Hope Floats- Kindermourn

When things are good, they are really really good, and it is hard to remember a time when we looked up at heaven and asked, "WHY ME, GOD?"

Because what seemed like a curse...Down syndrome...really turned out not to be.  Of course, I still wonder today about what things would be like if Chase didn't have that 47th chromosome.  Would he be riding his two wheel bike outside instead of occasionally sitting on his Big Wheels, his little legs still a bit too short to pedal?  Would he be potty trained?  Would I not have to mix a cocktail of drugs and vitamins into his smoothie every morning?  Would it be easier to brush his teeth, give him medicine, take him to the mall, talk to him, find out if he didn't feel well, throw a ball, catch a ball, put him in his carseat, sing his ABC's, etc, etc, etc, etc....?!?!?

But certain events put everything into perspective.  My friend Pam mourned the one year anniversary of her baby's passing last week.  Evin was only 8 months old when he died.  He was the same age as Gavin.  And he had Down syndrome.  There is not a day that goes by that she doesn't miss her sweet boy.

So every time I start to think about the mess that Chase made that I don't want to clean up, or the frustration starts to boil because I don't know what he is trying to tell me...I think about how lucky I am that I have the privilege of cleaning that mess, or the time to even BE frustrated because my child is trying to tell me something.

My "WHY ME GOD" doesn't really amount to anything compared to Pam's "WHY ME?!"

All this, I have to tell you, because on Sunday, an organization called Kindermourn here in Charlotte is hosting it's annual Hope Floats Duck Race.  It raises money for the support of parents dealing with a death of a child. You can adopt a duck for $5, or a Quack Pack for $25, or a Flock for $50, that will race on Sunday afternoon (April 3rd).  Not only will you be supporting Pam and Evin, but if one of your ducks wins, you could win $5,000!!!  (That has ADOPTION FUND written all over it, doesn't it?!?)

Support Kindermourn, maybe win $5K, and then shoot some back our way to help bring Danil home :)  Everyone wins!!!

So if you have a couple of extra dollars, go here and adopt a duck for Evin's Angels (you can drop down and adopt for his team).  Go do it now!  You don't even have to be there on Sunday to watch (but if you can, I hear it is a good time!)

Patterson Farms Birthday Party Giveaway!

My lovely friend, Jill (of Coopie, Inc) tracked down this awesome package from Patterson Farms.  

Spread the word to all your Chalotte-ish based people that we have a birthday party package that we are giving away!!

Party Package includes:
*Birthday party for up to 16 people at Patterson Farm Market and Tours 
*16 dinner plates and napkins
*16 dessert plates and napkins
*16 cups
*16 invitations
*16 thank you notes
*6 barnyard candles
*1 barnyard lunch chest

All the above items are a sweet barnyard theme...I love it so much, I am seriously contemplating on buying my own giveaway entries so we can have Chase's 4th birthday party there!!

This is such a great giveaway- you don't have to track down anything else for your little one's special day.  We've had playgroups here at the farm (I believe the last one was during strawberry season) and are planning our Roots and Shoots summer picnic there.

If you want a chance to win this Patterson Farms Birthday Party Package-- you need to buy an entry (or two or three or fifty).  Entries are priced as follows:
1 entry- $5
3 entries- $10
7 entries- $20
16 entries- $40
25 entries- $50


You can buy your entries through the Patterson Farm Giveaway Chipin to the left, OR send a check to Reece's Rainbow (link on left) OR send us a personal check.  If you do NOT use the Patterson Farms chipin, please leave a comment on THIS post telling me how many entries you bought so that I can keep track of them!


WINNER WILL BE DRAWN AT 8:30PM SATURDAY APRIL 2ND.


A special shout out to Michelle Patterson for providing us with this gift, and for assembling the super cute basket and all the goodies that it came with.  Thank you for being so generous, not only for Danil and our family, but for reaching out to other groups who support people with special needs.


Make sure that you stop by their Facebook page and see what they are up to.

Patterson Farm Market & Tours, Inc.10390 Caldwell Road
Mount Ulla, NC 28125

Home Study Review

We have all our home study paperwork in, and I just reviewed the draft copy of our completed home study!  Our poor social worker is on vacation this week, and I am hounding her to get everything completed so I can send out our I600A ASAP!  She is a saint.

