Playing Catch Up

We have been very busy this last half year!

Michael is busy being a 7-year-old child. Going to school and learning lots. He was born with a condition called Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Through the years he has received Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy and now he has fully caught up with his classmates in terms of speech. Strangers have no problems understanding him, and goodness knows Michael would find a way to get his point across one way or the other! He has always been expressive and had a ton to say even when he could actually "say" anything. As such he has become an actor just like his big sister and is currently filming an independent movie, so that's quite exciting!

Our little family got a little smaller when we moved in August. Moving is always a big undertaking and a bit of an ordeal. We seemed to have weathered the transition without too much emotional distress - although physically I was a mess. It is always a concern about how so much change and upheaval will affect children, but Michael and his sister are adjusting to everything amazingly. Their strength and resiliency helps me find my own. Though there are times when I just want to curl up in a corner and feel sorry for myself for all that has happened to us in this past year, I look at these two beautiful, happy children and realize why I carry on.  Hopefully they will continue to find their strength as we prepare to move one more (hopefully last) time in February.

On a different note, this holiday season has been fun for all so far. We spent Christmas Eve baking sugar cookies for the police officers and firefighters who sacrifice their evening with family and friends to keep our city safe and respond to crises as they occur. In total we baked 90 cookies.  

Finally, I think we may be coming up on our one year anniversary soon, although, truth be told, I can't remember when that is! Yikes! On the positive side though, we did reach our $100 goal and are already on our way to our second hundred. Hopefully it will not take me another 6 months to post next. At that time I should have some photos to go with our donations and outreach goals.

And finally, thank you to everyone who has continued to support us as we entre into 2018 with continued strength and love. ❤❤

Goals, Friends, Evolution, the Moon and Destiny

We are very close to reaching our first goal of $100.  I know it's not a fortune, but at $2 each, that means we have sold almost 50 bracelets! That seems incredible to me and I want to thank everyone who has already bought a bracelet or contributed to Michael's fund raising efforts.

A special thank you goes out to our amazing and talented friends Michael Giel and Rachel SV Parry contributed a box filled with beads to the cause.

Over this journey, Michael has evolved his decision of just who he would like the money to help.

He is such a compassionate individual and every time he hears of a new charity or idea for helping others, he wants to take part in that as well. Recently, he heard about care packages for the homeless and has decided he would like to buy toothpaste and underwear for people who live on the street. (He was pretty specific). So once we reach our goal, we will divide it in half and head to the dollar store to see how far I can stretch $50. I pride myself on my cheapnes...er, I mean "frugal" ways. So I will keep you posted.

I'm forever in awe of my children and the things they think and say. They're thoughtful and wise beyond their years, but every once in a while they say something specific and I have to jot it down. One such occurrence happened today during our travels. My daughter Emily reminded me of the day that Michael was born. The moon was so large and very red. (I didn't see this so have to rely on second hand accounts, but she said it was "surreal").  Mr. Michael from the back seat piped up and said, "That's because the moon knew that I was born to help people and help the Earth." Destiny or a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Knock, knock! Who's There?

Surprisingly, it was the police!  👮

Okay, so before I start on about another heart attack, they weren't actually at my door for me or any of the kids - thank goodness!!

However, by pure ironic luck, they were sent to my address by a random stranger. The reason it's ironic is because I had just spent the afternoon making whoopie pies for the precinct and I honestly had a moment of pure confusion in which I thought the two officers were there to pick up the cookies!!

Yes, I know how crazy that sounds.

But it's no more crazy than having 2 uniformed police officers show up at your door because someone gave your address as the last known address of a person of interest within the hour that you packed baked goods for them...(the police officers, not the person of interest).

Now I wonder what nefarious back story the two school teachers I bought this house from really had...I'm imagining some sort of Breaking Bad meets Geriatric Bonnie and Clyde scenario. We may never know!

In other, bracelet-related news, Michael's Great Aunt Donna came all the way from BC to buy 11 bracelets for Michael's charity of choice!

Well, no, not actually... She came to pay her respects at a Celebration of Life for her brother, my Uncle John, who also passed away in December. It was the first real hot, sunny day of the year, making for the perfect day to say our final good byes to a man who loved the warm weather and sun shine! I like to think Uncle John made it perfect just for us because no sooner was the celebration over than the rain clouds rolled in! 

With her generous contribution, this brings our total up to an impressive $80. I think for every $100 I will write a cheque and we will decide at that time where the money will go. That way we can help as many charities as possible.

Our first one will be Sick Kids of course.  If anyone has any suggestions for other charities that directly help children, and specifically children with cancer, I am gratefully open to suggestions.💗

Donuts to Dollars

Over the long weekend I found a baking tray I've never used while cleaning out the kitchen for a yard sale (which still hasn't happened!!). Into the pile it went!

And...out of the pile it came when Michael discovered it.
Michael: "Let's use it to make treats for the police officers!"
Me: 😐


(I may have to mention that after David passed away, we were fortunate enough to have a GoFundMe page set up to help cover the funeral expenses.  As a way to "Pay It Forward" I thought to bake treats for the first responders....as such...)

...we made donuts for the police officers 😆

They were good sports about it!

Then Wednesday came along and about 15 minutes after dropping Michael off at school I get a phone call from the police station.

Police Officer sounding very authoritative: "Is this Michael's mother?"
Me: 😱 "...yes..."
Police Officer sounding very authoritative: "I have a very lovely bracelet on my wrist right now. There's another one I wanted, but it didn't have elastic."

She went on to inform me that they need more bracelets and asked Michael to make a bunch to bring in to the precinct.

