Hello lovely readers! It is the Thursday before Easter and I wanted to share with you another installment of our Cooking With Kids Feature. Now I want to assure you that, we often cook from scratch, but with kids when patience and time can clearly be at issue, well if the aim is spending time together and bonding and enjoying making something in the kitchen, sometimes it is simpler to use things that stack the deck in your favour. So for instance this week with my youngest, an easily frustrated child, who has never made a pie before, well I…

Allow me to  introduce our two new pets. Yup two. Baby guinea pigs. Turns out my kids love guinea pigs and really wanted a new little creature. As you may remember their sweet gal Cottonball died about two months ago. Guinea pigs are lovely little pets for kids. Cottonball was easygoing and rarely bit and if she did it didn’t hurt. They are a simple and fairly low maintenance child friendly pet. Not for those under about 6 or 7. These guys are: Buttercup and on Payton (bottom pic) Hope. I was hoping for Buttercup and Wesley, but the pun…

One year ago Loose Button shipped the first one of these Luxe boxes.I am so lucky to have received one this month for review. And – wait for it – I can almost hear your squeals of joy!! Yes, I get to give one away to you lovely readers. Canada Only. Last month this beautiful package arrive from Loose Button and honestly it was the highlight of my March. I have been reading these reviews for awhile on line and entering all the giveaway contests myself. And never have I won. I was ecstatic to receive a tiny sample of a Luxe…

Every child is nothing short of a miracle. No matter how they come to be, or where they start. Miracles. Each and every one. Some simply have harder starts than others. Whether their challenges arrive in the form of health issues, prematurity or complications at birth. Some are born into the families they will live with forever. Others need help finding a soft place to land.  My kids are the latter. We found them, caught them, held on tight.  We are parents by adoption. This time of year we gather often with our friends, an extended family of parents who…

Many of my friends and acquaintances have arthritis. When I was younger my mother had some classmates that attended teacher’s college with her and were left in chronic debilitating pain with rheumatoid arthritis. They had hands and legs twisted and gnarled so badly by the anti-inflammatory disease they could not work and really had horrific challenges getting around their own homes, never mind getting around in the community. My mother’s friend and her friend’s mother both suffered terribly from arthritis. We visited them often as children when we lived in Guelph. They have long since passed away. While their challenges…

Hi and Welcome to Wordless Wednesday. This is a linkup for those who like to blog or take pictures. This is Payton having some fun with one of the apps on my iPhone. Why not? Everyone looks funny with a moustache. Linkup over at Tara’s View of the World.

A few weeks ago I was invited to attend a Simon and Schuster Canada shindig with the awesome Wanda @YMCBookalicious. We attended author Alison Griffith’s book launch and tweetup of sorts. It was a hoot as most of us attempted to comprehend the savvy investment industry. Alison’s book, Count on Yourself, thankfully explains things a bit (Just a wee bit) better than I can, and may lead you to investment success. Anyways, it was one of those affairs where some swag was given out to the attendees. Like little grown up loot bags for people who blog. This amazing little…

Happy Monday! This Mingle is brought to you by me of course. But the meme is hosted by Jennifer Regan over at http://www.eightymphmom.com/ Visit my new friend Kim over at Kimperfection and leave her a comment. ‘K?