Lots of simply wonderful news

Wow! Where to start! This has been a week of many family additions in two different ways. First, I have three precious friends who delivered babies yesterday and today. Kristine's two oldest ones have joined our crew for the night as they anxiously await Daddy's arrival at 8 a.m. so they can meet their little sister. Kristi, has delivered a beautiful baby girl as well. And Carrie has given birth to an 8 1/2 lbs. baby boy. How exciting!
Equally exciting is the fact that America World has given NINE referrals to seven different families this week. The children range in age from one month to nine years. Can you believe it?!? NINE!
Here is the crazy part: with 12 children entering new families....I CAN ONLY TELL YOU THE NAME OF ONE OF THEM!!!!!!!! You heard me right: only one! Now, Kristi lives in Missouri and perhaps her excited husband (who posted the pictures and a one word sentence with no details) just forgot. Kristine and Josh didn't have a name for Liah for forever, so I'm not surprised they don't have a name yet. And Carrie and Adam HAVE a name (and I DO know it will be an "A" name to match the other members of their clan (all but Carrie, that is), but she said on the phone that I can't know it until I see her at the hospital. I don't know the Ethiopian sweeties names because the families haven't had court dates yet (court dates usually come somewhere in the vicinity of 1-3 months after a referral is accepted) which means the children aren't officially theirs and if they posted anything but the most basic details (and DEFINITELY no pictures) they would be in jeopardy of actually losing their children. So, little Gabrielle, I will be holding on to your name tonight and be waiting to hear the others in the days to come.
Now, it's hard to top the above, but there's more:
America World has now partnered with another orphanage! Their name is KVI and they look and sound so wonderful! You can find them at http://kingdomvisioninternational.org/ By the way, the other orphanage America World is currently working with is Kids Care and their web page is: I don't know. Someone help me here. I've been "looking" for about 2 hours now (and getting very distracted along the way) and still can't find it. Help.
Here is the letter we got from Duni today (a BIG Praise the Lord!):
Dear Ethiopia Families,
The number of days an abandoned child has to remain in an orphanage before being eligible for adoption has been reduced from 90 days to 60 days. We are happy with this new law as it allows children to unite with their forever families even quicker.
In Christ,
Duni Zenaye
Africa Program Director
TOLD YOU!!!! Isn't this all amazing?!?

I heart Stephen addendum

GUESS WHAT!!! Karl got the disc fixed. I LOVE that man (and not just because of this). I took off our great Show Hope shirts in order to represent for Africa....and Andrea.

And now, ladies and gentlemen the last part of the Stephen Curtis Chapman drama that I left out:

After we talked with the big man and he signed the Cannons Christmas picture, they asked if we could find our way out. We said, "Yes." This, however, would prove not to be the case. We were definitely lost in the deep caverns of the Morris Performing Arts Center. Finally, against Adam's better judgment, we decided to go up this elevator. As we stepped out onto the first floor into darkness, we tried to get our bearings. About this time, a VERY loud and VERY obnoxious alarm started to sound. Can you picture this scenario?!? It's 11:00 at night, Adam has a HUGE bag of change that he has agreed to deposit for the adoptive family grant and send a check to Shaohanna's Hope, and we are in an empty part of the Morris setting off the alarm in the dark. I can just imagine police coming around the corner with guns drawn (what I was REALLY hoping, though, is it would give me another chance to see Stephen :) ) Well, very pregnant Carrie and I sat down on a bench while Adam went out another set of doors and tried to problem solve. Finally, the security guard came and led us in the right direction saying, "I knew it was you guys." No Stephen. No guns. But a memorable ending to a very fun and memorable night!!!

I heart Stephen...and other updates

Hey everybody! I have been waiting and waiting to write this blog entry and we've had a mini-crisis to prevent it. Now, a tangent: for those of you who don't know me, the senior superlative I won in high school was most likely to appear on Broadway, and I don't think it wasn just because of my amazing theatrical abilities :)--even my 4 year old once told me I was so dramatic! SO, maybe mini-crisis falls into that dramatic side, but ANYWAY, back to the crisis: the computer corrupted our photo card. Now, I had just downloaded February pictures, so this wouldn't have been THAT big of a deal EXCEPT that I had just helped "Show Hope" at a Stephen Curtis Chapman concert and had actuall MET HIM and the computer seems to have DESTROYED MY ATTEMPT TO MEMORIALIZE THE MOMENT!!!!! Can you believe it?!? I had even worn my special Andrea Kidd Africa shirt just in case I would have the honor of meeting him...but no. The moment is only in my memory now. Ah well. There is a slight chance Karl can de-corrupt the disc, but I've decided to stop holding on to hope and just post this anyway.

