I'm so excited!!! (aka LINKVILLE USA)

Ok...the open house is Sunday.
Homemade bread is baking.
Jennie is working tirelessly on cake pops.
Mom is a baking fool today for the bake sale.
It's going to be SO FUN!!!

But guess what! You don't have to BE HERE to participate!
All of the "vendors" (seriously...i don't know what to call them. i'd like to say all the "really super awesome people who are going to be here") have set up ONLINE parties!
Which means if you'd like to order online and have it SHIPPED TO YOUR DOOR and still have profits going towards The Adventure Project, YOU CAN!
SWEET!

Here are the details:

Heather from Scentsy will be here. If you would like to order through her online party CLICK HERE and then click on "Cassie's water". All items will be shipped to your door.

Sara from Mary Kay will be here. If you would like to order through her online and have your items shipped to your door, CLICK HERE.

We don't have an actual Uppercase Living rep coming, but they have offered to have a catalog party here and Lora DeCook will be manning the table. :) She's totally cute and fun, so you will want to buy from her!! Anyway, they also set up an online option. CLICK HERE and make sure you click the "Associate with Open House" section and then click on LORA DECOOK.

Other fun stuff...
We are going to have munchies and WINE to sip on. We live right around the corner from Ardon Creek Winery and I LOVE THEM! Like seriously think they are awesome people and love to support them in all my wine needs. :) So we will be offering their wine for your enjoyment as well!

My sister is literally making 200 of her Cake Pops. Go check them out HERE. She is also donating 35% of all photo sessions booked through her on Sunday to The Adventure Project. She takes your pics...edits them...and saves them on a CD for you. You get the CD to keep and do with as you wish. It's a great deal. AND she is making some fun clipboards to sell as well. Super cute!

There is going to be a bake sale. I have baked about 25 loaves of bread. My mom is making DELICIOUS sweets. I will also have bags of homemade granola. It's going to go fast, so you better get here early!! :)

There is going to be a raffle. In the raffle we will have a free photo session with Jennie Peakin Photography, items from Mary Kay, Scentsy and Uppercase Living and some of the yummy baked goods. $5/ticket.

Plus, we'll have they awesome soap that The Adventure Project is selling for their Keep It Clean Campaign. Because really, this is what it's all about....creating jobs and saving lives in Northern India. It's a big big deal and I believe in this cause with all my heart. I believe in this organization and the women running it (who are seriously FLYING TO AFRICA TODAY for 16 days to scope out their next few projects!!!! ). I promise you, your money will be used in the most effective way with this organization. Love them.

So join us on Sunday.
3-5:30.
My house.
Food, Fun, Wine, and Fund-raising.
Can't beat it!!

Did I mention I was excited?!?

a sign

A good friend emailed this to me today.
She does NOT believe this to be true.
But apparently she thinks I do.
And if it IS true, then my life is far far from wasted. :)
But maybe its a sign that I need to tweek my housekeeping skills.

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softball

Lani wanted to try softball this year. Tonight is her first practice. I love her. She's adorable!

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THIS IS AWESOME!!

i am having an Open House to raise funds for The Adventure Project.
Mary Kay, Scentsy, Uppercase Living and Jennie Peakin Photography will be sold there.
Heather Carlson is the Scentsy rep and she is donating 100% of her commission to water.
To sweeten the deal, she's set up an ONLINE option as well.
Just click on the link and then select Cassie's 'water' and shop away knowing all your purchases benefit villages in India. All of your purchases will be shipped to your door!
AWESOME!!

i'm awful.

i don't blog.
i don't email.
i don't take photos.
none of it anymore.
i can't even post from picasa yet.
so i'm going to link up to jennie's blog.
she's still good at that.
and she posted hilarious photos of brigg today playing soccer.
they are awesome.
i want to make some sort of photo wall with them so when i'm in a bad mood i can look at them and laugh.
he's so dramatic.
where in the WORLD does he get that?!?!?!
go check out the pics HERE.
thanks jennie.

painting...still

But I had to take a trampoline break. And ayla just had to photograph it...

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Picasa

Picasa is not working for me.
That is how I post pictures.
It hasn't been working since I returned from Florida.
Not sure if it's just ME, or if everyone is having problems.
Either way, it makes it very difficult for me to blog under these conditions. :)

So quick update...with no pictures.

*we really did have a blast in Florida. I took a thousand plus photos....of which you have only seen 5 I believe. Brigg and Paul parasailed. It was a first for both of them. They had a blast. We spent hours upon hours in the pool and hot tub. We spent hours upon hours at the beach searching for shells. Truly a great time. So thankful for the opportunity to get away from reality for a week with amazing family. Beyond thankful.

