Busy, busy!

I am busily getting ready for our big Coins for Katie Pancake Breakfast that will be held this Saturday, November 12 at Chili's at the Avenue in Murfreesboro.  I. am. so. excited.  I think we'll have a great turnout, and a lot of fun.  And I found out today that a local magazine, VIP Murfreesboro Magazine, will be at our event with a photographer!  I'm excited for more people in our city to read about our journey to Katie and to see what great people we have in our community who will be there supporting Katie and our family.  We have some fabulous silent auction items.  All combined, the silent auction items have a fair market value of over $4,300!!  Every single one of the items has been donated to us, and I'm hopeful that we'll make a good bit of money at our silent auction.  We're excited and busy getting ready.

I had the nicest phone call today from one of my favorite clients, Jenny.  She is a nurse at local hospital, and she said one of her patients today was a six year old little girl who with Down syndrome who had been adopted from Ukraine.  The little girl has been home for 8 months and has a 4 year old sister with Ds as well.  My client said the mom was talking to her about the girls and Jenny said all she could think of was Katie Ruth and that we need to get her home.  Jenny went on to say that she was so touched by the girls that she got really emotional and started crying because she was so happy they have a home and a family.  And she was a MESS on the phone with me.  It makes me so happy (oddly?) when people are so touched by things like that - I don't think that Jenny would have had that same reaction if she didn't know me and have a personal connection to adoption.  I have known Jenny and her family for years, and we're lucky to have her praying for us and thinking about us on our journey to Katie.

I hope your week is going well!

My Newest Project

As is probably clear by now, I love a project.  I usually have about 8 of them going at any given time.  With our dossier complete, I now have some time to work on them.  This is my newest beauty.

I picked this cute little dolly highchair up at Goodwill on Saturday for $9.99.

My secret to successful shopping at the GW?

Being able to see beyond the outside of something and picture what it would look like with a little work.

The legs were loose and wobbly.  

And please don't ask about the fabric.  

It's hideous.

The 70's called and wanted their highchair back.

But it was SO cute, I couldn't walk past.

The first thing I did was tighten the screws.

Wobble?  Gone.

(Then I read the original tag on the bottom of the chair and learned it was made at a company about 5 miles from where I grew up. . . approximately 1,100 miles from here.  Clearly that means it was supposed to be mine!)

I was sort of hopeful that I would be able to eliminate the need to cover the cushion with fabric and I would just be able to paint it, but that was not the case.  The seat is just a piece of MDF.

The cushion is in fine shape, so I saved that and will recover.  I am just going to use some fabric from my scrap stash to cover the seat and make a small ruffle to go around to cover the MDF edge.

I painted it over the weekend with Rustoleum American Accent Heirloom White paint, and it looks awesome!  I'll show that transformation and the recovered seat another time.  Jack loves it and keeps trying to climb into it.  He said, "I know my sissy Katie Roof will LOVE this chair!"  I hope so!

We got some more Coins for Katie donations today!

Our sweet friend Kayla, who was our babysitter every week for two years (and whom we miss very, very much!) brought her Coins for Katie cup to me at work today.  She saved $33.09.  In a TINY sippy cup!

We also got a check today from Lynn, who I worked with in New Hampshire at the Gap.  Lynn saved her change, had a yard sale and accepted donations there, and sent us a check for $125!  Thank you so much Lynn!  Lynn has been a supportive friend to me for many years, and, if I know Lynn, she will love Katie!  

I also just noticed that we got a $10.00 donation to our FSP today.  Thank you to the person who made that donation!

My first batch of bracelets will be sent out in the mail tomorrow to people who have requested them!

Coins for Katie Pancake Breakfast

It's coming up ya'll!

Our Coins for Katie pancake breakfast is Saturday November 12th from 8:00 a.m. to Noon.

It will be held at Chili's at the Avenue in Murfreesboro.

Tickets are $7.50 each, and will be available at the door.

Our waiters?  

Bert 

Kirk 

Brock

Travis

Jennifer

All of the attorneys from our office, and my sweet friend Jennifer.

(And Jennifer, by the way, is the ONLY person with any table waiting experience.)

The attorneys will be competing to see who earns the most tips.

All of their tips will be donated to Coins for Katie.

The three losers?

They'll all be donating an additional $100.00. each.

We also have incredible silent auction items like a custom corn hole set, a week at a Marriott Vacation Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a ZOOM! teeth whitening gift certificate, a gift certificate to Paige's Pantry in Murfreesboro, a Totally Bowlicious gift basket, a wreath from Embellished Living, an autographed football from the MTSU football coach Rick Stockstill, a Keurig coffee maker, a photography gift certificate from Danielle Bennett Photography, and more!  These are some really incredible items that are available just in time for Christmas gifts.  

