Just hangin' at nana and papa's

We accomplished most of our goals this weekend...
baby shower, birthday party, water park.
All fun and good.

But the Hawkeyes.
Well, I'm not going to speak of them.
:)
There's always next week.
Look at Hadley.
She looks like a DOLL in the background of this photo...

And seriously, could she be any sweeter in these pics?
I think not.

At Grandma's...

What stinks?

One last post...

I'm heading out for the weekend.
JUST got off the phone with Dad/Jody.
They were speaking so fast I could hardly understand them.
Very very excited.
Dad received a chicken as a gift from the chief of one of the villages.
He was beyond ecstatic.
Jody says he is BEAMING.
He said he talked with one of the chiefs for a long time and they were all laughing at him. He doesn't think they were talking about the same things! :)
He's pretty sure he heard "CRAZY WHITE MAN" somewhere in their conversation.
Pretty sure Jody and dad are a good pair to be doing Africa.
And by the sounds of it, we will barely recognize them upon their return.
Quite certain this is far beyond life-changing.
Off for the weekend.
Happy they are learning so much and believing even more in the work charity: water is doing!!

The daily candy trade

Every day since Halloween there has been a candy trade at our house.
They sort their individual bags of candy and then trade.
They do it while Ayla is sleeping.

And they give her all the raisins and those black and orange wrappered candies.
And they take the chocolate and pixie stix.

And they get their daily sugar fix.
It's quite disgusting.

And I know this because I've been doing it, too.
They think they are tricky by stealing Ayla's candy while she's sleeping.
Well Paul and I are stealing THEIR candy while THEY are sleeping.

It's become an issue.
So yesterday we consolidated all candy into one bowl.
No more trading.
No more sneaking.
And this morning my 9:45 I literally was shaky.
See...a problem.
I'm done.
Went grocery shopping today.
Bought fruit and yogurt and string cheese.
I'm drawing the line.
It's November 5th.
We can no longer blame Halloween.
This binge is OVER.

Oh man...it's Thursday already

And we are leaving around noon tomorrow for the weekend.
My list is ready.
I was up early due to the early-morning wake-up call from Liberia! :)
So I'm ready to tackle this day.
Heading across the state tomorrow to celebrate Paul's sister, Erin and her baby that is due in December. So excited about that!
Then we will be celebrating Ayla's birthday later in the day.
Got the cake made yesterday and it's pretty cute.
And finally, hoping we'll be celebrating another Hawkeye victory.
Lots going on and I need to be packed, with the house cleaned and ready to walk out the door in about 28 hours.
Yikes!
Bring it, Thursday!

Just got off the phone with Dad.

They got in late last night. Dad said he couldn't sleep. Ended up going out and talking to the security guards. Typical for him.
Jody had emailed last night and said her shower was freezing and their may have been lots of bugs. So I'm sure she didn't sleep great either.
But as I spoke to them on the phone, I could hear the amazement in their voices. They had just left their first stop in the city of Monrovia...the Clara Town Slums. I got no details from dad. He just kept saying "It's unbelieveable. UNbelieveable." And I'm pretty sure Jody put it best when she said, "And even though it feels like a different world, it isn't. Injustice for one is injustice for all."
Something to think about.
Jody is posting pics from her camera phone on her blog HERE. Also, she is updating fairly regularly on twitter. If you don't "do" twitter, that's fine. Her 3 most recent twitter updates are along the left hand side of her blog. You can follow her there.
They were on their way to a rural village...a 5 hour drive. And I'm sure entering what will feel like a different world again. But it's not. These faces, these stories, they are our own.
And now...I offically can't sleep for the rest of the week. :)

Hooray!

Jody just posted on twitter that they made it!
Yay!
I know nothing else.
It's dark there and I'm sure they are just happy to be on African soil.
More updates to come, I'm sure!

one last one before bed...

