Wordless Wednesday: First Batch of Adoption Paperwork

Angel Nightlights

Red Nightlight

Pink Nightlight

   



Purple Nightlight



Green Nightlight

Blue Nightlight

I am not the best photographer and these pictures really do not do these nightlights justice!

We are asking for a $25 donation per nightlight to go towards our adoption fund.  If you don't see a color you like we can make almost any color - just let me know what you are looking for!  You can send your donation through the paypal link on the information let me know which color you would like and your mailing address.  Thank you!

Week in Revivew 2/24/12

Together Work:

• Continued using the guide from Church at Brookhill for our Family Bible Study and Prayer time.
• Continued praying for the entire world using Operation World guides.
• Begin studying the Westminster Shorter Catechisms with the kids. 
• Selected another Christmas card so we could pray for the family this week.
• MOH 2 Week 19: William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings.  The kids used their army men to reenact this battle.

   Pope Gregory VII, Henry IV and the Investiture Controversy.  I have to admit this was a difficult and somewhat confusing lesson, particularly for The Giver.  We had some discussion about the misuse of power in politics and the religion.
The Early Crusades:  Another lesson that was a little in depth for the youngers.

We wrapped up our MOH2 week by playing MOH Pictionary.  The kids really enjoyed this!

• Apologia Botany -finished up the Tree Chapter.  Co-op was canceled on Friday due to sickness.
• Read Aloud - Adam of the Road - we are almost finished with this one.  It's been really good.
• Memory work - Still working on I Cor 13 and reviewing poetry and other scripture learned this year.
• Nature Notebook - daffodils

N (6th Grade) :

• Completed 4 lessons in Math Mammoth 6 and had a test on Wednesday.  He made an 89.  He still has issues with careless mistakes because he hate to show his work.  He would prefer to write as little as possible!  The new chapter is Geometry so I feel much of these lessons will be review.
• Completed 10 pages of Easy Grammar.  We will begin a 2 week break from Easy Grammar as we work on Spectrum Test Prep Grade 6.
• Phonetic Zoo - Lesson 3 Level B. 

Practicing the words using the Scrabble board. Made a 100 on the test.  He had a word on his list that I wasn't familiar with - pied.  Go look that one up for fun!

• IEW Medieval Writing Lesson 18 - Made a 90 on his final!
• Read Galileo.

The Giver (3rd Grade):

• Completed 4 lesson in Right Start D.
• 5 pages of Easy Grammar 3rd grade
• Phonetic Zoo Lesson 3, Level A
• Finished Reading Sarah, Plain and Tall
• penguin studies

Preacher Man (Kindergarten)

• IEW PAL lesson 31
• 3 lessons in RightStart A
• penguin studies
• built some words with stickers

