What I've been doing lately (6/25/13)

Hello, I just wanted to show everyone what I've been working on.  My mum made this shirt for my sister Yoldine, who would like to change her name to Jasmine (after the princess) when she comes home, and I made her a matching skirt.  All the little girls at the orphanage know about the princesses and in Yoldine's room, each of them is a different princess name.  The boys also keep up with the naming trend, but they do it with the super heroes. 





Here's a skirt I made for Tessa a while ago.  It's called a box pleat skirt.  I can also make these for people who want to buy and send their own fabric, or pick some off of my previous posts. 

We've also had some cool hair styles lately.  My hair was in yarn braids with beads on the ends, and when I took it out, it looked like this...
Some serious 'fro.  My hair was even bigger than Tessa's.  Tessa has a cool style in right now.  She has corn rows going back into pony tails which are twisted with beads in them. 




We also have some adoption news.  We were going to enter the passport office, but due to a mistake on Yoldine's paperwork, she has to go back through MOI.  So please pray that we can get through it quickly.  We have been wanting to do something to help, so we are having a garage sale this weekend.  We will be selling clothes, some things I've made and some left over rubble wear.  If you live near Eau Claire, WI, and want more information about where it is, email me at grace.kanz@gmail.com.  Thanks!!!

Recent Projects (4/21/13)

Hello!  Today I am going to talk about some of my recent (or not so recent) projects.  In the picture on the left, I made the skirt I am wearing.  It is to square skirts layered, and then sewn onto a pair of shorts.  I left the legs so I don't have to wear anything under it!  :)  Also in that picture is Yoldine trying to get me to fix the camera which is not working because she wore the battery out.                                                           I don't have a picture of it, but I made a quilt for my grandma for Christmas which was an elegant black, red, green, and tan strip quilt.  

On the right are some pajama pants I made for Tessa.  It is a comfy knit which she picked herself from my stash.  They have an elastic waist and the bottoms are just zig-zag stitched. 

I had yarn braids in until about two weeks ago, on the left is a picture of them in.  They took my mum and me about twelve hours over a span of two days to finish, and about half of that to get them out.  Yoldine's hair is so short, this is what we think she would like to do with her hair when she gets home.  We also think she has decided on a name, "Jasmine", after her favorite Disney princess.  Her friend Celine Jean's favorite princess is Repunzel and she asked if she could be called that when she came home. 





 This is my hair after the braids came out.  I took out the last one about five minutes before my dance class, and my hair was still full of gel and stuff, I rinsed it out when to dance with my hair wet and slimy. 

In the adoption process, Yoldine got out of MOI (Ministry of Interior) this week but we are still waiting on Vladimy, so please be praying that he get out quickly.  After they are out of MOI we apply for passports, after we get those they go into USCIS for final approval.  Then they have to have a  medical examination letter,  then they get a Visa appointment.  Then we go pick them up!!!
Right now, it looks like just my mum and me will go to pick them up due to my dad got a blood clot in his leg and is on blood thinners, so it wouldn't be safe for him to go.  My mum also got a blood clot in her leg, but hers is okay now so she can go.  Please be praying that we can get through the rest of the adoption process quickly so we can bring my siblings home, and pray that God would be preparing all of our hearts for them to come home.  Also pray for the other families who are adopting from Haiti, so their kids can come home. 
   Grace
                                                                                                                  

Merry Christmas

The view from our hotel window.

Last month, my mom and I went to Haiti again.  We had a really great week with the kids and decided that this has probably been one of our best trips yet.
  Some highlights of this trip were: Going to the Baptist Mission, where we saw our friend Susie, and a little boy from the orphanage went home.  
  He is sick right now so pray for health and strength for him and his momma. 
   We also did a lot of hair, and swam a lot while we were there. 

Yoldine wearing momma's glasses, and watching HP again.

 

  My parents are planning on going back to Haiti again in March,  but after that we aren't sure when we'll go back again.  We hope to have
the kids home by next fall, so please just pray that our case would move through the process quickly as well as for the other families, and strength and patience for all of us. 

Vladimy eating a mango.

  







We had a good Christmas, and a few weeks ago, my brother and his friends did an awesome job in the Christmas program at our church. 
My dad also did a guest teaching a few weeks ago at our church that you can check out at http://www.ccreek.org/home/message-audio/

Doesn't my baby brother look grown up?

