Acts of Kindness...Start at Home...

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     I love to hear how so many are making a commitment to give by doing random acts of kindness.

It's wonderful that people are ready and willing to "do" for others! But don't forget those acts of kindness are just as important at home. Especially in homes with little ones watching and learning your every move.
What starts at home will carry through.
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

Here are some simple ideas of acts of kindness inside and out of the home.

At Home: 

Parents:   

*complement your kids every day  

*complement your spouse every day

*take the time to make special little treats for your kiddos, just because

*make time to have "one on one" time with each of your kids and spouse.  Make a date night for you and your child and you and your spouse.

*make a coupon book for the kids to redeem from you. (movie night with mom and or dad, trip to park, stay up late one night, trip for ice cream)

*help them with their chores, just to help

There really are so many thing we can do. And often the ones that mean the most and that the kids remember the most are not the most expensive and time consuming. Every little thing counts and builds on each one before.

                                                                           

Kids:

*complement siblings each day

*read to siblings

*write notes for siblings, parents, or friends

*offer to share toys (just because)

*make something special for each other

*spend a few of their own dollars on sibling or friend
*spend time with or help an elderly neighbor

Kids will live what we live. If we are kind and generous then they will be too.  If we are respectful of others, then they will be too. But if we are selfish and greedy then they will be too. If we are abusive and neglectful, then they will be too. Live the life you want for your children.

Working together as a family to do acts of kindness can often be very beneficial to the family giving.  I have seen families give or work together to help others and in the end the family giving often feels like they are the ones receiving. The time spent together as a family to help others can strengthen family bonds and help the family focus on what is truly important.

Outside The Home:

*At the beginning of the school year, pick a school and grade. With your family fill a backpack with needed supplies and give to school to give to a student in need. 

*Pack gallon size baggies with: toothpaste, toothbrush, wipes, lotion, sunscreen, socks, gloves, crackers, finger snacks (non-perishable) and maybe a few dollars and/or a note from you. Hand out when you come across someone in need, or take to churches to use for their needy care packages. (make up a few bags and keep in car) 

*Take goodies or flowers to an elderly neighbor. 

*Give cashier $5, $10, or more to put towards next customers purchase.

*Make a thank you note and place in your mail box for the mail carrier.

*Make a thank you note and tape to your trash bin for the garbage truck driver

*Make up notes with words of encouragement, place in an envelope with a few dollars (if you want) and hand out when out.

*Shovel the walk for a neighbor when it snows.

The list could go on and on.

Make a list and then give!

Be the one who puts a smile on another face today!

Show others what God's love can do through you!

I would like to do another post down the road with more "acts of kindness" so I would love some more ideas and thoughts from you all. Acts of kindness at home or away.

Weekly Update...

Something New This Week:
This week we took a trip to a local ghost town attraction. The kids enjoyed a look at what life here in Colorado would have looked like 100 years ago. The wooden plank sidewalks, the very simple stores and supplies, the horse drawn carriages, and of course the saloons.

Something Old This Week:
No matter how I plan the week, life always decides to put its two cents in! So once again we had another crazy and hectic week. But not a bad week.


What Mama Said This Week:
Mama said, "Find your manners, and use them."
This week I think the manner's monster came to our house and stole the manners from my once sweet and polite children.


From The Mouth Of Kiddos:
Each day at least one of my kiddos say something that either drops my jaw, or leaves me laughing until tears roll down my face. This week while working on a new chore/commission chart for the kids, I asked them for their thoughts on what chores they think they should earn money for. I was shocked when my oldest said she would take care of the dog doo in the back yard. Then of course she named what she thought was fair payment. That's when I fell to the floor laughing! It's funny to hear what a child thinks a chore is worth and what mom thinks a chore is worth. Wow, what a difference! A few digit difference!


Homeschool Thoughts:
I think that even though the last two weeks have not been the smoothest weeks, changing our "school style" to a more unit study based style has been a great move for us. Starting out with the plan to learn about Colorado history has turned into a desire to learn to pan for gold and the kids all wanting to go visit Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings. We have enjoyed what we have learned and look forward to what will come.
Having a less "planned" study has allowed us to just enjoy learning and spending time together.



Homeschool Picture:
Wild Thing loves science!
So this week he decided to make, with a kit, a potato powered clock.
I was surprised to see that it really worked. Pretty cool!



Homeschool Tip Of The Week:
Sometimes letting go of such strict curriculum and schedule allows a family to just enjoy learning together.

Tech News:
I am learning to accept and at times encourage our tech "toys" like the ipad for learning. We have found some great games and apps that have been great educational resources for the kids. So, I am working on my "all video/device games kill brain cells" thoughts. I am now just trying to let them enjoy the devices within what I feel are good time limits.



