Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Cole's Grade 5 Graduation

This milestone happened in the blink of an eye. I swear it was just yesterday that we stepped through the doors of Royal Road for the first time and left our precious 5 year old in the care of a total stranger in a room full of tiny chairs with tennis balls on the legs. 

Now here we are 6 years later and we watched our almost-as-tall-as-me 11 year old walk across the crowd and accept not only his grade 5 diploma but also a very special award for being recognized as the compassionate, kind hearted boy he is. He received the Mckenzie Carr Memorial Friendship award for being the epitome of a good friend and a good person. Recognition for academic and athletic achievements are wonderful but being awarded because you possess the qualities of kindness, empathy, and compassion is something more. 

Jeff and I were so proud of Cole. We knew he would be receiving the award, but we had no idea of the significance of it. Once the speech was made we were completely blown away. It's moments like this that make you realize you really are doing an ok job with your kids after all and maybe, just maybe, by raising your children with kindness, compassion and empathy towards others as part of their everyday life that they will grow up and make changes in the world or because of them and how they treat someone someday it makes a positive change in that person's life. 

I don't expect we will ever see a Nobel peace prize hanging on his shelf but I hope this recognition stays with him and these qualities stay ingrained in him. We need more people like him in this world. So please, help your children foster these qualities. Have the hard conversations when you see injustice in the world around them and use those examples to teach them why it's wrong. Enrich their lives and show them the beauty in the differences of people everywhere from different races, genders, religions, sexual orientation, abilities, and cultures. It's important. Teach your children love and acceptance before someone else can teach them to hate. Spread the love! It comes back to you tenfold. My heart is full right now and I couldn't be more proud of the young man my little boy is turning out to be. 

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Mactaquac Provincial Park - June 10-12

Located about a 15 minute drive from our home is Mactaquac Provincial park. The park consists of the campground, a golf course, some hiking trails and a beach on the shore of the head pond.

We set up camp at site 120 with a beautiful view of the head pond. It took quite a few tries for Jeff to get the camper in the right spot and even more to level it off but we got all situated in enough time to have supper and for the kids to make rock spears and invent a survival game down by the water.

Later in the evening we had a campfire then Madi wanted to watch her new movie The Descendants before we settled for bed. It was a chilly night so the heated beds came in very handy that night.

In the morning we were treated to what seems to be a rarity these days...sunshine! The kids played around outside with a friend they found while Jeff and I just enjoyed the nice weather. After lunch we dropped Madi off at a birthday party and headed back to finish out the day with Cole.

We played a couple rounds of ladder ball, took Love for a walk and watched Cole play a huge game of "grounders" at the playground with a group of kids. The evening was beautiful and warm and I was nursing a well deserved sunburn by the campfire making s'mores and popcorn. We were sad to not have Madi there but she phoned to say goodnight and was having an absolute blast with her friend.

In the morning it was gloomy as if the world was mad my vacation got denied (ha! As if) but it did make it a little easier to roll out of bed at an ungodly hour, get my scrubs on and pack my sleepy son into the car so Jeff could drop me off at work.

I don't know that Mactaquac would be on our must do list. It it is nice and convenient for a mid week quick get away when one of us still has to work while the other is off.

Stay tuned for this week's adventure when we head to Fundy National park for hiking and more red chair hunting!

Adventure is out there!
-The McDonnells

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Madi Turns 9!

June 5th our little lady celebrated her 9th birthday.

Her day started with a BBQ at the church to celebrate the end of religious formation classes for the year and a visit from Auntie Debb and Grampy. I had to sleep all morning to prepare for a night shift so unfortunately I had to miss the BBQ and the visit.

After lunch Jeff took her to the Dollarama to get some supplies to make treat bags for her party and we were off to Kingswood!

We didn't get a big crowd of kids. A couple were sick and a couple couldn't come but her closest friends were there and they all had a good time bowling and playing laser tag so that's what counts! Jeff and Cole challenged the girls to laser tag and I'm not quite sure who had more fun, but I bet you can guess!

Fast forward a couple of days and my shifts at work are all done and we can finally get Madi out for her birthday supper. She chose East Side Marios because she loves to spin the prize wheel and then she wanted to spend some of her birthday money. She came home absolutely thrilled with her purchases of a few new stuffy friends, some tsum tsums, a book and a Descendants doll.

I can't believe how time has flown by. This is my baby girl's last year in the single digits. She is growing into such an independent, unique young lady. She's her own person that's for sure with a very interesting personality. You just never know what she's going to come out with next! She makes me laugh everyday, her creativity never ceases to amaze me, she's a good friend, has a huge heart and still loves to curl up with mom for a cuddle. She keeps us on our toes and does not give in when she doesn't want to do something. That stubbornness is going to pay off for her one day!

Happy birthday, little one. We love you!

Adventure is out there!
-The McDonnells

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Jeff Turns 35!

Yesterday was Jeff's 35th birthday! He was adamant that all he wanted was to go out for supper and a movie with the kids and I...so that's what we did!

We were hoping that he would be able to get off work a little early but that didn't pan out so the kids and I headed over to the south side to pick him up when he was finished work. 

(I wasn't feeling too hot but thought I would try and tough it out anyway...I ended up thankfully being ok by the time the movie rolled around!)

Jeff's pick for supper was Swiss Chalet for chicken and ribs. I got the 1/4 chicken breast dinner, Madi got mini hamburgers and Cole got chicken wings and perogies....he didn't like the wings too much as he found them a little spicy but Jeff was more than happy to step up to the plate and help him out. The kids each got special drinks and Jeff and I stuck to our usual...you'd kinda wonder whose birthday it REALLY was based on how much fun the kids were having but hey!

After dinner we went over to Cineplex for Jeff's movie choice: Captain America Civil War. We brought the kids with us but they were the only children in the theatre. This made me a little uneasy at first but I thought well, they've seen all the other Avengers movies sooooo....there were a  few parts I made Madison turn her head but other wise it was a pretty (older) kid friendly action movie and they really liked it. The big kid did too! 

When the movie was finished and Madison had her 3rd bathroom trip of the hour (tiny bladder on this one...) we drove down to the Smythe Street Tim Hortons to participate in Camp Day where the proceeds from all coffee purchases go towards sending underprivileged children to summer camp. My coffee was horrible, but at least it's for a good cause right??? The kids got braided camp bracelets too. 

All in all a good evening and a low key birthday which was just what Jeff wanted.


Happy Birthday, Jeffy! We love you!