It has been a hard three weeks. James has been working every day for 21 days and it has worn me out! Christopher has missed spending the weekends with daddy and has gotten progressively more aggressive. This has been tough and exhausting.
Yesterday, I found out what the silver lining to this time. I called my dad to wish him a happy Father’s Day and we were talking about what was going on in each other’s life since last we talked. Mine being a “single parent”; God bless all the real single parents out there, I don’t know how you do it! Anyway, dad said that’s a good thing that is becoming aggressive. I paused for a moment and couldn’t think what that could be, “Okay, dad what is so good about him being aggressive.” And only has my dad could put it, “Well, you know he has attached to James.” It made me appreciate the last three weeks.
I still can’t wait until James’ work slows down and our schedule and routine go back to normal, but that conversation helped.
I had an ah-ha! moment this week. I am a schemer and a dreamer, both qualities I got from my dad. I do not find these qualities a bad thing, though my hubby may say differently. Anyway, my dad is running a firework stand for the second year and I thought that this might be an idea for some of you. I would recommend it to people that live in smaller towns, because most of the people selling fireworks are running on commission base. I recommend buying the fireworks outright. That you can set your own price and run specials.
I had helped with firework stands back when James and I were newlyweds! A couple from church had there own stand (it really was three sites with stands) and a warehouse that the stored the fireworks. It was amazing! The first day you would walk in and see rows of fireworks and wonder if you were going to sell all. Then on the 4th of July, all you would see were pallets with one or two boxes here and there.
Were my parents lives, they can only sell fireworks for a week before the 4th of July. He has rented a vacant building for a couple of weeks. He did not want to deal with a tent. Plus, you can lock the door and walk away at night and you do not have to worry about the weather. I believe he is supposed to get his fireworks next week.
To find a distributer just google “fireworks distributer” or “wholesale fireworks distributer” or add your state to either or. I would contact a couple to compare terms and pricing.
I know last year my dad started with a small inventory and placed an order for more fireworks have way through the week before the 4th. There was only one other firework stand last year. The year before there were three or four. You will have to get a permit to sell fireworks and you can find out how many have applied for permits.
If you would like more information, let me know and I will see what I can find out! I would love to hear your comments.
About a month ago, I bought a bicycle trailer for Christopher. We went for a ride this past week. I choose the windiest day, there was a wind advisor, to take him out. We didn’t go very far, just to local park. It wasn’t bad going with the wind at my back, but coming home was a major battle! I got a good work out, there is nothing like pulling an extra thirty pounds around behind you.
Christopher enjoyed it and has asked several times since to go on a bicycle ride. He has even pointed out every bicyclest we have seen and signs more! What have I created? I guess a great work out!
One of the things I did, after we announced we were adopting, was call all my friends that had home based business and asked if I held a show if they would donate a portion of their profits to our adoption fund in place of receiving a hostess gift. No one said “No”, but I chose Pampered Chef and Creative Memories. I wanted something I could get excited about because if I wasn’t excited neither would the people attending. And that would affect how much would be donated.
I am not a person that would ask out right for money, and this was the closest thing that I did to asking for money. I held a total of four shows and the combined donations were enough to cover all of my dossier expenses (we live in one of the most expensive states to get documents authenicated and we had to do this twice because of delays in our adoption).
The key is to invite everyone you know, do not decide for them that they will not come or they are not interested. I thought I had done a fair job of inviting people, but found out later that there were a couple of ladies that would have ordered had they known. This goes to show, you need to tell everyone you are adopting and give them a chance to support you!
This was one of the hardest things I did, asking for a portion of their profits. I thank God that I stepped out of my comfort zone and asked, and that they blessed us with their generosity. If you do not know anyone that has a home based business or they are not willing to support you, please email me and I will find someone who will.
Christopher and I spent about three days up in Kansas, with my parents, this weekend. We had a great time. I am sure abuela and abuelo were exhausted and glad to see us go, so that they could get some rest!
Anyway, we went to the park at least once a day and went swimming. Christopher loved both, though I think the pool was the big hit. He wanted to go to the deep end with the big kids, so we had to redirect him. He even started kicking his feet when they didn’t touch the ground (I was holding him). He is going to be a fish!
I learned this weekend that Christopher is just a better child when he is outside. He is not as fussy and whiny when he is running around out doors. Why it took going to abuela’s house to figure that one out, I don’t know. I seem to have moments of clarity when I’m there. . .
Some people have added donation buttons to there website and have had a good response to it. I did not and from the majority of others, they have not had any response to it. You need to set up a premier account with Paypal so that you can collect donations. The downside to this is that Paypal takes a percentage of all money collected through them. If anyone knows of another site that you can get a donations button, please let me know. I have mixed emotions about donation buttons, but I would probably set one up again, if we were adopting. You just never know how God will work and we shouldn’t limit Him to what we think will work!
A good way to get a little income from your website is to add Google AdSense or BidVertiser. Once you have set up an account for Google go to AdsBlackList and copy and paste the list of links of Made for Ads. This will increase your revenue when people click on the Google ads. With BidVertiser, you can go through the list and approve the ads you want displayed. I think the income potential with this is based on the traffic to your site, but I know there are adoptive parents that have made some money doing this. Since it is free to set up an account, do it!
We took Christopher in to see a E.N.T. Dr. on Thursday. The appointment went well and we were given a couple of medications to help with Christopher’s breathing at night.
Unfortunately, he has had a fever since Friday and sleep has not come to any of us! We took him to the ER late Friday, early Saturday. Just for them to tell us he was fine and just keep a watch. If the fever didn’t break by Tuesday, then go see our primary Dr. What a way to celebrate our eleventh wedding anniversary!
Thankfully, Sunday morning he was not hot to the touch and his temperature was back to normal.
One of the easiest ways to raise money for adoption is to recycle ink cartridges. There are many companies that pay you to recycle. I like Empties4Cash and they have included Epson cartridges and toners. I don’t recommend recycling toners. It is a lot more work, for very little pay.
Most people throw their empty cartridges away and there is no cost to them for you to recycle the cartridge. Everyone that I talk to are more than willing to give their empty ink cartridges to me. I still have people, though not as many, bringing me cartridges a year after our adoption.
When I wrote our letter, I included that we were doing this and it was on our site. I did not promote it any other way, unless someone asked. We did not earn a huge amount by doing this, but it did cover some of our dossier expenses. I believe it is a worthwhile endeavor.
James’ parents gave us a leapster several years back and we have saved it until we had a child. Well, Christopher found it and has wanted to play with it. James took it out this weekend and let him play with it.
We are also in the process of potty training and part of Christopher’s reward is to be able to run around naked . . . well, the two don’t mix. Christopher peed on the leapster. And that is why they label electronic toys ages 3 and up!
So the new rule is a diaper has to be on before playing with electronics.
Well, I am sure you all are smarter than I am. . .
My parents were in town for a wedding two weeks ago and they were talking about online checking. I thought online banking and billpay only, but they were saying they were getting 4% interest on their checking account. I thought: oh, they must have to have a minimium amount in there to get it. So I just dismissed it.
Wouldn’t you believe, when I got my bank statement they had a blurb about click checking and getting 4% interest. So I called the bank. They do have requirements, but most we did already! We have to use our debit card 10 times a month, have one direct deposit, one online billpay and e-statements, that’s it.
I am assuming most banks have it because my parents live in a small town with a local bank and we use a credit union. So if your bank does not have it, find one that does!