I hope everyone here had a great holiday season! Thanks to this subreddit my kids had a wonderful Christmas like they normally would! They are both really good kids and we weren’t sure how to make Christmas happen after my husband became disabled and is no longer able to work this year.

Seeing my kids excited and happy Christmas morning, truly lifted my spirits. My husband kept saying “wow, I have never experienced anything like this before. People truly care.” As the Amazon packages were arriving!

Here is some photos from their Christmas. Sorry the lighting was awful in a few of them.

https://imgur.com/a/MXGMXfj

u/Ohn035

Thanks for the stocking stuffers, they loved everything. It was more than I expected and my daughters didn’t fit in her stocking so some of it was a bonus gift! They ate all the treats out of it almost immediately!

Also thanks for the remote control spider, my son got a kick out of it and was playing with our cats yesterday with the spider. He has been wanting a pet tarantula for awhile, but my arachnophobia won’t allow that!

u/Songlcy4058

Thanks for the contest for the Mini squishmallows, she is squishmallow obsessed and was so excited!

u/Yellow_Submarine8891

Thanks for the Rainbow High Sunny doll. She loves those dolls and exclaimed “wow she is beautiful” when she opened it!

u/Miss_Ann_Thrope55

Thanks for the Sink and Sand for John. He has been asking for this game for months after playing it somewhere else!

And Lucy loved her Rainbow High Violet doll. This doll completed her collection (one of each character).

u/Careless-Act-5416

Thanks for the pjs for John. He said “these are so cute and they have little moose ears.”

Lucy loved her Rainbow High Ruby Red doll, she said “Red is my favorite color and now I finally have her”.

We had two gifts show up anonymously. Whoever purchased these gifts, thank you. These were both gifts my kids wanted to fit in with their friends. John was so excited for his adidas jacket and Lucy squealed that she got the Stanley cup she has been asking for months!

u/laffinalltheway

Thanks for the axolotl blankets. They both love axolotls and these blankets were super soft! They both slept with their new blankets last night.

u/JMTC789

Thanks for the Nightmare Before Christmas advent calendars, it is one of our favorite movies and they loved the countdown!

I just want to tell everyone that helped my make boys' Christmas amazing, thank you! They had such a wonderful day yesterday and today playing with all of their new toys. I am so grateful for everything that we have received. I came on this sub this year just hoping we would be blessed with maybe one item each but was definitely pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Thank you simply isn't enough to express my gratitude to everyone.

Photos of my boys enjoying their gifts! Excuse my messy house lol but it was Christmas!

https://imgur.com/a/HKaE55h

Thank you to u/sweaterweather1970 for the kanoodle that is a huge hit with everyone! and the stuffed basketball plush which my two youngest just love.

Thank you to u/rlaw68 for the Cowboys football which has been thrown a lot already and the Chaos basketball which you can tell by one of the photos how much River appreciated!

Thank you to u/Allthedaquiries for the binoculars that my youngest carries with him everywhere! He loves looking through them even if its one foot in front of his face lol.

Thank you to u/OtherPassage for the Berenstain Bear Christmas book! We enjoyed reading it so much and it's such a throwback to my childhood as well.

Thank you to u/Inevitably_Cranky for the model car, mini basketball game, and the found it game! The model car is already in the works, the basketball game has been played multiple times already and the found it game is so much fun and I love that it's also educational.

Thank you to u/Ghibli_Forest for the Adidas cologne which smells amazing! River is obsessed with his funko pop he received and the Shark Nerf gun is such a big hit! My youngest has already got his brothers with the darts more times than I know lol.

Thank you to u/Wilboholi for the brainbolt game which we have all enjoyed and its quite challenging! The walkie talkies that my two oldest have been talking on throughout the day, and the air dry clay which is so fun and has so many different color choices!

Thank you to u/0hn035 for the incredible lego set! We have played legos for hours already and there are so many pieces!

Thank you to u/GalacticJunkie99 for the wonderful pajama sets! My boys wore them on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because they are so soft!

Thank you to u/School_House_Rock for the incredible art set that my boys have already made many beautiful pieces of art on! And for my gifts as well. I have never felt warmer stepping outside in the Iowa winter than I do with your gifts, thank you, thank you!

Thank you to u/kanga_roos for the beautiful wrapping paper that I wanted to just sit and look at after I was done wrapping the gifts!

I know I have tagged many but I am just so grateful. I will never forget the generosity that my family, strangers to you all, has received. Thank you all.

You made my kids day amazing!!

I am beyond moved by the generosity of this subreddit.

