Coupon Book

We have been trying to save money any time we can.  One way to do this is to use coupons and shop at Wal-Mart using other store ads (they do the price matching with other store prices).  When combining a coupon with a low sale price, you can save quite a bit (and stock up when possible).  Chris told me about the coupon book one of the CSM's at Wal-Mart has.  Last night I checked with her and looked at her book to see if I can get our coupons better organized.  For about $10 dollars I was able to get a binder and 'coupon' pages to create an organized system.  I also picked up some notebook paper and found a pencil bag at home that I haven't used in a while (complete with small scissors, paper clips, pencil, pens & markers).  It didn't take long to put it all together last night (did it all after the boys went to bed; while watching Congo) and now it is ready to go!  I think the longest amount of time was spent sorting the coupons into the slots.  It was quite easy to do (after deciding how I wanted to organize it all).  I decided to organize it according to sections (children stuff, health & beauty, medicine/first aid, box mixes, dairy, meats, etc).  I also added a 'divider page' between each coupon page to help find what I am looking for quickly.  You can organize yours any way that works for you!  Hope this will help you!!

Here are some pictures to help you get one started!

I found a 1.5" binder with an expandable pocket on the outside to put fliers, etc in so they are ready when I go to the store ($4.97 at Wal-Mart)

These are pocket pages for sports cards, but can be used for most anything that will fit in them
($4.95 at Wal-Mart in the collectible section near the registers)

The pencil pouch I found at home (already had the stuff in it) with notebook paper to write down stuff
(store/item/price and shopping lists)
Wal-Mart will price match based on other store ads (make sure you check dates & items!)

One of the coupon pages, with a 'divider page' behind it.
I decided to put one coupon per pocket (unless I had more than one, then I put it in the same pocket)
If I need more pages per section, I have the extras at the back of the binder

Fliers fit in the front expandable pocket



Not much going on right now

Not much has happened since the last post.

School started for Rachael on the 16th (a week of in-service/training sessions and work time), with the students starting on the 23rd.  Things haven't quite settled down with the class loads and such, but it will all work out.

Chris is still working with Fort Bend ISD (on the Athletic crew) during the day and part-time at Wal-Mart (4 nights a week & Saturdays).

A friend finally talked with someone in the Demographic Registrar's office in Puerto Rico about Chris' birth certificate.  As of mid-July, they were just starting to go through the requests that arrived in early June.  They usually take about 2 months to process requests.  When asked if anyone spoke English in the office, the lady said 'yes, we all speak English.  I don't know why they wouldn't talk to your friend, unless they just didn't want to.'  Gotta love government workers!  The money order we sent with the request was cashed on August 12, so at least the papers are in the process.  We are hoping to get them soon (and hopefully they will be English-translated certified copies).

Haven't heard anything yet from our case worker. 

Trying to be very patient.

Trying to focus on work. 

Can't seem to get back into the 'School Groove'.

Please continue to pray for us during this time, as well as our children.  We are still about $8,000 short on the travel funds, but we are confident that God will provide it all in His time.

Dossier Instructions are here!!

Our Russia Dossier Instructions came via email this morning!! Whew!

AACK. UUUHHH?? HUH??

Okay. Read them, saved a copy in our Adoption file on the computer. Left the house, ran errands. Got home, read them again, printed a copy, read the copy and decided that it can wait till tomorrow to go back over and start working on it.

Several forms have to be typed and signed in blue ink while being notarized. Have to make sure to follow very specific directions regarding notarization. Hmmm.

Need to create a Picture Book while following specific directions of that (and will need to get it notarized and signed by the social worker). Hmmm.

THINGS TO DO: Clean house so we can take pictures; get yard mowed, edged, cleaned up so we can take pictures; empty bedroom (& hopefully get furniture in it) so we can take pictures; get stuff we want for the bathroom so we can take pictures; bathe the dog so she will look good in the pictures; find money to pay for all the stuff we need......

