• infertility - Parenting

    A Fertility Pop Quiz For Ontario #OHIP4IVF #onpoli

    January 23, 2013 - By 

    Shutterstock Image I purchased. This is a throw down. That’s right. This post is a challenge to all my readers. I want to know what you know, or understand, about fertility and infertility. So pop quiz. I will put the correct answers at the end of this post. I totally trust you my loyal readers to be honest and grade yourselves. For those of you who live in Ontario, I am extremely interested to know your answers, so please leave me a comment stating whether or not you live in Ontario. Thanks! By way of background – In 2009, the…

  • family

    Join us For Saving Strategies with Linked Moms Chat

    January 23, 2013 - By 

    Linked Moms Chat tomorrow night is all about money and simple strategies for saving money. Join us at 8 p.m. EST. Wednesday Jan. 23rd. Are you a penny pincher? Skilled negotiator? Coupon clipper? Price matcher? Moms are some of the best savers around. We know that, so we want to talk to you about your strategies for saving money. And we have a few little tips of our own. Pop by to learn how we save big money on major purchases like mortgages, cars, banking and daily budgets.  This is a chat you can’t afford to miss. Join Margarita http://www.twitter.com/downshiftingPRO…

  • family

    Cousins – #WordlessWednesday #linky

    January 23, 2013 - By 

    This is my daughter holding her cousin four years ago. Taiga is four now. We are anticipating a new cousin within the next two weeks. My brother and his wife are expecting their third baby. This is a Wordless Wednesday post. Wordless Wednesday is a linky and a photo meme. Leave a link and we will visit you too.

  • Health - parenting

    The Kids Stay – Five Reasons My Kids Attend Political Events

    January 21, 2013 - By 

    Last year 2012 New Year’s drop in with Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews (The one in which I am serious about kids and politics.) This week I read with great interest the columnists who challenged U.S. President Barack Obama for bringing kids to an event where he announced executive orders to tackle gun violence. Many columnists, like this one loudly argued that kids should not be used as “props” to further political agendas. Obama was flanked by several school aged children at the executive orders announcement. He was also criticized for releasing videos of children reading letters they sent to…

  • Health - infertility - parenting

    IVF Funding Ontario Could Have Made a Difference to This One Family’s Journey #OHIP4IVF #Onpoli

    January 20, 2013 - By 

    With thanks to Kerri-Lyn Cuppage for her family photo. It is a given this time of year when temperatures dip and families begin the process of nesting through the winter, when holidays are pending and the year winds slowly to a close, that we all take stock of our blessings, our gifts, challenges and triumphs. For families whose children came to them either through adoption or in vitro fertilization, whose start was rooted in the sad realization of infertility, then compounded by medical issues and potential financial difficulties the blessings are magnified. But the challenges are not to be forgotten.…

  • Health - parenting - Parenting

    This is Who She Will Be #tweens

    January 17, 2013 - By 

    I am always proud of my kids. Every day from the second they joined our home, their tiny hearts beating in sync with mine. I love them beyond measure, like many Moms the world over, and yet, sometimes parenting is dull. It is magical – ephemeral – a little unbelievable – and then it is exhausting. Draining. Bone weary hard work. The older they get, the further and faster they speed away from you. Daily. You can see it when they wake up and walk down to make their own cereal. And it is good and welcome and even a…

  • family

    Tria Beauty Series Post 1 – Home Hair Removal Laser

    January 14, 2013 - By 

    This multi-part series was sponsored by Tria Home Hair Removal Laser.     Everyone has one or two problem areas on their face or body that need the occasional wax, pluck or shave. Luckily, I am not someone who needs excessive electrolysis to control unwanted hair growth. But, still there are problem areas I am unhappy with at times.  Home Hair Removal I never really thought of myself as excessively hairy. And yet, this one time I was asked to be in a commercial for a Miss Oktoberfest promotion … there were numerous closeups on my ears and neck because…

  • Health - Parenting

    Ascenta Health and Resolutions

    January 14, 2013 - By 

    Last year I was asked to be an Ascenta Health ambassador and it’s a role I will continue on with as it supports my family goal of staying healthy. Good health and the pursuit of good health is a constant goal we strive for, and frankly this year more than ever, I am renewing our commitment. Brain and cardiovascular health of my children is incredibly important to me. Here’s a bit about why we love this easy to take liquid for maintenance of daily health. Ascenta Health Nutrasea Omega 3 and How it Fits Our Life   Ascent Health NutraSea Omega…

  • Parenting - parenting - special needs

    Hats Off to Good Samaritans at Covent Garden Market

    January 12, 2013 - By 

    This is my daughter Ainsley. No great coincidence that she is always in this hat. She loves this hat and would sleep with it on if she could.  This past week she went back to school with her hat firmly in place on her head. It’s warm, and for Ainsley, with sensory processing disorder, it helps cut out noise and even filter out some peripheral vision. She loves her hat. This hat has been a fixture on her head since I bought it in Toronto approximately 2 years ago when on business there. So this week when we went skating…