One of my best friends, Jill Jones came up with a brilliant mommy idea and created the Sleepy Bee.  Jill lives across the street from me and fulfills orders right out of the Sleepy Bee barn, so I can tell you firsthand there’s a lot of buzzzzzing going around over there!  They also have real bees making honey, and a chicken coop where Zoie’s new chicken, Happy lives laying her eggs!

I’m so excited to help launch their big Sleepy Bee day on my blog.  Jill and her hubby, David with sweet baby Viv have been busy little bees getting their website and video up and going.  I encourage you to watch the short buzzy video and see if you can spot Princess Zoie sleeping with her Sleepy Bee!  Zoie made her acting debut in the Sleepy Bee infomercial airing today.

The Jones family donated over 100 bees for me to take to Uganda and give to Amani Baby Cottage to help the precious babies sleep sound.  Sleepy Bee is going to Uganda in June!

Just for moms- What do you think about the Sleepy Bees- do you think it will really help your baby sleep?

BTW- 10% of every Sleepy Bee proceeds goes to Visiting Orphans (for the next 6 months!)

About Us (Jill’s Story)

I was giddy waking up and thinking “It’s Mother’s Day today!”  I couldn’t wait to see what Rog the kids had planned for me!  The night before, we howled through the crazy TV show ‘The Middle’ and the last scene when Frankie sighs in exhaustion, “I don’t ever want to do that again.”  The house is a mess and poor Frankie collapses on the bed after an awful Mother’s Day. Then her kids come in to collapse alongside her. Suddenly, Mother’s Day night suddenly doesn’t seem so bad.  If you want to watch the “Mother’s Day” episode take a peek.

Well, I wanted my day to be extra special just hanging out with my kids.  And, that’s exactly what we did!  Hannah made me puffed pancakes (wow!) and they each had cards that made me cry when I read them outloud.  They did their best to spoil me, even when I told them they had to watch HGTV with me all day.  Seriously, I’m so blessed to hear them call me mom, momma, mommy, ma, and my personal Zoie favorite … mommmmmeeeeiiiieee!  I just wanted to say “thank you” to my 3 crazy kids for making my moms day nothing like Frankie’s day… even though you are fully capable:)  You keep me loving, laughing, and living life to the fullest!  I love you just the way you are!

My crazy readers, what did you do for Mother’s Day…. I love being nosey!

HopeChest and Adoption Fathers are joining together for Mother’s Day to bring hope to orphans!!  My crazy readers, you rocked out our last HopeChest fundraiser and I want to ask you to take the time to learn more about this special project that Tom Davis and team are supporting.  I just bought my necklace!!  It’s created exclusively from my friend JunkPosse, so you know the quality is beautiful and one of a kind.  Here is a great close up of the special Mother’s Day necklace.  It’s just how we like it girls…

big & chunky!   Let’s go a little crazy and end the last week of the fundraiser with a bang… don’t miss out.

LOVES GOES AROUND {GIVEAWAY}

Crazy friends… this is a 2 day giveaway.   I will randomly pick a winner on Friday night.  All you have to do is leave me a comment and tell me why you want this stunning necklace. You can entry both days!  Let’s break records!

“This necklace represents the “Breaking the Chain” of Orphanhood campaign this Mother’s Day. All the Profits from this piece will support Hopechest’s “Young Mothers Program.”

When orphans are released from the orphanage in their early teen years, they enter a critically vulnerable time. In the case of the women supported by this campaign, they find themselves pregnant and alone. Still children themselves, they have nowhere to go. That is where HopeChest comes into the picture, providing direct assistance, training, community building, and intensive counseling and casework. 100% of the moms currently in the program are raising healthy young children and breaking the cycle of orphans producing more orphans.

Children’s Hopechest- Responding to God’s desire to create a world where every orphan knows Him, experiences the blessing of a family, and acquires the skills necessary for independent life.”

Join us this Mothers Day and together we can Break The Chain of sex trafficking and orphanhood. Buy a limited edition Mothers Day necklace and 100% of the proceeds will go towards supporting these amazing programs.  HopeChest Fundraiser ends on Friday!

Click on image to purchase.

Meet Masha an orphan who was rescued from a life of forced prostitution- Click Here!

