Packages Full of Good Things!

I love packages so much!  The only thing I don’t like is the fact that I now have to pay VAT on packages that have contents of a certain value (£40 or more), even if they’re personal gifts.  Grrrrr….  My parents sent us a box full of Christmas presents, but because the contents were worth over £40 we had to pay nearly £30 in VAT and customs charges before they would deliver it to us.  Oh well…at least we got the package in the end…and before Christmas, too!

Anyway, we received 4 packages in December, so I thought I’d mention them all in one post.  The first one was from Kylie in Australia (Our Worldwide Classroom).   I was a recipient in the Pay it Forward Bloggy Love giveaway that she did, and I received some very lovely Australian gifts!  The kids and I were so excited when the package came.  I’m in the process of putting together continent boxes, and I had nothing from Australia except some coins and stamps.  Anyway, she sent me this lovely Australian souvenir tea towel and a boomerang!

I will be “paying it forward” as soon as I am able to.  I am planning to buy a few lightweight English gifts to give away to 3 of my readers.  They’ll be suitable for continent boxes if you do those, but I think anyone would enjoy getting the gifts…unless you’re from England already!  I’m not sure when I’ll be doing this…I literally have to save my spare change to do it.  The postage will likely cost far more than the gifts!  We literally have just enough money for groceries at the moment, but this IS something I want to do.  Kylie was so wonderful to send me something all the way from Australia, and I really want to bless someone else the same way, even if it is something small.  So anyway, keep your eyes open for my “Pay it Forward” post!

The same day I received Kylie’s package, we also received a box from the church in Chicago that sent us a box in the fall (see this POST).  They sent some small gifts and food items, which I won’t post pictures of; however, they also sent some more things I can use for Tot School.  Let me know if you have any ideas for any of these.  The small gardening tools will be perfect for a garden sensory tub!  I also got yo-yos (the cloth button things), cocktail sticks and picks, 5 small Valentine tubs,  dollhouse furniture, 3 small silver containers with clear plastic lids, scrapbooking materials, small heart erasers, and another metal box with little plastic drawers (so now I have enough for an alphabet box…or boxes)!

     

My parents’ package had mostly Christmas gifts, but I’ll just mention a few of the things they sent.  Back in October (the day before we left the US) we visited a local antique mall where I found this geometrical peg board…it was missing 3 blocks, but I decided to buy it anyway.  I asked my dad if he could make the blocks, and I wrote down the measurements for him.  I forgot all about it, but he made them and put them in the package!  I plan to paint them to match, but I almost hate to because they’re so beautiful in their natural wood color!

I also got a Penguins Toob, which I had my mom order with my Amazon gift card (which I got with my Swagbucks, but the card didn’t come in until just after we left).  I put them in my Antarctica box.  Someday I’ll do a post on my continent boxes, but they’re far from being done!

My mom also got me a Montessori book (my request), which I’m quite excited about.  It’s called Teach Me to Do it Myself: Montessori Activities for You and Your Child by Maja Pitamic.  No, I’m not going Montessori in my homeschooling.  I already have curriculum I like, but I am doing a lot of Montessori activities with Gabriela (my 3-year-old) already.  So I was happy to get this book which is full of wonderful activites, lots of pictures and easy instructions.

One more thing I’ll mention that came in my parents’ package is the Pick and Draw game that I won in a give-away that Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations had!  I won this the day before leaving for England, and I had to have it sent to my parents’ US address, so I had to wait until they could forward it on to me.  They mailed it in our Christmas package.  I wrote a separate post about Pick and Draw HERE.  This game is fabulous!

We also received a package full of American goodies from some friends of ours—food items that we can’t get here in the UK.  It came just before Christmas and was a HUGE blessing to us!  All of these packages were blessings!  I feel blessed…I really do.  : )