The True Spirit of The Holidays

This post is sponsored by DreamWorks Animation.I recently got a fun surprise in the mail in celebration of the third season of Spirit Riding Free, a Netflix Original Series from DreamWorks Animation Television. This show follows the adventures of three best friends and a wild horse named Spirit, and Season 3 has all kinds of new adventures:

Season 3 of Spirit Riding Free begins with Spirit and Lucky desperately trying to find one another and finally reunited in Miradero. Once together, the PALs and their horses set out on all-new thrilling adventures – racing to stop an oncoming train, helping a horse deliver her foal, trying to stay one step ahead of pesky Snips and cousin Julian or embarking on daring rescue missions. Amidst all the excitement, we will see the PALs exploring environs beyond Miradero, making wonderful new friends and meeting some new horses from Spirit’s herd. Join the PALs for an action-packed journey that above all celebrates the unbreakable bond between Lucky and Spirit.

I was so charmed by the toys I received. With Spirit & Lucky fashion doll set, where you can actually “Feed” Spirit carrots – how cute is that?!

I also received two products that made me nostalgic: A Spirit model horse and paint kit, both by Breyer, who have been famously making beautiful horse models since 1950. I had a large collection of Breyer horses when I was a child, so it really took me back!

Since I had so much fun with Breyer toys when I was a child, I wanted to share some of these for another child to enjoy. I had planned to drop them off at a Christmas donation drive I saw at a grocery store at beginning of the month, but the drop box was gone when I came back with the toys. I figured I would try again later, but I ended up being sick for so much of December that I didn’t get a chance to look again until this week. Since we’re just days away from Christmas, I was worried that I had missed the deadline, so I put out a call on Facebook to see if there were any local organizations still accepting donations. Thanks to all of my awesome Facebook friends, I found out that a local school was in the middle of wrapping all of their toy drive presents last night, and that if I hurried, I could try to catch them before they were finished! So, Jai and I set off on a Christmas adventure driving into the stormy night to the next town over.

I was worried that everyone would be gone by the time we made it to the school, so I was very happy to see all the lights on and a large group of volunteers working away to wrap gifts! They were so nice, excited to receive more donations and thought the toys were awesome! It was truly Santa’s workshop come to life, with so many people wrapping gifts for the kids. We have so many children in need right here in our community, so I applaud the kind school staff who do whatever they can to help.

It’s been a hectic month around here – I haven’t even put my tree up yet, and Christmas is in two days!! – so I haven’t really felt the holiday spirit this year. I think the best way to turn that around is to do something like this, so I want to thank Spirit the horse for getting me into the holiday spirit – how fitting is that? – and providing some lovely gifts for local kids in need. Merry Christmas!