New Noonday Awesomeness

It's no big secret that I'm a crazy Noonday fan. Today I'm sharing a few faves out of the new spring collection. You know I have a tendency to post way too many pictures when I do this, but this is the best I can do. I want it all!!!

New Haiti Family of the Week

Hey hey, you guys! I am blown away by the generosity you have all shown to all the families this week. I thought bringing in more families might result in fewer donations, and I'm so happy I was wrong. You are my favorite people on the planet! I'm all mushy inside now.

Since we've got a new program on here I thought I'd tell you a little about it in case your in those first stages. Haiti is stinkin' beautiful. The kids are beautiful. The process is very interesting and quirky. We tried to go down this road, but it's not going to work this time, but let me tell you about it just in case it works for your family. There are three main requirements to adopt from Haiti and they are pretty strict about it. There is some buzz about laws changing, but so far that hasn't happened, so here's the current scoop.

• Parents need to be at least 35.


• Married at least 10 years.


• No more than 2 biological kids.

Please keep me up to speed if any of that has changed (update: check the comments section for extra details there if you're interested in Haitian adoption policies)! I'm telling you this because they needs willing parents over there, and the qualifications are tough, so if you happen to meet that set of criteria, Haiti just might be for you. You get your referral very early in the process, shortly after finishing your home study. And then you are free to visit and bond with your child as much as you want while the legal end is being completed. Really interesting program. And the flight's not too long either. ;) So there's the scoop on Haitian adoption as understood by me. And here's our first family embarking on that journey. The Sleasmans are matched to two little sweeties. You can read more about them and their journey on their seriously informative blog. And you can donate right here. Thank you so much!

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/38670455 w=400&h=300]

Sleasman Adoption Video [Give 1 Save 1] from Brent Sleasman on Vimeo.

***Our running total so far is $580!***

Random, But Awesome Stuff

There is no rhyme or reason to this post! Just a bunch of stuff you need to know. Here we go.

#1. You might be missing some killer awesome giveaways. The Hoke family, our Africa family this week, have been doing some pretty cool giveaways on their blog. Today is a beautiful handmade batik sling bag, your choice. I have my eye on the turquoise one! Go check out the giveaway and get entered! Details here.



2. The Haiti house that we've been working on all month is almost entirely funded!!! Go you guys!!! There is still one more day to donate. Tomorrow our first Haiti adopting family will be taking over the Paypal button. If you're late to the party you can always donate to the Haiti Safe House HERE.

3. The Mowens are one of our first dear families. I love the week they had on here and their wild story. It's got God's hand all over it. They've actually been home for a few weeks now with their new boys, but if you are adopting soon and need to navigate those awkward waters of the first weeks, let me point you to Tara's gentle post regarding friends and family and their role in the early stages. It's perfectly worded. I've heard a bunch of people say "Can I just copy that?". Add me the that list.

New Asian Family of The Week

OK, guys, here's the big change I've been messing with. I don't know if it's going to fly. It's up to you guys. But I think there's some awesome potential here, so let's give it a go. We're maxing out Give1 Save1 by adding the final region, Asia, to the line-up. I will never ask you for more than $3 a week (Africa, Haiti, and Asia), this is as big as it's going to get. But adding these regions will teach us more about options and changes and what's going on in the world outside of America and Africa. And I'm really excited about expanding the Give1 family. I think it will ultimately lead to higher donation totals for everyone. Crossing fingers!



So for our first Asia reps, let's give a warm welcome to the Russell family. The are adopting a 5 year old boy from the Philippines. I asked Mom about the program and how it works, and I'm telling you, it seems like such an organized and smooth process. I am NOT any kind of expert at all in this arena, so totally don't believe me, do your research. But it looks well worth researching if you're just starting out. Here's a few things Emily had to say about it:

The Philippines is a GREAT place to adopt from.  First of all, in the international adoption world, it is significantly less to adopt over there.  You only have to make one trip, and it is only 4-6 days, which makes it so nice for us mommas that have to leave little ones at home!  It is a Hague country, and they are very thorough in their medical reports.  There is a very long wait for babies, but if you are willing to take a waiting child it is 6-12 months from the time you submit your application to the time you have them tucked into their new bed!  Our agency (which I highly recommend) has whats called a pre-approval.  If we find a waiting child we would like, they send the request to ICAB - the Filipino board of adoption- and ICAB chooses whether or not to pre-approve us for the child.  If they say yes, then that child is on hold for us, while we get our dossier over there, so you don't run the risk of falling in love with them, and having another family get there first. 

