• parenting

    11 Survival Tips For Raising Teenage Daughters

    Raising teenage daughters is not a walk in the park. Your sweet little girl, that adorable baby you used to dress up in cute pink dresses, who insisted on reading Robert Munsch bedtime stories all snuggled up in her toddler bed for years, is now a teenager. Oh yeah, it happened fast too, didn’t it? Overnight, she’s a surly teenager with attitude, and you wonder how your relationship will survive this. Relax, the good news is you’ll both be fine…eventually. There are just some things that you need to remember. Chief among those is DO not take it personally. You…

  • Travel

    Free Day Trips in Ontario – What Powers the Province?

    This post has been sponsored by Bruce Power. My opinion is all my own and it is alway truthful. Pretty much every summer of my life I have visited Bruce Peninsula with family. Sometimes it astonishes me that there’s anything I have not yet seen up there. But occasionally I am reminded there’s a lot left to learn about the area even still. So, when I read about Bruce Power’s bus tours and educational Visitors’ Centre I thought why not? There are many free day trips in Ontario and there’s much to do within driving distance of London and Southwestern…

  • Travel

    Family Fun 2.0 with Ebates Travel Thursdays

    This post has been sponsored by Ebates Travel Thursdays which means I received compensation. My opinion is all my own and it is also truthful. Summer is rapidly running out and that makes me sad. I still don’t feel like I got enough of a vacation. Why does summer go so fast? Every year I love to take time with my family before they go back to school. This year my oldest had a job and work was ridiculously busy here too so we didn’t really get time away together as a family. Don’t get me wrong I am glad…

  • Food

    20 Amazing Cranberry Recipes To Make You Swoon

    Let’s talk about Cranberry recipes. Cranberry recipes have come a long way from Thanksgiving sauces and turkey dinners. Cranberries are such a tasty and powerful food. Baked goods and cranberry recipes are so adult. You know what I mean? There’s something grownup about the tart flavour in a cranberry lemon loaf or a white chocolate cookie and in a cranberry mustard too. In a salad, to the side as a sauce, or inside a tasty treat – cranberries are one of the world’s healthiest foods actually. The flavour of cranberries is the perfect counterbalance to sugary sweetness. Rich in anti-oxidants and…

  • Travel

    Secrets to a Successful Philadelphia Mother Daughter Trip

    Our Mother Daughter trip to Philadelphia was sponsored by Visit Philly. Accommodations, flights, meals and attractions were covered. My opinion is truthful and all my own.  Recently, we returned from a wonderful Philadelphia Mother Daughter Trip. My youngest daughter Ainsley and I went together. It was our first time seeing the city and we loved it. Philadelphia is a city full of stories and this is one is ours. Consider it a guide to how to do a successful Mother Daughter Philadelphia Trip, especially relevant if your daughter is a teen. My younger daughter has missed out on a few trips…

  • Food

    Emergency Cooking Hacks When You Are Missing an Ingredient

    Cooking hacks can save your baking fail or pending disaster when you are missing a crucial ingredient. Every single chef out there knows the pain of going to make your dinner masterpiece or bake sale work of art just to find an ingredient missing. Oh maybe it’s the eggs or the sour cream. Perhaps it’s the baking soda or baking powder! If you don’t know what to substitute then the recipe is dead in the water. BUT, hey don’t fret. There are many easy cooking hacks and simple baking substitutions you can use to pull it off even without all the…

  • family

    Back to School Shopping Doesn’t Need to Be Scary

    I have partnered with YMC and Staples and have received compensation for this post. All opinions are my own. The closer my kids get to college or university the scarier life gets for me as a parent. My oldest starts Grade 12 this year and my youngest is heading to Grade 9. Both kids are in high school. Which gets me thinking about the costs involved in attending college or university. Lately I lay awake at night or I break out in a cold sweat randomly throughout the day thinking HOW will we ever afford college or university? Have we saved…

  • Printables

    August Colouring Page Printable

    Happy August! One more month of summer holidays here. So I thought it was time to celebrate that with an August colouring page printable. How are you spending August? This month I will send one daughter off to Pioneer Camp Ontario and my older girl will keep working hard at her job. Meanwhile that’s basically what her Dad and I will also be doing. SO, this month will be a working one around here. With a few breaks built in and weekends spent enjoying the pool. Can’t even begin to think about Back to School yet. But I recognize it…

  • Travel

    Everyday Adventures is Changing the Way I Think About Travel

    This post contains affiliate links as a service to readers. If you make a purchase via one of the links I receive a commission at no extra cost to you.  Everyday Adventures is one of those books you come across that totally changes the way you look at something. I’ve always loved to travel. Getting out and exploring the world around me has been a passion of mine for life, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve chased the horizon. Recently, I realized there might be a different way to explore the world while I traveled and even…

  • Giveaways

    Learning About Dinosaurs with DK Canada

    I received product for consideration here. This post may also contain affiliate links. Learning about dinosaurs has become my daughter’s newest passion. Of course, Marvel and sharks are still high on her list, but ever since we saw Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, my daughter has fallen head first into the deep end of the dinosaur pool. She can’t get enough of them. She reaches for every source she can find for learning about dinosaurs like she’s writing a grad thesis on the subject. In fact, she’s incredibly excited about the fact that some researchers are actually discussing bringing dinosaurs back…