My most prized Christmas gift

 

Grandma Maria, as she is known in our house, made this amazing family portrait from photos of the kids.
It is perfect, and captures who they are so well.
I LOVE it.

stir crazy

the kids have been pretty crazy with all the bad weather we have had, so today, we decided to take them to a pool with some friends.

 

they swam. a lot.

 

and worked up quite an appetite... good thing us mom's brought such a huge amount of food, there wasn't much left!

 

and this handsome gentleman came along too. :) love having him off work for a couple of weeks.

 

more.

 

Africa, Liberia in particular is singing with joy.
Water will come.
Because people acted outside themselves.
Let's not stop now.
Water for Christmas doesn't wrap up until New Year's Day.
One last week.
One more chance to bring life to our brothers and sisters.
Please donate.
Donate because it is the right thing to do.
Donate because you have more then you had two days ago.
You have more.
And will continue to have more.
Use it to save lives.

African Angel

It seems that no matter what I do, Africa permeates every aspect.
And that is totally okay with me. :)

 

And then there were gifts...

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours....

 

okay, here's a nice one.

 

Is that the Sahara? No, it's Iowa.

 

serious cuteness on christmas eve

 

 

 

 

isaiah

 

 

 

 

hannah

 

 

 

 

brody

 

 

 

 

snowed in on Christmas Eve.... micah

 

 

 

 

the little baby

One time on Hollywood Boulevard I saw a young girl with a baby. It was a crisp winter morning & her hair shone dark purple in the sun. She was panhandling outside the Holiday Inn & the door clerk came out & told her to be on her way & I wondered if anyone would recognize the Christ child if they happened to meet. I remember thinking it's not like there are any published pictures & purple seemed like a good color for a Madonna so I gave her a dollar just in case.
-story people

oh come, oh come, emmanuel

come indeed.
come now.

 

what we do when there's nothing else to do.

pizza of course.
this could totally be some sort of where's waldo photo.
and you will notice who is looking at the camera.
big surprise.

 

merry almost Christmas eve.

random #4's

TAG
The rules are: open up your picture files, and post the 4th picture.
So, here we are: 4 number 4's.

 

 

 

 

impossible formulation?

i have been trying, all morning, and now into the afternoon, to come up with something clever to say to get people to give.
to donate today.
to make today the day that we hit water in one day.
to make ten dollar friday
bring in $5,000 in one day.
and i can't.
i have nothing.
it's not up to me.

our current total is over $40,000.
we are teetering on what we thought was impossible.
to hit $50,000.
ten wells.

i want so badly for this to be successful.
for us, as a nation,
to come together and stand for something bigger than ourselves.
to stop talking,
and start acting.
to stop consuming,
and start giving.

it permeates every fiber of my being,
it's all that i am.
it's what matters.

it's christmas.

did i mention this?

 

ice

we had some ice last night.

 

it makes for pretty pictures.

 

but difficult travel.

 

apparently he missed the memo

 

NO School AND $10 Friday!

What do you do when you are stuck inside
because of a major storm across the entire country?
Go to www.water4christmas.com
and donate $10 for the last ten dollar Friday!
This is the last Friday before Christmas,
and since no one can get out to go anywhere,
make your day worthwhile and give clean water!

The phone just rang...

It's 4:00pm
The phone just rang.
It was Micah.
He says,
Hey Mom, got on green card today. Just called to see how the ornaments are going, you know, the Water for Christmas ornaments?
I say,
Uh, they are fine...
Who's phone are you on?
He says,
This girl I know let me borrow it.
Gotta go, see you when I get home.

What?
He's five.
FIVE!
I am in serious trouble.

*UPDATE*
Just found out, this girl he knows, is in high school. She rides their bus. Nice.
Real nice.

Did I mention...

Santa was there?

 

Um, yah, wouldn't go see him.

 

This is his teacher getting a candy cane for him.

 

Oh Brody.

Today was Brody's Christmas show at preschool.
A day he and I have been dreading.
He hates people.
Hates to have anyone look at him.
I didn't think he would even do it.

 

But he did.
He stood like this the whole time.
Beat red cheeks.
Completely disgusted with everyone.

 

You'll notice everyone else is shaking their jingle bells.
Brody wasn't.

 

Not even the cookies got him excited.

 

I love water.

Clearly.
Because this is what my driveway looked like when I headed to the post office this afternoon to mail the last round of Water for Christmas merchandise. And it is also what it looked like when I headed back, to get my purse that I forgot, when I was halfway there.

