Ok so somebody has mentioned the smarties post, which I had done over a year ago, and for newcomers it was a place where we could post things that we did to remember James. At the time I posted it some people were sad about smarties because it was the last thing that James enjoyed in his short little life. But I thought that since it was the last thing he enjoyed, we should enjoy them too, and I mentioned buying smarties for your kids to honor James. It doesn't have to be Smarties though, it can be anything that you do to honor James, and please post it here and share it with all of us.

So to get the thread going, I thought I would like to post a video that I made for my sons. I made the video becuase there are so many memorials for kids on youtube and I wanted to do something for my own sons, because I am so grateful everyday that my sons are safe and with me and they are so special to me. The video I watched that actually made me want to make a video for my sons was not to do with James though, I am sorry I do not remember the childs name, but I think it was Julie who told me to check it out, it was a mother who posted a video she made as a memorial to her son who died of menningitis, and it was so sad. So in honor of James I post this video of my own sons who I cherish and love everyday of my life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeShZBZqM2o

Yes that was me who posted about little Landon Harris. My god how sad was that?!! You can tell he was very much loved. I will check out your site Carla. And i'm glad you put this post back on ;o)

Yes, Landon Harris! What a cute little boy!!! It was very sad. My heart goes out to every parent who loses a child.

Ok, I want to bring this one back up because I think people should add to it, but I also wanted to add to it what me and my son did yesterday. I took him to the mall, because they have a thomas the tank engine table set up there with tracks and trains. He just loves it, we stayed until the mall closed and I am surprised that I got him away from there so easily yesterday, usually have to drag him out kicking and screaming, he could play for hours and yesterday we played for a couple of hours and he even wanted a loonie to go on a mechanical ride and so we did that too, we sat at the little kiddie table and shared some smarties. It was a good day, and he was very happy!

Carla, I can't think of a more beautiful way to honor James than spending some one-on-one time with your little boy (the Smarties just make it all the better). By the way, your video for your kids was so sweet--well done!

I give all my 3 smarties every Friday just because of the day. I give them to them when I pick them up from school. Our 2 girls are daddy's girls but our little boy is a mummy's boy :o)

I am wondering if anyone is planning on doing anything special this Christmas. Last year I received a most beautiful gift from Angie, a Christmas ornament which I cherish and will put on my tree. Last year I also tried making my own ornament for James and was going to take it and put it out on a tree in Kananaskis, but it got broken by a little boy named Kyden, so I never did it. I am gonna try do that again this year. I hope to find one as cute as the one I had found last year and paint it up. We don't live near Kananaskis anymore but I live on a beautiful island with lots of trees, so i will find somewhere to put it. Last year we also talked about the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes, which I ended up volunteering at the warehouse in Calgary, but now that we moved cant do it anymore. I had so much fun volunteering there, if anyone ever gets the opportunity to, I highly recommend it. It is so much fun to see what people come up with to put in their shoe boxes. I started buying and collecting stuff for my shoe boxes for this year after Christmas last year and had a load of stuff, but we moved and I never got my boxes put together yet, so I dropped it off at the organization before I left Calgary for the shoe box hospital. They use the shoe box hospital to add stuff to boxes that are not full or don't have a good variety of stuff. if someone didn't put in a bar of soap or a toothbrush etc., they will add it. So even though I am not doing the shoe boxes this year there will be many happy children who will benefit from the stuff that I donated, and the ladies working when I dropped it off were very pleased.

Hi Carla. About the shoe boxes, At the kids school a few weeks back the lady came in to talk to the children again about these boxes and she said that last year from the whole school there were only 2 boxes for boys aged 2-4 years and all in all they were very short of boxes for 2-4 year olds for boys and girls. The 2 boxes that our school did collect for the 2-4 year old boys were actually done by me and I do that for the little boys because they will be the same age as James so thats my only reason. This year we are doing 2 for boys and 2 for girls aged 2-4 so remember that people. As for Christmas I brought a beautiful golden angel tree decoration last year in memory of James and it goes near the top of the tree right under the big angel and after christmas I couldn't even pack it away so I keep him on my bedside table till the tree goes up.

