Change of Plans - Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign for AJ

Lianne has a family coming for her from Italy!!!   Yay for Forever Families.

So, I'm changing horses midstream.  Meet AJ! 

AJ is not even a year old!!  Imagine---he could celebrate his second birthday with is family.  He could have therapies and early intervention years before Sara did.  And LOVE!

The $294 raised so far for Lianne will go to AJ's grant.  The goal is still $1,000 total.  Let's get him some fund and a family!!

Current Fund Raisers:
*Scarves and Skirts for Sara.  50% of each purchase from now until January 1st will go toAJ's grant.

*Plexus.  All of my commission earned from September through December will go to AJ's grant.  Feel free to ask questions!

*C&E Baby Blankets.  $10 of each blanket purchased will go to AJ's grant.  Just mention AJ when you place your order.

*Homemade Lip Balm, Sugar Scrub, Bath Salts, and Bath Melts.  50% of each purchase goes to AJ's grant.  Custom scents and flavors available.

*Ornament Sale.  Make a donation to AJ's account of $35 or more and get a Christmas ornament with his picture on it.  November 1 - December 31.

*Teacher Tired Shirts and Hoodies. Through November 24th.

Upcoming Fund Raisers:

*Dress Down Day at Batavia High School - December 8th

*Genesee Country Christian School's Christmas Bazaar - December 2nd - 4120 Long Point Rd, Geneseo, NY - 10AM-3PM


Past Fund Raisers:
*LuLaRoe Pop-Up.  Online.  November 6-10.  Any sales made this week benefit AJ.  And LLR matches the donation of the consultants!  We raised $271!

If you are looking to purchase any gifts this Christmas season, I encourage you to join the Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign Virtual Vendor/Craft Fair.  You will find all of your usual sellers (Tupperware, Avon, LuLaRoe, etc) while also finding crafters with one of a kind gifts and many who will take special orders just for you!  Let's help more kids find families instead of supporting corporations and big box stores!

Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign for Lianne

Once again, I said I wasn't going to do Reece's Rainbow's Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign.  I have work and grad school and Sara and too much to do.  But last year worked out so well, I just couldn't help myself!!  (Andre is now home!)

So, meet Lianne.  There isn't much information given about her.  She's 3 and in Latin America.  She's clearly beautiful but her picture breaks my heart.  She needs love and comfort.  She needs a family!

Check back often for fund raisers as we get into November and December.  The goal is $1,000 and I'll need lots of help and support to get there there!

Just a note---Only donations made during November and December will count toward the $1,000 goal.

Current Fund Raisers:
*Scarves and Skirts for Sara.  50% of each purchase from now until January 1st will go to Lianne's grant.

*Plexus.  All of my commission earned from September through December will go to Lianne's grant.  I'll be writing a post about Plexus and the benefits off it soon.  In the mean time, feel free to ask questions!

*C&E Baby Blankets.  $10 of each blanket purchased will go to Lianne's grant.  Just mention Lianne when you place your order.

*Homemade Lip Balm, Sugar Scrub, Bath Salts, and Bath Melts.  50% of each purchase goes to Lianne's grant.  Custom scents and flavors available.

*Ornament Sale.  Make a donation to Lianne's account of $35 or more and get a Christmas ornament with her picture on it.  November 1 - December 31.

*Teacher Tired Shirts and Hoodies. Through November 24th.

Upcoming Fund Raisers:

*Dress Down Day at Batavia High School - December 8th

*Genesee Country Christian School's Christmas Bazaar - December 2nd - 4120 Long Point Rd, Geneseo, NY - 10AM-3PM


Past Fund Raisers:
*LuLaRoe Pop-Up.  Online.  November 6-10.  Any sales made this week benefit Lianne.  And LLR matches the donation of the consultants!

If you are looking to purchase any gifts this Christmas season, I encourage you to join the Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign Virtual Vendor/Craft Fair.  You will find all of your usual sellers (Tupperware, Avon, LuLaRoe, etc) while also finding crafters with one of a kind gifts and many who will take special orders just for you!  Let's help more kids find families instead of supporting corporations and big box stores!

Time

I was talking to my mom tonight about my plans to raise $1,000 for Lianne’s adoption grant.

She asked if I really had time for all of this.

