Happy Mother's Day!

More updates to come. We just got back home, and there is tons of stuff to do to get ready for Monday- Stay tuned!

School Supplies

Do any of you have new school supplies that you bought last year when the prices were good, but you never used? I know I do! I bought about 100 spiral notebooks last year. I thought that I would send them to my sponsored children, until I looked at the price of shipping! It would probably cost me at least $200 to send these spirals that only cost me $10. Well, I have a solution! I can get these supplies to Children International, and they will ship them to the children that need them. Although they serve many countries all over the world at the present time they are only sending shipments to the following locations due to import restrictions: Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, Chile, The Philippines, Zambia, Uganda and Kenya.
So, I have started a nationwide school supply drive, and you are invited to participate. Here is the post from Children International's blog regarding the details:

One of the most powerful things the sponsorship program does to combat poverty is help children have the supplies they need so they can go to or stay in school.
Now one of our great sponsors, Heather, would like to go the extra mile. She is organizing a drive to help gather large quantities of school supplies for sponsored children…and she’d like your help.
“I need people that are willing to organize a drive (or maybe willing to donate a lot by themselves). They can contact me regarding what they can collect and by what time (and where I need to meet them to get the stuff),” says Heather.
The items Heather is looking for are school supplies, pencils, pens, notebooks, coloring books, crayons, children’s books and backpacks. So if you’re up to the challenge, contact her at heatherlecount@yahoo.com.
Thanks, Heather!

My favorite blanket so far

I finished this blanket up yesterday. The print fabric is the cuddly fleece. It is so soft! I had it long enough to take a picture. Then, I passed it on to baby Nathan. Now he has a blanket that is as cuddly as he is! :0)

A closer look- Kanyama (Lusaka, Zambia)

Key poverty-related issues:

*Most families in the Kanyama compounds (communities) cannot afford adequate or nutritious food. In fact, children may go hungry for days because families can’t buy food. Malnutrition is widespread, causing significant developmental issues.

*With only one clinic serving 150,000 people in Kanyama, most children are rarely able to see a doctor or get medicine. This has had a devastating effect as diseases such as malaria, cholera, parasitic infections and tuberculosis take their toll.

*In Kanyama, a dusty squatter settlement on the outskirts of Lusaka, as many as 75 percent of the children can’t go to school due to the lack of classrooms. Access isn’t the only challenge – most families can’t afford supplies, tuition or uniforms.

Don't forget...

Don't forget these children! To take a look back at their story, go here: http://wehatemanagers.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-is-means-to-be-alone.html If you have ANYTHING that you want to send them (clothes, school supplies, things for the home, books, toys, etc.) let me know. I will be sending them a package by the end of the month. Remember, they have nothing, so anything would be wonderful. Or, if you want to help with the cost of shipping, that would be great as well. They live in Zambia. It gets cold there in July, so they will need warm things for then... But, the rest of the time it is warm, so you get the idea. Upon further inquiry, I found out that they were taking pictures of the children, but the children weren't smiling. When one of the field agents asked if they were OK, they said they hadn't eaten all day. Imagine!

Be the first!!

“Strive to be first: first to nod, first to smile, first to compliment, and first to forgive.”
(The Foundation for a Better Life)

Gas humor- or maybe it's not so funny!

1 adult and 5 kids in a bathroom

Well, it happened again... Strange, but true: Yet another hail storm!! While I watched the hail (the kids beside me but under the cover of the porch), I could hear sirens. I turned on the TV to find out that Anna was under a tornado warning. I corralled all 5 kids into the master bathroom and took the phone with me. We had been in the bathroom for about 5 minutes when I got the code red call that is supposed to tell us of UPCOMING severe weather. I stayed in the bathroom with most of the kids screaming and ready to get out- for about 30 minutes. Then, I came out to see if it had passed us by yet (I know, it's not the smartest thing, but the kids were making so much noise and it echoed in the bathroom). Sure enough, the storm had passed... And we were all still in one piece. Whew! These is a quote from WFAA TV news:
"A tornado warning has been issued for Collin County until 5:45pm. DopplerNet is indicating a developing tornado about 4 miles east of Prosper and just north of McKinney. It is moving northeast at around 30 mph. It should be near Weston and Melissa by 5:20, Anna by 5:30pm and Westminster and Blue Ridge by 5:40pm. In addition to dangerous rotation in this storm, we can expect hail to quarter size."

