Christmas on the USS INGRAHAM

[Matt's Mom/Cathy]

Moms are you ready to start Christmas shopping????

 

Our adoption for October is the USS Ingraham.  There are 201 sailors serving aboard this frigate -

191 males and 10 females (all officers).  As we all know it is very difficult to be away from your family during the holidays so after speaking with our contact we have decided to brighten up these sailors holidays by helping them celebrate Christmas.

 

We can send Christmas decorations such as small trees, battery powered lights and wall decorations.

I would like to see each of them receive a small stocking (6")  filled with candy or small items and a candy cane for Christmas morning in addition to our other packages.  What do you ladies think?

They requested very few things but could use sunscreen and lip balm since the weather is hot where they are deployed.  Microwavable meals would be a big hit with the crew also.  Most of them are into games, movies and sports and could use some new items to pass around.

 

The Captain is onboard with anything that will boost the morale on her ship and they are grateful for the support from home and will appreciate anything we do for them.  They enjoy seeing the smiles on the faces of the sailors when they receive mail and care packages from home.

 

Since this is a small group could we get enough of the small Priority boxes filled so that every sailor onboard would have a box to open for Christmas plus a pillowcase and a Christmas card?

 

Okay moms what fabulous ideas do you have to help the USS Ingraham celebrate Christmas this year?

 

191 Males

10 Females

 

Check in with Nancy on We Stitch Love if you can help out with the pillowcases.

Pillowcase count - females 10 DONE

                              males 191 - we have 191  DONE

Our count as of 10/13

Nancy - stocking for the Captain

Molly - stocking for our POC

Molly - 2 energy drinks for each sailor

Susan - Christmas stories

 

Small Stockings - Total needed 201

      Great job Pam we have enough stockings for everyone on board!

Pam - 200+  MAILED

 

 

Small boxes -  We need 201

                        We have 201!!!!!!!!! 

Molly - 16 plus POC stocking, energy drinks and Pop chips- mailed

Evi - 8 plus decorations  mailed

Kim - 10 plus snacks, suncscreen & lip balm  mailed

Pam (GM Mom) - 24 mailed

Nancy - 8 mailed

Chowchow - 16 plus cards mailed

Pat L - 24  mailed

Susan - 8 mailed

Julie - 8 plus cards & decorations  mailed

Laura - 12  mailed

mominPA - 8

Kat - 14 mailed

mombyheart - Homemade cards mailed

Proud Navy/NYPD - 1 female mailed

Matt's Mom - 9 female plus two boxes of decorations and a gingerbread train kit mailed

Packing Party in San Antonio - 35 mailed

Diane - 10 boxes of treats

I know several of us have bought items to ship but not sure how many small boxes it will work out to be so I will change the numbers as we pack them up.

We have several moms sending blank Christmas cards for the sailors to send to their families and several that will be sending Christmas decorations.

 

The shipping dates will be October 21 - 26 and the address is posted in MAS We Ship Love and mark the boxes "Christmas" or we could write "Don't Open Until Christmas".

[Molly Molly Fo Folly]

I picked up a bath towel for our POC stocking ----its said to be a quick dry towel ?  I thought that would be awesome.  being on the carrier for 7 days 6 nights taught me some great things -and one of them is you have NO WHERE to hang your towel to dry ---they hang them on their lockers or on a hanger in the hall and its NEVER dry by the time you take your next shower ---so quick dry sounded amazing to me :)

[Susan mom to Niko]

Now I am confused... I thought we were lining the small VHS box with Christmas wrapping paper and filling it with goodies...  then taking the small boxes and putting them in a big box for shipping???  have we switched to stockings?? 

[PAM (GM MOM)]

Susan, my understanding is we are trying to do both.  Small boxes with gifts wrapped with Christmas paper and small stockings filled with candy.  I could be worng.  I plan on sending 1 box of Christman deorations, 1 box of stockings, 1 box of gifts, and poss 1 box of stocking and gifts.

[Matt's Mom/Cathy]

Susan you are right on the boxes.  Pack the small boxes and wrap them in Christmas paper and then pack in the large Priority box for shipping.  The stockings are just an extra item for them to have.  A 6" stocking just big enough to hold a candy cane maybe some other Christmas candy (just not chocolate) or small items such as lip balm, hand sanitizer, small tube of sunscreen.

 

Thanks Pam that all sounds great.

[Susan mom to Niko]

So are we keeping count of how many boxes we have sent??  Seems to me that last time we could fit nine of the small boxes in the big box...  will that many still fit??  I better check to see how many of the small boxes I have!!  Then start my packing!! 

[Evi]

Ok this is my first time so I want to make sure I do the right thing - I'm going to get a large flat rate APO FPO box and some small ones, wrap the small ones in Christmas paper and fill with whatver - is the contact going to open the big  box and distribute or does the big box go to one person with several presents in it?  I'm confused!!!!

 

[Matt's Mom/Cathy]

Susan I was able to pack nine into one large but if they are wrapped I am thinking only eight will fit.  There is a little bit of room to put some stockings.  I will keeping a count of how many boxes we will be shipping.

Evi that is exactly what we are doing.  The large box will be opened by our POC and the small boxes distributed.

Some moms from around the area are attending Navy Week in San Antonio.  Since some of them will live too far away to come to our packing party we are asking them to bring donations with them to San Antonio.

[chowchow]

Ok Matt's Mom you have a packing party I was just going to go shopping today and start wrapping and packing.  But I have a feeling I live to far for the packing party, but I would like to be apart of that if I live close enough.  Otherwise just to make sure I understand the stockings have candy and candy canes in them and the VHS boxes have the sunscreen, lip balm and a cards &/or hand held games and are individually wrapped (the VHS box) placed in the large box and shipped.  Thanks ladies for all the help and direction. 

[Evi]

Does somebody keep track of who's sending what?  If so, I'm sending 8 wrapped boxes and 8 stockings and then I have 8 (because I was on a roll) little wall hangings from the dollar store that I'll try to fit in my big box but send separately if they won't fit.  And since I'm new, somebody tell me if the following are ok to send - my stockings will have candy in them (no chocolate, right?) and the presents have floss picks, sun screen, chapstick, snacks, hopefully a movie (is preowned ok?), a matchbox car (becuase everybody needs a toy) and letters.  Enough?

[Molly Molly Fo Folly]

BY GEORGE YOUVE GOT IT EVI ~~~ wow perfectly done !! 

 

OK ladies ---dont laugh too hard , but how the heck do you fold these little boxes ? I have a bunch here and have not used them in awhile and I CANT GET THEM TOGETHER ??????   ha ha ha instuctions please --or instructional video :) ha ha ha

[chowchow]

Alright Evi where did you get the stockings and candy That is the only thing I'm missing.  I got a game, sunscreen, and lipbalm, plus I will add some snack items to each box.  I'm sending 2 of the VHS boxes filled with Christmas Cards which comes to a little over 80 and put on them please open early and destribute please.  Do you like the please.  Now Molly as far as putting the boxes together I just started folding and it all worked out.  Plus I will send 16 small wrapped boxes I just can't find the stockings.  Let me know where people are getting them.

[carols_kitchen]

Let me know if I need to sew up some stockings this weekend.  Could do a handful of smaller ones from some sample material I have.