Adoption Timeline and Costs

2/20/12 - Application Officially submitted  $250
2/22/12 - First Email request for documents
2/27/12 - Official Welcome Call with our Social Worker, Mallory
2/27/12 - SBCN fees paid for DHR fingerprint check $101.50
2/29/12 - Fingerprints completed at Trussville jail
3/1/12 - Fingerprint cards and form mailed off to SBCN
3/6/12 - Agency Payment #1 paid $2,613.75
3/10/12 - Orientation Call Completed
3/26/12 - 1st Homestudy meeting Completed
4/16/12 - Tony's medical completed
4/17/12 - Tony's CAN clearance (from fingerprints arrived)
5/18/2 - Autobiographies completed
5/24/12 - 2nd Homestudy meeting Completed
5/26/12 - Additional Written Questions completed
5/28/12 - Hague Online training completed - $195
5/30/12 - International Adoption Clinic training - $150
5/31/12 - 3rd Homestudy meeting - Home Tour
6/2/12 - 2nd Fingerprinting for Chantelle (1st was rejected)
6/15/12 - Final Homestudy Interview
7/13/12 - Chantelle's CAN clearance finally arrived
7/19/12 - Agency Payment #2 paid $2,613.75
8/2/12 - Homestudy (FINALLY) finished
8/3/12 - I800-A Hand-delivered to agency along with $890 to US Homeland Security
8/6/12 - Letter of Intent (LOI) submitted for a specific child - $140
8/6/12 - I800-A received at the USCIS Lockbox
8/9/12 - PA (Pre-Approval) received for our daughter!
8/9/12 - Chantelle submits Passport application - $135
8/11/12 - Tony submits Passport application - $135
8/20/12 - Biometric fingerprints taken at USCIS office
8/23/12 - USCIS Immigation approval (Only 3 weeks instead of 2-3 months!!!!)
8/24/12 - Dossier documents delivered to Lifeline for authentication - $513
8/29/12 - Tony's Passport Arrives
8/30/12 - Chantelle's Passport Arrives
8/31/12 - Took more checks to Lifeline since 3 of the first 4 were incorrect - $579
9/5/12 - Agency Payment #3 - $2,613.75
9/10/12 - CCCWA fee to go with Dossier to Ch*na $800
9/11/12 - issue with authenication - Shelby county mistake
9/25/12 - DTC (finally!)
10/12/12 - LID
11/1/12 - Dossier out of translation
11/15/12 - Agency Payment #4 - $2,613.75
11/27/12 - LOA (was dated 11/22/12 - Thanksgiving Day!)
11/29/12 - I 800 paperwork delivered to Lifeline
11/30/12 - I 800 paperwork sent off
12/5/12 - I 800 paperwork rec'd at lockbox
12/7/12 - Visa paperwork sent off - $350 plus $42.74 for UPS mailing
12/19/12 - rec'd I 800 approval (was dated 12/13)
12/24/12 - Visas arrived!
12/26/12 - Cabled to China
12/27/12 - Article 5 drop off
1/11/13 - Article 5 pick up
1/24/13 - Travel Approval
1/28/13 - Consulate Appointment confirmed for 3/26/13
1/28/13 - booked tickets to China!  $4,013.70
2/2/13 - Hotel in Beijing $192
2/19/13 - In-country fees and travel $10,953 plus cash for food and spending $2,500 $1,200We took the recommended $2,500 but found we didn't need all of it!
**** Guides fees for Beijing and train tickets to Taiyuan $812
**** van ride to Hong Kong for flight home $377
****orphanage visit $300

Total so far: $32,427

$5 layouts for Adoption

I have offered $5 scrapbook layouts to my Close To My Heart customers off and on for several years.  Now all the proceeds of these will go towards our adoption.   Here is the current month's layout:

I have several of these left so if you want one, please let me know!

In addition, I have the following layouts which are Christmasy but wouldn't have to be for Christmas.

You can follow my Close To My Heart blog to get all these updates at :  Chantelle's Creations

These are kits that come cut and ready to assemble.  If you would like them already assembled for you, I will gladly do that that! 

If you are not local, there will be a cost on these for shipping.  Due to the 12x12 size the only way to mail them is priority.  I will suggest that you order and let me hang on to them until you have several from different months and then I ship.  I will need to double check, but I believe the cheapest way to send 12x12 layouts in a priority box will be about $7.  I can probably fit 12-15 layouts in one box!

Our biggest Adventure yet........

Over the past few months God has brought it to my attention that I am too comfortable with my life.  I'm not put here on earth to be comfortable.  He has put me here to serve Him.  If you read my previous post here, then you already have an idea of where my heart has been for a while. 

So, after Tony came home from Secret Church last fall, one of the biggest take-aways he had was that Christians are called to care for the orphans and widows.  This is actually a commandment in the Bible found in James 1:27.  I'm sure we've read that and knew it (in our head) but have never considered it as a true responsibility.  Our society has allowed our government to take over the responsibility for us.  

{...a little pause to let that sink in.......}

Yes, caring for orphans is our job as Christians.  If Christians were taking care of what God has called us to do, maybe we wouldn't need Foster Care, DHR and adoption agencies. 

With these convictions in our heads and hearts, we have earnestly prayed and asked God what He would like for us to do.  He has led us down this path to adoption. 

We have considered adoption before, but due to the excessive costs, we never got very far in our research.  However, this time God has given us a peace that we need to have faith in Him to give us what we need to accomplish the task He has assigned us.

So, with this announcement we want to first of all ask for your prayers.  Prayers for our family, for the child we will adopt, for all the orphans in the world and all the families who are trying to pursue them with God's love.

We will be doing multiple fundraisers over the next months to help us raise the money to bring our child home.  If you have ideas for fundraisers, please let me know!  Tony has pulled out all of his stained glass supplies that we have moved around with us during 15 years of marriage and he has made some angel nightlights that we are currently selling.

We also have blue and can make any color that you want!  These nightlights would be a reminder for you to pray for all the orphans and to pray for us as we walk by faith in this adventure!  We are asking for a donation of $25 per nightlight.  If you would like one please let me know.

