Congratulations Son !!!

Well it has been a hard and joyful month for this Momma. My eldest Preston turned 18, graduated from High school and is now backpacking through Europe for 10 weeks. We have gotten mixed comments from some people on the Europe thing (they think we are crazy) but I know it is going to be a life changing experience for him and I am glad we are able to give him this gift. He is such a great kid and deserves every moment of it. He has never caused us one moment of grief (Well that is after the first 4 years of his life and maybe the dreadlocks if you ask my Husband) and is very responsible for his age (Remember me being so proud of him in a prior post titled Pride and Joy ). If he was a different kind of kid I might have never considered it. I can tell he has the love of travel like his Momma. So far I have never been in the position in my life to just pick up and travel the world like I would love (Did you know a cruise around the world costs over $250,000 a ticket?) but I know it would be one of my greatest regrets if I died tomorrow. I know I will have my time but right now I want to make sure I am part of nurturing his love of the world and other cultures. I so wish I was given such a gift when I was young before I started a family.

I have constantly been having flashbacks to when he was young since he turned 18. I can still remember the day he was born 18 years ago like it was yesterday. I can still remember the feel of his hair, the sound of his cry and the smell of him after a bath. I look at Khai some days and he gives me a look and Preston at 2 is standing in front of me all over again. I know you have heard it a million times but it really does go by in the blink of an eye; Cherish every moment. This knowledge and realization is what really got me through the first year with Meliah and Khai. It was so hard some days I wasn't sure I was going to make it through sane. Every time I would start to feel overwhelmed I would stop and imagine them going off to Kindergarten and knew I would want nothing more then to rewind to where I was right now ; easy or hard I was determined to slow down time and cherish every moment I was given with them. It gave me great perspective and I am so thankful that I am aware of this. I am also so thankful to have been given two amazing sons (We will talk about my amazing Daughters another time),born 16 years apart, who bring their Momma such pride and joy every day. Not too long ago I was pretty certain Preston would be my one and only son; I am so glad I was wrong.

Winner is

I get up at 12:00 Am ( to close out the fundraiser and pick winner) after 3 hours of trying to get baby #1 to sleep (told you they are not early birds) and I had the most pleasant surprise waiting for me. If you all read the post before this you know I said I was $150 from my goal and would leave it open until babies went to sleep. I open my email and realize one generous contributor (Probably shouldn't say her name) just donated the last $150 needed to reach the goal. Can you believe it? I actually jumped for joy. What a wonderful gift to receive. I had pretty much thought I would be close but would not end up meeting the goal 100%. I want to thank all of you who contributed for helping me get here. Now comes the fun part; watching the house get built. I can't wait to hear about the family and see the pictures. How about you???

Well let me get to what you all tuned in for. The winner of the stroller giveaway had left me a nice message that she has a Daughter adopted from Vietnam on 4/08 and that she loves Vietnam and its people and would like to help this family. Well that she did and she also won a really nice stroller as a gift for her generosity. The winner is #9 Deborah Airington. She probably doesn't even remember contributing at the end of March. CONGRATULATIONS Deborah-I sent you an email.

Now that the giveaway/fundraiser is over I can finally relax and get back to everyday life with my precious kiddos. The babies wont have to come up and slam my computer shut anymore when they want me to read a book ;)

Everybody thanks again for making this dream a reality. I would give you all a hug if I could.

Exciting

Just sent out this email and wanted to include it here. Tonight we will know who the winner of the stroller is. Can't wait.

I will be closing out the stroller giveaway/fundraiser, to build a house for a needy family in Vietnam , as soon as the kids go to bed tonight (They are not early birds). I will then announce the winner on my blog and email them. I will be leaving the chipin link open until then if anybody else is interested in contributing or participating. I am $150 away from my goal so any contributions would really be greatly appreciated. I again want to thank all of who have contributed and helped spread the word. Please follow this link and click chipin: http://wwwjourneytoourdestiny.blogspot.com/2009/05/not-over-yet-new-link.html


The President of the organization who is building the house says he can pick a family on his trip to Vietnam in the next few weeks and completion of the house usually takes 4-6 weeks. I am so thrilled to hear this. I will then posts pictures of the completed house on my blog. Seems like my timing is just right. I kept wondering why I felt this need to do this right now when my life is already so hectic raising the twins and my other 3 children; now I know. Isn't it amazing that such a small amount, by US standards, can build a house in Vietnam and change a whole families future?

Thanks,
Heather