• Health

    The Importance of Uniforms In Sports #TMMWVC #WorldVisionGifts

    October 29, 2014 - By 

    At first glance this field seems pretty unremarkable. But first glances can be deceiving. This is a field built with love, sweat, volunteer hours and some financial investment from Canadian donations. This is another tangible space made real and safe for children, because of the help of World Vision Canada. This is a field of dreams where we are about to learn the importance of uniforms in sports in Colombia, and the need for children to have a field of their own. We have driven to a field outside Santander De Quilichao near Taminango. This is an area that is…

  • family

    Summer Days with Cousins

    October 1, 2014 - By 

    Summer days are my favourite. I mean what’s not to love? Summer days with cousins are even better than average seasonal sunny days we already love. Always have been and always will be, simply because of moments like this. I shot this random picture of Ainsley when her cousins were visiting this summer. Cousin fun is always special and it was a gorgeous sunny day, as you can see. Summer days are hanging out and leisurely swimming in the pool and sometimes doing day camps and being outside more often than any other time of year. Being out of doors…

  • Health - Travel

    Two Hands are Enough – My Experience Travelling with World Vision Canada

    September 30, 2014 - By 

     People told me I’d be changed after travelling with World Vision Canada. That’s fair, of course and true and yet also trite. Inadequate.  Changed Words sometimes are so thin, evasive and even limiting. Changed doesn’t begin to capture the depth or range of emotions that I felt when walking through Asimiflor, a brand new area development program in Bucaramanga, the saddest place I have ever seen children living. My week travelling with World Vision Canada was jam packed with big adventures and interviews and so many stories shared that I will be recounting them for a decade or more. Eye…

  • Health

    When I Sponsor a Child With World Vision Canada Does My Money Really Go To Them? Child Poverty #TMMWVC

    September 26, 2014 - By 

    When I sponsor a child with World Vision Canada does my money really go to them? This is the number one question I am asked most in the days leading up to my trip to Colombia. I spent a week finding the answer to this question inside many impoverished Colombian cities where violence and drugs are a threat to childhood and family health. I witnessed extreme child poverty and the work World Vision is doing to try to help. I hope these posts help answer that question and many others too. Meet Miguel and Juan. I introduced you to them…

  • world vision canada child sponsorship
    Travel

    Hope Lives In a School Called Policarpa – Defeating Child Poverty Near Santander De Quilichao, Colombia

    September 23, 2014 - By 

    Hope is the thing you see in the faces of the students here. Inside a small school called Policarpa, in an area of Colombia called Santander De Quilichao, where domestic heroin use rages and gangs and guns are very real threats to children and entire families. But here, inside this school the children celebrate Amor Y Paz Month – Love and Peace Month. What Hope Looks Like Here Words hang in Spanish on the pillars in the school. Loosely translated they read: Tolerance, Love, Punctuality, Respect, Friendship. It is September and I have flown to South America with World Vision…

  • 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…

  • 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

    Last Chance for Back to School Week

    August 24, 2014 - By 

    Ainsley’s backpack is from Hilroy Canada Well here we are almost the end of August. Tear. Tear. Sad panda face. I love me a good summer break. Mostly, I love beautiful weather and gorgeous hot sunny beaches. But I can see the writing on the wall and it spells: Back to School. So this coming week is all about Back to School at Thrifty Momma’s Tips. This coming week, or two if I need to go longer with the amount of stuff I want to highlight here, will be dedicated to bringing my readers all the best products. The cutest…