Tuesday, January 20, 2009
And the winner of Laura's Heart is...
Lauren! Lauren, please shoot me an email at cheapbrea@gmail.com and I'll get this to you. THANKS to all who entered and please don't forget to check out Laura's site!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
A Weird Day
I just have to tell you. Today was a weird day.
I woke up with a headache, which has become quite normal this week. I don't know if it's a sinus headache because they aren't as intense as my normal migraine and yet they seem to be rebounding daily which is like a normal migraine. I decided to "be a like a bridge and get over it" and pushed through. You see, I'm going on a scrapbook retreat tomorrow with Kim, so I have about a million things to do today.
One of those things was to get our freakin' fingerprints done for our homestudy. We tried (unsuccessfully) to get this done last week but found out pretty quickly that our police department only does fingerprints for the FBI on Tuesday afternoons. Whatever. So, today we were off to the Sherriff's office in Gallatin. We got there only to find out that you have to go to the JAIL to get fingerprints done. You can't make this stuff up. So J and I headed to the JAIL to get these prints done. When we arrived, I kept looking around in shock and awe because a. I'm in a jail and b. I have a headache and didn't plan on being in a jail. The ladies that worked there were so sweet and when they came out to get us, they figured out that we didn't have the correct fingerprint cards. Well, of course we don't. Nothing about these fingerprints have been easy. So, we call the city police department to get the correct finger print cards, drive over there to pick them up and then drive back to JAIL. We get there and finally get them done only to find out that their printer is working so there's this lovely BLACK LINE through our fingerprints. Whatcha want to bet that the FBI won't take them?
So, after 90 minutes and going to jail twice, I finally head home. M.E. is fit to be tied and I am pretty exhausted too. That's when my friend Tracy called me to tell me that Target at Rivergate had marked a ton of their toys 75% off. Well, of course, Lady (our suburban) just drove herself to Target. Of course. Now, this is where I should stop and tell you that I am not a good shopper when I have a headache. I bought the same thing twice and went $28 over budget. The good news is that when I return the said toy, I will be $5 under budget. I ran into lots of friends at Target with my not so happy 17 month old (trust me, I'm not getting a mother of the year award anytime soon). I even ran into my saint of a mother in law who took my not so happy 17 month old so I could shop.
Then, I came home to three ill children getting off the bus. AND they closed school tomorrow for cold? Yes, seriously, those of you that don't live here, they seriously closed school for it being cold.
So that's my weird day. I'm hoping this silly headache stays away while I'm cropping. And that I never have to go to jail again....
P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment on the Laura's Heart post. I'm giving it away Sunday night and all you have to do is leave a comment after visiting Laura's site. Who doesn't love a free piece of beautiful art?
I woke up with a headache, which has become quite normal this week. I don't know if it's a sinus headache because they aren't as intense as my normal migraine and yet they seem to be rebounding daily which is like a normal migraine. I decided to "be a like a bridge and get over it" and pushed through. You see, I'm going on a scrapbook retreat tomorrow with Kim, so I have about a million things to do today.
One of those things was to get our freakin' fingerprints done for our homestudy. We tried (unsuccessfully) to get this done last week but found out pretty quickly that our police department only does fingerprints for the FBI on Tuesday afternoons. Whatever. So, today we were off to the Sherriff's office in Gallatin. We got there only to find out that you have to go to the JAIL to get fingerprints done. You can't make this stuff up. So J and I headed to the JAIL to get these prints done. When we arrived, I kept looking around in shock and awe because a. I'm in a jail and b. I have a headache and didn't plan on being in a jail. The ladies that worked there were so sweet and when they came out to get us, they figured out that we didn't have the correct fingerprint cards. Well, of course we don't. Nothing about these fingerprints have been easy. So, we call the city police department to get the correct finger print cards, drive over there to pick them up and then drive back to JAIL. We get there and finally get them done only to find out that their printer is working so there's this lovely BLACK LINE through our fingerprints. Whatcha want to bet that the FBI won't take them?
