I have finally wrapped my brain around designing a nursery. We are going with a beach theme. The beach is my absolute favorite place and I can design away without knowing if we are getting a boy or girl. I have narrowed paint colors down to two, one a little more green, the other blue. I am really excited about this and have been burning up Pinterest with ideas. Now I have to get out there and actually shop!! I went to a huge consignment sale and ended up almost in tears. That was definitely not my scene :-) It's a great place for bargains but you really need to know what you want before you go in there. I did come out with a floor mat and a Gamecock goodie bag, as well as an adorable USC outfit for my niece.
My next step is to hit up IKEA. The only piece of furniture we plan to buy is a crib. I have a dresser that belonged to my parents that I will repaint and use as a dresser and changing table. I also want an adirondak rocker. So my challenge there is to find one I like that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!
If you've got any good ideas, please share! I'll add pics as we actually put my vision into reality.
And if you aren't on Pinterest, you should check it out. I have finally (almost) figured it out and have added a ton of ideas to my kid room board.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Spaghetti, Silent Auction, and Sass!
Mark your calendars everyone! Friday, October 14 is the date for our spaghetti supper and silent auction. We are holding this awesome event at Golden Hills. I am so excited. My Midway ladies are really helping to pull this one together for us. I have received numerous offers of help, so I thought I'd post some of the things we will need for this event. If you are interested in donating, feel free!! We are going to make up some tickets to sell so we have an idea of how much spaghetti we will need to make. Once I have those, I'll put the word out.
The biggest and best thing you guys can do for me now is just spread the word about October 14 and bring all your friends and family! It is a family friendly event. There will be a bar and music, but I would love to see kids there dancing it up and keeping us entertained. Food will be served 7-8:30 for sit in or pick up. During that time, bidding for the silent auction items will be going on. Bidding will close at 8:30. Then, we'll have a DJ or band (whatever we can get our hands on) to crank up some music and let the fun begin. My "workers" will figure out the winners of the silent auction and we'll announce those around 10. You won't have to be there to win, we'll give you a call.
So, here's how you can help:
September:
Recommending my blog to others will help keep everyone informed. And really, this is riveting stuff :-)
The biggest and best thing you guys can do for me now is just spread the word about October 14 and bring all your friends and family! It is a family friendly event. There will be a bar and music, but I would love to see kids there dancing it up and keeping us entertained. Food will be served 7-8:30 for sit in or pick up. During that time, bidding for the silent auction items will be going on. Bidding will close at 8:30. Then, we'll have a DJ or band (whatever we can get our hands on) to crank up some music and let the fun begin. My "workers" will figure out the winners of the silent auction and we'll announce those around 10. You won't have to be there to win, we'll give you a call.
So, here's how you can help:
September:
- buy tickets to attend
- get your friends to buy tickets
- donate items for silent auction (services, baskets of goods, whatever!)
- donate ZITI noodles, sauce, cheese, bread,
- find me a band or DJ!
- Buy tickets to attend and bring friends
- bake yummies for the dessert bake sale
- SHOW UP and BID on items
Recommending my blog to others will help keep everyone informed. And really, this is riveting stuff :-)
Saturday, August 27, 2011
One step closer
We are one step closer to a baby today. Yesterday we attended Bethany's all day training session. We heard from a lawyer, a financial planner, the social workers, two adoptive couples, and a very powerful story from a birth mom. It was a long day, but so good. We met couples from all over SC who are planning to adopt. There was 12 couples total - our competition :) They are currently waiting on DSS to send over our background checks. Then we will move forward with our home study. That will entail first a visit to our house with the social worker. Then we will go to their office for individual interviews. Lastly we'll have one more interview at our house. Once those are complete, we will be officially "waiting". In the meantime I'll begin working on our "Dear Birthmother" letter and photobook.
I loved hearing from the birth mom. She told her story of getting pregnant and giving up her baby and all the emotions she felt and still feels. It was amazing. And the two couples who adopted had the most precious little ones!
The lawyer broke the news to us that we will have legal fees to pay in addition to the $17,500 we are paying Bethany. So our grand total is now around $21,000. But, I know the Lord will provide for us as he already has in so many ways.
