What a year it’s been. When I was showering yesterday preparing for the celebration at the Klipschs, I nearly broke down. Just too much to be thankful for, really. New kids, “old” kids, husband, family, friends, food, clean water. So, so much. It feels sometimes silly to have a day devoted to giving thanks, right? But sometimes it’s exactly what we need to remind ourselves that we weren’t meant to live this life on our own. When I looked around the tables last night at dinner I was so thrilled to be living my life. With the people who have come alongside me and inspired me, loved me and challenged me.

So, so thankful to this God who gave it all to me. So, so inspired to do something with my blessings.

But really, I am thankful for these people every day.

Aunt Kait and all of her nephews (and single niece…until baby girl Klipsch comes home that is).

Dailah and hotflawedmama feeding my nephew, Cassius.

Bini was so precious with his cousin, Cash.

Kait, Dailah, Cash and Aunt Emily (aka “Cash’s mommy”)

And this is us. Arguably the most thankful family this year.

Our yearly tradition…the Y’s Turkey Trot. I LOVE this tradition. Clearly I’m pretty passionate about fitness, but I like this tradition because (usually) we involve the kids in fitness too. Childhood obesity is a serious problem, and I think the idea of getting up early as a family to get a bit of exercise in before all of the mass food consumption is a delightful idea.

This year, however, the kids and hotflawedmama decided to sit out and cheer on daddy. We didn’t want to make Bini feel bad about not being able to walk/run with us and he’s a little bitter when he has to be in a stroller. Next year you’ll see the whole family at the 1 mile fun run!

Zach, on the other hand, does the 5 miler. I’m going to just tell you this man inspires me. In many ways, but definitely in this. I’d rather get my fingernails plucked off one by one than to run 5 miles in a herd of people. To each his own, my man looked pretty darn good (here with his sister, Kait).

The kids and hotflawedmama positioned ourselves right next to the bagels and hot cocoa inside.

I took the kids to the finish line when I knew Zach and Kait would be getting close to finishing so they could cheer them on. The kids were so excited about that possibility.

And were so proud of their daddy when he finished.

Zach and Kait, truly some of the most beautiful people in the world.

Then brother Frank joined the photog session and increased the beauty.

Then off to the food!!!

Remember this post? Was your curiosity peaked? I hope so!

Today’s the day. Go over to Jody’s blog right now and hear more about what she’s got cooking in Colorado. It’s kind of a big deal.

So now you have multiple ways to change the way your family sees Christmas. Buy water and buy coal.

If you’re like me and haven’t even begun to think about Christmas shopping yet, go here and become part of the tribe. I am, and so should you be.

On Saturday morning I got a message from Jared asking if we were interested in tickets to the Holiday Pops concert (Jared works for the Quad City Symphony, an amazing, vital, aspect of our community). We always celebrate with the boys when their report cards come back if the teachers comment on their hard work and if it’s clear they are doing their very best in school. We don’t actually celebrate grades, but we do praise effort and character. All 3 boys received top props for those categories so a date night was promised.

These free tickets held much promise because 1) they were free and 2) all 3 boys love music. So it was decided, I would take our boys to celebrate their first semester.

They were so excited. Tomas was even more excited once we got him all gussied up.

They were so excited they were smothering me with kisses (especially when I begged for them).

Just before we left an infomercial caught Zach’s eye. And as I turned around I noticed the entire family was equally impressed.

We got to the concert a bit late but this is what we saw when we first got to our seats.

It was beautiful! At one point Tomas grabbed my arm and said, “Mommy I want to cry! The music is just so beautiful!” I seriously love how open and in touch that kid is with his emotions. So many things move him, I can relate to this in an invaluable way.

Tariku noticed there were people on the ground able to eat (he is notorious for noticing all things food related). He was still incredibly irresistible.

They sat really well through an hour and a half so I decided to spoil them with a little cookies and cream Whiteys, despite it being 9pm (1 and a half hours past bedtime!).

I LOVE date nights. Having them for so much time away from everyone else reminds me why I love each one so much. On the car rides we discussed topics as far reaching as: girls, friends, school, Jesus, God, Christmas, Ethiopia and farts.

Tomas told me some things he remembers about Ethiopia.

Tariku told me a story he remembered that I hadn’t heard before.

Trysten took all of that in and, as I tucked him in, said he was so thankful his brothers were here-in our family.

