• Best Slow Cooker
    Food

    Hamilton Beach Just Right Programmable Slow Cooker #TMMGG2014

    December 20, 2014 - By 

    This is one of my favourite gifts this year. The Hamilton Beach Programmable Right Size Slow Cooker is amazing. It’s the only crockpot you will ever need. Pair it with The Healthy Slow Cooker: 135 Gluten-Free Recipes for Health and Wellness for magical winter meals and it becomes a gorgeous Christmas present for any busy Mom, friend, sister-in-law, or aunt. I love this slow cooker. It is without a doubt the best slow cooker I have ever owned. The Hamilton Beach Just Right Programmable Slow Cooker has three sizes for food of various portions. You can cook a meal for three different…

  • Food

    New Year’s Roundup: Crafts, Food and Party Ideas

    December 20, 2014 - By 

        Hard to believe another year is almost over and the holidays are fast approaching. Once Christmas has come and gone there’s still New Year’s Eve to look forward to and, for entertainers, who love to host parties or help throw parties it can be the perfect chance to show off, or showcase your skills. I am not so naturally talented as an entertainer and I tend to require a bit of help. Pinterest and other bloggers can be great resources for party and craft ideas. I find all my new recipes on line actually. Whether you are naturally…

  • Parenting

    Limeapple Active Girls Clothing for Teens and Tweens Who Play Hard.

    December 20, 2014 - By 

    Active girls clothing makes a huge difference to sporty girls on the go. Ainsley is wearing one of the Limeapple active T-Shirts under her karate uniform. The material is soft and wicks away moisture (important for sporty tweens.) Have you met my sporty girls? Well, this one is a tween crime fighter. In her head anyways. Just kidding. She is a junior black belt. So is my older daughter. Together the dynamic duo dance, sing, act, ride horses, kick butt at martial arts and sparring and they also swim and run track. Occasionally they play soccer and do diving lessons…

  • close up of christmas decoration hanging on tree
    family

    Free Printable Christmas Tree Coloring Page

    December 19, 2014 - By 

    As Christmas Day inches every closer you might be hunting for things to keep the kids occupied. I have always found coloring to be a simple and calm activity to get kids of all ages engaged in. When I ran a home daycare for a brief period when my kids were small, I often gave the kids crayons and coloring pages to calm them down before and after school. I loved the quietness of coloring. Plus for some of the kids it was their opportunity to just be still and occasionally it gave them a great little chance to just…

  • 25 most popular dolls
    family

    25 Most Popular Dolls Gift Roundup

    December 18, 2014 - By 

    I am the Mom of girls. I am more than familiar with dolls and brands of dolls and all their glorious accessories. From pretty much the moment my girls could speak, they were asking for dolls. Dolls for Christmas presents and dolls for birthdays too. This year there may be a couple of dolls on the Christmas lists too. Not saying which ones because my kids sometimes read this blog. Anyways, over the years I have formed some opinions on the dolls that are trendy and the dolls that are timeless too. Barbie never gets old. She is pretty much…

  • family - Health - parenting

    Give the Gift of Fire Safety This Christmas

    December 18, 2014 - By 

    Shutterstock photo by Olga Kovalenko Fire Safety It’s the busiest time of the year. As soon as the snow falls the kids start building their Christmas wish lists and everyone rushes around trying to make the season magical. It’s a given, a tradition, and a blessing too to be able to share time with family, even to be able to afford to entertain, to create moments that are memorable and last for a lifetime. Everyone should be able to share the season with their family. With so much riding on the holidays every year it’s not hard to understand how…

  • meaningful Christmas gifts
    Health

    My Meaningful Christmas Gifts #WordlessWednesday With #WorldVisionGifts

    December 17, 2014 - By 

    This is my Wordless Wednesday for today. I hope some of you have read the posts over the last few months about meaningful Christmas gifts and the importance of choosing gifts that give back to children and families globally. I choose to support World Vision Canada in 2014, 2015 and for as long as I am able. I have seen so much good done with a simple gift from the World Vision holiday gift catalogue. I have shared many posts and tweets about this great charity. I believe wholeheartedly in the organization because I have seen the difference these meaningful Christmas…

  • Netgear router
    family - Giveaways

    The Cadillac of Connectivity – Netgear Router #Giveaway

    December 16, 2014 - By 

    Excellence in connectivity. I may have mentioned once or twice that we moved this year. Why do I mention it so much? Well because moving your entire family is a big life change and it comes with numerous other small and sometimes tedious changes that can linger, prolonging the experience for months. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all good and it’s worth it. But there are often tiny things that crop up all year after the move. I mean first there’s the unpacking of course and then the settling in and getting reoriented. The reason for my move was twofold.…

  • Parenting

    Investing in RESPs: Saving for my daughter’s education

    December 16, 2014 - By 

    Well, she might not have said that, but it makes sense at Christmas time to boost the RESP contributions. How investing in RESPs helped me save for my daughter’s education I am the daughter of a teacher. In our home, education was valued above all as the ticket to a future, the means to become whatever you wanted. Growing up, we didn’t have much money because my Mom was a single parent, but we studied hard and dreamed and knew university was a way forward. Education was a gift that could last a lifetime. My Mom might not have had…

  • Elf Coloring Sheet
    Printables

    Elf Coloring Sheet Printable

    December 16, 2014 - By 

      More coloring sheets for the kids. Thanks for reading my blog throughout the year. I am happy to share this free Elf Coloring Sheet with you as a thank you! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! Are your lists ready for Santa? Have you mailed them yet? If not, then don’t forget to stop here for a free Santa’s wish list also. This season I am giving back to my readers with these freebies and I am giving back to everyone else with World Vision Gifts. I love that these gifts help change lives. To read more about…