Raising Multiples

  • Teaching Our Children: How to Wrap Gifts

    Letting the kids wrap their own gifts

    As I sit in the middle of the floor with little scraps of Christmas wrapping paper around me I have to smile…..  The girls LOVE going to the store to pick out the perfect gift(s) for each person.  They also really like to wrap the gifts!  While they have a tendency to make a mess, use more wrapping paper, put on too much tape, and take a long time wrapping they have a blast doing it.  Although, I have noticed that every year they get a little better and more efficient.

    Each girl starts the gift wrapping activity by picking out their own roll of wrapping paper to use for their gifts.  They use that roll of wrapping paper on all the gifts they have to wrap until there are no more gifts to do or the wrapping paper is gone.  They do the entire wrapping process on their own from cutting the paper to taping and even labeling the gift.

    While we still have the occasional – “Mom, I didn’t cut the wrapping paper big enough” overall they are getting better at the whole process.  At times, I’ve even had problems not cutting the paper big enough!  Typically, we spend an evening or two (depending on the amount of time we have) doing a “wrapping party” while listening to Christmas music.  As they wrap their gifts I will tackle some that I need to do as well.  Everyone has fun and we get a lot accomplished at the same time.

    I love that they take the extra time to not only wrap the gifts but label, add little notes, or draw pictures on the outside of the gifts.  They started doing this on their own last Christmas.  It was so cute reading their notes and talking about their drawings as we opened the gifts.  They were so proud of the gift and the wrapping which they did from start to finish.  Here are some of the sweet drawings and notes we found under our tree last year:

    Silly notes written on the gifts…..made me smile

    Brina even picked out turtle food at the store for the turtles and wrapped it for them.

    Karlie drew a planet, specifically Saturn, on this gift

    I Love You note on the gift

    Brina drew little “heart” people on the outside of this Christmas gift.

    Picture of the sweet sisters on the gift

    While the gift wrap my not win a decorative prize the girls are proud of their work and are excited to share.  They are learning many lessons during this too (hand-eye coordination, measuring, sharing, giving, etc….).  Pretty soon I will have to start delegating more gift wrapping tasks to them! 🙂

  • Introducing……the Newest Members of Our Family – “Coconut,” “Oreo,” & “Snowball”

    The 3 newest family members of our family “Coconut,” Oreo,” and “Snowball”

    If you had asked me even a year ago if I would ever have goats as pets I would have laughed.  Goats, seriously!  I don’t know how to raise goats, what would I do with them…..  Guess what!?  Life has a funny way of changing my perspective.   We have GOATS!  Three adorable, fluffy, social, fun loving, goats that have become such a sweet part of the family!

    This one cracks me up……silly Oreo!

    The girls immediately loved these little balls of fluff…..and as hard as it is to admit it didn’t take long  before they had stolen a piece of my heart too.  They are always thrilled to see you.  I love driving into the driveway and seeing them come racing across the yard to greet us.

    Our little “Oreo Sunday”!  He is the smallest of the 3 but makes up for it with his colorful character!

    The girls are overjoyed to have goats.  They do a pretty good job of taking care of them too.  The goats love it when the girls are outside playing.  All three are very social and are great with kids.  The only thing we are still training them not to do, they’ve gotten better, is to not jump up on people. We have already trained them with several things already.  One of the best things we did for training was to teach them to head into the goat pen for their grain or a treat whenever we  rang a bell rings so when we need to put them into the pen it is really easy.

    Sweet baby “Snowball” coming to say hello!  He is the most timid of the 3 goats and especially in the beginning he would bolt to the pen whenever he saw Skipper or if he was startled.

    It has been over a year in preparation for these little guys.  They are a neat addition to our family or as the girls call it “our small farm”!  It all started with me reading an article on goats.  Followed by months of researching, building a goat house and pen, and finding the perfect critters to adopt into our family.

    Our “Toasted Coconut” chewing happily on some leaves.  Coconut’s our adventurous eater, he’ll try anything before the other two goats (even your hair if you get it too close).

