Tuesday's Tip- Building a cleaning bucket for your kids

Ok moms, you are gonna love today's Tuesday's tip.  I guarantee it.  A few months ago, shortly after Sydney turned 6, I decided it was time to teach them how to clean a bathroom.  To be honest, I did it out of sheer exhaustion.  I figured if we lived on a farm (that's my secret dream), they would've been working by now.  So instead of collecting eggs from chickens (sigh!), they get to learn how to clean a bathroom.  When I told them what we were going to do that day, you would have thought I had just announced we were going to Disneyland.  They were that excited.

I divided the girls up.  Sydney basically begged to clean the toilet.  Um, ok sure.  Have at it.  Brooklyn wanted the sink.  They actually did a really good job on their bathroom.  They had so much fun.   Who knew?  Wish I would've started it earlier.

So here is my tip to get your kids to enjoy cleaning.  Give them their own cleaning buckets or pails.  Here's what you need:

1 bucket or pail

1 "magic wand"

1 sponge or rag

1 water bottle filled with water

an apron (optional)

You may have all the supplies you need already in your home.  If not, you can create a bucket for around $5-$20 depending on how elaborate you want to get.  Here's my cost breakdown.

Pail: $1 at Target.
"Magic wands": $2.99 at Target.
Rags: I already had them.  Two pack from Trader Joes.
Water bottle: $1 at Ikea
Aprons (not pictured): Already had them
My total cost: $4 per bucket

Here's another tip.  Fill the water bottle with plain old water.  That way they can clean almost about anything and if they decide to have an impromptu water fight, it's not a big deal.

For the magic wand, I use half vinegar and half liquid soap. I love it.  It works fantastically and it's non toxic for the kids.

A bit of caution.  If you are a control freak like me, let me give you one piece of advice, Let it go!  Chances are they will end up making more of a mess for you to clean up, but you know what,  it's all worth it to see them learn and grow.  They are not perfect.  Far from it, but as I watched them  clean my bathroom tonight, I got a small glimpse of the beautiful mothers they will make one day. My other piece of advice is stay close by.  I was downstairs when they got started and by the time I got to my bathroom, here is what I saw.

 
So I had to give them a few rules, like don't climb up on a slippery counter.  Yikes.  Do you have any great ways you get your children to help around the house?  I'd love to hear about them.

Tuesday's Tip- Are your Smartphone pictures luring predators?

I haven't done a Tuesday's Tip in forever, I apologize.  However, this video made me realize I had to post it for all of my readers to watch. If you have a smart phone, and take pictures with it, and then post those pictures onto your blog, Facebook, Twitter or anywhere else on the internet, you MUST watch this video.  You could be luring a predator straight to your doorstep and not even know it.



After I watched this video, I grabbed my iPhone to see if my camera GPS was turned off. Thankfully it was. Is yours? If not, please switch it off immediately. Please share this video with your friends and family members. If your child's grandparents take pictures of your kids and post them to their Facebook page and their GPS is turned on, they are potentially putting your child in harm's way. Please help me spread the word. Let's practice safe photography. :)

Tuesday's Tip-Free Printable

Today's Tuesday's Tip I found while perusing Pinterest.  Yes, it's my new addiciton.  Anyway, I saw this printable on there and knew I had to have it.  You can download it for free at Life's A Journal.  Love her blog by the way.  She has more printables on there too.

I have mine in a sheet protector hanging on my fridge, so I can reuse it everyday.  I just use a dry erase pen and I am good to go.  My favorite part is the water tracker.  Love this.  I have made my water goal everyday, which in turn helps me run better and faster.

Do you use a daily tracker to to write your goals for the day?

Tuesday's Tip- 5 Must have Apps

I haven't done a Tuesday's Tip in awhile and today felt like a good day to post one, so here it goes.  This tip is for anyone who has a smart phone.  I personally have an iPhone, so these will be apps for the iPhone, but I know you can find similar apps for any smart phone.

#1. Gas Buddy

Love this app.  You type in your zip code and it tells you all the gas prices in your area. I use this app weekly.  It also comes handy when you are traveling.  We used it when we traveled to Indiana and Ohio.