Moving on... The concert was amazing. My parents watched the kids, so we grabbed a bite to eat ahead of time at Fiddler's Hearth in downtown South Bend with two other wonderful adoptive families, the Cannons and Walatkas. It was rushed, but even so, it was nice to be together. The Cannons adopted a year ago from Liberia: Abraham (6), Alexa (3), and Addison (1). Carrie is also now 8 months pregnant :) The Walatkas adopted Joseph (4ish) and Ben (3ish) a couple of years ago from Ethiopia and now have five children five and under. They are all wonderful and real at the same time. SO, we all went to volunteer for Shaohanna's Hope, the organization Stephen Curtis Chapman created to help families with a heart for adoption (specifically aiding them with resources and financial grants) and orphans. We helped mainly passing out material, and counting/collecting change for orphans. We also met a lot of other cool people, got a great "Show Hope" shirt, and got to see a lot of the concert--if we chose. Karl manned the main table the whole time. He's really not a concert guy (to say the least). During the concert, in the upper right corner of the screen every 18 seconds, a number flashed, representing the number of children becoming orphans at that very moment. The most powerful moment for me was while I sat and listened Stephen sing "Cinderella." It's such a powerful song anyway. In fact, just days before Owen and I had been home alone and had danced to this precious song. I still smile as I think of him in my arms and me twirling him to the point of dizziness. "Again, Mommy! Do it again!" Well, it HIT me then as I started to cry in that dark theatre. How many children are there in the world that don't have Daddys to sing this over them? That don't have Dads that REALIZE they have a treasure in their little girl (or boy, for that matter)? Countless. There are 143 million orphans out there. That is so tragic. There are countless others, however, who are being raised by single moms with Dads only in the picture a little, if at all. And THEN there are those that have Dads physically present, but who are not adoring them as little children need and desire to be adored. What a powerful and emotional truth Jesus hit me with! Oh, Jesus! Be their Father right now in this moment. Show us our part, too.

After the concert was over, we got the ultimate news: even though this wasn't the norm, since there weren't that many of us, six or so of us could go meet Stephen. OH MY GOODNESS! Karl, of course, stayed up in favor of letting us more star-struck individuals go. Let me just say Carrie (Cannon) had told me pre-concert that she was a star stalker and NOT to underestimate her. She was right. It MAY have been her funny and persistent self that made this highlight happen. Well, we went down winding hallways, a staircase, and finally got to meet the man who has singlehandedly helped so many orphans. I have so much respect for this singer/songwriter who uses his platform in such a worthy way. He was gracious, warm, and, according to Carrie, incredibly handsome (I'm not sure that was her word). The picture was FABULOUS in the viewfinder, but alas, you cannot view it. The concert did take place, though. I promise. And, as stated in the title: I REALLY like Stephen Curtis Chapman.


As is often the case with these blogs: I will drastically change gears and quickly tell you 10 facts about myself since it is now 11:45 p.m. I have, I hear, been tagged by Rebecca, so now I have to tag five other people and tell you some stuff you may or may not know about me:

1. I could be a high school speech, drama, and English teacher, if I wasn't busy being a stay-at-home mom.
2. I greatly desire for the church (and me!) to use the arts more and more to draw people to God. I also wish the church wouldn't be so boxed in by their "safe" practices...don't get me started.
3. There are quite a few topics I'm passionate about (besides the big three of faith, friends, and family): not shopping at Wal-Mart, going more green, adoption, poverty, materialism, Africa, the arts...just to name a few.
4. I am REALLY TRYING to use more "Love and Logic" in my parenting. Thus far, our three boys are NOT happy about this.
5. I LOVE being on the worship team.
6. I LOVE eating popcorn.
7. I am, to a fault, a positive (aka idealistic) person. Karl helps to center me...I'd like to think I do the same for him.
8. I'm not really a shoes girl, but I appreciate cute shoes on other people (and would probably spend more on them myself if I wasn't cheap and trying to simplify)
9. I really, really, really, REALLY hate cancer.
10. I CAN NOT get to bed before 11:30-12:00. This has been bothering me for a really long time and I still haven't changed it. I'd ask my husband to help hold me accountable (and have tried), but he's worse than I am.

