My Necklace I Can't Wait To Wear!!!

 

I treated myself to this necklace a couple months back.  It is from the Bali Collection at Brighton Collectibles. It is a sterling silver necklace with a nice chunky chain and heart clasp closure.  What's special about this necklace is it has a little picture frame on it.  When we get our referral (all the paper work and information on our baby) I will be walking around wearing this necklace proudly with a picture of OUR baby in it! (That's just the stock picture in it now.)  I just love this necklace - even the back of the picture frame is cute (bottom picture.)  I saw this necklace in a video clip of another adopting mom when she went to China to pick up her daughter.  So, I contacted her and she led me to Brighton Collectibles.  Unfortunately, they had stopped making this particular necklace a couple years back. I was so disappointed.  I told them my story and they were so nice that they called around to all of their stores and found one left at a store in Atlanta, Georgia.  The gal at the store was so excited for us and insisted that I send them a picture of me wearing it with our baby's photo in it.  She polished the necklace all up and shipped it to me.  It's a rarity to find customer service like that these days.  At any rate, when we get our referral, which we are hoping for at the end of December, I will post a picture of me wearing this necklace with pride!  I can't wait!

What A Treat!

So, my dear friend Brenda gave me these little dolls and Paper Doll game!  Her girls are done using them, so she thought she would pass them on to our daughter.  I love these dolls as they have a lot of diversity!  Something VERY hard to come by in this very blond hair and blue eyed world our family lives in.  From left to right...Holland doll, England doll, Japanese doll, Mexican doll, Alaskan doll.  I'm so happy to have these little dolls and can't wait to share them with our little one.  The game is a darling little game and the paper dolls in the game also have great diversity.  I can't wait to play this game!  Thank you for thinking of me Brenda, Elyse, and Janelle!

Pictures of the "Construction Site"

I finally figured out a way to upload again...Here is what Trayton's room looks like right now.  You can see in the first photo where the closet is going to be.  To the right of the closet in the little corner is going to be a built in desk we are having made at the cabinet makers.  The second picture shows where we filled in the arch way.  The third picture shows...well....dust.  This morning the carpet people came out and measured so we can finally order our carpet.  Right now we are waiting to get things textured and all so we can paint.  After we paint, the contractor will be back to do all the trim work, finish the electrical, finish the closet, and install the desk.  The carpet probably won't come in until all of that other stuff is done.  Last, our window coverings will come in.  We are about 3 1/2 weeks to being done....then it's getting all the furniture...  Trayton is VERY excited!

The Remodel Has Begun! And it's going FAST!

Well, we have started turning our formal dining room into a bedroom for Trayton.  We hardly ever use our formal dining room for eating.  If we have company over and eat in there everyone is always uptight and not relaxed.  The room usually had board games and LEGOS all over the table instead.  So, we sold our formal dining set and we are turning it into a bedroom for Trayton.  Trayton is giving his current bedroom to his sister so that she can be closer to Mama and Daddy.   He is SO excited about his new room!  We have taken out all the built in cabinetry/sideboard/display cupboards etc. and are putting in a closet and built in desk instead. He is getting a loft bed with a futon chair underneath that makes into a bed for sleepovers.  Yesterday, he chose his new bedding - a palm tree decor - too funny!  He wants to feel like he is on vacation - I totally get that - it's still funny to me though.  Perhaps it's time for a Hawaiian vacation?  It's been a while since we've been there.  He really wants green walls, so green walls it will be.  He also wants a plant in his room.  I told him he could have one of our large plants that use to be in the dining room, but if it is too big we will get him a nice hanging plant.  Now, I've been trying to upload pictures to show our progress but when I do, it's saying "server rejected" and I'm not quite sure why.  I'm uploading the same way I have done in the past.  I'll keep trying.  Well, I've been trying for 30 minutes...I give up for now.  I'm so bummed!

Keely

We live at LEGOLAND!!!

                                                  LEGOLAND a la Heinzen's family foom...