    These little guys have been a fun addition to the family.  Skipper was excited to have more friends in the yard as well.  It didn’t take long to train her not to chase the goats and for the goats to not be scared of the big black lab charging through the yard.  After researching how to train them to stay in certain parts of the yard we decided to get them collars similar to what we use with Skipper (they wear the collars and the wire for their boundary is underground).  After a little trial and error it has worked like a charm.  The goats have their boundaries and Skipper has hers.  The goats are not allowed in the driveway because they would most likely climb on the vehicles or in the front yard (they would eat any of my flowers on the front porch or garden).

    Our twin goats munching on something delicious!

    The whole process has been an experience to say the least.  There was moments of excitement and even some moments of tears…..I will share a little more of that part of the story a little later.

    Curious Oreo, he just had to see what that silver shiny object was in my hands (my camera)!

    The goats are always munching on something.  They like anything from leaves, bushes,  flowers, fruits, vegetables, peanuts, hay, grain, and more.  We feed them grain once a day and in the cooler months make sure they have some hay to eat.  Most days they will spend out in the yard eating or lounging in the sun.  It has been a lot of fun learning what foods they goats love, for example, banana peels are a favorite as are peanuts (whole or just shells).  One of their special grain treats smells like black licorice.  Almost everyday after the girls get home from school they go immediately to see Skipper and the goats (usually bringing them treats).

    Oreo looking over his shoulder to see what was taking Karlie and Brina so long!

    All three goats Nigerian Dwarf Wethers and were born in February 2012 so they are not quite a year old.  Oreo was born in the mountains of North Carolina.  Our twin boys, Snowball and Coconut, were born in the foothills.  When the goats only grow to be about the size of a black lab.

    Buddies…..the girls love playing out in the yard and the goats love having the girls nearby.

    The girls were excited to see meet family members and they have spent hours playing with them.  It took us a few weeks before we came up with their names but everyone agreed on “Oreo Sunday”, “Snowball”, and “Toasted Coconut”.  It has been quite entertaining to have these little guys around.  They have a lot of personality and are always thrilled to see you.

     

    The goats like to climb up onto things….such as fallen tree limbs!  Karlie and Brina hanging out with the “billy-billies” as they call them




    Snack time!

  • What Are They Building Now!?

    Our family lives on a small quiet street.  All our neighbors are retired so when we start a project, specifically one in the yard, everyone is all “curious” about what we are up to.  One of our neighbors will sit on the other side of the fence in his lawn chair sipping sweet tea and watch us as we work in the yard.  After 10 years of being the entertainment for the neighborhood seeing him pull up his chair just makes me laugh.

    We live on what the kids call a “small farm”.  The property is over 4 acres with a big yard, creek, and woods.  The girls and pets love running and playing in our yard.  We’ve even done camp-outs, paintball games, bonfires, target practicing, and a lot of other activities in our yard.

    Okay…..so back to the neighbors question “what are they building now”?  A little over a year ago I was reading an article about goats, don’t ask me why, just happened to catch my eye during that time.  Now I am not a big fan of goat milk or cheese or meat so that wasn’t what caught my attention it was the part about what the goats ate.

    While the goat’s digestive system is similar to that of cattle, horses, and sheep they tend to prefer brush and trees over grass (they are more like deer).    The reason why that caught my attention was because with our 4 acres we have a lot of trees, leaves, and brush.  My husband and I had been talking a week before about spending some more time cleaning the undergrowth in the wooded area of our property so the article intrigued me.

    With all that being said our kids LOVE animals (dogs, turtles, horses, cats, you name it), it is one area they have in common. They have been asking for years for a horse (I don’t think that’s going to happen, at least any time soon).  A couple months earlier I teased my husband that I was going to get chickens for the girls to raise and so we could have fresh eggs to eat.  He vetoed the chicken idea mainly because we have too many wild animals that go through our property (turkeys, deer, racoons, possums, foxes, coyotes, etc….).  So when I brought up the idea of getting goats (more as a joke) I figured he would just laugh at my suggestion…..well, he didn’t.  He started researching it more and decided that if I was up for it we could consider the possibility in a few months.

