Author: Sarah Marshall

Operation Christmas Child | Dollar Tree Haul

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

One of the most important things we can teach our children is to be compassionate & giving. The holiday season is a great time to really focus on putting these values into practice. There are many wonderful organizations to which families can give their time and money….food banks, homeless shelters, Angel Trees. This year, one of the organizations with which our family is getting involved is Operation Christmas Child.

Packing Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

What is Operation Christmas Child?

Operation Christmas Child is a program that coordinates an effort to provide gifts to children in areas of the worlds where Christmas or birthday gifts are an afterthought. It is also a way to share the word of Jesus with these children and show them the love of people around the world.

Through Brooke’s Girl Scout troop and Leah’s daycare, we were given the opportunity to join in two Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing parties. To prepare for the parties, the girls and I made a quick trip to Dollar Tree where we were able to gather up more than enough for two shoeboxes for about $40!!!

Below is a video of our trip to Dollar Tree and all the items we bought to fill the boxes.

How To Get Involved With Operation Christmas Child

There are many ways to get involved in the Operation Christmas Child project. You’ll want to get moving if you’d like to do it this year because the collection time period is November 14 – 21. For more information & drop-off locations, you can check out their webpage at https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

OCC National Collection Week

packing-operation-christmas-child-shoeboxes_pin

School Lunches | Week of September 5

We had a short week due to the Labor Day holiday so there were only 4 school lunches to show you this week!

school lunches

I will be honest and say there was nothing special about Brooke’s lunches this week. And I will continue being honest and say that is part of the reason I share the lunches I pack for Brooke.

Packing school lunch doesn’t have to be a big deal. You don’t need to spend a ton of money on fancy containers & cutters and spend hours in the kitchen every morning making flowers out of vegetables. With a few versatile items and a couple minutes in the morning, you can kick your kids’ school lunches up a notch.

Items used in this week’s lunches are listed below. Links are affiliate links.

Easy Lunchboxes – http://amzn.to/1QhMJhH
Easy Lunchboxes Mini Dippers – http://amzn.to/2bgLuTz
Silicon Cupcake Liners – http://amzn.to/1JUvQIE

School Lunches | Week of August 29

In this week of school lunches, sandwiches continue to be less than popular and I get to have lunch at school with Brooke on Thursday!

school lunches

Thursday at Brooke’s school was an event called “Grand Event”. While meant for primarily grandparents, its open to any special guests and since Brooke’s grandparents are in Michigan – I got to be her special guest!! The main attraction of the day is to have lunch at school with your student and the cafeteria staff does not disappoint!

The links to the items I used in packing Brooke’s lunches are after the video.

Items Used to Pack Lunches This Week {affiliate links}:
Easy Lunchboxes – http://amzn.to/1QhMJhH

Easy Lunchboxes Mini Dippers – http://amzn.to/2bgLuTz

Silicon Cupcake Liners – http://amzn.to/1JUvQIE