New inspiration

Throughout my day I always have an eye out for different project ideas I can share on the blog.  I tear things out of magazines, bookmark sites, pin things, leave myself little notes, my point is that inspiration is everywhere!  It is always good to keep things fresh and mix it up, so when the school year started I decided this year we would focus on a new area at the little hearts project - the holidays!!

Each year my girls get older the excitement level over the holidays seems to ramp up!  Baking, decorating, crafting - they ( and I :) love it all.  It's easy to get caught up in a very me-centric mind frame during this time as well though.  As excited as my kids are, I can't help but think how difficult the holidays would be for those without the means to do much celebrating.  So this year we will be doing a special project related to each holiday throughout the year.  Look for them soon and consider adding a service projects to your list of holiday activities!

Water Women

Type:  Activity
Age:  Over 1

After the birth of my last daughter I took up running to get back in shape and take care of myself.  It has been a wonderful outlet and has turned into a family affair.  My girls regularly go to the gym with me while I train and we all ran several races this summer.  They are familiar with the workings of a race, so when a friend of mine from church mentioned they were looking for volunteers to run water stations for their 20 mile marathon training run, I knew this would be a great project for my little hearts!

My oldest holding a sign to cheer on the runners

Who could say no to water from these three?!?

You can do it!!!

There was a lot of significance personally about this training run and I blogged about it over here if you want to hear more of the story.  Most of the runners that morning have never run even close to the 20 miles that they would be doing that day, and nearly all of them stopped to tell my girls how much it meant to them to have their support.  Their smiling faces and handmade signs were simple gifts that uplifted the spirits of those running.  We spent two hours pouring water, handing out cups and high fives, but even a month later my heart still feels full thinking of this morning spent together serving!