Wednesday, 30 November 2011

Glowing At Bathtime.

Glow sticks at bath time! Lights off and a tub full of excited little bodies waving rainbows in the air.What fun to turn the ordinary into something more magical.






They drummed, laughed , waved and travelled to undersea worlds with colourful shining fish. They became merfolk and screamed with excitement for dad to come and see when they heard his arrival from work.





 Being Mum is so wonderful when you get to share moments like this, as bath time becomes... rainbow child soup topped with extra laughter. Living with children is such a blast when I remember to escape the ordinary, stop clock watching and ploughing through the endless jobs and just embrace the moment with their magic hungry souls!


Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Wearing Dresses Because They Spin!

They were dreamlike, their prettiness belonging to the world of fairy tales where unicorns frolic with woodland spirits and princesses are rescued by handsome princes to live happily ever after.

Delicate ruffles and sequined butterflies, surely belonging to idyllic childhood days of parties with jelly and laughter filled magic.

Huge price tags had been slashed bringing them within my purse strings reach and soon i was excitedly heading home with two dresses that made me dream of being five years old again.




The girls fell in love instantly. Bride like tiers of dainty white, borders of sequins and butterfly prints impossible to resist. But their love was sealed forever by the expanse of material, invisible within those folds until dancing began. As my little angels twirled they became lost in happy gasps, enveloped by circles of cloth in the air.

A spinning dancing skirt, just one of the many keys able to unlock the door to becoming a princess for little souls. There was a magic in their spinning, the dancing equivalent of a child skipping down the street. There is no practical reason for such exuberance of movement, it is simply the joy of a young soul bubbling over. There is no room in these moments for the embarrassed sidestep, the self conscious shuffle or the dragging feet. Those spinning skirts filled the air with the wonder of childhood, a place where being yourself is enough, free from cares, self-doubt and judgement and it was wonderful to watch.

I wonder what the world would be like if we all continued to spin and skip in ruffles, sequins and butterfly prints!   If we ignored the fear of the eyes of others and truly allowed ourselves just to be! I want some more of that kind of freedom...i think I'm going to go change into a spinning skirt today and let my children lead me into fairy tales once more.





Sunday, 27 November 2011

Sharing Sunday: Tabitha and Lilianna.



Do any of you remember when i posted about Anna over at The Chronicles Of Ellie Bellie Bear?

It was this post here entitled, Follow Your Heart, Follow Anna.


Anna is so in love with sweet Tabitha, a beautiful little girl with Down Syndrome, waiting in an orphanage in Eastern Europe for a family to find and love her. Let's pray this is soon, as Tabitha, just like Francine, will be sent to an adult mental institution to live out her days as she ages out at 4-6 years old! Unthinkable...how can we as a world not be screaming with everything in  us about this!



Anna is so smitten she has offered to donate a dollar into Tabitha's adoption fund at Reece's Rainbow for every follower of her blog up to 150. This adoption fund will support a forever family in the huge financial commitment of international adoption and could make all the difference between Tabitha being saved or not!



Anna is also busying  herself as Tabitha's Christmas Warrior, chasing her funds ever upwards towards the $1000 target...currently her angel tree fund is standing at $225. Anna also spends her time supporting and raising awareness for many more children and families in desperate need. I am honoured to count Anna as my friend and was thrilled to offer to match fund her efforts of $1 for every follower up to 150!

So how many followers is she up to?

As i type Anna has 126 followers! She is only 24 away from the 150 (that's going to cost us real dosh) total!

Can you pop on over and say hi to Anna here and see how wonderful her blog is?

The next 24 people to click 'follow' will enable me to finish donating my matched funding...1 simple little click will raise a dollar towards beautiful Tabitha!

I am also adding a little more fun into the mix as well...if you are one of the 24 who go and click 'follow' and then also donate yourself even one dollar into Tabitha's angel tree fund I will add another dollar myself. That would mean $2 from me for each of the next 24 followers! That could mean $50 extra for beautiful Tabitha if the next 24 followers made even a tiny donation each!

Of course, do feel free to add huge donations as well...to encourage this thought along, for every donation over $30 i will add $3 to my running total! Wow if the next 24 followers did that it would mean $75 from me and the $1000 target reached overall!

Will you be in the 24? Leave a comment on this post to let me know you are newly following Anna and if you donated to cost me even more money! Remember, if you want to be one of the 24 these are your 3 options...

click follow here on Anna's blog to cost me $1..or
click follow here on Anna's blog and also donate into Tabitha's fund to cost me $2...or
click follow here on Anna's blog and also donate over $30 into Tabitha's fund to cost me $3



COME ON, I DARE YOU TO COST ME SOME MONEY!

