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Mommy's Secret This Weekend

Just wanted to let you know that we will have a booth starting this Friday morning at Mommy's Secret Consignment Sale. You can find it online and if you have any questions about it you can email me at tracymcgal@yahoo.com. I have ordered more flip flops so we will start out with almost all sizes in all styles. I will also have some $10 shoes too. I have an adorable gator flip flop that is lime green. I thought it would be really cute for those of you that have kids at Greenbrook.

I pray that this sale is as successful as last weekend. I have met two different women from out of town that have called me about my shoes. That was so nice of them to make the effort to find me. Both of them gave a small donation too.

I promise that I will post more things than just flip flops but that is what is taking up most of my time these days. It will end soon. After this weekend I will not reorder until the new styles come out.

Thanks to everyone that has helped make our fundraiser such a success.

Tired, Sunburnt, Frazzled, but Successful

Joel and I have been working the Dizzy Dean tournament this weekend. We have been selling flip flops and lanyards. I started Thursday and Joel is finishing it all up tonight. We have been there for some 12 hours a day. Our city hosted both softball and baseball. I think there were over 250 teams total. Take 250 multiply 10 to 12 kids per team and then their parents, siblings, and grandparents. That's a lot of people. Every hotel in a 20 mile radius has been booked. There has once again been such an outpouring of support and interest. I will announce our grand total later. We have sold a TON of flip flops and lots of lanyards.

The lanyards came as an inspiration from working a tournament earlier in the month. I nice older gentleman came up to me and said that he wished he had some type of device to hold his week pass in. That way he wouldn't lose it and it would be nice and clean as a memento of his grandson's hard work. So I checked into it and ordered some for this tournament. The boy's field sold a lot more than the girls. They are at two different locations. I have to tell you that there is nothing like watching this tournament. Parents are so so serious about baseball. They travel all summer to ball games. Joel talked to one mom who was interested in adoption about our adoption fees. He told her that when it is all said and done that we will probably pay close to $20,000. She said "oh, well that is what we spend in a season for baseball." That seems wild but I believe it. If you think about the fees to play in tournaments, uniforms, banners, hotels, food, etc. Not to mention that you need a team ball bag, team back pack, heaven knows what else. Mom's have to have a team purse, jersey, chair and shoes. The brothers and sisters of theses teams also have outfits to match. Babies w/ little outfits to match including baseball bows. Then the whole team has to decorate their cars so that we know where they are from and what position and team number little Johnny has. Blows my mind. They are very serious and very competitive. We have professional fields and the staff conducts themselves very seriously.

I worked the softball fields both Fri. and Sat. That is a whole different world. I was set up by the the 6 and under girls. These little girls were just as serious as the big girls. They could play ball. Their coaches pitched the balls to them but they could hit it and play the field too. These girls have worked hard all summer to get to the point that they are at.

I have had so much fun getting to know some great people from around the country. I met a great gal from Holly Pond, AL. Population 700. She was a teacher and had t shirts to match my shoes to a T. There was a booth set up next to me that air brushed helmets. Who knew there was a market for this? They painted about 70 helmets a day. I got to know the girlfriend and she was so sweet. The Post Office set up next to Joel and he of course befriended them. He never meets a stranger which is why he is good in sales. I asked him if he was embarrassed by selling girls flip flops and he said no. This is one more way of getting our baby home.

I have been able to tell our story over and over again. Everyone was gracious. I am sure that some folks thought that we were crazy. Some were surprised that we had biological children.

One last thing. I cannot thank Andrea, Scotty and Lori enough. They are the guys that make this whole crazy ball tournament work. They have been SOOO gracious and helpful. Really, everyone that worked for S was helpful. We have truly been shown favor and anything we needed they got. They certainly had enough on their plate yet they wanted to make sure that we were successful. Can't say for sure but I feel like we will be back next year.

P.S. There is no possible way that we could have made this weekend happen if my parents were not here to help. They fetched, toted, babysat, etc. Mom picked up my responsibilities at church. And of course, she does it the way I like it. I love my parents. Also, my brother helped too which I so appreciate.

Fall Flip Flops

Just in case you are interested I am posting the fall styles that I will be receiving at the end of August. I will let you know when they come in.

