Day 12 of the 12 Days of Giving - Local People Working!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I hope everyone got whatever they asked for! I know I did and I got great gifts too! I’m I love having Christmas at our house! I love seeing my family and loved ones over for the holiday, plus I love cooking. My kids destroyed the house opening presents but that’s okay! I really don’t know why I spend so much time cleaning it – I know what it’s going to look like when everyone arrives! I imagine their house looks similar so hopefully they don’t care! Today is our last day of giving. I’m a little sad as I have really enjoyed all that we’ve been able to do. What I have enjoyed most is the views I’ve received on these posts. Sure I am trying to operate a cooking blog about gluten free (soon to be dairy free, grain free, everything free for a while) in a tiny town in Kansas. My audience isn’t large to begin with but I have had an overwhelming response on my posts. I keep checking the stats and I’m happy to report that my combined views on my days of giving has blown everything else out of the water! This makes me happy! I love it when you all read my recipes but this means that we have at the very least intrigued you. I can’t tell you how many sweet texts or messages I have received about our giving. I love it! Do you know what else we love?? All of the people who are sacrificing time with their families today to keep us safe or comfortable. This includes our military, police officers, doctors, nurses, firefighters, store clerks, anyone who is working today! Thank you! I have the luxury of having a job that is closed today so I get to spend time with my family. Today, we wanted to give to those who are working to help others – in whatever way. My husband’s new hobby is smoking meat. He’s pretty good at it too! My favorite is his ribs. Today, he is smoking ribs that we can take to our local people! We are just going to be at home with family this morning and then going to my in-laws this afternoon so he had plenty of time to do it. So for lunch, some lucky people are going to get to enjoy his ribs! I hope you have enjoyed our 12 days of giving as much as we have! We can’t wait to do it again next year! I hope each of you have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year! God Bless!!! 

Day 11 of the 12 Days of Giving - Church

It is finally Christmas Eve! The night we have all waited for so impatiently. I’ll be lucky to get my son to sleep! Here’s our typical Christmas Eve routine. We get all dressed up in our fancy Christmas outfits. Then we go pick up my mom for Mass. Hopefully we are on time (usually we are not). If we aren’t, we have to squeeze into a packed pew or split up rows but I don’t mind. I love seeing the church full! Our church has Mass every Saturday night in our town. Most people like going on Sunday so it’s not too full each week. However, on Christmas Eve, you are lucky to find a place to sit! We love going to Mass but something about the Christmas spirit and the great company make Christmas Eve Mass so great! My kids aren’t quite at the age that they can sit still long though, so all three of us are usually wrestling the little ones. Anyway, we get through Mass and then drive around to look at Christmas lights. This is one of my greatest memories growing up. We always drove around and looked at lights as a family. My parents are divorced but there were a few years that we all went to Mass together (we have a picture of my dad to prove it! ha!) and looked at the lights. Now that I am an adult I can look back and remember these little details. It’s not the presents that I remember, it’s the time well spent with family. Sure I remember getting a bike one year but overall, I forget what I got when. I know my kids will too but I want them to have these memories. After the lights, we go home and get ready for bed. Last year I started a little tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve (my parents always let me open just one!). My son gets to open it for now but its usually a big box packed with PJs for everyone, a blanket, new movie or book, slippers, etc. That way we all get new Christmas PJs and get to spend some time together before bed. We tuck the kids in and then Santa goes to work. If I can, I lay awake early in the morning waiting for the kids to get up (or I wake them up!). Then you get the idea, presents, cookies for breakfast, whatever! I just love it all but my favorite part is Mass. It didn’t use to be but I really appreciate it now. There are many churches around but a shrinking number of priests to reverend them. Our priest currently covers four parishes each week. He’s a busy man! Last weekend at Mass, we had a seminarian come visit (a person studying for priesthood). I was surprised to see it was a guy my age that I went to college with for a couple years. I was completely surprised to see what he was doing with his life. He explained his studies and a “day in the life” kind of thing. Each year, they take up a collection at our church for retired priests and soon-to-be priests. That is what our 11^th day of giving will be. We giving our tidings at Mass each week but tonight is special and we want to give what we can for the past and future leaders of our church. My son even pitched in some leftover change he had from the library donation (I think he really just likes putting money in the collection baskets!). I know the priests work hard and it’s a lot of sacrifice but they do it with a smile on their face. It’s not just Catholics that make sacrifices but every religion and we should all be thankful for that – whatever our beliefs are! So tonight, we are going to bed with full hearts, tremendous blessings and anticipation. I hope your Christmas Eve is as magical and blessed as ours! 

