The Color of Summer

Ah Summer.... I always want to take a deep breath at this point.  BREATHE.  That's what Summer feels like to me - a big breath of air.  A time to relax, to put away the school books (for the most part), to take the kids swimming and to put schedules away.  This Summer is a little different in the fact that adoption paperwork is keeping me very busy.  I want to sip lemonade on the porch swing and read a book - I plan to make that happen at least one day this Summer! Anyone want to babysit?

I realize I haven't posted much here in this space for about a month and I have a good reason.  We have been nose to the book in finishing up our school year, and the most exciting part is the adoption.  Our first fundraiser the online silent auction we hosted on facebook was so much fun!  Then we immediately turned around and had a HUGE yard sale.  That one was a lot of work and more than one person put in sweat to make it happen.  Our friends have been a blessing to us during the fundraising and helped us make it successful.  Now that the yard sale is done - no more yard sales.  I really prefer to donate items to others and it's humbling being on the receiving end.  My time has been moved out of the places I like to spend it to places that make me uncomfortable.  It takes so much time filling out forms, grant applications, fundraising, but in the end there's a little one with the cutest little smile waiting for us and that makes it all worthwhile.

That's right, our first referral came in this month!  I can't post anything more than that just yet as we are in the process of being approved for her.  This (PA) can take about 2 weeks.  Patience....it's what we've been working on with our kiddos in Sunday School and it's what I always need to work on.  As I sit here, I am scanning documents and emailing them to our social worker so that she can put together our LOI (letter of intent) to send to China.  Honestly, its not exactly how I imagined it would happen but then when God is at work, it's hard to wrap our minds around it.  He knows though.  I'll write more when I can about her and how we knew she was the one for us.  We would appreciate prayers for her health and well being as we work to bring her home.

The second most exciting part of this blog post is this:

Craft Week for Girls!  I'm hosting a super fun and COLORFUL camp for girls ages 8-14 this Summer! We are going to get our crafting on and I can't wait to see the girls create, sew, paint and let their inner rainbows out! Can you tell I'm a little excited about this?  I'm not sure where this idea came from really, but I'll give it to God.  Using our talents is something we talk a lot about with our children and doing something that you love.  Crafting and sewing let's my mind relax, and I think it's so important to show girls that they have this way to express themselves.  We are planning two camps, a week in June and a week in July (which is already full!), with at least five fun projects for the girls to take home.  I can't wait to show off pictures of our Craft Week camps with you here.  It's all about COLOR this Summer.  

~Lisa