Christmas Birds

If you've been following along,

you know I've been making bird tags

for the students on The Runner's bus.

Every Christmas, each of the kids

gets one of my birds.

Here is one from this past Christmas.

One day this week,

The Runner came home and said to me,

"I saw one of your birds today!"

WHAT?

When one of the dad's came to meet his daughter

at the bus stop,

my bird was hanging

from his rear view mirror in the car.

WHAT?

How cute is that?

I decided not to put away

my Christmas supplies at the end of the year.

My idea was to get ahead of the game.

Didn't work out exactly as planned.

I only got a dozen birds partially created.

Still needs all the pretties.

Well, better than nothing, right?

I'm gearing up for Mother's Day

and doubt I'll get back to making birds.

That means tomorrow,

my Christmas supplies go back into hibernation

until September.

Mr. Bus Driver

The Runner, aka Mr. Bus Driver,

gifts a bird tag to each one of the students he transports

to and from school, as well as his monitor.

Each bird takes about an hour from start to finish.

Finding ways to make each one just a little bit different

can be challenging,

but I enjoy creating them.

But not as much as he enjoys giving them.

Some of these littles were on his bus last year
so now they have a collection.

One evening I spent two hours and 10 minutes
gift-wrapping the lot.
Fortunately, that was a couple of weeks ago.
I say fortunately because there was still time.
Time for me to UN-wrap each one
because I forgot to take pictures.
It's a good thing I don't use tape!

The day after he handed these out,

one little three-year old girl got on the bus.

Instead of her usual "Good morning"

she said (all in one big breath, of course)
"Thank you for the ornament.

It's on my Christmas tree and I love it."

Now you know her mommy and daddy

practiced this with her.

I'm sure that she thought if she said "Good morning"

she'd forget the rest.

Then she turned around to look at her mamma,
all proud like.
Then the mamma wrapped her arms around herself
as if to say "give him a hug"
and so she did.

This is what Christmas is all about!

My Christmas R.A.K.

It all began three years ago.

The little bird tags you've been seeing here on my blog

have also become an Random Act of Kindness tradition for me.

This is the third year that I've surprised complete strangers.

After the first year, I just knew I had to do it every year.

You can read all about that right here.

Last year nothing special happened.

Oh, don't get me wrong - everybody was very appreciative

and enjoyed their bird.

I'm not sorry I "played Santa" - not at all.

It's just that in comparison to the first year, it was lackluster.

This year?

Oh my goodness.

The very first bird I handed out just made my day/month/year!

I went to Grapevine Mills Mall to pick up a gift card

(with birds in tow.)

Just outside the store I was headed into sat a little girl with her daddy.

She was looking at his phone as he was showing her something.

Okay - let me recreate it for you:

Me:  Excuse me (they both looked up) ... do you have your Christmas tree up yet?

Little Girl:  Yes.

Daddy:  Yes, we do.  Would you like to see a picture of it?

As he scrolled through his photos, she was smiling at me
and probably wondered why I was there
and why her daddy was showing me their tree.

Me:  (looking at her) ... That's a beautiful tree - is that you

standing in front of the tree?

Little Girl:  Yes

Me:  (reaching in my bag) ... Would you like to have this to hang on your tree?

Little Girl:  (are you ready for this?)  Is it free?

Me:  (chuckling) ... Of course it's free and it's for you.

Little Girl:  What's the matter - don't you like it?

Me:  Yes, I like it.  Every year I make these

and pass them out to pretty little girls.

It's my Christmas present to you.

Little Girl:  Only to pretty girls?

Me:  Yes, pretty girls just like you.

Little Girl:  (big smile)

Daddy:  What do you say?

Little Girl:  Thank you.  Now can I give you a hug?
Of course I gave her a hug!!!!!

I stood there for the longest time talking with the two of them.

They are here on vacation (from near Austin)

and staying at The Gaylord.

She showed me that her ears are pierced.

She asked me if I had earrings on and when I told her no,

she asked if I was afraid.

She showed me she is four fingers old

and her name is Juliana.

(I hope I heard her correctly and have spelled it correctly.)

As we parted, we wished each other a Merry Christmas.

And I got another hug.

What a sweet little child.

Could her outfit be any more festive?

She told me she was going to keep this bird on her tree for "a very long time."

Julianna, you stole my heart!

PS - thank you, Daddy, for allowing me to post this on my blog
and on Facebook.  My Followers and Friends need to meet your daughter.
Merry Christmas!

Now I have more birds to pass out - tomorrow.

Christmas Birds

If you do it two years in a row, it's now a tradition.

Last year The Runner gave all of  the students he transported

a bird tag/ornament.

 

Last year, he had 13 students.

This year?

Oh my - 32 students.

 

I was busy creating and wrapping.

He was busy playing Santa.

 

Let's take a look ...

 

The first four went to the preschoolers:

Amanda

 

Emma

 

Gabriel

Houston

He transports two Kindergarteners:

Brolin

 

Sebastian



And five elementary school children:

Aiden



 

Benjamin

 

Jaden 

Keldrek

Olivia

 

To the middle school, he transports:

Angelina

Brandon

Cara



Jackson

Jake

Jose

Madison

Mason

Zhauria

 

A dozen students get transported to the high school:

Androu 

Annina

Ron

Brendan

Carole

Christian

 

Devin

Hamoodi

 

Kristen

Matthew

Payte

Teresa

 

It makes me feel good to create these little birds.

It's also a great way to use up those Christmas papers

that aren't large enough for anything else.

Not to mention the oodles and oodles of flowers

I've created over time.

 

It makes The Runner feel good to spread a little Christmas joy.

Especially to the children that might not have many other

gifts to open.

 

We hope the children are happy with their

gifts from their school bus driver and friend.