Favorite Quote This Week:

Picture Of The Week:
I loved seeing the old cameras on our trip to the ghost town museum.
The thought of having to use one of those to capture a photo is amazing.

I am one who carries a small camera in my purse or pocket almost all the time.

Lesson for the week:

Life rarely goes as planned by us. But remembering that God has his own plan and own timing helps keep me going.

The Berenstain Bears

Who remembers the Berenstain Bears?

I do, I do!!!

I remember my mom reading Berenstain Bear stories over and over!

And I loved them all!

Now so do my kiddos !

Every night for over a week now, Little Man has picked a Berenstain Bear book for our bedtime story.



Reading together is something we all enjoy!

Lady Bug usually tends to read her own book in her room while I read a bedtime story to the boys.

But most nights before we are done she ends up right next to the boys listening to the story.

Last night, before we were done reading, even Daddy was cuddled up with us all as I read.

Last night's story was "TOO MUCH TV" !

Love it! Always have.

In fact I have read it many times to prepare the kids for our own little, NO TV week!

So when this book comes out they always ask if they are going to lose TV for a week too.

This time they are not...yet! :-)

   

I remember reading these books on my own many times as I was growing up and I am happy to see my

kids enjoying some books that I enjoyed as well.

And I love that they cover some great topics in such a fun way.

     

For awhile we had not been reading bedtime stories.

Things we just too busy, or so we thought.

But after spending the last few weeks getting back into making bedtime stories a must,

getting the kids to sleep has actually been easier.

And we all have really enjoyed our end of the day cuddles and time spent together.

Reward!!



REWARD!

For the capture and relocation of the closet monster!

This large, green, messy monster invades the homes of unsuspecting families

and hides in the closets until nightfall.

Then while all are peacefully sleeping, the closet monster springs into action.

From one closet to another he goes, pulling out his favorite clothing.

He puts a piece of clothing on for a moment or two then drops it at his feet.

From dusk till dawn this beast tramples, wrinkles, and tosses clothing in corners and behind beds.

Only occasionally will he be kind enough to place a sock or so into the laundry basket.

Though he is harmless to humans he is most unwelcome in our home!

Reward is being offered to residents of the invaded home.

A life time supply of hugs and kisses and one, maybe two, "Get out of Jail Free" cards.

Proof of capture and relocation required.

Send proof to:

MOM

Need my "me" time again...

Mornings here can be quite beautiful. Not that I have been getting up early enough to see the sun rise lately. But I am really hoping to change that. When I was running I was up and out before the sun came up. Most mornings I had made it about half way when the sun decided to say hello, and I have to say that those mornings gave me such a boost for my day.  Being up and out to greet the sun and start the day with peace and God made for a much happier mama that day.

After this last year, I have allowed my "me" time to drop to the bottom of the priority totem pole. Running used to be my time. My time to be away from everything and everyone. My time to think, or not, and to just run through all the stress and frustrations of life at that moment. Pushing my body to keep going or go faster

was a huge stress reliever and of course had a great side effect of weight loss and feeling great. I hadn't realised how much I needed that time until I had completely let it go, for far too long. Now, after a year of neglecting myself it is plainly obvious that I have to put some time back into myself.

The last few weeks have been so busy with homeschooling the kiddos, working on the weekends, adjusting to hubby's new work schedule (which is wonderful by the way) and trying to keep daily needs for everyone met as well as appointments and more than enough errands. I had planned to have a nice smooth start to the new year, but again, I am reminded that my plans are nothing when it comes to God's plans.

With all this craziness I am reminded too that this is the time in which I, we, parents in general, need to make time for our self.  We need to take time to care for the one who is taking care of everyone and everything else.

Now that I have had my little pep talk with myself, and you, I guess I better do something about it. It's time. Life is always going to have it's challenges and struggles. And if  I, we, you, wait for a calmer or better time in life to take care of our self, we may never find the time.

I think I heard from someone before that in times of trial in life or the most stressful times it is even more important to take time to take care of our self!

Book reviews for parents

 I absolutely love that my daughter loves to read! She spends a great deal of time with her nose stuck in a book. And for the most part I don't police the books she reads. But lately she has been interested in some books that friends are reading and a few are books I don't feel are appropriate for her, at least not yet.
Thankfully she has not argued when I have mentioned that I would rather she set them aside and read something else.

