Happy Halloween !

1 week..................

The last time we were there, Mary and Rachel were 1 and 3 .

This time they are 3 and almost 5.

They talk about it every day. I cannot wait to see what these two do
when we get there.

The last time we took 5 children.

This time we are taking 8.

Some of our best friends are allowing us the honor of spending a
week at Disney with their precious little....well, O.K....maybe not so little
( 2 teenagers and a 12 year old)...but still precious kids.

My kids are thrilled!
( I guess trips really are more fun if you can bring a friend.)

7 days as the parents of 8.

Should be alot to blog about when we get home.

Stefanie- I may have to put your phone number on the speed dial!

Peace.

Hannah's BOO-thday Party

Hannah's Birthday party was Saturday night.


The house looked like an Addam's Family re-run.


The kids had a great time decorating.


They were really excited about "being scared".


So here are a "few" pictures of the night.


All of the kids wanted to be on the blog, so there are quite a few pics!

You'll just have to bare with me. :)

Hannah's Boo-thday Party

A Ghostly Dinner


The cake


The Lord of the Manor!
Yes !
He actually put on a costume...
He will do anything for his girls.




Me and my Halloween Honey!


Mom & Dad


Ben, Mary, and Rachel


The girls...We were supposed to be making scary faces.....


Riley Cat and Han-Han



The CHEERLESS-leader & the SCREAM-ager!

Hannah's BOO-thday Party

Kelly Katherine The Un-Wicked Witch!


Checking out the Goodie Bags!


Poison"Snow White" Apples sent by Miss Tami of Sea Glass & Jade fame!
They were a HUGE hit!


Getting ready for the cake!


Birthday Girl.


Monster Bride Olivia


John Cross


Cat, Carson, and Ray Ray


Little Ladies!


Mac the Pirate Menace & Anna the Phantom Ninja

Hannah's BOO-thday Party

Miss Morgan


Getting ready to catch some "GHOSTS"!


A night out with the Guys & Gouls!


Our Haunting Bride , Amanda!


The creepy cake!


Trying not to catch my sleeves on fire!


Bria dressed as a really hip vampire!


Our NPC youth coming out to terrorize the kiddos!
Caleb and Alex are behind the mask.
Love these kids!


Jenna and John the Zombies!


Blade & Psycho Clown!


Hannah and Mary!


Hannah with Heather's candelabras, Fred & Ginger!

Fred & Ginger have been a part of just about every party and major
celebration we have.


A little "After dinner" music and dancing!


The "Wrap a Mummy" Contest!


Trying to decide the winner.


Rachel having a blast!

The kids had a great time, the teenagers had a great time,
and Hannah was one happy birthday girl!

Mission accomplished!

Peace.

Prepare Yourself for Some Major CUTENESS!

This little man is Owen.

Owen's Mom, Dad, Sisters and Brother are preparing to
bring him home.

A "Raffle-Way" is being held to raise funds to cover some of the
travel expenses and the donation to the Orphanage.

With each donation of $10, your name will be added for a drawing held November 14th.
Are you thinking Christmas Presents?! I know I am!!

The more you donate, the more chances you have to win 1 or more of these BEAUTIFUL PRIZES including an AMAZING Photography Package!

You can also win a beautiful *Kate Spade Handbag* just by adding Owen's site button to your blog or webpage.

Just leave a comment telling Rebecca that you are adding the button and she will hook you up for that drawing , just as a "Thank You" for spreading the word!

So - -Pop over to my side bar, click on Owen's Button , and help bring this
baby home.

How much fun is this?!

I HOPE I WIN!!!!!!!


Peace.

