November 13th

Today is a chance to give clean water and save someone's life. Water for Christmas is having a one day viral campaign. Here's what they have to say:

"Every day, 4500 mothers bury their children due to contaminated water. They are forced to sustain their families with a diabolical liquid that contains both life and death. This lack of clean water is the leading cause of death in underdeveloped nations. And it just doesn't have to be!

So as we gear up to scurry through department stores and browse endless catalogs in search of new jeans, Tonka Trucks, gadgets and dolls....we are pausing. We are pausing. And today, November 13th, we are buying water. Clean, life-saving water.

$10 will provide one person in Africa clean water for 10 years. It will literally change and possibly save someone's life. A mother. A child. A brother. A grandfather.

We are rallying together for a cause. Clean water. One day. $10. Asking everyone to let this be their first gift. Let water, let life be their first gift of the season."

I love it. Today is also Tyler's first birthday. I can't think of a better way to celebrate her life and her health then by giving other children clean, life-saving water.

So, today, when I make Tyler's birthday cake, and turn on the faucet for my clean and safe water, I will think about all of the mothers who are hoping that their children survive another day without clean water. Who can't even afford the luxury of making a birthday cake for their child. Who have had to bury a child before their first birthday. Who can have clean water for 10 years with a mere $10.

We can do this. Please click here to donate.

because i have been so bad about posting...

...here are all the obligatory fall pictures in one post

Pumpkin Patch

Painting & Carving Pumpkins

Halloween

tyler update

It seems that Tyler's health issues aren't ready to be tied up with a pretty little bow and put to rest. When I last updated on Tyler we were waiting on lab results to confirm that her blood looked healthy. While those lab results did indicate that Tyler's blood was healthy, we now have a new concern. Long story short:

At Tyler's 9 month check-up, her iron level was below normal. (This is not completely uncommon- 15% of 9 month-olds have low iron.) We gave her an iron supplement twice a day for a month. We retested and her iron level was as low as you can get and still be considered normal. The reality is that for a baby who has been on iron supplements for a month, is breastfeeding, and is eating lots of solid food, her iron level is actually not normal. So, we are giving Tyler iron supplements for another month and retesting again. If her iron level doesn't get better, Tyler will get another complete blood workup and we will be back to square one trying to figure out what is going on with her blood.

The good news:
Tyler is so happy and sweet. She is hitting all of her developmental milestones, has plenty of energy, and loves life. She took her first steps last week and likes to scream "hi" at everyone she sees. She also loves to wrestle her big sister and brothers. Ford loves to lay on the floor when he watches tv, so he gets attacked by Tyler a lot! We are so blessed to have her. She brings a lot of joy to each member of our family. Bottom line: whether Tyler is deemed "healthy" or "sick," God is the one who breathes life into her every moment of every day. God is always and ultimately in control, medical issues just remind us of that truth.

A couple of sweet stories:

We dedicated Tyler and her life to God at church on Sunday. We have given Tyler to God since we first learned of her existence, but the dedication ceremony is simply a chance for us to proclaim that in front of our church. All of our kids were up front with us during the dedication. When Tyler was being prayed over, Riley started bawling. Afterwards, I asked her why she was crying. She said that she didn't really know- that it was just something about Tyler being dedicated. Tyler means a lot to Riley and Riley knew that something bigger than just a ceremony was happening that day.

Tonight Brady prayed the following, "Dear Lord, please let us keep Tyler. She's cute." Amen.

The Riley Project Update

Please go here to find out some very exciting news.

Wow, right?

I wanted to share on here what is now happening with The Riley Project, so I'm going to repost this from Riley's blog. Here's the latest:

This is Sarah again. Riley is VERY close to meeting her goal of raising $2500 for a well. We are beyond excited and amazed. I honestly cannot believe that we started The Riley Project almost 3 months ago and we are already here. It feels like we just started. Riley is still so excited about raising money. All of this has got us thinking...

As most of you probably know, it actually costs $5000 to build a well. Blake and I said that we would donate $2500 if Riley raised $2500. We did this because we wanted to make Riley's goal attainable. Now I feel like we limited her and God. We underestimated people's generosity. In fact, I know of several people who still want to give to the well. I feel like there are probably several more people out there who are feeling the tug to give to the well. I don't want to keep people from giving.

Now, I know that this could look like Blake and I are trying to get out of giving our portion. I can say with a genuine heart that Blake and I would love to give $2500 to the well. We will always give money to help fund access to clean water until EVERYONE on the planet has clean water. Allowing Riley to continue raising money and continue doing service projects isn't about us. It's about not stopping something that seems to need to keep going. I'm disappointed in myself for underestimating Riley and all of our friends.

So here is our new plan. We will absolutely celebrate when Riley meets her goal of raising $2500. We are so proud of her. Riley is the one who actually told us that she wanted to continue raising money for wells even after she met her goal. We are going to have Riley continue to do service projects and allow people to give if they want to. We also have a family who gave $500 to help with the $2500 that Blake and I were giving to the well. Therefore, we are close to $3000 already raised for the well. It would be amazing if we could reach $5000 through Riley's efforts.

