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!!!!

Enter Clever Title Here

I couldn't come up with a clever title for this blog post, so yeah. :P


I have been posting a lot about fundraising lately, and to be honest it's because there isn't a whole lot going on around here aside from fundraising and the usually family stuff. 


But, there are a *few* things worth updating about...so here it is!


First, let me address the most common question I get...which is "WHEN ARE YOU GOING BACK TO RUSSIA FOR COURT?!?!?! WHEN WILL KENZI COME HOME?!?!"


Yes. This question is often in all caps, and yes...I know it's actually 2 questions, but they always go hand in hand...so let's go with it, shall we?


Now, for the answer(s).


We had expected to get back to Russia for court in late July. That is not going to happen due to some paperwork delays on the Russia side of things. No biggie, our girl is in a good place, we'll get back when we're meant to get back, and it's expected to be the first or second week of September. The positive in this is that airfare will be cheaper, which is why we're now $6500 away from being fully funded, instead of $10000 away, so thank God for always showing us the silver lining. As far as when Kenzi will come home, that will be 30 days after court, so to keep things really simple, lets say that Kenzi will be home in time to rock her first Halloween costume...which will be amazing!!!


As far as how things are flowing on our side of the pond...we're done with paperwork! I need to pick up a few papers, but as far as filling stuff out, we're good to go on that. We're waiting for our state background checks to come back, I have to pick up the disks that contain our chest xrays, and I have to pick up a copy of our doctor's medical license...then I need to have all that (and the other paperwork!) notarized, certified, then driven alllll the way to Nashville to be apostilled....then it can be sent to our agency, where it will be reviewed, then it will be forwarded to Moscow where it will be reviewed again, and translated, before it's forwarded on to our in country facilitator...so that's where we all on all that!


So, you're caught up on where we are in the process...so now let's catch up on how we're going to get this sweet girl home!

Why, thank you for asking, random notecard holding hand! There are several ways you can help!


You can pray for us. I know that sounds cheesy, but I do truly believe in the power of prayer, and I do believe that the fact that we are this close to being funded is proof that God wants Kenzi in our family, so please, pray for our family!


You can donate. I don't like to be that girl that begs for money, so I do my best to offer something in return. I make lots of girly items, so check out 


my facebook page at: www.facebook.com/KenzisKraftKorner 


My nesting doll giveaway at: http://www.facebook.com/events/414826038559028/ 

and coming soon....the mother of all giveaways, featuring well over $1000 in prizes! It's launching soon, so stay tuned!


Now, for something fun!!! As many of you know, I'm funding a good chunk of this adoption through crafting. I've always loved to craft, and now it's helping to bring my girl home so I love it even more!!! Well, the more orders I got for crafts, the more supplies I needed, and the more supplies I needed, the more storage I needed! A friend told me about these storage cubes that are specially designed for crafters, and for organizing crafts! Anyone who knows me knows that my 2 great loves (outside of my family) are crafting, and organizing...so when she told me about a product that combined the two...I'm pretty sure I heard angels singing. Check out this picture and tell me you aren't in love!

well, my anniversary is Sunday, so I told my hubby that I wanted something like this, for organizing my craft supplies...and we went to Michael's and he bought me a smaller version of this set up, except mine has a desk top. I can't WAIT to get it all set up and show you pictures!!! EEK!!!


Well, that's it for now...Good night, and much love, 
Cilla

We Hit Five Figures!!!!

Shocked.


That is the only word I can think of that could possibly describe my reaction to seeing our FSP hit $10,000!!! Thank you so much to everyone who helped us reach this incredible milestone! I know it sounds sappy, but every single person who donated even a dollar, who was part of making that number increase, and increase until it hit 5 figures...you're all heroes in my book. You're part of something incredible, you're quite literally part of saving a child's life, my child's life, and I don't take that lightly at all. My heart is so filled with gratitude it could burst. Thank you so, so much.


Now, we move forward. That little FSP box needs to say $16,750 before I can shout from the roof tops that we are FULLY funded! This is crunch time, and we may just need a miracle. It took 6 months for that little box to hit $10,000...we need to increase it $6,750 more in mere weeks. We can do it, I know we can. I'm ready, willing, and able to work my fingers to the bone to contribute as much as I can to bumping up that number. We have 12 puzzle pieces left (Yes! Only 12 pieces!), as always I'm selling bows and other girly goodness. We have a nesting doll giveaway going on through facebook, and I'll be launching the mother of all giveaways at the end of the month. 


We hit $10,000 in our FSP!!! Yes, I know...I've mentioned that like 10 times already...I'm just so pumped!!! I want to try something that I've seen others do, and break down our "gotcha" trip into chunks and people can choose to sponsor a portion of the final trip that will bring Kenzi home to her family once and for all! If you would like to sponsor a chunk of this unfunded trip, you can donate the amount you wish to our FSP, then comment on this post with how much you donated, and how you would like the money used. I will then cross out that amount on this blog post, so everyone can watch us inch closer, and closer to funding the most important trip of all!


