I am totally that person. The one who had an entire refrigerator covered with Christmas cards from loved ones and I have never sent one out. Ever. This year I had some seriously great intentions. Our family is feeling pretty settled, I had a great idea for the exact picture and the exact phrasing. And then I remembered that can get pretty expensive. I remembered I’d rather buy water or buy a stove with the money I was going to spend and so that’s what I did.

The good news is that you’re all (kind of) getting a card anyway! And by that I mean, here is what our letter would have said.

But be assured, dear readers, that I think of you often. I pray for you. I send copious amounts of love and well wishes to you each and every day. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart for supporting and loving our family in 2011. To another amazing year!

*Note: This is super long. It will stand as a scrapbook type thing for our family so no hard feelings if you  take a graceful exit now.*

Merry Christmas 2011

Another year here in Klipschville. How is that possible? The kids continue to grow and change and develop and I continue to ask myself why. Why do they have to do that? Truth be told their ages just continue to delight me. Every year I say to myself, “This is my favorite year with their ages.” I literally say that every year. But this year I’m serious.

Trysten (8): The quintessential eldest. He is ridiculously smart, ridiculously empathetic. Trysten loves to read as much as I do and can often be found with nose in a book. At the dinner table (or so he tries), in the car, walking, always with a book. Right now he is in the thick of the 5th Harry Potter book (the Order of the Phoenix amiright?!?!) which makes me squeal with delight. We told the kids when they finish a HP book and can tell us what happened then they get a special night with us watching the movies. Trysten has eaten that up. Trysten’s style is skater chic. He likes his hair in his eyes long, jeans tight and dark, skulls on his shirts. He would trade all of that, of course, to have a shirt/sweatshirt that matches his dad’s. Trysten has enjoyed playing baseball, soccer and basketball this year. Though naturally gifted he doesn’t have what one would call “the fighting spirit” in him. He could oft be found twirling his hair instead of engaging in sport but in the end, he still tells us he wants to participate and that’s all we need to hear. My prayer for Trysten has always been that his empathetic nature leads him to defend the “defenseless” and care for people who need it. A few weeks ago he won a “spirit award” for sticking up to his classmates who were bullying a kid. I cried when I got the call from the school because I knew in that moment that we were doing something right.

Tomas (7): The happiest kid you will ever meet in your entire life ever. Ever. He wakes up in the morning with a groggy smile and a hoarse “Morning mama” that melts my heart and makes me pledge my allegiance to his eternal happiness. Tomas never tattles. Never. He literally hates for any of his siblings to be in trouble. Every day after school he talks about his “best friend” though those best friends are new each day and change with the wind. Not because he’s not loyal but because I think he truly sees the best in each person. Tomas has officially caught up with his age in reading and they are working towards that in math. He is the hardest worker I’ve ever seen in my life. He wants it so badly. I can’t wait for the day when things are easier for him but until then I’ve learned to take 10 deep breaths when I’m helping him with his homework. 🙂 Though he played baseball, it has become increasingly clear that soccer and basketball are more up his alley. That big ole heart of his flops around the field/court with as much gusto as one could imagine. Every time the play is away from him he can be found looking towards his family with a grin and a wave. I can be found with an identical grin and an even more excited wave. Tomas’s style would probably be referred to as “preppy”. Loves him some collared shirts. Loves them so much he often tries pairing them with sweatpants if no other options are clean. Though he tried to rock the afro like his little brother, in the end he remembered that he hates combing his hair so he asked for it to be cut. My prayer for Tomas is that he constantly sees the good in people. That he doesn’t let the few bad apples in the world ruin his perspective. Last week he got bullied by a little girl. After telling me all of the details he asked if he could write her a letter. When I asked him why he would want to do that he replied, “I want her to know I forgive her and I still want her to be my friend.”

