count downs!

I just love counting down to something long expected!

Today - 

we are counting down the hours til  

BIG brothers get home!

It's been sooooo long!!! 

Brady has been gone for 9.5 weeks

and

4 weeks!

WAY TOO LOOOONNNNNG!!!

We can't wait!!!

SECOND COUNTDOWN!

In 2 days!
We will have our Fundraiser at
Painting with a Twist!

I'm so excited to spend the evening painting with friends!

If you are local,
and want to join us -
there are still come canvas' waiting to be turned into
a work of art!
Register here

and in a few hours!

I get to meet with a friend of a friend to talk
about how they can begin their adoption journey to
their treasure in China.
YAHOOOO!!!!

It's a good day!

Beautiful Necklace Fundraiser!

Look what we have!

Aren't they just beautiful? 

I just love these necklaces! 

I love them so much I bought them 

for Christmas presents this past year -

for family,

friends 

and teachers!

I bought them from this beautiful family -

We met them in Ethiopia over a year ago 

they were adopting their little guy Jacob -

waiting their Embassy appointment 

when we were there for our Court appointment.

We were so blessed to meet

this amazing couple!

Who have hearts overflowing for the Lord!

When we announced our journey to "Gus",

they were in Ethiopia again! 

Yes, less then a year later they were in Ethiopia

waiting their Embassy appointment for their 

two sons, Isaiah and Kaleb!

Tara messaged me and asked if she could get me some 

beautiful "Magazine Bead" Necklaces for us 

to help us fundraise to bring "Gus" home.

Really????

I thought, Tara you have your hands full!

But, she still took the time to help us 

and to help our sweet son get home!

We have $55 necklaces to sell -

straight from Ethiopia!

Each necklace is one long strand

which you can wrapped once, twice or three times- 

for different looks.

Each bead is hand-rolled from recycled magazine paper

by women in Africa. 

They are coated with a clear finish,

so they are water resistant

(though NOT water-proof).

We are asking for a $15 donation per necklace

(includes shipping).

You can donate on our paypal account

and in the comments let us know how many necklaces 

you would like. 

I will connect with you if there is a specific hue of colors 

you would like,

as you can see - they are mostly multi-colored beds.

  

Thank you for your help!!!

Still going...

Remember these?

Well, they have gotten even better!

We've added colors!

LOTS of colors!

Purple, light red, dark blue, royal blue and blue,

yellow, orange, black, brown, gray,

dark red, bright green, hot pink,
white and light turquoise (not shown),

Aren't they so fun?

And great to display school and team spirit,

or just match your outfit!
Great stocking stuffers! 

$2 for 1 and 

each additional bracelet is $1

(plus, shipping $2)

(please email me for payment info,

soccermom@tx.rr.com)

All proceeds go towards the adoption fee's of 

three incredible boys in Ethiopia!

One little guy's family has found him!

Praise God!

We are still praying that the soon to be forever families 

of the other two boys will be found soon!

Keepin' it cool!

or heat things up!

My friend, Tena, is extending her generosity another month!

With any sales of 31  Totes this month 

she will donate a portion of the proceeds to help bring our boys home!

This month any check out 31's Thermal Totes!

With great new prints and two size options for your style and convenience!

The Thermal Tote is $14

($4 of each sale going towards our adoption)

14"(at top)x9.5"h x 4.5"d

and The Lunch tote is $12.50

11"(at top)x 9"h x 5.75"d

($4 of each sale going towards our adoption)

You can also get your Totes personalized for $1.50 -

with no limit of how many you can purchase!

 Visit Tena's website

 and check out the monthly special here

Feel free to comment or email myself
or Tena if you have any questions!

Thanks for helping bring our little guys home.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Okay, so maybe it's not,

but 

it's never too early to start shopping 

for Christmas!

And if your like me,

my budget asks that I spread out the spending -

and what better way to purchase a gift 

then to make it 

two-fold.

Here's a deal that you can't refuse -

purchase a beautiful candle

(or kandle)

for your mom, sister, friend, boss, teacher...

and also help a precious family 

raise funds for their adoption fees for this 

beautiful angel!!! 

Tell Connie that Jodi sent you! 

