Monday, December 12, 2011

Help a Child Smile Year 2


We attended the Help a Child Smile Christmas party again this year.  It's held every year in Hamilton (nice for us!) on a Saturday in December, for families that have children going through cancer treatment at Hamilton hospitals.  The event is busy, with constant activities going for families with kids of all ages.  The whole family gets to attend, and special treats are made for everyone in the family, not just the child with cancer.  Nella is showing off her new hat, and her balloon animal.  The party clown makes animals of all different kinds, and Nella requested a moose.  This is a moose (or to another child, it may be a reindeer).


Aleah asked for a balloon penguin, to match her new hat.  You can see all of the action at the party going on in the background.  It's fun to see all of the families out to an event like this, out of the context that we all met.  Families who's child is done treatment are also invited to come, and so it's a chance to catch up with those we haven't seen in a while.  This year we saw friends there who were there for their first time, having been diagnosed quite recently.  That's a bittersweet thing, needless to say.


I think my favourite addition to the party this year was this wall.  It's a complicated series of troughs for a golf ball to roll down.  At the end of the troughs, the ball falls onto a drum, bounces to another, to another, etc... until completing the sequence.  There were several different places to start your ball rolling, and it was so entertaining to watch!  I don't know who thought of adding this to the party, but it's a very creative idea and was a lot of fun.

Caleb, Nella, and Aleah had their first Santa experience.  They were very shy, but they surprised Tim and I by wanting to go see him.  We've never bothered too much to explain much about what you're supposed to do with Santa, when you see him.  While the kids were sitting waiting their turn, I suddenly remembered that he would ask them what they want for Christmas, and so I had to quickly prep them.  "Hey guys, I just remembered: he's going to ask you what you want for Christmas!  Do you know?"  I felt very much like a novice parent.  Fortunately, kids don't have a hard time thinking of toys they'd like.  


We also recently got our Christmas tree.  We found a great place to go: Mark's Christmas Trees on Safari Rd. in the Flamborough area.  Tromping through fields, exploring trees in a more natural environment than other tree farms we've been to in the past.  It was much like an afternoon hike through a conservation area, but with a saw.


We joked about the different trees we'd take home... large or small.  Green or gangly.


We found a simple white pine that is so light, Caleb can carry it.  Perfect for our small house.  It smells delicious standing in our house.  Caleb takes pride in lighting it up every morning by plugging in the lights.

I recently found Caleb's camera (it's easy to lose a camouflage camera that belongs to a five-year-old), with a few fun photos on it from our adventures this fall.

Hallowe'en!  We were a zoo, or a farm, as usual.  Our pumpkins, thanks to the Bootsma girls, were also animal-themed: a dog and two kitty-cats!

Caleb is living his dream, driving a battery-operated 4X4 at Cousin Aaron's place.  We ran into challenges with this one, because Caleb doesn't look behind him when he reverses... good thing he won't really drive until 16.


An idyllic fall campfire--the kids lasted about 5 minutes by the fire, and it ended with one of the kids being treated for burns to his hand.  The marshmallows were good, though!


Turn the temp down just enough, and you have a fall swimming pool for five kids under five.  What a party!

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