creating a story Archives - Page 8 of 11

Rainbow Loom for a reason.

My girls are among the masses of kids obsessed with making Rainbow Loom bracelets. They got theirs for Christmas and have already spent considerable amounts of time creating those bracelets and rings. I have also been known to whip up a bracelet or two for my two boys who want to be a part of whatever is going on in our house. There was maaaaybe a small learning curve for me. And a few bracelets that spontaneously combusted when I pulled them off the loom. But I caught on. Eventually.

I’m determined like that.

Recently my girls have tried selling their creations to other kids in the neighborhood even though those kids have looms also. I can’t squash their entrepreneurial spirits. Unless they want to do a lemonade stand. And then I’ll squash. I hate lemonade stands. But (almost) anything else, I’ll encourage.

(They crafted their own organizing system out of a cereal box)

Thankfully, I just found out about a GREAT solution for all those bracelets I seem to keep picking up all.over.my.house.

Jen at Upcycled Education is teaming up with AHOPE, an organization that helps HIV+ orphans in Ethiopia, and sending Rainbow loom bracelets to these orphans. Along with a monetary donation (of any size) to help support them.

I’m always eager to participate in things that also involve my kids. Things that help them see outside their little world and become more aware of the needs of people around them, near and far.
I told my girls about this last night and they were already eager to start making bracelets for kids in Africa. My parents served a medical mission in Africa so we’re already very attached to that continent.

My guess is, if your kids have a Rainbow Loom, you have a few extra of these laying around as well. Get your kids involved. Slip them in an envelope with a little money and let your kids see the beauty of GIVING to other kids. The bracelets will be hand delivered by Julie from AHOPE in April.

Love doesn’t just talk about doing things. Love DOES things.

If you want to read more information about this project, click here for more details.

Picture Display Movement. Step 1. Take pictures!!

I was talking to a friend the other day and she said she had misplaced her SD card with an entire years worth of photos on it. I skipped right over the part about her saying she lost the card and couldn’t wrap my head around the fact she had an entire years worth of photos on one card. I can fill up a 4GB card in about 20 minutes taking pictures of my kids.

And after seeing how often my sister and a few other relatives who will remain nameless take pictures, and by often I mean never, I realized maybe this is an issue for a lot of people.

So I decided Step 1 for most people would have to be TAKE MORE PICTURES!!! This applies to me as well. And probably a lot of other professional photographers I know. Because we’re so busy taking other people’s pictures, we sometimes forget (or choose not to) pick up the camera and take pictures of our own people.

The actual process of taking a picture costs me nothing. Monetarily speaking. So why not take more?

Even if they aren’t always (or ever) “great quality” photos. The few pictures I have of my childhood won’t ever make it into a magazine, but I’m so grateful I have them 🙂

And the benefits of photographs in our lives is so great, I should be taking as many as I can!

When I pick up my camera and take a picture of something, intentionally or unintentionally I send a message. A message that whatever I am taking a picture of is important to me. Because taking a picture of something signifies I want to remember it, whatever “it” is. A person, a moment, a feeling.

So without saying anything, when I stop what I’m doing and take a picture of something, I show that moment/person/thing/feeling/event was worth stopping for, was worth my time, and was worth documenting.

Photographs tell the story of who I love. What relationships I cherish. Moments that make me laugh. And moments that make me want to cry. What daily life events I find value in.

If I don’t have those photographs, what story do I have to tell? And what message do I unintentionally send when I choose not to photograph anything (or many things?)

I’m not saying I need to spend my life and every waking moment taking pictures. But I definitely think I should be intentional about the photographs I DO take and to make it a priority to document our stories.

So. Step 1. Take a lot of pictures. 🙂

Click here for Step 2.

Uniquely awesome photo display.

The walls in my home are sacred space. Whatever goes on them is something we’ll see every.single.day. So I’m pretty choosey about what gets a spot on those walls.

Which is why many of the walls in our home are still bare. Just waiting for the perfect thing to hang on them.