My friend Sharon and her husband Brian had a yard sale in Arizona today and raised over $1200. Here are the pics she sent me.
Next up for AdoptaMixon is the spaghetti dinner and silent auction. I am so excited about this! We have some great stuff coming in to bid on and it's gonna be a BLAST! Going tomorrow to look at our possible venue, then hopefully we get a date nailed down this week. And we have coozie's being made so everyone will want to wrap their drinks in those little gems :-)
So much going on!!
I loved hearing from the birth mom. She told her story of getting pregnant and giving up her baby and all the emotions she felt and still feels. It was amazing. And the two couples who adopted had the most precious little ones!
The lawyer broke the news to us that we will have legal fees to pay in addition to the $17,500 we are paying Bethany. So our grand total is now around $21,000. But, I know the Lord will provide for us as he already has in so many ways.
My friend Sharon and her husband Brian had a yard sale in Arizona today and raised over $1200. Here are the pics she sent me.
So much going on!!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Formal application complete... on to the next step
We got our formal application complete and turned in today!! After filling out numerous papers, getting drug tested, TB tested, writing our personal testimonies, doing our health histories, filling out our cash flow, and various other papers, we got it all turned in today.
Our next step is to attend the training session on August 26. This is an all day training that they said will cover lots of stuff. I think we will meet our social worker and hopefully get going on that.
I ordered 100 prints from Snapfish, so once I get the info on our photo book I think I may hit up some creative person to do the book for me :-) Scrapbooking is not my strength.
We are very excited to be moving to the next step. We have a couple of fundraisers in the works as well, so stay tuned. We'll be scheduling our Adopt-a-Mixon Nights Out and our "Completing our family puzzle" coming up.
On another note, my little fur baby had his teeth cleaned and one extracted today. I was a little nervous because he had to be put to sleep, but he is fine and his breath is actually tolerable for the first time I can remember!! Baxley had an allergic reaction to something this week, but he has recoverd as well. So both the fuzzy faces at our house are doing well!!
I am including pics from our yard sale since I haven't done that yet.
School has started back, so we are in for a busy few months!
Our next step is to attend the training session on August 26. This is an all day training that they said will cover lots of stuff. I think we will meet our social worker and hopefully get going on that.
I ordered 100 prints from Snapfish, so once I get the info on our photo book I think I may hit up some creative person to do the book for me :-) Scrapbooking is not my strength.
We are very excited to be moving to the next step. We have a couple of fundraisers in the works as well, so stay tuned. We'll be scheduling our Adopt-a-Mixon Nights Out and our "Completing our family puzzle" coming up.
On another note, my little fur baby had his teeth cleaned and one extracted today. I was a little nervous because he had to be put to sleep, but he is fine and his breath is actually tolerable for the first time I can remember!! Baxley had an allergic reaction to something this week, but he has recoverd as well. So both the fuzzy faces at our house are doing well!!
I am including pics from our yard sale since I haven't done that yet.
School has started back, so we are in for a busy few months!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Oh the paperwork!
We have submitted part 1 of our formal application with Bethany. We are currently working on the paperwork and I am amazed by the amount of information we have to give. We have medical records to submit, financial statements, pages of personal information, our testimony, a letter to the birthmother for the website, the photo book to highlight us, and it goes on. We have to have drug tests and TB tests. We have to get recommendations from family and friends and our church. It is a little daunting considering how much work I am also doing for class. We'll get it done though, and submitted by August 19.
The photobook will be the most work, I think. Finding the time to go through eleven years worth of pictures and find the ones that really say who we are... hmmm. So, I'm throwing out a request. If you have a great picture of us, send it my way. Some of you, many of you, have been around as long as we have been us, so surely there are some pictures you have that would be good ones.
The photobook will be the most work, I think. Finding the time to go through eleven years worth of pictures and find the ones that really say who we are... hmmm. So, I'm throwing out a request. If you have a great picture of us, send it my way. Some of you, many of you, have been around as long as we have been us, so surely there are some pictures you have that would be good ones.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
It takes a village...