Couldn’t agree more…about all of them.

Love my “bigs”!

I love Adventure. Do you?

More to come tomorrow.

But for now, become a follower of Jody’s blog. You won’t want to miss what she’s got cooking over there.

So Shonda asked for more information on the hair products I mentioned here. Wen is a great product. I’ve been using it for months. I used to have super greasy hair, as in if I took a shower in the morning, by nightfall my hair would be greasy. But I started using Wen and that changed…not right at first. After a few weeks I started noticing I could space out my hair washings (this was even after working out…I know, ewwww). But Wen isn’t a shampoo, at least not in the traditional sense, I think that’s why it works so well.

There have been studies that prove the more we shampoo our hair, the more our hair needs to be shampooed. It’s a vicious, vicious cycle. So I wanted to stop it, and try to keep my hair as healthy as possible as well.

All this said, Cassie just sent me this link and I’m going to try it! Cassie swears by it and since I’ve seen her recently I can attest to the fact that her hair looks great, I think I’ll love it. It’s super cheap, appears to be super easy and super eco-friendly.

Who’s in with me? Any of you want to try the “no poo method”?

So any parent of a young child knows those initials. “DS”. My kids have been asking for one since they first caught sight the little devil gaming systems. But Zach and I talked about it and made a decision.

They’d have to save for one.

We chose this for many reasons. Probably the first being that we have 5 kids and 1 income. The sheer logistics of buying 5 DS’s on one income does not make sense.

Then there is the little issue that we don’t like the idea of our kids hiding behind gaming systems when life is playing out beautifully and wonderfully around them.

The third reason is because we are pretty serious about teaching our kids about money. Saving, giving, spending, all of that. Zach and I were crap less than stellar about all of that until just a few years ago.

We also wanted the kids to be really invested in it. We lose stuff all the time around here. We break stuff all the time around here. We thought that if we had the kids buy it with their own money, they will be more careful with it.

So that was about a year ago that we announced to the kids that they’d have to buy their own DS. Trysten was serious about it right away. Literally, I think the hour after we made this little announcement Trysten came into my room with $2 he had from the tooth fairy. That birthday he saved the $30 Wal Mart gift card he received from his aunt Kara to be spent on his DS.

A year later and Trysten had saved $165 (counting the gift card). He cleaned cars for money, saved every dollar of his teeth money, looked in the couches, flashed his eyelashes at his grandparents, etc. Pretty impressive.

So on Tuesday we took Trysten to buy his very own DS. He was so excited.

When we got to the DS case we noticed he could have the regular DS or we could give him a few more dollars and he could get the DSi (xl) that came with a game. So we looked at him, told him how proud we were of him and told him he could have the big one and we’d spot him the last few dollars. He turned to me and said, “Thank you for making my dreams come true.” Sniff, sniff.

We had him ask the woman for help, had him pay for it, everything. To drive the point home that he was doing this, it was his. And then he wanted to call his Grandma Connie to thank her for giving him some of the money.

On our way out Trysten says to Zach, “You know what I love more than the DS? You guys.”

Seriously

So I’m really proud of him. He’s getting to that age where half the time he acts too cool, sometimes he’s super selfish, he’s starting to become a young man. But he’s still my firstborn. The oldest. It’s very hard to treat him like a young man when he’ll always be my baby.

Baby or young man, either way, I love him more than can possibly be explained.

Oh, and if you’re keeping track. The kid with the next closest amount is Dailah, with a staggering $17. Tariku has about $2 (he likes to lose his money and/or spend it on gum). Tomas is up to $5 because he keeps pulling out his own teeth. Binyam has nothing because, well, he drops it within a few minutes of receiving any and forgets to tell me until the next day…and then he can’t remember where he dropped it. Though they all seem a bit more motivated now after seeing the DS live and in the flesh…and in the hands of a sibling.

After this post I got emails and comments asking for advice or help (sure!) in doing a Wine to Water event other places around the country. I took a few days to decompress to make sure I had clarity on the night so I’d be better suited to give you tips, or what have you. If you have any other specific questions always feel free to email me (tesileagh@gmail.com). Would love to help, I’m all about doing whatever we can to make a huge dent in the water crisis.

