MACC 2017

Hello Everyone! 

It’s that time of year again! As a family we have once again decided to take on the challenge of raising money for an orphan this holiday season through Reece’s Rainbow and their "Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign." It is heartbreaking that little Miss Elsa is still awaiting her forever home. She is SIX years old now, and has never had a family of her own. So, we will raise another $1,000 for her adoption fund by the end of December, but our main goal is to spread the word about this precious girl! Surely her forever family will see her soon!! The kids are more than excited to do this again, and we can’t wait to successfully complete this challenge—with your help!

Elsa is just so cute, I don’t know how she has gone six years without a family scooping her up, it literally breaks my heart! Elsa has Down syndrome with the expected delays. You can learn a little more about Elsa, or donate to her fund here: http://reecesrainbow.org/86622/elsa

Please SHARE her link. Please SHARE her picture. We would adopt her if we could, but our family will not qualify. Many families would qualify and Single Moms are eligible for Elsa too, so please just help us get her face seen. More than any donation, we ask that you spread the word about this little one, because we desperately want her HOME with a family by next Christmas!

Elsa has $2,426 in her adoption fund, let’s get that fund at LEAST up to $3,426!  What a great chunk of funds that will be to help a family get her HOME! The more you are able to give, the better Elsa’s chances are of finding a forever family, because adoption is expensive.

The money goes into a fund that is waiting for her future family to help with all the fees and costs associated with the adoption process. The MACC is a big push every year to get these kids seen (hopefully by their new families!) and money raised, so they are more easily adoptable. It's through Reece's Rainbow, who have helped over 1,820 special needs kids get adopted since their start in 2006! Please go to https://reecesrainbow.org/maccintro to learn more about Reece’s Rainbow and the Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign.

There are a few ways to help raise funds, and of course, I am asking for plain and simple donations of any amount, but— 

Give $35 or more via her link & automatically receive a beautiful photo ornament of Elsa.

The following items are made to order, I need cash, or money sent to my personal paypal benandtricia10@yahoo.com as a gift to place these orders:

o    I am also selling customizable vinyl (permanent adhesive and iron-on)—mailed to you, with directions, ready to apply to whatever you choose! (Great for Car Windows, Cups, Mugs, Journals, Pillows, Blankets, Shirts, ect) See my album in our fb group for examples, or request something and I will see what I can come up with! General Pricing for Decals: Small $8, Medium $12, Large $18 *Glitter Vinyl Additional $3*

o    We are selling Homemade Caramels, individually wrapped in Christmas themed packages—Medium Gift Box $16, Small Gift Box $13, Small Bag $7, or individually at $0.50 each.

o    We are baking Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing, by the pan for $15. These can be baked and ready to eat, or frozen with the icing on the side. Frozen Cinnamon Rolls need to be thawed overnight in the fridge and they will be ready to bake by morning! They will come in a disposable 9x13 pan. Perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas morning when you don’t want to fuss with breakfast, but you want it to be great! 

To make this extra fun and involved for the kids, they have a Giant Felt Tree and they are hanging ornaments for every $50 raised, all the way up to the star!

Please join and share our fb group:  facebook.com/groups/MACCelsa  to keep up with all of our fundraising efforts and any new ways to help, there will be more gifts, projects, and things going on there!

Donations are tax deductible, and remember, ANYONE can help by praying, posting to Facebook, Twitter, on your blog, and by sharing with friends and family! Let’s do this, friends!

Love, 

Ben, Tricia, Noah, Callen, Haylee, Alyson and Emma

 

Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign - Elsa 2016

Hello Everyone!

Once again, as a family and this year with our friend Emily too, we have decided to take on the challenge of raising money for an orphan this holiday season. What was last year called, "Angel Tree" is now the "Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign." It was very disappointing to learn that little Miss Elsa is still awaiting her forever home, so we accept that as a challenge and will once again raise $1,000 for her adoption fund by the end of December and do all we can to spread the word about this precious girl! The kids are more than excited to do this again, and we can’t wait to successfully complete this challenge with them—with your help!

Elsa is just adorable! She is now 5 years old, and is incredibly charming, and sweet. Elsa has Down syndrome with the expected delays. You can learn a little more about Elsa, or donate to her fund here: http://reecesrainbow.org/86622/elsa

As far as we know, she still lives with a foster family, but just like every child, Elsa deserves to have a family of her own! Elsa has $1,055 in her adoption fund, let’s get that fund at LEAST up to $2,055!  There is no shortage of families wishing to adopt these children, only a shortage of funds to do so.  The more you are able to give, the better Elsa’s chances are of finding a forever family!