Tariku (6): The prodigy. I’m not sure how else to describe him, really. He is fiercely smart, fiercely loving and fiercely loyal. He is good at every.single.thing. he does. Though he excels in school he doesn’t love it the way Trysten does. His real bread and butter (or pizza in his case) is sports. He played baseball, soccer and basketball this year as well and loved every minute of it. Tariku has “the fighting spirit” his oldest brother lacks. His face literally takes on a different shape when he’s geared up for competition. He throws everything at it too. In general, that’s a good thing. Unfortunately that means there are some tears shed when his team loses. Though I’ve played sports my entire life I’ve never felt that much pain at losing, fortunately his dad was the same way. Those two yahoos could talk for hours about the disappointment they feel when losing. I actually really like seeing them like that together, I just wish Tariku wasn’t so hard on himself! His style would certainly be “athletic”. He would like to live in basketball shorts and a t-shirt thankyouverymuch! He likes his hair long in an afro or in braids. He refuses to get it cut, which is just fine by us! Tariku is bar none the most helpful person in the house (myself included). Every morning when I get the kids up he has fed the cat and fed one of the dogs. He has put the toothpaste on the brushes and helped Binyam pick out his clothes. He and I bond over our OCD love of organizing. Every year we go through toys before Christmas to get rid of ones we never play with. The two of us simultaneously rolled up our sleeves, grinned at each other and had a merry old time powering through 3 bedrooms in as many hours. Tariku is very cognizant of fairness. He always has been but as he gets older and bigger he also gets louder in his cries for fairness. With 5 kids and a mom who is sometimes so scatterbrained she can’t remember which kid has gotten what, fairness is not always the name of the game. I do believe the issue is deeper with my beloved Tariku but we are trying to teach in him the power of patience. My prayer for Tariku has always been firstly that he knows we love him with every inch of us and secondly that he uses that passion for fairness to right some wrongs in this world. It should come as no surprise to you then that he is the first to ask how much we give to clean water or ask questions about subjects on the radio that alert his inequality radar.

Dailah (5): Our girl. Sometimes I do believe that’s all we would need to say about her for people to understand all that entails but alas I am prone to self indulgence so here I go. Damn that girl is a sweetheart. She still loves to cuddle and hold hands. She grabs both sides of your face when she gives goodnight kisses and lingers until she erupts in giggles. She loves everything pink, sparkly, shiny, girly. She has a style all her own. Loves wearing tights every day and lives in layers upon layers. I envy her fashion sense, I will tell you that. More than that she is so smart and so funny. She, like Tariku, excels in school but tends to love it more for the social aspect. Any time we pick her up early for class at least 10 classmates call her name with arms outstretched waiting for a hug. Her teacher tells us everyone loves her and wants to sit by her. This comes as no surprise to us because we find her brothers naturally gravitate to her sides as well. As girly as she is she still enjoys a good sport. She also played soccer this year. Most of the time she was holding the hand of her coach or walking aimlessly but every once in awhile she’d get some previously undiscovered energy and go for it. More than that she’s also the first to try skateboarding, taking mice off traps, biking down hills, sledding, etc. This would explain why she recently needed stitches in her chin. After falling down 4 large concrete steps we took her to the hospital where she needed a few handful of stitches. Complain she did not, instead she told the doctor of her Christmas wishlist and her brothers. She is passionate, hilarious and kind. For her I pray that she uses that humor and that joy to bring light to places without. So they too can know it.

Binyam (5): The babe. He is sweet, he is kind, he is patient and he is steadfast. He is courageous and brave and quirky and cute. This fall brought his 3rd and (hopefully) final surgery on his club feet. They look rather amazing so we are all praying it really is his last. At night he has to wear some sort of torture device contraption that is simply 2 shoes on a metal rod. This metal rod keeps his feet about hip width apart with toes turned out. During the day he wears corrective shoes as well. He, of course, takes all of this in stride. Never one to complain, Binyam happily calls these shoes his “cool dude shoes” and has a look about him that dares anyone to disagree with him. Binyam, like Tomas, is a friend to all. On Saturday I was looking for him at the basketball courts and lo and behold he had talked one of the coaches into shooting hoops with him. Only Binyam. His smile lights up this entire earth, I tell you. No day goes by without someone calling him a “heartbreaker” and I dare say I agree with them completely. Binyam goes to a full day preschool this year and I can’t even put into words how good it’s been for him. Just tonight he was able to write his name with no help from us. Last year at this time he couldn’t even point to his name after a year of preschool. We are so pleased with his progress and hard work! Binyam does not respond at all to any sort of anger. If one speaks to him with the slightest bit of displeasement he shuts down. His teachers (and parents!) have finally figured out the only way to discipline him is to talk in a happy voice about the issue. As weird as that is to get used to, it works every time. Binaym is a doting little brother. Every morning as we drop the other 4 off at school he yells out, “I love you Dailah!” The two of them couldn’t be any closer if they were born of the same womb. For Binyam I pray constantly that the spirit and determination with which he’s fought in his short life will sustain him throughout. Because man, he’s amazing.

