Friday, October 30, 2009

cassie is a rock star.

she has been working her fingers to the bone
to get all the etsy shop packages shipped out.
she is a rock star.
the end.

Going Viral, and i don't mean the flu.

OK, if you are reading this, consider yourself in the "know."
We are going to need your help.
Remember last year, we did $10 Fridays.
For 6 weeks, we encouraged everyone to donate $10 on Friday.
We uncovered a lot of clean water through the $10 gifts.
THIS YEAR, we are doing it ONCE.
Just one day.
24 hours.
And we need everyone.
NOVEMBER 13.
Online blog, twitter, facebook, email, viral campaign.
Asking everyone to buy water.
$10.
To let their first gift of the season be life.
SO...here's the image.
The explanation is below.
And the link.
IF you want to invite people ahead of time via email or your blogs you can.
But on NOVEMBER 13, we need everyone.
Give $10.
Encourage everyone you know to give $10 on November 13.
Can you imagine if we all just came together, from all over the country/world, for one day?
And we all bought water together?
We all spent $10 to give life?
On November 13, when people begin to open up their Google Reader, their blog list, we want them to not be able to escape this image--




Updates, posts and statuses all over will be about buying water.

(Below is a ready-made explanation of the First Gift Campaign. if on Nov. 13, you just want to click and drag it to your blog or email, you can. Otherwise, you can write your own).



Gonna be fun.
Be thinking.
The image and explanation are yours to use.
Or you can write your own.
Link everyone here (yellow donate button) to donate.
Here for explanation.
Got it?
November 13.
First Gift online campaign.
We'll be reminding you.
For now, you know the plan.
Consider yourself personally invited to change the world...

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

east meets west

jody brought the wonder twins over to meet steffany's twins from ethiopia...
they were adorable together.



zeke was particularly smitten with xia.





and believe it or not, this is the only shot we have of the mommies and all four little ones... but i love it.
and some day,
i will be behind that couch holding on to our little ethiopian princess....

weekend with steffany...

my blog friend steffany decided that she wanted to be a part of the run/walk for water last weekend.
and obviously,
having never met her,
it made perfect sense to invite her and three of her six kids, to stay with me, and my family for the weekend. :)

the only bad part...
she was sick.
really sick.







but sick or not,
she pulled it together, and she ran.
she ran the ENTIRE four miles.
because she is passionate about water,
about people,
about africa.

i knew before i even met her, that she was someone special..
and now i can say,
it is an honor to call her a friend.


Monday, October 26, 2009

pumpkin carving

one more reason i love aldi....
99 cent pumpkins.

we loaded up the kids, and headed there this evening.
i was feeling a bit guilty after last year,
when we went to four places, and every single one was sold out of pumpkins,
leaving us jack-o-lanternless.



they all worked very hard.
emily, isaiah, and hannah, did theirs completely solo.



steve helped micah with his,
but he did do several cuts, and emptied it himself.

brody wanted h2africa, and he wanted ME to do it,
but he made sure everyone knew that "HE" was working very hard on it.



from left to right,
emily's, brody's, isaiah's, hannah's, and micah's.

Water Etsy Shop Is NOW OPEN

this is so exciting...
the water4christmas etsy shop is now open. :)







so many amazing people helped pull this together...
i cannot even begin to express how my heart leaps when i look at this shop.
just another way to bring clean water to the people of Liberia.

so, shop this christmas with a purpose.

if you have an etsy shop, and want to donate an item, tag it with water4christmas, and spread the word to all your etsy friends. :)

if you are a crafter, or sewer, and still want to get in on the action, cassie is still taking donations, you can message her thru etsy.

you can check it out here.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

football is done...

youth sports foundation football ended on sunday.

it was the last game isaiah will play for youth sports.
next year he plays for the middle school.

watching him walk off the field, i felt a lump in my throat.
he is growing up.
day by day, minute by minute, and i can see it happening.

