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Fleece Tied Blankets:
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We have been praying for a way for me to help with the finances, with not being able to work outside the home right now and I remembered that I still had mountains of fleece from making fleece, tied blankets for families that adopted with our help, when we were still working in adoption and from the military fleece blankets that I made for troops in Iraq, while Justin was over there with the U.S.M.C., that I haven't touched for over 2 1/2 years now, so I decided it was time to get it out and offer blankets for sale on my Facebook page, to help pay off the medical expenses from our host child's surgery. A couple of the prints, we have also set aside for Love Without Boundaries, St. Jude and for the education fund for Isaiah's 2 foster sisters in Guatemala, so they can go to school and various other fund raisers that come up from time to time. One of which came up yesterday, when we learned of a little girl in Uganda in need of URGENT medical care in the U.S. and her adoptive family needing to raise $15K within 48 hours in order to complete the adoption and bring Esther home ASAP along with her baby brother. We understand the financial hurdles that come with medical care and with international adoption. If you can, please click on the Stonebrooks link on the side of this page, under blogs I'm following and read their story, WITH FAITH ALONE.... OUR JOURNEY TO UGANDA and help this family if you are so able, every $10 adds up and can make all the difference in Esther getting the medical care she desperately needs, in time.
I've had the blankets on my FB page for a while now and have not sold very many, so decided that it was time to blog about it too and trusting God that people will not flame us. It's been hard to even admit to anyone that the medical expenses were as high as they were out-of-pocket and to even ask for any kind of help at all, but we have 5 children still at home that we also need to be able to care for. Plus, we are selling items we clearly do not NEED, in order to pay off these bills. We also have several Asian, Play Dolls for sale, some books and also some furniture to sell. I have a Maple WILLETT drop leaf table and 4 chairs for sale, that is in good condition, with only minor flaws for an antique table of it's age. Pictures available upon request. We've listed on Craigslist as well and are adding items we don't need as we go along. I may have some more furniture, if the boys decide they don't want us to continue holding onto it for them any longer. We hate that it's just sitting here collecting dust and not being put to good use for someone else that really needs it. Need to go through more of the kids clutter too, but it really is hard to find the time to do it all.
We'd love to have our kids go back to "traditional" school, but public school is simply not an option here, schools here are ranked 48th in the country & the bullying & violence etc. is horrible and private school for 5 kids is not realistic with our current budget, by any stretch of the imagination. Just for the school through our church, which is much less than other private schools here, it would be another mortgage payment for us to send all of the kids to school there. Our only options are financial assistance or scholarships. Some of our 5 at home, still need to be homeschooled, based on their needs, as I can give them one-on-one time and at a pace that is better for them emotionally and we will continue to access them as individuals and look at their educational needs and do what we can to make sure that they are getting all the support that they need, whether they are homeschooled, or if we find a way for them to go to private school. In fact, we recently went to an open house at an all girls high school and are praying about sending Grace & Jade there for 9th - 12th grades and have started the process to apply for financial assistance &/or scholarships. It is an excellent school with strong, Math, Science and Fine Arts departments and a wonderful environment for girls to be all they can be, without distractions, worry about clothes, make-up, peer pressure etc. The girls LOVED what they saw when we attended the open house and both want to either go there, (St. Cecelia Academy) or to Father Ryan high School, if at all possible and we wish this for them as well.
Having the two older girls in private school, would allow me to work more one-on-one with the younger 3 and allow me time to pursue some projects I have had to put on the back burner this last year with hosting a child, homeschooling, and all the medical drama of this past year. The main thing I want to accomplish myself, is to finish the book about all of our adoptions and our sweet angel Marissa and to take a photography class, a writing class and to see about selling Real Estate or doing home staging. Our experience with realtors these last few years have been horrible, so I would love to try my hand at it, having gained some insight as to how we wish we had been treated and that is to really LISTEN to what the buyers NEEDS are and not just want the commission from sales. Between the economy, the housing crash, and realtors only wanting a commission, we've learned a lot of valuable lessons, the hard way and I for one, would love to help other families avoid the same pit-falls we have had.
Even though we have been through so much, we are still incredibly blessed, we have 5 children still at home, who are doing remarkably well medically and emotionally, we have a roof over our heads, Steve has a job he loves and a part time job, we ALL wish he could quit, but we have no choice right now, but we know we are blessed to have 2 jobs for Steve, when so many are unemployed in this country due to the economy, we are both doing much better medically, we avoided the dreaded C word with another member of our family, thank GOD alone, and our Faith is still strong. We look for blessings in everything, but still have good days and bad days just like everyone else. We are thankful for our little jumping bean Jalin, who makes her Daddy smile each day when he comes in the door and she wants to jump high with her Daddy, for our little whistling, chatter-box Isaiah who makes sure there is never a dull moment when he is awake, for our sunshine girl Ava, who loves the camera, is always smiling & and laughing, who wants to be in commercials & T.V. , for our Jader-Bug who has a ferocious appetite for reading and for our beautiful Grace who is such a big helper. Our children have really come so far and we are so proud of all of them, we don't have any quitters, that's for sure. We are so blessed that our older 2 boys have the love and support from our family still in Kansas and that Alex has completed his Associates degree, is playing in a band that he loves and working nearly full time and that the VA ordeal for Justin, should soon be over and that he has the support from his Grandma Connie in getting to all those appts. & that he seems so happy with his girlfriend Tori and we are so thankful for our wonderful friends who have prayed for us, with us, cried with us and those that have been a shoulder to land on, when we have needed it the most.
We would appreciate prayers that 2012 will be a better year for all of us and we greatly appreciate it if you would take a look at the blankets & dolls we have for sale. They would all make wonderful Christmas gifts and would allow me to help my family financially and clear some space at the same time.
Blessings Always, Kim