Zach and I are still going strong. This year brought on challenges but also brought on the most amazing newness to our relationship. I can say without hesitation that these last months have been the very best of my life and I owe it all to the man who agreed to marry me those many years ago. I’m so, so thankful for him.

Zach continues to be the director of the camp where we live. He truly excels at his job and has won lots of praise for it. This year, like every other, he has taken on many different hobbies and lost almost as many. The gusto with which he tackles and tries new things inspires me and keeps me on my toes as well. I really do live for that man.

This lady here, well I’m defining a new normal as well. With the kids in school all day I’ve found my days float by at alarming speeds. Some days I’m constantly busy and when I sit down to tell Zach about my day I have nothing to show for it. How does this happen? That said, I’m still teaching my classes at the Y and loving every minute of that. I’ve met so many good friends and interesting people there, it’s a true passion of mine. No telling what the next year will hold for me but I know it will be filled with more laughter and goodness than I can possibly imagine.

Blessings to you in the new year!

about my Spidey sense.

I have a freakish sense of smell. Zach calls it my basset hound. As in “honey, break out the basset hound I think I smell something”.

When I was pregnant it got downright ridiculous. I could actually smell gas before it left the anal cavity. No. joke.

It both drove Zach crazy and impressed the hell out of him.

When we brought home the Christmas bush I immediately said to Zach, “This doesn’t smell like a Christmas tree.”

“That’s because it’s not, Tesi, it’s a half dead cedar or something.”

I didn’t think too much of it because I was smitten with the darn thing.

Fast forward to the next day. We walked into the house and I immediately smelled kitty litter. Since we have a cat I naturally deduced that the kitty litter had gotten sucked into the vent system and was now spreading the smell throughout all of the house.

So I moved the kitty littler to a place that had no vent system anywhere near it.

The next day I walked in the house and it still smelled like, pardon my french, a bag of buttholes. Basset hound went to work and surmised it was the tree.

Crap.

I turned to Zach, broke the news that the tree was going to have to go. Basset hound couldn’t possibly live harmoniously with the foul smelling bush for another month.

Zach’s response? “This is my hell.”

But he loves me more than any human deserves and so he properly disposed of the bush.

Unfortunately all that was left was a Christmas tree I bought (or maybe my sister bought, can’t remember if I paid her back for that actually) for Wine to Water. It was $11. It is not pretty.

That said, she (clearly it’s a she) kind of fits in our family. At least until I find another bush that doesn’t smell like death warmed over.

*Please notice the wayward sword. House full of mostly boys, it’s gonna happen.

Today was the day. The day we went to pick out our tree. Always a time we enjoy. For more examples please see last year’s tree, my personal favorite would be from 2 years ago though.

Anywho, I really wanted it to be from camp again this year just because last year I missed being able to go out and pick one in the middle of the forrest. There’s something about this

that makes me think it’s not Christmas until we’ve frozen our collective asses off in pursuit of the perfect family Christmas tree.

I think we did it again this year, although this year we might want to call this the Klipsch Christmas bush. Perhaps you can help us with the description of this one.

But first the search.

It did require hiking and since Binyam’s feet are still recovering and Dailah is a diva, the two of them hung out with me most of the time while the other man/manboys checked out the situation.

This one. Oy.