    Well, a few months went by and we started preparing for the newest members of our family.  What began with a simple glance at an article turned into building a goat house.  Jake designed and built the whole thing by himself (well, with the help of the girls).  The girls were soooooooo excited!  Here are some pictures of the process:

    Brina hammering away

    Brina and Karlie having fun “working” on the goat house

    Daddy working with his two helpers!

    Brina & Karlie helping Daddy on the roof of the goat house

    Brina, Karlie, Mommy, and Skipper painting the goat house.  The girls picked out the color “candy apple red”!

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    On the back of my office door this SMART sign is hanging.  Some days when I look at it am encouraged while others I have to sigh because while I am continuing to make steps in the right direction there are those weeks that it feels like I am moving at a snails pace (or slower).  Maybe this is the week I can get caught up on some items!  Thankfully Jake is back home from his work travels and everyone seems to be healthy so that’s always good.  I am looking forward to the girls getting off school later this week for the Christmas Holidays!

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Read to the girls and have them read to me daily
    2. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    3. Daily School Activities & Homework Completed
    4. Attend After School Activities
    5. Plan one special Activity with the Family
    6. Finish Decorating  & Putting up Christmas Bins
    7. Work on Christmas List – working on it, a few more items to get done this week
    8. Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings – had a blast doing week 2!

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise at least 5 days this week – need to get back on track with this goal
    2. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    3. Reading / listening through my Bible – doing the 90 day plan through YouVersion – I FINISHED the 90 Day plan I was working through!!!! So excited that I stick to it! I am already looking forward to the next one!

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Tackle Fall Cleaning & Organization Projects – with all the Christmas activities going on this had to be put on hold temporarily
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Write and Send Out Community Group Email – opps this one fell through the cracks with the busy schedule this past week, we are done meeting until after the Holidays but meant to send out an email to the group

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Payoff the Van – working on it
    3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses (we are trying to build this back up because we had to take some out for unexpected expenses recently.) – slowly building it up
    4. Stay within Christmas Budget – need to review what Jake & I spent recently, it’s harder when he is traveling

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Read to the girls and have them read to me daily
    2. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    3. Daily School Activities & Homework Completed
    4. Attend After School Activities
    5. Plan one special Activity with the Family
    6. Help with the girls School Christmas Parties
    7. Work on Christmas List
    8. Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings (Week 3)

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise at least 5 days this week
    2. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    3. Pick out my new YouVersion plan!
    4. Finish reading Significant Work by Paul Rude (super excited about this book!)
    5. Finish reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Finish Wrapping & Prepping for the Christmas Events
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Write and Send Out Community Group Email

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Payoff the Van
    3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses (we are trying to build this back up because we had to take some out for unexpected expenses recently.)
    4. Stay within Christmas Budget

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

  • Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings (Week 2)

    Fresh Citrus Christmas Potpourri wrapped up and given to friends & neighbors this week

    We into our second week of  25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. (Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises).   It has been a lot of fun doing the daily activities and doing our best to be a blessing to those we meet.  Seriously, I feel like we walk away from an activity feeling more blessed then we did going into it.   What a joy it has been participating in intentional acts of kindness during the Holiday Season.

    In some cases we get to see who receives our B.L.E.S.S. gift and in other cases we will never know who is on the receiving end.  We pray that whoever receives or finds these gifts will experience joy during this Holiday Season.  Each night we take down the B.L.E.S.S. activity for the next day and read the verse and the activity then pray for those who have and will receive our little BLESS’ings.

    Gift bags full of goodies for our Community Group members

    Here is what we have done so far and a couple pictures to share of our adventures:

    • Day 8 – Gave a donation to the Salvation Army at a local Big Lots store.  Brina was the one with me when we put the money into the red container.  It was a great opportunity to discuss what Salvation Army was and why they collect money during this time of year.

    Fresh Christmas Potpourri gift

    • Day 9 –  Put together little gifts (Fresh Christmas Potpourri and a bag of Chocolates) for the families within our Community Group and delivered them at our Christmas Social.  Thankful for the neat people God has placed in our group this year.

