International Creativity

Thanks to some creative friends in the States, Nadia will be going around St. Petersburg in some cute American fashion.   A couple of wonderful ladies I grew up with have started their own business called YoYo Bows, and now they're international!  Thank you, Crystal for helping Nadia getting all dolled up!

You can tell this is in Russia because there's a rug hanging on the wall rather than lying on the floor.

The lovely, soft pink afghan is a gift from my high school science teacher, she's amazing!

And I think we have a few other goodies waiting for us in the States, so Nadia will have some things there, too when we arrive.  We are so blessed!

Another friend has also gifted us with her creativity.  Victoria Brooke sent us lots of little goodies to celebrate Nadia's birth, including this lovely decorated wipes case with Nadia's name embroidered on the front.

please excuse the shadows--we were on a picnic!

We are thankful for such thoughtful friends who blessed us with their creativity.  You can check out Crystal and her sister Candice's work at YoYo Bows and Victoria's frames and name plaques and bow holders and wipes cases (and lots of other stuff!) at victoriabrooke.blogspot.com.

Thanks, friends!

Modest Fashion Week @ SAHMissionary

Hello, friends! I have another great online resource to share with you! I met Joy during the Titus 2 Blog Party. Her family is serving God in Indonesia. This post is a little later than I intended, but it's not too late to let you know about Modest Fashion Week that Joy is hosting on her blog. She's had and will have some great guest-posters this week. They are writing about some easy ways that we can be cute and modest in our dress. Check out the first post to download a great sermon by CJ Mahaney on modesty. She also has a link to some reading on the subject, which I hope to get to in the next few days as well.

And did you know that there are actually several design companies whose goal is to provide fashionable clothes while still dressing modestly! I had no idea! I've really enjoyed doing some window shopping on their websites. Several of the sites have some very affordable prices as well.

AND, you can also enter several giveaways on Joy's blog by going and leaving a comment. Personally, I would love to win one of those gift cards!

So go and check out Joy's Modest Fashion Week! I'm sure she also wouldn't mind if you check out the rest of her blog as well; she's got some great things to say!

So Many Words, So Little Sleep

My dear friends,

As you probably know, the past few weeks have been quite busy for us, and the blog has taken a backseat to everything else going on.  I do have a lot in my head that I've been wanting to get on the screen, but time has been an issue, as well as helping an almost-3-year-old (did I really just type that!) adjust to a 9-hour time difference.  So, I do hope in the next few days to update you on what has been going on for us as we traveled and before that how we helped at a really great camp and before that how we celebrated New Year's.

Despite my "blog break", Random Thoughts managed a new look for the New Year thanks to my great friend E and her creative efforts!  Please check out EBS Designs to see her work.  Isn't my blog just beautiful!  I LOVE it!  Thank you, E!

McDorman Photography

With all the turmoil from Gustav and the other 2 storms apparently getting ready to hit the States later this week, I thought that I'd add a little happiness and cuteness to the blogging world.  Not to make light of what is going on, but maybe this will relieve a little stress.

While we were in NC we had the privilege of Aimee McDorman of McDorman Photography and MommyWho? fit us into her busy schedule.  She came to my parents' house and took these amazing photographs of Isaiah!

You can also view some of these pictures here.

The Nielson Family

Through the blog world, I've recently been "introduced" to another blogging mom.  My friend E brought this creative lady to my attention through her efforts to help Nie and her family.  The short story is this:

Mr. and Mrs. Nielson are a young couple with 4 kids.  Mr. and Mrs. N were flying with Mr. N's flight instructor.  They crashed.  Mr. N's flight instructor died after reaching the hospital.  Mr. and Mrs. N are in critical care due to severe burns.  Please forgive the simplicity of the story, but not knowing them personally, I don't want to embellish in any way.  For more details, you can read Mrs. N's sister's blog here, or you can check this site created by some friends of Mrs. N.  And if you would like to follow their story, you can come back and click on the icon at the top of my sidebar.

So back to my friend E....E is one of my Creative Friends who designs different features for blogs.  In an effort to help the Nielson family, E has joined several other incredibly creative people in doing online auctions.  E is offering a "blog makeover" to the highest bidder, which will include 4 blog designs.  Please go check out her auction, and if you would like a really creative blog design and a way to help a family in need, BID!  There are also links on E's blog to further information about other auctions and ways to help the Nielsons.

Rewarded Anticipation

We looked forward to lots of things this summer for our time in the States.  I especially looked forward to playtime for Isaiah with other children.  He was so happy to be around kids so much this summer--first his cousins in Baton Rouge, then kids at the different churches we visited, not to mention all the wonderful playmates in CA that he met!  So here's Isaiah enjoying some of his special friends, some new, some not new but maybe not remembered, but all really fun!

Isaiah with some of his Slawson cousins, Nevil and Jake (although Jake is a Reaves by surname)

My friend Anna and her 3 year old little girl Emily came and had dinner with us one night at the Nott's.  Anna is a very special friend and Emily is a really great little girl.  

She and Isaiah have a lot in common, including a love for music that they shared with us that evening.

I think they both really love "outside", too.

Emily got a short guitar lesson from Thomas.

And here Anna and I are with our wonderful children!  Thanks for taking the extra effort to come out to "the middle of nowhere" just so we could have some special time together, Anna!  I can't tell you how much it meant to me to be able to talk with you face to face!