I need to first say this: if anyone got any impression from my post that I did the whole event on my own, that was my mistake. My first bit of advice for any kind of event is to gather a little team around you. My team consisted of people who did lots of big and little things (some I mentioned, some I did not) to people who did some little things (they were mostly not mentioned-only because the list was too long!). So that’s the first tip. My team consisted of family who I could ask to do all the super shitty boring stuff to really good friends who wouldn’t make me ask but just did and/or offered. There was also a handful of people who are just passionate about water and wanted to make it a really successful event, so those counted too. So that’s number one, gather your team.

Number two was space for us. Last year when Leslie and I sat down to hash out the event we knew what we wanted for space. We didn’t want a hotel or anything that was going to charge us for renting the place and probably for having their food/drink. We wanted to celebrate the local, if you’ll remember. And we both have eclectic tastes. We like things that look like they’ve been through hell and back a little rustic. When we were thinking of empty spaces in the downtown Davenport area I thought of the space we now use. It is owned by my old boss. I asked, and he said we could have it as long as we left it clean. So that was it, space. We wanted cheap and atmosphere, we got them both in spades. This brings me to…

Number three would be take advantage of who you know. My husband works with a printer through his job. Last year I decided to just ask this printer if he would print off our programs for a good rate…he did it for free. I pitched the idea, might have even cried a bit, and he went for it. This year I asked again and he said he was in for as long as I hold the event. I work for the Y, as does most of my in-law family, and so I “used” that connection to reserve tables and chairs free of charge for the event. I asked everyone I knew to bring Christmas trees, tablecloths and white Christmas lights. Oh, and did I mention extension cords? We borrowed mostly everything. Last year I did end up buying some centerpieces from craft stores knowing this would be an annual thing. This year I just used those centerpieces again and voila! We also got 4 dinners donated by one of our favorite local restaurants which ended up bringing in over $2000. If you learn nothing from this post, learn this, don’t be afraid to ask! Most people want to help when they hear what you’re doing, but asking can be scary. Just do it (or have your friends do it for you ;)).

Number four (though I just realized these are probably in no particular order necessarily) would be get the event funded. Overall, the event cost around $1000 to put on. Most of that money is used for the purchase of the local wine (more expensive than say, Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw, but it’s worth it to support a local winery in my mind!). So how I fund the event…I send out an email to my family and friends asking them to become a “Sponsor”, I think is how I phrase it. They get to be that simply by donating $100 towards the cost of the party (they write the check to me). I have friends/family who donate more than that, and Zach and myself add more than that, but that’s how I fund the party. This part, I hate. It’s the worst part, asking for money. But it’s a necessary evil. I wanted every cent that we raised the night of to go towards water, that’s how you do it…get the party paid for. You want to be a host of an event, you have to do the shit work too, and that definitely counts as such.

Other than that, the devil is in the details. That’s the thing about hosting, the details. Most of these details only you will know, they can’t possibly be divided out amongst people. It’s things like making sure the elevator is going to the third floor the night of (I almost forgot that, and only realized it about 4 hours before the event. I was literally calling around town frantically…and then I had to go change my shorts. It was touch and go for awhile). Things also like getting garbage and recycling things from the local center,  calling the fire station and letting them know there might be a call from the 3rd floor space and to not treat it as a prank, there really is someone up there right now! So many things like that. Stuff no one probably notices, but would notice if it weren’t there. Millions of little things to think about, but after you do it once it’s easier the second time, I promise!

Truth be told, I think the first thing you need is a passion for it. Planning the event is not actually a whole lot of fun if I’m being quite honest. But I hate that there is a water crisis. I hate hearing some of the stories my boys tell me that deal directly with water. So it’s all about perspective. It’s so worth it in the end. To see the community give to something like this, it’s all worth it. That’s why I do it, that’s why the people who help me do it. It’s always for the water. If you’re passionate about water (or anything else, really) this can work, I can promise that. Because it’s not about me, it’s never about me. It’s about water and God. God and water. Bringing water to people who don’t have it so they might be able to see God for the very first time as well. Simple equations.

So just do it. And I’m serious about helping in whatever capacity I can from my small little iMac in Iowa. 🙂

He’s free, he’s free! Binyam has no more casts. This is a very big deal, because he’s had them too much already in his very short life.

I need to tell you this. I’m a pretty happy person, very little can get me down. But no sun shines brighter than the one that shines on Binyam. He has carried himself throughout the last months in a way I could never have hoped for. There is a light that shines in this one’s inside that beams to his outside. I mean, seriously, look at him before.

