30 Days of Thanksgiving

November 3, 2010

I am thankful for the frosty mornings.  This morning we were driving to an appointment; I came over a hill and saw this.  Ok, not this picture exactly, but this look - the sun had not hit the field yet so the frost still covered everything and it was beautiful!  I love that solid white look that you get when there is frost on the ground.  This only happens for a short time between the warm summer nights and the snow blankets that happen in winter so enjoy the beauty of the frost!



Pay It Forward and Books for Gabe - Two Ways to Give!!

I've written about little Preslee Sullenger and what an impact her story has had on me.  Well, as her 2nd birthday approaches, her mom, Ashley, wanted to do something to "Pay it Forward".  So she, and a friend of hers whose son had also spent time in the same PICU have put together a great idea of putting together totes to leave in the rooms for the parents of the children that are brought there.  Why?  Most of the time, those parents arrive due to an emergency, as Preslee's parents did, with absolutely nothing.  These totes will contain items that they will find extremely useful.  In order to make this work - they are asking for donations from people who have been touched by the story of one or both of these little cuties.  I know I will be "Paying it Forward" because of Preslee. 

From Ashley's blog
This is the list for one basket. We learned there are actually 44 rooms, so multiply the list by 44 and we'll have what we need. :)

1 Box of Granola Bars
2 Trail Mix (Personal Size)
2 Goldfish (Personal Size)
6 Fruit Leather (At Costco you can get a box with 48 individual leathers for under $10)
Breath mints/Gum
Small Eye Drops (Visine)
3 Pens & Journal
Fleece Blanket for the parents (47" x 57" OR 42" x 52"- Try and go for the bigger one :) )
2 Pairs of Socks (preferably with grips on the bottom)
2 Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Chapstick
Small lotion (non-scented if possible)
Playing cards
Disposable Camera

If you feel there is something else you could donate that we haven't thought of, feel free to send it.

*We're in process of setting up a Paypal account, we're hoping to have it up and running in the next few days.

*All donations or packages can be sent to
Chelsea Beckstrand
1198 Pleasant View
Rexburg, ID 83440

Please note - the originally goal was 44 bags but due to the huge response already they have raised their goal to 200 bags!!  Please click here for an update with additional information and instructions.  They have created a seperate blog to keep updated about this project so make sure and check it out.  There is also now an option just to donute money toward the project as well

I also follow the Saville Family Blog and this little guy above passed away while watching TV with his brother.  He was a perfectly healthy little boy and it came as a total shock to the family.  Again, his birthday is approaching and in order to "do something" instead of just feeling the pain, his mom is organizing Books For Gabes which you can read about!  The books will be donated to a local hospital so they are looking for books for all ages of kids.  I love to read and I love reading to my kids.  Think of how books could help parents and sick little kids to pass the time in the hospital.  From personal experience, when I spent 6 weeks in the hospital - bags of books my sister-in-law brought me helped the long days go by.  (If you send the book without any correspondence, you can send it media mail which is super cheap!)

So - as Thanksgiving approaches and we focus more on giving than on getting - what are you willing to do?  I will be Paying it Forward in memory of both of these little angels.

30 Days of Thankfullness Challenge

November 2, 2010

I am thankful for Sunny Fall Skies.  Have you ever noticed, espeically in the North, how the sunny days are differant in the fall?  There is almost a golden hue to it all.  Maybe it is from the leaves turning, or the barrenness of the trees.  Maybe it is the "reflection" of the leaves on the ground or just the crispness of the air without the humidity.  But whatever it is, it makes those cool days so much brighter.  We start to see fewer sunny days as we proceed into the gray days of winter so right now, I am thankful for the Sunshine we do see!

30 Day blog Challenge - day 23

Day 23 - Favorite Vacation

Well, for me this is a repeat - just look at day 22 of the 30 Day blog Challenge - my favorite Cities!  I've been many places between vacation and missions trips but my favorite vacations have been the 2 to Vegas and the 2 to Gatlinburg with my husband.  I also love our Anniversary trips to Shippshewana. 