A happy New Year to all

https://imgur.com/a/AtO2YBX

Although I thanked each Santa as soon as each gift was received, I wasn't posting individual photos to the group because I was experiencing what has now been named The Migraine from Hell ™, which lasted for 17 days and required lots of different meds. I had a great 5 days to play catch up on everything I couldn't do for 17 days and during that time, someone gifted me with something respiratory which started very late Sunday night. I got a telehealth visit in, tested negative for Covid, and was told it was probably bronchitis, aka The Christmas Virus which sounds like an awful name for a Hallmark holiday movie. I'm on antibiotics now and hoping to be well in a few days.

In the mean time, this is my belated thank you to all of the incredible Santas who helped make Rosalind's Christmas and Hanukkah so special this year. I am attaching a short video of all of the gifts received up until Monday, when I pretty much fell apart. A couple arrived after that. I'm going to tag everyone in the comments, so please bear with me.

Actual Christmas photo will be posted later, as everything is moving in slow motion here.

My amazing Santa team brought the following gifts:

u/YellowSubmarine8891 gifted some adorable Croc charms which she absolutely loved!

u/0hn035 gifted a huge box of what were listed as stocking stuffers, but what are Rosalind's 8 nights of Hanukkah gifts. The Fart mug was for Night 1 and she laughed so much!

u/thebookelves gifted her a card of assorted earrings which she's already picked favorites out of.

u/ahopefulb3ing gifted 2 PS4 games for the surprise family gift that I'd found of someone giving away a PS4 player. She's so excited that they're like her old Xbox 360 games.

u/Careless-Act--5416 gifted a wild pair of silver Crocs and more Croc charms. She went nuts!

I had two (or one?) true Secret Santa who didn't leave behind any identifying forensics. They gifted an LA hoodie sweatshirt and a blue/purple ombre water bottle that she's wanted for over a year. She was thrilled that it came with a bottle brush to get it properly clean.

u/JMTC789 gifted a red and black checkered onesie pajamas which will keep her toasty on our move from FL to PA. It's soft! They are also gifting Rosalind with winter jackets after the holidays from their daughter.

u/School_House_Rock made sure that my adult daughter and me would also be warm when we move and graciously bought us coats and snow boots. They also added a pair of snow boots for Rosalind. She adores the fur on them.

u/scarletglimmer gifted her an otter lap blanket which is ridiculously soft and she hasn't stopped wearing.

u/laffingalltheway gifted us with a tin of cookies from Cheryl's Cookies. The company name was on the box so the surprise was not possible. They were discovered before I got to the door. And yes, ohmygoodness everyone enjoyed them so much!

u/SongIcy4058 gifted us a rare night out to eat. This will be very special because it's one of our favorite restaurants in this city I've lived in for 40 years, and it will be a bittersweet sendoff dinner for us before we leave on our new adventure.

Thank you to each and every Santa and mod who made our holidays so much more special!

Hopefully not too many typos along with my coughing.Ignore them if they're there please?

Video: https://youtube.com/shorts/nRQPcRJ5AUk?si=CdpoNLkayuNBg_1x

I really need to say thank you again. Seeing my kids so happy this Christmas has really been such a good distraction. One I needed more than I knew. My favorite person in the whole world passed away Sunday before Christmas and I have just been devastated. My grandpa was so much more than a grandpa to me and I have just been broken about it. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I am a "fake it till you make it" kind of person but I was worried I'd not enjoy my time with the boys as much or they would know how sad I really was/am.

Jamie's absolute delight in his brother getting the Picasso tiles was so surprising. He was excited to build with Azi and to let Azi 'godzilla' everything once he was done. It was and continues today to be so heartwarming, the boys laughing and playing TOGETHER is so great.

Azariah REALLY loves the play food. I think his favorite part is there are SO MANY pieces that he can throw all around the living room. My house may be a mess but he's having a great time. And the dare devil he is, he uses the table as more of a climbing toy at the moment, you'll see that in the below photos.

I want to say thank you again, each and everyone here. Santas, Mods, even fellow requestor, you have made this Christmas really special. I'll never forget this. I promise.

Some additional photos - https://imgur.com/a/yESdrRb

Grandpa - https://imgur.com/a/RYjIueA

Santas, I can't thank you like I want to individually but collectively I want to thank each one of you that contributed to my family's Christmas 2024! The ups and downs of this year were enough to give me whiplash but having a community of people like you 👉🏿 and you 👈🏿 and you 👆🏿 has taken some of that heavy impact off of me. I appreciate you all. Even those of us who were unable to be Santas heavily impacted my Christmas by sharing stories, kind words and beautiful pictures! Thank you to those of you that pushed me into the Christmas spirit by encouraging me and by showing compassion.

