The premise of this book is how everyone in the world carries around an invisible bucket and that bucket is to hold all your good thoughts about yourself.   When you’re happy the bucket is full, when you’re sad your bucket is empty. It talks to kids about being “bucket fillers” and “bucket dippers” and how important it is to be a “bucket filler”.  You can easily fill another person’s bucket by being kind and considerate and doing nice things for others.  By doing that, you fill up your own personal bucket.  You can guess what a bucket dipper does…goes into other people’s buckets to try to take their good thoughts and feelings away.  A “bucket dipper” does this by doing or saying mean-spirited things and those dippers usually have empty personal buckets.  We thought the book was a great tool to read to our kids to  help them think about how we can be more kind and compassionate towards one another and how we can be happier people.

You can read all about this book and other books by the same author at Bucketfillers 

I have been thinking more and more lately about what “I” can do to fill more buckets in this world.  I love the RAK (random acts of kindness) idea that I have seen several people post about.   I am thinking that I might try to do at least 2 random acts of kindness, per month, for the rest of the year.  I am also going to try to yell less (sigh, yes, I am one of those yelling moms…it doesn’t work) and talk more.

How do you fill other people’s buckets (and subsequently fill your own)?

**disclaimer:  I did not receive anything for talking about this book here…we loved it, we bought it, and I just wanted to share about it!

Being so pleased with how well we did, we are going to participate in:

Carla has a Double Challenge Month and since we did so well, we are going to participate in BOTH her Declutter Challenge and her Low Spend Challenge.  Here’s how both are going to shape up:

Here’s how the Low (no) Spend Challenge will work:

1. Choose a financial goal for the month!

Our financial goal this month will be to save that last $1500.00 for the repair to the van! 

2. How will you achieve your goal this month?

I know, it’s a lofty goal considering we were only able to save $1000.00 (not including the $800 gift) this last month.  We do have a few more bits of cash coming in February.  We are getting a $400.00 reimbursement for some of Andrew’s expenses that doesn’t have to be alloted anywhere.  We are also getting an OSTC cheque for around $125.00.  Shane has lots of overtime coming.  I am confident we can do this (or get pretty darn close!).  There will be no eating out.  I have plenty of yarn to keep me going on various projects, so I am hoping to cut out hobby shopping.  No coffee or lunches at work.   We’ll be frugal with our meals.  All the things we did in January, we’ll continue into February.

3. How will you allot your spending this month?

We have $400.00 of variable spending per week and we work on a cash only basis.  We don’t use the debit cards and certainly credit is out! 

4. Track your purchases!

I will be tracking all our purchases on a separate page like I did for January

5. Are there any “exemptions” for the month?

We have several birthdays this month.  Andrew turns 8 on February 4th.  We have his gifts ready save one: taking him to see Star Wars Episode 1 in 3-D.  It comes out February 10th, but I am thinking we’re going to postpone seeing it until March…not because of the challenge, but because I would rather go after it’s been out a few weeks.  We *might* go in February, so that is an exemption.  Meri turns 3 on February 17th, and we’re not prepared yet, another exemption.  We also have a girl’s night out with our friends that was supposed to happen last Saturday (the 28th) but Mother Nature put a kink in our plans.  We are going for coffee and dessert, and we have 2 more gifts to look after for that (we’re celebrating 4 birthdays that night). 

Decluttering Challenge

Carla has set out 4 weeks worth of decluttering.  Here are ours

Week One: Personal Space Challenge

• We have picked the Master bedroom as the personal space we’re going to declutter.  I work there when I work at home and the area is a bit of a disaster, so Amy decided that we’d do the whole room.  It’s not big enough for the “dreaded” challenge.

Week Two: Family Space Challenge

• We have an entertainment area in our family room that totally needs work.  There are games that need donating, movies that need organizing, etc, etc.

Week Three: Productivity Challenge

• I am still not sure how this one is going to pan out quite yet.  I know that I want to be more organized in the morning, so I am going to set up the coffee machine in the evening before I go to bed, and make my lunch if need be.  I also want to bake school snacks on the weekends.  Enough that we don’t have to buy too many packaged snacks to send.  Not sure what Amy wants to do, but I will get back to you

Week Four: The “Dreaded” Challenge

• The walk-in closet in the Master Bedroom!!  Oh dear this is a mess!  It’s a catch all for everything that we own, clothes, gift bags, hidden birthday presents.  I am sure there are clothes that we can get rid of too!

There are going to be bonus challenges that Carla’s going to set up and we’ll try to work those into the mix.  We will also donate 29 items and I will keep a running tally on a separate page.  We’ll post before and after pics of all decluttering projects.

Can’t wait to get started!  February, here we come!!

