Graduation!

Last week, we had a very important event take place at the Brannon house: we graduated our first Kindergartener! So to celebrate, we loaded up the family in the old swagger wagon and headed to Dunkin Donuts for some treats.

Iain Mark, one of the happiest kids I know.

Cory said he was King of the World here. Iain said he was King of the Universe Except for the World. Nice of him to let Cory have that one, huh?

Silly boy. 

 Silly girl.

 The graduate and his nona.

 Iain and Cory got an Imaginext dinosaur apiece as a graduation gift. Laina got an Elmo book. Everyone was pleased.

Me and my first Kindergarten graduate. But not my last!

 Look what a great family I have!

Iain, we're so glad you're our kid. You did a great job this year! It was a crazy year for us: first official year homeschooling, first year home with Laina, three kids five and under to wrangle some semblance of learning from (just kidding). It might not have been the smoothest year, but it was a good one. I look forward to being your teacher for many years to come. Love you, Iain!

p.s. It might be corny, but I think the idea of naming our school is fun. Only I can't think of a good baby name for #4, let alone a homeschool name. Any suggestions?

Father's Day Gift Idea

Father's Day is ten days away, and if you're still looking for a gift, may I suggest our latest adoption fund-raiser?

For $5.00, you'll receive this DIY printable pdf file. (Yours will come without the handprints, of course.)

It will help you make a sweet keepsake, while supporting the cause of a baby girl finding her father. This guy here. He's a good one. She'll be lucky to have him as her dad.

Order the pdf and print the file from your printer at home. You could also take the file somewhere like Staples and get it printed bigger if you want. I printed on drawing paper, but regular printer paper or card stock would work too.

Then have your kids make leaf handprints. I used acrylic paint for these. Frame and you're done! (I think I should have used a thinner mat.) Kids could also write their names near their handprints, or notes for Dad.

Also, the text is totally customizable. Tell me in the paypal notes or via email what you want it to say: your kids' names, a quote, a Scripture verse. Here are some ideas:

(says "Together we make a family")

(kids' names)

(the classic "Happy Father's Day")

And there you have it. A sweet, easy, special DIY Father's Day craft. Pinterest would be proud.

Instructions:

--Click the "Chip In" button on the right.

--In the notes field, tell me what you want your text to say (or send me an email at brannonadoption (at) gmail (dot) com.

--make sure the email address is the one you want me to send the pdf to, or let me know via email if you want it send somewhere else.

--print, paint, frame, enjoy!

Since We've Been Away...

Since the last blog post, we have:

--gone camping, and survived, though Iain threw up twice. Not our best camping trip.

--had our profile shown once.

--almost finished school. One more week!

--celebrated Jeremy's birthday with burgers, banana pudding, Nero Wolfe, and the kids' present to him: a stuffed Timmy from Shaun the Sheep (they were so incredibly excited to give him this stuffed sheep. It was hilarious.).

--gone to FL and back (Jeremy had a training for work and we went along). Rode go-carts and went to the beach. And a really great splash pad.

--given Laina an Adoption Day gift, which she loves. It's hanging in her room and she points to it and says, "Laina, Mama's hand, Anna." Anna is Laina's doll. :) (Painting is from this Etsy shop. It's so sweet.)

--tried a new hairstyle. I think it's cute. Jeremy, not quite so much.

 --laughed at these silly friends.

 --adored Laina's new "sleepy hat."

--made 14 new Bird's Nest Necklaces! (We're still making them, if you want to order one. Click here for details.)

--reached $2000 in our Piece by Piece fundraiser. Thank you all!! (If you want to chip in, click "chip in" on the left!)

Mother's Day 2012

Guest post by Jeremy


So I am commandeering the blog for a special Mother’s Day edition of Notes in the Margins. I have never blogged before, but my wife Allie really is worth celebrating! This year has been an especially big one for Allie as a mom. She wouldn’t go on and on about her achievements, but I sure would. This past year she:

• officially started homeschooling our two boys (although she began teaching them to read in previous years)
• began life as an adoptive mom with the arrival of Laina
• visited Uganda to help her sister Kelsey minister to orphans with Sixty Feet
• worked tirelessly to provide a great Kids curriculum for the K-5 Children’s ministry
• blasted through mounds of paperwork to get us paper-ready for our latest (domestic) adoption
• initiated the fundraising efforts for our latest adoption, including making over fifty necklaces and collaborating on our Piece by Piece fundraiser
• maintained this excellent blog
• took part in teaching our church’s ladies on topics ranging from homemaking to Christian community

…All this plus entertaining guests, caring for the many needs of our three kids, and making our home a great place to live. Whew! I’m getting tired just thinking about it all.

