Kristina helped dress Chad this morning, then got out his cornmeal box.

These items are also for sale from our non-smoking home.

First dress is one I made for my daughter. It was worn for church, and is in gently used condition with no tears, holes or stains that I am aware of. It's in a cheery spring print.

Total length from middle of shoulder seam to bottom of hem is 33 and 3/4 inch approx. Waist is intended to be loose fitting--about 30 inches all the way around. From shoulder seam to shoulder seam across the front is 11 inches. Fastens in back with a zipper for ease of dressing.

Next is a "Cherokee" brand size L blouse with cute sleeves that tie (in the picture, one sleeve is tied, and the other untied to give you an idea). It buttons up the front, and has cute pink roses tastefully embroidered on the collar. Kristina wore it with the "My Michelle" size 7 jumper/sundress that is pictured.

View of the back:

And last but not least, this adorable "Mousefeathers Vintage" dress in a size 8.

Kristina wore it for Easter, and a few other Sundays. Full skirt with built in slip, piping, a sash to tie in back, and three cute rosettes around the neck edge.

As far as I know, there are no holes, stains or tears on these items.

Asking $7.00 plus shipping and handling for the lot of them, and willing to combine shipping if you purchase another item(s) with them! Again, all proceeds will go to help Little Loaves and Fishes!

Charity went off to learn how to make noodles today. She said she felt really at home at the O's house--thanks, Shellie! Here she is cranking dough through.

Noodles Drying

And cooking . . . . These turned out more like dumplings because of still being fresh and doughy, Charity said.

She brought some home that are drying on towels (since we don't have a drying rack) on our kitchen table. I'm sure we will enjoy them too! I think it's time to shop for a noodle roller or whatever it's called!

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Tonight we went off to our Thanksgiving Supper. It was SOOOOOO yummy! Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, veggies, and sweet potato casserole, plus fresh rolls, and then pie and ice cream for dessert. I've never tasted turkey as good as my friend, Ruth, can make it! I don't know her secret, but it's the best! Dale, our friend who went with us, enjoyed the meal and the special singing as well. There was a nice crowd of people there in addition to our church.

The best thing?? There are enough left-overs that we are having a second run of it on Sunday for lunch--all we need to bring is dessert! Fun!

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Charity's BIG DAY is tomorrow--she's up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) with her Daddy to go HUNTING for the first time! She's got pre-hunt nervousness . . . . afraid she will only hit and wound the deer rather than kill it cleanly. We told her to just do her best, and not worry about the rest--that's giving her slim comfort right now though.

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I started cutting out the pattern I need tonight to make Kristina a corderoy skirt. She picked out the fabric at JoAnn's when it was on sale awhile ago. I hope that I end up liking the pattern so that I can use it often for her.

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It's been a fun day, with lots of happiness. Now it's time to go to bed! I'm tired!

My budding musician! With a pipe cleaner "loop" to hang the abacus around his neck, he's been standing on a chair just a singing and a strumming this afternoon! SO cute!

I'm still raising funds for the next Little Loaves and Fishes trip. We will be returning, Lord willing, to the orphanage where we were previously for follow up care with the children, as well as a side trip to Yoshkar Ola, Russia (God providing the funds) to assess what we can do to help there in an orphanage and a special needs school in a future trip (hopefully one sometime in mid-spring or else early fall).

So, I still have the cute little girl sleepers that were listed here, as well as some other items.

Little Girl's Forest Green cord jumper. 32.5 inches approx. from middle of shoulder seam to bottom hem. (I'm willing to hem for free if you wish it a bit shorter). I made this jumper for my oldest daughter when she was younger. She wore it for church, so it's still in good shape. No holes, tears, or rips that I know of. A loose fitting style that pops over the head. Asking $4.00 plus shipping and handling.

I also have a collection of boy's clothing that Chad out-grew. Asking $10.00 for this, plus shipping and handling.

OR if I can arange to meet you, you can have them for $10.00 flat!

These items are all in the general 3/4T range, and are nice brands like "Old Navy", "Gap" and "Gymboree" etc. There are pants, shirts, sweaters, a vest, a pair of Land's End shoes, Tommy Hilfiger sandals etc. Most of these items were worn by my son for church and so are still in good shape. Two pairs of pants are too worn for church, but could still be worn around the house easily. There is also a pair of Old Navy PJ's (with the sharks on bottom left of pix) that while wearable still, have seen good wear.  I welcome questions from any one serious about buying.

Remember, the proceeds of these items ALL will go to help fund the work we are called to do with orphans.

