The winner is...

According to random.org the winner of the Project320 giveaway is...

#7  Karen King

Woohoo!  Congratulations, Karen!  You are getting some incredible goodies!  Thank you to everyone who gave clean water!  The project total is  up to $6,930 and still growing!   Thank you to Jill of Modern Prints, Kristi from WiseAbe and Kelley from i heart maps. for helping with this giveaway.  Go shop at their stores they all have incredible items plus you know they are using their businesses to bless others!



Love

Tracy



O Holy Night

One of my favorite childhood memories is going to Christmas Eve midnight mass with my Grandfather and sitting up in the choir loft with him while he sang.  I didn't grow up Catholic but every year I looked forward to midnight mass and listening to the singing.  The choir would always sing O Holy Night.  I can't listen to this song without getting teary eyed!  Merry Christmas!



Love

Tracy



$6,440

$6,440 dollars have been raised so far through Project320 to build a well!  That is awesome.  I think the best part is that folks who don't even know each other have come together and donated $10, $20, and even $500 to help families who don't have clean water be able to get clean water!  Will you help get them to two wells? The goal of being able to fund one well has been met...could you help them get to two?  Think of how many families would be blessed by two wells?   Jesus replied, " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39  I can't think of a better way to love our neighbors than to bless them with clean water!


Would you please consider a donation to Charity Water.  I have a great giveaway going on right now for each $10 donation you are entered into the giveaway.  Just leave a comment letting me know you gave!

Please consider giving the gift of clean water this Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
Love
Tracy







Update on J!

We received an update and new picture of J last night. What a great Christmas gift!   He is doing so well and I wish I could show his pic because he is adorable! :)  He is learning to stack blocks and loves to ride on the merry go round but he is scared of the slide!  Our family has tried to focus on the fact he is coming instead of focusing on the fact that he isn't here yet but it has been hard.  Please continue to pray for a  quick court date for us  in 2012 and for the other two families who are waiting to travel just like us! 



This month we got J the book The Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs.  We have the Pumpkin Patch Parable and love it but I think I love this one even more.  The story is about a farmer and his wife and the Christmas trees they grow each year.  They share their beautiful trees with the neighbors but there is one tree that they have saved for themselves.  On Christmas Eve, a poor family arrives on the farm hoping there is one tree they can buy.  The child of course sees the one the farmer's wife has set aside for the farmer's  family and asks can we buy this one?  A great story to teach my kiddos that it is more blessed to give, than to receive and that Christmas isn't about the gifts under the tree but about Jesus and trying to be like him!

"Each one should give, then, what he has decided in his heart to give 
God loves the person who gives happily." 2 Corinthians 9:7 (ICB)



Would you consider giving the gift of clean water this year for Christmas? For each $10 donation to Charity Water you get an entry into the giveaway.  You can go here  to give!

Merry Christmas!

Love

Tracy



My first giveaway...and I am excited!! (giveaway is closed)

Let me introduce you to Project 320.   This is the third year for Project 320.  Six women have gotten together and decided that they can do something to help others.  These women with the help of many others have already raised enough money to build three wells in two years, and this year they are trying to build another one.  I hope my giveaway (keep reading) on this blog will help contribute to Project 320 meeting it's goal of building a well.

Today I...

Took a shower.
Brushed my teeth.
Filled the coffee pot.
Filled the Christmas tree stand.
Ran the dishwasher.
Ran the washing machine.
Used the toilet.
Washed my hands.
Did some more dishes.
And lots more laundry.
Rinsed salad greens.
Ran baths.
Topped off my iron.
Fed my kids glasses of fresh, clean water.

Water, water, water...

Is it fair that today I whine & worry over trees & toys,
when today 4500 moms just like me are worrying whether their
children will live or die?

Over contaminated water?

When I think about how healthy and safe my family is, I have no worries.
I need nothing.
I am so blessed.

But those other moms need us.
Together, we can relieve some worry. (from Project 320)

The founders of Project 320 have put out the call for bloggers to offer giveaways with the hope that enough money is raised to fund a well through Charity Water. The founders of Project 320 are hoping for 50 blog giveaways and ten entries per blog or more of course! That would be enough for a well!  Would you be one of my ten?   Here is the deal...for every $10 dollar donation to the Project 320 well you get one entry into this blog's  giveaway.  You will be giving directly to Charity Water and each donation is tax deductible. 

