Weekly Highlights
Our weekly highlights:
Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes. My husband and I are a team in many ways, and one I am thankful for is how we save our money. We follow almost to a T, the Dave Ramsey budget. We have a major credit card however, but its balance is 0. We use it for internet shopping and put cash in the envelope to pay it off right away. I have an Old Navy Card, Kohl's Card, JCPenney's Card, Macy's Card, you get the point...however, the balance is 0. I use them the same way since they offer great discounts and put the cash in an envelope to put in our bank account and then pay off the bill when it comes in. My hubby works overtime every 9 weeks and whenever they call him in. We use that extra money to save for many things and one is for giving away. If we can get by with his normal check, the extra money can go to our brothers and sisters all over the world in need. We have always done shoeboxes, but this year we were able to more than previous years and really engage our girls in needs vs wants, things that last, and will help improve this young girls life and know that we are praying for them.
When we picked up the shoeboxes I knew what I needed to do first. Look at some missionary blogs to really find out what these kids's needs/wants are and talk about it with my kids. I was able to find some great information and that $1 store items break before they arrive, my MIL read that certain animals, like Owls are feared in villages, candy-even the ones they say are ok-still bring in bugs, books no matter how simple are unreadable by those who cannot read english.
We talked about what each girl wanted to get for girls their age and we talked about what to get for a little boy from our little guy who is 17 months and currently licking the wall, so he doesn't have much to say about it. One blog said young girls squealed when they found a tiara in their shoebox. They don't know who Cinderella or Belle is, but they know what a princess is. So that was #1 on Jellybeans list.
The girls really wanted to go above and beyond and get fancy hair clips and such. Then we needed to talk about needs of girls who really have nothing. A handful of pretty colorful hair ties would be more beneficial that a fancy claw clip that could break and then she would have nothing. My girls love Wet Brushes, so we got Wet Brushes. They wanted to get fancy liquid soap but we talked about how my MIL said they really need bars of soap and containers to take down to the river and of course that liquid is a no no to mail.
I also read that a basic sewing kit can help a girl make money for her family. This went in both boxes. We also sent chapstick, bandaides, shoes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, Kleenex, shirts, shoes, blank sketchpads/journals fancy pens/markers and a wow gift. A barbie and tiara for the middle age range and a fashion barbie doll for the older age group. We also sent feminine products for the older girl, I read a blog where you can purchase washable, reusable pads and I am planning to purchase those for future boxes. You can also purchase personal water filters.
The greatest part of these boxes is to see how excited the kids get to purchase and pack boxes, and TO PRAY FOR THESE KIDS and their families. Jellybean included a photo of herself and a note, we are not sure if the child receiving it will be able to read it, but she just had to tell her she was praying for her.
Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes. My husband and I are a team in many ways, and one I am thankful for is how we save our money. We follow almost to a T, the Dave Ramsey budget. We have a major credit card however, but its balance is 0. We use it for internet shopping and put cash in the envelope to pay it off right away. I have an Old Navy Card, Kohl's Card, JCPenney's Card, Macy's Card, you get the point...however, the balance is 0. I use them the same way since they offer great discounts and put the cash in an envelope to put in our bank account and then pay off the bill when it comes in. My hubby works overtime every 9 weeks and whenever they call him in. We use that extra money to save for many things and one is for giving away. If we can get by with his normal check, the extra money can go to our brothers and sisters all over the world in need. We have always done shoeboxes, but this year we were able to more than previous years and really engage our girls in needs vs wants, things that last, and will help improve this young girls life and know that we are praying for them.
When we picked up the shoeboxes I knew what I needed to do first. Look at some missionary blogs to really find out what these kids's needs/wants are and talk about it with my kids. I was able to find some great information and that $1 store items break before they arrive, my MIL read that certain animals, like Owls are feared in villages, candy-even the ones they say are ok-still bring in bugs, books no matter how simple are unreadable by those who cannot read english.
We talked about what each girl wanted to get for girls their age and we talked about what to get for a little boy from our little guy who is 17 months and currently licking the wall, so he doesn't have much to say about it. One blog said young girls squealed when they found a tiara in their shoebox. They don't know who Cinderella or Belle is, but they know what a princess is. So that was #1 on Jellybeans list.
The girls really wanted to go above and beyond and get fancy hair clips and such. Then we needed to talk about needs of girls who really have nothing. A handful of pretty colorful hair ties would be more beneficial that a fancy claw clip that could break and then she would have nothing. My girls love Wet Brushes, so we got Wet Brushes. They wanted to get fancy liquid soap but we talked about how my MIL said they really need bars of soap and containers to take down to the river and of course that liquid is a no no to mail.
I also read that a basic sewing kit can help a girl make money for her family. This went in both boxes. We also sent chapstick, bandaides, shoes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, Kleenex, shirts, shoes, blank sketchpads/journals fancy pens/markers and a wow gift. A barbie and tiara for the middle age range and a fashion barbie doll for the older age group. We also sent feminine products for the older girl, I read a blog where you can purchase washable, reusable pads and I am planning to purchase those for future boxes. You can also purchase personal water filters.
The greatest part of these boxes is to see how excited the kids get to purchase and pack boxes, and TO PRAY FOR THESE KIDS and their families. Jellybean included a photo of herself and a note, we are not sure if the child receiving it will be able to read it, but she just had to tell her she was praying for her.
Peanut had her 2nd basketball game and it was awesome to see her determined and having fun. Her goal was to be great at defense and she was! She stands at 5 feet tall, tallest on her team and the others and could easily block shots or knock them down. I love watching her play.
Our bathroom shower floor is cracked and now we are in the throws of a remodel and the hubster is working 4 10s this week. His change in schedule this week and change in weather has made it pretty hard on him. He's cold and exhausted and I'm more than ready to have an adult conversation by 6 pm when he walks in that door. Monday was awful, Tuesday I left 20 min after he got home to go to a homeschool Mom night out, YEAH! Wednesday we have Karate and Basketball practice so we are split up and tonight we have nothing and its our 'Friday Night'. Hoping we can make some popcorn and watch a movie and the girls and I can paint our nails after Owen goes to bed.
We are having a Family Fun Day tomorrow, which will consist of arguing, tears, and raised voices but it will be FANTASTIC. We are planning on going to the Aquarium in Boise, we haven't been in 3 years and we live 30 minutes away.
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