The truth is—-I don’t. My house is a mess. My grad school work gets done the day it’s due. There is laundry piled everywhere. I’m tired.

But then I think about Santiago being home and already growing with his family. And Josie. And Adriana. And other kids that I’ve posted or fund raised for or helped their families. And I can’t stop.

Kids need families.

I’m beginning to think another kid isn’t in the cards for me so I have to help any way I can.

No. I don’t have time to knit or create fund raisers or write blog posts or make sugar scrub.

But these kids don’t have the luxury of time either. They need homes  and they need them now.

So in between work and Sara’s activities and grad school, I’ll find the time to do what I can. I’ll share fund raisers and scour Pinterest for new ideas. I’ll knit while I read for school. I’ll do whatever I can.

My house will just have to stay messy for a while longer.

C & E Baby Blankets

Meet my dear friend Anna.  We met at an amazing and then very difficult time in our lives.  Clearly we were just babies back then!  

We've been through thick and thin.  We've traveled together, laughed together and cried together.  And now, we are mommies together.  

We have a lot in common but one of the major things is our love of helping others and our hearts for kids who are struggling and kids who need families.  Because Anna wants to show her beautiful two girls that she is a strong, kind, giving, generous woman, she started a new business called C & E Baby Blankets.  She believes firmly in leading by example and showing her babies how to give back and help others.  I can't think of a more worthy cause!  

Anna makes beautiful, soft, flannel baby blankets and burp cloths.  She can do custom orders or she has a stock of items ready to sell and ship.  She has traditional boy and girl fabrics as well as gender-neutral and specialty fabrics.  Check out her online store!  If you don't see something you like, just ask!  She'll gladly work with you to get you what you want.  

For the month of September, Anna has set a goal to sell 100 blankets to raise $1,000 for the VanHalle Family Adoption.  (Can you imagine starting a new business and giving away all of your profits the first month?)  She is well on her way to that goal but needs some more sales.  

In order to help that happen, a donor has agreed to match the money made from sales this week up to $100.  That means, when you purchase a blanket or burp cloths for $25, the VanHalle Adoption Account will get $20!!!  You get a great baby shower or Christmas gift and a child gets that much closer to his forever family.  What's not to love?

If you don't need a baby blanket or burp cloths right now, that's ok too!!  Anna has set up a way you can purchase a blanket to be donated to a local organization serving single, pregnant, homeless moms.  You get to help two great causes at once!!  And your monetary donation is doubled this week.  Sounds like you have nothing to lose!  

If you have questions, please ask.  I can easily hook you up with Anna.  Please check out her business page.  Help a momma get her business up and running while helping a great family bring home their child.

Egg My Yard

A team from North Darien Bible Church will be traveling this summer to serve with Foundation for His Ministry in Baja, California, Mexico.  As part of our fund raising efforts, we are Egging Yards for Easter.

EGG MY YARD!

Support the North Darien Bible Church Mission Trip to Mexico.

Order your candy-filled eggs to be delivered to your yard for Easter morning fun!

Contact Natalie Keller at ntkeller08@gmail.com to order.

15 eggs for $10

25 Eggs for $15

50 Eggs for $30

100 Eggs for $50

You can check out more about our Missions Trip at www.facebook.com/BajaSummerTrip

If you'd like to order, you can fill out the form by clicking here.  

You can donate to our trip by clicking here.

Fairy Godmother

Over the 5 years that I've known about Reece's Rainbow, I've done some advocating and fund raising for some of the kids from Latin America.  I haven't done nearly as much as some people but I've been pulled towards certain kids sometimes.  I sell Avon and hand knit items year round to help waiting children and adopting families.

Some of the kids I've advocated for are home---Mark.  Some are still waiting ---James, Phillip, Vaughn.  Some are stuck in a country that isn't processing US families right now --- Kimberley, Lene.  One passed away before she got the chance to know the love of a family --- Monet.  One I will get to meet this summer --- Josie/Seraphina!

And then, there is the one who is being adopted by a childhood/high school friend of mine.  The one who will live less than an hour from me  The one I will be able to greet at the airport.  And spoil on his first birthday with a family.  The one I will get to watch grow and thrive.  Then there is  --- TJ/Andre.