I plan to get certified copies of our marriage license this next week and drive up to Denton with a friend to get certified copies of my birth certificate. And wait to get Chris' birth certificate copies in the mail. Hopefully they will get here in the next few weeks (or sooner!!).

As soon as we get the go-ahead and all the papers are in order, I will take a road trip to Austin to get it all apostilled (ap-oh-steeled).

Please continue to pray for our children and their current caregivers. Also continue to keep our finances in your prayers. We have enough for the fees related to the adoption, but still need furniture for the children's bedroom (we found storage beds on Wal-Mart.com that we really like that has dressers and such to match). The furniture will cost around $800 (not including mattresses). We still don't have bedding, towels, etc. I have set up a Wish List with Wal-Mart for things we would like to have. Unfortunately the furniture is not able to be listed (no gifting options). Gift cards are always welcome! :)

YEAH!!! We are getting closer......

Good; no, it's GREAT News!

I got a call Saturday night from Chris' dad with some wonderful news! His sister Sue has been talking with the family (Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts & Uncles in California) about helping with our adoption fund. I talked with Aunt Sue last Tuesday night about how things were going. The news that Mel had to share Saturday night was that the family was going to help us out with most (if not all) of what we need for the adoption! What excellent news! It really made our Easter very special.

I spent the next hour on-line getting information from the USCIS website, downloading the I-600A form that we need to send in. This is the "Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition" that is required by the US Immigration Service we need to submit to get approved to adopt from Russia. It will also include getting fingerprinted. I spent time today trying to get more information (clarify a question regarding translating Chris' birth certificate from Spanish to English) and eventually had to send an e-mail (I really hate computers on the phone....). I hope to get an answer soon so we can send in the paperwork. The sooner it is processed, the sooner we can send our Dossier to Russia!

We are really excited about this new turn of events! Just when we thought that we would have to wait several months or a year to continue the process, God blesses us with this!!! God is so wonderful!!

Please continue to pray for us during this time of paperwork; pray for our children and their current caretakers; pray for our family as they help us out with the funds; pray for Chris' work situation (should know something around the 15th of April).

Bad news & Good news.....

We have bad news & goods news.

As of April 30, 2010, Chris will no longer be employed as a groundskeeper with Fort Bend ISD. They have 'outsourced' the groundskeeping department. The good news regarding it is that Fort Bend ISD will keep 14 of the guys on the Athletic Crew and 6 on a new HVAC (not quite sure what that all entails) Crew. There are 6 positions available in the Custodial department that those not chosen for the other 2 crews can interview for. Chris thinks that he has a decent/good shot of being selected for one of the Crews (the selection process is being done in the 'office' and the guys don't have any say-so in the process) based on the criteria they were told last week. They have been told that they will know if they are selected for a crew around the 15th of April (or so they were told....) we we will have to wait and see what happens.

Either way, Chris still has his part-time job with Wal-Mart and there is the possibility that he will be able to go full-time if he needs to.

I will be back at Beckendorff Junior High next year (turned in my contract this past week) teaching the same thing with a new name. The class name is changing from "Personal & Family Development (PFD)" to "Principles of Human Services (PHS)" but it is still Home Economics.

So far we have about half of the funds we need to continue the paperwork for the Adoption. Because of things going slower than anticipated, we are now looking at starting the paperwork this fall, hoping that we will be able to meet our children and bring them home next summer (unless God provides for things faster; He is in the Miracle business.....).

Please continue to pray that we stay on track. As things have slowed down, it is easy to get discouraged about all of this.

Please pray for my sister and I as we have 3 craft shows coming up: Seven Lakes High School Garage Sale (April 10), Fishers of Men Lutheran Church Mom's Market (April 24) & St. Andrew's Episcopal Church Spring Craft Fair (May 15).

Chris and I are planning a Garage Sale at our house on April 17. Please pray for us as we prepare for it and that we have a good turnout (good profit).

Spring Break Update

Well, Spring Break is finally here and I am looking forward to a week without my students!

