Summer of Service 2017

This summer I decided my children needed to be a little less self centered so I came up with the idea of a summer of service. Now I know the idea of summer of service is not original I just thought my kids needed to give back because lets face we are a little spoiled.  Our goal was to do one act of service or kindness once a week all summer long.  I let the kids come up with some of the ideas and others I gave them a handful of suggestions and let them choose which one we should do.

week 1= we rode our bikes to the ice cream shop while picking up trash along the trail.  This was also Shelby's 1st bike ride.  She did so well I was really impressed.  She stayed right beside me the entire time.  I had nightmares of her running in front of the bikes and causing all kinds of harm but she was amazing.

 Week 2= We headed over to the local dog pound to walk the dogs, give them some exercise, and getting them used to people and walking on a leash.  We decided to stick with the big dogs because people always want the little ones.  They were all pretty good dogs and the kids LOVED this activity.  They wanted to do it again and again.  We walked every dog they had making sure to take the extra active ones into the fenced area to let them run and play.  We fell in love with this lab named Marigold, she was such a sweet thing I can't imagine why anyone would have given her up.

 Week 3 =we set up a time with an assisted living facility to come and play music and cards with the residents. I had the inspiration to do this and on that same day I found a post on facebook asking for people to come spend time with residents at this facility.  I just knew this was what we were supposed to do. We all played our instruments which include piano, base clarinet, and ukulele. During our music we gained the attention of one resident who brought out his diggerydoo.  We talked music for a bit and then played cards with him.  He was fairly young and happy to have someone to visit him. During our card game my boys were their typical selves.  At first I was embarrassed that they were behaving like boys but our new friend mentioned how much he missed days like this with people like us.  He came from a large family and now no one is able to come visit.  He felt like he was back with his family with us being there playing cards and just being a normal family.   After some reflection as to why we drove all the way down to Provo to do this at this facility I was filled with the Spirit telling me that our new friend needed us and prayed for us to come.  Maybe not us specifically but he needed some normalcy of a family and to know that God cared for him.  My kids dragged their feet at first with this suggestion but after the whole experience they were happy they went and asked to do it again.

Week 4= This was going to be a fun one.  We went to the dollar store and bought like 50 bubbles.  we printed off the little note that said Free Bubbles please enjoy this random act of kindness.  Then we went to 2 different parks and hid them around like Easter eggs. I let the kids stand back and watch at the second park to see how the reaction to the found bubbles would be.  My kids weren't allowed to let the new owners know they were the gifters but they could still see the smiles on the faces.  There happened to be an entire preschool group at the park that day.  Some kids found multiple bubbles but then gave the extra away to other kids.  It was cute to see the goodness spread.

week 5= This week we offered FREE bike repair.  I put a blast out to the neighborhood letting everyone know a head of time that we would offer free bike repair to anyone who could bring their bike to us.  As long as it was minor things, we fixed many a tires including putting in new tubes if needed, adjusted some brakes and training wheels, tightening up seats handlebars and kickstands.  It was a simple thing but they learned the value of work and the skills to fix things.

week 6=  This was hands down the favorite of all favorite summer of service activities.  We decided to have a spin on a lemonade stand.  We made 2 coolers full of lemonade.  One was pink and one was yellow then we had another cooler full of Popsicles.  We bought 100 Popsicles. we carted everything down to the local splash pad that is blocks away from our house.  We had made signs saying Free Lemonade and Popsicles please enjoy our random act of kindness.  They came in droves.  Everyone was so appreciative and my boys got to see the fruit of their labors with such positive feedback it helped them to see what joy they could bring.  Many of the adults kept asking why we were doing this.  We explained our summer of service to them and they were all impressed.  Many taking our picture to share our good deed.  Of all our acts of service I wanted to impress on my children that we can do good without recognition but to do good because it was the right thing to do.  While all of this is exemplary it was good for them to finally get some recognition of their good deeds.  It boosted them up, giving them the desire to do more good deeds.

week 7= this turned out to be the most work of all the weeks of service.  We dog sat my mom's dog Clark and babysat  my sisters kids.  While it was just typical dog and child care and not very exciting it rounded up our summer of service.

I would say the great thing that came about from my summer of service idea is that it got my children in the mindset of serving.  Now they are often looking for ways they could be of service.  I wanted them to see that it doesn't always have to be a big act of service to make an impact but its the simple day to day things that they can do that help make this world and them better.  If everyone could do just a little everyday think of how wonderful things could be. They are already talking about next summer service ideas. 

When school started Brennen told me he wanted to make his classroom happy with his service so he started asking his classmates about their favorite thins and then he draws them a picture about it. I'm counting this as a mom win.  Once in a while I get something right and it sticks. 

Strange

 

So I told my kids if they were good at the store they could pick out a treat cThis is what Brennen picks out a large head of broccoli. I asked him are you sure you don't want a different kind of treat?  He said no mom I really want this all to myself. Look how excited this kid is. Such a produce junkie. 

He is definitely his grandpa Lucky reincarnated

Brennen and his one liners

My Brennen has the funniest one liners. I don't know where this kid comes up with this stuff, he's so funny!  I try to write them down when o can just to remember how funny this kid is. Like that one time he was looking through a photo ablum and laughing hysterically. I told him "Brenny you are a funny three year old."

To which he replied "Ya but then I turned 4 in my sleep. "

It's little nuggets like these that make up for all the potty training problems. 

 

Brennen's Batman Birthday May 2016

Brennen wanted a Batman party for his 9th birthday.  At this point in my life I am all about simplifying.  I didn't stress over this party or break myself putting it together.  Brennen is my easy going kid so I was pretty easy going in planning this party. I made each kid their own felt batman mask using a template I found online and using the stiff felt and some elastic.  This probably took the longest to make but it didn't take very long at all.  We played a game where we threw batarangs and tried to knockdown all the cups.  For this age group this is a simple game yet everyone wanted to try it again and again.  The winner won a candy.  Then we moved onto one of their favorite games.  Ellie drew the joker and the Riddler and we put them on some large cardboard.  We just the water balloon launcher to try to hit the bad guys.  I admit I used this game before on Peter's pirate party but it was such a success we decided to do it again.  It was cheap and the kids could spend a long time doing it again and again. The rest of the party was spent just playing because that's what they wanted to do the most.  The trick to throwing a good kids party is being flexible.  If something  isn't working out just let it go.  If the kids are really digging something go ahead and let them continue.  One last word of advice keep it short.  A birthday party should only last about and hour and a half, maybe 2 hours at the most.  

Sleeping Kids May 2015

I woke up to find all my boys huddled together on my floor.  I was a little confused as to why they were there and my door was locked.  Typically if they find their way in my room they leave the door wide open, they never lock it.  Then I came across this note.  I guess it explains everything.

Apparently something big went down while I was sleeping.  I guess I am just glad they didn't wake me up.

lemonade and apricots Aug 2014

The boys wanted to earn some money so they put a stand together.  We have more than enough apricots to feed the entire neighborhood so I helped them make a sign.  William was really funny, he said he needed Peter for the cute factor, Brennen as a sign twirler, and he would be the business man.  I think he nailed it.  They made $7 off of apricots and lemonade.  Not bad for an afternoon.