Scenes From Our Week - Week 3

There was no school on Wednesday so the kids and I spent the day shopping. The kids needed clothes for this upcoming cold weather.  We needed birthday gifts.  We needed pumpkins.  We needed groceries.  So we embarked on an all day adventure.  We went to the outlet mall, the regular mall, Earl May, and Target. After an exhausting day, the best reward was Coldstone ice cream!  The kids had oreo cream filling with various mix-ins. I varied from my usual raspberry/cheesecake/white chocolate chips variety to swap the raspberry for PUMPKIN! Oh My Goodness it was soooo yummy!

On Friday night, Reagan and I baked our pies for our annual church dinner.  She loves to run the apple peeler/corer/slicer and help with the pie making. 

Saturday morning 17 of us from our church went around our small town and raked leaves for about 3 hours.  We call ourselves the Community Crew and even had shirts made up! We were able to complete 7 lawns and had a lot of fun doing it!  Since not all of the leaves have fallen, we just may have to do it again!

We we moved into our house nearly 8 years ago, one of the things we absolutely loved were our backyard trees.  We have been so grateful that the previous owners invested in these gorgeous trees. They have provided us wonderful shade in the summer and beautiful leaves in the fall.  If you are looking for a tree for your backyard, I highly recommend the Autumn Blaze Maple!

May you all have a wonderfully blessed week!



10 Day Give Day 5

This first Thursday of every month I donate my time and talents to our local library.  I lead a story time for the little ones in our community.  I started the story time when I think our daughter was 3.  I missed taking her like I had taken the boys when we lived in Cedar Rapids and I wanted to give her those same opportunities but without driving an hour round trip.  So, I offered to lead one at our library and it has been going ever since.  Out of all the volunteering I do, this is MY FAVORITE.  Today we had 9 kids and they are always so excited to come to story time.  The best part is when the kids see me out and about in the community.  I get the biggest hugs! So even though I am doing the giving - I think I am the one who gets the most from it!

I love selecting the book and theme for the month.  Then looking for songs, finger-plays, craft and a snack to tie it all in.  I am so thankful for the internet, as I have found lots and lots of ideas there.  My other favorite resource is THE MAILBOX.  It is a teacher resource book that is shipped every couple months.  I know that the teachers in our school use it and it has also given me great ideas.  I also have a story time friend, Lucy the Lamb.  She is a puppet and helps welcome the kids each time with our story time song.

Today's story time theme was Fall.  I read the book I SEE FALL by  Charles Ghigna and AG Jatkowska.  We also sang a song while dropping different colored leaves.  Our craft today was to make a fall tree.  I don't remember where I found this idea, but it worked really well for our group of 2-3 year olds.  You could also change this up for a Apple theme using red and green tissue paper.

Items Needed:
Blue Construction Paper
Brown Construction Paper
Red, Orange, Yellow, Purple, and Green Tissue Paper
Glue (Elmer's liquid glue works best)

10 Day Give Day 2 - Lima Leaf Day

Day 2 of the 10 Day Give was Sunday.  Every year, the first Sunday in October you can find me and my family giving of ourselves all day long.  My parents are the caretakers of a country church that was part of many generations of my mom's family.  The church is located in a beautiful area of NE Iowa that is no longer a town.  At one time, Lima was a bustling community with a railroad, school, store, and church.  It was even in the running to be the county seat.  But, alas, it fell to the troubles of the Great Depression and now all that is left is the Lima Church.


Lima Church - Photo courtesy of Rice Creative Services

 My parents along with several other volunteers have taken care of this church and its neighboring cemetery for many, many years.  Without their TLC and numerous fund-raisers, this beautiful landmark wouldn't be here either.

So, the first Sunday of October every year is Lima Leaf Day.  It is a fall festival with a meal, kid's games like ring toss, fish pond, and cake walk, petting zoo, country store and numerous vendors.  The meal is the highlight of the day and people come from all over and stand in line for maidrites, pork sandwiches, and homemade pies.  This year we actually RAN OUT of pies.  As far back as I can remember, I don't remember ever running out of pies.  It was tragic and I hated seeing the people's faces after waiting in line and finding out there was no more pie.  We had beautiful weather (my mom always says, "The Lord loves Lima") and a huge turnout.  The money raised helps to pay for the mowing of the grounds and cemetery and other upkeep/maintenance issues.  It really is a fun day and even though we are completely exhausted on Sunday evening, you are exhausted with a smile on your face because of all the people you saw and caught up with, the happy faces on the children who won a cake on the cake walk, and spending the day with family - all working together and giving of themselves for the same purpose.  Enjoy the photos from our day. 


