little redhead

The Future!

Am loving this photo....

Do you know where this place is?

It looks like something in the future... Jetson-esk.... I can picture little flying cars zipping by the globe tower.

But it is actually.....

S h a n g h a i!

Yep! We are going to future land!  Well, actually, it is probably far from futuristic... especially with the food! But it definitely makes me want to find this place in Shanghai, take pictures and sit and have coffee like these chic  Jetson-esk people are doing!

It has been fun doing some research on Pippa's hometown. Looks like the city has been very busy building since 1990.....

Pretty amazing!!

And here is the BUND.... it's apparently "the place" to go to in Shanghai and there are many shops... and pretty buildings everywhere.  I. cannot. wait!  It has been so much fun looking at pics of Shanghai and researching places to go to, but then I read about the air pollution... so have no idea what to expect as far as being outside and seeing the sights of the city.  I just want to make as many memories of Shanghai so I can tell sweet little Pippa about her "Jetson city"!

Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into a city that is far far from the deep south!

 

The Red Thread Girls

As time gets closer to traveling to China, this group is becoming more special because we all have something in common.... we are all traveling to China to bring home our daughters!  It's called the "red thread group" and it started as a groupd of 3 getting together and turned into a group over 20! The pic of the girls below is with their China girl paintings and each one of us is heading to China in about a month to month and a half... it's amazing.  Each of these girls has a "God story" of how God worked in their hearts and led them to China.  Wish I could tell each one, because as I hear more of their hearts and hear more about their lives... it's all so encouraging!   

So last night, we had a "baby shower" for each other... we celebrated Chinese New Year at the authentic Mr. Chen's, we passed around "real Chinese food" and just enjoyed the time...... there is a certain electricity in the air because we are all waiting on important documents that will lead us to THE day when we get TRAVEL APPROVAL! I really hope hope hope and pray I can travel with some of them.... we'll see how fast our paperwork can move... and I hope fast!

The faster, the better.... I can't even begin to tell you how much I want to see our little Pippa... her pic sits on my night stand. I think about her so much and as time approaches and we get closer to gathering Pippa in our arms, I can't wait to tell her how much she is loved loved loved!

Some of the girls in the group are very crafty and sew and make the cutest things!  I absolutely love love love seeing Pippa's name stitched on fabric... printed on cards... it makes me so happy!

Yea for Pippa gifts!!

Yea for cute little clips!

The doll is a funny story... my friend, Rushton, gave it to me because it reminded her of the hair cut Rosie came home with when we adopted her... we all laughed about her hair because she pretty much had a mullet and her bangs looked like a visor!   And now, Pippa's hair will be very short because they cut it.. almost shave it in the orphanage so I'm sure it will take a while to grow out.. but it's just hair.. and hair grows:)   I'm just ready... more than ready... and getting everything prepared and packing list checked off and Target runs and now it's that nesting mode.... time to clean out things...... I think I'll actually clean out a closet or two... will see how that goes!

Glitter Houses!

Ok... to count down days to China, I am finding new Shanghai and Guangzou blogs to read at night and then I go through pics of Pippa and while looking through iphoto, also saw these fun pics of our glitter party we had at the studio right before Christmas! Meant to post these a lonnngg time ago!

Our small group from church got together with moms and daughters and we had a glitter house making time... if you throw sparkly glitter everywhere with cardboard houses, colorful paint, rice krispies treats, and a bunch of girls... you are definitely going to have super fun!

 

And we did!

Love seeing each house and the creativity!

It was really special because it wasn't just the girls making the houses, the moms made houses too!  And really, what are mommies anyway.. but grown up girls!

love!

This is the one that Rosie started making and I finished:)

 

The happy, sparkly, whimsical, colorfilled village of glitter homes!..... What a fun fun afternoon!

Ready now for our Valentine's day craft!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Trivia: Do you know this movie... just by looking at the pic below?

Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola! ..... I love this movie because it is pure artistry and all my favorite colors are in it...( like the colors in the dress above. What can be better than candy pink? )

Love love the scenes of the food and how it switches from one plate to the next and goes really fast through clips.  So I watched the movie with my camera and would stop the screen when I saw the pic I wanted to take... yes, I am a nerd! But I'll have to say this is my all time favorite color/ artistry movie!... if that's even a category!

It's kind of like color theory class ( but since I've never been to a color theory class, I'm just kind of imagining what it would be like) ..... My color theory class would be all about candy colors, fruit and bakery stuff for inspiration....I am envisioning rose pink and turqouise candy dresses that need to be fluffy and girly!

Nothing like rose petals to make everything beautiful! Rose petals on bagels...  on fruit.....rose petals in dresses... in hair... in bathtub...... on grass......everywhere!

Yum!

Double yum! 

This makes me want to live in a bakery right now and eat cream puffs! 

Really want to try this someday! Maybe at a monumental birthday party!  But it's now officially Chinese New Year so this pic can represent China's special celebration!  Right now, in China,  everyone is traveling here and there and it is one long happy week of reuniting with family. There are orange blossom trees and peach blossom trees placed in homes and businesses.  Banners are hung, presents given...paper lanterns glowing and firework shows! Sure there is probably champagne flowing too!

And now I'm wondering if there are French bakeries in Shanghai?

Plate on right could pass for Chinese?

American plate in middle, French on left, Chinese plate on right:)

Now I really want to make a big fat cake and lots of scones and cream puffs! Make them all gluten free and celebrate Chinese New Year!

And as I'm celebrating this week and eating pink macarons, I'll head to studio, remember these pics and turn these pretty colors and ideas into some painted mixed media pinky, red,  creamy white...valentine-y , Chinese new year, just- happy- because- we are heading to China soon..... dresses! And the "line" of dresses will be called "Pippa"!

Happy start to your week! And HAPPYYYY Chinese New Year!!

Sunshine and Cake!

This morning I woke up to many surprises!  First, I saw that we received our "cake pics" of Pippa.  We had a cake sent to her through an agency in China called Ladybugnlove and they are wonderful!  I opened the email and saw not just one or two pics of Pippa but 20!! Yes 20!  Her little precious face melts my heart.....I want to jump into the picture and say, " I love you Pippa!"

 

And I'll have to say... she is absolutely adorable!!

Oh, my.... I am in love with this little one!  Love how she is looking so curiously at the cherry that she just ate... she's probably going.. "hmmm, what is this little red thing?"

And on top of the 20 pictures I received this morning, the family who took the pictures that I posted yesterday just sent me several videos of Pippa and her little group that she is in.  I can't even begin to explain what a gift it was to watch her on video!  I heard her talk a little bit in the kindest, softest little voice... oh, I wonder what she will be like... personality?  What will she love playing with and what will be her favorite activities... what will make her smile?

Several parts of the videos I had to watch several times. One part was where the adoptive family who was videoing had their adoptive little girl give Pippa a lollipop.. it was precious.  The other part was really special because I saw Erin, ( the mom who sent me the videos)  patting Pippa's head... it was so sweet!  And what is so extra special is that I was just praying the night before last night that Pippa would receive love and kindness from someone in her group. And I believe God answered and had Erin as that answer.  I watched the video and Erin walked over to the little children who were  all in a row with lollipops in their mouth and Erin gently patted each child's head and talked to them. Pippa just looked up at Erin with those precious eyes and my heart melted.  To have someone give them one on one attention and look them in the eye.... is so important.  It's moments like these that I treasure.

All this waiting..... and waiting... and sometimes wondering... is this all real? Is this precious little girl really going to be my daughter? It just seems like the months go on and on.... and will the time really get here?  But just watching the video and seeing Pippa being loved and shown affection is a great comfort to a mommy's heart.  And to see all of little Pippa's friends and her little group gives me a greater picture of what her life is like... her daily life in the orphanage.

Amazing how pictures and videos can do wonders to our hearts!! 

Thank you Erin for taking time to send these... makes me want to do the same when we are at the orphanage and meet these children who just need a hug and love.