And if you don't need any children's clothing in these sizes?! Well, feel free to link to this post on your blogs, Facebook etc. and spread the word. Little Loaves and Fishes also welcomes monetary donations of any amount, and is happy for anyone who wishes to do a fundraiser to assist in gathering funds. We also would accept some donations of items you might wish to donate that we could sell to raise funds.

Most of all, we welcome your prayers for the orphans, for us as we seek to make a difference in their lives, and for God to touch the hearts of Who ever He wants to be part of the up-coming teams.

Wishing you a day touched with His love!

Since I've gotten so thrilled with couponing I'm constantly looking for ways to add to my coupon stash. I don't get the Sunday paper for several reasons. Cellfire won't let me sign in to it no matter what after the first time I did it . . . something seems to be messed up with my Kroger number. And I don't get much else that has coupons EXCEPT that I just got my first "All You" magazine today in the mail after signing up a few weeks ago when someone posted a terrific deal on it that beat the "stand price" all hollow!

So . . . the printable coupons, plus my "All You" coupons. And that leaves this coupon-hungry woman longing for more! It finally sunk into my head (DUH!!!) this week that our library has long had a coupon exchange! I went there Thursday evening (and yes, I'll blog more about Thursday but not tonight--the telling of the day deserves a fresh brain to tackle it!) and settled down at the table and went through SOME of the massive amounts of coupons there, and came home with a stack that was big enough to make any coupon-Her (yes, that was intentional!) happy! Coupons like this: $3.00 off on the brand of razors my hubby uses! What's NOT to like about THAT?!

What did it cost me for this stack of fabulous coupons?? Just some more of my time. And since I have more time than money these days . . . well . . . it was time well worth spent--like being paid some serious money for the 30 minutes I sat there! I am not joking when I say I "made" more in that 30 minutes than my husband mades working in an hour the last while! And there were TONS of goodies left for the next woman. I know where to go with the coupons I won't be using from my magazines. They can bless someone else when I put them there the next time I go.

Check with your library. If they don't have that "program", perhaps they'd be willing to add it to their list of services if they were asked. At my library, it's just a big index card box (probably the largest size they make) sitting on a table that isn't too busy, along with a sign announcing that it's a "Coupon Exchange". People come, browse, take what they need, and leave what they don't want. Simple as that! As long as users are willing to pull out and discard any expired coupons they notice when flipping through, it should be a great system for any library, I would think.

I wish I'd thought to take before and after photos today. Todd got his first professional haircut ever today at the Wal*mart hair salon--and the difference it made in his appearance was astounding! For starters, he needed a hair cut badly--and had been for awhile! Second, due to how curly his hair is, Paul has had fits trying to cut it ever since Todd decided to wear it longer. It kinks, it curls, and no matter what Paul tried, it never looked really GREAT any more. OK, yes, but not a really good haircut. Todd stresses horribly while he's having his hair cut, and usually ends up disgruntled and frustrated afterwards.

For the last while, Paul and I have been trying hard to think of things that could be important to teach Todd to have him more prepared for adulthood, and then work through those. One of the things we came up with was getting a hair cut done professionally. Since getting his hair cut even as a youngster was Soooo stressful to him,  we never thought before it was a good idea to risk getting his hair cut in public! But we are well aware that Daddy isn't always going to be around to do it. Todd needs to learn to know how to go into a hair shop and make sure he can order what type of hair cut he wants.

We started preparing him several months ago by informing him that a professionally done haircut was in his future. We talked about why it was important, and Todd was very open to the idea. And even today when I told him that today was the big day, he seemed fine with it--just a tiny, tiny bit nervous, but not even overly so.

Off we went, and to my delight and surprise, Todd ended up LOVING the experience. He said it was so much less stressful for him--that the stylist used scissors almost the whole time (he's always seriously minded the noise of the hair clippers, as well as the feel of it), that the salon was quieter--no siblings making comments about how much his looks were changing due to the hair fall off his head in great swathes--and "no one running around and almost getting into the hair and making Daddy stressed!" He even let the stylisht shampoo his hair (SHOCK  . . GASP. .  THUMP!) and walked out of the shop looking incredibly good-looking! She managed to keep his hair longer on top like Todd likes, thinned out the thickness so it's more of a a lot of tight curls, and still tamed his sides and back of head. Also, she used a hair softening product which actually is actually fairly healthy looking, based on the ingredients, and that allowed his natural curls to be softer and not so frizzy.

It was such a good experience for Todd that he's ready to go back any time! WHEW . . . what a blessing! Now .. . what else is important to make sure Todd knows and understands before he becomes an adult?!