We ended up at one right next to the car. Tomas had first sighted it but I thought he was just trying to get out of the aforementioned ass freezing. Ended up being about the only possible tree.

Zach earned a super man card. First for his super sweet hat and second for chopping down the tree with just his hands and a small axe. That’s hot. But seriously, how great is this picture? Please notice the side panel missing on the Pilot and the overwhelming overwhelmingness of the Christmas tree.

When we got home the kids commenced to shenanigans while Zach took care of the tree.

They are actual really great helpers.

This good picture took 20 takes. He was in a mood.

Binyam took 22 minutes to get 1 ornament on. He is tenacious in all things.

I must admit to judging people with those “perfect” Christmas trees with all the ornaments matching and well placed. Especially if they are located in houses with kids. I only have so many years where the ornaments reach only the bottom half, I’m not speeding through those if I can help it.

Truly I love this Christmas tree because it represents our family way more than any given traditional tree. It’s imperfect, kind of messed up, messy, unique, original. But in the end it’s found its redemption.

Having not played soccer for close to a decade, I had been able to fool myself into believing I didn’t really miss it…until my kids got older and started to get competitive in their soccer leagues. It had been on my mind recently to really try to find a co-ed or women’s league around me. Co-ed would’ve been ideal as then my brother and sister could’ve played with me. But at one of my classes one night some young women mentioned they were on a soccer team. I latched onto them immediately. Within a week I had signed my sister and me up for a women’s soccer league.

We play Wednesday nights. The second game I played I pulled my quad. I wasn’t in Kansas anymore, it seemed. If Kansas was the body of an 18-yr-old, that is. Nevertheless, it has been really fun.

I even realized I could still run.

But the best part has got to be that I get to play with my big sister. In high school we were referred to as “The Double D’s”. Much to my dismay it was not due to our rather robust chest size (although perhaps my sister could be a single D these days…I digress). It was actually due to our last name being “Dawson”. Also due to the fact that we were the 2 forwards and would often be the assist/goal combo. It was a great time. This past Wednesday, the double D’s were out and proud (again, not talking about breasts). My sister scored and I felt ridiculously joyful. Made me so excited for our kids to grow up and have this experience with their siblings. Especially when they are on the sidelines and make the same sorts of faces.

If you’ve been reading this little blog awhile you know that I’m a total nerd when it comes to my love and devotion to all things Christmas. Fairly certain it’d be annoying if I weren’t so charming. 😉

The kids LOVE this. I’m not just saying that. They seriously love this.

You know who never used to love this? Zach. To be fair, I do tend to grate on nerves this time of year. That said, he’s a terrific husband. And he loves me so much. Truly, our marriage has never been better and most of that has to do with this guy.

See?

Speaking of stockings, how about these that my mom-in-law made? Can’t help but notice there is clearly room for a few more, right honey?

Mitigu tried to help decorate too. He ended up just knocking down all the decor. Regardless, he’s so freakin’ cute.

Obviously our favorite part. My grandmother made this nativity set. Zach and I enjoy this set because it provides many great discussions. One of my favorite things to do is add that little bit of “snow”. Why? Was there really snow in Bethlehem? Probably not. Still fun to watch Zach question many things I do regarding this nativity set. Doozie of course loves her some baby Jesus.

After a few minutes I noticed Zach and I were really the only ones going strong. But who can get angry with a couple of budding chess players? Not this gal.

Feeling very, very blessed these days.

Or in this house “Tofurkey Trot”. Our My favorite Thanksgiving tradition. This year it was unseasonably warm (and by that I mean it was 37 degrees) at start time.

The kids and I (sans Binyam seeings he was one day out of casts) decided to run the 1 mile. I thought it’d be this fun family run but as soon as the gun went off the boys took off. Weaving and running through the crowds. Dailah was a smitten kitten holding my hand and walk/jogging.

We saw the boys at about half way mark. This was also the moment Dailah decided she was done with the race. More on that later.

Tomas, on the other hand, was first one done. A quick 9 minute mile for this guy. He smiled the entire way. Who does that?

