10 Day Give - Day 9

I had such a fun day today.  I met my friend for coffee, which turned into 4 hours later we realized we better get on with our day!  I always enjoy my time with her and I really feel like she lifted my spirits and I hope I did hers too.  It is nice to bounce off mom/kid issues with each other and we can totally relate.  

After my 4 hour coffee, I rushed over to my favorite gift/decor shop to pick up a fall gift for my Secret Pal at church.  The person I have, had me a couple years ago and SPOILED me.  So, I am trying to repay the kindness by finding neat things to surprise her with.  While shopping I also found her Christmas present so I am super excited to have that checked off my list.  I will be dropping off her gift for her to find tomorrow!

Tonight I am going through some photos that I know my mom wants copies of and getting them uploaded and ordered from Shutterfly.com.  I know how much she will appreciate having these copies next time I see her.  

Tomorrow is my final day of the 10-Day Give.  It is a hectic day and not sure how I will get my GIVE in, but I will find something!  

Scenes From Our Week - Week 1

As part of my 40 Before 40 Challenge, I wanted to capture our life in pictures at least once a week.  Here is what I captured this week.

The view down our street.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but with the sky and the trees, it was just gorgeous.



Patrick in his last soccer game of the season.





Bennett took on the challenge of playing with the 6-7-8 grade team even though he is a 5th grader.  He did an awesome job this season!  He wasn't afraid to get right in there and go after the ball!



10 Day Give Day 8

Today we went to church.  After church we had our annual Baked Potato Dinner.  They offer 12 different potato toppings so everyone can make their baked potato their own special way.  It was delicious.  All the potatoes were from either our Pastor's garden or from another member's garden.  How awesome is that?  Did you know today was Pastor Appreciation Day.  I left a card for our Pastor and his wife to let them know how much they are appreciated.  Unfortunately, I couldn't tell him in person because he was hospitalized last night.  We are hoping for a smooth and quick recovery for him. 

After the meal we ran back home to change (good thing we live only a few blocks away) and went back to church for the CROP Hunger Walk.  The CROP Walk's message is to "End Hunger One Step at a Time".  We met at our churchwith about 20 other locals for a welcome and prayer and then walked over to our high school track for a 1 hour walk.  Pledges will be donated and 25% will come back to our local Food Pantry.  Last year our food pantry received over $800.  That goes a long way towards helping families in our community.  Our whole family was happy to be able to donate and walk for hunger today.  Have you noticed a theme during this 10-Day Give time?  I really have a passion for helping those who are hungry and needy!

This afternoon I spent about 3 hours, yes, 3 hours with our daughter cleaning out and organizing her room.  I didn't even get to the clothes yet.  This was just the toys.  Oh my it was a J-O-B!  But, her room is now all organized and cleaned out.  One bag of garbage was taken out as well as one bag for donation.  Ugh!  One of these nights or maybe next weekend I need to go through her clothes and get the winter clothes out.  As much as I don't want to admit it, colder weather is coming.  I hope our daughter appreciates her clean and organized room and keeps it that way for awhile.

10 Day Give Day 7

Saturday was a day I gave to my family.  We started the morning with the boys' soccer game.  It was a gorgeous Saturday and was a fun game to watch.  It was the last game of the season and it ended in a tie.  We know how much time and effort the coaches put in over the season, so we were happy to give them a gift certificate to our local restaurant as a way to thank them for their time. My parents came to watch the game and then came to our home for the afternoon.  I made lunch for everyone and then we watched the Hawkeyes play Penn State and lose.  My mom brought a treat for me as well...she made me a Lemon Meringue Pie, my favorite, and it was soooooo delicious!!!  Then the evening was spent with my husband on our DATE NIGHT.   We had a great time and lots of excellent conversation.  Lately, I have been really craving that one on one time with my husband and I am so glad we had 2 dates this week.  It might be awhile before we get a chance to have one again.  We have a joke that it isn't really a date with out a stop at Target.  So, of course, we stopped at Target.  We needed to pick up our items for our weekly Food Pantry donation.  Rather than the kids bringing a monetary offering to their Sunday School, they bring a food item to donate to the pantry.  Normally, I like to take the kids and let them pick out something they would want to donate.  But, it was just easier this time for Pat and I to pick up the food.  We know what a great need there is in our area for food and it is something easy we can do to help out.  We picked up things like canned fruit and vegetables, pasta, and cereal.  All items we take for granted that are on hand in our pantry.  Donating food items is an easy way to give back to your community.  If you haven't done so, please consider contacting your local food pantry and finding out their needs today.

10 Day Give Day 6

Today I was able to spend my entire day (while the kids were in school) at home.  So, I took that opportunity to CLEAN OUR HOUSE. It was way beyond the "NEED" stage and was at the "CATASTROPHIC" stage.  I scrubbed floors, vacuumed in corners, and dusted every single item on shelves.  I feel so much better.  The house looks nice....at least for the next couple hours.  So, I guess you could say I gave my family (and myself) a clean house today.  My parents are coming tomorrow, so they can at least come and enjoy my clean house too.

After all my cleaning was done, I made some cookies to have after school and in case any of our friends come over before or after the football game, which usually happens.  The cookies incorporate two of my favorite things, pumpkin and white chocolate, so I just had to try them.  They are super moist and have just the right amount of pumpkin flavor.  They are delish.  Click the link to find the recipe for these great cookies,

White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cookies.

Tonight we will be cheering on our local football team and hanging out with friends.  It is a beautiful, fall night and I am blessed to be able to enjoy it!

Things I Love - Blessings by Laura Story

Things I Love....................


This is my feature where I get to share something that I just love. Since you are my friends, I like sharing things I love with others. It could be anything from a new product, food, recipe, song, image, to a person and everything in between. This will be something I am completely doing on my own, without pressure or compensation from a company, author, PR/Marketing firm, friend, business owner, etc. This will just be something that makes me happy and I want to share it with you. Enjoy some love!

Today's love is................................"Blessings" by Laura Story

A friend of mine sang this song in church and since then I have heard it on the radio during my channel surfing.  There is a story behind this song as well.  Laura Story and her husband were married less than 2 years when they found her husband had a brain tumor.  After years of numerous struggles and continous healing that is still ongoing, Laura wrote this song.  Even after all the struggles and still unanswered prayers, Laura still believes God is 100% Powerful and 100% Loving.  Laura believes sometimes God gives us what we need rather than what we want and that He might let us stay broken in ways we might not expect. 

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)