Evan's Easter Fundraiser

A very cool thing has happened this month!

I saw another adoptive mom share about how her 10 year old son wanted to go with his family to China when they went to pick-up their new child/sibling.  He felt it was important to be there for that moment and be with his family for that trip. His parents had told him how they weren't sure they could take him with because of the added expenses.  So he decided he'd do some odd jobs and sell some things to raise money to be able to go.  He did just that.  Then, not only did he do that, but he decided he wanted to help other kids who wanted to go with their families to meet and bring home their new sibling.  He's been doing odd jobs and selling more things to raise money to help other kids. In doing so, he has come up with a $500 grant that he will be giving out on Easter Sunday to one lucky child.  Each child who applies had to write his/her own essay answering a few questions about themselves, their new sibling to be, why they want to go with their parents, and what they have been doing to help raise funds to be able to go.  Evan has wanted to go with us so badly and he is old enough to be able to write down his thoughts...so he applied!   He decided he would make some Easter related goods, with the help of his mom, to sell to raise some funds to be able to go to China.  With that said, Evan is selling some homemade playdough carrots for Easter basket gifts for local friends.  

There are two options available.  

*The first is a rather large chunk of orange play dough in the shape of a carrot.  It comes in a plastic bag with a fake leaf and some curly green ribbon.  It looks similar to this photo below, but slightly different. This option will cost $5.

**The second option is a much smaller chunk of orange play dough in a small carrot-shaped container with a lid.  This option will cost $3.

Evan is also selling Word Family Eggs for 25 cents each.  You can buy as many or as few as you'd like and you can also choose the word family/families of your choice.  EX:  -at -am -an -ap -op -ip -it -en -et -ut -un   These will make great educational Easter basket goodies for a child ages 4K-first grade.  You could even fill them with candy or stickers if you wanted!

The last item Evan is working on are Easter eggs to help kids practice blending and segmenting 3-letter CVC words.  Inside the egg will be a picture of an object and three pieces of paper, each with one letter on them. Your child will take them out and build the word.  This is also great for kids in 4K-first grade, depending on the level of the child.  

These will cost 50 cents each and you can choose the words you'd like or we can choose for you. 

You can buy as few or as many as you'd like.  

Orders need to be in by Friday at the latest in order to make sure you receive them before Easter!

Lots of Updates

Wow- time has flown since I posted last and we've been beyond busy, that's for sure!   In February, we had a Jamberry nail wraps fundraiser which raised $250 to go towards our matching grant with Brittany's Hope Foundation.  A big thank you to our consultant, Kate Dvorak, and to everyone who purchased some Jamberry wraps!!   Also in February we had a huge online auction on Facebook.  It was a big undertaking but turned out to be a HUGE success!   We raised approximately $3,000 for our matching grant- we were in awe!  All the items have been delivered or shipped and received.  A huge thank you to the MANY people who donated services, products, handmade items, or items they had lying around their house and to the MANY people who bid on the 117 items we had in our auction.  I would also like to thank my friend Mandy for not only donating and bidding, but for her incredible support leading up to the auction, during the auction, and after the auction, as well as for her helping me to moderate the page.   We had no idea what to expect with the auction, but our results blew us away.  Also in February and in March, we have been selling handmade paper bracelets made in Haiti.  We had about 150 bracelets to sell and we have sold them all...minus two that need to be delivered to a local friend!   It was such a rewarding experience to write a $750 check to the Apparent Project- half of what we made on the bracelets went back to the men and women who make them to help them earn a living and provide for their families.  The other $750 is going toward our matching grant and you want to know the best part....our matching grant is now completed- we met our goal!  God is so good and faithful!  Thank you so much to some friends who wanted to make a direct donation to Brittany's Hope on behalf of our family- we are blessed by your support and your heart for the fatherless.  The amount we raised and had matched for our Brittany's Hope grant can cover our daughter's orphanage donation, which ranges between $5,500-$6,000.  That money goes to helping support the orphanage and the children in their care.  It also leaves us with a little extra to pay for some other fees.  It cost close to $1,000 to have all of our adoption dossier documents state certified and authenticated at the Chinese consulate.  We also had a very large chunk of money due to our agency before our dossier was able to be submitted to China.

