Monkeys and green paint September 29, 2009

 

I purchased a new sewing machine that has amazing embroidery abilities.  I also invested in a monkey embroidery CD with 33 different monkeys just waiting for me to embroider them.   Above is the sample monkey I embroidered on a cloth diaper a couple weeks ago.  It is 5″ x 7″ and took my machine almost two hours to embroider. 

The plan is to embroider a bunch of monkeys on some curtains I purchased for our children’s room and paint the walls a coordinating green.  I doubt we will be able to get this completed this weekend.  But I am sure going to try.

It’s fun to finally be able to prepare.  We need to take some pictures of the house and the children’s room for our dossier.  The room doesn’t need to be completed, but I would like to show that we have at least started preparing for them.

**First Craft show of 2009** August 7, 2009

I’m excited to report our first craft fair for 2009 will be held at the Dakota County Fairgrounds on 8/29/09 from 8am -3pm.  Free Parking

It is called The Summer Spectacular – Craft Fair & Car Show.

We will be selling items under the name of Sew Cuddly Blankets & Accessories By Tucker Creations.  See my online shop above under the inchworm for an idea.  Blankets looks much better in person and there are dozens to choose from. I have blankets for babies and kids.. may even have a dog blanket or two..  A variety of burp clothes, diaper change bags, bibs, changing mats and more.    All in fun colors and super soft fabrics!

I have spent tons of time making these blankets and love having something to do with making things for children that has a purpose finally.

The craft fair & car show has a $5 admission charge (email me at tuckercreations@gmail.com for a $2 off coupon). FREE PARKING! No Pets or bikes.

Children 12 & under are free with paid adult. This is a huge event with entertainment by “Bob and the Beachcombers”  Games and contests, food, and free trolley tides!  I’m sad I will be stuck at my booth all day so come by and visit!

New BILLS for adopted children ~~sign the online petition~~ July 20, 2009

The Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act (The Face Act) simplifies the acquisition of citizenship for internationally adopted children and removes these children of American citizens from the immigration process. 

The Families for Orphans Act (FFO Act) was also introduced by Senators Landrieu and Inhofe and Representatives Boozman and Watson.  The FFO Act would establish the Office of Orphan Policy, Diplomacy and Development within the Department of State which would have the responsibility for developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy advocating for permanent parental care for orphans including the preservation of families and other permanency options such as domestic and international adoption.

More information about the FACE Act and the FFO Act can be found at: http://www.equalityforadoptedchildren.org/legislation/legislation.html

1. Sign the online petitions in support of these two bills. These petitions will be delivered to Congress.

The FACE Act: http://gopetition.com/petitions/face-act-of-2009.html

The FFO Act: http://gopetition.com/petitions/families-for-orphans.html

2. Call your Senators and Representatives! In coordination with the National Council for Adoption and Joint Council on International Children’s Services, we are suggesting a 72-hour sustained telephone effort by asking you to call Congress on July 28, 29, or 30 and urge your three Members of Congress (two in the Senate and one in the House of Representatives) to become a Co-sponsor of the Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act and the Families For Orphans Act. Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff and tell them that as a constituent you are requesting their boss’ support by becoming a co-sponsor of these bills. Provide them with both the names of the two bills and their corresponding bill numbers (the FACE Act is S.1359 in the Senate and H.R. 3110 in the House and the FFO Act is S. 1458 and H.R. 3070 in the House.) You can direct the staffer to contact the offices of Senators Landrieu and Inhofe or Representatives Watson and Boozman for information on becoming a co-sponsor.

For contact information on your Representative please visit http://www.house.gov/

and for information on your Senators please visit http://www.senate.gov/.

3. In addition to contacting your own members of Congress, please contact members who sit on the four Congressional committees who will be the first to vote on these bills. The FACE Act will be considered by the House and Senate Judiciary Committee and also by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The FFO Act will be considered by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Following is contact information for these committees In the House: House Committee on Foreign Affairs: Phone: 202-225-5021 (Democrats) or 202-226-8467 (Republicans)

Email: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/contact.asp

Members on the Committee who need to know of your support for these bills: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/members.asp

House Judiciary Committee: Phone: 202-225-3951 (Democrats) or 202-225-6906 (Republicans) Members on the Committee who need to know of your support for the FACE Act: http://judiciary.house.gov/about/members.html

In the Senate: Senate Judiciary Committee: Phone: 202-224-7703 (Democrats) or 202-224-5225 (Republicans) Members on the Committee who need to know of your support for the FACE Act: http://judiciary.senate.gov/about/members.cfm Senate Foreign Relations Committee: Phone: 202-224-4651 (Democrats) or 202-224-6707 (Republicans)

Members on the Committee who need to know of your support for the FFO Act: http://www.foreign.senate.gov/about.html

4. Get the word out. Send this email to friends and family. Post it to your Facebook, My Space, and Twitter accounts, your blog, and personal Web site. On behalf of internationally adopted children and parentless children worldwide, we thank you for your time and your efforts. We can make a positive difference as we work together on behalf of these children. Sincerely, J. McLane Layton President, Equality for Adopted Children (EACH) ___________________________________ ** The Families for Orphans Coalition Buckner International EACH Institute for Orphan Advocacy Institute for Human Services Joint Council on International Children’s Services Kidsave National Council For Adoption Worldwide Orphan Foundation Weaving Families Click here to visit EACH’s website: http://www.equalityforadoptedchildren.org/

**Back on track!** May 11, 2009

I sent an email to our social worker today to get our adoption back up and running!  WOO HOO!  She is out of the office today.  I’m hoping to hear from her tomorrow.  I sent her new insurance paperwork since we changed our insurance.  So our new insurance still covers adopted children and adopted children with pre-existing conditions…

More details soon!

