Organic Recommendations

I am not an "organic foods" person by any stretch of the imagination. I will occasionally buy some organic things to try, but at this point do not feel super convicted to change my diet. I do; however, like yummy food and to try new things. I have found (probably via Tricia or Serina) a couple of organic foods out there that are super yummy, my kids, hubby and I all love them and they are easy to cook. Definitely worth a try and worth buying again!

Amy's Organic Chunky Tomato Bisque 

Amy's Organic Lentil Soup (yes, my kids love it too!)

Annie's Shells and White Cheddar

Do you have any organic "must eats"? 

Hair Bow Cuteness

I am SO excited. I ordered bows for my daughter's hair off of Etsy last week from three different sellers. They all arrived today and I absolutely LOVE them all. What a talented group of ladies. I can't wait to try them all out on her hair. The 3 sets on the left are from Sassy Lil Ones, the middle set (and I think my personal favorites) are from Hair Sprinkles, and the 3  sets on the right are from Emma Lee's Boutique. The quality looks fantastic on all of them, the customer service from all was amazing and SUPER friendly, and shipping was very fast. I should also mention the prices...awesome. 

I especially encourage you to check out these and other awesome Etsy sellers of children's  goods in the next week. All handmade products for children under 12 will have to be tested for lead starting February 10...In theory it is a great idea...I am all about safety for our children. In practice, this law will put all of our small businesses, like the ones listed above, out of business. They either have to choose to break the law and continue selling items, pay thousands upon thousands of dollars to have their items tested for lead (which most cannot afford), or discontinue their business. So, please, click here to educate yourself on the new law, and how you can help get it amended to keep these and other wonderful Etsy sellers in business.

Never thought I'd hear myself say: Vol 2

A while back I posted some things that I never thought I'd hear myself say, but now that I'm a mother I say.

Lately I have found myself saying to my son multiple times a day:

"We don't eat brown snow, we only eat white snow"

He loves to eat snow and keeps trying to eat snow that is near the road and is all nasty and dirty. The phrase isn't terribly funny, but I say it so many times in one day, it is unbelievable! I suppose this principle will become extremely important though if he ever encounters yellow snow.

Shout Out

Had to write and give a shout out to Z@ppos! I ordered some new running shoes from them yesterday at 2:30 pm....and selected their free shipping option (I think it is supposed to take 5 days or so) that they always have. A few hours later I got an email that they were upgrading my shipping options free of charge. My doorbell rang a few minutes ago and lo and behold...my shoes had arrived. Less than 26 hours later! Did I mention shipping was FREE???? They also have free shipping on the return and great customer service (we have used them multiple times). Thought I'd share my great experience. 

Also, I updated a few links/blogs on the sidebar. Check them out if you are bored. I'll probably be adding more in the next few days/weeks.

The Fatherless

This weekend my husband and I were invited to an an  fundraising gala, An Orphan's Ticket Home. We were invited by a couple in our church, and went with some other friends of ours who are adopting as well. It was an amazing and powerful night. I can't stop thinking about the night, the things that were said, and mainly, the orphans...the fatherless. 

The evening started out with praise and worship by the Billy Foote Band. WOW! That about sums up their talent. His wife is the lead singer and MAN can she sing. She has probably one of the best female voices I have ever heard. Go take a listen to them. You will be blown away! The head of the band told an illustration that one of his friends had told him. His friend grew up during the time of the holocaust. His town was one of the places that the trains stopped in on their way to the concentration camps. This man grew up hearing the screams and pleading of the Jewish people on the trains...begging for food, for water...anything. Apparently, even in church they could hear the screams and moans of the people on their way to the concentration camps...and to drown out the sound, they sang louder. Billy Foote's point in telling the story was that today there are millions and millions of orphans in the world; here and abroad. Are we as a church listening to these orphans and helping? Are we doing something to better the situation or are we just singing louder in our comfortable churches and ignoring their cries? 

Next Tom Davis spoke about how we as Christians are called to care for the widows and the fatherless. He showed this video...and I think it speaks for itself. I think I want to adopt them all! At the end of the evening I got into the car and cried...for the orphans, for the fatherless. One important point Tom Davis made, however, continues to stick with me. Many people feel like I do; overwhelmed, that there is little hope, little that something one person or one family can do to truly make a difference. He said, however, that rather than let this feeling of hopelessness lull us into complacency, and rather than it let us do nothing and ignore the cries, we should take one, small step toward helping the fatherless. We don't necessarily have to send gobs of money to an orphanage (while that would be great) or adopt several children (while that would also be great). We can send our prayers to the orphans, we can pray that God would show us how He wants us to be involved, and/or we can donate our time/resources to a variety of organizations that promote helping the orphans. 

To finish off the night, the President of America World Adoption spoke on how their agency is trying to raise money to help identify children in orphanages for adoption. He said that many of the children in orphanages are not eligible for adoption, simply because they do not have a birth certificate. Someone needs to do an investigation on that child's history in order to get them a birth certificate to either find relatives, or an adoptive family. This gala (and there were only about 200 people there!) ended up raising over $25,000 to help fund social workers and others in foreign countries who can help investigate these children and hopefully eventually find families. 

Let's hear the voices of the orphans around the world and take that first step toward helping the fatherless.

Beauty Advice Needed

I need some beauty advice. I am looking for a face soap that I can use BOTH for cleaning my face and for removing my eye makeup. I have tried a lot of different liquid face cleansers, bar soaps, expensive and cheap, but have not found "the one" yet. Anyone have any recommendations???

Thanks, Angie!

I got a birthday gift in the mail on Friday. Look at this awesome handspun yarn from Angie! I absolutely love it. She continues to amaze me with her knitting related skills. I have been knitting for longer, but she has blown by me in her abilities. She suggested a hat for this yarn...I think it would be perfect!

Thanks Ang!