Snack Pack Service Project

 My calling at church right now is Relief Society Activities Coordinator. Unlike many other wards, this one does not have a committee. It is just me, the second counselor in the Relief Society, who supervises activities, and a food coordinator. Together with these two outstanding women, we organized a service project just one month after each us were new in our respective callings. My previous ward had done this service for our public school district, so in the interest of time and resources, we did the same thing in my new ward. 

We asked the ladies at church to volunteer (using SignUp Genius) to supply the non-perishable foods needed to make 100 "snack packs" for the kids in our county. Snack packs are bags filled with foods that could constitute meals for kids between lunch on Friday and breakfast on Monday. These snack packs are offered to kids who qualify for free and reduced lunch and who have no guarantee of meals at home on the weekend. The snack packs are certainly not gourmet. They have to be non-perishable and simple, so that kids can prepare and eat them even if they are home alone, as many are. Our goal of 100 was a lofty one, but the sisters at church really pulled through. We had extras in some categories and so we made the goal and then donated the rest to the school district anyway. Thank you ladies!!

What a beautiful sight!

The other service we provided was help the Youth Conference planner make up bouquets for the dance competition later this summer. We also enjoyed a chicken tortilla soup dinner and desserts together. Delish! With both activities and lovingly prepared foods, I think it was a great success! 

The following day, I received this email update and almost cried thinking of those students we are trying to help. I am going to look into it more and learn what else can be done to help them this summer.

"Hi gals,
[We] dropped off our snack packs at the District Office this morning. They were shocked and grateful about the number of items we collected. [Fiona], the homeless liaison, said that the packs would be very helpful this summer to 55 particular students. 55 students in the district are homeless and these will help feed them over the summer. A few students in this group of 55 homeless students have been accepted to colleges on scholarships where the colleges will provide their meals but through the summer they don't have much access to food.
The pile of packs was stacked on [Fiona]'s desk and different district employees were excitedly taking pictures. They asked for our contact information to followup with a thank you note."

What ideas do you have to help these students who go hungry over the weekend or summer?

what we've been up to

After-nap snack

Delicious grape sculptures and barbells

Painting once again, this time out in the glorious sun on the deck

Learning about colors

Love that smile - he looks like a cooky, old man missing some teeth. Well, he is missing teeth still. :)

Camping with ticks

For Memorial day we decided to go camping at a near by state park. We hadn't gone for years, our son had never been, we have all this cool gear, there was a strawberry festival at the park, we think we're tough.... for all these good reasons we thought it was a great idea. Hmph. 

Lessons learned (or maybe just reminders): 

There are good reasons we haven't gone in years

Gear is not a good enough reason

We needed better gear for that hike

We won't enjoy a festival after a terrible night camping

We are not that tough

Ticks and worry take all the fun out of sitting in the grass

Not all ticks give you Lyme Disease

Allergies are worse in the woods

I hate bugs

Pregnant women still have to pee a lot, even if they are in the woods

Fires don't burn well with wet wood

We prefer air conditioning over muggy heat

First we had to walk 1.06 miles to get from the car to the camp site. We were unprepared for the "trail" since we had not been there before.

Jared is superman and pushed all our crap (and sometimes the guy too) on these very uncooperative wheels through a huge meadow, over rocks, and up a gravel road.

This is how NOT to avoid ticks getting all over your child

The guy was such a good sport and walked a long way for those little legs. Over an hour later, we arrived at the camp site. By then we had already pulled 2 ticks off of the little guy. 

This eagle scout made the most of the water-filled fire pit. He laid as many flat rocks as he could on the bottom to build the fire on. It had been raining for days prior to our trip and we were forbidden by law to bring our own wood in to the park. Only the wet scraps remained. Consequently, we enjoyed lots of smoke, which did get rid of the pests flying around our faces. :)

Using the battery-powered air pump we brought for the air mattress to wake up the fire.  Jared nearly passed  out trying to blow on the fire. Then we used this! Genius!

An hour later the fire was hot and strong enough to heat the hot dogs. That was all. We had brought delicious tin foil pockets of veggies and herbs, and a fruity dessert but the fire wasn't hot enough to cook them. At least we didn't go hungry. 

