Food Bank Kids' Day

On Saturday a group from our church went to the Food Bank for a kids day mission project. We learned a little bit about how the food bank works - where the donations come from, who receives the food found there, etc. The kids seemed to have the general idea, giving answers to all of the coordinator's questions. I really liked how the coordinator explained to the kids what they meant as "people who are hungry." She asked them if they knew that feeling, sometime after breakfast but before lunch when your tummy is a little rumbly. The kids all confirmed they knew that feeling. She then explained that is not the type of hungry the food bank serves. The food bank is for people who don't know where or when their next meal will come from. Their refrigerators and cabinets are bare and they don't know when they will be able to get food.

Wow! I hope my girls were paying attention. Even though I knew the purpose of the food bank, to hear it put in those terms and really think about it is heartbreaking.

After learning about the food bank we were assigned our jobs. Our church group, as well as other individuals who came on their own, were given the job to bag up potatoes. There were about 6-7 huge crates of potatoes and we were to sort out the bad ones and bag up the good ones in about 10 lb. portions.

It was at times a dirty and yucky job but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Gabrielle even asked if we could go back another day. Yes!! Absolutely!! I would love for our family to do more hands on service projects for our community. While we donate to various causes when we can, I think a hands on, giving of your time, and even seeing face to face the people you are helping is so important. And I think it helps the girls understand - and even give me the reminder I need - just how blessed we are.

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"

~ Matthew 25:35-40, NIV

Snow Days

We had our first snow of this year. It may end up as our only snow but with high temperatures not getting out of the low 40s any time in the foreseeable forecast, I would bet we may just end up with another little bit before this winter is over.

The snowfall was a bit of a disappointment - for me anyway. Just enough to have school cancelled for some, delayed for others. Not enough to really play in or even build a tiny snowman.

The girls were excited to see even a little white stuff. They did not seem to mind it was barely anything at all.

The snow began falling around 8:00 pm. I chose not to let my girls go out and play even for a tiny bit while the snow was coming down. Maybe I should have. Hopefully if we indeed do have another snow this winter it will start while it is still daylight. What kid doesn't want to catch a snowflake on their tongue and dance around, run around while snowflakes are falling? After seeing the movie "Frozen" their passion for snow has only grown exponentially.

My favorite part of the snow and cold? The moments I could stay inside, wrapped up in a blanket with a nice hot cup of coffee!!

The dogs could not really care less for the snow and cold either.

Actually in the past, when we have had an actual measurable amount of snow, the dogs probably had as much fun as the rest of us!

2010

2010

If I could place an order, specify exactly how much and when for snow, this amount in the picture below would be great, start falling on Friday morning and be gone by Sunday night. Ed gets aggravated with missing work and closing the warehouse due to the weather and would not enjoy the snow with us if it messed up the work week. Plus now that we have school aged children, missing school is fun only until the make up day arrives!

2010

 

2010

2010

Only time will tell what the rest of the winter will bring!

Turtles, Turtles and More Turtles

2009 - Samantha's very first trip to the aquarium. I can't believe how little my lil' munchkins were!

A trip to the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium is a must at least once of our many trips to Meemaw's during the year. During my childhood I probably went to the aquarium only a handful of times total - maybe. I have been more than that in just the seven years since becoming a mom!

What can I say? The girls love it and I love seeing their reaction each and every year. From complete awe as little toddlers, even babies, to a little apprehensive and unsure of whether the glass would truly hold back the water and fish once they were older toddlers and preschoolers, to now where there is still the awe and amazement but also a new found appreciation and desire to actually learn more about what they are seeing.

Samantha, we have said for a while now, is destined to work somehow with sea life. She is absolutely obsessed with all creatures in water but her all time favorite animal - turtles, especially sea turtles.

This sea turtle seemed to come right up to Samantha which absolutely made her day. She was convinced the sea turtle came up to her because it knew she loves turtles.

There were plenty more turtles to be seen...

sand turtles...

various other turtles (sorry, can't remember any of the names!!)...

even some statue turtles!