Here goes:


Airfare for Me: $2400
$200     $100    $100    $50    $25    $25
$200     $100    $100    $50    $25
$200     $100    $100    $50    $25
$200     $100    $100    $50    $25
$200     $100    $100    $50    $25


Airfare for Kenzi: $1500
$200     $100    $50     $25    $25
$200     $100    $50     $25
$200     $50     $50     $25
$100     $50     $25     $25
$100     $50     $25     $25


Hotel Stay: $800
$100     $50     $25     $25
$100     $50     $25
$100     $50     $25
$100     $25     $25
$50      $25     $25


Food and other basics: $300
$50      $25     $10     $10
$50      $10     $10
$25      $10     $10
$25      $10     $10
$25      $10     $10


Required Orphanage Donation: $1000
$200     $50     $25     $10     $10
$100     $50     $25     $10     $10
$100     $25     $25     $10     $10
$100     $25     $25     $10     $10
$100     $25     $25     $10     $10


Kenzi's Visa: $230
$25      $25     $10     $5
$25      $10     $5      $5
$25      $10     $5      
$25      $10     $5
$25      $10     $5


Kenzi's In Country Medical Exam: $150
$25      $10     $5     $5      
$25      $10     $5     $5
$10      $5      $5      
$10      $5      $5
$10      $5      $5


You may have noticed a few things:


1. There is no airfare listed for my husband David. 

     ~The final trip only requires one parent to travel, and after a lot of discussion, we decided that for us, we wouldn't feel comfortable fundraising for an unnecessary plane ticket. Yes he would love to be there, but if it isn't required, other people shouldn't be asked to help fund it. 


2. Our hotel cost seems pretty low considering we have to stay in Kenzi's city AND in Moscow for a few days. 
     ~That's because a very sweet friend offered to gift us some points for a free hotel stay in Moscow, so we didn't need to include that 1-2 night stay in our budget. :)


3. I said our FSP needs to read $6750 to be fully funded, but this last trip is only coming in at $6380...what is the other $370 for? 
     ~Paperwork, apostilles, certification of documents, fedex, etc etc etc... :)


So, there it is, laid out nicely, and neatly...the final pieces to our adoption fundraising puzzle! I hope you'll stick around and watch our FSP grow with us!! We're so excited to get to that magical number and KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that nothing is coming between us, and our sweet girl.


Please continue to pray for our family. 


Much, much love, 
Cilla

Brick wall.

Have you ever felt like you slammed head first into a brick wall? That's been my mentality lately. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how I'm going to fund the last leg of our trip. I've killed myself getting to where we are now, and I am astonished that an adoption that will end up costing around $48,000 is only $6500 away from being FULLY funded. When we started this process we were given $34,000 as a HIGH END quote for how much this would cost, and we had no idea where we would find that kind of money, we just knew that we were being led down this life path, that we we were meant to change this little girls world, and somehow, the money would work itself out. That quote didn't include things like needing visas, twice ($2000), or a third trip ($7000) or warm weather airfare hikes ($3000-$4000), or a psych Eval ($800) or apostilles/certifications ($600) and the list goes on. The deeper we got into the process, the more fees we unearthed, and as we continued to blow our budget over and over again, somehow, some way, the money would appear. I'm proud to say that I've worked really, really hard to earn the bulk of our "fundraised" money. Everything we've paid for without using our RR funds has been paid for with money from making crafty things, and over $3,500 of our FSP money has come from making crafts. I'm exhausted. To put it into context, I sell bows for no more than $5 each...and I've made over $5000 in the last 4-5 months. It feels great knowing I have a way to help secure funds to bring Kenzi home...but I also miss having feeling in my fingertips! :)
So, I say all that, to say this...I need help. I feel horrible and guilty asking for it but it's come down to that point for me, and for Kenzi. I'm running out of ideas, I've hit a brick wall, and $7000 is a LOT of money. I'm still selling bows, and all the crafty fun stuff, but that won't make $7000 in 6-8 weeks! At the end of the month I'll be launching a giveaway, if you're crafty, or if you have unwanted, unused gift cards, or pretty much anything that you don't want that you think would be appealing for a giveaway, please comment, or email me at Priscilla.morse@gmail.com and let me know what the item is, what it's value is, and how you would like to be credited for your donation!

I'm also going to be trying the "sponser a bit of our trip" thing that others have done, it sounds fun and I'll get it put together in a cute way with lots of prizes along the way, so stay tuned!!!

Thank you for your continued interest in our family, our adoption, and our new precious daughter. Your support, friendship, and prayers have made this long, often painful journey so much easier to bear. Thank you could never begin to cover our gratitude. <3

Satan Called....He wants his weather back.

Um. It's hot. Like really, really unbearably, horrifyingly hot! Of course it would be 105 degrees on the weekend I plan my yardsale, right??? Well, needless to say we didn't make a killing, but we had as much fun as a couple of people can have while melting in the sun 8 hrs a day for 2 days. We weeded out a bunch of junk, we put the better stuff back for a second sale at a friends house, and I'll be listing some SUPER cute kids clothes individually on my craft page later this week. All in all, it was a good time. :)


I didn't take any pictures...but just visualize the surface of the sun covered in yard sale crap...yup...that's just about right. lol


<3