Admiring my hero from afar

The sun had done down, it was all dark, and the camera flash nearly blinded me and the guy. We don't normally look so wide-eyed and bushy tailed. :) 

Breakfast. By 6:30 am we had had enough and were ready to just go home. I woke up so much in the night, each time to nightmares of ticks eating my family alive, painful legs cramps, or pee attacks. However the ticks had paralyzed me with with fear to leave the tent. On one such pee trip I found a tick in my pants along the waist line. We found 3 more in the tent before packing up - one below the mattress, one in the guy's port-a-crib, and one in our blanket! Oh, not to mention the one that had attached to the guy's little butt. 

The natural beauty was my favorite part - a highlight a midst many dark stressors. 

We found this treasure the next morning on our hike back to the car.  S must have dropped it the day before.  I bet some lonesome tick found shelter in it over night. 

When we arrived at home we all showered and checked for more ticks. I had one stubborn tick on my back that just would not come out smoothly. Jared eventually saved me and we are all fine. However, we did learn a lot about the proper way to I.D and remove ticks. My sister contracted Lyme Disease from a tick in childhood and I am very paranoid. But, we are good now.

Our take home message from what I fear has come off as a very negative post: The Ondricek family prefers day hikes to overnight camping. We love the scenic views, the non-flesh eating creatures, and the physical activity as long as we can go home, shower, and sleep comfortably in our own beds. Now we know. And so do you. :) 

Any lessons you've learned that make for a fun family camp trip?

Why he's so darn good

This week I have received lots of compliments about S's behavior and disposition. "S" by the way, is also known as the guy, the mister, and our son. :) In the past several days people have voluntarily commented on his good nature and politeness. Friends at play group, friends at book club, the missionaries, neighbors, strangers in the grocery store, family over Skype, many more. I have to agree that this guy is a very well-behaved, polite, happy, kind, and obedient boy. And I tell others that I agree with them. He deserves all the compliments he gets and I thank him every day for his goodness.

That being said, last night I chatted with a pregnant friend about my beliefs on why the guy is so good. This is a loaded question, right? Nature vs. nurture. Credit to me vs. credit to him. On purpose or accidental. Well. The truth is a bit of all of the above. Although I am not professionally qualified to allocate exact percentages of due credit, I am his mother and spend more time with him than any other single person on the planet. And this is my assessment of the greatest contributing factors that make him the angelic person we know and adore.

1. His eternal soul: S is a person independent of his mom and dad. His soul lived long before we met him and therefore developed long before we had any influence on him. I believe his eternal spirit and personality is that of a positive and happy guy. He just came out that way from the start. He gets all the credit for his eternal spirit. Well, him and his Heavenly Father who made him, of course.

2. Hypno-birthing: Many of you know we had a natural birth through self-hypnosis. It was a calm several months leading to S's birth because I took time to meditate, breathe, and turn off all my muscles in preparation for the birth. Consequently, I let go of stress and released relaxing hormones and neurotransmitters into my body, like serotonin. I am no expert, but I know this affected him in utero. My stress would affect his development, so how could my lack of it not? Like I said, he just came out calm and at peace. I think those months of relaxation contributed.

3. Routine: From week one Daddy O and I made a lot of effort to give our family consistent routine and predictability. We had to jump right back into our final semester of undergrad, employment, and internships. We could not afford to "go with the flow." We had watched the lives of other parents we know and followed the examples of those who got the results we wanted in our own family. Consequently, we read and adopted the routines recommended by the authors of On Becoming Babywise. Children thrive on routine and I would not have known how to create routine for a newborn if I had not implemented the principles in this book. At almost 2 years old, the guy still has a daily routine that makes for a predictably happy life.

4. Sleep: Everyone is happier when well-rested, right? Well, the routine described above gave us the needed sleep, both during the day and at night. S was sleeping 8 hours a night at three months old, and still sleeps 12 hours at night with a long afternoon nap. He puts himself to sleep without any needed bribes or treats because his body is in a healthy rhythm and he wakes up happy in the morning. When we don't get him right away some mornings, he patiently talks to himself until we arrive. The key to a happy newborn is proper sleep!

5. Wholesome foods: when our family eats healthy, wholesome food straight from the source (aka mother earth) we are happier. When we eat out, binge on snack foods, or take dietary short cuts, S suffers. Kids need real food to become real happy. (see Section 89 blog in side bar)

"To a great extent we are physically what we eat... What needs additional emphasis are the positive aspects--the need for vegetables, fruits, and grains, particularly wheat. In most cases, the closer these can be, when eaten, to their natural state -- without over refinement and processing -- the healthier we will be. To a significant degree, we are an overfed and undernourished nation digging an early grave with our teeth, and lacking the energy that could be ours because we overindulge in junk foods….we need a generation of young people who, as Daniel, eat in a more healthy manner than to fare on the "king's meat" - and whose countenances show it." (Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 476-77) 

6: Faith: I told a neighbor today that my son would not be the person he is without our faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray together, we study together, and what we believe influences every other action we make as parents. S sees this and it shapes the way he understands the world and himself. He knows about his friend Jesus and he is learning about the divine potential that Christ gives him. Of course that makes him happy too.

