ProjectGiveThanks

This year #ProjectGiveThanks is a challenge for ALL! 

You can give to a few or follow along each day. 

You can mix up the order or make your own list. 

You could even simply send a card to each person listed- YOU decide, but go out and GIVE THANKS this November!!

There is such a tenancy to skip past the Thanksgiving month to dive right into December, but the challenge is to puch back on that and GIVE from the heart! 

It does NOT have to cost a lot, and should NOT... Homemade cards or goodies work wonders when telling someone you are grateful for them. 

Take a picture of your giving and use the hashtag #ProjectGiveThanks on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to spread the word and follow along! 

Share so everyone can take part!  

Examples From 2014:

WHAT A BLAST!! Project Thanksgiving is about giving in small, tangible ways to say THANK YOU to our local community, leaders, and friends throughout the month of November- it's about SHOWING gratitude!

This week we:

• Thanked the coaches at Cheer with a crock-pot of chili and some cookies for dessert... for 'cooking up' some 'sweet' cheer moves!

Pic to follow :-)

• The Wentzville Fire Department with Hot Chocolate, Marshmallows and York Peppermint Patties... For 'cooling things off' when they get 'too hot'!

• The St Charles County Ambulance District with a basket of Lifesavers... For being 'lifesavers' all the time!

• Our Aunt Rosie Seppelt at Image Makers with a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte... To thank her 'a Latte' for being a 'cut' above the rest! For cutting/coloring our hair and all the yummy food she feeds us! (and yes I already know that it is supposed to say You're a cut above the rest and not 'Your' in the pic... get over it!! I put these together while I am sitting in a parking lot waiting for kid #2 to get out of cheer or in between taxi-ing kids and working full time, if this is the worst thing to happen I am doing GREAT! lol!) 

• A 5th grade teacher, Reading teacher,  and choir/harmonizers teacher with a cup and straw with crystal light 'bows'... for quenching my daughter's 'thirst' for learning!

• We also mailed some homemade thank you cards to special friends with a special handwritten letter of gratitude.

We have definitely been filled with joy this week as we made these deliveries! It really IS the little things in life that mean the most! With a little thought, creativity and love, you can bless someone else in a big way! Check back throughout the week as we deliver more goodies to those around us! 

Join us in our Project Thanksgiving and SHOW your gratitude in small, tangible ways this week. Feel free to share our ideas and be sure to Hashtag #ProjectThanksgiving in your pics on social media and we will give a shout-out for your awesome ideas too!! Together we can BE THE CHANGE this world needs! Happy Thanksgiving Month!!

With love,

Me+3

Project Thanksgiving- Week 1

WHAT A BLAST!! Project Thanksgiving is about giving in small, tangible ways to say THANK YOU to our local community, leaders, and friends throughout the month of November- it's about SHOWING gratitude!

This week we:

• Thanked the coaches at Cheer with a crock-pot of chili and some cookies for dessert... for 'cooking up' some 'sweet' cheer moves!

Pic to follow :-)

• The Wentzville Fire Department with Hot Chocolate, Marshmallows and York Peppermint Patties... For 'cooling things off' when they get 'too hot'!

• The St Charles County Ambulance District with a basket of Lifesavers... For being 'lifesavers' all the time!

• Our Aunt Rosie Seppelt at Image Makers with a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte... To thank her 'a Latte' for being a 'cut' above the rest! For cutting/coloring our hair and all the yummy food she feeds us! (and yes I already know that it is supposed to say You're a cut above the rest and not 'Your' in the pic... get over it!! I put these together while I am sitting in a parking lot waiting for kid #2 to get out of cheer or in between taxi-ing kids and working full time, if this is the worst thing to happen I am doing GREAT! lol!) 

• A 5th grade teacher, Reading teacher,  and choir/harmonizers teacher with a cup and straw with crystal light 'bows'... for quenching my daughter's 'thirst' for learning!

• We also mailed some homemade thank you cards to special friends with a special handwritten letter of gratitude.

We have definitely been filled with joy this week as we made these deliveries! It really IS the little things in life that mean the most! With a little thought, creativity and love, you can bless someone else in a big way! Check back throughout the week as we deliver more goodies to those around us! 

Join us in our Project Thanksgiving and SHOW your gratitude in small, tangible ways this week. Feel free to share our ideas and be sure to Hashtag #ProjectThanksgiving in your pics on social media and we will give a shout-out for your awesome ideas too!! Together we can BE THE CHANGE this world needs! Happy Thanksgiving Month!!

