Haiti Update

I talked to Scott last night and their mission team made it to Haiti safely! They arrived with all of their luggage and were already at the compound where they will be staying when I talked to him. Scott had been outside playing soccer with some Haitians, teenagers and adults, and said he was already worn out!! He sounded as happy as he could be... but if you know Scott, you know that doing anything athletic as a ministry tool is right up his alley!

Please pray for the mission team as they begin their dental clinics today. Pray that they all stay in good health and that God will work through them and in them over the next few days. Also pray for Taelyn if you think about it. She is having a hard time understanding. She cried the entire time we were getting ready yesterday morning and everytime I asked her why she was crying she would answer, "My daddy is in Haiti." It was so sad!! She has been really into the story of Jonah lately, so I used that to explain to her that daddy was doing God's work and making God really proud of him. Last night every time she would get upset about something she would cry and say, "I want my daddy." I think that she is concerned that he is in Haiti and not coming back, although I've reassured her countless times that he will be home next week. I did wake her up to talk to him when he called last night and she was really happy about that. Getting ready was much easier this morning, so hopefully she is beginning to feel a little better about it. Your prayers would be appreciated though!

Scott said that he would text me today and let me know how things are going and he will call again tomorrow... so I will give you an update when I get one!

Thanks for your prayers!

TumiRufflers

Soooo... for years and years now I've wanted to learn to sew. I inherited a sewing machine from my grandmother about a year ago, but honestly the thing has terrified me. Every time I would get motivated and take the cover off, I would sit staring at the machine in a trance, not really knowing what to touch, being scared silly of breaking something until eventually I would just put the cover back on it and swear to myself I would learn "one day." Last weekend Scott was cleaning out our storage room and he moved the sewing machine to the center of our garage. I was outside playing with Taelyn and it kept calling my name, "Casey... I need some attention!" Finally I lugged it inside and put it on our kitchen table. That night after Taelyn went to bed I, once again, removed the cover of the machine.

The sewing machine was already thread (threaded??) from when I received it, but I decided that maybe rethreading the entire machine would help me learn the parts easier. Equipped with the user manual (terrible) and you tube, I rethread (rethreaded??) the sewing machine. It was so hard! And it took me about an hour and a half just to thread. However, I do feel like this helped me to not be so scared of it. After that I sewed about 5 stitches (crooked) but it was a little loud and I didn't want to risk waking Taelyn up. 

The next night I moved the sewing machine to my bedroom so that I could get some practice in! Following the user manual, I sewed a straight stitch until I figured out how to keep my straight stitch actually STRAIGHT. Then I sewed a zig zag stitch. I had some fabric scraps and some old t-shirts that I was practicing on.

I'm really excited about this venture. There are a couple of blogs that I read on a regular basis that are about sewing and refashioning children's clothing. Lindsay is the one that came up with the cute term "TumiRufflers." She said that if I end up blogging about my projects then that is what I have to call it! I'll keep you posted on my progress... or lack thereof!

If you are a seamstress (are men called "seamers?"), please feel free to leave pointers or ideas of practice projects!! Any advice would be appreciated!

Stroller Cake and Weekend Recap

Here is the other cake that I did last weekend (2 weekends ago? I've lost track of time.) It was another stroller cake with the paisley pattern from the brown and blue one I did a while back. The colors of the baby shower were pale pink and white, so the paisley was done with those two colors. The cake was french vanilla and the icing was buttercream. Once again... I have a picture but it isn't very good. It's a little dark because it was taken with my cell phone. You get the idea ;)

Just realized that it was 2 weekends ago that I did this cake. Last weekend Scott and I went to Birmingham for a wedding... without Taelyn! It was a fun getaway for us to take before the baby comes. The wedding was awesome! The rehearsal dinner and reception were both so much fun. The only bad part was having to wear maternity pantyhose! Why do they make those terrible things? If it wouldn't have been snowing outside I would have just avoided it!

The highlight of the trip was getting to spend the day with one of my best friends in this world! Lindsay booked us massages (my first prenatal massage!), then we spent the day shopping and eating! Perfect day, in my opinion!! We ate lunch at this fantastic place called "Flip burger boutique." It was quite swanky! My favorite part was the crazy liquid Nitrogen milkshakes that they serve. I was nervous about these being pregnant, but it was explained to me that they spray this liquid nitrogen on top of the milkshake because it is very cold and makes the milkshake really cold. Then you let it all evaporate before you drink it. I don't know if the liquid nitrogen made a difference or not, but the flavors were fabulous! Lindsay and I shared a Nutella and burnt marshmallow milkshake and a Krispy Kreme milkshake. Those of you who know me well know that I named my dog "Doughnut" because Krispy Kreme's are my favorite food. Pair that with ice cream and I am in heaven!!!

Not sure how my cake post turned into a "what I did last weekend" post, but there it is! If you ever get a chance to eat at a "Flip Burger," do it!

First Birthday Owl Cake

Last weekend I was able to do a cake for one of my best friends in this world! Kelsey's little girl turned 1 on January 31 (which I cannot believe!!!), and she had a fun birthday party for her! She sent me the invite, and we decided to make the cake match the invite. I absolutely LOVE matching cakes to invitations - it just makes it so unique and individual. This is the invite that Kelsey's incredibly talented, graphic designer husband made for the party.

