Moonpie Designs

Sunday Song

2012-01-22T14:23:00.000-05:00

Jesus We are Grateful

Jason Gray

Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come
You are the ark of God who saves us from the flood
You are right to judge my sinful heart
But Your glory is your mercy
For You condescend to make a friend
Of an enemy like me

Jesus who says come forth and calls the dead to rise
You are the Word of God whose breath sustains our lives
I was dead in all my guilt and shame
‘Til You spoke my resurrection
Now You hide my life inside your own
Where You whisper me Your love

Thank You, thank You
Jesus we are grateful
Thank You, thank You
Jesus we are Yours

Jesus who gathers us like children in His arms
You are the Lamb of God who shepherds us from harm
We will follow into family
And be seated at Your table
Where matchless grace of an orphan makes
A child of God in full

Thank You, thank You
Jesus we are grateful
Thank You, thank You
Jesus we are Yours

M & M Christmas 2011

2012-01-18T20:58:00.003-05:00

Every year we set aside a night to celebrate Christmas with our besties. There's yummy food, great conversation, and presents. It's always one of our favorite nights of the whole year and this year was no exception.

We love these people.

And how cute are these boys? I love it!

Sarah blogged about our night together (with more pictures) HERE.

Embrace the Camera 1/12

2012-01-12T10:13:00.001-05:00

At the doctor for a momma/baby check up. You can't see it in the pic, but he swiped a Urine Collection cup (a clean one!!) and that's what is entertaining him. Also, he is wearing his super hero cape.:-)

Embrace with us! www.andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com

This week. What a doozy!

2012-01-11T15:49:00.000-05:00

It has been a helluva week at the Moon house.

As I type, Silas is upstairs in his room whining "Mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy" over and over again and refuses to go to sleep even though it is an hour and 20 minutes into his naptime. If I go up there he will want me to lay with him which sounds like a simple, good idea until I get up there and lay down (exhausted in a way only a 32 week preggo can be) and he turns into a bull/root hog hybrid and uses every inch of my body as a springboard. When he is not jumping off of me while I try to nap for just a few minutes (between begging him to PLEASEfortheloveofeverythingholy lay down and be still), he is either picking skin off of my horribly chapped lips (OUCH) or poking my boobs and laughing hysterically. All of that to say that I'm betting there's no nap for him today which means the afternoon/evening could be very interesting.

Friday I had my bi-annual teeth cleaning at the dentist and because I get pregnancy induced gingivitis it was a most miserable experience leaving me with a headache that lasted the entire day and teeth/gums so sore that I could barely eat (and since I'm pregnant and all the good medicine is banned, I was stuck with taking the most useless medicine of all time - TYLENOL.) Am I grateful for access to a dentist and that aside from this ginigivitis that will go away right after the baby comes I have never had any problems with my teeth? YES. Does that mean Friday sucked any less? Nope.

Saturday was fine for the most part. I had a meeting with my YoungLife peeps to plan out the semester and then I refurbished a rocking chair for the nursery - which turned out GREAT and as soon as I move it inside (read: tidy the nursery and make room for it) I'll definitely be sharing pictures. I worked on the chair until waaaay too late and when I was done a finally sat down my uterus got cranky (she does that sometimes) and all of the other wonderful aches and pains of pregnancy hit at once. I hoped going to bed would ease the pain but it did not and Justin and I both had one of the worst nights of sleep we have had in a while. Also, a bug flew on my face at some point during the night and my reflexes made me bolt up in bed which left my ligaments in my abdomen quite pissed at me. I never found the bug so even if I had been able to sleep I probably would have been up worrying about it crawling on me again.

Sunday morning finally came and I let Zach know that I wouldn't be making it to practice with the worship team. Justin got up with Silas and let me try to sleep some more but I finally got sick of trying to sleep while everything on my body hurt and just got up. We decided to stay home from church (which is always such a HUGE decision to make for us because we truly love our church family and time spent in worship with them) to try and just rest and recuperate. We hoped to get to go to small group later that afternoon. That didn't happen either. Silas barely took any semblance of a nap and was in a MOOD when he came downstairs. There were lots of fits being thrown and Justin and I were just over it. At one point Silas was screaming at me about something and then turned and ran head first into the open laundry room door leaving him with a swelling knot on his forehead. He literally screamed for 20 minutes over it. Oh and also? He couldn't poop. This NEVER happens to him (really - I can't remember a single day in his 2.5 years that the child hasn't pooped at least once) and when he was finally able to go he just cried and cried. Heartbreaking.

STICK A FORK in us, right??

Hold your horses.

Monday rolls around and I am determined to get out of the house and go register for a few things at Babies R Us that we need/want for baby girl. Silas had a meltdown right before we were walking out the door that turned into a 20-30 minute screamfest. I still have no idea what started it all. I finally collapsed in my chair and started bawling and because he has maybe seen me cry once or twice in his life this stunned him enough to make him breathe and calm down. He didn't like me crying and I felt bad for freaking him out, but at this point I just needed to cry. So we did. And then we picked ourselves up (I cherished the moment when he grabbed my face and said, "Mommy no cry - Yiyas tiss it all better"), re-grouped, and headed to Babies R Us. We ended up meeting Justin for lunch (hallelujah!) and then headed home. While Silas was napping I decided to take a long soak in the tub because my back and hips have been aching pretty badly lately and a heating pad can only do one thing at a time. I stepped into the tub, held on to the wall, turned the water on to let it get warm, swished the water around with one foot to rinse the tub out while it was warming up, and then promptly slipped and fell. I twisted around to make sure that I didn't land on any part of my belly (and thankfully I didn't) but that meant that I landed on my left buttcheek on the edge of the tub and it was extremely painful. I just sat there trying to figure out what on earth had just happened when I realized that another pain was hitting my back and butt. Yeah - that would be the scalding hot water that was now coming out since I never reached to turn on any cold water. Then my hugely pregnant self was trying to maneuver around a slippery tub so I could simultaneously turn on some cold water and get my butt out of the hot water. It was awful but now I soooooooooooo wish that someone else had witnessed all of this mess so they could laugh with me. I'm sure I looked ridiculous. Mind you, all of this happened in about 15 seconds. When I finally got the water regulated I just slumped back against the tub wall only to be greeted by a contraction. A contraction that I not only could feel, but could SEE happening. It freaked me out because even though it wasn't actually hurting me, it was much more intense that my normal Braxton Hicks contractions, and it lasted for nearly three minutes. I was afraid to move, but eventually I just rolled onto my side in the tub and it slowly eased. Almost immediately the baby started kicking and making her presence known (like I could forget, right?!) so that was a relief. I had my phone handy and was ready to call for help if there were any more contractions or it seemed like something was wrong, but it didn't. I just relaxed for a bit and then let all of the water drain, pushed myself up to where I was sitting on the side of the tub, and basically crawled out of the tub for fear of falling again. I was in pain, but it was from my bruised butt and the fact that my abdominal ligaments had just had a workout. Once I was safely in my recliner, I called Justin to let him know what had happened and he said he was coming home even though I insisted that I was really fine. But the Lord gave me a good one y'all and he didn't listen and came home anyway because he knew that even if I was fine I didn't need to be chasing a very rambunctious 2 year old around the house. HE WAS SOOOOOO RIGHT. I skipped YoungLife that night (BOO - missing church and YL in one week was super sad) and then didn't sleep well at all.

Tuesday morning Silas woke up about an hour earlier than usual and I woke up to my left shoulder aching. It had been hurting all night and I couldn't figure out why, but I realized when I got up that I must have hurt it in the fall because I was using that arm to try and catch myself. Yeah. Fun stuff. On top of me being really sore and moving very slowly all day, Silas hadn't pooped since Sunday evening and he was acting like he felt miserable and would just randomly grab his butt and start crying and run and jump in my lap for comfort. I borrowed some medicine for him from Leslie and prayed and prayed that he would poop soon (oh the things parents pray about!!). While I was cooking dinner he decided to try and help so he pushed a dining room chair up to the sink. He reached a little too far and fell off and onto the back of his head. He scraped his arm and got another knot on that poor head of his. This led to a long crying spell (bless his heart - now his tummy, booty, arm, AND head are hurting) and while I was rocking him and trying to get him to calm down, I smelled something funny. Yep. I had just turned on the burner with my empty skillet on it and when he fell all I could think about was making it better and I forgot to turn it off. The skillet was smoking something fierce. Thank the Lord it didn't have oil in it or anything else for that matter. Silas finally pooped (though it was heartbreaking) and once he was in bed Justin and I pretty much collapsed in a heap on the couch.

So that's the way things have gone around here since Friday. Rarely do we have more than one "bad" day in a row, but this week has been full of them and more than one time I have had to stop in the middle of it all and literally say out loud, "This is not the end. The world you live in is fallen and there will always be yucky moments/hours/days/even weeks. Get up. TRY AGAIN. HE is at work here and it is worth it." And then I cry out for help from the only ONE who can for the millionth time. I wish I could say that everytime I cry for help that a calming peace rushes over me and rose petals fall from the sky. Not the case. Sometimes I do feel better instantly and see the present stressful situation in a new light. Other times nothing really changes and I just keep trudging on and wait for it to pass.

{ To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on.} - so saith William Chaucer in A Knight's Tale ;-)

One my goals for our family this year is to have a Grateful Notebook where we each write things that we are thankful for EVERYDAY. You may remember me doing this for a while here on the blog. I was inspired by Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts. Anyway - this is what we are doing and it was so helpful this week to consciously make an effort to find something to be grateful for even in the middle of the yucky.

Sarah sent me a link to a blog post written by another mom and it was talking about how sometimes it is just hard to Carpe Diem every moment of every day. But she said there are moments every day that are good and cherish-worthy, moments that are on God's time (kairos), and it is these moments that we'll be documenting (along with everything else we are grateful for).

Is anyone still reading this ridiculously long post?

Thanks for hanging in there if you are.

I hope it didn't sound whiney and like I was just complaining. I just wanted to write down what the week has really been like. Another goal is to blog the good, bad, and ugly this year because these are our memories and I need to do a better job of preserving them.

Will you hold me accountable??

I'm looking forward to the end of 2012 and reading back over our list of gratefuls and even this particular blog post and smiling at what the Lord has done through it all - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Practice...

2011-12-06T12:10:00.001-05:00

Aunt Sarah and Baby Logan came by this morning to visit for a bit while the big boys were at school. Silas was in rare form showing off for her. I think he was just thrilled to have someone at HIS house and to have her practically all to himself was just sooooo exciting! :-) He got to hold and love on Logan for a bit and did a great job being gentle. It was good practice. We can't wait to have Baby Sister here!

Precious boys! I just want to squeeze them both!

Embrace the Camera 12/1

2011-12-01T10:27:00.001-05:00

Friday was Deck the Halls day at the Moon house. We bought our first real tree (boy those things really are full of sap!) and then spent the next 3-4 hours getting it straight in the stand and decorating it. Silas was no help at all unless you consider laying under the tree and looking cute helpful. He finally decided right before bedtime that hanging ornaments was actually fun and then got to stay up late so he could help.

Enjoy some pics of the boy and Daddy. :)

"Helping" Daddy put up the tree

Mommy's taking our picture!!

HIDE!!

Ok, just smile for her. :)

Don't forget to Embrace the Camera and get IN some pictures with your kids!

More Silas-isms :)

2011-11-13T20:43:00.001-05:00

*Silas has a flashcard app on mine and Justin's phones that he has been playing with since March. He now knows how to unlock my phone and go to the app (or any other app he wants for that matter) all by himself. The flashcards are divided into categories, and one of them is Mommy's Things and one of the cards is "lipstick." For months every time he got to the lipstick card he would say "Mommy stick." Tonight for the first time he said "lipstick" instead. :(

*I think I have written about his before, but every night when Silas goes up to bed, he stops at the top of the stair railing (before it turns into a wall) and asks me to come "tiss" him. It is my favorite part of the whole day. Lately he has been asking for Mommy and Daddy to kiss through the railing too and then after we do he squeezes in between us for a "Silas Sandwich" where we kiss his cheeks and say MMMMMMMMMWWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH really loudly. If we don't say it loud enough he makes us do it again. :) Oh - and the other night his Aunt Holly came to visit and after he kissed Mommy and Mommy kissed Daddy, Silas wanted to kiss Holly and then he said, "OTay - Daddy tiss Wallee" (Justin's sister). It was hilarious and Justin told him that Daddy only kisses Mommy. ;)

These pictures have nothing to do with any of the above cuteness, but they're pretty cute in and of themselves. They are also in no particular order.

Halloween with Daddy - learning to punch

We made salt dough hand a footprints the other day and he had a blast playing with the leftover dough. (We'll be making those again with regular white all purpose flour. All I had on hand was Whole Grain flour and it had a little too much texture.)

My back was acting up all of Halloween weekend so I missed out on some fun festivities, but I got to squeeze in some love from the boy before they headed out to join in the fun.

One day he found a ponytail holder and asked me to put it in his hair. I fixed it like this and put his cape on him and told him he was Super Silas. He spent the rest of the day throwing himself off of the couch. His hair has since been cut.

Wearing Mommy's boots. :)

Oh my goodness. I walked into the living room and found him sitting like this. What you can't see in this particular picture is that his Daddy is sitting just like him and they are both eating popsicles. Boys will be boys. And yes, he is wearing underwear over his diaper.

Silas (2+)

2011-10-27T13:08:00.005-04:00

Little Man has done and said some pretty cute/funny things lately and I want to write them down so we don't forget them.:)

*Yesterday when he got up from his nap he went straight to the window in the living room and looked outside saying, "Hurry Daddy hurry! Tum pay Yiyas! (Come play with Silas!)." It was the cutest.

*About a week ago Justin and I were getting ready to go somewhere when he walked in the bathroom with a big iron skillet and said "EN GUARDE!!" If you have seen the movie Tangled, you know why that is funny. They fight with skillets. He then brought us each our own and we had a sword fight with pots and pans.

*He LOVES to play Hide and Seek - especially with his Daddy and especially outside. He hides in the same place every time and then when it is his turn to "seek" he goes to all of the same places holding his big stick like a sword and then says, "nooooooOOOOO" (in his sweet high pitched voice) if we aren't there.

*His favorite words right now are "mine!" and "I do it Mommy!" with "NO!" being a close third. This was cute for about 5 minutes - not so much anymore and he is becoming very familiar with his time-out corner.

*He also says, "Sorry Mommy" of his own accord sometimes and I will hear him saying sorry to his toys and random objects if he steps on them or does something he thinks was wrong (sorry Woody, sorry Buzz, sorry hairbrush...). This makes up for screaming NO at me a hundred times a day.:)

*Today I took a shower while he was awake (a very risky move that had to happen because I have sewing to do during naptime today) and was praying the entire time that he would just watch his movie and not destroy anything or himself. About the time I got the shampoo in my hair I heard a loud bump so I called for him to come where I could see him. He came and I opened the door and asked what he was doing. He said, " I get green chocolate, Mommy" and held up a jar of Hershey's kisses someone gave us at Christmas last year that has been in the top cabinet since then. I told him to sit on the rug outside the shower and I would give him one when I got out. When I was done I went to check the damage and thankfully nothing was destroyed but it was apparent that he had spent some time rearranging the contents of the top cabinet before he found the contraband chocolate. He pushed his little chair up, climbed up on the counter and then stood and dug through everything. I know this because I made him show me how he got it. Thank goodness he didn't fall off or hurt himself getting down - we aren't ready for another trip to the ER.;)

*He also very much enjoys singing the blessings at meal times. Here's the proof:

We can thank Micah May for his volume. ;)

I love this kid!

