Celebrating Fathers Cotton Babies Style

Admitably, I’m a bit of a daddy’s girl, as my bio shares I’m the oldest of four, and no kids of my own yet. This is a fun picture of my family from years… and years… AND years ago. I’m the one in red with the slightly mischievous look on my face. By the way, I was a cloth diapered baby, when I was growing up we didn’t have much money but my parents made us feel like we had something special and rich every day.

Pictures like this one are so valuable because they captured one of those moments where life – no matter how hard it was – still felt joyful, it’s clear from the expressions and the bed-head that there was lots of love in that moment.

Dads have a special place in our hearts at Cotton Babies. Of course, there are the obvious reasons why fathers are wonderful, but we have special admiration for the “Cotton Babies dads” when we see awesome, HILARIOUS comments like this….

"My husband is gonna FLIP just like the new bubble cover I got! HAHA!...I know I know not a seconds but I wanted it!"

And trust us, we see comments like this frequently, so let us first say – thanks for the entertainment – we get a kick out of your passion. Many a Cotton Babies dad has been the (perhaps unknowing) subsidizer of the latest and greatest cloth diaper, amazing seconds sale stash, or even that newest color gracing your finger tips as you click way on Facebook. So how could we pay proper homage to the man in your life this Father’s Day? We thought we’d give you a chance to give dad's wallet a little break. We know the word dad has many different meanings for many different people. We know your children are so blessed to have a parent such as yourself to love and care for them no matter how conventional or unconventional the person holding the title of “dad” is. We’re hosting a special Father's Day photo contest with the top prize a $100 gift certificate to CottonBabies.com

Here’s how to enter the Cotton Babies Father’s day photo contest.

Post pictures of a special “dad” moment for you or your little one on your favorite social media website and post the link here on the Cotton Babies blog. One entry per family, please.

Entries must be received by Sunday, June 26th. The winners will be announced by Friday, July 1st. It may be sooner, but we're anticipating quite a few entries to sort through. We want enough time available to give each entry a fair review. Please be sure your e-mail address is visible to our Cotton Babies staff, winners will be notified via e-mail only.

Winnings:
• 1 grand prize winner ($100 gift certificate to Cotton Babies)
• 1 second place winner ($50 gift certificate to Cotton Babies)
• 1 third place winner ($25 gift certificate to Cotton Babies)
• 3 additional runners up per 100 contest entries ($10 gift certificate to Cotton Babies)
Gift certificates will be e-mailed to the winners and can only be redeemed online through the Cotton Babies website. You must either live in the United States or have a shipping address in the United States to be eligible to win. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win.

Celebrate Earth Day 2011

Did you know Earth Day is more than 40 years old? The first official Earth Day was celebrated in the U.S. on April 22nd, 1970 and was created by Senator Gaylord Nelson, who desired to find a way to "put the environment into the political 'limelight' once and for all" (his words). This day is now celebrated in most countries across the world. Earth Day is a great opportunity to reflect about what we can do to protect our planet.

Check out some of these simple family oriented activitites to kick up your heels on Earth Day 2011:

• Make an Earth Day Feast - visit a local farmers market and create a delicious meal from local produce. Decorate your table with recycled decorations (Thanksgiving in April... why not) or potted plants that you can plant in your yard later.
• Be like the Flintstones - human powered transportation... get outside - go for a walk, ride your bikes, work on getting out and about with just your own two feet.
• Plant...something - a tree, seeds, flowers... something in your yard. It's a great opportunity for an annual family tradition ... and get some of that yard work taken care of. ;)
• Read The Lorax by Dr. Suess with your little ones. It's a great way to introduce the idea of protecting the earth to little ones.

Maybe you are feeling a little crafty? Here are a few fun Earth Day crafts your family may want to try:

• Get a head start on May Day with recycled May Day Baskets.
• Use those egg cartons to make flowers or bugs to decorate for spring.
• Make robins for your windowsill out of recycled cardboard boxes.
• If your little one is too little to craft with you, you can make your own baby toy out of recycled baby clothes or make your own cloth napkins for your family.

How will you celebrate Earth Day with your family? Have a tip or Earth Day craft? Share it with us!

Cotton Babies Show and Tell

Remember show and tell from school as a child? Recall the fun of sharing your favorite thing and learning cool new things from the other children? Today we're hosting a Cotton Babies show and tell!

