Friday, November 30, 2012

The first Give-Away is coming soon!

I'm getting a little tired of the auction format, so I have decided that the quilted wall hanging that I am working on will be a Give-away. Everyone that likes this page gets an entry. If you share our page and someone else likes it and posts who sent them on this page, you will get a second one (and they get one for liking it too). And additional entries would be available by donating to our chip-in here on our blog. Sounds like fun to me!

This wall hanging quilt is going to finish up *so cute*. I cannot wait to get it finished and show it to you all. I would tell you all about it but I don't want to spoil the surprise. I will say that there is a chicken involved.

Happy Friday!!


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The most dangerous place

A family member posted one of those comical pictures on her Facebook a few days ago that read "The most dangerous place in the world is between a mom and her kids".  Wooooweee I could not agree more with that statement. Ask my kids. They have seen mama bear come out in their defense before. That's how I feel about this little one too.  When I think about the sorts of things that have come up as little hiccups in our path, I get my mama hen hackles up, and the 'just you TRY to keep me from my child' attitude. I have to admit, it's a little frightening even for me! It has been really hard with not being officially committed on Reece's Rainbow. I get a little bit riled up in my heart when I see people considering this child as a possibility to adopt. Thinking that this child that is so precious to us may end up with someone else. Not that they shouldn't consider him, nor do I have any right or claim. They have found him just as I had. I should feel ok with that, because really the sooner they are in a loving family the better. Still, the thought of it knocks the wind out of me. I've been trying really hard to not get so attached, just in case, but it is so hard not to. I know my kids and hubby are all hopelessly in love already. Ultimately I do believe that if it is God's will, it will happen. And if he has a different child in mind for our family, it will work out for God's glory. We want to be the best match for what ever child becomes a part of our family. The wait to find that out is a bit rough though. And if this is not the one, it is going to sting.

Right now the only real thing holding us back is the funding. Sales that I had expected to go well, haven't. Some things have surprised me though and went for more. Still we are fighting for every dollar and it's only the beginning. I am digging through more and more stuff to find things worth trying to sell, painting as much as I possibly can (usually around 6-8 hours a day before my eyes cross and I can no longer focus on things more than 8" from my face), and sewing for a few hours in the evening when I get a chance. This along with the normal day to day running of a small farm and a household of 7. Did I mention that the kids put up the Christmas decorations themselves? I did have to dig out the nativity set. For some reason the mantle just did not look right with a giant santa, some pine trees, a space alien, and 2 lego star wars figures complete with fighter ships. It was cute though.

Alright enough rambling for tonight. I'm exhausted! Time for bed. Good luck to everyone who bought a lotto ticket tonight. ;)



Sunday, November 25, 2012

First week fundraising totals

I am so excited. In this first week we have 40 likes to our fundraising page, which has raised just over $160! We have also been getting more clicks on our Amazon link so we are up to $4.50 from that. I have an art piece almost finished that will go up for sale shortly. Then as soon as our page gets to 50 likes I will start posting some more items, such as jewelry, silver coins, purses, bags, etc. Next week may include some quilts depending on how much sewing time I get this week. My poor sewing machine has just been trucking along as I work on finishing some Christmas presents for some unsuspecting kiddos.

Our little 10 yr old twin daughters have even been helping. They have been the search crew for loose change around the house and have been making paper ornaments. Bless their little hearts, they did them all by themselves. I need to come up with an easy craft for them to assemble that takes a bit less glue (I think they used half a bottle of white glue).

We have also been getting a lot of exciting potential support from friends, which just warms my heart. Thank you all so much!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Yay, here we go!

We are picking up a little momentum now with our auctions. Everything that has a bid will sell Sunday at midnight! What ever doesn't will be available for bids for the next week since we are still gaining exposure. There are plenty of things with low or no bids yet. They would make great Christmas or baby shower gifts too! Check out our auction at https://www.facebook.com/TheKrollClutterClearOut.