(Sorry the video is grainy - it isn't until I upload it here and I have yet to master the art of blogger and videos.)

Boy or Girl??

2011-10-13T09:39:00.002-04:00

Last week we had a special ultrasound and found out that Baby Moon is a GIRL!

I thought she was a girl from the very beginning.:)

We had our best friends over to take pictures of the "reveal" and share the special moment and then we let all of our family and friends know by posting on facebook. Easiest mass-announcement ever.:)

To answer all of the questions:

(when I am out and about I think I am just going to start bringing a tape recorder with me so I can press play and have it answer everything for me. People need some new small talk material!)

*Yes, we are excited.

*No, we aren't any more excited than we would have been if it was a boy.

(It is amazing to me how family, friends, and total strangers will express their deep desire for you to have a certain sex...especially if you already have one child.)

*Yes, we have a name but we are still deciding how to spell it. Once we make the final decision we will share.:) It's the same one we have always liked.

*I don't feel like this pregnancy is crazy-different than my first. I am not carrying any higher or lower despite what random people that I have never met try to convince me of in the grocery store. :) A few things are different, but not enough to write home about.

*I'm almost 20 weeks, which is half-way.:)

*For the most part, I feel fine. I do have sciatica issues, but it is generally manageable. I didn't (and don't) have morning sickness. Sometimes I am tired in the afternoons (but who isn't??). ;) When people ask me how I feel I usually just say "fine" or "great" because I don't feel like hearing every home remedy or piece of advice they feel the need to share. What is it with people feeling like they must share their advice with pregnant women? STOP DOING THAT! Unless we ask, we aren't interested in how you or your Aunt Gertrude did it.

*I don't have any weird cravings. I do crave things, but it's never anything that I don't normally enjoy. But when I do crave something, I want it RIGHT.NOW. :)

I guess that covers every pregnant woman's most FAQs.

I'm joining Emily for Embrace the Camera this week. Hope over and say hello and see if you want to join in the fun!

16 weeks

2011-09-20T13:59:00.003-04:00

Baby Moon is growing every day and in my opinion the above picture does not do my sizeable belly justice. :)

It's very active all the time but we can't yet feel it from the outside (though I expect that to happen any day now).

I had an appointment today and everything sounded great with the heartbeat - in the 150s.

My back and hips are killing me on a daily basis and have been since about week 7 or 8. I expected this since it happened really early with Silas too.

I am also feeling Braxton Hicks contractions which again came as no surprise since they started getting where I could feel them about this time with Silas.

We have decided to find out the gender this time. Part of me thinks I will regret it because it feels like opening a Christmas present early (boo!) and we LOVED not knowing what Silas was, but the other part of me wants to experience the 2nd half of my pregnancy knowing the gender just to have experienced it both ways. So we are going to find out this time.

I'll have that ultrasound in a couple of weeks.

In my head I want to have a little party with all of our friends to make the announcement, but then again I don't always handle situations where all of the attention is on me/us well so we might decide to just do something fun with a mass announcement. I guess we'll see what kind of mood I am in when it gets closer.:)

We have a girl's name (some people know what it is but we'll not be sharing on the interwebs any time soon) because it's the same one we wanted if Silas had been a girl, but we do not have a boy's name and haven't really even talked about it. If you have any cool boys names that you want to share please do so in a comment (maybe not so much you MAMAY :P) - but don't get your feelings hurt if we don't choose it.

There are lots of other things that I want to share about pregnancy and postpartum and stuff that I just want to remember, but I've not yet decided the best way to go about doing that in such a public forum (but lets me honest - it's not the strangers reading this that I worry about - it's the people that I KNOW read it) so be patient with me as I try to figure it out. I want to be honest and open on here and I want to preserve memories for my family (this blog is the only way I am remembering what happened and when it happened during my pregnancy with Silas - thank goodness I wrote it down here!) but I struggle sometimes with what is too honest and what isn't. I guess in the end nothing is really too honest, but I want to be tasteful in my honesty. Does that even make sense? I am probably waaaaaaaay over-thinking this.

Also - that picture was taken with the self-timer this weekend while I was waiting for Justin to get dressed for our date. :)

Sunday Song

2011-09-18T15:40:00.001-04:00

Psalm 130 (From Depths of Woe)

1. From the depths of woe I raise to Thee
The voice of lamentation;
Lord, turn a gracious ear to me
And hear my supplication;
If Thou iniquities dost mark,
Our secret sins and misdeeds dark,

O who shall stand before Thee?
(Who shall stand before Thee?)
O who shall stand before Thee?
(Who shall stand before Thee?)

2. To wash away the crimson stain,
Grace, grace alone availeth;
Our works, alas! Are all in vain;
In much the best life faileth;
No man can glory in Thy sight,
All must alike confess Thy might,

And live alone by mercy
(Live alone by mercy)
And live alone by mercy
(Live alone by mercy)

3. Therefore my trust is in the Lord,
And not in mine own merit;
On Him my soul shall rest, His word
Upholds my fainting spirit;
His promised mercy is my fort,
My comfort and my sweet support;

I wait for it with patience
(Wait for it with patience)
I wait for it with patience
(Wait for it with patience)

4. What though I wait the live-long night,
And ’til the dawn appeareth,
My heart still trusteth in His might;
It doubteth not nor feareth;
Do thus, O ye of Israel’s seed,
Ye of the Spirit born indeed;

And wait ’til God appeareth
(Wait ’til God appeareth)
And wait ’til God appeareth
(Wait ’til God appeareth)

5. Though great our sins and sore our woes
His grace much more aboundeth;
His helping love no limit knows,
Our upmost need it soundeth.
Our Shepherd good and true is He,
Who will at last His Israel free

From all their sin and sorrow
(All their sin and sorrow)
From all their sin and sorrow
(All their sin and sorrow)

Famine in East Africa

2011-08-17T13:15:00.002-04:00

Warning: This post has not been well thought out nor will it be a happy one. Continue at your own risk.

In case you don't keep up with the world news but do read this pitiful excuse for a blog, there is a famine/drought going on in the Horn of Africa that is the worst they have seen in YEARS. An estimated 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died from starvation in SOMALIA ALONE over the past 90 days. The drought is affecting the countries of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti and 12.4 million people.

Many people are making the long journey to Kenya where there are refugee camps that are bursting at the seams with people.

via

I read THIS article the other day and the words are forever burned into my mind. I am torn up by it. I cannot imagine being faced with the decisions so many people are having to make and yet it is a daily part of their life. Please go read that article. Please.

This is one of those moments where you can make a decision to ACT and give or just sit around and let someone else do what you are meant to be doing.

I can spout scripture but really? You already know what the Bible says and how the Lord feels about the least of these. It's not a suggestion, it is a COMMAND. It's not up to governments to fix these problems. It's up to us. The body. You and me. Together.

What are you going to do about it?

Obviously the biggest need is for financial support for aid on the ground in Africa. If you can make any donation at all, here are a couple of ministries that are happy to take that money off of your hands and save some lives with it:

Samaritan's Purse - give to "Kenya Emergency Food" to help with the refugee camps/food distribution points

World Vision - give here for relief efforts across the entire Horn of Africa

Embrace the Camera 8/4

2011-08-04T08:01:00.003-04:00

A Story in Pictures

1. Uh oh. Cute picture but zoomed in a little too much. Try again.

2. Hang in there buddy! Just smile one more time!

3. Please?? BOYS! Smile!!

4. Ugh. Fine.

Get your Embrace on!

our little miracle

2011-07-27T21:05:00.002-04:00

miracle: an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs

I tend to be leery of using the word "miracle" because sometimes I think that it is over- and mis-used. I am using it here because I truly believe that the Lord intervened in this part of our story.

Even though I do believe it, as I type this I find myself getting panicky and wanting to change the subject because what if I sound crazy???

But really, I just want to glorify Him in all things and if that takes me sounding a little crazy then bring it on. ;)

I want to tell of the good things He has done.

So.

YAY FOR BABIES!!

Yep, I'm growing another one (yes, just one) and come March Silas will be a big brother.

I found out I was pregnant while we were at the beach. Best.vacation.ever. :)

I saw the doctor when we got home and everything seemed fine, though not much was done except a physical exam and pee stick test.

We scheduled an ultrasound for the next week which should have put me at 6 weeks.

You can't really see much because I had to take a picture of it with my camera, but all that is there is a gestational sac. No yolk sac, and no baby. It's the little black oval to the left center. The ultrasound tech at my doctor is great (and a Christian) and she remained very calm and said that I was measuring 4 weeks instead of 6. I immediately started panicking inside because I KNEW that I couldn't only be 4 weeks - that would mean that on the day I got a positive pregnancy test that I really would have been getting pregnant. Make sense? I just knew that it wasn't right and was terrified that I was going to miscarry.

We talked to a midwife (the same one who delivered Silas) and though she didn't say that we should be worried, she also wasn't super encouraging either and just said that we should come back in 2 weeks for another ultrasound if nothing happened before then.

I left bawling. Thankfully Justin was able to be with me and he (as always) was very supportive.

We decided to only tell the Mays and Cardozas so that they could pray with us.

It was a very hard couple of days as I fought to be hopeful and not worry about something that I couldn't control.

2 weeks was going to seem like forever.

The ultrasound was on a Tuesday and by Thursday the Lord had calmed me enough to think a little more clearly.

I had told Justin (and a handful of other people) from the beginning that I felt like the Lord's hand was on this pregnancy. I'm probably about to sound crazy, but I just really didn't think that I should have gotten pregnant for several reasons - most having to do with timing and busy-ness. I took a trip to Nashville to visit some friends shortly after I got pregnant but well before I could actually know I was, and one of those precious friends knew that we were trying to get pregnant and before I left we stood in his driveway and he put his hand on my tummy and prayed over my womb.

He prayed over my womb.

It was one of the sweetest things I have ever experienced. When Jeff prays, he EXPECTS things to happen. And he said that he knew I was pregnant and would be calling him in a few weeks to tell him the good news. From that point on I started to think that I really WAS pregnant - even though I knew logistically that the chances were pretty slim.

Sure enough, 2 weeks later I got a little pink plus sign. :)

So.

After a couple of days of really being afraid and jumping at every little ligament stretch and new feeling, I decided that being scared and worrying wasn't doing me a bit of good and that I was just going to pray. REALLY PRAY. I had been praying, of course, but I was going to stop praying with fear and just straight up pray with expectation. I decided that I was going to completely trust God to fix this and to make it right and believe wholeheartedly not just that he could but that he WOULD. It is hard for me to pray like that because then what do I do if He disappoints me? I feel like I need to make excuses for Him when things don't turn out the way that I (or a someone else) wants them too. Anyway - so that's what I did. When I started to doubt I prayed for grace to believe.

And His peace that passes all understanding was abundant.

And the 2 weeks really didn't seem to pass that slowly.:)

{side note: prayer is something that i have always struggled with. i know what the bible says about it - that the Lord hears the prayers of a righteous man and that He is faithful. i just sometimes can't make it all make sense in my head. how does prayer really work? and if he already has his plan and is working it out, why do we need to pray? this is something i am constantly working on and i just wanted to make that clear so no one gets any impression of me other than a fallen sinner saved by grace alone that sooooooo doesn't get it most of the time.}

We went back to doctor yesterday for another ultrasound and this is the picture:

Even with a completely untrained eye you can see that the gestational sac is quadruple the size that it was and there is a little baby in there (though it looks more like a bean).

Not only can we see the baby, but we saw and heard a tiny little heart beating at 164 beats per minute.

Glory to God!

This was HIS doing.

I believe it with everything in me.

I am now measuring at 7 weeks (from 4 to 7 weeks in just 2 actual weeks???) but I am convinced that I am actually at 8 weeks like we thought from the beginning. Either way, there's a baby in there!

As I was praying in the 2 week waiting time, I said that I couldn't wait to tell the story of how He has his hand on my womb and this baby.

Thank you Lord for answering prayers and teaching me lessons. I don't know why you chose to answer in this way, but I am forever grateful.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16

The latest Moonpie Designs

2011-06-23T14:48:00.004-04:00

I just realized that it has been a realllllly long time since I put any of the latest MpD creations up for y'all to see.

My bad.

It's not because I haven't been busy - it's actually been pretty steady since about November (which is GREAT!).

I just crank out the orders and forget to take pictures.

Really. I am TERRIBLE!

I've done several block orders lately and haven't taken a picture of a single one of them. :(

But I did finish a few orders this week and I remembered!

{insert applause}

This is a new item - sunglasses cases. :) A friend needed some for her bridesmaids and asked if I could do it. I could. ;) AND she wanted yellow and grey which just happen to be my faves right now. What do you think? They are double lined with fleece for extra protection. $15 with an initial.

More mini-wallets. :) My sweet DD (grandmother) loves to show off her mini (which is a couple of years old now) and last week she got me three orders while she was at the eye doctor. Now THAT'S a good grandma! ;) She also ordered a new one for herself. They are $10 with an initial, symbol, or ruffle.

That's all folks!

I don't keep stuff stocked in my etsy shop because it just wasn't proving to be worth the time and effort. Word of mouth seems to work best for me and facebook has proved to be extremely helpful in spreading the word. My clients (that just sounds weird) post pictures (that I can't seem to figure out how to put on here since FB changed their picture viewer) and then their

friends see it and friend me and so on and so forth. It's all workin' out!

I'm rambling.

All of that to say that if you are interested in any Moonpie Designs products or want to know if I can make something for you, just shoot me an email or friend me on FB and let's talk. :) I'm Stephanie Dowden Moon - moonpie(dot)designs@yahoo(dot)com.

************************************************************************

OK, so about 1.5 seconds after I originally published this post my friend Zach taught me how to save pictures from FB. So now I can share some blocks!

I did these for a friend from highschool and she posted them on FB and I got two orders from her friends in a week (one is for 4 sets!!). Thanks Hillary for being a fan and sharing with your friends!

Embrace the Camera 6/23 (playing catch-up)

2011-06-23T09:22:00.003-04:00

We're Embracing the Camera again with Emily!

I grabbed the camera a lot over the past couple of weeks and now I have a crazy amount of pictures of me and Silas with our faces smashed together. :)

Using Momma as a jungle gym - his new favorite activity

Squeeze!

A couple of weeks ago we went to the zoo for a members only night. The Mays came with us and we were both able to get a good family picture. :) Silas decided to show his fat face. ;)

Squeeeeeeze again and throw in a pickle for good measure. ;)

I won't tell you how many times it took to actually capture a kiss. My camera is not the easiest to hold up with one hand and with Silas' attention span being that of an ant, we got lots of outtakes from this one. :)

Go EMBRACE!

