Rapp Happens

Two years ago we started our adoption journey and it was fast and furious.  We moved forward to adopt a teen aged girl that would be aging out of the system in China in July of that same year so we didn't have much time to come up with the $40000 it ended up costing. Most international adoptions, unless the child is aging out or has a medical expedite, take somewhere in the range of two years from start to finish.  Fundraising and grant writing over a two year period is way less overwhelming so imagine taking that and jamming it all into seven months.  I'll wait while your head finishes spinning... Ready?? I want to share what we did to raise that money.  We did some type of fundraiser every month and I'm sure we drove some people crazy but  what can you do? Below are the top 5 fundraisers we did along with the pros and cons. 1.  T Shirt Sales:   This was our second highest earning fundraiser.  We went through Fund the Nations ...

Perspective is a funny thing.  When we look back and really do have 20/20 vision.  We see the situation or that time in our lives with more clarity than maybe we want to.  We see that we painted someone in an unfair light because of all the circumstances surrounding them.  This has been true for my second born. All of her life I have painted her as a difficult child (trust me sometimes she is).  A difficult baby.  A baby that didn't sleep, gave up naps too soon, crawled out of her crib too early, walked too young, got teeth before I thought she should have, and put EVERYTHING in her mouth.  But do you see how I made all of that negative?  I made every milestone a problem instead of a celebration.  I compared her, unfairly, to her brother.  The kid that slept through the night early, never had a problem staying in bed, could do puzzles and build with blocks for hours, was always happy. Now as a mother of five, I have been around the ...

You may not know this, but today is Winnie the Pooh day.  Otherwise known as the birthday of A.A. Milne, the author of Winnie the Pooh. You also may not know that, even though we decorate baby nurseries with Winnie the Pooh themed decor, I would not label them as baby/toddler books.  The original set has four books in it, they are not picture books or even short books.  They are chapter books. I listened to the Read Aloud Revival podcast one day and they were talking about some of their favorite books to read.  Winnie the Pooh was brought up, but what was said surprised me (because until this point I really didn't know anything about Winnie the Pooh other than nurseries and baby books and cartoons). Her guest Tsh Oxenreider said: "Well, I have to say they usually are recommended for kids far too young. They are books I would say minimum of age 8. Eight to 12 is the best age for Winnie the Pooh. It sounds funny because we decorate our baby nurseries with Winni...

The 3 year old phase, is at the same time, my least and most favorite phase.  I know, it doesn't make sense to me either, but just hang in there while I try to explain myself. This is the phase in which *most* tiny people have more words and can express what is going on in their cute little heads.  I love the level of communication.  I love not needing to guess *most* of the time which color of cup is the favorite today.  I love hearing their voices, and all of the questions that they have as they try to make sense of their world. While some days I lovingly refer to this phase as "terrorist threes" and other days I have no idea how one tiny human can make SO. MANY. MESSES while looking so dang cute, most days I am giggling and wondering what they will be when they grow up.  What is God's plan for this BIG personality. My current 3 year old is, to date, my most challenging.  She is busy, has definite ideas of how she thinks her day should go, and is ...

If you grew up anywhere around church, or maybe even if you didn't but just knew a well meaning person that liked to hand out random popular saying, you probably have heard something along the lines of "Don't pray for patience!  You won't like what God will put you through to teach you!" "Don't pray for patience!  You won't like what God will put you through to teach you!" I always giggled when I heard this and thought, "It must be right.  I'm NEVER praying for patience.  That is one thing I never want to learn!"  Here is the problem though, Patience is a fruit of the spirit.  It isn't something that is learned, so to speak.  It is something, that as Christ followers, he gives and gives freely. Through this 40 day Sugar Fast, I have been convicted of something ( a lot of somethings, but lets just take this one conviction at a time, shall we?).   I say "I'm running out of patience!" ALL. OF. THE. TIME.  Wha...

If you know me in real life, then you know that I always do some kind of work to help with the family budget.  All of this work in done from home (mostly) so that I can be home with my kids.  Because if you know me, then you also know that I have spent the last 4,000 years in baby land (not complaining just stating) and childcare prices, am I right? Also I love being home with my kids.  I wouldn't want to be anywhere or do anything else. These jobs have changed over the years for sure.   Some have been great and others have been less than great but all have served the purpose of supplementing a teacher's salary.  But what is working from home really like for a big family?  Or a family with small children?  Are there office hours?  Do you literally do double duty ALL day?  How do you compartmentalize work and family?  I'm so glad you asked!   There has been trial and error over the last 10 years of this journey....

I am unlikely to write everyday of this fast but I want to do periodic updates as I go along.  Buying the book was not on my radar, I knew I could do this with just the emails, and website but Amazon had it on sale and I found out that you got access to tons of freebies when you buy the book.  I can't resist a good freebie so I was game.  Here is what you got with the purchase of the book: *Printables *Weekly Videos *Scripture Cards for each day's verse *A Digital Book called "Sugar doesn't Make a Mama Sweet" Here are a few of the printables and memory cards and where I put them.  Now that I have told you all about the free stuff lets get to it! Lets start with Day 1 .  This was a day full of testing.  Not sugar wise.  I didn't crave any sugar just for the sake of sugar.  I went to Christ in prayer, listened to worship music, read the Bible, listened to the Bible in Lew of sugar. However, one of my children was having a hard da...

Podcasts are one of my favorite things.  I recently started listening to the podcast "Java with Juli" Click here to check it out. .  One particular episode really caught my attention  Episode #291 Will You Trade Your Comfort Food for the Comforter? .  Driving through the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia of our journey back to Texas, I heard the best explanation of fasting I had ever encountered.  It made total sense.   The 40 Day Sugar Fast  is so much more than just a diet.  Every day of this is being pointed back to the true comforter.  What do you run to instead of Christ?  For me it is definitely sweets of ALL kinds.  So starting Monday Jan 6th I will be fasting from sugar.  Every time I crave something sweet, I will be going to Christ through prayer, bible study, or worship ( and let me tell you that girl scout cookie season is upon us and this is going to be challenging!!).  I signed up the website...

I LOVE a fresh start.  Cleaning things out and making way for something new.  One of my favorite things is a pantry reset(I mentioned this briefly in this post  Travel Prep  ).  What is a pantry reset you ask?  I'm so happy to tell you!  When your pantry is bare, either because it is the end of a budget cycle, you are going on a trip, or because you are starting a new way of eating, take this opportunity to reset your pantry.  Refill it with things that will help with your fresh start. In my case, we were getting ready to take a week long road trip.  I declined to buy any groceries and we used up what had been lingering in the back of the pantry.  Here are a few photos of our dwindling supplies. These photos were taken about 10 days before we left.   I did restock baby food as we ran out but that was about all that I restocked.  About 4 days before we left, this is what it looked like: I love to ta...