I could tell he was a little nervous. With good reason, obviously, as the last cast removal was pretty intense. Intensity with his daddy.

Mmmk maybe we were all a bit nervous.

Our first sight of those precious, precious feet.

Socks on for the first time in 2 months! And we’re over the moon about it.

Have I mentioned how much I love him? And isn’t it obvious?

When we got home we decided a good soak on his feet was long overdue. We knew this because in the short time it took to get home in the car, there was a good pile of dead skin on his seat. 2 months of that just hanging on him, can you imagine how badly that itched?

Taking the strips off and scrubbing (gently) the layers of dead skin off his tiny little legs.

Binyam wanted a little trip to show aunts Kara and Lindsey and uncle Marcus his “new, little feet”. Dailah took advantage of her nearness to baby Adley and cuddled with her for many, many minutes.

A close up of the cleaner feet and scars. They still turn in a bit but he was fitted today for special shoes. The doctor described them as “tight shoes that look like they’re on the wrong feet”. (Quick 30 Rock reference, “I just learned about ‘air quotes'”). Either way, the doctor seemed quite pleased with the results!

No video yet, he is still walking gingerly on his feet and likes to hold on to his mama and his Dailah’s hands. I’m not one to turn him down.

Stay tuned for the live video coverage on his tremendous beauty and supernatural talents.

I’m actually not even sure how to start this post. I started crying just thinking about the whole thing and then Zach looked at me funny because he’s had one eye on my sanity for the last few weeks.

But the event was last night. And it was amazing. In my opinion, it was actually better than last year in many ways. And more successful in some ways.

In the end though, we raised just a hair over $10,000.

This is amazing to me.

$10,000

I wasn’t really expecting that because it’s been a bit of a rebuilding season for Water for Christmas. Plus, I never have any real idea what to expect with these kinds of parties.

But it surpassed even my pretty great imagination.

I think one of the things I was happiest about was the different people from last year. There were a lot of people hearing about the water crisis for the first time. The movement is heading east, and the Quad Cities is abuzz with what they heard last night. This is really exciting to me. The more people that hear about it, the more that can be done. It really feels like it’s just beginning a bit in the community I live and work in.

Can I just tell you that God is good? Ok, because He is. When I felt a little overwhelmed or stressed or like maybe, just maybe, I might delve into the wine at noon, He was there. And He constantly reminded me why I was doing this. To bring Glory to Him, to do His job down here. Be the place where heaven and earth collide. And truly, I think anyone who was there last night saw a little bit of heaven in a nearly empty space in Davenport. This community has heart, and it has soul, and despite what a lot of people think about Iowa. We are super cool. And this tiny state, just gave a nation in Africa 2 wells. Which is beyond words cool.

But I know you guys just come for the pictures. So first with the set up. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that to make this space what it is, it takes nothing short of 15 hours of set up on my part and fairly close to that to the people who love me beyond words. Family and friends were setting up with me from about 9am-5pm on Friday. Then some came back on Saturday and set up for another hour or two before the event.

The space is completely bare. No lighting (the only outlets are in the hall), nothing. So to make it have an atmosphere, we bring the atmosphere with us. In this case, by “atmosphere” I mean “almost 50 extension cords”. Thus, me and my favorite little brother extension cord-ing the hell out of the place.

And these two. Well, Leslie set up all the deserts and wine. And gave me emotional support and joy when I needed it. And set up all day Friday. Chrissy was, as she puts it (and properly so) my assistant. She did whatever I asked of her, and more. With a sinus infection. And strep throat. She put the backs on Africas, she set up and tore down and put thousands of pins in the wall. I’ve told you you need a friend like Chrissy and I’ll say it again. She’s the friend I don’t deserve, she’s the friend God knew I needed. She.is.a gift.

Chrissy also fed the kids. Who sat for hours patiently as their moms ignored them and strung Christmas lights and filled pitchers and laughed and cried. We have some amazing kids, I don’t mind saying it.

I somehow don’t have any pictures of my parents or my sister setting up, probably because they were constantly busy or behind trees or windows or dessert tables but amazing people. So amazing.

I still don’t really have the words for last night. So I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

We auctioned Africas again this year. I think they actually turned out better than last year in many ways. I also decided to auction off other pieces of art this year and was so happy about that decision.