Swim Lessons & One Thousand Gifts

2011-06-13T08:55:00.005-04:00

We spent the entire last week in the pool. Silas had swim lessons in the mornings and then a couple afternoons we went to a friends pool. It was a blast! I so enjoyed watching him LEARN and then get more and more brave. Now he will get things off of the bottom of the pool and he can kick and swim to the side and hold on to the wall. He is also getting better at floating on his back. It's so fun to just watch him play. His imagination is taking off and he has little conversations with his toys. I love to watch him figure things out - he just works and works at it until he gets it. :)

Swimming to Miss Jocelyn - one of his coaches

jumping off the diving board - which he wasn't thrilled about but didn't cry and actually did really well. :)

bracing for impact ;)

swimming to the side after jumping in

choo-chooing on the wall - one of the things they teach the kids is how to swim to the wall and hold on to the side and "choo-choo" to a ladder or steps so they can get out if they ever fall in the pool alone. They also work hard at teaching them how to float on their backs.

Continuing my list:

122. fresh veggies on the stove

123. new friends over for dinner

124. decadent chocolate cake with poured chocolate icing

125. how I can SEE the temperature difference when I pour hot, freshly made, sweet tea over ice - I can get lost in the swirls

126. new swimsuits

127. the smell of a freshly mown lawn

128. my Champion God

129. our home

130. that just a hint of sunlight turns Silas' skin tan - and his little white booty :)

131. treasure hunting with my bestie

132. watching Silas discover new things

133. Little Man's developing imagination

134. a God who can be trusted to be as good as He says He is

135. words of encouragement

136. how dreams refuse to die

137. new pictures of my sweet Sarah and Nusula

138. that I am not in control

Canaans pictures

2011-06-09T13:33:00.006-04:00

These pictures go with a previous post. Scroll down or click here to read it.

With Nusula outside her school - Canaan CTC Primary School

With Sarah before the performance

Sarah singing :)

Marvin dancing and singing. Such a cutie patootie!

Washing feet and giving out new shoes

Sweet Surika

Sarah with her new stuffed animal tiger.:)

The Baby Dorm with their animals

Surika - is that not the best smile??!

The big kids with their markers and deodorant :)

Sarah and her mirror. This girl is cRaZy! Love her!

The teenage girls with all of their goodies. :)

Saying goodbye. Our last picture. :(

Uganda - Canaan Children's Home Part 2

2011-06-09T08:42:00.007-04:00

"It felt like going home."

That's what I said when my friend Gina asked me about my trip to Uganda.

And it did.

I hadn't thought about saying that - it just tumbled out of my mouth but as soon as it did my heart reacted.

Because it was the truth.

Uganda feels like home to me.

And oh how I miss it.

I don't miss it in a "oh that was great and it be cool to go back someday" sort of way but rather in a "I cannot stop thinking about Uganda and her children and my Sarah and Nusula and I cannot rest until I get back there" sort of way.

It's killing me that I don't know WHEN that will be exactly, and I am struggling hard to trust that God has all of the details worked out already and I needn't worry.

If you think about it, pray for me and my heart and my faith.

Alrighty.

So we spent the first 2ish days at Canaan Childrens Home and then went to Kampala for two days and then went back to Canaans for another two days before returning to the city.

I've already written about the first two days here.

When we left for Kampala in the middle of the week, I was sad. I had already fallen in love with Sarah and Canaans and just wanted to stay there. When we woke up our first morning in Kampala my whole room was sad and not really ready to meet a bunch of new kids. I even remember telling the girls that "I just want to go home to Canaans" and they agreed. Of course we ended up loving Return Uganda and Pastor Samuel and all of the kiddos there (which is another post that's coming) but we were VERY excited to get to go back "home."

When we pulled up to Canaans the bus was swarmed again but this time we were looking for our specific kids and it was the best welcome home ever!

We got there in the late afternoon and just played and loved on the kids. That night after dinner we led the kids in some crazy praise songs and then they stayed up and worshipped with us in English. It was a very special night. Sarah and Nusula fell asleep on me and I got to tuck them into bed and pray over them - like a Momma does.

The next day we spent the morning with Amazima (another post) and then the afternoon back at Canaans. The kids performed songs and skits for us (each dorm) and I'm telling you, you would have thought our own children were up on that stage. We were whooping and hollering and trying to get the best seat for pictures. It was wonderful! I was one proud Momma. ;) I kept thinking that THIS is what it's going to feel like when I watch Silas perform one day. Exactly like this.

After the performances, we had a surprise for them. One of our teammates had purchased new school shoes for all of the kids and we got to call them each by name, take off their dirty, old, too small shoes and wash their feet and put on their new shoes. It was a very special time. The kids were thrilled and so proud of their shoes! They were also able to have their fingernails painted and were given sillybandz. :)

Later that night after everyone was in the dorms preparing for bed, we took each dorm some goodies. The baby dorm got stuffed animals and this was special to me because they sleep with nothing but a scratchy blanket (no pillow) and I sleep with my teddy bear and I know how comforting it can be to have my teddy bear to hug (yes, I'm 27 and still sleep with a stuffed animal - proudly! :P). For some reason it made me feel better knowing that Sarah had a little lion to snuggle with at night.

The bigger kids got markers and other goodies and the teenagers got deodorant, mirrors, markers, and everyone got new clothes. There was great rejoicing at Canaans that night. :)

Our team spent the late hours of the night writing letters to our kids and trying to prepare our hearts for the "goodbye" that was coming the next day.

I was not ready.

The next day was Sunday and we spent the morning with Amazima and then came back and had about 30-45 minutes to load our luggage and say goodbye. This was not a happy time - for us or the kids. There were lots and lots of tears and hugs and snuggles and even though we were all out in the courtyard, it was very quiet as everyone whispered sweet prayers and goodbyes to each other and snapped a few last pictures.

I sat on the ground with Sarah and Nusula and just held them.

And then we hugged and kissed one last time and the team got on the bus.

We waved goodbye and Nusula held Sarah and walked beside my window and held my hand until we got out of the gate.

And then I lost it.

I don't think any of us spoke for at least 30 minutes.

It was rough and I was a wreck.

But hard goodbyes and being heartbroken just means that you loved BIG and I'm so grateful for the time I got to spend there.

And I am longing with all of my heart for the day that I get to return to Uganda.

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Here's a couple of videos. They are raw and unedited and I am a terrible ??videographer?? and you'll have to ignore my annoying voice. (Anyone else HATE to hear themselves talk on a video?) So yeah. Hopefully more videos to come. And pictures too - because for some reason blogger isn't letting me put pictures and video in this post.

So I just published the post and tried the videos and the one on the left is turned the wrong way and I don't know how to fix it or how to delete it from the post. Hopefully blogger is just being funky right now and I can fix it later. Until then, just watch the one on the right.:) Ugh.

A Visiting Orphans team was at Canaans this week and one of my teammate's husband was on the trip and he took little packages to Sarah and Nusula for me and he took pictures of them. I can't wait to see them all!

One Thousand Gifts 5/23

2011-05-23T09:00:00.002-04:00

OK - I promise that I am going to finish my posts about Uganda.

I really am.

But not today. :P

It is entirely too pretty outside to spend the day behind the computer and I think Silas and I might sneak off to a friend's pool for the day. :)

I can't believe he is almost 2.

And that reminds me that I should probably do a post about him sometime soon too so the fam will stop bugging me about it. :)

Continuing my list of gratitudes...

103. hugs when I am lifted off of the ground :)

104. waking to find five squirrels, two chipmunks, countless birds, and a rabbit right outside the back door

105. washing cars in the sunshine with my boys

106. sweet cheek kisses saying "hello" or "goodbye" to friends

107. date nights

108. the story of Mephibosheth and that I, too, and a child of the King

109. that He cannot be put in a box or on a schedule

110. little gifts from Justin

111. clean sheets

112. laughing until my sides hurt

113. music that speaks the truth

114. Silas saying "Momma" (finally!)

115. sunshine on my skin

116. unexpected gifts from sweet friends

117. cold pillows in the summertime

118. freshly vacuumed carpet

119. when people really listen

120. forgiveness - the gift to give and to receive

121. that our God is greater, stronger, and higher

One Thousand Gifts - 5/16

2011-05-16T09:01:00.002-04:00

He heard my cry and He came to my rescue.

And yet not for MY sake, but for His own glory.

I (as usual, but more so) was in desperate need if Him to show up this past week.

An opportunity had presented itself for me to be a part of something big, and I was humbled and honored to be asked to participate, but I was tripped up over the fact that I really didn't know what on earth I would have to offer.

So I did what I do and I laid bare my soul before Him and prayed that He would be made strong in my weakness and I claimed James 1:5 and asked for wisdom.

And then I woke up in the wee hours and drove to Nashville for this meeting filled with hope and anticipation.

And you know what?

He showed up.

{insert "of course He did" here}

My presence at this gathering could have been a big waste of time and money for the people who asked me to come.

But.

But He gave me wisdom and creativity and something to offer and I became invisible and He became greater and it was ALL His doing.

And my joy and gratefulness was {is} palpable.

*When the time is right I will share more about this meeting. Until then, please pray for continued wisdom for those of us that are part of it and that above all our Lord will be magnified.*

86. inspiration

87. answered prayers - when God shows up

88. being part of something bigger than me

89. good music on long drives

90. mountains

91. thrift-store finds

92. the scent of a little boy sweaty from a long day of play

93. hard, trying things that make me run to Him

94. that this place is NOT my home

95. *********** loving on the orphan heart (will share more later)

96. DIY mani-pedis

97. when Silas grabs my head and pulls me in for a kiss

98. dancing in the kitchen with My Love

99. imagination and creativity

100. when I wear a long dress and Silas runs up and hides underneath it - thankfully this hasn't happened in public ;)

101. tin-foil potatoes on the grill

102. that He is a father to the fatherless

Embrace the Camera 5/12

2011-05-12T10:18:00.000-04:00

Silas and I spent the last two weeks in Louisiana at my parent's house because 1) I had not seen them since Christmas and that was the longest we have ever gone without seeing each other and 2) Justin had back to back business trips.

While we were there we went to Lafayette to the Festival International de Louisiane with my mom and Doug's girlfriend, Rachael. It was a very fun day with yummy food and craft vendors, many of whom were from Africa. I spent a lot of time just chatting it up with them. :)

These are all from Festival.

My little man LOVES to be outside and around (and by around I mean "in") water so we spent a great deal of time in the lake and fishing from the dock.

Love his crazy hair. ;)

And here's the required Mother's Day picture. We forgot to take one and waited until the very end of the day so both of us were t.i.r.e.d.

I love you sweet little man!

One Thousand Gifts

2011-05-04T12:53:00.001-04:00

52. searching for and finding petrified wood in the lake

53. the lake :)

54. five acres of entertainment for an outdoor-loving little boy

55. hummingbirds

56. scripture that squashes fear

57. visits with friends from long ago

58. healthy twin baby boys born to a dear friend

59. a God worthy of praise - even in storms

60. peace that passes understanding

61. taking every thought captive

62. Silas's new words - "Hi Fifi" and "welcome" (you're welcome)

63. His still, small voice

64. stillness

65. the lopsided frolick of young puppy dogs

66. 4-wheeler rides with Silas

67. catching white perch with the rod in one hand and my little man in the other

68. shopping trips with DD

69. knowing what I believe

70. jalapeno potato chips

71. a husband who shares my thoughts even when we are MILES apart

72. His unfailing love

73. the sweet, earthy smell of rain

74. His power made perfect in my weakness

75. watching Silas and Emma-Claire interact

76. afternoons spent with life-long friends

77. words of affirmation

78. feminine sanitary supplies

79. turtles sunning on a log

80. airport reunions

81. shopping for flowers

82. Christ Community Church

83. my Momma

84. footrubs with lavender lotion

85. the empty tomb and death conquered

Uganda - Canaan Children's Home

2011-04-20T12:38:00.006-04:00

I changed my mind. I said that I was going to go day by day of the trip to share it but I'm not. I'm gonna go ministry by ministry - mostly because I can't really remember what happened on each separate day and it's easier to remember what we did at each ministry. :)

So.

Canaan Children's Home.

You've already heard a little bit about it and if you know me in real life you have probably heard a LOT about it. :)

Most of my team (myself included) refers to it as just Canaans or "home".

It's where my sweet Sarah lives.

And where I can't wait to visit again.

But you know that already.

Ok.

Canaans is an orphanage that houses 107 children ages 2-18. It is run by Pastor (Papa) Isaac and his wife Mama Rebekah. The fact they their names are Isaac and Rebekah and they are married makes me smile. :) I would love to share Papa Isaac's story with you, but I can assure you that unless you hear it from his own mouth, you might not believe it. Our God is GOOD people. Go visit Canaans and hear it for yourself.

Ok. Moving on.

Canaans has a school - Canaan Primary CTC - and that is where the elementary school kids go and also kids from the community. It helps them bring in some income as well but mostly they rely on the kids having sponsors to help provide for them. The little kids stay at Canaans and have school there. We were awakened by the sound of the kindergarten class doing their morning exercises on more than one day. It was quite a sight to see! I don't even know how many kids are in that class (because community kids come to it too and also many of the kids are younger than kindergarten age I think) but there is a bunch of them and their head teacher, Summer, is crazy and energetic and she gets them marching and dancing all around and they do it all in unison. I love it!

The first day that we were there we just did a bunch of hanging out - jumping rope, playing soccer, doing hair (well, having ours done), and making bracelets. It was quite chaotic any time we tried to do a craft, but they loved it and had a blast. We were "chosen" by our kids and started getting to know them. I spent most of my time with Sarah (age 5ish) and Nusula (who told me she was 8 for the first half of the week and 10 for the second half).

I spent some time the first day hanging out with the Aunties (single ladies that are the dorm mommas) and playing "Monkey in the Middle" with them (and of course Sarah and Nusula). It was a blast (I'm telling you - they are nuts!!) and that time with them was very special to me. I could tell that they loved having visitors just as much as the kids did. They work very hard (each is momma to about 20-25 kids) and love very big so I can only imagine the relief they feel when a team comes in to share the burden with them.

Later on the first day, I got to deliver the washable menstrual pads that we made at our It's a Girl Thing party. Mama Rebekah and I took new panties and these pads to each of the 23 teenage girls.

Y'all.

I so wish that you could have been there with me!

Mama Rebekah made me put everything in a pillowcase so we could sneak over to their dorm and she had all the girls and their Auntie Sarah sit down. She made me stand in the front and told them that Mama Stephanie had brought a blessing for them. Did they want to know what it was?? Yes, they very much did want to know. :)

She let me tell them and show them and I swear you would have thought I gave them the world! There was screaming and dancing and I was instantly tackled by all of them in a huge hug! Some cried happy tears. "May God bless you Mama Stephanie! I love you so much Mama Stephanie! Thank you!" I could barely keep it together.

They each got a couple new pairs of panties and some of the pads.

And they cried with joy and gratefulness.

Oh the things we take for granted.

Blessings.