Show us a photo of what Cotton Babies goodies you have given or received recently. The photo can include your little one or maybe it's just a "haul" photo of an opened package. However you want to share your Cotton Babies loot, just post a link to your favorite photo sharing website in the comments below so we can see your swag. As a bonus, random winners will be selected tomorrow to receive some bonus Cotton Babies swag.

Eligible entries must be posted today, Tuesday, December 28, 2010. U.S. Residents only. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win. Winners will be notified via e-mail.

Merry Christmas from Cotton Babies

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope you have a joyous holiday weekend with your families!

In case you missed it, here's our fun little Cotton Babies Christmas video:

Merry Christmas from Jenn and Jimmy

Jimmy Perkins (formerly handled your returns... now doing inventory) surprised us with a fun remix of Christmas music last Thursday. Cotton Babies culture at it's finest. :-) Our social media coordinator, Heather Vaughn, made a video with what he did and we wanted to share it with you... Merry Christmas everyone!

Lots of love,

Jenn & Jimmy Labit

Real Mom Talk: Receiving Graciously

I have a bit of a confession to make here, I haven't always been the most gracious person when presented with a gift.

There is one time in particular that sticks out in my mind. Five or six years ago during the holiday season, my family received an unexpected knock at our door. It was about a week before Thanksgiving and a local church was distributing holiday meals to families "in need".

My memory is fuzzy, it was either the year we had three boys under the age of two, or the year all our sons were less than 3 years old and we had just discovered we were expecting baby number 4. Either way, things were tight, but very few people knew just how tight they were. To this day, I have no idea how we landed on their list. We didn't attend the church and couldn't name a single person we knew that was aware of our situation that might have turned us in.

The guests were kind, brought the food in and with my husband's assistance, carried the turkey with all the trimmings to our kitchen. I'm pretty sure I took a child or two and pretended to be busy, changing a diaper. I was embarrassed and on the verge of angry. How could anyone think we were needy? Who would put our names on one of those lists? Thankfully, my husband was gracious and thankful, maybe it was because he'd had more sleep than I. The strangers said a quick prayer and were on their way.

The tremendous blessing of that turkey was revealed a few days later when family unexpectedly dropped in at a mealtime along their own holiday road trip. We had food enough for everyone, which wouldn't have happened without the gift from the church. We had a lovely, stress free holiday meal with lots of laughter.

In the years since, I've regretted my ungrateful, prideful attitude. I wish I would have had better behavior that night, despite how I felt at the time. That meal made such a positive impact on our family that for the last two years my husband and I have trimmed our personal grocery budget and used holiday bonuses to donate holiday meals to other families through a similar program here in St. Louis. Our children think it's a lot of fun, but have no idea why it is so important to mommy and daddy to buy groceries to donate to other families.

All those years ago, I assumed people just gave because they felt sorry for the "less fortunate", but never did I think that maybe they had personally been in a similar place and received a blessing from someone else. Now I understand that many who give to programs like these have themselves been a recipient at some point in time. They give because they truly understand what a positive difference it can make for a family. They know first hand that meeting a need can take a great deal of stress off a family.

Truthfully, I think many families struggle at some point, especially young families. There are a lot of expenses that go with having a baby and often times one little bump in the road, like a job loss, medical expense or major car repair, makes it difficult to recover financially.

What I now realize is that someone who knew us and likely had survived life with three very young children just wanted to bless us. Thankfully, not even my poor attitude kept me from receiving that blessing, even if it took me a few days to realize what a blessing it was.

That experience, and a few years of maturity, have revealed to me how important it is to be gracious when presented with a gift. Whether it's the ugliest hand knit acrylic sweater from your color blind aunt, a plastic battery operated toy from your mother who knows you don't purchase toys made in China or a turkey given without warning as an act of charity, it's important to be gracious when receiving a gift.

Share with us your story of how you graciously received an unexpected gift or you received an unexpected blessing.

