Week 47

It's hard to believe that we are almost nearing the end of this giving journey. It's sad in a weird way but is so amazing at the same time.

In Week 47 Paige, Anderson, Kamryn and I went through 6 large garbage bags of clothes to give to those not as fortunate as us. We had the good clothes pile and the ratty clothes pile. Not sure if ratty is a word but this day it had a great deal of meaning. The ratty clothes were thrown out and all the others were given to kids who need it and may only have 2 or 3 sets of outfits. I really made them think about what to keep and throw away. Which in turn brought up some great discussions. Paige kept asking "maybe we can keep this shirt for Peyton or maybe this jacket will fit Peyton next year" and I would say yes but Peyton has so much already, don't you think it would be nice to give it to a girl who doesn't have anything and of course her reply was Yes that would be really nice of us. It started to really make sense to her. There was a couple of items that she made sure stayed in our house to give to Peyton. Love it!

In the end we had 4 bags to give away. What made me laugh was the game we made of it. They (we) were having so much fun and wanted more when we were done. Not like if I was to do it by myself...we all learned something today!

Thanks Paige

xo Kristen

Week 46

We had such a fun day today filled with a lemonade stand and good laughs with friends. Paige learned a great deal too; its hard work to make money but worth it once you see the results of your work and that giving to others who are in need feels good. We had a crew of girls out to help raise money for Sick Kids. There was Taylor, Kenzi, Jordan, Kate, Anderson, Kamryn and Peyton. This was the foundation that Paige and the girls could relate to. We started by making the signs and bringing the tables and chairs up from the basement, then we stacked the cups and got an ice bucket for the lemonade. Everyone needed ice with their lemonade...that was Paige's idea. Lastly we decided to also offer popcorn. I think mainly because they all wanted to eat some.

We got started and it wasn't very busy...let me just say it was drizzling rain which didn't make for lots of people outside. That didn't bother us though, we just decided to knock on doors and tell them about it. It was so funny to watch them run from house to house. They were little negotiators by saying they would bring them the lemonade if they bought it. How smart is that. Anderson was telling people it cost $50 instead of $.50.

In the end the girls made over $40 and were more than happy to donate it to charity. We went to get our nails done later and I knew they learned something when they were telling people about the charity. I was so proud and I know Mer would be too.

Thanks Paige for teaching me so much today too! xo Kristen