Family Friendly Summer Activities: A.C.T.S. Summer of Service

Long summer days are nearly upon us.  School ends for our oldest daughter this week and ends next week for our two younger girls.  What activities will fill our days this summer?  In addition to our busy days of dance camps and tennis lessons, hours in the pool, and keeping up with summer reading and vacations—we discovered a wonderful program that encourages families to serve others during the summer.  Adventures in Odyssey (AIO) launches A Call to Service (A.C.T.S.) this week—and it is a fun way to encourage kids to give back to family, the community and even the world.  As a bonus, participants are eligible to win prizes and have the opportunity to win a mission trip to a foreign country to continue service beyond the summer.

What is A.C.T.S. ? A Call to Service  is a collaboration of Adventures in Odyssey, an audio program focused on strengthening faith and families, Clubhouse Magazine and Christian bookstores across the country.  Through A.C.T.S., kids across the country are invited to join in a Summer of Service.   Whether participants serve families, communities or the world through faith based giving and activities—the program promotes the biblical message,  “When you serve, everybody wins,”.

A.C.T.S. Program and contest details.  Kids participating in the A.C.T.S. program may either pick up a service log at a participating bookstore—or download a service log online.  During the summer, kids will attach character stickers for each service hour.  At summer’s end, kids can record and submit a video explaining how they serve—and why they would like to become an Adventures in Odyssey Ambassador.  One hundred winners will receive the new Adventures in Odyssey album, and after online voting, two grand prize winners (one boy and one girl) will win a Good-Goers Mission Based Adventure trip to another country with a parent!  The out-of-country destination will be announced on a live podcast May 22 —hosted by AIO actors Katie Leigh (Connie) and Chris Anthony (Chris).

Ready to serve with A.C.T.S.?  We will be participating in this program throughout the summer—and the girls and I will be blogging about our adventures along the way.   Need some ideas?  A.C.T.S. offers PDF of service ideas to get your family started on a summer of service!  We’ll also be offering our own insights and even a fun giveaway a little later in the summer—so stay tuned!

Visit Adventures in Odyssey

Learn more about A Call to Service and Listen to the AIO Service Episode

Disclosure:  We are participating in a blog tour with Tyndale Press in promoting the Adventures in Odyssey audio series and the A.C.T.S. Program.  We will receive a complimentary copy of the AIO cast favorites and will be provided with a prize for a giveaway later in the summer.  All opinions about this program are our own and we will be personally participating.

 

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Revolt Fitness Week Three Recap

As you know, I am a Revolt Fitness blogger and affiliate, and we just finished our third week of the program.  It was an insanely busy week here in our little corner of the world!  Until I began the Revolt Fitness program, I would have certainly fallen off the diet and exercise wagon this week with all of the commitments and activities on the to-do list.  The convenience of the prepared workouts and menu plans made it much easier for me to keep my husband and me on track during such a hectic week.  How did we do with week three on the Revolt Fitness Plan?

The Revolt Fitness program kept me organized during crazy days.  So many times, the day’s workload gets so hectic that dinner time arrives and there is either no time for preparing a last minute healthy meal—or no energy!  I think my favorite aspect of the Revolt Fitness plan is that it forces me to plan my entire week in advance.  I plan, I shop, and I cook, and prepackage everything into serving sizes early in the week— and it made dinner time SO much less stressful this week.  Without any last minute impulse purchases—or pizza or takeout—the whole family ate healthier meals the entire week. 

Early morning workouts are becoming a habit.  We begin every morning by walking the dog (which is helping his weight loss program as well), then doing our workout warm-ups, the full workout, and the cooldown.  We actually felt a little lost on our Sunday-workout-rest-day—and we were up and out of the house for grocery shopping and yard work long before we would have been before beginning the plan.  I won’t lie—there are days that find one of us pushing the other to get moving or encouraging the other to finish one last set.  But, a daily workout is becoming a daily habit—and I think we both like it!

And—what about the weight loss?  I lost an additional two pounds this week—even with some monthly, hormonal disruptions.  That brings me to around 7 pounds lost in three weeks.  My husband is down nearly 16 pounds and is seeing a noticeable change in the fit of his clothing as well.  We were both extremely active over the weekend and wouldn’t have accomplished nearly as much before changing our diet and exercise levels with Revolt Fitness.  The pounds aren’t dropping away rapidly—but, both my body and mind are changing.   

We are gaining things by following Revolt Fitness together that we cannot measure.  Confidence levels are returning.  I am seeing a noticeable difference in energy levels, motivation—and my own strength and balance have improved in only three weeks.  We are working on a lifestyle change—and it’s not easy—but, it is proving to be so worth the effort.

Would you like to see if Revolt Fitness will work for you?  Head over to the Revolt Fitnesswebsite and sign up!  Hurry and you may be able to take advantage of a free one week diet/exercise kickstart plan! 

Disclosure:  I received complimentary access to the Revolt Fitness program to facilitate my reviews.  All opinions and results are my own and are not influenced by the brand featured.

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Learn More about GMO’s and your Family’s Health: Genetic Roulette

Are you playing a risky game of genetic roulette with your health and that of your family?  We protect our children from as many risks as possible in life—why aren’t we doing more to battle GMO’s in our food supply?  Perhaps we assume that our food supply is safe from dangers—after all, this is the United States and we have serious, health and safety regulations, right?  Even if you believe that you are well versed in the subject of Genetically Modified Organisms and food safety in our food supply—you owe it to yourself and your family to check out this eye opening video, Genetic Roulette, from director Jeffrey Smith. 

Why the fuss about GMO’s?  Watch Genetic Roulette and you may just have not only a better understanding of the health and safety risks of GMO’s and non-organic farming practices—but, you may find yourself outraged that you were never permitted to make an informed choice about such products and practices.  I have a background in environmental engineering and health and safety.  While, I understood the terms and the scientific implications of GMO’s and food production, I generally viewed the environmental, health and safety factors from a business standpoint rather than that of a consumer.  

Assuming……

Most everyone consumes these products—so they must be okay.

If there were risks, we would know it.

I am not sure if I’m more disappointed in myself or the scientific community for promoting such assumptions.

If GMO’s are unsafe—why aren’t there warning labels on products?  I think that’s the proverbial million dollar question!  Would you change your habits if you knew that they were risky?  Some consumers could honestly care less—but, I think many of us would look more closely if we were more informed about the origins of our food and associated risks.  I know that, over the past several months, I began to look more closely at products and ingredients—even when buying locally.   

While you wonder why product labeling meets such opposition from industry, lobbyists and our lobbied government officials, consider also the recent Agriculture Appropriations Bill.  The bill slipped through Congress, containing a proposition protecting biotechnologymanufacturers of genetically modified seeds from health related litigation.   This implies, to me anyway, that we know that the risks are large enough-and valid enough—to create viable, future lawsuits.  And, instead of protecting consumers, it seems that our government opted to protect the businesses.  

What else have we consumers been missing for past several decades?

Even If you feel like you have been beaten over the head by the media discussing GMO’s in the past couple of years—I would encourage you to take the time to check out Genetic Roulette.  Maybe you will continue to purchase items as usual—but, at least, give yourself the opportunity to learn more about our food supply and your family’s health.

Disclosure:  I received access to this video via fellow blogger and mom, Leah Segedie from Mamavation.  I was not compensated in any way for this post—just wanted to share my personal, eye opening experience and encourage readers to learn more about GMO’s and the Genetic Roulette that we may be playing with our health and that of our future generations.  Most of the products that I have reviewed on this site likely contain GMO’s or unhealthy chemicals—and this concerns me.  It also saddens me that these items are so common in almost every home.  

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