Veterans Day

"What is today?"  I asked my children and Topher's friend Aiden this question after school today.

"Wednesday!" both Nathan and Topher yelled with huge smiles on their faces.  I was fairly unsure of why Wednesday brought so much glee to them, something I need to investigate further I suppose.

"Not just that," I prompted, "what else is important about today?"  On their rosy little faces, flushed from enjoying the brisk fall weather, blank looks abounded.  Not wanting to drag this out any further I offered, "Today is Veterans Day."

"Ooooh," they chimed in unison.

"So, what is a Veteran?" After nothing but silence answered me back I wondered if I was pushing my luck.  

Thankfully Aiden spoke up.  "A soldier who died in a war," he told us.

In an effort to expedite my cold self back in to the warm house I quickly explained that Aiden was correct but that the term covered all service persons.  I am fairly sure that is about all they could handle seeing as how I interrupted their outdoor fun time.  

I then handed each child, even Lilly, a Care Package Scavenger Hunt list that I assembled. 

In preparation for this I visited www.anysoldier.com and requested a female soldier from Michigan.  A wish list was then available and that is what I used for my hunt. 

The content of the scavenger hunt list were items I was fairly sure we already had in the house.

Suddenly the kids had a great burst of enthusiasm and quickly came inside, grabbed a list and a writing utensil.  I gave Nathan the box and told them we needed to hunt until it was full. 

As they reflected upon each item listed, and after I explained how to pronounce "pantiliners" {their spelling} and "non-perishable," they worked together to look through the house and decide on what food to put in and how many of each item one female soldier might need. 

After each find they marked off the item on their list and searched for something new.

By the end of their hunt we had successfully filled our box.  Much to my surprise Lilly put her treasured brand-new bag of flavored mini-marshmallows on top.  I will return those to the pantry because I don't think they will travel well but I was incredibly impressed with her act of generosity.

 

After the box was overflowing with the found items we all sat down to write a letter or draw a picture for the soldier.

I am very excited to mail out our care package and hopefully even make one for a male soldier soon.  I would have LOVED to mail this out today, but much to my dismay, the post office was closed - duh - it is Veterans Day!

A huge thank you to all of our soldiers, we owe so much to you and all you do.  We are forever grateful!

Anysoldier is an incredible program and I strongly encourage everyone to visit this website.  Soldiers sign themselves up as a contact person and when someone from back home sends a package, marked "any soldier" the contact person gives it to a soldier who does not receive mail very often or at all.  Their wishes are basic and it makes all of the difference in their time overseas.