Day 10 of the 12 Days of Giving - Library

Today I am a proud mom. Ok, everyday I’m a proud mom but today my little fella sure tugged at my heart! Today is the reason why I wanted to do this whole 12 days of giving thing. Sure it has been challenging some days – especially since I was sick the majority of the time. However, today makes it all worth it. Today my son is donating his allowance. I told him I would match (or more) whatever he wanted to give away. He is donating his allowance to the local public library. My mom takes him and the other daycare kids to the library quite regularly. Often enough that he knows EXACTLY where his favorite books are and he frequently checks out the same ones over and over. I didn’t go to the library much when I was younger. I liked reading, but didn’t go to the public library. I am SO happy that he enjoys going. He talks about it all the time. That’s another reason why we decided to reward him with books. Every night since this started we have read at least 2 books each night – many times more than that! A few days ago my husband and I were talking about the recent break-ins at the library. There were two different occasions that it was broken into and computers, electronics, etc. were stolen. Our son overheard us talking about it and said “I want to give my allowance money to the library so they can buy new stuff.” I almost fell over. I never dreamed that he would think to do something so generous with something he treasures so much – his allowance. It has been easy for him to watch us donate to other things because it is not his money he’s losing. Tonight, he got his piggy bank and his allowance jar and was ready to give! I know the few dollars isn’t anything compared to what they lost or what it costs to upkeep everything but I sure hope they know how much the library means to him and how caring he is. Many times as a parent, I question that what I’m doing is right or if I’m teaching him the right things. Tonight, he showed me that I’ve done at least something right for him to volunteer his hard earned money!

Day 9 of the 12 Days of Giving - Ice Melt & Santa

I’m not sure what the weather is like where you are but here in the four states it has been nasty. Over the weekend, we have received quite a bit of ice and a little dusting of snow. Luckily, it was a little warmer last week so the roads stayed pretty clear (at least the ones I was on). Unfortunately, the trees and other things got weighed down with the ice. Our cedar tree limbs were touching the ground! We’ve had worse ice storms so I’m thankful that this wasn’t as bad as previous ones but it is still a pain. Anyway, today we decided we’d take some ice melt over to one of our elderly neighbors and make sure her drive and sidewalk were clear for church. My son got all his winter clothes on and grabbed the ice melt. As I mentioned earlier, the sidewalk and roads were not too bad so it wasn’t much use. The thought was nice, just didn’t go very far after that.

Yes.. you need ski goggles in KS to throw ice melt...

Since the ice melt didn’t work, we decided to make some Christmas goodies. And by we, I mean me. My husband and son went to work on my husband’s smoker. I got out all of our Christmas dishes, utensils, etc since we are having breakfast here Christmas morning. Earlier in the week, we made Santa’s cookie plate and milk mug. I put it out with the rest of the stuff. When my son got home, he was so excited to see Santa’s stuff. Then he said, “Mom, we need to give Santa something.” I replied with “What? Are you sure?” He, of course, said “Yes. I want to do something for Santa.” Well…. what do you say to that?? You say, “Ok son. How about we color him a Christmas picture?” That worked for him so we all laid on the floor and colored pictures to give to Santa, along with his milk and cookies. While we were coloring he said “Do you know what my favorite thing is? Coloring with my family. I like it better than work.” I’m so happy it meant so much to him. Of course, now Santa needs a real gift. Not sure what we are going to do about that one… 

Day 8 of the 12 Days of Giving - Blankets to Homeless Shelter

Today we decided to help the homeless again. I saw a news report on the need for items in the local homeless shelters. They advertised for Soul’s Harbor and said they were experiencing a lot of people in need. We decided that blankets would be a good item to donate. We went to Wal-Mart, grabbed a few blankets and some gloves. It’s definitely not much, but it is cold out and I know we like snuggling with blankets! We also decided to throw in a package of apple cider mix. I can’t imagine not having a warm place to come home to or a nice cup of cider/tea/whatever. There are so many little things that we take advantage of everyday. We are so blessed to have a warm home, plenty of food, clothes, toys, etc. We’ve been trying to be extra thankful for everything we have and take for granted. Every evening we pray and say what we are thankful for. My son is always thankful for his toys, which is fine, but I’m hoping after all of this he is thankful for more than just material items and toys. It’s going well so far! Be prepared for what he has in store for the rest of the days of giving – I’m very impressed!

