I have questions, and you’re smart.

1. My food budget is not working for me right now.  Before every paycheck, we run out of grocery money.  And food.  I’m either a foolish grocery shopper or my food budget is simply not realistic.  Do you mind divulging what amount you budget for food and how many people are in your family?  (For example:  $400 a month for 5 people)

2.  How do you get boogers off the wall without taking off the paint?  As much as I’d like to pretend I wrote this question for comedic effect, I didn’t. *shaking head in disbelief*

3.  Has anyone ever used those silicone muffin tins or bread pans?  Do they work or are they more trouble than help?

4.  Natalie’s having a Rapunzel tea party for her birthday on Thursday.  I’m making these wig things for the girls to wear and they’re going to decorate each other’s braids with little flowers.  Then I was going to show the movie clip from Tangled where she dances at the festival.  I figured they could all dance around for a while.  I’ll have a cake (heaven help me, I’m trying to make a tower out of cupcakes) and “tea” (cream soda), but I don’t have anything else planned.  Anybody out there have any ideas for something really simple I could do to fill up the rest of two hours?  The wigs and tower cake have pretty much maxed out my creative threshold.

5.  I’d love to hear some of your best, inexpensive, and simple ideas for homemade Christmas presents.  Do you have a favorite go-to craft or treat for neighbors, teachers, extended family, etc.? Keywords:  cheap.  And did I already say simple?  Please don’t overestimate me.  🙂

So we all have different strengths and weaknesses, right?  I’m counting on you to fill in the gaping holes where my own talents fall short.  I can teach a mean gospel doctrine lesson, but all this crafty, homemaking stuff is given me a headache.

I once heard Sister Julie Beck say that we will never have enough time and energy to do all the good things our heart desires to do.  Amen.  It’s a curse of the nurturing way of womanhood; we want to help in so many ways, and our to-do lists become so long, but we just can’t do it all.

I’ve been thinking of the words to this hymn:

There are chances for work all around just now,
Opportunities right in our way.
Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,”
But go and do something today.
’Tis noble of man to work and to give;
Love’s labor has merit alone.
Only he who does something helps others to live.
To God each good work will be known.

I wanted to pass along a few opportunities for service or help that I’ve been made aware of recently.  I can help a little with some, but not with all myself, so I’m sharing them with you.  Maybe something will stand out to you as a way you can help, and with a team of us contributing just a little, we can add up to make a difference.

–> There is a scholarship available for single mothers to study at LDS Business College.  Apparently, the funds are running low and they really want to be able to help struggling single mothers to have access to an education.  I think it’s a great cause.  I tried really hard to make the widget work, but it was not meant to be.  However, good ol’ blog pal DeNae is hosting up some incentives for making a contribution to this fund, so feel free to hop over there and contribute through that route.  Please do.  This video shares one success story of the fund.

–> Also, for any of you nursing mothers who may not have much time or money to donate to good causes, consider checking out Helping Hands Bank (for breast milk), where you can share your … um, abundance.  It’s another easy way to make a big difference.

–>  Maybe you’re already familiar with The Vineyard, but it’s a place, sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where you can donate your time and talents to building the kingdom in simple ways, like photography or language translation, or editing or technology.  It also has a list of church-sponsored charities and ways that you can contribute.  Definitely worth checking out.

–> One reader wanted me to pass along her and her husband’s recent attempts to produce good media that can be used in Family Home Evening lessons or for children’s entertainment and learning.  Here’s a link to find out more about that.

–> Mormon Market is a new company that sells products for the LDS Market.  They donate $1 from every order to the the Church General Missionary Fund.  If you see anything there you’re interested in purchasing, you can use the coupon code ENOS1 to get a 15% discount.

If anyone else has a favorite cause or charity or service opportunity, feel free to share links in the comments below.  After all,

Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love.

Remember this talk we studied last week for GCBC?

Well.

If you get a prompting to do something for or say something to someone, and it seems kind of odd and you feel kind of foolish,

Do it anyway.

If your husband says, “Won’t [she] think you’re kind of weird if you do that?” and you say, “Well, yah, maybe,”

Do it anyway.

It won’t take long at all for you to figure out that God knew exactly what he was doing when he made you think those random thoughts.  You’ll learn for yourself that He can trust you, and that feels really good.

The end.