Haiti Shirts

I love my Haiti shirt.  I wear it all the time and get so many great compliments on it.

We first sold these shirts in May 2008 when we took our first team to Haiti.  It was a great fund raiser and allowed people to spread the word on their trip and the country they were traveling to.  We sold the shirts and the money raised helped us all buy tickets for the trip

Then we sold the shirts again in March 2009 for the trip we led through the Stone.  That was fun and we sold lots of shirts!  A whole new group learned about Haiti and got new shirts!

Julie and her family got shirts from us last time and even sent me a picture of their whole family in the shirts.  They are even holding pictures of the kids they are adopting that live in Haiti.  I only pray that when they wear their shirts they get to tell people all about the place that they love!

Well I’m so happy that we have just ordered new Haiti shirts in a NEW color!  Yeap they are a green, not bright, but kinda dull, but yet not army green either.  Trust me it is a super cool green color!  This time the money isn’t helping us at all, but yet ALL THE MONEY from these shirts go directly to REAL HOPE FOR HAITI.  Every single penny!  I love that!

Last May I wrote a post talking about THE RESCUE CENTER in Cazale that Real Hope for Haiti runs.

So, if you happen to be at a show of Aaron’s, please buy the Haiti shirt.  Or better than that, but two!

pictures from the past week.

I thought I would go back and show some recent pictures!

I took this picture b/c I think it is so funny how different my boys are. When it is time for bed Deacon always wears long shirt and pants for jammies. He can not stand to be cold! Cayden wears almost nothing and always has something random on, like in this picture he has on an old shin guard. The other night he slept with snow goggles on. I love these boys!

The boys and I recently went to a family reunion. It was good to see Pops, cousin Porter, Uncle Jordan, Mimi and many other relatives!

Getting a picture where all three boys were looking at the same time was nearly impossible!

Pops, Jordan and the boys while playing golf!

Cousins – Cayden, Porter & Deacon – next summer there will be THREE more cousins!

When my mom was here last weekend we took the boys to the InnerSpace Caverns in Georgetown. They liked it and it was a fun family event!

Mom, the boys and I in the cave somewhere under I35!

Then last week the boys and I met Adrianne and her boys at the Austin zoo. Fun times! The kids loved it and we enjoyed talking while we walked around. We got there at 10 and were on our way home by noon!

Then this past Wed our friends Jack & Mabry came into town to visit us! The kids had so much fun playing and it is always good to see my BFF Amy! John joined us on Thursday and we had fun hanging out then!

It was a great week with lots of time with friends and family! We’ll see what happens this week!

Story dreams

Had two very weird dreams last night.

#1 I dreamed I got an email from our adoption lady in Haiti telling me that Story had her passport already and her Visa appointment was this weekend.  She told me to come down on Monday to pick her up.  I woke up in the night and literally had to lay there and think if this had really happened b/c it just seemed so real.

#2 I dreamed that we went down to pick up our daughter and there was another family there that was going to be co-parents with us.  This dream was very weird, b/c in the dream it wasn’t my Story, and it wasn’t in Haiti and she wasn’t even black.  It was weird b/c it was all different.  You know how weird dreams can be!  Anyhow …she would have two families.  Oh and did I mention that we knew them and they went to church with us.  So as we walked out of the place she was staying and we shared times holding her, it was all so crazy.  At first she had on the clothes that I brought her as we walked around holding her.  Then I gave her to her other family (weird!) and they changed her clothes.   We then had to come up with a schedule of when she would be with each family.  I was worried she would like them more b/c they had a swimming pool!!!  Then I was mad b/c I knew this woman for a year and never knew that she was even adopting.  I wondered why she never talked about her and all of a sudden we’re sharing jobs as mommy!  I was mad when I woke up from this one!

Weird dreams.  I just know that we are getting close to the end and this process is always on my mind.  We had been told they may get her passport this week, but I never heard anything. So I’m not sure what’s going on.  Thursday & Friday passed this week and no word on Amos getting out of MOI.  I know that there are lots of people stuck in MOI just like us with archive birth/death certificates being the problem.  I’m praying for all of these kids and their families.

We have been working on Story’s room this week a lot.  It is so funny that she is child #4 and she is getting more stuff for herself and done for a room than child #2 or #3 ever got b/c she is a GIRL!!!  The only girl in the family …. I think she’ll get what she wants for a while!

I am still so ready for this whole thing to be over.  I’m so ready for my babies to be home.  I know that God has the perfect timing and with that I can sleep better at night.  It is making me trust God even when it is hard and in my mind doesn’t make sense.  Although I’m learning that when it’s hard sometimes trusting in an almighty and all-knowing God is sometimes the only thing I have going for me.  Where else would I want to put my trust?

adopting from Africa

If you have ever thought about adopting from Africa I have found a great site for you to start with.

Check out Jason Kovacs’ blog as he talks about countries that are open for adoption in Africa.

Haiti changes people.