Just got a quick email from Jody.
They made it to Frankfurt. They got bumped to business class for "no apparent reason". :)
Dad lost his phone in Chicago.
So I made a late night call to US Cellular to suspend his line.
They told me I wasn't authorized to do that.
I told them he was in Africa.
They suspended it. :)
Jody says Dad is still bleeding. I kind of believe her. I'm not sure toilet paper is a sufficient remedy.
They have another short flight to Brussells and then one more long one to Liberia.
I'm heading to bed.
But now I'm so excited I don't know if I'll be able to sleep!
Heading to bed with thoughts of Africa, water, cell phones and airplanes on my mind....

And they are off...

Just talked to Jody and dad.
They survived the drive to Chicago....even after the missed turn and the mass quantity of blood that dad lost in a packing accident. :) (although he IS still bleeding and Jody informed me that he walked out of the bathroom with his wound wrapped in toilet paper stating, "Good thing I'm a trained medical professional." yes dad. good thing. i'm sure jody is very proud.)
They got through security with their 2 carry-ons each and didn't have to check their bags, so that was a good thing.
They grabbed a quick sandwich and will be boarding the plane in about 15 minutes for Germany. This first flight is a long one. The one that they SHOULD be sleeping on because of the time change, etc. But it's a FULL flight. They weren't excited about that.
Just thought I'd do a quick update as we won't be hearing from them for a long time now.
They sounded excited and actually kind of giddy. It was hard for me to join in on the goofiness while folding my 12th load of laundry of the day.
But I tried. :)
So exciting!!
Praying for safe travels....

Tuesday...

All caught up on all things ETSY.
Big shipment went out today.
Last night did Ayla's birthday shopping on etsy.
Got this and this.
How cute!!
I hadn't gotten anything for her yet.
And ooooo, she is going to love her gifts.
All things handmade.
Woo-hoo!

And today I'm tackling the second floor of our house.
It's the one place that I feel like I can clean and it stays clean for at least a couple days.
So I'm focusing on it today.
I need to feel productive.

I also need to figure out what to do for Ayla's birthday cake.
And go over my list for Erin's shower.
But I'm kinda feeling on top of things.
Hmmm...what's that about??
Very rare!

It's a gorgeous day.
And I'm going to make the best of it!

(and on the travel front, i spoke to jody and dad this morning. apparently i distracted dad enough that he missed his turn to go to chicago. so they may end up in new york or something. i don't know. hope they don't miss their flight!!)
:)

Not this time!

I usually cry when saying goodbye to Jody as she heads to Africa.
Last time I cried quite excessively, to be honest.
It was scary.
And I had no idea how she was going to rescue her children and bring them home.
But not this time!
Nope.
I just handed over my favorite camera lens, gave her a quick hug and smiled big.
Because I am so excited for this trip!
Even though I wish I were heading out on that plane tomorrow, I can't wait for them to go without me!
The stories.
The pictures.
I can't wait.
This is so exciting.
And I'm sure Jody and dad will do a great job showing these villages in Liberia how much they mean to us.
How much they mean to God.
I get chills just thinking about it!
So nope.
No crying.
Not this time.
Only excitement!!!

Meet the water team...

Here they are.
Most of the men and women who can be found every Sunday night meeting and planning and going over notes and throwing out ideas.
I love them.
I love my Sunday nights with them.
All passionate about the same thing.
Water.
All understanding what it means to people in Liberia.
Life.
I look at this collage and it makes me teary.
And so honored to be a small part of this group.

We've been working on WATER WEEKEND for months.
And it's about "go time".
We are at less than 3 weeks until Scott Harrison arrives and the event schedule goes crazy!
It's getting exciting.
Jody and my dad leave tomorrow at 8am for Liberia.
I cannot wait to see the pictures and hear the stories coming out of Liberia.
I think it will bring us all a renewed motivation.
Jody is bringing her lap top.
She will be blogging from Liberia.
You can follow along here.
And send up a prayer or two if you would.
Our whole team could use them!
Can't wait to see this all come together.
Thanks for joining us!

Another jam-packed week

And I'm sorry if I'm not answering your emails!
I'm alive and doing good.
Exciting stuff going on!!
Erin's baby shower this coming weekend and a birthday party for Ayla at Paul's parents house.
I'm trying to stay caught up on all etsy orders.
The next big shipment goes out tomorrow morning.
Currently have shipped 110 packages...385 items...$3700 worth of merchandise.
Pretty amazing!!
We are at less than 3 weeks until WATER WEEKEND.
Plus, Jody and my dad leave tomorrow.
So lots going on here.
If you email me and I fail to respond, know I'm not ignoring anyone!!
Happy Monday!

