Ask 5 for 5 - Please Help!

Sarah is a near & dear friend of mine that I've known for over three years. She is guest blogging today and has something very important to share with all my readers. I recently met Sarah in Colorado along with several other adoptive moms. I'm so honored to be able to call her my friend. She has a heart of gold and I'm so excited she has made this happen. So far she's raised over $10,000 for Ethiopia and counting. Let's make it $50,000. Thank YOU all.

guest blogger: Sarah Lenssen from Ask5for5
photos courtesy of Cate Turton / Dept. for International Development


First, thanks to Chandra for allowing me to post on her blog today! Today, more than 25 bloggers, including this one, are standing with me to Ask 5 for 5 for Africa. Here's why....

I began pursuing a BIG dream two weeks ago. After deciding I could no longer avoid the news about the famine in the horn of Africa, I had that gut feeling that I couldn't sit this one out. I HAD to do something because I could. Something bigger than I could do alone. That's when #Ask5for5 was born.



Two of my children, Ashen and Bereket, were adopted and are from the region affected by the drought in Ethiopia. They would be two of the statistics if they still lived there. I see my son’s and daughter’s faces in the photos of those suffering in the refugee camps. It could have been him. It could have been her. The thought haunts me.

And moms just like us are watching their children go hungry day after day. I can't imagine what it's like, but I have to –I have to be there to help them, because it could have been my children. These families have lost their livestock, their crops, food prices are inflated at the market if there any food there, and don’t have any more lifelines to tap into. Many are traveling hundreds of miles through parched land in hope of finding help. Many are dying along the way. It is estimated that 29,000 children have died in the last 90 days in the famine in Somalia alone.



But I KNOW we can do something about it. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed, we can rally ourselves and our friends to respond! I set up a fundraiser through See Your Impact. 100% of your gift will go to the relief and development organization World Vision, where it will be combined with government grants to multiply up to 5 times in impact!

You’ll receive updates on just how your funding is being used to help save lives affected by famine in East Africa. I'm amazed at how much we've raised already -- over $7,000 in just four days! We blew through our first 3 goals in just 3 days and are well on our way to $10,000 and beyond!

I need you to help me save lives. It's so so simple; here's what you need to do:

1. Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)


2. Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.


3. Share Ask5for5 on Facebook and Twitter, and join our page to stay updated too!

I'm also looking for 100 bloggers to stand with Ask5for5 to spread the word during Social Media week, September 19th - 23rd. If you're interested, email me, ask5for5@gmail.com.

Thanks! Please donate and email your friends right now--don't wait for a calmer moment, because if you're like me, other demands inevitably crop up and you won't get to it. A child's life hangs in the balance, but you can help save her!

Life

I love the ordinary days when everything feels right. We are getting our first hard rain in months. The house is dark with the exception of the bolts of lightening shining in through the windows. Rain is pelleting the windows with a constant rumble of thunder in the background. It was a half productive, half lazy kind of day. Right now hubs is finishing clearing out his old office since he's officially moved into the new space over the garage (with most of the credit going to him in building it). And I'm doing laundry, dreaming up decorating ideas and loving this thunderstorm. We've almost hit a new record of days over 100 degrees with 44 days thus far (the record is 50 days) and I can't tell you how refreshing a dark, rainy, stormy night is after all the HOT, sunny days we've endured.

Tonight I'm thankful for 3 healthy boys, a roof over our heads, reliable vehicles, air conditioning, an endless supply of food, clean water, hot water, my wonderful husband and our supportive extended family. Along with so many other items in our life that keep us cozy. Life is good.

Camping @ Lake Michigan

Highlights of the trip (for my lousy memory)
-replaying memories the entire trip of camping at lake michigan as a child with all my siblings (we loved the huge waves and playing in the dunes)
-camping among the pines
-the views
-watching my boys play with their cousins
-listening to the constant laughter as the boys ate dinner each night with their cousins
-letting the boys get extremely dirty every day
-hanging out with my parents, sisters, nephews, niece and kids for five days without interruption
-playing in the waves
-riding my bike through the campgrounds
-relaxing

Not so great moments
-one child peeing the bed
-drinking out of a cup (I thought had previously held beer) that my son had peed in that morning
-mosquitos
-PMSing followed by *you know what* (sorry, I have to mention it or my blog would not be showing it's true colors)

Good times at the farm!

My little cowboy...

(and the aunt that dressed him up).

Procrastination

I have 2 online exams (read LONG essays), another multiple choice exam and a three page paper due by tomorrow night and I'm doing everything in my power to procrastinate. Why? I have no idea. I'm designed this way. Any time I have stuff I should be doing I find other things to occupy my time. Take now for example. I'm actually writing up a blog posts just so I don't know to start on my work. A blog post that is long overdue but I've had too much other crap going on to even care about the blog. Hubs & I headed back to the hoosier state to visit our families. We headed back for a couple family reunions and in addition to that I was able to spend a night up in Michigan visiting my little sister for a night and we spent multiple hours lounging around at his parents farm. He flew back after one week but the kids and I headed up to Lake Michigan to camp with my parents and sister & her kids. It was wonderful! Other than all the awful frizzies that formed a halo over my head thanks to the humidity. I'm burnt out on all the ridiculous temps in Oklahoma but I do NOT miss humidity. I forgot how suffocating it is to breath outside in that stuff. And how awful my hair looks in it. This whole time I've been growing my hair out I've been wondering why I like it so much more this time around and while visiting Indiana that question was quickly answered. Say it with me - HUMIDITY!

