52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Twenty

Summer solstice has recently occurred and I thought it would be fun to take bubbles to the neighbor kids.  I included a little note with the bubbles that read:

Spring has sure “blown” by.  Enjoy your summer!

~The Councils

What act of compassion can you perform that relates to summer?

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Nineteen

This week is starts off with Father’s Day.  To honor our daddy’s we are going to host a BBQ.  My husband bought 26oz porterhouse steaks and we are going to have them over for some quality family time.  This is a great event that can be turned into an act of compassion.  It isn’t every day we get to honor our dads and really appreciate what they have done for us.

What will your act of compassion be this week?  Will it involve your dad?

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Eighteen

With Spring here our daily schedules are filling up quick. Between play dates, family dinners and raising 3 kids, I am on the go ALL the time.  Not to mention Spring and Summer activities drain our checkbook every year. The next few weeks are very simple acts of compassion.  They are free and anyone can do them. This week my oldest son and I are going to write a letter to my sister who lives many states away.  My 2 ½ year old can color a picture to send her.  Not only is writing a letter good practice for my sons handwriting but it’s nice to stay in touch with my sister who I don’t see very often.

What free act of compassion can you perform this week?

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Seventeen

Random acts of compassion can be just about anything.  So this week we are going simple and I am making cookies to send to work with my husband.  I have all the ingredients on hand and my kids love to be my cooking partners.  What an easy way to make someone’s day!

What easy act of compassion are you going to perform this week?

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Sixteen

It seems as though all of my friends are pregnant right now.  Of course not all of them are, but let’s face it, that is the season of life that we are in.  Our good friends had their baby this week and so our act of compassion is making a dinner and taking it over to them.  I know, after having 3 babies myself, that cooking is the last thing on my list to do with a newborn around.  I love to cook so coming up with a complete dinner is an easy task for me.  I opted to make a chicken pot pie, because it’s a complete meal in one.  It can also be frozen and used at a later date in case our friends already have dinner plans. 

What is going on in your life currently that you can use as an act of compassion?

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Fifteen

With our neighborhood pool just having opened up this week, I decided to make our weekly act of compassion revolve around the sun and visiting the pool as much as we can.  The first day we went this week I loaded up our wagon with cold water, Coke and juice boxes.  Once we got to the pool I went around an offered everyone a cold beverage.  Not sure how people would react to such a thing I wasn’t really sure how much to take and was rather afraid I would be hauling a lot back home.  To my surprise people were really thankful, and the “cherry on top” was I got to meet more of my neighbors.

P.S.- We came home with only 2 bottles of water and 1 Coke can.  Not too bad if you ask me!  

Spring is great for doing random acts of compassion.  What will yours be this week?   

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Fourteen

This week starts off with Mother’s Day.  It has become a yearly tradition for my husband and I to take our mom’s out for brunch.  Even before I started the “52 Random Acts of Compassion Campaign” we (as a family) were already doing acts of compassion throughout the year.  The difference is this year I get to blog about it and add it to my list of acts of compassion.

What can you do this week for your mom(s) that can be considered an act of compassion?

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~ Week Thirteen

This week, I offered up my skills of working with children and the fact that I am a stay-at-home mom and offered to help my friend out by watching her son (for free) while she went on a field trip with her older children during one of the last weeks of school.  I am still in awe of how some acts of compassion can be so easy, yet make you feel good about giving and make someone else feel blessed.

What will your act of compassion be this week?   

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Twelve

Unfortunately, one of the places that I manage to make many trips to per week is the grocery store.  Now, that is no easy feat with three kiddos in tow.  However, I am not afraid of using a little bribery to make the trip a bit easier.  Jacob (my middle son) is into balls.  Any type of balls, small, big, soccer, bouncy or squishy.  My oldest son Malachi likes the vending machines where you try and grab a stuffed animal. Luckily our local King Soopers (Same thing as City Market and Kroger) has a vending machine of bouncy balls and a vending machine of stuffed animals.  So, the deal is, you behave while I shop, meaning no tizzy fits, no whining, and no begging for stuff you don’t NEED, you get 2 quarters to spend on the vending machine of your choice. While visiting the store this week and stopping at the vending machines on the way out, I realized that we could easily do an act of compassion right here at the machines.  I decided to leave 2 quarters at each machine for a child to run across and use.  I wish I could have stayed and seen the excitement on the child(rens) face(s) when they discovered the quarters, but I obviously have to get home to put groceries away, and my youngest son is starting to let me know that he is hungry.  I know that if it was one of my children who discovered “free” quarters, they would have been elated.

How can you take a daunting or weekly task and turn it into an act of compassion?          

Recipes for Essential Oils~Inspirational Sketchpad~Volume One

Wild Orange Body Lotion

      ·         1 bottle of unscented body lotion or cream
      ·         20 drops Wild Orange essential oil
      ·         ¼ cup Grapeseed oil

Blend all ingredients and place back into original lotion container.  Wild Orange is known for its rejuvenating properties. This recipe could easily be altered, by changing essential oils, to offer properties that you are looking for. Example, use Lavender for a relaxing bedtime lotion, or Peppermint for a cooling lotion to use after being in the sun all day.   

