Monday, October 21, 2013

Meet Little Man, Mick!

Hello!  First off let me open this post with an apology.  I'm so sorry for not writing on our blog more often.  I have been extremely busy over the last month.  I'm going to try my hardest to write more on our blog and Facebook page also on our Twitter and Instagram.   :) 

I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this or not, but I am officially Mick's official Angel Tree Warrior this Christmas season!  That means I have to raise at least $1,000 before Christmas day.  The money goes into his adoption grant.  Which is leading him one step closer to finding his forever family.

I guess I should really tell you a little more about Mick before I go on about the goals and how much I love him.   You should at least know who he is!  

Mick is an adorable 3 year old orphan with Down syndrome.  He's located in Eastern Europe.  He's been listed for a long time and still remains an orphan that gets little attention.   Or use to!  I'm about to change that.  I have created a special blog just for him!  I've been writing him letters that I will one day send to him when his hopeful adopted parents find him and bring him home forever. :)    I've also began collecting a couple little things for the keepsake box I have for him.  The keepsake box will be sent to once his forever family has him.  It symbolizes that someone loved and thought of him before his forever family came to his rescue.    
 
I became a Prayer Warrior for Mick back in May 2013.   My love for him is so special.  I love this little boy like he's a brother to me.  And that could be because I have 8 little brothers of my own and so I put them in Mick's spot to picture it that way.  It gives me the love and passion to always stand up and fight for him.  
He holds a very special place in my heart and I pray daily that the Lord will bless him with a forever family soon.  And that He will provide the $1000 I need to reach the Angel Tree goal.  

Fundraiser


So here are some ways I'm currently raising money for Mick.  





And now for the mega fundraiser! Alyssa and I are planning one huge auction for both "our" boys.  Mick and George!  But since we don't have jobs and are busy with our families we depend on small businesses and followers donations to get items to auction.  We want this to be a huge event that brings a good amount so that we can split it between the two of them.  (Alyssa is also an Angel Tree Warrior for George, in case you didn't know) 


I have honestly never been so determined to reach a goal in all my life!  I want to raise $1,000 for this boy!  I want to find his forever family!  I want him to feel love and hugs!  He doesn't deserve to be inside a rotten old orphanage with no one to care for him.  He should have a lovely mother and father to love all over him.  He will be blessed to have a forever family one day, but really it's the family that will find him that will forever be blessed.  He's absolutely precious in every single way.   

I hope that you now know a little more about "my" little man, Mick.  

I appreciate you taking your time to read this post.  It means so much to me!  

If you are interested in donated to our future auction please comment and leave us your email address.  We'd be SO grateful for any donations possible.   


Please keep Mick in your prayers.  Thank you! <3



 - Kaitlyn 

Friday, October 18, 2013

Angel Tree, Angel Tree, Angel Tree!

I'm not sure if Chosen To Bless has ever done Angel Tree before, but if we have please remind us! ;)  Angel Tree is such a fun opportunity that comes around each Christmas season, and runs throughout the season.  It is put together by Reece's Rainbow, and so many people love it!

Angel Tree is a fundraising opportunity for the children to help build their grants, and hopefully find them families.  Advocates as well as others get to pick a child who is currently listed on Reece's Rainbow, once you have selected the sweetest babe (Which is nearly impossible, considering they are all sweet!) you are asked to blog about them, and try your best to $1,000.   It seems like an impossible goal, but with friends and family, it's do-able!

Kaitlyn and I have both signed up to be Angel Tree Warriors for two sweet little boys, Mick and George.  Both boys have Down syndrome, also they are extremely adorable, but don't take my word for it....Have a look for yourself!



They're cute right?  We thought so too! :)   So as we told you above we have the over all goal to raise $1,000 for each of these boys, by December 31st using whatever fundraising ideas we can come up with!  So of course we will do the usual giveaway, like always, but we want to here from you guys and see what ideas you all can come up with!  We've tried an auction before, it didn't turn out to well, but I think we would be willing to give it another go!  We have also done a "Cutest Kid" contest which we had a pretty good outcome from, so we could do one of those again.  But we are always open to knew ideas, we know you all are probably bored from our constant giveaways, please share your ideas with us! :) 



Monday, October 7, 2013

All About Angel Tree

I promised that I would write a post about Angel Tree, and what exactly it is, and what it's purpose is.  