    Brina and Karlie helping me put away all the AWESOME food families donated during the Awana Food Drive.  The pantries are restocked and ready to be a blessing to people within our community.  Thankful for the girls help getting everything put away (love those chickadees)!

    • Day 10 – Organized and put away food items into the Alms & Legs Food Pantry after the Awana Food Drive.  I was SUPER EXCITED to see the cabinets full again!  Praying that the food will be a huge blessing on the lives of those who need it.
    • Day 11 – Brought a bag with goodies to the tutor for Christmas to brighten her day and spread some cheer.

    Lasagna, garlic bread & Coke are in the van and on their way to a friend

    • Day 12 – Made and delivered a meal to a friend to help out.  The girls had a lot of fun delivering the meal and playing for a few minutes with their friends.  Praying for our dear friend as she is going through radiation while trying to take care of her family, we hope the meal was a blessing to them this week.

    One of the baskets full of goodies for our neighbors

    • Day 13 – Delivered Christmas goodies to our neighbors.  I made Fresh Christmas Potpourri and homemade sweet treats!  The girls look forward to this activity.  The have a lot of fun delivering the gifts and catching up for a few minutes with each neighbor.  Thankfully our neighborhood is fairly small so we had plenty of time to do it in the afternoon after school.
    • Day 14 – While at KMart checking out I was talking with the cashier asking about her day, if she was ready for Christmas, and such.  Through the conversation I found out that she is a single Mom with a girl the same age as my girls.  I felt led to be a blessing to her.  Even though I paid cash for the transaction I told her to keep the change (which wasn’t a lot) and put it towards something little for her girl this Christmas.  Even though Jake has to travel sometimes I am very grateful for him and everything he does for our family, I cannot imagine how busy it must be as a single Mom.

    One of our favorite verses this week went along with our Day 13 activity.

    This is my commandment, that you have love one another as I have loved you.  – John 15:12

    It has been a lot of fun working on ways we can be a blessing to others.  This verse talked about “loving others” which can be difficult at times because some people are just hard to get a long with.  We talked about why it is important to show love and compassion to those around us.  The girls decided that when we find it hard to love someone we should ask Jesus for help and to adjust our attitude towards that person because there are many days we are not lovely people ourselves yet God always loves us.

    It is fun be to be a blessing to others not because we anticipate any rewards or benefits from it, but because we were given the greatest gift of all.  God’s love, grace, and mercy.  He wants us to give cheerfully from the heart.

    Basket full of goodies to deliver with the meal on day 12 – Rice Krispy treats, fruit salad, lettuce salad, and a box of Angry Bird fruit snacks!

    I am super excited to see how great this B.L.E.S.S. activity is going already.  It has been a true joy sharing with others (many of whom we’ll never meet).  It has been a great experience and I look forward to seeing what will happen with our fun adventures this week.

    Neighbors gifts are ready to be hand delivered!  The girls LOVE delivering the gifts and catching up for a few minutes with the neighbors!

    The main purpose of this activity is to teach our family the joy of giving and sharing to those around us.  I plan to do another update on our fun B.L.E.S.S. adventures next week.  Sometimes it’s the little stuff that can make the most positive impact.  I would love to hear how you are spreading the Christmas cheer this Holiday Season.

    To learn more about our 25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. activity and what we have done far check out the links below:

    Below are the printable versions of the  25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. activities, verses, and sheets to handout so here they are for your family to enjoy as well:

  • Travel & Vacation: Road Trip Entertainment

    I am so thankful that our girls travel really well.  Since they were little babies we have been doing road trips and they have been real troopers every time.  The longest road trip we took with them was 40 hours (round trip).  They have a blast hanging out together reading books, doing work books, playing games, talking, listening to audiobooks, and when we go on a long trip (5 hours or more) they get to watch a couple movies.  Here are some of the ways we stay entertained on road trips:

    Karlie lounging and talking on the phone as we were driving through Charleston.  They usually keep themselves busy reading, doing workbooks, playing games or resting.

    I hear giggling coming from the backseat….when I look back this is what I see….Brina practicing her flexibility.  Hey at least they are happy on road trips! Goofy girl!

