Spreading Christmas cheer

Although I am always a very proud mom; today was a day that I was floored with pride towards my kind hearted boy. We were sick earlier this week so had to reschedule our good deed from Wednesday until today. Yesterday's act of kindness was "donate toys to Romaro house" We took the day to fill two boxes full of toys that my sweet boy chose to donate. Today we started the day by leaving a thankyou card and candycane for the Garbage man. We then packed up our toys and brought them to Romaro House. It was an amazing experience. The staff were so excited to see Kaiden and what he brought. They took him in and had him show them what he brought. He proudly explained each item and signed his name in their donation book. The lovely ladies gave Avarie and Kaiden ornaments for our Christmas tree as a thank you. They insisted I go out to the car to get a camera to take a photo of Kaiden giving his toys. As we left he said "I want to do that again! How about Christmas eve?" We sure of course! We then headed to a nursing home to help serve donuts to some residents. The staff were very excited to see us and came out to greet us and said "We have been waiting for our helper!" Kaiden handed out donuts to the group and then went room to room handing them out to the bed-ridden residents. Meanwhile Avarie put on a dancing and "singing" show. She was scooped up quickly by some seniors who were quite taken by her! Kaiden then showed everyone how fast he could run and how high he could jump. We were invited to come back and visit anytime :) Here are some photos from our day:

Today is a difficult day as it marks the second anniversary of losing my dear Grandmother who was a best friend and role model to me. We were very close and we lost her unexpectantly which has been very painful for all of us. Although I immediatly struggled with how to live my life without someone who meant the world to me...I have learned that my life must go on and I have to push past the pain to honour her life. She was a woman who loved her family with all of her heart and gave us so many beautiful memories and taught us to love with every part of our being. For this I will always be grateful. I am pained that my children will not know the love that she had down to her very soul however I will do my very best to keep her memory alive and do her justice by passing this love forward. There are still many moments when the pain hits as I reach or the phone only to be hit with the harsh reminder that there is no where I can call to reach her. I struggle with joyful moments when she would have been by my side as she always was. I am so luckily to have been raised by three parents and to have these wonderful happy childhood memories created by my grandmother and parents. There will always be a piece of me that is missing as I am sure she took it with her when she was called home. I will also forever thank her for the amazing impact she had on my remarkable son in the short but wonderful amount of time they had together and the amazing gift of my daughter who I truly believe was a gift from above during such a difficult time.. I know that we will be together again one sweet day and until then I will cherish the signs all around us that remind me that she is constantly by my side

Santa Claus is coming to town

We had Bryn stop by to take our family pics this weekend and we love them as usual! Here is the link to the full portfolio :)

More advent giving back

Over the past few days we have been opening our good deed Advent calendar, excited to read our deed for the day! The past few days we had "put extra change in donation cup" "give five compliments", "pay for the order behind you in the drive thru" and "call someone just to say I love you". Kaiden has been great at completing each deed and seems to be learning about the true meaning behind the holiday season. Hopefully we gave the lady behind us a reason to smile yesterday and hopefully she paid it forward. The lady from Tim Horton's wanted to know if we knew her and we said "no we just ask that you tell her happy holidays and please pay it forward!" This morning Kaiden had a great time calling Daddy, Grandma and Grammy to tell them he loves them (he also asked me to call my daddy, which I did :)

Downey family Christmas tree

We had a busy weekend with Christmas parties and driving to cut down our tree. We piled in the truck and with a quick stop to pick up Grandma heading to Brown's Flat to cut down our tree. We chose the perfect tree for us and Grandma and Papa and loaded them on top of the truck and later that night decorated them. Kaiden was very excited and proudly added the first ornament to the tree. He was an amazing helper and continued until the entire tree was finished. Avarie also helped add her first ornament. Here are some photos from our busy but fun weekend!

Picture Prep

We have pictures booked next weekend with the lovely and talented Bryn Robinson and I have been getting my inner craft on in preparation! Pictures to come but here is what I have made for Avarie to wear in her first Christmas shot:

DIY photo ornament

For Grandma's birthday present we decided to make a photo christmas ornament for her. We printed off a template, chose some photos and glued them into a cube shape. We then added a hook and it was as easy as that!

Day 1 of giving back

Today marked the first of our Christmas of giving back. We opened the first door on our advent calendar to find a treat and our first act of kindness. Here are some photos from this morning :)