While I’m out taking a break and healing from surgery, some of my favorite bloggers and bestest of friends have kindly agreed to help out with an LCMF blog series:

This series will hopefully answer some of your most frequently asked questions about “what can I do?” for someone who might be needing your help or support.

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When I look back upon all the acts of service people have given to my family, I feel completely overwhelmed with gratitude.

The time I remember feeling the most love was right after I gave birth to my 2nd child. Shortly after I arrived to the hospital and was hooked up to the machine, my daughters heart rate dropped significantly. Within a matter of minutes I was rushed into the surgery room and they delivered Emmalyn via c-section. However, due to some complications she had to stay in the NICU the rest of the week. I was also in a lot of pain because the “rushed” c-section didn’t go exactly smooth.

At home I had a busy 19 month old boy waiting with grandma.

My husband was in the middle of finals for medical school, so he wasn’t going to be around much to help at home.

I was amazed at the kindness people showed to our family during that stressful time. Both of our families took my son the rest of the week, while we stayed in the hospital.

When I returned home, a friend arranged for people to come by each morning and pick up my son until he went down for his nap. Meals were brought in every night for over a week. My mom came over daily and helped with laundry, cleaning and everything in between.

My heart was full.

Through this experience I learned the power of service. Without the help given, I wouldn’t have been able to do it all with the pain I was in. I also learned that I need to be quick to serve.

I love this quote by Thomas S. Monson:

“The needs of others are ever present, and each of us can do something to help someone.”

Every day there is something we can do for someone. When we look beyond our own needs and see the needs of others I believe we are truly blessed.

I made this little printable for you guys. I hope you like it… I’m still a newbie in the printable department.

It’s another one of my favorite quotes. Time and time again I have seen that the more I sacrifice myself, the more I am blessed. I hope you can look for someone in need and be able to serve them today.

Thanks for having me ladies! I’d love to have you stop by my place any time. XO-Jamielyn

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Thank you so much for coming Jamielyn! Having been through a VERY similar moment about 5 years ago, I can say AMEN to the things Jamielyn remembers as helpful. People coming in and making decisions for you can mean THE WORLD to someone in pain, and in trauma.

Please visit Jamielyn at her amazing blog: I {heart} Naptime. (she’s beautiful. Just be warned. But she’s as beautiful on the inside.  So you’ll love her. Annnnd…..she’s a wimp on the Alpine Slide. Don’t ask how I know.)

While I’m out taking a break and healing from surgery, some of my favorite bloggers and bestest of friends have kindly agreed to help out with an LCMF blog series:

This series will hopefully answer some of your most frequently asked questions about “what can I do?” for someone who might be needing your help or support.

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Hi there!

Kristyn from Lil’ Luna here.

I’m so happy to be on LCMF today. I just love Lara and am hoping and praying for a speedy recovery for her.

I think this series idea is WONDERFUL!!! Service is amazing and it’s something that has brought me so much joy in the past.

When trying to think of story to share I couldn’t think of one particular instance that stood out over another, but I immediately thought of a gazillion small instances where people have done service for my own little family.

We’ve received cookies, have been invited over for dinner, and have received so many sweet offers of babysitting in times of need. Even a “hello” and smile from someone at church, in the store or in the neighborhood meant the world when we moved to a new area last year. These instances have been the acts of service that have been so helpful and thoughtful in times of need.

I, personally, have received calls or texts on “hard” days and those simple acts of service have meant more to me than the giver could ever imagine! I truly believe that through these kinds of acts (large or small) family becomes closer, friends are made and love is felt!

These small acts remind me how easy it can be to serve others!

There was a family that we met last year that we knew could use some cheering up.

It didn’t require a lot {one trip to Wal-Mart}, but doing something fun like this showed the kiddos how important and fun it is to serve others!

 

To download the TAGS go HERE.

 

A super easy and simple gift.

And the best thing about service is that if we think of others and strive to serve those around us more, not only will we make others happy, but we will be more happy ourselves.

And who doesn’t want to be happy?

ENJOY!