And on that note...as of 3-18-15, we were officially Dossier to China (DTC).  Our dossier was mailed out via Fed Ex on Monday, 3-16-15. Our agency received it on 3-17 but not soon enough to get it turned out that day.  On 3-18 it left via DHL and on Monday, 3-23, it was signed for by someone in China.  We are now waiting to hear of our Log-in Date (LID).  Once we have that, the count begins for our wait for our Letter of Approval (LOA).  That is the big unknown. It can take as short as 25 days and as long as 180 days.  Average seems to always be somewhere around 50-70 or so days.  Once you have your LOA, you can better predict when you will travel.  Travel is almost always 2-3 months from that point, with 2.5 being fairly accurate.  We are really hoping for August travel so we can be home before school starts back up.  That would mean we'd need our LOA in May or very early June at the latest.  We will see what happens.

One BIG step closer to our sweet girl!

Fundraiser and Paperwork Update

Our documents are currently out of our hands.  They are being state certified.  Once we receive them back, we will send them off to be authenticated.  Because of side jobs that are not within Wisconsin, we have had some issues as far as extra steps go with getting our documents state certified and possibly will have some issues with using the Chicago consulate to get them authenticated...sigh. Prayers for answers and for timeliness in this process.  We are so anxious to get our documents certified and authenticated so they can go to our agency and we can have our dossier sent off to China.

As for a fundraising update:   Our Jamberry nails party is closing this evening and it has been a huge success!  We will have raised close to $250!   A huge thank you to Kate for allowing us this opportunity and for all the hard work she put in and a huge thank you to everyone who ordered!!   This money will cover our state certification and we'll have a bit leftover to be put towards our authentication of our documents as well.

We received our bracelets from the Apparent Project in the mail this weekend!  We have 4-6 weeks to sell 150 bracelets.  These amazing bracelets are stretchy so they fit just about any size wrist and each one is different from the next.  They are handmade by artisans in Haiti and they have a note attached to them with a picture and short story of the person who made them.  The cost will be $10.  $5 of that will go directly back to the Apparent Project and 100% of that $5 will go directly to these workers to help them provide for their families and to help them to be able to keep their children. I think this organization is incredible!   The other $5 will go directly to us to help us bring our little girl home.  I love that 100% of cost of these bracelets will be going towards two worthy causes and not to overhead or administrative fees.   If you are local, I plan to carry a bag of bracelets around with me wherever I go the next four to six weeks.  We will accept cash or check.    If you are not local and you'd like to participate in this fundraiser, you can send us a check and then we'll mail out your bracelet(s) or you can pay by paypal: el_lauren@yahoo.com and we'll mail you your bracelet(s). Please add on $2.50 for shipping.  The shipping cost will not change whether you buy 1 bracelet or 10 bracelets.    Our goal is to sell all 150 of these bracelets in the next four to six weeks!   That would be $750 for families in Haiti and $750 to help us bring our little girl home.  How awesome is that!?!?

The last update is on our Facebook Adoption Auction.  We've been receiving a lot of great items.  Most of them have been added to the auction page on Facebook, which you can see here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1393662450936371/
I still have a handful of things we've received in the last few days to add and items are still coming in! The auction will begin on this coming Sunday morning, February 15th, at 8 a.m. CST and it will end on Saturday, February 21st at 8 p.m. CST.  You can check-out all the items any time (remember that more will be added), but please refrain from bidding until this Sunday morning.  All items have a starting bid and we ask that bids increase by at least $1.  Some items have a shipping cost if you are not local and some items will be shipped directly by the donor to the winner.   Winners can pay by cash (if local), check, or Paypal.  Items will be shipped once it has been paid for.  We hope this auction is a huge success and we thank all of you who have been so kind to donate an item or many items!  You are amazing!

A Great Surprise!

So we expected to get our I-800A approval in the mail in about 7-10 days.  Nothing beats getting a document like that in the mail sooner than expected!  I opened the mailbox today and flipped through the mail to see an envelope from USCIS!  Only one thing that could be!!!!!

