Giving Back!

Wow what a month! It went by so quickly we are reeling a bit; however it was a good one.
Although Geoff and I practice this as often as we can, we find that December holds a special meaning and there are feelings of peace and kindness floating through the air. Last year we created a "Good Deed or Acts of Kindness calendar" that I have mentioned here before.
We hope to teach our children about the importance of giving selflessly. This year we dove into the acts with confidence and enthusiasm.

Kaiden couldn't wait to see what our act would be each day.

To say we were proud of his giving would be such an understatement. He took part in each act of kindness with excitement and always wanted to do more and more. For example we would put extra change in a donation cup and he would want to put some in every cup he could find. While shopping at superstore he witnessed an older employee picking up items in the clothing area. She had obvious back problems but nevertheless continued about her job. We rounded a corner and someone had knocked over a display of shoes and left them all over the floor. Kaiden quickly ran over and picked all of the boxes and shoes up before the lady had to bend down. He often teaches us just as much as we hope we are teaching him. We visited a local nursing home and Kaiden delivered drinks and treats to the elderly residents with kindness and grace.

The reception we received from each place we visited was wonderful. Often we were told we were teaching our children such wonderful things which were awesome to hear but again we feel that they continue to teach us. Both of us were taught by our families and we are just trying to continue the legacy that our Grandparents began.
So as the month and year come to an end; we feel that a resolution for 2013 will be to continue to "pay it forward" and educate our children about giving back.

 

We had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed moments with family and friends. We are still soaking in the remaining moments before we ring in the New Year. I hope that each and every one of you enjoyed your time off from work and time with loved ones. To a happy and healthy 2013!

 

 

Oh Christmas tree!

Today we headed out into the wilderness in search of the perfect Christmas tree. We quickly selected "the one" and cut it down. Kaiden chose one for his room as well. We can't wait to pop on some Christmas music and start decorating! Dad insists we let it stand for at least a day first so we patiently  wait. Here is a shot of the Downey family tree 2012:

The season of giving

December 1st...The day we begin our annual "Acts of kindness" advent calendar. We started it off with a great one: "donate food to Romaro house". We put together a bag of groceries and dropped them off. Kaiden delivered them himself:

I am so excited to watch my children take part in this tradition once again. My heart expands in so many ways watching them give back. There is nothing more important than teaching our children to give selflessly to others. Too often we are caught up in the commercial hype that surrounds this holiday so we try to take a moment to step back and appreciate the true meaning of Christmas. I hope to plant these values in my children as my parents and my husband's parents did for us. Take a moment to slow down and help out others even in a small way. I promise your heart will smile :)

"Movember"

November is a month that we love in this house..it settles down after halloween allowing us a time to remember those who fought for our country and to then begin preparing for the holiday season. We feel that when it comes to the holidays..you gotta "go big or go home" and by saying that I mean in terms of cooking, spreading love and cheer, crafting, holiday movies, parties, events and much much more! We tried to enjoy each moment and make events, such as our annual tree cutting day. We found the perfect tree lot that we continue to visit each year to chop down our tree. We cannot wait to select the perfect one for this year! We have also been already thinking of our Good Deed advent calendar and what deeds we will place in each little door. One of my co-workers is going to join in with her son and we are planning a lunch date to develop our list of 25 deeds. We will work off of last year's list and add some news as well. Kaiden is so excited for the Santa Claus parade this year and are anticipating that Avarie will love it! We can't wait for our annual group supper before as well!

News around our house include; Avarie has transitioned to a big girl bed! We were a little hesitant because our girl is a climber and a firecracker so we weren't sure it would go smoothly but so far so good! She LOVES her big bed (so much so, she doesn't want to get up in the mornings!).
Avarie has been "talking" more and more and keeps us all in stitches when she discovers a new word. One of her new words is "more" and it is quite funny listening to her say "More please" (she sounds exactly like Oliver twist he he). She also loves to hide behind her hands and say "boo!". Fav characters currently are Beauty and the Beast and Mickey. She also LOVES to be read to, especially from her "where's baby" book. She very much loves her big brother and laughs hysterically anytime he plays with her (warms my heart!)

