Service with a smile

One area where I feel that J and I have kinda fallen down on, is in the area of service.  It was something that we both felt was important for our family to participate in, but it was never really high on our list to make happen.  Other things usually got in the way.

Then this year, I decided to make it a priority.  It started because the Noodle got involved with American Heritage Girls.  If you're not familiar with the organization, it is similar to Girls Scouts but with more of a Christian focus.  Giving back in the way of service is a major focus.  Love that!

We belong to a pretty big church.  It is easy to get involved but it is also easy to get overwhelmed and just go with the flow and just take, take, take.  It comes down to being intentional.  For both us and the girls.

The holidays provide a bunch of ways to give back.  One option that both AHG and our church participate in, is Operation Christmas Child.  The Noodle and I went to a packing party and had a blast!  We spent two hours and between the two of us, packed 25 boxes.  It wasn't even a dent in what was done, but we did our part.  The coolest part of the whole event?  Each of the boxes that was packed was prayed over--for the child who would receive it, for the items that would go inside, for the hands that were filling it.  Awesome!  Both Mei Mei and the Noodle also packed boxes themselves and so enjoyed picking out just the items that they thought their recipient would love.

Another opportunity came up through a mission that our church supports called Care for AIDS.  The focus?  Caring for the parents who have HIV/AIDS so that they can care for their children.  This is done through providing medicine, food, skills, community and faith.  300+ members of our church got together to package up 50,000 (yes, you read that right!) meals to send over to Kenya to help these families.

The missional community that we're a part of worked together and had the best time!  Afterwards, when we were eating together, we cooked up a bag/meal (of leftovers) and each sampled some of it. One bag is a serving size for 6 people (rice/lentils/vegetables/salt) and actually tasted pretty good.  It provided for some great discussions about how fortunate we are and all of the things we take for granted.

I know they are just a few things, but hopefully we'll keep plugging away.  Every little bit helps, and we've been given so much, we can be generous with our time and our service. "Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble.  Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon."--Isaiah 58:10.

Lots of color

The girls and I hadn't done anything creative for a while, so since Mei Mei has been really into watercoloring lately, and I found some small doilies that I had had since forever, I thought we might as well put them together to create!

I had seen this a while back so it was floating around in the back of my mind.  We had the whole afternoon free and dinner was pretty much set--besides, this is a pretty easy craft that anyone can do and doesn't take much time either.

Mei Mei's choice of color was turquoise.  All. the. time.  She ventured out a bit, but always came right back to the aqua.  Ha.

The Noodle was happy experimenting with different shades.  Purple, pink, red, orange, green.  All good :)

I folded them in half over some yarn, gave'em a staple at the bottom and voila--a little more added color to our mantle.

Intentional

Intentional.  This word has been rattling around in my brain for a while now.   

Perhaps it has been our sermon series at church.  Perhaps it has been an ever growing, on-going awareness of my role as a parent.  Whatever it is, I feel like the Lord keeps whispering to me "Be intentional".

Be intentional as you look around your neighborhood.  Sure everything seems fine behind the pretty facades but is there someone who could use a kind word.  A prayer.  A bowl of warm strawberries freshly picked.  A loaf of homemade bread so that they know they aren't alone.  An extra act of kindness.

Be intentional as you play with the girls.  Be fully present and aware.  These times are so fleeting and they grow so quickly.  Notice the small things.

Be intentional with your time.  Use it to bring me glory. It is a gift--use it wisely. 

Be intentional with your instruction.  The world is only too willing to exert its influence on you and your family.  "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."--Deuteronomy 11:18-19

Be intentional in your marriage.  It is not to be taken lightly or for granted.  Hold hands.  Laugh.  Linger in the moment.  Relish in the perfect partner and helper that I have provided for you.

 

Lingering...

I'm not sure how many more of our early-bird, Saturday morning walks we'll have left...

or climbing trees either, so we'll just enjoy the last drops of sunshine and autumn goodness while we can!