Based on my (very) limited experience subbing in for her, I can tell you that just the homemaking and kid-care is an exhausting endeavor. In recognition of that, our Mother’s Day 2012 began by letting Allie sleep in. While Allie snoozed peacefully, a team of skilled artisans flexed their creative muscles creating cards of unparalleled beauty…

When the special lady awoke and had a little while to get her bearings, we went out on an errand, then took her out for a very special luncheon at Panera Bread.

Normally, Allie enjoys getting to go to Panera alone to do some writing (creative or otherwise), but it has also become one of the preferred destinations for Mother/Son dates. The boys often rave (well, they rave all the time—they are loons) about their trips to Panera, so we decided it was about time the whole tribe invaded her peaceful haunt for a special celebration.

Our crack team of craftsmen presented their cards. Food was savored. Heartfelt thanks were extended to the lady of the hour. Gifts were given. And let’s just say that between Allie’s mom and us, Lisa Leonard Designs did quite well this Mother’s Day :)

Finally, I have to say that Allie is an amazing mom. She listens to our kids, plans special outings and celebrations with them, spends hours poring over homeschooling curriculum, sings them silly songs at night as they go to bed (including “Winter Wonderland” year-round!), celebrates their achievements, corrects their transgressions, holds them when they are hurt or weary or just plain need a snuggle, and teaches them about Jesus through the Bible. Basically, she manages their lives for them. The reason our kids smile, laugh and enjoy their little lives is that she is their mom. Happy Mother’s Day, Allie!

Piece by Piece

We are excited to announce

Piece by Piece is the big one--our main fundraiser for the adoption of sweet baby Brannon. Would you check it out?

Basically, we have a 1000-piece puzzle with a very special picture on the front. We're asking people to partner with us in this adoption by sponsoring puzzle pieces for $10 each. When someone sponsors one or more pieces, we will inscribe their name on the back. When the puzzle is complete, we'll frame it with glass on both sides, so the picture and the names are visible. When we hang this in the baby's room, she'll be able to see how many people helped bring her home.

The chip-in widget on the right side of this blog will track our progress. Giving is through Paypal and is secure. Would you consider sponsoring one or more puzzle pieces? 

There's one more thing you can do to help us--and this one's really important. We need to get the word out. We need to harness the networking power of the internet and reach a thousand people who will sponsor a piece. We believe it's possible (with God's help and yours)! So we'd really appreciate it if you'd Facebook, blog, tweet, whatever.

You can send people to the Brannon Family Adoption Blog. Watch the video, order a necklace, sponsor a puzzle piece, tell a friend.

We can't thank you enough for being part of this adoption!

...in other news, we've been blown away by the response to the bird's nest necklaces. In the past seven days, we've made and mailed FIFTY-ONE necklaces! We're still accepting orders--just plan on a 2-week delivery time. 

One night's work:

Happy Adoption Day, Laina

A year ago today, this girl, who already had our hearts, became legally our daughter. We're so thankful to be Laina's family. We love you, Laina-Bug!

And today:

Nest Necklaces

Thank you all for your response to our first fundraiser for adoption #2! I've been getting a lot of questions about colors, so here's a picture of all the colors I have. I just got the green today (lots of people have been doing a birthstone thing--and there are a lot of babies born in May, apparently!).

UPDATE:

Here's how to order:

1. Click here, or use the "ChipIn" icon on this page. This is a secure transaction via PayPal.
2. Enter $20 as the price per necklace.
3. Be sure to indicate the color and number of eggs in the "Notes" field. You can also mix and match the colors of the eggs, perhaps selecting them by birthstone color. View more options and a list of colors below.
4. If you have any questions or additional instructions, e-mail us at brannonadoption [at] gmail [dot] com, or leave a comment on this blog.

Thank you all who have been sharing this fundraiser! We appreciate it so much!

Mother's Day Gift Idea!

