• adoption and tweens - Parenting

    Ring Ring Pick up the Phone… ERRRR Don’t: Hard Life Lessons for Digital Kids

    January 19, 2015 - By 

    Kids are the best. Except when they are giving me grey hairs. Which was the weekend. Oh I still love them madly and to the moon and back. But opening a Rogers bill to find out someone had added data packs on their own to their relatively newly connected phone supposed to be used for emergencies only, and then having my eyeballs pop out of my head, was not on the schedule for today. And yet there it was $400 worth of added data. So what happened? Well, I picked my eyeballs up off my laptop and then I spent…

  • baby being anointed as he is christened and two men looking on. Priest holding a large book in front of him. It could be a bible but is blurred out of focus
    family - Food - parenting

    How to Plan a Christening Celebration Party

    January 18, 2015 - By 

    Easy steps to planning a Christening celebration party   How to Plan a Christening Celebration Party A Christening or baptism is a special day for a loved one and those attending the event. The party following the ceremony is a wonderful chance for family and friends to gather in celebration. While planning the accompanying Christening reception party, keep in mind the reverence and sacredness of the day while also allowing for opportunities for friends and family to visit and socialize. To help make the day go more smoothly, Jennifer Carver of Spaceships and Laser Beams has put together a simple checklist…

  • family

    Happy Valentine’s Day Word Search Printable

    January 17, 2015 - By 

    This is my first ever word search hosted on Thrifty Momma’s Tips. If you folks like it then I will decide if I should run more or not. In the mean time here is a quick freebie to keep the kids busy for Valentine’s Day. Happy searching! Why Word Searches? Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and we love word searches so I thought I would put together a speedy Valentines Day Word Search for readers to enjoy. I have been a fan of word searches ever since I was a kid. I used to take them to doctor’s appointments and I…

  • Target Canada
    family - parenting

    Target Canada Closing – What Went Wrong? – Interview with Retail Expert

    January 16, 2015 - By 

    Target Canada made headlines across the country this week announcing they will close all 133 Canadian stores opened under two years ago. Target trended on Twitter all week, but this time it wasn’t for a twitter party or a social media marketing event. It was bad news for many. I interviewed retail expert John Winter of John Winter and Associates today on what went wrong. I used to  talk with John Winter often when I wrote daily news columns for business sections of the news. I still remember interviewing him when Walmart set up shop in Canada in the 90s. That was…

  • business_stationery
    family

    Best Business Stationery – My New Year’s Cards

    January 15, 2015 - By 

    I was a tiny bit late with Christmas cards this year. But I didn’t want to give up on my idea of sending cards out still. Last year I chose Minted.com to make a fun family photo into a business-y post card to send to contacts and former clients. I kind of loved the idea still and wanted to make a business holiday card. In 2014, I think that business postcard was really well received and I enjoyed sending it. There is obvious merit in thanking former clients for their business. It’s nice, classy and it also serves to remind people…

  • best beer dip recipes
    family - Food - Health

    14 Best beer dip recipes

    January 15, 2015 - By 

    You know what’s coming up soon, right? The Super Bowl. Whether you are a super fan or the partner of a fan boy it’s time to celebrate while rooting for your team. That means snacks are necessary. These are a few perfect snacks for this occasion. We’ve found 14 of the best beer dip recipes on line and wanted to share them with you here. Because beer with cheese and something to dip equals heaven. Enjoy! Fourteen of the best beer dip recipes Spicy Beer Cheese Dip from Foxes Love Lemons Bacon Beer Cheese Dip from My Bacon Wrapped Life…

  • active family travel Belize
    active family travel - family - parenting - Travel

    Wordless Wednesday – Ready to Dive In – Family Travel in Belize

    January 13, 2015 - By 

    This was our last day of 2014. We took a chance and disembarked the cruise ship and set aside the entire day to explore Belize with a tour guide, of course. Our first stop was a small speed boat that led us out into the ocean to explore a reef together. The four of us snorkelled together. My husband loved this excursion. It was his first time snorkelling. This is Payton. my oldest daughter, getting ready to explore family travel in Belize. This is her right before she hopped in and remembered salt water stings your eyes and had a…

  • first cruise tips
    active family travel - family - parenting - Travel

    Why I am Hooked on Cruising – Our First Cruise

    January 9, 2015 - By 

    e have travelled a fair bit as a family and yet we have always avoided cruising. Why? Well, I always thought it was a lot of work booking the cruise, then the flight and then figuring out all the logistics. I also thought it was too expensive. My husband has always been reluctant to cruise because of rumours we heard from friends. We heard that you wait for everything because of the number of people. We heard that the rooms are way too small and they make you feel claustrophobic. We wondered out loud if we would all get seasick. I wasn’t…

  • family - Giveaways

    K-Tel’s Mini Pops CDs 11 and 12 for Kids #Giveaway

    January 7, 2015 - By 

    My kids are 10 and 13 now and they are all about the music and the computers and gadgets too of course. My youngest loves listening to her Ipod Nano and she also has a pretty busy social calendar which means a lot of car time. In my mini van I have a TV but I don’t always want my kids watching TV on the road so I love to have music handy and books too. My husband has no entertainment system in his car and he often pops in a family friendly CD for road trips and even for…

  • Disney Live
    family

    Disney Live Rocks Budweiser Gardens #Ldnont

    January 6, 2015 - By 

    This is a review by a contributor to Thriftymommastips. Thanks to Tabitha Pye for attending this event while I was away on vacation. Tabitha is a London Mom of four and a blogger. Visit her blog at http://www.notquiteahandful.com/ Today my son and I got to take a couple of our friends to see Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival at Budweiser Gardens and it was a fantastic show! We had floor seats and I am telling you they are well worth the extra cost. The energy in this show is infectious. From start to finish you couldn’t help but get involved…