Sunday ~ Spaghetti and Skinny Meatballs

Monday ~ Sausage Soup and Bread

Tuesday ~ Roast Chicken, Potatoes, Veggie

Wednesday ~ Pork Roast, Potatoes, Salad

Thursday ~ Spinach and Bacon Quiche

Friday ~ Cheddar Smokies on a bun, Coleslaw

Saturday ~ Andrew turns 8!!  Appetizer dinner

Go check out all the other menus at I’m An Organizing Junkie

I will be back later tonight to tell you all about my February Challenges!!

Such a true statement!!

What are you…

Reading?

• Nothing lately!!  I have been crafting instead of reading, and no computer to read all the blogs I usually do!

Watching?

• This afternoon I watched “Strike Up the Band” with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney (directed by Busby Berkeley.  I love, love, love, their movies.  I enjoy watching all Hollywood musicals of that era.  Tonight we’ll probably watch episode 7 of the 6th season of Dexter.

Listening to?

• The kids running around upstairs getting ready for bed.  Amy gave everyone haircuts, I helped the little boys get showered.

Cooking/Baking?

• I made cranberry muffins and apple strusel muffins this afternoon
  

  Apple Strusel Muffins

• I also made 2 dinner’s worth of Skinny Italian Spinach Meatballs
  

  Spinach Meatballs

Happy you accomplished this week?

• I finished 2 pairs of slippers and 2 pairs of leg warmers for the girls.  Now I get to work on the shawl I have been wanting to make!  Hoping that I can get it finished for my company Gala in 2 weeks.
  

  Meri's new purple legwarmers

Looking forward to next week?

• Andrew turns EIGHT on Saturday!  Oh my, where did the time go?  He has asked for an “appetizer night” dinner with meatballs, veggies and dip, taco dip, deviled eggs.  We’ll throw a few more in there and should have a right scrumptious feast
  

Thankful for today?

• For my parents who gave us their old computer that just needed a new power supply, and to Shane who got us up and running again!  Now I can blog on something half decent and get caught up on all my blog reading.

Don’t forget to go check out My Half Dozen Daily for other Sunday Night Chit-Chat

Our main computer in the house has bit the dust!  We don’t know what has happened but we figure that it has something to do with all the crap that the kids say “yes” to when they are playing on it.

So, I am stuck with the old, tired computer upstairs that takes forever to do anything, for the time being.  My posts may be few and far between during the week.

I will be participating in Carla’s new challenges for the month of February.  I will be back on the weekend for sure to post about what ours is going to look like!

Meanwhile, for your reading pleasure, a look at what 2011 would look like from the perspective of a 1911 newspaper article…it’s pretty cool (thanks to a friend on FB for posting it to their profile!).

What 2011 Will Be Like

Please go check out all the other great menus at I’m an Organizing Junkie

What’s on for this week:

Saturday ~ Garlic Shrimp and Cheese Tortellini

Sunday ~ Salmon with Dill Sauce, Rice and Veggie

Monday ~ Keilbassa Pasta Skillet

Tuesday ~ Black Bean Cajun Chicken and Rice

Wednesday ~ Pizza Roll and Salad

Thursday ~ Roast Beef, Potatoes and Vegetables

Friday ~ Curried Pork Meatloaf*, Potatoes, Salad

*The recipe is a link to burgers, but I make it up in a meatloaf and the kids LOVE it.  I am not a meatloaf lover, and this is just TO.DIE.FOR.  I cut the pork with ground chicken.  I don’t do the jalapeno pepper either, but I am sure it would be really tasty with it.

No Spend Update:  Yesterday we spent $20.00 at the gas station for gas, go figure!

We have a busy week ahead, but what else is new?  We’re hoping to have a few no-spend days, but it’s almost impossible with a family of 9, LOL.   How’s your week shaping up?

The Kids...Belfountain Conservation Area September 2011

What are you…

Reading?

Still working on “The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet’s Nest”.  I am spending my free time knitting, so I am not reading as much.

Watching?

Just finished watching Patrick Chan blow his competition away at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships.  I love watching the figure skating.

Listening to?

Princess and the Frog is on CBC right now, and the girls are sort of watching it.  Also listening to Amy in the kitchen preparing the salmon for tonight’s dinner.  We both are wanting to go out for wings!  We got some salmon from a customer of Shane’s who caught it herself off the coast of B.C. just before Christmas.  It was free, but Amy and I don’t like salmon very much.  I made a tzatziki sauce to eat with it so I am hoping it will be more palatable.

Cooking/Baking?

I made Candied Maraschino Cherry Muffins today to use up some of our Christmas baking supply stash.  Amy has bread rising to bake after dinner.

Happy you accomplished this week?

All the knitting I have done!  I am so happy to be getting back into it.

Looking forward to next week?

Next Saturday night is girls night with our friends.  We’re getting together to celebrate a couple of birthdays.  Thankfully, I worked a bit of overtime so I will have a bit of extra money so we can get a nice dessert.