Tony has made LOTS of stained glass panels in the past, and we have pictures of them if you are interested in ordering something custom designed and made just for you!

We are also currently working on making some pendants.  I will post pictures of those soon.

Thank you for your prayers!

Week in Review 2/19

The Giver making a crossword puzzle for spelling words using the Scrabble Board (yes, in his PJs):

  A few knights decided to hang out at my kitchen table  (these were Preacher Man's Valentine's gift):

We had a full week of school but I am heading out early tomorrow morning to hostess my annual winter scrapbook retreat.  Tony will be handling a VERY short school day tomorrow to wrap up the week.

N completed a Paper on The Sword in the Stone earning an 89 and otherwise our week looked very similar to last week!  

The Giver also did a really excellent notebook page from MOH this week that I was thrilled with! 

Small victories to make this mom's heart happy. 

Now, I'm going to have fun without my kiddos for a few days - it will be good to get away and great to get back!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Tiny Hands International

I bought this purse today from a friend of mine who is hostessing a party for Tiny Hand International.  (http://www.tinyhandsinternational.org/)  Isn't is absolutely adorable?  I know it's still technically winter, but it's been so mild here and I do love Spring so I'm going to start carrying it right away!  And all for a great cause!

Week In Review: 2/10/12

Together work:

• Bible study using the guide from Church at Brookhill, along with prayer using the Operation World guide and our Christmas Card prayer mission project.
• This week we took off from MOH to work on a Mission Fair Project. We chose the country of Myanmar because we sponsor a little boy from that country.  We researched the country and missions, made a display board, & N and The Giver did a short presentation. Click above to see pics.
• We completed the 1st lesson of Meet the Masters Art.  Click to see pics of our artwork!
• Still memorizing I Corinthians 13.  We added verse 5 this week.
• We read from Adam of the Road each day.
• Attended Contenders on Monday, where we learned about orienteering.  My boys already knew a good bit about the compass and directions, but we all learned several things we didn't know.  I'm counting this as Geography for sure!  Forgot the camera though....
• Completed Inquiry in Action Investigation 3. Click the link to see pics!

N (6th grade)

• 3 lessons in Math Mammoth 6th grade
• Easy Grammar 6 - Review and Test.  Made 92!
• Worked on Lesson 16 in IEW Medieval Writing. This one will be a two week lesson for him.
• Reading from The King's Shadow Daily.

The Giver (3rd Grade)

• Right Start D - 1 lesson, review and a test - made 96!
• Work on IEW Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales lesson.
• Read Robin Hood (a Graphic Novel) and a book about Castles. 
• Easy Grammar- 3 pages.

Preacher  Man (K)

• Right Start A - Lesson 45.
• 100th Day of School math

• IEW PAL Lesson 30.  We are having to slow down.  Z is fighting me about the handwriting and I just don't want to push him too hard.  He is reading well and we practice each day either pages from the program, readers from the program, or use his word book that we have made using the program.  He is reading better than either of my other two when they finished kindergarten so I'm pleased. His writing, however, leaves ALOT to be desired. 

We are wrapping our week up now by watching the Disney version of Treasure Island. I also popped popcorn the old fashioned way using my Dutch Oven that I received for Christmas from Tony's parents! 

Next week will be a short week because I will be hosting a weekend scrapbook retreat. I think this is the 12th one I've hosted over the last 6 years.  I will leave Friday morning to head and set up everything.  I most likely won't be able to do a weekly wrap up unless I can manage to get it done Thursday night.  Have a great week everyone!

Missions Fair

Our Generations Group is holding a Mission Fair to go along with our Valentine party this year.  We chose to focus on Myanmar, because we sponsor a child from that country through World Help.

We found information through the use of books and the internet. We utilized the Ellison machine at our church to cut out some letters and animal shapes.  Here is our board that we came up with:

 And here are N and The Giver presenting our country:

And here is a pic of Preacher Man with one of his favorite friends:

Inquiry in Action: Investigation 3

Inquiry 2 seemed to drag out and neither me nor the kids enjoyed it nearly as much as Investigation 1.  I finally pushed through getting it done and we completed Inquiry 3 these week.  This one was much more enjoyable and we were able to do all the parts in one sitting.  N will complete the "What's Going On" reading and questions next week to finish up the unit.

This time we learned about liquids.  How liquids that appear the same can act differently.  The kids really enjoyed this one!

Even Preacher Man got in on the fun!

Meet the Masters Art

The Giver is very artsy - loves crafts and drawing and painting and really anything artsy.  N - well, not so much.  He doesn't like drawing or craft much. at. all. 

