Used Gift Exchange?

I miss work parties. Of all the things I love about getting to stay home with my kids.... that one thing is true. I miss work parties.

So last year I decided to start an annual "work" party for stay-at-home moms. Apparently it was a hit, because I was getting emails in early December about plans for this years party!

Well, we had it. And it was fun.

10 mommies. 23 Children. It was awesome.

One of the fun things we do at this party (other than eat and chat) is a used gift exchange for the kids. We each find a toy at home that the kids don't play with anymore. We wrap it up (one per child) and give it away. Its great. Many of the kids even get in on the "give-it-away" part in anticipation of the "new" toy they will receive.

We throw all the gifts into the middle of the room (thats 23, mind you). Then we say "Go!"  Sounds like chaos, right??? It is. Fun, crazy, loud, sensational chaos. And that's just the moms!

Actually, it goes fairly well. The younger kids need a little prodding, but in the end, each child has a gift of some kind. This year was especially touching to me.

I had a brand-new Pluto plush that had been sitting in a bin. I actually have about three Plutos so decided this one could go. Considering that it still had its Disney tag... I tried selling it. No luck. Thank God! I threw it into a gift bag and gave it away. The sweet little boy who just happened to pick that bag was THRILLED! It so happens that his favorite character is Pluto! I couldn't have asked for a better home! I never would have known to give it to him otherwise... what a joy!

My little Hannah picked a bag that had a mini Toys R Us inside. Books, dolls, clothes, mechanical toys... HUGE. (That family cleaned out well!). I pulled out a couple things for Hannah and then let the other 22 kids pick what they wanted. It was so cute. The same little boy with the Pluto kept asking, "I can have two things?" Another little girl pulled a Strawberry Shortcake doll from Hannah's bag. Little did I know that Strawberry Shortcake was her new favorite character as well!

Finally, Corban, my 3-year-old, was among the last to pick a gift. Someone found one left labeled "Toddler boy." It was between that one and the one we had brought, so he took that one. Well, it happened to be a never-used (it seemed) Disney Cars book... complete with a whole set of mini cars and a floor map to play on. If you know my son, you know that this was HIS gift.

I sat back at the end of the party and was filled with such joy. One person's "junk" was another person's newfound cherished treasure. What delight! And, not to sound cliche, but I was so blessed by how God had so lovingly arranged the gift of each child. True, some kids were initially disappointed... maybe they got a baby toy and they were quite a bit older than that! Still, they all left with something special- whether it was traded, given, or found.

The smiles were mesmerizing and I found my own self smiling all throughout the day as I thought about the various ways children had been blessed. Isn't God good?

And all from something used....

What My Kids Think

My husband had this great idea of letting our kids blog! I thought it might be nice for you to hear what THEY think of our New Years Resolution of 2010... as the small ones sort of forced to deal with it!  Heres what they said, in their own words:

Elisabetta (10 years old) said:
"What!!!??? 


HOW COULD YOU GO ON WITHOUT BUYING NEW THINGS?


Well, going to parties and having to make my own presents is cool and it gives me a chance to be creative. 


What I learned is that you don't have to buy things that are factory-made. You make the presents. When a person receives a gift if it is home-made or hand-made by you it is more special because... they know that you spent time on their gift.


I also noticed that YES! it is hard. But it can make a difference in your life. You can think Wow! I made something. You will be able to pay your bills faster and not have to worry about not having enough money to pay.  EMP."


Heres what Matthew (11 years) had to say: 


"In the experience of us only buying used stuff really helped me connect to God. The reason why is because God gave everything He had to us. He didn't go to a store and get it He gave everything He had. So I would inspire you to use what you have and use it wisely."


WOW!!!!!!!!!  Even I was a little surprised by their responses! What a blessing to know that our kids got something out of this experience too!

Countdown is on!

There are 32 days left in this year. Where has the time gone? Its rather amazing. I thought "old" people were strange when I was young and they would say, "time just passes by more quickly the older you get!"  I must be old. Time is passing by rather quickly. Far more so than it seemed to as a kid.

I remember it feeling excruciatingly long between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now I hardly have a chance to catch my breath after the large Turkey meal before we are making a LOT of noise bringing in the New Year! What is this strange phenomenon that makes the same increments of time seem slower or faster depending on age? I'll save the answer to that mystery for another blog.

Back to the 32 days until the end of this year. I guess that means today marks the 333rd day of our 2010 Resolution to not buy anything new. Its... shocking? that we made it this long? Not that I didn't expect to. I'm a very goal oriented person and stick to my decisions (when I make them) very well. Others were skeptical. But here we are. We have failed a time or two... both intentionally and not. But the lessons we have gathered, the people we have met, the deeper relationship with God... are all such unexpected blessings to what we thought was just an experiment with the excess of our nation.

Someone asked recently if we've saved lots of money this year. It didn't seem so initially. I really like Neighborhood Thrift! :) But when I considered that we have had a pay cut with the economy (like so many others) and that we have adopted two children in the last year... the answer must be yes! It feels as though we are still paycheck to paycheck... and we are. But, are paycheck is considerably less and we are still making it!