Don't think that it will be a week of nothing to do; I have a list of things to get done:

** Work on grant applications

**Get blankets sewn for 3 upcoming Craft Shows

**Clean house & do laundry, mundane household things of that sort

**Get all of our papers together for tax preparation

**and other things I can't think of right now....

Chris still has to work this week (both jobs) so keep him in your prayers.

The DX Kid's Cafe (our concession stand) at the Greater Houston HamFest on Saturday, March 6, went really well! We had some great helpers for the day! Chris came with me in the morning (were there at 6:30 am) and his mom met us there and stayed to help bring the remaining stuff back to our house (got home around 3:30). Our friends, Dawn & Virginia, came out and were very helpful. Also the two daughters of one of my dad's friends (Andre) were a huge help as well! We didn't have as many sales as we hoped, but we did net about $1200 when it was all done and the money counted (after paying Dad back and our expenses). Not a bad day!! Of course, we do have stuff left over that I am not sure exactly what to do with, but I will figure it out this week.

We now have just a little over $10.000 in the bank! Only about $30.000 more to go. One of the things I need to do this week is see if I can get us a credit card for travel expenses. Need to add that to my list...

Please continue to pray for us during this time: that the funds come in, paperwork gets done in a timely manner, our children and their current caretakers.

eBay sale, again...

We now have 3 items that have sold on eBay: 1910 tobacco card, 1973 Rookie Third Basemen baseball card & a Fujifilm FinePix S3000 camera (all are items that people gave us to sell)! Okay, not quite as much as I was hoping for on the camera, but it is more than we had before it sold!

Still have the 1954 Marily Monroe Golden Dreams calander listed and praying that it will sell for more than we have it posted.

eBay sale!!

The 1910 Tobacco Card (precursor to baseball cards) that a friend gave us to sell on eBay sold a few days ago!!! YEAH!! Now we are waiting for several other items I've posted to sell: 1999 Disney 101 Dalmatians lithograph, Fujifilm FinePix S3000 camera, 1954 Marilyn Monroe Golden Dreams calender & a 1973 Rookie Third Basemen card.

The plans for the concessions at the Greater Houston Ham Fest on Saturday, March 6 are going well.

Liz & I have 3 craft shows coming up: Greater Houston Ham Fest on March 6 (Liz will run the tables on her own), the SLHS PTSA Garage Sale (Seven Lakes High School in Katy) on April 10 and the Mom's Market at Fishers of Men Church on April 24. Nothing like being busy with sewing!!

New Stuff on blogsite

Okay, I have added ads by Google to our website to try and generate a bit more for our Adoption Fund. Hopefully they will work out as well as I hope. We will get a certain amount for each add that visitors to our site click on. They are also supposed to be relevant to our site.

January 29: Update

Since my last post, there hasn't been a whole lot of new stuff to report:

**Sold the baby blankets on Monday and deposited the check on the way home from their office. :)

**Meeting up with my dad on Saturday (while Chris is at work) morning to check prices and go over stuff for the Ham Fest on March 6. Worked on it this week and just need to get prices before figuring out how much of each item we need to purchase. They had about 800 people last year and Dad estimates around 1000 this year. I plan to get the one day food vendor permit application turned in late next week (have to wait till I get paid Monday).

**Waiting to get my passport in the mail. Hopefully it will be here soon.

**Chris has been reading a book, Parenting with Love & Logic, to fulfill this quarter's education requirement. I will read it when he is done.

**My sister is going to have a booth at the Ham Fest to sell our items (check out our store: www.landrdesigns.etsy.com ) She is also getting information about a local craft fair at a church in Sugarland on Saturday, April something. Obviously I don't have much information yet......

**Our adoption fund is just over $8000 today! Please continue to pray that we will see a steady (and large) increase. We know that God has it all under control, but it is getting harder every day to be patient.

**I posted a baseball card that a friend gave us to sell to raise funds. There are about 2 days left for the auction, and no bids yet. Check it out on eBay: 1973 Rookie Third Basemen (Rey, Hilton, Schmidt). If it doesn't sell this time, I will repost it and continue praying! I also plan to post several other items in the next week or so.

