Details, details, details

Todd and I both are more idea people than detail people. As you can imagine, this leads to wonderful ideas for our family, for home improvement projects, for travel, jobs, all kinds of things. We just don't always follow through on the details of making something actually happen.

The Both Hands project this weekend is really stretching our detail muscles. There are all kind of things to think about: getting supplies like fence posts and topsoil donated, figuring out when things need to be delivered to actually make the project happen, making sure we have enough people to work on the day of the project, feeding all those people...and there are a lot more.

I would like to think I'm an organized, get-it-done, planning type person, but it's just not how I'm made. Luckily, we have people working on our Both Hands project who are detail people! And I'm finding that the less I worry, and the more I let them do their thing, the more easily tasks are getting done. There is still plenty for us to do - we'll be unloading a truck of supplies tomorrow night and staging some more supplies on Friday, but I am very thankful for our team of people who are helping us with the project.

What is Both Hands?

Both Hands is a really cool way for families to raise money for an adoption by serving a widow. It's James 1:27 ("...true religion is helping widows and orphans...") come to life. We have a team of people who are going to work on a widow's house with us on Saturday, May 31. Many on our team sent out support letters asking people to sponsor them for the day of the project. All the money donated (there are no admin fees) goes toward our adoption expenses. 

Both Hands is a 501(c)3 organization, so anyone who donates will get a tax deduction. And, through the generosity of a handful of anonymous donors and family members, we have an $8,000 matching grant for any money raised before May 31. If you've been thinking about donating, please donate via PayPal by Saturday or get your check in the mail (postmarked by May 31) to double your donation with our matching grant!

Road Trip!

M and E have gotten to the point where they enjoy road trips and, more importantly, it's enjoyable to take them on trips. They are both good travelers, whether by car or plane, and they take things in stride, including a 5-hour delay in Chicago last Memorial Day weekend on the way home from Minneapolis. (We bought them McDonalds, a rare treat, so maybe that had something to do with it?)

This weekend we're heading to my hometown in PA for a visit with my parents, one of my brothers and his family, my aunt, and whoever else is around. And, of course, a trip to Knoebels, the best amusement park in the world.

Even though we're incredibly busy at the moment, we wanted to treat the kids after they've worked so hard in school this year and did such a wonderful job adjusting to public school...not to mention middle school! When we first told the kids we wanted to treat them since they've worked so hard, here's how the conversation went:

Them: How about Hawaii?
Us: Ummm...something closer.
Them: England?
Us: No.
Them: California?
Us: Even closer.
Them: Miami?
Us: No.
Them: Minneapolis?
Us: Somewhere we can drive, not fly.
Them: We could drive to Minneapolis. It would only take 3 or 4 days.
Us: Somewhere closer that we could do in a weekend. Maybe Douthat?
Them: Washington, D.C. 
M: we can go to the Air & Space Museum and the Spy Museum. 
E: we can shop. 

We did consider DC, but cost and the desire to see family won out. We've seen Todd's family recently and we wanted to try to see mine before R and S come home. We hope that by Christmas they will be acclimated enough to travel, but we just don't know. It's also an opportunity to make some memories with M and E before everyone's lives change.

So, tomorrow we're off. And, don't tell anyone, but our kids will not be in school on Memorial Day, which is a snow make-up day. I'm sure they won't be the only ones!

Breaking News: Court Date

So much of the adoption journey can be summarized as: hurry up and wait. You rush to complete paperwork, knowing that the faster you complete it, the faster you move along the process. Then you wait. And update more paperwork on a deadline...and wait some more.

We've been waiting on what is called MOJ (Ministry of Justice) approval and a court date. We just received word this morning that we have both! Our court date is June 3. If we pass court, the children will legally be ours and we can share pictures. We don't anticipate any problems passing court. Our agency has been wonderful about making sure we are working on the necessary documents all along, so everything has already been updated and submitted.

