American Heritage Girls Make A Difference Day

As our sweet little American Heritage Girl's Troop continues, I hope to share more posts here.  I've found that it's helpful to find ideas on Pinterest and other places for planning purposes.  Whether it be a craft or service project, it's nice to be able to see what others are doing:)  

Last Saturday was the National "Make A Difference Day" for American Heritage Girls.  I am just loving all of the service projects that go hand in hand with our mission... To Love God, Cherish our family, Honor our Country and Serve in our community.  Service really is at the heart of sharing love with one another and the girls are seeing that first hand.  We are made to serve and get beyond ourselves; The proof in that always shines through!

For this service project, the girls chose to make care packages for patients undergoing chemotherapy. "Chemo Care Packs"  were inspired by Life as a Survivor and a flyer with gift ideas quickly went out!  The girls collected the items for about a month and came together to make these lovely gift bags to be delivered to a local oncology office.  These were some of the suggestions:

Cute gift bags
Tissue paper
Bottled water
Lemon drops, hard candies
Mini candy bars
Handmade greeting cards written with words of encouragement and cheer
Prayer cards
Journals
Small notebooks with pens
Hand sanitizers
Hand lotions
Colgate Wisp disposable toothbrushes
Pocket calendar

We actually found a lot of cute things at the Dollar Tree:)

Going on our 2nd year, our AHG Troop is now blessed with a little over 30 girls but it was a busy Saturday for many of the others.  These handful of girls sure made a heart full of love!  

The girls wrote out many sweet cards, in addition to filling the bags...

These girls have hearts of gold and that certainly makes a difference:)

St. Therese Liturgical Ideas to Share

I love turning the calendar to October...Some of my favorite church celebrations unfold this month (And family ones too:)

October 1st is St. Therese...A remarkable Story of a Soul, whose life story continues to radiate showers of roses from heaven.  It was a huge blessing to be able to visit her quaint little childhood town of Lisieux, France a few years ago.  I wrote a little bit about it, here.  Since she was born in France, we decided to make "french" toast in her honor this year.  Being that it's October and pumpkin is in the air, this seemed a fitting recipe to try...Pumpkin French Toast...Boy was it scrumptious!  The best part was being able to make it the night before and just popping it in the oven the next morning.  What a great way to kick off October:)  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Pumpkin Pie French Toast 

(Overnight Casserole)

Courtesy of Gooseberry Patch

1 loaf Hawaiian Bread (cut into 1 inch slices or cubes)

3 Eggs- Beaten

1/2 Cup- Egg substitute (or 2 additional beaten eggs)

1 Cup Half and Half

1 1/2 Cup Milk

1/4 tsp Salt

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar- Packed

1 Tbsp Butter- Cut Up

Instructions

1. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray and place bread in pan.

2. Combine remaining ingredients (except butter) in a bowl and pour over bread.

3. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. Dot with butter and bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes.

5. Optional to serve with syrup...It is actually quite delicious without it!

These little paper flowers were a fun craft and super easy to make. The link and directions are here.

May all the beauties of our faith continue to give glory to God!