painted lady

in el paso face painting is a big deal.  if you really want to have a true el paso birthday party, you will have a face painter.  and a pinata, and a bounce house...but back to the face paint. I'm not talking about a little balloon or heart on your cheek.  I'm talking entire face coverage. it's crazy.  it's like art.  last weekend we attended our friend lucia's birthday party in the park.
face painter. check!
eden got a pink butterfly. her friend mia was a cat, and jaxman picked spiderman.

then, this past tuesday we went to chick-fil-a like usual.  it's family night.  this week's kid activity was ZZ the clown.  yes!  and there was...a face painter!
so she became a rainbow with a fairy.

fun times for this little girl that I love. 

I saw the signs

today I kept noticing little sayings and words around the house.  and I tried to pay attention to them.
my grandmother we called "mamie" went to heaven almost a year ago.  some of my most prized possessions are little things from her home.  I have these two drinking glasses of hers that pete and I fight over using when they are clean.  when the glass is empty...this is what you read.

 

take life a little easier. deal. sure miss my mame.

 

we bought eden and charlotte these shirts because we loved their simple message.  also...whenever you purchase one of these shirts you support a family's adoption fund.  I kept wondering about the sweet child this shirt is helping bring home to their forever family.

caramel apple.   these days I need all the help I can get remembering that it is fall.  I love this $4 walmart candle. and eden loves blowing it out.

 and this.  this just makes me laugh.  jumbo glitter shaker.  every house needs one.

two of my loves on the shelf above our sink.  mexico and cadbury world.  I only wish one of them wasn't so far away.
so there are the signs I saw today and wanted to make a note of.
on the adoption home front...we have our fingerprint appointments!!!  I will definitely update when those are done and we have our USCIS approval and wait list number! we're getting there!
I am a part of a yahoo group for families adopting from ethiopia and there were several referrals given out last week from our agency.  I would get so teary reading everyone's stories...it's a 10 month old girl! or a 4 month old boy!...and thinking about what our referral phone call will be like.  how our story will unfold.  such a miracle.
well. I'm off to take life a little easier.

shirts and aprons!

just a friendly reminder that we still have our shirts and aprons for sale!  we are ordering one more batch of shirts...and then we think that will be it.
thank you to everyone who has already supported us!
directions on how to order are on the right side of the blog.

copy cat

I saw these on some others blogs... so I needed to make one for our family.
we are hoping for a brother...but his name won't be miles.  even though I think that is a great name.  I don't know why it made some words larger than others...it didn't depend on the amount of times I entered them, like other wordles I had done in the past.  I was referring to the "miles" between el paso and ethiopia.
anyhoo.  tada!

weekending

even though fall officially starts in 2 days...it is still 90 degrees in el paso.  I try to embrace the season by burning caramel apple scented candles, brewing pumpkin spice coffee, and of course, eating candy corn.  and then when I walk outside...I remember it really won't feel like fall here for another month or more.
so...since it is still swim suit weather, and since mimi sent the girls a package with water balloons in the mail...we decided to have a water balloon fight this weekend. 

eden and daddy got wet, while charlotte preferred to try and pop her "ball" open with her teeth.  really safe.

we also went to our neighbor's first birthday party.  it had a mickey mouse theme and the girls had a great time.  they both got their own goody bags, so charlotte now knows what smarties are. and m&ms. 

the stink thing about weekends is that they go by way, way too quickly.

woops.

our dossier was received by holt this afternoon.  but it seems that I messed up a little on our end of things.  I didn't realize that starting in august the dossier requirements had changed.  I did go back and read an old email from holt that told me this...but I guess I didn't understand what they were saying at the time.  adoption speak is still a little confusing to me.
basically...our dossier won't be complete until we get approval of the application (I-600A) that we sent to the USCIS.  I mailed this almost 2 weeks ago, and apparently approval can take a month or more. SO. it looks like we have some more waiting to do for this to get to us...and THEN our dossier will be complete.  and we'll get an official waiting list number.
in the old way (the way I thought things were still happening) you didn't need this approval included in your dossier. I had everything checked off on the old list and was so proud of myself...not realizing it wasn't up to date.  sheesh.
and while this is a little bit of a bummer...it's just a little bit more waiting. 
live and learn.

