Giving & Gnomes - Countdown to Christmas - Day 8

It's the little things in life that humor us...and for the eighth day of the Countdown to Christmas it was a visit to Gammelgarden Museum and picking up the gnomes who were in the entryway.

Sophia with the male gnome. 

Until she picked him up, he didn't look that big. 

She said the gnome was light.

Olivia still felt like just wanted to sit by the gnomes while they ate rather than touch them.

Olivia by the gnomes at Gammelgarden.

Visiting Gammelgarden was the last stop after a day of giving. We chose to get the majority of our donations done for the 12 in 12 project we've been doing since January in which we do 12 different service projects each month during 2012.

First, we stopped at Family Pathways to drop off clothes and household items.

Sophia holding a bag of clothes, and 

Olivia by three bags of household items

that we donated to Family Pathways.

Then we went to Northwoods Humane Society where we donated a bag of cans. The funds that are earned by recycling the cans are used to support the animals at Northwoods who are waiting for families.

Sophia and Olivia dropping cans in the can collector.

We also donated a bag of Kitten Chow and $12 to Northwoods Humane Society.

Olivia holding the Kitten Chow and 

Sophia holding $12 for Northwoods Humane Society.

We went into Northwoods to drop off the donations and took a look at the animals needing homes.

Sophia and Olivia checking out all the kittens

who were playful and eager for attention.

We headed to Cub to drop off a hand-embroidered toy that we placed in a little cart for children. It's free for the child who finds it.

Olivia by the toy in the cart for a child to find.

While we were at Cub, we bought a bag of food that we donated to the local food shelf.

Sophia and Olivia with the bag of food for the food shelf.

Our last stop was the public library where we donated 42 books. The books are either used or sold. If it's the latter, the proceeds are used to purchase new books.

The girls with the books they donated to the library.

We talked about today being the first day of Hanukkah. We were planning on making cookies, but were tired so we decided to wait until the 9th to make them.

It was a good day, and helped us all remember that the best part of the season is giving - not receiving.