helping the children...

I couldn't get to sleep last night...and I got to thinking...about helping the Children of the Forest children...and why I do it...I cannot bare the thought of children being vulnerable and going without...the movie Slum Dog Millionaire still gives me nightmares...

As for the Children of the Forest...here is the update...

Mark (Manager, the Children of the Forest Foundation) says...

"We have 138 kids living with us on site.

About 100 are in our full care.

38 children are with mothers in one of the steps of COF Mother and Child Protection Program.

The children range in age for 6 months to 18yrs.

About 60% are girls.

6 months to 3yrs - 8 children.

4yrs- 8yrs - 40 children.

8yrs to 12yrs - 40 children.

13yrs to 18 yrs- 50 children"

And  helping these children is keeping me very busy!...recently 150 pairs of underpants were collected and sent thanks to the girls in Hyden...for the Undie Drive...though this is only one pair per child so I am hoping to send some more...so keep them coming...especially underwear for teens...and if you have any bras available they are always needed....

I have made and sent 11 skirts...for our part in Craft Hope... I hope to get a few more made and even try some shorts and pillow case dresses...and maybe some back packs from the book....

And 110 soft toys have been posted...one family donated this...yes 6 garbage bags of toys...collected by Sharon and delivered to me...amazing....These are for our Something to Love for Christmas collection...And all of which have been posted in the last couple of weeks...Parcels of donated clothing and shoes are sent on a regular basis...

And 140 toothbrushes were sent this week...which was my addition to this weeks shopping list...and I found Target sell packs of 15 pairs of white socks like these ones for $15...perfect...so a grabbed some of them as well...They need them as part of their Thai school uniform...

And my girls have found more spare change around the house and in the car for our $2 a month project...so we have now collected $9.15c...which includes our 5c jar...

How are your collections of 5c coins coming along?...

And don't forget to join in my Christmas Giveaway....just see the post below and leave a comment...Lissy

a special trip...

We have just been on a very special trip....we drove 400km yesterday to Geraldton (north of Perth) to stay the night so this morning we could get up and go to see Ben at work...

The boat hasn't been this far south before so although it was a bit of a big trip it was worth it for us all to see where Ben works...it was all very last minute as the date changed several times! And so we weren't sure we were going until the night before!

And then we drove home 400km this afternoon again after spending a few hours with Ben this morning!

Here are the photos of it all...It was very interesting and the boat was bigger than I had imagined and the Bridge was a lot bigger...

Both the girls loved it...it was cold and VERY windy...we watched the boat come in... And then watched from the gate and waited until it was time to go down to the wharf...Waiting for Ben to appear...Evangeline and Morganne were very happy to see their dad! It was very windy!Then we had a look around!Chief Officers Cabin...the not so messy part! It has a couch, a bed and an en suite...
Lots of stairs...
The mess...
The Bridge...
The back deck...as seen from the bridge...
The "wheel"...Evangeline asked to see the wheel...expecting the traditional sailing ship type!
The driver's seat...with Master Brian!
Looking at the radar..Trying out the radio mics....
A few more things...
And then it was time to leave...We got off the boat and Ben came with us for a couple of hours...so a bit more to report but I shall leave that until later...Lissy

boat...and ears...and the dog...

Here is the boat Ben skippered down from Singapore...pretty impressive I think!
Unfortunately the email on the boat has died and he won't be in phone range much so we won't be hearing from him much in the next little while....

And poor Morganne has ear infections...again! But she still enjoyed music this morning.

Evangeline has decided she wants to be a vet when she grows up! So she was very excited when we took Missy for her vaccination and checkup after school today! Mum came over to look after Morganne and is staying for tea...I am roasting some of the beetroot from our garden to go in a pasta dish...Lissy

"dada werk"

This is Morganne's favourite saying at the moment whenever we mention Ben or she sees his photo...and here he is...at work...in the middle of the ocean somewhere yesterday I think...I asked him to email us a photo...this trip he is Master...so we are very proud of him... He flew to Singapore while I was at the scrapbooking retreat where the boat (which is about 78m long and 17m wide) was in refit and they are on their way back to Australia...they passed Bali yesterday and that is about as close as we will get to an exotic holiday....lol...he has been gone a week but we don't get to see him for another four weeks. But at least he will be able to phone again soon...Lissy