It's SOOOO cold today in Michigan! Last I checked it was 9 degrees and the snow is coming down quite a bit. I really really hope it stops soon. Tomorrow is our 2nd home study visit here at the house and the lady has to travel from Grand Rapids to get to our place. I really really do not want it to be canceled due to nasty roads. But, if they are bad, I will understand because I do not want to put anyone's life at risk.
It's in God's Hands!
This weekend we did a TON of cleaning and organizing. I can't believe how hard the kids worked at the housework. Even today, they were so quick to clean up their dinner dishes and make sure the counters were cleared off.
We are starting to prepare our lifestyles for having a visually impaired little boy in our home. This means everything is kept picked up off the floor! We have a while before he comes, but we want to make this a habit before he gets there. What can I say... I have a couple teens/almost teens and an 8 year old... they sometimes forget to pick things up! They are trainable though and I have no fears that they will be just fine!
I still want to mention that anyone who feels called to donate to our home study fees will be put in a drawing for a $100 sears gift card! So far we have 3 people who have donated... One through the chip in and two personally gave us money. I can't reflect it on the chip in because it doesn't allow me to donate to my own account from my own account.
So far, including the donation of $100 already collected, we have $220 towards are fees. The probability of winning that gift card is very high so if you would like to contribute we can add you to the drawing. The way the drawing works is that everyo $1 donated will give you one chance at winning the gift card.
We find it very difficult to ask for money. But I want to be honest with you... International adoption is VERY expensive. We know that God has led us to our boy and we really believe He will provide for every step in the process. But, that doesn't mean we can just sit back and do nothing. We have plans to do some auctions and sell some things. If anyone has any fundraiser ideas let me know!
Finally, the last thing I will say about fundraising is that my friend plans to help with our fundraising by letting the donations go through her foundation so that if you need a tax reciept, she will write one out for you.
This week we should hear back from Z's country about placing him on hold. They have all our paperwork and its just a matter of them giving us the preliminary approval. I am quickly learning that things move slower in other countries and patience is the ultimate key in this process. This is only the beginning! I'm sure our patience will be testing time and time again throughout this year.
Oh, I almost forgot... Dave and I finished our 10 hours of Hague online training over the weekend. This training touched on issues such as attachment, parenting an adopted child, and dealing with diversity. The training was actually quite good and I was very proud of my husband for actually participating and good discussion resulted. Some of the parenting techniques Dave has been using all along and we never even realized it. For example, I tend to put the girls in time out when they misbehave. Dave tends to make them stay by him when they are being naughty. There are many times when he will take one of the children with him on his errand especially when that child is having a rough day. I plan to put this into practice more than the time outs... especially for Stella... who seems to escalate more when she is made to go in her room. I have found that making her sit at the table while I am cooking dinner instead of sending her upstairs helps calm her down faster. I am so happy that we took those courses. They were definately worth it!
Well, I better sign off for now. It's been a long day and I think tomorrow will be just as long.
Thanks for reading!
Courtney
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