This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Later that night (after everyone else was in bed), Mama Rebekah, Diana, Brenda, and I went back and took them some more panties that we found in our donation stash and they reacted the same way. It was so special and something I will never forget. All throughout the week at random times one of the big girls would come up to me and just hug me out of nowhere and whisper in my ear, "Thank you Mama Steph. I love you so much."

Melt my heart.

Ok - I'll end here for today since this has gotten pretty long. More to come on Canaans. :)

Sweet Marvin

Sarah and Marvin who, bless him, had pants 2 sizes to big on the entire week so everytime you saw him his little booty was hanging out and he was trying his best to hold them up. :) We got him so pants that fit.

Nusula playing Duck, Duck, Goose

The baby dorm - 2-5 years. Those are mosquito nets hanging from the ceiling. :)

The little boys dorm. That's Auntie Esther on the left.

Jumping rope. :) The building in the background is a hospital (clinic) on the bottom and the guest dorms on the top. This is where all the girls from my team stayed (except the two that were there with their husbands).

L to R - Henry (age 17), Faith, Enoch (age 10?), me and Sarah, and Nusula is hiding behind me.

This is what happened when I let David (13) disappear with my camera for two hours. :)

He wants to be a photographer (among other things). He took this one too. And my favorite picture of me kissing Sarah. :)

This is Bridgette, Brenda, Sarah, and me and little Sarah at the end of day one at Canaans. Bridgette and Sarah were singing for us. Bridgette can SING! Sarah fell asleep on me.

Sorry the next couple of pictures are blurry - David had set me camera to "manual" and I didn't realize it. :( Here are the girls excited about their "blessings." Mama Rebekah and Auntie Sarah are in the front. :)

They wanted me in the picture with them so Mama Rebekah took my camera. She never even looked in the eye-hole - she just held it up and snapped away! She's crazy!!

This is when we went back later that night. Again, Mama Rebekah had my camera:) I kinda love this one. We laughed so hard because they seriously were so crazy excited. :) Diana, Brenda, and me.

I have so many pictures just from Canaans that it is hard to narrow them down. There will be more with the next post.

What a weekend!

2011-04-19T20:41:00.002-04:00

So this is week two of participating in Ann's Multitudes on Monday - One Thousand Gifts link-up and already I am behind. If you've been here long this probably comes as no surprise. :)

This weekend was stark.raving.crazy for us. Friday and Saturday we had a yard sale. Saturday was National Cupcake Kids day to raise money for SixtyFeet and since we were already having a yard sale I decided to go ahead and throw in 100 cupcakes as well. :) Sarah and the boys made half the cupcakes, I iced them all, and then we sat at our little table with all of our posters and took donations for them. Actually, Sarah and I say there while the boys played inside. They weren't as excited as we were. About noon the wind was so bad that I closed up shop for the cupcakes and decided to take the rest to our church's Cornhole tournament that night. But before I could do that I had to take Silas to Bella's birthday party at the park.

Sunday was normal with a long band practice for our Good Friday Night of Worship thrown in and an extra long small group time.

See?

Crazy weekend.

But it was so good and fun. :)

We ended up raising nearly $300 for SixtyFeet - a ministry to imprisoned children in Uganda. :)

I'm so thankful for friends and strangers that choose to be generous.

35. the possibility of dreams coming true

36. 85 degree weather

37. a husband that is an encourager

38. piles of laundry folded and put away by Justin

39. relational ministry

40. a husband who gets up to "check" when things go bump in the night

41. gifts from friends - particularly pralines from Savannah, GA

42. patches of clover in the backyard - good for searching for the 4-leaf variety

43. happy childhood memories

44. having my feet "cleaned" by Silas

45. crossing things of my to-do list

46. that He bought the Kingdom for us

47. a fiercely loyal husband who's always in my corner

48. how running helps release tension

49. TobyMac on my running playlist

50. Cupcakes for Africa and generous people

51. Palm Sunday and the truth of "hosanna"

Baked Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

2011-04-13T09:51:00.002-04:00

My DD (grandmother) made these sandwiches for me a couple of years ago and they are now one of my family's favorite meals. I don't know about you, but lunches around here are pretty low-key - except on some Sundays. These sandwiches are great for a special lunch or for dinner (which is when we usually have them). Last night I served them with a salad and some fruit (and of course we devoured them before I remembered that I wanted to take a picture).

Baked Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

12 dinner rolls (I use Hostess or Hawaiian King)

sliced deli ham

sliced Swiss cheese (you can use any kind, but Swiss is our favorite)

1 stick butter

1 TBSP onion flakes

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp. poppy seeds (optional - I leave these out)

Preheat oven to 350. Place bottom half of rolls in a 9x13 glass casserole dish. Layer with ham and cheese (I usually load it down with lots of ham and at least a good slice of cheese). Add tops to the rolls. Melt butter and then mix in the remaining ingredients. Spoon/pour over rolls making sure each one gets some of the sauce. Cover with tin foil and bake for 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

These are so super easy and quick and they taste like something you would get at a fancy deli - not just a regular hot sandwich. The secret is in the sauce. :)

Quick, easy, and yummy meals work for me!

One Thousand Gifts

2011-04-11T13:57:00.002-04:00

There are more Uganda posts on the way. I promise. Thank you for your patience with me as I sort through emotions and try to find words.

I'm reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp right now. I started reading it on the plane to Africa and I'm still reading it in my free moments. It's good and I don't want to rush through it. Her language is very poetical and so I am going slow so as not to miss any deep truth.

The book is about many things, mostly the deep joy that comes from intentionally giving thanks, and like many others who have read the book, I am making my own list of things I am grateful for - both big and little.

On Mondays I will be sharing my list and linking up to her blog and a community of other bloggers who are listing their thanks. Care to join us?

I'm behind on linking up so my list is longer than most today.

1. airplanes that defy gravity and get you safely across the world

2. a little boy happy to see his Momma

3. teammates that feel like family

4. the warm embrace of a husband in love

5. drinkable water

6. hot baths that revive the bones

7. a yard filled with birds of all sorts

8. sunshine

9. conversations worth having

10. a warm rice sock on an aching back

11. a cozy and comfy bed

12. a tiny baby growing in the belly of a dear friend

13. the Sabbath

14. music that speaks to the soul

15. groggy morning kisses from a pajama-clad little boy

16. the Word made flesh

17. Galatians

18. hot tamales found stashed in the freezer ready to be thawed for dinner

19. surprise bags of coffee and hot chocolate left by my Momma

20. facebook and the connection to loved ones far away

21. Silas' mohawk hair

22. happy little tags on Lusianne teabags

23. chipmunks

24. coffee, sweet and creamy

25. the scent of Justin beside me in the sleep stillness of morning

26. a birdbath full of splashing bluebirds

27. the gift of a little extra income via Moonpie Designs - even when I'm feeling lazy

28. plane tickets to Louisiana purchased by loving parents

29. my naked-bottomed little boy

30. hearing the voices of far-off friends on a conference call

31. days full of togetherness with my boys

32. dreams growing inside my heart

33. a roof over Sarah's head and food in her belly - even if it's just beans and posho

34. Ugandan meals shared stateside with friends and family

She stole my heart.

2011-04-08T12:22:00.010-04:00

It's true what they say - that the kids choose you, you don't choose them. The moment my foot touched the ground at Canaan's there were little arms wrapped tightly around my leg. There were many others too, but these particular arms never let go. As I tried to move away from the bus so that the people behind me could get off, I noticed that the arms hadn't let go. There were so many people touching me and hugging me at first that it was hard to tell what limbs belonged to which person. :) But when I stepped back from the crowd, the arms were still there. I looked down and she looked up and in that moment our hearts were forever entwined.

I don't say that lightly.

For as long as I live I will know that part of me is on the other side of the world.

Her name is Sarah.

They aren't sure exactly how old she is, but we guess around 4 or 5.

I love her.

Really, truly, love her.

She has only one dimple on her left cheek and it goes in for miles. :)

Her eyes are big and full of life and when they light up my heart grows three sizes.

She found me instantly and we were inseparable if I was at Canaan's.

Her smile will stop you in your tracks.

The hardest part about being home is knowing that she is there. So far away.

But I will see her again. I WILL see her again.

This is not the post I had planned to write today. I began by trying to tell about our first day at Canaan, but this is what came out.

Uganda Day 1

2011-04-04T09:11:00.006-04:00

I have been putting off writing anything about my trip for 2 weeks now. It's not because I don't want to share with you - it's because I know that I do not have words to adequately describe the experience or Uganda and her people. But I have to share, so I'll do my best. The only way I can think to even begin is just to go day by day of the trip and see how it goes. So...HERE WE GO!

I was a wreck for two days before we left over leaving Silas so I had Justin take him to my in-laws house on Friday afternoon so I could say goodbye to him at home and not have to try to keep my composure in a public place. Justin came back after dropping him off and we loaded up my two 48.8lb bags (whew!) and my carry-ons and headed to Outback for a little date. It was fun and a good way to send me off - nothing super sad or rushed - just a fun dinner out. After

dinner he dropped me at a hotel near the airport where I met up with Kimberly, Faith, and Anne. I could have stayed at home that night but since my flight was at 6am and I had to be there at 4am I didn't want to have a rushed, emotional goodbye in the airport.

I wish I had taken a picture of all of the bags in our hotel room! We each had 2 huge checked bags and then 2 carry-ons as well. We could barely move in our room! We went to bed around 10:30pm but NONE of us slept a wink. We were basically just laying there dreaming of Africa

and waiting for 3:30am to roll around so we could get up. :)

We got two cabs to take us to the airport and we got there right at 4am. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to us, the United Airlines employees don't come in to work until 4:30am so we had to stand in line with all of our luggage for 30 minutes before they were even open. Thankfully though we were near the front of the line so we didn't have to wait long once 4:30am rolled around. We checked our bags (PRAISE THE LORD all of them were 48 and 49lbs!!) and headed to security where we ran into Tabatha Coffey. We made it through security fairly quickly and with just a little bit of stress and made it to our gate.

We flew from Atlanta to Dulles in Washington, DC and it was there that I met my incredible team for the first time.

Y'all. I seriously cannot tell you how much I love every single person that was on this Visiting Orphans team. It was so apparent, even from our first conference call, that God was hand-picking each of us for this team. Every person gave selflessly of themselves and stepped up when needed the whole time. It was such a blessing to be a part of the whole. My heart has been aching since I have been home for these people.

Our first group picture (minus Jeff) in the Dulles airport - we didn't even know each other!!

We boarded our plane in DC and traveled about 13ish hours to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The flight was great (well, as great as a flight that long can be) but I didn't sleep for even a nanosecond. I watched lots of movies and walked around and met lots of interesting people.

Everyone keeps asking me if I saw any ___(insert stereotypical African animal here)___, and I can honestly say that I saw a monkey within 2 minutes of being off the plane in Addis. While we were riding the airport van to our next terminal a monkey ran across the tarmac in front of the

bus. It was in some kind of trouble because there was a rather large bird that was chasing it and kept swooping down to peck at it. I just had to laugh!

We still had one more flight before we got to our final destination of Uganda, but everyone was so happy to be off of the plane and so excited to be in Africa at all that we couldn't even rest in the Addis airport - we just chatted it up while we waiting for boarding to start for our final plane.

When we finally landed in Entebbe, Uganda (I don't even remember what time it was - early afternoon maybe??) we had to get out visas and then gather all of our luggage (32 BIG bags).

***Side story*** When I went to get my Visa the agent asked me how long I was staying in

Uganda and I said 12 days. She looked me over real good and said, "I give you for 3 months. I think you will love Uganda." Made my day! :)

Here we are gathering bags in Entebbe

Once we got all of our bags it was time to load them on the bus and head to Jinja. Julius and Abus (drivers for Canaan's) were there to greet us and help us load everything.

Me and Shelby - first picture in Uganda! We were soooo tired and dirty but happy to be there!

The trip to Jinja was supposed to take about 2 1/2 hours (HA!) but instead it took us 5. We stopped at a petrol station before we left Kampala and we saw this tree filled with Grey-Crested Cranes in the middle of the city. Those cranes are the national bird of Uganda and they are everywhere.

We finally made it to Jinja and the Kingfisher Resort on Lake Victoria that would be our home for the night and following morning. Absolutely gorgeous!

We had a wonderful meal as a team at the outdoor restaurant and then everyone headed to bed. I don't think any of us needed to be rocked to sleep that night (or any other night in Uganda for that matter)!

The next morning I woke up to a gorgeous day and I was refreshed and ready to head to Canaan's and love on some kids! But first we had breakfast at Kingfisher and then we got to take a beautiful boat ride to the source of the Nile River.

Some of the team in the 2nd boat

My feet in the Nile River :)

This is the actual Source. The Nile is fed by both Lake Victoria and underground springs that bubble up and cause the water to look as if it is boiling.

Someone a long time ago erected a concrete tower thingy on a little island at the source. We got to visit the island and of course I had to climb on top of the little tower...in a dress. :)

With Bret, Diana, and Simon - LOOK AT US! WHERE AT THE SOURCE OF THE NILE! ;)

After our boat ride it was time to sort all of our donations (almost all 32 bags were for donations) before we could head out to Canaan Children's Home. I wish I had more pictures of this. We had clothes, markers, crafts, glue, glitter, shoes, books, pull-ups, and sports equipment out the wazoo! It was so exciting!

Once we got everything sorted we loaded the bus to head to Canaan's - our home...

I'm back.

2011-03-25T10:19:00.004-04:00

Well I'm home from Uganda.

And I am jet-lagged.

I'm praying that today is the last day of the jet-lag because I'd very much like to not have a headache all day and not fall asleep in the middle of a sentence in the middle of the day. :P

I know you all want to hear about Uganda and I promise that I will be sharing lots of pictures and stories from our time there.

I have lots to process.

I am missing my incredible team more than one would think is possible.

I miss getting about a million hugs everyday from sweet little dark hands and arms.

I miss Africa.

But it is GOOD to be home with my boys. :)

I promise I'll be back soon with more pictures.

Until then, this will have to tide you over. ;)

Me and my sweet Sarah on Day 1

Warthog Waddle and lots of baggies

2011-03-10T11:11:00.007-05:00

Last Saturday Bailey and I ran in the Wiphan Warthog Waddle 5k to benefit widows and orphans in Zambia, Africa. I had been looking forward to this race for months and even though it was cold and pouring down rain the entire time we had fun!

Before the race

Bailey killed it! She got 2nd in her age division and finished in 28 something.:) :)

I didn't place in my division (I came in 4th) but I did beat my time from the last 5k (back in the summer) by 2 minutes and I could not believe it. I was in pain the whole race because my right hip started hurting really badly about 4 minutes in and it never stopped. I don't know why it was freaking out, but I was miserable and felt like I walked a lot, but I guess I didn't as much as I thought. Either that or I just ran really fast the rest of the time because I was sick of getting pelted in the face with freezing rain! :P

It was so exciting to see everyone who showed up to run even though the weather was awful! There were 500 runners registered and I'd say almost all of them showed up. :) Widows and orphans in Zambia are totally worth it!!

