Thank you, Dad

With out all the summers spent on vacation, driving across (and up & down) the country, on the back seat of a Buick with only half a suitcase shared with my brother to call my own for two weeks at a time, I never would have been able to fit this:

into this:

This is the care package that we are sending to Eliza Grace!  I was a little shocked at shipping costs.  But found that if I could get everything into the large (at 12x12x5 not exactly what I would call large) flat rate box from the post office all her goodies could get to her in a little over a week for $55 (MUCH better than $168 with another shipping company!)  This box only weighs six pounds for heaven sake!

So, within the walls of 720 cubic inches we squeezed

• 1 hooded fleece suit
• 1 one piece long sleeve, long leg play suit
• 1 three piece (pants, long sleeve t-hirt, hooded jacket) set
• 1 fleecy blanket (with her name and birthday monogrammed on it- we asked her foster parents if they could put this in her bed with her now and return it with her when we pick her up so that she'd have something familiar as she makes the transition from their home to ours- we'll see what happens- if we don't get it back they'll have a reminder of her and her birthday as they care for the next baby)
• 2 Minnie Mouse sippy cups
• 1 container of pineapple puffs
• 4 mini Eric Carle board books (thank you Chick fil A!)
• 1 stuffed elephant stacker toy
• 1 wooden shapes/color puzzle
• 1 teether/crinkly book
• 1 pink toy car
• 1 dolly
• pack of 8 washcloths
• 1 disposable camera (so we can get some candid shots of her during the last months she's with her foster family)
• 1 book of photos of our family, dog, house, and she & Miller's room
• Translated letter to her foster parents expressing our gratitude to them for making the sacrifice to care for our daughter and other orphans as they wait for their families

And here's Dad trying to distract the Pantsless Wonder (aka Miller- she HATES having anything on the bottom half of her body) from the box- she was a little distressed that we were sending all of Baby Sister's things away (sort of sad that her sister's things were leaving, but more sad that those things weren't secretly HER'S)

Thanks to everyone who bought clippies this fall- I think Eliza Grace and the foster babies that follow her will be greatly blessed by this little care package!

Thanks again to Dad.  Who knew all that cramming, rolling, and folding t-shirts into 32nds would be such a valuable life skill.  Now, I do realize that you could have fit it all into the Flat Envelope.  Maybe in my next 32 years I'll be able to attain your level of greatness. Maybe.

Thanks also to Phil's Man Hands- without their unmatched strength and squeezing power the chasm between the box top flaps would never have been closed by a single strip of packing tape!