You Did It!- Children International Blog Update

You (our sponsors) are truly awesome people!
Within a matter of hours of posting the "What It Means to Be Alone" story, I'm thrilled to report that both Mwanza and Lavmo have found sponsors! Just think...it was only a few days ago that these five orphans literally had no future. Now, thanks to people like you who really care, they have a future -- and it's a bright one!
Thanks to our special sponsors who opened their hearts to Mwanza and Lavmo (and their brother and sisters)!

Are you certified in CPR?

For those of you in the area who are interested... You can learn CPR and first aid from the American Red Cross. They have classes going on all of the time. It is valuable for parents, babysitters, and anyone really. They even have babysitter boot camp for kids age 11-15. Here is a link to the local information: http://www.redcrossdallas.org/site/PageServer?pagename=dac_takeaclass If you are not in Texas, you can visit the Red Cross website to find the chapter nearest you. Now save a life!!

Answer to the joke of the day

Ok. All the women that responded to the fill in the blank, you must be married!! He didn't say clean the house, but it was the same thing. He said that he was going to take the girls to Burger King , so that I could catch up on the laundry!! So thoughtful, really~ I can't think of anything that I would rather do!

Joke of the week

I am calling on mothers and wives, and any women who want to respond. This is something that really happened yesterday. It is not really a joke, but I want to see how you will fill in the blank. Post a comment to complete the sentence, and I will give you the correct answer in a few days. After a long full week of taking care of five children, and you all know what I was doing last weekend (taking care of 4 children)... LeCount got up a little after 9:00 AM on Saturday (I had already been up for 3 hours with the girls at that point). by 10:00 AM, I was ready to just relax. LeCount came up to me and said, "I was thinking, since you spend all of the week watching these kids, I was going to take the girls up to Burger King so you could (insert your answer here)" I can't wait to hear your responses!

This is what happens if you leave your food out @ our house

I don't know anyone that posts as many posts as I do... Of course, I don't know everyone. However, I find this is a great way to keep a journal of what my kids are up to. It is fun to look back, and it is fun to share these milestones with friends and family. If there are too many posts for you to look at, please disregard whichever ones you wish :0)

A look back to 5 months ago...

I was looking back at some old videos. This one made me laugh. It was when Morgan started to get really good at walking. She was 10 months old, and running all over the place. I don't remember her having these chubby cheeks, but I do remember she had hair on top but not much on the sides and back. I remember that she was trying to walk assisted mostly when she was 9 months, but I couldn't remember how old she was when she was actually walking by herself. Now, I am grateful that I label my pictures and videos by date instead of event. I remember that Jaden started walking at 11 months, so it really surprised me when Morgan took off so early... Everyone is different.

Fun @ home

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com<'>http://
Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com<

Lots of friends... lots of fun!!

Tristan
Joshua
Bryson, Morgan and Brooklyn
Josh tries to join a basketball game with the "big kids"

Booklyn
Brooklyn & Morgan were inseperable
Austin and Jaden
We met up at the park with LOTS of friends- 8 kids total! They played for 2 hours. It was a little chilly out, but I didn't realize it until we were out there. The park is mostly shaded, so without the sun it felt like it was probably about 60 degrees (even though it was actually 75 degrees).

Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer

If you haven't seen Dora, you probably won't understand. Morgan has been walking around signing the theme song to Dora for the past week. She will say that "Dora, Dora, Dora" part, but she, also, says the "hey, hey"and "oh, man!" parts, too. If Jaden starts to watch the show, and Morgan hears the theme song start up, she runs from whichever part of the house she is in over to the TV. She'll dance and sing along, and when the theme song is over, she goes back to whatever she was doing.

A perfect day to go swimming

The kids had so much fun after nap time. It took me a few days to get this dang pool blown up, but here it is. We are going to be doing this a lot over the next few days, I think. This is a shark pool, and it has a spout on its head for a sprinkler. I had the sprinkler part on for a little while, but the water was getting too deep. And I guess you can see that we haven't bought swim suits yet. This is a long video montage. I actually got about 10 minutes of video, and I condensed it a little. It is still rather long, so not everyone will be interested in watching all the way through. Here it is if you want to see it:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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Uses for the scrap fleece

For those of you working on fleece blankets, here are some ideas for the scraps. The edges that have to be cut off, I used to braid together to make jump ropes (pretend ones- the girls came up with that themselves after I had made a long rope) and some dog pull toys. With the squares that you have to cut out of the corners, I have used some for dusting and cleaning, and the others, the kids have used as blankets for their baby dolls- So, there ya go.