Kai’s big day was an action packed one! We had the family party at Nina’s house last night, a school party today, and our little Loving family party at Kai’s favorite restaurant tonight. Not bad for a day that included a trip to the ER, right?

Kai’s chosen theme for her school party was Tinkerbell. I picked up a generic pre-made balloon cake from Publix and added some purple icing, silk flowers, and a Tinkerbell candle to create an easy fairy cake. It wasn’t a homemade wonder, but it was a good cheat and I think I’ll remember that for the future occasions where I need an easy personalized cake.

For a classroom treat, I made fairy wands made from pretzel rods, melted white chocolate and sprinkle stars. They were a HUGE hit with parents, teachers, and kids and something that was easy and fun to make. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pics of the class party but it was fun and she really enjoyed spending the day as the center of the classroom’s attention.

Tonight’s family dinner at Buca was great since they gave us the kitchen table and made it super special for Kai.

They gathered the whole kitchen and wait staff to sing Happy Birthday, flashed all the lights in her honor, and generally made her feel like a celebrity on her birthday. If it wasn’t her favorite restaurant before tonight, it certainly will be from now on!

Yep. I’m sitting in the E.R. waiting on an xray for my other foot…

Don’t even ask me how I managed to do this. Twice.

**update**

well, it turns out it was just a really bad sprain which, as far as I can tell, is not actually too much better than a break. I’m sporting an aircast and crutches and have been placed on driving restriction (it’s my right foot) until it heals a bit. I thought I might try driving left-footed but Thomas assures me we don’t need an accident on top of all our recent yucky luck.

Oh well. For now I will enjoy being chauffeured around town and waited on hand and foot by my family (yeah right!).

2005

Four years ago your daddy and I spent the night in a small quiet hospital room waiting for the moment that would change our lives forever.

Four years ago you were born into the world in a way that would serve as a sign of your personality: bold, surprising, miraculous.

Four years ago I met you face to face and realized I would never be the same person again.

Thank you, precious girl, for introducing me to a love I could never have predicted the power of. Thank you for teaching me more about God’s love than I will ever have the ability to teach you. Thank you for making every day more exciting, dramatic, challenging and beautiful than the day that preceded it.

You are the best of me. I love you beyond all measure.

When our oldest daughter was born, my husband and I discussed the importance of teaching our children that there was a much bigger world out there. We wanted them to know that they are blessed and that it is okay to enjoy nice things in life, but that there was a world out there to share our blessings with. We wanted to teach them about compassion and empathy.

So, in Kai’s first year we decided to sponsor a child through Compassion. We had both been familiar with Compassion and we were excited to incorporate it into our family life. We decided to sponsor a girl with the same birthday as Kai so she would understand that birthdays aren’t just about getting cool things. We wanted her to understand that they were about sharing.

That is how Roselle Marie came to be a part of our family. Though she is a girl living another world away in a culture we have never been a part of, she is connected to our family. We pray for her. We send Christmas and birthday gifts. We write letters to her. Read letters from her. And her sharing a birthday with Kai makes that connection a little more real to Kai.

We did the same when Ivy was born and have now established a sponsor relationship with Hellen in Africa. It is exciting to see the girls learn about other children, their cultures, and their needs. It is exciting to teach them that on the day they were born in a country on the other side of the world there is a little girl celebrating that same day as her birthday. It is exciting to see them share their blessings and their gifts with other children.

That’s what is working for our family in our attempts to teach compassion and love to our girls. I look forward to doing it with each new child we add to our family.

Head over to Shannon’s Dryer to check out what is working for other families…

I am a selfish, shallow and short-sighted person. I really, truly am.

In general, I am fully aware of how ridiculous my “problems” are. I am aware that I am an amazingly blessed woman. I am aware that in comparison to much of the world, I am living a life of extraordinary luxury.

And, though I am aware of these things, sometimes I need a big reminder. Last night I got just that.

First, let me say, my Total Truth Tuesday was originally going to be about how completely satisfied I am with the direction my life is going. I was planning to admit that I am living a blessed life and that I am acutely aware of that fact.

