teddy bears!!

Well, today was just one of those days.  Argg. 

On the bright side, the highlight of my day was a trip to Finnish Toys R Us.  Yes, seriously!  The team is having a "teddy bear toss" at tomorrow nights game, so we went in search of some cute little bears.  I'm assuming most of you from North America know what a teddy bear toss is, but for those of you who don't know it is all about, it's where the team has fans bring a new teddy bear and/or stuffed animal(s) to the game, and when the team scores their first goal, you throw the bear onto the ice.  The bears are then collected and given to children's charities (i.e. children's hospital, foster care, homeless shelters, etc.)  J's junior hockey team used to do this and they would collect thousands of bears and stuffed animals.  There would be all kinds- I even recall seeing some that were the size of a small child being lugged around and eventually thrown onto the ice.  Here is a picture that I took at J's junor game way back when...

I know a lot of other teams in the U.S. and Canada love the Teddy Bear Toss tradition also, and I think it's great that they're bringing it to Finland.  We picked out a cute brown bear with a bow around his neck, and a monkey with really long, goofy arms because he was too cute to resist. 

I would have bought all the stuffed animals that Toys R Us had if I were able to carry them all... 2 will have to do for this year.  It's important to remember, especially at this time of the year, the children and families who are less fortunate than we are.  It's so easy to get caught up in making Christmas lists and shopping for our loved ones (don't get me wrong, I plan to do both of those as well!) but even something small can make a big difference in someone's life.  I was lucky enough as a child to wake up on Christmas morning with presents overflowing from under the tree.  I wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world, and I get great pleasure in knowing I can help a child have some of those same special memories.  It may only have been 2 bears this year (we are still trying to figure out if they do "giving trees" in Finland so hopefully we can do more!), but as long as they bring a smile to a child's face this holiday season, that's good enough for me!!