Any more gold for sale?

Per my mother-in-law's suggestion, I took some gold (and not gold) jewelry to Houston Gold Exchange this afternoon to see what I can get. Some of it was hers that she gave me to sell, some was mine, some was my mom's and grandmother's. About half of it was worth something and the other half I brought back home. I am happy to say, our Adoption Fund is now $1320 richer!!! God is great!

Now, to see what will sell on eBay.......

Last Christmas without a tree...

Chris and I decided to not put up a tree or decorate for Christmas this year, as it will be our last year to get away with it! We are looking forward to next Christmas season and all the fuss that will go in to pulling out the tree from the garage, finding all the ornaments (or buying new ones), stringing lights inside and out, etc.

We did have a good Christmas with family. We joined my sister, her husband, child, and my dad at her house for lunch as spent a nice 2 hours with them. Then we went 'down the street and around the corner' to Chris' mom's and step-dad's house. We spent a few hours with them and other family stopped by (step-brother & wife). It was a really nice time with all!

I am enjoying my last week off from school! As nice as it is, I will be ready to return next week. We are starting the sewing unit on the 11th and I always enjoy those 6 weeks! Chris is off from Fort Bend on Friday and is working at Wal-Mart all week (the only day Wal-Mart ever closes on is Christmas Day).

Our Adoption Fund is now at $5000! It is slowly but surely getting there (we still need about $35,000 more....). One of our friends at church gave us an autographed NFL football to auction/sell as we see fit. It is an NFL (has a serial number sticker on the box) football signed by Roger Staubach from the Dallas Cowboys. The football is engraved with the 5 Superbowls that the Cowboys were in and it also says that it is a limited edition of 5,000. It is in the original box (has never been taken out of the box). Can't wait to see what it brings in! Chris' mom gave us a calendar that she had been given to post on eBay: 1954 Golden Dreams with a nude picture of Norma Jean (later known as Marilyn Monroe). The calendar is in mint condition! It will be interesting to see what it brings in!

Well, I guess I had better get moving. I plan to take some gold jewelry and stuff to sell at Houston Gold Exchange. Chris' mom gave me some to add to what I already have. Anything at this rate will be helpful!

Hope you had a great Christmas and an even better New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your day has started as nice as ours. Chris left to go to work (the part-time job at Wal-Mart) a little while ago and I got to sleep in till 8:00. Yes, Chris is now gainfully employed part-time at Wal-Mart! He went in Tuesday for the paper work and drug test, worked yesterday from 12:30 - 8:30 (doing the CBL's {computer based learning sessions} and other training things. Today he is back to {hopefully} finish the CBL's so that they can put him to 'real work' tomorrow, starting at 5:00 am. Yes, he will be working during Black Friday's morning rush at Wal-Mart. I will be at home, warm and snug in bed, hopefully still sleeping!

It is a great feeling to know that we will be able to put his paychecks directly into the Adoption Fund saving account. That will really help!

On another note, I have a good-sized deposit to make tomorrow into the Adoption Fund savings account. My 'catering' has really paid off this week (yes, the pun was intended). I have added to my menu: squash casserole, chili, green bean casserole, Italian casserole, lemon bars, brownies and a bacon & broccoli quiche. I am really tired, but no baking today! I made the pumpkin pie and squash casserole that we are taking to Chris' mom's house this afternoon last night after getting home from delivering all the goodies I made yesterday. Tylenol is my friend right now.

Well, back to finding something for breakfast and warming up the coffee! Enjoy your holiday!

Trying not to get frustrated.....

Okay, I have been researching grants and I am getting frustrated! We have passed our Homestudy, but it is not 'officialized' yet because it is only valid for 12 months. Our caseworker and I agreed to wait to 'officialize' it until we have the bulk of the funds we need so that it won't expire before we are able to finalize the adoption. Problem: in order to apply for any grants, we have to submit current homestudy papers. So, I will be calling Buckner to talk with Irina tomorrow (at some point, hopefully during my conference period) to get some clarification about all this. We may have to wait until next spring to apply for any grants.

