VOTE for AMY!!

*** Update! Amy made it to the final 2 of the Macy's Million Dollar Makeover.  Voting ends tomorrow night and this address below attached to the NEW video is WAY faster! Go to this link to vote faster! http://www.facebook.com/Macys?sk=app_127966423934872

Please spread the word! Thanks! ***

My friend Amy, who is now a real friend, but used to be just a cyber friend ;), who also adopted from Ghana,  is now in the running to win a MILLION DOLLAR MAKEOVER from MACY'S! She was selected as one of eight out of almost a billion (maybe a slight exaggeration) people to compete in this contest.  The only way you can vote for her is to go onto Macy's Facebook page, so if you don't have Facebook, but want to hear all about it, you can click over to Amy's Blog here.  If you do have a Facebook account, you can also click over to her blog to learn more about her family and what she plans on doing if she wins...OR just click here to go right to the Macy's Page.  Please Vote! She has a few days left and you can vote as many times as you want! (Plus, every time you vote, you get your name entered in a $500 Macy's gift card).

A few fun facts about Amy to leave you with:

* She has lost 60 lbs in the last year (lots of it by playing the wii and dancing, WITH her kids!)

* She is a Kindergarten teacher and her husband is an art teacher

* They adopted 3 siblings from Ghana to add to their 2 biological!

* She is very FUNNY!

* She has a big heart and plans on 'sharing her wealth' by starting after school enrichment programs AND assisting in raising money for older children and sibling group adoptions.

AND LASTLY......

* They will need to move back into their 1000 sq. home with one bath soon, UNLESS we help her win this!

Adorable Handmade Dolls & More

Meet Thaddea!

If you are an etsy fan, you may have already seen this great new shop that has opened.  It is called Apple Strudel  and they make some of the cutest and most creative dolls and more!  Full disclosure: The owners of this shop are friends of mine, but I have always been amazed by their creativity. Candace has been making some of the most beautiful hairbands for the my girls, as well as snack bags, and her work is fantastic. Then recently, my other friend, ChristyAnn, made over a dozen brown skinned dolls to donate to an African orphanage and I think after all the feedback she got, she got the itch to keep going! Now, the two of them have joined creative forces and are working together as Apple Strudel! 

Check out their shop! I especially love all the dolls with brown skin, as I have had a hard time finding cute, unique ones! There are so many cute white dolls out there, but it is hard to find ones that look like my beautiful Fia. Remember that they are all handmade, so if they are out of a certain style, they will continually come out with more. And...if you know you want a doll with a certain hair color that you don't see, I would email them and ask if they have any in production. (Hopefully, if they read this, they will agree and not hate me!) :)

A Month in Review

Well, I have gotten very bad at keeping up here, but there is still so much that I want to document, so that when I look back at these blog posts, I can remember all that we did as a family.

At the beginning of February, we celebrated the Jag 7 two year anniversary! It was two years ago, on February 6, that my mom and I brought Fia and Kwame home from Ghana to join our family forever.  The time went quickly and at the same time it feels like they have always been a part of our lives. We are so fortunate to have them in our lives and all our kids are such blessings individually and together.  They LOVE each other so much, and I am proud of that. To celebrate this year, we had a Super Bowl Party! ;) I felt bad at first that it was the same day, but then I realized that there is nothing more that our family would like than to hang out with friends and family! So, it actually was really fun and special.  We also asked Fia and Kwame what they would like for a special breakfast and they chose Swedish pancakes (too bad I don't have any Ghanaian pancake recipes!).  We also gave them each a soccer ball that we had been saving from when we were in Ghana.  They were so excited to have their own and they couldn't wait to go and play with them.  



 

Love the slogans on all things 'Ghana'!

Later in the month, Mary and Maynad (Grandma and Grandpa Farm) came to visit from MN.  It is always a highlight for our family to have them come and visit.  This time they stayed at a hotel for the first couple nights for the kids to be able to take turns sleeping over, use the pool, and take part in the extravagent buffets that they have at this casino/hotel.  The kids loved it (and so did we)! We also got to take them to Greta's soccer game, Justus's basketball game, marimba practice, a OneStepIn project for church, and take part in a romantic(haha) Valentine's Day dinner(king crab legs) at our house.  One highlight for me was that they took us to a chinese restaurant.  I don't know the last time that I had been to chinese and I don't think the kids ever had, so it was so much fun for us all to practice eating with the chopsticks together, as well as try out some great new food.  Basically, they spoiled us with things we don't always get to do, so I was thankful.  Daron and Maynard also took care of some of our odds and end projects that needed to be done, so the house looks SO much better with the upgrades.



Looks like they had fun at the movies!



How lucky to have both sets of grandparents together in one place!



Ella, pretending she is a OLD! :) Cracks me up!



 These wonderful ladies came one morning, instead of us doing our Bible study, to help me clean out my garage.  It was AMAZING how fast we got it organized and straightened up so I could (for the FIRST in 4 years)get our car in the garage.  Very impressive! And, I have to say that three weeks later, the car is still in the garage! :)

 Last week, I took Greta for her bi-yearly check-up into the Children's Hospital to see how her growth plate was healing in her elbow area. Well, we had GREAT news.  They said that it looks totally normal now and we don't have to come back any longer.  When this happened, two years ago, they said she would have to come back every 6 months until she stopped growning and then she would need surgery.  Well, it's HEALED and we are thrilled.  The only problem...Greta and I were liking our guilt free trips that we had to go into the city for...we might have to keep it going to celebrate.

 We also got to throw a surprise party for my niece's birthday.  The cousins had so much fun and I think she was excited after the initial bewilderment of the surprise.  She didn't realize that all the questions about her favorite food and dessert were for this.  Super fun! And no, the adults didn't eat the mac n cheese, we got some delicious sliders that Brad made(right Dad?)!

 Overall, we had a fantastic month, full of family and fun.  Coming up this month....Alive Covenant Church is celebrating our 5th anniversary this Sunday! I am so excited.  If you live in the area and have ever wanted to check it out, this is the Sunday to do it.  4:56pm at the Sons of Norway!