So, these are the things that jumped out at me in the moment. It is now 11:55 p.m. I tagged Alyssa, Shelley, Jeny, Kristine, and Libby. Sorry for the really long post.

Our new/old friends, the Weimers

I've been waiting for a long time to show off this picture of 1/2 of the amazing Weimer clan. This picture was taken from Ethiopia on Kirk and Heidi's way home from picking up their three beautiful family additions. I still haven't officially gotten permission to post this picture and the subsequent excerpt from Heidi's blog, but I figure, I've waited at least a month and when you're a mom to SIX CHILDREN, I may just need to post it and they can tell me later to take it off. I must also say publicly thanks to the Weimers who have single-handedly managed to raise us hundreds of dollars worth of t-shirt profits by bragging so much about our shirts. It's because of them that a cool idea with some hope for fundraising has turned into a really great fundraising idea...and, honestly based on feedback, a way to bless similar families with a heart for adoption. Anyway, the below blog excerpt tells an amazing story from Heidi's perspective of how we met...and "remet" ten years later:


"Yes, we are wearing matching shirts. And, NO, I do not normally force my children to do that. These "One Family" shirts are stinking awesome, though, so they truly merit the stares and empathy of others who are all secretly thinking "Bless their little hearts for all being dressed alike."Side story to share...Back in 1995 I went to Africa for the first time on a mission trip to Kenya. About a dozen others (none of us knew each other before the trip) also took part, and one of the younger ones on the trip (along with me) was a girl named Danielle. After the nearly month-long trip, I kept in touch with her for a little while, but alas this was during the pre-EVERYONE-IN-THE-UNIVERSE-HAS-AN-EMAIL-ADDRESS era, so staying in touch was no easy task.A few months ago I was thinking about Danielle and how I wish I could find her and let her know about our upcoming adoption from Ethiopia. For some reason, I could just picture her (wherever she was and whomever she was with) bringing home her own from Africa as well. Well, lo and behold, two days later (not even kidding) I got an email from a friend at our former adoption agency informing me that a new client of theirs recognized my photo on an Ethiopian mission trip blog and that she's pretty sure I'm the same person she went to Kenya with twelve years ago. SMALL world, right?Turns out Danielle (check out her blog under The Blacks to the left) and her family just started the adoption process from Ethiopia and are selling the COOLest shirts as a fundraiser. Hence, the matching t-shirts we are donning in the afore-shared photo. :) We love our One Family shirts. The coolest. [Kari...Your Simply Love shirts are Simply the Coolest, too, and we are about to order a few. Don't get all jealous on me now.]"

(*Pretty amazing, huh? I left the part in about Kari because her shirts really are the coolest too--Karl and I both love wearing them--and you can find them if you follow the "Gibson family" link)

February is over! Spring HAS to be here soon!

I decided that when my blog-checking friend e-mailed to ask if I was alive, I needed to make blogging a priority on our Sabbath. It’s now 9:13 p.m., which isn’t exactly a priority, but it is getting done, and better yet, I have some of the month in pictures. The first group of five were taken when I was feeling pretty overwhelmed by my life in general. They are a great reminder of why I don't blog more regularly (or talk with my friends, or read, or e-mail....) The good news is, I am feeling slightly more on top of things now. I don't know if it's because it's March 1 and spring has GOTTA be around the corner (even though I don't feel like it when I look outside). Or perhaps because it's Saturday night and I've just had two sweet days with my hubby at home. Or maybe because while it was a little stressful timing wise, we entertained on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (two wonderful families and a fun group of 25+ from church) and it was really good to be with so many cool and different people. For whatever reason, my house may still be messy (although not this bad!) but life looks a whole lot more manageable!

The second group of five pictures reminds me of what I love about my life, why I love being a mom, what brings me joy, good neighbors and good husbands, and the great, and very different, personalities of my three sons. And, even on crazy weeks, it is these thoughts that I long to have at the forefront of my memory.