• homes

    I Am A Decorating Dork #wordlesswednesday

    July 9, 2014 - By 

    I am a decorating dork. True story. I don’t have that gene. It is, in fact, a wonder I can match my own outfits. So, occasionally my gal pal Margarita Ibbott of @downshiftingpro gives me a ring on my iPhone, or a message on Facebook or a DM and hunts me down to say: I found your chair. I found your picture. I found exactly what you have to have for your wall in the front hall. This loosely translates to come and meet me at the store and bring your money. So today, I discovered Urban Barn, where she…

  • swear_jar
    Health - parenting

    Do You Have a Swear Jar?

    July 8, 2014 - By 

    I am $1.20 in the hole. My youngest daughter made me a bet that I had to take for the weekend. She challenged me to quit swearing. Ten cents a swear word. So I set up a swear jar.  A dime? A couple of my friends huffed angrily that I was taking advantage of my daughter by not advising her that she should have made it a loonie a swear word, but the amount wasn’t the point. I am not proud that I swore twelve times over the weekend (within hearing range of my child. She might have missed a…

  • Food - Health

    Turn Your Love of Healthy Foods into a Business You Will Love

    July 8, 2014 - By 

    Eating healthy for many mothers is a way of life. You may go out of your way to find all of the healthiest foods for you and your family to enjoy even if that means you will end up spending a little more on the groceries. Of course, a little planning can help frugal moms to find healthy foods the whole family will love for about $135 a week, according to the Mayo Clinic. The really good news is all the hard work you put into creating menus and buying groceries for your family can also turn into a full…

  • Giveaways

    ONecklace Personalized Silver Necklace #giveaways

    July 7, 2014 - By 

    Looking for pretty and personalized jewelry? Onecklace is the perfect option – affordable and creative. I recently received a Silver Necklace with my kid’s names on it and have come to love this company.  Silver in the summer also makes me happy, especially with a tiny bit of sun kissed skin to set it off. ONecklace has many gorgeous gold, sterling silver and silver plated jewellery products to choose from. This gorgeous little number by ONecklace is so unique too. I am especially fond of the Mother necklaces and the name necklaces. The silver necklace I chose is from the…

  • active family travel - Travel

    Snorkelling in Yelapa Mexico with Mosquito Jellyfish

    July 4, 2014 - By 

    When the mosquito jellyfish bit me I stopped short a moment, treading water, breathing and wondering what just happened. Am I hurt? Did I imagine that? Should I bail? I am far from an adventuresome swimmer. In fact, truth be told, I almost drowned once in a wave pool. Michael Phelps, I am not. But my kids swim beautifully and are well on their way to summers filled with pool parties and maybe even jobs as lifeguards. Today I am snorkelling in Yelapa, Mexico with my daughter and some travel bloggers. Living the life, admiring the view until this happens….…

  • active family travel - family - Parenting - parenting - Travel

    Summer Math and Travel With Tweens

    July 3, 2014 - By 

    This summer I am trying my hardest to trick my brain into forgetting summer math. June plus July plus August equals my three favourite months. Summer is fleeting, especially in Canada. It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it-kind-of-season. Time flies, but summer time well that’s like a Concord whipping by at breakneck speed. how many more weeks do we get to enjoy this beautiful weather? How much more time off school? How many more summers with my kids at home? Only 6 more years and one will be in college or university. That’s tween Mom math. Summer math. In my experience, the only way…

  • Health - infertility

    Did you know? Five Canadian Facts about Infertility #abhc4ivf #abpoli

    July 1, 2014 - By 

    Shutterstock ImagesThis Canada Day infertility patients have a lot to celebrate in Ontario, and in Quebec, and in parts of Nova Scotia and Manitoba too. But what of the rest of the provinces? What about Alberta? Patients struggling with infertility in the province of Alberta and British Columbia are still advocating and waiting for public funding for in vitro fertilization. Public funding for IVF is now in the works in Ontario. It will soon be a reality, anticipated for 2015. The Ontario Liberal government will fund one round of IVF with single embryo transfer.That’s big news. [tweetthis]Public funding for IVF…

  • family

    Trind Nail Products for Damaged Nails #trindrehab #giveaway

    July 1, 2014 - By 

      I had beautiful nails for months. It’s true. They were gorgeous.  And I got a lot of comments back when I was using gel polish, getting my nails done professionally. My professional image is part of my business. When I look good, I present a more professional image to the world as a strategist and entrepreneur. I feel more confident and I land more contracts. Confidence is important. I had lovely, coloured, polished, shiny nails for maybe even the greater part of a year and I enjoyed having them done. So, what’s the problem, you ask? Well, I mean,…

  • Health

    The Best Seat in the Pool – SwimWays Spring Float

    June 30, 2014 - By 

    You might have heard – we bought a new house with a pool a few months ago. This is our first summer enjoying our pool and we are still on a learning curve. We have a few pool toys, such as the usual pool noodles and inflatable rafts, but we didn’t have any super pool recliners until this week when SwimWays sent a Spring Float pool float for us to test out. The Canada Day weekend weather has been perfect and we unpackaged the Spring Float recliner chair so we could throw our first ever pool party here. Now, the…

  • FASD - Health - Parenting - special needs

    What Pride Looks Like: On Report Cards, Respect and #specialneeds

    June 27, 2014 - By 

    Think they don’t care much about what is written on report cards? Think that little people are oblivious to how the teacher sees them and feels about them? Words matter, and never more so than when someone is assessing a child with special needs after a year of school. This is our first experience with a really accepting and lovely teacher who clearly understood and liked my youngest daughter. I am driving both my kids to Build-A-Bear to celebrate their last day of school when the little one cracks open her report card and starts reading it word for word.…