On a good note, I had a call from a friend at church today to place an advance order for goodies: coconut creme pie, a dozen cinnamon rolls with pecans & raisins, a pan of cheese enchiladas & a pan of beef enchiladas! That will bring in $79 for our adoption fund. Slowly but surely it is growing.

Please contine to pray that we have patience while the funds are gathered (winning the lottery would be really, really helpful at this point!). Also, pray for our children and their current caregivers.

Update

Our Financial Plan to fund Larkins Family Adoption has been accepted by our caseworker, Irina. She said that she still needs to run it by the director, but thought it was really well thought out and planned. Since it took me about a month to put it all together, it was really well thought out!

We are still waiting to hear back from Wal-Mart about the part-time job for Chris. Apparently, they need to contact someone higher up in Human Services to 'drop' his name in the system from Tier 2 to Tier 1 so the management at the Sugarland store can call him in for interviews and hire him! Gotta love this technology....

Liz and I had a booth at a craft fair in the Heights last week and we did really well. Other than about 10 minutes of sprinkling rain (covered the stuff with tarps), it was a good day. We are going to be at the First United Methodist Church in Missouri City on Saturday, November 14. They have had a craft fair/festival for quite a few years now, and we are praying for a great success. Most of the vendors are selling jewelry, and our items are rather unique and we didn't see anyone last year that had stuff close to what we make. The lady that I talked with about the booth, was really excited to hear that we have baby & children's stuff. I have lots more blankets to make before the craft fair on November 14!

I have made baked goods for several people at school and will make a Chocolate Marble Cheesecake this week for our cafeteria manager.

We sold my car on October 5!!! Yeah!!! That money went straight to the savings account (Adoption Fund). Now we just need about $38,000 more......

I am working on a grant application right now; need to find papers that I thought I knew where they were filed...

Our Wish List with Wal-Mart is basically complete. Check it out sometime! I think we picked out really cute stuff for the kiddos bedroom & bathroom. Not too much out there is not gender specific! You can find it at the store or on-line under Wish List and both my name & Chris' is listed.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us and our children as we go through this process of adoption.

Still planning, working, etc

We are still working on paperwork! It never seems to end! I haven't finished our written financial plan for Buckner yet (I am still waiting to here that Chris got the part time job at Wal-Mart - it's been a month and he has been assured that they want to hire him, they just haven't called him in for the interviews & finalization yet!!). Please continue to pray for this situation. We really need this second income for Chris to go towards the adoption expenses.

I have been working on a Wish List at Wal-Mart. I think most of the things we need for the kiddos is listed. It is a work in progress (like the adoption!). You can access it through my name or Chris' name. It is registered as a Wish List, not a registry. I put our anniversary next year as the 'event date' for lack of a better date. It will change as we get closer to bringing our children home.

I talked with Donita Potts a few weeks ago and got some great ideas for fundraising! I was originally told that they fundraised both of their adoptions. Apparently that is not the case. She said that they fundraised the first adoption 100% through donations & activities. The second adoption was a gift from God. They prayed and said "God, if you want these children to join our family, you will provide the money". They didn't do any fundraising at all!! Just goes to show how great God is and how He provides for His children.

I heard from Amy Norton, a friend of our pastor's wife, and got some suggestions for agencies that we can contact about financial assistance (scholarships, grants, etc). I will be working on that this week.

Please continue to pray for us: stress levels are lowered (especially for me), we get clear direction on fundraising ideas, our children as they wait for us.

On a side note, my sister and I will be participating in a craft show at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in the Heights area here in Houston on Saturday, October 3. Feel free to stop by if you are in the area. Money from the items that I make goes toward our adoption expenses. Also, I make homemade goodies (desserts, enchiladas, lasagnas, etc) and the money from that also goes towards our adoption expenses. So if you don't bake or cook ......

Oh, the car is still for sale if you know someone who is looking.....

Life is settling down...