#2.  Amazon Price Check

Another must have.  If you have never purchased from Amazon, you are missing out.  They have the best prices and it's always free shipping over $25, if it comes from their warehouse.  I'll give you an example of how I use it.  We have a local toy store in town that my girls love to go to.  There stuff can be pretty pricey so we usually just window shop.  When I see something that might make a great gift, I take my iPhone out and hold it up to the bar code on the box and push the Scan It button.  It scans it and gives me a price within in seconds.  I would say 8 out of 10 times, Amazon's price is cheaper and usually by a lot.  Plus it's fun scanning stuff too. :)

#3.  Flight Aware Live Tracking

I use this app anytime Brian has to fly for business. It's super easy to use and it gives me up to the minute info so I know when to leave to go to the airport.  My girls love to view the map of daddy's route.  Brooklyn is working on learning her states and I can ask her to tell me what state daddy is flying through.  All you need to know is the airline and flight number.  It's that simple.  

#4. Pinterest

Ok, this one is purely fun and I will warn you, addicting.  Have you heard of Pinterest?  I hadn't either until about 2 months ago and now I can't put it down.  I copied this from Pinterest's website.  Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.  Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.  Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, request an invite.  It will probably take you a few days to be accepted, but then it's game on.

#5. WhiteNoise

Warning:  If you have to have complete silence to sleep, this app is not for you.  However, if you are like me and can't fall asleep in total silence, you will love this app.  My girls have always slept with noise machines on since they were tiny babies.  They still do.  Whenever we traveled in the past, we had to make sure the noise machine was always in the suitcase.  Not anymore, thanks to this app.  They have 40 noises.  Ours is usually set on heavy rain pouring, but when I want to relax and read, I set it to ocean waves crashing.  It reminds me of back home in Southern California.

So there you have it.  These are all FREE apps by the way.  I would love to hear some of your must have apps.  Please leave me a comment and share your favorites. 

I have a fun tote bag giveaway from DaySpring I will be giving to a lucky winner who leaves a comment.  You have until Thursday to post your favorite app.  

Weekend Wrap Up & Tuesday's Tip

We had a fun filled, jam packed weekend and I'm just now recovering from it.  My friends and I had a garage sale starting bright and early on Sat.  I left there around 8:00 to go see the girls do a mini triathlon.  They bike, run and run through sprinklers for the swim part.  It is the cutest thing ever.  They love it.  They get a shirt and a medal just like daddy.  Speaking of daddy, he rocked his triathlon in Knoxville on Sunday.  He beat his PR by 28 minutes.  We are so proud of him.

Brooklyn had her last soccer game of the spring season.  She scored 4 goals.  She was on fire.  She loves the game and she really hustles.  I just love to watch her play.  Reminds me of myself when I was her age. I just couldn't get enough and was constantly kicking a soccer ball whenever I got the chance. 

Now that soccer is over, it's time for swimming.  We only like our girls to do one event at a time.  That keeps me from running around like a mad woman and allows us to have family meal time at night.  Sydney is still loving ballet and dressing up like a princess.  The child is obsessed with all things sparkly and beautiful.  I asked her if she wanted to play soccer in the fall, but she was not having it.  I think it's because she would have to wear shorts. :)  We'll ask again in the spring to see if she wants to play.

Daddy left on a business trip today so I am playing single mom til Friday.  Ugh! I will clue you in on Thursday as to what big time NFL star he gets to hang with.  He will be his right hand man for 3 hours tomorrow.  Brian is beyond thrilled.  Any guesses as to whom?  I'll give you a hint.  He's a quarterback.

I'll leave you with a quick Tuesday's Tip.  I bought this stamp about a month ago. 

It's called Guard Your ID Stamp and can be found at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $9.99 (I used a coupon  and got it for $8).  I love it.  I'm worried about having my identity stolen and this was one way I felt I could guard against that.  Before I recycle our mail or anything with our name and address on it, I use this stamp.  I used to use a Sharpie, but this works so much better.  I highly recommend it.

Tuesday's Tip-Cleaning your dishwasher

I have two tips for you today.  It's your lucky day. :)  I have been using these tips for about 3 years.  We have a builders grade dishwasher that I cannot stand.  It just doesn't clean very well at all.  If it was in the budget I would get a new one, but it's not.  I'm drooling over this dishwasher right now. 

 

Here's the first tip:

Tuesday's Tip- Reusing glass jars

I blogged about this tip back in the summer of 2009.  I thought I would bring it back since hopefully I've picked up a few readers since then.  :)

This tip I came up with when I decided to stop storing my food in plastic containers. From everything I have read, plastic is not a great option and you should never heat up food in the microwave in plastic. There are toxins that are released from the plastic that get into your food. Yuck! Anyway, I buy Del Monte peaches in bulk at Costco (4 to a pack for $7.99) and they come in glass jars. I thought why not reuse those jars to keep my fruits and veggies in?  The other great thing about having it in the jar is that everything is prewashed and cut and all I have to do is get the jar out of the refrigerator and snack away. It also makes it handy that I can see through the jar and know when it's time to buy more. Cleaning them is simple. I just put the jar in the dishwasher and I'm done. I think I've accumulated about 20 jars.  Next week I will show you how I use them in the pantry.