    Karlie smiling as she works on a workbook in the car!

    Brina multi-tasking….snacking and reading a book at the same time while in the back seat of the car.  Thankfully she doesn’t get carsick as often anymore!

    On this trip we stuck the basket of books, workbooks, games, etc….in between the girls.  This was great because it provided accessible entertainment for both girls at the same time and kept them a little separated so they weren’t poking or messing with each other.  They didn’t get to watch a movie on this road trip because it was only 3 hours long, but they still had a lot of fun!

  • Kids in the Kitchen: Colorful Gingerbread Cookies

    Tray full of Gingerbread cookies to share!

    The girls love helping out in the kitchen.  At some point over the Christmas Holidays we try to make cookies.  The girls really enjoy decorating the cookies.  We have done a variety of different cookies from sugar to gingerbread and more.

    We typically turn on some Christmas music, whip up a batch of cookies, and play a game or read a book while the first batch is cooking.  Once the first batch has cooled enough and others are baking in the oven we start decorating.  As you can see from the pictures we used a couple varieties of frosting and decorations.  The girls decorate them however they want and as many as they want (they stick to the decorating until the very last cookie is done).

    It has been really neat seeing their skills improve over the past few years.  You can actually tell what the shapes of most cookies are after they are done decorating nowadays.  Plus, they have learned not to “lick” the frosting or their fingers during the whole process, ha!  🙂

    Starting to fill the tray with colorful Gingerbread cookies.  I especially like the Betty Crocker writable frosting because their easy to use for kids, only a little bit comes out, and you can stack the cookies together once they have dried.

    Just looking at these make me smile!   Some as you can see from the tops of the Christmas trees broke in the decorating process.  Love seeing the girls creative juices get flowing.

    Another rack of delicious gingerbread cookies, decorated with love! 🙂  Thankful for those quiet afternoons that we can spend relaxing and decorating cookies together.

    Next time I need to do better about taking pictures of the kids too.  I only have a couple of pictures of the girls just starting to make the cookies that didn’t really turn out.  Once we got into the cooking and decorating I got swept away with the fun that I didn’t pull the camera back out until all the cookies were done.  Hopefully, next time I will have more kid pictures to share. Does your family like to decorate cookies, if so what kind is your favorite?

  • Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings (Week 1)

    The girls picked up Pop-Up Christmas Stickers to give out to kids!

    We have officially started our 25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. (Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises) and in all honesty I think we have been blessed more by doing these activities.  It has been a real joy doing these fun events everyday and it has been a great experience again this year.

    In some cases we get to see who receives our B.L.E.S.S. gift and in other cases we will never know who is on the receiving end.  We pray that whoever receives or finds these gifts will experience joy during this Holiday Season.  Each night we take down the B.L.E.S.S. activity for the next day and read the verse and the activity then pray for those who have and will receive our little BLESS’ings.

    Our Christmas Pop-Up Stickers and B.L.E.S.S. card in a “penguin” bag so we can hand them out easier!

    Here is what we have done so far and a couple pictures to share of our adventures:

    • Day 1 – Handed out “pop-up” Christmas stickers to people we encountered throughout our day, including while we were running errands.  The girls even saw a couple of friends that day to give the stickers to as well (they were so excited).  The stickers they picked out were pretty neat, they have something like a little bubble under each one and when you pushed it down it would pop up within a few seconds making a little clicking noise (quite fascinating for all the kids).  Loved watching the girls give out the stickers and demonstrate how they work.
    • Day 2 – I had to make a trip to CVS Pharmacy to pick up some items.  Since I was in no hurry I decided to let the person behind me in line go first.  She seemed to have a lot of her mind and was in a hurry that day.  She was super sweet and thanked me several times for letting her go ahead of me.

    Donating to the Food Pantry

    • Day 3 – Picked out items to donate to our Church’s Alms & Legs Food Pantry.  The girls Awana is doing a food drive this upcoming Sunday.  The Food Pantry helps people in the local community who are in need of food and encouragement.