Please pray that we pass court on June 3. After we pass court, we will receive tentative travel dates. Once the court decree is printed (a week or two after court), we'll confirm those dates and book our tickets. So, right now we're looking at the end of June.

Some of you may remember that for our first trip, we landed in Bulgaria on my birthday, February 23. Well, all along, I wondered if we would be in Bulgaria for Todd's birthday on June 25. It's looking possible!

Overwhelmed

I am overwhelmed...

...by how much "needs" to get done between now and when the children come home. I put needs in quotation marks, because it's mostly stuff I think needs to happen or things I would like to do. All the children really need are some clothes, food, and our love.

...by how hard it's going to be, especially at first. I don't enjoy the thought of taking R and S away from everything they know and bringing them to a place where everything looks, smells, and feels so different. They are from a village of 1,000 people in a relatively poor European country. They've never seen anything like a Kroger or Wal-Mart. We took them to their first restaurant when we visited in February. They've never ridden in, and may have never even seen, a mini-van. Or a car seat. Or a swimming pool. Or a library. We want to be sensitive to this, and will spend a lot of time at home the first month they are here.

...by people's generosity. Especially by people's generosity. We knew going into the adoption process that it was going to be expensive and that we would have to make a lot of sacrifices as a family. Then, when we were referred two children, the costs increased even more. But people have been so generous, saying "keep the change" at the yard sale, handing me an amount of money they think isn't very much, but I know it all adds up. And, we now have an $8,000 matching grant for any money we raise for our Both Hands project by May 31. I still can't even wrap my mind around the amount. Between generous family members and some anonymous donors, we can use that $8,000 toward the $25,000 we need to complete the adoption.

I'm overwhelmed, but I'm enjoying this work of getting ready for R and S, and the excitement is building in our family as we get closer to the date when we may travel. We still don't have dates, but are hoping to go to Bulgaria by mid-June. 

It's funny, I always had such a hard time getting M and E to de-clutter their rooms and the playroom, but now, all I have to say is, "let's make some room for R and S" and they are willing participants. That really warms my heart and I think it shows that they are ready for their new siblings. We're all a little overwhelmed, but we're all excited and ready, too.

Fundraising Update

Thank you to everyone who donated items for our yard sale and/or shopped at the sale. All together, we raised $480! That includes kind souls who said, "keep the change" when they purchased something - thank you!

Between the yard sale and some generous donors, we will meet our $2,000 requirement to get the $4,000 Brittany's Hope grant. This is great news since the money goes directly to our agency and we are soon going to get a huge bill (more than $10,000) as a final payment before we go get the children. If we delay this payment, it delays us picking up R and S, so we want to be sure to come up with the funds on time.

Our next fundraising event is the biggest one - our Both Hands project. This is such a cool concept. We have a team of awesome friends who are going to work on a widow's house with us. The team sends out sponsorship letters (much like you would do for a walk or run or golf tournament) asking people to sponsor your work day at the widow's home. So, it's James 1:27 (pure religion is helping widows and orphans...) come to life.

There were two reasons we wanted to do the Both Hands project. First, we liked the idea of serving someone while raising money for the adoption. It felt better to us than just sending out letters asking for money. Second, it greatly expands our ability to raise money, since we're not only reaching out to our friends, but also friends of friends.

Just like all the adoption expenses add up (Why is Adoption so Expensive), all the donations add up, too, so if everyone who gets a letter could only give $10 or $25, we'd still be in great shape to bring these children home.

Yard Sale Mania

We are having a yard sale tomorrow - Saturday, May 3 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at our house. So, I should be out in the shed organizing and pricing items.

But I need a break! People have been so generous to give us donations and we have a lot of great stuff, so I hope we have a good turn out. 

We have a matching grant through Brittany's Hope for the sale and they will match what we make up to $2,000 (and through other donations as well). I think that's a high expectation for a yard sale, but if we could make even a quarter of that, we'd be on our way.

OK, back to the shed. I'll post next week with a total for the sale.