HELP!

Ok, well it's been over a month since my last post.  I have been wanting to upload pics from my ministry trip to Guatemala and share how God has changed my heart ever since I returned.  Of course life has gotten in the way and now that I have sat down to start blogging away, I have some error message floating around on my blog and my beautiful side border is gone!!!  WHY???  Can anyone out there help me???  Honestly, this is going to eat at me if I don't get it fixed.  Please leave comments if you are a blogger out there who knows how to fix this. 

Until then ~ take care!

My Heart's Dream

Today this post will  be short, simple, and photoless.  I am leaving in a few hours for a 9 day missions trip to my son's birthcountry of Guatemala.  Since bringing him home 5 years ago it has been my heart's dream to go back and minister to and love the children who feel unloved, unwanted, and unimportant.  They are not!  I love them, many others do as well, and most importantly God loves them! 
John 4:34 says that Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work." 
I pray that God uses me to be His hands and feet and to share and show His amazing love to these beautiful, special, priceless children!!!  I can't wait to share God's great news when I return! 

God is So Good!

Today is special!  You may not know it or understand why but I do.  I feel it more and more with each passing day, each passing year.  5 years ago today, my husband and I stood in a hotel in Guatemala City, Guatemala waiting for the first "in person" gaze at our son.  The first touch of his skin on ours.  The first kiss to plant on his lips.  I still shake with emotion just thinking about it.  This is us with the his foster mother Paulina.  What a blessing she is!  God's angel to look after him until we could bring him home.  I love her. 

So much has changed since this picture.  So many sleepless nights, so many milestones, so many celebrations.  Now that he is 5 we have also experienced the "trying" 3's, 4's, and "full of attitude" 5's!  In the past 6 months or so we have experienced some difficult talks, some which we were not as prepared for as we thought.  Adoption is special .. I fully believe that!  The brutal truth is though that it can be hard and confusing for children and believe me, they "feel" more than we think they do or expect them to at this young age.  Those feelings I cannot "fix", nor do I believe I should want to.  They are his hearts emotions and although they tear me in two sometimes, he is entitled to them.  This is him now.

He has the most beautiful smile!  (Keep your daughters away!)

He is a total riot!  He says so many off-the-wall, funny things that I could probably write a book!

 

He is a complete ham!

I'm pretty sure most days we are raising a super hero.  He truly thinks he is THE Red Power Ranger!

He is the most amazing gift God could have ever planned for our family!

So often we want to "plan" our lives.  If this had happened in our case, we may not have been privileged to become Bennett's parents.  Each time I stop and truly think about God's plan for this child and bringing him into this world to be our son, I well up with tears.  No plan that we could have thought up or prepared for would have been as great as God's!  He is so good!  Today we celebrate God's love for our family, for His son that we have the honor of raising and loving, for Bennett's birth family and their unbelievable sacrifice and immeasurable love, for his foster family for their love and nurturing of Bennett, and for our son himself. 

Bennett Carlos Chacon Farmer, this is from your mommy.  I am more than humbled by being in your life.  There are no words to describe the amount of love I feel for you.  God so loved the world that He gave his only son ... and He so loved your dad and I that He gave us you!  For both, we are forever thankful.  You brighten my days even when you are being mischievous!  Your smile lights up a room!  Right now you don't fully understand the amount of people who truly love you but I hope to one day be able to help you feel that love.  You are a child of God.  You are part of His kingdom.  Lean on Him, live for Him, love Him.  He will forever love you, as will I! 

About to Bust!

Well, here she is.  My beautiful clematis.  When she blooms she'll be popping with color ... a deep midnight purple and a soft lavender.  Unfortunately she'll be blooming only on one side because she's gotten HUGE and the husband hasn't created a way to "lift" her up.  I keep stressing to him how important it is for a lady to be "lifted" ... if you know what I mean?!  Long story short ... he doesn't get it.  Anyways, I will post pictures once she's full of pretty little petals.  Until then, I pray she doesn't rip the old iron gate from the wall because she's about to bust!

On the homefront I have LOTS to post in the coming days!  We've had many "life" updates, wonderful outings to smile and share about, and some new uncertainties that have crossed our path.  Through it all, God continues to bless us, guide us, and give us a full and complete peace about where we are right now, today.  It feels good! 

A Happy Camper!