 

Water for Christmas Benefit Total.....

And the total, for one night, in the middle of a small town, in the middle of a small state, in the middle of America....

$15,000

That is the equivalent to 3 wells for the people of Liberia!

That is huge.

It also brings our total, with over two weeks left, to $35,000.

7 wells.

We don't want to stop until we have 10.

GO, GIVE.

Give lots, give life, give water for christmas.

friday night...

i got to set up a table at the Redstone Room again. this time, steve decided to join me!

 

we made it a date, had dinner before hand, got to hear some great music,

 

AND raise money for water. it doesn't get much better than that.

 

trying to find words

words fall short in describing what i am feeling.
it is a mixture of gratitude, awe, love, grace, and relief.
it's overwhelming, consuming, painfully beautiful.
it's people, it's strangers, it's friends, it's real.

last night, in a little town, in the middle of america,
lives were saved.
and to say that i am honored to know the people who made that happen,
is such an understatement.
eyes were opened,
and because of the voice of a few, a nation in africa, much like my own heart,
will never be the same.

candi and larry stewart sacrificed and worked endlessly to put this benefit on. they gave everything they had, with nothing in return. they were the epitome of what jesus came to do. they were grace and love on behalf of the people of liberia. i am so thankful for them, and their hearts.

my mom, who has worked until her fingers bled, who stayed up until 3am finishing ornaments so that we could have plenty for the table. unyielding service.

my 12 year old daughter, emily, who took on the responsibility of babysitting, and feeding dinner to 10 children for four hours, because she loves water. because she is my daughter, because she gets it.

and my friends.
jody and cassie. ( i knew i couldn't get thru this without crying).
if i had half of the heart, love, desire, and grace that these two women exude, i would be richly blessed.
it is beyond an honor to know them. they were sent to me as a gift. they bring joy to my heart, and a smile to my face every day.
i love them.
wholly and fully. complete and honest.
they are beauty and grace.
light and joy.
they love water, and people.
and if you know them, you already understand.

we are waiting on posting a total, a few checks are still coming in this week.
but it was good, it IS good.
and we aren't done yet.
go,
donate.
give life. give water.

great music and fantastic food

 

 

 

 

a few of my favorite people

 

 

 

 

water for christmas fundraiser...

i have so much to say about tonight, at the benefit for water, the people, the generosity, my friends, but it's all going to have to wait for morning, because i am so tired i can't even think straight. so for now.. pictures.

 

 

 

 

TEN DOLLAR FRIDAY!

 

We are almost to Christmas,
make it real.
Make it last.
Give water, and health, and hope, and life, to those living in Liberia.
Donate.

it's thursday already?

steve's home.
micah's sick.
brody's annoying.
emily has a choral concert tonight,
and has no pants.
isaiah's crabby.
hannah's messy.
yep.
it's thursday.

THIS Sunday!

 

Can hardly wait for this!
Come.
It is going to be a great time,
and for a great cause. :)

note to self:

when you finish making the center of peppermint patties,
try to remember not to put your finger in the corner of your eye.
even after you wash your hands.

loved.

 

which is what i am.
steve had to go out of town until wednesday night,
but he wanted me to remember he loves me.
i do.
again, and again.
i do.

and Emily

if you know Emily, please don't tell her that i have a picture of her on the blog...
she'll kill me.

 

and Hannah...

doing her thing...

 

 

Kids ran church this morning....

Isaiah doing his thing...

 

 

 

 

AND NOW.... $10 FRIDAY!

Please don't forget to give your $10 today!
We don't have that many Friday's left between now and Christmas...
let's make every one count.
Give water.
Give life.

So, I took the night off from Water for Christmas...

To just be.

 

To love.

 

And to remember how lucky I really am.

 

my favorite gift

 

Happy.

 

happy birthday to me

 

 

 

Reality

 

"Bad water kills more people than war."

who cares.

you can call me the worst mom of they year.
my children had chocolate cake for breakfast.
and they loved it.

 

and they love me.
(and cassie) :)

 

yuck.

ate a bowl of cocoa pebbles this morning.
for old times sake.
i used to love them, and something about them this morning looked unusually yummy.
the first few bites were amazing.
the crispy, crunchy, chocolaty bits coupled with the cold milk.
absolute nostalgia.
but about halfway in,
and my stomach began to hurt.
do you think i stopped?
uh, no.
finished the entire bowl.
drank the chocolaty milk.
and now,
i'm going to go puke.