25 Days of Kindess- Week 3

Welcome back for week three of 25 Days of Kindness. 

Sorry for the delay.  I just did not have the heart to post about 25 days of kindness yesterday, instead I chose to post about how life is fragile.  So I hope that everyone had a chance to make up their own kindness for the day like hug a child and tell them that you love them.

Highlights from last week:  
~ The smiling idea was pretty funny.  We did get quite a few smiles back and quite a few puzzling looks.  Even if it did not brighten the day of others, it always brightens the day of the person smiling. ;-)

~ Pumpkin and Princess helped me to make chocolate chip banana bread on Monday evening. We made paper ornaments on Tuesday evening and applesauce ornaments on Thursday evening.  Then we decorated a gingerbread house kit yesterday.  It is sort of fun looking with no roof (since both roof slabs were broken into three pieces each), but it is effective none the less.

 

~ We got our photographic Christmas cards printed earlier in the week and most of them made their way into the mail yesterday.

How did your week go?  Are you ready for some more ideas?

25 Days of Kindness, Day 15- Tell someone I love you . . . .
        - We often forget to say "I love you!"  Saying "I love you!" makes all the difference in the world.
        - Tell your family, a friend, or a child "I love you for who you are."

25 Days of Kindness, Day 16- Shop with kindness. . . .
        - Be polite when you shop
        - Be nice and say a compliment to your cashier
        - Help someone put their shopping cart away
        - Help someone reach an item that might be out of their reach

25 Days of Kindness, Day 17- Take turns . . . . 
        - At a four way stop, wave someone through first
        - If you reach the check out line at the same time someone else does, let them go first
        - Let a child turn the lights of the Christmas tree on

25 Days of Kindness, Day 18- Adopt a family for the day. . . .
         - Take a basket of goodies to a family in need
         -  Invite a family with children over and make goodies that everyone can take home
         -  What can you come up with?

25 Days of Kindness, Day 19- Be kind to your 
     significant other (aka spouse) . . . . 
        - Make your significant other's favorite dinner
        - Let you significant other have a girls or guys night out with some friends
        - Don't forget to tell your significant other "I love you!"

25 Days of Kindness, Day 20- Have a family adventure day . . . .
         - Visit a local museum or nature center
         - If there is snow outside, build a snowman or make snow angels
         - Invite some friends along on the adventure
         - Have a day long scavenger hunt with clues to the next activity

25 Days of Kindness, Day 21- Help a neighbor  . . . .
         - Help an elderly neighbor take their garbage to the curb
         - Keep an eye on the neighbor's house if they are away for a while
         - Take your neighbor some holiday treats.
 
Good luck with your 25 Days of Kindness Project . . . . 

Life Is Fragile

Life is so fragile and children are so precious.  

As a parent you feel shock and disbelief in the tragedy that occurred just yesterday.  I discovered the news when I opened the web browser at work.  It was the same disbelief that I felt as the events of 911 unfolded.  The "no this can't be right" feeling.  

Even though we live far away from the tragedy, as a parent you have that sudden urge to drop everything, run to your children, and hug them tightly.  I managed to make it through the haze of the work day.  When I got to daycare I gave Princess a huge hug and when we got to great grandma's I gave Pumpkin a huge hug.  

I had told Pumpkin that we would look at Christmas lights through town before he left for school yesterday.  Pumpkin is in kindergarten, just a year younger than most of the victims.  Even though I did not feel in the festive mood to look at lights, I felt compelled that we should go just the same to keep our promise to him (since so many no longer have that chance).

Children are a blessing that we so often take for granted.  Their innocence, their love for life, and their unconditional love just radiate from them.  We need to remember to give them more hugs and more kisses.

I cannot imagine the empty beds of last night.  I cannot imagine losing a child, so young and so innocent.  I do know that it is not fair for someone to go before their time.  The what ifs that dance in your mind.  What if I would of said this or what if I would of said that.  The I should ofs also appear.  I should of took time to do this or I should of done that.  And then the I wishes emerge too.  I wish this would not of happened and I wish I could of had more time. 

Life is not fair at times.  The lost of a child is always a tragedy, whether it is an accident, intentional, or through sickness.  The most heart wrenching of funerals is that of a child, of one that is gone way to soon.  In 2011, I attended a funeral of a child I knew.  I watched her grow up.  I met her when she was 5 and eight years later she was gone.  The funeral was actually harder on me that my mom's funeral twelve months before. 

My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to all those that mourn on this day.  May God bless all those whom are affected and bring peace to all those whom mourn.

Sleep Time & Dress Time

December is the time to curl up and get warm.  

See what the kids have been up to.

 Sleepover in the sun room.

Snuggling with daddy on the couch.

Like our couch cover?  

It is a twin sheet to cover the thread barren cushions.

On Saturday Pumpkin decided to dress his sister and do her hair.  

Not too bad for his first attempt.

He picked the clothes out and hair barrettes, 

then helped her get dressed.

 Group hug!!!! :-)

Also on Saturday we switched Princess's crib/toddler bed out for a twin bed.  The crib/toddler bed had sat in the same place for almost six years.  So it was a bit bitter sweet, but definitely needed to be upgraded. 

   

Waiting for Pumpkin's arrival almost six years ago.

Then it became Princess's bed almost four years ago.

 Princess's twin bed replacement.

(We definitely need to get a dust ruffle.)

25 Days of Kindness- Week 2

Welcome back for week two of 25 Days of Kindness!

