Cookies for Africa

I'm putting in a plug today for a wonderful ministry.  Do you see how adorable this cookie is?!?  It was served at a baby shower I recently attended.  It is as delicious as it is cute, and it took me a week to decide that it was okay to eat something that adorable.  They were made by Becky, who started this ministry to support Child Alive, fighting malaria and meningitis in Africa.  You can read more about the mission, her family's desire to adopt, and see more of her beautiful creations here at www.CookiesForAfrica.com.  These cookies aren't cheap, but most of your purchase/donation is tax deductible.  She is incredibly talented.

As an added bonus, when I clicked on her site this morning, she is currently doing a giveaway!!!  Check it out (and tell her you found out about her from here).

What I Call Pretty

You may remember this post, where I showed you Adeline's quilt...one of my favorite souvenirs from our time in Korea. I bought extra fabric to match her quilt with the intention of having curtains, or a window seat, or SOMETHING made with it. Fabric was cheap there, and I figured I would never see it again, so if I didn't buy it then, I would miss my chance. There is only one problem with my idea....I don't sew. However, my friend, Missy, does. I mean, she really does. She is amazing. She made these curtains for Adeline's room, and I LOVE them. They are so girly and pretty. She even lined them with a blackout fabric (which would have been nice when it was 9pm and still not dark). They really help to pull the room together.

So, you might be thinking, "I wish I had a friend who could sew and was creative and had an exceptional attention to detail." Well, friends, this is your lucky day, because Missy has recently launched her Etsy business. It is called "What I Call Pretty." Check out her site here. Trust me, you will be impressed with the quality. And in case it is important to you, she's a really great person too.

Gettin' my craft on...

My friends, Missy and Rachel, both have more talent in their pinky fingers than I could hope to attain....no really, spend a little time on their blogs. However, I decided to follow their lead for this fun craft project. While Patrick was playing tennis with some guys from church, I decided to "bake" with felt. I love how cute these cookies turned out. Too bad none of the people who joined my craft giveaway have little girls!

Missy is thinking about starting an etsy shop. Trust me, it will be well worth your visit. I'll keep you posted when she is up and running.

New Life...

Sorry this isn't a great picture....

The other day, I noticed two birds carrying twigs and pine needles to the top of our hanging tomato plant. I texted Patrick with the exciting news. A few days later, we took down the plant to water it, and there was a HUGE nest inside with this tiny, blue egg. Such fun.

We got a new camera!!!

You may or may not have noticed that the quality of my pictures has drastically improved recently.  Through a generous gift certificate, we were able to purchase a new camera.  And it's awesome!!!  Here are just a few examples...

Now I just need to get Adeline's "Sunday Finest" from the past two weeks posted...

I love Joseph...

Talk about a fun mail day...!!!!  Woo hoo!!!  This, is yet another advantage to living in Korea (one those of you who are still there MUST take advantage of...).  Joseph is a portrait painter stationed just outside the BX on base.  HE. IS. AMAZING!!!  After my photo session with Adeline when she was 6 weeks old, I planned to do something special with her and Patrick when she was around 1 yo.  This was perfect!  Here is the picture we gave him...

and here is his painting...

and a close up so you can see the detail...

I LOVE IT!!!  Thank you to the Evans family for shipping it to us (let me know how much we owe you for the packing....I saw how much the shipping was).  We game him the print almost two months before Patrick came home, but he was so backlogged, he wasn't able to finish it in time.  Joseph emailed me to say he is starting a website, and it may be up by next week.  You can email him pictures, and he will mail your portrait when he is finished.  You can even send him multiple pictures, and he can combine them into one (for example if you wanted a family photo, but someone was missing...he will add them in OR you have the perfect photo except for the little cherub with their finger strategically placed in his/her nose, he can fix that).  This is my new favorite memento of life in Korea (yes, it's even better than the purses).  I will probably give him more business in the future, and I'll let you know when his website is up so you can take advantage of his talent (and cheap prices) as well.

How do I know?

<--- THIS is the proper way to grip a golf club.  How do I know this, you ask.  Because Christie and I took golf lessons!!!  I have been meaning to do this post for a while, but I kept forgetting my camera to take a picture of us with our instructor, Mr Park.  Patrick took lessons as well, but he is...ahem...just a tad more advanced than Christie and me.  Our usual system was for Christie and I to take our 1/2 hour lesson while Patrick watched Adeline, and then we would switch.  Adeline LOVES all things ball, so she was very excited to play with a whole bucket of them.  

Twice, we had combined lessons on the putting green where Mr Park taught us the proper form for putting and chipping.  Adeline loved these lessons.  We just let her run around the green, picking up balls and playing with a golf club.  She spent most of her time collecting the balls in a basket and then dumping them out again or just running in the grass, which is a precious commodity around here.  Don't worry, we made sure we practiced hitting towards a flag where she was not standing.

Show and Tell

For show and tell today, we have this BEAUTIFUL (yes, I'm biased) baby (yes, she's STILL my baby...even if she is getting quite big) girl showing off her FIRST PIGTAILS!!!  And what is that she's holding, you ask?  That would be mommy's new iPod nano that she WON at the spring block party on base today!  Sure am glad I decided we needed to get out for a bit.  I may not have won a billion dollars, but hey, an iPod nano is a start.