HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!

vintage photo: 1907, the first time the ball dropped!

If you happen to have a bunch of people coming to your house tonight for a party, or you are lucky enough to find a sitter and be going out, please have a fun night and be SAFE! We want all of you guys back here tomorrow reading our great stuff sans casts or car damage. Also, if you still need a few ideas for some activities for your party check out this site, for some fun games. I am lovin the cherry one! HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!

Simple Service And Tippin' Tuesday

If you and your family are interested in donating money to a charitable organization, that is great! But, you should probably do a bit of homework to make sure that the designated charity is legitimate, and not into anything that you would be uncomfortable with. I found a few spots that can help you decide (hopefully easier) if that organization you want to help out, is worth your money. Here they are:

*charitywatch.org: the American Institue of Philanthropy has a grading system based on several items, including the % of money donated that is ACTUALLY used for that charity.
*charitynavigator.org: also has a stringent grading scale; links to many charities along with links to similar ones, so you can find an organization like one you are already donating to.
*the Better Business Bureau is always a handy to place check out ANY business.
*charity-charities.org: is an international database with TONS of charities. A good place to start looking for an organization, but use one of the above mentioned site to gather more information.
*also, don't forget your local church. The one you attend, or the one around the corner, is certain to have needs open for the filling!

I hope this helps those of you who have the desire to donate funds to a local charity, let's all keep on giving anyway that we can!

Simple Service

image from stonebriar.org

I want to have my family do service. Lots. And different kinds so they get to have a wide-range of experiences. But honestly, I am all flustered up-on-top, and so I often space even the most basic of tasks (dinner?) and trying to think of interesting things to do with my children can be arduous at times. So I am totally excited to tell you about this website that I found: doinggoodtogether.org, is a site that has tools to help you find service in your area, in a variety of categories. There is a special one for holiday giving, one for random acts (the easiest option to get your family going) and several others. You can choose to click on the family category or one of the many additional ones. For example, if you have a playgroup that you participate with, you can use the parent/community group choice to help your band of merry-makers find something you can all do together. Everyone wants to help out, and I know it can be difficult to plan something along with all the other feats you are undertaking in your homes. So, use this site to get you going, and maybe your family can achieve more giving in this upcoming New Year!

Sibling Gifts: fabric markers

We're getting around to sibling gifts pretty late this year.  I keep a box of fabric markers around for fast gifts.  This year Afton made Abel a personalized t-shirt.  She loves to draw detailed pictures these days so it's the perfect activity for her.  And Abel flies through shirts (2-3 each day!) so this is a fun gift that will also fill a need.

Abe will so coloring a church bag for Afton.  I'll spice it up with some sewn on buttons and felt applique, but Abe's signature scribble will put a nice back ground on a basic bag.

Reader Tradition: Mexican Food

Dana's family tradition is one of my very own too!  Mexican food on Christmas Eve.  Yum!  We started this when we moved to New York and some friends invited us over for tasty, authentic Mexican food.  It was the perfect thing to look forward to before we had kids and now that we have a few, it works just as great.  Although we're going out this year!!

Thanks for sharing Dana.  Now I need to call my favorite Mexican restaurant and make sure they are open tomorrow!

Simple Service: for your friends

I love finding small gifts for my friends each year. I always try to make these gifts non-food items. And I like giving the gift to just my friend, not the entire family, because sometimes it's super to not share! This year I'm gifting bars of awesome peppermint soap my that I had my hubby stock up on during a hotel stay.

Afton is giving her friends pencils this year. We made these really fun swirly paper attachments with a small Christmas message.

I'm so excited to deliver these little treasures today!! What do you like to gift your friends?

Simple Service: school supplies

This is a great time of year to ask your child's teacher what supplies the classroom is running low on. Then stock up on a few packs of markers, some grading stickers or glue sticks for them.

Your child can help out with this service by using some allowance money to buy the items, choosing the supplies from the store and of course, writing a kind note for their teacher.

Traditions

We are sharing 2 traditions today from reader Amber:

When I was in junior high one of my younger brothers gave Christmas ornaments to everyone for Christmas. They were ceramic and he had hand painted them. They were by far perfect but to this day I still have that ornament and every year I think of him and that special Christmas when I put his ornament on the tree. I will always treasure it - even if I didn't treasure it when it was given!