If we get Tabitha's angel tree fund over $1000 in the next week I will even take a cream pie in the face!  For every additional $100 I will add an extra plate of varied yuk (my husband and children can decide on what this will be!)...yep that's how much i love Anna and the daughter of her heart!


Come on...I dare you!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lilianna

Darling Lilianna! Once thought dead, then rediscovered, but still so poorly, still with no family committed to her and still in such desperate need of rescue!





Lilianna has some awesome women loving her from afar! Sarah at Matthew 18:14 never posts without adding this picture of her precious girl...


Summer from I LoveYou To The Moon And Back will love her forever for many reasons, their two histories entwined in ways that are so amazing I am certain we have not seen the end of their story as God's plans continue to unfold before us.

And of course the wonderful Marianne Fick from A Home for Darya is now Lilianna's Christmas Warrior!
Wow Lilianna, you wait till you find out what wonderful friends you have!


Lillianna  has just turned two, her birthday if not exactly the same day as mine must have been pretty close. Aged two, abandoned in a baby house, no presents and family hugs...it makes me weep!


But we can help ensure this sweet girl's next birthday is very different...it's so easy as well! Marianne is collecting loose change for Lilianna...could you do the same? Could you simply grab a jar and also collect loose change over this Christmas season for Lilianna?

Loose change and your heart. Could you? Will you?
Visit this post to see what Marianne is up to.


If I get 100 people committing to collecting a jar of change for Lilianna over the festive period and then donating it into her Christmas Angel Tree adoption fund i will personally take a bucket of beans over the head!  You heard right...beans! Sticky, disgusting, cold beans! Will you?  Part of me fears you actually will!
If you are going to collect change then again leave a comment on this post!

Beans, pie and varied yuk for 2 sweet girls, my kids would love you forever if you gave them this pleasure!


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Happy Sharing Sunday people.

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 Remember that many tiny actions joined together can create huge miracles. So go on…change the world for a child! Never be frozen by how small you feel in a world of insurmountable need…. that is the devil whispering in your ear!






To find out how you can help visit Reece's Rainbow.

Friday, 25 November 2011

Forget-Me-Not Friday: Giving Thanks.

In this thanksgiving week i am thankful for my eyes being opened to the plight of special children all over the world!

I am forever thankful for the people who have enabled me to know these children, to know their names, to see their faces and to allow me the  honour of carrying them in my heart.

I am thankful for every person who leaps in faith to take action for these children. The forever families, the warriors, the prayer army, the tweeters, bloggers, face book sharers. The people who sacrifice to give financially and with their time and lives.

I am forever thankful for the people who do not give up, even though the orphan crisis is so huge it seems to scream 'pointless' at every every action you try...this is the devil's voice!


I am thankful for my warrior family who know and trust...
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Here is the Forget-Me-Not Friday gallery, a tiny portion of all the beautiful, extra-special children on Reece's Rainbow,  each one desperate for a family to love them.

Click on their name link to visit their page on Reece's Rainbow to find out more. These children really are on the 'frontline' of need, they need us to help! You do not need to adopt to help. Become a warrior for a child, or donate to their adoption fund to help a family find the huge amount of money needed for international adoption. Just re post or add my Forget-Me-Not Friday button to your blog. If you are a warrior come and link here weekly on Fridays, let me know beforehand so I can add your  child's face to the gallery. Link any post or write using an ongoing writing prompt of 'Forgotten'. Or perhaps you could adopt? Perhaps you could be blessed by opening up your heart to one of these children? Is your child here?



  
Francine
And see right her updated picture!
 
 
A newly updated picture of Francine.
What a beauty!






A newly updated picture of Reid.
A gorgeous child in the same orphanage as Francine.






Artem
Artem has a large grant fund available!









Ryan
Giveaway here, ends christmas day!

Brody

  



Shannon
 
Updated picture of beautiful Shannon.


A new picture of Alice S.
This makes me so sad!
It reminds us their childhood is passing
with no Mama, when we see how much
they have grown.
 




Maxim

 




  

 



Bethany
see right for an updated picture of beautiful
Bethany. What a smile!

















Yasmine
Facing Imminent Transfer!








Carina
Her picture is so forlorn …
I hope we can find her a family to make her smile!









                                 Penelope
                                     Giveaway here for
                                      this beauty! Ends Dec 9th!





   I am thrilled to be linking up every Friday with 3 awesome ladies who also have big hearts for these children. They all do special Friday posts to find these angels forever families. Go visit Mandy over at, 'Our Adoption Story'. And then visit the amazing Andrea at 'Taking God's Love To The Ends Of The Earth'. and then go give some blogworld love to Julia over at Micah Six Eight

REMEMBER GRAB THE BUTTON!








Forget Me Not Fridays










 

HAVE YOU JUST FOUND YOUR CHILD?