Pinewood Derby Day

Today was the Pinewood Derby for David and Henry.

They were both very proud of their cars.

And they each won a few races!  

No trophies, but they had lots of fun.

Wordless Wednesday

In Case You Missed It. . .

For those who may not know, we have been working hard for almost a year to adopt a little girl.  Her name will be Katie, and she has Down syndrome.  She is four years old, and we are ready for her to come home!  Well, we're one step closer. . . We have a travel date!

We leave on February 25th to fly to Katie's country.  We will have some official meetings, learn more about her medical history, family history, and things of that nature, and then FINALLY get to meet our girl!  To say I'm excited would be like saying that the ocean is big.  We are thrilled!  Make sure you check our other blog, The Simpson Six, where I explain more about the process of international adoption, and we are counting down every day until we get to her!

Coins for Katie Add Up!

This is our Coins for Katie jar at home.

It's an old dog treat container that I've taped a 5x7 photo of her onto.

And added a hair bow.

To give you an idea of the scale, this is the jar next to a coffee cup.

This is what it looked like last night.

Chris and I counted it and rolled it, and there was over $140 in there!

The entire premise of Coins for Katie is that a little bit of change goes a long way.  Well, all of the change - literally pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters - we have collected has totaled over $5,000.00 so far.  FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!  That is money that people literally sometimes throw away, drop on the street and don't pick up, lose in the floor of their car. . . I could go on and on.  $5,000!  And we have about 25 cups still out there!  

When we started this adoption process, Katie's family sponsorship grant through Reece's Rainbow had $87.49.  Some kids have $10,000 plus.  We didn't pick her because her grant total was appealing - we picked her because she is supposed to be our girl.  We didn't have the amazing amount of money needed to adopt her in our savings account.  We had a modest amount, but nowhere near the total.  Chris' exact words to me were, "I want to do this, but how will we afford it?"  We are a single income family with three children, one of whom has special needs and therapies not covered by our health insurance.  We certainly make enough money and have a lifestyle that is conducive to one income, but not one income when we are also looking at spending tens of thousands of dollars on adoption.  I told Chris that if we were on the same page with the adoption, not to worry about the money - I would make it happen somehow.  And we will!  We are so close I can taste it.  In less than almost exactly 4 months, from August to December, we raised over $20,000.  I am so proud of our family and friends.  When I think about it I get butterflies in my stomach. 

 And now we will get to meet our girl, in what could be just a few short weeks.  If you have Coins for Katie change you have collected for us, we would like to have you send it to us either through our FSP link on Reece's Rainbow, through paypal directly to us, or by a check in the mail so we have that money for our first trip.  

Thank you so much for helping us bring Katie home!

Jack's Gigi Blanket

My mom made David a blanket before he was born that we call his Gigi blanket.  It is his favorite possession.  Like, save from a burning building favorite.  It has had numerous repairs and has had to almost be completely remade because David has loved it so much.  She made Henry a big blanket that fits his twin bed.  He loves his as well, and he gets upset if it's not on his bed and is in the wash.  Jack got his Gigi blanket for his birthday.  He wasn't nearly as excited about it as I was, but he said the next morning that sleeping with it on his bed was like snuggling Gigi all night long.  :)

This is the detail of his quilt.  

I love the puzzle pattern!

My favorite part?

The signature.

Thank you Gigi!

Turkey Meatballs

We had spaghetti and meatballs for Jack's birthday dinner, and the meatballs were my favorite that I've ever made.  Meatballs are one go-to meat dish that all of my boys will eat.  I like to keep some frozen so we can just pull them out and add a veggie for an instant, quick dinner.  I'm glad I made lots of these yesterday, so we've got a big freezer bag of them ready to go.  (Hopefully when Chris and I travel to Katie's country!)  This recipe is quick and easy, low cost and few ingredients.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1

lb ground turkey

1/2

cup bread crumbs (I like to use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs or panko)

1/4

cup milk

1/2

teaspoon salt

1/2

teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4

teaspoon pepper

1

small onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup) (I omit this and add some onion powder because Christopher hates onions.)

1

egg

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Line baking sheet with aluminum foil - spray foil with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients.  Shape into balls (about the size of a ping pong ball).  Bake for 20 minutes.  

Happy 4th Birthday Jack!

How is possible that this little smooshy has turned four years old?  

Look at those tiny babies!
We celebrated on his actual birthday with a couple of gifts and a small cake.  He was very, very excited to be 4.  I'm not sure what he thought would happen once he turned 4, but he couldn't wait.

We had his birthday party yesterday.  It was the cheapest, easiest, lowest stress party I have ever done.  And I loved it.  We just had our family over, and Jack and Henry both told me it was the best birthday party ever.  We had spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and yummy bread, and I made a chocolate pirate cake.  We had some balloons and just enjoyed each other's company.  No ponies.  No crazy invitations.  Not millions of children running around.  No mess to clean up after.  It was wonderful.

Henry made a sign that says, "Happy 4th Brithday!"

He also painted Jack a picture of Jack.  It is perfect, and we will hang it next to Jack's bed.

Our decorations were just balloons that we hung all over the house and on the porch outside.  Balloons make everything feel like a party.

Jack is big into Pirates of the Caribbean right now, so David dressed as a pirate.  That's his mean pirate face.  Can't you tell?

I made a "pirate" cake.  It was the easiest cake I've ever made.  I used toys we had on the top.  The "sand" is graham cracker crumbs.  

This was my favorite gift!  A Gigi blanket from my mom.  It's fabulous!

I LOVE this photo!

Jack had a great birthday.
I cannot wait to see what 4 years old brings for this little wild man!