knows (at least in part) that he looks like jesus.
genesis 5:1 "when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God."
me: "i do, those are handsome eyes!"
harper: "who do i look like?"
me: "you look like a handsome guy."
harper: "no, i look like jesus! and a little moses too."
not sure where moses came in, but if you gotta choose two guys to look like, jesus and moses are pretty solid picks! and for a kid who may always wonder who he looks like, it is nice to know that at 3 years old he already knows (at least in part) that he looks like jesus.
genesis 5:1 "when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God."