And CRAFTING!! Last year at this time we were brainstorming ways to begin to raise the nearly $24,000 needed to bring our son home. We decided one way would be to create and sell. We did a couple sales last year before Christmas and were so blessed by what came from that. Well, we're at it again this year and the "craft season" is upon us.
Here's just some of what we'll be taking this year:
Tooth Fairy Pillows: $8
One side has spaces to mark the date your child loses each tooth. The other side has a pocket to put the tooth in for the tooth fairy.
Ruffle Tote Bags: $10
Various colors/sayings
Baby Doll Diapers: 4 for $5
Doll Beds and High Chairs: $30 each or $50 for the set
Sets come with choice of mattress and bib design.
Dress-Up Organizer: $50
Super handy for all the tu-tu's and tiaras taking over your home. : )
Step Stools: $10
Not going to make it to a sale? See something you can't live without? Let me know, we'll figure out a way to get it to you!
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI live in Pennsylvania. I would like to order some items. Please email me
lilmiss523@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Larissa
I would LOVE a tooth pillow!!!! can you email me at amandabalzer@cox.net, I'll actually probably take 2 or 3!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I'm e-mailing now!
DeleteI am so thrilled to come back to this blog after a few months and see your beautiful youngest daughter Aven. I posted awhile back when I saw "M" disappear visually from the blog, hoping she hadn't left as I simply felt she was yours and you were hers. I rejoice that you have adopted her as we have all been adopted, by love and sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteI was reading through the posts you wrote since the last time I was here and I wanted to ask you something about Katie. I personally am having trouble getting on the Katie bandwagon for only one reason- she says in her book, on her blog, at speaking engagements where tens of thousands are raised...that she has adopted thirteen Ugandan girls.
I know the desire of Katie's heart must be legal adoptions with her being the legal parent of all those girls. But the truth is that none of her children are legally adopted, not one is her child legally. It's not even legal to adopt in Uganda until you are over age twenty-five and there are other rules which it's not possible for Katie to comply with. (she can't just make herself suddenly be married, etc)
I think Katie should be honest; there is no shame and certainly no less live given as a foster parent. Some of her children have not even been "official" foster placements and while I of course applaud her for being there to meet a need, I do worry for those girls who could be subject to being torn away from Katie and all they know should an irate family member decide to take them back.
The main reason for my issue with Katie not being specific about her daughters not actually being adopted are the people so inspired by her, they have gone to Uganda or other broken areas to do what Katie has done. I know one such young woman who sold all her possessions and liquidated her savings account to go and "be like Katie", a mother to children just dropped in her lap. This person was stunned to find out she would never be able to legally adopt a Ugandan child because she was not married and didn't meet the residency requirement.
At first I desperately tried to ignore these concerns but then I began seeing pretty big numbers- her book sales, the $500 a plate fundraiser...all based upon the notion that she "adopted" this troop of beautiful bright eyed girls.
I just feel nothing would be taken away from her sacrifice and generosity to say the truth- "they may not be legally mine under Uganda's law but they are surely mine under God's law". Or "despite Uganda's rigorous adoption policies, I am one these girls call Mother and I will love them as my own every day of my life".
I praise God for each child Katie loves and cares for. But I do think she is doing a disservice to adoption, implying that a baby is literally dropped upon your doorstep and voila, you are her mother because you want to be. Even in Uganda the process is lengthy and draining. And that's IF you meet the requirements to adopt.
I would never want anyone to think I don't approve of what Katie is doing. I have donated to her ministry and will likely do so again. I just feel it's vitally important for people to know the actual situation.
Am I completely off base here?
Thank you so much for your support and excitment for us as we were finally able to announce our joy over making Aven forever ours. I love how you said that you felt that she was ours. : ) I certainly did too!
DeleteAnd, in answer to your other comments, NO! I don't think you're off base at all. You bring up excellent observations that could be very dangerous to individuals and couples who do not have a firm understanding of all that an international (or domestic for that matter) adoption involves.
I have to be honest and say that I did not do good research into her claims of "adoption" but I did have an uneasy feeling that something was being left out when the book would gloss over another girl joining the family. I assumed that it was something more like a foster relationship as you said it is. And you are very right, she should be honest about the truth of her growing family. You did a great job of providing wonderful explainations for how she could word it without minimizing the clear commitment and bond she has with these girls. It was especially apparent when Katie had no legal rights when family members came to take away one of her houseguests that she considered hers. I knew then that she must not have truly had a legal adoption.
As a foster mother I can testify that it can be very lonely at times. I have fought feelings of just being a glorified taxi driver to social workers. Or tried to push down frustrations that I have no real rights to a child that I have loved wholeheartedly, fed, clothed, nursed when ill, guided and played with. But what an honor too! To get to be the "middle mom" that can provide a safe sanctuary in such a time of turbulance for children...whether one week or a lifetime. How wonderful it would be for the cause of fostering if Katie were to chose to recognize that title.
I think for me, what I was able to take away from the book was her selfless giving. It reminded me that while I do small things there is always more that can be done. That too often I keep myself cooped up in my comfort zone. That really all it comes down to is loving people. For that example I'm grateful.
Thank you again for your observations. A good reminder to keep the main point on Christ's example, not on human's experiences!