The Best $3K I've Ever Spent
Monday, November 30, 2009
burghbaby in Christmas Crazy

While some people choose to spend $3000 to make themselves look like an idiot, I much prefer to spend $3000 on making kids happy. Thanks to y'all, that's exactly what I just finished doing. First there was a pile of gift cards for Alle-Kiski HOPE Center. Then there was another pile of gift cards for the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. Finally, there was a nice chunk of change left to buy toys for kids.

Lots of toys.

That's less than half of the final haul. Really. I had several Playskool, Toys 'r Us, and Target coupons that expired a few weeks ago, so I made a few early runs to grab some things. In all, I used over $350 in coupons. WIN!

Tonight I met a few crazy people at Toys R Us to finish up the shopping.

Alexis has been REALLY into the shopping. Really, really, really into it. She is all about grabbing a few things and tossing them in the cart. "This is for a boy who doesn't have toys," she will say, while tossing in a Barbie doll. I can't fault the kid for not assigning genders to toys.

Tonight my merry elves and I added another $900 worth of toys to the pile. It took three shopping carts to hold it all.

Then it took four cars to haul the whole shebang over to Stuff-a-Bus.


(Left to right: @pghrugbyangel, @adriennemcc, some random kid who is usually glued to my leg but looooooves @adriennemcc enough to leave me alone for a minute, me, @kdudders, @tehamy, @kdudder's cousin, and @kdudder's super awesome mom)

The photo really doesn't do the GIANT PILE of toys justice. Together, we very nearly filled half of a school bus.

Seriously.

Half a bus.

Next year? We're totally filling an entire bus. Thanks again for all of your help!

If you've got a buck or two laying around, or a few minutes to spare, you can still get in on the Christmas Crazy action. The Women's Center and Shelter of Pittsburgh makes it super easy to sponsor a family with their online form. You can also stop by Stuff-a-Bus in the Miracle Mile parking lot in Monroeville. Tell them Burgh Baby sent you. ;-)

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