Let's Fill the Van!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Pondering a thought

I have been thinking about the reactions that come after telling someone what the expected cost of this adoption is. I am trying to understand the thinking behind a few statements that have been made.

$20,000 is definitely a lot of money, $30,000 is even more. Yes, it is a significant amount.

But ... I wonder ...

Why do many think that it is no big deal to go spend $20,000 or $30,000 on a new car?

and at the same time ...

Why do many feel $20-$30K is an outrageous cost to bring a child home?

Isn't a child worth more than a car?

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Our Dossier Is On the Way!!

We mailed our dossier today. It should arrive in Elliot's country on Thursday!!!!

We are one step closer to having a few more passengers in the van!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had the opportunity to have 4 extra kiddos today, this meant that all of our seats were full.

The van was FULL! Woo weee!!

It was full and loud, full and joyful, full and amazing

Take a look at ALL these documents ~~

Sunday, April 10, 2011

ALL OUT DOCUMENTS ARE BACK!!! AND ANOTHER NOW WHAAAAATTTT?!!!

WE ARE SHOUTING FROM THE HILLTOPS!

All our documents for our dossier are notarized, apostilled and in our hot little hands.

We received the last of our documents in the mail yesterday.

We are calling USCIS and asking to be expedited because the government of out son's country has made an announcement that the ministry currently handling adoptions is changing. At this point we really do not know how this change will impact the adoption timeline.

My new motto is going to be this ....

We must hold fast to the Lord,

He is our only constant in this adoption journey.

Friday, April 8, 2011

$500.00 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!!!!!!!

We are having a giveaway away!!!

You have an opportunity to be given a $500.00 amazon.com gift card if you are the blessed person who donates to our adoption fund...

Please help give me a family.

Entrance Details:

$10 = 1 entry

$25 = 3 entries

$50 = 8 entries

$100 = 20 entries

$250 = 50 entries

$500 = 110 entries

$1,000 = 225 entries

$5,000 = we will send you your own gift card J

*** If you donate and share this giveaway on your FB page or blog - you will receive an extra entry*** Simply leave a comment that you donated and shared and you will be given an extra entry.

Giveaway closes 4/30/11 at noon (CST), and the give away receipent will be announced on this blog.

Give away receipent will be drawn using a random number generating website.

Donate using either of these buttons

These ARE tax deductible

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Where Oh Where

could our employment apostille be??????

I am updating our spreadsheet and checking off the documents that are required for our dossier. We are down to a final set of documents to be rec'd back from here and this one document from New Jersey.
We sent our employment apostille to the State of New Jersey on March 19th and have not received it return mail - boo! We had one other document that needed to be apostilled in New Jersey and it was returned lickety-split. The employment apostille is really long-over due. Please pray it arrives soon!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Your USCIS application/petition has been received

Your USCIS application/petition has been received and routed to the National Benefit Center for processing.

This email came early this morning .... we are one step closer!!!!

We are praying that our application moves through the channels swiftly and that all necessary paperwork stays together. The initial application goes to a location in Texas and is then routed to a processing center in Missouri. So there is a chance "something" could happen. I am not trying to borrow trouble from tomorrow though :)

Please pray for fast processing, approval and for us to be assigned an officer that recognizes the urgency of our timeline.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Be still

We are now in the waiting game.
     waiting on the return of apostiles from two states
     waiting on approval from USCIS

Verse 10 keeps going through my mind as I worry about the wait and the possible implications from waiting too long.

So, I will find stillness in knowing that He is God and ever-present, with us and with our boy.

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.^[c]
⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
   he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.
⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
   the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
   to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”
¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.
                                   Psalm 46

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Soaps for Souls - Fundraising Update

Soaps for Souls has been a great success!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!

To date E has raised $639.00
Do you know how much money that is to a ten year old?!!?

E is wrapping up her latest creations to deliver to those who have donated.

There will soon be a few Easter designs available, including this Cross in Chocolate Oatmeal.

If you would like to donate to our adoption expenses, you can donate through PayPal by clicking the donate button BELOW. This button goes to our personal account and will help with current expenses. These donations are NOT tax deductible.

We Are Blessed!

I just posted this on FB, so pardon the redundancy. I just had to say it again!!

We are in awe of how The Body of Christ is showing itself to us!!!!!!

We are truly blessed by our brothers and sisters in Christ. We would be hopeless without Jesus and without His love and example we would all alone.

I am so glad that The Church is more than 4 walls and a few rows of pews.

Thank you friends.

It's In The Mail!

Our

I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition to The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

is in the mail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please pray for an expedited processing of our application!

When we verify it's receipt, we will be calling our senator and asking if they can assist in having USCIS expedite our application.