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Thank you so much for coming Kristyn!  Can I be Kristyn’s neighbor?  No really….it’s an AWESOME idea to do Christmas like service in the summer.  Seems like we’re all more service minded in December.  What’s wrong with July?  Good call Kristyn

Please visit Kristyn at her amazing blog: Lil’ Luna. (Awesome blog. Even awesome-er author. I adore Kristyn for her sweet smile and authentic kindness.  It’s contagious.)

While I’m out taking a break and healing from surgery, some of my favorite bloggers and bestest of friends have kindly agreed to help out with an LCMF blog series:

This series will hopefully answer some of your most frequently asked questions about “what can I do?” for someone who might be needing your help or support.

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I am so thrilled to be able to help Lara out while she’s getting her jacked up body fixed. Truth is……..I’d do pretty much anything for that girl. She’s one of those people you meet and you just know she’s got your back. You feel like she’s been a solid friend forever. I first met Lara while attending a conference in April 2011. My first impression of her was…….hip, sassy, true. My impression of her a year later and a few more meetings later……the same, but on steroids. When I returned home, I featured her right away!

So when she asked if I would do a guest post for her while she was healing, I didn’t even need to think twice.

When people are sick, down from surgery, have a baby or just need an extra hand………I try to take them a home cooked meal or treat. I’ll never forget after having my son and having my whole word rocked in so many ways, that when a dear friend showed up on our door step with a hot meal and then refused to come in to visit…..I had never been so grateful for a gift in my entire life! That meal was exactly what I needed. It not only nourished my healing body, but it warmed my heart. It confirmed my beliefs that a gift doesn’t always have to cost money. Her gift is one I will always remember and have vowed to pass it forward since.

This quick recipe is a perfect treat to deliver to someone who may need a little pick me up. I’ve shared it on TCB, but I thought I’d spread the love and share it with all of you too!

Gluten Free Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe found on the back of my Trader Joes Rolled Oats

1/4 cup butter

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cups sugar

3 cups Trader Joes Rolled Oats (Just a hunch, but I bet other rolled oats would work)

3/4 cup brown sugar

6 oz chocolate chips

2 eggs

1/2 cup sunflower or chopped walnuts

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and butter and beat until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla and baking soda and mix well. Add peanut butter and mix. Stir in oats, chocolate chips and nuts. Place teaspoon full of dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly brown around the edges.

Enjoy!

Thanks for having me!

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Thank you so much for coming Kim!  I love what she says about small gestures just healing hearts.  It’s so important for people to know you care about them!  Plus, sharing makes you feel amazing too!

Please visit Kim at her amazing blog: Today’s Creative Blog.  (she might make it the best day of your life….just sayin’)

While I’m out taking a break and healing from surgery, some of my favorite bloggers and bestest of friends have kindly agreed to help out with an LCMF blog series:

This series will hopefully answer some of your most frequently asked questions about “what can I do?” for someone who might be needing your help or support.

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First off I have to say that I love, love, LOVE this series that Lara has put together while she is taking some time off to have surgery and take care of herself, Secondly I have to say that I ADORE Lara and hope that all is going well with her and her family at this time.

Hello all you Less Cake More Frosting Friends {LCMF for short!} I’m Heather from WhipperBerry and I’m thrilled to be here today to share one of my fun projects with you guys.

I know how crazy and scary this time can be for a family.

Back in March I had to have unplanned surgery and boy, it can throw the family into chaos.  My husband and I headed off to the emergency room and left my fourteen year old in charge.

My husband wasn’t able to get back to the house until the following day.  By that time, I had been admitted to the hospital and was getting prepared for surgery.

We didn’t have time to line-up child care, to go grocery shopping, to make a list of all the important numbers that one would need to make sure our family continued to function in my absence.

I had wonderful friends that jumped in to help, but again… they don’t have all the information like school information, health information and such in order to make sure our family stayed on track.

Now that’s an extreme example, but think about it… wouldn’t it be nice to have a central location to keep all of that kind of information handy? Not just for when you may need to be rushed off to surgery, but when

• you and your honey would like to go out of town and Grandma comes to help take care of the kiddos
• or maybe you are headed out of town and Dad needs all this basic family information close at hand
• or you are having another baby

So many times we need to make sure our family is organized well, and we usually we just don’t’ have time to do it properly.

