What can I do?

This thought keeps going through my head for the last week. What can I do to help? What can I do to bring in more money for my family, for the ministry I work at, for my friend's family that was in a tragic accident, for those going on mission trips, and for the people I met on Cat Island who lost SO much from the hurricane.

The hardest part is choosing one over the other and I would like to help all my friends. This morning, the last one is the biggest on my mind: Cat Island. As some of you know, I spent a week there last summer. It was the first mission trip I had ever been on and it was an amazing experience that I still just haven't been able to sum up into words. The bottom line: it made a huge impact on my life and I feel the need to help them during this time.

I just read Caleb's account of the devastation on the island and the great need they all have for water, food, basic supplies and materials to rebuild their homes. It makes my heart break as everywhere I turn in our house, I see how incredibly blessed we are with all of that. We have SO much to be thankful for! We have a roof over our head and it's intact. Electricity, drinking water and food. All the things we take for granted most of the time.

With my work situation currently up in the air, I can't give the money I don't have or possibly won't be getting. So what can I do? Thinking of how much we have and I've wanted to do a garage sale, I think now's the time to have that sale! I had my kids sit here and watch the slideshow of the devastation they're dealing with and I'm so proud of them going through items and saying "Sell it!".

So what can you do?

PRAY!

GIVE!
(I can personally vouch for these people that 100% of donations are going to the relief efforts on Cat Island.)

DONATE
If you have anything laying around the house that you want to donate to the garage sale let me know. I'm hoping to get the sale ready by Thursday, but might have to do it the following week as well. To maximize the money we can raise, I will check ebay to see the going rate and figure out which avenue would be the most advantageous to sell them.

Thanks to those of you who took the time to read this. I will keep you updated on how this plays out, but my intent is to give mostly to the Cat Island fund. If you would like to donate items toward the McClaren family fund, I will keep it separated if you let me know. You can read their story here and find out where to send monetary donations directly as well.

My Dead Flowers

Apparently I didn't get my Grandma Brown's green thumb. My husband and I have a joke about how he gets me flowers and I manage to kill them quickly. One day I received flowers at work. All I saw was the reminder card about watering your flowers and I remember laughing and saying that these had to be from him. (I found out later there actually was a note from him, I just missed it.) My husband usually gets me flowers for Valentine's Day, my birthday, anniversary, etc. And while I really do love them, I just hate that they die. I'm known to keep them around until the VERY end. I'm talking the totally dried up, ugly looking things you get after a month. Guess it's a good thing we don't get visitors over here! And then I just can't bear to throw them away because my husband got them for me....so I set them in the garage for a while until we finally come to an understanding they need to meet the dumpster. Yes, we have been married for 9 years now and it's a vicious cycle. I don't know if it stems back to our college days when we were dating and I kept the rose petals so we could have the flower girl throw them at our wedding or if I've always been a dead flower hoarder.

So what's a girl to do with dead flowers that she can't part with? Well tonight I finally realized I could save the seeds and plant them next year and appreciate them all summer long! It will be fun to see what flowers will make it and to remember back on which occasion he gave me those particular flowers.

What I learned today

Kenzie wasn't sure about a girls day with just mom when she heard what the boys were doing, but I think in the end, she enjoyed herself thoroughly. I know I did! And I learned some new things too.

1. Downtown Rockford is such a fun place. We happened upon an event for kids and there were several activities.

Making flags that will be displayed at Cannonsburg

Decorate your own masks

Stand behind several different cut outs for photos

Last, but not least- get your face painted!

2. Fire trucks have hidden compartments. How did I not know this before?

3. It's good to try new foods! Always been a ketchup and mustard fan- no more, no less. Pickles and onions are a good addition!

4. Rockford has awesome places that provide yummy new foods as well. Rudy Kazoody's taffy, Custard by the Dam's chocolate covered espresso beans and the farmer's market fresh kettle corn. I love banana taffy, but rarely ever buy it....mmm, just like I remember it.

5. You can actually use the phrase "You're like a kid in a candy store!" appropriately if you're with a kid in a candy store and they're going crazy over all the sweet treats. 

6. Rockford is a beautiful place to take pictures and I'm looking forward to taking my cousin's wedding photos there next month.

Took quick test shots before it started pouring or I would have taken the cup out of the photo.

7. How much I love this sweet girl and her uniquely beautiful eyes.

8. That this Goodwill location is serious about going green. Seriously? Front row parking?

9. That Sweet Pea knows the electric fence isn't on and more importantly, horses DO NOT like flashes. Not sure who that scared more.

10. That, in the world of gardening, things can take off or make a turn for the bad very quickly.

Taken on July 23. Really excited about my tomatoes!

Taken tonight- 3 wks later. My tomatoes are rapidly dying this week and it's so sad to watch.

Can't tell in the photo, but this pumpkin is pretty big already!

So glad that we're blessed to have a son and daughter and that we take the time to have "boys day" and "girl day" so we can fill up those memory banks in our children.