We decided to do a two-tiered cake with a smash cake. The bottom tier was butter cake (Kelsey's favorite, I think), but I mixed in a little french vanilla (shhh... don't tell Kels!) and the top tier was strawberry. It was covered in buttercream with all buttercream accents. The smash cake was french vanilla covered in buttercream.

I tried to match the owl from the invite on the top of the cake. A "1" went on the side of the top tier and then "Elizabeth" was piped on the side of the bottom tier in an attempt at the same font used on the invite. After I had those major accents, I added some fancy, schmancy scrollies around the sides that matched the 4-corners of the invite. I thought it turned out precious. Here are some different angles of the cake.

For the smash cake we decided to have it shaped like a "1" and then just put some of those same scrollies on the sides of it. I wanted them to continue onto the edges of the top of the one just a little bit. This "1" turned out exactly how I envisioned it in my head, which almost never happens! I was really pleased with it.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Elizabeth! I love you and your mommy so much! Have a great 2nd year! Can't wait to watch you grow!

Haiti

My husband is going to Haiti with a group from our church at the end of this month. There are several dentists going, and the main goal of the trip is to establish relationships and provide the Haitians dental care. God has really laid Haiti on my heart over the past 4 or 5 months and I truly wish I could go on this trip. However, I think my doctor may frown on me being almost 8 months pregnant in Haiti.

It is so discouraging to me how little Haiti has recovered from the terrible earthquake that happened almost 13 months ago. It seems that they will never recover because of the turmoil that their country is in. There are so many people living in tents with absolutely no way to ever work their way into a better situation. And now with the cholera outbreak due to no means of having clean water. Discouraging. However, what is encouraging is the way that God's people are stepping up to help. I have heard of so many organizations recently that are raising money and going to build wells to help alleviate this water crisis. It is also encouraging to see the number of God's people who have heeded the call to move their families to Haiti in order to make a difference in that country. Two of the blogs that I've started reading about Haiti are written by families that have accepted that call. Their faith is humbling to me. My excuse is always that I have small children. It is amazing to see these families with multiple children going anyway - despite the fear of disease, danger, etc. I will repeat it: Their faith is humbling to me. These are the blog links if you'd like to see how these people are making a difference: www.allthingshendrick.blogspot.com and www.livesayhaiti.blogspot.com .  Both of these families are working to open the "Harbor House" in Haiti (I think Port au Prince), which is going to be a home for teen moms. They will live there, go to school, and learn how to care for their children. It is amazing what these families are doing and I have truly been blessed by them and have enjoyed following their progress.

I think it was last October or November when my pastor, Stan Buckley, first talked about the crisis in Haiti in church one Sunday morning. Sadly enough, before that Sunday I was pretty much oblivious to the terrible condition of that country. Stan had just gotten back from Port au Prince, Haiti with two other members of our church and he was passionate about what we could do to help this country. His message focused on how it seems impossible that anything could help... BUT GOD... and he talked about how God can make a difference in this country in this seemingly impossible situation. Not only did he detail the conditions that they had just returned from, but he had a plan in place for how we, as a church, could help. They had already met with a few key people: some who knew how to build a very sturdy, cheap house that would last in Haitian conditions. Another person who was an expert on growing food in poor agricultural conditions. And in this service, Stan was able to explain how we could begin building communities in Haiti. These communities are going to include somewhere between 30 and 40 houses, a church, a school, a medical/dental clinic, and agricultural plots so that the Haitians can get on the track of growing their own food. You can see a brochure for the community here: http://www.fbcj.org/Documents/HaitiFlyer.pdf. If you would like to watch Stan's sermon from that Sunday, it is here: http://www.fbcj.org/Video-2010-10-17.html.

Since that Sunday, our church has been raising money and preparing for this trip. We have even gotten our preschool involved. We built little house piggy banks out of cardstock to send home with all of our preschoolers. Taelyn gets so excited every time she finds some change lying around the house that she can put in her "Haiti house." Scott (my husband) will be going on the initial preparation trip at the end of February, so like I said, they won't be doing any building of the community. They will be establishing relationships and providing dental care for people. The first of the building trips will be March 6. Our church will continue to go and help establish these communities indefinitely at this point. If you would like to read more about this project or see a picture of what the completed houses will look like, you can check out this longer publication about the project: http://www.fbcj.org/Documents/FirstInAllTheWorld-Fall2010/flippingbook.swf. If you would like to get involved in this project to help Haiti, either by donating money or by going, you can check out this page about Project Haiti:  http://www.fbcj.org/Missions-Haiti.html. It should have any information that you need, or a contact person who can give you information.

Mainly what I ask from you at this point is your prayers. Prayers for everyone that will be traveling to this country to make a difference and prayers that a difference will be made. Prayers that God will work in the lives of Haitians through those going as well as in the lives of those going. Prayers to keep the teams free from disease and harm. But especially that God's love will be made known and accepted by the people of Haiti.