This is our family room at the moment.  The kids have spread out blankets and sheets and dumped most of their LEGO's out of their bins.  They are working together to build a big house.  It's really fun to watch them work together.  The house they are building is going to be 2 stories high.  Right now the first floor is done and the detail they have put into it is amazing!  You see, this mess would drive most people CRAZY - and I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me a little bonkers, but they will play and build here for hours.  I'll probably give them another week to have it out in the family room, and then Todd and I will reclaim the space.  When the kids "take over" a room like this, my rule is that there had better not be any toys in the other parts of the house (living room, dining room, kitchen, our bedroom, bathrooms - yes bathrooms, etc.)  The "mess" usually moves around the house - it's usually in one of the boys bedrooms or the formal dining room - which we never use anyway.  As a matter of fact, our dining room we are turning into another bedroom so that when our daughter comes from China everyone will have their own room...  Today, Kallen has a friend over to stay the night and when he walked into our house and saw the family room, he was so excited and told us that it is his favorite room in our house.  Here is a picture of the LEGO house they are building so far...

 Isn't this cute!!!?  In the top picture you can see that they even have a yard with a swimming pool and diving board.  The bottom picture is a close up of the bathroom - isn't it great!  They have a bathtub, toilet, toilet paper, and sink.  I just love LEGO's!  I wish I had Lego's when I was a kid - they probably didn't make them back then.  The one bad thing about Legos is stepping on them!  But, I'm sure when all our kids are grown, I'll miss and think longingly about stepping on Legos.  Cheers!

Quilting and Scrapbooking for Bai Jia Bei (100 Good Wishes Quilt)

As many of you may know, I am making a quilt for our little girl.  The quilt is called a "Bai Jia Bei" or "100 Good Wishes Quilt."  In China it is customary and tradition to welcome and celebrate a new life by inviting 100 family members and friends to contribute a square patch of cloth to make a "Bai Jia Bei."  The cloth is then sewn together to make a quilt.  The quilt contains all of the good wishes, blessings, luck and energy from the people who contributed fabric.  All of the good wishes surround the child when she is wrapped in the quilt.  The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.  Along with the quilt, I am creating a memory book with all the good wishes people have sent her along with a sample cutting of the fabric from each person and their photo.  This way she will be able to look at her memory book, read a particular wish, see what fabric this particular person chose for her and see their picture... 

So today, I went to the craft store and bought a memory book, the card stock for the pages as well as the plastic cover pages and all the special tapes and dots.  I've never been a scrapbookerer so this is all new to me...  You can see everything I bought in the second picture.

In the first picture are the first 3 quilting squares I have received.  They are from my dear "Rumor Queen" friends.  Rumor Queen is an online community made up of people who have adopted or are planning to adopt from China.  Since the beginning of this journey, half of my life has been spent on Rumor Queen.  The friends I have made there have such a special place in my heart.  These friends have seen me through thick and thin.  We have encouraged one another and supported one another during this unbearable wait for our children.  Congratulations Kathy and Kim you are the first contributors. 

Had to change our "Header" title...

Well, I showed Todd our blog and he told me he was thrilled that I created one.  Then he enlightened me on something.... He hates the word "Kiddos."  Now, we have been married for over 17 years and have been parenting for over 11 years and this is the first time I've ever heard this.  So, I changed our "Header" title to "Our Snazzy Kids" instead of Kiddos.  I may change our header a few more times, I didn't really know what to call our blog.  I wanted something nice and creative, but nothing has come to me yet.  When it does come to me, I'll change it...AGAIN!  :-)

So, that's how you post a picture...

Well, now I know how to post a picture...  O.K., I'm getting the hang of it.  These are our cute boys...Trayton (8), Kallen (11), and Deklan (6).  This was taken a few months back at La Jolla Cove.

I finally did it!

So, I finally did it!  I figured out how to make a blog.  I'd like to be able to put pictures of our kiddos on here perhaps for the heading, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet...maybe it isn't possible.  Who knows...