Real Mom Talk: Giving With Grace

I LOVE GIVING PRESENTS! I live to find perfect gifts for people and find great joy when their eyes light up with just how perfectly customized it is for them. It’s never about how much money I spend it’s the hunt, and the excitement of giving someone something that I know they’ll use or LOVE. I discovered one of my friends who volunteers at my church every Sunday morning always stops at Panera for a hazelnut coffee so I got him a $10 gift card so the next few weeks are one me. Another time I heard a friend mention she really liked brown betty tea pots when we just happened to be talking about tea. I remembered and several months later I got her that tea pot for their birthday, it made her day and she could hardly believe I had remembered. It’s just fun! It brings joy to my heart. Admittedly, there is a delicate battle of ego not to let being pretty good at giving gifts go to my head so I do as much as I can to keep myself in check. There is a very fine line between giving a gift because you know it’s going to bless someone like crazy and giving a gift so you can look super awesome. In Real Mom Talk: Receiving Graciously, Heather opened her heart up about an experience she had when someone gave her family a meal. The timing was spot on for her family, thankfully it doesn’t sound like the givers put on a show of just how wonderful they were and good for them.

Recently, I was in a small local store standing in line waiting to make my purchase. A family walked in, a mom, dad, and two small children. I happened to make eye contact with the little boy and suddenly everything in my heart wanted to give family something. I was so anxious and excited the lady in front of me seemed to be taking forever. Finally it was my turn; I asked the cashier if they had gift certificates, no. They didn’t have a debit/ cash back option either and I had no cash in my wallet. I quickly took my stuff to the car and thankfully there was a Walgreens right next door. It was so exciting. I walked over there as fast as I could, grabbed a simple Christmas card and some fun candy for the kids… of course the line was LONG again. I got the cash, placed it inside the card, wrote “Merry Christmas” and did not sign my name. My heart was racing, I was praying they hadn’t left the store yet, I went back in and started anxiously looking for them, finally I spotted them and then I quickly asked for everyone’s attention in the store and made my very generous gift presentation. JUST KIDDING! Making sure you’re paying attention. I actually hung back a minute, waited for a moment when the kids were distracted, tapped dad on the shoulder, handed him the card and candy and quietly said, “I just felt like I’m supposed to give this to you. Merry Christmas” and quickly turned around, didn’t look back, and walked out. I love the fact that those children probably have no idea what happened… that maybe just maybe that money was something those parents needed to buy Christmas presents, or maybe simply food for that family. The bottom line is, it wasn’t about me, I would rather those parents feel loved and blessed and be able to love and bless their children – to me, that is the best part of giving that gift.

I struggled sharing the story above – it’s actually the first time I've publically told anyone, but I wanted to share the joy of sneaking that little gift. Of course all gift giving doesn't have to be covert or anonymous, it’s entirely appropriate to be open when giving gifts. People always say, “It’s the thought that counts” and I know during a season that is pretty much defined by giving gifts it’s easy to get wrapped up in comparisons of the elaborate present someone else gave you and they weren’t even on your list or revel in the glory of the exact perfect present you've picked out for some one. I also understand there are situations where gifts are obligatory, in these situations we should choose to give with joy and be excited about the opportunity to make someone's world a little brighter. Just as we should all be gracious in receiving gifts, no matter what they may be, we should also give with grace, be thoughtful of how you give to others, and make them feel like it’s all about them and not about you.

Have you ever given a sneaky gift or been on the receiving end from a stealth Santa? Were the gifts given with grace?

Cotton Babies Cyber Cookie Swap

One of my favorite parts of the holidays are the delicious foods, especially the abundance of sweets. I especially like parties that involve sharing foods and gaining new recipes, like cookie swaps. We know with the wild weather last weekend some of you may be stuck indoors, so today we're hosting a cyber cookie swap party! No need to leave the house to join our party.

One of my favorite cookie recipes is one I have been making since I was old enough to stir. With four simple ingredients and easy enough for little hands to help with, it's a family tradition at our house.

Flourless Peanut Butter Candy cookies:

1 cup peanut butter (we like creamy)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 package candy coated chocolates (we use m&ms)

Mix all ingredients well. Using hands, shape into one inch balls and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Gently press one candy into top of each ball.

(No candies? Just flatten slightly with a fork in a criss-cross design.)

Bake at 350 degrees until golden, approximately 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from pan.

So for some holiday fun, please share a link to your favorite cookie recipe and tell us why it's your favorite recipe. For some additional fun, we'll randomly select a few comments from this blog post for a little secret Santa surprise from Cotton Babies. Don't forget to read the other comments to find a new recipe your family will love. Let the party begin!