The most exciting part of the day was getting to hang with this girl. :) Andrea works with Wiphan and we follow each other's blogs and she is who did the whole "It's a Girl Thing!" pad party stuff in the fall. Basically we've been chatting on email and facebook and I was super excited to get to meet in real life and hug her neck. :) Her son Frank got sponsors and ran in the 1 mile Fun Run and he ran the WHOLE TIME! All of the Fun Run runners got a medal and he kept showing me his and saying, "I win da race." Too.dadgum.cute!

The rest of the weekend was spent stuffing baggies with craft stuff for Uganda. I had lots of help at our Crafting for a Cause weekend the week before (thank you!!) but we didn't get it all finished so Justin and I stayed up late, watched lots of episodes of Bones, and finally got it all done. 1,770 bags.

Can you find me??

Times the amount that you see here by about 5 and that'll give you an idea of how many baggies were floating around my living room.:)

This was taken about 12:30am right after I sealed the last bag.

Once that was done I had to figure out how to get all of them in my suitcases.

Enter Space-saver Vacuum Cubes.

I wish I had been able to take pictures of THAT process.

You would have laughed. Trust me.

In the end I got everything packed.

WOOHOO!

And I leave on Saturday morning.

Well, I actually leave Justin tomorrow evening because I am staying the night in a hotel near the airport with my girls from ATL so no one has to get up in the wee hours of the morning to take us to the airport. Our flight leaves at 6am and then we'll meet the rest of our team in DC before we fly out to Africa.

It's finally here!

Please remember to pray for me and my team. Satan likes to play games in the hours before a trip like this. Pray also for those of us leaving our babies behind - this Momma's heart is sad already.

Most of all pray that through us the love of the Father would envelope the sweet kids we'll be with and that they will know Him who sent us.

I should have internet access at least a few days of the trip and will be updating facebook for sure and the blog as much as possible. If you aren't my friend on facebook and want to be just search Stephanie Dowden Moon. :)

See ya on the flip side!

Supplies Needed

2011-02-20T21:44:00.002-05:00

18 days y'all.

That both excites me and nearly causes me to panic because I have A LOT to do in those 18 days!

It's all good though. It's gonna be fun. :)

I really thought that I would be blogging more about all of this. Maybe I still will.

Part of the reason I haven't is because I want to do justice to the incredible ministries that we will be working with and I just haven't felt particularly inspired to write.

Another part is because I've just been busy and haven't made time.

I'm rambling.

Sorry.

I have some awesome news...

I AM FULLY FUNDED and am well over my $3500 goal! Soli deo gloria!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I still have a couple more local fundraisers going on and I can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store for this. I'm excited about all of the ways we are going to be able to truly bless these ministries and kids. :) So - just because I have met my goal doesn't mean I'm not still accepting moolah. :) I'll take it right up until I step on the plane. :)

I have another way that y'all can help these sweet orphans:

There are several things that the orphanage and other ministries have requested that can be easily donated and there are also some craft supplies that I am taking over (for VBS) that would be awesome to have donated.

Here's the list of things we need:

*small mirrors (They can be little compact mirrors or handheld mirrors. They do not have to be brand new. We need AT LEAST 200 of these.)

*markers (These need to be new and do not have to be washable)

*glue (Elmer's or similar)

*deodorant (guys and girls)

*bras (new or clean gently used - sizes 36C and up - especially D cup sizes)

*Pull-Ups for 4 year olds

If you would like to donate any of these items and are local just email me and I will tell you what to do with them or if you know me in real life you can just drop them by whenever. I need them NO LATER than March 8th. If you aren't local but want to donate you can use the paypal button on my sidebar and specify what you want the donation to be used for or you can have supplies shipped to me. Email me for my address at moonpie.designs@yahoo.com.

Y'all are the best! Know that every little thing helps. It really does. Y'all rock my socks off when you step up to meet needs. Thanks in advance. :)

Love.

Say CHEESE!

2011-02-13T13:04:00.004-05:00

So remember how for awhile there Silas wouldn't even look at the camera and would also resort to yelling at me when I had it out?

Well apparently he is over his camera-shyness because now as soon as I get it out he does this:

and screams CHEEEEEEESE at the top of his lungs.

I seriously have no idea who taught him that - I wasn't going to teach him to say "cheese" because it makes you look ridiculous instead of smiling like normal. But, he learned it somewhere.

On occasion it results in a cute smile like this one:

But most of the time it looks like this:

And this:

And even this:

Boy it's a good thing you're cute!! :)

Yay!

2011-02-10T19:09:00.002-05:00

When CSN Stores contacted me about doing a review of one of their products I knew immediately that I would try to review something that I can give to the kids in Uganda. I haven't decided exactly what that is going to be yet, but CSN Stores has everything from shoes to toys to modern decor so it should be pretty easy to find something the kids or Canaan Children's Home can use. :)

As soon as I search through their literally hundreds of stores for what I want to review I'll be posting about the experience here.

Called by God

2011-02-03T14:07:00.002-05:00

The following is from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest (January 14th) and I have been thinking on it since the first time I read it YEARS ago. I think that all too often we sit around waiting for God to "call" us to do something (give to the poor, love/adopt an orphan, live the gospel - at home or in a far-away place, etc...) when in actuality, He already has. We have His WORD and it is filled with our "callings." If we are really listening we WILL hear a call. If we don't it is not because He isn't calling - it is because we don't really want to hear it. We would rather hold on to our paper-thin excuses of "I'm just not called to that" than admit that we ARE and we'd just rather be disobedient than uncomfortable.

I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ’Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ’Here am I! Send me’ —Isaiah 6:8

God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “. . . who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “. . . who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard-”the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”

Story Time

2011-02-02T11:06:00.003-05:00

This is a long one - but worth it I think.

I had a hard time in Burkina Faso.

Not just with the spiders and scorpions (a teammate was stung and out of commission for days) but with homesickness.

For the first couple of days of being in the village (Sagtambila) I was just miserable. And I hated that I was miserable. I was praying constantly to feel like I was "home" there - and to be at peace so that I could minister to the people.

Finally it happened. About a week after we got to the village we heard a vehicle coming. We looked and there was Cory (the Journeyman that had dropped us off). He was just coming for the day for a visit. I don't know what it was about having him drop by, but suddenly it felt like home. We showed him around and in doing so, my homesickness left. It was like I was showing him around my own hometown. And I was grateful.

A couple of mornings later I woke early with a gentle whisper in my ear..."go home." My immediate reaction was "what??!?!? That doesn't make any sense. Why would I go home now? Now that I actually feel at peace here and after I raised all of the money to get me here?" I spent the rest of that day and all of that night praying about what I was supposed to do. It just didn't make any sense to me that I should actually be feeling led to go home. And I was afraid that somehow I was just making it up or my brain was playing tricks on me.

After much prayer, I decided that I would head back to the States (even though I still didn't understand why) after we went back into the city for a weekend of refueling, but before the team headed out to the next village. That at least made a little sense to me because there was no real way that I was going to get out of the village before that. We had no transportation and it's not like I was just going to take off walking in the generally direction of a road. We went to market in a nearby village called Loumsabaka the day after I felt like I needed to go home, and I can't lie and say that I wasn't looking for someone, ANYONE, with a cell phone that we could maybe use to call Cory to come get me. But I knew it wouldn't happen and was content to stay with my team for another week when we would be picked up and taken back to the hotel in the city.

The next day it rained and I started feeling sick. Sometime that afternoon I passed out when I got up to go help the other girls wash some clothes. It was decided that I was just dehydrated and that I needed to drink and rest. I didn't think I was dehydrated because I had been drinking water regularly, but since I didn't really have any symptoms other than feeling weak and dizzy, I just drank more water and laid in my tent. Because I felt sick, at this point I started wanting to go home.

I started feeling worse over night and I didn't get up when the rest of the team did. Finally about 10am (I think) I HAD to get up to at least go pee. Remember I had been drinking LOTS of water. I stood up outside of my tent and immediately got tunnel vision and knew that I was about to pass out again. That's where my memory ends. I was told by my team that Katie was near me and that she was keeping an eye on me when she saw me try to leave my tent. She said that I called out to her right before I started falling and that she ran and tried to catch me before I fell all the way to the ground. She sort of caught me and started yelling for the guys to come help her (they were farther away doing something - probably playing soccer with the kids) and they came running to help. They yelled for Tiffany (no idea where she was - I feel like maybe she was in the compound doing something) and then they all laid me down under the tree and started assessing the situation. I woke up a minute or so later to Tiffany taking my pulse. And then I started shaking. I was FREEZING even though it was over 100 degrees. It became apparent that I had a high fever. Tiffany had some medicine that was some strong antibiotic supposedly used to treat the likes of Anthrax, and they gave me several vitamins and that medicine. They covered me up with a big blanket and eventually the chills stopped.

Since I had been trying to get up to go potty, I still really REALLY needed to go, but I was too weak to stand up much less walk by myself. Tiffany and the other girls basically carried me to the bathroom and when we got there we heard a snake (I think Tiff saw it) and they grabbed me and took off running with me (my dress still up around my hips and my panties at my ankles! I'm sure my pale white butt flashing all of Africa was a SIGHT to see!!) to a new place to make a restroom. When we finally got situated, them holding me up under my arms and with a couple people attempting to hold my legs, I peed in the most humiliating of ways possible. And I peed on their feet. i remember that most vividly. I peed on their FEET. And I was mortified but completely helpless to do anything about it. I remember that I kept apologizing over and over and they kept saying that it was ok - that it was just pee. THAT was quite a humbling experience. And not the last one I would have before leaving Burkina.

By this time my village Mom and Dad had been told that I was sick and they were waiting with my brother "Billy" when we got back from the bathroom. Several other villagers came over to check on me and more than once someone suggested that I might have malaria. Tiffany got my into my tent and we searched my body for mosquito bites. We couldn't find any, but that didn't mean that I didn't have malaria. At this point I didn't care what I had - I just wanted my Momma and Daddy.

Tiffany asked me if she needed to try and get in touch (somehow) with our home base to have them come get me and I said yes. I said yes even though I really thought it would be impossible. So pretty much immediately Tiffany and Billy took off walking toward another village with a little "clinic" that Billy new about. Wait, maybe they rode a bike together - I can't remember. Anyway - the only hope was that the clinic would have a phone that they could use. And since I had rained the day before and looked like it might rain again at any minute and there was a river to cross they had no time to lose. I knew that walking miles and miles with little hope of actually finding a phone was not something that Tiffany was excited to be doing, but she did it anyway and I was (And still am) humbled by it.

They were gone ALL DAY. The villagers fed those of us that stayed behind and sometime after dinner we heard laughing coming from the direction that Tiffany and Billy started walking, and sure enough, here she came! And she was so happy! (Billy was not with her) I had been praying for them all day - that their trip would be successful and that they would be blessed for their willingness to help me. The Lord answered our prayers - they made it to the clinic (and didn't drown in the river as they crossed) and it did have a phone. It would only call a bigger clinic in another town though, so they called the other clinic and tried to give them the phone number of the missionaries and explain that they needed to send someone to come get me. Because they weren't sure that the message had been conveyed, they convinced someone where they were to let them borrow a moto and Billy took off on it to go to the bigger clinic to use their phone that could call anywhere.

All we could do now was pray and wait and hope that someone would come for me in the morning. I held on to that hope with everything in me.

The next day was Sunday and the team was supposed to go to church without me but since it had rained and the river was raging everyone decided to stay in Sagtambila. The ladies of the village came to our tree and they laid hands on me and prayed over me and let me just tell you - I was a mess. I was so overwhelmed by their compassion and the passion in their voices as they prayed both for my healing and for someone to be able to come get me. I was ready to give up hope. I really thought that I was going to die there - which was ridiculous because I wasn't even that sick anymore - just weak - but I was convinced this was the end for me. But their prayers renewed my hope. I will forever remember their voices saying "Ameena ameena" (amen - may it be so) as they prayed. It was the only thing I could understand. :)

After church I was just laying out on my mat under the tree listening to music and trying to hold on to the hope that had been renewed just an hour or so earlier. Suddenly I heard the sound of a motor and then little screams and the children saw someone coming on a moto. It was Cory. Someone had come!! My heart nearly exploded with joy! I had a rush of adrenaline from my excitement that SOMEONE HAD COME - that Billy made it to the big clinic and managed to in his very very broken English tell them what they needed to know - and I was able to get up and walk on my own to my tent to start gathering things I would need to take home. I left everything but my Bible and journal and pillow and a small backpack of things. Cory was on a moto (basically a dirt bike) because he had flooded 2 (two!!) SUVs trying to get to me but the river was too deep over the road to drive through it - but boy did he try. He ended up walking through the river with the moto over his head. After a tearful goodbye to my team and Mom and Dad (Billy still hadn't returned - never got to thank him or tell him goodbye) I got on the back of the moto and we took off. The adrenaline rush had worn off a bit but I held on to Cory for dear life. We rode for about 2 1/2 hours. When we got to the river we had to leave the moto on one side (Cory had to go back to Sagtambila) and then we walked through the waist-deep river - me holding on to Cory and Cory holding my backpack and pillow above his head) to the other side where the Journeymen who had not taken teams out to villages were cheering and waiting for us. The girls had though to bring food and popsicles and I sat on a tire on the side of the road and ate and rested while we waited hours for Cory to go back to the village and then return to us.

We went to the missionaries' house and I took a shower (by sitting down - I was NOT going to risk fainting in the shower and having more people see my pale white butt!) and then went to bed. It was determined that while I was still weak that I didn't seem to be actually "sick" of anything and the fever was gone so the hospital wasn't necessary. I told them about feeling like I was supposed to go home before I got sick (even though I knew it made me sound crazy) and the next day we went to the travel agency and booked my flights home for late that night. Tammy took me to a guest house is Ouagadougou (the capital and where the airport is) and I stayed there until another missionary that lived in Ouagadougou came to give me dinner and take me to the airport. Sometime that day I called home and told Mom the story and said that they needed to be in New Orleans that night to pick me up. The missionary man dropped me off outside the airport and paid a young man to help me get my bags inside and checked in. The young man took very good care of me and got me exactly where I needed to go. I got on the plane and headed to Paris. I had been praying that there would be an English speaker seated next to me on all of my flights - so that if I did get sick again there would be someone near me who would understand. Again, God answered even this seemingly unimportant prayer and I had a British woman next to me on my flight to Paris. In Paris I changed planes and headed to Philadelphia -another English speaker by me. And in Philadelphia I got on a plane headed to New Orleans where my family was waiting to pick me up.

It was on the flight from Philly to NO that the reason I came home early was made clear.

I was seated in the very last row of the plane and the whole plane was only about 1/2 full. The was a young man about my age seated in the window seat across the aisle from me. By this time I am beyond exhausted and I really just want to lay down and try to sleep. But before I went to sleep I wanted to tell him that I had been sick and if something strange started happening with me that he needed to tell someone. He started asking questions and before you know it we are talking about Jesus. I moved over to his side and we talked for a couple of hours and eventually he prayed on his own and received Christ. This is the only time I have ever experienced that with someone. His name is Brian, and a little after he prayed he looked at me and said, "It was for me." I didn't know exactly what "it" was, but he explained that it had dawned on him that he had to have been the reason that I felt like I need to "go home" and why I got sick and didn't stay in the village for another week like I had originally planned. He said that he felt like God was trying to tell him that he was worth it - worth all of the little things that had to happen for our meeting to take place. I hadn't even thought about that but suddenly I was very very grateful for everything that had happened to get me on the plane in a seat next to Brian.