This is my great friend, Pete Kidd’s new blog and ministry to bring together orphan awareness to fathers all over the world.  His passion for his family and adoption is contagious!  Please grab his bloggy button and help spread the word helping daddy’s advocating for orphans!

I’m dedicating this week of blogging to crazy mommyhood.  As I prepare to leave for Haiti on the 11th, I can’t stop thinking about my kids.  Are they going to survive without me for a week?  These are the questions zipping around in my head:  Who will remember to turn the baby monitor on at night? Who will remember to buy milk before it runs out? Will Zoie be OK at the babysitters house (1st time?) Will anyone remember to cook dinner at a reasonable hour?  Yes, that’s right, I’m leaving my kids for a week with their awesome, amazingly fun, easy going daddy and I don’t need to worry about them for a second.  They are in the best hands and hubby will do a great job, even if he does forget to buy the milk.

One of the things I love saying to my 3 kids is, “Bring your drama to your momma.”  I always want them to feel safe to come to me when they have had a crazy day (there’s no such thing as a bad day.)  Teenagers have a lot of drama.  I’m blessed to have 2 teens, so we have double the drama at times.  When my kids bring me their drama, I have 2 choices on how I’m going to respond. 1) I can freeek out pouring fuel on the drama or 2) just play it cool.  Believe me, I have tried both sides of the game.  Not to long ago, my son and I were eating lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant a few hours before dropping him off at golf camp.  Michael had just earned his driver’s permit and wanted to make sure he got in a few practice runs.  We had a great lunch, lots of laughs and plenty of time to make it home before drop off.  My son was in the drivers seat, backing up my van when all of a sudden he made a crazy sharp turn and crashed into something behind us.  My first reaction was to scream yell “SLOW DOWN!!” but it was too late.  We both looked back and knew this was more than a fender bender.  He backed straight into a parked car parallel behind us.  My van has a back up camera, but somehow this large, black car was missed out of sight.  The worst part was the frenzy that happened when 10 people circled us yelling different views of the accident.  This was A+ drama.  I couldn’t believe he forgot to look behind him before jamming the car in reverse, but I made a quick choice.  I reacted calmly to the mob and sweet talked our way out of the driver calling the police.  There were a few new dings and bangs on his very dinged up, banged up car, but overall everything went pretty smooth.

Michael apologized 100 times to me how bad he felt backing out too fast and it was easy for me to say to him, “Live and learn.”  He spent the summer paying us back for the mini collision and he learned to look carefully before backing up the family car.

I instinctively wanted to yell, but I didn’t. (this time)

This is why I love the lessons we can learn from drama.  I make mistakes everyday and I’m grateful I love a God who loves me and forgives me when I back up too fast in life.

Do you let your kids bring their drama to you?  I want to hear…

Vote today to make adoption #1 top mommy blog!!  Click button 2 Vote- that’s it!

I look around today and see Zoie’s toys scattered around the floor, cracker crumbs in a crumbly pile on the couch and her favorite strawberry yogurt smeared on my green velvet pillow.  There’s a big box of size 4 diapers half empty, obviously an intense burst of curiosity for her pulling them out of the plastic wrap.  Our Zoie is a chatterbox.  She just learned how to say “Oie” and repeats her name over and over and over to me adding “mommy?” sprinkled in the mix.  How is it possible my tiny baby is turning 2 years old today.  I no longer feel like I missed out on the first 6 months of her life, but instead I’m grateful for each second we have been blessed to have her in our life.  She dances through her day and has energy to match her crazy curly hair.   I have to admit, I really love the craziness of two year olds.  They are unique, bundles of attitude- learning, growing, adjusting to life all rolled into adorableness.  Yep, their tempers are extraordinary, but that’s all part of the special package.  I’m feeling a little sad, too.  Zoie’s growing up fast, and I don’t have the heart to ask her to slow down.

Our love for Zoie is as intense as the first moment she became part of our forever family.  Today, I reminded her that there was nothing she could do or say that could ever change my love for her.  I love her from head to toe- no need to fix anything.  I really want her to grasp the belief at 2 years old that love conquers all.  I want her heart to believe that she is a gift and not a mistake- God made her beautiful inside and out.  Her life has a purpose and we’ll hold her chubby little hand as she runs into another year.  I know she can’t understand all of that right now, but I’ll keep whispering these truths when I rock her to sleep at night.
Thank you God for our daughter, Zoie.

