Our NEW blog

Please follow along with our NEW family blog here Raising Five Plus......

Happy Halloween

We had a great time Trick or Treating; even in the pouring down rain. The babies were so well behaved this year and I did not have to carry anyone. They let me chauffeur them to every house and did not move out of the stroller once. I guess they are old enough to figure out this stroller thing can work to their advantage.




Here are babies 2 years ago on their 1st Halloween in Hanoi, Vietnam. It was our first full day together as a family and we were just starting to get to know each other. My how they have grown in 2 short years.

2nd Forever Family Day

2 years ago yesterday we met our twins in an orphanage in a very rural province of Vietnam. Our lives changed in so many wonderful ways that day. I will never forget the first time I saw and held my babies. I will always remember their sweet smell and even sweeter smiles. I waited a long time to hold those babies and it was a dream come true. Below is a video montage I made for my babies so we could always remember that special day. Happy second "Forever Family Day" Meliah and Khai ; looking forward to a lifetime with you !!!

Food for Thought

I want to tell you about my friend Bonnie's new project to help the children of Vietnam. We met each other through our agency while adopting our children from Lang son,Vietnam. Bonnie and her organization have done amazing work for Vietnam over the past few years. Here's a little description from the website.
"'Love Education Fund' currently focuses on educational and basic needs of children in Lang Son Province. Begun in 2007, the first project was to provide drinkable water for two satellite elementary schools. Building a well and providing a filtration system completed this project successfully in early 2008. In the fall of 2008, the project provided clothing, school supplies, and blankets to the 40 poorest children in the main school."

She has started a new project that sounds amazing. I am excited for her and the children of Vietnam. She can describe it better then me so here is the email I got from her.

" Hi everyone,

Finally we are ready to begin our next project in Lang Son. We will help
improve the nutrition of the poorest children of the 2 satellite elementary
schools. These are the schools where we successfully built a well and filtration
systems last year and completed a few smaller projects.

The project, Food for Thought will provide chickens (hens, roosters, feed) to
the families of these children in exchange the children will bring cooked eggs
to school to share at lunch. About 40 poorest children live too far to travel
home for lunch; the school provides rice for them. These are the children we
want to help. When the family's number of hens have doubled they will give some
to another family on our list.

We have 2 college students volunteering for several weeks very soon. They will
go with staff to implement this chicken program.
I am so excited about beginning this project.

For those of you who donate 5.00 usd, your name will be included on a plaque
to set at the main school. I thought about having our children or you name one hen or
rooster that each family receives- I just don't think we can realistically keep
track of the named chickens- you can name them for the fun of it along with
your donation. I'll try to keep track!!
I'll have plenty of picture on my blog and the website as this gets rolling.

www.familiesinvietnam.org

for more info and to see the inspiring chicken behind 'food for thought'
go to www.charitabledreams.blogspot.com

thanks,
bonnie"


I will be donating in honor of my children from Lang son. Please consider donating at least $5.00. Think what an ongoing difference you can make in the life of a whole family in Vietnam for the price of one latte or happy meal. Don't these precious little children deserve to learn with a full belly?

You can donate through www.familiesinvietnam.org click on top on Love Education Fund- once on that page, click donate:)

Trip to Pumpkin Patch Part 2

Trip to Pumpkin Patch

Kids Vietnam picture book giveaway

I just want to tell all of you with children from Vietnam about a beautiful childrens book made by fellow adoptive parents. It is an ABC across vietnam picture book and you should really check it out. On October 16 th the Author is giving away a copy here http://pho2granola.blogspot.com/2009/10/book-giveaway.html. Preview and order here http://www.blurb.com/books/880051.

My Babies

Update and photos on house in Vietnam

Well I promised I would keep you guys up to date on the house you all helped me build in Vietnam. Robert chose a needy family that he visited at the end of July while he was in Vietnam. Here is an email I received about them-

"-The family is living in Quang Nam Province

- Husband's name: Do N. L. - works as a farmer.

- Wife's name: Tran T. H. - works as a farmer, too.

- The husband works as an bricklayer assistant is his free time after crops to earn extra money to support the whole family.

- Incomes from husband and wife is very little and unstable, plus all the kids are at the age of studying, they can help the parents earn any money, so the parents have to save all their money for the kids’ study.

- The first child (a daughter) : Do T. V .T 1993, in 10 grades.