With love,

Me+3

Project Thanksgiving

Each month we try to make an impact on the world we live in... especially the community that we do life in. 

NOVEMBER- The Month of

2 GOALS this month:

• Feed 300 children around the world- You can help us with this one... and WE NEED YOUR HELPto reach this lofty goal!! Share away! You will receive a tax-deductible receipt for every child you feed :-)

As we prep to stuff our faces full of food, we want to impact those who are starving- literally starving, especially innocent children! Help us reach our goal off 300 kids fed in the month of stuffing faces! For just $25 you can feed a child for a WHOLE MONTH!! Could you spare one lunch that your night eat out and give to feed a child for a month?

Email me for more info: RockstarMomLife@gmail.com

AND 

• Project Thanksgiving: Do something tangible every day leading up to Thanksgiving day to actually show we are thankful... Project Thanksgiving! This will be posted blog-style daily beginning November 1st and running through November 26th.

Follow along as we use a little creativity to impact our community in small, practical ways- and jump on board to do something for those around you this month too- I challenge you! If we all do something we will cause a BIG impact and change!

Teachers, School staff, Parents, Grandparents, etc.

Those who help aid our community everyday, Police, Firefighter, EMS, City Leaders, etc.

And many, many more... what are you waiting for? 

Be a blessing this month of gratitude! Don't just say it- DO IT! 

Blessings,
Me+3

Terrible Moms Go To Work

I can think of some terrible things a mother could do, but let me make one think very clear, working is NOT one of them. When working is what provides a life, let alone survival, for your children then it should not be viewed (or talked about) as less than that of a mother that chooses and/or has the financial ability to stay at home with her babies. Let’s agree that being a mom is not an easy job and there are no written instructions on the ‘right’ way to mother- especially when the title is Single Mom.

I have mommy friends from all walks of life: some that stay at home (which is a full time job in and of itself!), some that work from home, some that work part time and some that work full time, some have a nanny, some have a husband, some are single and some don’t even have full custody of their kids. We are all moms- no matter how you view the mommy-scale. Some are in executive roles, some are owners of their own company, some are teachers, some are bartenders and some work multiple jobs.

Thanks to the news, social media and world we live in today, I hear all the time of mothers that do some pretty terrible things… but I have to say, working and having a career life is NOT one of them. I am pretty down to earth in expectations and needs, carefully thinking of my kids in everything I do. I arch my own eye brows, color my own hair, paint my own nails and work out at home to save money. I don’t carry a designer handbag or have expensive jewelry. (most comes from dollar stores or discount places)

My kids have witnessed firsthand what working hard means and achieving goals takes some time, discipline and most of prioritizing. They are stronger and I am confident they will go further in life because of it! 

Sometimes the lessons we want to teach our kids are taught more by the reactions to life experiences than we can tell them. Teaching them how to make choices through adversity is a far greater ‘life skill’ than one can speak of. 

I was recently blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime to take a career step in the Bio-Chemistry/Biotechnology world. After 8 years of raising my kids single-handedly and being super involved with everything to promote and grow-them-up the BEST I possibly could, keeping my eye on a time of less struggles and more financial peace for all four of us, I accepted a job that requires some travel, ok well quite a bit of travel to start.

If there is anything this determined, independent mom has trouble doing, it’s asking for help… from anyone. I have had to learn how to put my pride aside from time to time and ASK a favor here and there of the MANY wonderful friends I have in my circle that always offer. I have also had to learn especially though this opportunity to say no to all of the little ‘proving-points’ I sometimes take on, like volunteering for everything, leadership roles, PTA, side businesses, and many moments with my friends and their kids. Well I still choose to coach a little league team and be a cheer squad mom from time to time… but I am learning to pick and choose- based on what is best for my kids. I make every decision based on what I think, pray, and weigh the pros and cons as the best for me +3.

Probably one of the hardest things for any driven parent is the need to be financially stable and mentally, emotionally and physically present for your family- especially when it is a single parent household. It’s one of the hardest concepts I had to accept- no matter how hard I work at a job, how many hours I put in while kids sleep to make up for anything I lacked during the day, it wasn’t going to matter until my kids were older… I was the one that got called when a kid was sick or hurt, or forgot their homework, shoes, lunch, PE uniform… etc.

 I have sacrificed every career, job and business venture that I have ever built, dreamt, taken on to be there for my kids first, hopeful of another ‘big break’/opportunity down the road when they were older and I wouldn't have it any other way. Priorities are created internally by what we place value on and shown through our actions and commitments.

