Snakes, and Spiders, and Frogs, OH MY!

 I have been in this house for about six months.  Its the first house Dave or I have owned ourselves (we both had condos before we were married).  And that means its the first time we've ever had to do yard work.  Pulling weeds, mowing the lawn, trimming hedges, planting flowers, mulching...  honestly the job is never done :)

We aren't exactly good at it, but we try, try, try again.  David is allergic to fresh cut grass.  So every time he mows the lawn, he breaks out in hives and needs to shower immediately.   Lucky for me he doesn't trust me with the mower... so he compromises with his allergies by only mowing the front, or the back in a given day.

I have been pulling weeds like its a full time job.  Sad news for me... we live on a wooded lot that is overtaken by weeds behind the lawn.  And for some reason, even though I have no experience... I have HUGE plans for the landscaping once these weeds are out of my life.  I'm guessing its a 5 year project at the rate I am going.

But on to the real reason for the post...  the creatures.  We have more creepy, crawly things than necessary in our yard.  While pulling weeds with my mom, we were attacked by a garter snake.  And when I say attacked, what I mean is we saw one.

But I screamed like it was attacking.

It was vicious.  Much like this one.  AND it followed us around the house!  I saw it three times!  Or I saw three snakes.  But I'm hoping it was just one.  I tried to kill it with a shovel, but missed the first time, and then the second time apparently I wasn't strong enough because it just slithered away.  People tell me they are harmless.  And even worse... they tell me some day my children will capture them and want to keep them as pets.  Or play with them.  Or throw them up in trees (I know... that one is weird - came from Dave's cousin, Jordan.)

We also have toads.  I've seen close to 15 toads and a couple frogs.  And bugs, but who doesn't have bugs?   We also have holes.  At first I thought these were snake holes, and I panicked.  I had seen a snake, after all.  But these holes are about 2 inches wide.  Too big for my little snakes.  So after a quick google search, I realized they most likely belonged to chipmunks.

So my future children can have a blast with these creatures. They can chase things, throw them in trees, dig them out of their holes, and, if they are spiders, kill them.  But I will teach  my children from early on that there is no way these things will come in the house. As pets, as pranks, or even as science projects.  And if they do, they will hear a kind of scream that will wake neighbors and send birds flying from trees.  Because this girl... is NO fan of creepy, crawly things. 

Notarizing is My Enemy

Have you ever had to notarize something?  Because its generally a simple process.  Show your I.D. and have the nice notary public stamp and sign your paper and send you on your way.

But have you ever been adopting internationally and needed something (or MANY things) notarized for your dossier? Because its not the same thing.  Its intense.

You see, there are some rules.  For example, NOTHING may be crossed out.  And the notary needs to sign and put the date of signature.  And the stamp needs to be 100% readable with no smudges.  And their expiration date needs to be lightyears away from today.  And the stamp cannot be overtop of any other print, because obviously its hard to read.

So, you might be thinking.... "Well, Mackenzie, if you know all these rules, why don't you just make sure they are all followed when you get something notarized?"

I do my best.  I really do.  But you would be surprised how annoyed people get with you.  Like at the Sheriff's department, when you ask to have your background check redone.  They were NOT fans of me.  I had a list of 3 things they needed to change, and I know it might have been annoying for them, but I couldn't help it!  They asked me a million questions and acted like all the other families who ever came in for adoption background checks were not this difficult. And most notary publics take their responsibilities pretty seriously.  So when you start to list off exactly how they need to do it, they are not huge fans.

And then there are the people who need to get their OWN signatures notarized.  Like the doctor, or people who wrote recommendation letters for us.  I had to give my mom hers back twice.  The first time the notary signed and stamped on a separate page and stapled it together.  How could that EVER be okay?  And the second time the notary crossed something out.  The third one looks great :)  But my poor mom!  I feel so bad giving it back to her again and again.

Before this adoption, I think the only thing I ever got notarized was my teaching certificate.  And that was a piece of cake.

I want to go back to those piece of cake notarizing experiences :)

Love thy Neighbor...

David and I met some very exciting neighbors yesterday!  We are slowly meeting the people in our neighborhood now that it is warm out, and people are out and about.  We just moved into our new house in December, so really we've only really gotten to know our next door neighbors.... up until now.

It all started on a run.  Yes, I am a runner.  A new runner, a slow runner, and a short distance runner.  But a runner nonetheless.  I was running through our neighborhood and saw a man in his garage, and two boys with him.  One of the little boys had beautifully dark skin.  After that day, I tried to remember which house it was, but when I run, I am hot, and sometimes a little delirious, and couldn't exactly remember.  Plus, after that day, I never saw the family again.  I told David about the possibility of another trans-racial family in the neighborhood, but could never confirm it.