7. Love:  S receives unconditional love from his parents. We show it everyday with words, snuggles, thank yous, playing, reading, listening, waiting, and helping. He is secure that we love each other and that we love him. This makes for a peaceful, happy home and a peaceful happy toddler. We are not perfect, but we still love him every day.

Like I said, we are not a perfect family and we are not experts, but I give credit where credit is due: S, Heavenly Father, helpful education, parental examples, healthy bodies, Jesus and love. There are a million other reasons I could credit like outdoor play, meaningful mentors, a clean home, freedom and safety, clean water, etc. Let's just leave it at that and be grateful we know this little man and appreciate the good boy he is becoming. I thank him every day. And there has never been a more rewarding use of my time.

Remodel Success!

Today was incredible! We shopped around and found ourselves a great handyman! We received his information from a trusted source and also shopped around to get estimates on our wood repair, but he was still the winner. He was much more methodical in his estimate and actually assessed the damage thoroughly. Then today, he and his teammate fixed the rotted wood and reinforced the weakened spots for about 1/6th the price of the first estimate we got. Whoa. Love it. 

They were so respectful of our furniture. Our window installers did not cover everything. 

With these guys upstairs working away at fixing the wood, I felt über motivated to get this ugly counter top fixed. I started two days ago, but now it is gone! Finished! 

I focused on detaching the solid piece from the counter

Once the sides were loose, they just popped out

The beautiful mess I found underneath

The guy wearing a "smitten" Jared knitted for our first Valentine's together. At least it was supposed to be a "smitten." I still loved it and love that is serves as a shawl over these bare little shoulders. He was a "farmer" today wearing only a diaper and overalls. 

Back to the counter - the mostly finished product

Isn't this so much better?! The room is more open, the counter more usable, the design more simple. When our handyman saw what I was working on while he patched our big "TV hole" he commented that the precious owners (or the people who did those projects) were crazy. Agreed. Both changes to the house are crazy to me too. 

The nicest part: our new handyman offered to patch up the damaged wall where the fake counter had been for no additional charge! He already had the spackle, dryer, sandpaper, and primer out. It was so generous, so I still paid him a little extra. He was great and has our business in the future. 

I am so excited to have the rot taken care of, the ugly hole patched up, and the counter-wanna-be removed all in one day! Woot!

Scripture reading with the illiterate

The little mister doesn't read yet, but we want him to participate in family scripture reading. Jared's way to involve him in all reading has been to have him say the word "I". He's doing great! 

Rainy Day Beads

It has rained a lot this last week. I invited the guy to try his hand at this tricky fine motor skill - stringing tiny beads on pipe cleaners. He did much better than I anticipated despite him being so young. Well done, my guy!

I showed him how to do it first, and he enjoyed putting the beads in the bowl

Then we worked on him stringing them while I held and guided the pipe cleaner

Ooo. He got it on!

More practice

Then he worked on holding and stringing on his own. Success!

Our art display wall, with our beaded creations

What are your rainy day activities? Any good suggested crafts for an almost 2-year-old?

New windows!

What an adventure is home ownership!! We have lived here two months and already have cleaned out the air vents, replaced the leaky gas stove, replaced the original moldy windows, and tomorrow we are fixing some wood rot and a hole in the wall. Wow! The hole was featured in a picture  of the house a few weeks ago. The previous owners put a TV in it and watched it from the living room. We are patching it up.

the original metal windows

the mold.... eww

It is so weird to have giant holes in your house all day

the rotted wood

The final product with drapery and everything, sans the mold 

Then, on the side as my own project, I am removing part of our counters. I feel like I can slowly REMOVE something successfully better than I could fix or add something without paid help. So, the counter in the kitchen: some previous owner built up on the counter top to create a mini wall between the open living room space and the kitchen. But I hate it and want it gone. Looking at our neighbors' kitchens, the originally intended design is much better. So, I have been using a saw, a flat screwdriver, and a hammer to take this baby down one piece at a time.

See that pretend wall behind the sink? That's got to go. 

Wish us good luck!