Grandma's Bears

Almost 8 years ago, my grandmother passed away. She collected Beanie Babies and had asked that when she passed, the Beanie Babies go to Ashley (my oldest).  When my grandfather died a couple years ago, the Beanies were then given to Ashley. She was 22 at the time, and didn't really have room for hundreds of Beanie Babies. My grandmother had every. single. Beanie Baby. ever. made. Maybe there were thousands. It kind of felt like it. Ashley picked several favorites and agreed to donate the rest.

A LOT of them came to Katrina who fell in love with every single one. Trenton took a lot of the dragon, patriotic themed and dinosaur ones. Cousins in other states picked some out before they even made it back to Tucson. We gave some of the birthday bears to friends on their birthday.

I still struggled with the hundreds we had left. I knew we couldn't love them all equally but I didn't want to donate them to Goodwill where they would sit in a box for months unloved and not played with (this is where I thought I had watched Toy Story too many times). I thought about donating them to a hospital but was unsure if they would be safe to donate them there since they were in my "house of dogs and cats".

This is when it hit me. I'll donate them to the kids' school. They would be perfect as a prize for the annual school carnival. The kids and I would "know" who they were going to and knew that the child that chose the bear chose it because they loved it and wanted it.

So, the kids and I dug through the Beanies. We decided the bears were the easiest for us to give away. The puppies, kitties and bunnies and the other cute animals were too difficult for Katrina to give away. Let's just say she had a small anxiety attack. At 5 years old.

 These are the Beanies we decided to donate to the school. The kids and I spent hours choosing, holding and wishing happy new home thoughts to each one.

We donated these in April 2010. A couple school carnivals passed but there were no Beanie Babies. I was a little concerned so I asked about them a few days ago. 

Last night was the carnival.  I almost didn't go because my head hurt so badly. I'm glad I did go, though. When I saw this, I was so excited! The spirit of my grandmother was at that carnival and I knew it!

They were going to use the Beanie Babies this year!

As some of the kids were winning the bears, I asked if I could take their pictures.

I have to confess that there was one Beanie Baby I took back.  There was no way it was a coincidence that this Beanie Baby was right next to me:

It's an "It's a Boy" Beanie Baby. In April 2010 when I donated these, this bear would have been just like the others; just "another bear".  However, Ashley is due with a baby boy any day now. I knew we did right thing by donating the bears to the school. The kids were thrilled and my kids were happy to see that their Great Grandma's bears were going to good, loving homes and now I know because of the It's a Boy bear, that my grandmother approved also. 

Have a great day!