Day 7 of the 12 Days of Giving - letters to family

So today’s “gift” is a non-monetary, heart filled gift, straight from the innocence of a child. My son wanted to do something for some of his favorite people. I thought we’d put together some letters. For Father’s Day one year, I did this for Caleb. I put together a little questionnaire and his answers were so cute and funny. I thought it would be cute for Christmas too. I won’t post the exact letters because our family members haven’t received them yet and I don’t want to spoil the surprise. All I did was think of a few questions that he could answer honestly. Some were related to Christmas, others were not. His answers were truly honest, all his own and so sweet. When kids are that age, they say whatever they think, as silly or as funny as it may be. Their innocence is so amazing sometimes. It’s easy to forget they are just children but this little project brought joy to us and I’m sure it will bring even more joy to the recipients. Below are a few questions that you could use for ideas. Really any type of question or thought can be put on to paper. You could even just ask them what they want to write to their person. Kids can talk about anything; I’m sure they’ll think of something to say! If you happen to do this, let me know what some of your questions/answers are! It would be fun to share!

"The soul is healed by being with children..."

What is ____’s favorite color?

What is _____’s favorite thing to do?

What does _____ do for fun?

Why do you always want to go see _____?

What is your favorite thing about _____?

If you could do anything for ____, what would it be?

What would _____ ask from Santa for Christmas?

Day 6 of the 12 Days of Giving - Daycare & Free Store

There are times that I realize my children are very spoiled. Sure I like to blame it on the grandparents (who do a great job of spoiling) but we are also to blame. When my son was a baby, I must have bought every outfit I saw for him to wear. We didn’t have much money then so I’m not sure how we afforded it all but it was ridiculous. We had a garage sale, I’ve given clothes away to friends, donated them and I STILL have so many boy clothes! You’d think my daughter would have too much but her amount is fairly reasonable. The problem is not just clothes, but toys too. My son has every tiny little cheap toy you can think of and my daughter just refuses to play with hers. She prefers toilets or trashcans and the pantry items. She’s out of control. Anyway, we’ve started storing the older toys that don’t get played with as much and they haven’t missed one toy. So instead of just hoarding these barely used toys and clothes, we decided to donate them to the local free store. There’s really no sense in these boxes just taking up space – especially when I know they will be get MORE toys and clothes next week. My mom has a daycare so we are also going to be taking some toys there so she can rotate them out every once in a while too. I really thought my son would be more upset about this but he wasn’t. Obviously, he didn’t care about the clothes are working on being too small anyway but he wasn’t upset about the toys either. Some toys he said were “silly baby toys” anyway. I admit, I’m part of the problem. I keep everything…. I mean everything. My son had these toys that I thought “oh my gosh, we have to keep that. He smiled for the first time playing with that.” or “Remember this one?? He did this… or that…” Whatever the case was, I apparently thought it was a momentous occasion in our lives and we HAD to keep that toy. I’ve gotten over that – somewhat. It was tough, but those bags and bags of baby clothes and toys are finally going. Of course, I kept some of his favorite things and outfits (too many I’m sure) but the rest I’m ready to part with… I think. 

Day 5 of the 12 Days of Giving - Food Pantry

Ok – I have to be honest today. Today was supposed to be caroling with our church kids. I teach 2^nd grade and Lane is in the Pre-K class. We were so looking forward to it. I don’t think I've been caroling. I really love seeing all the kids together and having fun. I’m so thankful they let me help out. My body had different ideas which don’t involve being outdoors or around children. I've had a nasty cold since before Thanksgiving. One round of meds didn't work so a trip to Urgent Care was my afternoon. Two meds later, I’m at home with a fever.  Wash your hands people, there is nasty crud going around! 

