January 14th, 2012
It’s Friday. It snowed. The first real snowfall of the entire 2011/2012 season. It wasn’t a heavy snowfall but it stuck to the ground so you couldn’t see the grass. We planned on walking to school since I didn’t want to drive in the snow. That is until my husband called. I blame him for putting the idea in my head, which then lead to me casually asking the kids.
Do you want to go to school today?
Silly question right? My kids love school, as much as any child loves school, but not having to walk through the blowing snow, hanging out at home without school work, who would turn that down? So we called a Snow Day. After doing my dutiful shovelling job, the kids and I headed out into the backyard to make angels, toss handfuls of snow (since it wasn’t sticky enough to make snowballs), slide down the slide (you go like a bat out of hatis down the tube slide in snowpants), and just turning our pristine, fresh snowfall backyard into a maze of footprints, skid marks and snow piles.
Sure, we could have gone to school, the weather wasn’t that bad. We might get a real Snow Day sometime in the future. But this year I’m living 2012 full of heart and enjoying moments for what they are. This was a fun moment and I’m glad I was in it.
Tags: fun stuff, just me, raising kids, snow day
Posted in just me, raising kids | No Comments »
January 5th, 2012
Oh boy my son can hardly wait! Maple Leaf Monster Jam hits Rogers Center January 21 and 22, 2012 and we’re going. 
We’ve never been to a monster truck event but my two youngest did get a little taste when the official Canadian monster truck, Northern Nightmare, made it’s debut last fall. The kids can’t wait to see a full-blown, rumbling, jumping, spinning, mega-wheel show later this month.
And to make sure everyone is ready, they bought their dad earplugs for Christmas. Let the engine revving begin!
Rogers Centre Monster Jam® shows are scheduled for Saturday, January 21 at 7pm and Sunday, January 22 at 2pm. Ticket prices start at $20 for adults and $15 for Pizza Pizza kids tickets for children 12 and under, and are available at the Rogers Centre Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.ca, and by phone at (855) 985-5000. There are a limited number of TAP ($125) and Gold Circle ($50) seats available for both shows. Additional fees may apply.
The Party in the Pits will be held from 3pm to 5pm on Saturday, January 21 and 11am to noon on Sunday, January 22nd. The pre-show pit party gives fans (with a show ticket) the chance to see the monster trucks up close, meet drivers, take pictures and get autographs.
Tags: boys will be boys, fun stuff, monster trucks
Posted in fun stuff, raising kids | No Comments »
December 30th, 2011
I love food, more specifically dessert. It’s a good thing I’m not very good in the kitchen or else I’d be a life-sized Weeble. As it’s New Year’s Eve Eve, we’re getting ready for our New Year’s Eve family party so I decided to try my hand at making Kraft Canada’s Dulce de Leche Trifle. They sent me some of their Easy Oreo Truffles which I loved so much the kids and I tried making our own as part of our homemade gifts for the teachers this holiday season. The folks at Kraft Canada sent along some of the ingredients for the trifle to encourage me to give the recipe a try. And it worked since I did try making it today.
The hardest part was making the Dulce de Leche. I think I may have overcooked mine but that didn’t stop me from putting the whole thing together. That’s one of my New Year’s resolutions, to not get so easily discouraged and follow-through on a task. The kids helped by grating chocolate on the top. Fingers crossed that it turns out for our party tomorrow (it’s sitting in the refrigerator) but we had fun making it. Kraft might be turning me into a life-sized Weeble after all!
Tags: christmas, food, food and kids, happy new year, just me
Posted in family, food, fun stuff, just me, raising kids | No Comments »
December 29th, 2011
I enjoyed picking-up gifts for those on my shopping list, but now that the Christmas shopping frenzy is behind me, it’s time to focus on myself. The after Christmas sales are the perfect time to pick-up something just for me, perhaps something that didn’t show-up under my Christmas tree but I’ll admit I’m not a real shopping fan. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good deal, who doesn’t, but trudging around from store to store to find the best deal doesn’t appeal to me at all.
The folks at ShopCatch, an app that flags the in-store deals located near you, believe their app isn’t just for those who love to shop; the ShopCatch app is really for anyone who wants to keep on top of nearby deals. I wrote a review on the app for EverythingMom when it first was released. To demonstrate that even a non-shopper like me could benefit from using ShopCatch, they offered me a VISA gift card to try out the app during the boxing week sales.
Benefit 1: Review and Plan Your Shopping Trip Ahead of Time
As I’m not a big shopper I loved that I could search for deals ahead of time. The night before my shopping excursion I figured out where I wanted to go and what deals I wanted to focus on. This avoided running from store to store to find out if there was even a deal I was interested in.