Also included in the trip was a fun evening at a baseball stadium with my folks and some siblings and it ended with huge grins on the boys' faces while they watched the fireworks. Conner declared it "best 4th of July ever" even though it wasn't actually July 4th. Lake Michigan was beautiful. It brought back so many memories from childhood and all the trips we made up there to camp at the state parks near or on the lake. And the day I saw the red flag I squealed like a kid and sprinted to the water. At one point I had Biruk in one arm and Landon the other as the waves crashed into us. All in all it was a great trip. But after 17 days away from home we were all happy to crawl into our beds last night. And 8 days away from their dad was too much from all of us. Hubs kept all my plants alive and had a clean house waiting for us. It's good to be home!

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful to have met all of these wonderful women this past weekend. Many thanks to all of you ladies for the laughter, late night chats, stories, love and to Cathy for the delicious food and beautiful accomodations. Much love!

Taking Chances

I've mentioned it before but I can't stress enough how important and critical the blogosphere world has been for me as a mother. I often wonder how my own mother survived raising 11 children when long distance calls were crazy expensive and her form of mantaining contact with her family was through writing letters and the few trips a year we visited with them. She didn't have a large network of women that she had as a source of comfort and companionship. She survived but I'm not sure I would have weathered as well as she has. I need my blogger friends (or my fake friends as hubby likes to tease). And the beautiful part is that we talk on the phone, send emails to each other and the most exciting thing of all - MEET IN PERSON! In four days I board a plane to meet a large group of women for a blogaramagaga and I can hardly stand the wait. Some of these women I connected with nearly four years ago. And finally, we meet in person!

But the fun doesn't stop there. Thanks to a series of events I had the pleasure of meeting this amazing woman along with her adorable & lovable son last night. Even though we had just recently started following each others blogs we took a gamble and within in less than 15 minutes of meeting in person, we knew we'd made the right choice! In the next hour I convinced her to stay the night. The boys had a great time together, conversation was shared over dinner, beverages were had and the talking never stopped. We wrapped up the night outside, under the stars until 2 a.m. chatting about everything & more. Honest words were spoken, our guards were down, laughter was shared and I now have gained one more beauitful (inside & out) friend from this wonderful world of blogging. note: I'm squatting down in the second photo because I felt like a giant next to her tiny, petite, adorable frame :)

What The (bleep) Wednesday

Since the youngest has been potty trained for almost a year, I'd finally assured myself the blog "poop stories" had finally come to an end. But alas, I have yet another disgusting poop story to share. Tonight, while enjoying a quiet moment on the back porch since hubby offered to clean up the kitchen, karma came to haunt me. The back door quickly swung open and there was hubs holding one child with a sh*t covered foot. Instead of giving a play by play I will tell you this. One child was actually going to the bathroom while anonymous child had to go badly and instead of coming down the stairs to use another toilet he opted to poop right then and there. Right THERE. On the floor. And somehow he managed to get it all over the toilet, vanity, etc. And to top it off, all three kids managed to get sh*t on some part of their body. Thank goodness hubs did the grunt of the work and I followed with disinfecting wipes and scrubbed. It never ceases to amaze me how much they manage to spread it around. Our kids are now bathed and sleeping in other rooms. Their bedroom is now clean and awaiting the next surprise. Life is never dull as a parent.

Life in pictures

These are from one memory card from just a couple days of photos. Taking pictures is so relaxing for me and as a result I have 1000's of photos I never get to look at it. So tonight, I spent the past 2 hours picking out some to share. And of course they always need re-sized which only adds to the time. Actual words & thoughts coming soon!

Summer lovin...

So far summer has kicked off beautifully. The plants in the garden are doing awesome (much better than last year) and we've even had the pleasure of eating a few cherry tomatoes. We recently enjoyed our second camping trip on a lake, with a kick butt zero entry pool. Today was spent at my friends (her in-laws) pool and this evening I enjoyed a beer on the back porch with a nice summer breeze. After five and a half years I feel like I'm finally getting into the swing of this motherhood gig. Tomorrow I'll surely be singing a different tune (because I always eat my words). Or in about a week when PMS rears its ugly face again (do you all have my cycle memorized by now?). While I have been having fun with the boys the house has been suffering terribly. It really is true that you can't do it all? But for now, I choose fun!

Where was I?

