• 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…

  • Cute and Festive St. Patrick's Day Gifts
    family

    Cute and Festive St. Patrick’s Day Gifts

    February 26, 2015 - By 

        It’s soon going to be time for that uniquely Irish day of celebration. So I thought I would share a few fun ideas of items you can buy to celebrate the day. From neck ties to suspenders and tutus, there’s a little something for everyone here. It’s kind of sweet to dress up every year regardless of your age. Why not? Enjoy these Fun St. Patrick’s Day Gifts. Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? See anything you like in this roundup of Cute and Festive St. Patrick’s Day Gifts? I love the sprinkles of course for baking. If…

  • Laser Pegs 20 in 1 space fighter
    Giveaways

    Laser Pegs Ultimate Construction Toy #Giveaway

    February 25, 2015 - By 

    I am so excited to share this toy with all of you. Laser Pegs is a brand that I first learned about during Sweet Suite, which is a party that happened at the same time as a New York Blogging conference I attended back a couple of years ago. I remember being really interested in this one because it was a light up construction toy that makes science, technology, engineering and math totally fun for all ages and genders. Anyways, back then a couple of years ago I think the brand had just a few smaller sets on the market.…

  • St Patrick's Day crafts
    family - parenting

    Eight Fun and Easy St. Patrick’s Day Crafts

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Still searching for some fun and easy St Patrick’s Day crafts to do with your kids? Well, you are in luck. Whether you go all out, or have a simple family observation of the Luck of the Irish, there’s a little something for everyone here. These 8 Fun and Easy St. Patrick’s Day crafts will make you smile. Are you always seeking ideas for more guided crafts for kids? Yes, me too. I think I may have mentioned this to some of you but my girls are crafters. My youngest loves to draw and clip and glue and cut and paste…

  • Cute kid's bookmarks printable
    Printables

    Get Your Little Ones Reading with This Cute Kid’s Bookmarks Printable

    February 20, 2015 - By 

    The truth about my kids is that they take after me – a lot. I am a big book lover and I read voraciously. It’s one of my favourite pastimes. Words make me happy. They cheer me up and inspire me. They help me to feel, and they motivate me to act, and even encourage me to continue writing. Practice, after all, makes perfect. My kids happily also love to read. Love of reading is something I have always worked hard on nurturing in each of the girls. We often each have multiple books on the go. And oddly we…

  • Ten Things Kids Can Do on a Cruise
    active family travel - family - parenting - Travel

    Ten Things Kids Can Do on a Cruise #TravelTuesday

    February 17, 2015 - By 

      Before we left for our cruise late last year we had many armchair travellers weigh in on whether we were making the right choice with our travel budget. We heard from some who said the cruise would cost us a lot more than we intended to spend. (It didn’t really.) We also heard from many who hinted it was crazy to take kids on a cruise. We heard from even more who said a cruise is a big party. One told me: “You are going on the party boat? You don’t take kids on that cruise.” Well happily here…

  • parenting teens
    adoption and tweens - family - Parenting - parenting

    The Art of Hope and Parenting Teens

    February 17, 2015 - By 

    At some point this past year I realized my children aren’t really children anymore, not in the strictest sense of the word. One is a teenager and the other a tween and that means that in the context of child development they are in fact closer to being adults than they are to being toddlers or preschoolers or children. My heart simultaneously leaps, shouts, cries, expands and contracts as I write that. As they bloom so do I, and yet it also tugs heavily when I think that they will soon be adults. Oh my god how I hope we…