Hello, everybody!! The Fresh Pioneer is back and it's been a busy week. One of our projects was something new that started as being "the hands and feet" for someone who couldn't pack their own Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. We volunteered to do the busy work, and she sent us the money to buy the insides. Funny thing... as we started to work on it, my kids got more and more excited, then they decided to pitch in from their savings. We had enough for 25 shoe boxes instead of ten! So exciting!
Here's a peek at what we put inside. 
Every shoe box had a new toothbrush in a special holder. Girl boxes had jump ropes. Boy boxes had small soccer balls.
Every box had a pad of paper, water colors, ten plain pencils, ten colored pencils, five patterned pencils, one bar of soap, toothpaste, and a crank flashlight.
In other news, I found this note on my keyboard. Part hieroglyphics, part kid printing, it says someone is ready for a library card.
And surprise! You didn't have to be six, so we actually came back with two cards that day. Exciting times! Now every child has their own library card. This must be what parents feel like when their last kid gets a driver's license. Freedom! And the worry of how many fines we'll rack up. LOL.
Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs is on sale! I'm not sure for how long, but it's nine dollars off at 1.99!
Until next time. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Feel free to pop by my author page at Mary Jane Hathaway or at my web page The Things That Last.
I love Operation Christmas style and wow, did you ever pack a lot in those boxes!!! And that note requesting a library card. Blissful librarian sigh. I'm doing a book-reading happy dance up here in Canada.
ReplyDeleteHaha! It's adorable, right? I've saved it for posterity. :)
DeleteWhat a great family project! And I love the variety of items you put in your boxes - fun stuff, necessary stuff, cool stuff.... those children will be blessed :)
ReplyDeleteAnd Heifer Project? It has a special place in my heart. Kudos for doing that project, too.
I had to laugh at your comment about racking up library fines. When my children were that age, I'm sure we contributed at least 10% of the yearly budget of our local library. The only thing that saved us is when I took a part time job there - no more late books because I was there four times a week!
yes! We go several times a week, but we still have fines every now and then when we lose a book. But after working there for a while, I have an "inside edge".... meaning a few former coworkers who waive fines in exchange for cookies. LOL
DeleteWe've loved making shoe boxes over the years! But we've never done 25!! Wow. Y'all are amazing! The kids will be so blessed.
ReplyDeleteIt was a brand new experience! I don't think I'd ever really heard of it before. Maybe vaguely... But the kids learned a lot about what was "useful" and "fun" for some children. Their first choices for toys wouldn't have worked at all because they needed batteries or a flat surface or were pool toys. It was a good learning experience.
DeleteAlso mean to say how sweet that note was!! :)
ReplyDeleteThe note really made me laugh. A cross between a ransom note and a love note. :)
DeleteWhat a great post, Virginia. I love all the boxes and I adore your sweet, book-loving children.
ReplyDeleteI sort of laughed when I came back here because there's that extra picture at the bottom. Not sure how that got stuck on, without any explanation, too. LOL.
DeleteAnd isn't a library card one of the greatest gifts we can give our kids?
THIS IS JUST FABULOUS!!!
ReplyDeleteIn all caps!
DeleteI'm so glad you guys jumped in on Susanna's facebook post!!! That is awesome! What a wonderful family project, Virginia!
ReplyDeleteAnd library cards, the blessing of my childhood, the most wonderful, marvelous thing in about the whole world other than chocolate and God, babies and clean sheets! So happy for the boys!!!!!!
HAHA! I was just telling my husband that clean sheets are one of the greatest "small" pleasures in life. And flannel clean sheets are so wonderful as we head into winter!
DeleteI LOVE Operation Christmas Child. I also have been doing this for years. In fact included it in my post for next Tuesday. I used to do it with my godson when he was little. Hopefully he still does it on his own now. I think its cool how you can track your shoebox and communicate with the child who received it. I haven't tried it yet, but am thinking of doing that.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that this was what the label was for. :) I thought we just had to pay for shipping. The funniest part... meeting two little helpers who used to come to story time when I was the children's librarian! It was so neat to see them all "grown up" and volunteering. :)
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