There is credible evidence that adoptions in Elliot's country may be stopped. We need a fast timeline for this document to be processed. We have come too far :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

A Month's Worth of Fun

I am not sure where time goes, but it sure flies! We have done a lot since my last picture update.

Planted a garden

And it grew from this ..... to this

Our first harvest

Our first broken bone.

I pray it will be our last as it has been quite a process.

The first cast ... neon pink!!!!

The second cast - neon orange!!!!

And for the record, she does own more than one skirt :)

We baked cookies with friends

Then, ate the cookies, MMMMMM......

The big girls wanted me to wake up to something special --- God's Word and a note that said "I luve mom"

Yummy custard!

Learning to measure

The properties of water

Great grip for a 2 year old!!!!!

Just a swinging!!!!!

Daddy's girlie

She graded her own work :)

Monday, March 21, 2011

Soaps for Souls

Soaps for Souls is going strong, E raised $168.00 today!!!!!!!!!!!

Praise God and thank you to the most precious 10 year old I know!

God delivered this quote to E via a Dove Candy Wrapper

"Climb high, climb far.....your goal the sky, your aim the stars."

To which she said, this is what I want for Elliot!

We are accepting orders for the soap.

You can donate through PayPal by clicking the donate button BELOW. This button goes to our personal account and will help with current expenses. These donations are NOT tax deductible.

Please comment with your order - how many bars and your scent choice

Current scents available
Honey Oatmeal with Vitamin E
Chocolate Oatmeal
Orange Peel with Vitamin E

Indicate if you want to pick it up or if you would like the soap shipped.

Shipping costs are 5.20 for two bars and 10.95 for up to 20 bars.

*If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, please use the Reece's Rainbow link at the bottom right corner of the blog.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

A Child Shall Lead Them

I would like to introduce you to a dear, precious youg lady that blesses me to tears.

Please meet ... Lady E

Lady E is all of ten years old and she is determined to help us bring Elliot home. She has the BIGGEST heart I have ever met in a young lady. Her mom and I are good friends and almost daily Lady E has an idea for us to raise money to fund Elliot's adoption. This sweet girl knows how to make me cry! She is so excited, you would believe that Elliot were her brother-to-be.

Can you believe a ten year old is all jazzed up about helping us pay for our adoption???!!!

She knows the miracle of adoption first hand as she has SIX adopted brothers and sisters, who have found a forever home with her parents. She wants that for Elliot.

Lady E has created a line of soaps that she is selling and donating the profits to Elliot's adoption fund.

Three of her recent creations are ...

Honey Oatmeal with Vitamin E, Chocolate Oatmeal and Orange Peel with Vitamin E.

What a blessing!

What an example she is to her siblings!!!

What an example she is to my children!!

What an example she is to the world!!!

What an example and encouragement to me!!!!

When I have doubts and wonder how this mountain will be moved, I let a child lead me.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

WHEW!!!!

We have been crazy busy! We were preparing for the homestudy, spending time in the hospital and living life.

Our home study is behind us. We have a few items to finish up before our social worker can finish the homestudy. We are eager to complete the list. It includes an online training, physicals for the family and a vaccination for the dog. The physicals are slow coming. Due to insurance contracts, we needed to change doctors for daddy. No less than 4 phone calls later and I believe the records were faxed this afternoon. I am hoping to schedule the physicals for us tomorrow and the kids are all going to the doctor on Saturday.

I am processing lots of paperwork. I need a proof of home ownership from our county. Simple? Nope! I was told by a super competent county worker this afternoon that the person writing the letter would also be the person notarizing it. Grrr...

We have not had a ton of fun ... just a little ... here are a few pictures from the last weeks .. enjoy!

All natural cough medicine - it is yummo!

We learned about the wonder of God's creation. We compared a camel's hooves to a horse's hooves and discovered that a camel can walk on sand without sinking.

The baby girls thought they were baby dolls. You know they are dolls!

We has a fabulous Valentine's Party.

2 families - 14 kiddos ten and under

cupcakes, strawberry icecream sundaes, lolipops, chocolate ovaltine milk

real table linens and dishes!

Miss Hollywood came to visit.

(and forgot her glasses in the backyard

which poochie promptly chewed

the arms off of - bad dog)

Big sister taught little sister how to crack eggs.

Big sister read to little brother.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

What we've been up to this week

Brotherly Love

We measured for Noah's Ark and learned that it would encompass our entire street and both cul de sacs. It was one BIG boat!

We learned about floating and tested flat bottom boats and round bottom boats. We also floated a boat with out walls and added weight to the boats. The children were facinated! -Notice the bored hands on the cheeks?

We learned about rainbows. We looked through rainbow colored glasses.

Made a rainbow appear in milk.

and refracted rays of light

Observed mixing of colors

Then finally collapsed from all that learning