- The youngest son : Do N. T. H 1997, in 6 grades.

- They have lived in this shack for more than 10 years. When the winter comes, the house is flooded up to 2 meters. They have dreamed of a strong house to live and to provide their children a place to study, but they haven't made their dream come true because of poverty.

- When Giving It Back to Kids came and decided to help them build a new house, how happy they were! They always dream of a new and stronger house, and thanks for donors, their dream now come true. They don’t know how to express their deep gratitude."

I was beyond thrilled to know they had identified a family and would start construction immediately. I got another email today with a photo update on the construction. I could not believe once the old house was torn down what a beautiful building site was there. I am so happy to know this family will not have to spend another winter in that shack I can't even call a House. Below is before and during pictures. Hopefully I will have after pictures to post soon. I again want to thank every one of you who helped make this dream for this family and me a reality.



Here is family with before photo of "House":

During construction :

Amazima

I have to tell you about the most amazing, inspiring blog. It is about Katie, a 20 year old with 13 adopted girls living in Uganda and changing the world. She is AMAZING. I have put her badge on my blog (and below) if you would like to visit and consider supporting her cause.

They did it !!!

Well it is official, My babies are potty trained. I still can not believe it. After 3 days home, naked potty training, we can finally put clothes on them again. It was really weird but for days if I put any form of clothes on them they would pee, naked they would tell me they had to go. I had always used a rewards form of potty training with my other children but this just would not work with the twins. I inadvertently stumbled across naked potty traning and did not even know it was a actual thing until I googled it the day after we started. Saturday was our first day out and first day with clothes on. Unfortunately they relate pullups with diapers and we can not use eaither. We had to resort to the old fashioned cotton gerber training pants and things went really good. I bought a travel potty to keep in the car and it was the best purchase I have made. I just put them on the potty in the back of the car every time we get to our destination and this way we have advoided the hassel of taking twins to a public bathroom. I still can not believe my " babies" are old enough to be potty trained. Where does the time go?

Feed The Forgotten-I did

“It is poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” -Mother Theresa


Will you go to bed hungry tonight? Will your children? Somewhere in this world tonight a child will go to bed hungry. Does this bother you? If it does go FEED THE FORGOTTEN. A $1 will feed a family for one day.

If I haven't convinced you yet look at these faces. These actual children are starving. Can you look at them and not give even a $1 :

Go here to FEED THE FORGOTTEN in Uganda:

Happy 4th of July

$8.00 Hotdog

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

So Excited- Not over yet- New Link

Well today is the final day to contribute to my giveaway/fundraiser and possibly win a stroller ($250 value) while helping build a house for a needy family. I just got a ton of emails telling me my Chipin for my Giveaway ended early and will not let people contribute. It could not be fixed once it ends and I actually had to restart a new one for the day only. When I just checked I was 65% of the way to my goal. I want to thank every single one of the contributors so far. I hope to learn more about the actual family in Vietnam that will be benefiting once the fundraiser ends and keep you all updated with the progress on my blog. I just received a really nice email from the President of the organization that will be building the house and he is going to Vietnam in Mid June and has a few families in need already picked out. If we choose to build a house for one of these families he has already picked here is what he says " I will send you a picture of the place they currently live in, their family circumstances and a after photo when their home is built". Hopefully I will be able to post pictures when the organization can get them to me. I am so excited right now after reading his email. It finally seems real.

Please consider placing a contribution big or small if you have not already. I really want to reach 100% so I am guaranteed they can start construction on this home as soon as possible. You can always sell the stroller on Ebay/craigslist if you don't need it or ask me to pick the most worthy contributor to donate it to. Please everybody keep blogging about this . Please follow this new link since the previous link closed out early. The giveaway will be closing at 12:00 PM PST today. http://doublestrollergiveaway.chipin.com/double-stroller-giveaway-extension



I have actually had a few people email me and suggest extending the giveaway a little while longer ( Maybe 1 or 2 weeks) because I am so close to my goal. I have already extended it once and don't want to get the contributors upset. What do you all think (Especially those that have already contributed)? Please leave a comment right away and help me decide.

If you want to know more about the giveaway check out previous post.