Sometimes our plans work out and sometimes God smashes our plans to smithereens and writes a new story for us. I am forever grateful for the lessons learned in Burkina and on an airplane 30,000 feet up. Thank you Lord for caring not for our plans but having a bigger one that is the best of the best - regardless of what it holds for us. I am blessed to have been a little part of the Big Story.

Embrace the Camera (1-27-11)

2011-01-27T10:01:00.004-05:00

Justin grabbed the camera and snapped these pics because we thought Silas was going to fall asleep on me and cuddle and be so cute.

Sweet lovey boy!

Except that two seconds later he was doing this:

and yelling "booooooobies!"

Crazy kid. He did decide to be sweet and give kisses though. :)

Go get your Embrace on!

Uganda Trip Update - Itinerary

2011-01-26T16:58:00.004-05:00

Alright peeps.

Get out your calendars.

The trip has been changed to March 12 - 22.

Yeppers.

Thankfully I was able to be flexible easily and didn't have major hustling going on this week to try and make it happen. Some of my team did, and a couple of them are now unable to join us. :(

The trip was changed for a couple of different reasons and while frustrating, I am trusting that the Lord's plans are not mine and that He knows what He is doing. :)

So that leaves 44 days until we leave. :)

Here's our itinerary:

Saturday 3/12 - Leave DC headed to Uganda

Sunday 3/13 - Arrive in Entebbe, head to the hotel and rest.

Monday 3/14 - Spend the day with the children of Return Uganda Ministries. Drive to Jinja and arrive at Canaan Children's Home.

Tues & Wed 3/15-16 - Spend the day with the children at Canaan.

Thursday 3/17 - Work with street children in Jinja with Pillars of Hope Uganda/From the

Streets

Friday 3/18 - Head to Amazima to work with the feeding program. Dinner at King Fisher Lodge and boat ride to the source of the Nile.

Saturday 3/19 - Feeding program at Amazima and then dinner at Canaan's

Sunday 3/20 - Church at Pastor Isaac's two churches - teach Sunday School. Minister among theKaramajong tribe (the least of the least of Uganda)

Monday 3/21 - Depart Jinja and head to My Father's House and Royal Hope Academy. Depart for the States in the evening.

Tuesday 3/22 - home.

I'm sure I will have more details as we continue our conference calls and get closer to the trip. Please mark your prayer calendars for these new dates and visit the websites of the ministries that we will be serving with.

And just for fun...

And the stories begin.

2011-01-25T13:58:00.002-05:00

My first night spent in the African bush (as opposed to a hotel or house) found me unprepared for what I was about to experience. I was in Burkina Faso, West Africa with a group of about 25 other college students from all over the US. We were there to travel to remote villages with the young adults ( called Journeymen) who were living there for 2ish years and build relationships with the Marense people. That's the short of it anyway. Shortly before our teams were to leave the hotel where we had been training to head to our respective villages, a great majority of the team got sick. I was one of the few that didn't. Instead of just hanging out at the hotel waiting for everyone to get well enough to go out, one of the Journeymen girls (Kara) offered to take about 5 of us that were healthy to her "home" village for the night. We said sure since we were anxious to dive into the culture and experience the real Africa. Ha.

What she failed to mention was that she was ONLY going to drop us off - without a translator, means of transportation, or anything but basically a change of clothes, our water bottles and the promise that she would return the next day to pick us up.

I found out very quickly that while speaking the same language is quite beneficial, the language of hospitality and love is universal. The village we were in was called Louda and the people were amazing. They cooked a delicious meal of chicken stew served over rice and I found out later that THAT was a treat. They gave us the very best that they had. We spent the afternoon playing soccer with the kids and trying to help the women prepare the meal, and the evening singing songs around a campfire. We taught them to sing the children's song, "Hallelu, hallu, hallelu, hallelujah - Praise ye the Lord" and hearing them sing in their rich accents and clap and dance is forever ingrained in my memory. They sang their songs for us too and up until it was time to go to bed it was a magical evening.

Since Kara lived in that village we had access to her little hut and a couple of cots. It was HOT (between 100 and 120 degress F while we were there) so we decided to sleep outside in hopes of there being a breeze. This turned out to be a terrible idea. The guys opted to give me and the other girl with us the cots and we slept just outside of the entrance to Kara's hut. I can confidently say that that was the worst night of sleep I have ever had. EVER. We didn't have a mosquito net and the flies buzzed and landed on my head all night long. I tried covering up with my extra clothes, but then I would get too hot. It was LOUD - there were animals of all sorts walking around us all night, babies crying, fire crackling...it just wasn't conducive to a good nights sleep. Once I finally did fall asleep I was awakened at about 4am by the women of Louda preparing things for the day. When I opened my eyes there was a cow with it's face about 12 inches from mine. It was sniffing me. Lovely. :)

Kara did return to pick us up and I got one night of half decent sleep before we headed out to our own villages.

My village was Sagtambilia and I kid you not, when we were on our way there the driver literally turned off of the dirt road and just started driving into the middle of nowhere. There was no sign, no road, no sign whatsoever that we were headed towards any type of civilization. I asked how he knew where we were going and he said he was guessing - and that he hoped once we got closer that we'd see someone we could ask. This is Africa. :)

My little team was made up of one Journeyman (Tiffany) and 6 students - 3 guys and 3 girls. We brought tents to live in and we set up camp just outside of one of the compounds (a compound is a group of huts where a big extended family lives and it is generally enclosed by a fence of some sort) under a big baobab tree.

The first night in the village the people wanted to have a celebration dance to welcome us. We stayed up late dancing and having a good time. Well, everyone seemed to be having a good time. I was quite nervous about how the night was going to go having already experienced trying to sleep in a village. And I was also nervous about the fact that we saw a scorpion while we were setting up our tents but lost track of it before we could kill it.

When it was time to get ready for bed, I headed into my tent to change clothes and grab the necessary items required for bathroom breaks in the bush - tp and a flashlight. :)

I had brought with me a little battery powered lantern that I was hanging from the ceiling of my tent. While I was changing clothes I noticed that there were things moving near the bottom of the outside of my tent. And then they started moving UP the sides of my tent - about 5 or 6 of them.

Y'all.

These were the biggest spiders I had ever seen that weren't tarantulas. Because I didn't want to be the chicken little white girl, I just flicked them off and grimaced as they weighed enough to make a "thud" sound when they hit the ground. As calmly as I could I called for Tiffany and she explained that they were camel spiders ("gottemgottemas" in Marense) and that though their bites were extremely painful, they were not deadly. She said this as if to suggest that I should not be concerned about them.

Au contraire my friends.

From that moment on I was in a constant state of paranoia and spent a ridiculous amount of time looking for and killing them all around our camp. It was my personal mission to rid Sagtambilia of camel spiders. :)

I also found out that night that camel spiders are very much attracted to light and that they are the fastest arachnid. This caused a great deal of panic for me since it was now night time and I was about to have to walk into the bush to use the restroom and in order to do that I had to use a flashlight so that 1- I wouldn't step on any scorpions and 2- I wouldn't sit on any prickly bushes because there is an abundance of those. As I was walking to the restroom and shining the light in front of me back and forth, I kid you not I could see the spiders running as fast as they could from all directions towards the beam of light.

Let's just say that I learned to pee really really quickly on that trip. :)

I eventually fell asleep after checking under everything in my tent a crazy amount to times to make sure no gottemgottemas had snuck in only to be awakened sometime between 3 and 4 by a flock? gaggle? bunch of guinea fowl running through our camp making the most God-awful noise I have ever heard. They would do this almost every night for the remainder of the trip. I now have a great disdain for guinea fowl.

Here's a video of what guineas sound like - take a listen but then imagine that times 6 or 7 as they were all making this noise at the same time.

Awful.

And I was going to show a picture of a camel spider, but just looking them up gave me so much anxiety that I couldn't do it. Just google camel spider and look at the images. And then be afraid, be very afraid.

I hope you don't get the impression that I hate Africa or that any of this was necessarily bad - it wasn't. I just don't do well with little sleep or strange creatures and so looking back I find all of this terribly funny. Hopefully I haven't scared you away from Africa. :)

More stories to come - with less scary bugs and stuff. :)

P.S. Silas just woke up and I am not going back to proof read this so please excuse my mistakes. :)

The latest.

2011-01-20T15:56:00.003-05:00

I whipped up a little ruffle butt onesie order for a friend today (I won't say who just in case it'd ruin the surprise for whoever is getting it)

Gotta love a ruffle butt! :)

***On another note, our first Uganda Team conference call is in 4 hours. WOOT!!***

Uganda Update

2011-01-19T12:25:00.002-05:00

I leave in 56 days for Uganda.

I.cannot.wait.

I'm not sure I can fully express how huge this is for me - but if you know me in real life, you KNOW.

I've been remembering things from my other trips to Africa and I'll be sharing some stories with y'all over the next few weeks - some funny, some scary, and some that are just, well, Africa. :)

I've "met" some of my team mates via facebook and blogs and even talked to one on the phone this morning. It's a small world because Kimberly and her husband Jared are on my team and they live just a stones throw away so I'm super excited to get to meet them before we show up at the airport. :) The rest of the team is scattered all over the US so I won't be meeting them face to face until we get to Dulles in DC to get on the plane to Ethiopia - BUT - our conference calls start tomorrow night so I'll kinda get to meet them then. So.excited.

As of today I have $2665 of my $3500 goal met.

Y'all.

God is totally showing himself BIG in my fundraising. I made the deadline for the $2000 for the plane tickets the DAY BEFORE it was due. In the beginning of all this I had a ton of anxiety about raising the money in such a short time and after a couple of days of ridiculous sinful worrying I finally gave up and just surrendered to God's timeline. The funds have been steadily trickling in from family, friends, and even people that I barely know. Glory to God.

Thank you to all of you who have given and prayed.

Please continue praying for all of us.

As excited as I am about this trip, I am also scared to death.

I'm not scared of flying or getting sick (been there, done that!) or missing home or something terrible happening.

I am scared of what I'm going to see.

Of what is going to happen to my heart and my faith and my life.

Of the changes that are going to have to take place in my life when I come home.

I already had a big compassionate heart for babies and children in need and over the past year the Lord has made it even bigger. I do not know if my heart can handle everything that I am going to encounter. It might just break right in two.

And I also know that is a good thing.

It is good to hurt with those that are hurting.

But it does just that - HURTS.

So as hard as it is sometimes for me to pray this and as scared as I am, I'm praying that I (and my family) will truly never be the same after this trip. That changes will take place that make me more like Him - no matter what that means.

Lord do with me as you will.

Be glorified.

"Not from sorrow, pain, or care

Freedom dare I claim

This alone shall be my prayer -

Glorify Thy name."

New Years 2010/2011

2011-01-18T11:29:00.005-05:00

New Years Eve was celebrated with our favorite people again this year (as is tradition) at the Cardoza house. Justin and I seriously look forward to this night the whole year because it is so relaxing and so much fun!

You are going to see a theme in the pictures I decided to post - smiles and laughter! I'm trying to do a better job of capturing our memories and when Silas and other Moon kiddos are older I want them to be able to look back at these pictures and know that we were happy and filled with laughter when they were little. Actually, I want them to have lots of their own memories filled with momma and daddy laughing, but I'll have pictures as proof. :)

Pretty deliciousness.

We tried to take a picture of the three of us for like 10 minutes but we kept laughing because mine and Leslie's boobs were touching when we leaned in for it and we found that hysterical.

Probably the best picture of us since our Beach Trip in '08.

We always play a game while we wait for midnight to roll around (watching Matt try to stay awake for this is hilarious) and this year we all forgot to bring our games so we just played old school charades. Zach made up all of the things we had to act out.

Ahem.

I think in this one I was excited that someone actually guessed what I had been acting - because my first two rounds were awful. First I had "Feliz Navidad" and then I had "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and then finally "Victoria's Secret" which apparently isn't that hard for people to guess. Go figure. :P

Matt was also excited when we guessed his, but now I can't remember what it was. Since he's wearing a necklace I'm guessing Mr. T.

I didn't have a picture of Zach laughing like a loon, but the look on his face here, paired with what he's doing, makes ME laugh. Yes, I am basically a middle school boy.

Sarah had to act out "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" and I got it!

Who knows what's funny here. :)

Or here.

Despite the fact that Justin's back was acting up again, he still had a good time. I was forbidden to put any pictures of him acting out his stuff. Yet again he had the funniest moment of the whole night and I can't share it with you!

First picture of 2011 - love these girls!

Love, love, love. Can't wait for next year!

No more lurking!

2011-01-14T14:51:00.003-05:00

Hey y'all!

I read over at Kristen's blog that today is National De-lurking Day (I have no idea if that is true or not but it sounds good to me!) and so that means that today is the day to leave me a comment to let me know that you are out there. No more reading and running. Wow that sounded a lot wittier in my head.

Anyway - leave me a comment and tell me who you are, where you are, how you found my blog, what your favorite color is, your social security number...just kidding about those last two. Unless you really want me to know what you favorite color is.

Mine is teal at the moment but that changes often. Thanks for asking! :P

If you never leave comments because think you don't know what to do - here's how to do it:

Click on "Comments from you" at the bottom of this post. Type your comment in the box. Then you can either sign-in with a google account or you can leave an anonymous comment and just tell me who you are in the comment box. Easy-peasy. There will also be a box that tells you to type a weird word - that's just to make sure that you are a human. :)

Alright.

Ready, set, GO COMMENT! Can't wait to meet you all!

Christmas in pictures

2011-01-11T18:01:00.007-05:00

Me, Momma, and Rachael made cookies.

Silas ate them. :)

Christmas Eve was spent with my Mom's family as is tradition. DD joined us this year. :) We took our traditional family pictures at the end of the night, but Justin had already left to put Silas in bed (since it was LATE) so they aren't in our picture. :(

Christmas morning. This is about my only picture of Christmas day - I spent all day behind the video camera and forgot to take pictures!

We went to Natchitoches (Nack - a - tosh) to see the lights and on the way there we ate at Nikki's - a Mexican restaurant. Silas decided to skip his beans and rice and go straight for the salsa. He ate it all with his spoon. :) This Momma's heart was proud.

Some of the lights

Our ONLY picture of all three of us. Silas was not about it.

This tunnel was really cool - it changed to all different colors.

I saw this and it made me laugh and think of the Griswolds!

Crazy Pops and Uncle Doug!!

BIG NEWS!!

2011-01-07T21:17:00.002-05:00

***Scroll down for more recent posts***

Are you ready for this??

I'M GOING TO AFRICA!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!

