• Best-Three-Cheese Extra-Cheesy-Spaghettini-Bake
    family - Food

    Best Three Cheese Extra Cheesy Spaghettini Bake

    March 26, 2015 - By 

    This cheesy spaghettini bake is perfect for nights when you have no idea what to make. This recipe will be sure to delight everyone in the family. Best Three Cheese Extra Cheesy Spaghettini Bake Comfort Food Any Time of Year I know I’m not really still supposed to be making comfort food in the spring, right? But cheese!! Cheese makes me happy. So when I discovered Ivanhoe cheese is also made by Gaylea Foods, I thought I might give some a try and concoct a meal out of as much cheese as I wanted. We ended up with the best three…

  • Easter-Egg-Decorating Ideas
    family - Food - parenting

    Easter Egg Decorating Ideas

    March 26, 2015 - By 

    There’s something fun about decorating Easter eggs every year. The process makes me feel like a kid again. These  Creative and Fun Easter Egg Decorating Ideas are so cute and clever! I wish I had thought of them first!   Easter Egg Decorating Ideas I love the part of Easter where kids and parents alike decorate Easter eggs. It’s always been fun to me. I don’t care what the colours are, or, how fancy the eggs turn out, it’s simply fun. My Mom used to decorate eggs with us every year so the process reminds me of her and it…

  • family - parenting

    DIY Easter Egg and Bunnies Banner

    March 22, 2015 - By 

    Looking for a cute craft to make your home look ready for Easter? This DIY Easter banner with Easter eggs and bunnies is easy to make and so sweet. It has a shabby chic kind of feel and the kids will love it and it costs very little to make. Plus, seriously who doesn’t love bunnies? Spring Fever Easter is fast approaching and so is spring which means spring cleaning and DIY decorating and all things bright and cheery. I am a little sad that ski season is ending only because our entire family just learned how to ski and it was…

  • DIY-Spring-Decor
    family

    Easy DIY Spring Decor Ideas

    March 16, 2015 - By 

    I live with crafty kids. They love to make things and they are usually pretty creative. So every season I am hunting down new and fun craft ideas to share. These Easy DIY Spring Decor Ideas are so colourful and fun to do. Can you feel that? Temperatures are rising and snow is melting and I have the urge to purge. Spring cleaning I mean! There’s nothing better than fresh air and puddles after a long brutally snowy and cold winter. Spring is a time to create and decorate and freshen everything up just a little. Colours are lighter and the…

  • 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…

  • family ski lessons
    active family travel - Travel

    Family Ski Lessons #WordlessWednesday #Tremblant #Travel

    March 11, 2015 - By 

    Well, if you already follow me on Instagram then you probably know what we’ve been up to. This past weekend we headed to Tremblant by plane, which was super fast and efficient by the way. Thanks very much Porter Airlines. Much to my surprise and enjoyment my kids began speaking French really well from the time we arrived at the airport. Our weekend was amazing and such a great chance to play together as a family. But more about that tomorrow. Stay tuned for the recap of the entire beautiful experience. I think this is another one that lends itself beautifully…

  • travel-colombia
    active family travel - Travel

    Five Things I Learned Travelling in Colombia with World Vision Canada #TMMWVC #TravelTuesday

    March 10, 2015 - By 

    Some stories rattle around in my head longer than others. Some stories touch your heart immediately but they take time to express. I have a few more of those beautiful meaningful experiences from my time travelling in Colombia late last year. I spent close to a week travelling in Colombia with World Vision Canada in September 2014. The experience was life changing and motivating and moving and so very big. I have already told many of the stories of the Colombian children, the workers and the places we visited, but in the last few weeks I have been travelling back…

  • Best Friend Sisters
    family

    Best Friend Sisters #WordlessWednesday

    March 4, 2015 - By 

    This rarely happens anymore. They grow their own ways once they hit a certain age. Occasionally we come back together and circle round during summer months, or family vacations. This was unexpected the other day on the way to school. I had to take a picture. And yes it’s dark out these mornings. This is my Wordless Wednesday for the week.  

  • 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…

  • tobogganing
    adoption and tweens - family - Health - Parenting - parenting

    Why I am Speaking Martian Again: FASD Looks Like This and I am Still Proud to be a Health and Special Needs Blogger

    February 26, 2015 - By 

    It’s been an interesting week here, in which several signs have made me realize again what I am supposed to be writing about. It’s funny how sometimes you, as a blogger, get tunnel vision watching stats and striving for growth and page views and SEO. These are the tools of the trade and we all get really great at understanding them. We watch our posts for engagement and comments and we tick them off and file them away with headings like: improved or needs improvement, or blogging goals for the year. We worry on a day when the stats dive and…