Here is the giveaway...and if I could I would enter because the goodies are awesome! :)

Jill is the owner of Modern Prints on Etsy.   Jill is a fellow adoptive mom and blesses so many people through her business! I love her prints. I have ordered a couple of her prints and they are beautiful!  Perfect for you or for a gift! Jill has graciously donated a $20 gift certificate to her store to this giveaway.  Here are a few examples of her work!



Also, included in the giveaway is a necklace from  i Heart Maps.  I met Kelley at the Marketplace to benefit the Kilgoris Project.  Her jewelry is beautiful.  What is so wonderful about Kelley's store is that she always gives 20% of her profits to the Kilgoris Project or Wine to Water. You pick a location that is special to you and Kelley makes a beautiful necklace.

Here is my bracelet from i Heart Maps. I love it!

I wrote a post about places to shop this Christmas. The next gift comes from one of the places I suggested to shop... Wise Abe. I love everything in their store and when you buy from them you know that your money is also going to help support Compassion's Leadership program.  So, it was hard to pick one thing to include in this giveaway from Wise Abe but I did it! A beautiful burlap pillow. 

 You know you want to enter! For each $10 you donate to the Project 320 charity water site you will receive one entry into this giveaway. Leave me a comment to let me know you did.  Also, for an additional entry you can share this giveaway on fb or your blog but be sure to leave another comment letting me know you did that.  This giveaway will be going on until Monday, December 26th at 12:00 am EST.  I will announce the winner on Tuesday, December 27th! Would you please consider donating to Charity Water?  Just $10 can change a life forever!  Please take a moment and give clean water for Christmas!



Merry Christmas!
Love
Tracy









Advent Conspiracy



 This video is a good reminder of how we spend way too much on ourselves at Christmas! Clean water...we all take that for granted.  It is easy to do because we have an abudance of it here in this country.  But for plenty of other folks clean water is nowhere to be found.  In a few days I will be introducing my first giveaway on this blog to help raise funds to build a well for a community who doesn't have the luxury of clean water.  Details coming!! 

Merry Christmas!

Love

Tracy

1 Corinthians 13 Christmas

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

Author Unknown

The Best Cocoa Mix!

One of our favorite activities is to make hot cocoa mix!  We do drink alot of it but it also a great gift.  I have yet to find a recipe as good as this one.

Cocoa Mix

1   6-8 ounce jar of powdered coffee creamer

1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

1 lb. can of Nestle Nesquick chocolate powder

1 small box of powdered milk

Mix all ingredients together in a gallon jar or other large container.  Stores nicely.  For one  cup of hot chocolate, add a heaping scoop or two of dry mix to water. Top with whipped cream and sprinkles!

Great places to shop!

When shopping for Christmas gifts,  I wanted to try to buy things from shops that make a difference in the lives of people.  We are Compassion sponsors and one of the things that Compassion does for alot of the children they serve is help them go on to college. The Leadership Program helps students attend college, pay for room and board and books.  With education these children can leave poverty behind and make a difference in their own country. So, where does the shopping part come in.  Wise Abe is the dream of Kristi and Jessica. Wise Abe is a shop that sells recycled coffee bag purses and burlap pillows...does it get any better than that?   Yes, it does...the best part is that when you buy from them 10% of the profits goes to the Compassion Leadership program.  So you buy a bag or pillow and help a student go to college!  You can go here and read about the students they sponsor.



If you are local to Charlotte this  weekend is the Marketplace that benefits The Kilgoris Project.  The Marketplace will have so many different things for sale from local artists and just your average craft maker and lots of yummy goodies. Perfect place to find Christmas gifts. Best of all the proceeds go to help the children and families in Kenya.  The Marketplace will be in the Southend at Seneca Square Shopping Center 5215-C South Boulevard.  You can shop Friday night and all day Saturday! Hope to see you there!



If you have already done all your Christmas shopping and just want to share some Christmas love this year.  I have two friends who are in the process of adopting. I met Lauren through the world of international adoption on the internet.  She and her husband are adopting for the second time from Ethiopia.  Well, she has this huge giveaway on her blog. For $5 you can enter to win a bunch of goodies like a Kindle, beautiful throw, coffee, candles, scarf, fleece wrap...and on and on.  Go here and check it all out!  Again, I say only 5.00 dollars to enter.I know that doesn't seem like much but when you are trying to raise funds it is huge!

Angela is a friend I have met through our International Adoption Support group here in Charlotte.  She and her husband are adopting from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  She has a cool fundraiser going on right now. Again JUST $5 will buy you a puzzle piece and help to bring their daughter home.  You can go here and buy a piece and make a huge difference this Christmas. 



Love

Tracy