Who doesn't love owls????

Especially when they benefit adoption!  We are the featured family on Owls for Orphans.  This amazing mom started this site to help families in the adoption process raise money so they can become forever families!  25% of sales from now until April 5th will go toward our adoption.

Link to the Owls for Orphans website

They have touched so many families.  Easter is right around the corner and these handmade creations would make a very special and unique gift for your loved one(s).  They also have an Etsy boutique and you can follow them on Facebook:

Link to Etsy Boutique

Follow them on Facebook

Thank you Amy for your support of our adoption adventure!

Waiting is hard.....

It really is.  I'm not complaining, just stating that it is hard waiting to meet our children for the first time.  We did receive some new videos that we have watched almost non stop!  It is so great to see how they are doing and see some of their personalities displayed.  They are all doing well and hopefully soon we will be together!

We have a friend who is hosting a fundraising dinner for us tonight, and we are so thankful for her and all of the work she has out into it.  Thank you Natasha!  We will have one last fundraiser starting on Monday, but I will wait until then to post about it.

Please pray that we will receive that call soon with travel dates, we so want to be with our children!  God Bless you all!!

Until next time.....

No More Paperwork...

We have signed, notarized, apostilled and overnighted our last pieces of paperwork!  So all we need now are official travel dates.  It was over a year ago when we started the process to bring our four children home and at times it has seemed that time has stood still or it feels like we are at warp speed. 

When we were trying to piece out how we were going to do this all, the financial and administrative requirements were equally daunting tasks.  I'll focus on the paperwork side.  We had what seemed like piles of paper we needed to fill out and then gather an even larger pile of papers to have notarized, signed, photocopied, etc.  It took a lot just to wrap our heads around this.  For anyone new, or just thinking about the process, it really isn't that bad.  Once we broke it out into what was needed now, later and much later, we were able to tackle what needed to be done and get it out quickly.

Our home study took longer than we had hoped, but it was all part of God's timing and not ours.  In the beginning I think we were more stressed about the home study visit and interview than anything else.  We worried for nothing.  Our social worker told us that she was here to help, not to add any obstacles.

One of the things you may encounter in the process are people who really don't care that you are adopting.  I am a big believer in the term "kill them with kindness".  We have had people who when we have gotten items notarized or apostilled act like we are burdening them with our request.  Hello???  This is your job!  We try to be nice, to smile, and of course say thank you.  Sometimes, deep in the back of our minds, we imagine hitting them upside the head with the book full of papers we just had them notarize ;)...just kidding.

It may seem like all you do is paperwork, but then you get these little nuggets of info about the kids sometimes, or like us you stalk other peoples blogs and live through them as they journey to get their children.  All while waiting for the day your referral finally comes....

What a glorious day it was this Christmas Eve when we received the official referrals for our kids!!  I remember coming home and seeing Kim in tears as she was printing the 3,298 pages, lol.  Seriously at this point we knew we were getting much closer and we could not have asked for a better gift.  Our agency jokes that since we are adopting four we are the first family to have their own filing cabinet.

We are prepping for travel by gathering things for the kids to do (coloring, drawing, puzzles, etc.), looking for inexpensive backpacks for them to travel home with, and final home preparations (I'm sure there will be more) as we prepare to be a family of eight.

Thank you all for following along, praying, supporting and encouraging us through this process.  Please continue to pray for us and all those in the process and especially for the children here and around the world waiting for families.  God Bless you all!!

Until next time....

It's Fat Thursday!! Let's eat doughnuts while we wait!

Today in Poland it is Fat Thursday or Paczki Day!  You have to love a culture that celebrates eating doughnuts :)

Our wait time is getting shorter (hopefully), we are waiting on official travel dates, but were told mid-April.  We are trying to keep ourselves busy by doing projects and a few other things:

1)  Learning Polish.  Kim is doing pretty well.  I on the other hand am probably going to sound like Porky Pig when I get there ;)

2) Painting, painting and more painting.  Bathrooms, a chalkboard wall and a bedroom.  Loads of fun, right?  The chalkboard wall turned out really well and I think the kids will love it, our daughters certainly do.  We painted the bathroom a bright lime green, or as the Disney paint label says, Mike's Mayhem.  It turned out really nice and Kim is accenting it with blues and oranges.  The boys room is next on the list and I hope to have it done in the next week or so.

3)  The last of the paperwork.  We have two more forms to sign and send off!  I forgot how much I miss doing adoption paperwork (insert evil laugh here)

Enjoy those doughnuts today and until next time.......

Some good news and oh my "we only have how much time left????"

Hello all!!  We hope you are all well.  We received some updated photos of our kiddos this week and it brought so much joy to us to see that they are doing well.  They have changed quite a bit over the last year.  We really can't wait to see them in person.

On that note we were given a tentative travel date and when you put into weekends left before we possibly leave we only have 7 weekends (give or take one or two) to go!!  (insert freak out scream).  The weeks are pretty full so the weekends are the time when we get more stuff done. When we see that number, we are very excited but at the same time it's like "WARNING! WARNING! you must get things done".  It also makes our hearts fill with joy that this part of our journey is almost complete!

Last night, some very dear friends the Havenor Family organized and put on a fundraising dinner for us complete with Polish food, music, and dance.  They are such a great family and we are truly blessed to have them in our lives. 

Hopefully in the next few weeks we have some real dates for travel....stay tuned!

And now the waiting begins...

Hello again.  We are at that moment that all expectant parents arrive at....we wait to meet our children.  It seems as if time just crawls by, so we have to keep our minds and our bodies busy as we prepare to double the size of our family.

The weather seems to be forcing us to stay inside, which keeps us on task.  We have almost finished the girls room with the exception of adding a few small things.  For the boys room, we still have to paint and put up some storage items, but everyone has beds, so that is something we can check off the list.

We have spoken to a number of families that are 6 or larger to get ideas on meals, organization tips, traveling, etc.  We have enjoyed trying out some traditional dishes from our children's birth country.  There have been a few that are easy and inexpensive to make so I believe they will become regular staples!  I have done some research and have started stocking up on canned goods and non perishables from Costco.  We want to try and have some ingredients on hand so we can easily adjust in those first few weeks home.

We would like to ask for every ones thoughts and prayers for some families with our agency who are traveling to Eastern Europe this week and in the coming weeks to get their children.  They have waited a long time and we pray that their stay in country and journey home is safe and without difficulties.  We have loved living vicariously through them as they have paved the way for us and others to come.

I would also like to ask you all to pray for a local adoptive mom who is having surgery this week.  She will be in the hospital for a few days and we pray her surgery is a success and her recovery quick.

Until next time..... 

Our video

 

Here is the video we made that was featured on Give One Save One last week.  Please feel free to continue to share as we work towards our goal of $5,000.