Thanks, Levacy :)

Sense of Urgency in Ukraine

Stole this from another blog, but I can't even write these words myself.  I don't want to admit that there is a possibility of us not reaching Danil in time, so I'll let Debbie tell it to you here.

We are being diligent in our work.  We are doing everything that we can to expedite the process.  We are prayerful, obedient, and hopeful in our mission to bring him home.

You can pray with us, too.  Where many gather, He is there.

4 Boys

This weekend was the giant consignment sale that many friends and some strangers donated items for me to tag and consign to go towards Danil's fund.

After I finished tagging everything at the last minute that Dawn (my consignment sale goddess) didn't do (I gave her SEVEN trash bags full of stuff, and she happily tagged it and dropped it off for me!!) We headed over to the church to distribute our stuff.

And by "we" I mean my FULL minivan and Tiffany's FULL minivan.  Ian and the Larsen girls made great runners- Tiffany stayed out at the cars and handed them armfuls of items with directions on where to drop them. They were partial to the loads that needed to go upstairs because then they got to ride the elevator by themselves.

On Friday, I got to shop the seller sale.  I hit this sale twice a year and get most of the kids wardrobes there.  With all the hand-me-downs that we get, I really only have to supplement a little according to seasons, but I always can stock up on things for a great price.

But the coolest thing about this sale (and the point of this really drawn out story) is that I got to shop not for just 3 boys, but for all 4 of my boys!  AND for the first time, I got to use the phrase "I have 4 boys" in regular conversation.  The cashier commented on the amount of shoes I was buying (Ok, it was 6 pairs, but they were only like $2 each!!) and I said, "Well, I have 4 boys!"  And it felt totally normal!  I didn't elaborate about our adoption, didn't feel the need to explain that I have 3 biological boys and one more who lives half way around the world from us.

I just have 4 boys and that's it.

Feels good.

Another Way to Donate :) -From Grace

I'm totally not trying to bombard you all with repeated requests for money!!  We just have several people who have offered ways to fund raise, and, well, let's face it- we need it!  I of course don't expect everyone to participate in every fund raiser (unless it is on those simple easy ones where you only have to LIKE FB pages- I expect everyone to do that and then expect your friends and their friends to do it!!).  I'm just throwing everything out there that I can, in the hopes that there will be something for everyone that will be beneficial or easy to do.  Does that make sense?

ALSO- this blog is here to give other adopting families ideas on how they can jump into fund raising, and not to mention we LOVE sharing our story and always are praying that even one more family will find their calling as the next forever family for another child with disabilities.

Anyway.

Not that that is out of the way:

We have another opportunity for you to help us bring Danil home!!  LOL.

My friend, Grace, who was with me via email after Chase was born and such an incredible voice of support and a fantastic sounding board, has put the following offer on the table:

For those of you who love Amway products, she is donating all her proceeds from her sales between TODAY March 13th and next Sunday, March 20th.  There are about a billion products that you can order from her online, but she especially loves this one:


From Grace:  Not sure how to promote this without seeming big headed or sounding like I am only offering 1 item BUT as you know, I struggled with my weight for so long! With kicking my own butt in the gym and beginning to take *Slimmetry daily-I have lost 100 lbs-kept it off and live a very active athletic lifestyle now.With that said if I can be example to drive sales and you can think of someway to word that-for every bottle of Slimmetry sold it would be $16.00 donated. They retail for $39.90 which is competitive to the other weight loss pills such as hydroxycut and quicktrim.

But- any and all products are eligible for her offer this week, so if you don't already have a favorite and want to browse, you can go here and do so (you can also place your order from there online- so easy!).

Thank you, Grace!!!

Acorns

I want to document this, because I want Danil to know some day how much we overcame to bring him home.  I want him to see the village that gathered together to get him where he belongs.

My neighbor, Tiffany, has 2 little amazing, innovative, and selfless little girls.  Tiff and her family are so inspirational- genuine, funny, and giving.  I love that they are right next door to me- it is like a little lesson in living a Christ-like life every time I go over to borrow a cup of sugar.

Read on her blog about what her girls decided to do to help raise money for Danil.