There are 5 scents to choose from -

they are all yummy!

Discontinued

Because it seems that the request I made to our United States government has fallen on deaf ears, and I wont be getting my request of an additional four hours to each day. 

I am having to discontinue making our "Sweet and Sassy" dresses.

For me, sewing is so relaxing!  And I love sharing these dresses with friends, but

the fall is quickly approaching with school, and every activity that goes with that,

and home schooling Jorja and Jailyn, along with their activities too. 

I am truly trying to simplify my life and though we still need funds for our adoption fees

(lots and lots of funds!) I believe that God will supply our needs as I focus more on family!

Rather then having a huge sale - we have decided to donate the dresses to some very precious families in our home town that live in government housing.  We will pray that these dresses will help their daughters feel good about themselves and that they will hold their heads high, and that they will know that they are special, and that they are loved!

Thank you to all of you who have supported our fund raising efforts! 

Our Truly Blessed are still hot sale items! As women and girls love to share the joy and

blessing that we have received from the Lord. And we have added more colors to choose from!

So, if you would like a specific color let me know!

Do's and Don'ts of Garage Sales

Though I felt that our garage sale was a huge success,

there were plenty of things we learned 

this weekend.

I had googled everything to do with garage sales

weeks before,

from pricing to advertising,

and placement of products.

Some things I agree with and some 

just didn't work for us. 

1)  Craig's List!  Love it!
A definite "Do"!

Rather then spending money advertising in local news papers,

we put our add on Craig's List for free! 

And did you know that if you make a minor change in the 

title of your advertisement, 

it'll put you at the top of the daily listings! 

2) Signage

Nothing seemed to work for us.

On Friday I put up nice signs that I had purchased  -

easy to read.

Nothing fancy, just neat legible,

but they disappeared half way through the day.

On Saturday, 

I used a box, with a paint can holding it down

(so it wouldn't get blown away)

and it disappeared also. 

Not sure how there are still neighbors garage sale signs still standing,
two days after their sale... ummmm

3) Placement

Ever article I found had said to put toys and a FREE box 

near the street - so drive by's could see them.

I disagree with this! 

I spent too much time worrying about kids

playing in the boxes 

and watching cars come way to close to the kids.

Scared me to death!

4) Organization

Sometimes now matter how hard you try to organize -

it wont stay that way! 

Try to stay up on it - 

but don't worry too much!
We also closed our garage door and had everything in the yard
and drive way - this helped with people not wanting buy
our lawnmower and kids toys that were not for sale.

5) HELP!!!

Ohhhhh my lands!!! 

Do this with a friend! 

Or ask friends to help you! 

I am so incredibly thankful to my hubby,

and our friends Chris, AnnaMarie and Jackie!

Without them I would have gone nuts!

They just jumped in, 

made deals, helped sort things,

and gave me hugs through out the day!

6) Sunscreen

Please don't forget your sunscreen! 

I did!

and wear a hat!

Today my scalp is peeling - lovely! 

7) $

I had fanny packs for myself and my volunteers.

We were able to be hands free while sorting

and helping customers,

but were not worried about money walking off.

If you set up a check out table,
place it near the street,
it may cut down on people grabbing things as they walk off.

8) Leave your shoes on

or they may walk off 

(just saying...)

9) Bake Sale

Don't put too much work into this,

but it does add a cute aspect to your

garage sale 

and seems to put people in a good mood
seeing little helpers!
Plus, it kept Jailyn and Jorja busy.

10) Pricing

Our prices were low - but people still 

want lower.

Being naive I thought people would just 

like the low prices.

I should have listened to friends, and raised the prices 

and then come down.

Last but not least,
Support a charity - if you get a receipt -
the tax break can be as good as cash that you
earn at a sale.

Hope this helps!

Garage Sale

Wow!

There is a reason why I don't do

garage sales! 

Don't get me wrong,

I love to shop them - 

but hosting a sale is a whole 'nother

world!

We were incredibly blessed by so many 

friends who donated their treasures for

our sale! 

Sooo many that the first day,

we never did get everything out 

and displayed!

The sale was supposed to begin at 8am,

but as soon as the signs were put out

people began coming.