So this isn't the big fund-raiser reveal, but it is a little fund-raiser. However, it's also a great Mother's Day gift, so really, we both win. :)

May I present, for your consideration, these sweet little bird's nest necklaces? Made by yours truly, they are completely customizable with choices in color and number of beads. One egg for each little one in your nest. The bird's nest is strung on a 18"chain. The price (which will be completely used for our adoption and includes shipping) is $20.

Color choices for beads: (you can mix and match too)
turquoise
blue
dark blue
pearl
red
grey
light brown
dark brown
yellow
black (pearly)
pale green
pink

If you buy one by May 9th, I can get it to you in time for Mother's Day. I can do one to seven eggs. I haven't tried more than that, but I will if someone requests it!

Here's how to order:

1. Click here, or use the "ChipIn" icon on this page. This is a secure transaction via PayPal.
2. Enter $20 as the price per necklace.
3. Be sure to indicate the color and number of eggs in the "Notes" field. You can also mix and match the colors of the eggs, perhaps selecting them by birthstone color. View more options and a list of colors below.
4. If you have any questions or additional instructions, e-mail us at brannonadoption [at] gmail [dot] com, or leave a comment on this blog.

Mother's Day gift: check! Adoption contribution: check! Our sincere gratitude: yours!

Easter Traditions

This year we started some new Easter traditions. We wanted to enjoy all the fun of Easter but add to it the JOY of the celebration of the Resurrection. Christians ought to have the best Easters of anyone because the real reason for the celebration is so much better than chocolate bunnies and the coming of spring! So while we did the Easter egg hunt/dyeing eggs/etc, we also added on some fun new traditions of our own. Well, some of them were based off of pinterest. But what can I say? Most good ideas are. :)

First, the boys and I put together this garden.

 We gathered all kinds of greenery from the yard (in the rain!) on Good Friday. We talked about what Jesus' friends must have been feeling on that sad day. Why is it called Good Friday? What happened when Jesus died? (They were very interested in the earthquake part.) What did the disciples think had happened? Iain's response, that they were upset because they thought He was the king and now thought He wasn't, was pretty right on.

We also talked about how no flowers were allowed in our garden. Flowers are for happiness, and this was a sad, sad day. The tomb is a carved potato, which the boys thought was awesome. This garden was our table centerpiece on Friday and Saturday. By Saturday night, the plants were wilting. We talked about how long it must have seemed from Friday to Sunday, and how sad the garden was now.

 Then after the boys went to sleep Saturday night, I went to work with some babies' breath, transforming our sad, wilting garden into a place of happiness! The tomb was opened! And it was empty! And the flowers, which represent happiness and joy, were bursting forth! This is the sight that greeted our eyes on Easter morning--and the boys loved the surprise. And the empty tomb was our centerpiece for our Easter meal, and it sparked some good discussion over dinner, too.

 "The potato is empty! Jesus is out of the potato!" said Cory. Well, we tried. :)

We have debated Easter baskets every year. While we want to do tim because they're fun, we've also been hesitant since we don't want Easter Sunday morning to be more exciting because of stuff than because of the Resurrected Lord. This year, we hit on a way to bring some good symbolism to Easter baskets (thanks again, pinterest). As Jeremy said, even if they end up thinking this is corny, at least they'll know we tried to bring the gospel into everything.

We each took five rocks and put them in our Easter baskets. Then one by one, we took them out, naming a sin for each rock, and dropped them into one basket we called Jesus' basket, showing how He takes our sin. Then we covered Jesus' basket with a red cloth, because He covers our sins with His blood. So now our Easter baskets were empty.

The next morning, they were full of good things--because Jesus takes our sins and gives us good things instead. I know it sounds contrived, but the boys really got it. And it was fun.

So there you go. Our original (pinterest-based) Easter traditions. They went very well, and the Resurrection holiday seemed fuller because of the time and thought that we spent really thinking about what Jesus did for us and what it means. The Gospel is so rich and deep--we want our kids to dive into it. What fun, creating new traditions.

Adoption and Laina Update

I'm pausing to come up for air. During the past few weeks, I have been completely and totally buried in adoption paperwork--I mean it's been nutty. I don't know if it's really more paperwork than our Rwanda adoption; I don't think it's really more. But it feels like it is! Maybe it's the fact that I have been doing adoption paperwork for three solid years now. Seriously. I've had this insanely crazy job of writing essays, filling in blanks, calculating funds, gathering papers from every available source, hounding friends to write us recommendations, and getting us to fingerprint appointment after fingerprint appointment--for three years.

