• active family travel - family - Travel

    Five Quick Facts About Colombia #Travel

    September 14, 2014 - By 

    Courtesy of Shutterstock Five Facts about Colombia 1. The official name for this country at the top of South America is the Republic of Colombia. It comes from the last name of the explorer Christopher Columbus, who arrived in 1499. It was originally called New Granada and only took its modern name in 1861. 2. Colombia is the only country in South America which has coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Carribean Sea. It also borders five countries: Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. 3. Colombia is known for its emeralds and coffee. 4. The official language is…

  • Health - infertility - parenting

    Generations of Hope Free Family Fun Day in Calgary #abhc4ivf #abpoli

    September 11, 2014 - By 

    A free Family Fun Day carnival celebrating healthy families formed after infertility takes place September 21 in Calgary. Generations of Hope, an infertility advocacy and awareness group, hosts this amazing event each year. This year Family Fun Day will take place in Calgary on September 21st from 11 to 3 p.m. Rain or Shine at Olympic Park. Infertility patient support and advocacy group in Alberta: Infertility impacts 1 in 6 people in Canada. Infertility is a complex health issue as recognized by the World Health Organization. Infertility patients all can benefit from finding a support group and connecting with them early…

  • parenting

    My Library of Top Five Posts About Tween Girls

    September 9, 2014 - By 

    Raising Tween girls is a special kind of madness. Er.. I mean, fun. Just kidding, every stage of my children’s growth and development has been enjoyable and memorable. But tweenhood is slightly different than anything else you will encounter. Let’s just start with the hormones for instance. As soon as they kick into gear and puberty is on board then you better buckle up and get ready. It’s my personal observation that personality plays into puberty a lot but girls generally seem to hit the landmark changes a bit earlier and that means more explosive potential for conflict and moodiness…

  • active family travel - family - Travel

    Parkbridge Resorts Lakes of Wasaga Stay

    September 2, 2014 - By 

    I am a cottage girl. I have been doing that from the time I was born actually. I don’t think we have ever missed a year. So, cottage season is a big deal here. We are renters. Every single year. We have talked, but never seriously, about buying a cottage. Buying a cottage costs a lot of money and really, how long would we use it? Would we do well with all that upkeep? Would we travel each weekend in the summer to the cottage 3-4 hours away just to cut the lawn? I am not convinced. We love travel…

  • parenting

    5 Steps: How to Transition From Home-Schooling to Public Schooling

    September 1, 2014 - By 

    For some home-schooled children, the comfort and freedom of the home environment makes the idea of joining a public or a private school seem unimpressive at best. However, if parents begin to prepare them for the transition early enough, it goes a long way to allay apprehension. Both schooling methods have had their fair share of fierce and diverse critical views, but a change of heart is inevitable when such a transition is imminent.  The challenges related to both schooling methods are different for each family, but there are a few ways to help ease the transition. Here are 5…

  • active family travel - parenting - Travel

    Reflections of Summer 2014 #KinderMom

    August 31, 2014 - By 

    How do you capture a summer? Is it a series of snapshots on an iPhone? An entire deck of tiny Instax mini photo cards tucked into the border of a child’s bedroom vanity mirror, with bright red hearts and flowers, decorating the names scrawled on the border? How do you measure July and August? Is it the inches your children grow when they are free to imagine, run, travel, swim and draw without limitation of time or bells? Is it the height of the green grass on your front lawn, the length of the ivy trailing down the side of…

  • parenting

    Five Children’s Fall Essentials

    August 29, 2014 - By 

    This is a post by My Contributor Bonnie Way, mom of three girls under six years old, living in BC. September can feel more like a new year than January, as a friend of mine recently mentioned. Summer is over and for many kids (and even parents!), school is starting again. It is a good time to catch sales on new clothes, school supplies, and other fall essentials. Here is what Iím making sure I have on hand as this new season begins. 1. Cups and bowls and spoons. As kids start preschool and school, it seems like there are…

  • parenting

    Five Back to School Necessities for Tweens #TMMBTS

    August 27, 2014 - By 

    Zwipes It’s so close to the first day of school I can almost hear the ringing of the bell from here. Oh wait, maybe that’s the ringing in my ears from the horrific screams of my children wanting to stay home a bit longer. In any case, school is so much sweeter when you start a new grade with the right tools. Lucky for you, I can tell you what they are. Five Back to School Necessities 1. Zwipes: Hello, how perfect is that for my teen? She can customize with accompanying pen and doodle how she wants. This binder…

  • school_year
    parenting

    Start the School Year with Mabel’s Labels #TMMBTS

    August 25, 2014 - By 

    Getting ready for school starts with some of these waterproof bag tags from Mabel’s Labels   It all starts here. The Back to School routine for me every year starts with Mabel. Because kids are forgetful – some more than others. And stuff goes missing every school year, but not for long with Mabel. Mabel’s Labels Ultimate Back-to-School Combo is perfect for every family. We label most things here the week before school. I love that you can personalize the labels easily as kids grow. My Ainsley started her preschool career with a symbol. She was a bumblebee. So Mabel’s…