Blake and I are going to donate $300 today to start the new goal. We may end up giving the $2000 needed to complete the well, but I strongly feel like there are people out there who still want to give. I would love for Riley to be able to say that she raised all of the money for the well through the openhandedness of her friends and not because her parents stepped in and completed it for her.

Thank you so much to everyone who has already given to the well. Hopefully, Riley will be able to post soon about reaching $2500!

just trying to keep up

Tyler is now crawling and pulling up which means that she spends most of her time trying to get into whatever the other 3 kids are doing. And those kids are having a lot of fun with her now that she's not so fragile and can keep up with them.

first day

And now for the obligatory first day of school post. We'll start with Brady who started preschool (two days a week). He had his first day of school before the bigger kids, which made it even more special. Leading up to it (this is the first time he has ever been to school), he repeatedly told me that he wasn't leaving me. That boy likes to put on a show. Because here he is trying pushing everyone out of his way so that he can get through the gate and to his classroom.
And running to the classroom.
Brady finally informed me that it was ok for me to leave. Sigh.

Brady's assessment of his first day:
"Guess what? I go to sleep, wake up, and get to go again!" I had to break the news to him that he had to wait a few days for the next day of school.

Ford started kindergarten this year! Huge, huge step for him. Ford's last big life change was when Tyler was born and he took his anxiety about that out on school. He was fine in every other area of his life during that time, but he screamed and cried every time we left him at school. He just doesn't handle change well. So, Blake and I have dreaded this day for awhile- worrying about his anxiety over it.


We consider it no small thing that Ford had NO anxiety about his first day of kindergarten. It is a huge answer to a long prayed prayer of my heart. He definitely didn't smile (as you can see in the below pictures), but he was completely calm. He said good-bye to us and headed into his classroom without any fears or reservations. I had to hold back tears as I walked away, not because I was sad that Ford is growing up (although I am), but because I was just so thankful that it was a peaceful transition.


Ford's assessment of his first day:
"We only got to play a little. The most that we did was carpet time. I made a friend. It was fun."

Riley started 2nd grade. Yes, she is getting way too old. School is like old hat to her- no issues. She was really excited to go back. Her need for socialization was just not being met at home all summer.



Riley's assessment of her first day:
"Mrs. Hinshaw is the best! She doesn't ever get angry at us. We get to do a play."

fear

I realize that I have been very quiet lately on our blog. What I have posted recently has been more of the safe "stuff." Every once in awhile, though, something comes up and I feel compelled to share my thoughts. So here goes...

Fear about President Obama has gripped our nation once again. Obviously, this is nothing new. In the past we had the false emails that were widely circulated claiming that Obama is a Muslim and even more recently we had the false claims about Obama's death panel. From the beginning of the election fear has been one of the main vehicles used against Obama. I have been able to dismiss most of the propaganda, but the latest incident has hit me hard. Our president decided to address school kids and encourage them to work hard and stay in school. An outright attack against Obama ensued. I am having a very hard time understanding this one. What exactly is unhealthy and fearful about a president telling kids to stay in school? How did it come to this:

"The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other President, is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power."
-Jim Greer, party chairman

When this is what will actually be shared:

The White House has said Obama will "urge students to take responsibility for their own education, to set goals, and to not only stay in school but make the most of it."

Again, false claims designed to scare Americans and undermine our president. I am being sincere when I say that I cannot see the harm in Obama's speech. Which leads me to believe that this has been made a political issue. People are against Obama's speech simply because he is Barack Obama and they don't like him. But, I'm not asking anyone to like Obama or his policies. What I'm asking is for people to leave politics at the door and allow our president to tell kids to stay in school without a huge uproar. There is no intent to brainwash or harm our children. I would not be offended if any past president (whether I voted for them or not) gave a speech to my children about staying in school. I would not be offended if John McCain gave such a speech either. Clearly, this is not about the speech, but the person giving it.

Furthermore, Barack Obama is the President of the United States. I believe that office still holds respect. Again, whether I voted for someone who is currently in office or not, I do respect their position and, therefore, them. As School Superintendient Ron Blocker stated, "Barack Obama is the President of the United States. Regardless of political persuasion, we should be responsible for teaching kids to respect the Office of President." We need to be very careful about the hatred and fear that we are spreading to the next generation.

This controversy also made me think through how I would react if I was concerned about Obama's speech. Our children attend public school and there will certainly be times when things are shown or shared that Blake and I do not agree with. That is actually part of why we love public school- we love the diversity of people, cultures, values, and political views. We are not going to hide our children from differing viewpoints. We believe that what we are teaching our children in our home makes them strong enough to decide for themselves what they believe or follow. For example, Riley's school held a mock election last year. We allowed Riley to research both candidates on her own and decide for herself who she wanted to vote for.

The intent of sharing my thoughts is not to offend anyone or bash a parent's decision. I simply believe that if we step back and remove politics and fear, then we will see that this is an innocuous speech. Hopefully even an inspiring one to some children who don't have hope that hard work and school will improve their future. I will leave with one last question that I stole from this post:

"If you're one of those people threatening to keep his or her kid home from school next Tuesday, ask yourself this: Who's really the one forcing a political agenda on their children?"