I've started having my kids paint ornaments this year as well. We have 2 wooden ones (one for each of the kids) and 2 plaster ones. My kids are VERY young (2.5 and 1.5) but they LOVE to paint. I thought this would be a good time to start a yearly tradition and to give them a creative thing to do during the holiday season. Some people say I'm crazy for letting my kids paint...but I do everything I can to make it a quick clean up and headache free project. I have some old sheets that are reserved for picnics and painting, first I put those down to cover the floor and table (or any surface that is close to the area being used). Next, I strip the kids down to their skives (either diapers or underwear). Finally I remind myself that this is supposed to be fun and to let them do whatever they want - it won't be perfect and that's ok. Then we get to work. At the end I throw the sheets in the wash, the kids in the tub and clean up the paint utensils. Clean up takes almost as long as the project itself (because of the bath) but it's always worth it. They talk about it for weeks!

Great stuff! One of my hubby's aunts has been painting and handing out ceramic ornaments for years, and while they sometimes break, the kids love having something with their name on it! Thanks for sharing Amber, and remember if you have a tradition you would like to share there is still time to email us and we will post it!

Simple Service: self serve

Anyone else feeling a bit frazzled? Maybe it's just me, and my hubby's 7-day, 15-hour work week, but I need a bit of self pampering this week. I started by finally making myself an apron over the weekend...the one I cutout almost a year ago!

So paint those toenails, make yourself some of Christy's sugar scrub or treat yourself to something you really love (I'm hankering for a solo movie outing)...then get back to doing great things for others.

In the mood for free

Printable gift tags from Paper Crave

It's been a crazy, crazy day at my house (with the exception of hearing my unborn baby's heart beat at the midwife today...peace, love and happiness all in one little sound) and I really just want to spend the rest of the night eating chocolate cupcakes and snuggling on the couch with some trashy TV. But Christmas projects are awaiting...

So I'm cheering myself up by finding and sharing awesome FREE links on the web! Free sounds good and I can even stretch it into a simple service: saving money for yourself!

Totally using these printable gift tags found on Kirsty.

How About Orange featured these adorable printable 2009 calendars (it's one of my goals in life to never ever buy a calendar)


And look what happened when I searched for "free shipping" on Etsy. I really love free shipping. And I really really love Etsy. Pure happiness.

And Design Mom (did you know that I know her, like for realsies!!) is having a super cool 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway tomorrow. I won a holiday giveaway last year and was in a great mood for weeks because of it!

Now me and my sewing machine have some serious work to do.

Sibling Crafts

flickr.com by Rob E.

If you have crafty, or even semi-crafty kids, then let them create wall art for their siblings or cousins as holiday gifts. My favorite way to do this is by picking up one of the many sizes of art canvases from your local craft supply (don't forget to use a coupon) and get some paint, if you have run out of that. Then either offer guidance or let your kids go crazy! Last week my kids painted 2 canvases. I chose the colors, and had each of them paint a different layer. For example, on one, the boys painted messy lime-colored circles, very randomly. Then Ciela, painted a bare bones tall building with lots of windows, in black. Haven finished it off with spots of pink in some of the windows. Tons of fun, and a great gift for any age!

Simple Service: surprise someone

How tickled would you be if someone dropped a meal off at your door for no good reason, other than plain old niceness? I would be on a high for days if this happened to me! How about if someone asked to watch your kids, just because. Or if a friend came over to clean your bathrooms just for being a friend.

Surprising someone with service is sweet, so rewarding and always welcome. Find someone to surprise this week!

Reader Traditions

Eliza shared a favorite Christmas tradition with us:

"Since my husband and I both lived in Germany we love anything to do with Advent and have several calendars around the home. On December 5th we put our shoes by the door because the 6th is St.Nicholas Day, we love to get fun things (unless you've been bad, then you get sticks.)"

This is a fun tradition Eliza. My daughter and I have been learning about different country's tradition this week and last (we celebrated St. Nicholas Day too). It's wonderful to learn about different cultures celebrations. I think my favorite fact so far has been that Santa's sleigh is pulled by six white kangaroos in the Australian Outback!

