Today gave new meaning to snow day. Last night it sleeted pretty much all night so this morning Trysten’s school was cancelled. By 9am we were trying to figure out how to keep him entertained. He, like his mom, is not very good at “just hanging out” as we always think of a hundred things that could be done or would be more fun.

We tried this: Daddy and Tariku playing guitars and singing songs.

And taking funny pictures of how big Abe is.

So after 20 minutes of telling him he couldn’t play on the computer or go to the Y 42 times, we decided we were going sledding!

We didn’t realize originally that the ice made it slippery to walk through the snow, especially for hotflawedmama who has no snow boots, just generic Uggs that aren’t exactly waterproof. But alas, I sucked it up and away we went. Told the boys to follow daddy’s footprints (as it was working for me).

Daddy and Doozie took one sled.

The boys and mommy in the other.

Then the boys went down together (dogs following closely behind).

And Doozie wanted mommy to hang with her.

Tariku was LOVING going down by himself. Trysten, like his mommy, is always a bit more hesitant. Tariku was this excited each time.

Then, after loooong naps (Trysten and Dailah and mommy aren’t feeling the best) we made some made-from-scratch Chocolate Chip Cookies. Here are the kids excited about the possibilities.

And then the making of it, the kids and mommy’s behind…

The best part…the batter. MMMM…

So it’s here. The last Friday before Christmas (how crazy is that?)

The total for WFC as of Wednesday is $40,000. That’s 8 wells. I can’t even believe it myself. Jody said a few weeks ago that we could get to $50,000. I called her crazy and told her to not get her hopes up. Let’s prove me wrong.

I think that’s easily doable now. WIth all the various things going on around the country/world raising money for Water for Christmas I now think what was impossible a few weeks ago possible. Perhaps even on the low side. That is so exciting.

God’s goodness is almost too much to take sometimes, it really is. PLEASE partner with us on this last of $10 Fridays before Christmas. Go and donate. It’s nothing to you and EVERYTHING to someone else.

Thank you, from the deepest part of my heart, thank you.

I had hesitated blogging about tonight. Tonight was a big night for me/Water for Christmas/Dancing for Water and I didn’t want to jinx it by blogging about it.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that JB Young Intermediate School has been featured the last couple of days. Of course there is a reason…they are an amazing school that is blessed with creative, loving, generous and fantastic teachers and administrators (full disclosure: the associate principal is my brother-in-law, Jake).

After Jake danced for water he emailed everyone he knew (we ask everyone who dances to do this) and the good people at his school loved the idea. One particular teacher, Jessie, got REALLY excited. Told all of her kids who in turn got REALLY excited. So it was decided…the school would hold a dance. A dance for water.

I can’t really put into words what tonight meant to me. It sounds a bit silly, perhaps, that I would be that excited about a junior high dance. But it really was my “dream” for Water for Christmas coming to fruition. I want to build wells, of course, but I also want people to first KNOW about what’s going on a world away. REALIZE that people go without such a basic necessity or at the very least go to great lengths to get it.

Particularly people who the rest of the world has written off as not capable of enacting change. Young people, people without “resources”. People who don’t even know where to start in the “saving the world” idea or feel overwhelmed at the amount of things that need saving.

My point in dancing is to show that EVERYONE can do SOMETHING. Those kids won’t be able to build a well today but who knows what they’ll be able to do tomorrow. After learning they can be agents of change the sky truly is the limit for them. That is a pretty powerful thing to equip them with. All with water. Make a change locally as well as not-so worldly. I like killing two birds with one dancing stone.

And the kids got it. Oh did they ever! Since Jessie (the aforementioned sweet teacher) caught the bug the students have researched charity: water, talked about water, wrote about water and heard about water. Then tonight 200 kids showed up. Junior high students filled with joy, hope, love and the belief that they could make a difference by dancing.

They did. They not only brought in hundreds of dollars (total amount to be determined tomorrow), but they renewed my hope and admiration in that age group. They were truly an inspiration to me tonight and I hope they got half as much out of it as I did.

For a school that our community has all but written off, they were the ones to open their hearts and minds and let this story of their brothers and sisters in Africa trickle in. And I will be forever changed by it.

On to pictures. Some of the things the kids/teachers put together to raise money:

A snack table that included cupcakes, bottled waters relabeled by student drawings and various other goodies all for sale for $1.

Sheila set up a face painting stand. $1 gets the coolest face paint I’ve seen!

These administrators volunteered to get pies thrown in their faces for $1. Did I tell you they were amazing?

One teacher brought his Guitar Hero and kids could play for $1.

These teachers signed up to get egged…for $1.

Kids made bracelets that they sold for $1. If a kid bought one, they were allowed to wear hoods during the day. Genious.

More random ones: The doors opening at 4pm sharp. Excited kids.

Leslie and myself eager to get the party started.

The dance started on the bleachers…perhaps that’s how they do it now?