*and this next tidbit of info has spiralled a bit ;)....I'm having an open house at my house on April 17th. There will be lots of info to follow, but you are all invited. Which is kind of scary for me. Because we really have not made this house our home yet. And about a week ago I decide I was ready. Ready to do away with the salmon pink walls and wallpaper in this house. Ready to paint every single wall in here. And that turned into also tiling the entry way. And all this needs to be done by April 17 because I don't want to be mid-painting/tiling after I have invited 10,000 of my closest friends into my home. My blood pressure rose just typing that. Yesterday we spent 8 hours painting. I am not working today so I will probably spend another 12 hours painting today. And it's a horrible job. I HATE painting. So I again will be absent from this blog for a while until I get this under control.

*the "open house" is going to be awsome. I have several representatives from different "home sales" companies that will be there. Plus, my sister is going to have a fun photo session booth set up as well. And there may or may not be lots of food and drink PLUS lots of homemade food for sale as well. Proceeds all going toward The Adventure Project's current campaign...clean water. I'm excited about the open house, just not excited about the work involved with preparing my home. Although it is proving to be very good motivation. (on a sidenote: if you'd like to donate anthing to be sold, email me at cassieburback at gmail dot com . crafts or baked goods or anything fun you can think of! thanks!)

*i'm still subbing. :)

*ayla had a high fever and sore throat for 2 days. i tried to take her to urgent care sunday night because she was scary sick. urgent care was closed. ugh. her fever broke and suddenly she was totally fine. like NORMAL by morning. crazy child. but i am afraid she's going to need her tonsils out at some point. she's had strep a couple times and her tonsils are swollen on a regular basis. time will tell.

*we have our trampoline all set up FINALLY. long story short...the set we bought had a 14 ft trampoline and a 12 foot enclosure. made for a super frustrating couple hours trying to figure it out, but finally got things exchanged and taken care of. and already the trampoline has been well worth the money. we DO have the perfect house/back yard for it.

*plans are coming along on the garden. SO excited to get it in!!

*the nook is almost finished. so so close. i have updated pics of it on my FB page if you're on FB. it's ADORABLE. like "Paul, you should build these for a living" adorable. i'm so happy with it and the kids all love it.

*went and visited becky last weekend. laughed hard, talked serious, loved on torrance. it was a a blast and good for my heart. she posted pics on her site if you're interested in pics. :) torrance DID stick her tongue up my nose, so that made for a cute pic. :)

*taxes DONE. whew. haven't heard back from our tax prepared to know the results, but our meeting is over and my organizing is over. it only took me one all-nighter. ugh. i hate taxes.

*baseball AND soccer season has started for brigg. softball starts for lani very soon. we are also in piano. makes for a CRAzy month. insane. but really, i love cheering them on. i love seeing them play on a "team". i'm just not wild about the busy madness.

*camping season is approaching. we can't WAIT. we have plans to trek out to colorado as a family for a week or so. we are skipping south dakota again this year. need to wait one more year for ayla to be ready, i think. so next year. maybe.

*weddings and baptisms and family trips and camping. crazy fun summer ahead. i realize this is just a season, so i plan on enjoying it. living it to it's fullest. soaking it up. so one day, when paul and i are all alone...sitting in the backyard of our tiny house, working in our ginormous garden, we will have something to thinking about and remember fondly as that insanely crazy, fun, wild time of our life that we loved. (but man, that part where it's quiet and we're working in our garden sure sounds good some days.)

*back to painting. and seriously, will somebody tell picasa to fix this situation?? my pictures are much more fun than my words.

happy tuesday....

Live without

Remember that little group I've talked so much about called Water for Christmas?
Ringing a bell?
:)
Well there have been a group of people working hard to start a new 6-month campaign to continue raising money for water in west africa.
And today it begins.
It's called Live without.
And it's pretty simple.
They are asking that we give up something for a month and donate that to water.
This month it's coffee.
Go check it out.
There are calendars to download to track what you have given it.
So awesome!
They also have a Q & A page that might answer some of your questions.
Go read about it.
It's a great concept and a great organization!
Near and dear to my heart. :)

blind spots

Had a little discussion today about "blind spots".
It totally stresses me out to talk about that!
Why, u ask?
Because we all have them. I know I have them. And some of u reading this are even thinking, "oh yeah...Cassie's blind spot is this or that."
I know it's So clear to everyone else but ME.
And that just stresses me out because I don't want to be annoying. Or hurtful.
So discussion of blind spots makes me squirm.
That's all.
Deep thought of the day.
They come fast and furious when I'm home all day cleaning.
Maybe I should avoid that. :)