I would have thought that the 2-4 years olds would be the ones that were most done. Even though I volunteered there I couldn't tell you what I saw most of, I have no clue, except I do seem to recall seeing a lot of 5-9 year old ones. Last year I did a box for a Boy aged 2-4 for the same reason as you Julie. And I also did a box for a girl aged 10-13, I figured that age group would have been missed a lot, but it wasn't really.

Here is a nice place to post positive things about James, everyone is welcome to post what ever they like.

Have you done your boxes yet Carla? I will be finished tomorrow then they have to go at the school as the last day for them is next Wednesday. I got 2 boys and 2 girls aged 2 - 4 years because like I said before that is the same age as James was. Anyone else going to do a box?? I'm glad your youtube video is doing so well Carla. It is beautiful and its such a shame you had to use different tags but people are obviously having no trouble finding it because you have had so many visits already. Its a beautiful tribute to James.

I seriously was doing boxes for one child of each sex for each age group, but we moved and so I just dropped off all off the stuff at the organization before we left. It made the most sense, rather than take all the stuff with us when we didn't have room for all our stuff as it was. I feel good about what I did though cause even though I didn't get to do the shoe boxes like I wanted to, I had a ton of stuff that I donated for them to use in the shoe box hospital.

Yes the video has had over 300 views and 14 comments now, but most of all I am happy for Paolo for his tribute to James being reposted.

Two years ago we had a discussion on this forum about doing something, collectively, to remember James at Christmas. I said then that I have a "James Tree" that I had planted in my yard and every Christmas, as part of the outside decorations, I dress the tree. I thought it would be great if we all did something like that so we could have "James Trees" around the world as a beacon to all missing and hurt children.

Angie, your beautiful ornament was on my James tree last year and it will be on there again this year but how about reviving the chain of trees idea for Christmas. Between us we could get trees right around the world.

I visited James's grave two weeks ago and for those who don't know, his family have planted a very small, living, tree in "James' Special place" next to his little grave. I left a small angel ornament on his tree so that is our starting point. James's California tree will be up in my front yard next week. If we do this lets all pick a LIVING tree.

I remember you saying about the tree Peter and its a good idea. I have a little angel on my indoor tree for James. Its a boy one with golden hair so that takes pride of place on my tree. I have a friend who lives in Manchester and her husband comes from Liverpool so when they go back there they usually go and visit the grave and on he's birthday this year she took 2 lots of flowers to him and one was from me and also a card from me then she sent me pictures of the flowers by James's special place. She said next year she will place a special order for the flowers as he would of been 18.

I am thinking about what i am gonna do here for the tree, I will let everyone know once I plan it.

Peter, your idea was great then and it is great now. This is how traditions start. I think we should do this yearly as a tribute to James memory.

The only sad dilemma on my part would be how difficult it is for me to have a living tree. I live in an apartment complex in Chicago, IL and so I have no living tree I can decorate. I don’t even have a yard…lol Once I move into a home that will change and I’ll plant a tree and make a little memorial for James, but in the meantime would you have any ideas how I or others like myself could participate? I can maybe see if the Home Depot has potted living trees for indoors that I could buy, or maybe somewhere in my community there is a public living Christmas tree that I can place an ornament in James honor. I’ll keep you posted. If you have any other suggestions please share.

Peter, I am so glad you and Carla liked the ornament I sent you both. Last year I had decorated my Christmas tree with children themed ornaments and my James ornament was placed where everyone who visited could see it. I must confess that I have kept the ornament out all year long. I didn’t have the heart to put it away in storage with my other Christmas ornaments…lol

~Angie

That living tree idea is a really nice way to remember James,Peter.
However I also have the same predicament like you,Angie..I live in an apartment complex in California,and I also have no yard,but right after reading Peter's post,I decided that after Thanksgiving I'll go to the Wal-Mart garden center across the street and see if they have any potted living trees...so that's a good idea to check out the Home Depot.