While this made me even more grateful for the wonderful men and women in uniform who protect our city, if anyone has wondered why I have so much grey hair, it is because of things like this. 👵

Six Hundred and Eighty Ninety Thousand Pounds of Germs

Michael tossing the kitchen: "Do we have gloves?"
Me: "Like for snow? We don't need 'em, it's warm out angel face"
Michael: "No, I want to pick up garbage and we need gloves and a black garbage bag."
Me: "Ugh...really? It's just I don't really want to put on pants."
Michael: *raises left eyebrow at me*
Me: "Fine... the things I do for my children..."
Michael: "What?! I'm a nice person and I am going to help people and no one can stop me!"

Well, that is very true... Once Michael has his mind set on something, he will do all that is within his power to bring it to fruition. He has big ideas and the best intentions. In fact, if not limited by his grade 1 reading level and 8pm bedtime, I'm confident he's just the chap to sort out the current world humanitarian crisis. (But I may be biased).

Today was Earth Day and so we played in the park. Michael climbed a tree, a giant rock and some sort of mini American Ninja Warrior contraption while his sister filmed a silent movie with her friends.

We grabbed one of those diabetic-coma inducing Unicorn frappacinos from Starbucks to share and headed home to make Leftover Surprise! for dinner before sitting in the dark for an hour while playing UNO. Well, that was my plan anyway.

I did make leftover surprise since food waste is a huge problem in the developed world and is just one of the ways we can help our environment, and we did play UNO by candle light, but before UNO and after dinner, Michael decided he wanted to save our planet by picking up cigarette butts within a two block radius of our house. He did pretty good considering I wouldn't let him go into the gutter along the side of the road or up onto people's lawns.  We collected a very modest shopping bag full of debris. Or, in Michael terms, "We picked six hundred and eighty ninety thousand pounds of germs!"

And that's something to be proud of!

The Difference in String Theory

We have been experimenting with different types of strings for our bracelet endeavour. Michael and I have had loads of advice on which types of strings are best from several people, which has been very, um, helpful and not at all confusing or contradictory. It seems every one I run into has their own theory about whether elastic is better than embroidery, or perhaps leather or metal wire is the best. 

We have made a new group of bracelets with elastic string. While it's great because it slips over your hand, it doesn't fit into the little baggies we have, so we're looking for new ways to tag them. We have also discovered not all of our beads will fit over our elastic string and so they will need a different type of string. Next we will try the metal wire. 

While I'm sure this is all absolutely fascinating for everyone, I have been surprised and genuinely touched by the outpouring of suggestions we have received for our little fund raiser. To me it shows just how many people truly care.  

To date we have raised $38!  I am proud of that amount and am continuing to help Michael reach his goal at his pace. I will keep you updated as new developments occur! 

Making Connections

Exciting News! 

On Tuesday after Family Day, Michael and Mom went to meet Olga from Olga's Health Food located at 383 Donlands Ave!

As so often happens in our lives, the meeting was set up due to pure serendipity. Over the weekend, when Dad was on a walk, he passed by Olga's store at a time when she was coincidentally outside. On a whim he decided to ask her about the jewellery she has placed in the window display. Shortly thereafter, Dad came away with a bottle of locally sourced hemp oil for his dry skin and an invitation for Michael to come by after school.

Olga's Health Food specializes in organic supplements, vitamins, oils and sundries. Olga herself is very conscious of health and well-being. You get a sense that she is genuinely here to help others and so it seems completely natural that she has agreed to sell Michael's bracelets at her store! Michael was excited to do his sales pitch...which mostly consisted of him looking cute and smiling nervously...thankfully Olga's patient demeanor helped him relax enough to explain some of what he had on his mind, his reason for selling the bracelets and what he was hoping to accomplish by fundraising.

Olga also helped us with ideas on how to get the bracelets into other stores, with tips from what would help the bracelets sell, to what might hinder them from selling - and she even gave Michael a sample of the organic honey she has for sale! I don't remember any other meeting that has been this productive or delicious!

As always, I will keep everyone posted on what happens next, but in the mean time, if you're in the area, stop by and grab a Michael Helps bracelet - and maybe a straw or two of honey to go!

Michael's Origin Story

Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes they wear a size 2 storm trooper boot and spider-man toque. This little hero is my youngest son and his name is Michael. He is 6-years-old and a self-described "helper."  It's a title that he takes abundant pride in - as well he should.

Two weeks ago Michael was home just getting over strep throat (while at the same time fighting off a chest infection) when he came to me and stated that he was going to, "...help fund-raise for kids with cancer." My initial reaction was, "aw, that's sweet of you," and my mind went to the Terry Fox run or other school-based activities, but that's not what was on his mind. Apparently this is something that he had been thinking about for a while because he already had a plan. He is going to make bracelets and sell them and then give the money to sick children.

"Okay, so how are we going to sell them?" I asked naively.  "We make them and then people buy them." Oh...right...well don't I feel silly?

So, I admit, this is a great idea! Except...I'm not sure just how to go about getting these trinkets to the people who want to buy them. So far we've figured out a name, a product and a price ($2), but logistically there are a few issues. I've already mentioned the one about how to get the bracelets to the people who want to buy them. Do we sell them door-to-door? What about the people who have said they'll buy one who don't live close? Do we mail them and if so, how much is that going to cost, and who covers that cost? Etc., etc., etc.

Where else does a mom turn to in times like these, but Facebook! I've had some wonderful suggestions and recommendations, and I will keep everyone posted on how they work out. In the mean time we are busy making bracelets and have been appreciatively accepting donations of beads, strings and clasps.

And so, with more questions than answers, we'll learn as we go - "Michael Helps" begins.