The wall in my office is one such space. I spend a fair amount of late night hours on my computer. And I wanted something inspirationally awesome to go on the wall I see the most while in there.

I’ve held out. And I finally found the perfect thing.

It went from this:

To this:

It took a little longer than anticipated to get on the wall. And I didn’t finish during naptime (which created some challenges with a two-year-old who will remain nameless that was eventually banished from the room) or before my girls got home from school so they sat on the floor and watched me finish.

While I carefully selected photos out of my rather large pile, the girls commented on the photos. The things they said were unsolicited. I asked for no commentary on what was going on (because usually by that time of day, I’d like to give my ears a time-out). I was in full concentration mode to hurry and get those things on the wall before the previously mentioned two-year-old sabotaged the entire project.

Mya: “Whooooa. I can’t believe you put so many photos of just me. All by myself. I must be special.”

Jaida: “Mom, I’m really glad you can take such good photos of us”

And my favorite (and most gratifying since I have an intentional purpose for taking SO many photos of our everyday lives):

Mya: “Wow, Mom, you sure do take a lot of photos”
Me: “Why do you think that is, Mya”
Jaida: (without a pause) “Because you think we’re awesome!”

Intentional parenting for the WIN!

I got the photoclips at fotojojo.com

I went back about 4 years and looked through all our pictures, picking out some of my favorites. I printed them at Costco (I know, gasp–but when I’m only printing as a 4×6 and I’m printing THAT many, I just use Costco).

I started with a block of photos put together first. I taped those to the wall, and then added pictures one-by-one directly onto the wall.

There probably was an easier way to do it, but this worked for me. Eventually.

It took a few hours. But it’s my favorite spot in the house right now. The kids too. We’ve all spent a lot of time gazing at that wall, reminiscing about a lot of really good family memories in our home!

I ended up with 153 photos on the wall. At some point I may go down the wall further, but for now, I have to keep the pictures out of reach of certain little fingers who like to destroy things.

And the view from my desk now. I dig it.

Of course it looks cooler if the photos are good quality. So if you want to do this in your home, learn how to improve your photo skills. Not just the quality of the photo, but also the type of pictures you take. You won’t regret it. One of the best investments you’ll ever make.

Family friendly hiking.

In an effort to continually expose our kids to new things, especially in nature, and keep them (and us) active, we hiked to the Fifth water hot springs in Diamond Fork Canyon in Utah.

It is a MUST do for a hiking adventure.

Annnd because I had to heft a human child on my back, the big girl camera was left at home and these are all iphone pics courtesy of myself and my husband Mike.

It was more of a walk than a hike. Our girls, who were 8 and 6, easily made it with minimal complaining. Our 3 year old probably could have done it as well, but we didn’t want to go that slow.
So we packed him and our 1 year old in on our backs. I think it was a little over 2 miles each way.

We brought swimsuits and a change of clothes, as well as lunch to eat by the springs.

On the internet it said a lot of things about naked people being there. Mercifully, we didn’t see any.

The hike up was beautiful. Kind of reminded me of hiking in Hawaii. Seriously. Super green. Trees branching over the paths. Little stream running by.

As you get closer you can start to smell the springs. And the water in the river starts to get warmer. Our kids thought that was pretty awesome.

When we got to the top, we ate lunch, then played around in the different pools.

Definitely worth a visit. We’ll be going back. When the kids get a little older, I want to do it in the winter.

The Road Home

“We envision a community that recognizes the inherent dignity of those who live in poverty and homelessness”

My brother was homeless a few different times in his life. Our family will forever be grateful to the Road Home for helping keep him alive during a period in his life where we (his family) were trying out that whole “tough love” thing with an addict.

The Road Home saves lives. And I’m not being dramatic. It saved my brothers life on more than one occasion. And though he may not have a lot of nice things to say about his experience there (which is understandable) I personally am thankful he had a warm place to stay when I was unable to provide him with one. One of the hardest experiences of my life.

Whenever I go outside in Utah winters, I always think of homeless people.