Congratulations April

Another Holt "cyber" friend is in Thailand picking up her daughter. I just read her blog about meeting Prim for the first time. It brought tears to my eyes as I am so happy for her. I think about Joel and I doing the very same thing. How awesome and life changing will that be? Holt has the whole process down to a science. They have everyone adopting with Holt staying at the same hotel. The schedule is always the same as you spend a few hours each day with your child and their foster family. After a couple of days your baby stays with you. April met Prim's foster family today. Boy, there are a bunch of people living in one house. It just goes to show that happiness is family not places or possessions. I am just thrilled for April, congratulations my friend. The Holt bulletin board has been the most supportive tool that I have had thus far in our journey. So many wonderful families from around the world in the exact same shoes that we are in. We hope to travel with some of them to get our children. How great will that be?

Up To My Eyeballs

...in flip flops. I've got in all sizes of all colors in the polka dot styles. I have :

• Black and white - biggest seller



• Lime green and hot pink - also little girl's sizes starting in an 11/12



• Chocolate and light pink - also little girl's sizes starting in an 11/12



• Two toned blue -



• Orange and pink



• Lime green and turquoise - also little girl's sizes starting in an 11/12



• I also have some striped ones

All for only $15. They are VERY comfortable.

I also have red and white polka dot for only $10 (in sizes 8, 9, and 10).

And striped ones too.

Email me if you would like a pair tracymcgal@yahoo.com

I am working the Dizzy Dean tournament next weekend for the boys and girls . Also have a booth at Mommy's Secret the first weekend in August. Call me and I call save your style and size.

I need to sell 1000 pair to pay for our country fee. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Success

Thank you to everyone that have bought our flip flops. I really think that it has been successful. It is amazing to see the people that we don't know that have come out to support us. Maybe that is God's plan. By us having this fundraiser, we are getting the word out about adoption. I would love to see more people in our community adopt. Sometimes we think God's plan for providing is one way but actually He has something totally different in mind. He IS providing and I give Him all of the praise.

Flip Flop Fundraiser

We are having an open house this Saturday from 1:00 to 6:00 to sell our Beehive Flip Flops. They look like Yellow Box but we are selling them for $15. They are really cute and we have sold a ton of them already (OK, maybe not a ton). The money we raise goes directly into our adoption account. When we are matched we will have a large fee due and hopefully selling these shoes will take care of that. I have orderd over 400 shoes and they will be in this week. Kara and I are going to camp but we will be back on Thursday. Email me if you would like directions to my house - tracymcgal@yahoo.com . I also have a flyer that I can email you so that you can see what they look like. I probably won't be able to answer until Friday. Thanks for your support.

Guess What I Did Today?

I painted the kids bathroom. It had little hand prints all over and just needed some fresh paint. I used a really pretty yellow in eggshell. As a builder, our painters hate satin paint. I do see that it is somewhat harder to use but oh it looks so much better. I think it will clean better too. Joel and the kids are at his parent's in Alabama. I stayed due to some commitments here and to pack Kara and I for camp next week. Anyway, I am proud of myself!!!

Fourth of July - for some reason Blogger will not allow me to post a title.

We had a great time. We spent much of our day with friends that we consider family. They have 3 beautiful girls a sweet baby boy. We swam at their future community pool (they are building a house in that subdivision) and ate at their house. At dusk we went to our community park and watched fireworks. Our church's praise and worship team sang beforehand. Everyone had a nice, relaxing day.

My Secret Pal

I am a member of a yahoo group called Christian Asian Adoption. We are a group of Christians online that are in the process of adopting an Asian child or have already completed it. I love this group. We have had secret pals for the last 3 months. My secret pal has sent me e-cards faithfully at least once a week w/ encouraging words. She has also kept up with this blog and wrote me encouraging notes when I was down. It has really meant so much to me. Our term ended in July. I received my last package from her today. I had tears in my eyes when I saw the sweet and thoughtful gifts that she sent. She has carefully listened to me and given things that my family would like. She sent the kids frog stickers and sidewalk chalk. She gave me an encouraging book and a wonderful adoption baby book. The kind that you fill in w/ our info. as well as the baby's. I have never seen this before. Most importantly my secret pal has lifted me up in prayer for these last 3 months. I have been so encouraged by her. Thank you, secret pal. May God reward and bless you with your kindness and love to me and my family. I have enjoyed it and needed it immensely.

September

It was just as we had thought. We did not get a referral this month. Holt received 6 babies - 4 girls and 2 boys. TWO boys. Can you believe that? We were #3 for a boy. Ugh. I actually held up about the news better than I had thought. We have only had our dossier in Thailand for 3 months. We were told from the very beginning that it would be 4 to 6 months. Now that China has more restrictions the wait times will be longer in other countries.
The good news is that we are at the TOP of the list for September. That is nice to know.