Bennett, Reagan and Patrick running the ring toss




Pat taking the kids on a test run with the train.



Many people come out to see the vendors.

The lunch line has formed.



We can seat about 80 people at a time and we are busy for 3 hours.



My great-nephew, Henry, couldn't wait to have a bite of his chili dog!



Reagan even got to take a ride on a pony!

Even though there are no longer church services held in this church, it is a frequent site for weddings, family gatherings, luncheons, and funerals.  If you would like to learn more about Lima check out http://www.wadenaiowa.com/lima.htm

Are You Willing?

A long time ago, like almost 20 years ago, I attended a health fair at my college and signed up to be a Marrow Donor.  It took a bit of time and effort, but I really felt like I was doing an awesome thing.  In all this time, I have never been called and likely never will be called.  But, what if, my marrow could save someone's life?  What if I am the ONE PERSON in the world that could help them?  I am willing and ready to be that one person.  Are you?



Just click http://www.marrow.org/ to find out more information on how to register to be a donor in your area.  It could be the most important gift you ever give someone. 

Random Acts of Zhu

About a month ago, I was contacted to see if I would be willing to help give away 100 Zhu Zhu pets to my favorite charity.  Of course I said, YES!  I am 1 of 100 bloggers giving away 100 Zhu Zhu pets.  Their slogan is

100 bloggers x 100 Zhu Zhu Pets = 10,000 Smiles

The Zhu Zhu pets arrived and today I dropped them off at my charity of choice.  I chose our local charity The Mission of Hope.  My sister-in-law is a Staff Supervisor there and believes so much in their mission that it was an easy choice.  The Mission of Hope offers a Christ-centered ministry 24 hours a day, seven days a week to meet the physical, emotional & spiritual needs of former offenders and others in need.  Their mission is to meet basic needs, change hearts, disciple people and teach the church.  They do this by offering a warm place to hang out, have a cup of coffee and a pastry, a hot homemade meal, a food pantry and clothes closet, church services, and supportive groups. 

On December 22, 2010, they will open their doors to give away baskets of food and toys to those in need.  This is the day the Zhu Zhu pets and many other toys will be given away.  I will be there to help set up and hand out.  I so look forward to giving of my time.  As I was carrying things into the Mission today, clients and staff were so surprised at the generous donation of toys. I can't wait to see the faces of those picking out toys for their children, who without the Mission, would have no other opportunity to get toys. 

I would like to thank Zeno Group for making this donation possible.  Stay tuned for more about the donation day coming up.

The Old Hymns

Before I became a mom over 9 years ago, I worked as a social worker for Hospice. I absolutely loved my job, but knew that once I became a mom, that job was more important and I left Hospice behind. I did volunteer for them for awhile, but found my home life made it difficult for me to continue doing that....until recently. I refreshed my training and became a Hospice volunteer once again. I have had a few patients since I have started back up and I realized again how much I believe in this service. To be able to be a part of someones final journey is truly a privilege and I cherish every moment of it.

Last week I met my newest patient for the very first time as well as her daughter. My newest friend is 97 and lives in a nursing home. She is blind, hard of hearing, and has no short term memory. My first thought was "great...how am I going to visit with her?" But, last week, I had a nice visit with the daughter who was able to give me some background on her mom, while I sat and held the mother's hand. In our conversation the daughter shared that her mom is a Christian and loved going to church and singing the "old hymns". So, I decided that the next visit I would bring a hymnal and read the old hymns to her. Because she is so hard of hearing I thought it would be easier to read them loudly than to sing them loudly! :) So, today, that is just what I did.

When I walked in I told her who I was and chatted a little bit, then I told her what I had brought to read to her today. Her face lit up and she smiled! I started right in with "Sweet, Sweet Spirit", then "Sweet Hour of Prayer", and moved on to "The Old Rugged Cross". I read 15 different hymns to her today. I had never READ a hymn. So many of them I could sing by heart and know them instantly by the melody. But, I had never READ them. The words are beautiful and carry such meaning and lessons. I saw her mouthing the words several times and both of us had tears in our eyes throughout the visit. I am so grateful that God brought us together and gave me the idea to read these hymns to her. I am anxious to go back next week and read them again. She is such a blessing to me and I pray that God stays with her during her final days on this Earth and makes those days comfortable and pain free for her.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in doing, contact your local Hospice program and find out about their next volunteer training. There are many ways you can offer support to the families, like running errands for the caregiver, mowing the lawn, washing dishes, or staying with the patient while the caregiver goes to the store, church, or just out for a walk. You will not regret the time you spend with a family in Hospice.