By the way,I'd like to wish everyone a "Happy Thanksgiving!"

I live in a rental, it is a house and we have tons of huge pine trees in the yard but the branches are way too high to reach and I don't know if I am allowed to plant trees here or if the season is even right, so I am gonna just go out on a hike I think and find a tree somewhere where I can make a memorial for James and other children too. Last year I tried painting a ornament for James and was gonna do the same thing, put it out in Kananaskis, but the ornament got broken. This year I think what i am gonna do is make some home made ones with construction paper with my son, let him try and make some of his own for our tree and and I am gonna put their pictures in them and then laminate them. I can visualize it right now, and I think they will look great. I will post pictures. or I will make a video and then post the link. can anybody else post pics of theirs or make a video? I think this would be a great way to share with each other what we did for a memorial.

The great thing about a living tree is that it doesn't need to sit in your yard it just needs to be living. Do you guys have a favorite tree in a park near you? or a tree in a childrens hospital? or do what I did when I lived in an apartment and just use a nice potted plant. The important thing is that it is a living thing and that YOU dedicate it to James.

I started making and am finished some of the christmas decorations, I have done 7 of them, some of the pictures that I printed didn't turn out so I have to re-print them, then next week I am gonna take them to staples or somewhere that does laminating and laminate them. When I am done I am gonna find a nice tree and tie them to the tree, so that they will stay there for a long time and people who come across the tree will see them. I am making a video, so when I am done I will post the video up on here.

Oh my god that was sad!!

Carla, that was the most beautiful tribute I've ever seen. I can't stop crying over the pictures of that beautiful, sweet boy. I remember not too terribly long ago, a thread entitled 'The Heartache For James Goes On Forever.' It really does, doesn't it?

What a beautiful tribute. Thanks for posting it.

that video was very moving, i haven't made it to his grave yet but i will oneday

Where you been eel??

Beautiful and moving video

moved to carlisle and working until dec 21

Angie actually initially sent me this video, but I thought it should be posted here cause it is exactly what this world needs right now!!



Many Hugs to everyone from Carla!!

I love that video,Carla...it's so touching!
I even had it on my Myspace profile for some time.

Ok everybody!! I did my memorial tree and like I said I was gonna do it for all children. And so what I did was put on a few of a my favorite poems and picture's of the children who have touched my life the most with information on the back of each picture and I tied them to the tree. Of course it was all inspired by little James so I put up the poem "little boy blue" with the words in memory of James Bulger under the title and put his picture beside it. I included "a poem for all parents" which is one of my favorites and also I wanted to remember them cause in most of these cases the parents are really missing their little ones, especially this time of year makes it really hard. and a poem called "missing" for the children who have never been found and the poem "do not stand at my grave and weep" So here is the video I said I would make and please let me know what you think.


BTW it was a long day trying to find a good tree cause they are all so big out here and all the smaller ones were too close to the road and I wanted it to be away from too many people cause I want it to stay decorated for a while. So we found a nice tree facing the ocean and not to far from a nice walking path, hopefully all who come across it will let it be. Oh and the song in the video is called Christmas won't be the same without you, composed by Barney Bentall who is a Canadian artist and now lives on Bowen Island, where I lived for about 6 months. He wrote it about his mother who passed away.

Well done Carla. That was beautiful.

Thank you Julie!! And thanks for watching!

Carla, that was so beautiful and moving. You should send a copy to the artist. I'll bet he would love what you did with his lovely song. Thank you for sharing.

Sunday, its a nice idea, but I don't know how i would get in touch with him to send it to him. I never met the guy, I just know he lives on Bowen Island and the cool thing about this cd that the song is on is that it was recorded in the house we were living in while we were on Bowen Island, so of course we had to buy it, and it has a lot of great songs on it. We were staying with a musician named Julie, but a few of the songs were recorded in different locations and the one by Barney Bentall is one of them. Has anyone ever heard of Barney Bentall?? Cause he sang with Leonard Cohen.

