Merry Christmas!

Well the end has come, for this year anyway. :) Yesterday when I was preparing the bags for Sherman, and after I had called to see how many babies they had, I knew I had plenty to share with another hospital. So my large original gifts went to Sherman, and I was able to give smaller bags to Saint Joseph.

For Sherman, there were 3 bag types. 1 for the parents, 1 for the nurses, and 1 for 'extra gifts'. That is where the outfits for the 2-4 pounders were... and if I didn't have enough of one thing to put in all the bags I put them in this bag for the nurses to distribute as they saw fit. Here is a pciture of the 'extra gifts' bag.

We delivered two of these to Sherman, one for the sbcu staff and one for labor & delivery staff. I put more savory snacks in there, like chips & salsa and cheesy pretzels, since I figured they'd get a lot of sweet stuff over the holidays.

This is the bag of 'extra gifts' that went to Saint Joseph. I explained my project a bit on the front, since they had never seen me or heard from me ever before. :) While I was there doing my delivery once of the nurses said a woman had just recently delivered preemie twins, so it felt really wonderful knowing one of my gifts was already going to be given out. :)

And these are the bags of gifts for Sherman filled with candles, glass votive holders, clothing, cameras, chocolates, socks and coffee.

These are the little bags that went to Saint Joseph. And even though they are smaller, they had almost the identical loot as the bigger Sherman bags, but the blankets were smaller.

A table full of gifts.

Again. :)

After months of preparation, we actually scrambled to get out the door this morning. Of course that meant I forgot something - namely my Christmas cards I wanted to give out - but those can go in the mail and be a little late. :) But the weather here continues to be INSANE and we rushed around this morning so that the kids were back home safely before the next pummeling began. Even still, I was sloshing and slipping around like nobody's business.

And the light is red don't worry, I wouldn't take a picture whiel I was driving!!

A cold and dishevelled Henry in the elevator up to the fifth floor.

Philip guarded all of the gifts.

And then we came home to undress, re-dress into pajamas, and gorge on Christmas baking.

Thank you a MILLION times over for all of you who helped me with this project! It was worth everything, and I can't wait to start preparing for next year already! My hope is to spread the warm fuzzies even further next year, and as always there will be a ton of different ways for people to get involved if they want. :)

Rather than let this website die for the next few months, I'm also going to chronicle a few other charity projects here that I'm going to do with my boys. For instance, I am planning on growing a cutting garden this summer so that I can make bouquets. Along with my flowers, and those that I can get donated, I'm going to deliver bouquets and a visit to people in the cancer units at the hospitals who don't have flowers in their rooms. When my mom was in the hospital, every time, she was guaranteed to have several bright bouquets to keep her comforted while she wa in there. And when she died my father & I delivered several of her funeral arrangements to the hospital to sit with people who could get an even better use out of them. My mom would have been thrilled. And so I want to take this on as another personal charity cause of my own, and see where the love can take me. If all I can do is give one sick lonely person flowers and a visit, then my mom would be proud.

There are also many times throughout the year that I donate my crafts to people who need cheer for whatever reason. And who knows. Maybe if I've found enough money, time, help, consultation by this time next year my dream of starting my own 501(c)(3) charity will be realized. Who knows!! :)

For now.... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!