Kaiden is still loving school and has been taking in so much! He told me all about learning French ("Bonjour means Hi!") today and sang me a song about Rememberance day! So sweet to hear his excitment about learning! He loves his class and his teachers. Kaiden has been skating at Canskate for a couple of weeks and although we have had a rough patch, we are hoping a trip to "The box" for some new skates might help. He loves to skate and his first few weeks went very well and he was moved up a level. We purchased new skates for him (brand new on kijiji) and ever since he has been having a rough time. We are hoping trying on a few pairs to get a better fit will help :) We have decided he is so clever that he might be a lawyer (or a politician you be the judge!) On Thursday night he asked me to put on Mickey's christmas carol. While putting the DVD in, I said "okay but if daddy asks, it was your idea" (Geoff has been trying to hold us off holiday items as long as he can ha ha).  He looked at me (placing the DVD in the player) and said "You are the one putting it in right now". Very clever boy he is!

Alright enough for tonight but I will wrap things up with a pic in honour of 'Movember"..get your pledges in for a good cause!

It has been a busy but awesome month so far! We have been busy preparing for Halloween. We had a costume change but rose to the challenge and spent the past few weeks building. Kaiden loves the classic "Ghostbuster" movies (as do we) so decided he would like to go as one. Not one to ignore an excellent couples idea..I immediatly decided Av would be "Stay Puft" and of course Chloe is always included so "Slimer" it was! We used our imaginations as well as some help from family and collected items and spent many nights designing and putting everything together. Not going to lie, Geoff and I might have had more fun than the kids with costume building ha ha. Anyway long story short, they turned out awesome! The kids had their debut yesterday at a local Halloween party and were a huge hit!

So without further ado..introducing..the Ghostbuster, Staypuft and Slimer!

 

 

We also did our annual pumpkin carving evening on Friday night. The first night was a bit of a bust but we attempt again the following night with success! Here are our finished pumkins:

 



 

We are good and ready for Trick or Treating and we are hoping for safe weather and thinking of all those affected by Sandy. Stay safe and make good decisions!

Ode to Pollyanna

okay so as I have stated many times..I love fall. October is my favourite month for several reasons. This month includes, thanksgiving, my birthday, halloween and beautiful colours and crisp temps..what's not to love?? Anyway presumably for this reason, I adopted a "pollyanna" attitude as of late. I have been entertaining (or annoying ha ha) my co-workers with "glad games" and excerpts from "The book of awesome". On a serious note though; this time of year always makes me feel so thankful for my friends and loved ones and all of the things that bless us. I am fortunate to have a job but that also puts a great deal in perspective. I am often reminded of hardships and struggles that people around us go through and know how blessed we are. I hope that we all take time this weekend to reflect on the joys and blessing in our lives and appreciate all that we have. We are having two thanksgiving dinners this weekend and I am looking forward to some quality time with my niece and nephews and parents and siblings.
Kaiden and I have been busy decorating the house for Thanksgiving and Halloween, here are some of our projects:

Ahhh...beautiful fall

Fall is in the air and I am LOVING it! Two weeks into September and school is going great for Kaiden :) A happy boy = a happy momma. He loves school and has run home each day happy and looking forward to headng back in the morning. He had a "best day ever", which was due to his class being called last after recess so he got to play longer (love that the simple things make my sweet boy so happy!).

September is a busy month with lots of exciting events to come! We are having our family pics done this month by the ever-talented Bryn Robinson..check out her website Here :) Kaiden has a few school events this month and we are gearing up for some fall traditions.