Whenever I see a smartie, I think of James. I buy my children smarties, and I think of him and what a wonderful thing to do in honor of him. As I watch them eating the smarties, I can almost see James and the innocense of being a toddler eating powdered candy and I want to give them a snickers and say, listen this is the real candy here, but those smarties hold sentiment, even though I try not to be sentimental.

I am the same with smarties shelley! Some may remember that just over a year ago I stopped buying them for my little boy because I couldn't bear the sight of them anymore!! but I was told to keep buying them for him in honour of James so I did. Now every Friday I buy all my 3 children some but I still can't eat them.

I found a package of smarties this morning, my son must have gotten from school, they were sitting on his road map rug. It reminded me of James.

I'm glad you all liked my James tribute, it was made with love in every frame. I have never made a video and been happier with my song choice, that was just perfect, definitely what I wanted to say, because in a way, I do miss him!
~Jessie~

I know, how crazy does it seem to miss someone you never met? Yet, I can honestly say, that I miss him desperately every day. A part of my heart permanently broke the day I learned of James.

James Birthday is only 14 days away and I know that I'm going to celebrate his 18th birthday by baking a cake and decorating it with smarties. I'm gonna right his name out with smarties as well. A few other people seemed interested in this idea and so I was wondering what plans everyone else had for this special occasion? I definitly think we should post pictures after so it gives us a feeling that we all celebrated his birthday together, even though we are so far apart.

Thanks for the real Smarties, Carla! NOW I know why Smarties cakes and ice cream are so yummy! AND, they have my favorite color--purple! You're the best!

Your welcome Sunday, it's fun for me to send something to someone that they have never had before.

carla,
would you please tell me the location of the tree that you decorated for your video? i would like to visit it and work that into my summer vacation somehow; it looks like a beautiful setting. very moving and the song is beautiful. my friend is barney bentall's cousin. small world.

It's in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island, but to be quite honest unless you know exactly where it is, you'll probably never find it cause its not easily accessible by people passing by. I decorated one away from trails and stuff, so that it wouldn't get tampered with. I like to think that its still decorated, but I never went back to it, so I will never know.

Hey everyone! Check this out!! http://www.camilleallen.com/index.htm

It would be great to have of our kids! Too bad shes not doing pics yet!

Interesting Tiffany!! Do they make the babies to look like a replica of your own baby?? They're cute.

No shes not doing replica's yet, but would'nt it be great to have one of our kids and James!! I would love if Denise were able to have one!

Carla,

I wanted to tell you that today was the first time I seen the Red Balloon you tube video, it was so beautiful, my hands were trembling when I was done watching it, and my eyes were full of tears. The Michael Jackson really was the icing on the cake! Good Job!

All,

I also seen the video of James yesterday-his hair blowing in the wind, he was such a beautiful boy, laughing with that huge beautiful smile, with his eyes just glowing. I am glad that I got to see it, but it put me back into that sad place knowing that this beautiful boy was stolen from the world. I am going to go home a pray about it this weekend and hopefully come to terms again. It seems that every time I get myself together I find something else that brings back down. I guess it’s just the healing process. My life seems to be consumed with James and I can’t help it. God bless you all-have a great weekend! TTFN!

James, baby you are a beautiful little soul, and I pray that you are dancing in the clouds and looking over all the children in the world, I love you sooo much little one. Play, and be happy-one day we will all come together until then, I will hold you in my heart just as we all do.

Hugs!
Tiff

I know Tiffany, when i first saw the footage of him jumping on the trampoline, it was hard. He was so precious, I just wanted to go into the tv and be there with him. Thanks for watching my red balloon appeal video, I teared up the whole time when i was making it, but its a happy video, cause we can make so much change in James's name and that is the best we can do for him now.