OUR I-800A Approval Notice came TODAY!  What a great day it was!  

One step closer to our little girl!

I hope to have our documents in the mail tomorrow to be certified in Madison and then on to Chicago to be authenticated.  Can't wait to have this dossier out of MY hands and into my agency's hands and off to China!  Getting closer!!!

Fundraiser Update!

I've got a bunch of updates on fundraisers we are either just starting or will soon be starting!

1.  Jamberry Nails Online Fundraiser- a friend of Rick's contacted me recently about setting up an online party for us and it began today and ends on February 7th!  20% of all orders before tax will go towards our adoption expenses!

Here's a little bit about the company from their website:
The story of Jamberry Nails begins with three sisters who possess distinct personal tastes, but share a love for style. After an expensive afternoon together at the nail salon, Lyndsey, Christy and Keri vowed to find a simpler, more cost effective way to keep their hands looking polished, while still spending time together. After lots of trial and error, the proprietary nail wraps of Jamberry Nails launched in late 2010. The DIY, at-home application and incredible variety of designs caught on quickly and sales soared. A new era of nail art was born. Gone are the days of nails that chip and flake after only a few days! Gone are the days of the single colored manicure. Gone are the mani/pedis that take all afternoon and most of your cash too! Jamberry nail wraps arm you with style and confidence while demanding very little of your time or money. 
You can find the online event here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/829711337088225/
And Kate's webpage is located here:  http://katedvorak.jamberrynails.net/shop


2.  Online Auction-  We are in the midst of collecting donations for an online Facebook auction.  Our auction will begin on Sunday, February 15th at 8 a.m. CST and will end on Saturday, February 21st at 8 p.m. CST.   I will be posting the items/services we have been gifted between now and February 14th, but we ask that bidders wait to bid on the items until the auction formally begins on February 15th.  We're getting some really great things so definitely be watching the page and come back to bid Feb. 15th-21st!   Here is the link to our Facebook Auction:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1393662450936371/
Thank you to all of our family members and friends who have already donated items/services and to those who will be!  We are so thankful for you!

3.  Apparent Project Bracelets- I mentioned these in our last blog post.  I have put in an order for 150 bracelets.  I am waiting to receive them, but when they arrive (hopefully soon) I will be looking to sell them quickly!  They will be $10.  Half of that will go towards our adoption and half will go to helping the people of Haiti (see my last blog post for a lot more info).  I love this fundraiser because it helps two great causes!   Every bracelet will have a different look.

We are waiting on our I-800A approval- hoping for that to arrive in the next 7 to 10 days.  From there, our documents will go on to get certified and authenticated and then off to our agency so they can be sent to China!   We hope to have a name announcement soon...we are close, but there is a reason we are waiting to announce...stay tuned. 

One Step Closer!

This morning we had our fingerprinting appointment in Milwaukee!

Our scheduled time was 8 a.m.  Good thing they are okay with late arrivals!  Between trying to get everyone ready for nana to take the 6 oldest to school and get the baby and Jayce up and out the door and dropped off at Rick's parents and to not so great weather and not so fun traffic, we ended up being about 20-25 minutes late.  We got it done though and that was a relief!  The ladies were amazed that we were going to China for our 9th child and that we had adopted 3 times already.  And the timing of us leaving couldn't have been any better.  We had just enough time to pick up the boys at grandma and grandpa's and get to Lena's school to pick her up from pre-school.  And we got to eat lunch with dad before he had to head back to work, which was an added bonus!

Now we wait for the approval, which hopefully will be a month or less.  That approval notice is the last document we are waiting for.  Once we have it, we will send off many of our important papers to Madison to get state certified and then on to Chicago to get authenticated at the embassy.  Then they finally go to our agency who ships them to China....that is a huge step and one we look forward to (minus the huge chunk of money that is due at the stage).   I've been applying for grants and have many more to apply for.  Grant applications are like a part-time job, but are so worth the investment.  Grant organizations are a HUGE help to families like ours who want to do God's work and grow our family through the wonderful blessing of adoption but need a little help in making the financial part come together to get there and back.