Then a couple days ago I saw the whole family outside together.  Mom, Dad, two white children, and two black children.  Of course I was running alone again, but at least I could remember the home.  Now I just had to figure out how to introduce myself and make a connection with these people without being super creepy and stalker-esque.

Fast forward to yesterday.  Running once again.  This time with David.  Would you believe this wonderful little family that I wanted to meet so desperately in a natural, nonchalant way without being super creepy was having a garage sale?  What are the chances?  So on the way back from our run, we obviously had to stop by.  We acted aloof and easy going... picking a few items (Mom used to be a teacher - so we found a few books for our classroom) and asked her to hold the items while we ran home for money.

As we walked home, we tried to think of a way to introduce ourselves and talk adoption.  But we came up with nothing.  Nothing sounded right.

So we went back to their house without a plan.  And I'm not sure what I even said, but it was something like "You have a beautiful family.  My husband and I are in the process of adopting."  And from there, the conversation just took off.  Would you believe her adopted children are from Ethiopia!?!  AND they used the same agency we are using!  We talked for quite awhile, and exchanged information, and asked a million questions, and walked away feeling GREAT!  What an amazing connection to make just down the street.

Now when we go running by their house, we wave and say hello and I get a little tingle in my heart because I feel this comforting little connection to a family that I just met, and I love it.  

SUPER Fundraising News :)

As I was searching for donations for our upcoming auction, I came across a website that sold fit band wristlets and lanyards.  They have a fit band specifically adoption themed, so I asked them to donate one to our auction.  NOT only did they donate, but they offered to help us further with our fundraising!! They are helping to support our adoption by donating 1/2 of their proceeds whenever friends or family members order from their Chosen Child line.

Read all about it at the Worthy of the Prize website.

In addition to this, if you purchase a Chosen Child necklace from Cap Creations they will donate $10 to our adoption fund when you mention our name (OR 10% of your order total will go to us when you mention us at checkout!)

Here is the BEAUTIFUL Chosen Child Necklace:

So get busy shopping my friends!  Check out these websites, and I'm sure you will be able to find something you like :)

PLUS, remember that both of these companies will be donating to our adoption auction (July 29-August 1) so keep an eye out for their products there!!

Fundraiser Coming Up!

David and I are in the middle of planning for a fundraiser.  I can't take credit for it, because I copied the idea from somebody else, but I am REALLY excited about it.  We are doing an online auction!  Right here at stefanichsteppingstones.blogspot.com.   The plan is for the Auction to go live on Thursday, July 29 and go through Sunday, August 1.  So mark your calendars!

That also means I have 1 month to round up donations for this exciting event.  My plan is to rely on family and friends and their amazing talents.  So far my grandmother will be donating American Girl Doll clothes that she HAND made (I know!!  INCREDIBLY awesome!), my cousin is doing some really great sewing for us (a hooded towel, maybe?), a friend of mine has donated some really amazing original photographs, another friend is donating her amazing cake decorating skills, and I have a few corporate donations too!  We are feeling SO incredibly blessed right now.  God really laid it on my heart to ask people for these donations, even though it is really uncomfortable.  I have been so humbled by peoples' generosity!  A couple people simply offered to donate upon hearing about our auction.  And I still have a list of more people to ask.  Everyone's enthusiasm has made it much easier to ask for donations.

But now I am opening it up to you :)  If you would like to share your talents in honor of Baby Stefanich, we are hoping you will let us know!  You can donate to our auction by emailing me at mackenziestefanich@gmail.com or by letting David or I know :)

You can also support us by spreading the word to everyone you know, and sending them to our blog on July 29!  I will send more details about the auction, with pictures of items and descriptions as we get closer to the live date!!

Father's Day

Although I am not officially a father yet, I did get the chance to celebrate Father’s Day because my parent’s got me two gifts. The first was a child’s lawn chair that matches the two adult lawn chairs we have in our backyard. Lately, MacKenzie has been working hard cleaning up the yard. We have a wooded lot that has lots of weeds, the most invasive being garlic mustard, and she has spent countless hours getting the yard ready for the summer. The chair adds to the tranquil vibe she is trying to create.

The second gift from my parents was a hoodie with the Ethiopian flag on it. As previously stated by MacKenzie, my parents are pretty internet savvy, and my family loves to buy cool tee-shirts and sweatshirts for presents. So it came as no surprise that they got me such an awesome gift! It also helped that I sent my mom a link to the sweatshirt telling her I would like to add it to my wardrobe.