Please forgive me if anything is not mentioned but thank you for all the gifts!

-Bath Bombs (she used her 1st one today and each one has a little toy inside so she was so excited! Thank you u/ahopefulb3ing

-The stocking stuffers that would not end 🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁...this was such an exciting part of our time! She loves the cutesy things that were inside and she especially loved the tasty treats that were in there too! Thank you u/0hn035

-the SpongeBob Kart Racers game...well I guess I have to learn how to play video games now which will make for awesome family time (except my daughter is kind of a sore loser so I have to take it easy on her...or hopefully she will take mercy in me because I'm not a gamer) 😖😊 Thank you u/That_High_Life

-Claw Machine..it looks so fun! Once we get it together, it seems like this will be an awesome competition game. Thank you u/ahopefulb3ing

-Headband Making Kit - she is a princess and an artist so this gift easily sums her up. I know that she will make some beautiful headbands and gift them to others too. Thank you u/That_High_Life

-Zhu Zhu Aquarium Playset - Thank you for fulfilling her wish that she wants a pet! This will be an easy pet that doesn't need to be walked or fed (once we can get it together). Thank you u/That_High_Life

-Fashion Designer Kit - yup, this also sums up Ameena...she will get to design outfits for her dolls and let them hit the runway! Thank you u/bumpythumbs

-Pajamas - love, love, love! Inside zip up pajamas, Barbie and mermaids all in one 🤯 her dreams come true! Thank you u/School_House_Rock

-A mermaid tail blanket. This has to be the most unique gift for the most unique girl! Thank you u/dhsagal

-And wrapping this up with Wrapping paper. Thank you for this kind thought because nice gifts should be wrapped in nice paper! Thank you u/0hn035

And momma got gifts too!

The Oogie Boogie Bag win - I can't say enough about all the love that was put into this collection of bags and scarves. I feel blessed not only by the gift but by the giver. Thank you u/The_Dixco_Bunny

As anxiety was setting in severely because of an incident, 2 people stepped in to keep me from going over the edge! I really love you guys for that. My anxiety and depression hits hard and I never want to do the wrong thing and I take things so personally because I just want to be a good thing in this world so I felt defeated. You saved me from going under. 🥹❤️

And when I felt like I got the boot...well....I was blessed with BOOTS! Snow boots in the impossible size 12. And though I haven't tried them on (it did snow but I was way too sick to go out) there will be plenty of snow to come in CT and they will be with me for years to come. Thank you u/School_House_Rock

And a beautiful time was able to be shared with my daughter at Red Lobster with a gift card gifted by u/SongIcy4058. Thank you, my daughter always begs to sit down and eat but I usually don't have the resources or time. This made for a core memory where my attention was just on her and the food. Thank you for granting a wish that she definitely wanted!

Whoa that was a whole lot and though it was a small Christmas compared to Christmas' past, it is memorable and full of love and complete with the kindness that you all have shown us!

Thank you!

Thank you so much to Santa u/Mean-Problem-2420 for making my Violet’s Christmas day possible! She is in love with everything and I can’t thank you enough. It’s so very hard to come here and ask for help. But I am blown away by the kindness shown to my family. Inspired by Santa and everyone on this sub, I am hoping to be able to contribute the same kindness that I have seen first hand. I wish everyone have a merry Christmas and a happy new year! I very much look forward to the new year and what great things it will bring to us all! Thank you to my child’s Santa and to all the Santa’s that made children’s wishes come true for Christmas ❤️

Thank you to our wonderful Santas! I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season, full of love and joy.

u/calebs_dad - the boys absolutely loved their T-Rex and Barcelona soccer balls! José loves dinosaurs and Carlitos loves Barcelona team, so they're both ecstatic. Thank you for a gift that will help us keep them active and playing outdoors ⚽️

u/JMTC789 - both boys were super excited to receive the sleeping bags. Carlos is veeeery excited to go camping, and I'm sure we will be going as soon as it's warm enough to take them because he's so excited he will keep reminding us until we actually go. Thank you for a gift that will allow us to explore the great outdoors.

u/kanga_roos - thanks for the space books! The book contest was wonderful, and both boys were so happy to receive a book amongst their gifts. They're both excited to learn about space so that when we go camping with @JMTC789's sleeping bags we can observe the night sky and put that into practice. Thank you for a gift that fosters learning about space and their love of reading.