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wow...what an honor...

i've been subbing.
a lot.
last week i was in a preschool special education classroom all week and this week i have been in a 5th grade classroom.
i really just wanted to jot down a few things before i forget how amazing this has been.

i remember before i had kids.
i wanted to be a workin' woman.
i seriously would have just loved to work my way up the corporate ladder.
be the "boss".
make lots-o-money.
sat through meeting after meeting.
gone out to fancy lunches.
really.
i'm serious.

then i had brigg.
it was crazy.
my plans were to take 8-12 weeks off work and then go back.
i remember week 8 coming and going.
i began to PANIC.
how in the world would i go back to work??
and just like that, it no longer meant anything to me.
i just wanted to stay home with my baby.
none of those things were important to me at all anymore.

staying home just felt right.
it was like i had found my niche.
and i didn't even know i was looking for it...i thought i already had found it in the business world.

fast forward to 2010.
3 babies later.
a couple part-time jobs here and there.
one pretty brief full-time job.
years of baby raising, diaper changing, breastfeeding, and 10000 boxes of goldfish later.
i decided i was ready to get back into the school.
i started to feel it in my bones when brigg and lani were both in school and i would volunteer.
as soon as i walked through those doors, my heart would skip a beat.
children squealing...the smell of crayons and paint.
i started to feel like i was missing it.
so i renewed my license last year and got back on the sub list.

it's been a bit of a rough go with ayla.
i have not worked outside of the home since she arrived.
there has been a looooong adjustment period....like since november.
about 5 months.
there have been days that it's kinda sucked.
mommy guilt.
lots of it.

but all of the sudden, something has clicked.
she's fine.
no tears.
no begging not to go.
excitement to see her friends.
and finally, i feel like i have started to shift my focus off of just getting through the day and getting back to her, to actually enjoying my day.
being present in the moment.

and can i say it has been awesome.
amazing, in fact.
this week, all of the sudden, it just felt right.
like i had again found my niche....when i didn't even know i was looking for it.
5th grade has been great this week.
my parenting style...my teaching style...it just clicks with this age group.
perfect.
it hasn't been easy...just right.
and i have loved it.

and it's not just 5th grade.
it's the school in general.
all of it.
as i walked around the playground today on recess duty, i wanted my computer right there.
i wanted to get all the thoughts rolling around in my head down on paper.
i looked around at the 100 kids or so on the playground and felt overwhelmed.
what an honor.
what a privilege to have a part in building who they are...what they become.
(i dont mean my 3 days subbing, but teaching in general)
what a responsibility.
huge.
sometimes scary.
and teachers just don't get the credit they deserve.
they work their butts off.
the majority of them love these kids like crazy. they put their heart and soul into their jobs.
it has been such an honor to see it first hand this past 6 months.
it's a tough job. but man, the rewards are endless.
is the system perfect...no way.
are the teachers perfect...nope.
but they are working hard and doing everything they can to guide these kids down the right paths.
to provide the life skills for their future.
and i think they are doing an amazing job.

i can only hope that i grow up to be the kind of teacher these women and men are.
(and that i can find a job so i have the opportunity to become a teacher at all!!)

feeling pretty thankful tonight.
very blessed.

(and HOW CUTE is that photo of ayla?? mommy and teacher. how lucky can one girl be?)

More progress on the nook!!

left for the weekend with the 2 youngest. paul worked his butt off. it's really really coming along. we are painting. i'll be sewing the curtains this week (or more likely this weekend...i sub thru wednesday). i am amazed at his abilities. wow....love him. AND the nook! :)

um

busy.
tired.
leaving for the weekend with ayla and lani.
be back sunday.
until then....

wwd

Heading to work again this morning, but wanted everyone to know the $10,000 goal was reached with 2 hrs to spare! And another $1400 was raised before the day closed. With the match, that makes a grand total of $21,400 in ONE DAY. It was awesome to watch unfold. Thanks for listening. Thanks for donating! What an honor to be a part of it all.

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World Water Day 2011!!!!!

