Nickels for Nico - THE END!!!

Well, the time has come! Break into those heavy jars and count out your money! Then donate here:

http://reecesrainbow.org/19021/nico-14g

It doesn't look like a lot... but...

We saved...

$46.38!!!!

Keep in mind, this is including the $5 bill someone donated at our yard sale, and the change my grandma brought down, but still! The kids and I are rejoicing at such a job well done!!!

How much did you save to donate!

Thanks everyone for such a wonderful event. His grant hadn't even broken $300 when we began, and it looks like this will take him over $500! That money will be very helpful for his future family!

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

Man, this week has been a whirlwind. Getting back into the swing of things for school has been nuts. But it's been great, too. Amelia is doing awesome and is coming home happy and with a huge smile on her face daily. She loves her teacher and her friends. I LOVE HER SCHOOL!!!!

--- 2 ---

This came in my mail the other day. Can you find the error? LOL

--- 3 ---

Nickels for Nico ends TODAY!! Count up your change! Make the donation to his grant!! I can't WAIT to see this sweetie's grant grow! And I can't wait to see how much is in my super heavy jar! I will be posting an ending post for this event and I want to know what everyone's totals are!

--- 4 ---

I'm tired.

--- 5 ---

I love redheads. Look at this sweetie that needs a home!!

http://reecesrainbow.org/44207/katja-23ha

--- 6 ---

--- 7 ---

UGH! I just can't think this week. Nothing good to say. My brain is mush. We ARE saving for our homestudy, and we've had some excellent news on that, but I will save that for its own post. 

Happy weekend!!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

This week my oldest started 1st grade at her new school! I am so proud of her. She's loving it, is making friends easily, and *I* am loving it. It's a tiny school and so faithfully Catholic. Loooove.

--- 2 ---

Remember the video of the little blind boy, stuck in a crib, alone, bored, and sad? That was Andrew, and thankfully, he has a family coming for him now!! There is an AWESOME auction starting for him Friday. These auctions have blown my auction for Malcolm away.

Check it out!

--- 3 ---

--- 4 ---

The yard sale last week went pretty well. Heidi and I both made around $150. Nico's jar made some change and a $5 bill. Admittedly, I was hoping to make a bit more, since I had some big items that needed to sell and didn't, but I will press on!

--- 5 ---

I am super emotional this week. I am feeling pushed to do something by God, but I want to make sure I am hearing the call correctly before acting on it. I am scared. Since fear doesn't come from God, I know I need to set that aside so I can think clearly. I went to adoration and I think things are pretty clear now. We'll see how my stupid brain feels in the morning.

--- 6 ---

Since Becki posted about her Blizzard on her QTs, I'm going to post about mine. Except I'm too lazy to post a picture. But, I bought ice cream on the way home from adoration. It was so good!!

--- 7 ---

It never turns out that I ONLY have my #7 as an orphan. All of my posts and QTs are orphans lately. I'm sure my readers (aka the crickets) are tired of it, but that's how my brain works.

Happy weekend!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

One Step at a Time

Well, I am struggling. I truly feel that God has called us to adopt the child we love, but I am not a patient person. (All of you who know me are shouting, "NO WAY!!" I'm sure ;) And I am not sure how it will all unfold. I am begging at the feet of Christ for Him to reveal it to me. I know that's not how I'm supposed to be praying, but I can't help it.

I have a sense of urgency when it comes to this boy. I feel like someone stole him from me and threw him into an orphanage across the world. Is it a normal feeling? No. I feel like my child has been kidnapped. He sits alone and is bored out of his mind. I can't handle it.

Now, I'm not claiming him as my own. Anyone is welcome to rescue him if I don't get to him first. I will know that I have been hearing the call all wrong if that happens, and I will be okay with that. but even the agency said that it's very unlikely anyone will commit.

"One Step at a Time" is becoming my mantra. We are still house hunting and we have to take that step before the next step, I think. The agency wants us to commit first and then move before the homestudy, since it will take time to get our paperwork together for that anyway, she says we have ample time. I'm leaning towards thinking she just wants the moolah and that sweetie off her list. (They LOVE him, too.) But, I'm torn. I'm wondering if maybe God is asking us to do exactly that, and we're failing to listen. I am begging for that to become clear, because I am not good at subtleties.

I need to remember that when I first saw his face, I thought that there was no way on God's green Earth would we be able to adopt anytime soon... like probably not within 10 yrs or so, lol... but things changed. And they changed fast.

Give me my "steps", oh Lord. I will follow them. I will do whatever is asked of me.

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

A sweet internet friend of mine gave birth to a little boy with anencephaly and he is now with Jesus. We are thanking God he was born alive and that they were able to spend time with him before he passed. Please lift them all up in prayer. Here is her blog, which isn't updated, but so that you can see the love this family has for their sweet boy. Loving Peter

A sunflower from our garden in honor of Peter.

--- 2 ---

Heidi and I spent most of today preparing for our yard sale this weekend. We actually got it all together pretty quickly, and I'm hoping it is a smashing success. We are also doing a fundraiser for her adoption and for Nico's grant, so we're really hoping for a lot of traffic.

--- 3 ---

My big girls have been out of town since Monday and I miss them! My eldest starts school Monday and my 2nd starts pre-K Sept 4th! I haven't adjusted to the 2-in-school thing yet. My babies are growing up!!

--- 4 ---

So, my husband is horrible at communication (what man isn't, I guess) and didn't tell me we only had $4 in our bank account. I went to the store this morning and low and behold, the card was declined. I couldn't figure it out, since I thought there was plenty in there. While I was trying to figure it out, a nice man behind me offered to pay for it. "I will pay for the rest." He said, and then something else about karma. He would accept no thanks, and I was just awestruck. God is really taking care of me lately. Thank you, kind man, for doing something so wonderful. (I'm glad I wasn't buying anything silly or unneeded!)