Thanks for the comments in the previous post. What was I thinking actually considering abandoning my dear blogger friends & family? I thought about yesterday, a LOT today. As usual, my PMS symptoms were in full throttle and I had a helacious day of raging hormones, mood swings, tears and moments of feeling like a complete lunatic (sorry Sarah). Do you ever have those days where you feel so completely alone (yet you know it's completely normal) and convince yourself that you are actually insane? I felt alone, distracted, homesick, distant and wanting nothing more then to cry & run away (from even my blog). But alas, I know I need to stick around. If it weren't for this blog I wouldn't have the privilege of getting to know some amazing women. I'm so grateful for their words of wisdom, advice and comfort. And if it weren't for this blog, my family (and friends) wouldn't get to see the crazy, irrational, desperate Chandra from time to time. It happens to be best of us right?

So I'll trudge forward, hold my head up high, and continue to do my best. I'll bore you with details of my monthly cycle, poop stories of my children, my wild and always changing dreams for my future and the daily grind of my so-called-life. Hang on tight!

Contemplating...

My blog is seriously lacking in content these days. I've reached a point that I'm not sure it's worth keeping around any more. I've started my own journal because it's much easier to write freely when you don't know 75% of your readers. Why is it so hard to pour our heart out when you know your readers? I know I'm not alone in this battle. And while I try to not think about the fact that I know my readers it still lingers in the back of my mind. Fear of judgement, criticism, vulnerability, etc.

My life used to be a lot more chaotic, adventurous and exciting. Having three kids in 32 months, moving six times in six years (not including 5 weeks in a hotel), adopting while pregnant, remodeling a farmhouse, will add a level of excitement to any persons life. Well that chapter (or should I say chapters) of our life is behind us. Now I long for the simple things in life. Days where my kids spend hours running in the backyard, picnics in the park, weekends camping, pullling weeds in my garden, homeschooling my kiddos, snuggling on the couch for afternoon movies, curling up in the bed (or back patio) with a good book, researching nutrition, etc. All of which aren't exactly blog-worthy (at least not the way I write). And I've really taken to this slow lifestyle. I like it a lot actually. Our days rarely include anything that requires leaving the house. The boys are happy when they have my attention and I'm much happier when I give them my attention. I want to embrace this lifestyle while it really is that simple and slow. Any adult you speak to with grown kids constantly say how fast it goes by. I don't want to miss out on these opportunities with my boys. Especially since they are still fighting for my lap, or a ride in the ergo, and begging for books to be read, snuggling before bed, as much time as they can possibly have with their mama. I get one chance at this so I might as well give it my all.

Just Overheard

While giving B & L a bath Landon gave Biruk his buckeye and said "here ya go, this is your favorite color". Biruk asked what color it was and Landon responded with "buckeye" vs brown. Landon then said to B "Buuukee, what color are you?". Biruk replied "I'm brown". Landon said, "That's a nice color." He then proceeded to tell Biruk that he (Landon) was blue. Biruk said "no, your yellow Landon". And Landon said "yep, and Conner yellow, and dad yellow, and mom yellow.". I was smiling listening to this conversation and then Landon had to say "Yep and I like mom's bibbles (nipples) but not dads because his bibbles are hairy". Umm.. okay.

I love the conversations between the boys regarding their skin color. I love the innocence, the thoughtfulness and bond between them!

ramblings...

I'm tired. It's just past nine o'clock and I'd love nothing more than to go to sleep. But since it's a Friday night I suppose I should actually stay awake past 10:00. I'm sick of being tired. I'm considering do an elimination diet to rid myself of whatever nasty food group causes such fatigue. In the meantime I'll continue to drink my last cup of joe at 1:30 since it usually gets me through the afternoon.

Biruk's tantrums are at an all time high. I've never seen it before and I wish some one could just tell me if it's typical three year old behavior or something more. We've been doing so well all around and this week I feel like someone has smacked me upside the head with an iron skillet. Somehow I've managed to keep my cool and cuddle, rock and hold him in the ergo to calm him but I wish we could avoid the piercing scream all together.

My kids have been averaging 10 hours of sleep a night. That include the 2 (almost 3) year old. I don't know how they are functioning during the day but they make it through. Then at bedtime they get a burst of energy and run around giggling followed by bedtime conversation until they eventually fall asleep. Then Nater & I look at the clock and say "It's already nine o'clock". Gone are the days of having all three of our kids asleep by 7:30.

I finally attempted homemade tortillas. Why in the world it took this long is beyond me but it was fun and I will no longer buy them at the store. I'm going to continue to search for a healthier recipe but in the meantime I've found an alternative.

Sometimes I gross myself out by the amount of food I consume. I made carmel corn tonight but had planned on making a double batch so I sat 8 cups of popcorn aside and after putting the kids to bed (and still stuffed from dinner) I managed to shove all 8 cups down my throat. Who does that? And why in the world do I have to lack self-control? Gross.

My house needs clean, the attic addition needs completed, carpets need cleaned, food needs baked, closets need organized, etc., etc. I focused on the kiddos this week and as a result I've completely fallen behind in my domestic duties (puke). But on the positive side, Conner is reading beautifully (he now knows short & long vowel sounds), the boys got tons of vitamin D and we all ate well this week. If only there were more hours in the day.

Happy weekend to all of you...

Wonderful Wednesday