The first time I went to Haiti in November of 2006 my life was forever changed.  It was one of the hardest trips of my entire life.  I was a very scared person going into what I thought was a very scary place.   I struggled with leaving my 1 & 2 year old children at home for a whole week.  I mean what kinda of mom leaves her babies at home to go to a crazy place such as Haiti?  I was fairly certain that I would be killed there by a crazy Haitian man and forever leave my children mom-less.  YES these were my crazy thoughts.  For those of you that know me, you are not surprised by these crazy thoughts!  I tend to think the worst!  Aaron says I have WCSD – worst case scenario disease!

Even though that trip was so very hard for me it changed the course of my life forever.  From there I couldn’t stop thinking about the country that I had seen.  The children I had looked at there were starving for not only food, but also love, attention, arms to hold them, hope, a family, and most importantly the love of Jesus Christ.  I left Haiti then forever changed.

Fast forward 9 months and I would be staring at the face of my future son on a computer screen one night feeling a feeling of something I had never known before.  A feeling that just felt right although it was very crazy.  Haiti changed the course of our family.

Because of that trip we are now adding two children to our family through adoption from Haiti.  Because of that trip I have led 2 more trips back to Haiti full of people whose lives are now also forever changed because of the country.  Because of that trip I no longer desire a bigger diamond wedding ring that I always wanted, dreamed about, and literally begged Aaron for.  Because of that trip my wants are smaller and my thoughts of giving are bigger.

I am forever changed by that trip.  I did not change Haiti, but instead Haiti changed me.

This past March we led a group of 6 girls to Haiti.  Most of them this was their first time to Haiti.  Before each trip I pray that God would use Haiti to change them.  I pray that eyes will be opened to the “real” world that we live in. I pray that hearts will be softened towards “the least of these” and jobs will be changed, hearts will be changed, and locations will be changed.

Caroline was on that trip and she was changed.  She will be leaving in July to head back to Haiti for 7 weeks to serve alongside Lori in the clinic.  What an amazing opportunity for both of them. Caroline will once again never be the same and Lori will have a nurse there to help out with some of the patients.  Check out this blog HERE to hear her story about going back.

I am honored to know both of the ladies at RHFH.  Lori and her sister Licia are literally heros to us.  They are saints.  They are world-changers.  They are servants.  They are lovely.  They are friends of ours.  They are examples to us.  We love these two ladies.

*Picture from the literacy graduation that we helped with in March 2009

*The graduates.  These ladies are changing Haiti.

Needs for the DR

For all my friends at the STONE we have some people going to the DR and they need your help!  Some of you can’t go on mission trips, but what you can do is buy a few items this weekend on your Wal Mart run and bring them to the church on Sunday.

Here are their needs:

* Flashlights and batteries
* small hand soap dispensers for school bathrooms–preferably antibacterial (no foam soap please)
* Moisture absorbers you put into closets to prevent mold. We need these for our medical supply closet. We need 2 every 40 days.
* 5 clip boards-the kind you hold in your hand
* grapefruit seed extract
* boxes of pens and pencils for the school
* hand held pencil sharpeners
* ink cartridges for the printer at the house – we have an hp psc 1315 all in one printer, scanner, copier. we need color and black cartridges. Color- HP Tri-color print cartridge 8 ml # 28 Black-HP Black print cartridge 19 ml #56
* roles of masking tape and duct tape
* ticky-tac the stuff teachers use for sticking posters to the wall
* scotch tape dispensers and extra roles
* bug spray

* hand sanitizer

* kids flavored toothpaste (just kids flavors…we have enough travel size toothpaste to teach dental hygiene to the entire country)
* tacs –for a bulletin board
* paper clips
* white printer paper
* construction paper (all colors)
* card stock (all colors)
* roach hotels–those things you put out that roaches crawl through and then kill the whole family
* khaki pants-ONLY toddler sizes and a little smaller (for skinny kids ages 3-6)
* tennis shoes-ONLY toddler sizes(for skinny kids ages 3-6)
* underwear-ONLY toddler sizes(for skinny kids ages 3-6)
* bulletin board decorations-ONLY spanish. Stuff for a bulletin board that will be used to do seasonal displays, holiday, special anouncements.
*small storage bins (shoe box size and larger)
* storage boxes for pencils, pens, glue, and scissors (the small ones, so we can put one on a table for kids to share from)
*cotton balls (for art)
* paint(for art)
*q-tips(for art)
*popsicle sticks(for art)
*stickers
*anything “crafty”

This trip is going to the Dominican Republic July 3rd – July 11 and could use all the donations you could bring!  If you can bring them Sunday and put them in bag for Shanna Wright and leave them at the KidStuff sign in table.  If this doesn’t work for you email me jamie@aaronivey.com and I’ll connect you with someone to help you out!

2 things that made my day today.

Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make my day! Isn’t that fun when you don’t need a lot to make you super happy!

Tonight at the sports camp a man asked me what sports I played in high school. I told him I played basketball and ran track. I asked him why he asked and he said …. here it comes … this is what made my day …. hold on to your seats …. he said ….. “I HAD THE LOOK OF AN ATHLETE!” ….. yes you read that right. this 31 year old, out of shape mom looks like an athlete! Oh I had a little more pep in my step for th rest of the night!