How did the first week go?  I know it was hard for us to do one big thing a day.  It seemed more like a combination of several ideas each day.  We may not of accomplished everything on the list.  But we did practice kindness in one form or another each day, which is really the point.

Highlights from last week:  

~ Pumpkin and Princess attended a Christmas Workshop at a local church last Saturday and made seven presents for Christmas.  They had a lot of fun.  I on the other hand have continued working on crocheting a scarf for the teaching assistant in Pumpkin's class at school.

~ Pumpkin and I made puppy chow.  I remember mom would make it every Christmas season as we were growing up.  I think she would be happy to know that I am continuing that tradition with my children.  Pumpkin wasn't quite sure about it at first and decided that I ruined the Chex, but he warmed up after awhile.  Both kids enjoyed munching on the wonderful snack.

We had a lot of other adventures, but part of being kind is to not be boastful either. ;-)

How did your week go?  Are you ready for some more ideas?

25 Days of Kindness, Day 8- Don't forget to smile . . . .
        - A smile is oh so powerful and brightens the day of others
        - Smile at your family
        - Smile at a store clerk
        - Smile at a stranger

25 Days of Kindness, Day 9- Visit a local family owned business . . . .
        - With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, don't forget about the small businesses
        - Visit a family owned bakery or confectionery shop
        - Visit a hole in the wall boutique or special shop

25 Days of Kindness, Day 10- Mail a card . . . . 
        - Mail a hand written letter to a friend or relative
        - Mail a thank you or thinking of you card to someone that may live alone this holiday season
        - Mail a note to a child to brighten their day

25 Days of Kindness, Day 11- Surprise a friend. . . .
         - Make a dessert and drop it off at a friends house
         - Make a donation in a friends name
         - Kidnap a friend for a few hours to go window shopping or have a soda

25 Days of Kindness, Day 12- Have a family dinner night . . . . 
        - Sit down with the family around the table and have dinner
        - Play some games or have a sing-a-long
        - Take time to listen to your family
        - Decorate a family gingerbread house 

25 Days of Kindness, Day 13- Feed the wildlife . . . .
         - Toss some birds seed or stale cereal or bread out for the birds
         - Make a pinecone bird feeder to hang for your feathered friends
         - String a garland of popcorn and decorate a bush or tree for the animals
         - Make a donation to a local animal shelter

25 Days of Kindness, Day 14- Go out . . . .
         - Take your family or an elderly neighbor out to look at the holiday lights or a living nativity scene
         - Treat a friend or a child to a holiday movie
         - Take a child to your local library for a holiday story time or 
                  create your own holiday story time if one is not scheduled

Good luck with your 25 Days of Kindness Project . . . . 

25 Days of Kindness- Week 1

 

Happy December!

So as I was getting ready for bed last night and inspiration hit me.  Maybe I was just overly tired, maybe the big guy upstairs was trying to tell me something, or maybe I am just plain crazy.

This time of the year there is a big hipe about the 25 Days of Christmas.  I thought it would be nice to have 25 Days of Kindness to get everyone into the real Christmas spirit.  So my challenge to you, if you chose to accept, would be to do one act of kindness each day for the next 25 days.  I will give a weeks worth of suggestions and they can be done in any order.  Then next Saturday, I'll post another weeks worth of suggestions and so on.  It should fun and it will be a bit generic so it should work with everyone.  

So what do you say?  Will you try?

25 Days of Kindness, Day 1- Make a homemade gift or card . . . .
        - Find some cardstock, ribbon, crayons, markers, glitter, glue and make a homemade card
                      for a child or adult
        - Make applesauce ornaments to give to friends and family.
        - Decorate a wooden box with paint and include a special treasure inside like an ornament
        - Sewing, crochet, knit, paste/glue, draw/create . . . the options are endless
 
25 Days of Kindness, Day 2- Help your elders . . . .
        - If someone does not have a car, volunteer to take them shopping for a few hours
        - If someone uses a walker or wheelchair, volunteer to help decorate for the holiday season
        - If someone has arthritis, volunteer to help wrap presents

25 Days of Kindness, Day 3- Give words of encouragement . . . . 
        - Tell someone thank you
        - Tell someone they did a good job
        - Use your words to uplift someone in need of encouragement

25 Days of Kindness, Day 4- Reach out to a friend. . . .
         - Call, write, or email a friend that you have not talk to in a while
         - Have a lunch date with a friend to catch up and de-stress
         - Volunteer to watch a friend's children so they can go Christmas shopping
         - Play Secret Santa and drop a small pick-me-up gift on a friends door step, then run

25 Days of Kindness, Day 5- Make a donation . . . . 
       - Donate your time for a good cause
       - Drop some change into a Salvation Army bucket
       - Find an Angel Tree and donate a gift to a child in need
       - Donate canned goods to a local shelter or food bank  

25 Days of Kindness, Day 6- Love your family . . . .
        - Have a family movie night with your favorite foods
        - Take the family out to see the holiday lights after dark
        - Have a family baking night and make holiday goodies
        - Play a game with the whole family

25 Days of Kindness, Day 7- Do some cooking . . . .
        - Take cookies to a neighbor or shut-in
        - Leave your mailman or mail-lady a candy cane
        - Drop goodies off to an place you like (for the staff)- like the doctor's office, 
                vet clinic, small family owned business, local bank, school office

Good luck with your 25 Days of Kindness Project . . . .