Here comes Christmas break...

...with Blue having the flu. They called me from school Friday morning to tell me her fever was almost 102, so I got her in to the doc, and they confirmed, it's the flu. So that cancels the weekend activities she was looking forward to. And gives me one whiny baby to start out Christmas break with.

To her credit, she's not as whiny as she could be for as high as her fever has been. Poor thing. Doc wouldn't even give her Tamiflu even though I got her there in time. Makes me wonder who they DO give it to.

So here come the holidays! I can't wait for Christmas this year. We're so blessed. Not only because Hubby is healthy, thank goodness, but because there are kind people who help us give our daughter a Christmas. Kind people keep us going a lot. We take advantage of food banks to keep us in food, and we use an alumni program from a shelter I stayed on to keep us stocked with things like toilet paper and shampoo, things we couldn't otherwise afford. But Christmas is a big one.

A few years ago I met a Christmas angel. She has her own kids, but they're all grown and gone. She spends the months before Christmas buying gifts for kids she finds that wouldn't have Christmas gifts otherwise, and she SPOILS them. My daughter is one she has adopted. This woman is an amazing woman. She told me she starts having nightmares in August that her Christmas plans won't be completed in time, that's how much effort and focus she puts into making this happen for all these children.

I years past, she's brought trash bags full of gifts for our daughter. It's literally been crowded in our house with all the gifts she brings. She said she doesn't think it's ok for kids to miss out on that part of the magic of Christmas. So she does what she can for as many people as she can. She gets her whole family in on it. When her kids come home for Christmas, they all help too. I've been to her house right before Christmas. It's empty except for piles of toys with names on top. They scramble to deliver at the last minute, trying to keep deliveries a secret from the kids. When I was at her house, it looked like she must do this for fifty kids. Maybe more.

She doesn't pick the kids at random. She follows them every year and if parents still need help, she does it every year, We've needed the help. Truth be told, we couldn't afford a single gift. We're so blessed to have her in our lives. She makes Christmas morning for our daughter. We're so grateful, there ARE no words.