JuicePlus+ Fundraiser

Many of you know that I'm a JuicePlus Distributor, and have nothing but good things to say about their products.   Everyone in our family takes JuicePlus+ daily; Bryan and I take the capsules, the boys all take the capsules most days in their smoothies, and the gummies on non-smoothie days.  Bryan and I both sneak the gummies when we want something sweet and can't find any brownies in the house.  I use the JP+ Complete to make smoothies for myself.

Anyway.  It is a great plant-based nutritional supplement that bridges the gap between how many servings of fruits and veggies we should be eating for optimal health, and how many we actually eat.  It's a dream come true for my picky pants eaters, and along with the enzymes and probiotics also included in the capsules, it has helped with Chase's digestive issues.

Long story short:  I don't really push it, I don't sell it to my family and friends...I do it for my family, and anyone else who wants to jump aboard is welcomed to.

But I was inspired with a great idea!  If any of you want to try it, and haven't done so yet, and needed an excuse to do it, here it is:

100% of my profits from now until we get Danil home will go to our adoption fund.

It gives you a chance to try our JP+ for your family, no strings attached.  You don't have to order a year's worth or a million dollars of product.  I won't hound you for a renewal, I promise :)

If you are interested in learning more about JP+, from the nutritional studies, to endorsements from Dr. Sears and Bear Gryllis, to double blind 3rd party studies, to cancer prevention, pregnancy health, and heart health, go here and check it out.  You can read all the information and order from here.  You can also contact me for more info and I can walk you through it and tell you more about the products.

[UPDATE!] Ballantyne Home Staging, Metro Greenscape, & The AdSpot!

Hey friends!

We have another creative fund raiser for you.  No money out of your pocket, I promise.

Bryan has been involved in the Ballantyne Business Networking International for the last 3 years.  He's met lots of great business contacts, and it has been fantastic for his career, but he's also met several good friends.

Which brings me to this incredible offer from Ballantyne Home Staging and Metro Greenscape, two local Charlotte-based companies, run by two very awesome people. [Update!] The Adspot has taken up the challenge now too!

Carol of Ballantyne Home Staging put out a challenge:  for every person who LIKES her business page on FB, she will donate $1, with the goal being one THOUSAND new likes

Darin of Metro Greenscape is meeting her challenge, and pushing the goal to 3,000 new LIKES on his page. Peg with The Adspot also took up the challenge and is offering to donate up to $1000! These are the best people and businesses in Charlotte!

That's a possible $5,000 towards our goal, which, BTW we only need $12,000 more to reach (we've already raised $13,000, everyone!!)

Here's the urgency, though.  Now that we have our prints back, we have probably about 60 days before we need to mail our dossier, buy plane tickets and have the check in hand to present to our team in Eastern Europe. That's not a lot of time.

So we need your help.

It would be BEST if we could get as many Charlotte area friends/neighbors/family members or simply strangers willing to help out to LIKE the following two pages- we want this to be beneficial to Carol and Darrin, as well :)

1- Carol Schulenburg, Ballantyne Home Staging

2- Darin Brockelbank, Metro Greenscape

3- Peg Casey, The AdSpot

So, go, LIKE them, and spread the word to your local contacts, and have THEM spread the word.  Think of it as one of those Multi-Level Marketing scams, but without the pressure to buy anything..if you tell 10 friends, and  THEY tell 10 friends, and THEY tell 10 friends...you get it.  It would take NO time at all!

(...and while you are at it, browse their pages!  They all do incredible work!)

In case you haven't heard...

Bryan and I got our FBI Clearances back today!!!!

(and it they showed no criminal activity- phew!)

That means that we can officially close out our home study now AND then mail in our i600a form to immigration when we get our home study finalized!!

And that means that when we get our i600a form back (as a 171h form, I believe...?) we can send our dossier over to Eastern Europe.

Yessirree!  We are moving right along again!!

OH- and tonight Bryan, Ian and I, and the entire Larsen family, and my awesome friend Dawn, distributed about one million items to the consignment sale at Central United Methodist Church of Monroe.  That means that I no longer have a used children's boutique in my living room and dining room, and that we are going to make a bunch of money on the donated items from our friends to put toward our adoption fund this Saturday.