Today we registered Kaiden for Canskate after a couple of weeks of back and forth between that and hockey. Kaiden has been asking to play hockey for a couple of years and we were ready to sign him up for this winter. However after he kept saying he didn't want to skate with a stick and that he just wanted to skate, so we decided to look further into Canskate. We looked into both options and made the final decision with him, to go with Canskate for this year. We figure that if he loves it and feels confident and wants to next year we will enroll him in hockey at that point. He is quite excited to start and is happy to hear his buddies will be learning with him as well. We also registered Miss Avarie for dance starting in October. It is a class that a parent attends and interacts as well. I am looking forward to introducing her to some other children and letting her burn off some energy. She is our little busy body so I am sure she will have a great time!


Ok to wrap things up here are some photos of my sweet children, I love that they love each other so much...

T'was the night before Kindergarten...

Well..it's the night before the first day of school. Before I start..full disclosure that this might get over the top sappy and emotional, but hey, that's me and I find writing to be therapeutic so here goes:

Today we set out to have a light and fun day and we succeeded. We asked Kaiden if he could do anything today what would it be? He said go to the white playground with the green dragon (aka Westfield). We piled in the truck and off we went. We had a great time and he was pleased with his choice. Daddy took him for a haircut and then we made our way home to pack his bookbag, pick out his clothes and pack his lunch. We went over his lunch notes to remind him of what they say (he is still learning reading but recognizes "I love you" and "Have a good day"). He was quiet and broke my heart just a tad when he asked if I could stay with him tomorrow (sob) but said he is very excited. We read "The night before Kindergarten" and he asked questions about what would be there and if there would be naps (and as I fully admitted to the facebook world..I sobbed on and off during the book). I cuddled with him and let a few tears escape as I held him and wondered how I can let him grow. He is such an old soul and a sweet kind hearted boy, and as his mommy I worry. I worry that he will be scared when I am not there and I worry that others will be unkind. I worry about bullies and also worry that he will be afraid and I will not be there to hold his hand. My heart hurts thinking of my first born..the boy who made me a mom..letting go of my hand and beginning the journey called school. I hope that his teacher is nice and thinks about what an important job she has and what an important role she will have in my child's life. Time to take a deep breath and put a stop to these tears because I know that my kid will rock school just as he rocked preschool and without a doubt my kid will move moutains...

One week....

Well..we are down to one week before Kindergarten. I realize that I have written multiple posts about this but in all fairness it is a big deal. We have started picking up lunch supplies and laminating lunchbox notes and starting to get on an early bedtime schedule. So many firsts to come for us and our little man. I came across this poem on facebook yesterday and...full confession..I have not read it without crying since:

A Mother's 1st day of school prayer:

I wonder what you're doing now,
and if everyone is treating you kind.
I hope there is a special person,
A nice friend that you can find

I wonder if the teacher knows,
just how special you are to me,
And if the brightness of your hear
Is something she can see.

I wonder if you are thinking about me,
And if you need a hug
I already miss the sound of your voice
and how you give my leg a tug

I wonder if you could possibly understand
How hard it is for me to let you grow
On this day know that my heart breaks
For this is the first step in letting you go

"Sob"...this sums up the emotions I am juggling and makes my heart ache. How do we learn to let our hearts walk around outside without our hands strongly grasping theirs? I know that we are not the first and will not be the last but wow this is hard. I already miss him and he hasn't even begun. I am so thankful I had so long with my boy and hope that we have given him a great foundation to begin this next journey in his life.

Okay I am going to wipe the tears away and stop sobbing (until next week as I am not going to pretend there will not be tears). Today we went to the airshow and the kids had a great time! We are enjoying vacation and hope to head to the Aquarium as well as the Exhibition this week. That's all for now folks...I will add more vacation shots over the next few days :)

Vacation!