Of course I wish I could be at home with them full time and carry less of the financial responsibility that is required being a single parent, but for now, I will just  do the best with what I have, never underestimating the importance and power a mother has on her children’s lives.

 “An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly, the negativity of the world can’t put you down unless you allow it to get inside you”

Sometimes, you just have to ride the waves.

Healthy Lunchbox Ideas

Does the idea of packing lunches overwhelm you or just plain bore you? Well here are some ideas of lunches my kids and I have come up with lately that made the 'remake-able meal' category and will hopefully help inspire you to launch your lunchtime in a healthy way! 

We take a picture of what we pack and tweek (that's tweek, not twerk, lol) to our liking, then print the pictures, hole punch and keep on a ring to refer to for ideas and planning. Hope this makes packing a healthy lunch much more appealing- both for your waistline as well as your finances! 

The key is to BE PREPARED:

• Take a little time each time you grocery shop or designate a specific day to bag up snacks. We have them for both the refrigerator and the pantry- quick and easy to grab is what we are shooting for here.
• You are more likely to eat healthy and save money when you can grab a healthy, conveniently packed snack to go- so keep this in mind when it seems to be a headache to set up. Also- get those kids to help. Mine actually enjoy measuring out a serving size and bagging! Good family time to prep and teaches the importance of planning and making healthy choices. 
• Separate snack bags in organizer baskets in the fridge and pantry

We 'Snack/Lunch Prep' once a week to save time through the week- grab and go has never been so do-able! 

Easy snack ideas to pre-package/prep include: 

• Celery with cream cheese, peanut butter or hummus (use the 2 oz mini cups with lids- pic below)
• Cheese sticks with almonds 
• Carrots with ranch or hummus (carrot chips work well too if you want to mix it up a bit)
• Cucumbers cut length wise with ranch or hummus
• Trail mix (we make different kinds every week or two)
• Almonds in serving size bags
• Cliff bars
• Fiber one bars
• Red grapes
• Green grapes
• Any fresh fruit (we love the little cutie clementines right now) 
• Greek yogurt tubes (freeze them too and they stay cold until afternoon snack)

Here are the 2oz cups with lids that I purchase- Line them up and fill several at a time and then throw them in the zip lock baggie with the item being paired

Fresh greens with feta and sunflower seeds with italian dressing in 2 oz cup, clementine, apple, Simply Nature brand (comparable to the Cliff Brand) bar and almonds

Chicken chunks to dip in yummy Chik-Fil-A sauce (use up those left over sauces), celery with organic peanut butter, carrots with hummus, greek yogurt, cheese stick, orange wedge-sliced, and apple
NOTE: This was a lunch, school snack and after school snack

Ham and cheese wrap (we use the Boar's head lunch meat for no preservatives or nitrates), Greek yogurt tube, carrots with ranch, celery with cream cheese, and blueberries

Grilled chicken chunks, celery with cream cheese, carrots with ranch, cheese stick, clementine, apple and edemame- shelled (you can buy these in the freezer section already shelled and they make a GREAT snack and loaded with protein) 

Hope this helps inspire you to think about lunch- and planning lunch in a new way! What other healthy ideas has your family tried? Comment below! Feel free to share on Facebook, Twitter and as always, pin away! I love Pinterest for this type of stuff!

New Year- New You... With a New Planner- FREE Printable for you! ***now with TWO versions***

Starting a New Year always excites me! I have to admit I am like an little kid in a candy store when it comes to planning and setting up a fresh start! (I even suffer from 'New Year Insomnia' and create these crazy planner pages, ha!) I took some time this past year to design a daily planner page to help in productivity, goal setting and execution to see some of my lofty plans actually happen. I am sharing a FREE DOWNLOAD ***now with TWO versions*** of this Planner Page for you to try as well. I would love your feedback as you use it! There are multiple areas to help in your 2014 success: 