    Sharing some Pampers diapers and Clorox wipes

    • Day 4 – The girls were super excited to bring a pack of Pampers diapers and a container of Clorox wipes to our Doctors appointment today.  The Doctor, and his wife, recently had their first baby so we all thought it would be something practical we could share with them.  Brina loved bringing in the diapers and Karlie thought the wipes were an excellent idea especially with all the germs that are around during the Christmas Holidays.
    • Day 5 – While I was at the store today picking up items I noticed there were no carts in the store because they were all sitting on the sidewalks outside the store.  I decided to gather up as many carts as I could and take them back into the store.  It didn’t take much of my time yet it not only helped the store but those wanting to purchase items while they were there.

    Some of the goodies we have picked up for Country Santa this year

    • Day 6 – We picked out and donated gifts to Country Santa today which gives Christmas presents to local children who would otherwise have no gifts at Christmas.  The girls love giving to Country Santa because they get to help make another kid(s) Christmas  special. We pray that these gifts will be a to blessing to the kids that will receive these gifts for Christmas.

    Heart of Christmas – Toothbrushes, Toothpastes, and Pants

    • Day 7 –  Picked up hot pink Junior Pants for a sweet girl, 7 tubes of Toothpaste, and 7 Toothbrushes to donate to the “Heart of Christmas” event.  Our Church collects items for kids in our local schools who need clothing and hygiene items.  Since we were sick last Sunday we were not able to sign up directly, but when I emailed the person coordinating the event she said that these 15 items were still needed

    One of our favorite verses this week went along with our Day 6 activity. 

    Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. – Luke 6:38

    It has been a lot of fun working on ways we can be a blessing to others.  This verse talked about “giving” so it was a great one to discuss with the kids.  We talked about why it is important to share, give, and be to be a blessing to others not because we anticipate any rewards from it or benefits from it, but because we were given the greatest gift of all.  God’s love, grace, and mercy.  He wants us to give cheerfully from the heart.

    Hot pink pants wrapped up with some extra goodies to be given to a teenager in our community through “Heart of Christmas”

    I am super excited to see how great this B.L.E.S.S. activity is going already.  It has been a true joy sharing with others (many of whom we’ll never meet).  It has been a great experience and I look forward to seeing what will happen with our fun adventures this week.

    The main purpose of this activity is to teach our family the joy of giving and sharing to those around us.  I plan to do another update on our fun B.L.E.S.S. adventures next week.  Sometimes it’s the little stuff that can make the most positive impact.  I would love to hear how you are spreading the Christmas cheer this Holiday Season.

    Below are the printable versions of the  25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. activities, verses, and sheets to handout so here they are for your family to enjoy as well:

  • Local Charity: Country Santa

    Some items the girls picked up themselves last year to donate to Country Santa

    For the past few years our family has donated to Country Santa.  The girls school is a collection point so it makes it easy for us to drop off the fun toys the kids pick out to donate.  We believe it is important to help those within our community (specifically kids in this situation) who would otherwise not have a Christmas or gifts to open for the Holiday Season.

    There have been years within our own family when Jake was out of work and funds were really tight.  We really didn’t have a lot in the budget to buy gifts for our kids.  Thankfully, the girls were younger so they didn’t notice that gifts that were under our tree were mostly from family and friends (not us).  We were able to give them a couple small gifts that we were able to get for free (using coupons or finding deals).

    We made sure that the Holidays were cheerful for the kids and we  focused on the many blessings we had in our lives, the true meaning of Christmas, and made sure to spend quality time together creating wonderful memories even during a stressful season.  We really didn’t have any extra cash to buy gifts for extended family and friends so we just didn’t do it (and prayed that everyone understood).

    Whether you are barely making ends meet or have extra this year there are ways to make the season a time of celebration for your kids.  If you live in our area and truly don’t have any extra you may qualify for this neat program.  If you are fortunate enough to have a little extra this year maybe you can donate to Country Santa or another similar program to help those less fortunate right within your own community.  You may be a huge blessing to some young kid this Christmas Season!