Jake getting the party started by just throwing down some sweet moves.

Jake talking to reporters. Yay!

I was seriously jealous of their moves.

Jake entwined in an official dance off.

They showed the videos of Jake, Sheila and the other students.

There were small dancers too (wearing the shirts some of the students made and sold, all proceeds going to WFC!)

And then Morgan (shown here teaching Leslie the “Superman” move). She was most enthused about water. She sold cupcakes like it was truly her business after which she would comment to the buyer “Thanks for saving Africa!” or something similar. Loved her spirit, loved her enthusiasm, loved this picture.

Hope your night filled you with as much goodness as mine did me!

“Water is sometimes sharp and sometimes strong, sometimes acid and sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet and sometimes thick or thin, sometimes it is seen bringing hurt or pestilence, sometime health-giving, sometimes poisonous. It suffers change into as many natures as are the different places through which it passes. And as the mirror changes with the colour of its subject, so it alters with the nature of the place, becoming noisome, laxative, astringent, sulfurous, salty, incarnadined, mournful, raging, angry, red, yellow, green, black, blue, greasy, fat or slim. Sometimes it starts a conflagration, sometimes it extinguishes one; is warm and is cold, carries away or sets down, hollows out or builds up, tears or establishes, fills or empties, raises itself or burrows down, speeds or is still; is the cause at times of life or death, or increase or privation, nourishes at times and at others does the contrary; at times has a tang, at times is without savor, sometimes submerging the valleys with great floods. In time and with water, everything changes.”
—Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci pretty much said it all, but we have voices, too. JB Young students got behind the cause. They danced for water to help raise money to build wells in Western Africa to stop people from dying because they only have dirty water. Kids made videos and wrote blogs. On December 18, 2008, the 8th Grade Class at JB Young is hosting a dance to help raise money for this charity and have a little fun at the same time. We’re raising money by throwing eggs and pies at teachers who have volunteered for this honor @ $1.00 a pop, and, of course, dancing to help raise money. We’re selling Dance for Water tee-shirts and decorated water bottles to raise money for this very worthwhile cause. Many students and teachers have donated money and time to support this cause. If you can, please donate any spare change or extra dollars to help the children of Africa.

–Thomas Newberry

Water. Dance. Blogs. School. Passion. It’s not often that these words come together, but when they do, magic happens. One drop of water—Ms. Bishop showing the Dancing for Water website to her social studies classes—quickly became a flood of energy and creativity. Kids watched the videos of Associate Principal Mr. Klipsch and art teacher Ms. Mesick DANCING for water, and their ideas immediately began to fall in a torrential clamor that ended only when Ms. Bishop began working with students and the Klipsch family to transform their ideas into reality.

We are blessed with the fire of creativity and activism, kids who care, and adults who will go the distance for kids to make learning and growing both fun and relevant.

-—Ms. Searle

We are dancing for water because we think people and kids in third world countries should have clean water. The children in the third world counties are dying because they do not have clean water. They have to walk up to 3 hours to get clean water. We think it’s not fair that we have more water than we need while the people in Africa struggle hard to get just enough water to stay alive. We get to take showers and drink clean water without doing anything except turn on a faucet. The people in Africa have to walk to lakes and rivers to find water that is so dirty we wouldn’t even think about drinking it. They drink water that has been used for human waste. We are dancing for water because we think the people in Africa deserve what we have. Please give what you can so people in Africa can get clean water for their families.

–Kevi’Ahnna Wilmington, Nicole Green, Shayla Gales, Vera Clay, Shawnaya Thorpe, Sheniquia Wilson, Sierra Stokes, and Taylor Greenwood

Having water in the United States is like having air, we take water for granted. But in most of the world, water is a precious resource that not many people can afford. Woman and children in parts of Africa travel three hours to get water that is not even safe to drink. Forty-five hundred children die each day because they are forced to drink polluted water. On this planet, 1.1 billion people do not have clean water. How can we help? Just 10 billion dollars would solve this problem. I KNOW THAT SEEMS LIKE A LOT, but with about 6,740,422,806 people on this planet, just one dollar can go a long way. Every last penny goes toward the building of a well in a community that doesn’t have one. To donate to this noble cause, go to http://www.charitywater.org/donate.

Remember, 1.1 billion people are waiting. Help them live another day.

-—Meghan Essary

“Those who randomly dance are thought to be insane by those who can’t hear the music.” —Angela Monet

One billion people on this Earth do not have clean drinking water. Many people die daily because the water is not safe. Imagine your nieces, nephews, brothers, and sisters traveling for hours to get water that has to last them weeks—water that is not clean or clear—dirty water that will ultimately make them sick. This is what about one billion people on our planet do daily.

Those of us who have clean water take it for granted, so as a school, we’ve decided to help. The eighth grade students are dancing for water, putting videos on a website to raise money for clean, safe drinking water in places around the world that don’t have any.

