Complete Randomness

READER NOTE: Apparently this post never posted!! AGH! It was still labeled "Draft" on Blogger, so I am re-posting it for my own personal scrapbook purposes, but it is from a while ago. I apologize in advance if it seems dated and out of order. :) Thank you!!
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I have a bunch of great blog posts floating around in my head.

Recipes. Organizational tips. Recent craft projects. New house projects that I want to document and post.

Sadly, this post includes none of that.

This post is simply some total randomness that I want to document for my own personal benefit.

Since I took off a month or so from blogging over the summer, there were a lot of things that I didn't post here in my virtual scrapbook. So now it's time to play catch up.

Hang in there with me through the recap at the beginning and I'll share a teeny-tiny drawer re-org that I did this week to help make this post just the least bit useful if not inspiring.

Here we go...

Our Summer Bucket List had an item on it that said, "Hold a lemonade stand for charity." I'm sure everyone has seen charity lemonade stands before, and I always thought they were such a great way to teach kids about philanthropy.

I wanted my kids (or least Payton) to put some thought, time and effort into setting up a lemonade stand, and then "work" it - making him feel like he had ownership over it - and most importantly, tangibly feel the dollars and coins he collected as the day went on... and then hand it ALL over to charity.

That's not an easy concept for a 9-year old, in case you were wondering.

But Payton was really excited about the whole thing - as was Parker, although I think he was more excited about the container of lollipops that we had at the table. We all collaborated on what we wanted to sell at the stand, what we wanted the sign to say, how we would promote that the money was going to charity, and especially, which charity we would choose to donate the proceeds.

We decided on the Hope Children's Home. It's a wonderful charity located just a couple miles from our neighborhood. This is an excerpt from their web site:


Founded in 1968, Hope Children’s Home has rescued nearly 5,000 children between the ages of infant to 18 years of age. Most of these children have been discarded, abused, unwanted, or orphaned although some of the children have simply come out of a situation where a parent just needed help. Our purpose at Hope Children’s home is to share Christ with the children and while in our care to mold them into Biblically and Academically educated members of our future society.

We were all excited to be able to donate to such an important and worthy cause.

The day of the lemonade stand, the boys were so excited! They got up early and went to Dunkin Donuts with Brian to pick up some doughnut holes. Since we were trying to do everything before the heat of the day, we picked 9-11 a.m. as our time to host the stand.

We made a very simple, very cute set-up, using a buffet table covered in a white sheet, PVC pipes and an inexpensive banner from Target. We "sold" donuts, homemade cookies, lollipops and of course, lemonade.

The boys and our sweet neighbor, Avery, were ready for customers at 9 a.m.!

The kids had so much fun selling their goods and interacting with people. Their faces would light up every time someone would say, "Keep the change!"

And I was blown away by the generosity of our neighbors. More than a few people gave $20 bills in exchange for a little glass of lemonade. It was the kind of gesture that reminds you that there are really good people out there.

In the end, the kids raised $135. Then one of Brian's colleagues heard about the lemonade stand and mailed Payton a $20 check to the Children's Home.

So, a couple weeks later, I took the boys to Hope Children's Home and we presented them with $155.

To say I was a proud Mama, is a huge understatement. These boys' hearts are so big and so full of love. They really shined during this project, and I am super proud of both of them.

On to random subject #2...

We got a pool.

Not a $20K in ground pool.

A $65 Kmart clearance above ground pool.

Can you say redneck?

Lemme tell ya... it's the best $65 I've ever spent.

The kids swim in it almost every day. Even if it's just for a quick "cool off." Last night, all the boys jumped in for a night swim and burned off those last ounces of energy before bed. Every friend we've had over since we bought it has been swimming in it. And we're praying that it lasts through football season so the kids have something to entertain themselves while we watch some Gator football!

Last random topic of this post...

Do you have a junk drawer that's gotten a bit out of control this summer? I did!

This drawer is in our laundry room, which leads to the garage. So it holds all of our "out-the-door" items like sunglasses, hand sanitizer, tissues, and gum (apparently a LOT of gum). And over the summer it became a dumping ground for the kids junk.

A quick 10-minute clean-out got it back to tip-top organized shape!

Ahhh....that's better.

I promise I'll be back soon with more useful stuff... like a recipe or a craft. Unt

Founded in 1968, Hope Children’s Home has rescued nearly 5,000 children between the ages of infant to 18 years of age. Most of these children have been discarded, abused, unwanted, or orphaned although some of the children have simply come out of a situation where a parent just needed help. Our purpose at Hope Children’s home is to share Christ with the children and while in our care to mold them into Biblically and Academically educated members of our future society - See more at: http://www.hopechildrenshome.org/about-hope-childrens-home/#sthash.NtNxYmsC.dpuf