The kids get the credit…

683) Volunteered at a Garden Party. Every year the school hosts a “party” really it’s just weeding the garden beds near the 1st graders classroom. It was a cold day and very rainy in the morning but by afternoon the weather had cleared somewhat and my kids and I volunteered to help.

Unfortunately, not too many others did but the teachers were thrilled to have our help and my son was “honored” the next day for his help. He was very proud.

684) Called to check in on an acquaintance I know who had surgery recently.

685) Helped my daughter have her “annual” lemonade stand to raise money for the Oregon Humane Society. My daughter had arranged a play date with her friend so they could have the stand again this year. Unfortunately, I had accidentally coordinated the playdate for the wrong weekend thinking our annual neighborhood garage sale was the week prior. Luckily, we were still able to have our sale on the correct weekend and also the weather was much more conducive for this event. The girls got a little tired after 2 hours but were still happy with their $17 dollars collected.

686) Coordinated and volunteered for a fundraiser for our school at a local fast food restaurant. My kids plus a few others really got involved and helped deliver the food to the tables. They loved their jobs and the recipients seemed happy to get their delivery from the kids.

687) Wrote thank you notes to the gals who had helped out the night of the fundraiser.

688) Planned to have some yard work done at our house. The gardener had forgotten his keys for the trunk of his truck and asked it I could drive him home to get them.

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Sometimes kids do the most amazing things…

237) Gave my daughter some money to purchase a Street Roots paper at the Farmer’s Market.

238) Brought a meal to someone recovering at home from a recent surgery.

239) Received my photos back from last week when my daughter and her friend had their lemonade stand. I had mentioned that I had a dear childhood friend that I had done the same thing with when I was 9. What I hadn’t mentioned was that my childhood friend died when we were 20 from cancer. I think about her often and decided to send a note and a copy of one of the pictures to her mom to tell her how this event had made me start thinking about her daughter.

240) Today, my 6 year old son did the most amazing thing. We have a neighbor whose wife died this past year. He has never been a particularly friendly neighbor and it was always his wife who was the outgoing and friendly one. My son came into the house after biking and seeing him and said he wanted to draw a picture and give it to him. My son  wrote a note , and drew a picture of himself and the neighbor. The note said, “I know your wife died and you are sad, will you be my friend?” I was so touched by his wanting to befriend our neighbor. So far the neighbor hasn’t answered him, perhaps at some point he will…

Stop at every lemonade stand….

224) I am the proudest mother today! (Well maybe there are others in the world.)

Anyway, this weekend my daughter and a friend from school had their second annual lemonade stand to raise money for the Oregon Humane Society. My daughter had decided we would have homemade lemonade and cookies and she would also sell pencils she had made at school with her “club” called the Green Pups. Last year, they had raised $11. She and her friend, plus my son and a couple of other neighborhood girls were hard at work for almost 3 hours. They were yelling, waving and jumping around to get people’s attention. Many people stopped and bought their wares, some even gave them extra for the cause. One mom came back and gave them an extra $5, because she was a dog lover. Our best guess is that the girls raised $30 but combined with the money my daughter has been collecting each Friday she has over $50 raised for OHS. I couldn’t be prouder.

I spoke with my husband while she was having her lemonade stand. I  remembered the stand I had with a childhood friend when I was growing up. One time, Bozo the Clown stopped by dressed in full clown clothing and we made sure to have our picture taken with him. I still remember that picture all these years later. However, I don’t think that the thought ever crossed our minds to raise the money for a charity. I am delighted to have young mitzvah mavens in the family. My mitzvah in this project? I was the helper to make that delicious homemade lemonade. I think that counts for something.