The favorite was probably the new Sea Turtle Rescue area, an interactive, hands-on activity where the girls got to examine, care for and release their own little sea turtle.

It was a quick stop this time around but still worth the trip. I'm sure we'll be back in a few months at some point over the summer!

A Creative Weekend

Taking advantage of a long weekend, the girls and I visited my mom. It was a nice weekend for several reasons, like seeing my 6 month old niece for starters. Of course, I enjoy visiting with all my family, with my brother and my sister-in-law and nephew, but of course there is nothing like seeing nieces and nephews - especially when they are still babies!! The last time I saw this sweet girl was just before Christmas and since my little family was still recovering from the flu, getting near little Natalie was a no-no.

Lots of delicious food and almost gluttonous eating also made the weekend great. I have always said for some reason we all become insatiable bottomless pits when we are at my mom's! For lunch one day we hit the Pizza Inn buffet where our slices of dessert pizza equaled the number of regular pizza we digested. Shrimp Alfredo, clam chowder, apple dumplings and some incredible Nutella cupcakes (courtesy of the SIL) - and that wasn't even everything of course. Let's just say I'm fairly sure my jeans are a little snugger today.

The big highlight of the weekend was probably the crafting though. I would typically consider myself a fairly crafty, somewhat creative and artsy kind of person but for the past year my life has certainly not exhibited that part of my personality. I'm not sure I even realized just how much I missed it until I started working on stuff this weekend. (kind of like being away from blogging for so long)

It started with a trip to Hobby Lobby. Being only my third, maybe fourth, trip to this crafter's heaven,  I wanted to be able to take my time and really look around - as much as you can with two kids begging you to buy every other item that catches their eye!

I had a couple of projects in mind. I have been wanting to make a burlap wreath for our front door. Burlap ribbon was on sale so score!! I bought all the materials needed and on Sunday evening put together my wreath. I had forgotten that a thicker wreath would not fit well between our front door and the storm door. Fortunately this wreath does fit - barely. The flower gets a little smooshed but not terrible.

The other project I have been wanting to make is a chalkboard for my kitchen wall. I had envisioned finding THE perfect mirror or frame or platter from a consignment store, something with some vintage flair, painting it with chalkboard paint and maybe hanging with a ribbon. And then I found this chalkboard and my dream of creating the perfect chalkboard for my kitchen went right out the window.

The look of the swirled wrought iron frame was exactly the style I had pictured in my mind. It was on clearance so even better.  I did have some doubt, questioning whether I could have made the perfect chalkboard myself for a better price. The fact I spent a bit more than I had planned didn't help the doubt. The several "little" items like craft kits for the girls, Valentine items for the girls' school Valentines, and a couple of other random goodies added up quickly! Fortunately after consulting my friend Janie, I decided the purchase was well worth the clearance price I paid. And I couldn't be happier with the purchase.

Of course when I got home I discovered the chalkboard is wider than the area in the kitchen I had planned to hang it.  Figures. But no worries, I'll have to rearrange some photos which I've been wanting to do for some time anyway, and then I'll have a perfect wall for the chalkboard and maybe some additional artwork of some sort.

The craftiness continued with a refresher course for my mom on how to work her Cricut machine. She is part of a card group at her church. They meet once a month and make and share cards and techniques. She was wanting to get more creative with her card making and finally make use of the Cricut cutter my sister gave her a few years ago. I loved it. The girls loved all the cute little critters we were making as well. We let them keep the first couple of creations while I was showing Mama how it all worked. And then my mom made quite a few on her own for various cards she knew she would be making in the next couple of weeks.

I am happy to report my own Create a Critter cartridge is being shipped to my house as I type. Now I'll just have to make the time to get some cute little things made for the girls to use on their school Valentines - as I promised them every time they begged Meemaw to let them keep everything she was making.

Gabrielle used her critters to make a picture to hang in her room. It turned out really adorable.

Now to keep the creative juices flowing...