Operation Christmas Child

November 10th......

I am thankful for being able to give.

#76 on the list is checked off.....and it was so much fun! #76:

Instead of giving gifts to all the children our family at Christmas,

let them pick a gift out for a child in need.

I read about Operation Christmas Child on The Wedding Story Blog. Right when I read about it, I thought how PERFECT this would be with my nieces. So....this morning I explained to the girls what we would be doing and they were so excited! OCC's goal is to collect shoe boxes filled with things, whether it be toys, schools supplies, socks, etc., and send them to various countries to children in need. I thought this would be a great thing to do with the girls that would really help them understand that Christmas is about giving and celebrating the things we are fortunate to have. We all watched a video on the charities website . The girls asked why the kids were so excited and I told them because the shoe box of gifts was probably to only thing they had received as a gift....that they don't have Christmas every year or celebrate their birthdays like we do. They were so excited to get shopping so these children would get gifts. Before we left, each girl got to decide if they wanted to fill their box with gifts for a girl or boy. Julie and Kayley decided on girls and Ally and Rylee bought for boys. So off to the store to shop........

Poor Ally....all through shopping she kept seeing Kayley and Julie put girly things in the cart, like baby dolls or tea sets. She would ask.....is there a boy baby doll or is there a tea set with tigers on it? So cute. The girls really enjoyed picking things out and making sure everything fit into the boxes. We got coloring books and crayons, pencils, hair ties, tooth brushes and tooth paste, baby dolls, footballs, squishy balls, jump ropes, hairbrushes, and candy.

Once we got home, the girls made Christmas cards for the boxes.
And then we packed them all up.....Ally was pumped!

I am so excited because, as a family, we are making this a Christmas tradition! For every child, we are going to fill one box. Next year, there will be 5!