Last school year I did Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks with the kids after attending a seminar given by a lady who had used it with much success.  I LOVED Drawing with Children (see an old post with some of our art work here) and felt it helped me to improve my own drawing dramatically. However, N, was often still disappointed with his work  and didn't enjoy it too much.  So this year I searched for a program that would combine some study of artists and their works with some artwork.  I knew he would enjoy learning about the people while The Giver would enjoy the actual art.  After too much research and debate, I finally decided on Meet the Masters.  Homeschool buyer's co-op offered a special on it so I purchased.  

We have only completed one lesson due to the technical difficulties they seller has been having.  What I purchased was an online complete curriculum so we would listen to info about the artists, etc and then do the projects ourself.  Well, after waiting a few months, I decided I would implement the "old version" of their program, which they offered since they were still working on the new version.  Another reason I wasn't too worried about fitting art in was because we also do a co-op with our coverschool on Art/Geography every other week, as well.

We watched the first segment and completed some warm up exercises all on one day.  Then 2 weeks later, we completed the project for that lesson.  Here are the boys working  and our final results. 

I am very happy with this program.  N is definetly enjoying it more and the warm up exercises were thorough without being too difficult.  He benefitted greatly from them and then those were directly transferred over to the final artwork, giving him a product he was proud of!  Yeah for Meet the Masters!

Week in Review 2/3/12

This week we continued with our family Bible study at breakfast using the guides from the Church at Brookhill.  We also have continued to pray for the World using the schedules at Operation World.  We chose a Christmas card from those we received and prayed for that person all week in addition to the guides given with the Bible study we are using.

Together Work:

We completed MOH vol 2 Week17 - We covered lessons on the Song Dynasy of China, St. Simon and the Coptic Church, & Eric the Red and the Settlement of Greenland.

We made some coins and a feathered fan similar as our activities for Song Dynasty of China:

The story of St. Simon is quite fascinating and one I'd never heard before.  Simon was truly a servant, carrying water each morning at 4 am for the elderly each day.  One of the suggested activities was to fill milk jugs with water and have the children see how much it weighed and carry them around. This turned out to be a fun project:

This led to some other playing figuring out a better way to carry the water!

And we had some discussions about how much water we would use if we had to carry it to our house every day!

For the study of Greenland, we made a "map" of Greenland using dirt, ice and salt.

 We made the shape of Greenland on a foam plate with dirt.  Then we placed ice cubes in the middle (because the interior of Greenland has as much as 1500 feet of ice on it!) Then we placed tiny pieces of toothpicks around the edge to represent where people lived.

And finally we topped it all off with kosher salt because Greenland does get lots of snow.  And for those wondering why such a cold place is named Greenland.  Eric the Red was trying to attract people to come with him to settle there so he chose a great name.  Additionally, many historians believe that it was warmer during that time period than now.  There was enough pastureland to grow crops and maintain animals. (Makes me ponder about Global Warming!)

We started a new chapter in Botany and finished up Investigation 2 in the ACS Chemistry.

N and The Giver are still working on I Corinthians 13, along with their respective preposition lists and other poetry. Emily Dickinson poems are our focus this year.

We attended Art through Geography class this week.  

Started a new lesson in Apologia Botany and finished Investigation 2 on ACS Chemistry.

Completed Lesson 5 in La Clasa Divertida.

Read 5 chapters of Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Gray  (This is really good so far!)

N- 6th Grade -

Completed 5 lessons in Math Mammoth 6

Wrote a sweet letter to his Grandpa.

Completed IEW Medieval Writing Lesson 14 - made an 89 on his final writing. 

Practiced guitar daily, attended muscianship class and guitar lesson

IEW Phonetic Zoo Lesson 1, List B - made a 93!

Started Reading The King's Shadow for school.  He's currently reading the Harry Potter series for his personal reading.

The Giver - 3rd grade-

Completed 5 lessons in Right Start D

Wrote a sweet letter to his grandmother:

IEW Phonetic Zoo Lesson 1, List A - made a 100!

Building words with tiles  - in his PJ's!

Still reading Viking Adventure by Clyde Robert Bulla.  He has started a Young Indiana Jones book for his personal reading.

Preacher Man - Kindergarten

Completed 2 lesson in IEW PAL - reading and writing

Completed 4 lesson in Right Start A, including the Handshake Game

Working on Magic Tree House Ghost Town at Sun Down.

Pretty successful week!