Thanks for sharing!

Simple Service: post cards for service

Last week, when I was at the post office, I noticed a little stack of pre-stamped, pre-addressed postcards for service men and women, with a small note encouraging customers to send a note. I picked one up and jotted down a thank you note. Something I have not down since middle school. It was great to do a service I don't normally do.

You too can send a note, card of postcard to those in our Armed Forces.

Go here to send an email.
Go to Any Soldier to choose a name for a letter.
Adopt a soldier through Soldiers Angels.

Zip Tip: self serve kitchen

After my visit to Christy's house, I was inspired to finally move the kid's kitchen items to some drawers(Christy has done this for years). Now they can get their own plates, bowls and cups, eliminating the need for Mom in one tiny area of life.

Bags 4 Darfur

As part of our theme of giving service this month, a reader rachel sent us to this fantastic website, bags4darfur.blogspot.com. This lovely lady, Joyce, makes eclectic bags from vintage fabrics, and each day sells one to the highest bidder. Then she donates the money to aid Darfur. Let me explain that a little further. The U.N. has called the situation in Darfur one the "worst humanitarian crisis" in the world. Several hundred thousand people have died in the last 5 years since this political arena has become thwarted by angry militants and governmant problems. Please read more about the situation in Darfur here. There are horrible situations around our globe, and it is hard to be able to help out all those who need it. This lovely woman has just solved two of your problems: first, you will be giving aid to some of those who desperately need it, and also a bonus of a fantastic bag that someone on your list is sure to love! Here is a taste of what she does:

"angel wax" bag. high bid: $90

"life" bag. high bid: $87

All of her bags start at $45, and you have until 8pm to get your bidding in. Just leave a comment on the post. If today's bag doesn't strike your fancy, then keep returning until you find one or three, that do. I do not know Joyce, but her sacrifice of personal time to aid so many, other herself is incredibly touching. A curtsy to you, Joyce.

Christmas Traditions

image from www.papercopia.com

We started a love chain about 3 christmases ago, as part of a new tradition to focus on giving and others (instead of new toys and spending extra money). I keep a bucket of colorful strips of paper, and pens, on a table. Then everytime someone does something "nice" for someone OR has a kind thought about someone else, they write or draw about it on a strip, and we attach it to the end of the chain. We attach them one night a week, and hung the chain around our front room. We kept ours for 2 years, but we are starting a new one this year, after some sort of natural disaster occured... the point is to encourage selfless acts and new memories that will last longer than that action figure! And practically free decorating as a bonus!

Simple Service: keep saying thank you

Thanksgiving is over, but the show of gratitude can continue. Take a few minutes and write a couple thank you cards or emails today. Great recipients are: your child's teacher, a friend who is always helping you out, your parents, even those local leaders.

Etsy is such a cool place to shop for gifts! I love these cards from Inkspot Workshop.

Christmas Traditions

After our second child arrived, I thought it was high time that Glenn and I started a few of our own Christmas traditions. One of them, is to give books as a sort of advent calendar. I wrap up 24 different Christmas-y type books, some purchased and others borrowed from the library. Then each day the kids take turns choosing and unwrapping a book. Then of course we read it together. My kids range from 10 down to 2, so I have a variety of types under the tree to keep them interested. The book always read on Christmas Eve is "Twas the Night Before Christmas". A perfect classic. Some of our fave's include:

*"Dream Snow" by Eric Carle



* "I Spy-Christmas"

* "Snowmen at Christmas" by Caralyn Buehner

I am still scouting around titles for this year's new book, and I am open to your suggestions! Also, Lizzy and I want to hear you traditions too!! So, email them to us, and we start sharing them next week.

Simple Service: food in a bag

I posted about donating food a couple months ago. I love this form of service for a few reasons.

1. It's very simple (on my time and my budget)
2. My children can get involved easily
3. The food usually goes to my local community

Tonight, I'm bagging up some extra food for my daughter to take to school tomorrow. We also have a food drive going on with our church and our local rec center this week.

On a side note: I try to make donations healthy; a sampling of what my family eats. Not cheap food that I wouldn't want to give my own kids.