One of my favorites, “When Did You See Thirsty?”

My beloved and me.

Marcus and Lindsey in front of another of my favorites.

Some more Africas. These beautiful backs of heads were actually friends from outside of Chicago. One of them is a fellow Holt Ethiopian adoptive mommy. She brought 3 of her friends to the party, stayed out at camp and was, in general, amazing. I love getting to meet people I had only known through the interwebs.

Oh, here they are again. Talking in front of the merchandise table.

And then here at the end of the night. With the Africa Rebekah won.

Then there was Jess who came all the way from Wisconsin. I was supposed to finally meet her a few weekends ago but it didn’t pan out. So surreal when she stepped out of the blog and into the party. She was great, and beautiful, I only wish I would’ve been able to talk with her more!

The media came, which is always an interesting experience. I didn’t actually see what part they aired but I know they interviewed me.

And a really great guy by the name of Nicholas Martinez. A few of Zach’s counselors/staff helped with the tables and bid on some high priced stuff. In case you didn’t know, the people from Camp Abe Lincoln are second to none. He’s one of them.

The space, it’s perfect. So many more comments this year on how it feels like something from the east coast. It really does. It feels very underground, very 1920s, very secret. I love it.

The wine and dessert tables where Becky and Will stood (freezing) the entire night. Becky is beautiful (which we hate) and generous and kind and terrific (which we love). I didn’t get a picture of her last night but she seriously looked like a model (which, again, if you’re keeping track, we hate). 🙂

The glasses, one of my favorite parts of the party. I hate garbage, I like reusable, recyclable. Last night’s party is always about combining many different things I love. Local (only local wine, dessert, entertainment, mostly local artists, etc), global (water), environment (as much as humanly possible with a party), etc. You can do it all, that’s the message of last night. You can have passions that extend beyond one thing, you can make them work if you want (which I do). So when you come into Wine to Water you pick a glass. You can fill it with wine or water, but you’ll look classy regardless. This year a local church donated the glasses for our use. See, heart, this community has it in spades.

The BE Project, who was wonderful! Though I’m a bit partial to the 7 foot man there, he is the husband of one of my besties.

I gave a short presentation on water. Why it’s important. Who Water for Christmas is, etc. Undoubtedly my least favorite part of the night.

And the people. Over 200 people. Did you read that? Over 200. That’s more than last year for sure. I actually didn’t know everyone there.  This I liked, they were here for other friends or just to hear about water. Which I really like. (These people I actually do know). 🙂

But none of it would have been possible without “my people”. These people who told everyone they knew. Who begged, bribed and pleaded to get people in the door. Who stood by the africa bid sheets and bid people higher (sneaky little devils), who encouraged the Woodfire Grill live auction higher. Who were everything you could want in people. Who are a few reasons I know God exists. Because there’s just no way people this amazing just sprung into life with hearts this big and joy to match.

My family. Mere hours before this photo we were in sweats putting the final touches on the space. Mere hours before this I was on my knees praying and praising that I have family who isn’t afraid of a little sweat and blood. That I have people like this, not only willing to help with the fun stuff (setting up) but the crappy stuff (tearing it all down). That’s them. And they are beautiful.

And these two, who got a babysitter for my little 3 week old niece. Because they love me (and yes, we hate Lindsey for looking this good after birthing too, please keep up).

Of course my Chrissy (who also did my hair that night, she is a jack of all trades).

I was going to have another picture taken, but then remembered that this is what I look like with Chrissy and Ann. I like capturing that business.

And then this guy. Not only was he the best looking man there (that is no exaggeration) but he is the very best man, period. He loves me, in the “you guys are really gross because you’re so cute” kind of way. He did all of the technological things, all of the marketing stuff and, probably most importantly, was my support team. While the rest of the community got Tesi-with-makeup-hair-done-dress-and-heels, he came home to someone who sprinted into her matching gray sweatpants and proceeded to snarf down Cheetoes and chocolate chip cookies. But he still looked at me the way he did a few hours before. If I haven’t mentioned it here before, he makes my heart flutter this one. The perfect example, the perfect reason to believe in God. There couldn’t have been a better person to compliment me throughout life. Especially one who looks so good in pastel green pants and a bow tie.  Love you, babe.