The money goes into a fund that is waiting for her future family to help with all the fees and costs associated with the adoption process. The MACC is a big push every year to get these kids seen (hopefully by their new families!) and money raised, so they are more easily adoptable. It's through Reece's Rainbow, who have helped almost 1,700 special needs kids get adopted since their start in 2006!

There are a few ways to help raise funds, and of course, I am asking for plain and simple donations of any amount, but—

·          Give $5 or more and I will give you an “It matters to this one” bracelet.

·          Give $35 or more and receive a beautiful photo ornament of Elsa to hang on your tree

·         Buy a box of Hand Crafted Greeting Cards—for $33 (including tax) get an organized box of 30 beautiful cards! There are four different boxes to choose from: 2 All Occasion, 1 Thanks & Blanks, and 1 Kids’ Birthday Box. (Ends 12/1!)

·         We are making custom monogram ornaments—for $10-$15 donations, they will make great Christmas gifts! (Examples will soon be on our fb group!)

·         I am selling customizable, digital word art—emailed to you after your donation for printing and framing. (See album in our fb group for examples/prices, or request something and I will see what I can come up with!)

·         I am also selling customizable vinyl (permanent decals, wall art, and t-shirt vinyl)—mailed to you, ready to apply to whatever you choose! For these items I need cash or money sent to my personal paypal christngrl4life@yahoo.com as a gift, so I can recoup my expenses and donate the rest. (See album in our fb group for examples/prices, or request something and I will see what I can come up with!)

·         We are *hopefully* holding a Bake Sale again this year, still working on the details!  (The kids are so excited to get busy in the kitchen again and make money for Elsa!)

*With any donation or purchase, please send me an email at benandtricia10@yahoo.com so we can share it with the kids and, if applicable, send you your bracelet or digital print!*

To make this extra fun and involved for the kids, they have a giant Tree that they are coloring and "hanging" ornaments for every $50 raised, all the way up to the star! And, we will be doing another video challenge this year!  

Help Us Decorate Our Tree For Elsa!

                  

For every $250 we raise, one of the kids will get to pie a parent in the face! When we reach our goal of $1,000, all FOUR kids will get to pie us both again! Help them reach this hilarious goal and we will share the videos as we go! 

Donations are tax deductible, and remember, ANYONE can help by praying, posting to Facebook, Twitter, on your blog, and by sharing with friends and family!  

Please join and share our fb group:  facebook.com/groups/MACCelsa  to keep up with all of our fundraising efforts and any new ways to help! Let’s do this, friends!

Love,

Ben, Tricia, Noah, Callen, Haylee, Alyson and "Auntie" Emily!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

How to Donate to Elsa’s fund!

To donate online visit:

http://reecesrainbow.org/86622/elsa

or

Send your Check/Money Order and the bottom of this form to:

Reece’s Rainbow

 PO Box 277

Monrovia, MD 21770

Anson's Angel Tree Adventure! 2015

Beautiful, Little Miss Elsa!

Dear Friends, Family and EVERYONE else, 

As a family, we have decided to take on the challenge of raising money for an Angel Tree Orphan this holiday season. What that means is that we now need to raise $1,000 for an adoption fund by the end of December, and we were assigned to help a precious little girl named Elsa. The kids are so excited, what a great way to teach our kids what compassion is all about, we can’t wait to successfully complete this challenge with them—with your help!

Elsa is just adorable! She turned 4 years old in August, and is incredibly charming, and sweet. Elsa has Down syndrome with the expected delays. You can learn a little more about Elsa, or donate to her fund here: http://reecesrainbow.org/86622/elsa

She currently lives with a foster family who have made sure she has a good diet, plenty of fresh air, and all the hugs she wants (she likes warm hugs)! But Elsa is ready to let it go and have a family of her own, and she deserves that! As we start this journey Elsa only has $25 in her adoption fund, let’s get that fund at LEAST up to $1,025!  There is no shortage of families wishing to adopt these children, only a shortage of funds to do so.  The more you are able to give, the better Elsa’s chances are of finding a forever family!

There are a few ways to help raise funds, and of course, I am asking for plain and simple donations of any amount, but—

•  Give $5 or more and I will give you an “It matters to this one” bracelet.

•  Give $35 or more and receive a beautiful photo ornament of Elsa to hang on your tree.