Citrus Face Mask

·         5-7 drops of your favorite citrus essential oil (Lemon, Wild Orange, Lime or dōTERRA™ Purify)

      ·         3-4 teaspoons honey

Combine all ingredients and apply to your freshly cleansed face.  Leave on for 20 minutes and then rinse off with lukewarm water.  If you have acne prone skin replace the citrus oil with Melaleuca essential oil.  If you are looking more for a relaxing nighttime mask, use Lavender essential oil.

While these recipes are fairly generic and can be altered to fit what you need, I am always curious as to what other people have created with their essential oils.  Please send me your “recipes” and I will be sure to include them in a future Inspirational Sketchpad posting. 

Recipes for Essential Oils~Tea Time

As I have posted before essential oils can be used in a vast array of ways. One of my favorite ways is to put a few drops in my herbal tea.  I use a basic tea, such as Lipton (or orange pekoe tea) which is very basic, and then I add essential oils.  Now the type of essential oil you add, depends on what benefit you are looking for. 

Here are some common Blends:

For Tranquility
     ·         Lavender
     ·         Roman Chamomile
     ·         Bergamot

Immunity Protection

      ·         On Guard (dōTERRA™  Blend)
      ·         Lemon or Wild Orange
      ·         Peppermint

For Help Breathing (Allergies or Cold)

      ·         Peppermint
      ·         Lemon or Wild Orange

Wake-Me-Up

      ·         Lemon
      ·         Grapefruit
      ·         Wild Orange
      ·         Ginger

Spice Tea (my ultimate fave)
      ·         3 cups almond milk
      ·         Honey (to taste)
      ·         Ginger essential oil
      ·         Clove essential oil
      ·         Vanilla extract

In a small pot or saucepan, heat the almond milk and then whisk in all ingredients.  This is a great drink for a chilly morning or for the Holidays.  

When adding essential oils to tea they can become very overpowering.  To prevent this I always suggest that you take a toothpick and dip it into the top of the essential oil bottle and then stir it in your drink.  If you want more flavor grab another toothpick and repeat.  Be sure not to dip the toothpick that has been swirled in your cup of tea back into the essential oil bottle.  Doing so will damage the properties of the essential oil. 

What type of essential oil tea recipe would you like to see?  Leave me a comment below and I will post a recipe for you?

 

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Eleven

Easter is this week, Sunday April 20^th.  The kids and I took some printable business cards and wrote “Happy Easter” notes on them.  We then delivered containers of cotton candy to the neighbor kids with the personal note from my kiddos.  It was fun and we got some sun and exercise while doing it!

What will your act of compassion be this week?    

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Ten

I had my son this week on Sunday April 13^th.  Now that I am a “new” mom…again, I came up with an idea that was easy for us to do while I was getting in the swing of having 3 kids.  I have several friends who volunteer at the Humane Society and also a local rescue shelter for ALL animals.  I am constantly hearing about how they need food for the animals or even office supplies like tape and printer paper.  The local rescue center has it set up where you can call in and order supplies from PetsMart and they send someone by weekly to pick up donations.  So to make it easy on me this week (and prevent me from having to lug 3 kids to the store) I called in and bought a bag of dog food and some cat food.  It was the easiest thing to do and it will help the rescue center out greatly.

What easy thing can you do this week as an act of compassion?        

52 Acts of Compassion Campaign ~Week Nine

With me being due next week I am in the middle of what they call the “nesting stage”. I have been a cleaning machine these past few weeks.  For the most part I am on top of keeping our closets organized.  My husband is always buying new clothes and I am always telling him he has to get rid of the same amount that he buys.  Me, well I don’t buy myself clothing very often because I am always finding other things I want more. With that said, I very rarely get rid of kid’s clothes because I keep them all as hand-me-downs.  After all I have 2 boys and I am pregnant with my 3^rd boy. But, because I am in the midst of doing random acts of compassion I figured this was a good time for each child to pull out 3 outfits or 6 pieces of clothing, and same for my husband and I. After this chore we ended up with 2 large boxes of clothing to donate.  Yay, for cleaning out the closet AND for doing an act of compassion.

This time of year many of us do what we call “spring cleaning”. How can you take your spring cleaning and turn it into an act of compassion?      

Time to Get Caught Up...

Hi all~

Between having a baby and my computer completely dying on me I have not been able to post my blogs.  I have continued my weekly acts of compassion and have made note of what we (as a family) have done.  I will start to post them and get caught up this week.  Please be sure to join me as we continue the “52 Acts of Compassion Campaign.” I will pick up with week 9, where I left off, and this week will conclude my missing weeks up to week 20. To all those who follow my blog thank you for sticking by me while I had some technical difficulties and for those of you who are new, Welcome!   

God Bless

~Consistently Delightful