Learning CAN be fun!!

I think I’ve mentioned before how much I DON’T like cold weather.  The only positive that I can come up with is that I get to wear really cute Uggs on any given day.

I don’t take to the slopes.  I don’t like being cold.  And even though we live in Colorado, people still don’t know how to drive here so going out when it snows is just not worth it.

I am much happier putting on a tank top & flip flops & feeling summer sun on my skin.

But…since that ain’t hap’nin anytime soon around here, we need to come up with some things to do with the kids.

And I thought I’d pass a few a long.

I’m not a home school mom.  I’m just a mom.  That stays at home.  And likes to educate her kids.  And really….it doesn’t take much money to do it sometimes.

For instance….check this cute activity out!! 

All I did was take a few pieces of scrapbook paper & cute out ice cream cones & scoops.  I also printed out UPPERCASE & lowercase letters.  Put them on with double sided tape…..DONE!!!

Then all the kids do is match up the letters!  So cute, right?  And…if they are just starting to learn their alphabet, they can just line up UPPERCASE or lowercase separately so it’s easier for them.  Then you can challenge them more as they grow.

And then there is this one…..so easy & costs about $3.00

You can get a packet of calendar #’s at any school supply store or on Amazon if you don’t know where the closest supply store is. They have so many different themes too if you want to be even more creative & go seasonal.

For younger kiddos, just have them tell you what the #’s are.  OR….you can also have them just order them 1-10.  When they master that, add more #’s.

The best part about BOTH of these activities is that they are CHEAP, CHEAP & you can throw them in Ziplocs and take them with you to restaurants or doctor’s appointments. 

I ALWAYS have something in my purse that I can occupy them with.  I love some of the iPhone Apps for kids that are out there but I want them to see that as a privilege not a necessity to having FUN while learning!!

With cold weather approaching…well….what am I saying?  It’s already here!!  With those cooped-up days on the way….why not make up a few things that are going to keep them entertained & you from wanting to pull your hair out?! 

Happy Winter!!!

Random Acts Of Christmas Kindness....COMING SOON!!

So….

Remember the chicken nugget incident?  Well….it got me thinking.  Why stop there?  I mean, if paying for someone’s lunch can’t change the world then I need to think bigger.

And some of you may be thinking I’m jumping the gun here BUT….it’s SUCH a good idea & I KNOW that I will hear from some of you saying ‘I wish I would have thought of that!!!’  Cuz it really is a great idea!!  So enough of the idle chit chat…here’s my plan.

I have waited 6 very long Christmas seasons to do an Advent.  There are so many adorable ideas out there on ways to them.  And I was getting everything prepared.  Making my list of things to put in the kids little advent boxes….and then something happened to my heart.

The kids have SO….SO…SO much already.  And I am honestly tired of picking up all the little toys that lay strewn across the entire house.  (although I wouldn’t trade the blessing of WHY they are littering up my floor)….nonetheless…they don’t need any more candy or toys.

This is where the DRUM ROLL comes in……

We are going to do a Random Act of Christmas Kindness advent project!! 

I KNOW, right???

Totally awesome idea.  (I didn’t really come up with it on my own)

We will have 25 Random Acts planned for the month of December to celebrate love & giving & blessing! 

Here’s a few just in case you feel inspired to join in on this totally fun & life changing project!!

-tape quarters to gumball/toy machines in random stores

-pick out 2-3 random strangers from the phone book & send a card to them

-pay for someone’s gas

-tape $1 on a Redbox kiosk with a note that their movie is FREE

-tape candy canes to ATM’s

-put a $5 Starbucks card in the bank tellers cute little container that sucks your money up WAY too fast

-put a treat in your mailbox for your mail carrier

-go to the grocery store ONLY to shop for the FOOD BANK boxes at the front of the store

-bring coffee & a muffin to a teacher

-make 10 homeless kits (toothpaste, toothbrush (free if you ask your dentist), gloves ($1/Michael’s), deoderant, granola bar, bottle of water, wipes, hand sanitizer, towel, socks, etc.) & drive around town to hand them out

-visit nursing home (after having my husbands sweet grandpa in one last year, I can tell you….THIS will be the BEST most appreciated gift of all!!!)

-buy flowers for someone

-help an elderly person load groceries in their car

-buy a family dinner

-pick up trash on your next family walk or park day (don’t forget those little clear plastic gloves so you don’t have to touch anything yucky)

-leave a GENEROUS tip

-make treats and deliver to a fire station

-leave quarters on a vending machine

-deliver food to the Ronald MacDonald House (these families are so so so very appreciative of your kindness!!)

-pay someone’s meter

-put stickers/small toys in easter eggs & place them around a playground for other kids to find

Oh my gosh the list could go on and on and on!!!!

We will attach a note to all of them so everyone will know they are the recipient of something really cool!!

I am so totally excited to do this with the kids.  The boys may not quite get it yet but they are still in their 4-year-old self-serving mode.  And I get that.  But I can’t wait to involve our family in something that actually will probably lift us up more than the people getting these random gifts!!!

I will keep you updated as the days go by but I just wanted to pass on this super fantastic idea before the season passed.  I would LOVE to hear what you do!!  And it doesn’t even have to be 25 days.  Do it ONCE!  Even putting 4 quarters on a vending machine will make your heart happier.  I promise!!!!

Random Act of Kindness

I get so wrapped up in myself sometimes.  Well, I think we all do.  We run around crazy with so many things on our plates & it takes an act of God, literally sometimes, to make us look up & see that there is an entire world out there that we can set our eyes on too.

I took the kids to Chick-Fil-A today.  It’s really the only fast food place I will go.  Not because the kids can self-entertain for a half hour (although I do love that) but really because it’s just plain YUMMY!!!

As I was ordering I told the cashier that I wanted to pay for the next person coming through the drive thru.  Can I just tell you…..

I was so excited to participate in such a trivial act!!  And the funnier thing was, not only did it affect the guy getting a FREE lunch, it tugged at the hearts of 2 other people! 

I can’t run around paying for someone’s meal every day.  And I was sorta thankful that it wasn’t a bus full of high school band students on their way to state conferences.  It was just one guy! 

But if I move one heart or one hundred, have I done less with the one?  Not necessarily! 

It’s good to go beyond ourselve’s sometimes.  To check our hearts & reevaluate the priorities of which we THINK are important.  It made me realize what small things I can do to make big differences.

Will my paying for some guy’s lunch change the world?  No.

But we have to start somewhere!

So some free chicken nuggets may have just started a Random Acts of Kindness Revolution for all I know!!  I’ll have to wait & see on that one.

You never know how kindness will spread.  How far generosity given will stretch.  How even the simplest, smallest bit of love, and that IS what it is!!....LOVE….how even the smallest bit of love may overwhelmingly bless another.