• Giveaways

    Sharing Smiles: Win a $100 Gift Card to Hasbro Toys – My Biggest Giveaway Yet – US Only

    November 30, 2010 - By 

    In the spirit of Christmas I want to make one lucky reader’s day by giving them a $100 Gift Card to purchase items at Hasbro Toys On Line. http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/ I received this one a couple of weeks ago and was thinking about using it for my kids. But honestly I got thinking today as I wrote my Demento Bunny Smiles post that my kids have enough toys and I would rather share this with someone who can really use it. $100 can buy some gorgeous Christmas presents. Hasbro makes some amazing toys, including great games, super hero figures, Tea Cup Pups,…

  • parenting

    Demento Bunny and What Makes Me Smile

    November 29, 2010 - By 

    On winter days when there is a chill in the air and it takes longer to get the kids out the door it is hard to find things to smile about. But these are precisely the times we need reminders of where we find our smiles. For us, here at the house of anything but normal, my kids give me reason to smile every day and my husband’s dopey one liners that he thinks are funny often give me reason to smile too. (Don’t let him know. It only encourages him.)This picture here makes me smile. We had it printed…

  • family

    CSN Stores

    November 29, 2010 - By 

    This time of year more than ever, I love to find my bargains on line. One excellent spot to find good quality products and great deals are the family of CSN Stores. Lucky me, I am a preferred blogger and as such get to offer my readers some great giveaways through CSN. Right now I’ve got my eye on some of the great toys for Xmas and the furniture selections are amazing too. See kitchen bar stools for some examples. I love the All American bar stools with saddle seats. There is something so cute about the style. Order now to…

  • Parenting

    National Adoption Awareness Month

    November 24, 2010 - By 

    As many of my readers know, ours is a family formed by adoption. I would quite simply not be a parent, if not for this unique and wonderful way of forming a family. I am forever grateful to the London Children’s Aid Society for helping us to become parents. November is National Adoption Awareness Month and today I head to Ottawa, with good friend LeeAnn to speak to the topic of adoption and permanency planning. It is a topic that currently has the eyes and ears of the federal government. Tomorrow I will try to convey all that is needs…

  • family

    Monday Mingle: November 22. The Day The Kid Did It

    November 23, 2010 - By 

    This is my Monday Mingle, hosted by Jennifer over at EightyMPHMom.com. My daughter did a better job than I did on my early take of this, so today she is running the show. Have an excellent week and wish me luck in the House of Commons talking adoption and permanency options for children in care. Happy Turkey Day, my American friends!

  • Giveaways

    My Santa Sack – Friday Finds and a Giveaway or two.

    November 19, 2010 - By 

    I have a few amazing deals that you will not want to miss this weekend. And the race is on starting tonight. Santa came early to my house..And since I feel like sharing, here are a few freebies and giveaways for you…please specify which giveaway you are entering. Good Luck! Win! Win! Win! Travel much? Shop Much? These are great for helping your child stay safe…Last chance to win my Mabel’s Labels 411 wristbands giveaway. I am going to draw for those on the 22nd. Enter that one here: http://thriftymommastips.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-411-mabels-labels-review-and.html (Canada and US) I have a family pass for four to London Regional…

  • parenting

    Thursday BlogHop

    November 19, 2010 - By 

    Hi there and hope your Thursday has been fun and productive. I have two sick children this week and they’ve been home various different days, which means my week has gone sideways. I just found this Bloghop courtesy of Bass Giraffe’s Thoughts and I felt up for a fun post tonight. So here goes. If you want to join in visit her blog and leave your button then follow as many new people as you can. Bass Giraffe’s Thoughts asked her star blogger some questions about blogging and although I am new to the process I thought it might be…

  • Food - Health

    Quaker Wellness Journey

    November 17, 2010 - By 

    My commitment to health and wellness as a Mom is a constant challenge. We are an active family of four and our diet is usually quite healthy, but there is always room for improvement and with that in mind we are tackling the next year or so along with Quaker and Mom Central Canada and Lynn at http://www.quakerjourney.ca/. Our family will be looking for ways to make our diet more natural (see the video clip above) and we welcome feedback from others on what they do and how they make more natural food choices, or where they shop for organics.…

  • Parenting

    Friday Finds and Christmas Kickoff: How Do You Save Money at Christmas?

    November 12, 2010 - By 

    With gas prices rising and little good news on the grocery shelves lately, I am finding it hard to get too excited about Christmas. Not to be a Debbie Downer or anything, but prices are not coming down and cost of living seems to keep increasing. So, I wondered what are you doing to save money this Christmas? I buy all year round and put gifts away even in July. That’s one way I save. Also this year I am tightening my budget for magazines. (I think if I added them up I would have close to 10 magazine subscriptions here. I…