The original jar of peaches you can see on the left. Then I have olives, grapes, strawberries and carrots. You can really put so much in these jars and you are recycling at the same time. I love it.

How do you reuse glass jars at your house?

Tuesday's Tip-Household Manual

Every CEO of their household should have a manual.  I got this idea from Tsh Oxenreider who wrote the book Organized Simplicity.  It's a great book and a must have for any one trying to organize their life and household.  If you think about it, everything you buy these days has a manual right?  Every electronics you buy, appliances, cars, you name it, they all come with a manual explaining the directions to operate the item you just bought.  We would be in a heap of trouble if we didn't have those manuals.  Well, maybe not all of us, some of us could probably figure most of the things out, but I know for me, I would be lost.

So it got me thinking.  What are the two most important things in life that don't come with a manual?

Tuesday's Tip-Contain It

Continuing on with my theme for the Spring, Organization and Spring Cleaning, I thought I would show you ways I contain my "stuff" around the house.  I told you last week, that I love plastic and glass containers.  While, this is true, my new love is baskets.  I love the coastal feel and I just think they are pretty and organic.  I'm always on the hunt for a bargain too. 

I found this beauty while shopping yesterday at World Market.  I bought 2 of them because I loved them so much.  It's hard to tell in the picture, but this is a big basket.  It's 15 inch tall and will hold a lot of stuff.

They retail for $14.99 each (a steal I think), but they were 25% off so I got them for $11.25 each.  My plan with the basket is to keep one at the bottom of the stairs leading up to all the bedrooms and one by the door to the basement.  That way at night, when the girls clean up, they throw everything into the basket that needs to go upstairs into their rooms or downstairs into the basement.  Then I carry the basket upstairs and they can help me empty it and put things away. 

We will see how this works out.  The great thing about the basket is that if it doesn't get emptied right away, I don't mind because it's so pretty.

Tuesday's Tip-Ready, Set, Organize

I love Spring!  I love waking up to the birds chirping outside and the breeze blowing through the open window.  Spring means new beginnings and a season of hope.  This may sound crazy but I love spring because I get to organize and clean my house.  I love to open up all the windows, turn on the music and clean like a mad woman.  So in honor of Spring, I would love to give you a tip on how to get started organizing your home.

I first have to say that I got a jump on spring and started organizing in February.  I was just ready to do it.  I couldn't handle the clutter any longer.  Notice I said organizing and not cleaning.  I think it's too overwhelming to organize and spring clean at the same time.  So, I love to organize first and deep clean second.  Here's an example of how I did it.

Tuesday's Tip- Ping Pong Ball chores

Today's tip is brilliant.  I can say that because I didn't think it up.  I actually ran across this tip in a magazine this week.  Too bad I can't find that magazine right now.  Did I mention I am in the middle of spring cleaning?  Speaking of spring cleaning, starting next week, every Tuesday's Tip through May will be about how to get your house clean and organized.  I can't wait.  This really is my favorite time of the year.

I digress.  I found a fun way to make chores fun for the whole family.  I can't wait to try this on Saturday, but first I will need to run to Walmart to get the supplies.  There's actually just one thing you need: Ping Pong balls.

Tuesday's Tip- A More Organized Purse

I am swamped this week trying to get ready for Sydney's 4th birthday party this Saturday.  My little princess is having a ballerina birthday party at the house.  She is so excited to have her friends over and I am too, just a little overwhelmed right now.  With that said, my friend Heather from The Mommyhood will be guest posting for me today so I can keep working on party stuff.  I met Heather at Blissdom this year and we just instantly clicked.  She is wonderful and I know you are going to enjoy her blog.  Thanks again Heather!

How many times have your kids handed you a candy wrapper and there’s no trashcan in site? Where does it go? Well, it goes in your purse, of course.  This is just one of the many ways my purse has become a garbage can over time.  I’m always fishing around in there for my phone or a pen and can never find what I need. So I decided to make my own purse organizer to help solve the problem. Here’s how I did it:

1. Measure the length of the inside bottom of your purse.
2. Cut the fabric to be double the length so the organizer will fold in half in your purse. (I used liner, but if I had it to do again I think I would just use a fabric that is thicker and stiffer and not line it).

