Give Back Thursday #7

Give Back Thursday #7

This week we are doing things a little differently. My good friend over at Living So Abduntanly found an amazing cause to support!! Guideposts is hosting a Miracle Makeover.  This is a legitimate, worthy cause.

How can you give back? Kelee, from Design Gives Back, will donate $1.00 for each comment left(again, FREE for you!).  Last year was a success!  Let's help this year to be, too!

Living So Abduntantly has listed all of the blogs that are associated with this so you can help raise money for this worthy cause. Please jump over to her site and give back this week!

Give Back Thursday #6 - Gardening

I have a dream. A dream of transforming my little plot of land into a beautiful backyard garden. But until then, I have my 3 small containers full of plants. Well my Give Back Thursday post is about teaching children how to garden. If you grow up in the city and your parents are busy working all the time chances are you don't get to get your hands dirty in the soil very often. This summer I volunteered to watch our good friend M every Wednesday. I wanted to teach her and my Savannah about planting and gardening. M helped me drag out the soil. She found little rocks around the yard to put into the containers to help with drainage. We planted and watered our seeds. Every week when she comes to visit one of the first things we do is go look at our plants. We look to see how big they got and if they have any buds. Unfortunetly, M's planter she took home didn't fair well. But that teaches a good lesson about trying again!

How did you give back this week? We can't wait to hear about how you gave back to someone else.

Here is the container we planted and what it looks like
6 weeks later!

Give Back Thursday #5 - Grace

Grace. Grace can mean so many things. Grace is what God shows us each and every day. Grace is also the name of a very dear friend of mine. She babysat Savannah for me when Savannah was a baby. Savannah dearly loves Grace and Grace dearly loves Savannah. When Grace went back to the "real" working world, I was afraid we would see her again. Fortunately for us that was NOT true. Grace has continued to be a wonderful friend and visits us quiet often! Savannah is always so happy to see her and her wonderful dog Pip. This weekend Grace stopped by for a visit right before I was going to head out to the store. She volunteered to stay with the kids so I could go shopping.........ALONE. It didn't matter that I was shopping for things such as fruits, vegetables and a bag of sugar, it was the fact that I was ALONE. I was only gone for a little over an hour but Grace showed me some grace by giving to me her time so she could make my little girl happy and letting me get out by myself. Something I very seldom get to do!!! How did you give back this week? Did anyone do something particularly nice for you too? Please share with us so we can inspire others to Give Back!!

This post is linked to Give Back Thursdays, Thankful Thursdays

Giving back by breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

You ask how I can consider my choice to breastfeed as a post for Give Back Thursday. Well, I truly feel that I am giving my baby the best possible start I can by breastfeeding. I know you can read endless blogs and websites about why breast is best but I'm writing this post so my readers can see why I give breast milk to my babies.

• Bonding and attachment. Breastfeeding gives you the most special bond with your newborn. By breastfeeding you and your newborn form firm attachment to his/her mommy.
• Decrease risk of SIDS and severity and length of illness and infection.
• Decrease risk of obesity in childhood and possibly even adulthood.
• Nutritious. No matter what the can says, they can not match what is in breast milk. When scientist have spun down breast milk to analyze it they have never been able to fully replicate it. They have also found that the components of your breast milk change day by day, made specifically for your baby that day.
• Comforting. Nothing comforts a baby like being at mommas breast. Babies desire to suck is very strong and it sooths and comforts them. Don't let anyone tell you that you are spoiling your baby by putting them to the breast to often. That is where they belong and what comforts them the most.

Whatever you do, don't give up on your baby. I see so many new mothers who struggle with first time breastfeeding and want to just give up. I struggled with my firstborn who was 5 weeks early and had difficulty latching. I would get so frustrated that she wouldn't latch correctly. I consulted with a lactation consultant and never gave up. With the help of supportive friends and family she finally became a pro and didn't wean until she was 16 months. If you ever have any questions concerning breastfeeding, please feel free to ask me and I will try my best to help you or direct you to the resource that can help you.

Chicken Orzo and Okra Soup

My Aunt Debbie is an amazing example of giving back. She has 4 boys, 3 which still live at home and also has her mom (our Grandma) who is 90 years old and her father-in-law who is 94 years old living with them. She gives so selflessly to her family that I often try to make dinner and take it over so she doesn't have to cook. I feel it is the least I can do. So today I decided to make a big pot of chicken soup to take over. I used homemade chicken stock from a chicken I boiled down for another dinner I was making this week. My friend  who has an over abundance of okra gave me some fresh okra to put into the soup. I was also able to add some fresh herbs from my own small garden. It looked delicious! Aunt Debbie was very grateful for the soup and I know the older folks will enjoy it as it is easy to eat and healthy! Scroll down to see the recipe.

Give Back Thursdays #2

This week for Give Back Thursday I want to write about my sunflowers! As you saw on my Grow Your Own Chicken Treat post, I was able to harvest the seeds from one of my sunflowers! I wanted to share the joy and send my friend Gene some seeds so she too could grow her own chicken treats!!

Card I made with a Ziploc bag of
sunflower seeds.

Thankful for friends

This last week has been a trying one for me. My children and I have all been sick with the stomach flu. One by one we all fell victim to this horrble bug. Poor Savannah has been hit the hardest. Atlanta and I are feeling fine now but she still keeps throwing up. I went to work Monday and sent Savannah to the babysitters. She hadn't had a fever in 24hrs and seemed to be doing better. I stopped by at lunch time and she was doing well. As I got into my car at 4:30pm to pick her up the babysitter called. She started throwing up again. When I got there to pick her up both Savannah and Atlanta wanted my attention. I still had to go home and make dinner for everyone. I was tired and worn out. My good friend and babysitter came by around 7pm and played with both kids while I made dinner and took a much needed shower. I was so thankful at the moment for her friendship and kindness. Well today, I was able to give back to her. She called and my lovely children shared the stomach bug with her. She was throwing up and not feeling well. I took her some medicine and gatorade this morning, and made a nice dinner for her family. Nothing is worse than not feeling well but still having make dinner for you family. It always makes you feel good when you get to give back to a good friend that has helped you.

What has a good friend done lately to help you out?

What have you done to help someone else?

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NKJV

If you like sharing stories of how you or someone you know "gave back" join me and my friend at Living So Abundantly with our new meme starting July 7th called Give Back Thursday. Look forward to seeing you!!!

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