Whew.

And while last time around, I was doing it with two kids, now I'm doing it with three, including one very active toddler. More on her later.

So here's where we are, if you've been wondering:

--we've applied to three agencies and two adoption attorneys

--we have two more to go

--we're almost done with one of our (many) grant/loan applications. I'm not sure how many we can apply for this time around since we don't yet have an agency (and won't until we're matched)

--we are, thanks to my dear friend Lauren, about to unveil our big fund-raiser. It may not be our only one, but it's the big one. Stay tuned!!

--speaking of fundraising, we will need about $25,000 for this adoption (hopefully a bit less). We're about a third of the way there. We're trusting Jesus to provide to bring this little girl home, just as He did for her big sister!

--making the family profile was challenging. The profile is basically a book about your family, addressed to a potential birth mother. You're trying to give a clear, accurate picture of who you are to help her decide if you're the right family for her baby. Hard to do! I'll do a whole post on that later.

--My kids are the best. Just saying. They are so excited about the baby sister, coming up with names all the time, praying for her, praying for money to come in, etc. Love their hearts.

So to sum up, adoption paperwork is intense, we're possibly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, we need to fundraise like mad, my kids are great. Got it?

Speaking of kids, there's a certain almost-two-year-old who is talking up a storm. She says three or four word sentences now, and is as funny as her brothers. A sampling:

--When we saw a dog she didn't care for: "Scare you! Scare you! Scary dog! No thank you!"

--When I took away her empty bottle: "Mom! Gimme dat!"

--When she was mad at another baby in nursery: "Mama! Grammy bite you!" (okay, a little explanation: the boy's name was Remy, not Grammy. And he didn't bite Laina or me. She was mad because he got the toy she wanted.)

--When she's in a silly mood, she mimics the audio books in the car. Yesterday she started not only mimicking the words, but also the voices. Hearing her say, "Where's my treasure?" in her best pirate voice cracked me up.

--She loves knowing people's names and using them. She's very into calling people by name, and sometimes she just goes through lists of people she knows. Her favorites are herself and her brothers, of course, Benjamin (Ben-ya-min), Sam and Kate, Hannah, Abbey, James David and Bryar, and her cousins (Addie, Penny, Isaiah, Baby Titus). She also makes sure to yell out "Bye Dad!" whenever we leave him, even if it's, ahem, in the middle of the opening prayer at church.

One other funny Laina story, though it doesn't involve talking: at the grocery store, she spends her time trying to open packages. She's quite good at it. I've learned to stack the groceries at the back of the cart, but sometimes, when I'm not looking... So last time at Aldi, she reached behind her into the cart, grabbed a carton of eggs, and flung them. Yes, she did. The carton opened and all the eggs fell into my cart, most of them cracking and dripping all over the groceries, the cloth grocery bags, and the floor. Thankfully, Jeremy was with us (he doesn't usually come grocery shopping, but thanks to the mountain of paperwork, I've been doing that kind of stuff at night and on the weekends, so he's been jumping in), and he grabbed a roll of paper towels and we mopped it up. And bought a dozen broken eggs, and some slightly sticky groceries. 

But she sure is cute.

These guys are, too:

Don't worry, they'll get their own post soon. :)

Happy Referral Day!

Today, one year ago, we finally got that much-anticipated, joy-filled email: our referral. We finally saw her face, and we fell in love. Soon after, Laina became officially part of our family forever. Today, we kiss her sweet cheeks and marvel at the goodness of the Lord in giving her to us.

I'm not going to post her referral picture, because I want that to be just for her and us to share. But this one, taken after we heard the email would be coming any minute, and before we actually saw it, makes me smile. What a wonderful, special moment, seeing her face for the first time. It was also so special because we all four sat on the couch and opened the email together.

It was a really, really good day. The start of a lot of really, really good days.

Life Happens

I'll get that Easter Traditions post up soon. I'm sure you're waiting with bated breath...

He is Risen!

What a special Holy Week, what a glorious Resurrection Sunday! As we've talked, as a family, about what it means that Jesus came and lived a perfect life, died in our place, and then hallelujah! rose again, it's become so much weightier.

While Laina's been home for almost a year, this was her first Easter with us. This time of year has me thinking so much about last year. Last Easter, since it was later in the month, we had already seen our little girl's face for the first time. This year, she's with us. Another reason to praise. And next year, Lord willing, a fourth child will be goofing off in the Easter pictures.