Angle Tree is a fundraising/advocating opportunity that Reece's Rainbow holds every year.  You get to go on to their site, choose a child from their list of Angel Tree Kids, and fundraise for them from November 1st - December 31st.  You are committing to this child, and trying your absolute best to raise $1000 for that child, or better yet find them a family! 

Kaitlyn and I both have signed up for a child.  Kaitlyn is an Angel Tree Warrior for Mick, who is 3 years old and has Down syndrome.  He has the chubbiest cheeks, you really just want to smother him in kisses!   I am an Angel Tree Warrior for George, who is 9 years old and also has Down syndrome.  He is so sweet, and looks like the most precious boy.  He has really gone unnoticed, and I think it's time he had some publicity and attention.   


We have done Angel Tree for 3 years now, and each year we love it more and more! :)   Planning fundraisers, and seeing these kids get families makes us the happiest girls in the world!  It's what we live for!  There will be plenty of fundraisers coming up, that will give you guys an opportunity to donate, and help these sweet boys find families!  

We hope that you all will join with us this Christmas season (Yes, we know that fall isn't over yet. ;) ) and help us reach our goals for these boys!  We love you guys, and we love Mick, and George!  So lets make this a successful Christmas! :) 

Thanks Loves! 

Have a blessed day! 
Alyssa & Kaitlyn


Sunday, October 6, 2013

New Babies, Gotcha Trips, and Angel Tree

It seems to me like Kaitlyn and I are constantly writing posts apologizing to you guys for always being absent from the blog.  Personally, I'm not okay with that.  I don't like having to constantly explain why we haven't been advocating like we should have been.  So to prevent this, I have decided to blog more often!  I know, we've said this (Many times.) before, but this time I am actually going to try and stick to it!  Our lives can get hectic but I think I can make it a point to sit down every morning and write out a post! :) 

So!  Why have we been absent this time? Well lets see, we have other personal blogs that we've gotten caught up with, Angel Tree is coming up and we have been trying to focus on that (I will write another post about that later.) Kaitlyn's family has just welcomed another precious baby girl into their family, Victoria Faith.  Victoria has had some different struggles with her first few days of life, so she has been in and out of the hospital, and Kaitlyn has been helping out with her other siblings.  Victoria is doing well now, but lets keep praying for her! :)    

I recently was asked to join a family on their 'Gotcha Trip', they needed an extra set of hands and thought I would be the perfect person to join them!  I'm overjoyed and overly excited that I get this amazing opportunity.  It will be truly eye opening to see the 'other side' of things.  As it is right now I see the advocate end of everything, I see the children's profiles, I see the fundraisers, the other advocates, the homecomings, ect.  so being able to see the kids in person, and see how these kids day to day lives are will be different, and essential to my advocating.   I think that I will have an even stronger drive to find families for these children, once I have seen the other side of things, and the less then good conditions that they are forced to live in. 

This is why Kaitlyn and I have been absent, and we will try to be more active on the blog, and Facebook page!    I mentioned Angel Tree further up in the post, I will make another post explaining what exactly that is, and how others can help! 

Have a blessed day! 
Alyssa & Kaitlyn

Raising Leilani's Ransom: Giveaway: Winners

Raising Leilani's Ransom Fundraiser is officially over!  The winners have been drawn, and will be announced further down in this post. :)

We had a total of 3 people donate to help Leilani, and we are so thankful for those three people!  Yes, Kaitlyn and I would have loved to raise more money.  But we know that God allowed us to raise the exact amount that He wanted.   Leilani will be blessed with this money, and so will her future family! :)

Thank you to all of the wonderful small business' that have donated their time and money, which made all of this possible!   Without them, we would not be able to have fundraisers like this! :)

Okay, now on to the winners!  Since we only had 3 people donate, each of those people won multiple items! :)



The ScribbleWeed.com Adoption Enthusiast won these items:

Blue head band, Retro Floral Tote Bag, Crocheted Hat, and TuTu dress.  We will be emailing you today or tomorrow about your prizes. :) 


Donnie Statom won these items:  

$25 Chili's gift card, and the black jewelry set from Eternally Elegant! We will be emailing you today or tomorrow about your prizes. :) 



Lisa Rowland wont these items:

Amber necklace, Beautiful scarf from The Mending Hearts Project, and the clear jewelry set from Eternally Elegant!   We will be emailing you today or tomorrow about your prizes. :) 


Thank you again to everyone that donated!  We are so grateful that we can put $72 into Leilani's grant! 


Have a blessed day! 
Alyssa, and Kaitlyn.