• For ALL of November and December, all profits from my Jamberry and Paparazzi sales will go straight to Elsa’s fund. (SHOP: www.tricias.jamberry.com and www.paparazziaccessories.com/17948 OR buy anything from my Cash & Carry stashes!) 

• I am also selling some customizable, digital word art—emailed to you after your donation for printing and framing. (See album in our fb group for examples/prices, or request something and I will see what I can come up with!)

• Businesses, we will gladly share your company on my blog, facebook group and personal page with any donations of $50 or more!

• The kids are selling CANDY BARS for $1 each

• We are holding a Bake Sale at Faith Baptist Church in Posen, IL on Sunday, December 7^th before and after all services! (The kids are so excited to get busy in the kitchen and make money for Elsa!)

*With any donation or purchase, please send me an email at benandtricia10@yahoo.com so we can share it with the kids and, if applicable, send you your bracelet or digital print!*

To make this extra fun and involved for the kids, they have a giant Tree Chart that they are coloring in on their door AND we also created a video challenge—watch it here.

                  

For every $250 we raise, one of the kids will get to pie a parent in the face! When we reach our goal of $1,000, all three big kids will get to pie us both again! Help them reach this hilarious goal and we will share the videos as we go! 

Donations are tax deductible, and remember, ANYONE can help by praying, posting to Facebook, Twitter, on your blog, and by sharing with friends and family!  
Please join and share our fb group:  facebook.com/groups/AnsonsAngelTreeAdventure  to keep up with all of our fundraising efforts and any new ways to help! Let’s do this, friends!

Donate through PayPal here: http://reecesrainbow.org/86622/elsa  or if you would like to send a check/money order, please see this page.

Love, 
   Ben, Tricia, Noah, Callen, Haylee & Alyson! 

Bathroom DIY

Well, as many of you know, when I left for our little vacation with the kids Ben stayed home with a plan of renovating our bathroom--and finishing it by the time we got back. Well, that four day plan turned into a four week plan (and counting). Not his fault--let me clarify that. There has just been every bump, hiccup, wrong turn, and problem there could possibly be. We all stayed with my in laws up until yesterday, and we have finally moved back in with a functioning, but still not complete bathroom. We quite obviously went over our time plan, and unfortunately we went way over budget too. Times such as this influence creative thinking. ;)

While at my in laws, I was discussing with Ben's mom that we still didn't have a vanity mirror/medicine cabinet and I wasn't sure how we were going to get one. Later on, she came out of her room with a mirror that I had actually bought years before on clearance for super cheap. I must have accidentally left it there, and I completely forgot about it. It was rough--an ugly color and one corner chipped, but I had gotten for like .50 and figured I might be able to do something with it.

Finding the mirror now was perfect timing, and this was a little blessing that I needed in all this chaos. I really do enjoy a good DIY project, and I was able to use my fabric flower skills that I've honed from my little side business for this project as well. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

I repaired the busted corner with some hot glue, sanded it a bit, then covered up the mirror and spray painted the frame. I did a primer coat, then two glossy chocolate brown coats. The corner I repaired still looked a little rough, so I decided to use some fabric I had on hand to make some little rosettes. Add a couple pearls, glue them on, and viola! My new vanity mirror that seriously cost me less than $5 to make! (Plus, the spray paint has a rebate, so I'm getting $2 back! Haha)

I just had to share my bathroom happiness for the week, and I promise that when we actually are DONE, done with the bathroom, I will share all of our before and after pics! :)

Love & Prayers,
-Tricia

Traveling with Twins & a Toddler...

I might be a little bit crazy. But, crazy can be fun, right? Honestly, traveling by car, for 8 hours, with all three kids, for a weekend trip to Ohio may seem a little looney. When I step back and look at all that this entails, I almost second guess myself for even wanting to go. But then, I think of the fun we will have, the chaos that I know will ensue, and the memories that come from times like that.

Do I expect a single thing to go as planned? Nope.
And let me tell you friends, that is the biggest (and best) lesson I have learned as a parent. Especially since the twins made their arrival. I am a planner. A list making, budget crunching, time plotting, perfectionist of a planner. And, my kids have ruined every ounce of efficiency left in me. But you know what? That is ok. I made it ok. I had to step back and decide that every single time I made a plan, it would be ok if it didn't work out *just* like I thought. In fact, I basically plan for my plan to fail. Not that I am being negative--if you know me, I have a pretty easy time staying positive about just about everything; I prefer life that way. So, I guess instead you could say that I now pleasantly expect everything to be controlled chaos. And sometimes not controlled. But, that's ok too.