Well today was my last day of work for two glorious weeks. I love my job however it is always nice to have a break! We have a week of day trips planned for the kids and then the second week will be Kaiden's first day of school. We have spent the last few weeks picking up new clothes, school supplies, and today Kaiden went for an appointment at the optometrist. He did excellent and has perfect vision! I am feeling so many different emotions about the upcoming first day of school. I am excited for him and for the many fun days to come with school; however I am sad that my time at home with him has come to an end. I will miss him but cannot wait to watch him soar. He has made us so proud in so many ways and I know he will continue to do so. We have several special things planned for his first day and can't wait to hear all about it. Here is a photo of our little man with his new sunglasses:

Fall rambling..

I apologize in advance for the ramblings that are about to follow. It is midnight but I felt the urge to write and when it strikes...it's best to go with it. Now don't get me wrong...I love summer and all that comes along with it..BUT....I am itching for FALL! I LOVE anything and everything to do with the upcoming season. I don't know whether it is because I am a fall baby or if it is just the sights, sounds and feelings that accompany the changing leaves but I love fall in giant doses. I have been happily "Pin"ing away all sorts of lovely fall crafts, outfits and photo ideas. I am more than ready to dive right in!
As I have stated many times..I love Pinterest and spend far too much time sifting through pages and pages of "pins"; however I am also someone who tries out quite a bit of them. I keep a board of "pins we have tried" and it is quickly growing (I swear Catherine I really do them!) I can't wait to add some more fall ones we have tried! Anyway I have already tentatively booked our fall photos and am admitting that I have several halloween costumes in mind so the crisp weather and beautiful leaves can come anytime (sorry!).
Tonight we spent a fair amount of time (and $ eep!) on Kaiden's school supplies and clothes for his highly anticipated first day of Kindergarten. It was adorable because he was so twitchy with excitement he ran from item to item exclaiming "Mom!!, we need scissors and glue and markers!" He picked out a bookbag (batman of course) and wore it all around the store and immediately when we got home. I had initially felt that the "school supply" list was quite long for starting school but after standing in the mist of the "seasonal supplies" isle with moms and children and many many different items and brands I realized it could be worse and there was just as many things that he didn't need which was nice. Anyway I took a photo of him with his new backpack and have to share because it is so sweet; here is my very excited big boy:

Crazy for crafting!

I love to make things hence my obsession with pinterest. I decided I wanted to make Erica and Mark something personal for their wedding gift. I saw a pin a few months ago and just new I would try it for a special wedding. I bought clear Christmas bulbs at Michaels and cut Erica and Mark's wedding invitations into long strips. I then curled the strips using a pencil and stuffed them into the bulbs. I tied ribbon around the top of the ornament to serve as a hook. Here is a photo of the finished product:



I picked up a picture frame to give them as I think it is always a great thing for a newly wed couple as they will have lots of pics to fill it! I decided to add something to it so printed out some letters to spell out EST (established) and 08/04/2012 which was their wedding date. I left the top of the frame empty so they can fill it with wedding photos. Here is the final product:

This week Kaiden and I decided we would take the chore chart one stop further and make it a bit more user friendly. We are going to make a trip to the dollar store to get a better board to house the chores but for now our fridge will do the trick. We used clip art for the images and printed each one out. We then used a laminating kit to laminate each chore. We had leftover velcro stips from making a cape so used that to make them easy to move around the "to do" and "done" pages. For each chore Kaiden completes he will receive a nickel. If he compeletes all of his chores each day he will receive 3.50 each week towards whatever he might want to buy. We will also make a trip out to allow him to choose a new piggy bank to keep track of his savings. We are hoping he will learn a bit more about managing his change and addition and responsibility. He is so excited and has been very enthusiastic about completing his chores! Here is a photo of our temporary chore chart:

Catching up!

We have had a busy two weeks! We had a wonderful trip to the island and I was honoured to read at my dear friend Erica's beautiful wedding. She looked stunning and the decor was so incredible! It was a "old Hollywood" theme and as you know..I love me a good theme! Even the guests got into the spirit dressing up to fit in! My mom wore a flapper dress and old accessories that looked great! The couple had a candy bar which was a big hit with the kids and a photo booth complete with accessories to dress up and take your picture! Here are some shots of us in the photo booth:

Here are my beautiful children:

Avarie loves to give hugs and kisses, especially to Kaiden.