Eligible entries must be posted today, Tuesday, December 14, 2010. U.S. Residents only. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win. All winners will be notified via e-mail.

From Jenn: Favorite Drink Recipe from a Friend

This is one of Jenn's favorite drink recipes from her friend, Bekah, a Cotton Babies blogger. We're sharing this recipe again and reposting it so you can find it easily when you need a little treat on a long day. Bookmark this page so you can enjoy peppermint mochas all winter long!

I love a good peppermint mocha during the cold midwest winter months. However, if you've ever dared to investigate the fat and sugar (aka high fructose corn syrup) content of your favorite coffee restaurants, you likely found yourself feeling guilty and/or grossed out. This is why I have been experimenting with a cheaper, healthier way to get my coffee fix. Prompted by my wise friends I recently tried making peppermint and chocolate syrup from scratch. It turned out to be fabulously easy and the results left me with my ideal peppermint mocha recipe. So here it is per the request of the Cotton Babies Staff...

Peppermint Mocha

For a single cup:
3/4 c. strong coffee-I use Kaldi's Espresso 700 ground coarse for my French Press
1 T. homemade peppermint syrup (recipe below)
1 T. homemade chocolate syrup (recipe below)
1/8 c. coconut milk

To fill a full size Sigg thermos:
2 1/4 c. strong coffee-I use Kaldi's Espresso 700 ground coarse for my French Press
3 T. homemade peppermint syrup (recipe below)
3 T. homemade chocolate syrup (recipe below)
6 T. coconut milk

Stir all ingredients together or for a lovely frothy foam, blend all ingredients for 1 minute in a blender (at my house "blender" means Vitamix, but that's another blog post).

Peppermint Syrup

2 c. sugar
2 c. water
2 tsp. peppermint extract

In a medium saucepan stir water and sugar and bring to a boil. Add peppermint extract and let simmer for 30 min. Let cool and store in a sterilized container in the refrigerator. Yields 2 cups.

Chocolate Syrup

1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 c. water
2 c. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan stir cocoa powder and water over medium heat until cocoa is dissolved. Stir in sugar and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute while stirring. Add salt and vanilla extract. Let cool and store in a sterilized container in the refrigerator. Yields 2 cups.

Bekah works from her home as a designer. She has six amazing children. Five of her children have worn or are wearing cloth diapers.

Real Mom Talk: Surviving The Holidays

Last week was the official start of the holiday season. After all the shopping, menu planning, gift planning and schedule making, I'm already exhausted and I imagine you are too.

As parents, we often want to create magic holiday memories like those we see on a 30 second television commercial. The problem is, my children are much younger, not returning from college and if I smelled coffee brewing before my husband and I awoke, that would be a major red flag at our house.

So how do parents of young children survive the holidays? All the organizational gurus chant “Simplify! Organize! Schedule!” But how do we realistically provide a memorable holiday season for our family, especially when our little ones don't grant us enough time to complete a 'to-do' list without interruption?

One thing I've learned along the way is to pay attention to what my children remember. About this time of year, I ask my kids what they remember most from last year and what they would like to do this year as a family. This clues me in to what they remember, as well as what is significant to each of them, since they have unique personalities. I use this information to build my “must complete” holiday list, a few family activities along with the mandatory tasks of gift purchases, wrapping and travel preparations.

For one of my sons, it's baking cookies while another prefers to hand make ornaments. While it would be easy for my personality to go all “Martha Stewart” with the fanciest recipes and most intricate ornaments, I have to keep in mind activities they will enjoy and that will not easily frustrate them. I've discovered, mostly by trial and error, that to my children, it's about the time spent together, rather than the end product.

As a mom, I have to think about what I can “let go” of to create a happier and less stressful experience. Almost daily during the holiday season I'm forced to remind myself to adjust my expectations to accommodate my children's abilities.

A two year old will make a mess while “stirring” (read: “tossing”) the flour into the cookie dough, so we invest in the pre-made sugar cookies that they can count out and place on a cookie sheet and save the mixing for another year.

My four year old can color (mostly) inside the lines of a pre-printed wooden ornament with a set of washable markers without ruining her favorite outfit. I'll save the glue and paint for the school years, while saving myself precious time that'd be spent cleaning otherwise.

