Giveaway Details....ish

Thank to all who responded to my post HERE not too long ago. I am still trying to get it all organized and a date set. I do not have an exact date it will start, but it will be in April!

So, between now and then if you are willing to donate an item(s) just let me know!

I will have a few items myself that I have been working on like this Matryoshka Doll:

There will be three of these sweet matryoshka dolls, all hand embroidered that I will have available for the Giveaway. Oh, and this will be open to ALL, so international entries are welcome too!


Thankfully, amazingly, God has been so good and we were able to raise funds through some garage sales and such to keep this adoption ship afloat. I know there is still more, and I hope this will be a great way to not only help us bring our daughter home, but also to help spread the word about adoption and the many, many children in need every single day. Even if not by being placed with a forever family, there are still ways to help them.

Thank you all for your time and encouragement. Know I appreciate you and am excited to get this underway!

And if you'd like to read more about our adoption journey, you can go HERE!

Blessings to you!

A Little Crazy Bit of Weather

SO, those not in Texas might laugh, especially those from much colder climates that get buckets of snow, but here? Here snow like this hasn't happened in our part of the state since I was (literally) my son's age.

You might hear that TX weather can be strange and change rapidly, but let's just take a tour of this weeks weather to show just how crazy it can be:

Sunday:

it was in the 70's and we were wearing flip flops!

By Tuesday this started happening:

And it kept coming....big fluffy white snow flakes....almost all day long.

We had lotza' fun and built a pitiful snowman:

See? pitiful. I have no snowman building skilz...I blame it on being a native Central Texan. Truthfully, snow like this? It just does not happen often. Clearly.


So, not but two days later? It's sunny and in the 60's and the snow is almost a distant memory. Well, except for the snowman our neighbors built in their front yard, with dead grass included and all! Making it a true Texas snowman. Because, you see, we don't get that much snow and the grass just rolls on into the snow as one tries to make a snowman. Now, too bad I don't have a picture of that darn snowman! It's just down the street...it's still there too! Maybe tomorrow....


So you can see, weather here is a bit nuts. There is the saying "if you don't like the weather, wait a minute, it'll change". How true it is....

Tell me, what is super crazy weather where you are from?

Shake It Photo

So, the past two days my boy has been home sick with both strep and some asthma issues we are trying to get under control. Not too much fun that's for sure.

However, apparently the meds started to kick in and he has started feeling much, much better, thankfully. Meanwhile, we decided to play with my new iPhone app called shaktitphoto. Ya know, the old polaroids?! Yeah....fun times! I think what was more fun than taking the pics and letting him shake them, was trying to explain what a polaroid camera was....


(the one I took of him....you'd never know he was sick would ya?! )

He then quickly decided he really, really wanted a camera like that and could we look for one?! So, we checked out ebay and actually found some in great shape and at a price we could actually consider. Then, I looked up the film and what it would cost....holy moly! The one deal I found cost over $30 for about 20 photos. Well, anyone with kids that has let them use their camera once or twice knows how fast 20 flashes of the camera can go!!!


(one the boy took of me....with no make-up. Keepin' it real here.)

Sooo, we decided to let that go and just continue to use the app.

I love my phone. Now, if Apple could just make a kid-friendly and affordable version for younger kids, so that my phone doesn't take a chance of getting tossed across the room when someone is "shaking it"!

Do you have a favorite app? Have you used this one? Or, do you have an old polaroid you just LOVE?!

A Bit of Random and Fun...

So, let's lighten the mood after my last super emotional post, shall we?! I know this is supposed to be my "happy little craft" blog , but I also like to keep it real, as happy and blessed as my life truly is, sometimes we (meaning me here) need to be a little more transparent. I think it's all apart of my WORD this year too....another way to grow. :)


Anyhoo.....

I went to IKEA tonight with the hubby and son. Right after we went to Fuddruckers where my son got to have a free kids meal because he earned it by reading six books. Fun stuff. I had a buffalo burger and I have to say it wasn't all that great. And I have actually had buffalo burgers before and rather enjoyed them, just something wasn't quite right with this one. However, it was a fun family time.

Then we trekked over to IKEA where the boy LOVES to go just so he can go play while we browse....it's almost like a mini one hour date I tell ya!

It was funny and frustrating. What I went there for was NOT there. NO where to be found. But, the other two things I wanted to look at were, one I bought (spent a whopping $5) and the other I liked seeing in person to purchase at a later date for the Chickadee.

Then, when we arrived home, tucked the boy into bed and settled in for a little blog reading, I found this:




I cannot remember which blog it was now, but I thought it was pretty funny since I had JUST been to IKEA. Fun I say.

So, check it out! What's your IKEA name?! Go here to find out.

Confession...

Confession:

For weeks.....months, to be honest, I have been thinking of different ways to raise funds to bring our child home from Russia. Other than just my own Etsy shop that is.

However, I have not had the nerve to ask. Why? I'm not sure. It's hard for me to ask for help and truth be told, this is just one little orphan. One VERY important little orphan to me, but to others?

There is so much hurt and so many orphans in the world. This little one is just one of over 147 million. Million!

I so wish I was able to do more for more children, but I know this child is the one God wants us to take care of right now. We know we will adopt again, but until then, this one needs us. This child needs to come to her forever home and receive the love and care she so greatly needs. And once that is done, we know we will do what we can for others, even if it's small donations, we will do something.

Just as I was getting up the nerve to ask the horrific tragedy in Haiti happened. I could not think to take away from such a cause as Haiti. And it's a cause that will continue to need assistance for some time. I cried at the loss, the children and the many more orphans that there are now.

And as much light has been brought to the needs of the orphans there, again, they are just a small percentage of the many million around the entire world that are in need every.single.day.

So much hurt. So much need. How can we help them all?! I know I cannot help every single child of the 147 million orphans out there, but I can and will help this one. She needs her Mama. Her Mama needs to hold her and help her.

How very much I want to be able to tell you about her, but can't. I would love to tell you her name, show you a picture and tell you all we currently know, but I cannot legally do so. And I will respect the wishes of her birth country. After all, there are many scary people in the world. One thing I can tell you is that she is getting to an age that she will be transferred to an older orphanage. She also has some medical needs that we cannot help until we get her home.

And I will make another confession: We cannot take another step forward without more fundraising. I have cried many tears and said many a prayer. I know He can do it. I know He will do it.

He has given me a talent with sewing and I will continue to use it. However, my hands can only sew at a speed that is not nearly quick enough to raise the funds alone. He has Blessed me with ideas that I have been too fearful to mention. Why? Because as mentioned, there is just so much hurt and so much need. How can I ask for just this one?

But, I am. I am asking the crafting community if you would be willing to help. Would you be willing to take the time to donate an item to be put in a raffle/giveaway to help bring this one child home?

If you cannot sew/craft, would you be willing to get the word out about it? I do not have all the specifics as of yet, but I will start accepting donations as soon as they are able to get here. Just contact me via email or leave a comment and I will get back with you.

Wow. I actually just typed all that! It's hard to stick a neck out and hope it will work. I know He is faithful and He will get us to our little girl and bring her home. Now, I will go and hopefully not bite all my fingernails off in worry.....confessions #3: I am a horrible worry wort!

And if you made it this far in reading this novel, I Thank You!!! Please, help get the word out and if you feel you would like to give, just contact me at kinelska(at)gmail(dot)com.

Again, thank you.