    Some of the goodies we have picked up for Country Santa this year.  The “monster feet” just make me smile! 🙂

    Here is a little bit more about Country Santa

    It all started with one first-grade girl, shortly after Cox and his wife Nell moved from Greenville, SC, to tiny Pumpkintown in the northwest corner of the state. The girl arrived at school needing new shoes, and Cox, a water-waste equipment sales engineer, heard about her plight and brought her a pair. It was then that he noticed the tattered condition of her doll. So that Christmas, a replacement doll, the biggest boxed doll I could find, says Cox – arrived under the girl’s Christmas tree.

    The next year, with names provided by the elementary schools, Cox provided toys to 10 children. By the fifth year the list had grown so long that Cox began soliciting toys, new and used, from the area’s more fortunate citizens. He signed up volunteer elves to help deliver them.

    In 1986, he built a 900-square-foot warehouse to store toys, which are gathered from collection points throughout the year. The Country Santa building is also where all the toys are bagged for delivery. Before the Country Santa building was built, Cox’s home doubled as Santa’s workshop. Toys were stacked in every room in the house.

    Country Santa doesn’t limit the gifts to one toy per child. Each child get several toys. Cox says “he try’s to give about $50.00 worth of new toys but some maybe used. He if has to give used toys, they have to be in excellent condition.

    Cox draws inspiration from his own youth. When he was 10, his dad walked out on the family, leaving his mother to support Buddy and two older sisters in the rural South Carolina town of Cross Hill. “She got a job as a bookkeeper, making $50 a week,” Buddy says, and “I know she struggled to put something under the tree for us at Christmas. I realized parents can hurt when they can’t give their kids something”.

    To learn more about Country Santa or how to get involved you can go to their website.

    While it breaks my heart to think that a kid would have a Christmas without a single present under the tree (if they even have a tree) I know that it is impossible for me to find and help every single one which is why giving to a local charity is important.  If everyone who can gives a little extra it really could go a long way.

    I love that the girls participating in the giving and are excited about doing it for children they will most likely never meet.  We don’t know who is actually getting our gifts, but we pray that God brings them to the place they will make the most positive impact.  Brainstorm and consider ways your family can be a blessing to someone else this Holiday Season.

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    I was able to get caught up on some stuff last week.  One of the girls decided she wanted to be up several times in the middle of the night so I was running on little sleep a couple nights but managed to get by.  Another one got sick so hopefully this week goes more smoothly.

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Read to the girls and have them read to me daily – one of the girls wasn’t feeling well and we had extra activities in the evenings too
    2. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    3. Daily School Activities & Homework Completed
    4. Attend After School Activities
    5. Plan one special Activity with the Family
    6. Finish Decorating for Christmas – most of the decorating is done but need to put the storage bins and items away
    7. Work on Christmas List – working on it

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise at least 5 days this week – a sick kid and interrupted sleep didn’t help this week
    2. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    3. Finish reading The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith – working on it
    4. Reading / listening through my Bible – doing the 90 day plan through YouVersion – caught up and staying on track after last week being off

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Tackle Fall Cleaning & Organization Projects
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch – met a friend
    2. Write and Send Out Community Group Email – it was late (Wed) but I got it out

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – stayed within budget, but didn’t get pictures
    2. Payoff the Van – made an extra payment on the van this past week
    3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses (we are trying to build this back up because we had to take some out for unexpected expenses recently.) – working on it
    4. Stay within Christmas Budget – keeping track

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Read to the girls and have them read to me daily
    2. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    3. Daily School Activities & Homework Completed
    4. Attend After School Activities
    5. Plan one special Activity with the Family
    6. Finish Decorating  & Putting up Christmas Bins
    7. Work on Christmas List
    8. Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings
    9. Date Night with my Man

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise at least 5 days this week
    2. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    3. Finish reading The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith
    4. Reading / listening through my Bible – doing the 90 day plan through YouVersion
    5. Make my first fresh Wreath at a Wreath Party with Friends

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Tackle Fall Cleaning & Organization Projects
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Write and Send Out Community Group Email
    3. Community Group Christmas Social at our House

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Payoff the Van
    3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses (we are trying to build this back up because we had to take some out for unexpected expenses recently.)
    4. Stay within Christmas Budget

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.