Happy day to each of you!

 

Happy Pink Day!

We woke up this morning to find wonderful surprises... new pics of Pippa! There is a family in Shanghai adopting right now and they are adopting from the same orphanage as Pippa. Many of the families get to visit the orphanage and when they do, they take pics and post them on the Yahoo site for other waiting families to see pics of their children.  Well, I had no idea we would see Pippa, but there she was... right there in the group! What a gift to see her precious little face!

Pretty little Pink Pippa!  I cannot wait to have her in my arms... and hold her and make her laugh and see her smile!

Love this picture!  All in a row with the lollipops....and Pippa with her little legs crossed... too cute!

Lollipops are the best! Yum!

And the sweet little lamby pink outfit.... they layer the kids in lots of clothes, so I am thinking Pippa is staying warm!

And want to share this verse with you... it's one I've personalized for Pippa... changing the "king" to "queen"... and the  "he" to "she".... and it's my prayer for her... how I see God giving her GOOD and smiling on her!

Psalm 21 ( The Message Bible)

"Your strength God is the queen's strength.... helped, she's hollering Hosannas!

You gave her exactly what she wanted... you didn't hold back.  You filled her arms with gifts.

You gave her a right royal welcome-

She wanted a good life and you gave it to her- and then made it a long life as a bonus-

You lifted her high and bright as a cumulus cloud.

Then dressed her in rainbow colors-

You pile blessings on her-  You make her glad when you smile."

So much of that verse weaves into adoption.... adopting Pippa.. the gift she is given and the gift we are given.... becoming a family... and the "right royal welcome". I think how God adopts us into his family when we give our hearts to Him... and I think about how He loves to bless us...and give us good!  Not just bless a little... but PILE blessings.... He really wants to.  Sometimes, I feel that God only wants to "half" bless... but the truth is that he wants to fully bless and pile on the blessings... and dress us all in rainbow ( joy filled) colors and he smiles on us! And He is doing that for Pippa!  He's piling blessing on her... he is making her glad when He smiles.  And soon, we'll be able to show her more of God's "piled on" blessing by loving her and showing her goodness...kindness, grace, and joy and His smile! 

What a priviledge and honor it is to be on this adoption journey to Pippa..... I count myself very blessed walking this road with Mike and the kids.... it's beautifully unique and each adoption with each one of my children has had that stamp of uniqueness which makes each one so precious. This journey is God infused.... I do believe it is a powerful spiritual journey....There is a battle of good and evil...we are called to pray and I believe prayer is a way to fight for the orphan and pray with fervent hearts.

Through these months of waiting with this adoption of Pippa, I've read more about her country.... the past and the present day China.... the view on women and girls... the view on orphans and orphan care and my heart has been broken for China.. .... It's the kind of heart -broken like a  porcelain tea cup falling onto a concrete floor..... shattering.....and then I pick up the pieces and try to make sense of the broken.  It's hard to wrap my heart around the number of orphans in China... the number of abortions each day in China.... the children who are going to bed each night so lonely..... knowing deep in their hearts something is missing.. but not being able to put it into words that spell... "mommy and daddy".   So what can I do?  I pray for China... for the orphans....for the mothers who have to give up their children for one reason or another....for Pippa's orphanage.. the workers... and the children....oh, the children.  God has such a very very tender place in his heart for them.  I wake up in the middle of the night and feel led to pray for Pippa and her orphanage and the workers in the orphanage... I know some of you reading are praying... and that fills my heart!  May we lift our hearts up in prayer for these children..... that God will work mightily in this place of China and among the orphans all over the world!  May they see and know God's love! Thankful that God is at work and His love can be seen everywhere!

 

A family that's waiting....

Going through all the Christmas photos, I couldn't help but think of all the love that is waiting for Pippa...so I decided to write her a little letter and give her a little glimpse into this family of hers....

Dear Pippa,

We are waiting for you... trying to wait patiently, but it's not easy.... we are ready... ready to love you... to hug you, to read to you and rock you and kiss you good night and hold your little hand and carry you and feed you and show you what family is all about.  Even though you have no idea what life is like on this other side of the world that we call America...... you have so much waiting for you!