Sorry this post is boring :-) LOL

Making your home a haven

This week's challenge for "Making your home a Have" is to Focus on the Kitchen. The heart of the home.  Cook things with pleasant aromas and that the family can cook together.   It is also a reminder to give thanks for all things.  Now, I enjoy cooking.  I enjoy trying new recipes and making our "tried and trues".  When I worked full time, we got into a terrible rut but when you only have 30 minutes from the time you get home until dinner needs to be on the table, a rut is easy to do!  Now, though, I cook lots of different meals and we've enjoyed some GREAT things and some awful things!  Yet we always enjoy it together - the good food or laughing at something horrible as I grab the keys and run to Taco Bell! 

So, bless your family this week with something special from the kitchen.

You can read Courtney's full devotional here at the Women Living Well blog.

Too Cute Not to "Toot"

fBloggers are busy putting out lots of great ideas.  I think the Halloween ideas are starting to tickle down but have no fear, there are many great plans for upcoming holidays!
I'm always looking for great teaching ideas for my kids so when I saw this Thankfulness Countdown Calendar, I just had to share!

Check it out Here!

Over at Lemon Tree Creations, she gives a really easy project to do with all of those beautiful leaves.  They would make a great addition for Thanksgiving decor!

One of my favorite blogs, Oopsey Daisy posted something for all of you jewlery makers.  She created a rosette necklace for fall.

You can check out the full tutorial here

Are you ready for Christmas?  Make one of these and I think you will be!

Cute!

I thought this was a great idea for traveling when the boys get a little bigger and it is such an easy project!

Tic Tac Toe using a burner cover!

My boys rooms both have a sports team and need more decoration - this fits the bill and, again, uses burner covers!!

Click here for the full tutorial.

I also found this tutorial athe Brassy Apple on how to make the magnets used in the Tic-Tac-Toe above.

Aren't these awesome?

One more idea for burner covers!

Check it out here!

I plan on doing some updating in my kitchen this winter and really like this idea!


Click here for the full tutorial

There are alot more fall ideas out there - those I'll save for Next Monday :-)  ! 

The "Little School" - Halloween Theme

And this is the TRUTH!  I love Oopsey Daisy!  I've mentioned this site before because Alison does some awesome things!  She does something with her son called "Mommy School".  She began posting all of her plans just about the time I finished my lesson plans from another site.  Those plans were through 2 years old so I new I needed to find something else to start incorporating with Josh and her ideas really sent my mine spinning.  I wanted to share both her ideas and the plan that I morphed it into. 

There are other plans before this one and I REALLY meant to post this at the beginning of last week since the Theme is Halloween but, that didn't happen.  It isn't just Halloween though!  It is the color orange, the # 3, and more!  In this packet, you will find: (you can find ALL this at  Oopsey Daisy's  blog - she did ALL the work!!)
*Halloween learning games and activities
*Tons of Halloween art ideas
*Halloween Science, Math, and literature connections
*Food Ideas
*Four Flannel board stories with corresponding visual aids
*Book Ideas
*Songs and fingerplays
*Halloween party ideas for toddlers
*Ideas for the color, number, and letter of the week
*Tons of visual aids and learning activities ready to go

I can't say enough how fantastic this is AND how much work it took for "Oopsey Daisy" to put together.  She shares it, as do I, because I believe in teaching little ones at home.  I also believe in sharing ideas - there is no reason for everyone to re-create the wheel.  I am working on creating some plans of my own based solely on literature which I will also be sharing and just doing those plans has shown me how much work she has done!  She also lists all of her sources - check them out too!

You can download the whole "Halloween" lesson plan Here

And my spread sheet Here .   I plan lesson plans for two weeks at a time so I will list 2-3 things on some days AND I also overplan.  No matter how hard I try, I can't get through what i have planned each week so I just get through what I can!!

So enjoy!  Yes, I did do some of these activities this year and I will be doing some more next week.  But more than that, I look forward to NEXT October when I can do even more of these ideas with both boys!

Future Lessons: "L" is for Leaves, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, "A" is for Apple, and more!!  I'll try to get at least one posted each week so I can catch all of you up.  And . . .there will also be a "Thankful" lesson coming soon!