• club-foot
    family - Health

    Does My Baby Have a Club Foot? A Guest Post

    March 4, 2016 - By 

    Clubfoot Guest Blog Post – Part 1 This is a Guest Post from the Lovely Crystal over on Crystal Clear As Mud. Crystal has a great blog and she is also Canadian. Come Back tomorrow for Part 2 of the Club Foot Series. While I was pregnant, I always found going for ultrasounds somewhat nerve wrecking since our first pregnancy, before our daughter, ended as a missed miscarriage. Was everything ok? Was the baby growing as he/she should? Am I doing what I should? The questions were always there. When we found out we were pregnant with our second child…

  • Vividay-Diffuser
    family - Health - homes

    The Colour Changing Vividay Oil Diffuser – A Fun Way to Use Essential Oils

    February 26, 2016 - By 

    About six months ago my neighbour introduced us to the idea of essential oils. I had, until that point, really resisted the concept. Essential oils can be expensive. So can the gadgets you need to dispense them. So I held off awhile but the girls kept visiting the neighbour’s house and singing the praises of essential oils. So we bought a trial package of DoTerra Oils and gave them a shot. Then we bought a diffuser. And then because one child had one we got another diffuser to be even steven. Last week the Vividay Oil Diffuser arrived and I…

  • leap-year
    active family travel - family - Health - Travel

    What Will You Do With an Extra Day? – Leap Year Ideas #travel

    February 23, 2016 - By 

    This year I am more than looking forward to using my extra day! I’m talking about Leap Year of course. Leap Year only comes once every four years so you should take advantage of it! Now normally if I had an extra day, I would totally use it to work. I would. Just telling it as it is. But in 2015 I became a skier and I embrace winter now because it means more chances to ski downhill and go tubing too. I am also conscious of my word of the year that I have chosen to build my personal…

  • zika virus
    active family travel - Health - Travel

    What is the Zika Virus and Do You Need to Be Concerned? #Travel

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    Zika virus is all over the news these days. It’s a hot topic, but how much of what we see is absolute fact, and how much is sensationalized? As a traveller, whether frequent, or occasional, do you need to be concerned? Are you right to avoid certain destinations? Well, let’s take a look at Zika virus and what the actual facts are. Zika Virus – What are the Facts? First and foremost, to properly assess your risk of anything, you need facts and not hype. Unfortunately, news outlets have a tendency to hype everything sometimes. Instead, let’s head right to the…

  • ski tips
    active family travel - family - Health

    Five Ski Gear Tips for Beginners

    February 8, 2016 - By 

    It’s ski season and if you are just starting out I thought I would share these five ski gear tips I learned from the children’s instructors at Smugglers’ Notch. I hope they help you and your family to feel more comfortable on the slopes. Stay tuned this week for all the stories I have to share about our amazing trip to Vermont and all the fun we had together at one of the most family friendly resorts we have ever been to – Smugglers’ Notch. We are new to the sport of skiing and on a learning curve as steep…

  • better-health-2016
    family - Health

    Towards Better Health 2016

    February 3, 2016 - By 

    Better health 2016? Is that one of your goals for this year? Better health 2016 seems to be a common goal for many people and that’s not a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s a constant and admirable thing to maintain every month and every year. Around here I am always working hard to try new activities and sports that challenge me. I think that’s a good lesson to my kids too. If MOM can learn to ski, or try ZUMBA, or cycling, or whatever new sport, then so can they. Five Ways to Help Build Better Health Just a few…

  • childrens-mental-health
    family - Health

    My Favourite Children’s Mental Health Posts #BellLetsTalk Day

    January 27, 2016 - By 

    I have been writing stories about children’s mental health for many years. That started even before I had kids whose symptoms made me realize they needed help handling anxiety. Today on Bell Let’s Talk Day I am reminded how important it is to keep talking. 1 in 5 struggle with mental health issues. That’s 1 in 5 kids too. In our family I know way more about anxiety than I ever wanted, or intended to learn. My older daughter has an anxiety disorder. My mother had one too. My daughter’s journey to understand her own anxiety has been challenging, but…

  • fitness apps
    family - Health - Technology

    Five Free Fitness Apps To Help This Year

    January 19, 2016 - By 

    One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to get fit, boost your health, and lose weight, but a lot of times it seems impossible to do. Whether it’s because you’re unmotivated, not challenged or just because you LOVE food, doing it on your own and with no help from a diet plan or workout routine can be difficult. But not with these 5 Free Fitness Apps This Year.    Coming up with a plan that works for you individually is the best way to make your resolution become a reality. For some, that might mean trying a handful of different…

  • fitness DVDs
    family - Health

    Fitness Resolutions? No Problem with Amazon’s Top 8 Exercise and Fitness DVDs

    January 14, 2016 - By 

    Come on now tell the truth? Did you make it a New Year’s resolution to get fit? I am sure you are not the only one. Many of us plan to get fit and visit the gym regularly and then we end up slacking off, or never even getting there. That’s kind of why I also like the option of picking up or buying a workout DVD to use at home. I mean you are after all more likely to be able to work out at some point during the week if the option is available at home. I remember…

  • saving money
    family - Health

    Save Money and Your Health This Year

    January 7, 2016 - By 

    Price matching, bargain shopping, bargaining, negotiating, saving, penny pinching. No matter what you call it, we all want to save money. Saving money is the key to building money. Saving money can be an art form if you commit and January is the perfect time to make a change that will set you on a path to saving for the rest of 2016. Money is on everyone’s radar this time of year. We’re all reeling from the spending shock of the holidays, and we’re on the lookout for any way we can to save money. But what if we focused…