I discovered Zellers had a 50% off coupon for ANY regularly priced item of your choice. And I have a Zellers nearby, not associated with a crazy mall so I knew I wouldn’t have to fight huge crowds. 
My plan was of course to pick-up something for myself but instead I decided to grab one of those large LEGO sets. You know the ones that usually cost over $100? Having the Zellers nearby, not within a mall, meant less crowds but it also meant less selection in the large LEGO kits but ShopCatch has a solution for that.
Benefit 2: Find Other Stores Where the Deal is Available
Within my ShopCatch app I have the option of finding additional stores offering the same deal. I found two other Zellers stores not far from where I was at. I knew both stores but the app offers you the ability to map your directions if you don’t know the store. I used the Zellers coupon at our fist stop and my husband went off to find a different LEGO set at one of the other store locations.
Benefit 3: Find Other Deals in the Store You’re Shopping In
Having the ability to find additional store locations for deals that interest me is a great feature for non-shoppers. The app also informs you of other deals being offered at the same store. There were four different deals being offered at Zellers the day I went shopping though none of the other deals interested me. Should you be within a mall, You can also find other deals being offered within that same mall too. All these features make finding deals so much easier for a non-shopper like me.
Now I know I said the purpose of my after Christmas shopping was to reward myself but if you think about it, LEGO is a reward for myself. With 3 kids, it’s hard to find something to occupy all of them without fighting. LEGO is one of those toys. A large LEGO kit based on a scene, like the City Police Station, keeps them busy building and then playing long afterwards. While the kids are playing quietly, I can enjoy time doing what I want to do. Thanks to the ShopCatch App I was able to find and purchase $198 worth of LEGO distraction (and sanity for myself) for $99. That’s better than anything I could buy for myself.
Thanks to the folks at ShopCatch for the Visa Gift Card to use toward discovering the non-shopper benefits of their app.
Tags: Christmas sales, Christmas shopping, just me, raising kids
Posted in just me, raising kids | No Comments »
December 29th, 2011
Some women go ga-ga for gems. Some chirp cheerily over chocolate. Although chocolate and jewelry are lovely gifts to receive from your spouse, nothing tops the gift my husband gave me this year. A heated fleece blanket (it sounds much nicer than saying electric blanket).
Perhaps it’s a sign of my age? If you had told me when I was newly married that I should look forward to heart warming gifts like a vacuum, new appliances or an electric blanket from my new husband, I would have scoffed. But here it is, Christmas, and the gift for me under the tree that has me most excited (besides my Munk Tiki necklace of course) is my Sunbeam, two-controller, 10 heat settings, fleece blanket.
I don’t deny I’m always cold and living in a house full of little furnaces means I wear a lot of layers. My hands are often cold when working for extensive periods of time on my computer. Night time is the worst since our furnace is programmed to a lower temperature after everyone’s gone to bed — great for the hydro bill but not so good since I usually go to bed AFTER the temperature has dropped in the house. It seems no matter how many blankets or how warm my PJs, I’m usually freezing when I go to bed. And being cold makes it hard to fall asleep.
All that has changed with my new heated fleece blanket. I turn the bed on at a 6 an hour before I plan to go to bed and it’s so tasty warm when I get in. I turn it down to 4 when I go to sleep and it shuts off 10 hours later so I don’t need to worry if I forget in the morning rush. My furnace of a husband, who said he would never get me one for fear of making the bed so unbelievably hot, has even admitted to enjoying the new blanket.
So maybe my gift choice has me showing my age. Perhaps orthopaedic shoes and compression socks will be on next year’s gift list? Doesn’t matter. I love my new blanket and the hubby who gave it to me.
Tags: christmas, Christmas wish list, Gift ideas, just me, showing my age
Posted in Christmas gifts, just me | No Comments »
December 22nd, 2011
I think teacher gifts are like tipping: if you have a great teacher then you show your appreciation during the holiday season by giving them a gift; a bad teacher, not so much.
With my three kids we have lucked out with three very good teachers. But what to get them? I’m sure there will be a bevy of flowers, chocolate and gift cards. I would love to give them something they would enjoy but not have stacks of them (cute Christmas Vacation where Clark Griswald brings a gift for his boss and places it on a table full of gifts, all exactly the same as his).
To get the kids involved we’re doing something personal and homemade. 
We had a chance to sample Kraft Canada’s Easy Oreo Truffles recently and they were so good and according to the website they’re so easy (only three ingredients). So we’re making a few of these and putting them in handmade lantern jars. We saved three pasta sauce jars, washed them out and then the kids decorated them with white tissue paper and holiday decals and stickers. We’ll fill these with the truffles, plus we’ll give them a tea light to use in the lantern jar when the truffles are all gone (which I’m sure will be quick based on what I’ve tasted).