Over the past 3 years, there has been a 300% increase in families needing help from the Road home.
Right now there are close to 1000 people being assisted by the Road Home. And that’s just the people who go there to stay. There are many homeless people who find other solutions.

(pulled this image off the Internet. Not the Road Home, but gives you an idea)

I know there is a lot of judgement attached to a homeless person. But the truth is, it could be any of us. If you didn’t have family to help you out, and you lost your job and couldn’t find another one (which is a reality), where would you go? What would you do?

OR (and this seems to be the bigger issue) if there is a mental health issue and no insurance for treatment. A HUGE problem in our society which I have witnessed first hand when trying to find resources for my brother. Which often leads to self-medicating (thus the rampant problem of drugs and alcohol among homeless people).

(image from the Internet)

There are a lot of good people at the homeless shelter. There are a lot of KIDS at the homeless shelter. Victims of consequences that came from choices that weren’t their choices.

So when I have a chance to give, or donate, I always choose the Road Home. And I’m hoping to be able to get more involved as a volunteer as my kids get older.

(image from Internet)

A few years ago, not long after my brother had stayed there, my family did a clothing drive for the Road Home in an effort to give back to them.

We posted something on Facebook to family and friends. That was it. My front room was overtaken by donations.

First we filled up a trailer. We ended up needing to rent a UHaul to get all of the donations down to the Homeless shelter.

Every time I came home from errands, my porch would be filled with donations. Turns out I know a lot of amazingly generous people!

The truth is, most people want to give. And many of us have the resources to give. We just need to know WHERE to give.

If you are interested in learning more about the Road Home, please visit their website. There are a lot of great opportunities for giving.

**You can donate money. It only takes $9 to shelter one person for one night. You can do a one time donation (for any amount) or you can have money deducted monthly.

**You can donate “in-kind” things. On the website, they list what the urgent needs currently are. Right now this is the list:

Urgent Needs

Towels & Pillows
Coats & Jackets (all sizes)
Jeans & Warm clothing (all sizes)
Boots & Shoes (all sizes)
Socks (all sizes)
Underwear (new, all sizes)
Blankets (twin, full, & queen)
Diapers (sizes 3-5)
Baby Bottles & Formula

**You can also donate to help people who have been moved to the Palmer Court Apartments, a supportive housing development that helps formerly chronically homeless family’s or individuals. They have different “kits” needed for the apartments. You can find the list here or through the Road Home website.

There are also many opportunities to volunteer.

You can find a list of ongoing opportunities here or group opportunities here.

When I was a youth, my church youth group used to drive to the homeless shelter once a year and pick up a bunch of kids. We brought them back to our community pool and let them swim for a few hours, fed them dinner, and sent each kid home with a backpack full of school supplies. Now that I’m an adult, I realize what a HUGE logistical task this would have been. But it was an amazing, and VERY memorable experience for me as a youth. So grateful for my leaders who organized that event.

It kills me that we live in a world where there a millions of people without a home. I hope to be actively involved throughout my life in finding solutions to that unacceptable problem.

We Belong To Each Other.

“To me, Jesus sounded like an ordinary guy who was utterly amazing. He helped people. He figured out what they really needed and tried to point them toward that. He healed people who were hurting. He spent time with the kinds of people most of us spend our lives avoiding. It didn’t seem to matter to Jesus who these people were because He was all about engagement.” Bob Goff, Love Does

And because words mean little without action, here are some action steps each of us can take:

1. Donate the excess things you have in your home and take them to the homeless shelter. If you need some motivation to gather your things, I highly recommend reading “More or Less” or “Margin”.

2. Get a group together and do one of the group volunteer opportunities

3. If your kids are older, consider volunteering AT the Road Home

4. If you are able to provide food, consider doing a dinner at the Road Home (details on their website)

5. Donate money to help shelter an individual or family at the Road Home

6. Do a clothing drive in your neighborhood to take to the Road Home. This was AWESOME for our kids to be a part of. They brought in the things from the porch, helped load the trailer, and went with us to drop it off at the Road Home. Plus we spent a LOT of time during the week we did the drive to discuss homelessness and the importance of taking care of each other.