SDA Appointment? Not Yet.

I am sorry to inform you that we still have not received a date for our SDA appointment. I know, I am just as surprised as you are. This is a little disappointing, as I really believed we would have had it by the end of this week. Hopefully, this time next week I will have a date to announce. I have been so good by not checking email every three minutes, but instead have been busying myself with errands to get ready for our trip. As soon as I walk in the front door, I'm asking my daughters (ok, maybe it has become pestering) if I received any emails I should know about, but then I follow that up by saying, "Of course not, you would have texted me if there were".

Our state-side facilitator did email me on Nov. 3 to let me know that she has been contacting the facilitators in the country-which-cannot-be-named daily, asking about getting our appointment date and to check to see if anything is wrong with our paperwork (ahhh, that thought never even entered my mind!). I received another email today and the good news is that there is nothing wrong with our dossier or Aly's paperwork, it is just a matter of the SDA scheduling an appointment (or not as the case may be). And so, we continue to wait (I'm getting really good). I did think it was interesting that we were asked if we would be ok if we do not get much notice.... ummmm yes! We want to get there ASAP! If the Browning family had 9 days notice of their appointment, I think we could handle the same. It's amazing how I am beginning to miss this cute little someone I have never even met. It kind of reminds me of when I was expecting my girls. The closer I got to my due date, the more I couldn't wait to meet the latest member of our family. Like waiting for my other girls (which thankfully only lasted nine months) I have prepared a room for Aly, shopped for clothes for her and even have her Christmas presents purchased. Now, I am only missing one thing... Aly!

Good news to report, Brian was able to sell another piece of equipment for $1500 this week, which combined with the other piece of equipment for $700 and another $100 donation from last week, comes to $2300! This is not including the $250 in donations that have been made through the Reece's Rainbow site. Unfortunately, we do not know who made those donations, but we are most appreciative! Every day we are getting a little bit closer to bringing Aly home and we can't wait!

Colorful Cuddle Blankets

This post is for Linny at a Place Called Simplicity.

She has asked that everyone who reads her blog write a little post about what they are making to raise money for their adoption, so we can all do some Christmas shopping and help make a difference at the same time.

We are a family of 4, soon to be 5 and we couldn't be more excited! We are adopting Alyona from Eastern Europe and will get to meet her hopefully in November. Our dossier has already been submitted and we are currently waiting for our SDA appointment and travel date. We need to raise money to cover the expenses of our second trip so we can bring Aly home.

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Any child would love one of these cozy blankets. Made from super-soft fleece and featuring colorful patterns and characters that are sure to please, all blankets are pre-washed and crafted in a smoke free home. Each blanket measures approximately 42” x 56” and is made to last. No child to give a blanket to? You can donate a blanket on Aly's behalf and we will be happy to take a blanket to our local children's hospital or donate a blanket to children living in a motel.

Purchase knowing you are helping to get this precious girl home to America!

Blankets ship from southern California
Blankets = $35
+ US shipping = $14.50 (USPS Priority 2-3 days)

** SOLD ** Butterflies

Hawaiian

** SOLD ** Tinkerbell

** SOLD ** Toy cars

Mickey Mouse

Owls

Minnie Mouse

** SOLD ** Cars

Camoflauge

Floral

Pink and Brown Dots

Blue and Brown Dots

** SOLD ** Brown with Multicolor Dots

Ladybugs

** SOLD ** Bees

We're Getting Closer

We had another yard sale/bake sale this past Saturday. It was good to see more money coming in along with a whole bunch of stuff moving out. An added bonus is that I am now able to reclaim my house and say goodbye to our Sanford and Son days... and Brian is thrilled.

We contacted the mortgage company and they are looking for a different notary in-house whose expiration date will not expire in the extremely near future. Hopefully by the time our social worker has our homestudy report completed we will also have all of our documents for our dossier finished as well!

Being Real

Our home visit is on Monday and I am so excited it is finally here. I just don't know what I was thinking having a yard sale right before. To be quite honest I would prefer our home to look like something out of Better Homes and Gardens, not Sanford and Son. Unfortunately, with all of the left over items that did not get sold at the yard sale (and there is a lot) I feel like our house is beginning to look like a junk yard. There are boxes of stuff everywhere. We are still debating whether to have another yard sale or not, so I haven't gotten rid of anything. Also, my dear friends have been contacting me to see if they can bring over more items for us to sell. I'm leaning on doing it again, but they can not bring anything over until AFTER the home visit. And yes, I already gave our social worker a warning so she doesn't think we always live like this.

A Huge Success

We had our yard sale today and we brought in $525! Now that is what I call a huge success. My hubby made great signs to lead the masses to our door. They were big, and red, and real attention getters... thanks honey! Also, a big thanks to my mom and my friend Sally for helping out. It would not have been nearly as successful without them. Sally had a yard sale two weeks ago to raise funds for her mission trip to Kenya (she is leaving in 12 days) and she donated her leftover yard sale items. I never knew it but my mom is a total yard sale pro. She was working it and showing us how it was done. We put up a poster with RR info and Alyona's photo. My mom was talking to everybody, telling them all about RR, letting them know that these beautiful children will be transferred to an institution, and that we were raising money to bring her grandbaby home!

Let the Fundraising Begin!

I spent the day with my mom in Los Angeles in the LA Fashion District looking for material to make blankets for one of our fundraisers. We found a lot of cute material and I can't wait to see how they turn out. My mom had knee surgery two weeks ago, which means she currently has more free time at the moment to work on the blankets (thanks Mom!). I will take pictures and post them here when they are finished.

Our yard sale is set for this Saturday. My dear friend had her yard sale two weeks ago to raise money for her mission trip to Kenya and offered everything that she didn't sell (thanks Sally!).

Does anyone have any other suggestions for fundraising?