So homemade is nice, creating a personal connection to that child in a sea of children in the classroom, but I wanted to give an actual gift too. So what about a little pampering? Enter the AirPlus Spa. I’ve tried the AirPlus Aloe-Infused Spa Socks before and love them. I mean LOVE them. This kit is perfect, containing a double-sided pumice stone (with a medium and heavy courseness), an exfoliant sugar scrub, a super-hydrating heel creme, and of course a pair of the aloe-infused spa socks. And unlike other beauty kits, it’s not loaded with a lot of perfume-ness, which I love (and you never know when you’re giving a gift to a teacher). You can find the AirPlus Spa kit at most drugstores and they cost less than $20, which is great for a teacher’s gift. The only problem is making sure I actual wrap these to give to the teachers (versus wrap and address to me from Santa).
Tags: Christmas wish list, Gift ideas, raising kids
Posted in getting ready for Christmas, raising school kids | No Comments »
December 16th, 2011
Quick note, if on the odd chance my mom is reading this post, stop now. Continuing any further will spoil your Christmas surprise. What, doesn’t you mom read your posts too?
It’s almost one week until Christmas and I’m still getting my gifts together. Actually I’m not doing too bad; I think I have everything done. I just need to package it to send out. Working on my mom’s gift is the hardest. I mean, she doesn’t really need anything and I want the gift to have some meaning. I mean, it’s my mom I’m talking about.
When thinking about what’s important to her, what makes her happy, I remember the time she has hanging out with my kids. The bond between grandkids and their grandparents is special one. It’s like the feeling you as a parent have with your own kids, but without the discipline, tantrums and frustration (most times). It’s all the happy bits. 
Since my mom lives far away and doesn’t see us often, I thought a gift from the kids would be nice.
In an article I wrote for EverytihngMom — Gifts from the Heart, Not the Wallet — I suggested recording a story. The original idea was to record a story for the kids but it doesn’t always have to be that way. When my oldest daughter went away to summer camp, my youngest was upset. Recording a story on one of Hallmark’s recordable books made a big difference.
Hallmark sent us a holiday version of one of their recordable books — Santa Claus is Coming to Town — and an idea bloomed. Instead of grandma reading a story to the kids, the kids will read one to her. Each page of the recordable storybook is controlled seperately which means each one of my kids can record their own page, even my youngest. The record/stop buttons make it easy to re-record the page until it turned out great. The opening page also provides a great place for a dedication, so the kids can add their own little audio message and the date.
With the book done, I have had a hard time wrapping it. I’ve been listening to the story over and over again. Hearing their voices saved for all time makes my eyes fill with tears. I think my mom will love this gift. But now I think I need to get another recordable book from Hallmark to have the kids record for me. Is it too late to put my note in to Santa?
Note: Hallmark did send me a copy of their recordable Santa Claus is Coming to Town book as part of their holiday package without any expectation of writing about it. This post is based purely on a personal experience that developed from using their product.
Tags: christmas, Gift ideas, just me, raising kids
Posted in crafts and hobbies, getting ready for Christmas, raising kids | 1 Comment »
December 15th, 2011
I love Christmas; I think it’s my favourite time of year. I love listening the the music and watching the movies and eating the goodies, oh and decorating. I love filing the house with lights and evergreen and Santa. This year I received a little inspiration after clicking through our 3M Deck the Halls holiday decor gallery.
Jen F’s crafty snowflake DIY project was great but her Santa wall won my heart, mainly because we have our own Santa wall. Each year we get photos of our kids sitting with Santa. Instead of just displaying the current year, we have a corner of our room that’s devoted to these photos. We even bought a holiday Tim Biskip print to go in the center and are in the process of adding Santa photos from both my husband’s and my own childhood. I love looking at these photos even when Christmas has passed. I also love the mix of frames, sizes and placements. I’m not into symmetries with this wall.
We have a wood burning fireplace with a mantle we actually moved from our old home. Seeing Stephanie’s holiday mantle inspired me to deck out ours. Our mantel extends up the wall so we don’t have wall space to hang holiday inspired art but I love the idea of draping it with garland. Since our mantle is old wood I’d never hammer nails into it so the 3M hooks came in handy, adding them to the top to secure the garland. And knowing they’ll come off when the holiday’s are over, without marring the wood is reassuring.
We have two french doors that go from our front hall into our living room. In the past I’ve just decorated them with snowflakes but after viewing Melissa’s idea, with wreaths hanging on her dining room window, I thought I’d try something similar. Instead of buying wreaths to hang, instead I made some from extra garland (I had a whole bunch of the cheap garland unopened from the previous year). Taking the garland, I just wrapped it around in a circle, just like wrapping up a garden hose. Every once in a while, I’d twist to branches together, to hold the whole wreath together. It didn’t turn out to bad for a quick 5-minute project. And the 3M decorative hooks worked well, adhering right to the window.