Most years, my Christmas tree is bare from the floor to about 4 feet high. With four children, there are four separate opinions on how each ornament should be hung (and rehung), sometimes numerous times a day. Most evenings, there's a large pile of ornaments underneath the tree. I consciously choose to be okay with that. I tell myself someday I'll have a color coordinated that looks like it's decorated by the Hallmark elves, but I know in my heart the tree I'll stare at for hours will be one filled with homemade ornaments from years gone by made of paper, craft sticks and yarn.

My big goals for surviving this holiday season are relatively simple:

#1. Do one special family activity for each child. I'm trying to make them about 30 minutes each because that's about all the attention span I can honestly expect from my children, given their ages. That may mean we only bake a half batch of cookies, or break up a bigger activity into smaller projects. To keep it stress free, we might do two activities one weekend and none the next if we are busy, as long as each one gets done before the end of the year.

#2. Spend at least 30 minutes one night each week in front of the fire after kid bedtime, with or without my husband. Maybe I'll have a cup of tea, read a good book, paint my toenails or just stare at the fire. Maybe a candlelight bath is your thing, or some time with your favorite holiday album is what works for you. What you do doesn't really matter, what is important is taking care of yourself.

It's a lot like how the airline attendants tell parents to put their oxygen mask on themselves first, so they can then care for the child. If my family is to survive the holidays, I have to take care of myself first. To take care of myself, I have to have a few moments every few days to think my own thoughts, whatever they may be. Any mom of little children understands what a luxury thinking your own thoughts can be. When I have that quiet time, I find it much easier to find grace for the exceptionally difficult days, which always seem to arrive about 24 hours before your in-laws do.

How are you preparing for the holidays? What tips and tricks have you learned that make the holidays more memorable? How do you take care of yourself during this stressful season?

How To: Turkey Dinner for the Holidays

As we were discussing what to post on the blog around Thanksgiving, we started laughing in the office about how many of us have completely failed at trying to have a turkey dinner. Most of us have had at least one spectacular failure... many of the others had just never tried.

My assistant, Rita, has previously offered to share her mother's recipe for a successful Thanksgiving Day with me and I'd foolishly declined... thinking I'd be just fine. Unfortunately, last year's Thanksgiving was a total train wreck. At 4pm (lunch was supposed to be at 2), I was near tears on the living room couch while my husband and father-in-law sorted out the lumpy, gross gravy disaster.

Rita has graciously shared her mother's recipe with everyone. I hope that it helps you prepare a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner. I'm certainly going to try it!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Kindest regards,

Jenn

P.S. If you have ideas for how to make Thanksgiving Day go better, please share your ideas in the comments. If you're like me and struggle in the kitchen, feel free to tell us your Thanksgiving Day disaster stories. I'll be watching, reading and hopefully learning something new from every comment!

Turkey Recipe

by Rosalie Bira, courtesy Rita Sciaroni

First defrost your turkey starting two days prior to the Big Day by setting the turkey in your refrigerator. Place the turkey on a dish towel.

The night (or day) before, take it out and remove the gizzard, liver and neck. Place the turkey in cold salt water. (Just pour salt in the water and put the turkey in it.) A good pan to use is your dishpan. This assures you the turkey is thoroughly defrosted and it will be thoroughly clean. While turkey is soaking:

Take the (heart), liver, gizzard and neck; rinse in cold water. Place in saucepan and add boiling water to cover.

Add:
1 tsp. salt
2 whole peppercorns
2 whole cloves
1/2 bay leaf
2 thin slices onions
1 stalk celery - cut up
1 carrot - cut up

Cover and cook over moderately low heat for about 15 minutes. Remove liver. Continue to cook until gizzard is tender - about 2 to 3 hours. Strain and reserve. (Remove some of the meat from the neck and put it back in the broth). You can chop up giblets coarsely and return to broth too. You will use this when you make your gravy. You can also add this to your dressing, especially the cut up meat and giblets.

Then make your dressing. NEVER stuff your turkey the day before with dressing. This promotes bacteria. Put dressing in refrigerator and keep it for the time you are ready to stuff your turkey.

STUFFING FOR 18 LB. BIRD:

This is Grandma Bira's stuffing. We use it because Dad likes it. Maybe in the years to come you'll try something else you like better.

