A Place to Regenerate was featured again. Check out Something Old is Something New @Oh My Heartsie Girl

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Our New York City trip was featured at Morning Cup Of Joe@The Cottage Market

July is National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness Month

This Spring our family was delighted to learn our Princess would have a surgery free Summer. This is a first for us. A little calm before the storm of orthodontics that will hit our household in the next few years. It is a chance to reflect on the amazing progress that has already been completed, but it is  hard…no, it’s excruciatingly hard…to contemplate what will be happening in the future-but it’s part of the journey…hers and ours. We are grateful for that

Sometime, in the early stages of our adoption journey, my husband and I had to make the difficult decision as to what special need child files we would be open to review. With the average wait of 6 years and climbing for  “healthy” girls from China, the special needs program offered a shorter wait and often included very minor or correctable needs.

After much prayer we listed the needs we felt we could manage and waited for God to put his plan into action. Flash forward about 6 months and we received that highly anticipated phone call and email file! As I gazed at that beautiful face I noticed her big brown eyes and smooth skin, her adorable ears and her gentle hands…I did not even notice her unrepaired unilateral complete cleft…it just did not matter, she was our baby.

Our Princess was 20 months old and living in the remote mountains of Northern China.

But what is a cleft palate/lip?  A cleft is a gap in the mouth that didn’t close during the early stages of pregnancy, and this kind of birth defect happens more often than you may realize. It is estimated that, worldwide, a child is born every 3 minutes with a cleft — about one in 500-750 births. Sometimes a cleft condition can be easy to see because it’s an opening in the lip. Sometimes it’s harder to tell if someone has a cleft because it’s an opening in the roof of their mouth (called the palate.)

There are many risk factors that can increase the likelihood of birth defects. While some causes are still unknown, genetics and family history, pre-existing medical conditions, poor nutrition and exposure to harmful environmental substances can affect the healthy development of a baby. As a result, these factors could also be the cause of a baby born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. We will never know why it happened, but we will never know where her outstanding fine motor skills and dimples came from either…and that’s OK.

Our Princess after we met her in China, already charming her Mama and Baba

Cleft lip and cleft palate can be repaired through a series of surgeries and orthondontics.  While it can be corrected, it really is not an “easy fix”…despite what you may see in Operation Smile advertising.   Our brave girl has had 3 major surgeries and some pretty extensive speech therapy with quite a few more surgeries in her future…continuing into her young adulthood.

Her first surgery at Johns Hopkins

She is a spunky bright little girl who charms everyone she meets. She is opinionated and sassy with a flair for the dramatic. Her empathy has no limits. She is our joy and we are humbled and honored that God has entrusted her into our care.  It really is a miracle.

Inspire me Monday. Tuesday at our house. Inspire me Tuesday. Make it pretty. Made by you. Metamorphosis. You’re the Star. Tuesday with a twist. Wonderful Wednesday. Talk Of The town. Keep in touch.Party in your pjs. Wednesday blog hop. Your whim. Share your style. Home and garden. Waste not. Grandma’s House DIY. Friday features .Friendship Friday . Funtastic Friday. Grace at Home. Pit Stop. Thursday favorites. BFF open house. Morning Cup Of Joe. Home matters.Best of the weekend. Create bake grow. . Fresh market. Faith and family. Snickerdoodle. Happiness is homemade. Saturday shuffle.Create with joy. Over the MoonCreatively crafty Senior salon. Turn about Tuesdaycelebrate your story Little cottage

A Little Love was Re-Featured at Something Old is New Again. Thanks to Oh My Heartsie Girl.

Waiting For The Summer – Poem by Dina Satika

Warm Summer…
Bumblebee flies to the south

Hailed by the beautiful blossom orchid 
Summer..oh Summer…

Awe grows on the way to the summer twilight..
Wish she could find the summer 

Before she leaves the space
Forsake all Heavenly-Earth things

Summer..oh..Summer 

Inspire me Monday. Tuesday at our house. Inspire me Tuesday. Make it pretty. Made by you. Metamorphosis. You’re the Star. Tuesday with a twist. Wonderful Wednesday. Talk Of The town. Keep in touch.Party in your pjs. Wednesday blog hop. Your whim. Share your style. Home and garden. Waste not. Style showcase. Grandma’s House DIY. Vintage charm. Friday features. Friendship Friday. Funtastic Friday. Pit Stop. Thursday favorites. BFF open house. Morning Cup Of Joe. Home matters. Best of the weekend. Create bake grow. . Fresh market. Faith and family. Snickerdoodle. Happiness is homemade. Saturday shuffle. Create with joy. Over the MoonSenior salon. Turn about Tuesday Wednesday Aim Home style gathering celebrate your story Little cottage

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Lisa at Condo Blues – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small Things – Pin

Penny at Penny’s Passion – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas Sky – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Jennifer at Busy Being Jennifer – Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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My Oatmeal Pie still inspires “Yum” at Oh My Heartsie Girl Blog party, Something Old is New Again.

What to do with the excess strawberries from a successful picking day? The ones that are in the freezer, just waiting to be made into something delicious…how about Jam? But that’s really hard to do…and so time consuming…and not worth the trouble. Really? Because I whipped up this 3 ingredient jar of yummy in the space of a few hours…and mostly involved a slow cooker doing its thing. Come on, give it a try…you won’t be sorry.

The Usual Cast Of Characters

4 pints strawberries

2-3 cups white sugar

1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin

Optional 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

The Steps To Glory

1. Crush strawberries completely with a potato masher; pour into the crock of a slow cooker.
2. Pour lemon juice over strawberries.
3. Sprinkle pectin over strawberries.
4. Let mixture stand 10 minutes.
5. Stir sugar through the strawberries.
6. Cook on Low for 2 hours, stirring twice while it cooks.
7. Increase heat to High and continue cooking until jam thickens, about 2-3 hours.
8. Blend to desired consistency with an immersion blender

The very picture of summer…

To add to summer joy!

Inspire me Monday. Tuesday at our house. Inspire me Tuesday. Make it pretty. Made by you. Metamorphosis. You’re the Star. Tuesday with a twist. Wonderful Wednesday. Talk Of The town. Party in your pjs. Wednesday blog hop. Your whim. Share your style. Home and garden. Waste not. Grandma’s House DIY. Friday features. Friendship Friday. Funtastic Friday. Pit Stop. Thursday favorites. BFF open house. Morning Cup Of Joe. Home matters. Best of the weekend. Create bake grow. . Fresh market. Faith and family. Snickerdoodle. Happiness is homemade. Saturday shuffle. Silver pennies. Create with joy. Over the Moon Creatively crafty Senior salon. Turn about Tuesday Wednesday Aim. Celebrate your story. Home style gathering little cottage. What’s for dinner

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Lisa at Condo Blues – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small Things – Pin

Penny at Penny’s Passion – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas Sky – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Jennifer at Busy Being Jennifer – Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

<a href=”http://www.simplysweethome.com/category/friday%20favorites/&#8221; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><img src=”http://www.simplysweethome.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Friday-Favorites-Button.jpg&#8221; border=”0″ /></a>

You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! Continue reading →