Let me know if you have any questions! 

You can follow the Russells adoption as it unfolds over here at their blog.

You can donate right here. And you can watch their video right here.

 [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcmmOxac4ho]

***So far our running total is $640!!!***

A Great Idea (And A Question).

First, the Great Idea.

It's totally not mine. It's a brilliant idea that I found via Pinterest (all of my great ideas are completely unoriginal and come straight from Pinterest). The clever lady behind it is Carissa, from lowercase letters. She came up with the idea to use a SMASH book as a scripture scrapbook to help the littles memorize scripture (and I just happened to have an extra SMASH laying around). My 6 year old is taking to it like crazy. I involved the kids (as much as I could) in the process of creating it, and it's not at all done yet. We're doing one page every day or two. Here are a few we've done so far.





Little Mister is absolutely loving making these. In fact, he has taken to scouring the Bible to find verses he likes. He's six, so this is a little different, but we're going with it. I love that he considers 'pools' and 'cats' to be a good and perfect gift. This is a fun age. Now here's where I totally deviate from the normal Give1 post, so I'm trying to tie it together, see...

I promised said Little Mister that he could make a cameo on Give1 Save1 instead of our regular family blog. He actually knows that this one gets more traffic and he wants a bunch of comments. In fact, he'll be checking this post obsessively to see if there are any responses, so I beg you, help a mom out! For a project he needs to graph these results. Here we go...

I mustache you a question... What is your favorite color? Red, blue, green, yellow, or orange?

New Africa Family of the Week

Hey Guys,



I am so happy to finally introduce you to a family that has been here pretty much from Day 1. Say hi to the Hoke Family. Mama, Ginny, is one of the most reliable givers on here. I can almost guarantee that if you or someone you love has been featured on Give1 Save1, the Hokes have donated to them. Regardless of the fact that they are fundraising for their own adoption. Regardless of the fact that you may not know them. I love that about this group! It would mean so much to this lady right here if you would reciprocate. Let's really pound that donate button and say thanks for sticking around with this group for so long!

Here's where we'll keep the running total, which right this second is $1521!!! 

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/34761188 w=400&h=300]

Our Adoption Journey: Part 1 from Ginny Hoke on Vimeo.

5 Minutes + $.00 = Big Impact

Wanna do something HUGE to help thousands of families afford adoption? It’ll take five minutes of your time. And it won’t cost you a penny. Seriously.

Are you in?

Then help Give1Save1 get the Adoption Tax Credit extended! For adoptions finalized in 2012 and before, the US Government was actually a big help to adopting families. Many families were eligible for around $12,000 in tax assistance to offset the immense costs of adoption. While Obama’s healthcare reform extended and enhanced the Adoption Tax Credit, it is set to be dramatically reduced for adoptions finalized in 2013 and beyond.

American World Adoption has put together a convenient advocacy kit; please click here. The article includes links to contact your local lawmakers, and it includes links to sample phone scripts and letters to email to your representatives. For more information about the Adoption Tax Credit, click here.

Seriously, contacting Congress will take just five minutes of your time. I did it, and I even got lovely emails back from some of them! This is a bipartisan issue we can all band together to support. Thousands of families, including the wonderful people we meet each week on Give1Save1, are depending on this tax incentive to help make adoption possible. More than that, thousands of the world’s orphans are counting us to remove the hurdles that are blocking their futures.



Join us. Contact Congress. Spread the word.

(Can I get a "God Bless America?")