Week 22 - Thank the Mailman...Success!

Our mailman is pretty nice...

If the boys are outside, he will stop at the end of the driveway to hand the mail to the boys instead of quickly shoving the mail into the mailbox and driving on.

If I receive a package that won't fit in the mailbox, he will place it on the porch, in a spot that is noticeable but not too obvious.

And, the big one for me, he will pick up my outgoing packages, no matter how many, without me scheduling a carrier pick up. One day it may be just 3 small boxes, and another day it could be 22 boxes of all sizes piled high on our front porch.

I have even pulled up next to his little mail carrier truck and handed him a stack of boxes on my way to the post office and then was able to turn around and go back home.

Our mailman always has a smile for us. So when we made cookies on Wednesday, I decided we should share them with our mailman as a "thank you."

Chocolate chip and mini Reese's Pieces cookies

A little handwritten thank you note attached to the bag of cookies.

 I placed the cookies and note in the mailbox along with outgoing letters and packages and went on with our day. I had hoped to be able to watch when the mailman arrived, but it didn't work out with our schedule.

He got them, as the cookies were gone...hopefully he liked them!

Week 21...fail

We have no excuse. We simply did not make our project anywhere near the top of our priority list of things to complete last week, and it did not get done.

Week 20 - Share a Smile...Success!

For this week, I planned that Saturday I would smile at each person I could make eye contact with...

This was more difficult that I had anticipated! Very few people made eye contact with me.

Our morning began at several stores, so the sales people were easy - they would greet us the moment we walked in the door. It was the other customers shopping that I knew would be a challenge.

I found that the older the person, the more likely they were to look at the people passing by. I was able to catch their eye and smile at them. The younger people were very good at averting their eyes from me so that they could stay ensconced in their own little world.

One woman even did a double take when I smiled at her, at first a little confused that a stranger would look at her and smile.

In the evening, we went to a local street festival. Although there were hundreds of people standing in the streets, listening to music, I was not able to make eye contact with any of them. Each person was wrapped up in the people around them or in enjoying the atmosphere, not paying attention to others around them. And those who were walking down the street were purposefully watching their step or looking away from the faces of people facing them.

Sharing a smile was interesting, and I hope that those who I were able to share a smile with were touched. I will definitely do this one again!

Week 19 - Stamp Out Food...Success!

So last week was Week 19, and we participated in the national food drive "Stamp Out Hunger" that is spearheaded by the US Post Office. This is a really cool idea, and the boys got a kick out of putting food into our mailbox instead of letters.

We stuffed our mailbox on Saturday with oyster crackers, elbow, pasta, chocolate pudding, and two packages of wild berry muffin mix - some of our family's staple food items. 

To learn more about "Stamp Out Hunger" - be sure to visit their Facebook page. I was surprised that this was their 20th year of doing it. They are still collecting totals, but the numbers that individual areas are reporting are pretty impressive!

Week 17 and 18 - Shower Someone

The idea for this one was not my own. I had seen it pinned on Pinterest several months ago and repinned it for when we could use it.

These are Blessings Bags (see the original idea here), bags to give to the homeless.

Last week was our first St. Louis Cardinals game for the season, and we parked in our usual spot, walking our usual route down the street to Busch Stadium.

And, we saw the usual people: Cardinals fans, street vendors, and a couple homeless people begging for change.

It didn't sink in until after the game as to what we needed to do. I remembered my Pinterest pin from this winter, and our plan was hatched.

We had been given tickets to another game this week, so the boys and I headed to WalMart to pick up the items to be put into our Blessings Bag. Here is what we decided on:

• toothbrush
• toothpaste
• mouth wash
• comb
• Clorox wipes
• baby wipes
• Tylenol
• first aid kit
• tissues
• bar soap
• shampoo
• deodorant
• lotion
• germ-x
• chapstick
• gum
• granola bar
• crackers with peanut butter

I then slipped all the items neatly into a one gallon ziploc bag and added a Bible verse in the front. We made two of these bags, as we had seen two homeless men on our last walk to the stadium.

So last night was the game. I carried the bags in my tote, and Noah had an eye out for a homeless person to bless. And, we didn't see a single person to give the bags to. We were a little disappointed.

Plan B: pass the bags to our neighbors who are going to the baseball game tonight!

Week 16 - Give a Train Ride...Success!

On Thursday, Jacob and I went to the zoo. One of the special treats for us is to ride the train tour around the zoo. So we figured a train ride would be pretty special for other children visiting the zoo.

First thing we did was to pick up a zoo membership. This made the cost of train rides less than half the regular price. And, we have extra tickets for the children's zoo and the shark exhibit for another day. Bonus! 

As we were walking, we kept an eye out for small families who looked like they would like a random act of kindness. Our first family was a father and his two girls from Kentucky. We asked if they had been on the train yet. When they answered that they had not, I said that I have tickets for them if they would like to ride. The father was surprised and happily accepted the tickets.

The others were the same - pleasantly surprised and walked away with smiles and a little bit more of a spring in their step. The second family was a mom, dad, and young daughter from Hannibal, Missouri. The third was an older man and woman from Robertsville, Missouri, whom we met while viewing the new baby elephant. And the last tickets we gave out as we left the zoo were to a father and son from St. Louis.

The day was beautiful, we had a wonderful time, and we had the opportunity to bless several families. It definitely was a successful day!

Week 15 - Share a Coupon...Success!

Saturday we had to do some shoe shopping for Mike. He needed a new pair of dress shoes for work, and he was having trouble finding a pair that he liked. He had already purchased two different pairs, and first we had to return those.

While I was standing in line to return the shows, I overheard the lady in front of me ask the clerk if there were any coupons she could use on her purchase. 

The clerk answered that there was a coupon, but the customer would need to either bring in a coupon or display it on her smartphone. Since the lady did not have one with her, she would have to come back to the store before the coupon expired to have her receipt adjusted.

I remembered I had the coupon on my phone, so I quickly stepped over and asked if I could show my coupon for her to use. The clerk was surprised, but said that would work. I quickly pulled the coupon up on my phone. I then decided to go ahead and email the coupon to the lady so she could reuse it in case she wanted to pick up another pair of shoes.

And, voila! She was able to save 15% on her shoe purchase. Another random, spur of the moment act of kindness to check off. Have you ever handed unused coupons to others in line at a store?