Well today I was one happy lil' camper!  Bennett and I hopped in the car with Gammaw Carlos and headed over to Tipp City, in a severe thunderstorm with hail I might add, to check out a new "vintage - antique" store called A Royal Nest.  I picked up a couple of great things for super, unbelievable, cheap prices!!!!  It's great to find something you instantly fall in love with and it's icing on the cake when you don't have to sell an appendage to take those pretties home.  After stopping at A Royal Nest we started driving home and spotted another antique goody shop in what used to be Second Street Deli.  And oh boy!!!  In the past 2 days for less than $100 I have scored the following:  a gorgeous gray-blue dove tail box from Smith's Antiques, a sweet as can be little white bird, a vintage clock, a glass vase that I planted Baby's Tears in, a chippy old white cornace that I'm going to use for a shelf, and an old white painted basket that as of right now doesn't have a purpose, but don't worry, I'll put 'er to work.  On top of all of this, Cory is taking that ugly duckling chair into Vintage Scout Interiors tomorrow.  I went down a couple of days ago, walked in and saw this distressed wood table painted a gray-blue and said "That's what color I'm talking about!"  Then Jean took me upstairs to the hundreds, literally, of upholstery books she had, opened the first book and BAM ... there is was!  A smoky blue, bold, big floral print that screams modern country to me.  So hopefully I can contain myself and not miss her to much while she's gone getting her makeover. 
As for what the weekend will hold, I am looking forward to having the hubby home for 3 days!  We are also super excited that Saturday we get to spend the entire day with Bennett's biological sister, her adoptive mom, and her newly adopted sister from Haiti!!!  This is Bennett's first time meeting his sister's sister, complicated I know, but he is sooooo happy about getting to love on the both of them.  He quite enjoys being the over protective, younger but bigger, brother.  As for us parents, we are just so thankful that God has allowed us to live only 3 hours apart so that the kids bond can flourish and deepen.  We wish we could be together all of the time however we will enjoy every minute of each visit.

I absolutely love this vignette under our kitchen cabinets!  I could stare at it all day!  And let me add that I have never loved a wooden box like I do this one.  She's simply beautiful.  

I've been looking for a clock like this forever.  Good things come to those who wait ... scored this for $7!

Oh how I love Baby Tears!

The gorgeous Thomas Paul fabric for my ugly ducking chair.  The picture doesn't do the smokey blue color justice. 

The white basket for which I have no use for as of yet and the old, white, chippy cornace that I'm going to use as a shelf in my kitchen.  I heart them as well!

Transformation

So as I usually do this time of year, I had my annual Old Fashion Days Garage Sale. And boy am I tired!!!! However after raking in over $800 for myself, my momma, and my mil I got a quick break and headed over to Pyles Flower and Plant Sale sponsored each year by a high school friend, Candy Pyles. Among the tons of well, flowers and plants, she also has unique planters, old doors, salvaged windows, and vintage furniture. I picked up this ugly duckling for $8.00! I am sending her off to Vintage Scout Interiors in Centerville where they are going to paint her and give her a new upholstery job. Can't wait to see what ideas they come up with. I am thinking a gray-blue for the wood and some vintage, mod, modern country fabric for the seat. I'll post pics once this ugly duckling transforms into a beautiful swan.

Good Deals = Delighted!

So over the past couple of weeks I've scored a few oh-so-wonderful (at least I think) peices!  I literally got such great deals I wanted to shout it from the rooftops!!!  I love stumbling upon things and bringing them home to see the look on my husbands face ... which strangely enough isn't always as excited as mine.  I don't think it's because he "dislikes" the things I've drug home.  He just knows he's going to hear "Honey could you ...?"  Also because we are busting out of the walls here in our current home there isn't much extra storage space for my "we'll use it in the farmhouse" finds.  Either way, I bring these looked over treasures home every chance I get.  He appeases me and crams them in different nooks here and there about the garage, attic, and sometimes even in the back of his truck.  Bless his heart.  I tell him that he married me and my addicitions.

So here they are!  The cast iron sink is a real beaut ... missing faucet and all!  I am currently looking for a company that will re-enamel it for me and then I'll get new hardware.  Eventually I would love to see this in a mudroom or guest bathroom with a lovely fabric skirt underneath.  Something Amy Butler-esque.  The scale I stumbled upon at a "moving sale" in Phillipsburg as my mom and I were driving home from our Mother's Day dinner out.  The lady said "$5" and I broke out in a sweat!!  This weekend Bennett and I went to the Springfield Antique Market Extravaganza and I eyed some of these babies ranging from $35-$90.  One that was white and had the same name on it as mine was marked $90 ... I mean how lucky am I????  Last but definently not least is my new-vintage 1930's mailbox.  The lady at the flea market said it would be cute all painted up but I kind of like the petina it has now.  I am revamping my porch and this is exactly what I was looking for. 

Needless to say I'm pretty happy about my new finds.  It's the simple things.  I'll tell ya ... good deals make me delighted!