Throw Back Thursday

There seems to be a trend lately of reminiscing over old photos and memories from long ago. At thirty something, I don't have that long to reminisce from, but I did get some serious laughs from the kids last week when showing them some oldies. "Nice Afro mom!"
Thought I'd share in the fashion and styles of my youth. All I'm asking is to keep your positive remarks to yourself. I have enough of my own!

If you were to describe my childhood in words I think a few that would best suit the era would be...
PERMS, HAND-ME-DOWNS, PLAIDS, OVERALLS and BIG BANGS

The sad part is most of this is back in style? Why folks? Why?
Let's revisit the horror...

{ Fresh permed hair in 1st grade to grown out, 3rd grade, pre-brace face pose in what appears to be a shoulder padded over-sized sweater. }

I'm very grateful to my Mother who spent endless hours at her sewing machine designing ruffles, lace and perfectly positioned buttons for my sister and I to wear. With fabric costs being so high, I'm deeply saddened that I can't pass this honor to my girls. I think Addi and Myriam would rock the ruffled sleeves! And what's up with the child mullet? Here I was worried about Myriam's personalized self cut looking too much like a back party. I have it going on!

{ As you can see, I still have the touch with glasses nearly 

covering all but my chin. }

 { Taking back family style. Yeah Mom! }

 { Overalls add about 20 lbs. Why are they coming back?? }

{ Our first official date. Kids. }

A Bunch of Random

Sorry I haven't had much to say here for awhile. No good or bad reason. Just a busy mama keeping up with chores, breaking up sibling arguments and keeping the peace elsewhere. Here's a bit of random for you...

Tim and I had a great date night last week as he strapped me to his bike and took me to Everson for dinner with our friends. I'm learning to risk my life on two wheels and Tim is adjusting to the feeling of nails piercing his side as I white-knuckle-grip him during high speeds. We closed the night out with delicious chocolate dessert at The Bistro 9. 

The funny part of the date came before and after we left. You see, recently we did some furniture shuffling which left us with one couch to sell and our original set we bought while engaged to gift away. There was no better couple to bless then "Guy" and Laura who are getting hitched the first of August! In return, they offered to babysit for us. 

"Guy," better known as Mac, is Myriam's favorite. As I was feeding Myriam her dinner, she was explaining to me the activities her and Guy would be doing before bed. This is when I was informed she was going to jump with butterflies who all had 200 wings and that Guy has a long tail. 

Say what??? Yep. You can guess what she meant. ( Potty parts have been discovered and learning what's appropriate is being taught. )

You never know what truths this young blood will tell ya'!

Later when we were checking on the kids we noticed this young couple needs a little more practice in the diapering area...yep, Myriam's was on BACKWARDS! 

Addison completed her four days of MSP testing at school. She's like me and gets test anxiety so I was so proud of her to do so well during the tests. Charlie had a test but we were able to do it from home. 

Both kids still keep busy Wednesday mornings with the Tribune paper route. They hate it, but I still make them do their one hour a week worths of work! Lucky I drive them around...back when I was a kid, I had all the papers in the bag, around my neck and on a bike going up and down many hills. Bellingham is not as flat as Lynden so you can only imagine what Tweed Twenty was like for a young kid delivering papers! BRUTAL!

We no longer have any tractors, mud pits or broken driveway. It's now beautiful green grass, crisp flower beds with fresh bark and a convenient drive thru making it easier to come and go from our place. It's about S'moresma time as the weather is making more sunny appearances and the kids are anxious to get the tins out for our sweet treats. 

The buzz of the neighborhood is from the kids getting into the swing of spring! From bikes to scooters, basketball games and trampoline fun. The tree forts are built and talk of lemonade stands have begun. We love our neighbors!!!

Tim has been extremely busy with work travel as he's just back from The Arbor Day Foundation in Nebraska. He also made a Realtime siting in California as the group prepares for their ten year reunion show at International. 

I've been fighting those darn allergies, but after the rain showers I finally feel some relief! This past weekend I was able to go trail running at Lake Padden and highly recommend going for a hike in the gorgeous local mountains we have in the area. 

Nothing else is really worthy of chatting about. Of course I could keep going but that's a bit boring for you. Maybe I should get to the piles of laundry and scrubbing some toilets? I'll think about it... Thanks to the plugged city sewer drains on Double Ditch, we had splashes of water bubbling high out of the toilets this morning. Lovely. 

Well, there's a bunch of random for ya'. 

Invitation to DANCE!

I am learning to love Dance Jam and Zumba at E2 Fitness Center. I'm in the back row along with other gym members who can laugh freely with me as we stumble, stomp, twist and shake our way through the hour long class.
If anything, my abs hurt from laughing at myself! 

This local fundraising event is organized by another gym member and will be taught by the best. I would LOVE to "shake it off" with you so please consider coming to this amazing event and at best, HAVE SOME FUN!