Thanks to Becca, Gaelyn, Allison, Dawn, Tracey, Michelle, Vicki, Erin, and Lynne for giving us your gently used items, which you totally could have consigned yourself and used the proceeds for your own families, but gave to us in our quest to add to ours.  Special thanks to Dawn and Becca who also hung and tagged their items plus some, a job that makes me insane, as evidenced by my downward spiral into consignment tagging mania this afternoon.  Thanks also goes out to my mom, who watched all the children today while I ran around with safety pins, labels, permanent marker and packing tape for 4 hours today (plus 3 hours to take Chase to the ENT).

This is just more evidence showing that this is not just about what we are doing as a family, but how we can do great things as we are lifted up by those surrounding us.  You all rock.

Oh, and did I mention...?

...that you all helped Megan WIN her photo contest with THIS image!!?

Thanks, guys.  More than a HUNDRED of you voted for us, and Megan and Aric donated $5 for each vote to Danil (and would have regardless of the win!).

It's amazing to see the creative solutions we are finding to fund Danil's trip home...and also to see the amount of support that we are getting from family and friends and friends of friends...even if I did have to instant message you repeatedly and ask you to harass your own FB friends for our cause.  Loveyoubunches!!

Stupid Day

You know, I had a kind of weird, roller coaster-y stupid stressful day.  And at the end of it, I was grouchy and tired and generally in a rotten mood.

But I had time for a heart to heart with my Ian, and later,  for wine and cupcakes with the Anne to my Diana, and was able to step back and see the big picture for what it is.

We are so blessed.  I am very much happy.  My husband relentlessly does things for the betterment of our family.  My kids are healthy.  We have an incredible goal that we are making a reality, and this time next year, Danil will be home with us.

Life is indeed good.  And so are triple chocolate cupcakes.

Progress Report

Like an adoption report card:

Paperwork:  A for effort, C for the FBI fingerprint check that is STILL holding us up.  Everything we can do to move forward hinges on this clearance to come back!!  I go out to the mailbox every day with baited breath...and nothing.  Ah, well.  Keep waiting.

Fund Raising: A+  We are officially PAST the half-way mark to reach our goal of $25,000!!!  Can you believe it?  We totally can't.  Well, we can, honestly.  Because when we were praying about the decision to commit to Danil, originally the amount of money it would take totally scared Bryan us.  I'm giving it up as a God thing...I knew that the money wouldn't be an obstacle.  We are getting creative with our fund raising and seeing our efforts pay off!

Inside scoop:  Although the 5K is probably off the table for this year (but may make an appearance next year for the next family in our area who is going to adopt), we still have a poker tournament, a bar crawl, the consignment sale, another blog auction, Megan's Facebook Photo contest, some restaurant nights, and a birthday party for Danil coming up.  I have total faith that we will make our goal, and won't have to worry about money, so much as getting him home and getting him loved :)

Auction Items Shipped:  Um, D-?  We have some farmed out to our local peeps, but honestly, I am so sorry.  I meant to get them out this weekend, but our family was SLAMMED by the stomach bug.  We haven't left been able to leave the house, much less the couch, in quite a few days.  I promise to get things out this week!!

Anticipation:  A+  I have Danil's photos framed around the house now- it's so awesome to see his little face looking back at me.  I have a photo of each of the kids on my dresser, and he has a rightful place right there, now, too.

Oh- and Bryan was talking to Ian tonight at dinner, and was telling him how cool it was to grow up with brothers (Ian has decided that Gavin is the.most.annoying.brother.EVER) and that he actually grew up with 3 brothers himself...and how awesome it is that Ian will grow up with 3 brothers, too!?  Ian then named off all his brothers...Chase, Gavin, and Danil.  Love it.  He is already a part of our family and he has no idea.

Easiest Fund Raiser EVER. Please please please help! No money, no time needed!

Ok-this is the easiest way you can help us raise money to bring Danil home.  Read on, please please please!

My cousin (in-law, but I don't really count that 'cause I like her so much!) Megan, is an awesome photographer.  She recently went to a fun photography convention-conference thing in Vegas, and while she was there, entered into this fun contest- the Laying Down Game.

Basically, everyone took a bunch of pictures of themselves laying face down in creative places, and people vote for their favorites.  She is right now in SECOND PLACE and almost into the $1000 prize money...BUT it ends tomorrow morning (3/7) and she needs some more votes!

SO- here's where you come in.  Megan is offering a $5 donation for Danil's adoption fund  for every LIKE that she gets from you guys on her photo!!  (Can I get a Woot! Woot!?!?)