Cork boat kiddo craft

A few weeks ago, before we headed back to school, we decided to have another craft afternoon. Nothing fancy and certainly not any crazy supplies or complex directions.  I had pinned this activity and the Noodle thought it looked like a winner, so we jumped in!

Wine corks?  Check (ahem, just a few floating around!)
Toothpicks?  Check
Colored cardstock?  Check
Twine/string?  Check

After gathering all the materials we spent the afternoon sitting out on the porch creating.  I made a model for the Noodle and then she was more than happy to work on it, on her own.  She needed an extra hand to tie the string, but other than that, she was golden.

She kept going and even made some little cork people.  What could be better?  I love their faces! And do you see that tie?!  Gah!

And Mei Mei...she was having fun cutting the paper with the craft scissors, poking toothpicks into the corks and generally exploring the materials.

The real fun for her however, happened when we broke out the bowls of water to set the vessel in for their maiden voyages.  She was pleased with her boat, but luurved dumping those corks into the water and then splashing away to her hearts content.

The Noodle, meanwhile, had a whole conversation going with her cork people and the boat.

 Both were exploring, creating, experimenting and having fun.  Success!

"I have this idea......."

"Daddy, I have this idea...can you help me with it?"  So it started during Mei Mei's naptime.  The Noodle had had this idea brewing in her mind and just needed a little help with the execution of it. Power tools and all.

She went into J's wood stock and picked out all the pieces and then marked where she wanted him to cut it. After it was cut, she hammered the nails and he helped get the screws in place (so it would move, obvs.), and then she spray painted it all red but made sure to switch out to green for the bottom of the feet.  Very important detail.

Last step?  To add the facial features to her T-Rex.  She was obviously very proud of herself--as well she should be.  Keep it up, my girl!

Wonder or is it Wander sticks?

Something that has been on my mind for a while is how to help the girls, specifically the Noodle, tap into their creative sides.  The Noodle is already pretty good at this, especially where imaginary play is concerned.  If we're outside, just give her some sticks, the bungee cords and one of the vehicles (I'm talking the little red wagon, her bike, a scooter, etc.) and she's in 7th heaven.  She's a knight defending her castle or she's galloping down the racetrack on her thoroughbred or she's a cowgirl on her bucket horse or maybe she's playing "donations".........She also loves to take apart things and turn them into something new.  Last week, when she was at Camp Invention, she couldn't get enough!

"Fred" the horse

Interestingly enough, however, is that she's never been into the whole arts-n-crafts thing.  She could take or leave coloring or drawing, etc.  Every once in a while she'll get inspired to do some crafting, but I think, given a little coaxing, she could really learn to enjoy it, especially the more open ended stuff.  I know that I need to do a better job at making those opportunities present themselves.  And also to just "go with the flow" and allow messes to occur--ack!  Note to self--lighten up!!

So, what's a mom to do when she wants to be inspired?  Go to Pinterest, of course!  I actually started at Meg's blog, Whatever, which is all about nurturing your inner creative self.  After spending a few hours wandering around there (kidding, ahem, maybe not!) I landed on The Crafty Crow.  I found this fun activity.

We have plenty of drift wood and I had just recently scored a whole bag of various colored yarn from a garage sale so all we needed were the bells.  After showing the girls a picture so they knew what we were going to make, we dove in.  This was an easy one to start with, but both of them needed some help with the knotting of the yarn, changing colors and adding the bells.

As we were wrapping and tying, the Noodle kept saying "This is so fun!"  Mei Mei was way into exploring the yarn (read:  holding onto one end and watching it roll away from her, under the couch--live in the moment, enjoy the squeals of laughter, go with the flow...). 

When I asked the Noodle what she thought we should call them, she said "wonder sticks or maybe wander sticks".  "You can wonder about a place or a time like ancient Egypt or back when there were cavemen, and then you can go wander around and pretend it is that time".  Great thinking and creating--let's go wonder and wander!