Tariku was next. He also smiled the entire time…except for when he was turning on the engine. When he had someone to beat in his eyeline his face grew fierce.

Trysten chose to run some with his uncle Frank and cousin Cash, some with his buddy from camp. Not sure he smiled the entire time, frankly. Might have gotten that from me.

As previously mentioned, Dailah decided about halfway through that she was done running/ walking. I wanted to finish. The only way to accomplish that was to throw her on my back for the last half mile.

Oh, that was until the last 50 meters. For that she decided to sprint her cute little butt off.

Daddy wanted to run the 5 miles with our dogs so that meant the kids and I got to get some refreshments in between races.

Hot cocoa was the favorite amongst this group.

Of course we had to meet daddy and dogs at the finish. My he-man ended up pulling 260lbs worth of dogs across the finish. Legend tells me the dogs quit at about mile 3. But how cute are they? They are always a big hit wherever we go.

Family picture on Tofurkey day. They are bar none the very best people on this earth.

Last Wednesday Bean had a pretty big day. After many months of being in various sizes of casts Binyam is now free. And his feet look amazing!!!!

Right after they were off he wanted to itch the months of dead skin off. They told us specifically not to let him itch (that was after last time when I let him go to town on them. Whoops) Big sister Dailah is all about babying helping her little brother. So she rubbed his feet for him.

This was just because…come on. Her style is so much cooler than mine.

Went to get him new shoes. He still has to wear braces at night and corrective shoes during the day but those wouldn’t be in for a few weeks so we thought he deserved some new kicks.

Besties

When we got home I soaked his feet for about 20 minutes just rubbing the crap off. The tub was not pretty when I was done. You know what was pretty? His little piggies.

Are they not the most perfect feet you’ve seen in your life?!?!?!?

Go here to see pictures of his feet pre 3 surgeries. Happy thanksgiving indeed!

Mommy tell me a story about me. Tariku said tonight at dinner. 

Pics lately. I have every intention of getting back to the blog but it turns out I’ve neglected many things in the wake of the water party. Laundry? Been doing it for days. Cooking? What cooking? Excited to get back on the wagon but finding it’s easier taking baby steps. And by baby steps I mean catching up on DVR.

No joke Mitigu walks around like this on Zach’s shoulder. He’s not only the baby whisperer, turns out he’s the cat whisperer too.

Speaking of cats…Miti was great help during Water event planning.

How much do you love the new hat?

The cheering squad for the big boys’s basketball games.

We celebrated my beautiful niece’s 1st birthday. Love her so much.

Meet “Ron Weasley” Trysten’s new fish. His teacher wrote a note home “We have a few aggressive goldfish that keep eating my other small fish. Please let me know if you would be willing to take one or more off my hands.” I wrote back, “Sure I guess we’ll take 1.” Tman is totally responsible for him so I’m just praying the little guy lives for a long time in goldfish years lest his blood be on my eldest’s hands.

This coat is so cute. I mean, really, she looks like a dessert.

Did I mention it’s almost Christmas music season? If you’re cheap someone like me you rent CDs at the library and listen to them before buying them. What if they suck? I can’t waste money like that. Yippeee! Just a few weeks and I can unleash the power of the Christmas tune.

A few days can give you perspective on something that is so wildly magical and blessed. I’m happy I chose to give it a few days before I blogged about the event.

That’s what it was, Saturday night. Magical and blessed. I posted more about the details last year and most of them were the same.

Set up this time took considerably less time because the people helping were the same people from last year (and some even helped 2 years ago). We were like a well oiled machine, we were. So Saturday morning just brought my parents, Leslie and Zach with me to the space where we did a few finishing touches.

Saturday afternoon brought basketball games for the boys and my now official good friend to camp. Captain Murdock came whilst my bestie Chrissy had curlers in my hair and was probably straddling me applying make up. When you unleash these stay-at-home mamas on a night like this one there’s no telling what will happen with hair and make up. Also, there may or may not have been some very dirty music playing at the time too, we do enjoy a pre-party pump up around here.