on a positive note...at least everything else in our dossier was good to go and we don't need to do any revisions. 
I just feel kind of dumb.  and wish I had a little adoption helper fairy to guide me along the correct check-off paths.
chin-up!

peace out, dossier!

well...we mailed in our dossier this afternoon!! 
I am floating on air with happiness!  just to get all of those official documents together and done and on their way to our agency. whew. sigh.
a special thanks to mi madre for express shipping a special marriage certificate that we needed.  it got here at 11:56 a.m. and we were at the postal annex 30 minutes later with our completed dossier.
so now, we'll wait for it to be approved and then we'll be assigned our official number on the waiting list!
thank you everyone for your prayers and support!  we have sold 1 apron...a bunch of t-shirts and raised about $2,000 towards our goal of $10,000.
seriously. wow.  praise God!

can't wait to add another little person to this group.

adoption aprons

my sweet seamstress mother came up with a super idea to help us raise funds for this adoption.  aprons! she sewed some retro aprons for us to try and sell.  she modeled them after her grandmother's aprons, and various 1950's and 60's television moms.
I think they would make perfect Christmas presents for friends or family members that know their way around a kitchen...and might like to look cute while they whip up something delicious.
If you would like to buy one we are selling them for $20.  just send me an email at abbydockery@hotmail.com and tell me which one you'd like.  then I'll have you donate through our paypal button over there on the right side of the blog.
So...here are the choices!!
#1.  the "I love Lucy" (watch out for these hot names mom came up with!)
a red and white half apron with pockets. cute black rick rack used for trim.

#2.   SOLD!!!  the "June Cleaver" yes!
a floral half apron..with flower pots and watering cans.  this apron has two large pockets to stash things in.

#3. SOLD! the "feed sack apron"--a full apron--modeled after my great-grandmother's aprons.
look at this glorious detail!  sweet blue bottons, a big front pocket, and fun accent stitching.

#4. SOLD! another "feed sack apron"
retro fruit and flowers material with a large front pocket trimmed with rick rack.

#5.  another "June Cleaver" half apron
this version is longer and has the same handy pockets

thanks ma!!

getting fidgety

eden drew this family portrait on her chalk board last week.  in case you can't tell L to R is charlotte, mommy, eden, and daddy.
but I keep wondering about the other chalk face that is to join her world.  I keep watching "gotcha day" movies on youtube.  and when I kiss the girls 75 million times a day I think about the other face that I will grow to love so much it hurts.  and all of the kisses I will give so willingly to him or her.
right now we are waiting for one more state certified item to come in the mail.  our home study was approved...and is hopefully on it's way back from the secretary of the big old state of texas.  once this important document is in my hands...our dossier will be complete and will be zipped off as quickly as possible to holt.
and then we will have an official wait list number!!!

so right now I'm a little fidgety.  and I'm sure I'll get that way again many times throughout this process.

think I'll go kiss this face again.  I can hear her waking up from a nice nap.

juarez for the weekend

this past thursday evening my parents arrived in el paso from atlanta...thanks to a trusty delta airplane.  then on friday my in-laws and some great people from their church pulled into the parking lot of our ministry.  they had driven the LONG road from loganville, GA to el paso, TX.  24 hours one way.  it seems like forever. trust me.
after lots of hugs and kisses from grandparents to granddaughters...we all headed across the border to juarez, mexico.  we only had two days to build a home for martin, leticia, jesus, and viviana.  if you've never been to juarez...here is what a lot of the homes look like.  here is why we go there to build homes...and give love and hope.

the team worked really hard half of thursday and all of friday.  a few of them were experienced builders...so that is why the home was able to be completed so quickly.
our little girls gave out candy and toys to the kids that lived around the job site.  eden made bird houses out of scraps of wood and had fun painting and playing in the dirt.  charlotte also enjoyed getting dirty and sandy and playing with nails and wood pieces.  yes, I let her play with nails.

it is one of my greatest joys to see our children watching their parents and grandparents serving others in the name of Jesus.  I love watching them play with children that don't look like them and don't even speak the same language.  it's absolutely beautiful.

we dedicated the home to the family on friday evening and told them about Jesus and how much He loves them.  it is our prayer that they see their new home as a physical reminder of His love for them... and that they come to know him better and trust him with their lives.

oh and here are the world's best grandparents...