Day trip to the beach

A few days before my mom had to go back to Canada (and the cold and all the snow) we woke up to an absolutely beautiful day so we jumped in the van and took Mimi to the beach.

ChristmasTown

After Thanksgiving our elf Max came back.  One morning we woke up and instead of finding a silly prank or a messy mess we discovered that Max left a note saying that it would be great idea for us to go to ChristmasTown so that we could have some Christmas fun.

Spectacular!

A quick survey

I missed the Mother's day questionairre thisyear so I thought Iwould do another quick survey, just for fun....
I asked Sam these questions

1. What is your favorite color?
hmmm black

2. What is your favorite animal?
dogs

3. What is your favorite snack?
animal cookies

4. What is your favorite toy?
my police truck gramma su-su gave me


5. What is your favortite thing to do?
hmmmm my favorite thing to do, my FAVORITE thing to do is play vampires at school, at recess.


6. Where is your favorite place to eat?
mcdonalds in suffolk


7. What is your favorite TV show?
batman
8. Where do you want to go on an adventure?
hmmm where do I want to go.  The fire department

9. What is Daddy's job?
he is a coast guard military


10. What is Mama's job?
home

11. What do you want to be when you grow up?
a police


And here are Carlee's answers.

1. What is your favorite color?
purple

2. What is your favorite animal?
horses

3. What is your favorite snack?
goldfish

4. What is your favorite toy?
trains

5. What is your favortite thing to do?
cook with mommy

6. Where is your favorite place to eat?
wendy's

7. What is your favorite TV show?
umm little house on the prairie


8. Where do you want to go on an adventure?
the playground (giggles) ummm  ummmm (whispers) the beach

9. What is Daddy's job?
Coast Guard and the military

10. What is Mama's job?
(whispers) what is your job again? 
I say "haha no,you have to tell me"

working at the house

11. What do you want to be when you grow up?
a cooker!



And for your entertainment here are Ben's answers!  By the way, there are no typos in this section. I typed exactly what he said LOL


1. What is your favorite color?
ummm mmmm umm dark green dark purple and dark black


2. What is your favorite animal?
can it be um a regular kitty a jaguar a lion and ah and ah and ah um is a shark a animal?
I say "yes"
a turtle.  Those three


3. What is your favorite snack?
ummm um i want a snack.
I say "no we are going to have supper soon" then he throws a quick fit.

I like a juicebox and some crackers and cookies.


4. What is your favorite toy?
that is a very hard one to guess.  its very hard. um my favorite toy is stuff umm ummm my kitty



5. What is your favortite thing to do?
i don't know alot of things sleep um eat and playing and going to cities and watching tvs and playing abc mouse and all those things

6. Where is your favorite place to eat?
mcdonalds


7. What is your favorite TV show?
diego


8. Where do you want to go on an adventure?
ummm baaaa did you spell what I like? ummmmm go to a place that alot of military vehicles


9. What is Daddy's job?
ummm go to work and um make sure and is his job to umm make sure that they have the right weapons right?


10. What is Mama's job?
discovery toys


11. What do you want to be when you grow up?
i want to be a police and um a rescuer a search and rescuer. boff of those things.
Mama what are you doing this for?
I say "just for fun."

Is it going to go to any place?
I say "on my blog."

What is a blog?
he runs out of the room before I can answer...whew got them all asked and answered.

The House of Hope

100% OF THE PROCEEDS OF THIS BOOK GO TO FUND THE WORK AT HOPE FOSTER HOME. HERE IS THE LINK TO THEIR SITE: http://www.hopefosterhome.com/



The ministry of the Hills is truly remarkable and God's loving touch can be seen and felt throughout this inspiring story.  I was deeply touched by this inredible story, and for that reason alone I highly recommend this book.  This story has insopired and challenged me to think of ways I can step out of my comfort zone and be more compassionate to those in need of simple acts of kindness and love,.

However, I do have a couple of complaints with the book itself. I found the structure to be confusing and I was often lost in trying to figure out what part of the story we had jumped to or gone back to - or to try to remember the details of a specific child's case from several chapters back. There were also pieces of information, sometimes important life events, that seemed to be thrown in at the end of a chapter, almost as an after thought. It seemed to mix chronological writing and topical writing styles and it really didn't flow well. Perhaps if it had been written as a diary or by devoting a chapter to a specific child or event it would have been easier to follow. But what annoyed me the most were spelling errors!


Blog reviews are all about honest opinions - so here is mine. Awesome, fantastic, inspiring story that has truly blessed me just to have read it, but the story is somewhat downplayed by mediocre writing and poor editing.



Disclosure: Litfuse Publicity Group provided me with a complimentary copy of this book as part of their blog tours program. 
Blog Tour Schedule



About The House of Hope: One couple’s powerful ministry to some of China’s most vulnerable children
Robin and Joyce Hill lived in a gated community in Beijing. Their family’s life was marked by luxury and the security of Robin's job as an engineer. Then one day, as members of their church, they had a chance to tour a state-run orphanage. Haunted by the needs of the children they saw there, for the next four years they tried to help the institute in meaningful ways.
 In 1998 the Hills planned to leave China, but instead felt a sudden call from God on their lives. They left their gated community--reserved for only non-Chinese residents--moved their family into a small apartment miles outside of Beijing and immediately began to take in foster children.

They took in any child, but especially those that needed extra care—terminally ill children that couldn't receive care elsewhere, and those that needed complicated and expensive surgeries that the Hills soon began to coordinate and sometimes pay for out of their own savings.
 What began as Hope Foster Home is now New Hope Foundation. As they continue their work, the Hills enjoy support from major corporations and high-profile philanthropists as well as the trust of the Chinese authorities. The Hills' story is an inspiring example of God's care and provision for those whom society does not value. Learn more about Hope Foster Homes here: http://www.hopefosterhome.com/.


 "I strongly support Robin and Joyce Hill's New Hope Foundation which is saving so many orphan lives in China. Read this amazing story of God's grace and accept the challenge to make a difference!"
--Steven Curtis Chapman



"I had the privilege of going to China and witnessing the work that God is doing through Robin and Joyce Hill. They are wonderful servants of God who lovingly care for the 'least of these.' I hope that many will read this book and consider their example."
--Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love

Link to buy the book

About Elisabeth Gifford: Elisabeth Gifford is a journalist who has written for the London Times and the Independent Newspapers. She lives in Kingston, England, and teaches children with dyslexia.

Happy Birthday Sam

Happy 6th Birthday Sam

Thrilled to be 6

For our Birthday Adventure we went to Monster Jam

It was very loud and very dusty and very very cool!

too funny - sneeze

Carlee was by herself in the next room when I heard her sneeze, to which she immediately said...

Bless me...um I mean Bless You. 

Then she giggled and so did I!