So, after 90 minutes and going to jail twice, I finally head home. M.E. is fit to be tied and I am pretty exhausted too. That's when my friend Tracy called me to tell me that Target at Rivergate had marked a ton of their toys 75% off. Well, of course, Lady (our suburban) just drove herself to Target. Of course. Now, this is where I should stop and tell you that I am not a good shopper when I have a headache. I bought the same thing twice and went $28 over budget. The good news is that when I return the said toy, I will be $5 under budget. I ran into lots of friends at Target with my not so happy 17 month old (trust me, I'm not getting a mother of the year award anytime soon). I even ran into my saint of a mother in law who took my not so happy 17 month old so I could shop.
Then, I came home to three ill children getting off the bus. AND they closed school tomorrow for cold? Yes, seriously, those of you that don't live here, they seriously closed school for it being cold.
So that's my weird day. I'm hoping this silly headache stays away while I'm cropping. And that I never have to go to jail again....
P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment on the Laura's Heart post. I'm giving it away Sunday night and all you have to do is leave a comment after visiting Laura's site. Who doesn't love a free piece of beautiful art?
And the winner is....
The winner of Laura's custom flower piece is Brooke Knox! All the kids were arguing over who got to draw the winning name so I told Jonathan to do it. CONGRATS BROOKE!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Laura's Heart
I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you about my friend Laura, owner of Pitter Patter Art. I met Laura, well, forever ago. You see, I grew up with her brother Chris and Chris married my best friend, Kim, so Laura's been around for, a while. Laura is married to her wonderful hubby Josh and they have two kids. She contacted me a while ago about how her family felt called to adopt. After checking with agencies and lots of prayer, she and Josh decided to adopt from Ethiopia. She also decided to help raise funds, everything she sold off her site would go into their adoption fund. Now, here's the cool part. Laura has a HUGE heart. Since several of her friends (including us) are adopting, she decided to donate items for her friends to raffle off.
Our friends Tracy and Clay raffled off this piece that Laura made. At $10 per ticket, they raised $1500 for their adoption from Ethiopia. How cool is that!
I bought 5 tickets...one in my name and one in each of the kids' names. And guess what? I won. It is now framed and in my powder room. It can be in your powder room too! Go to Laura's site and for $100 you can have one too. Trust me, it's gorgeous!
Then, Laura donated this piece you have seen me blogging about the last week. All proceeds from it go to our adoption fund. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased by donating through our paypal button. We are drawing the winning ticket this Thursday so don't wait.
Now, here's the best part. Laura made this next AMAZING mixed media piece for our auction we had a few weeks ago. It is 11 x 13.
I had planned to raffle it off to raise more money for our adoption fund, BUT then it hit me. Laura has helped so many...it's time to help her. So, here's what we are going to do. Starting this Thursday, Jan. 15, Laura is going to be doing a raffle for a stay in a chalet in Gatlinburg. On her site, you will see examples of all the wonderful artwork she creates. She makes beautiful canvas pictures, shirts, you name it...this chic is super created. So, starting right now through Sunday at 6pm, I am going to ask that you leave a comment and you will automatically be registered to win this gorgeous piece for free. All you have to do in your comment is leave your name and your favorite piece off Laura's site Can't wait to read your comments and more importantly, I can't wait for Laura and Josh's first raffle to be a huge success. Please feel free to put a link to this post so many people can see Laura's heart. Please only register one time per person and thanks Laura! YOU ROCK!
P.S. I will ship this piece so feel free to leave a comment even if you are overseas or in another state!
Our friends Tracy and Clay raffled off this piece that Laura made. At $10 per ticket, they raised $1500 for their adoption from Ethiopia. How cool is that!
I bought 5 tickets...one in my name and one in each of the kids' names. And guess what? I won. It is now framed and in my powder room. It can be in your powder room too! Go to Laura's site and for $100 you can have one too. Trust me, it's gorgeous!
Then, Laura donated this piece you have seen me blogging about the last week. All proceeds from it go to our adoption fund. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased by donating through our paypal button. We are drawing the winning ticket this Thursday so don't wait.
Now, here's the best part. Laura made this next AMAZING mixed media piece for our auction we had a few weeks ago. It is 11 x 13.
I had planned to raffle it off to raise more money for our adoption fund, BUT then it hit me. Laura has helped so many...it's time to help her. So, here's what we are going to do. Starting this Thursday, Jan. 15, Laura is going to be doing a raffle for a stay in a chalet in Gatlinburg. On her site, you will see examples of all the wonderful artwork she creates. She makes beautiful canvas pictures, shirts, you name it...this chic is super created. So, starting right now through Sunday at 6pm, I am going to ask that you leave a comment and you will automatically be registered to win this gorgeous piece for free. All you have to do in your comment is leave your name and your favorite piece off Laura's site Can't wait to read your comments and more importantly, I can't wait for Laura and Josh's first raffle to be a huge success. Please feel free to put a link to this post so many people can see Laura's heart. Please only register one time per person and thanks Laura! YOU ROCK!