It will take you 3 minutes to do this, and to spread the word to your Facebook friends.  Not that I want Megan to go broke over this...but, hey, if it helps us get Danil home....?!  ;)

1.  So, go HERE and LIKE Kevin Kubotu Photographer on FB.

2.  Then LIKE for THIS IMAGE in the Laying Down Game contest.

I'm going to post this in a thousand different places, so you will no doubt be sick of hearing about it soon.  Advance apologies for that.  Sorry, folks!  $5 is $5!!

Madd iPad2 Giveaway!

Welcome to our official Madd iPad 2 Giveaway! We figured that since we used two "D"s in our blog address, and we have two "D"s in our last name that we should not do an iPad giveaway but instead an iPad 2 giveaway!!

Not familiar with the iPad 2? Here are some details:

64Gb WiFi Model

Dual Core 1Ghz Processor

Lighter than the original iPad

Much better grip than the original iPad

Thinner than the original iPad

2 cameras, 1 on the front, 1 on the back!

You all know (or maybe you don't and this is your first time to our blog) that we are trying to adopt a little boy from Eastern Europe. His name is Danil. He is 3. He also has Down syndrome.  Danil needs a family with 3 brothers, a bed with warm blankets, a Mom and a Dad to hug him and hold him and give him every opportunity in life.

You do not have to adopt a child to make a difference!  We know that not everyone is ready to take a child into their homes, AND international adoption is very expensive- travel costs alone could run us about $9000. SO- we will provide the home and the hearts if you all will help us get over there.

If you make a donation to us to help cover the costs we will put you in a drawing for a free iPad 2! 

$10= 1 entry
$25= 3 entries
$50= 8 entries
$100= 20 entries
$150= 35 entries
$300= 80 entries!!!!

How to donate:

Option 1

Click on the iPad2 Chip In link to the right of this post. You can pay with Paypal this way!

Option 2

For larger, tax deductible donations click on the Reece's Rainbow button to the right. Please let us know when you make a donation there and the amount, we do not get alerted to donations done thru Reece's Rainbow.

Option 3

Mail or hand us cash or a check. Please send us a message on Facebook to get our address.

BUT WAIT!  There is MORE!!

$50 Giveaway!

We need to spread awareness for both Reece's Rainbow, the International Adoption Ministry that located Danil, and about 300 other children that desperately need homes, but we also need help spreading the word about this giveaway. 

We are giving away a $50 Target gift card if you help spread the Maddness!!  

Every person, whether or not they have donated to the iPad giveaway, can earn up to TWO ENTRIES PER DAY by posting a link to this give-away on their blog and/or FaceBook!  Yep, you could get $50 for posting a link :)  So… leave a comment here with a link to your blog post or letting us know you posted it on FB for EACH TIME that you do!  (Winner’s links will be verified).  Encourage your friends to post as well!  (thank you Cornish Family for the idea!)

We will be announcing the winner of the 64Gb iPad 2 on April 3rd.  That just so happens to be the same day that we are going to be celebrating Danil's 4th Birthday.  If you plan to come to Danil's birthday party, your birthday gifts will also count in the iPad 2 giveaway.

Thank you everyone for all of your support. We could not do this alone!

Fingerprint FAIL

Not really.

I had a day where everything kind of went wrong.  Little things, punctuated by Chase and Gavin still suffering from the stomach virus...it was just disheartening.

But I had a letter from the post office to pick up a letter, and I thought FOR SURE it was our FBI fingerprints coming back, which means we can complete our home study and send in our i600a to Immigration.

So I arranged to have Tiffany watch my kids while I ran to the post office on my special errand, waited in line, and then presented my ticket to the lady.  And she promptly told me that it was at a different location.  Crap.  Of course it is.

So I went to the other location, working against the clock because I also had to pick up the kids from school...and I made it there and presented my ticket...only to get a certified letter from our Homeowners Association notifying us that our trampoline is in violation of the covenants.

Awesome.

Coming up:  a cup of coffee and 4 chocolate chip cookies.

iPad (2?) Giveaway Coming SOON!

While you are all here checking your auction items, we wanted to let you know about our next fundraiser:

an iPad(2?) giveaway!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned for more details coming this week!