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

The Day After

Here it is, finally... December 26th! I think I have been praying for this day more than most pray for December 25th. Before you gasp and say something you may rethink, let me start by saying, yes I am grateful for the many blessings I have: my kids, my friends, my family that I really don't get to see, my faith, and of course Jesus' birthday. This is a raw account for my little 'blogging space' and not one I usually allow myself to open up for, but the stress I have felt this year has been daunting. Not much has played out the way it was 'suppose to be' at all. The picture of Christmas was suppose to look very different than the reality, especially for as hard as I've tried to work.

Christmas is a wonderful time to spend with family and friends and reflect on memories and make new ones, to celebrate with traditions and spread some cheer with a special person/family by your side. Well as great as that sounds and as much as I pray for that to be the case again someday, this year was very different... and the last few have been quite rough too. I always knew after my grandmas both passed away things would be different, but had no idea it looked this different! I didn't even have a family gathering to put on the calendar this year!

The mere struggle of robbing Peter to pay Paul only works until you throw something like Christmas in the mix. And heaven forbid a mom wake up extremely sick just 3 days before. (after taking care of a sick, sick kid with the flu for the several days before) Oh and did I mention none of the gifts purchased yet?? Because I was still trying to figure out which bill I could afford to be late on without fear of disconnection. And also when I could be kid-free to cram that shopping in without the very recipients tagging along with me between the two jobs I'm working and very little help from the other parental unit in just taking the kids. So knowing I was scheduled for a paycheck on the 21st I waited to shop on the 22nd when I was off work and kid free. I did NOT plan on waking up sick on the 22nd and to my not-so-surprise, I still had the kids. Is there really a 'kid-free' time to plan on, I think not.

Yes, I have scaled back on the gifts my children receive, but whoever thought up this whole Santa thing needs to be... well, we will leave that alone for now (probably a whole other blog topic, ha!) I have an 8yr old that I could not disappoint with the whole magical lie parents get to play without being hypocritical. So of course I have to milk that opportunity, right?! I not only have to play Santa to her, but also to the 12 and 13yr old because Santa wouldn't dare just come for one and not the others. Now I am having a breakthrough thought as I type this: Gee this is why the older two are so quick to help me keep the Santa thing alive in the house. Duh, they get more presents too... sheesh! 

 Well after running around sick for a day and a half I was graciously sent some 'helper elves' to help wrap the presents that were suppose to be ready for 'delivery' within just a few short hours. Yes it was December 24th, at 8pm, and nothing was wrapped, but hey, at least it was purchased now. So the wrapping party began after I loaded all the gifts up in my car, drove them over to my cousin's, unloaded them, and enlisted her and her two kids  to help me wrap everything, just like they did last year. 

Christmas day held no major plans, well, no plans at all actually. I remember a day of trying to juggle about 5 different stops on Christmas day... and now not one place. So I thought, "It's time for me to take things in my own hands. It's tradition setting time." After all, my kids and I did just collect over 100 coats for the homeless in less than a week. So of course I can create a new Christmas! 

I let the kids just lounge around through the day and play with their gifts while I attempted to set up iTunes accounts and iPods that almost found a free trip through the window! eeek! I ran out for more cold meds/cough meds  and back to make dinner. Nothing fancy by any means, just some spaghetti with marinara sauce and edemame. Of course we had some Christmas cookies too. Then off to drive around for a first annual Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt! We looked for a big blow up Santa and snowman, light up candy canes, a wreath, a nativity scene, a house with music and light show, an all white light house, an all blue light house and tree out of lights. We successfully finished and before I could announce stopping for hot chocolate, the kids were done... one had to pee, one had already checked out and had ear buds in and the other was trying to show enthusiasm, bless her heart, but the kids were toast. They actually really enjoyed just staying at home and exploring their new Santa-given treasures. So I turned on a movie and relaxed the night away, nursing the sickness that was still kicking my butt, drinking hot cocoa on the couch with my daughters and thanking God that Christmas was almost over! 
~until next year, Merry 'day-after' Christmas!