3. Sew up the edges.
4. Tri-fold the fabric and sew the right and left sides to make one large pocket.

5. Then put your items in the pocket and space them out how you want them. You can use a pin to mark where to sew each strip so you create a customized pocket for each item.

I didn’t want a very deep pocket for my phone, so I added a horizontal seam to make that pocket shorter.
6. And now you have a custom purse organizer!

TIP: You could make this with a lot less sewing if you start with a fabric place mat. If somebody tries that, please drop me a note and let me know how it turns out.
Is your purse a garbage can? How do you keep it organized?

Heather Alexander is the mother of two and blogs tips, solutions and humor at www.TheMommyhood.com.

Tuesday's Tip-Saving on gifts

Today's tip is not rocket science and there are probably alot of you who already do this, but in case there are a couple of you that don't, I wanted to share my tip on how to save time and money when it comes to buying gifts.

I have 3 bins in basement that look like this:
Whenever I am out and see something on sale that I love and know would make a great birthday or shower gift, I get it. I go home and immediately

Tuesday's Tip-Fix your squeaky hinges

Do you have doors in your house that squeak? I do. Drives me nuts. Especially at night when you are trying to be quiet. Our master bedroom door is squeaking right now and I usually have a WD-40 pen available to use to make it stop. I couldn't find it so I decided to use this.

It worked like a charm. So if you have a squeaky door in your house, go to your pantry and give this a whirl.

Operation Project Vase

If you read my post from last week's Tuesday's Tip, you know all about my idea to help bring a smile to someones face and declutter your house at the same time. If not, you can read about it here. The idea is to take those vases you have collected over the years, from flowers you have received, and pass them on and be a blessing to others.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Pick a vase, from the stash you have around your house.
2. Go to your local grocery store & buy a small bouquet of flowers. (You can do this for under $5) 3. Have your kids draw a card or use a note card you already have lying around the house.
4. Deliver your flowers to the friend you know could use a little "pick me up".
5. Take a picture and blog about your experience
6. Link to my blog on Friday and share your story with us.

Remember there is going to be a fabulous prize drawing at the end of February. For every Friday you link up, your name will go into a hat. You can have your name in the hat a total of 4 times. It's also a great way for other people to check out your blog.

Can't wait to read your stories.

Tuesday's Tip-Project Vase

Blissdom starts tomorrow. WhooHoo! I'm getting ready for 3 days at the gorgeous Opryland Hotel here in Nashville. I'm like a giddy little school girl waiting for the first day of kindergarten. I have a million and one things to do before I go. You know how it is as a mom. There's laundry, meals to prepare, fridge to be stocked, childcare to be arranged, and on and on. That's not including all the things I have to do like packing, shaving my legs, shopping for outfits and getting my business cards and other Blissdom essentials ready. I'm tired just thinking about it. So enough thinking, and on to my Tuesday's Tip.

My hubby has been pushing me, I mean encouraging me, for months to start vlogging. First, I had to figure out what the word meant. Oh, video and blogging put together. I get it. Clever. Anyway, I am a behind-the-scenes sort of girl and didn't like the thought of being in front of the camera. Call it insecurity if you must, but just the thought of someone taping me- well let's just say I'd rather eat worms than watch myself on video. Well, I decided to get over myself and just do it. I am glad I did. Of course I am my own worst critic so no need to comment about the negative things you see because I already know them and then some. (Am I really going to hit Publish on this one?) Yikes!


Ok, so now that you've watched the video, you are probably wondering who Nate is, right? I love anything about home decor and design and I am a fan of of the Nate Berkus show. He's uber talented and easy on the eyes too. Am I right ladies? I DVR it everyday and watch it when I have some free time. He's always talking about the vases that people have around the house and the different ways you can reuse them. I have a bunch that I use around the house already and I still have 9 left over. I am into decluttering my house right now and I thought I would use these vases to bless other people.

So here is where you come in. I would love for you to join me in the month of February and bring a smile to someone in your life. Here's what you do:

1. Collect all the vases in your house you are not using.
2. Write down 4 people (if you have more than that feel free to use them all) that you know could use a little "pick me up". (Think of that single person in your life that you know. Valentine's Day is a rough day when your single).
3. Get some note cards to write a note to go along with it.
4. Blog about your experience

Every Friday starting in February, I will do a MckLinky on my blog. Link your blog to mine and you will be entered in a contest to win a fabulous prize, which I will announce next week. The more you blog, the more times you are entered. Seriously, the prize is amazing and you won't want to miss it. Remember, this doesn't have to cost a lot of money. You can spend under $5 a vase to do this. That's a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Get creative, you can make a card or have your kids draw a card. How sweet would that be? Everyone loves handwritten cards.

