Operation Christmas Child

Each year our family participates in Operation Christmas Child. In the past we've always filled a shoe box for a boy. This year, however, we chose to fill one for a girl between the ages of 5 - 9. It's always such fun finding items to place in the box. You have to be pretty choosy when you know that one child's entire Christmas will be in that box. Of course I always try to find the largest box possible. This year it was a Nike tennis shoe box courtesy of my husband's new tennis shoes. We included a notebook, pencils, sharpener, ruler, markers, crayons, coloring book, diary, Barbie doll with extra clothes, play-doh, hair goodies, brush, mirror, 2 pair of socks, undies, calculator, nail clippers, lip balm, necklace, bracelet and tons of candy. See what I mean? You can get a ton of stuff in a shoe box with a little creative packing. I used up every single nook and cranny. We always include a card and hand written note from each of us as well as a family picture. I can't think of a better way to spend $30, can you?