Last year...

And this year!

He is risen indeed!

My mom made Laina's first Easter dress. I love it, and so does Laina!

Check back tomorrow for pictures of the newly-instituted Easter traditions at the Rock House...

Suffering and Good Friday

I was all set to write a newsy post about our life here at the Rock House. I finished half of it yesterday. But today, on this Good Friday, I can't seem to do it.

There is just so much suffering.

Failed adoptions. Rwanda closing its doors to adoption. Sickness. Marriage problems. Ministry troubles. Death. Financial loss. Heartache of every sort. These are the things happening to people I love. I'm in this weird, awful place of seeing the world collapsing for people I am close to, and my heart aches for them. And then when my mind goes to those places, to Rwanda, Mongolia, Uganda, Mexico, Thailand, places I have seen and loved where suffering is on the faces of the lost, hurting, broken, starving... first or third world, suffering is heavy on this earth.

And all I can do is thank Jesus for what He did on Good Friday thousands of years ago, in His suffering buying us relief from the fallen world of our own making. Paying, with His sacrifice, for the sin that kills and destroys and leads us from the God who is love.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you... (1 Peter 5:10).

Good Friday isn't about Jesus dying so we could have a life of ease. It's not about us and our comfort. It's about the goodness of our Savior, suffering on the cross so that we could know Him and love Him and worship Him. The relief of our suffering is in Him. His work for us, buying us freedom we didn't deserve, makes our sufferings temporary and our joy eternal.

Book Review - Love You More

It's been a while since I've done a Booksneeze review. This one is worth your time if you're interested in adoption. I was excited when I found that Booksneeze was offering Love You More: the Divine Surprise of Adopting My Daughter by Jennifer Grant because it had been on my "to-read" list for a while. It didn't disappoint.

Written as a memoir about her journey to adopt her daughter from Guatemala, Love You More tells the story of how the family decided to adopt, what the wait was like, and how they learned to know their new daughter. It's funny, interesting, and dives deep into some of the weighty issues around adoption.

One especially interesting and helpful part of the book, to an adoptive mom, is Grant's description of the life book she made for her daughter Mia. She includes the text and describes how she put together the story for her daughter, to tell her her own story. It's a beautiful book and her example is more valuable to me than all the how-to articles I could read.

Grant pays attention to her life, and it is clearly shown through her words. Her humor, insight, and the way she weaves together her story (for example, including emails she wrote to family and friends at certain times) makes this an easy and highly enjoyable read.

Note: Booksneeze has provided me with a complementary copy of this book in exchange for my review. The opinions are my own.

Changing Plans...

Well, things have changed again around here. For a variety of reasons and after much prayer/talking/thinking, we've decided to stop our Uganda adoption. We are still adopting! This time around, Lord willing, we will be welcoming an African American newborn baby girl into our family from somewhere in the USA. That's right--with one foot planted firmly in the international adoption camp, we're stepping with the other into domestic adoption.

Although this decision has required some significant mindset-changing, we're very excited about it. Right now, I am once again buried under paperwork and learning the process and the lingo of domestic adoption. We are planning to apply to several agencies (a benefit of domestic adoption that is TOTALLY different from our experience in RW!), and have been told a few times to expect to be quickly matched (And since we've heard that before, we're not getting too hopeful--although it could happen!)

Please join us in joyfully anticipating the arrival of baby number four!

Grit

Friday already? I'm linking up with Gypsy Mama and, in her words, writing like we believe we can fly...

Today's topic: grit.

Start.

There was this movie my grandfather used to like. I think it was called "True Women" or something. It was about pioneer women, crossing the prairies in covered wagons. I think. I was pretty young at the time. But anyway, those women, those ones who marched West with their belongings in a wagon and their babies and rifles in their arms, they had grit.

Women in classic literature have it. Jo March, Anne Shirley, Laura Ingalls (again with the pioneer women), the good stories come from women with guts. To live a story, to walk that road, to cross the plains...that takes grit. Maybe, maybe to wash the dishes again, to carry the baby all day long, to homeschool, to cook dinner when inspiration is absent...maybe that takes a different form of grit. Until Jeremy decides we ought to walk out west with some horses and barrels of flour and jerky, I suppose I'll practice grit the way that is before me now. And maybe that's really how character is really formed after all.

Stop.