Pass It On!

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As a writer, I’m also an avid reader.  With three kids and a household to run, I can’t always afford to buy every book on the shelf I’d like to, and the library can sometimes be a jumble to get into with a child running in every direction, except the way I’d like to go.

This is why Paperback Swap is a great program for avid readers.  I’ve been apart of this program for several years.  It’s easy.  List the books your done reading and no longer want to keep.  Search out books you’d like to read from other members and once you have credits you can request the books you want - FOR FREE.

It works a little like this, you post 5 books.  Someone request one of your books, so you pay the postage and mail them the book.  When they mark the book as received, you get one credit to request one book from someone else.  Yeah I know I said for FREE, and here you are paying the postage right to mail it?  Well, when you use your credit to request a book from another member, they pay the postage and get the book for FREE.

See, it’s a swap — a paperback swap.

If you’re an avid reader, know someone who is, or just have books laying around that you’d like to get rid of - swap them.  Children’s books included. 

Pass It On

“People with many interests live, not only longest, but happiest,” Says George Matthew Allen.
 

As a writer, wife, mother, and craft enthusiast - yes, I’ve said those things before.  Life would be dull if I had only one thing to do all the time.  As if parenting didn’t change up my days and add excitment already…

Every day is a new day, what the day brings I can only hope results in a little bit of happiness for myself and those I encounter.  I love interacting with my kids, doing crafts, and writing (yes, I said it again.)  All these things add a variety to my daily routines and my family life.

What interest do you have?  What are you days like, and are you happy doing them?

Pass It On

Last year my oldest daughter had to have surgery.  Needless to say, our health insurance did n’t cover the surgery, for reasons I won’t get into, and every month we are strapped with making a payment in effort to pay off one surgery so my oldest can have another.

My daughter and my family are not the only ones out there struggling with health care and insurance. 

A few months ago, I took my oldest daughter to a vision clinic to have her eyes checked, sure enough she needed new glasses.  For a child, the cheapest set of glasses I could find was about $70.  A freind told me about a place called Zenni Optical and I went there.  My daughter’s glasses cost less than $25.  Yep, that even included shipping. 

So, a few weeks ago when it was my turn, I got my eye doctor to write out my eye prescription (make sure they write your PD - pupulary distance) on the paper, and I went online to Zenni Optical and ordered not one by two pairs of glasses for under $50.  There were so many to choose from and so many options to choose, but for those of us who don’t have vision insurance, who can’t afford the average price of glasses (usually around $200) it is worth trying out.

Today pass on this message to those you know who need new glasses, check it out yourself, and help others to see through a bad economy.

Please note that I am NOT an affliate of Zenni Optical, and by clicking on the above links or making a purchase through the links will not be to my financial gain, but to your financial benefit for those who need eye glasses.

Pass It On 

Hi, all you animal  lovers!

The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting  enough people to click on it daily so they can meet their quota of  getting FREE FOOD  donated every day to abused and neglected animals.  It takes less than a minute (about 15 seconds) to go to their site  and click on the purple box ‘fund food for animals for free’. This  doesn’t cost you a thing.

Here’s the web site! Please pass it along to  people you know.    
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/      

For the past several weeks my life has been on the road.  I’m always coming and going it seems lately,  just when I sit down for a few days and get my household straightened out - I’m leaving again.  And, so the summer has flown by.  Even as I write today’s post I’m preparing for another trip and thinking of everything could be doing rather than typing this post.

But I think most of our lives tend to fall into this pattern.  There are always runny noses to be wiped, dishes to be washed, dinners to be made, work schedules to be met, and then we have time to breathe.  Hardly so, but for this sake we’ll say there is.

When is the last time you sat down and took a deep breath?  For me it will be when I return home to my husband and children next week, unpack, and spend the time getting filled in on everything I missed.  For you, why not make it today?   Once today is gone, tomorrow be here and the opportunity to breathe will have been missed.

Pass It On

An excerpt from Dennis Rainey’s book, “Moments with You”. 

” Early one evening, I drove Rebecca–then 14–to meet some girlfriends for a bunking party. But her friends were running late, and as we sat there waiting in a parking lot, God orchestrated a great teaching moment.

We were talking about how she was going to relate to the opposite sex as she got older–about how far she would go sexually with a young man. A water balloon was lying in the console between us; it was stashed ammo from a balloon fight at our home a few days before. Picking it up, I got an idea.

