Art Auction Addendum

In a turn of events that I did not anticipate, there were two people really interested in my sister’s painting and I felt sad that only one could win it. So I offered one of these bidders this two-panel painting which my sister had also given me for orphanage fundraising:

I am happy to say that this item received a generous offer from the bidder and has found a new home. I just love it when things can work out for everyone involved.

Orphanage Art Auction

After many months of planning, here is our first adoption-related fundraiser. This fundraiser would not have been possible without the generosity of the artists in our life who kindly contributed their original works to this cause. Thank you so much!

This fundraiser is not intended to alleviate or supplement the costs of our adoption. None of the money raised will be used to cover any of our personal adoption expenses. All proceeds will be donated to our children’s orphanage(s) either in the form of items purchased by us in the U.S. and then delivered personally or in cash as facilitated through our placing agency. Every dollar raised will benefit in some way the children who, sadly, have to stay behind.

If you like any of the items up for auction, please send me an email (viviane8 @ yahoo.com) with your bid. Please put Art Auction in the subject line. I will be monitoring my inbox diligently and let you know if you’ve been outbid. The auction will end on August 6, 2010 at 7:00 pm EST and winners will be announced over the weekend. I will also post the amount of money raised and later add a detailed entry about everything that was purchased with these funds. The pieces of art will be mailed to the winners on August 14, 2010.

Now, happy bidding, everyone, on these beautiful items:

My best friend from college, Josie Virgin-Crowe, is a photographer in Indianapolis. She contributed two black and white photographs to be auctioned off together: A Place in Pueblo, Texas (11.5x8 in) and The Grazing Herd (16x5 in). Each photograph is in a 20x16 inch mat. If you would like to see more of Josie’s work, please visit: www.croweseyephotography.com.

My friend Yuri Okamoto is a glass-blower and glass-blowing teacher in Indianapolis. She donated this white and violet vase which is 6.5 inches high and has an opening at the top of 2.5 inches in diameter. If you’d like to learn more about Yuri and her artistry, please visit: http://www.yuriglass.com/.

My sister Isabelle Seumel is an artist in Vienna, Austria. She just completed her Master’s Degree in Art and plans to earn her Ph.D. in the field next. She contributed this set of abstract paintings to be auctioned off together. Each canvas panel measures 7.75x15.75 inches. To get in touch with my sister about her work, please email: atelier @ lichtkind. at.

Lastly, this is a set of twelve handmade greeting cards (5.5in x 4in), one corresponding to each month of the year either through a holiday or the season. Each one-of-a-kind card contains a quote from a work of literature on the front and is blank inside. This is my own handiwork, so if you’d like to learn more, please visit: www.litbitgreetings.com.

International Adoption Simplification Act

Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate passed the International Adoption Simplification Act. This bi-partisan bill allows parents to adopt siblings even if one of the children is between 16 and 18 years of age. Normally children aged 16 and above are ineligible for international adoption into the U.S. The act also includes a provision that allows U.S. parents to safely immunize their children within 30 days after arrival in the U.S. instead of having to subject them to potentially unsafe immunizations in foreign nations. The legislation was sponsored by Senator Amy Klobuchar and now moves to the House of Representatives. For more information, click here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s1376/show

Senator Klobuchar has also introduced the Adoption Fairness Act which would prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from charging a fee for the issuance of a Certificate of Citizenship for a child who is adopted by a U.S. citizen parent and who is eligible for automatic citizenship, regardless of where the adoption was finalized. Click here for more info: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s3091/show

Kudos to Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota as well as to her co-sponsors for supporting international adoption. Minnesota has the nation's highest per capita rate of international adoption, so Senator Klobuchar is serving her constituency along with all International (P)APs well.

More On The Shelf

Well, it's taken me a few weeks, but the new shelf is finally all set up with my arts and crafts supplies and several other items that seemed to fit on it, too. I just love hiding my messes in pretty boxes:



Progress on the children's room is well under way. We painted the walls, installed blinds, set up a crib and a toddler bed, and organized the closet. Now we are waiting for Grandma to make curtains and picking out mattresses and bedding. When everything's finished, I will post some pictures.

I also wanted to let all of you know that next week I will hold my first fundraiser for our kids' orphanage(s). If all goes according to plan, an auction of original art works will go up on this blog on Sunday. Come back and take a look then and if you like anything, make a bid.

The New Shelf

Those of you who have seen the upstairs of our home know that I have been using an extra bedroom as my arts and crafts space for years. It's been quite nice to have all the supplies stored in one area and to be able to just go into this quiet room to make cards, wrap gifts, design scrapbook pages, etc. However, now that we are waiting for our children to come home, the time has arrived to give up the luxury of this space and begin turning the room into the kids' bedroom. In order to do so, I had to find a new spot for all of my arts and crafts stuff.

For as long as we have lived in this house, I have been wanting a built-in shelf in the loft around the window where there was an unused 16 inch-deep space from floor to ceiling. We finally decided to move forward with my shelf idea, so that I could use the area as my new arts and crafts storage. Here's a photo of the space before we changed it:

We solicited the help and expertise of a good friend, drew up an idea for how we wanted the shelf to look, headed to Lowe's to buy supplies, and then started building. I should probably be honest and say that my main job was trying to stay out of the guys' way as they measured and cut, carried and assembled everything. My sole contribution was serving them a hearty lunch.

It took about three weeks to get the shelf completed. The bulk of it was built in one long day, but putting up the trim, filling in nail holes, applying two coats of primer and a coat of paint added some extra time to the job. I am happy to say that I was able to help with the latter parts of the project.

Here's is the final product of everyone's efforts. Many thanks to our friend Bryan who truly was the main force behind getting the shelf built and making it look so nice. We are really happy with how it turned out and I am very excited about the extra storage which I have already begun to fill. I still have to find a few containers to hold some of the items that will be relocated to the shelf. Then it's on to painting the children's room.

Turn Available Into Eligible

There are many insensitive statements people could make about adoption, but one term used even by those who advocate in the field really makes me cringe every time I hear or read it. What is this horrible and offensive word, you might wonder? Well, it's AVAILABLE as in children being available for adoption.

Think about the definition of the word available: obtainable or accessible and ready for use or service, not busy, not otherwise committed, convenient for use or disposal. While I know that this term is sometimes applied to people, such as, "The eye witness was not available for comment," to me, it's mostly inanimate objects that are available. For example, a library book may be available if it's not checked out or a car may be available for purchase once it arrives at the dealership.

By applying the term available to children waiting to be adopted, we objectify them and turn them into a commodity. Granted, some might say that children are any nation's most valuable and precious natural resource, but I still don't think we should refer to them in the same language that we use when renting a reception hall, buying a CD, or trying to get our cell phones to work in areas where service is not offered.

I understand that no one in the adoption community means to be offensive or negative when using the word available, but please join me in making an effort to remove this term from the way we speak or write about orphans waiting for parents. Personally, I have been using the word eligible instead, but if anyone else has other ideas, I would be happy to hear about them.

If You Build It, S(He) Will Come Part II

I have been poking around Craig's List lately to find furniture and other items for our kids' bedroom and play area. About a week ago, I came across a listing of a daycare closing and selling all of its equipment, so my husband and I went and checked it out. We ended up buying quite a few things which were all nearly new as the daycare had only been open for a short time with very low attendance. We got everything you see in the photos along with an outdoor water/sand play table, a nap cot for my nephew, as well as 9 brand-new plastic cups and plates for $150. That's a very decent deal.