Saturday, October 31, 2009

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.

Friday, October 30, 2009

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.
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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!
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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...
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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
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Thursday, October 29, 2009

A glimpse of our night...




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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. :)

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Birthday cake

Her face when she saw her cake.

Blowing out the candles.

And finally, my sweet sweet 6 year old.
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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.
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More of the family bowling




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Bowling shots




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One guess

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

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Breakfast, birthday snack and supper...

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


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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!
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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!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

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
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