To address this dilemma, I’ve created a fantastic tool for your family to use  just in case you find yourself in a situation where Mom is out of commission or you need to go out of town. It’s a printable Family Planner with all of the information that another caregiver will need when taking care of your family.  All you need to do is print out these basic forms, fill them out, put them in a binder and you are set.

print | family planner title page

school schedule

print | school schedule

First we have the school schedule page with all of the important school information Dad, Grandma or whom ever will be watching your kiddos will need to to make sure everyone stays on track for school while you are gone. School contact information, School start and end times, bus information.  All the basic information that we as Moms have stored in our heads.

An additional idea is to add a folder for each child behind this page to store homework or important notes that come home while you are gone.  You can also add more information, like when homework is due, when they have their specials {i.e. gym, music, library, ect.} and any other information that will help your kiddos have a positive school experience while you are not there managing the ship. I even added a Post-it pocket on the back of the previous sheet to place small items like lunch money and such that they will need while you are away.

child care

print | child care schedule

I know that when I had my surgery in March my little guy whet to a different friends home each day, and that schedule can be hard to keep up with.  Here is a handy form to fill out for your husband or caregiver, so that they know exactly what will be happening as far as child care is concerned each day.

enrichment activities

print | enrichment activities

If you have kiddos these days, you know that with them comes all kinds of activities. Piano, soccer, dance, you name it… they are busy all the time.  Here is a handy sheet to help your temporary caregiver stay organized and know exactly where and when to go each day. You can print one out for each child and you are good to go!

medical information

print | medical information

Again, you can print one of these sheets for the whole crew or one for each kiddo.  Write down all of their important medical information just in case something happens while you are away. This way there won’t be any panic if someone needs to see the Doctor while you are gone.  Not only that, you can list all of their allergies and medications as well.

I also added a Post-it pocket to this page as well to keep all of the kiddos insurance cards close at hand, just in case.

meal planning

print | meal planning

Now we have a meal planning section to help your families caregiver take care of their food needs.  If your family is anything like mine, everyone has their likes and dislikes.

I don’t cater to my kiddos, but I do know what really sends them over the edge and try to avoid it if possible.  This is especially a good idea when they may already have a higher stress level because Mom is gone.  It’s better to take the food anxiety out of the equation. Plus, you can help your caregiver by planning everything out for them so they don’t have to worry about meals if you have some time to prepare before hand.

Here is another section where I added the Post-it Pockets.  You can put cash or a pre-paid grocery card just in case they need to run to the store for anything.  You can also stack it with gift cards from your families favorite local restaurants for Grandma {or who ever is watching the kiddies} to take them for a special treat without having to dip into their budget.

Now all you have to do is print all of these forms to fill out, find a cute binder {I found my lovely chevron binder at Target} and place each sheet into the binder in a sheet protector.

You could even laminate each sheet and use dry-erase markers to fill everything out so that when things change it will be easy to update.  Add several sheets of notebook paper to the binder for other notes and you will have your family plan at hand.  Keep it up to date and even if you have a unexpected emergency like my family did, you are good to go!

I created these printables using Rhonna Designs Chevron Tool Kit, isn’t it just delish?!  If you would like to print out the full sheets of prints to help decorate your binder like I did, you can visit Rhonna’s site to purchase and download the kit to have access to all of these fun digital elements.

Lara, I’ve had a ball hanging out with you and your friends today!  I hope you are resting well, healing fast and being pampered by those you love.  We all adore you and can’t wait for you to be back on your feet! Kisses my dear, and kisses to all of you!!  Come and visit me over at WhipperBerry anytime for some fun project ideas, recipes, home DIY and whatever is tickling my fancy at the time!

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Thank you so much for coming Heather! I KNOW that emergency surgery threw Heather’s family for a loop. Especially since they weren’t expecting it…or a several day hospital stay. Thank you so much for sharing ALL this amazing info and BEAUTIFUL printable pages, Heather!

Please visit Heather at her amazing blog: Whipperberry. (one of my ABSOLUTE must reads!)