Will we continue this on into the new year? In so many ways, definitely. Will I have guilt and shame when I buy something "new"? No way! But I wont trade in the neatness of seeing God provide for my own convenience any more (hopefully!) Those riches have far outweighed my own ability to meet my own needs. How about you?

Great options for your Consumable needs!

There are certainly those times when you can't find used what you want/need. For example, I am not going to find "used" toilet paper. Well, and even if I could, I would not be interested!!!!

For me, though, this issue presents itself very often with my family photos and what to do with them. I will not be finding a used Christmas Card with my family photo on it. :) That leads me to this post!  Shutterfly is offering some really great deals on holiday and non-holiday items alike! For example, just for writing this post to tell you about it, I am getting 50 free cards! I am way down with free!  I will be using those free cards to order my Photo Christmas Cards this year and I can't wait to get started!

I think most people know Shutterfly for photo prints or digital books but not as much for their cards. At least, I rarely hear people say "I ordered my cards from Shutterfly!" I could be totally out of the loop, but maybe not :)  Here are some quick links to various cards that Shutterfly offers.  Photo Cards. Calendars! I make calendars for Christmas gifts every year. Its a gift that keeps on giving, thats for sure!!! And I love going to people's homes and seeing my creation on their wall :) Yeay! Another favorite of mine are Thank You cards. I love to personalize each one, even digitally, with a photo of my child and the gift they received from the person I'm thanking. Or, my current project, a photo of my race to give to all of my supporters!

I hope you all find a really great deal! And if you'd like the deal that I am enjoying, here it is!  Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… apply here! 

Mommy Likes a Deal!

Okay, these Toyota Commercials are SO funny!  But let me just add.... we HAVE a Toyota Sienna (yes folks, we are the swagger wagon people :) AND, we bought it used!!!!!!!

NBC on Living with Less!!!

A friend told me that NBC had aired some great clips on living with less! I found them and thought I'd post them here for you!

Fun Ways to Spend Your Money :)

I realized that I've talked a little bit about how to do holidays and birthdays on a "buy used" resolution, but not as much about what to do every other day!

I'm going to offer a new-found (by my family, anyway) activity that gives your money to a number of great causes: a charity, your physical and mental health, family bonding!

We have discovered family races or walks that support a cause and encourage the idea among my family that fitness is "fun" even if you don't think so. I knew that I couldn't teach my children something that I wasn't walking. Hence, in order to prove to them that fitness was indeed fun (which, I didn't personally believe), I began to do it... in front of them. Jogging, family walks, family bike rides, workout videos, whatever! I have the cutest video of my 2-year-old doing the exercises he always saw me doing and LOVING it! What a treasure!

We live in such an obese society that on my list of "Things I Want For My Kids" I have 1: Radical for Jesus 2: Healthy. They have seen me lose 25 pounds and a couple dress sizes in the last year as I've raced to prove to them how much fun fitness is!

That said, I joined an amazing team of people who committed to running a 1/2 marathon and raising sponsors (like a jog-a-thon) in order to bring awareness and support to my friend, the Gilmores. They are moving to Haiti in January (Lord willing) in order to "live the need" among the Haitians in all of their current plights. Its one thing to hear about the need from friends... and a whole other thing to commit to understanding it through experiencing it. This is their goal.  You can see more about their mission here at Christian Friendship Ministries.

This commitment (which I made in total ignorance.... 13.1 miles is a lot of miles to run!) has kicked me into many of the smaller races around my town! I have found that MANY of them raise money for great causes and are just plain fun! We did Feet for Families to raise money for Adoption and Foster Care. That was a simple 3.1 mile race (or a two mile walk) and we got breakfast and all sorts of freebies! We also did a Walk for Huntington's Disease- 2 miles easy. At this one, my friend Dorina and I won a free Me-n-Eds pizza and a t-shirt for playing ping-pong with a snorkel flipper and shaking a ping pong ball out of a tissue box... attached to my bootie. AND, finally, we've just signed up for the Turkey Trot... a fun tradition for many families on Thanksgiving Day. Why not walk off all your meal before you eat it? Plus, "free" socks for the first 1200 to sign up!

All of these family walks and events were about $12 or less and supported causes we connected to. Plus, our family was able to spend the day doing something fun, for a common cause (not our OWN cause) and enjoying some physical activity. NOT BAD!

I just completed the half marathon yesterday. That was hard work! But I love what it has done for my body and my mind. I know that I can keep up with my kids. I feel better about myself. And my kids are biggest (and cutest) cheerleaders!

If you're in the Fresno area, heres a great website Pro Race Group with upcoming short and fun races.

So go at it! Use your money in a way that builds your family in so many worthwhile ways! Not on the next video game, movie, tv show, or "hottest" toy off the shelf! All of that will burn away.... but the time you spend together (supporting others) can never be undone!