2 or 3 packages Croutons (instructions on package will tell you how much you need for the weight of the turkey you have.
2 eggs
1 1/4 tsp. thyme
2 tsp. sage
2 cups onions
2 cups celery
2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. poultry seasoning
2 beef bouillon cubes
5 cups water
1 cup butter

Put butter in big skillet and melt slowly. Put onions and celery in butter and cook, stirring till celery and onions are transparent not brown.

Put croutons in big bowl. Pour the onion, celery and butter mixture over croutons and mix thoroughly.

In a saucepan, combine the water and bouillon cubes and cook until cubes dissolve. Put in the seasonings and pour this over your bread crumbs. Slightly beat eggs and put this in mixture -- blending thoroughly. At stuffing time you can put the meat from the neck and gizzard in the dressing. Put in refrigerator and cover. DO NOT STUFF TURKEY UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO BAKE IT.

Now your turkey should be clean and thoroughly defrosted and ready to dry it off. Pat it dry with dish towel. Be sure you get the water out of the neck cavity too.

Rub your turkey with some white vinegar, then rub the outside with Crisco (as best as you can - it's a little difficult with the vinegar on it.)

Then figuring 1/8 teaspoon for each pound, rub the cavities with salt.

Place it back in the refrigerator. I usually cover it with a big dish towel and place it on a large meat platter.

Next day, when you get ready to bake it:

Take the turkey and dressing out of the refrigerator and stuff according to your cookbook. It will also have the time table in it for baking your turkey by weight.

However you cookbook might say "don't cover and don't add water." I have (and my mother too) have always added water (1/4 cup) and a big tablespoon Crisco and I cover the turkey with my roaster top.

BASTE OFTEN BASTE OFTEN

After your turkey is done:

Your cookbook will give good hints on this. You should use meat thermometer. (I can usually tell by appearances because the legs pull away and it looks done). Also, it's best to allow the turkey to stand out (after it's done) for about 1/2 hour - this is the time you make the gravy in the same pan that the turkey was baked in.

When ready to make gravy, here is a good gravy recipe I found years ago in my Redbook Magazine.

GIBLET GRAVY

1/2 cup fat from turkey drippings
1/2 cup unsifted all purpose flour
5 cups liquid (including reserved giblet broth)
Salt and pepper to taste
cooked giblets (optional)

After turkey is removed from roasting pan, pour drippings from pan into a bowl (I use a large measuring cup) leave most of the brown particles in the pan. Let the fat rise to the top of the drippings. Skim off 1/2 cup fat and pour into a large skillet. Skim off remaining fat and discard (When I have a very large crowd of people I never throw away the remaining fat just in case I have to make more gravy). Add rest of the drippings to reserve giblet broth, pour into the roasting pan. Place over moderate heat and stir scraping to remove brown particles from the bottom. Measure liquid from roasting pan and add enough water to make 5 cups.

Heat the 1/2 cup turkey fat in the skillet over low heat; gradually blend in flour. Cook until mixture bubbles. Remove skillet from heat and add the 5 cups liquid gradually, stirring constantly.

Cook over moderate heat stirring constantly, until thick and smooth. Add salt and pepper. Add chopped giblets (optional).

Makes 5 cups gravy

Rosalie Bira was mother to three Cotton Babies employees, Rita, Kathy and Jeanne. Cumulatively, these sisters have raised 9 children, 8 grandchildren (with another on the way) and served at Cotton Babies for more than 13 years. We're thankful that Rosalie raised such amazing women and that they shared their secret family recipe with us.

Be a bum giv'n genius!

Looking for a way to give this season?
Be a bum giv'n genius.

Cotton Babies has teamed with Sheltering Wings orphanage in Burkina Faso, West Africa since 2006 by providing formula and cloth diapers to feed and diaper the babies in their care. We are excited to send a little extra this year to help improve and grow their orphanage, schools & medical clinic. We know times are hard, but we want to extend an invitiation to our always loyal customers to join us in giving the gift of hope.

Click here to make a donation - no gift is too big or too small. 100% of your donation will go directly to Sheltering Wings. To learn more about the work they are doing, visit www.sheltering-wings.org.

Thank you for being part of giving hope to the parentless and spreading the joy of the Christmas season!