The wait...

We started this process in January of last year. We got on the waiting list for the agency we were planning on using in March. But now the agency we were going to partner with is not going to do international adoptions anymore because of a law that is going into effect July 2014. All adoptions on the American side BY LAW will have to be through Hague Accredited agencies. So the agency we were going to partner with is not accredited and has decided they are just going to stick with domestic adoptions. The agent who was working with us is going to work through another agency that is accredited. So she is saying January is when we will get to start. We haven't had our Home study agent sign off on our home study yet because we don't want our home study to get too "old" waiting on the new agency to be ready. I am hoping we can bring our kids home by next Christmas...but who knows! Waiting is so hard but the positive is that we have more time to fund-raise!


In other news, we had our 4th garage sale last weekend. Over 155 hours went into the sale. It is a lot of work but rewarding at the end of the day when you get to count! Our Silent auction closed on Wednesday and although we still had several items not even bid on and most items nowhere near retail value, God blessed what we had and our fundraisers were both super successful. Thank you to all of my many friends who donated and a HUGE thanks to Krystle Williams and Jen Searby for spending over 30 hours each on our garage sale. I am blessed to call you friends!

Silent Auction in FULL SWING!!

Thanks to so many of our friends and friends of our friends, we have a great silent auction going on right now on Facebook. What? What is that you say? You don't have a facebook account? Have no fear, Facebook photo album link is here! You can view the pictures and comment here on the blog your bids. I can update FB with the bids for you. From purses to diaper bags, pearls to matching mother-daughter aprons, cupcakes to Turkish scarves, there is something for everyone. Make sure to check it out.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1460783420814674.1073741828.1460778587481824&type=1&l=d7c2502b44

Some items below, many more at the link!

Necklace update

Necklaces are almost all sold! Make sure to get yours ASAP! Let me know which one you want. The necklace is $24 and shipped it is $26. Contact me to let me know which on you want.

Sponsor a piece of the puzzle

Our adoption puzzle has a beautiful photo on it and I absolutely love the quote on it. The suggestion per piece sponsorship is $5. When you sponsor a puzzle piece, we will write your name on the back of the piece. Then when we get our kids home, there will be a record of who was a "piece" of the puzzle. So get your piece today! As we build the picture, I will post new pictures so you can see the progress of the image. Maybe you want to sponsor one for each member of your family? Or maybe one for your business? Maybe even one for your family pet! You let me know what name you want on the back of your puzzle piece :) 

I saw this idea and immediately fell in love with it. I told my adoption team about it and they gave me the ok to do it!  So, will you sponsor a piece, or 10 today? You can give directly through PayPal or our youcaring page on the sidebar. Make sure to comment on what you want your piece(s) to say!

Necklaces

This is our second set of adoption fundraising necklaces. They have gone so fast that I never got the chance to post them here the first time. I did post to Facebook last night and sold several again before I was able to get a post up here. The necklaces are $24 each and half of the money goes towards our adoption. They each come with a small muslin bag made by Scarlet Threads, a fair trade deal for women in China. Beautiful, handmade, one-of-a-kind. Each necklace also has a verse reference inscribed on the back. Comment below and I will send your necklaces to you for $2 shipping. You can email me for payment instructions at julyrose1026(at)gmail.com. Thank you so much for supporting our adoption!

His Treasure- Gems of Love from Your King- by Sheri Rose Shepard

I just love this little devotional bookBy Sheri Rose Shepard! It is written from God to you and addresses the reader with names such as My Child, My Beloved Daughter, My Precious Girl. Really feels like a father having written notes to his daughter. The pages are colorful and include a scripture to go with the subject of the devotion. My favorite devotion in the book came from the subject of His Timing. My husband and I are in the process of adoption and as many people know, and many others do not, there is so much time of waiting and wondering. When I came to this devotion, we had been waiting on our final home study, being told it would be done, for over 8 weeks. It is so hard sometimes to wait...but this devotion was a great reminder that it is God's timing not mine.

