• DIY brown sugar cubes
    Health

    Easy DIY Brown Sugar Scrub Cubes for Giving

    December 26, 2014 - By 

    Looking for a personal, easy and cost effective gift to give someone who needs and deserves to be pampered? Then you need to see this easy to make DIY Brown Sugar Scrub Cubes recipe. These are fun to make, especially if you have kids who enjoy helping and love to give handmade gifts.   Easy to Make These brown sugar scrub cubes involve just a few simple ingredients and frankly most of them are probably already either in your pantry or in your medicine cabinet. Teens and tweens will enjoy this hands on craft.   Luxurious DIY Brown Sugar Scrub…

  • IVF funding
    family - Health

    IVF Funding: What’s Happening in 2015? #ohip4ivf #onpoli

    December 25, 2014 - By 

    Usually the holidays roll around and the season itself is cause for sadness among those who are trying to conceive, struggling with infertility. That may be the case still for some people, because infertility is emotionally, physically and financially draining, but this coming year there is good reason to hope and be optimistic and thankful too. So as we close 2014 I thought it was important to take a moment and reflect on what we have accomplished in Ontario and remind people of what’s happening with IVF funding in 2015. So here’s what we know about Ontario’s IVF funding program in…

  • Health

    Five Steps to Becoming a More Healthy and Empowered Patient

    December 24, 2014 - By 

    How many times have you gone to the doctor and felt less than happy with the visit? Do you leave feeling like an empowered patient or not?If you spend any time at all visiting this blog, then you know I often write about health matters. I write almost as often about advocacy and causes that matter to me. The lives of the members of my family intersect often with the traditional health care system. I was a child when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and I spent many weeks, months and school vacations in the hospital or racing back…

  • best gluten free baked goods
    Food - Giveaways - Health

    Promise: Best Gluten Free Baked Goods #Giveaway

    December 24, 2014 - By 

    This remarkable basket full of Promise Gluten Free foods arrived here this past week. It was stuffed with Promise Gluten Free breads, of which there are numerous varieties, buns, and baked treats. The Lemon Muffins and the Double Chocolate Muffins caught my eye. Sadly they also didn’t escape the kid’s eyes. But luckily they shared. Or I might have been extremely perturbed because the muffins are the best gluten free baked goods I have ever had. What do I know about gluten free? Am I gluten free? Not right now. But in my twenties I was gluten free for a…

  • child poverty
    Health

    These are My Weapons Against Child Poverty #WorldVisionGifts #TMMWVC

    December 24, 2014 - By 

    There is a saying in martial arts that my kids repeat over and over each time they grade. My husband knows it too. I am paraphrasing a bit but it’s a little like this – I come to you with empty hands. If I should be forced to use them. These are my weapons: my empty hands. It’s the end of 2014 and so everyone is wrapping up their year with little red bows and packaging it away to start fresh on January 1st. There is beauty and peace in that. We are building our resolutions, hopes and plans. We…

  • Best Fitness Gadget
    Health

    The Best Fitness Gadget I Found in 2014 and It is Waterproof!

    December 23, 2014 - By 

    In 2014, as always, I had great intentions to boost my fitness routine and become even stronger. And I did for half the year. Then I swam laps every day in our pool during the months where the weather permitted and I felt great about that. But when September hit somehow school meant that my workload increase also impacted my fitness level. That has to change this year. That will be a goal for me to sustain my routine throughout all of 2015. Despite the rocky exercise routine and the peaks and valleys of fitness and health issues this year,…

  • gluten free holiday recipes
    Food - Health

    Gluten Free Holiday Treats

    December 23, 2014 - By 

    Gluten free eating can be tough as it is, but trying to stay away from gluten during the holidays can seem impossible! With all of the sweet treats everywhere you turn, you might be tempted to just give in and eat them. The good news is that you don’t have to! These gluten free holiday treats are fantastic and will keep you feeling just as good as you normally would. Do you have any favourite gluten free treats? Do you eat gluten free? I would try this paleo banana bread any time. By the way I have several other great…

  • 25 Must Have Puzzles
    family

    25 Must Have Puzzles

    December 22, 2014 - By 

    Are you a puzzle fan? We are too. My one daughter and husband love to do puzzles.  25 Must Have Puzzles My youngest daughter is a puzzle fanatic. From the time she was a toddler we would gift her puzzles and she would effortlessly put them together. It was a captivating thing to witness. My youngest child has special needs. She was born with sensory processing disorder and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and she struggles with a lot of things. Reading came slowly, but she gradually caught up. She ran almost before she walked and she still has a lot…

  • free app
    Giveaways - Technology

    Download Gummy Drop Free App Now Available for Android! Win a Samsung Galaxy or a Kindle Fire #Giveaways

    December 22, 2014 - By 

    Several months ago I reviewed Gummy Drop app here because it had just launched on iPad and iPhone. I remember this one well. It was a Match 3 free app that was a lot of fun. I enjoyed that it included a trip around the world, and a geography theme that I found engaging and educational. Today Big Fish’s fastest growing mobile app is now available for Android. Gummy Drop scored high on the gaming charts across all territories. Now this crowd-pleasing free app is available in the Amazon and GooglePlay app stores.  All mobile players can access the free app…

  • soft_pumpkin_cookies
    Food

    Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

    December 21, 2014 - By 

    These are inspired. I wanted to make sugar cookies one day this past week and I was on a baking kick. And my favourite cookies ever are the soft ones that you buy at the grocery store, but I wondered if I could make something similar and add pumpkin. I was also on a pumpkin kick last week because who doesn’t love pumpkin flavour? There’s something so wonderfully fresh and comforting about pumpkin spice foods and baked goods. So I decided to try to create some awesome pumpkin sugar cookies and let me tell you these turned out so good!!…