"The event is to raise money and awareness to support Trish’s upcoming book for kids with type 1 diabetes and those who love them. Trish’s inspiration for writing the book is her daughter, who was diagnosed with type 1 at age 6 in 2013. Half the profits from the book will be donated to diabetes research. Trish is also the author of The Soul of Jazz: Stories and Inspiration from Those Who Followed the Song in Their Souls (available for purchase on Amazon.com) and a writer for AllAboutJazz.com. "

The workout will be led by E2 Fitness Center owner and instructor, Christie Duque, and E2 instructors Patti Douglas and Betty Beieler. 

Spring Break Update

Spring Break was a HUGE relief for me! My sister was in town and came to our house all day Monday...yep ALL day! Together, we emptied the toy shed, built some shelves, reorganized the toys in organized bins giving every item a proper place to rest while not in play. I was blessed, stressed and reminded of how amazing having a sister is during the day. Myriam even got some jumps and snuggles in with Auntie before dinner time! 

Spring cleaning continued all throughout the week as I quickly filled Tim's truck with garbage and waste. Bins were purchased and storage rooms shuffled and turned upside down. My necklaces no longer are one unified bundle of beauty, but now independent neck weights. Addison squeezed in every last minute of play with the neighbor girls including driving lessons on the local golf cart. Yikes! I'm not ready for that! 

A cashed in birthday gift to Addi's friend gave us two hours of bouncing fun as well...what a workout!

Charlie found a place in Nana's van as it traveled south to bring Auntie Traci home visiting tulip fields, friends' home during Auntie's appointment and giggles at the apartment. 

I was blessed to attend the two day Empower to Connect conference at NCCTK for adoptive and fostering families. Dr. Karen Purvis referred to the amount of information her team presented to us via simulcast, as if we were drinking from a fire hydrant - information overload! While I was soaking up the conference, Tim was home with the little ladies continuing on "the list."

Outlets replaced, lights installed, handles fixed, timers set, naps given, furniture rearranged and odds and ins completed. 

Busy mama's need spring breaks more often. 

{ Big Sister do; Little Sister to follow }

{ Yeah. It won't last. }

{ Celebrating Kayden's birthday at the Trampoline Zone }

{ Auntie spending the day helping with chores and making some laughs too. }


{ Charlie sniffing purdy flowers. }

{ Charlie finding boy things after sniffing too many flowers! }

{ They make us laugh! }

"Jesus Died; Then He Got Up!"

HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!
A few things Myriam learned at church Easter morning:
"Jesus died; then he got up!"
"Jesus died; then he grow back!"
"Jesus is important."
"Jesus have taco Tuesday..."
As you can see, some details are needing some clarity.

 { I called it "good enough" between Charlie's recent camera face, Addi's obvious distaste for pictures and Myriam admiring her big sis. }

 { Auntie Traci and her monkey's }

 { Ruby, Annie and Addi making sweets pretty! }

 { My beloved Grandma, better known by the kids as "GiGi" }

 Praying for a miracle of health for my Grandma's body. So incredibly thankful for this stubborn lady!

Cambodia Take Three: Final Days

North County Christ the King has founded and supported the Life Giving Network over the course of several years. Tim's company supports the LGN monthly so part of this trip for Tim was following upon those funds, and continuing to help support the LGN pastors on the ground.

 Theses are a few successes in Cambodia alone through the ministry of the LGN from a note that Tim sent to his staff:

"Last week I got a note from the head of the LGN stating the following.... One of our pastors who reaches out to Muslims lead 32 Muslims to Christ in one day and five different villages. Another of our pastors there now has 30 churches with 3000 people in it. Pastor Koy had 85 baptisms the week I was there. Sophea just emailed me and told me something like 23 youth gave their life to Christ just the other night at his church. One of the other pastors was part of a 10 province crusade he lead and we had 1400 people receive Christ of which 145 were baptized. We (Sophea, Kim and the church) also were able to adopt 50 children with special needs in Cambodia and I just interviewed and am preparing to adopt 50 orphans in India through our pastors in the LGN there."

Tim's final days and thoughts in Cambodia....

 { Boys and their bikes. }

{ Brian and Sophia casually enjoying an afternoon nap. }

As the trip ends, there were a couple stand out successes and areas 
for continued work.

1. 1)  We will be establishing the micro loan business now in Cambodia, which we should have off the ground in a couple months. This will produce great returns for the investors, and will also produce extensive revenue and profits that can be left in country to support a few key organizations. We were able to get a plan developed for this, and now have people on the ground who are going to run it and manage it for us. Very exciting!
   
   
2. 2)  Big success - got to see the Tortilla making company that we have been coaching for a year and a half now. They doubled in size last year, doubled their profits as well - in a growth year. We helped him position his infrastructure as well for better profitability in the next year, and he’s on track for that too. So cool to see it in action. He has become the “wealthy business man” of the church there (that’s how they see him), and is now able to start giving back financially to the church and it’s paying huge dividends. He is also coaching other local businesses now and paying it forward. So great to see!
   
