• luggage
    family - Travel

    How to Shop For Luggage #travel

    December 29, 2015 - By 

    I’ll admit it. When I was first married my husband and I bought our first set of luggage at Zeller’s. We didn’t really know what to look for and there really weren’t many choices 20 years ago. We looked for sizes, got the cheapest luggage we could find, and went on our merry way. That was a horrible decision. Luggage is one of those things that definitely falls under the category of “you get what you pay for.” To save others the time and headache of getting terrible suitcases, I’ve put together some things to watch out for that will help you get…

  • personal goals
    active family travel - family - Health - parenting - Travel

    Personal Goals – My Word of the Year for 2016

    December 27, 2015 - By 

    It’s that time of year again, the time to set some personal goals. When December 31st approaches and another year has gone by, the lists start populating your twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook feeds fill up with reflection posts. That tends to cause some degree of nostalgia for the year gone by. I mean right now it feels like everyone is sharing their: Top Ten Posts of 2015 or Top Five Celebrities of 2015 and so on. Motivation Every year for the past few years here I have chosen a word to symbolize my year and my professional and personal goals…

  • male_infertility
    family - Health - parenting

    Male Factor Infertility – What You Need to Know #Health

    December 26, 2015 - By 

    When it comes to infertility issues, a lot of people don’t realize that almost half of all infertility issues are male factor. It’s true: 40 % of infertility is male factor. 40 % is female factor and 20 % is undetermined causes, or unexplained infertility. Male factor infertility affects 1 in 25 men, so it pays to know what it is and how to combat it. Some Facts About Male Factor Infertility What is It Male factor infertility can be related to a few different causes. Birth defects can sometimes cause male factor infertility. Occasionally men are born without ability to…

  • Olaf_marshmallow_craft
    Food

    Frozen’s Olaf Marshmallow Craft – Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

    December 24, 2015 - By 

    Do you want to build a snowman? Good luck. Now you can easily with this simple craft featuring marshmallows and pretzel sticks. EASY PEASY. This Frozen inspired Olaf Marshmallow Craft is so much fun. One of my kid’s teachers used to say – Don’t play with your food until you’ve eaten all your toys! But this Olaf marshmallow craft is a little bit of both – edible food, craft and a toy. So this is one instance where you can play with your food and have fun building a miniature Frozen Olaf Marshmallow Craft toy. It’s the best of all worlds…

  • peanuts bouquet
    family

    Teleflora Peanuts Bouquet – Bring The Perfect Hostess Gift #TMMGG2015

    December 23, 2015 - By 

    Are you heading off to visit someone for the holidays? Christmas or New Years, or anywhere in between? Have you given any thought to what to gift your host or hostess yet? Do you need a little festive decorating touch for your home? Well, luckily Teleflora Peanuts bouquets can help you with that. I am a fan of flowers. I enjoy giving them and receiving them and I really enjoy buying them for myself. Well, actually I enjoy buying them for the entire family, and for my home. People often say – “Well we used to do that, but flowers…

  • cold sores
    family - Health

    How Do You Tackle Cold Sores? #Abreva #ColdSore #GetReal

    December 23, 2015 - By 

    Winter is here. For my daughter and me, that means one thing – colds, often accompanied by by cold sores. Every winter, my daughter and I both get cold sores. They pop up at least once every cold and flu season. It’s horrible. They hurt sometimes and they look awful. It even pains me to see my daughter with that cracked, chapped lip cold sore every year. It looks like it hurts, but my sporty daughter is not super on top of tackling them at the outset. After years of this though I am on top of it and luckily we’ve found some ways to limit them as…

  • Ontario_IVF_funding
    Health - infertility

    Ontario’s IVF Funding Program Makes a Merry Christmas for Infertility Patients #IVF4ON

    December 23, 2015 - By 

    Ontario’s IVF Funding Program It’s a hopeful and Merry Christmas for Ontario infertility patients. Ontario’s promise to create an IVF funding program became reality this week with the announcement that 50 clinics throughout Ontario will now be offering a funded IVF (in vitro fertilization) cycle. That’s a Happy Holiday announcement for the many infertility patients in Ontario who have been struggling to access affordable infertility treatment necessary to help them start a family. It’s been several long years since a group of Ontario infertility patients, called Conceivable Dreams, started advocating for reinstatement of IVF funding. With Ontario’s IVF funding program there…

  • ski-resorts
    active family travel - parenting - Travel

    Six Great Ski Resorts in the U.S. #travel

    December 22, 2015 - By 

    If you love to ski, then you know that you need more than just good slopes. You need cozy comfortable accommodations when you come in from the slopes. These 6 best ski resorts in the U.S. have the powder and the cozy atmosphere that can turn a ski trip into an ultimate ski getaway. This year, I am hoping we can visit a couple of ski resorts in Canada or the U.S. and practice our new skiing abilities. Last year we were extremely fortunate to take a travel writer media tour to Mont Tremblant where they taught my family of four how to…

  • family

    10 New Year Celebrations for Kids

    December 21, 2015 - By 

    10 New Year Celebration Ideas for Kids Family Slumber Party Grab your sleeping bags, pick out a couple of your favorite movies, make a yummy dinner that everyone will enjoy, and bring out the board games. Hunker down for a great family slumber party while you watch the clock tick tock down to the New Year. Here are some of my suggestions for a great family slumber party. –Melissa and Doug Suspend Game –Mickey Mouse Playing Cards –The Bee Movie –Epic Movie Apple Juice Toast Indulge your kids and let them be part of the New Year’s toast. Pick up…

  • instagram bullying
    family - parenting

    After The Instagram Bullying Incident

    December 20, 2015 - By 

    For weeks after the Instagram bullying incident people kept asking me: How is your daughter doing? I have answered the question often in person, but I haven’t had time to share news here. So today is the day I finally got around to writing about what happened  – AFTER. Here’s the thing. Immediately after the Instagram bullying incident my teen, who struggles with anxiety,  had a kneejerk reaction. She wanted to quit school, leave grade nine and stop entirely. That lasted about one to two days. Then came this. .. We talked her through it and we took our time…