They say it takes a village to raise a child, well this village is well prepared!! Our village raised $3300 at our yard sale today and yesterday! WOW!
My girls worked so hard to get ready and it all paid off. I'll upload the pics of the house when my sis gets them to me, but let me say that you have no idea the amount of stuff we had unless you saw it. Every room in the house was packed with stuff. We started yesterday around 10:30am, and finished up about 7:30. Mark and I took our diligent workers out to dinner to thank them. Then we were back at it at 7am this morning. We finished packing everything, sending off the donations, putting the things to save in the garage, and getting the house back in order by about 2:30. And here you see the results...
My girls worked so hard to get ready and it all paid off. I'll upload the pics of the house when my sis gets them to me, but let me say that you have no idea the amount of stuff we had unless you saw it. Every room in the house was packed with stuff. We started yesterday around 10:30am, and finished up about 7:30. Mark and I took our diligent workers out to dinner to thank them. Then we were back at it at 7am this morning. We finished packing everything, sending off the donations, putting the things to save in the garage, and getting the house back in order by about 2:30. And here you see the results...
Yep, our boys are passed out!! They worked hard this week, picking up items, taking care of kids, and just supporting us as we set up, organized, and prepared for this event!
There isn't much more to say than wow! I can't wait to upload the pics from the sale. We had a couple of ladies spend almost $500 on stuff. We had other people donate out of pure generosity. This has been an wonderful experience. We appreciate everyone who came out to shop or donate, those who prayed for the success of this event, and those who were with us the last two days making this the success it was. We are so blessed!!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Out of the mouths of babes!
It's finally yard sale day!! My girls have worked so hard to make this weekend successful, so even if we didn't sell a thing, I know once again how blessed we are with friends who love us. Thank you to everyone for your generous donations of things to sell. Thank you especially to Melissa, Irish, Lindsay, Sarah, and Mandy who have given so much of your time and resources. I hope you all know how much it means to me that you are my friends.
I want to share a couple of stories before the sale begins today because I feel like we'll have more to come and I don't want to forget these...
The first is one about a teacher friend. She emailed me to tell me she had left some things in my room for our yard sale. She said there was also an envelope in there with a donation. Her son, who goes to our school, had a lemonade stand and wanted to donate some money to us! He gave us 10 of his hard earned dollars! It's my favorite $10 right now.
Another friend, who I have known most of my life, dropped off some things while I was in class yesterday. She said there were a couple of things her daughter had given us, including 4 items she picked out especially to give us and some money because she really wanted us to get the baby we wanted. Then my friend sent me a message later and as she was explaining why we were doing this yard sale to her kids, the same little girl said, " What if the babies go on clearance?"
Madi--- I hope they do!!
I'll continue to share these stories because I really think children have it figured out. They give because it's in their heart and they don't think twice about it. I hope that I can raise our baby with as giving and compassionate a heart as these two ladies have!!
Wish us luck, pray for our success, and come shop over the next two days!! 137 Knotts Rd. Lexington
I want to share a couple of stories before the sale begins today because I feel like we'll have more to come and I don't want to forget these...
The first is one about a teacher friend. She emailed me to tell me she had left some things in my room for our yard sale. She said there was also an envelope in there with a donation. Her son, who goes to our school, had a lemonade stand and wanted to donate some money to us! He gave us 10 of his hard earned dollars! It's my favorite $10 right now.
Another friend, who I have known most of my life, dropped off some things while I was in class yesterday. She said there were a couple of things her daughter had given us, including 4 items she picked out especially to give us and some money because she really wanted us to get the baby we wanted. Then my friend sent me a message later and as she was explaining why we were doing this yard sale to her kids, the same little girl said, " What if the babies go on clearance?"
Madi--- I hope they do!!
I'll continue to share these stories because I really think children have it figured out. They give because it's in their heart and they don't think twice about it. I hope that I can raise our baby with as giving and compassionate a heart as these two ladies have!!
Wish us luck, pray for our success, and come shop over the next two days!! 137 Knotts Rd. Lexington
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