I have heard a bit of negativity surrounding Black Friday shopping. I think that is unfortunate as many of us that pinch pennies are shopping the super sales in order to save money, not just accumulate more 'stuff'. I went to Joann Fabrics yesterday and got $300 worth of quilt fabric and supplies for a mere $80. That was almost 28 yards of fabric!! Lovely soft cozy flannel and fleece to make some super cute kids quilts to sell for our fundraiser. I am so excited about it, I can hardly wait to get going on them. I have some fabrics for girls and some for boys. I also got ribbon so I can make taggy blankets out of the smaller pieces. If anyone has any size or color combos that they are looking for, please let me know. I will try to come up with some. :) I can also do names, letters, shapes, etc on them in the blocks. Either embroidered, quilted, or appliqued.

Here is a quilt I made several years ago along with a matching flannel top sheet/carry along blanket. I have more of this adorable plaid flannel as well. The top of the quilt is all minky.



The Amazon link has gotten a few hits and so far we have made about $1.50 from it. It is not a spectacular amount but I am raising God for every penny! I am so thankful to every single person that has taken the time to shop through our link. I am hoping that those who shop there for Cyber Monday will use our link as well. We went through the house and scraped up every bit of loose change into a coffee can to go in the fund. I have a table in my studio that is for the ever growing pile of stuff to sell/auction.

While most families fundraise at the end, we will have the money to finish up. We just need this start up money to get us going so that we don't have to wait until March to start the process. Let's not make this sweet child wait any longer than they have to! Thank you!!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Decluttering with a Cause!

We have too much *stuff*, and need money to start the adoption process, so in order to solve both of these problems at one time, we have having an ongoing auction on Facebook!  LOTS more stuff to come. I just have a lot of things going on so I don't always have time to add new things. I will add them in batches as I get a chance. So far we have an album of collectibles and an album of really cute little boy/neutral clothing and a scrapbook. The next album going up will probably be jewelry, but it won't happen until we have 50 likes! So share the page with your friends! :) We also have our Amazon associate shopping link there as well.

My kids are so committed to helping get this money going. They know how important this is, and want to be involved. My eldest daughter (15) is going to go through her stuff this week to see if she has anything that could go in the auction. The three youngest were experimenting with my craft paper to see what they could make and sell. I have explained to them all that Christmas is going to be a lot simpler here this year. We are doing largely homemade gifts for our children (aren't those the things they treasure most anyway?), and spending much less. I have already told my friends that we won't be doing much shopping this year, and to not expect much. And if they really want to give a gift to us, to just donate to our adoption fund as that was the only thing I wanted this year.

My wonderful hubby wants to share with everyone about the little one we are hoping to adopt and the sooner we have this money raised the sooner he can do so!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

A few inspiring books

I absolutely love to read.  But generally not fiction like most people. I want to be learning something on a constant basis. So that being said I have a bit of an addiction to books. While reading a few other blogs a couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon a few more I wanted to add to my stack of books to read. One of them was 'A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family'. What a BLESSING this book is. I cannot get enough of it. I do think it could be named 'A Sane Person's Guide to Raising Any Size Family'. This is really a great book for anyone who finds their self frazzled a midst life with littles.

The other book that I have been completely in love with is 'The Connected Child'. This one is written to address discipline and attachment in adopted children but I think that a lot of it could be tailored towards those who are caregivers, nannies, or even parents of home grown kids. I have a hard time putting it down at night, and I am sure I will be rereading it a few times.


   

The Spiritual Battle

When we finally decided 'let's do this!', I knew it would come. The opposition from the enemy and the spiritual battle that would ensue. I was a little surprised that it started so quickly. Within hours of the decision the overwhelming emotional load started piling up. I got a book in the mail that I had ordered, and while reading it for informational purposes, it filled me with irrational doubt about my abilities (much like the "What to expect when you're expecting" book filled me with doubt that anyone could have a successful pregnancy).  The whole weekend was a blur. The house was a mess, and every time I started working in one area, something would come up. Several friends had crisis' situations with relationships, kids in the hospital, etc. My mom was in the hospital recovering from neck surgery when she was diagnosed with life threatening blood clots in her lungs. I was incredibly busy, and needed about 6 clones in order to get everything done (still do!). The livestock need things, the house is still a disaster, I have work I *need* to do, fund raising I *want* to do, cleaning and decluttering I *must* do. I was exhausted. One thing or another had woken me up early in some shocking manner (phone calls, smoke detectors, etc) for several days straight. It's enough to make someone's head explode.