And, guess, what?  I have the right to do all of those things because I am officially his Godmother.  Because every former orphan deserves one more person to spoil him and love him and pour into his little life.

His new family crashed Sara's dance class yesterday to officially ask us to forever be in his life.  I'm so honored and touched.  (Although I was very confused at the time.)  You can watch the video here:

If you want to help this amazing family financially, you can purchase Avon, buy some hand knit items, make a tax-deductible donation through Reece's Rainbow or make a donation directly to the family to help with upfront costs.  You can also order 31 or buy some great World Down Syndrome Day Shirts.  (Or this style shirt.)

Let's CHANGE His Life!

Just a little CHANGE can CHANGE a life!

There are a couple of options when it comes to change.
1.  It's in your purse weighing you down.
2.  It's jingling in your pocket.

Let's solve these problems, shall we?

Grab a cup or a jar or a bowl.  Put it in your kitchen, or your bedroom, or your office.  Attach this picture if you want!   And start filling.  Empty the change out of your wallet or pockets every day.  You'll be surprised how quickly your change adds up.  Every penny counts when you're fund raising.  

We are asking that people save their change for two months.  From January 10-March 10.  On March 10th, you will have a couple of options.  You can turn your change into your local bank and deposit the money into the Schaus' family account on Reece's Rainbow (tax-deductible) or their youcaring site.

You also have another option.  (If you are like me and you don't have a local bank branch.)  You can go to a CoinStar at your local grocery store and deposit your coins there.  They have the option to get gift cards without any fees.  You can get a gift card that we can use for baskets and raffles at the Schaus' coffee house event on March 25th.  You would just have to ship or give the card to Amanda or I.

Comment and let us know that you are participating!  Also, follow along on the facebook page.  We'd love to see pictures of your coin collections and how they are growing!  Everyone who collects coins, donates and messages a screen shot to the facebook page will be entered for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card!!!  

A little CHANGE can prepare a boy for a huge life-saving CHANGE!  

Temperature Blanket

Someone shared the idea of a temperature blanket on my facebook today.  The idea is to knit one row each day based on the high temperature of the day where you live.  I loved it---especially living in Western New York where we  have 4 distinct seasons.  I don't crochet and couldn't find a knit pattern so I decided to create my own.

The first step was to choose colors and set up a scale.  I went with Red Heart Super Saver yarn.  I knew the blanket would require a lot of yarn and I wanted something reasonably priced and easily accessible.  You can choose the colors that you like together.  I chose to do temperatures in groups of 10 degrees based on the temps we have here.  You may need to vary this depending on where you live.  

Make sure you set up some kind of system to record the daily temperatures and keep track of what days you have actually knit.  Let's be honest.  You are not going to knit every day this year.  With a good system, you can fall a bit behind and still catch up.   (Weather.com can show you the recorded temperatures for each day of the year.) 

The next step is to choose a pattern.  I'm making this blanket for a dear friend and I love the pattern.  It's really easy and I love the way it scallops.  

Here's the pattern as I modified it for this project:  

Using size 10 needles and the color for day 1, cast on 261 stitches.  (Or a number in multiples of 13 plus 1)

Row 1:  Using Day 2 color,  (RS) *K1, YO, K4, K2tog, sl 1, K1, psso, K4, YO; rep from * last st, K1

Row 2:  Using Day 3 color, K1, P to last st, K1. 

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 while changing colors for the temperature. for 363 rows.  Bind off in the temperature for the 365th day.  

You can use whatever size needles are comfortable for you with the weight of yarn you chose.  I'm using size 10 now.  

Modifications:  

*Some suggest crocheting an edge around the entire blanket.  

*Other patterns suggest adding a white stripe in between months.  

*I thought about doing 7 row squares of knit 7, purl 7 to show the weeks of the year.  

Here are my first 4 days.  I have two colors so far.  (Today was brutally cold.  I'll be adding another color tomorrow.)  I'll try to remember to post an updated picture once a month.'

I ended up pulling it out and switching to smaller needles.  I think it was going to be way too big and the stithes were too lose to see the pattern.  I'm up to 4 colors already!  

If you have any questions or other ideas for modifications, leave me a comment and let me know!  You can follow this and other projects on my knitting page.  

Happy knitting in 2017!