Holiday Giving Gathering at Build-A-Bear Workshop plus giveaway ends 12-17

Me and my kids got the awesome invite to attend Build-A-Bear Workshop's Holiday Giving Gathering event. So what does that mean right? Well first off I want to say I was honored to be invited because that is the first blog event I have been invited to so far so I am hoping new opportunities keep arising for Mommies Angels soon. The event was special to me because its the holidays and holidays to me are a time to give not get. I honestly don't care if I get presents for Christmas. I love buying Present for other people and seeing the joy in their faces when they receive it. I want to install that into my kids as well. So we donate to Toys for Tots around Christmas, the Food bank a couple times a year, I donate to a few other organization for children with medical issues, and I do them because these things are close to my heart. I know the times people go through. It wasn't but a couple years ago we had no money for Christmas, food, or diapers. Our Church was awesome and really helped us out. Even friends and family helped as much as they could. It wasn't the best Christmas ever but we enjoy what we had and that is why I love helping when I can. I am not rich and we live pay check to pay check. I don't work outside of the house just my husband does and trust me his hourly wage sucks so we still have to use state assistance to keep our heads a float but I know one day we will come out of this rut and be ahead stronger. It just takes someone to let you know they care and they want to help to really make someones day especially children.

So when Build-A-Bear Workshop asked us to come to the event to make bears to donate to Toys for Tots I was like definitely we will be there. My kids were just as excited as I was to go and make bears for kids that have no present for Christmas. My 6 year old says we are like Santa's Elves , which was kind of right. When we got there we checked in and got our name tags and walked around a bit. The store was pretty big and full of fun animals and clothing and accessories for your animals. The store was brightly colored and had all kinds of fun machines that my kids love checking them out. We then got to meet the Marine from Toys for Tots and Brooke from Huggable Heroes. What is the Huggable Heroes program recognizes young leaders making a difference in their local communities and around the world. The program encourages and empowers kids to become young leaders and honors them for their dedication and accomplishments. If you know someone that deserves this award then you should definitely check it out and nominate them. Brooke started the Toys for Teens programs which is a program where she Sang to raise money and gift for teenagers because really they are kids too and deserve to act like a kids at least one day out of the year right? Most programs focus on younger kids but I thought it was cool to hear there are programs for the older kids and that meant alot to me as well. Brooke became a Huggable Hero in 2004 and still does it. Way to go Brooke you are awesome and inspired me and my kids.

The next thing we did was learn a little about the animals you can buy year around that give back like the Turner Owl which benefits books for low income families and Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation, the Jack Russell Terrier which benefits the domestic pet program, Champ a champion Fur Kids benefits children's health and wellness causes like juvenile diabetes, Autism, and children's cancer research, and the WWF Gray Wolf benefits endangered animals and their habitats. So not only are you getting a cute adorable fun animal to love and take care of you are also helping great causes as well. That is awesome!

The next thing we did is we all got a Champ bear and took him to the stuffing machine where we all got to stuff or bear to our liking of softness. Then we got to get a little red heart that we made a wish with and did some other special things to it to make this bear extra special. My kids were loving it at this point. Then we got our bear sewn up and then took them to give them a air dry bath. This blew all the fuzzies off of it and made him all clean. Then we got to brush him and make him all perfect for that special boy or girl that is going to get him for Christmas. After that we all got to put it into the Toys for Tots box for the Marines to give to kids that need presents this year. The box was over flowing with bears which was a awesome site to see knowing there will be tons of little ones getting a surprise for Christmas. We all enjoyed our time there and we will definitely be back. All of my kids have Build-A-Bear's  and they all want new outfits for them. Plus we some some pretty cute animals that would make great friends with their other bears.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is a fun place to celebrate any event with your kids or even yourself. Your kids will love it! You can even get gift cards to give your loved ones. But most of all if you want to make a difference this year Come on in buy a fun animal for your kids and a cute outfits or costumes and then when you pay you can add $1 donation to Toys For Tots at your check out. You can also give back online at buildabearville.com and buy Build-A-Bearville game cards and direct 5% of the price to support Toys for Tots. Remember that Build-A-Bear Workshop has lots of great gifts for Christmas. They have a huge selection from bears, bunnies, monkeys, owls, Hello Kitty and much more. You can dress them up with Sketchers, Star Wars, Toy Story costumes, Sports uniforms and anything you can think of practically. They even have accessories like cars, beds and stuff for the animals. Its definitely worth a look at! So whatever your doing this holiday remember to give back!

We are giving one lucky reader a $25 Gift card to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Yay!

To Enter:
1. Tell me your favorite Build-A-Bear animal.

Extra Entries:
1. Tell me something you or your family does to help give back
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4.Blog about this giveaway this will count for 4 entries
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13.comment on my non giveaway blogs 1 entry for each comment
14. Post this giveaway on any giveaway site, Online Sweepstakes, Mr Linky, or other networking website-leave the link where I can find it (5 entry for each site)
15. Vote for me on Picket Fences