As I drove my 3 youngest children to the pharmacy to pick up head lice treatment (seriously!? now?) I found myself wondering if I was going to be able to do this. If adding another child, one with special needs no less, was the right thing to do. Almost as soon as that thought came to my head I also realized that *that* is exactly the enemy's purpose of all of this. To make me doubt not only our abilities as loving capable parents but our God's ability to strengthen us through all of the trials that would come. (1 Peter 5:8 "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.") In all of this I never wavered in my commitment to the child that God has placed before us. So I pulled myself up by my boot straps when I got home, and turned on the Praise & Worship music full blast through the house (and cried in the emotion of it all). I consulted my RR friends and found their experiences to be the same as mine. It makes me that much more sure that this is exactly what we need to be doing. God has big plans for all of this! (Phillipians 4:13 "I can do all things through Him (Christ) who gives me strength")

Did I mention our Suburban won't start this morning? I actually laughed and shook my head. I had planned to go to a pancake breakfast fundraiser this morning for a family that lost their house in a fire. Guess we will be staying home!

So on a more inspiring note, here is the new Audio Adrenaline song for the Hands and Feet Project in Haiti. I *LOVE* it. It's called Kings & Queens. Enjoy.





PS. All of the friends that had crisis situations are doing well now (relationship issue, 3 yr old that took some medications, and a 7 month old that had kidney surgery), and my mom is stable and should be moving out of the ICU in the next day or so. Praise God!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Let the fundraising begin!

We are almost ready commit to a little one on Reece's Rainbow! The only hold up is raising the starting $. We need enough for the deposits, homestudy, and donation. We need about $4000 to get things going. I am Putting a Chip-in and a fundraising thermometer on this blog so that people can keep track. Also don't forget about the Amazon associate link! That earns up a percentage of your purchases towards our adoption, and it costs you not one cent more than you would pay otherwise! I love shopping on Amazon for everything from cheese balls to pet medications, books, toys, and games!

Note that I am hoping to raise the majority of our adoption costs through sales of artwork. I am however giving the opportunity for those who would like to help this child come into our family. We will likely have medical expenses from the moment the child comes home, so any money we can keep in savings for that purpose will be helpful. A good portion will likely come from ta returns in the early spring. But for now things are tight, and that is why I have set up the fundraising. 

I can't tell you who we are hoping to commit to until we are set up and funded for this first part. Let that be some incentive though! The faster we get this hurdle out of the way, the sooner you find out who melted our hearts! :) My goal is to have this part funded by Dec 31st. Ready, Set, Go!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Thoughts for Thursday, and It's National Adoption Month!

I keep a picture of one of the Reece's Rainbow kids on my phone as the wallpaper, and pray for him throughout the day. Yesterday someone saw his picture and asked who's child he was. I replied that he was no one's, and a quizzical look came over their face. They asked again, explaining that it had to be someone's child. Again, I said it really was no one's child, and my heart broke. He is God's child, but he has no earthly family to love him. No one to tuck him in at night or sing silly songs to him. No one to explore the great outdoors with, or buy him the goofiest Halloween costume possible. No one to show him the love of the Creator. Oh how my heart aches for him. I wish we could be those someones.

On a more positive note, Reece's Rainbow won $10,000 in the Cultivate Wine's big giveaway today! One thousand dollars will be going into the grant funds of 10 children!! To see the kids that will benefit from the money, click here.  Also the 2012 Angel Tree list is up and the giving has begun! Each child has a Warrior that will rally for them and attempt to raise $1000 over the next 2 months for their AT child's grant fund. It also gives these kids greater exposure to help find them families. To see the Angel Tree kids, go here. Please share the list with others! I am not an official AT warrior but I encourage everyone to check out Emmitt, Wilson, and Elliot. These 3 boys are on my prayer list. I would LOVE for them to find their families by the end of 2012! Emmitt especially as he is nearing the age when he will no longer be able to be adopted into the USA (16 yrs is the cut off). He will be 15 in Jan. 

And one last thing.. it is National Adoption month!! Yay!