She brought me a book last night that she wanted to read and though I was sure it was fine we looked up a few reviews on the book. After she and I looked at a few reviews we decided that it was fine for her to read. We then decided that from now on if she or I felt a book may be questionable, for whatever reason, we would look up a few reviews and decide from there. I could read every book first but I don't want to police her books that way and I honestly I would much rather read books for me!

I know it's different for each family. I know some parents that police every book before their kids read it and I also know those who never even look at what there kids are reading. I myself try to stick somewhere in the middle. Trying to give my daughter the freedom to choose her books yet keeping boundaries age and subject matter appropriate. She is only 11, and so far I have been pleased with the books she has chosen to read.

Right now she is reading the last of the "Series of Unfortunate Events", by Lemony Snicket. And she just started the first book of three, "Fire Within", by Chris D'Lacy. She seams to be really enjoying them.

For those interested there are quite a few sites that review books for parents. Here are a few I have found helpful:  storysnoops.com, focusonthefamily.com, commonsensemedia.org
Most of the time I have been able to find simple reviews that list facts about the books and the content. I prefer those over personal reviews simply because I am looking for what's in the book and if it is appropriate for my kids, not what another thought of the book.

Colorado Unit Study.

 We have officially started into our unit study on beautiful Colorado. So far not to bad. The kids weren't super excited at first but they have since found a few little tid bits they found interesting. It was nice to have all three kiddos learning together. Lady Bug, 11 years old, Wild Thing, 8 years old and Little Man, 4 years old.

In the morning we do our Bible story and practice a Bible verse together. The kids will usually draw a picture to go with the story or color from our Bible story coloring book while I read the story. Even Little Man listens in and works on a picture too. I have been amazed how much he remembers from our reading.

After Bible we start our unit study. Today I read bits and pieces from some Colorado books I picked up at the library. We labeled Colorado on our map, the kids each made a Colorado state flag, and Lady Bug had to list interesting facts about Colorado. Wild Thing colored a picture of the state fish and Little Man colored a picture of the state flower. All while talking more about our beautiful Colorado.

We read a little about the Anasazi Indians and how they lived in the cliff dwellings. The kids, especially Wild Thing, really want to see them himself. Mesa Verde has some beautiful cliff dwellings and we may take a trip down there this summer but for now we are going to take a trip to some much smaller but closer cliff dwellings. This year it's going to be about making our school as hands-on as possible, which means any time we can go see or do something to better our unit study, we will!

Although the kids were not thrilled to learn about Colorado at first, by the end of the morning they decided it wasn't too bad. They each had even picked something to share with daddy when he came home from work. And even though Colorado has been my only home, there were some interesting facts and tales I hadn't heard before. I am excited to see where this Colorado unit takes us.

In fact I am looking for some fun books for the kids that take place in or are about Colorado. If you know of any please leave a comment and let me know.

New year, new unit study!

Now that we have enjoyed Christmas and New Years it's time to get back into a daily routine of school, chores and family time. And if I am lucky I may be able to work in some time for me! A few workouts or morning runs would be great "me" time right now.

With school just about to begin again I have been taking time to plan, more like outline, our upcoming lessons. Before Christmas we spent a few weeks studying World War 2, mainly Hitler, his past and why he became who he was and why he did and believed the things he did. It was our first time working in a unit study style of lessons. I felt like we all, yes myself included, learned far more with a unit study than we had been when we separated all of our subjects and lessons. So I bet you can guess what we will be doing for awhile. Yep, unit studies. I think the kids will learn so much more and we will be able to dig deeper into any area we decide to. We are also excited to find as many field trips and crafts or activities for each unit as we can. Hands-on will be a big focus this school year!

Monday we are going to start our first unit for the 2013 school year. We will be studying our beautiful state of Colorado! I found some great books at the library today and a couple handy web sites, and even a few fun printable pages for the kids. I have quite a bit outlined for us to research and read about but I am making sure to come up with some fun activities for this unit as well. This unit we are going (if all goes well) to bake an edible map, make a Colorado timeline, take some trips to museums, find and try some old "coming out west" recipes, attempt to make some clothing (very simple), and hopefully take a day hike (weather permitting) as though we were coming out west through the fields. I plan to spend 2-3 weeks on this unit, then I hope to work into a shorter unit on Pikes Peak.

Most of the time I am fairly creative, and my mom also comes up with some great ideas too, but I think I may ask thoughts of you at times as well. Thoughts about field trips, crafts, activities, or
books that may be helpful to what we are studying. If you think of anything I would love to know.

I guess I will ask now if you  have any thoughts about a unit study on Colorado? Places that you think are a must to learn about, important people, books you have read, anything that may be fun or helpful.

Unit study links:  Home Hearts- unit studies
The Homeschool Mom - unit studies