Both my dad and MacKenzie’s stepdad received Ethiopian tee-shirts for Father’s Day from us. They were both genuinely excited about their shirts and have already worn them with pride. In fact, Ray wore his when we went to an Ethiopian restaurant in Grand Rapids. Hopefully next year we will have a one or two little Ethiopian shorties running around the house celebrating Father’s Day with us!

Dave

GoJo Ethiopian Cuisine... (the second trip...)-

Tonight we went to Go Jos Ethiopian Cuisine with my mom and step dad Ray.  We are pretty much willing to go with anyone who will join us :)  Mom and Ray were particularly excited to try a little food from the home country of their second grandchild.  Although I would guess my Mom was a bit more excited than Ray.  He seemed more worried than excited :)  BUT... we did give him his father's day gift early - an Ethiopia T-shirt, which he proudly wore to dinner.

For David and I, the food was even better than the first time we had it.  I think because we knew what to expect this time.  It was VERY good.  Mom and Ray enjoyed it too.  I think they were pleasantly surprised with how good it smelled when we walked in, and even more so that it tasted as good as it smelled!

Sorry some of the pictures are a little blurry!!  This is Dave with his delightful glass of papaya juice.

And below is the AMAZING food we ate.  And Mom and Ray must have enjoyed it because this is their hands digging in :)

After dinner, the owner came in.  I believe his name is Sam, but my memory with names is not always the best.  We met him AWHILE ago, and I'm too embarrassed to ask him again :)  We'll just call him Sam and trust my memory.  So Sam definitely remembered us, which was really flattering!  He asked us how the adoption was going, and where we were in the process.  He is incredibly nice, and Dave and I will definitely be regulars at this amazing little restaurant.

I feel like I should add that when Dave took this picture of me (below) he said "Make a cooler face than that", and I didn't.  I just made this face.  So sorry if I disappointed with the photo... ha ha!

So thanks to Mom and Ray for a great meal, and lovely company!  Let us know anytime you want to go back!  And Ray, have a WONDERFUL fathers day on Sunday!!

Generosity

As you may have read, Ethiopia now requires adoptive parents to make two trips to the country. The first trip (the newly required trip) is for the court date. The second trip is the one that we will go on to bring our child(ren) home. This new requirement came into place just as we had made our decision to adopt from Ethiopia. Each trip is supposed to cost around $5,000, more or less. Mackenzie and I have been talking with other adoptive families about ways to raise money for the newly required trip.

One way we are raising money is by working with a free-trade organization called Just Love Coffee. This organization sells coffee from different countries (Ethiopia included) and for every bag someone buys off of our page five dollars is given to us for our adoption fees. My mom and my sister have each bought a bag of coffee and just the other day we received our first five dollar check. If you click on the link on the right side of our blog you will be taken to the Just Love website. If you purchase any product from the website going through our link a small percentage of the money will go to us!

Another way we are working on raising money is through donations. Although we have not really pushed this because we are not super comfortable asking for help, we do have a paypal account on our blog if you are feeling generous. Recently we have gotten two donations for our trip and we are so thankful. The first donation came from a family member and the second donation came from one of my friends and co-workers. It is so amazing to know that we have people in our lives that love us and are willing to help us on this life-changing journey.

Mackenzie’s friend Alisha is also working on putting together a really cool fundraiser for us that involves bows for little girls. As we get more details on that I am sure we will be posting them here.

Again, thanks to all of our friends and family who have been so supportive as we have announced our decision to adopt. It feels so good knowing we have surrounded ourselves with such loving people.

Dave

And the Waiting Begins...

So we have reached that time in our Home Study process where we are waiting.  We know our social worker has all that she needs from us, and is diligently working on our home study paperwork, but now we just wait.  Its so hard not knowing when she will be done!  We are so eager to have this part of the process finished, and get our dossier submitted.  Then we will be THAT much closer to getting on the referral list.  Its so hard having this part of the process be in somebody else's hands!  PLUS it leaves very little to blog about :)

On a personal note:  Today was my last day with students!  It was really hard to say goodbye to my first graders this year.  I'm excited to spend the summer with David working on our yard, preparing our house for children, and doing just a LITTLE relaxing... but I love my job, and each year it is tough to send my amazing little first graders on to second grade!  PLUS, now that it is summer, and I do not have my job to distract me, it will be even harder to wait for our home study to be complete!  I need some projects, or good books to read, or something to get my mind off the waiting :)  Any suggestions?