Happy Birthday Zoie Senait Elise Gibson!!

Hubby and I have a fun tradition where we only buy “stocking” gifts for each other for Christmas. What makes it so fun is finding creative gifts that will fit in a sock, but still have the big surprise value. There are exceptions to the rule … this year, I had to cheat just a little and hide his twenty-pound kettle ball behind the sock. I would have ripped it stuffing that crazy thing inside. My favorite gift this year was stuffed at the very bottom, inside the toe. My family went shopping together to pick this one out. I was VERY surprised! I unwrapped a beautiful heart locket with the words “What’s In My Heart” engraved on the outside. Inside the heart, tiny charms that symbolize what’s in my heart. They knew exactly what to put inside: R- for my hunky hubby, four birthstones for each of my children (we have a precious son in heaven) and a cross. What’s really special, they can add charms inside my heart anytime they want.  I’d love to hint for a few more for my b-day coming up this month- adoption, friendship, scones and blogging:)

Yep, I cried. It’s so meaningful to a mommy when her family takes the time to choose the perfect gift. It made me think hard about all the things deep in my heart. My faith in God is the ultimate treasure that I couldn’t live without. He has made my life complete and utterly miraculous with blessings indeed. I thank God daily for the precious treasures that He has entrusted me with. I do not take them for granted. I thank Him for the pain in my life. It’s my core belief that He turns all pain to treasures. It’s a promise I believe with all my heart. I have experienced pain at all levels—physically, emotionally and spiritually. Holding my son before he died was the single most painful moment of my life. It made me the person I am today. God wrecked my life. He has stripped me and disciplined and pruned me the past forty-two years to continue to grow as a wife, mom, daughter, and friend. I’m a work in progress. I challenge myself constantly to seek my purpose in life. I love asking Him—why did you create me?

What I love most about my necklace—I’m in control of what I want to put in my heart. The things in my heart can change constantly or remain the same. The really important things that once were in my heart, that are not so important anymore, I have taken those “charms” out; they are gone now. I don’t miss them at all. I have replaced them with new charms that make me feel passionate, adventurous, radical, and a little crazy.  Now, how can I convince them to make an adoption charm- I think we could sell those here like hot cakes!

I would love for you to share with me, what’s in your heart?  I love reading your comments and being inspired by your words.

I remember turning 13.

I was living in Waco, Texas and in the eight grade.  I wore big round “bug eye” shaped glasses and got braces mid-year.  It was the year 1980.  I was a new teenager living in the early 80′s.  My family was conservative, so I didn’t wear the Flashdancer digs, but I vividly recall my best friend, Jen buying me my first Polo shirt.  Looking back, I think I was an 80′s preppy nerd?  I went to a very small private school and was part of the “glove pep squad.”  I’ve been ridiculed by my children, so if you want to tease… I’m used to it.  Yep, I wore long green polyester culottes and flashed my hands back and forth, up and down at the football games.  If you are reading this and have a photo of me during my prime groovy glove days, please send me a pic!  I had a big crush on a boy name Steve.  Life was awkward and simple and fun.

Turning 16 was crazy!

I had my very first boy/girl birthday party and remember falling head over heels with a boy named Gibby who came to my bash.  He was a freshman, so I could ONLY share this secret with my best friend.  He sat on our family room couch in Phoenix, Arizona surrounded be cutie pie guests, but he caught my eye (OK he caught me starring at him)  I would have had no idea in a million jillion years we would fall in love someday, when it really counted and marry the man of my dreams.  My birthday party was the start of something really crazy!

It’s a pretty unique feat, I’ll admit to be the mom of a 16 year old, a 13 year old and an (almost) 2 year old!  I get a taste of 3 very different worlds, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  I love that my 16 y.o. can drive and pick up my 13 y.o. now, so my 2 y.o. can take a long nap.  At 42, my 3 krazy kids keep me hopping and I’m so proud of them as individuals.  Every day I make sure I tell them I love them just the way they are.  I make sure when I mess up that I say I’m sorry.  I make sure to kiss them good-night and forgive them for their messes.  I love being a mom.  It’s the most challenging, rewarding, crazy job you could ever sign up to do.

My very favorite pic of me & Gibby before a football game (no glasses or braces)

Prom 1985