Ok, ya got it? Now get going.

Tuesday's Tip- Mix your darks and lights

I stumbled across a product about 2 years ago that literally rocked my world, or at least my laundry world that is. I don't do the wash without it. Maybe some of you have heard of it or use it. It's called SHOUT Color Catcher and it is Fabulous!

What makes this little white sheet so great? I will tell you. I can wash my white socks with my red shirts and my white socks stay white. It's seriously like magic. I don't know how it works, and I really don't care, as long as it works. You throw one of these bad boys in the wash and your good to go.
This has reduced my loads and freed up some much needed time. Lets face it, the laundry room is not really where I want to spend my afternoon. A little tip, there is a coupon printed on the inside of the box. You get 24 sheets for about $3. If you use the coupon and find it on sale, like I try to do, it's even cheaper. I think it's worth it for the time, not to mention the energy and water savings.

That's my Tuesday's Tip. Hope it's helpful to you. Let me know if you use these at home and how you like them.

Tuesday's Tip-Email for your kids

I can't take credit for this week's Tuesday's Tip. It was all my husband's idea, and it's a great one, if I do say so myself.

Shortly after Sydney was born, Brian decided to create email addresses for them. I'm sure you are wondering why a newborn baby and a 19 month old would need email addresses. That's a good question. He had the idea of sending a quick email to the girl's accounts everytime they did something cute or said something funny that he would want to remember. I wasn't blogging at the time either, so I didn't have a very good way of writing things down and after 2 kids in 19 months, my memory was shot.

All of our family members have the girls email addresses and that way if they have a story they want to share with the girls, they can email it directly to them. I will give you an example of a story that happened just this morning.

I had to take Sydney to the doctor today. She's been having some tummy issues and thankfully we figured out what was going on and how to fix it. Anyway, my dad took Brooklyn to run some errands with him so she wouldn't have to go to the Dr with me and expose herself to all the germs. (Sidenote: Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that when you take your child in for their well care exam they end up coming down with a cold, just a few days later)? I called my dad afterward to update him on Sydney and he proceeded to share this story with me. Here is the email that my dad sent to Brooklyn's email address:

As Brooklyn and I [Papa] were driving through town we passed by "Moe's." ("Welcome to Moe's.") Brooklyn began talking about chicken nuggets and how much she liked them.
She made up a story about how the nuggets were playing in her stomach, tickling her.
I said, "Why not drink some water and maybe they will stop." She said, "The water won't bother them because they have umbrellas." Well, I said, "Drink a whole bunch of water so they feel like they are in a flood and they will have to stop tickling you."
Brooklyn followed up with, "They will get in the umbrellas like being in a boat and float."

How many 5 yr. old kids would think of turning the umbrella over to make a boat?

Love you Brooklyn!
Papa

Having these email accounts for the girls also enables grandparents to sit down and write to them anytime they want. Let's face it, gone are the days of hand written notes and snail mail. We just don't take the time to do that anymore, but we all have access to a computer and it takes no time to write a paragraph or two from anywhere in the world.

The great thing is that email accounts are free and quick to set up. We decided to make them creative and hard to guess so that they wouldn't get any spam or any other unwanted emails. If your kids are older and already have an email address, maybe you create a second email just for these types of stories. How cool would that be to hand them a notebook of emails on their graduation day from college or the day they get married? How fun would it be for your child to be able to read stories to their children about the things they did when they were little? I know Sydney is always asking me to tell her stories of when I was a little girl and I have about the same 5 I always tell her.

So what are you waiting for? You know your brain is already going 100 miles an hour trying to remember all the funny things your kids have said just in the last week. So get your children an email address and stay tuned for a cool giveaway I will be doing. You won't want to miss it.

Tuesday's Tip-Recordable Book

This is my last Tuesday's Tip before Christmas and I saved the best for last. I love, love, love this gift. We did this for the girls for Christmas last year and they absolutely love it.

Have you seen these recordable books? They are available at Hallmark Stores for $29.99, but it looks like they are $10 off of that price right now, which is a great deal.

Last year Brian and I recorded "The Night Before Christmas". We each took a turn reading a page. Brian got all the Santa parts and he sounded so much like Santa the girls really thought it was Santa.