I do still plan--why? Because I'm not actually crazy. If I didn't plan anything, nothing would ever get accomplished, I would never leave to go anywhere, and the house would be similar to an episode of hoarders, I'm sure. So, I plan just about every aspect of everything, and then I just get to what I can. I make a list of chores for every day. Sometimes, the list is exactly the same the next day, or even better, it's longer.
That really irks me sometimes, but then I think, well, I survived. The kids are all ok, our house has not burned down, and I am sure to look back on my previously unproductive day & find at least one thing that each baby did that made the day worth it. That is my favorite thing to do. Soak up every moment and memory I can with my kids. Sometimes, that moment is as little as a goofy grin or noise that one of the babies made in between crying fits. Sometimes, it's even a little stinker of a moment with Noah when I'm disciplining him for the tenth time. And then of course, there are days that are just filled with new milestones and sweet times. It is very easy to overlook them all, though, especially if you are just worried about the plan.

God has given me these babies to raise, and I don't ever want to take them for granted. I don't ever want to take the responsibility of raising my children on as "a cause that I must bear", rather than a blessing and wonderful opportunity.
That is why I am taking these three monkeys on a road trip with my mom and little sister. That is why I do take them all out to shop or to a restaurant sometimes. And, that is why I will continue to plan seemingly overwhelming trips and events their whole lives. Because I love them, because God gave them to me, and because I want to soak up and experience everything I can with them.

Have I been a little bit of a basket case planning for this trip? Yep.
Will we have some difficult moments on this trip? For sure.
Will I be more exhausted than usual at some points? I'm betting on it.
Will we make memories and experience great things that we can't do at home? Definitely.
So, in my book at least, it's worth it all. 

Now, I leave you with a verse that I have always loved: Proverbs 16:9 "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps." 
God's got it covered, no matter what you think you have going on. He's directed every step I've taken, and will continue to, I just need to listen to Him. Sometimes that simply means falling back on His grace and moving forward to experience more with the children He's given me. :) 

Love & Prayers, 
-Tricia  
  

Well, Hello Again!

Four months! I cannot believe it has been four months since I last wrote! The twins are all getting big ::sniffle!:: and so much has happened! Honestly, so much is happening all the time at our house now--which is probably why it has been this long, but I am here to say...
Hello Again! 

I actually really miss writing, it's a fun and very fulfilling outlet, so I've decided to give the blog a small facelift & continue documenting our journey as a family! Maybe, answer some questions that I get asked frequently, talk about how I parent & who I am. If you're along for the ride, that's great. If not, I'll have fun talking to myself! ;) 

To start off my new blogging journey, I present to you my latest creation: Noah's Busy Book! 

I am way more excited about this little big endeavor than Noah is, but that is just how it goes sometimes. What is a busy book? Simply a book full of things to keep your child busy. Why take on this task? Well, I think busy books are adorable, a great learning tool, and a *hopefully* great occupier for little hands. So, me and my crazy mommy ambition created this thing and, boy, am I glad it's done! I'd like to say that I'll make one for each of my children, but in all honesty, the twins may end up fighting over Noah's--assuming it holds up long enough.
I have here an eight page, handmade, felt creation. It took me about two weeks of "off time" (whatever that is), and what I like to call "Mommy is insane crying babies and mischievous toddler time".  Catchy, right? :) I decided to only use things I already had on hand in my stash of crafting supplies so that this thing didn't cost time and money. Thankfully, I do have quite a lot of random junk. :)
Alas, I have finished it in time for our 8 hour car trip to Ohio. That, my friends, equals success. Don't ask me if I've showered today, though. ;)

Front and Back Covers--felt with fabric paint & a ribbon tie closure

First page!--Button flaps with a star & heart underneath

Second & Third Pages!--felt balloon snaps that are attached to the page with yarn & a felt "outfit" with suspenders that can be clipped & unclipped

Fourth & Fifth Pages!--felt shape matching, attached with velcro & a counting caterpillar made with felt, magnets and smashed bottle caps. All attached with yarn (that may get tangled, I know, but better than losing pieces all of the time).

Sixth & Seventh Pages!--a felt shoe with ribbon "laces" to practice tying (eventually) & my version of a simple abacus out of yarn & beads

Last, but not least, the Eighth Page! (and already Noah's favorite)--a simple zipper!

Thanks for stopping by! ;)
Love & Prayers,
-Tricia