   
   
   
3. 3)  Spent half a day with a start-up medical clinic and helped develop their budget, market plan, and have given them the tools now to effectively start their new company. They were two people who came to the business course we taught, and wanted to get together to discuss further their plans and concerns. Very sharp kids! We fully expect next time we’re back (September) to see this medical clinic open and operational. 

4) Taught a business course to over 100 students on business development and marketing structures. Great time of dialogue and questions from them, and reviewing business plans that many of them have and are about to implement.

5) On my first trip here we visited a village where there was no school, so kids were going entirely without education, and there was no local church and literally zero infrastructure in the town. We stood outside the town on a piece of property that the local pastor had a vision for and prayed over it. We just went back yesterday (one year later) and saw a completed church, school, and entire complex developed and fully functioning. I got to stand outside the class and see kids playing games, learning, and being taught essential life skills that most here do not have. They built the entire complex for $55,000, and they have 200 students daily. Through the LGN and its support, this has all happened fast! Profits from the micro loan business, funds from the home building in Whatcom county, and other investments have helped make this a reality.

6) Have committed to build a new school in the slums for Koy and his church. Will start putting a plan together on this to see it happen in the next year. Will put a team together from the community here and will go handle it with the Cambodians. Any one interested??? :)

7) AIM.... Here is what we are working on with them.... 

We got together several times with an International organization called Agape International Missions (AIM). They focus on the Cambodia sex trade industry. In a nutshell, here is what happens over there... literally! Families have debt that has accumulated over the years and an easy way out is to sell off one of your children. The boys have less value than the girls, because the girls can be sold into sex trade and produce way more money. So the parents will sell off their young girls (average age of sold girl is 8 years old, as young as 5 at times). A local hospital first confirms that the girls are actually virgins, and they are given a “certificate of virginity” which allows them to charge top dollar for the girl. These girls are then locked in a room (called Pink Rooms), and they are kept in there and sold to pedophiles who will pay high dollar for a young virgin. After the virginity is taken away, they leave the girls in these rooms and sell them multiple times a day to men who come from all around the world for this specific reason, as well as local men who just want a quick fix. These young girls will stay in this environment until they are 12 years old or so, or when the debt is paid back. But at that point the families have become used to the additional income that was going to the debt, so they leave the girls in that environment and start collecting some income from them. If the girls can escape, which is rare, they usually go right back and become prostitutes because they only know that industry and can make ok money. This is the reality of what is going on over there!
AIM has swot teams on the ground in the cities that target pedophiles and follow them around, they identify where the girls are being sold and locked up, and then go in and save them. These

girls are then taken to a location that is not named, and cleaned up, raised, educated, and provided a normal living environment with counseling and support. To fund these homes, they started making T shirts and selling them. Now they have a small factory that makes and prints T shirts and ships them around the world. The funds go to the girls directly and to the organization as well. 


{ All of these brown roofs are brothels where young girls are
locked up being sold daily. }

This is a door that locks from below so they can secure the girls in a section of the house overnight to keep them from getting out.

  

We were not allowed to take many pictures, as they don’t want to reveal the locations of their safe houses. We had to go through back ground checks before we could come and see the operation as well. They take this part very seriously!
We toured the homes, the schools, the housing, etc. All if it was so well done. After learning about the background, and watching video’s of what is going on, and then seeing a school room full of young girls, who are having fun, laughing, learning, etc, it’s inspiring to say the least! We then went and toured the shirt making factory.

This is where we started to talk business with them. They have $3 mil budget every year, as they have a lot of donors around the world. A few years ago CNN did a big blitz on this organization and made a movie documentary, “Every Day in Cambodia” with Mira Sorvino (actress), which brought a lot of light to the situation in Cambodia. Next there was another documentary done called “The Pink Room”, which won awards and again, created awareness. So AIM has great funding, but is struggling in many aspects to go from begging for funds, to creating a structure that produces regular revenue and repeat donations.
We spent a better part of a day with the business development folks on the ground and were able to come up with some changes to their approach. They are hesitant and worry that the head of the organization wouldn’t go for them. We had nothing to lose so we just reached out to him directly and he is extremely interested in help. So we will be meeting with him next month in California and will be explaining our thoughts, and the concerns we had from a marketing perspective, and business management perspective. As an organization, they are now realizing that there are some things that are broken and need repair. It will be super rewarding to help them restructure their approach. With the donor base they have, we should be able to make a dynamic impact by helping them be more effective on the front end development of funds, and the execution of processes in the field.

So in the end, it was a great trip! From helping coach businesses, teaching the business course, seeing the purchase of the property, starting new businesses, etc, it was all around a success, and a busy trip. 

Thank you to everyone who had covered Brian and Tim in prayer as they traveled to and from. The kids survived, I didn't eat them in frustration of being a single parent and we all were happily waiting for Daddy last night when he came home. The sweaty laundry has been cleaned and plans for the next trip have begun. As Charlie says every night, 

"Mom, don't forget to pray for the kids in Cambodia!"