Tis true my friends. :)

I know there are like a million posts I need to do about Christmas and New Years and I have tons of pictures to share from each of those celebrations, but I just had to share my good news with y'all first.

Because it IS good news!

!!!!!!!

I have been dreaming of going back to Africa (also known as "the continent that holds my heart") for YEARS and for the past year the desire to return has been even stronger and the Lord has really burdened my heart for orphans. One my goals for this year was to step foot on Africa soil (a friend offered to have some dirt shipped here so I could step on it and cross that goal off the list...HA!) and I am so so so so so excited that it is becoming a reality.

I am going to Uganda in March. In 72 days to be exact.

72 days!

I am going with an organization called Visiting Orphans and the purpose of the trip is to do just that: to take seriously James 1:27 and visit and love on orphans in Kampala and Jinja, Uganda. We are partnering with Amazima ministries and will be doing VBS for the kids at orphanages there and helping with the daily feeding program of Amazima that feeds over 1,200 children Monday through Friday.

I learned about Amazima about this time last year when I stumbled upon Katie's blog. Please go read about Amazima and the amazing work that this young woman is doing in Uganda. When people ask me who I would want to be for a day or who inspires me she is the first person that comes to my mind. I am thrilled to get to hug her neck soon. :)

I am sort of a last minute addition to the team that is going since there is not a lot of time (did I tell you that there's only 72 days???) between now and the trip. Because of that, I am already behind on my payments for the trip. Of course. Because it'd be WAY too easy if I was super prepared for something. :P

So.

Not only are there only 72 days until the actual trip, but I have only 12 days before the payment for my airfare and other travel are due - which is $2000.

The total cost of the trip is about $3200. I'll know the exact total when it gets a little closer to the trip. I'm hoping to raise at least $3500 so that I can use the extra to buy goods in country to donate to the orphanage. Visiting Orphans asks that all team members gift something to the orphanages that they partner with and I'd love to be able to bless them in a big way.

Would you pray about helping me get to Uganda? You won't just be helping me get there, you will be sending the love of Christ to orphans. Seriously, how can you say no to THAT?? ;) ;) People tell me all the time that they just can't go to Africa or wherever because of whatever circumstances but they wish there was another way to help. I always tell them the same thing - find someone who CAN go and help them get there. Here's your way.

There are 2 very easy ways that you can donate.

The first is through the button right over there -----------> that says DONATE. :) It is through paypal which is completely secure. This is a good option if you don't care about getting a tax deduction. The money will go into my paypal account and I will then send it in to Visiting Orphans. This is handy if you have money sitting in a paypal account, but you can also pay with a credit card. You can donate any amount.

The second way is through Visiting Orphans. Click HERE and it will take you to their secure donation page where you will choose "March 18-27, 2011 Uganda Trip" in the drop down box by Gift Designation. Then you will choose "YES" to donate to a specific team member and you will specify me, Stephanie Elise Moon (you'll have to type it - there's not a list of team members). You can donate any amount. All donations through Visiting Orphans are tax deductible.

Both of those options benefit my trip so choose the one that is most convenient for you.

Here's another way you can help - and I mean this:

PRAY!

I am so excited about this trip, but let me tell you who's not...the evil one. He's already been up to his scheming to try and get me out of this trip through his usual methods of fear, but that is NOT going to happen. Please pray for me and for my team in the days ahead. There is an unseen spiritual battle being fought at all times around us and spiritual warfare is real and satan doesn't like it one bit when God's children choose to be obedient. He tries to make me afraid of leaving Silas, doubt that God will come through with the money to go, etc. But let me tell you something - the battle has already been won friends. :)

Is anyone still reading this?

Here's one more way to help...use your social networking skills and get the word out for me! Blog about it, facebook it, tweet it, send an email out to your entire address book, tattoo it on your forehead...

Rest assured that I will be sharing more details about the trip and Uganda in the next fews days and weeks as I get them.

And I'll be sharing pictures of my cute kid too. I KNOW that's why all of y'all are here anyway. :P

Thanks friends. Y'all really are the best.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

The Adventures of Curious Silas

2011-01-07T08:20:00.004-05:00

It's Christmas Eve, about an hour before we have to load up to go to church. Silas is still napping...or so we think. I go in to check on him and maybe wake him up because this has been an abnormally long nap.

This is how I find him. No, it's not blood.

It's a ENTIRE tube of red lipstick!

He had been sleeping in a closet big enough for the pack & play and there was a shelf low enough for him to reach. Apparently there was an old make-up bag on that shelf and he just HAD to know what was inside!

Believe it or not, except for just a few places, it all washed out of his blanket and lovies.

This is after we wiped him down a bit. I was preparing a bath and running around like crazy since we were short on time.

Y'all. He had it e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. (well, everywhere that wasn't covered by clothes or a paci!) I was still getting it out of his ears on New Years Day. Thankfully it didn't stain his skin and we were able to get most of it off fairly quickly with some make-up remover.

I was laughing so hard when I brought him in the kitchen to show everyone that I freaked him out and that is why he has tears in that first picture. It was so funny! I love my little curious boy. :)

Thanks for joining us for another episode of The Adventures of Curious Silas!

Embrace the Camera (1-6-11)

2011-01-06T08:48:00.002-05:00

Hello there!

This is probably my favorite picture from all of Christmas.

Who needs toys when you have a box?? Especially a box that Momma can get it too! :)

Oreo mouth.

Again, who needs toys when you have empty wrapping paper rolls and Pops? :)

Embrace the Camera today! Thanks for stopping by!

If you have a sec (And I know you do) go see the BIG NEWS I announced last night. Here.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T00:42:00.001-05:00

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:1-14

¹And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

²(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

³And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

⁵To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

⁷And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Embrace the Camera (Dec. 16)

2010-12-16T09:14:00.004-05:00

Hello there!

Last Thursday night we had our annual M&M (May & Moon families if you are new) Christmas - one of my favorite nights of the year!

I love that Connor's tummy has a cameo in this one. ;) But I especially love that we are all LOOKING AT THE CAMERA! woohoo!

Opening Silas' gift - 2 books (The Christmas Story and Where the Wild Things Are) and some letter signs for his big boy bedroom. Ok - so the signs are really for Momma - Aunt Sarah knows what she's doing! I can't wait to work on his new room - one day. ;)

I hope y'all are Embracing the Camera this Christmas! Make wonderful memories and document them!

The latest.

2010-12-15T14:10:00.004-05:00

Here's what has been keeping me up at night and making my fingers raw. :) It's been so fun watching them all come together.

I have one more set to finish tonight and then I'm done until after New Years. :)

Embrace the Camera (Dec. 9)

2010-12-09T09:19:00.003-05:00

It was freezing here last weekend and this whole week (our bird bath has not thawed out in 3 days) but that doesn't keep a certain little boy from wanting to be outside. So Daddy bundled him up and out we went. :)

The latest.

2010-12-07T20:32:00.003-05:00

I was seeing quadruple over the weekend. :)

Embrace the Camera (Dec. 2)

2010-12-02T09:17:00.005-05:00

Every single one of my EtC pics this week were taken by my SIL Holly and I totally stole them from her facebook page. :) Hey - I had to since I promised better pictures this week and my attempts only produced more pictures of me kissing a screaming kid. :/

Holly and Ricky came over for dinner and a movie (V for Vendetta on Nov. 5th - yes, we are nerds) and since she has a great DSLR she is always snapping away. :)

Right before bedtime Silas always gets this crazy burst of energy and this particular night he was in rare form running around all over and being a complete nut.

It didn't take him long to figure out that Momma is funny when you hit her on the head. :)

While it looks like he is being uber sweet and giving kisses, in actuality he is taking his paci back from me. ;) However, yesterday I got 5 completely UNSOLICITED kisses. Melt my heart.

I spent Thanksgiving week being sick with a sinus infection/cold and as crappy as that was (my family was here and I wasn't myself) it was 120938461029836401928364 times better than how I spent Thanksgiving last year...in the hospital. If you don't know that story go here and here. Anyway - this is from Thanksgiving night at Justin's family's dinner.

And just for kicks - here's Mamay Embracing the Camera too. :)

Go get your EtC on!

The Adventures of Curious Silas

2010-11-30T10:16:00.003-05:00

This is where I found him yesterday:

I was doing some laundry and went in our bedroom to get some more and when I came back he was on top of the wet clothes.

He LOVES to hide and close the doors on his hiding spots - cabinets, closets, and now dryers.

He was proud. And he didn't want to get out when it was time for me to dry the clothes.

I can't wait to see where I'll find him next! :)

The latest.

2010-11-18T15:52:00.003-05:00

Here's what I've been up to - more random orders. :) Like them?

Embrace the Camera (Nov. 18)

2010-11-18T09:51:00.005-05:00

My pictures for EtC are kinda lame today. I haven't had much to choose from and we've been running around so crazy busy lately that I haven't stopped and grabbed the camera as much as I should have.

Silas is OVER pictures right now. :(

But I try anyway.

A few weekends ago we kept Connor all day while the rest of the May family went to an Auburn game. Silas had so much fun with a friend all to himself! They don't get a lot of playtime when it's just them - there's always a big brother around - so they had a blast.:)

How are you embracing the camera this week?

Click here for the latest from Moonpie Designs.

To Write Love on Her Arms

2010-11-12T09:07:00.004-05:00

A year or so ago I stumbled upon an organization called To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) by accident. I can't even remember now how I found out about it - probably from a blog, but it has become a movement that is dear to my heart.

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

We (I say "we" because anyone can be a part of this) want you to know that rescue is possible - that God is still in the business of redemption. Please go read THIS. (read it all, but especially near the bottom of the page where it says To Write Love on Her Arms)

Today we are raising awareness by writing LOVE on on arms and telling people about the mission of TWLOHA.

Here are some facts and statistics:

*121 million people worldwide suffer from depression - 18 million are in the US (World Health Organization)

*2/3 of people suffering from depression never seek treatment

*Untreated depression is the #1 cause of suicide and suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among teenagers and young adults (National Institute for Mental Health)

*Often times untreated depression leads to unhealthy ways of coping with the pain and hurt such as self-injury (self-mutilation, self-harm, self-abuse). It can be defined as the deliberate, repetitive, impulsive, non-lethal harming of one’s self, including but not limited to:

1) cutting

2) burning

3) picking or interfering with wound healing

4) infecting oneself

5) punching/hitting self or objects

6) inserting objects in to skin

7 )bruising or breaking bones and

8) some forms of hair pulling

*Experts estimate that 4% of the population struggle with self-injury. It has the same occurrence between males and females, even though in popular culture it can appear to be more prevalent among girls.

*The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each year approximately one million people die from suicide, which represents a global mortality rate of 16 people per 100,000 or one death every 40 seconds. It is predicted that by 2020 the rate of death will increase to one every 20 seconds.

I had no idea that suicide was the 3rd leading cause of death among teenagers. That breaks my heart. I also had no idea that self-injury was so prevalent. If you think that it isn't, just check out TWLOHA's facebook page and read some of the wall posts and comments. It's happening all around you and if you are like me, you probably had no idea. But now you know.

It breaks my heart that people are hurting themselves to TRY to cope with the crap of this world. They are believing a lie - that hurting themselves will help, that it's the only way to deal with the hurt and pain, and that they have to keep how they feel and what they do a secret.

TWLOHA is about a community - a worldwide community - of people loving people. A community offering hope and healing and rescue.

So today I write love on my arm and pray for the people in my life and the people all over the world that are struggling with these things.

And I hope for a future for each of them filled with redemption.

For more information please check out the TWLOHA website here.

The information shared in the blog post was taken from the TWLOHA website.

Creamy Potato Soup Recipe

2010-11-04T12:52:00.005-04:00

As soon as I looked out the window yesterday morning and saw the gray skies and drizzling rain I knew that we needed Potato Soup for dinner.

It's like fuzzy slippers and a cozy blanket to my soul. Mmmmm mmmm.

I made this recipe up earlier this year, but I do not claim that it is original to me - there might be tons of you already cooking potato soup just like this. BUT - I call it "mine" because I didn't use a recipe, and that makes it feel special. :)

*DISCLAIMER: I am terrible at following recipes and generally start making it up as I go along even if I have one to follow. Since I actually did make this one up, you should know that all of the measurements are estimates and probably don't really matter anyway. I almost never measure anything (except when baking) so just know that this "recipe" is a very fluid concept.

Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients:

red potatoes, peeled and sliced

chicken broth or chicken bouillon cubes

1 sweet onion, peeled and diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 breakfast ham (you know, the kind that is flat with the circle bone in it), cubed

half & half or whole milk

cheddar cheese

green onion, chopped

sour cream

salt & pepper

What I do:

Last night I used a 5lb bag of potatoes because I wanted to have some leftovers (and I had enough leftovers for lunch today and tomorrow for me and Justin). Put the potatoes in a large pot and barely cover with water. Throw in 2 or 3 bouillon cubes. You can use chicken broth or fresh stock for this too - but I usually don't have it since I refuse buy chicken with bones in it. Add the onion and garlic. Bring to a boil and let boil until the potatoes start to fall apart. Stir it often so it doesn't scorch on the bottom. When the potatoes fall apart easily, turn heat to low/med, mash up the potatoes until it's thick and creamy, and add in the ham. Add some milk or half & half - enough to make it relatively runny (see how professional I am??) - if you feel like it's too runny don't panic - it will thicken a lot and you'll keep adding milk up until you serve it. Check on it every once in a while and add milk if it is too thick. Salt and pepper to taste.

I serve it with cheese, chives, and sour cream. You can add anything that you would like on a baked potato - this soup is basically liquid baked potato. :) If you don't have ham but do have bacon, just fry the bacon and crumble it on top - it's delicious that way as well.

Enjoy!

It's lunch time now - I'm going to fix myself another big bowl. :)

The BEST chili recipe

2010-11-03T10:59:00.003-04:00

It's not often these days that I cook something that people just go on and on about - I've not been in a cooking mood for a few months. The desire to cook, like just about everything else that I am sometimes interested in, comes and goes in phases. I think I like to cook more in the fall and winter because I'm not a cold.rainy.windy weather person and cooking warms me up and gives me something to do when I can't be outside. Also, a lot of my favorite foods are winter foods - gumbo, red beans and rice, potato soup, Mulligan, and...CHILI!

Sunday evening I made some chili for our friends (because Halloween just screams chili to me) and everyone seemed to love it. I wish I could say I made it up or even found the recipe myself, but alas, I did not. Justin found it and made it one day a few months ago and it was so good I added it to my favorites list.

It's an Apron's recipe from Publix. I know, right?! I never would have guessed.

Ground Beef Chili

Ingredients

1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 lb ground chuck beef
3 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (10.75-oz) can condensed tomato soup
1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes/sweet onions (undrained)
1 (10-oz) can milder diced tomatoes/green chiles (undrained)
1 (16-oz) can chili beans in mild sauce (undrained)
1 (15-oz) can black beans (drained)

Prep:

Chop onion; divide in half.

Steps:

1.Preheat large saucepan on medium-high 2–3 minutes.

2. Place beef, chili powder, seasoned salt, pepper, and one-half of the onions in pan; cook 4–5 minutes, stirring to crumble meat, or until meat is brown and no pink remains.