I had some tables out on our drive way,

but there were no items on them.

The shoppers waited and began shopping

as soon as we began bringing things out.

And it never slowed down until about 1:30pm!

$530 on the first day!

Saturday morning started slower,

and much more managable.

I felt so much better,

so much more organized!
but kinda nervous that we wouldn't sell
all the remaining items!

Kenzie and I were able to spend some times coming

up with a Garage Sale list of 

do's and don'ts -

we will share this later in the week for y'all.

This weekends efforts brought in over
$1000!
(about $600 more then we thought!)

All in all a great weekend!

God provided beautiful weather,

and lots of shoppers!

And invaluable volunteers!

Left over treasures will be heading over to 

our local Salvation Army and

their clothing pantry. 

And the Leukemia Society.

Though it was stressful and out of my comfort zone -

I would do it all over again,

if it brings us closer to our son coming home.

Crazy Love

Crazy Love!

If you have never checked out A Place Called Simplicity,

you must!

Linny is incredibly encouraging,

her and her husband's love for Jesus

and the orphan is overflowing.

(some day I totally want to go on a mission trip with them!)

Linny has recently began a blog challenge.

She began asking people to share their needs,

and asking each of us to help meet each

others needs through prayer and or action.

Linny has encouraged me to look out to
others and help in their time of need.

Today is Challenge #3

Linny is asking us, who are raising funds for adoption

to post about it. 

Thank you Linny for helping all of us get word out about
our fundraisers!

As many of you know,

we are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. 

We are incredibly excited for our newest addition.

Presently we are in full force of 

paper work and fund raising.

Infact, 

our house is a mess with treasures 

that have been donated to our garage sale,

scheduled for this weekend! 

We have been blessed by so many friends who 

have donated their unneeded treasures to help us 

raise funds.

I am also making little girl dresses.

I began making these dresses as we were in

the "wait" for Jorja in 2008.

My girls and I have had a great time

designing these dresses.

Sweet and Sassy Dresses

We are also selling these fun t-shirts!

"Truly Blessed" 

We feel so blessed to have been called to 

care for the orphan,

and have obeyed and taken the leap of faith 

to add to our family through adoption -

God has Truly Blessed us!

With a little bling we want to share with everyone else!

How have you been blessed?

We would love to hear from you if you would like to 

help with our fund raising.

Or if you have any other ideas for us.

We know God is calling us to adoption again,

we are trusting Him to provide the needed fees.

If we sell another 51 t-shirts in the next month,

my eldest son will get his hair cut in a mohawk.

(Brady loves his hair!  

But loves his baby brother even more!)

Thank you in advance for your prayers

as we get closer to bringing our little guy home!

(Also, any financial donations to our adoption will
be paid forward.
When we receive our tax credit we will match any 
donations and pay it forward to another adoptive family.) 

Please also check out the other blogs of people running 
fund raisers at A Place Called Simplicity 

Sweet and Sassy is back!!!

If you have followed our blog for a while

you will remember these dresses that

I made and sold to help finances

of Jorja's adoption. 

They're back!

and better then ever! 

We are having a fun time making these.

The whole family has their input

with the designs. 

(okay,  sometimes the remarks are unsolicited - 

but still - 

gotta' love when everyone wants to be involved!)

We made a new blog to sell them on -

presently there are 11 dresses
to choose from.

Be the first to add these dresses
to your daughters wardrobe!


sweet and sassy dresses
at 
www.sweetsassydresses.blogspot.com

I never wanted to go there...

I enjoy going to garage sales,

but I have never enjoyed having

one myself.

I usually clean out the house of 

things I never have purchased in the 

first place -

many wonderful treasures and take 

them to the nearest Goodwill or 

leave them on the porch for another charity 

to pick up.

But, this time is different!

We are raising funds to bring our 

precious son home -

so I will go out of my comfort zone 

and throw a huge garage sale!

If you would like to help,

get rid of some of your impulse buys,

and are okay parting with some of your treasures,

we would love to take your donation! 

Just email me and let me know when and where we 

can come pick it all up! 

The date for our garage sale is May 7 and 8th!

Thank you for all your help!

soccermom@tx.rr.com