I want to start this post by saying i am SO EXCITED to be a small part of this World Water Day campaign with so many other tribe members at The Adventure Project.
Water has played a huge role in my life the past few years.
HUGE.
Hours, days, weeks, months spent thinking, praying, planning, fundraising for this cause.
It is so important to me.
Because truly, there is a solution to this problem.
Water...it's basic. It's necessary. It's available and should be accessible to every human being.
So over the course of the past year, I have started to view the WAY I give to water a little differently.
There are thousands of broken hand pumps throughout India. Actually, one third of all hand pumps installed in the last twenty years in developing countries are now broken. And 4,000 children die every day because of lack of clean drinking water. That makes no sense and is unacceptable.
SO.
Instead of going in a drilling more wells, The Adventure Project is partnering with WaterAid to train and employ handpump mechanics. The mechanics earn an income, bringing themselves out of poverty, and they save lives – turning water back on for thousands of people each year.
How exciting is THAT?!?!
Watch this video. Please.
This is Ram Rati. I have blogged about her in the past month a couple of times. Because truly, I love her. I want to meet her so badly. She is incredible. After viewing some of the photos taken in India, I emailed Becky and said, "I love the women in the photo with the attitude." She instantly wrote back saying that Ram Rati stole her heart as well and The Adventure Project would be featuring her in this campaign.
So awesome.
Watch...

The Adventure Project - World Water Day 2011 from The Adventure Project on Vimeo.

So here's the deal.
The Prem Rawat Foundation has stepped up and agreed to match any donations made TODAY for World Water Day, up to $10,000.
CRAZY EXCITING.
As of right now, there are 125+ bloggers who will be blogging about this cause today.
If each blogger can raise about $100, over $20,000 will be raised in ONE DAY for this cause. I am looking for 10 of you to give just $10.
$10. Simple, right?

I'm serious, my heart is pumping just thinking about Ram Rati and WaterAid and India and the difference this could make for a country.

So I'm hoping you all want to be a part of this.
And just to sweeten the deal, I'm going to send you to my sister's blog....because she is doing a giveaway.
Here's how it will work...
In the giveaway are
4 mini clipboards
1 bottle of Bath and Body Works Dancing Water Hand Soap
and for anyone local or anyone who wants to travel to the QC area,
a free photo shoot.

you get...
1 entry for posting THIS LINK on Facebook
1 entry for every $10 donated

Leave a comment on her blog (or email her if you're not comfortable posting how much you donated on her blog)
In the comment include if you posted the link on Facebook and how much you donated.

Donations can be submitted to qualify for the giveaway until 12am EST and she will draw a winner and post on her blog on Wednesday.

So first go HERE and donate.

CLICK HERE to go to her blog and enter

HOW FUN IS THAT?!?
Go HERE to check out her photography blog if you might be interested in the photo shoot.

i am so excited to be part of this!!

i really really think you want to be, too.
watch this video and then go sign up!! (i know...i'm still not shutting up.)
amazing.

typeTAP: Water Revolution from The Adventure Project on Vimeo.

c'mon...just 15 more

have i mentioned that i love THE ADVENTURE PROJECT??
that i have the utmost respect for the women who are running this organization?
that i am in LOVE with their new perspective on how to give??
oh, i have?
sorry...it's worth revisiting.
because i believe so deeply in this organization and the people running it.
they know what they're doing.
and they are amazing.
they recently launched a blogger-type campaign.
the goal is to raise $10,000 in one day...which happens to be WORLD WATER DAY.
in 24 hours they found 50 bloggers willing to dedicate their blog to this cause on TUESDAY (which is world water day). they decided to double down and try to find 100 bloggers instead.
they are almost there. they only need 15 more bloggers.
and some great news came in...they found someone to partner with them and MATCH the $10,000 goal.
that is HUGE.
but i believe they need all 100 blogs to give it their all. (and more would be even better!)
so i encourage you to go read about the project and sign-up. i really think you want to be a part of this.
it's going to be awesome.
you can read about typeTAP HERE and sign up.
you can read a little more HERE at jody's blog. there are some great links there. i would urge you to read more about this project. you will fall in LOVE with these mechanics and their stories.
i hope you join us. it's one day. one blog post. and an opportunity to be a part of big big change around the world.
thanks for continuing to listen to me. i know i get get annoying. but i truly, from the depths of my soul, believe in this. truly.

some cuties...

 

 

 

 

Home

we made it home.
whew!
countless countless photos to sort through.
lots of memories this week.
spring training baseball, beaches, sharks teeth, parasailing, laughter, family, good good times.
but really, are you supposed to be this tired after doing a whole lot of this...

???
well i am.
exhausted.
we stopped at the store on the way home.
milk and bread for the kids.
fruits and veggies for me.
lots of fruits and veggies.
that all i'm going to be able to eat for WEEKS to make up for this past week.
but so so so worth it. :)

kids are in bed.
i'm making a cup of hot tea and heading there myself.
with my husband, my computer and our DVR.
so romantic.

and oh my goodness...my own bed feels like a dream.

much much more to come on our trip to florida.....
consider yourself warned.

3 mermaids

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made it...

To the beach. Shark tooth hunting.

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