u/laffinalltheway - the magnetic tiles and stacking rocks were a hit! The boys are sharing these and it was so fun to see them working together. Thank you for these toys will help them both with their motor skills and spatial awareness skills, and they're super fun!

u/0hn035 - we already played Mouse Trap, and it was as fun as I imagined it would be. Thank you for such a fun contest, and helping us create memories as a family.

u/Careless-Act-5416 - last but certainly not least - thank you for Carlitos' storybook kit and mini soccer set. He was so excited to receive the mini soccer set, because that's the one item he had asked for since he used his old one every day. He was also sooo excited for the storybook kit - when he understood that he gets to both write and illustrate his own stories, his eyes lit up with creativity. I am so excited to see what he comes up with!!! Additionally, thanks for José's ball drop toy and Crayola sensory pad. With his autism, these sensory toys have captivated his attention and have him suuuuper excited and experiencing pure joy.

Thank you all, including moderators and just everyone that is a part of this. We are blessed to have you, thank you for allowing us to give our children a magical Christmas when it has been such a hard year financially and with my health struggles. Thank you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! https://imgur.com/a/Nfe01LK

The time leading up to Christmas can feel like a marathon. Santa’s sacrifice, try to plan and prepare all to make it magical for the children. To show them a little reward at the end of the year , that we can believe in things we can’t see and know there is a good reasoning behind it (the way we do in ourselves, air, god) and to spread the joy to others as much as we can hoping to instill the traditions in them for when their time comes with their own children. We all grow up yet we all hold a bit of our youth innocence inside of us, I think for some of us we can agree those moments we were fortunate to have were our best memories around Christmas time , with family , around the tree, in a grandmas kitchen… etc. times are changing! This was a marathon I knew was coming up but was in no way going to be able to even show up to the starting line and probably would have crawled my way to the finish line. Christmas would not have happened without the Santa’s. The Christmas angels. I wish y’all could have seen the happiness and joy that was taking place as they unwrapped. Every gift from Beads, crafts, babies, trees, swing, pig, writing boards clay to stockings to dolls, they were ear to ear. Esmés smiles, Chloe’s excitement in her voice. The pride. Gratitude. I didn’t have the feeling of exhaust , knowing I was drained all the way mentally and financially . I got to enjoy watching it taking it all in , with peace. It was such a MERRY BLESSED CHRISTMAS. Thank you for giving us these memories in our hearts and for them getting to be kids a little bit longer. There are many to thank and some secret Santa’s!

u/kanga_roos u/laffinalltheway u/JMTC789 u/Allthedaquiries u/Topcat30 u/0hn035 Secret Santa’s!

I am posting two Imgur links, one is photos with mostly Esmé beaming other has some short videos of Chloe just…adorable I tried to capture every gift but still be In the moment.

https://imgur.com/gallery/hjE8gCE *may have to click load more images

https://imgur.com/gallery/6mcVlBM *may have to click volume button for sounds

https://imgur.com/gallery/18p6xIC

I hope it makes you smile as much as it made them! Thank you for keeping the spirit of Christmas alive and making all the difference. Life is hard for everyone, look for the goodness the magic everyday … and don’t forget to leave your cookies out for Santa every year!!

*also I haven’t been on Reddit as often this past month. Esmé fell with 5th disease then grandmother passed then Chloe Fell week after with it. They cleared up for all school Christmas things. All was going well, busy but well, christmas night Chloe and I got underweather rather quickly went In today and we picked up flu and Esmé is in good health. We are resting and plenty of water. I’m sorry for not posting sooner!!

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0d38UUDygG6cY7wqrTlANNA2g

Silas, in his new pajamas, playing with his favorite new toy. My thanks is far beyond what I can express, please don’t mind my Christmas filled living room. I wish I could share pics of them actually opening things, but i thoughtlessly let them rip into their gifts without being fully dressed. My heart is so full of joy and gratitude ❤️💚

Hey guys!!! My daughter has been SUPER busy we've been trying to do no screen time and use these last 2 days to just play all day! I snuck in the bathroom to make this post 😆 I'm making my huge thank you later when my girlie is asleep! We have a little guest over who celebrated Christmas with us also! (She's 2) so I've been on my tipple toes the last few days!

Santa’s please don’t think we forgot to thank you. I have a long Christmas report halfway typed up but I have been in a flare up since Christmas Day so I’m moving slow. Lots of pictures and gift reports coming tomorrow though. So much love to all our Santa’s. Christmas was amazing