The Captain and her amazing friends came with us to help with last minute details at the space before opening time. Captain is even better than her blog persona. She’s beautiful, tiny, smart, loving, a great friend and really funny. As my “fine art liaison” she was terrific with Excel and invaluable as someone who handled the many questions when the auction was closed. One of my favorite parts of the night was having her there, and I’m not just saying that because she drove 6 hours and had to sleep on a bunk bed with my large dogs scaring her friends. Captain had more to say about the event here. Also, she was the photographer. Can you believe I didn’t bring my camera? Completely forgot.

The event isn’t all glamour, however, just a half hour before showtime the elevator was still only working with my top secret key fob. This picture was taken just before my 10 minute lecture conversation to the elevator man in which I basically said, “You promised me a working elevator, make it happen within the next 30 minutes or I swear to you I will unleash a plague of locusts (or just my cop friend who packs heat wherever he goes).” Here with my sister, Kara and Chrissy.

One of my favorite parts of the space, right when you walk in. Choose your favorite wine glass.

Lots of Christmas trees. Reminds people about the spirit of Christmas. We have always been and will always be about trading consumerism for compassion at Christmas.

And lit up wine glasses? Perfect fit for the event.

Leslie had such a great idea here. The “Just add water table”. We sold hot chocolate “sip”, bath salts “soak” and soup, um…”soup”. We also sold local wine (with money going to water). Are you in love with the custom labels on the wine? Thanks to my friend, Angie, they turned out beautifully.

Speaking of Leslie…that sister of mine is magic. She worked so hard on all of this. At one point in the night she divulged the small detail that she had been living on coffee the last few days. That’s her way of telling me she had been thinking and dreaming and stressing about the event as much as I had been. I love her. I’m so, so thankful for her.

One of the other things Leslie took care of was organizing dessert makers. They were so delicious every. last. one of them.

One of the coolest parts of the night was how many people were asking when the presentation was going to be. This was the biggest indicator there were people there who hadn’t heard about the water crisis before. (side note: this dress was beautiful in person but it didn’t photograph well. But did I mention it had pockets! Loved the pockets!)

The music. First one up was a woman I met through my other sister-in-law, Kate. Katie was amazing. She was absolutely perfect for the venue. The second group up happened to be one man I’m so deeply in love with and the other is one of my good friends. They call themselves Moistly Cloudy. Don’t ask. But Moistly was not just mostly amazing, they were simply spectacular.

Look at this space! Still the most beautiful spot in town.

Good friends came and supported. Can’t express how good it feels to be lifted up on friends’ shoulders when you’re at your wits end. These two were some of the angels who did that for me.

After the night is mostly over, most people have left, it’s a well kept secret that we have an “after party”. Captain Murdock captured it well on her blog post. Captain Murdock and myself at the after party.

Again I’m at a loss. So many people help with this event. It would be physically impossible without my parents. They bring a lot of the stuff we use, they physically move most of the stuff in and out of the space. They donate so much time and money to make it work. They love me, it’s so obvious on nights like that one.

And Zachary, of course Zachary. Everyone knows behind every great woman is a greater man and that is no doubt true of my relationship with that half of Moistly Cloudy. He is a perfect partner, so grateful for him.

Saturday night was our most successful Wine to Water yet in terms of number of people who came (around 250), amount of feedback I’ve gotten afterwards (sheer volume of emails asking how to “give” water for Christmas has been crazy big) and potentially dollars raised once it’s all said and done. That’s the best part of this whole thing. Everything everyone did to make it successful means at least 2 wells being dug. Means more than 500 people given clean water who were once without.

Captain texted me earlier, “You should hurry up and blog about hte party. I’ve been wanting to but don’t want to steal your blog thunder.”

I responded, “Plan to do that today. Please feel free. Only thunder to steal is God’s and I don’t think he’ll mind.”

It’s so true. Something like this can only be described as a “God thing”. So many little things that made it what it was wouldn’t have been possible without some major miracles.

Been riding on a cloud of thanksgiving for the last week. Can’t see that lessening anytime soon. Thanks for all of your prayers, all of you who came and all of you helped. Thank you, thank you.