Remember you can also purchase magazines (Deeply discounted off the cover price) and 40% of the cost will go to the same cause. Just click on this link:


http://www.magfundraising.com/childrenofvietnam




Have a Great Day,

Heather

A challenge for you

Just wanted to post here an email I just sent out. Have a great weekend. Here it is:


I don't have but a few seconds but I wanted to make sure to put out a post today. I have a graduation party to attend today and while out and about this morning was thinking about things. I know my life and views have changed since I traveled to Vietnam and picked up my beautiful children; I consider the change positive and for the better. I am a more compassionate human being who considers every move before she makes it. Every creature comfort I encounter I find myself thinking about how fortunate I am and how people all over the world just struggle for food and clean water to drink everyday. How did I end up here and they end up their? I am not sure but it could have easily been me and I always remember that.

Every time I go to the store or think about going out to dinner or buying a cup of coffee I think about these struggling people (mostly children in my thoughts) all over the world. I think about the instant gratification I will get but that will be over in moments and how if I would take that 5 or 10 dollars instead and give it to a struggling child it might mean the difference between life and death for them. Sometimes to think like this before every move can appear to be a huge burden but I consider it a blessing that my heart has been opened to this struggling all over the world and I might be able to make a difference.

I have a challenge for people this weekend. Please think about what I said and when you go to indulge in that $5 cup of coffee think about where you will get more gratification. I promise giving to a needy family will stay in your heart a lot longer then that coffee will stay in your stomach.


I hope you all have a great weekend.

Heather

Could you use a New stroller? Check this out

I want to make sure to keep this at the top of my blog:

Edited: Stroller Giveaway ending May 31, 2009

I have decided what my next fund raising cause will be; I told you I had an idea brewing and I have come to a decision. This one feels really good. I have always wanted to do something big like this in Vietnam; Change the life of a WHOLE family. When I traveled to Vietnam in 2007, to bring home my children, I could not believe what I saw. Families (Not 1 but thousands) living in conditions I would not consider adequate for my dog to live in (The average ANNUAL household income in Vietnam is less then $300 US per year); Shacks with dirt floors, no windows or doors and a tarp or cardboard boxes for a roof. I could not leave these people behind, come home to my cushy life in the US and forget what I had seen. I vowed to myself I would try and make a difference. Together WE are going to build a house (or hopefully two) for a very poor family in Vietnam. For every $10 donated you get one entry; Each $25.00 donation will get you three entries (Entries with US addresses ONLY; Anybody can donate to cause-I just can't afford to ship it overseas). If you DONATE AND Blog (with Link back to this blog post) and post my widget about my giveaway you will get an extra entry. Leave a comment here with the link to your blog post to get your extra entry. Even if you don't need a double stroller this can turn into a SINGLE stroller, it would make a awesome baby shower gift, donate it or sell it on craigs list or ebay. It's just 10 bucks so take a chance you just might win the stroller but the true prize is what you will have done to improve another human beings life. Random number generator will be used to pick the winner. Please pass this along it is for a very worthy cause. I need at least 175 donations to make this dream a reality. You can donate by paypal OR credit card through the chip in widget. If you have a paypal account I would prefer you use this because they charge me a fee for the credit card. Credit card payments are fine if you do not have a paypal account.





The giveaway is for a brand new Contours Options Tandem stroller in Red (Retail Value $249.99).

Product Description

The Contours® Options® Tandem is the perfect stroller to give you the flexibility needed as a parent. For 1 or 2 kids, infant or toddlers, everyone has a great view in any direction with its reversible seats! It is the ultimate stroller with lots of options for your ever changing life style!

Features:

• Seats Easily Reverse to Create 6 Different Stroller Options. Children Can Both Face Parent, Face Each Other, Face Forward or Back to Back. The Options Tandem Can Also Be Used with Only the Front Seat so There's Lots of Storage in Back.

• Infant Car Seat Attachment Fits Most Car Seat Brands on the Market. Additional Car Seat Attachment is Sold Separately to Accommodate Twins!

• Both Seats Recline for Infant's Comfort

• Ultra Smooth Ride & Steering with Two 8" Front Single Swivel & 10" Rear Never Flat Wheels

• Easy Trigger Fold and Convenient Free-Stand™ Allows the Stroller to Stand on its Own! And if You Remove Both Seats, This Stroller Will Become More Compact When Storing in Small

Edited: Stroller Giveaway Ending May 31, 2009

You can also donate to this cause by ordering magazines from my fundraiser. 40% off cover list price. Just click on banner below.