I’ve also got a lot of baby blankets started, but my sewing machine broke and I should have it back from the repair shop tomorrow.. WOO HOO!

*Another type of waiting* April 3, 2009

Easter is almost here and I actually laughed when I scrolled through my old posts and saw the one hoping we would have children by Christmas 2008.  Back when we were in the waiting child/concurrent adoption route.  

It seems so odd to be waiting for something so you can start waiting again…

Have you seen the newspapers and job postings?  I knew the job market was bad from the news and just hearing people talk about people they knew that were looking for new jobs… but you have no idea until you really get in there and do the search truly how bad it is.  I even signed up for Sunday paper delivery to get every job ad out there.. and there was only 4 pages and most of them were large adds.   Last time I was job hunting that had that much space for Nursing/Medical field alone!!!

Now, I sit here about to leave the office at 5pm on a Friday just waiting for my phone to ring… Waiting for a call from Jason about a temp job he was told he 95% had a week an a half ago… but they just had to confirm and would call him back… In theory, he was suppose to start on Monday but it’s now 5:04 Friday night.. How do you start at new job at 8am on Monday when you don’t know if you have it before the end of the day on FRIDAY!?!?!?

Frustrating….

Jason has spoken with the temp agency repeatedly trying to figure out what they are waiting on… and they  just keep saying they are pretty sure he has it and they will get back to him by the end of today…. *looking at my phone again*  

Why haven’t they called?  I guess we should have asked them to define “end of day”.

Jason has been diligently job hunting.  Hopefully a new employer sees how awesome he is and he gets a new great position soon.

Happy Friday???

Mailed Essays in today! December 2, 2008

Our essays, worksheets, proof of insurance, and directions to our home are completed and in route to our adoption agency.  Now we wait for them to review them and contact us.

Threads of Hope has accepted us! November 12, 2008

Just a quick note as I am having a crazy day. 

I received an email this morning for Alex at Threads of Hope and they have agreed to send us their bracelets for us to sell at our craft fairs! I love that this helps families in the Philippians and it will help us with adoption expenses.

We send 60% of proceeds back to Threads of Hope as we sell the bracelets. I am excited to be a part of this effort to help families in the Philippians.

We are hoping to have the bracelets in time for our 11/22 craft fair in Prior Lake.   I don’t think we will have them for the one this weekend.

Here is their website that shows photos of the bracelets.

Threads of Hope, Inc.

**Next Craft Fair this Saturday** November 11, 2008

I am anxious for our next craft fair this Saturday 11/15/08 at Christina Huddleston Elementary School in Lakeville, MN.

Honestly, I was discouraged after our first show but I have done a lot of research since and this show is getting really good reviews and should be a hit.   I am going to work on our company name sign tonight, and making some basic business cards (since I received multiple requests for them at our last show).   I have a good feeling about this show and next week am going to start looking for more craft shows to sign up for in December.

I contacted an organization called Threads of Hope today and am really excited about a potential new product/fundraiser to add to our craft booths.  http://threadsofhope.com.ph/   They have beautiful colorful Bracelets made by Filipino artists that they can send out for fundraisers.  We send 60% of the profits back to them and those funds are used to bring help and hope to families at risk.   I believe these would go over wonderfully at craft shows and be a wonderful multiple fundraising project.  

I am waiting to hear back to see if we will be accepted and will keep you posted.

Another possible option ***Ukraine*** September 17, 2008

We are trying to research all our possiblies.  Currently, I am researching adoption from Ukraine.  It is a blind referral process. Meaning you travel to Ukraine – then they give you a potential child and you travel accross country to meet the child before you accept the referral – so we would have no information on the child(ren) we would adopt prior to adopting them.  Several couples have reported going through a few referrals before accepting one.

The cost of Ukrainian adoption is very hard to calculate.  I found a blog about independent adoption in Ukraine from 2000 where a couple did it on their own for $12K, then have seen other blogs claiming it would be about $20K, then have seen adoption websites claiming total cost in Ukraine is $30K.  This is still well below the $45K estimate we get for adopting from Russia.   While the cost of adoption isn’t our only determining factor it is important when we are talking about saving $15K.

If we adoped siblings from Ukraine it only is an additional $2K plus the childs airfare home, still way less than Russia’s cost for one child.

So far, from my research, I have found that Ukraine doesn’t let agencies and adoption attorneys handle adoptions in their country.  This is very different then other countries.  If we go through CHSFS the cost would be higher than attempting to adopt from Ukraine on our own but we would have the expertise of an adoption agency helping us along the way.  Ukraine is a pilot program, so many factors of the adoption we would find out along the way.  CHSFS has completed 4 adoptions in Ukraine in the last two years.  The last one just completed in the past few months.

If we decide to go with Ukraine we would most likely start back up the process now.  We would have to go to adoption classes again for international adoption.  A full 2 day classroom event (10/1 – 10/17). 

We are still talking and doing more research.    The idea of traveling blindly is not very comforting, but we are considering the option.

Who’s checking us out? June 13, 2008