3.Stir in remaining ingredients, including remaining one-half onions. Bring to a boil, stirring often.

4. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 10 more minutes to blend flavors. Serve.

**I use Tony Chachere's for the season salt and I used Tomato Sauce instead of tomato soup because tomato soup makes me want to gag just thinking about it. In my mind this chili is waaaay better with the sauce instead of soup. :) I used Rotel Mild (for these GA tastebuds) and then everything else was Publix brand.

***I served it as Frito Pie with lots of cheese. It's also great with a little dollop of sour cream. Oh, and just because I love hot sauce in almost everything, I added a dash or two of Tabasco Chipotle to my personal bowl. Mmmmm mmmm. If you have not tried that new flavor of Tabasco, drop what you are doing and go get you some (that link is to a coupon). And while you're at it pick up some Tony's too. You'll thank me. :)

This is a super quick meal, but it tastes like you grandma's chili that probably had to cook for 5 hours. Save yourself the time and give this recipe a try and then come back and let me know

what you think!

More Halloween

2010-11-01T15:19:00.003-04:00

I swiped some more pics of the evenings activities from the Mays.

Smiling! You can just see his stitches under his bottom lip. I'll tell that story later, but he ended up in the ER last Wednesday night. All is well though.

Weeeee're off to see the Wizard...

Connor put down his sword for a second and Silas took advantage of it. :)

The whole group at the Merritt's house - our first stop for Trick or Treating

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T11:27:00.006-04:00

Happy Halloween! However you decided to celebrate or not celebrate, I hope you enjoyed a day of worship with family and friends.

Our morning was great, our day was frustrating (which was oh so annoying), and our night was fun. We had friends over for chili and dessert and then we went Trick or Treating in the HoneyCreek Subd..

Once again the pictures are in no particular order.

(apparently blogger has changed how pictures work and you can't move them around in your posts unless you do it in html - and who has time for THAT?!)

Sorry this one is blurry - all of our family pics were blurry except for one. :( At least we got one!

Our little lion. :) Silas was sooooo good last night! He would walk with us up to the door and hold out his little bag and then he rode in the wagon and never even whined at all (and I'm sure the Skittles he was snacking on had nothing to do with that). We were very proud of him. :)

Scarecrow, Lion, and Dorothy

I'm not a scary lion!

Love.

Trying to get a group shot of all the kids was ridiculous and funny. This is the only decent one I got and it's missing one. Raggedy Ann and Andy, Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and Lion

Can't wait until next year. What did y'all do?

YoungLife Llamaween 2010

2010-10-26T13:43:00.005-04:00

Every year Rockdale County YoungLife has an event called Llamaween and it's the week before Halloween and everyone dresses up in complete ridiculousness. It's a total blast. I went as an 80's aerobics instructor. :)

This year we had Dodgeball Llamaween so we were in a gym and basically played a twist on Dodgeball called War Ball all night. That and lots of Ultimate Ninja.

**the pics are in absolutely random order because blogger is being dumb right now**

My best attempt at 80's makeup. :)

With WonderWoman aka Jessica

Ready, Set, GO!

Savannah trying her best to nail someone :)

In War Ball, if you get hit instead of being "out" you go behind the opposing team and then if a ball comes out of bounds you can grab it and hit the team from behind and then if you do, you get to go back in the game. This is us waiting for a ball to come. :)

I am awful at War Ball.

Oscar the Grouch aka Shelby

with Savannah my 80's workout friend

with a Chilean Miner aka The Godfather aka Zach

Click on the next 2 to make them bigger.

Llamaween 2010 :)

Leaders: WonderWoman, The Old Spice Man ("I'm on a horse"), a Chilean Miner, The Tooth Fairy, a blackberry, a monkey, a pirate, a cheerleader, 80's aerobic instructor, and a coach. I'm laughing like a loon because there was inappropriateness going on behind me. :P

So there ya go. I already can't wait until next year! I'm weird and LOVE LOVE LOVE to dress up, and basically I get to do it twice a year - Halloween and Llamaween. :)

Embrace the Camera (Oct 21)

2010-10-21T12:46:00.005-04:00

This week's Embrace The Camera is brought to you by Southern Belle Farms Pumpkin Patch!

A couple of weekends ago we spent a lovely (seriously- the weather was PERFECT!) Saturday at Southern Belle Farms with our best friends the Mays and Cardozas. It was so much fun! I had seen pictures and heard about their trips from the past couple of years and have been looking forward to taking Silas long before he was born. :)

There are LOTS of pictures, as usual. :)

The first thing we did was head to the Pig Race. Those little piggies are fast! Silas thought it was funny because they squeal and oink the whole time they are running. :) Here he's waiting for the race to start with Daddy.

Go piggies go!

Next we headed over to pet the goats. We stayed here for awhile because all of the kids were enjoying themselves. They got to feed them and pet them. Silas tried to poke their eyes out with his fingers - all in love of course!

Time out from ~~poking~~ petting the goats to take a picture with Momma. :)

Feeding the goats some hay

At some point we made it over to the big slide. It's basically a HUGE pipe set in the side of a hill that they have turned into a slide. I took Silas for a ride and despite the weird look on his face in this picture, he loved it. We went FAST!

While all the other kiddos were getting their fill of the slide, we went to picks some cotton and pretend we were in Louisiana. :) I love cotton. It is one of those things of nature that I just think are so creative on God's part. I mean, first it's a plant with leaves, then flowers and leaves, and then cotton that we use for all kinds of wonderful things. So cool. I snagged some for my house.

Family pictures in which Silas refuses to smile or look at the camera. But at least he wasn't screaming!

This farm is so neat. They have stuff EVERYWHERE for kids to play with/on. These little tractors were a huge hit with our group.

So were these antique BIG tractors. :)

They have a big pumpkin patch and Silas liked this pumpkin.

A LOT!! :)

He learned to say "pumpkin" which just sounds like a two syllable word starting with "p" and now every time he sees a pumpkin (which are everywhere btdubs) he starts yelling about it.

This was the coolest thing ever. They have this gigantic bouncy pillow and it was a blast! Silas loved it and wanted to just take off on it but I wouldn't let him since there were so many big kids all around. I was afraid he would go flying and land in the pumpkin patch. So he sat or bounced with me and still had fun. :)

We had a fabulous day and made some great memories. I can't wait for next year!

The latest.

2010-10-17T21:32:00.003-04:00

New minis. :) $10

Read This.

2010-10-16T22:41:00.003-04:00

These are things that I think about on a daily basis but have never been able to write about - the words haven't come.

It's how I long to live.

Please read this.

2010-10-15T12:34:00.003-04:00

Here's a look at all of the bundles the are part of The Anderson Family Crew's fundraiser. In case you missed it, they are adopting a little girl, Elsabeth Mae, from Ethiopia and are raising money to get her home!

These bundles are amazing and each one is worth over $400. Each $10 donation gets you a chance to win one of your choice. Once you make the donation you then get to leave a comment under the post with the bundle you would like to have a chance to win. Donate $50? You can put all five chances under one bundle or you can put one in each bundle. It's that simple!

The fundraiser ends at midnight eastern on Sunday so go go go and help out this sweet family! Also please SHARE THE LOVE and post about it on your blogs, facebook, and twitter. Every little bit helps. :)

And remember, if you make a donation to this fundraiser and place an order with Moonpie Designs before the fundraiser ends, you will get 10% off you entire order. :) Convo me on etsy or email moonpie{dot}designs{at}yahoo{dot}com

Home Decor Bundle (worth $623)

All Girl Bundle (worth $522)

Craft/Hobby Bundle (worth $415)

All Boy Bundle (worth $420)

Accessory Bundle (worth $587)

Aren't they fabulous?!

Silas (15 months)

2010-10-12T16:02:00.006-04:00

**To find out how to get 10% off your next MpD order click here.**

I love my boy. He is hilarious and rambunctious and stubborn and sweet and sometimes a pain in the you know what. So basically he is a 15 month old. :)

I can't keep up with all of the new things that he is doing that I find noteworthy. Here's a random assortment anyway though:

*He has discovered the joy of dips. Justin introduced him to ketchup over the weekend and now he wants to dip everything. What can I say? He gets it from his momma. :) (not the ketchup thing - ewww- the dip thing.)

*He walks. Like, for reals. Sometimes he runs, but I'm pretty sure that's unintentional - I think he is just trying to regain his balance. :)

*He talks. He can say Daddy, Momma, ball (bah), bug (buh), banana (bobo), pepper (pehpah), book, yes (eeeee), please (peas), thank you (tay soo), bubble, puppy dog (bababababbabababbababa!!!!!!!!!), and I'm sure plenty more that I can't think of right now. He also signs please, thank you, more, and finished.

*He continues to love taking baths. Every night he lays on his back so I can rinse his hair (the water is usually deep enough to where he is almost floating, but not really) and every night he rolls back over to his stomach. The cute part is that he really concentrates and has to work up the courage to roll over since his face has to go under a little. My brave boy. :)

*He is a scavenger. He will steal your food.

*He likes to pick the peppers in the garden, and this has resulted in the premature death of more than a handful of peppers.

*He knows that we pray before we eat dinner and puts his hands together when we say "let's pray." Now he pretty much does it as soon as we sit down.

*He LOVES being outside. We go out every day and he just wanders around and picks up sticks and pinecones and sweetgum balls. I push him in his little car all around the yard and up and down the driveway every day while we wait for daddy to get home.

*One of his favorite things right now is driving our cars. When we get home from wherever we've been we let him get in the front and we close the doors and just let him play. He stands at the wheel so proud and waves. He loves to turn on the emergency flashers and play with the wiper lver tingymabob. Just about every time I get in the car and turn it on the windshield wipers come on. :)

*He feeds himself with a spoon - even his oatmeal in the mornings - and he does a fantastic job.

*Every night after bath I put lotion on him and give him a massage. I did this for the first 6 months of his life and then he got wiggly and we stopped doing it. But recently we started up again and he is so funny about it! He love the massage and he will go get the lotion and bring it to me and then he just lays down and makes little cooing noises as massage him. Precious. He has started asking for lotion during the day so I igve him some on his hands and he lifts his shirt and rubs it on his belly.

*Also every night after his story and bottle he goes to the stairs and Daddy goes with him. He gets to go up by himself now and he stops at the top of the railing (the bottom part of our stairs have a spindle railing and the top part has a wall) and sticks his head through and waits for me to come give him kisses and tell him night night.

I'm sure I'll think of a million more things later (as usual) but for now I will leave you with some pictures. Probably a lot of pictures. You might want to brace yourself.

Playing with Emmy girl.

Pops and Uncle Doug

He loves this hamper. He gets in it and rolls all over the place.

He also loves my pot drawer. He takes them all out and then puts them all back in. Most of the time. ;)

Watching Bolt - his new favorite movie.

If he is outside, he has a stick in his hand.

See what I mean?

He fell asleep eating lunch twice last week. It was hilarious.

Love it! His hair is getting so long and I can't decide if I love it long or if it just looks stringy and redneckish.

SILAS SANDWICH! Zach took this one a couple of weeks ago when we took some long over due family pics. I'll share more of those later.

We love you Silas. You make life FUN!

10% off Moonpie Designs

2010-10-12T15:42:00.003-04:00

Have you been to Emily's blog yet?

Are you here because you found me through Em's blog? If so, WELCOME!

If you make a donation to the Anderson Crew's adoption, I will give you 10% off your next Moonpie Designs order. So if you are still holding out on Christmas orders, NOW is the time! Share the love with Em and her crew and then come order some goodies and get a discount. You get 10% off your entire order, not just one thing so that can really help ya out.

Easy as pie.

Email me if you have any questions or want to place an order. moonpie{dot}designs{at}yahoo{dot}com

*Fine print*

Emily's fundraiser ends at midnight Sunday, October 17 eastern time. To receive the 10% discount you must make your donation to her AND place your order with Moonpie Designs BY THAT DEADLINE.

giving up.

2010-10-11T21:51:00.003-04:00

there are times, like right now, that i am tempted to give up.

to throw in the towel.

sometimes, for brief moments, that seems easier than the alternative.

to try harder.

to have more faith.

to have patience and grace.

to try (yet again) to be more like Jesus.

and it probably would be easier.

except the bible leads me to believe that it will all be worth it. and that is what i'm holding onto.

i'm frustrated about several things right now - none of which is in my control - and if i don't keep myself in check, i want to give up. i want to say screw it. i'm done. i'll start over.

but then i hear that still, small voice reminding me that the fight is worth it.

for friends.

for a church that i adore and that points me (and everyone else blessed enough to walk through the doors) to Jesus every.single.week and that preaches the TRUTH.

for dreams.

so i hold on.

i fight harder.

and i pray.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Share the Love!

2010-10-11T11:31:00.005-04:00

Whooo boy do I have the goods for y'all this week!

Here's the deal:

The Anderson Family Crew are going from a family of 6 to a family of 7! That's right, they are in the process of adopting a sweet little girl from Ethiopia! Her name is Elsabeth Mae. They will call her Elsa. Don't you just love that?!

They are Emily (who is adorable btdubs), Keith, Caedmon, Hadley, Milo, and Kohen. They need about $12,000 to get Elsa home. To some that number might be staggering, but they believe (as do I!!) that our God is infinitely bigger than that number and that HE will provide.

Em is doing an incredible fundraiser at her blog this week. I can't wait to see how God uses it for

HIS GLORY and to provide the funds for this adoption!

She has 5 different bundles of goodies, each with a different theme, and each worth OVER $300. She will reveal the bundles throughout the day tomorrow (starting at 7am). You can get a sneak peek of the 46 (!!!) shops that donated their awesome goodies to the bundles by going here, here, and here.

Can you find Moonpie Designs in the line up?

To get all the juicy details just click on the Share the Love button at the top of this post.

Please please please feel free to blog, facebook, and tweet about this fundraiser. Let's get the word out peeps!

And just so you can see who they are...

is that not the best Christmas card EVER?!?!

Wherein I get the heebie jeebies

2010-10-10T20:22:00.004-04:00

That there is a Black Widow folks. She's one of more than a handful we have seen around our yard/house since we moved in 2 years ago.

I.am.not.a.fan.

The latest.

2010-10-07T15:25:00.004-04:00

This order for blocks is going to my friend LaVerne in Louisiana. We went to high school together. :) She gave me like 7 colors that she likes and I did my best. ;)

These minis were so fun - mostly orders from the interwebz. My friend Jessica ordered the elephant one, and when she asked if I could do an elephant I flipped out! Elephants are sooooo much fun - tell me that's not the cutest thing you have ever seen. ;)

Close up:

Well there ya go. That's what I have been up to this week. I've got more minis to do (get your orders in!) and some camera straps and some blocks. YAY YAY YAY!!

Would you like a pinecone?

2010-10-06T16:33:00.001-04:00

Dreaming Big

2010-10-04T13:58:00.003-04:00

I'm dreaming big with Missy.

There's too much going on in my head and heart right now to put it into words clearly, so check out this post. Please.

For Pops

2010-10-02T23:16:00.001-04:00