Be a part of the puzzle for two little girls!!!

With the rising costs of gas, and the delay in getting our tax refund, we are facing a shortfall of what is needed to complete our homestudy fees!  I am working extra hours, but pay periods just don't come fast enough, plus there are eight kids and a small farm to run, so that is limited to keep our sanity and everyone intact!

So, if you were looking for a way to be involved, here goes:
I have a gorgeous farm puzzle, with children playing, that has 1000 pieces.  For the purchase of one piece, we are asking a donation of $2, your name will be put on the back of the piece.  The construction of this puzzle gets us to the next step!  When the puzzle is completed, it will be all glued together and framed, with plexiglass on both sides, and hung in our little girls' bedroom when they get home!  It can be turned over to show all the people and all the love required to get them home!  It will be a forever remembrance for them of not only God's love and provision, but other people's love!  I will get a photo tonight of the puzzle in the box, and the way we will lay it out.  As pieces are claimed, we will begin to put it together.

There is a "chip in " button on the left side of the blog, and it directs you to PayPal.  If you use that it will chart what is donated.  I have not figured out how to mark what we have gotten directly (not through chip in) but I have $100 check to cash that isn't listed there.  So, please go to Chip In or get in touch with me and I can help you help us!  Please consider, literally every dollar counts!

Please, please help if you can, every small amount helps.  I am trying to rest in God in this, as I had thought this last paycheck I got would cover it, but gas is eating up a lot of our funds.  We need to get Steve to work everyday and he travels a lot - though thankfully he is home every night!  Driving our big van (the only thing that will transport everyone) is costly, and the gas tank is literally eating it up!  We have curtailed lots of things in order to conserve, but getting to church is a must, as well as doctors, etc, and grocery shopping!!!

I wish I could share a photo of our little girls on my blog, but just cannot until they are home.

Please consider being a part of the puzzle in any way that you can, and share the blog with anyone who may be interested!!!!  I would love to see it go viral!

On an upside, we are beginning to see some sales of our diabetes log books, and that goes directly into the fund too!!!!  We are keeping it really economical, as it is crucial for families dealing with this disease.  Costs are high for all the medical care.  We want to provide a good service, for minimal cost, and maybe have a little to add to our adoption fund.  But I so look forward to getting feedback as more people are using these books!  They helped our kids immensely!

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Children of God!!!! And update!

Please watch this!  It is so powerful!

And we have good news!  Things are moving forward with our adoption of A and K!  We hit a major roadblock, but that has been overcome and we are completely moving forward again!  God is so good and has truly designed this path!  It is some days truly a walk of faith and prayer. 

Yesterday we got a few photos from our adoption agency and new measurements!  I right away sent them out to Steve and Walgreens so I could have copies in my hands!  The kids and I oohed and ahhed over and over them!!!  Actually, I have been obsessively checking email to see if new photos came in, and when Kiley heard me scream, she just looked at Aman and said, "New pictures!".  And all the kids came running right in and joined me in staring at their little sisters' faces.  Sigh. 

And then this morning, a dear friend called me, hoping to catch me before work.  She was screaming and giggling, and telling me to go to my computer and the photo website that folks from our agency use to share photos!  A family traveled up to Mekele, which is where our girls are right now, and had said they would try to take photos for me!  It took FOREVER, truly FOREVER for my computer to putz its way there, but then there were both of our girls!!!!!  JJ and I oohed and ahhed over the girls, trying to find all the photos of them - and there were quite a few!!!!!  I could see glimmers of their personalities!  Talk about a great way to start the day!!!

On another note, spring has decided that it is going to be tardy this year.  In fact, we are in the midst of a winter weather warning, expecting as much as six inches tonight of heavy wet snow.  Ugh.  Double Ugh!!!  I am so ready to be starting to work in my garden!!!  And training horses.  But it has been so cold, that we do it in fits and spurts, but still are pleased with the progress our young horses are seeing.  A couple of them are just brilliant and so ready to learn!!!  We have two baby goats!  Baby girls we bought to add to our bloodlines (and reduce the risk of inbreeding).  It is so fun to have little ones bouncing around, almost makes the bottle feeding worth it!  And now we have seven kittens!  Not that we wanted more cats, but at this point all the mamas who weren't fixed have had their babies, so they can go in shortly to be fixed.  And kittens are fun!  With eight kids to love on them, they are very sociable and friendly, so perfect family pets!  Hint hint - in eight weeks if anyone is ready for a cutie, we have several!!!!!  LOL!