I'm so, so excited to see how much money we can raise at this event.  It will be so much fun, and every penny will go to our first trip expenses.  If you are local, please join us!  

Canada Cashes In

Look what we got in the mail today!

My friend Danielle sent her mom Krystyna's Coins for Katie money from Canada.

The boys were soooo excited that it was "real live Canadian money".

David said, "I know that's the queen of England.  I'm not sure what she's doing on Canada's money though.  And that other guy?  On the ten dollar?  I know that's her brother the king."  

Close. . . 

Thank you so much Krystyna!

The Kindness of Strangers

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." --Ralph Waldo Emerson


When we started our journey to adopt Katie, I thought we were *just* adopting a child.  Bringing a child without a home into our family and into our hearts.  We have talked about all of the things we will teach Katie - things we will teach her about people, and things we will teach her about the world.  I never really considered what she would teach me. 


I had a call today from my friend Brandi, who works at our bank.  We use a small bank, and they have a Coins for Katie cup out on the counter at the teller windows.  Brandi said that lots of people put in change after they cash a check.  Today a man was asking Brandi about the Coins for Katie cup, and she was telling him about Katie and our adoption.  He gave her a twenty dollar bill and asked her to put it in the cup.  Brandi thanked him and told him how excited we would be.  He left the building, but a few minutes came back in.  He came back to Brandi and said he counted his money when he got outside, and he asked her for the twenty dollar bill back.  What was she supposed to do?!  So she gave it back to him.  He gave her a one hundred dollar bill to replace it.  This man is a total stranger to us!


Today I left work at 4:30 and I was running to the bank to make a deposit before it closed.  As I was approaching my car, my cell phone rang.  It was my office, asking me to come back.  I'm not going to lie - I was irritated at first.  I really had to get to the bank, and I knew if I went back I wouldn't make it.  I drove around and parked in front of my office.  When I walked into the lobby, I saw Kirk, his client R., R.'s parents, and a friend of R.'s family.  They had seen the flier that we have hanging in our window for our Coins for Katie pancake breakfast and asked Kirk who the little girl was.  Kirk explained that we are adopting her and working hard to raise the money to bring her home.  They told Kirk they would like to make a donation to help, and that's when they called me to come back to the office.  I told them about Katie, and that she has Down syndrome.  I told her that we're working hard to get the money we need to bring her home, and that we are waiting for a travel date.  I told her how excited we are to bring her home to us.  


And they thanked us.  They thanked us for opening our hearts and our home to Katie, and they told me that they are from a country that has great poverty.  They explained that they have seen the difference a family and love can make in the life of a child.  They have started a school and an orphanage in their native country.  They told me that they were honored to meet me, and that they very much wanted to be a part of our fundraising.  And they gave us $1,000.  One. Thousand. Dollars.  Are you kidding me?  I had literally never met these folks before today.  That these people - total strangers to our family - would be so giving, so generous, and so selfless is amazing to me.  They were so sincere and genuine, and I could tell by the looks on their faces that it made them as happy to give their donation as it made me to receive it.  They did not make their donation because they were looking for recognition.  They donated to us because they truly wanted to help bring our sweet girl home.  


I am so fortunate to work with people who are incredibly giving.  I get to help people every day through hard times in their life, and that help is coming back to me in spades.  I work with the most amazing group of people who are as supportive as my family.  Many of my clients have turned into friends.  The support we have received can never be repaid.  Katie has no idea what is waiting for her at the end of her rainbow!

It's Mail Time!

I got a special package at my office today.

Have I mentioned before how much I love to get mail?

Christmas cards are my FAVORITE!

Chris and I knock each other down fight to be the first to the mailbox at Christmas.

Me?  Because I love Christmas cards.

Chris?  Because he loves to pick on me.

The package was sent to me by the daughter of one of my clients.

She's 15, and one of the sweetest girls I've met.

Her entire family has been so supportive of our journey to Katie.

Maddi has volunteered to help with our breakfast,

and she came up all on her own with the idea to send me this package.

What was in it?

My favorite color. . . 

She ordered us 600 bracelets to use as a fundraiser and 

way for people to show their support for Katie!

They're fabulous!

They say "The Simpson Six" on one side and 

"Help Us Bring Katie Home" on the other.

Maddi and her family are so generous and fun, and everyone is so excited about the bracelets.  Everyone in my office put one on as soon as the package came.  

We're selling them for $1.00 each - let me know if you'd like one!  

We want to see pink on everyone!

Thanks Maddi - for the bracelets, your friendship, and your support!