Another special treat was having a meal with the Hendersons, where Lala gave Isaiah some of his first, now favorite foods.

Eating his first catfish

And if you look very closely, you can see the remnants of his first oreo on the corner of his mouth.

Playing with Bo, who introduced Isaiah to Thomas the Train and all his friends

With Bo and his little sister Mary Claire, both lots of fun!

When we went to NC, I was very much looking forward to meeting my friend, Ginger's little girl Bella.  Bella will be a year old in September (ooh, I hope that's right--it's hard to remember dates when you weren't there for the beginning!).  She's an amazing little girl, and lots of fun!  Being able to see Ginger enjoying her daughter so much was just as much fun for me, too.

Pausing from play to get a few shots

I even got to hold Bella for a moment!

They had a great game of chase

And we tried a "baby swap" for a picture, but Bella wasn't too sure about her mama holding anybody else!

And then we went to CA, where we met tons of new friends.  As you might have already seen we got to spend an entire day outdoors (besides travel time, of course), enjoying the sequoia trees and then a beautiful lake.

Isaiah sporting his swimwear with one of the girls we met.

Then he was showing her sister how to open and close doors when we got back to their house.

He wanted to be in on all the action!

And when we got to church on Sunday, he was very pleased that everyone was there all at once.  Unfortunately I don't have many pictures from Sunday, which is really sad because I just don't have the words to express to you how much fun Isaiah had.

And when we met my friends David and Cathy, Isaiah got to play catch with Silas and some other little boys at the park.  He was having so much fun that he didn't even want to come to his mama!  (that is really rare!)

Last year I really wanted to find Isaiah some friends to play with fairly regularly.  Now having seen him enjoy the other children so much, I really want to find him some playmates.  Please pray that God will increase my language and open the hearts of some Russian mothers to give us opportunity to build relationships, and of course, not just for Isaiah's sake, but for the spread of the kingdom as well.  God has given Isaiah this amazing personality, and I know that He can use Isaiah's happiness to give us opportunities to be a witness of His grace!

About the Header

The new header for the blog is made possible by the amazing talent of my friend Aimee McDorman.  She and her husband Rob (who is quite talented as well!) have their own photography company McDorman Photography.  Check out their website to see their unique style.

Aimee was able to get the above photo while we were in NC visiting my parents.  I have more to show you, too, but I haven't had time to get them together in the way that I would like, but I hope to do so soon!

I Knew Them When...

After tomorrow I'll be able to say that I have 2 famous friends!  This morning I found out that the hard work that my friends Aimee and Candice have been putting into their site MommyWho? has started paying off!  They have been asked to be in several segments of one of our local news channels!

I look forward to watching them tomorrow morning, maybe one time on DVR since they start at 6:15am, and Isaiah has been "letting" me sleep in until 6:30am (so kind of him).

Way to go, Girls!

Some New Creativity From Some Creative Friends

I don't know if you've noticed one of the "blog rolls" to the left as you scroll down, but I have a category called "Some Friends' Creativity".  I have some really creative friends.  Some of them are sharing their talents with the world on the internet from making blogs more attractive, or enhancing photographs and stationery, to making people more attractive in cute clothes, my friends can really do good work.

Well, two more sites are now available and highlight the creativity of some of my friends.

My cousin, Sharon and one of her friends have started  a site to help people save money in their regular shopping.  Check out The Checkout Chicks to see how you can use coupons and other special deals to save lots of pennies, nickels, dimes, dollars.

My friends Aimee and Candace have started Mommy Who?  A Resource for Moms Who Feel Anonymous.  They feature special moms and also give great tips for organizing the hectic lives that we moms live, meal planning ideas, helps for helping the environment in our homes, and just plain good ideas for helping moms keep their sanity and remember what's important.

So, I hope that you'll check out my friends' creativity and get some good ideas for saving money or time or have a good laugh at some interesting stories.

Need a Valentine's Date? Here's an Option

I must confess that I've never been a real big Valentine's Day celebrator.  Thomas and I have only once celebrated the day, and it was actually quite by chance.  But, I know lots of people who enjoy doing something special on that special day, and I think that's great!

One of my friends from college, Charity Trahms McMullin, who is quite talented herself, married a talented man (Shane) who is now working in the film industry.  He's already worked on at least 3 films that I know of, and one of them just happens to be opening on Valentine's weekend. 

Me & You, Us Forever will be premiering on February 15th in selected cities.  To see if it will be available in a theater near you, click here.  You can also see a trailer or read a summary of the movie. When I checked out the site, I was encouraged to read that the writer/director of the movie is a Christian, and the main character of the movie is a Christian.  The director also states that there is not any sex or even a hint of sex in the movie.

While I won't be able to see the movie in theaters, for some reason it hasn't quite made it to Russia, I think if we were in the States, this would be a movie worth seeing; that is if I could get Thomas to go to what he might call a "girly movie" since it is a love story.  Maybe somebody I know can go see it and let me know more.  I think it would be a great Valentine's Day date!

Thanks, E!

My new header is thanks to one of my many creative friends.  Check out her work at EBS Designs.  Thanks for helping us celebrate Isaiah's birthday in a new, creative way, E!