The Contest

The easiest way for me to explain the orgin of this contest, is to copy and paste a status update from a dear friend. 

Ok, so here's my thought: I'd like to do a race, to see which team of advocates can get "Team Kate" to $7500 or "Team Priscilla & Becki" to $7500 first, by midnight EST on August 1st. I'm getting ready to do a blog post on it. You can use your best fundraising techniques- including flat out begging, short auctions, whatever you can do, but we would do it for 10 days only- keep it intense and focused. The winning team (if either team reaches at least $5000 in donations in these 10 days) will get to pick five children that I will then feature on my blog and advocate for, for an entire month. I will advocate for them on facebook, real life, and the blog, as much as I possibly can and focus on them like I did my kiddos at 39. I will also ask as many of my friends who blog to also feature those kids at least once during the month, so we can spread the word as much as possible.

So yeah, I'm asking you to pick a side :) both sides will "win" in the sense that any money that comes in obviously benefits a kid getting home!

Priscilla Morse's FSP will need to read $17100 (http://reecesrainbow.org/29701/sponsormorse) and Becki's FSP (http://reecesrainbow.org/38523/sponsorlittle) will need to read $2185 for Team Priscilla/Becki to win!!! 

Kate Hogeland's FSP (http://reecesrainbow.org/35808/sponsorhogeland-3) will need to read $10,160 for Team Kate to win.

Now personally, I think it's going to be an interesting challenge. I wonder whose friends are going to push the hardest? I wonder if we'll see any matching donors pop up and offer to help push and meet goals? We have two different countries represented, 3 different special needs, a little something for everyone.

Ok, so who is willing to jump in? If either team wants to do an online auction, I will bring back a surprise of European chocolate to be raffled off for either one! First person to set up a Team Kate or Team Priscilla/Becki auction page and then ask me for it, gets that prize!


So, that was the beginning of what we will call....the contest! Becki (my team mate) and I have started an auction on facebook. It was thrown together REALLY fast since we only have until August 1st...so we were kind of scrambling looking for items to put in it, so we decided to have fun with the random stuff that ended up in our auction! lol  We are having a contest *within* the contest! If you have something funky, crazy, weird, whatever!! Please consider adding it to our auction! The owner of the funky item with the most bids, will win a prize! I hope you'll come have fun with us!!!


I've added a chip-in on the right side of my blog. If you feel led to join "Team Pasha and Xenia", feel free to donate a few bucks to help us win!!! Thanks so much!!!


Let the games begin!

Meet the happy couple who will benefit from this contest!!!!

Double Your Dollar

Hey guys! Just wanted to pop on and let all my sweet blog viewers know that something really cool is going on until Sunday night! A very kind, generous person has offered us a $1,000 matching donation for our sweet Kenzi! Right now we have $285 towards it, so by Sunday night, we need to have $715 more in our FSP! 


The total number we need to hit $1000 for the matching donation is: $11861


If we get to that number by midnight on Sunday...someone will put another $1,000 in, taking us to $12,891 which would put us at only $3889 away from our estimated FULLY FUNDED number!!!


Please spread the word, and help us get our sweet girl home! She's counting on all of us to help spring her from that orphanage crib!

Remember we have a pretty huge giveaway going on right now too, so you can use your money for good, and for a chance to will a pretty cool prize! CLICK HERE to enter the giveaway! We just added MORE prizes so don't miss out on the fun!


The thought of being less that $4,000 away from KNOWING we'll have the funds for our sweet girls ransom gives us so much peace! We can't do this alone. $48,000 is a TON of money, and how we got this far is a miracle. We just need ONE MORE miracle to get us to the end! Will you help? 

And don't forget! From now until Sunday night, your donation will be DOUBLED until we hit $1000!!!!! 

For Beatrice

Sometimes I think about what Kenzi's future might have been had we seen her picture, and looked away.


Adoption...
It's too expensive.
It's too hard.
It's too time consuming.


