Charity

With Christmas upon us I have been busy getting ready and thinking about the holiday. Every year my grandma gives money to charity in the names of her grandchildren. I think it is a great idea. So it got me thinking about charity and what it means to me. I know everyone has different ways of dealing with people asking for money on the street. I have believed for years that you should give when the desire enters your heart. With that in mind, I have always given change when someone asks and I have it. I understand other people have different views, and I don't look down upon people that don't.

I would like to be more intentional with my giving and receiving. So I would like to put it out there that when someone asks what you want for Christmas or when you are deciding what you would like to give, that you consider charity in some form or another. If you have time, volunteer. If you have money, donate. If you have stuff, donate that. Make charity part of your holidays.

I discovered a neat charity, www.canadahelps.org where you can give a gift card to someone that they can then choose to give to any registered charity in Canada (over 80,000). The charity is charged 3% for credit card processing. So if that doesn't work for you, donate directly to a cause that touches your heart.

May all of your holidays be filled with love.

Shovelling or freezing?

I just finished shovelling the sidewalk. It is a gorgeous sunny day out. Minus 6 is a lot better than minus 30, even if it means snow and having to do the manual labour of shovelling...

Painting and scrubbing

Our weekend was spent at my mom's helping her get ready for Christmas dinner. Jeff painted the spare bedroom while the prego me got to scrub down the kitchen.

Jeff in action.

The helpers, Molly (above) and Missy (below).

Me, hiding from the hard work...

The finished product.

A long absence...

Can I blame baby brain for not posting? Nope. Just laziness. And perhaps cold and dark weather that has kept me from doing much. But here are some pics of latest happenings in the Marvin household:

Some new purchases: a buffet/side table for the diningroom

(finally a home for my grandma's dishes) and a new shelf for the livingroom.
(Organization makes Jeff very happy)


Making some yummy smoked salmon, avocado, roasted red pepper,
cream cheese, goat cheese quesadillas (YUMMY).

Indulging some cravings at -20c

(black cherry and double dark chocolate ice cream with oreo from Marble Slab)

And doing what I have doing the most lately...sleeping!