The second thing that made my night was an email from our adoption coordinator telling me that Story’s passport has been made and it will be printed next week. Oh my word this is exciting! I hope to hear next week that indeed it was printed. You just never know!  I’m trying not to get too excited until I hear it is in hand!

I went back and checked out other blogs and how long it was from passport printing to Visa appointments and then to home.

This family got passports and then had visa appt about a month later.  This family got out of MOI and about a month later had visa appt.  This family got passports and then almost four months later had visa appt.  This family got passports and then two months later had visa appointment.  So as you can see it varies from a month to four months from when you can expect to have your child home from passports being issued.  Dear Lord I pray ours leans toward the month side!

So those are the two things that I heard today that made my day!  What made your day today?

spread the word!

From Aaron:

as you know we’ve all been quite overwhelmed by the response to the record on here, twitter, facebook, and iTunes. thank you guys for purchasing the record the past few days!! it’s been a direct result of online community, word of mouth, and grassroots movement. so, we need your help in getting the word out to your circle of friends. if you have connected with the music and believe in the message, we’re inviting you to join us on a sort of BLOG TOUR. we’ll come to your blog, set up our gear, and play the songs. we’ll bring ice cream and snow cones, and you provide the chips & salsa. ok, seriously though…

here’s a button you can place on your blog/web… if you want to write a little blurb about it, great… let us know when you do, and we’ll post a link to your blog entry… it’s “blog love,” as they say…

ALSO, we will be giving “There is a Fountain” as a FREE digital bonus track to every blogger who joins us on the blog tour.

<a href="http://bit.ly/iveyrecord" mce_href="http://bit.ly/iveyrecord" target="_blank"><br /> <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1127" title="AARONIVEYbutton" src="http://aaronivey.com/09/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/newrecordbutton.jpg" mce_src="http://aaronivey.com/09/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/newrecordbutton.jpg" alt="AARONIVEYbutton" width="411" height="157" /></a>

Send someone flowers soon!

Would you like to brighten someones day? I suggest flowers! Aaron sent me flowers this week for our anniversary and I still love looking at them each day. They make me smile each time I look at them!

I have a great place for you to get flowers from if you live here in Austin:
Alpine Florist – 512.282.0994
http://www.alpinefloraltx. com

Right now they are running a special where each week they will have a special arrangement and 50% of the profits sold from those arrangements will go directly to TOTAL CITY SPORTS CAMP and FOR THE CITY NETWORK. Gotta love that!

This weeks special is a Hydragia with alternate flowers such as roses or Gerber Daisies for $45 plus delivery.

Next week the special will be 5 Gerber Daisies in a tall vase for the $45 or for $5 10 Gerber Daisies. We will be doing this every week for here on out.

So there you go. Send someone some flowers to brighten their day and help out a great organization in the process! Just call Alpine and tell them you want the special that will go towards TOTAL CITY SPORTS CAMP!

random tid bits from the week …

Each day I have gotten in bed only to realize that I never wrote anything on the blog.  I have wanted to get back to writing more, but at the end of the day it’s just not happening.  I’ve been super busy this week and very tired at the end of each day.  So instead of many blogs, here are some random things going through my head:

1. Monday, Aaron and I celebrated our EIGHTH anniversary.  Yes we have been married for 8 years and they have honestly been very fabulous.  I am more in love with this man than I was the day we were married.  I grow more in love with him each year that goes by.  He is truly my best friend and my lover.  I am still amazed that I am allowed to spend the rest of my life with such a great guy!
2. Speaking of such a great guy – his new album BETWEEN THE BEAUTY AND CHAOS was released on the 23rd and today it hit #1 on itunes Christian music and #79 overall!  So, if you haven’t heard it please go to www.aaronivey.com to listen to a few songs and then go and get yours!
3. I took the kids to the movies today and a small popcorn and small drink was $10.25.  Did you read that?  YES TEN DOLLARS.  Never again!
4. I had a flat tire and it was right around lunch and so while they were fixing it we walked to Taco Bell and the three of us ate for $4.08.  Yes a whole meal!
5. I haven’t heard anything new on adoption stuff.  I know that Story needs new passport photos and I’m not sure when she’s going to get those.  Still praying for Amos’ file to move this week.
6. Cayden is making me close my eyes when we kiss.  He also wants to hold my hand while we kiss.  And sometimes he insists that we hold it there for a few seconds.  Weird or sweet?  I think he just LOVES his momma!  He says he saw someone do this on Wall-E. 
7. I’m so behind in the news …. I didn’t even know a governor was missing this week!
8. I hear BIG BROTHER is coming back on in July! I love that show!
9. Total City Sports Camp is going great and making me very tired at night!  Love it!
10. Tomorrow is my annual “girl-doctor” visit.  I hate these!
11. My kids have slept until 9 every day this week!  Oh my I love that!  Hopefully they’ll do that next week when I have no where to be in the morning!
12. Aaron sent me the most beautiful flowers on Monday.  They are still beautiful!

I hope that your week is going well!