Special Needs Adoption...
It's a lifetime commitment.
We aren't 100% what we're getting into.
We aren't prepared for the added "burden".


All of these things cross *every* adoptive parents mind at one time or another. There is no shame in it, it's ok to be scared of the unknown...but sometimes you just have to take a chance, and every single child DESERVES to have someone take a chance on them.


We took a giant leap of faith when we committed to our precious daughter. We didn't know where the money would come from, where the love would come from, where ANYTHING would come from. We did know that we were led to her for a reason, and that reason wasn't to just walk away and pretend we weren't touched by that sweet face.


Then, we met her. Every doubt and fear...gone. All we knew was she was OURS, always had been, it just took us a little while to find her. We were smitten, in love, in awe...amazed at how beautiful she was, how smart she was, how FUNNY she was!! In our world, the sun rises and sets on our children, all 3 of them.


Every child deserves to have parents that are in love with them, who rejoice in every milestone they meet, from clapping their hands for the first time, to running a marathon. Every child should see the pride their parents have in their achievements, they should have parents that push them to reach their full potential, who kiss boo-boo's when they fall, who hold them when they're scared, who love them unconditionally.


It is nothing less than an honor that Dave and I get to give that to Kenzi. She deserves it, she deserves it 100x more than we are humanly capable of giving it to her, but rest assured, when that little girl comes home, she will never again go a day without knowing that she has a Mama, and a Papa, and that she is loved and treasured and accepted for exactly who she in in a family who thinks she hung the moon.


It's time to help another little girl find her Mama, somewhere out there is a Mama with empty arms. Maybe she doesn't know her arms are empty, maybe it will take a little push, a tiny nudge, for her to realize that there has been something missing in her life!


Sweet tiny Beatrice. She is only 9 months old, she has no eyes, she has no nose, yet she might be one of the prettiest babies I've ever seen! "Perfection" and "Beauty" do not always mean the same thing. Beatrice is beautiful and she deserves to hear it everyday of her life, she deserves a Mama who will cheer her on, hug and kiss her, and make her LOVE LIFE, despite the obstacles she will face.


Are you her Mama? Maybe so! If not, you can be her *advocate* until her Mama finds her. Please, join me in helping this precious baby find her forever family!


http://reecesrainbow.org/41025/beatrice


^^ This is her Reece's Rainbow link. Share it with the world! Blog about her, post about her on Facebook, Twitter, tell your mom, your sister, your book club, your co-workers, your roommate....tell everyone that THIS little girl, she's worth something, and she isn't forgotten!


Her grant fund only has $10, can we change that? I'm going to go double it right now, I can't afford much because I'm in the process myself, but I can afford to do SOMETHING, and I'm really hoping that other people step up and decide to help Beatrice too!


August 3, 4, and 5 there is a flea market in our town, and I'm going to have a donation jar out for Beatrice as well as several Reece's Rainbow bows available and the proceeds will go towards Beatrice. After the flea market I'll be starting a FB page, and 50% of all sales will go towards Beatrice. The other half will cover supplies and shipping. I hope you'll check it out when it's up and running!


Thanks for reading, and please keep this sweet girl in your thoughts and prayers!

All my reasons...

I love this sweet, sweet little girl. <3

Inching Our Way To Russia...

Baby steps!! We have all of our paperwork!!! Tuesday morning we will be heading to the bank to get our stuff notarized, then downtown to get it certified, then off to Nashville to get it apostilled, THEN on it's way to Moscow!!! 


I have to drain the crayon of all it's funds tonight, count, and pray it's enough for gas, certifications, apostilles, and fed ex fees! I'm sure we'll be fine, and we will be ONE STEP CLOSER!!


This process has been all about faith, and baby steps. I've never had much patience and God is really using this adoption to teach me to let go and just trust that things will happen not when I want them too, but when they are MEANT to. 


I'll update Tuesday with pictures of our pretty apostilled court dossier!


