a worthy cause

My good friend, Laura, and her husband, Jeff, adopted twin boys from South Korea 3 years ago. She and I taught together for several years when I lived in SoCal and we've remained close. It was incredibly fulfilling to watch Jeff and Laura become parents after many years of obstacles. Kai and Cole, are amazing boys and a wonderful addition to their family. If you know anything about adoption, you know it can be extremely expensive, especially if done overseas. Jeff and Laura are hoping to adopt one more child, a little girl from South Korea, to complete their family. They hope to fundraise to make this happen.

How you can help
*If you live in the OC and have extra recylables or items you can donate to ongoing garage sales, contact her via her blog here.
*However, even if you don't live nearby, you can still support this worthy cause. At the top right-hand side of my blog, you will see a link for the "Schlabach Adoption Fundraiser." Click the link and simply order a new magazine subscription for yourself or even for someone else as a gift (we all read magazines, right?). 40% of each sale goes directly torwards their goal. At the bottom of the homepage, there is a running total so you can see how much progress has been made.

I love this family and I want to see their dream realized. I'll probably do another post or two on this in the coming months because I feel like it's a worthy cause and it's very easy for people to get involved, even if you do not personally know them. Thanks in advance for anything you might do to help my friends!

free ice cream (x2)!

That's right, it's time for Ben and Jerry's annual Free Cone Day. This year it lands on Tuesday, April 29; click here to find a store near you!

And once you've had your fill of Chunky Monkey or Cherry Garcia, stop in at Baskin Robbins for their version of the annual tradition, one day later. On Wednesday, April 30, you pay only 31 cents for a cone. Click here for more details.

earth day

I love to watch "Ellen;" I think she is one of the best TV hosts because she is genuine and funny and listens to her guests. Today, in honor of Earth Day, she gave away some sweet earth-friendly gifts to the audience. She also played an ED edition of "Will They Know, Yes or No." Basically, two audience members went on stage, had signs that read"yes" on one side and "no" on the other, and proceeded to watched a clip of average people on the street being asked earth-related questions. Right before the people gave their answers, the clip was paused, giving the contestants a chance to decide if "yes" the person was going to answer correctly, or "no" they weren't. Would you believe that all 5 people on the street got the following questions wrong?! See how well YOU do. I will give their answers and the correct anwers in the comment section...tell me your score. :)

Happy Earth Day! BTW--Whole Foods, a store I love to frequent, as of today, is completely discontinuing use of plastic bags. I'm assuming you have to bring your own (I'm sure you have seen most of the new eco-friendly totes in most stores). Ikea does something similar. I may have to hop on that bandwagon and start bringing my own bags.

1. Al Gore won an Oscar for his documentary on global warming. The name of that film is "An Inconvient ____"
2. Finish the phrase: "Give a hoot, ______"
3. 70% of the Earth is covered with _____
4. Finish the phrase: Reduce, Reuse, _____
5. If you are good in the garden, you are said to have a green _____

good web deals

I discovered this site recently and have bookmarked it to locate useful coupons (both online and in-store) whenever a shopping need arises. I especially like that you can sort by store names if need be.

Also, I discovered this freebie website not too long ago and although it technically says, "Freebies 4 Moms,"you don't have to me a mother to enjoy the site. Currently, there is a free sample of Starbucks coffee (by mail) offered. And you know I love me some free coffee.

ottoman makeover

For the last several months, I've been looking for an inexpensive ottoman to recover and put in our kitchen for extra seating. I finally found one on Craigslist for $10. The fabric cost a little under $30, which was more than I wanted to spend, but I really loved the pattern, so decided to buy it.

Now, we have a fun, new piece of furniture! And in the future, we can move it to another room in the house, as it matches our home colors. A big thanks to Rachel for her help with this project (which was *super* easy).

tardy wordless wednesday

Look! What a steal!

As you know, I love Etsy (see sidebar) and my good friend Mel shared a sweet deal with me. A woman sells BabyLegs knock-offs called "knotty legs" and she is closing her online shop. They range in price from $5.50-$9.00. These make FANTASTIC baby gifts, too. Buy here!

mastercard moment

A big storm swept through north Texas last week:
Cost to remove damaged tree: $275

Cost to uproot tree: $125

Explaining what happened to your 16-month old: priceless

going private, part duex

In October of last year, I blogged about desiring to take our blog private. Remind yourself here.

I'm really ready to do it, so as of Friday morning this week, you will need to log in to read. Email me if you want to continue. I do love my community at large who keep up with us through this venue, so I hope you will continue to journey with us! I'm just ready to know who is reading and want to make sure my family is safe; for the record, nothing weird or bad has happened, don't worry. :)

Edit: If you are on my sidebar, or regularly comment, you will recieve an email from me soon that says something like, "you have been invited to read this blog" and you will have to log in to get set up. If I don't have your email, leave it in the comments section (if you are a reader who rarely comments or is not on my sidebar). Hope that helps!

music class finale

Today, we wrapped up a 10-week music class at The Heights Baptist Church (if you live in the are, I *highly* recommend this class; the teacher is wonderful, I made new friends and reconnected with some old ones, and Maggie learned a great deal--the girl has got rhythm). Aron's folks are in town, so they were able to come and join us for the "event." I'm surprised how little of Maggie's hilarious and hammy (is that a word?) side I was to capture today as she was out in front, screeching with delight most of the time or saying "hello" to various friends and babies. For now, enjoy!
Really, she was ecstatic to be there. This just must have been snapped when she stopped grinning. :)

The Leavers with sweet son, Ethan. R.Meyer, figured you'd like this shot!

Bubbles!! BTW--these are hands-down the BEST bubbles I have ever seen for this one reason: they last. They float around and stay on the floor and in your hair and produces a ridiculous amount of joy for little ones. Buy them here.

Grayson enjoyed time behind the camera.

With a favorite--the egg shaker!

Another favorite, the bells! Yes, this is what she did with them every week for 10 weeks.

Wanting more time with the drum, the sticks, and the parachute

wordless wednesday

P.S. I found Maggie standing like this on my kickboard yesterday. I think it's her attempt at impressing her dad with her inate surfing abilities! Now all we need is a beach...