I also added a nicer (thicker) garland and lights to the banister in the hallway. Instead of wrapping it around the banister itself, which uses up a lot of the garland, plus makes it hard to use the banister, I used small, clear 3M hooks to hold the loops in place. When we moved from traditional lights to these LED lights, I was left with a lot of light covers. These make great items to adorn garland. Plus they add a little more to the garland during the day, when the lights aren’t actually on.
I was also inspired by this great vintage paper chain DIY tree garland. It reminded me of how fun garlands can be (and it gave me an excuse to use those crafty cutting edge scissors that never seem to get used). One night the kids and I spent a few hours cutting and making a colourful paper chain to string across the dining room. I looks great and the kids love to see it hanging over their heads during meals.
A member’s blog post also brought on a childhood crafting memory. You know, those wreaths we made in school using garbage bags? Yup, so my kids and I made one of those too and hung it on our front door.
So I may not be done my Christmas shopping and the cards are still sitting unaddressed in a pile, but our home looks festive. That’s good right?
Tags: christmas, decorating, fun stuff
Posted in christmas, christmas craft, crafts and hobbies, everythingmom.com, fun stuff, getting ready for Christmas | No Comments »
December 11th, 2011
I was reading through our member blog posts and came across Julia’s tutorial on a making a wreath with her kids. It was a total flashback to my childhood, except we did ours in school using garbage bags instead of fabric strips.
So with Christmas music humming in my head and new found crafty inspiration, I decided to plunge my own kids into my youth. We made a garbage bag wreath for our front door. I love this craft for a few reasons:
1. It uses items you have at home.
With a wire coat hanger bent into shape, it took just 3 white kitchen garbage bags cut into strips varying from 4 to 6 inches. You can add a finishing touch by adding ornaments or ribbon you have from your holiday wrapping.
2. It’s easy to do.
Cutting the strips is easy. With a garbage bag you can just slide your scissors along; no real cutting is needed. The length of strips can vary too. We used strips from 4 to 8 in length. It doesn’t matter if the strips aren’t cut straight or the length varies since it’s suppose to be organic looking. Adding the strips to the wire coat hanger (once bent into a circular shape) just needs to be tied in. No fancy knots or bows needed; just wrap around and tie once and you’re good. This makes it ideal for young kids too.
3. It’s a craft everyone can work on.
I find with my own kids, they’re enthusiastic about doing a craft but sometimes their attention span wanes. The whole family worked on this wreath. Each of us tied some strips on when we wanted to. The whole thing just sat at the end of our table and within a day it was done (people adding a few strips at a time).
This project would look great with any type of bag, such as blue recycle bags, green outdoor bags, even printed grocery bags (I think the later would look kind of cool). We just added a few gift tag items around the wreath to break-up the white and add some fun. And now it hangs on our door and can even be put away for next year.
Merry Christmas!
Tags: childhood, christmas, crafts for kids, raising kids
Posted in christmas craft, getting ready for Christmas, just me, raising kids | No Comments »
December 8th, 2011
I know I was on twitter this morning talking about how I hate just spewing press releases, yet here I am about to do just that. Okay, spew isn’t the right word. I just received a release about a fantabulous deal on the upcoming Disney On Ice performances scheduled to hit Rogers Centre for 15 performances from December 23 until January 1, 2012.
The deal? How about tickets to the show for only $1.00! Hows that for a gift from Santa? According to the release:
Tickets for this one-time-only, Zip-A-Dee-Deal will be available starting at 11 am on Wednesday, December 14th at Rogers Centre Box Office, located at Gate 9, and are available while supplies last (100 tickets per performance will be available).
This magical moment in entertainment history combines Disney’s unforgettable stories and enthralling characters that have entertained families the world over. The captivating production features the largest cast ever of lovable Disney stars on ice – Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Stitch, Nemo and the Incredibles – and exciting moments from Disney’s Mulan and The Lion King.
To keep warm while in line, ticket buyers will be treated to hot chocolate and entertained by the festive sounds of the Salvation Army Band. People will be invited to support the Salvation Army’s annual Christmas campaign.
PLEASE NOTE: Customers may not begin forming a line until 9:30 am on Wednesday, December 14th. Rogers Centre Box Office will open at 11 am. There is a limit of (six) 6 tickets per person for your chosen show. Offer is not valid on multiple shows, VIP and rinkside seats.
Once the Zip-A-Dee-Deal tickets are sold out, fans will be able to purchase tickets at a special one-day only $5.00 off discount rate (excluding VIP and rinkside seats).
You can visit the Rogers Center website for the show schedule. Merry Christmas!
Tags: Christmas Events, Disney, family fun
Posted in Disney, christmas, christmas countdown, fun stuff, getting ready for Christmas | No Comments »
