Haiti

My heart is just breaking for the people of Haiti right now. If you haven't made a donation yet, you can do so by texting "Haiti" to 90999 and a $10 donation will be added to your cell phone bill.

As of yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced:

"We've raised more than 10 million dollars from more than one million donors through the SMS Haiti relief campaign. It has become the single largest mobile donation campaign ever."

I'm amazed! And every time I think about it I still shake my head. What a new era we live in that $10M can be raised through a simple text message.

Our adoption agency, Bethany Christian Services, facilitates Haitian adoptions. A few days ago they sent us a link to the God's Littlest Angels blog. GLA is an agency/orphanage they work with in Haiti. It's been amazing to read Dixie's first hand accounts of what has been happening in Haiti since the earthquake.

GLA also has a US office in Colorado Springs, CO. Soon they'll be sending a shipping container to Haiti with supplies. If you'd like to send them a monetary or material donation, there is an address on the website.

Right now it sounds as if adoptions are on hold indefinitely. I know that many are attempting to petition both governments to allow children to come to the US on emergency visas, but I don't know how that is going. No one seems to know at this point the fate of all the adoption paperwork - the months and months of paperwork! Because so many buildings were completely destroyed, it is assumed that a lot of paperwork was probably lost with them.

I don't seem to be one for prayer much these days, but I'll be saying many for the Haitian people, the orphans, and the parents here in the US who are trying to bring them home.

Donations & Preparations

I'm really starting to get anxious now. Have I already said that? Well, I am.

I packed up our donations today. We're bringing them in those big plastic tubs (or "tubbaware" as Marc calls it) and will leave the whole kit & kaboodle there. One box is about half full now - toys, markers, crayons, scissors, pencil cases, hair do-dads, socks, a few pair of Crocs, etc.

The second is about three quarters full of clothing - half for bigger boys, half little girls...mostly stuff we've picked up on clearance over the past year.

I'm trying to restrain myself and not go packing our suitcases yet. We'll see how long that lasts!

My big booty

I stopped in Target the other day to see if they still had any school supplies on clearance. I ended up walking out with a LOT more than I ever thought I would. Here's what I found:

• 8 pencil cases - $0.33 each
• 8 pairs of scissors - $0.22 each
• (2) 10 packs of pencils - $0.45 each
• (2) 5 packs of pens - $0.45 each
• (4) 8 packs of erasers - $0.13 each
• tank tops & shorts for infant girls - $0.98 - $1.48 each
• tank tops for toddler girls - $1.48
• tshirts for toddler boys - $1.48
• tank tops for bigger girls - $1.28
• tshirts for bigger boys - $1.98
• toddler girl dress - $1.98
• baby boy "fancy" outfit - $1.98

And great minds think alike because my Mother-in-Law came home that day with a big ol' booty from Sears. She retired from there, so she still gets a discount on top of their H-U-G-E clearance sale. Everything she got was also $0.99 - $2.00 and included TONS of cute little scooters (looks like a skirt, but has shorts underneath) for toddler girls, tank tops for baby girls, and shorts and tshirts for boys.

Know of any good sales? Be sure to let us know if you come across one! The kids can use clothing of all sizes (up to teenagers!). They also need undergarments, bathing suits, socks, shoes, and hair do-dads. The older girls like nail polish and normal girly stuff. Little toys (that don't need batteries) are great for the smaller kids.