The Fourtheenth Day of Christmas

This ornament was given to me by family friends. Imagine the D.uggars, minus about 9 kids (how many kids do they even have now?!). A very big family, deeply rooted in their religion, homeschooled, and extremely wonderful family.
I love this ornament, because while I probably didn’t fit the mold of what they wanted their daughters to be when I was a teenager- sports playing rather than instrument playing, hanging out with friends vs. family, involved in my school, etc. they accepted me for who I was and only showed me love. On my 18th birthday I got a tattoo on my lower back, its teeny tiny, but I just had to do it even though my mom did not approve. But I was 18, and she couldn’t stop me. She said I would regret it, and of course I do. D’oh!
ANYWAYS, this wonderful family knew I loved stars. They all stayed in my room at my mom’s house when they were waiting for milit.ary housing to come through when their lease ended at their house. They saw my room, full of stars. And then in the center of this star is the very flower that is permanently inked on my back. And she said that this reminded them of me. I loved it- I truly loved that they could see past my “stupid teenage ways” and instead of thinking that I was “bad”, they accepted me, ink and all. I mean, I WAS a good kid, but I didn’t really meet their standards.

The Thirteenth Day of Christmas

We moved into our house during the summer of 2008. A 98 year old lady lived here before us, a friend of the Barone Family- since Frank has lived in his house since he was 12(ish). He knew this lady for 55 years or so… His mom was friends with her. Man, she was OLD.
ANYWAYS, we found this ornament in our kitchen. It is really old, like her. I didn’t save it because it was old, I saved it because it reminded Ray of his grandmother’s tree in Georgia. She used to crochet snowflakes and I guess starch them? Marie has a few of them on her tree.
So, here is my extremely old, though I have no idea how old, ornament.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas

This is Ray’s favorite ornament. He picked it out. I don’t ‘love’ it, but I love what it represents- I love America and in recent years, it has reminded me of those men and women fighting for what I love.
Once upon a time, probably 9 years ago, Ray and I were up in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts- we stumbled upon the Yank.ee Candl.e Factory(?). Not sure if it was a factory- but this place was huge- like Ta.rget huge. You could make your own candles, buy candles and they had a TON of Christmas trees set up. Ray selected this one- out of alllllllllllllllllllllllllll the ornaments. He chose this one.
Sigh.
Again, I love what it stands for. And I love that Ray loves it. He watches me wrap it up at the end of the season, making sure his precious ornament is safe. He unwraps it every year with an ohhhh and ahhhhhh.
It’s kind of tacky…

The Eleventh Day of Christmas

I told you before, I’m slightly obsessed with stars. Always have been, always will be. Many of my ornaments are stars, people give me stars, I buy stars… I just love it.
Growing up my mom used to put notes on our napkins in our lunch boxes (awwww). She used to write “Somebunny loves you”.
This ornament is from her (AGAIN! Sheesh, what would I have done without my mom to stock my tree with ornaments?!) It’s my “somebunny” and a star all in one. A painted ceramic star, simple and cute, with a tiny touch of Christmas.

A FABULOUS Update

Me: Is everything all set after the embassy appointment today?

Response:
“Yes, everything looks good. A few adult visas were denied but they will have no impact on the group traveling. We will know for sure once we get the passports back with the visas Friday or Monday but I think you can start wrapping gifts and I will see you at the airport on Wednesday.

By the way we still have 9 kids that need families so if you can think of any families that want to host at the last minute please let us know. I can sent you pictures of the unhosted kids”

Gearing Up- Embassy Day

Today is embassy day for our kiddos that are being hosted. It’s much later in the day in Ukraine, so I am sure if it is going to happen, it already has. I am waiting to hear from the organization whether everything had been received or not.  We got the flight information earlier this week, and I couldn’t believe how many kids names were on this list! I was expecting about 20, I’d say there are closer to 35-40 names! AMAZING! These kids are going to all different places in the US. Mostly here on the east coast, but some out to Texas etc. I am just so touched by how many other families are opening their houses to these sweet kids.

We are really getting excited about Люба coming. I am staying grounded until after I hear that everything has gone well with the embassy appointment. After reading some blogs about children in orphanages still wetting the bed because they often are not allowed to get up in the middle of the night, last night Ray and I put a waterproof mattress cover on the bed… just in case.  The presents are (mostly) all wrapped- I still need to bring them out of her room and down into the basement.

I truly think we are all set for her arrival. We have clothes; underwear; coats; musical toothbrushes; kid toothpaste, shampoo, and body wash; snow boots; sneakers; Christmas dress, and more. I think all I am REALLY lacking is hats and gloves, but I will find those this weekend now that I have coats. I worry that the shoes and boots I have bought are the wrong size, but they were all bought locally so I can exchange them if need be.

If she doesn’t come for some reason, which I am still keeping in the back of my head, then I will have quite a few more gifts to donate to Toys for Tots, which we donated to this weekend.

Our fundraising still hovers at about half of the funds that we paid out for the hosting fees. What a blessing. We are so thankful for the gifts we have received to help bring this sweet girl “home for the holidays”.

The Tenth Day of Christmas

This wooden boat, from Belize, was one of our honeymoon memories. We bought an ornament in every port (as mentioned yesterday). This one not only represented Belize, but also the boat aspect of our trip.
I love the different types of wood used to create this ornament. I love the natural-ness (is that a word) of the ornament too. I have been known to flip it over so as to not see the writing on the front, not because I didn’t like Belize, but because it just makes it less natural.

The Ninth Day of Christmas

This is a handmade ornament, though not by me. It’s actually a magnet that we got in Roatan, Honduras and Ray drilled a hole through it and made it an ornament. We went on a cruise for our honeymoon (how cliché, right?) and got an ornament in every port we stopped in, since it was only 3 weeks before Christmas. Roatan was a gorgeous stop; in fact, it was my favorite, in spite of the poverty. I searched high and low in the few places I could find to shop, but no ornaments were to be found (I did find a nativity for my mom though). So, a carved and burned wooden magnet would have to suffice. We really enjoyed pulling out the ornaments from our trip on our anniversary this year. We had great memories of each one.

The Eighth Day of Christmas

Another beachy ornament- this baby has been shattered once or twice, hence the very tiny amount of sand left in it- it’s all I could scoop up off of my rug, around the shards of glass, after my tree fell not only once but twice last year (We now tie our tree up BEFORE it falls rather than after!) You know, now that I think about it, I COULD walk the .8 of a mile to the beach, since I do live on an island and all… and get some NEW sand, but then it wouldn’t be the original. You can’t see in there very well in this photo, but it has a piece of teal sea glass, and a shell too.

Monday Marie-isms- Honking Geese

Is it bad that this morning when I was leaving for work, I thought I heard Marie calling my name? Turned out to be a flock of Cana.dian Geese flying south, and honking on their way down… But it truly sounded like Marie calling my name…
I guess a flock of honking geese is equally as…. never mind, you get the point….