Styrofoam, Burlap, Fabric, and Buttons. I'm throwing it all together for a good cause.

Kenny and Meredith Camacho are among the first people we met when we moved to SC to plant a church. Not only have they been an integral and important part of the leadership and decision making of our young church, they have become good friends, great encourager's to us and people we admire.

I'll let Meredith tell you about it, "We're adopting because we want another child. God has been leading us to adoption since before we were married. We've been prayerfully considering adoption for a long time now, and we feel like He's leading us to do this now. Since we've begun this process, we've already seen God working a lot in us and through other people, and that's been really reassuring to us."

As you know, adoption is a costly endeavor. The Camacho's are faithfully pursuing ways to raise support to cover the costs ahead of them and have been encouraged to see the Lord's faitfulness and affirmation along the way.

This is where the wreath comes in. I made this whimsical wreath for my mother as a birthday gift. After I made it, and got to enjoy it in my home for a few days before gifting it to my mom, I started thinking about the possibility of making these as a fundraiser for the Camacho adoption fund.

And so, after talking with Meredith, that's what I'm doing. I wish I could remember where I first saw this wreath so I could give them credit. It was on a home decor blog that I found by clicking from one cool blog to the next. I didn't save it but have remembered it since and decided to put my own spin on it.


We are getting the word out in a few ways but I thought this might be a good place to start. So, for you local yocals that would like to purchase a wreath all you have to do is email me and let me know.( My email is over there to the right in the sidebar) They are $15 and every penny goes toward the Camacho adoption fund.  If you live out of town and would like one I think we can arrange that, too. I need to check on shipping cost. We will just take it one order at a time and I will communicate final cost to you through email.

I can't do too much specialization but if there is a certain color you want me to stay away from please let me know. For example, if you just hate orange please tell me and I will avoid all manner of orange. Or if plaid makes you cringe, pass it on.

On behalf of the Camacho's, thanks for the support!

A little over two years ago, during a small group ice breaker, someone posed the familiar question, "if you could spend a few hours with anyone (and it can't be Jesus), who would it be?"

We circled the room to hear everyone's answers, "John Calvin - I'd love to hear about the reformation through his eyes." "C.S.Lewis - favorite author, his writing has really impacted me." "The Apostle Paul - would love to really know what that thorn in his flesh was." And so forth.

With several hours to kill before we had to report back to Border's we did what any well adjusted, estrogen filled, trio of women free from their daily responsibilities would do. We shopped and ate. Ikea, Trader Joe's (where, by the way, my two friends were carded for buying alcohol and I WAS NOT -this is important for you to know as you read how the rest of the day unfolds), DSW, Anthropology, and a delicious mexican meal.

It was a fabulous day and the cherry on top was meeting The Pioneer Woman.

Ree has the sweetest voice and personality, she was just delightful. And then. Then, something happened.

While Caroline (in the white sweater) and Dorothy and I were standing in front of Ree's table gathering our books Ree said to Caroline, while gesturing to me, "This is your mother?"

Simultaneously the following comments were made:

Me: What?! Mother? No!

Caroline: No, no, no, she's my friend!

Dorothy: *laughter*

Ree: Wait. No, nooo. Of course you're not. You would've been, what, like 12(?) when you had her! No, It was a misunderstanding.

Ahem. Way to recover, Ree.

Of course. . . I forgave her. I mean, she couldn't have possibly really taken a good look at me, right? Don't answer that.

After gathering our books our next stop was to meet Ree's sister, Betsy, and her friend Hyacinth, who were handing out PW t-shirts. They had been chatting it up with the people ahead of us and did not hear the, ahem, misunderstanding concerning my relationship to Caroline.

Aren't they super cute?

While the three of us were picking out our t-shirt sizes and gabbing with these two lovelies Betsy said to Dorothy, gesturing to me, "is this your mother?" (I know what you're thinking. . . "she had to have heard what just went down with Ree. She's playing off that." I assure you she did not hear any of it.)

Again, in unison the following comments ensued:

Me: What the hell? Really? No. . . do I look that bad tonight? Your sister just asked if I was Caroline's mother!

Dorothy: No, we're friiiiends.

Caroline: *laughter*

Betsy: Wait? What? Noooo. . .

Hyacinth: No, no. . . You look like 'A' mother, not 'HER' mother. 'A' mother, NOT 'her' mother. Right, Betsy? You are 'A' mother, right?

Me: (laughing) Um, yeah, that's making it worse Hyacinth.

We all laughed. Some of us more nervously than others. Then we left, me feeling every bit my 40 years. Plus 20.

It was such a fun day! No, really, it was. :) I wouldn't change a minute, or word, of it! But I do think Ree, Betsy, and Hyacinth need to invite me to the Ranch for a girls weekend so they can experience my youthfulness.

Do me a favor, check out our friend Greg's new, improved, and blended site. Theology, music, and design all rolled up into one delectable site.

For-those-of-you-following-Kennedy,please-see-the-latest.

Oh,and-my-computer-will-be-shipped-Aug.27.Yay!

The little girl to the right, Kennedy, is on her way to Shriner's in PA. She is about to undergo the spinal surgery we thought we were facing with Wil. She has AAI, atlanto-axial instability, as well as AOI, atlanto-occipital instability. The instability between her occipital bone and the first vertebrae is so significant that when diagnosed she was placed in a neck brace until her surgery in order to protect her from a "major spinal event." Her mom, Renee, has been jumping through all the hoops for the last several weeks to prepare for this surgery. Renee by the way has three other children, Kennedy is the third, and her husband is currently serving in Afghanistan. He will, however, make it back for a short leave to be with the family during Kennedy's surgery.

Please check Renee's blog to read more about Kennedy. This little girl has been through a lot in four years, including leukemia. If you are a pray'er, please, pray for Kennedy and her family. They will be living in a hotel for a month to be close to the hospital for the weeks following Kennedy's surgery. Do I need to tell you how challenging this might be with four kids? Adjusting to the halo will be a big deal for them all as well. So, check in with them regularly and if you can leave a comment to encourage them!

Luke especially loves a house full of people. The more the better. This group seemed to encourage some very random statements, proverbs if you will, from little Luke around the breakfast table. The crowd favorite, that we all pondered, but left us a little puzzled was, "If you want peace then you must sleep with your hair squared." This was evidently inspired by Ryan's coif.

We so enjoyed the added chaos for the weekend. These guys were such an encouragment to us and left us only slightly homesick for Gainesville. :)