his coach wrote the nicest note to him,
and gave it to him at the football party on tuesday.
and for documenting sake, i need to post it here:

"Isaiah
Gingerbread Man-- you ran as fast as you could for two years and scored a lot of TDs for State Farm and helped us go undefeated this year. I can only hope to have the opportunity to coach someone again for two years that did such a good job listening and used their God given talents so well. You were also one of seven sixth graders who won their last 8 conference games. That's pretty incredible. Can't wait to see how you progress next year in 7th grade-- GO CENTRAL
Coach Solt"

How lucky we have been with amazing coaches, who love our kids, nurture them, and teach them how to be good people, not just good athletes.

Monday, October 19, 2009

under water

and because my passion spills over...
i sent them home fully decked out it water gear,
and the ripples will continue in tacoma.






hannah is missing in this one... and i am so bummed, because it is a classic. maybe i will get photoshop and put her in. :)

more..

best buddies since birth...



beautiful, beautiful...



more beauty...



and is it wrong that i want micah to marry an older woman?
she is ten...
four years difference isn't that bad, and seriously, can you imagine the eyes on their children?


more incredible people...

friday evening we had the woepking family over as well...
along with their five kids.

again, these people are amazing, their story incredible, and we are blessed beyond measure to count them as friends.

so, for a few hours, we had 15 kids in our home...
and not ONE disagreement, not one argument, not one crying child.
they, for all intents and purposes, were perfect.




the best weekend

we had the best weekend.
the currah's visited us, all the way from tacoma, washington.
i have known brad since i was ten years old.
that is almost twenty five years.
he was a counselor at island lake christian camp, where i was a camper, and later worked. he introduced me to devonna, who later became his beautiful bride.



it has been four years since we last saw them.
and really, we haven't talked much in the last four years.
they have four kids, are remodeling their home, and, you know our story.
but here's the thing,
they walked in,
and i felt
home.



the kids felt it too
and they all got along, like they had been best friends for their entire lives.



devonna was at isaiah's birth, while five months pregnant with braedon.
i was at braedon's birth, and was the first person to ever kiss that sweet little boy.



we were so blessed by their visit.
they are an incredible family.

Friday, October 16, 2009

school pictures..

just needing to document things here..
nothing exciting.

but seriously,
when did they grow so old?



and the official last year of youth sports football photo.
next year he can play for the middle school...

if some one could please stop time for me now, that would be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

aman iman

the band is called

tinariwen

and i watched a documentary on them today.
they come from northern africa...

and their latest album is called aman iman
which translates:

water is life

something stuck out in the documentary,
one man was talking about freedom, and what it means to him...

he said,
if you are looking for water, you are not free.

wow.

clean water not only equals life,
it equals freedom.

Monday, October 12, 2009

more football

one more game down.
isaiah's team won, 25-0.

and because it was a blow-out, the kids got to try some different positions,
for example,
linebacker.

hysterical, really, given that he weighs only 83 pounds...
but never the less, he broke through, and sacked the quarterback.





saturday...

the first snow came on saturday, october 10th, 2009.

are you kidding me?

october?

but the little boys loved it...
and it didn't stick.

so, moving on.




ugh.

not the best morning so far.

awakened to a panicked daughter,
who remembered, oh, five minutes ago,
that she has to be at school at seven thirty,
for swing choir.

and steve's out of town.

which means, i have to drive her.
and count on hannah to make sure that micah is eating and getting dressed...
which,
let's be honest,
is difficult for me to even do.

ugh.

Friday, October 9, 2009

a in b and w

in an effort to exit the funk
that i find myself in..
photos.



however,
all of my subjects were in school.
so, it was just me.
and now,
my funk will commence.

--

i think i need another walk.
the end.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

today...

steve isn't feeling well,
so he is working from home today.

which gave me the opportunity to take a walk.

alone.

i think that, if given the opportunity every day,
i would be a much happier person.
i love walking.
i love being alone.
i love walking alone.

it was a slice of heaven.