This year my mom and dad, Nana & Papa, are recording "The Very First Christmas" for the girls. I highly recommend having grandparents do this for their grandchildren. I so wish I would have thought about doing this last year as a gift to the girls from their grandparents. I wish I would have had Brian's dad, the girls PeePaw, do one last Christmas so the girls could hear his voice whenever they missed him. It would be nice to hear his voice again too.

They also have non holiday books as well. We bought one for Brian's mom to do for the girls. It is so cute. It's called "Thank you, God, for Everything!"
We'll bring it to Indiana when we see her at Christmas and she can record it and then give it to Brooklyn and Sydney. The books come with a lock so that after you record it, you can put it in lock mode and then screw the cover back on. The only way it can be erased is if you unscrew the compartment and push a button. Thankfully most kids don't know how to use a screwdriver at this age.

Tell the grandparents in your lives about these books. They seriously are the best gift ever. I think about all the toys my girls have gotten over the years that are broken or forgotten about, but these books will be keepsakes they can share with their children.

If it's too late for Christmas, think about what a great gift this would make for Valentine's Day. Ok, you are probably sick of me talking about this book, but I just think there is no better keepsake for my children then to hear their grandparents voice whenever they want.

Stay safe shopping out there y'all. It's crazy.

(I did not get paid to advertise these books, nor did I get a free one. I should though right? I just love them and wanted to pass on my knowledge to y'all).

Tuesday's Tip-The gift that gives

I know it's Wednesday, but I still wanted to post my Tuesday's Tip because it's such an important one. What I'm going to tell you about today can help thousands of people around the world that desperately need our help. We do this every year as a family and it's always a highlight for us and the girls.

As you know, I love World Vision. When my sisters and I were in Christian Music, we used to be World Vision Artists. At our concerts, we would give an appeal to those that came, to sponsor a child. Brian and I sponsor 2 children, a girl in Mexico, a boy in Ghana, and a mom and son in Romania.

World Vision also offers a gift catalog for Christmas. This is so much fun. It's such a great way to show your kids the importance of giving. My girls love picking out the gifts they want to give. In the past we have given goats, chickens, medicine for babies, clean water, and the list goes on. It will be neat to see what the girls will pick this year.

So this is how it works. We have the catalog at home, but if you don't have one, you can go online and see the catalog there. We make a list of all the people we want to give a gift to in their name. This year we will also give in memory of 4 special loved ones. Here's what we picked out so far:

PeePaw-Goat (Brian's dad used to have a goat on his farm)
My Grandma-2 Bibles
Zoe-Rabbit (Brooklyn picked this out for her sister)
Jonathan-2 Chicks (Sydney picked this out for her baby brother)

You get the picture. World Vision will give your loved one a card for Christmas with the donation in their name. (Order must be placed by December 19th). You can also choose to have an email card sent or print one out on your computer to hand deliver.

Don't think it has to be a huge donation either. They have gifts for under $20. Here are some things you can provide to a needy family all under $20. Of course, if you could give more, that would be great. Your donation is tax-deductible.
Seeds for 1 Family for $17 Give seeds. Your gift offers life-changing help for farmers struggling to raise enough food for their hungry children: fast-growing hybrid or drought-resistant seeds for an agricultural bounty of crops.

You can help prevent famine before hunger takes hold. Your donation will help provide seeds for crops like maize, rice, cassava, carrots, cabbage, green beans, peas, potatoes, and onions. Surplus crops can be sold to bring in much-needed family income that can pay for life-saving medicine or help send a child to school.

1 Rabbit for $16 Rabbits multiply and multiply their blessings! God created rabbits to be among the most prolific animals on earth, making them a terrific gift for an impoverished family. With a gestation period of just 31 days, a pair of rabbits can easily become 50 rabbits within a single year. These offspring can provide food or be sold at market, producing a steady source of extra income.
3 ducks for $18 Give three ducks to a hungry family today and they'll benefit from hundreds of large, protein-rich eggs throughout the year. Extra eggs and hatched ducklings can be sold to buy medicine or help pay for children’s school tuition.

For those of you who are so inclined, you can actually do even more. Some years ago, we decided to get the whole family together, saved up for a whole year, and funded half a health clinic. Now we did have several households saving together and clinics were a bit cheaper then, but I will have to say it was one of the most rewarding things our family has ever done. We really felt like we were able to make a difference in that community, and that lives will be changed forever because of it.

How can you give to a needy child or family this Christmas?