Boots are being distributed!

Ok. This is very very exciting to me. Tom Neuhaus (our hero and giver of boots) has departed for Africa. We were able to raise over $4000 to buy boots for 400 cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. (who desperately need them, basically to save their lives from the poisonous snakes). Anyway, I got word that Tom was leaving and he will be keeping us informed of his travels on his blog www.sweetearthchocolates.blogspot.com.

Thanks so much to all of you who donated! I had planned to send individual emails out to all of you, but it has not happened yet. :( sorry. I do believe these boots are going to brighten the lives of these farmers who work so hard. I’m really excited that we could be a part of this. It’s great that even $10 (for a pair of boots) can make a difference. I’m so touched that so many people around me truly care about this issue and want to help.

If you are a recent viewer and confused, check out these previous posts:

http://www.amycheng.com/2008/05/kingdom-project.html

http://www.amycheng.com/2008/05/free-trade-products.html

http://www.amycheng.com/2008/06/chocolate-party.html

And by the way. One person has thrown their own chocolate party since mine and others have expressed interest. If you would like to throw a party I will provide you with a chocolate fountain, signage, traffic-free chocolate guides and anything else you might need. The point of this is to educate people about the cocoa slaves in Africa (mostly young boys) and the horror that they are being faced with to provide us with chocolate. Fair-trade chocolate ensures that slaves have not been used on the cocoa plantations. There is a list of companies that can and cannot ensure their chocolate is slavery-free on the traffic-free chocolate card pictured below.

Ollie is two!

Well…our baby is 2. We did not have a party this year (if you can believe that….yes, I have restraint). But I did make a cake and we had a very small celebration with Ollie’s friends, Rusty & Max.

Ollie loves frogs and turtles, so he got a frog cake and I splurged on the huge mylar turtle balloon. He loved it, but not as much as the goldfish, which was his ‘big’ gift.

 

We asked the boys what they wanted to name mr. fish. First, Noah suggested “Bakkak” (i have no explanation for that), next was “Trainsian”…interesting, then Noah adamantly suggested Nemo. Well…he actually ‘told’ us his name was Nemo. We argued and said he doesn’t even look like Nemo…well, Noah won. So, our fish has the incredibly ‘unique’ name of Nemo. Lovely. :)

Tee Off Against Trafficking

Many of you know how passionate I am about the child trafficking problem in Southeast Asia. (It’s actually a big problem in Seattle as well…which is horrifying) Well, we (Eastside Women of Purpose) are on to our next fundraiser…a Golf Tournament taking place in Redmond, WA on Sunday, October 5th.

It’s going to be an awesome event. We are looking for people to play and to sponsor. You can sponsor a golf cart for only $100 (which is great for small business like Amy Cheng Photography…hehe) We are also looking for donated items to use as prizes and items for our gift bags. To be a hero in this story (and these kids REALLY need a HERO) please go to www.teeoffagainsttrafficking.org and SIGN UP or email Sadie to sponsor.

It’s going to be a fun event but the point of all of this is to save children BEFORE they get kidnapped or sold into slavery. Our funds are going toward educational materials that are WORKING! We heard a story about a young girl in a small village in Thailand who had been educated about ‘stranger danger.’ She noticed a strange man wandering about the village. She asked him questions and reported him to her elders and he got nervous and left! She saved the children in her village from this nightmare that thousands of children are faced with RIGHT NOW.

Imagine being a 14 year old girl, who had never even kissed a boy, and a ‘friend’ of the family says she can get you a job for the summer in a noodle shop in another town and instead of a noodle shop, she brings you to a brothel, and that night you are raped by 10 different men. Then the next day, you have to do it again, and smile or else you'll be beaten. I'm not exaggerating. These girls (and boys) NEED your help. There was a Dateline special about this last week. There were girls as young as 5 in these brothels. I'm currently reading the book, Terrify No More, which was written about the raid that was captured on film for Dateline. It's disturbing, but I highly recommend it.

Please tell your friends about the tournament. We can all do something to stop trafficking.

Signage Obsession

Along with hibiscus (or hibisci I s’pose?…heh), I also found myself obsessed with these signs in Kona. We drove down the Kona coast to see the sea turtles on the black sand beach (which was awesome) but I honestly couldn’t get enough of these signs. I’m weird. (I took them from inside the car as we drove by…don’t ask me how they turned out…it’s a miracle)  :)

 

 

 

 

Kona & an unhealthy hibiscus obsession

So…Joe and I just got back from Hawaii. We were in Kona to celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday. The four kids (& spouses) gave my mom the trip for her birthday and all she knew was that Brian (my youngest brother) and his girlfriend, Nadia (one of my favorite people) were going with her. Joe and I managed to come (thanks to Joe’s parents babysitting….THANK YOU) and we surprised her the 3rd day. Wow…what a surprise.

Anyway. I woke up one morning and became obsessed with this hibiscus.

 

 

 

Here are some other pics….

We had fun with the ‘infinity’ pool…

This was Joe’s typical position…

We ate VERY well. At the farmer’s market, we managed to get 2 lbs. of sushi grade Yellowfin Tuna caught the day before for $15. We were tuna’d out by the end of the day cause we had Poke’ for lunch and seared it for dinner on some Okenowa purple spinach from the farmer’s market. yum.

Ok…this is a crazy long post. I’ll continue it later. :)

Pictures for a Purpose results

Well, Pictures for a Purpose was a great success. I was ready to drop after the first few sessions but somehow I managed to get through all 17! The kids were adorable and so much fun to work with. Thank you to all who participated. It was such an exciting event and I’m so honored to have been a part of it. Here are a few of my favorites:

 

 

 

 

Potty talk

So, Noah was on the potty today and here is our conversation:

Mommy:  I have to go potty too.
Noah:  Oh ok. I can share.
(Noah climbs off toilet)
Noah:  There you go. Now you can go potty.
(Mommy goes potty)
Noah: Now our wee wee can go down together.
(Mommy laughs)
Noah: Are you laughing?
Mommy: Yes.
Noah: (looking into toilet) Wow, that’s a lot of wee wee.

I have to say, I think he’s sweet for ‘sharing’ the toilet with me. :) But the best part was the excited look on his face when our ‘wee wee’ could get flushed together. That's awesome. I'm still laughing.