--- 5 ---

This is Flagstaff.. Right now...

Makes me wish I still lived there. 

--- 6 ---

This is me in a nutshell.

--- 7 ---

This sweetie has been on my blog before. I just love her. She has a HUGE HUGE HUGE grant, and this week I was checking her country's photo listing and saw that she had a new pic!!!

Look at this sweetheart!! She has a $24,000+ grant to go towards her adoption. I see absolutely no reason why someone would not want to rescue her. Are you her mommy???

CLICK HERE FOR MEGAN'S INFO!!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Blog Blitz for a Future Dominican!!

There is a young woman named Amanda who is about to enter religious life and could use our prayers and if anyone is able, our financial support.  Please read this excerpt from an email from this young woman's friend:

Amanda will be entering the convent with the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist (a young, vibrant, habited order in Ann Arbor, MI) in 3 weeks... but in order to do so, she needs to kill off the end of her student loan debt!

Amanda is amazing, and has been able to get her student loan debt down to just $2,500 or so at last count... but she only has 3 weeks now to kill off the rest. Not only does she have to sell off and give away pretty much everything except for a few personal items, but also she will not be allowed to enter with ANY debt at all. This is especially hard, since she just found out she'd been accepted at the end of June!

She has been so responsible with money thus far in her life, going to school where she had a full ride, living with her grandmother after her grandfather passed away, working at a job she hates in order to support herself and help her grandmother, and not depending on any credit cards, but she still has some room & board student loans hanging around that, if she was working, she'd finish off in a year, but, you know, when you enter an order you're not "working", you're praying for the rest of us!

 

So.....Can I ask you to blog about her and share her site? <--click  If we can get a couple of blogs to share her story and her need, I know we could help her.  Even if we just storm Heaven on her behalf I know God will meet the financial need. 

 

So, I am asking you all to blog for dear Amanda before the week is done.  Share her site on FB or Twitter and let's support and encourage this young woman as she prepares to enter the religious life!

--------------------------

One of my closest friends joined this order a few years ago. The joy that these sisters spread is amazing. Please pray and consider donating! 

Thank you!

TWO matching grant opportunities!!

What is better than matching grants? You can throw in $5 and it instantly becomes $10! So much fun, and so wonderful for the kids!

So, once again, we are rallying for sweet Oliver, who has dwarfism, but is confined to a crib. He is facing transfer soon, and that's not good.

A $2,000 matching grant has been offered, and we are now kicking off a two-week push to meet that challenge!

Here's sweet Oliver.















Please click here to donate. And please, if you cannot donate, share, share, share this post!!


His grant was at $3546.80 at the start, so the goal is to get him to $5546.80! Let's watch the numbers grow!

And there is also a matching grant currently for sweet Ralph! He had $0 in his grant and needs to reach $1,000 to get the $1,000 match! Can we rally behind these 2 sweet boys and get them their money?! How can you resist these 2 cuties?!

http://reecesrainbow.org/19070/ralph-15h

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

Wow, this week has been emotional. I'm starting to feel a little better, and I know I needed this week to get the fire burning in me again, but PHEW!!!

--- 2 ---

We have been watching the Olympics, of course. It's been nice. The girls are interested, and DD #1 insists that once she learns to swim, she will go and jump off the board and dive and WIN! hahaha... It's also been nice to watch with DH. It makes for some fun conversations. :)

--- 3 ---

Wednesday started our Nickels for Nico event. We are all scrounging for change, and actually, our jar was half full before August even hit, so we're off to a great start. I love how excited my girls are. You can still join us! Click on the tab above that says "Nickels for Nico" and you can read about how to participate!

--- 4 ---

We also went out to Chick Fil A on Wednesday to stand up for free speech and traditional marriage. It was amazing to see all of those people in one place for a good cause. It was a fun time,  and the staff at CFA was so wonderful, as usual. I love that place! At least 4 of our local restaurants had to close down early because they ran out of food!

Anyone want to caption this picture? HAHA!!

--- 5 ---

DD # 3 is almost completely potty trained! She woke up with a dry pull up this morning and went potty before I even got out of bed! So proud of my itty bitty!

--- 6 ---

My girls are obsessed with Angry Birds, and I am obsessed with coffee... so I really loved this!

DD #1 even drew her own rendition of it and it was so cute! 

--- 7 ---

Since Nico finally has a grant, I'm going to put him on my 7th Quick Take again. He needs your help! He's in an expensive region that requires 4 trips and he is already over 2 years old. I fear he has fallen into that hole where he is not a baby that will be snatched up fast and is also not facing imminent transfer to a mental institution. This sweetie is alone. He needs a momma, and even a couple of dollars will help grow his grant and help his family come for him. 

How can you resist that sweet face?! 

http://reecesrainbow.org/19021/nico-14g

Happy weekend!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Sad News

A couple of weeks ago I showcased the redheaded orphans of Reece's Rainbow.

One of those sweet gingers was Margaret.

Today we got news that she has died.

This is not the news I needed this week. But I know that the Lord is telling me something. I need to pull through the struggles of advocating for Nico and make his grant grow, no matter the costs. I need to try my best to become his mommy. If I am not his mommy, he will at least have some money to help.

I feel personally responsible for these sweet redheads. I don't know why, but I do.

Please don't let Nico languish in an institution. I beg of you.

And please check out the rest of the redheads, here.

Rest in peace, sweet Margaret. Humankind has failed you, but Jesus won't.