<3 Cilla


PS...our puzzle fundraiser literally only has SIX pieces left...would you like to buy one...please? Pretty please? Like seriously, PLEASE let me finish this puzzle...please. lol 


$5 each into the FSP over there ~~~> 


Thanks! <3

Kenzi's Final Push Giveaway!!

The time has come for our *BIG* fundraising event!! If you look at our FSP right now, it reads: $10128


In order for us to be "fully funded" (to the best of our knowledge!) our FSP needs to read: $16750!!


That is a difference of: $6622


Can we raise that much with this giveaway? Probably not, but we can surely try!!!


First, the rules:


This is a *giveaway* you can enter for FREE each day by reposting this blog link, and commenting on THIS BLOG POST after you post the link. Please add me as a friend on FB (Priscilla Morse, my profile picture says "I love adoption" with the Russian and American flag), and tag me when you repost the blog link (@Priscilla Morse = tagging after we're FB friends!). 


Please, please, please remember to comment here so your free entry will get counted! You can enter for free EVERY DAY until the giveaway ends on August 31st!


You can also earn more entries by donating to our FSP if you choose. The breakdown is as follows:


$5 = 1 entry
$10 = 3 entries
$20= 7 entries
$35 = 14 entries
$50 = 25 entries
$100 = 60 entries


Along the way, we will be ADDING PRIZES as we hit donation goals!

$250 in donations=the addition of a $25 itunes card

$5oo in donations = the addition of a $100 donation to any Reece's Rainbow child

$1000 in donations = the addition of a Kindle Fire

                                            

$1500 in donations= the addition of a Sony Cybershot camera

$2000 in donations = the addition of a $250 donation to any waiting child or family on Reece's Rainbow

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, so all *that* is squared away! On to the stuff that is included RIGHT NOW!!! We have ***tons*** of great stuff!

Grand Prize:

Apple iPad 3

~or~

$500 to the Reece's Rainbow child or family of YOUR CHOICE!!!

Other prizes:

$50 Ruby Tuesday Gift Card

$50 Target Gift Card

$50 Amazon Gift Card

$25 Old Navy Gift Card

$15 Starbucks

Blondie's from Charlotte's Chocolate Factory

Cookie's from Charlotte's Chocolate Factory

Handcrafted Banner by Katie Madison

Gorgeous Photo Canvas by Donna Thomas (you pick your photo!)

Beautiful Necklace by http://www.etsy.com/shop/MattieGraceGifts

                        

"One at a time" leather tie bracelet by Tanna Smith

Newborn photograpy session with Emily Knight (Jackson, TN area only)

***NO PHOTO AVAILABLE***

Three hand knitted washcloths donated by Denise Collins

Amazing necklace from Uganda! Donated by Elizabeth Sullivan

Handmade makeup roll donated by Alison Hillman

Handbag donated by Jody Johnson

Wallet donated by Jody Johnson

Hat donated by Jody Johnson

Handmade Princess Crown donated by Jamie Lentz

Three handmade bookmarks donated by Susan Hendrickson

Sweet little handmade baby shoes donated by Frankie Miller

Adorable taggy blanket donated by Sarah Meyer

Harvest Wreath Donated by Wilda Lahmann

Christmas Wreath Donated by Wilda Lahmann

Apple theme Casserole carriers/warmers (Set of 2) donated by Wilda Lahmann

Americana theme casserole carriers/warmers (set of 2) donated by Wilda Lahmann

Message Board

Handmade Earrings

10 flower clips + a bow holder

3 lucky winners will walk away with a beautiful key fob from www.forgetusnotfundraising.com

***BONUS***

Make sure you get your entries in ASAP, for the next 2 weeks I will be randomly choosing donors for mini-wins! If your name is picked, you'll win a key fob, a hairbow, a diaper wipe case, etc....in addition to being entered to win the BIG prizes! There is no cap on winning miniprizes so keep coming back and donating for our sweet girl!!!

We're almost there!!!!