• Family-Trip-to-Tremblant
    active family travel - family - Health - parenting - Quebec - Travel

    Hugs from Dad #WordlessWednesday #Travel #Tremblant

    April 1, 2015 - By 

    I rarely share shots of my spouse here. Why? Because he hates having his picture taken. Sad but true. Husband of blogger hates having picture taken. Honestly. So capturing a nice shot of him on film is a big deal for me. I often point my iPhone at him when we travel and he turns or moves ruining the shot. Early in March we were all invited to Mont Tremblant to visit as a family unit. While we were there, the entire family learned how to ski in two days!! I am super proud of that, in case you couldn’t…

  • March break
    active family travel - family - Health - parenting

    March Break #WordlessWednesday #skiing

    March 25, 2015 - By 

    These aren’t the best pictures I have ever taken, but they are some of my favourites from the last week. It was spring break here and so I spent my time with two of the little people I love most in the universe. My husband had to work. So did I, but I played hookie during the day a bit and went skiing every afternoon with my kids. Ainsley did ski camp at a local ski hill and together we all improved in our confidence and ability on skis. We only just learned this month. I wrote about learning to…

  • Thai-coconut-curry-soup-recipe
    family - Food - Health

    Thai Coconut Curry Soup Recipe

    March 24, 2015 - By 

    I love soups and crockpot recipes and I love to experiment with spices too. Sometimes the ingredients and the results are magical. This Thai Coconut Curry Soup recipe is one of those magical meals. This is quite a versatile recipe. This recipe goes well with beef, chicken, shrimp, or just vegetarian and with some rice noodle.  It serves two people, comfortably. When I have used either beef or chicken, I make sure I cook it aside first and then cut it into bit size pieces. Also, you cut up your veggies any way it looks more appealing to you.. I…

  • sex-education-curriculum-Ontario
    family - Health - infertility - parenting

    Should Sex Education Curriculum in Ontario Also Include Infertility and Fertility?

    March 23, 2015 - By 

    Starting in September 2015, Ontario’s schools are working with a new updated sex education curriculum. I am happy to hear that the new Ontario school sex education curriculum will include topics such as transgendered people, homosexuality, sexting and consent. This conversation inside a school might make kids a bit squeamish while sitting through it, but it’s important for life. One morning before school this month, my daughter and I had an open conversation about transgendered people. She legitimately wanted to know something about someone she met while travelling one weekend to Mont Tremblant, Quebec, where we learned to ski. “Mom,” she asked,…

  • Printable-fruit-and-vegetable-journal
    family - Food - Health - parenting

    Are Your Getting Enough Fruits and Veggies? Printable Fruit and Vegetable Journal

    March 19, 2015 - By 

    Healthy eating and healthy living is a constant goal here. We each exercise a lot and we are a very active family in my opinion. In fact my kids are involved in many sports and we try to balance that out by building in our own sports and fitness goals and activities too. One area where we all need help though is eating. We strive to include enough fruits and vegetables daily, but don’t always get there.   Eating well can be challenging for any family. There is always room for improvement. I have a brutal sweet tooth that is…

  • family - Health - parenting - Parenting

    No Such Thing As Synthetic Children: On #IVF, Same Sex #adoption and Boycotting Dolce and Gabbana

    March 17, 2015 - By 

    Last night I was scouring twitter to check my messages when I spied a new friend talking about IVF, in vitro fertilization. She was clearly upset. I asked her what I had missed that had her so fired up and she sent me the link to the Dolce and Gabbana statement about IVF children being synthetic. The statement hit on same sex adoption as well. Did you Miss it? In an Italian magazine called Panorama Magazine Dolce and Gabbana, world renowned celebrity fashion designers, were quoted stating that IVF children are synthetic. They went on to add that they oppose same…

  • why we vaccinate
    adoption and tweens - Health - Parenting

    Why I Protect My Family With Vaccines #ONVaccine

    March 16, 2015 - By 

      Maybe it’s because it took almost forever to become a parent that I feel so strongly about holding my kids close and protecting them from illness, accidents and harm. Maybe it’s because I have a compromised immune system myself. I have Crohn’s Disease, an autoimmune disorder. I know I can’t afford to get ill. When I get sick, I have a much higher likelihood of ending up hospitalized than your average Mom does. Maybe it’s because our babies, both adopted as infants, needed more health care, more nurturing, support, and security, because circumstances of their birth were not what…

  • beauty products - Health

    DIY Banana Hair Mask

    March 3, 2015 - By 

    Make Your Own Banana Hair Mask. I’ve been experimenting this winter with some do it yourself concoctions. This is one of them. I hope you enjoy it. It’s easy and super fun to make. Give your kids some of the ingredients and have them help. DIY Banana Hair Mask This is the perfect way to use up those over ripe bananas. They can be made into a deeply moisturizing hair mask which can also do wonders for the hair on your scalp. Packed full of Vitamins A, C &  E as well as potassium, bananas are the goto fruit for…

  • childhood_anxiety
    adoption and tweens - Health - Parenting

    Perplexing Childhood Anxiety Symptoms – Part 2 of a Series

    March 2, 2015 - By 

    For years we struggled trying to figure out why my daughter worried so much. And why she had so many stomach aches and headaches too. Then, when it became such a big factor that it interfered with her getting to school, we had to take action. Childhood anxiety is a challenge but it can be manageable with support and sometimes medications too. Here’s part 2 in my childhood anxiety series – on Childhood Anxiety Symptoms.   A Bit About Our Daughter We have a daughter with Generalized anxiety disorder. I started talking about her anxiety disorder several years ago when…

  • Glasses-online
    beauty products - family - family travel - Health

    Cute Affordable Glasses OnLine at Glasses Shop

    March 1, 2015 - By 

    I can’t seem to stock enough sunglasses around here. First of all this is a house largely full of girls. Second of all, this is a house where apparently all the girls think what’s mine is also theirs and so on. If you live with tweens or teens, you probably know what I mean. Anyways, these cute fashionable and affordable sunglasses arrived a few days ago from GlassesShop.com and so I am happily restocked with sunglasses again. I’ m reasonably certain I can keep these ones safe until summer, but that said I might need to lock them away until…