Anyway – I had to move up a plan for today’s day of giving. Today has turned into food pantry day. My son had a hard time understanding this. We always have food and it seems like we are always grocery shopping. We eat mostly raw, real food so we don’t have too many pantry items – only fresh fruits, veggies, etc. They don’t last long and are very perishable so we had to do some grocery shopping for the food pantry. Lane’s first choice should come as no surprise to those that know him – mac & cheese. Then he got some Kool-Aid, fruit snacks, hot cocoa, cereal, stuffing mix, some soups, canned veggies and fruit. I mean really - I think he hit the essentials :) We got a large amount of stuff and I think my son understands a little better that he should be thankful for what we have. He may hate asparagus and give me the stink eye when I make him eat it, but at least he has fresh foods to eat! I must say it was odd buying all of those things that we don’t eat anymore. I forgot how easy and convenient it is to buy a can of soup or a package of macaroni and cheese. Either way – I hope it helps someone! 

Day 4 of the 12 Days of Giving - Watered Gardens

Some of you may have heard their ads on the radio. I wasn’t really sure what they were about until I started hearing their ads and I liked their message so I checked them out. You can find more info on their website http://wateredgardens.org. You can view their testimonials, their mission, events, etc. Watered Gardens Gospel Rescue Mission is located in Joplin, MO and according to their website their vision is “to see the Church boldly engaged with the homeless and poor relationally, responsibly and compassionately.”

We decided for our 4^th day of giving, we would donate some items there. I really like their approach and we wanted to help a couple homeless/needy shelters. We bought a few hygiene items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, etc. We also a few little toys like slinky’s, bouncy balls and some markers/pens/notepads. I think there was some candy as well. It wasn’t much but it was things we could get to help multiple people and what my son thought everyone loves.  I mean really, who doesn’t love slinky’s and bouncy balls?! We have some other things in store for another homeless shelter later this week. I encourage you to check out Watered Gardens or some shelters in your area. I used to be really apprehensive to give to shelters or help the homeless. You always hear so many things about why people think they are homeless or what they’d do with your money if you gave it to them. I’ve learned that you can’t judge people. Let me rephrase that, you can but you shouldn’t. Unfortunately, I still find myself doing it. I hate that feeling I get when I pass a homeless person in the car and I quickly look away pretending I didn’t see them so I don’t feel as guilty for not doing anything (you know what I’m talking about). This year I decided that we weren’t going to do that. It is not my place to judge another person’s life and downfalls. It is not my place to judge what a person does with my help. I feel it is right to do what I can and involve my family. Slinky’s and toothbrushes worked for us! :)

Day 2 of the 12 Days of Giving - Angel Tree Gifts

So today proved to be very trying….but very rewarding! My husband and I explained to the kids (mainly the 5 yr old, little miss doesn’t speak English yet ha!) that today we would be buying gifts for the less fortunate. Our town has an “Angel Tree” that helps provide Christmas gifts for needy children (anonymously). Last week I went to pick our angels and surprisingly there were several left. I chose 4 special angels that were close in age to our kids. We had a 6 year old girl, a 6 year old boy, a 7 year old boy and a 1 year old girl. When I looked at the tags later I noticed most only asked for clothing or shoes. I was very surprised and very humbled at the same time. My husband and I decided that we’d get both; clothes and toys. My son actually did very well with buying the gifts. He was very excited and wanted to get them EVERYTHING. Food, shoes, socks, toys, soap, books… you name it, he tried to put it in the cart. He only asked a couple times if he was getting something but didn’t throw fits when I told him “no”. Anyway, I was very proud of him. We spent a lot more money than we planned. Our plan was to spend about $30 per kid. However, we quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen. By the time you get a small toy and gloves you are practically there.  Our Christmas bonuses may be gone BUT I’m happy to say that each child got gloves, a hat, shoes, socks, PJs, an outfit, books, 2 small toys and some candy (plus the baby got a coat!). The worst part of the whole trip was the crowd at Wal-Mart. Oh my gosh. We tried to get there early but it was closer to mid-morning. By the time we left at 11, it was crazy!!! Our daughter was tired and cranky. She threw her shoes, spilled her milk, screamed at the top of her lungs, lost her ponytail (which gave her a hideous, messy, Mohawk thing – don’t worry you’ll see her on “people of Wal-Mart” later), etc. My son wanted to put everything in the cart, wandered off, ran his face into a shopping cart (only a small black eye), etc. Once we got home and unloaded all the bags of stuff and laid all the gifts out, I realized it was all worth it and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I knew this would be our big “day of giving” but I’m so happy that it went as well as it did. Through all the madness I saw our purpose and that’s all that matters. I sincerely hope that each child we were able to help has a wonderful Christmas and I hope that their parents or caregivers have one less stress to worry about this holiday season. Here’s some pics of our rewarding day!