Between now and our dossier going to China, we have a few things going on!  We're hoping to hear soon about a matching grant we applied for.  A wonderful friend and community member is having an indoor rummage sale for us this Saturday!  What a blessing!   I've ordered 150 bracelets from the Apparent Project to sell.  Every bracelet is handmade by an artisan in Haiti who is trying to bring hope to their families, employing themselves for a brighter future and earning the means to pay for their children's food, shelter, and education.  The Apparent Project artisans use discarded materials to create beautiful 'upcycled' pieces of jewelry.  This project helps create less orphans, less crime, less garbage, and so much more!

I love this fundraiser because when someone buys a bracelet, they are helping Apparent Project artisans earn money to feed, shelter, and educate their families AND are helping us to bring home our daughter....how amazing!   For more information on this organization, go here: http://www.apparentproject.org/    And if we get that matching grant, the money we earn can be put towards the matching grant and be DOUBLED!   More information to come once the bracelets arrive...stay tuned!  

And last, we are going to try hosting an online Facebook Adoption Auction....hopefully sometime in February.  We are currently looking for donations.  Anything will work, but we're hoping to gather about 100 items that are new or unused within the next couple of weeks.  If you or someone you know has a home-based business and would be willing to donate an item or two, please let us know. If you are crafty and could make something homemade, awesome!   We don't want you to feel like you have to go out and buy something to donate.  Let's face it...most of us have new or unused things we aren't using sitting around our homes.  If you are local, we can get the donation from you.  If you are not local, you can either mail the donation to us or you can hold off and just send us a picture or two and then mail it directly to the winner once the winners are announced.  We've helped support other adoptive families' online auctions- they are fun and full of neat items.  Thank you for considering a donation and be watching for me to share our Facebook page for the actual auction event once we're ready!  Another fundraiser that can also be used to fulfill a matching grant, pending we receive one.

So that's where we are at...we're one step closer to our little girl and as busy as ever!  As always, we appreciate your support and your prayers!

Adoption Update!

We've been busy working on paperwork and waiting on our home study to be completed by our social worker, then approved by our placing agency, and signed off on by the director of our home study agency.  That all happened just before Christmas so we were able to put our home study and    I-800A application in the mail on the morning of Christmas Eve!  Today we got our receipt via email from immigration.  We should get the actual receipt in the mail next week and then hopefully an appointment date for fingerprinting soon after that.   Once we get finger-printed (likely towards the end of January or early February...depending on when our date is), we'll wait for the approval for those.  Once we have that approval, we can send all of our documents to our state capitol to be authenticated and then to the Chinese Embassy in Chicago for certification.  Once that process is done, we will send off our entire dossier (all the adoption paperwork) to our placing agency.  They check it over and send it off to China.  At that point you are considered to be DTC (Dossier To China).  There are many more steps after that, but getting to that step will be a huge relief!   People often ask when our little girl will be home or when we'll travel.  It's still too early to tell, but our best guess is July or August at this point.  There are a couple steps that make it a bit hard to predict from this point, but that's our guess.

We've also been busy doing some Hague training online.  We had done 12 hours of it for Lena's adoption and were lucky to not have to do it for Reid's adoption because our adoptions were back-to-back.  We learned this time that even though we met our state requirements, the Hague training is only good for two years so we had to do another 12 hour program because we were a little over two years.

Our agency's amazing guide in China visited our daughter's orphanage this week!  He got us four new pictures and a couple short video links.  So without further ado, there is no better way to end a post than to share new pictures. :)

She doesn't look very happy, but she sure is beautiful and it looks like her foster family is spoiling her!  Look at her in that white fluffy coat and cute purple scarf with that long hair!  We hope she got our care package we sent with her former foster brother's family.  Celebrating the holidays is always bittersweet.  We can't wait to have her home next year for this special time!

And the quick video links:

http://youtu.be/awHR0fSQ5kc

http://youtu.be/GMX-OVV27Hc

We're working hard to get to you sweet one!