“Let’s say this water balloon is filled with your sexual purity and innocence. This is all you have. How much of it would you want to give away before you’re married?”

“None of it,” she answered. “I want to give it all to my husband!”

Then I put it in teenage terms. “Let’s say a young man comes to you and just wants a little kiss–your first kiss–just a little bit of your innocence.” I held up the balloon and pretended to pierce it with an imaginary needle. Then another boy comes along, and he just wants a little more. Then later on, you fall in love and decide it’s okay to give away even more.”

I paused and looked deeply into her wide eyes. “How much innocence and purity will you have left to give the man you marry?”

“It would be all gone,” she said, “little by little.”

Now I have a question for parents: As you look at how this culture is seducing our teenagers, how do you need to teach and instruct your teens? If you don’t hold the standard high for your children, then who will?”

What convictions will you pass on to your teenagers?

     “Yes, we are all different. Different customs, different foods, different mannerisms, different languages, but not so different that we cannot get along with one another. If we will disagree without being disagreeable.”  J. Martin Kohe

For the past several days there has been chaos in my household, namely my children.  The words of “Mom! Brother hit me!” or “Momma, Momma, Momma” repeated over and over every-time I set down for five minutes of peace, only to be interrupted.  Plus the wonderful stage of potty training with my third child. Our household has been in choas. 

If only my children would get along!

Sound familiar?

I gave both my older children small task to attend to in different rooms of our house, while the third runs between them trying to help both of them.  For my son it is putting together a puzzle in his room, and for my oldest it is drawing a picture for a family member who I visit soon.

This afternoon we will engage in playing games together, with mom (me) as the referee.

Today, think of the people who are not getting along in your life.  Isn’t it time to start playing referee?

It’s Friday, the sun is out, and there is no rain in the forcast.  Grab your oldest clothes and go outside and get dirty!!!

Every once in a while it’s great just to stop your normal routine and do something differnt, fun, and out of the ordinary.  I’ve been working non-stop of preparing a book proposal for a publishing house I’m meeting with next week.  When I finally got my head out of my computer, three little sets of eyes were looking at me, like “mom where have you been… we miss you.”

So, I closed the computer and headed out to the one place I knew I get the dirtiest and laugh the hardest…. my backyard.  By the end of the day, I was carrying three exhausted children to bed and collasping myself, but it felt good.  It felt good to see the smiles and hear the laughter from my children.  It felt good to put aside my work, and focus on my family.

Declare the day Family Fun Day, and see what smiles and laughter you can arise in your own family when you put them first amongst the pressures of your life.

 Pass It On

Meals on Wheels is a program ran in many countys across the United States that provides meals to shut-ins.  Most often, it is the elderly and disabled.

I found myself several times in the last few weeks providing meals on wheels to family in my local church, MOPS group, and friends who have had a need for a meal.

As a MOPS mom for the past seven years, I have provided many a meal for moms who have had babies.  I’ve been on the receiveing end of those meals as well.  I’ve seen exhausted, spent, healing people smile and be uplifted through their ordeal because someone thought enough to bring them supper.

Today, who do you know that could use a meal on wheels?  Are they getting out of the hospital?  Just had a baby? Or is their family haveing a tough time financially and a good meal on the table would be a blessing?

It doesn’t have to be fancy.  You could be like me and grab a premade lasagna and heat it up, add some garlic bread, a bagged salad (make sure you check the bag of salad so it’s not brown inside), and perhaps a box of cookies.

Pass It On

It’s been nothing but, travel, travel, and more travel for my family for the past few weeks.  Yesterday, we unpacked and settled back into just being home.  I didn’t realize how exhausted I had been, or how little time I had spent with my children those past weeks until I sat down.

My youngest was napping, my son was playing, and my oldest wanted to go fishing, card game that is.

I played two rounds of Go Fish, but then my eyes were drooping and I couldn’t concentrate on my daughter or the game at hand.  But, after the second round of Go Fish, my oldest was happy to have a little quiet time with me and snuggle up beside me as we took a rest.  I could hear the putter of my son’s train as I closed my eyes, and a few minutes later my husband walked through the door.  My kids both got up and shouted his name.

No more gone fishing for me, I thought as my kids clung to their father and I took a little nap.  Too soon it would be time to pick up my pole and catch some supper for the family….

Today, have gone fishing lately with your kids?  Have you spent just a few minutes interacting with them, snuggling with them, and talking with them?  Those moments will be passed on into memories, and those memories will be passed on into making our children the adults they will become.