Let's start first with Papa and Nana... oh, they will love you so much.... and can't wait to meet you!!

Nana will read to you and play with you.... Papa will smile at you and hold your hand.

Your big brother, Sam and cousins, Katelyn and Callie, will teach you all about going crazy at Christmas.....

And they'll show you how fun it is to throw wrapping paper all around the room!

They are really fun... you will love them!

Gee Gee and your big sister, Rosie, will teach you about sewing... or as Rosie calls it, "needling".

Gee Gee and Da will also play games with you and do puzzles with you and you'll soon learn to love the "gee gee bag"!

Sam will teach all about sports stuff and also, Pippa, you'll see lots of twinkle lights... everywhere.

Your cousins, Ben, Garrett, Riley, Miles and Claire will all give you lots of hugs and kisses and they'll sing funny songs and make you laugh lots and lots.

Family times plus a campfire is always a highlight to cool nights in the mountains or just at our home in Birmingham.

Your uncle, Brent and cousins, Katelyn and Callie with big sis and daddy will show you how to ring in the new year.. with sparkle apple juice, a toast and puzzle time....and for New Years we'll stay all cozy in an old log cabin dating way back to the 1790's... but really, compared to what is old in your country of China... 1700's are very young!

Family hikes and walks are always fun at Christmas time.... and we'll all teach you about exploring this great big beautiful earth.

But with exploring... we all get tired... so we'll show you how to take naps... or at least show you how we all "pose" for a fake nap...:)

See all these people right here...yes, all of them... every single one.....they are your family.. yes, family!...they are all going to love you sooo much!!!

And these cousins plus Sam will show you about adventures in the Christmas tree woods and what it takes to make a fort and an imaginary kingdom.

Sitting on rocks and playing barbies.. Callie and Rosie will show you all about it...

And then there is daddy... oh, he is going to be the best daddy to you.....  He already prays for you... he keeps talking about you daily and how much he wants to see you.  He'll teach you how to fly fish some day and how to paint with watercolors.....  He loves you soo much.  And then there is me... your mommy.... you haven't met me yet... but soon... reallll soon, we will meet.... our eyes will see each other for the first time and even when I think about that moment... I get teary eyed.   God in his beautiful way, has weaved us all together as a family..... and when you see all these faces... like the ones I just showed you..... these are all faces that glow with the love of Jesus.... and Jesus is in their hearts..... and someday, I pray the same for you... that you will see LOVE so big and so strong and  so true and so tender and so gentle....that you will want that same Savior and Redeemer who truly gives us the most

beautiful

life

ever.

I love you dear Pippa.

We're coming soon,

love,

mommy

xxxxxxooooo

 

 

Sparkles, Baubles,and Twirls

Loving winter in the studio..... the twinkle lights are strung everywhere.  And just because Christmas is over... I think these lights will be up for a while.

Studio days... Rosie twirling to some tunes.....She plays the nutcracker alllll the time on her little Hello Kitty cd player... loving that she loves such pretty music!( in fact the nutcracker is playing right now as I type:)

It's time for me to be in the studio for the next few weeks before we head to China.  Have some of my art in Saks in Atlanta right now.  So if you are in Atlanta, head over to Phipps and you will see all kinds of fun art that is sponsored by Trinity school.  Then Spotlight on Art is in February and I'll have lots of paintings heading that way to the show in Atlanta at Spotlight. After Spotlight... it will hopefully be packing TIME for China and we'll be heading to Shanghai a few weeks after Spotlight!! SOOO EXCITED!!!!

During January and February, it seems as if I go into hibernation mode.  The Christmas time is past... and onward to a fresh 2012! I love fresh... clean white page to write on... I love fresh white sheets right out of the dryer..... I love fresh new years.  And this one will be one of those sprinkled with glitter and love because we'll be bringing home our Pippa! And with all the Pippa planning mode... I am in pink sparkle creating mode as well!