Trick-or-Treating

The very first house.
Ayla said "tickotweet"
and "hoppy weenie"

Her costume was perfect.
Our little stinker...

Costumes

Aren't they cute?!?
All costumes were borrowed from AMY.
Who has lots of kids.
And loves Halloween as much as we do.
And graciously let me dig through her Halloween tub and pick out whatever I wanted.
And then told me my kids would be adorable in them.
Wasn't that great?
Everyone should do a costume exchange every year.
We'd never have to buy costumes again!

Rumor has it...

They are taking away my "Mother of the Year" award.
Yep, that's right.
Apparently this morning was Brigg's very first basketball game EVER of his potentially-one-day-professional-basketball-player career! :)
His coach called me about a half hour ago and asked if we were ok.
I said, "Yeah! Why?"
Oh...well you must have forgotten his first game was today.
Um...yep.
So there goes my award.
Oh wait...I think I lost that back on January 1st this year.
Dang it.

The joy of yuckiness...

We always have a pumpkin guts fight.
Last year it was outside and that made clean-up MUCH easier.
This year was much too cold.
So it was inside.

The kids knew we were going to be carving pumpkins when I picked them up from school. They started asking when we were going to carve, etc. So I told them, "Let's tell Daddy that I said we weren't going to do the guts fight this year. And then when we cut open our pumpkins, we'll attack when he least expects it!"
They were so excited.

And because life has been a bit hectic lately, Paul fell for it.
He said to me in private, "Are we seriously not going to have the pumpkin guts fight this year?"
I said, "Nope. I just can't take the mess. I'm losing it."
He said, "ok."
But I could tell he was surprised and sad. :)

The big kids were giddy with anticipation.
And we cut the pumpkins open and they went nuts.
Can I just tell you that Paul did not hold back.
His obliging ways were immediately thrown out the window.
Even before he realized the joke was on him, he was attacking them.
When he came to his senses, he kind of looked at me like, "Oops. I couldn't help it."

Ayla did NOT love the fight.
She freaked out.
So I got very few action shots this year.
But evidence of the fight remained long after it was over.
Evidence in the above photo.

I love Halloween.

How fun is this?!?

I now have a system.
And it is working beautifully, I must say!
It has become an art.

Today I sent out my second big batch of etsy items.
We are up over 100 orders (not items...the number of items is much larger than that!), sold, packaged and shipped.
And Jody purchased these super cute stickers that are now getting added to the envelopes.
So fun!
I have a postal scale in my dining room.
My computer is continuously connected to the printer and I can print my own shipping labels.
And the post office loves me so much that they shared the secret of scheduling pick-ups at my front door.
Oh yes they did.
So I never have to go to the post office again.
Which is beyond exciting for me! :)
But I kind of think I'm going to have to give my postal carrier a big christmas gift.
Hope he believes in water!

We want to go viral...

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).

(if you click on the following image, you will be able to see the entire thing. sorry)

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...

The tradition continues...

Our annual pumpkin carving contest.
This year was WAY different.
The kids both did their own pumpkins.
From start to finish.
They cleaned them.
Prepared their faces.
And carved them with our little pumpkin carving tools.
It was SO fun.
So here they are.
Vote for your favorite.
(but i'm not telling the kids i'm doing this. they were both very proud of their first pumpkins. but i do want to prove that i CAN beat paul! that's what's important here. finally taking away his prized possession...the pumpkin carving winner badge...for a full year!)

#1


#2


#3


#4

A glimpse of our night...

one of those days....

when you feel like you need a full life makeover.

my nearly 2 year-old has brought me to tears.
more than once.

my house has taken over.
i have no order right now.
i'm losing it!

i think i need a day care provider.
and a house keeper. :)

Birthday cake

Her face when she saw her cake.

Blowing out the candles.

And finally, my sweet sweet 6 year old.