The morning after the wedding we were up bright and early (thanks to Av;) and headed out to the beach and sandspit. The kids had so much fun as did we! To see photos from our weekend click here

PEI bound!

So pumped to be off for the next 6 days and to head to PEI for my girl Erica B's wedding. Kaiden is so excited that he has been counting down since day 9. We are packing up and enjoying a family trip and a beautiful wedding!

We have had an incredible summer and I have been enjoying so much with my little family. It is amazing to watch my kids starting to play together and enjoying each other's company. Avarie LOVES to give kisses right now and although big brother is sometimes a bit too cool for it, she tends to win out and smothers him in kisses. She has been repeating EVERYTHING and it is so cute to hear Kaiden's excitement when she learns a new word; "mom, she said buddy, she really did!" She has been calling Kaiden "buddy" since hearing us call him that ha ha.

So it is worth mentioning that last night I was introduced to Cold Stone for the first time. My SIL has been trying to convince me to try it and although I wanted to, just never seemed to get there. Well last night during an impromtu Winners trip, Michelle took me and.....OMG! I cannot believe I hadn't tasted it before..eep I might be in trouble! I tried Extra-ORANGE-inary and it was soo good! I will have to take the kids there for a treat for sure!

It is late and I have a full day of packing tomorrow so I am off to bed but to sum up..here are some recent photos of my adorable munchkins

A new nephew!

We are thrilled to welcome another nephew today! Cameron Geoffrey  was born at 5:30pm weighing in at 8lbs, 3.5 ounces and he sure is cute! Congratulations to Erica, Kevin and big sister Layla!

We had secretly been working on a gift for big sis that I will post now that Layla has received it :) I got the idea from......you guessed it, PINTEREST! It is a "big sibling" kit which you fill with activities for the big sibling to do at the hospital to entertain them while mom and dad are busy with the new baby. I would have preferred a bag without any design on it but it was tough to find the right material without a print so I used one bought at Ardenes. I bought iron-on adhesive from fabricville and some purple fabric from there as well. I cut out "big sister kit" on the purple fabric, ironed the adhesive on and then ironed the wording onto the bag. We then took the kids out and let them big out items for their cousin to put in the bag. They picked several books and crayons. I would have made her a t-shirt but ran short on time so found a local crafty mom who owns a t-shirt design shop. She was so excellent and efficient and sent me multiple designs to choose from and had it made and delivered for the following day! Check out her shop on facebook "Angie's Special T's". She custom makes just about anything you might want! Here is the final product:

6 years later...

Tomorrow marks our 6th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe it was that long ago; however at the same time so much has happened in 6 short years! Our wedding day was one of my happiest memories and will forever bring a smile to my face when reflecting over the emotions experienced July 8th, 2006. I felt as though my heart would burst and I couldn't stop the tears of joy. We were touched in so many ways by loved ones and thought it was a magical start to the rest of our lives together. There was excitement and anticipation of the start of something amazing. I couldn't wait to become Mrs. Downey and to share of love with those closest to us. Marriage is something that was and is very important to me. It is something that I looked forward to as many little girls do; and it was a day that lived up to my expectations. I remember soaking in moments and saying to my new husband.."we have to remember this very moment as it is". It went so quickly but is forever a day we reflect on with love and pride. Although marriage has it's difficult days and sometimes you have to work at it, it has been an incredable journey for us. Becoming parents tends to take your full time and attention however it is important to remember that you loved each other first and those beautiful children are "all because two people fell in love". I could not imagine sharing my life with anyone else and look forward to many more years of sharing ups and downs but remaining together through it all. So happy Anniversary to my wonderful bestfriend and husband; thank you for being my love, my friend and my rock.
 Here are some photos in memory of our special day:
(photos by Jeff Scott A Wedding Photo)