Palin & Her Critics ~ Maggie Gallagher TownHall/National Review

Sarah Palin has become a giant inkblot test in American politics.
This is neither her fault nor her virtue.
I cannot help but admire Gov. Palin's resolute capacity to remain herself -- confident, eloquent, relentlessly optimistic -- in the face of a national campaign of hate and ridicule the likes of which I cannot recall seeing. Ever.
Gov. Palin's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" this week was remarkably good-humored under the circumstances. But Sarah Palin has, whether she likes it or not, transcended the status of an actual human being to become a symbol in American politics and culture.
A symbol of what, exactly, is still being contested.
Sarah Palin means different things to different people. "I'd rather be a symbol of sex than a lot of other things people have symbols for," Marilyn Monroe once said. And the Democrats' insane hatred of Gov. Palin has to do with the way she rebuts their deepest assumptions -- that all that is young, cool, beautiful, hip and groundbreaking must advance the cause of abortion rights, gay marriage and liberal progressivism. How dare a woman be young, attractive, glass-ceiling-shattering -- and conservative! So they have responded in the crudest fashion, with relentless personal invective and ridicule.
The New Republic suggests that Gov. Palin is seething with resentment at her treatment by the urbane best and brightest of Wasilla. As Sam Schulman noted in this week's Standard, "(Norm) Scheiber spoke to various people from Gov. Palin's past, all of whom have two things in common: Every one of them is smarter than Palin and none of them has been heard of since their encounter with her."
But Gov. Palin has also become a symbol of discontent in certain intellectual quarters on the right. David Brooks, David Frum, Kathleen Parker, George Will and the latest, the beloved Peggy Noonan -- sweetheart of Reagan conservatives -- have joined a chorus of concern about Gov. Palin.
Substantively, these critiques of her leave me cold. Why?
I acknowledge that people will read and respond to Gov. Palin and her achievements differently. It is quite reasonable to suggest she lacks the resume expected of a presidential candidate, although two terms as governor of Arkansas for Bill Clinton and one term as governor of Georgia for Jimmy Carter were enough to insulate these men from any similar critique.
But when I think of Sarah Palin's achievements, I keep recalling a woman friend of mine, the mother of a large family, who was proposed for the board of a prominent New York charity. Several men on the board looked at her resume as "thin" -- it included more than a few years where she did nothing but care for her children, as well as many other years of prominent community service. My friend gained her seat partly as a result of the intervention of a divorced woman, who said, "I can't imagine being the mother of so many children and accomplishing all that she has."
That's my honest reaction to Sarah Palin. I can't imagine being the mother of five and accomplishing all that she has.
If the worst happens and Gov. Palin comes to assume the highest office in the land, I have confidence she will rise to the occasion. I believe this because of her past record -- Sarah Palin always has risen to the occasion in an extraordinary way. An 80 percent approval rating 18 months into office as governor of Alaska is, in fact, extraordinary.
Who would you trust to be president of the U.S. and leader of the Free World: Sarah Palin or Joe Biden? It's not a close question for me.
May I gently suggest the public intellectuals' discontent with Gov. Palin has less to do with who she is than with the contemporary crisis in conservatism brought about by allegiance to George Bush?
It is time -- more than past -- for a deep rethinking of the conservative movement in America. But attacks by conservative pundits on Sarah Palin represent more of a symptom than a step forward.

Peace.

The Countdowns Begin!

2 weeks until THIS!




41/2 weeks until THIS





& THIS!



5 weeks until ANOTHER one of THESE!


November is CRAZY around here!





Peace.

October 20,1998

That was the day my sweet baby, Hannah , was born.

She was the most beautiful little thing.

She still is..... inside & out.

10 years.

I have loved every second of it.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

We love you!

Peace.

P.S.

The only thing Hannah ask for(this year) was a
SCARY HALLOWEEN BIRTHDAY PARTY.

We have never done anything like it.......
We have all sorts of craziness planned for these little boogers.

Caleb and the rest of the NPC Youth Group are dressing as
Classic Movie Monsters...............................STAY TUNED! BRAA-HAHAA....

Who am I, Jesus? that you call me by Name.....

Before I went to bed, I was blessed by an e-mail.

A sister(IN AUSTRALIA!), who loves me as much as I love her, had sent me the link to a blog site...
"Is this who I think it is?"


It was the Monkey Kings!

A mother & A father... no children...rejoicing that the CCAA had granted them the
referral of 2 little boys!

How blessed they are to receive the gift of these children...
and how blessed I am to have received the friendship of a woman who would want me to have the peace of knowing that LOVE had found these little boys.

Who am I , Jesus? That YOU would ease my soul?!

That YOU would do this for me so that I would have peace.

I love you, Dear Sister. You have given me a gift .

Thank you for giving me a smile and helping me to shed a little tear..when I try so hard to be strong .


Thank You, God ,for making my "Circle of Friends" REALLY REALLY big!

Who would have known?!

Peace.