Have plans to paint some fun girl paintings for Pippa and Rosie to place above their bed.... want to embroider some pillows for them... and make a magical playroom which means fluffy carpet... pink and white striped walls, books and dress up clothes and a secret fairy/ reading area. So we'll see how time goes.  There are always projects in my mind.. it's just getting them all finished!

Other plans have to do with these pics of vintage Christmas ornaments... they make me smile.  I love taking down these baubly balls off the tree and putting them back in their old worn out cardboard boxes.  I love the colors and the glimmer...  soft pinks and candy pinks.. and wintery silver...French blues... golds.

They all hold inspiration....  so it's time to paint some dresses that remind me of the colors and shine of Christmas baubles...

 

 

It all makes me smile... yes, Christmas is over.  In fact,  it's funny to think that just a few weeks ago, everyone was running here and there getting ready for Christmas and now... it's a memory.  But a sweet one.  In fact, I'll probably throw in a few Christmas pics now on the blog.... just because I like to look back and savor the time.  It seems that in the middle of it all, the time whooshes by so fast.  And it's nice to just sit and look at pics... and remember the smiles... the family time.

Along with my hibernation/ planning mode, I like to curl up and watch documentaries... I absolutely LOVE good stories about creative people.  So my top two right now are Bill Cunningham New York... it's a MUST see!  He is in his 80's and is a fashion photographer in NYC. He gets up in the morning and hops on his bike and takes photos all day of people's clothes... it's so fun!  He is so passionate about taking photos and also about the art of it all... and he lives so simple. He smiles all the time and treats celebrities the same as a janitor.. ( I love that!) He's so kind to everyone.. has a free spirit.... doesn't care about having it all.  He rides his bike all over NYC... that is his mode of transportation...he inspires me to ride bikes around New York at night.. when all is quiet and still.   Just spending an evening watching the documentary and watching Bill Cunningham and his life.. makes me want to be kinder and enjoy each day more!

Another documentary is Marc Jacobs...in fact.. it's up there on my fav of fav's... Marc Jacobs is brilliant and amazing and inspiring....and he inspires me to be more free with my art... to listen to Canon in D while I create in the studio....  to throw paper around.... and try new ways of making fun whimsical dresses on canvas... of course they have to have lots of crumply paper and sparkles and glitter on them..... so that is what is up ahead for January...... 2012.

Guess I could go on and on about inspiration...papery dresses.... Pippa... adoption...... and China...... it is basically what is going on in my heart right now. 

Tomorrow  I'll play some Pachelbel's Canon in D in my studio.... think about Pippa.. look at her picture for the milionth time....paint dresses.... throw paper around  and enjoy this January...

and think about this:

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."  J. R. R. Tolkien

Countdown is ON!

Countdown is on for bringing home our sweet Pippa!  We are thinking we will travel first to mid March!!! And that is not tooooo far away!  We have had our LOA... check... 1800 approved... checked.. now we are waiting for a few more hoops to jump through and then TA.. which is TRAVEL APPROVAL!

So fun because I am on a yahoo site with other moms who are adopting from the same orphanage and sometimes moms post pics of their children that they have received from their agency.  Well, I had no idea there were some new pics posted and my Pennsylvania friend emailed and said she thought she saw a glimpse of Pippa! So I immediately checked the file of photos on our yahoo group and yes! there she was... our dear dear Pippa!

The pictures were of a bd party and I cropped out the other children, but oh, those kids are all sooo precious! Looks like Pippa is with some energetic 4.5 year old boys.... so maybe she will be used to the unending energy that is all through this house!

My heart melts for this precious little one!  I am soooo ready to bring her home! So ready to hold her... to MEET her... to give her all she needs..... to be her mommy!

So the countdown....... January 12 today.......then there is February... and then MARCH!  And the spring will be on it's way..... and there is a precious pink little butterfly of a girl.... waiting..... and I'm ready for the spring to come... the birds to sing as we bring home our daughter... P I P P A! 