P.S. I will ship this piece so feel free to leave a comment even if you are overseas or in another state!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
$50
That's what we have raised so far in our raffle. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for every PENNY that people choose to donate, but a little sad for Laura that her beautiful piece hasn't raised more money.
Here it is again:
Right now you've got a 1 in 4 shot of winning (one person bought two tickets). We are drawing on the 15th, so click on that little paypal button to the right and buy you a ticket for $10. All money raised goes towards our next adoption. THANKS!
Here it is again:
Right now you've got a 1 in 4 shot of winning (one person bought two tickets). We are drawing on the 15th, so click on that little paypal button to the right and buy you a ticket for $10. All money raised goes towards our next adoption. THANKS!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Costs of Adoption
I've had a few people ask, so I thought I would share "averages" for what adoption costs.
Adopting through the state AKA "foster to adopt"- FREE, birthparents typically have one year to prove themselves before parental rights are terminated
Adopting through an agency AKA "domestic infant adoption or DIA"-based on income in most cases. typically 15-20% of gross income. typically the base you will pay is $4K on up to $22K, although some agencies have set fees which can go upwards of $30K. This placement fee does not include costs of home study, travel costs, etc. associated with the adoption
Adopting internationally-typically $20-$40K
So far we have raised $9K. M.E.'s adoption was about $18K total. Hope that helps!
Adopting through the state AKA "foster to adopt"- FREE, birthparents typically have one year to prove themselves before parental rights are terminated
Adopting through an agency AKA "domestic infant adoption or DIA"-based on income in most cases. typically 15-20% of gross income. typically the base you will pay is $4K on up to $22K, although some agencies have set fees which can go upwards of $30K. This placement fee does not include costs of home study, travel costs, etc. associated with the adoption
Adopting internationally-typically $20-$40K
So far we have raised $9K. M.E.'s adoption was about $18K total. Hope that helps!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Our Beautiful Raffle Piece
We are so blessed to show you this beautiful piece of artwork that starting right now we are raffling off for our adoption fund.
Laura Kelly created this amazing piece and donated it to us to raffle off for our fund. Here are the details:
It is on a 16x20 canvas with a 20 1/2x24 1/2 frame.
It is a mixed media using paper, ink, thread, acrylic paint, charcoal and a medium matte glaze. Laura will add the child's name to the piece for whoever wins. She will paint it or ink it in the left hand corner following the curve of the flower petals...you can see the blank space I left for it.
Now, how do you win it? Well, tickets are $10 each and if you buy 5 tickets, you get a 6th one free. You can either pay for them through our paypal link to the right OR you can email me at cheapbrea@gmail.com to get our mailing address to mail a check. Feel free to post about this on your blogs, facebook, etc. We will draw the winner on January 15th at 6pm so be sure to buy your tickets!
I will blog more about this after the raffle ends, but please keep in mind that Laura and her family are adopting from Ethiopia. Any orders from her site go to help with costs for their adoption. Check out her beautiful work!
Laura Kelly created this amazing piece and donated it to us to raffle off for our fund. Here are the details:
It is on a 16x20 canvas with a 20 1/2x24 1/2 frame.
It is a mixed media using paper, ink, thread, acrylic paint, charcoal and a medium matte glaze. Laura will add the child's name to the piece for whoever wins. She will paint it or ink it in the left hand corner following the curve of the flower petals...you can see the blank space I left for it.
Now, how do you win it? Well, tickets are $10 each and if you buy 5 tickets, you get a 6th one free. You can either pay for them through our paypal link to the right OR you can email me at cheapbrea@gmail.com to get our mailing address to mail a check. Feel free to post about this on your blogs, facebook, etc. We will draw the winner on January 15th at 6pm so be sure to buy your tickets!
I will blog more about this after the raffle ends, but please keep in mind that Laura and her family are adopting from Ethiopia. Any orders from her site go to help with costs for their adoption. Check out her beautiful work!
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