But, then I saw this video and it brought to mind an event that had happened earlier in the day. An event I am certainly not proud of.

Yesterday, I had to run lots of errands.

Run and get diapers, wipes and milk: check.

Pick up gold ballet flats for girls to wear in wedding: check.

Make extra stop to get a cute pair of shoes I’d been wanting: check.

But, wait. What’s that? The girl at Target threw away my shoe box and I didn’t realize it until I got to the car? The shoe box I was planning on using to pick up my totally frivolous purchase of 5 chickens? How dare she!

I went on a rant to my husband that I can only say was less than gracious, loving, or grounded in reality. I was frustrated at the unspeakable inconvenience of the whole thing. Didn’t she realize how important it was that I have a shoe box? Didn’t she care that it RUINED the next hour of my day?

I pouted like a baby about being inconvenienced and made a big deal about this most ridiculously stupid situation. I essentially acted like a total fool.

And then I moved on and forgot about it. Until about 1:45 in the morning when I saw this video. Watch this video all the way to the end and you will see the most heartbreaking image.

At the risk of spoiling the video for you, I have to tell you that what you will see is the face of a dying woman in Ethiopia when she sees photos of the family that has chosen to adopt her two sons. You will see the joy in her face at the knowledge that her children will have a loving home to live in when she passes away.

You will not see sadness on the faces of anyone in this video. You will only see joy.

And you will see that your problems, though they be big to you, are minor compared to the plight of countless families outside your sphere. You will be convicted that if they can find joy in the midst of a situation that is most people’s worst nightmare surely you can get over yourself about some stupid shoe box from Target. And you will go into your kids’ room and pull them out of bed just so you can hold them and cry and ask God to forgive you for being so petty and small.

At least, that’s the reaction I had…

Okay, so I’m a far cry from Eva Gabor but I do feel a bit like I’ve stepped into the Green Acres life. It’s just this organic eco-friendly self-sustained living is so stinkin’ addictive!

This weekend we planted our garden. Soon we’ll have tomatoes, green and yellow peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, radishes, onions, lettuce, and a variety of tasty herbs. If all goes well, we may even have corn one day.

Then we did the craziest thing ever. We added some sweet little chickies to the family. After much searching, we finally found some Rhode Island Reds.

Turns out these popular egg laying fiends are sold out for at least the next two months at nearly every hatchery in the country. But, we found an awesome local man who has dozens available. He’s selling them out nearly as soon as they hatch, but he has a pretty steady supply. If you’re in the area and interested in his info drop me an email and I’ll get you the hook-up.

We ended up buying 5 from him just to get us started and we’ll see how it goes. We are also planning on adding a couple Silkie Bantams to our coop once we get it up and going. They lay small eggs, but they are sweet chickens and really pretty, too.

Since Rhode Island Reds can lay as many as one a day we could conceivably have around 25-30 eggs a week from these hens. We’ve already have a few people tell us they want to buy our eggs when our hens start laying so I think I’ll let the girls have this as their first little “business.” They can sell the eggs and keep the proceeds in exchange for their egg collecting services. I love the idea of them learning about chores and reaping the benefits of making a time investment in something. I don’t think it’s ever too early to teach that.

You know you’re all winners to me, but sadly only two of you could win the Bloggy Giveaways here at Land of Lovings.

Congratulations to Chelsea on winning the Matt Maher CD and to Paula who won the Creative Home Magazine subscription!

Thanks to all who checked out my blog and left comments! I enjoyed meeting you all and surfing your blogs.

Be sure and come back May 12th-16th for the Mommyfest Blog Party when I’ll have a couple more cool giveaways!

Get your feet out of the French Fries!

Toilet water is not for drinking.

Yes, you will learn to wipe your own butt!

No, you can’t have fireworks for your birthday.

Because I’m the mommy and my stomach is the boss.

Sorry, but you can’t marry your daddy.

No, you can’t marry your sister either.