I would recommend this title to any woman who needs uplifting from a father in her life. Most importantly this book repeats truth to you and reminds one of what the truth in life really is. Its size is just perfect to throw in your purse, use it in the waiting room, in the parent pick-up lane, or anytime you are feeling defeated. I also loved that it included a table of contents that was subject searchable! When you are struggling in a certain area, you can turn to the truth God wants you to know about him and His love for you. As the timing devotion said..."Now is the time, My Beloved, to ask Me to use you in someone's life today." I think that Sheri, the author, was used in my life and will continue to be when I grab this little book! I did receive a copy of this book for free to review

Garage Sale #3

 Our third sale was at our friends, the Searby's house. It was a great day and we lined their very long driveway with many sets of tables, tarps on the ground and a huge clothes line about 50ft long. We also had a wonderful bake sale provided by friends- Krystle Seidel, Michelle Thomas and Jennifer Moises. The kids always have such a good time manning their station and this Saturday was no exception! We had another very successful sale and plan to do another one at the Searby's house at a later date. Thank you God for your provision for this adoption!

Patriots Day- 9/11/2013

On Patriots day we decided to bake some goodies for our local fire station and bring them up to the guys. It was a wonderful night. We got a private tour with two of the officers and they even invited us to come another day and wash fire trucks with them! We are so thankful to our first responders and they really blessed us that night!

Noah as the driver.

Noah checking out the back seat. "I can even stand up in here!"

Foster gets his turn as the driver

Foster looking at the tanker truck from afar.

Noah checking out his favorite truck- the tanker

Foster trying on a helmet for size

As we were leaving, the boys found a butterfly and the firemen showed their softer side :)

Noah rides his bike!

Noah has been working on riding his bike for a while now. Today the light bulb went on and he got it! We let the boys ride up and down the Haile Trail and then he picked up his bike and rode in the driveway. We have always been thankful for such a big driveway, but today even more so! Yay Noah! Here's to being seven years old!

Nothing to talk about?

I know, I know. You are probably thinking... "When is the last time she stopped talking?"

I am a talker! Anyone who has spent time with me knows this! I do try to make sure to give others equal time talking too. It is something I really have to pay attention to and make sure I am conscious to not take more than my fair share of time. But at our dinners, I find the strangest thing happening. I feel like we (as a family) have nothing to talk about! It bothers me to no end. I am not sure if part of this problem stems from being a stay-at-home mom who also homeschools. And because I also inform Matt about everything we have going on at his lunch. Past what goes on here, I feel at a loss for words. I don't want our entire family dinners to be filled with, "take another bite...keep eating...be careful, you are making a mess...etc." I want them to be meaningful and enjoyable. I want to laugh and joke and share life with the littles in our lives and also with my husband. I loathe the day that the kids move and we "have nothing to talk about." So, I decided something had to be done about this lack of conversation.

Like any "good" person would do, I consulted Pinterest for ideas. I came up with some questions off of a couple of blogs and an idea of how to keep the questions on the table and have them look pretty. I am super excited to have the kids home tonight and try them out. So if you are at a loss for words, look no further- Conversation Stones! I put them in a mason jar and they are the centerpiece for our table now.

My boys

Let me let you in on a secret: I have two awesome little boys that I am certain were a gift from God, who loves me more than I can imagine, and who gave me these boys (and my husband) so that I have a daily reminder of how wonderful His love for me is.

Let me start with the little one: 

Foster Everett- 3 years old- just had his birthday. He loves to make people laugh and has become super affectionate as of late. Many times throughout the day he will come running up to me and say, "momma, I wanna div you a tiss and a hud...that was a good tiss and hud." He does silly things to captivate an audience and will laugh loudly anytime someone else is laughing. He loves to point out people's eye color and is very excited about how his eyes are blue like daddy's. Foster loves to have his teeth flossed and listen to daddy's Christian rap music super loud. He loves to do anything and EVERYTHING his brother is doing. The pediatrician said today that his speech is crystal clear especially for a three year old. He is 36.5 inches tall (10-25%) and 34 pounds(25-50%). For a reference, Noah was 37.5 at 3 years, 9months old!

