Mug exchange, field trips, and a sweetie in desperate need of a family

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Another Friday, another 7 quick takes. Yesterday we launched our new fundraiser, a coffee mug exchange. For a donation of $5 or more, you get to help a little boy come home to his family, brighten someone's day with happy mail, receive a surprise mug of your own in the mail, and get entered into a drawing for a custom crocheted mug cozy! Check out the details here!

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We are just one item away from being able to get to the next tier on our Amazon Affiliate account. So far this month, 6 items have been ordered through our link. If just one more item this month is ordered through our link over here, our adoption savings account will receive 6% of the purchases made instead of our current tier of 4%. Anyone have some Amazon shopping they've been thinking of doing? Thank you to those who have helped us in this way!

~3~

Our homestudy is just about done! We've reviewed the rough draft, signed our approval that it is accurate, and now it gets to be reviewed by our social worker's supervisor and people at our placing agency (which is different from our homestudy agency).

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Remember this sweetie I wrote about before? He turns 16 on October 7th and needs a family to commit to adopting him by then, or he will forever miss out on the opportunity of having a family. Please pray for precious Andrei (his Reece's Rainbow nickname is Brenton) to receive the blessing of a family now. He has a grant of $4895 plus an additional $1500+ that has been pledged once a family commits to him. Could he be the missing part of your family?  Colleen has written a great post all about him here.

If he doesn't get a family by Oct. 7, he will spend the rest of his life in a mental institution where the vast majority of little ones with special needs die within a short time of arriving there.  This week we also received the heartbreaking news that sweet Kyle has passed away.  We were all so shocked a while ago to see the awful before and after pictures of him.  Before the mental institution and after.  I hope we don't let the same thing happen to Andrei!

Update:  Praise God, thank You Jesus!  A family filed commitment paperwork for Andrei/Brenton today!  What an amazing answer to prayer, and a truly lifesaving event for a precious little boy halfway around the world.  He is very much loved and wanted.

~5~

We had a field trip to the fire station earlier this week. Our three big kids gave everyone a demonstration of how to stop, drop, and roll. Rosemary was unimpressed that the kids couldn't slide down the pole. And everyone got to ride the fire engine around the parking lot.

Best shot I could get.  Everyone was way too excited and
distracted to look at and smile at the camera!

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And today we have a field trip to the botanical gardens and zoo.  We're signed up for the Bug Hunting class!  Joey's a bit wary of getting to close to the bugs, but I told him that he can look on from a distance if he'd prefer.

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Last AND least, my fundraising venture at Daff-a-Deals is costing more money than it's generating.  Last month I sold only one item.  Same for this month.  Each month I'm not making enough money to cover next month's rent.  So I will give it one more month, stock some fleece ponchos with crocheted borders and hope for the best.  It's disheartening to say the least. 

But I am working on opening an Etsy store, so stay tuned!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!