• Agenda Section- allows you to plan each day in 30 min increments beginning at 5am and ending at 10pm
• Menu Plan- map out all three meals and assign a child to help in planning, preparing, cooking and possibly even clean up for the day. This is a great bonding time as well as helping your children learn the basics of cooking and all that goes into planning it too!
• Main Focus- assign a general task to each day
• Example: 
• Monday:  Bathrooms
• Tuesday:  Bedrooms (or pick another area)
• Wednesday:  Shopping/Errands
• Thursday:  Kitchen
• Friday:  Living Areas
• Saturday:  Planning/Goal-Setting for the next week
• Sunday:  Sorting + filing any paperwork, bills, etc. 
• Must Do Today- an easy checklist to jot all 'to-do' items down. Take this one step further and assign an action step with it. (even if you only have 10 min somewhere along the day you can easily find a task to check off) Use the short line next to each task to assign the action step: 
• G= Go- An errand to run outside/away the home
• D= Do- An errand to do inside/at home
• B= Buy- An item that has to be purchased 
• C= Contact- An email to send or a call to be made
• Self-Care- workout, planning and quiet time are as important as getting your daily recommended water. Practicing good self-care is important to optimizing your productivity and overall success. Just check each off as you go throughout the day as a reminder that YOU are important and must take steps to live a healthy lifestyle!
• Notes- open area for brainstorming, blog ideas, reflection, verses, thoughts or anything your little heart desires :-)

Here's to the best YOU in 2014! 

Daily Planner- General by Vickie Desemone Minnella

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD and start 2014 off with a bang... an organized bang! Print as many as you would like. I printed enough for 6 months and took it to my local office store and had them spiral-bound to carry with me and use everyday.

Daily Planner- General 2.0 by Vickie Desemone Minnella

You may also need some help with goal planning or menu planning/grocery shopping- Check out my other FREE RESOURCES to help you get organized and create a Rockstar Life!

***If have trouble printing you may access a copy here***
Planner Page 1.0
Planner Page 2.0

Helping Children Cope When A Tragedy Occurs

Watching any kind of tragedy unfold is hard on adults, but take a moment and consider a child's perspective. Adults know there is evil in the world and bad things do happen to good people, but a child's views are being shaped every day from playtime to the harsh reality of the world we live in.

My 8 year old daughter got into the car after school today and said
"Mommy we talked about the bombing today in school and they said an 8 year old boy died while waiting for his dad run. That is scary- I am 8 and you are a runner!"

She connected the dots of this horrific Boston Marathon Tragedy with the innocent age of someone her own age. She also brought up the shooting in CT and the talk we had about that tragedy just a few months ago. All three of my children had their views on these incidents, but as I listen to them share their perspectives and fears I am reminded as a parent that I can shape their outlook and attempt to calm their fears. There are a few simple things we can do to help the many questions and fears that develop in our little people, as well as our teenagers that seem to know it all:

• Assure them they are loved and comfort them. Do not brush off their feelings but rather allow them to express their thoughts in a secure place with the circle of love to absorb emotions attributed to the natural feelings they are experiencing.
• Control your own reaction to the situation. It is easy for us to tell them to do something a certain way, but it is more important that our reactions as parents/adults reflect the advice we give. Be careful not to jump to conclusions or offer initial motives for a cause of the tragedy. Also be careful not to judge or stereotype a certain type of person/people verbally. (They really do hear everything we say, and pick up on so much that we do not say) Model calm behavior but do not underestimate the affect evil has on innocent lives.
• Limit their exposure to pictures and news coverage based on age. We live in a day and age where pictures from a crime scene and tragedy spread at a viral rate through social media like never before, but monitor closely what is being viewed by little eyes. Just because a picture is released through Twitter, Facebook or other news source does NOT mean an 8 year old needs to see the graphic details. It is our job as parents to carefully expose our children to the realities of the world, but not all has to be done before the appropriate age.I am big on keeping it real with my own kids, but there are healthy boundaries of exposure too.
• Have them focus on the brave help of the emergency responders. When my kids do come across a picture or news coverage of an event that is less than favorable, I have them search out the emergency workers: Fireman, Police Officers, Military, etc. This offers a fresh approach to see the good in people and those willing to help at all costs. It also takes some of the negative weight off the crime scene/tragedy that is typically reported by new media. This is not to take away from the awful events but just adjusting perspective in the eyes of a child.
• Lead them to pray for the victims and their families. Offering up fears and sadness through prayer is a powerful way to release anxiety, especially when taught to do so at a young age. This has been my 'go to' way of helping my children in times like these. We always pray for the people affected and open our hearts to ways to help. If you listen closely to them, you may be surprised at their ideas on helping others. It definitely keeps me in check every time. 

I love the innocence of  children all ages possess and try to foster their sweet, kind hearts as much as possible, even though tragedy and evil occurrences. After all- isn't about the generation we are raising and what we CAN DO to create a different place to live in?