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.

Because I don’t have words yet (I’m pretty sure they don’t come clearly when you’re as tired as I am. Plus, I’m in a glass case of emotion so trust that I’m sparing you) for last night. So instead I’ll discuss set up from Friday.

Remember how I’ve discussed with you that the space has no outlets inside? That we have to run extension chords out to the hallway? Really, this place is em-pty. It takes so much work to set up. Thankfully I have the world’s best family and friends.

First thing is first. On Friday I loaded up the Honda Pilot, quite literally, with all things Wine to Water.

As soon as I arrived there were 15 of my friends and family ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

Cake pops were brought up by one of our generous dessert makers, titilating us all with their delicious looking frosting and sugary sweet smells. Truly, have you seen anything more beautiful?

This rather handsome duo practiced their music for us. Perfection.

Auntie Lindsey snuggled my Doba Days who was getting over some nasties and actually fell asleep on my mom’s lap. Crazy.

I may or may not have sampled one of the art pieces. Also may or may not have won said art piece through my generous mom. May or may not be super happy about that.

Some of the sneaky (helpful) people upping the bidding before the night commenced. Classic them.

Did I mention the friends and family? This might be a theme of the series…but you probably knew that already.