Well, we sat down as a family and worked out a plan that everyone thought worked well, and I picked up a few extra hours to help to pay for the adoption.  We all talked about what worked, what we all preferred and what we needed at home to make it work well.  Can I say that I love my kids?  They are so smart, so resourceful, and so caring.  We have laid things out two weeks at a time, and worked out a plan, and should be able to let me earn enough for the next payment to the agency!  Then we are left with the $9000 payment to our international agency and travel fees, oh yeah, and fingerprinting fees.  But we are getting there, in fact, we are a long way there!  God is so good!  We have consigned a lot of things that we don't need or don't fit into our vision for our family, have created diabetes log books that we are selling, and have been selling candles (we took the month of April off).  I will be teaching some classes at a local venue (the Galleria), and that goes directly into the fund too.  I know that the need seems overwhelming, but we are getting there, God continues to send fabulous people into our lives who want to help, and we just keep working.  God has done this in the past, and will continue.  He loves these little girls even more than we do, than we ever will, and He will provide!!!  Amazingly, this is the adoption I am the least stressed about.  I know that I know that I know, that it will be done.  I am at peace, though I desperately want to have my little girls home. 

Though, I would say that certainly this is our last adoption!  I know I said that last time, but I really think it will be!  LOL!  Two little ones, and upper level high schoolers and everything in between!  What a great life, how eclectic!  But, today, I can certainly say that I cannot see it happening again.  I can totally see us helping other families to adopt, teaching, mentoring, encouraging, whatever.  God may have other plans, but today, I cannot imagine anything else.  Today I am so focused on the kids at home and the two to come home.  It is amazing to watch my kids' hearts also be stretched between two continents!  Aman figured it out once - he told me "Mom, it must feel like half of your heart is there, and half of your heart is here, and it cannot be whole until everyone is in the same place."  Good insight son!  I then described to him the utter joy and peace of the first night home, realizing that ALL my children were sleeping in their beds, under ONE roof, all together.  The utter realization that it was done and they were all here and safe.  Maybe that is what makes me so thrilled with each and every child and moment we have together.  They aren't a burden (sometimes a challenge) but such a privilege, because they are HERE.  There is a saying in the adoption world that your adopted child grew not in your body, but in your heart.  That is true.

Well, pray us through this next snowstorm.  And that our mare who is so very pregnant could wait just a couple more days to have that baby - for warmer weather!  But oh, she is so BIG.  We keep telling her to have that baby already!  Our stallion colicked and passed away a couple weeks ago, so there will be no more unplanned babies.  Which is good.  But dear Moe lived out his life totally adored, loved on and comfortable until the day he died, which was what we wanted for him.  He was a special needs horse, and the sweetest boy you could ever meet.  We miss him, but know that he was well loved and happy.  That eases the loss.  And looking forward to his baby is a positive thing!

Have a great day everyone and a Happy Easter if I don't get on before then.  I will post when I am doing my classes as soon as we nail down a time!  Should be soon!

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Ordinary Hero!

People have asked for how they can help, and I really do appreciate it!  We have several fundraising things going on currently!  I really like the fundraisers where YOU get something too!  I do appreciate straight donations, don't get me wrong, but I also like it this way!

Vine Candles!  We have the most amazing soy candles and goat milk soap based lotions.  There are sixteen candle scents and four lotion scents.  We have been selling them at church, but will take the month of April off, at least at church.  I still have quite a few left and can fill orders!  If you are interested, get in touch and I will get you more information.  They are $14 for one item, $25 for 2, and $37 for three - lotions and candles can be mixed and matched!  Look for our table at Celebration Church again in May!  Or I can get some to you now!

Seroogy Chocolates!  We are just getting this going, but we will be able to offer the best chocolates around!  I will have all the details for you shortly, feel free to order! 

(Both of these companies are local companies, so your money stays at home!!!  And we make a 50% profit on both!)

Ordinary Hero - we have begun this also.  I don't know if anyone dearly loves meaningful t-shirts, but this company was created by an adoptive mom to help adoptive families!  I get 40% of every purchase. Add my affiliate name at checkout.  There is a button on the sidebar!  Feel free to share!

We are also thinning down around the house.  I have a nearly perfect green and tan (very current styles) graco stroller, and the matching infant carseat that locks onto the stroller.  It is absolutely adorable, wonderful and I had been given it as we are adopting.  Well, international adoption being what it is, our littlest girl will be too big for it by the time we are able to get her home.  I would love to get it to someone who can use it right away this spring. Since we are heavily into fundraising for this adoption, I would like to sell it for something, to complete our friend's intention of benefiting our little girl.  New I know they are expensive (but oh, so worth it for the quality).  I would like to ask $50 if that seems reasonable.  I can send photos as soon as my husband gets home to help me with the camera.  Will deliver to Green Bay, Denmark, Kewaunee, or nearby areas as we go by! So, in case you are local and can use it, get in touch!  I will be replacing it with a double stroller!




I also have a wonderful Medella breastpump (Pump N Style) that I had gotten last year before Sammy died, having planned to nurse him when he came home.  Needless to say, I don't need this!  A and K are beyond this stage.  It is totally complete, in the box.  I would love to get $75 to replace what I spent on it (I got it very lightly used).  Again, it all goes right into the adoption fund!

Thanks everyone.  I hope this helps some other folks see a variety of ways to fund an adoption!  It takes creativity but there are lots of options!


"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11