Had to tie shoes. And yes my daughter is chewing on a dog toy (don't judge, it was a long day!)

The lost ponytail holder - mohawk-crazy hair look I mentioned earlier....

Sorted out by child!

All wrapped and ready to go!

Opening their book - Spiderman wanted to help :)

12 Days of Giving plus 12 Days of Books

As I am preparing for Christmas this year, I can’t help but reflect on the drastic changes that have come our way this past year. Obviously, my health kind of took a quick, downward spiral and our eating habits are somewhat crazy. I mean really, I never thought I’d be eating quinoa, coconut oil or bean sprouts and last year I didn’t even know what gluten really was. I also never thought I’d be writing a blog post, but life happens! I know I’ve said it before, but all of this has truly opened my eyes about life and what it should be like. I will admit, I’m the crazy mom at Christmas. We start jamming to Christmas tunes about mid-November. We put the tree up before Thanksgiving (oh my gosh, that’s like a smack in the face to Thanksgiving, I know). I search for every possible gift I can give for anyone until I’m literally out of money. I just love everything about it. I love the happy faces, the gracious “thank yous”, the cookies (and other food), the warmth, that fuzzy feeling… I love it all. However, it makes me crazy. I focus too much on making sure everything is perfect, no one is left out and we all are so stuffed we can’t move. I simply don’t have the energy for that right not, but it makes me think about what is important. Making sure every person we know has a gift isn’t important. It’s making every person we can feel like they are loved. Hence, our new project – 12 days of giving. I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of it, but I’m the first person in my family to so I’m taking credit for our household anyway! I want to teach my children the importance of this holiday season – something I’ve failed at in previous years. I want them to know that gifts are nice but it’s the acts of kindness that mean the most. To do this, I must practice what I preach and show them these efforts and make us work together as a family. I’m very much looking forward to it! So here are the rules: have fun, be happy and enjoy yourself! That’s it! Can your act of giving be a material item? Sure! But it doesn’t have to be. Do you have to only help strangers?? Of course not, help whoever needs it! What if you forget a day? No worries! Catch it up the next day, just don’t stress about it! Do you have to do 12 days of giving?? No way – do 14, do 25, do 1, do whatever you can or want. In addition to our giving, we will also be celebrating our acts with each other. Each night after we are finished giving, we will come home and open a gift (all of which are books! Hence the 12 books of Christmas!). My kids love to read books and I think it is a great bonding time for everyone.

Here’s what we are doing: starting on Dec. 14^th we will pick one act of giving to do that day. We don’t have the activities set in stone because you never know what the weather might do or if someone is sick. After we complete the act, we all come home, sit by the tree with a cup of cocoa and open a wrapped book. We then read the book as a family before we head to bed. We repeat the process for 12 days, ending on Christmas. At the end of the 12 days, not only will the kids have 12 new books to look at and read each day, but I hope that we have made a difference for 12 different people/thing in some way. I also hope that we can continue our acts of giving throughout the year, not just during Christmas! If you are participating, share your ideas so we can all learn and get tips from each other! Plus, we may need new ideas for next year! Here’s a list of our activities we’ve thought of so far:

• Preparing goody bags for the homeless – complete with toothbrush, toothpaste, water bottle, gum, granola bar, bar of soap, notepad, pen, maybe $5 or a gift card to a restaurant (don’t pass judgment, you don’t know their story or their need).
• Donating to the local food pantries

• Donating toys to a local charity – toy drives, Salvation Army, etc.
• Volunteering as a bell ringer – I did this in college and loved it, plus they always need volunteers!
• Raking leaves at our priest’s home or at an elderly couple
• Baking Christmas treats to take to our neighbors
• Donate dog/cat treats to the local vet’s offices or pound
• Mailing Christmas cards to the nursing home residents
• Helping an elderly person load their groceries
• Adopting an “Angel” from a local Angel tree
• Donating books to the library
• Donating toys to the daycare
• Baking cookies for the police department, fire department or sheriff’s office
• Writing letters to family members telling them why you love them
• Send some Christmas goodies overseas to troops
• Send some Christmas goodies to 3^rd world countries (check out Samaritans Purse)
• Participate in Santas for Seniors – it involves donating items to the elderly for Christmas, like an Angel tree
• Participate in a coat drive – my kid’s coats are like new but too small!

Here's our 12 wrapped books, just waiting to be opened!