Okay, life is finally settling back to 'normal'. School has been in session for a week and a day and we can get back to doing what we need to in regards to bringing our children home. We have been given the phone number of a family that fundraised 100% of two separate adoptions from Russia, both of them being sibling groups. I called and left a message this afternoon to get ideas and talk with them about their experiences. I am looking forward to getting some great ideas!

On another note, we have decided to put my car up for sale and use the Dodge minivan God gave us back in May. It is an older model than my car, but will hold more people and stuff. If you know anyone who would be interested in a 2000 Chevrolet Prizm, let me know (rlarkins@pdq.net).

Please continue to pray for our children and their caregivers, our fundraising and the paperwork that we need to complete. Right now, we need $680 for Buckner (Home Study part 2), $750 for US Immigration, $160 for fingerprinting, $3,500 for Buckner (Agency fee part 1). Overall, we estimate that we will need $40,000 before we can send our Dossier to Russia (that includes all fees and travel & hotels/meals/etc in Russia)

We are OFFICIAL!!

I got THE PHONE CALL today around 1:45 this afternoon from Joy, our Home Study social worker informing us that we are Officially Approved to Adopt up to 2 siblings from Russia!!!

After some crying, writing information down and trying not to break down, I called Chris at work to tell him the GREAT NEWS!! Since he could tell I was (or at least had been) crying, he thought something was wrong, but was excited once I told him about Joy's phone call.

We have been waiting and praying for this day for about a year and God has been faithful. We really appreciate all of our family and friends that have been praying with and for us during this time. Please, Please continue to pray for and with us as we begin the next step.

From here, we need to submit a written financial plan (just saying that God will provide isn't good enough) for financing this adoption process. We estimate that we will need about $40,000 by the time we are ready to go pick up our children. Yes, that is a huge amount of money! And no, we are not exactly sure where it will come from. The nice thing about Buckner is that you pay as you go. If you don't have the funds for the next step, you wait until you do. The down side is that most of the paperwork that we will need to complete is time sensitive. So, we need to have as much of the money as possible (or all of it) collected before we begin the Dossier paperwork. Once we send the Dossier to Russia, it could be as quick as 4-6 weeks to get the referral from Russia. Apparently the referral process is not as long as we had originally been told!!

Right now, we need about $7,000 to start the next step: submitting the USCIS (immigration) form and get fingerprinted, paying the first half of Buckner's agency fee and several other miscellaneous fees. Now that our Home Study is complete, we can start applying for grants with various organizations (unfortunately most of them prefer stay-at-home, homeschooling moms).

Anyway, we are really excited!

Please continue to pray for our children and their current caregivers; our financial situation; school (starts on Monday and I am NOT ready yet); we have patience during the rest of this process.

Papers are in the mail

I sent out the last of the papers this morning! Yeah!! I even paid to send the envelope via certified, return receipt. Don't want them to get lost or misplaced! I email our social worker (Joy) last night to let her know that they were going out today and she said that she would get back to us in the next week or two. It is going to be a very loooong week or two! At least I go back to school (in-services for the first 6 days) next Wednesday. I am really praying that we hear that we are "Officially Approved" before my birthday (August 25). That would be the Bestest Gift Ever!

Please continue to pray for us as we wait during these next 2 weeks (or so). Also keep the Wal-Mart job for Chris in your prayers (haven't heard from them yet for the interviews). We know the next set of fees to pay are: travel for Joy to visit the house ($117) and the second half of the Home Study ($500).

Required Reading is Done!!!! (for now)

I have finally finished reading the last book! I have written my report; put it in the envelope with the rest of the papers; typed, printed and signed the cover letter; and put the cover letter in the envelope. Tomorrow, I will make copies of all the papers and mail the envelope to Buckner. YEAH!!!! This is a huge weight off my shoulders. Now we just get to wait, pray and wait some more.

Please continue to lift us up in prayer as we wait. Also keep our finances in your prayers. Chris has applied for a part-time job with Wal-Mart to help with our finances, but hasn't heard anything from them yet.