Thankful for today?

For good friends.  Shane’s best friend treated all the boys to Monster Jam at the Skydome (ok, it’s really the Rogers Centre, but who cares?).  Andrew and Aaron have never been and were so excited.  They outfitted themselves with earplugs and a pair of noise cancelling headphones for Andrew (who has huge sensory issues) and off they went.

Happy Sunday!!  Go and catch up with everyone at My 1/2 Dozen Daily

Saturdays are usually rather busy, but today we didn’t have half as much running around to do, but it was a rather spendy day.  Groceries were on the list and we were out of a lot of stuff.  In the last 3 weeks since the challenge, we have used up all the meat in the freezer and a lot of the pantry fodder.  Here’s the spending for yesterday and today:

January 20

• $16.00 ~ bowling and 50/50 draw (I didn’t win this time, but 50% of the funds raised goes to the league for the end of the year party, etc.)
• $9.95 ~ Dollarama (for bread, which is a decent sized loaf for only $1.00 and doggie bags and a chocolate treat for Amy)

January 21

• $91.38 ~ Walmart **see below
• $172.88 ~ Food Basics

**We had to get filters for the furnace which were $4 each.  Then Amy and I passed by the shoe section and we saw a deal that we absolutely could not resist.  They had all their winter boots for kids marked down to $9.00 from $39.00.  We discovered last week that Andrew’s hand-me-down boots leaked.  His ERF (educational resource facilitator) got him a pair from her church’s “Clothing Loft”, but they are too small (did I mention that we totally LOVE Andrew’s ERF, she does things like this all the time???).  Mrs. S. was going to look this weekend for a bigger size, but we picked up the size 13′s.  If she finds them we’ll use the used ones, and then put these ones away for Aaron for next year.  We also got a larger size for Charlotte for next year.   Boots are expensive, and when you can get pairs for NINE DOLLARS, brand new, you pick them up, LOL.  We also needed coffee and pull-ups, which brought our total even higher than we wanted.  Coffee is a NEED here, not a want, lol.

We have been able to save more for the car.  Shane had overtime, we got our child tax credit money and now the fund sits at $1600.00.  We’re doing pretty well, I think.  We’ve also decided that we’re going to do this No/Low Spend challenge all through February too!

I have been very busy making things with needles and yarn.  I am really having fun knitting and crocheting again.  Here’s what I have made so far:

Baby Sweater (finished up last week ~ I started it a year ago)

Hat (it’s a men’s hat, so I added a flower for show…I just need one for warmth!)

Charley modeled it for me, lol

Slippers

All the kids are asking for mittens and slippers!  It’s really cool to see them so excited.  I am making Aaron a pair of multi-coloured mittens right now.  Andrew has put in an order for black ones and I have some camoflague wool to make a pair for Allen.  Austan doesn’t want mittens (Santa brought him Canada olympic mittens in his sock), so he’s asked for a pair of slippers in camo.  I think I am going to use single crochet instead of double so they don’t look so girly.

This is what I want to make next, but in a black shimmer.  I haven’t been able to find the yarn I need for it yet.  Michaels and Wal-mart didn’t have it, so I might have to order it from a website.

isn't it pretty???

I am going back to my knitting!  Tomorrow all the boys might be going to see the Monster Jam with Shane and his friend.  I am going to spend the day baking and trying to use up all the candied cherries, peel and dates that we have in the cupboard.

Have a great evening, everyone!

I haven’t been great on my goals for the Low/No Spend Challenge.  I didn’t write everything that we spent this weekend!! I know approximately how much we spent and where, and how much we have left.  So here’s the approximate amounts:

Saturday, January 14

• Freshco ~ $21.50
• Food Basics ~ 112.50
• Shoppers Drug Mart ~ $40
• Fortinos ~ $40.00

Sunday January 15th

• OHL game ~ $10.00 for snacks
• Michaels ~ $40.00 (will talk about that in a bit)
• Food Basics ~ $26.00 for stuff we missed the day before, LOL

Monday January 16

• No Spend Day!

Tuesday January 17

• Gas ~ $40.00

So we have $70.00 left until Thursday when we top up our jars.

I have also started knitting again!  I finished 2 projects;  a girl’s sweater and a scarf for Amy (pictures to come later).   Amy asked me if I could teach her, so we went to Michaels as they were having a sale on wool.  So now we are both going to start another hobby!  I started off making a pair of mittens for our Meri out of the wool that was left over from the sweater:

Aren't they cute???

I am making an identical pair for Charley, and then I am going to try my hand at crocheting some slippers.  Knitting mittens makes me miss my Grandma a bit.  She was always making mittens (among other projects).  I miss my Grandma mitts!!

That’s about it for now…hopefully I will find the time to post a bit more!