My siblings were very happy with the simple fleece tie-blankets I made them for Christmas, my two young friends Abby and Lily enjoyed the quilts I made them, and I'm pretty sure that their brother Robbie liked the car pillows I made him, and their baby sister Ellen is indifferent. 
   I got lots of socks, which doesn't bother me as much as it seems like it should because they were crazy socks and I am a crazy sock person.  I also got a Spanish bible, (my second bible in another language), a new pair of ghillies, (Irish dance shoes), and a couple other things. 
  My papa got a new bread maker for Christmas so we have had bread at every meal in the past two days.  It's really great though because everyone in my family (except Ian, because he's crazy) likes homemade bread way better than store bought. 
      Today we had an Avengers marathon, were we watched Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and The Avengers Movie.  An odd thing to do on Christmas but it was fun. 
   Six days until the new year, 2012 has gone fast.  I just pray that this time next year, my whole family will be under the same roof.  Have a great new year everyone.  

Green Polka Dot skirt

Today I am selling this cute, green, polka-dot skirt.  It is made to fit an 18 month old, but fits my skinny 3 year old sister hitting her knee.  












It also comes with this little rolled flower clip.   It is made from the same fabric as the skirt  with  a button in the middle.  


                               
   This set is $10.00 If you would like to order this, please email grace.kanzatgmaildotcom.



 

Rubble wear

At the orphanage there is an organization called "Rubble Wear".  "Rubble wear" is rubble that the nannies at the orphanage, collect from the streets of Port-au-Prince and make into jewelry.  Then the money that they get from it, goes to them and taking care of their families. 
While we were there, they were selling some there and a couple of the adoptive families (mine included) decided to bring some of it home and sell it for the nannies.  I'll post some pictures of the necklaces that I got so that you can see them.

 These necklaces are $25.00.   If you would like to order one,  please email me at grace.kanzatgmaildotcom. 

Here I will post the adjustable necklaces.

Adjustable 1

Adjustable 2

Adjustable  3

 

Rubble wear

At the orphanage there is an organization called "Rubble Wear".  "Rubble wear" is rubble that the nannies at the orphanage, collect from the streets of Port-au-Prince and make into jewelry.  Then the money that they get from it, goes to them and taking care of their families. 
While we were there, they were selling some there and a couple of the adoptive families (mine included) decided to bring some of it home and sell it for the nannies.  I'll post some pictures of the necklaces that I got so that you can see them.

 These necklaces are $25.00.   If you would like to order one,  please email me at grace.kanzatgmaildotcom.

These are ones that have a clasp.  I'll post the adjustable ones in another post.

Clasp 1

Clasp 2

Clasp 4

Clasp 5

Clasp 6

Clasp 7

Clasp 8

Clasp 10

Clasp 9

Clasp  11

back from haiti

 

We're back from Haiti!  It was a great time to bond with the kids, and while we were there, we also got to meet the kids' birth mother.  So we had an amazing time, and it was really cool to have our whole family in one country, one city, in one room.  
This is a picture of my sweet siblings Vladimy and Tessa waiting for breakfast in the hotel restaurant.

This was Ian's first time to Haiti and he did amazingly well.  Especially for him.  Everyone thought that he would freak out, but he was really great, even through meeting his new siblings. 

 When we were at the orphanage, Ian went and hung out with in the boys room.  He walked into the room and said "I am stronger than all of you."  I think he had an okay time with that other than being beat up by boys much smaller than him even though there were so many.                                                            
 This is Yoldine and her best friend Lovencia. 

 

Brothers.

Sisters!

 Here are some pictures of some of the little girls in the dresses I made...                                                                                             

 This is Rickza, a sweet and beautiful nine year old who Yoldine is also very close to. 

This is her little sister Erica,  super spunky and adorable and very happy.  

Cute, cute, cute!

 This is Sheldine,  she is super sweet, and quiet, and ADORABLE! 

Also, I taught her momma how to do her hair while we were there and if you look at the picture I think we did a very nice job.

This is her sister Nephtalie. She is super cute. 

We had a really amazing time, and look forward to going again to get them.  For other ways to help, pray for the adoptions of these kids, for my family's adoption, the kids on my blog, and other kids at Maison.