Donation: Complete!

Blogger has been giving me FITS!  This is at least the fourth time I've tried to post this.  Looks like it will finally go through so hooray for that!

Remember the poll we had?  Where you all voted where I should send the money I earned blogging?  Samaritan's Purse was the option that won and I completed the donation to partially stock a fish pond for a community in need.

As it turns out, when I went to make the donation, this was listed as an "urgent need" category.

Thank you all for your votes and for your support, you made this happen!

Joy in a Shoebox-- Operation Christmas Child (Boy Edition)

You saw the Operation Christmas Child boxes we packed for girls.  Now you can see what we put in our boxes for the boys!

We did 3 boxes for boys, one for each age group: 2-4yrs old, 5-9yrs old, and 10-14yrs old.

Here is the box for the 2-4 yr old:

The jump rope was a last minute addition...found for 9cents at a CVS clearance!

Box for the boy in the 5-9 age group:

Box for the boy in the oldest, 10-14yrs old, age group:

Just like with our girl boxes, I tried to make sure each child's box has something soft and cuddly in it along with school supplies and soap (double bagged) and toys.  The older boy got a toy skateboard, same kind my own son likes to play with, and the skateboard pencils...same kind we bought our older son for school this year.  I also packed a baggie of Legos for him.

I can't wait to track our boxes this year with Operation Christmas Child and find out what countries they go to!

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Related Post: Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes for Girls!
Related Post: 10 Ways to Keep the Christmas Focus for Kids

Packing Joy (in a Shoebox)--Girl's Edition

Christmas is coming.

We don't spend a lot on gifts for our kids (see this post for how we did 4 gifts last year).  But they get gifts.  Grandparents get them gifts, they get birthday gifts.

Imagine a child not having ever been given a gift.  Nothing. Nada.  That's the sad reality for millions in our world.

Samaritan's Purse runs a super cool program aimed at giving kids a gift. Operation Christmas Child asks you to pack a shoe box with items for a boy or girl.  Then they deliver these all around the world.  Shoe boxes aren't just about toys, they include school supplies, often making the difference for a child being able to go to school or not.  Did you know that in Uganda, a box of crayon costs the equivalent of a week's salary!?  No wonder kids don't have the supplies they need for school.

This year we've done 6 boxes in our family.
They are on a storage shelf in our room and I can add to them as I purchase stuff. I find that the easiest way to keep organized and keep an eye on what is still needed.

I spelled "hygiene" incorrectly in this picture.  Oops.  Don't send hate mail.

Today, I will show you what our girl boxes contain.  There are lots of photos of each of the 3 boxes so you can get a detailed look at what's inside!

Our Dial soap is double bagged so the scent doesn't permeate every item in the boxes.

First, the box for the youngest age category of girls: 2-4 yr olds

Here's a list of everything stuffed into the box!  I've never sent silverware before but this year all my boxes include  forks.  They were a great deal at my grocery store during back-to-school season and I thought many of the children getting boxes may not have enough forks for each member of the house, so this would help them.

Girl box ages 5-9

List of everything in our box for the girl in the 5-9 yr old age group.  For some reason the headbands really excite me about this box.  I hope the girl who gets it was HOPING for headbands!  She also will get two stuffed animals.  Everyone needs something cuddly!

The box for the oldest girl age group:

I was lucky to find some water bottles on clearance at a craft store after the summer.  You'll see some again when I get to the boys' boxes!  To make everything fit in the box, that is another washcloth stuffed into the bottle.

Do you pack boxes?  You can join the OCC Virtual Packing Party!  I just love seeing what creative ideas people have for putting things in the boxes!

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Related Post: Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes for Boys!

The poll has arrived

You're the boss.

I made some money blogging.  All of it is being given away.  Some to my church, some for my Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes to cover shipping (each box is $7 to ship).  That still leaves me $25.

Since I earned the money from blogging, I wanted you guys to get to tell me where to send it!

SO, please vote in this poll*!  On October 20th, I will donate $25 to the charity with the highest number of bids.  

*You'll have to go to that sidebar and do it <-----  for the life of me I could not get it to embed in this post.

No, $25 will not fix all the problems of the world. We have to start somewhere!
                  

It is enough to fund most of a bear to comfort a grieving mother through the Molly Bears organization.  It is enough to save two lives from Malaria, help fund clean water at Drop in the Bucket, give a teacher some classroom supplies that they need via Donors Choose, stock half of a fish pond in a third world country through Samaritan's Purse, or support an orphan or adoption at Show Hope.

Folks, what will it be?  Vote!  Leave me a comment and share with your friends, the more voices, the better!

money money money

Agh, remember last week when I said there was going to be a poll?  There still will be!  I'm just slow to get it up.  My husband and I got back from a 4 day trip to New York (boy I can tell you where to eat and where not to eat!) and one of the kids is sick.

SO.  I didn't forget about you.  I'm working on it.

I earned some money and wanted to donate it somewhere but thought since I earned the money blogging it was only fair to let my readers decide where the money gets donated to!  I'll get the poll up this week so you all can vote.  Promise.  

In the meantime, enjoy some photos of animals that are extremely disappointed in me:






all photos from here.  go look at them.  they are great.

Reading List

So many books I want to read!  I've been adding to my amazon wishlist today and here are some that made the cut.  

What are you reading that I should add?

Kisses from Katie


Orphanology


The A.B.C. Murders
(I have liked other  Agatha Christie books so I figured this would be good too)


A Tale of Two Cities
(A classic that sadly I have not read yet!)


Radical
By David Platt



In other news, I'm going to have a poll later this week and ask you to vote for how I spend some money I earned.  Stay tuned.  

"Bike!"

"Biiiiiiike!"

Crap.  He saw it.  In the back of the car.

Actually he saw me buy the clearance trike at Kroger. I shoved it in the cart and hoped he forgot. He's two. Surely he'll forget.  

Then he kept seeing it in the back of the car.  

Big Brother has a bike.

Daddy just got a bike.

Little Guy had none.

"Biiiike!"  He yelled.  Over and over and over and over.  We were outside with Brother and Daddy, both whom have bikes.  The little guy wanted his SO bad.  We'd been trying to save it as a Christmas gift but I couldn't do it.  Couldn't let him sit there outside while everyone else had a bike and not give him his own bike (he's never had one before) that was already bought for him!

That's right.  Mommy is a softie.

Guess what?  Thomas the Train themed bike did NOT come assembled.  
The two year old was unamused that his staff (*cough* Mommy and Daddy) was taking so long to put it together.  But finally we got it done and he had a big ole' time.  

It was eight bucks.  We'll find something else to give him at Christmas.