Her gift...

She's had a Fischer Price children's camera for a couple years.
She has loved it, but she always wants to take photos with my camera.
So I did a little searching this year and found a Kodak Easy Share refurbished camera on Overstock for $50.
Sold.

Making for one happy little birthday girl.

Ahhhh...she does take after her mom in some ways...

She loved it and she couldn't stop saying thank you.
So so sweet.
Love her so much.

More of the family bowling

Bowling shots

One guess

Guess what we did for Lani's birthday????

Breakfast, birthday snack and supper...

Yes, it was a day chock full of healthy eating in the burback household...

Water for Christmas Etsy Office...

This is embarrassing.
And I need to say that it looks MUCH more organized this morning.
But I was drowning yesterday.
Near panic attacks several times.

But today is a new day.
And I shipped out about 75 packages yesterday.
And we have seen BIG returns on the Etsy shop.
Thousands of dollars coming is.
MORE THAN worth it!

In the midst of the madness...

I love to have the reason WHY put right in front of my face.
And this article is getting posted and tweeted all over the place.
I just took the 3 minutes it takes to read it.
It's good.
A great reminder of why we are doing this!

I'm pretty sure this can't be happening...

My Lani.
There is no way she can be turning 6 today.
It's impossible.
It makes my heart ache to even think about it.

To our dear dear Lani,
Today you are turning 6. It seems like yesterday the doctor said, "It's a girl!" And my heart skipped. I didn't know how badly I wanted a girl until I looked into your eyes. I remember looking at your daddy and crying and I said, "I didn't know I wanted a girl! I'm SO happy!" And I was! With your arrival came a sea of pink into our lives. You've always loved pink. And princesses. And sparkly things. And all things pretty. But at the same time you love dirt and nature and bugs and earthworms. Never one to be afraid of getting dirty and helping mommy or daddy with chores.
You have the softest heart I have ever known. You are sensitive, yet independent. You are a complete opposite of your brother and sister. You are one of a kind.
And we are so blessed to call you ours.
We pray especially today that you find that true God-given gift in your heart and run with it. You are amazing. And we love you more than we can ever express in words.
Happy birthday Lani Lou...our little bug.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Water for Christmas Etsy Shop

Looking for a place to shop for handmade Christmas gifts?
Well then you are in luck!
The Water for Christmas Etsy shop is officially up and running!
SO MANY fun items for sale.
For example...this t-shirt (child not included!)
and many more shirts like this.

These super cute bags for $20.

The christmas ornaments make GREAT teacher gifts!

And I personally love the water droplet bracelets.

We'll also be adding $5 bracelets soon that look like the bracelet above, but without the droplet.
So go check it out.
Go crazy!
And then have patience with me as I get things shipped out as quickly as possible! :)
And if you have your own etsy shop and would like to donate some of your items, just tag it with water4christmas (no spaces and the number 4).
Have fun!

A day in the life of Cassie's brain...

The other day it was beautiful outside. I totally got into power cleaning mode. Moved furniture, dusted, scrubbed, cleaned out cupboards, etc.
When Paul got home he asked what happened.
I told him the weather put me in cleaning mode.
He simply asked "So where can we move that's it's 70 and sunny year round?"
Yes, I'm such a good homemaker....I know. You don't need to boost my ego anymore.

Question.
When the microwave goes off and beeps a few times, why does Ayla run in the kitchen yelling, "Supper ready?? Supper ready??"
I don't usually cook supper in the microwave.
I'm stumped. :)

We live in a 100 year-old home.
There are good things and bad things about living in a home that old.
As of today the bad are outweighing the good.
It was "remove screens and put in storm windows" day at our house.
Which tured into "Mommy and daddy, why do you keep fighting?" day.
And also, "Children, promise us you will NEVER buy and old house!" day.
Honestly.
It's so frustrating.

I have more, but I need to get to the store with the screaming, insane 2 year-old in my life.
I'm struggling with balance today.
Really really struggling...

Flickr site

If you want to see ALL the race photos.
Yes, all 358 race photos, CLICK HERE.
Anyone who wants to download some to their own computers can do it there.
Happy Sunday!