Noah Matthew- 7 years old. He is so smart, reading 6th grade recommended reading titles. He is a great big brother and is going into second grade. His first adult tooth came in behind his baby tooth, so he has 'shark teeth' in his very own mouth ;) Noah is caring, sweet and compassionate. He always is concerned for others and how they feel. If he wrongs you, he is quick to apologize and quick to forgive. He loves to play board games and Mario kart on the wii. He loves playing to win and is pretty good at achieving that! He is the ring leader everyday at playtime and usually facilitates games being made up. At his check up today he was 44" (3-5%) and 43.5lbs (10-25%).

I wanted to catch up a bit on pictures of the boys. I have been behind in everything, but that is ok! We are loving life together here in the Bolin household! The pictures are from our Fourth of July tradition. So fun to see the progression!



July 2013



July 2013



4th of July, 2012

July 4th, 2012

July 4th, 2012

 

4th of July 2011

 

Kingdom Woman by Tony Evans and Chrystal Hurst

I received a copy of this book for free to review. I am so glad I did! This book pairs very complimentary with another book we were using in our small group study. This book, Kingdom Woman, by Tony Evans and Chrystal Evans Hurst, helps show God's love in obvious and tangible ways. It reminds us that God uses the imperfect in his perfect plan. The authors remind us that "Happiness is...a benefit- not the goal or driving force of destiny for a kingdom woman" (Pg6). Evans also points out that, "the church has settled for buildings and programs instead if teaching men and women how to access the authority of the kingdom" (pg7). So many times I have felt devoid I that area, but at a loss for what to do to fix the issue of the focus being on "doing" church instead of operating in the kingdom and "being" the church, or bride of Christ. My husband and I are trying to work in the direction of operating from a kingdom perspective. We want our desires to be second to the ones God has for his Kingdom. It isn't an easy choice, especially in a consumer driven society. But as this book and others in the kingdom point out, our blessings are not all for our consumption. That is something the deceiver has been good at deceiving well meaning Christians to think. I look forward to re-reading this and doing it as a study with a friend or two for some good discussion. 

Q & A with the authors of this book!- On why this book, what it is about, why it is different, etc.

Author Memes- Good quotes from the book to get a feel for what it is about.

Ann Voskamp- Angry

"I’m angry at sin that smothers children and selfishness that steals human dignity and apathy that infects the hearts of the comfortable. And I pound my own chest.

I’m angry at me.

Angry at how much I want comfortable more than I want Christ.

Angry at how much I want to forget that grimy boy leaned over a garbage heap, wiping his fingers along the inside of food tray, looking for anything left. I’m wildly angry that I want to forget the struggle of the poor so I can pin the next pretty idea on Pinterest.

I’m angry that I’ve seen and I’m ashamed that I am angry and I’m angry that I’ve seen and now I am responsible. More than respons-able – we’re response-bound. Once we have seen the poor, we are responsible — we will make a response. As long as your heart is beating, there’s no such thing as unresponsive. We all look into the face of the poor and it’s either Yes, I will help. Or no, I won’t.

There’s no getting off the hook." [Ann Voskamp]

fundraising update

We are at $6500 so far! I am so amazed by the support and generosity we have been shown by friends and family thus far. We are so thankful for every sacrifice you and your families have made for us. It has meant so much. I wanted to post some pictures from the events we have had so far. I also added another tab at the top- budget friendly ideas- and updated the adoption timeline.

Donations dropped off in our carport

Presale in the living room

Sorting the day before the sale

The sale in full swing

The boys running the lemonade stand

Family at the Ice Cream Social

Ice Cream Recipes

Toppings galore!

Mixin' station ready

Mix-master Dan ready for some action

Flyer from Pizza Ranch Event