“Thousands have lived without love, but not one without water.” —W.H. Auden
–Thoughts from Josie Mumm, JB Young, Davenport, IA

Imagine the dirtiest water in the world. How would you like to drink that? Wouldn’t you like to drink clean, clear water, or would you like to drink water with feces and dirt and lord knows what else? Just imagine your kids, siblings, and loved ones drinking that contaminated water. Contaminated water is normal in Africa. Dancing for Water (part of the Water for Christmas movement) is a charity that gives 100% of the money it raises to get clean water to the people in Africa who need it most. Did you know that one in six people on this Earth do not have clean drinking water? How would you like to be that one person who doesn’t have clean water? This holiday season, think about someone else—and please donate to Dancing for Water. Give Water this Christmas.
–Jessica Pearson and Shelby Woolison

People all over the world are dying just because they don’t have clean water. Little kids around age three walk over three miles by themselves just to get dirty water. They have to use that dirty water for everything—washing, drinking, and eliminating human waste. We are lucky to have clean water. Let’s help the people in Africa with money for wells that will produce clean water.
–Brittany Hazelwood

Stay tuned for more dances and thoughts by JB Young students TOMORROW!!!!

It’s been a weird couple of days. Funktastic am I. So…pictures from the weekend instead.

Tariku’s first chance at meeting Santa…So we walk in the door and Santa is stage left. Before all of us get through the door Tariku runs and JUMPS into Santa’s arms. Then remained there for a good 5 minutes. I think he likes the idea of a random, bearded, slightly creepy stranger bringing him gifts.

Look at how happy they both are!

Pretty happy here too.

And no longer happy. She could’ve never seen the man again and been just fine.

The kids made necklaces. Here is the eldest’s.

Tried to get one of all 3, this is as close as I could get.

How the Dutchess likes to get from point A to point B.

They also made cookies. She’s cute even when she’s eating.

They also got gifts. All of them excited. Even my almost 6-year-old. Not quite too cool for gifts. Which I love.

That’s how much the Water for Christmas silent auction on Sunday brought in. The girls did a really great job, worked hard and it was worth it (obviously).

3 wells in one night. Those are some generous Midwesterners!

That brings the total of Water for Christmas to $35,000.

Let me say that again, $35,000. That’s crazy great.

We all know Christmas is just a week away. That means this thing isn’t done. And, let’s be honest, it won’t be done after Christmas for me (and hopefully not for you!)

So keep going. It’s still not enough, there are still too many people without access to clean water. So let’s do this!

Yipppeee!!!!! Let it rain, rain, rain!

Inspiration was behind this video so I must thank Tesi for telling me about Water for Christmas. I also want to thank a very dear friend Jessica and her family for helping us out. Both Jessica and I can understand the sheer devastation that unclean water can do. In the spring of 1990 both of our homes where destroyed by flood when duck creek rose over it’s banks. The two mile radius around us was a wasteland filled with sewage and debris. That summer we lived in tents, campers, and anywhere our parents could find us shelter until they found new homes. While this can in no way compare to what is happening in underdeveloped parts of the world it did give us a glimpse. We want to make sure everyone has clean water.

Please use your imagination while watching our video. At this time technology and myself have not caught up with each other. So close your eyes and see balloons streaming, little girls laughing, disco balls bouncing, and a lot of dancing. Hopefully we can inspire other’s to help us along the way. So in the spirit of Christmas we present to you Bouncing Around the Room.

hotflawedmama note: Lynn is awesome. She has quickly become another of my favorites with her passion for fitness, her love of local food and her terrific sense of humor. She tried oh so hard to get the dance her family and friends did on video and then uploaded to the internet alas, no dice. I look forward to more from her though and so should you!

As a future nurse and the president of an organization that works with kids in Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo I figured that dancing for developing nations who need clean water would be a good idea. I also figured that after two finals and a big breakfast at 10:30 pm some structured procrastination would do my mind, and future finals, some good. Thus began our pursuit of choreography to a song by M.I.A. , which in turn lead to a phenomenal night of no studying with the roommates, a great little music video, as well as water for Christmas for those who really need it. I love the idea of dancing, using ones creativity to benefit others, including those watching this video (you get to see some crazy good moves), those who made the video (we get bundles of fun during finals week) and those who need water….

with that said, enjoy some premium love and donate lots of money and hugs..or we will take yo monay. Cha-ching.

Morgan

You all stepped it up once again. You no longer surprise me with your generosity, love and giving spirit. I suppose that’s why I love you all, each and every one of you.

4 wells for Liberia. $20,000. I don’t care what kind of economy we’re in right now you all are proving that money in our accounts; checking, savings, 401ks, etc, does not dictate how much or why we should give.

We do it anyway, don’t we? Because this can be done. Clean water is yummy and necessary. And it’s going to be available to hundreds, thousands of Liberians.

Good work, great work in fact.

Thank you for being giving rock stars. You inspire me, you really do.