Promise 686

Ok! An easier way to be apart of the raffle!
If you read the post below, the raffle is still going on until Monday. You can still email me and mail a check to Promise 686, but now you can also just do it through Paypal!

Just click on this link below, and shoot me and email with how many tickets you bought: jennifer.willis@gmail.com . Tickets are $3 each and the winner of the drawing gets a $100 Target giftcard.

DONATE HERE

Thanks so much for the amazing response! So far a little over $200 has been raised and every donation is matched by the agency, so $400!

Happy New Year friends!

Adoption is Good

These are some of our best friends Greg and Jessica Sykes. They are adopting a baby!
Here is their personal blog if you want to know more about their journey in trying to have a family. They feel led to adopt a baby and we couldn't be more excited for them. They also founded and started a website called, www.adoptionisgood.com.
They hope after they finish raising funds and adopting their own child, they can use this site to raise money and help other families have their dream come true with a child.
They have been super hard workers. They have had garage sales to raise money and sold other donated pieces of furniture on craigslist to raise money. They made hundreds of Christmas ornaments and sold to raise money. There is also t-shirts for sale on the website. They have received donations from churches and grants. Like I said, they have worked REALLY hard to not go into debt and also have a family. We are so proud and bursting with excitement for them. They could not be a more deserving couple.

So, here is the deal. I'm trying to help them finish raising money via a raffle! I'm raffling off a $100 gift card to Target. Tickets are $3 each and you can buy as many as you want. Drawing will be held on Monday, Jan. 2. Just email me or comment below (jennifer.willis@gmail.com) and I will send you my address. You can mail a check and make it out to Promise 686, tax deductible. Just put Sykes family in the memo line.
Promise 686 is also matching 100% of the donations! We are prayerful that this will finish them off!
So please help me get this raffle started!! This tugs at the heart of many.... for those who have had their family come easy for them and for those who have struggled. All couples long for a family so here is a way to help this sweet couple!!

Tis the Season

Ok! Here we go, I'm going to do one massive post and sum up our December!!

First, I found a bedroom suite for $50. Yep, $50. I sold our old one and wanted to re-finish this one. I have started a pseudo business buying and re-selling furniture, its really fun for me!
Anyway, I will probably re-sell this one, but I am using it until I find another one =)
The only catch with the set was this..... it was in a house fire!! Ha! No, really. Tim picked it up from an abandoned house that the kitchen had caught on fire there. It was not in the fire, but had dust and soot on it.
Anyway, he brought it home. It was a mess, but able to be completely salvaged. I cleaned the whole thing out, sanded it down, and re-painted it. It is solid wood, black, with silver hardware. Looks awesome, no smoke smell... you would never know unless someone asked, "Hey where did you get that?" And I respond, "Hey from a house fire in an abandoned house that someone sold me." Awesome. It turned out pretty good I think and I just spent a Saturday doing it. Here is pictures of it! Take a good look b/c it will probably be sold when I find another one to restore!

I also have really found some creative ways to organize our things.... here is the door to our bedroom...

Behind the door.... I put up tie organizers and a scarf ring. All that stuff was taking up too much room in the closet.... and with a super small closet, they had to go.

Here is Mackenzie on her birthday morning, we went to church and she loves her classroom there. They sang to her and we had a big banquet that morning so it was fun!
Later, we took her to Chuck E Cheese. So funny to me. She has never been there, yet she knew exactly what it was and couldnt wait to go.

Her and daddy in the ticket blaster


I think the adults had more fun than the kids! They were all quite the skee-ball pros!

Greg...
Tim is hilarious. I always know when he is super happy and fulfilled with his work b/c he comes home and has so much energy for other things. Remember all the trees we took down at Nellie Mae in the spring? He chopped all the wood and sold it this winter for firewood. The leftover logs he turned into Chainsaw bears! (And a pig). He has been selling them like crazy!
He also started the deck- there is a picture when they began to break ground. We are close to finishing so I will post pictures of the project soon!
Tim also had a nasty burn this month. 3 weeks ago he blowtorched his hand while welding copper with a 2000 degree flame. It was pretty bad at first and was on the verge of having to get a skin graph. Thanks to our family nurse, Cynthia, he had to dress it twice a day and now looks almost healed!

My parents surprised us the day after thanksgiving and we spent the day at Stone Mountain Christmas, it was amazing! Here is the snow angel, and the picture after is Mackenzie's face when she saw her!


All the cousins...

Seeing Santa

Cookie swap with some friends...

All warm and toasty and ready to celebrate!
We've had a great season so far! I did my shopping, decorating, and christmas cards at the end of November and it has been fun to just enjoy it all now! Every year I say it, but the kids are at the best age right now. They are just soaking it all in and we are enjoying them so much. You know when you go through a season of just being in a good rythm? That's how I feel right now. And I am thankful to just be enjoying where we are. And I'm more excited about where we are going. Sometimes that makes the "where you are now" even better when you know where you are tracking to.

Blessings to your families during Christmas!!!

December 18, 2011

I'm about to go on a blog-a-thon this week! I have so much to catch up on...... it's gonna be crazy so get ready.
But, first. Everybody stop and celebrate: Mackenzie is 3!!!!!
Unbelievable to me. I spend my days with my kids, but I still stop and panic- they are growing up! I can't freeze time and I can't even soak it in fast enough. She is 3 years old!

Oh Mackenzie!! Where do I even begin with you! You made this scheduled mother of her baby boy feel like she had NO IDEA how to be a mother to a baby girl when you were born! Talk about opposites! Raising a boy followed by raising a little girl has been the hardest, yet easiest thing at the same time. You just do the exact opposite of what you did the the first. That seems to be the method in my madness over here..... and it works. The darnedest thing.

You are seriously cute. And I know I'm your mother, but you are very petite and like this little lucky charm I want to put in my pocket. You are very tiny.

You still think you are an infant. You sleep like one in a ball, you have a blankey, you snuggle on me, you want to be held, ect.

You are all girl. Yet you dont shy away from anything your brother does. In fact, you like to one up him. Like at Disney when you sassed your way in front of him to go down the big water slide because he hesitated.

Speaking of sass- you think you are quite the boss over here. You are a mother-er. You tattle, scold, and have quite the attitude when questioned about something. You also immediately know what you think about something and don't hesitate to voice your opinion about it. (that may have come from mommy, heck and even your Mimi, lets blame her =)

You are a night owl. You also don't prefer to eat for some reason. These battles I fight and win though my little lady.

You are loving. You will kiss and hug and pat people on the back and are very touchy.

You are focused. Driven. Smart. You can understand complex directions I give you and I can tell you will naturally be a very good student. And probably type A.

You are the epitome of having a little girl. You love dolls, babies, puppies, flowers, cookies, and pink.

And you really are a dynamite little sister. You play so well with David and he is your best friend.

You also really understand Jesus at a young age. You asked him into your heart a while back, but immediately following you asked him to be in your tummy.

So.... not really sure about that one ;) Either way, you like him!
Happy Birthday to my little Christmas miracle. I think any child that is born is a miracle, but when we lost your twin early on, I prayed every day that I would one day get to meet you and have you here in our arms. I am undeserving and forever grateful to have a son and daughter who have made this mommy's dreams come true.

Thanks to my friend Sara for taking some great photos of this little 3 year old. Also, thank you again my rockstar cousin Brittany Woodall, now crazy famous and photographed Pinks baby- for taking photos of her after birth. I can't look at them enough still...