Defending Africa Orphans Hand Dyed Tote Bag

Debi, One of my Moms that I made a necklace for has created these ever so Cute Tote bags! She makes them by hand to help raise travels funds to bring home her Ethiopian Blessing. What a Great way to get a Unique Tote & support Adoption too. Go to her Etsy & see them!

Soul Sisters

I had the Amazing privilege of commissioning Danita-An Incredible Artist to create this Wonderful painting of my Grand-baby Girls. I told her how much they Love each other and some sweet details about each of them. When i saw how she captured them i was truly in Awe. I placed it in my Family room and everytime I see it, It brings me a feeling of Hope. How two Beautiful little Girls once a half a world apart are brought together by Adoption & Love.

Thank you Danita!

Love Swirls in Africa!

http://www.intothestreetsofethiopia/ is a Wonderful organization that is making a Huge difference in the lives of the Orphans in Ethiopia. I designed this new necklace called "Love Swirls in Africa" & I am donating the profits from the purchase of it to Into the Streets of Ethiopia. I am excited to support what they are doing to Love the Orphans in Ethiopia.

Back to School Blues & Mommy Time.

When My Children were little & School was getting close to start I would always get kinda Down. Not only would i feel the stress of everything we would need to do to get ready & the cost of all the clothes, supplies & fees. I often had anxiety because i loved having them Home with me. I liked being with them and not rushing out to lessons,practices & meetings.
Instead it was the Popsicles, Pools & Dirty Bare feet & the only thing we had scheduled was Fun things to do & Church on Sundays.. I do have to admit when they started reaching the Teen years I did start fantasizing about Year round School!. I always Dreamed of being brave enough to Home school my Kiddos but i never had the nerve. Those Moms have an Amazing Gift & wear Capes ,Halos are the some of the Strongest i know. If you are a stay at home Mom or a Mom working outside the Home & doing double duty, Just remember life can be challenging with or without School make sure to take the time for yourselves. This is coming from a Mom of both Birth & Adopted Kiddos that did not accept offers of Help or take time for herself(Kettle Black). After we adopted a Sibling group and Doubled our Family size overnight, It was nine months before My Hubby and I had a dinner date! Not Healthy I know. Please do what I say & not what I did. I had some kind offers of help but I did not take them. I look back & think how we should have taken more time for us & me. If you are a Friend to a Family that has Adopted Children , Remember that the adjustments for them can be extremely hard. Especially if the Little ones have special needs.

A simple meal or offer of help can make a Big difference. Remember the Children that were already in the Family before. This can be a really tough for them. We took our Girl's out

on special dates to spend time with them alone. Because we Choose to Adopt, When we

have challenges others sometimes don't understand what we are going through. Remember

How important it is to take care of Yourself, Take up offers of Help & say Yes to others.

Here are my Top 10 ideas to help Adoptive familes:

1.Bring them Meals. (don't ask just Do)-

2.Dinner Gift certificates-( everyone loves Pizza on a Crazy night)

3.Offer to run errands. (Pick kids up, Grocery store. ect.)

4.Take the other Kids out for Fun- (a win win for everyone)

5.Take Mommy out for a Mani or Pedi or Dad out for a Guy thing.

6.Offer to do Cleaning or Hire a Cleaning service to come in for her.

7.Invite them over to your House for dinner or just to hang out.

8. Have a Shower for them, even if the Kids they adopted are Older.(they often need more)

9. Support the Adoption Financially if at all possible-Adoption is very expensive & can add a large Burden to the finances.

10. Love & support them. Open your ears & Heart to them. Listen to them when times are tough(even when you don't understand & you are thinking they were Crazy to Adopt kids with so many Challenges) Don't judge them. Be There when they need you & Most of all LOVE the

Kids with all your Heart & Soul. Be the Hero for that Family!

Are you Adoping this year or Next?

Did you know that the Health care Reform Law has been Expanded the Adoption Tax Credit?
What does this mean for Adopting Families?
It means that the amount of credit was increased to 13,170. The best part of this is that it will be Refunded to you! Because the adoption tax credit will be refundable, families who have smaller tax liability will now be able to benefit from the credit for adoptions finalized in 2010 & 2011. This information was given to me at an Adoption non-profit that i volunteer at. They said that many people do not know about this information.

Note* Refundable is the most important word. It means that receipts/documentation of
expenses are not necessary. it means that the parents do not need to owe the govt $ to get a
tax credit for it. It means that no matter if/how much the parents owe the govt(even if it is $0)
they will get a credit refund of $13,170.

Public law 111-148 the Patient Protection & Affordable Care act was signed into law on March
23, 2010 section 10909 of the act extended the adoption tax credit for one more year to Dec.
31, 2011.

Please Please -let everyone you know that is Adopting this year or next about this. I would so Love to see Adoptive Families to get this well deserved refund.

And the Winner is....

Tina of korandascalledtolove.blogspot.com is the winner of the Awesome T-shirt!
Congrats to you Girl!

Another Great Giveaway!!!

Erica and her Family are Adopting from Africa. They are one of the Families I am supporting

with profits from my Etsy. They are selling these Amazingly Great T-Shirts and I am giving one

away!

The Scoop:

Go to her Wonderful Blog and say Hello and that you want to be entered for the Giveaway.

I will draw a Happy Winner on August 15th!!!