A Russian Christmas

This past weekend we celebrated Russian Christmas and what fun we had!!  I decided to get some Russian ceramic jars since we were actually making some Borsht for the feast and we could have them out on the counter as a reminder of Rosie and Sam's Russian heritage.  I often forget to have Russian things around and I think it's important to celebrate their birth country and talk about it and know more about customs and traditions.  The day we brought the fun whimsy jars home, we sat at the kitchen counter and had one of the best talks we've ever had about Russia.  We talked about previous communism in Russia and what it meant and how Russians couldn't celebrate Christmas for many many years.  Communism led us into talking about China and the underground church and the persecution.... it was so good to see Rosie and Sam wide eyed and interested in their country and also their little sister's country too.  

We also talked about how they can each pick their favorite jar and and can have them when they have their own family and children.  Rosie picked the borscht and Sam the Shish-kabobs!  (The jars were at Anthropologie...favorite store!) and they were on sale and then on sale again. yipee!) Thank you Terri for telling me about them!

Can you see the excitement? :)

We headed over to our friend's, the Whitsons, who also adopted their son from Russia and the same area where Sam was adopted.  It has always been extra special for Sam to have his friend from Russia... there is that bond that he has with Ford that is so sweet!  

Amy had the table set with all the fine china and crystal and it was beautiful!! The kids were sooo excited and felt very special drinking out of crystal glasses and sitting at such a pretty table setting.  I think Ford and Sam realized the extra care that went into the entire evening since it was all about the traditions of their Russia.  Rosie got a little bit of it, but think it soaked in more to Sam and Ford. It was magical sitting down to dinner and realizing we were celebrating not only Russian Christmas.. but also our children as well. 

 

You may be wondering, "What is a Russian Christmas?"  So here are some snippets.  First, when the country was under Communist rule, Christmas was not celebrated so they moved gift opening and parties to New Years.  Traditonally, Christmas was on January 7.  But after the Communism fell, Christmas was celebrated again and it was focused just on Jesus and not on presents. Presents and parties were on New Years. I love the distinction between commercialism and then keeping January 7 simply focused on Jesus.

Below is more detail about the dinner from a website I found listed at the end of the paragraph.

"The Christmas dinner in Russia starts when one sees the first star in the sky and then the feast begins.  The Russian Christmas Eve dinner, often called "The Holy Supper," includes 12 foods and is begun with prayers and the father of each family stating the traditional Christmas greeting of "Christ is born!" Russian mothers bless everyone by drawing a cross with honey on their foreheads. Next the Lenten bread is eaten, first dipped in honey and then in garlic, followed by the dishes of "The Holy Supper." These courses normally include mushroom or sauerkraut soup, Lenten bread, chopped garlic, honey, baked fish, oranges, figs and dates, nuts, seasoned kidney beans, peas, parsley potatoes, Bobal'ki (biscuits with sauerkraut or poppy seed and honey) and red wine.

Read more: About Russian Christmas | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_4655190_russian-christmas.html#ixzz1gxNKC8Vz

For our Russian dinner, Tyler started with the greeting, "Christ is born! and talked about the white tablecloth and how it symbolizes Jesus wrapped in a cloth.  And then there is hay on the table symbolizing Jesus born in a manger. And the white candle in the center of the table symbolizes the light of Jesus as He is the light of the world.  Amy and I drew a cross on the foreheads and said the blessing: 

 "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, may you have sweetness and many good things in life and in the new year."    Amy and I loved this part and the kids thought it was funny having honey on their foreheads but they liked it too.

For our night, we served borsht that Mike made.. it was soo good. It's a beet, cabbage and potato soup and bright red from the beets... the red is really Christmasy and pretty but the kids said it looked like blood:) Ha! 

We had bread with potatos in it. Salad with apples, poppyseed and cabbage. Chicken with sour cream and of course Russian dumplings and chocolate cake for dessert. 

So fun to celebrate a Russian Christmas and have it centered around Jesus. Thank you Amy for coming up with such a super great idea!!  It was a very special night.... one I will always remember!