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Twelve Home Safety Tips for the Holiday Season
We had a strange event in our neighbourhood last weekend involving one of my children. A person we did not know pulled over at the side of the road where my one daughter was playing with a friend and started taking pictures of them. The girls had been out playing on their bikes, in daylight, after school. Normally I can see my child out front. That afternoon I couldn’t see her, nonetheless, I knew she was riding her bike, helmet on, safe on our street with a friend. But the safety I take for granted was taken away when the two girls came racing into my house to say a…
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World Vision Canada Christmas Gifts – Party RSVP November 19 at 8 p.m. EST
Many of you who are regular readers here know that this September I travelled with World Vision Canada to Colombia. While I was there for the better part of a week I toured many of the area development programs where the work of volunteers and staff at World Vision Canada is changing lives. The experience was life altering and heartbreaking all at once. I saw children who had grown up with World Vision Canada sponsorship and become leaders in their communities. I recently wrote about Johan Espinosa who impressed me so because he has spent his life working with World Vision and has inspired others to do the same. It was an…
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Hot Collector Toys for Christmas #TMMGG2014
Mutant Mania arrived here this week and I originally thought, well this is just another trendy toy. But, then we started playing with them together, my daughter and I, and I really found myself enjoying these hot collector toys. First thing to know, these are not for teeny people under five years old or anyone who puts too many toys near their mouth. They are, however, extremely fun hot collector toys. The heads and bodies of Mutant Mania Mix and Match Wrestlers come apart and can be interchanged to make each tiny figure into something different. These are so much fun they make the grade for me in the school aged…
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My Traditional Christmas Gift Guide 2014 #TMMGG2014
Several weeks ago I announced my Gifts with Heart gift guide here on Thrifty Momma’s Tips. That Christmas gift guide 2014 is meant exclusively this year for gifts that give back to the world, or the community. Right now that means that it is dominated by World Vision Canada gifts. A gift from the catalogue there gives back to children and families living in poverty around the world. I have launched that guide and asked all my personal friends and family members to buy things such as artisan gifts from the World Vision gift catalogue. Many of my friends have informed me they are already doing that. Margarita Ibbott has picked…
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The Most Meaningful Holiday Gifts #worldvisiongifts Twitter Party Save The Date Nov. 19
This is a twitter party with a difference. We at Linked Moms, often tackle hard topics, like infertility, adoption, advocacy and poverty. It’s one of the things that makes us unique. We have a voice, a platform, and an audience too. We care about topics that matter. We care about families and issues. We never underestimate our readers. We know they want to hear about things that matter. We know several of you are just like us parenting kids with special needs, trying to make a difference in the world and struggling with the reality of aging parents. Life is rarely simple, or easy, but it is a gift worth…
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Mabel’s Labels Stocking Stuffer Combos for Christmas
This post contains affiliate links. If you order anything from the links I will get a small percentage of the profit. My family are massive fans of Mabel. We take her everywhere. We always have done so. From the minute the kids hit preschool and needed some help “remembering” their belongings, we had Mabel’s Labels on all the relevant items. Mabel has great 411 wristbands for kids with special needs or allergies and over the years we have used those also. They help the kids feel safe sometimes when they are in public or away from Mom and Dad. We have summer combos and back to school combos. So why…
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Tommee Tippee Gingerbread Collection
Baby’s first Christmas is a time of special magic. Babies bring hope and wonder to the world just by their presence, and depending on their age, they help us see this season with new and excited eyes. My oldest daughter Sunshine was ten months old at her first Christmas—old enough to taste the mashed potatoes and peas, play strange at all the new relatives, need help opening her presents, and have fun with the wrapping paper. The following year, she made us all laugh by ripping a piece of wrapping paper from a present, running across the room to throw it in the garbage bag my uncle held for…
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New Barbie Amaze Chase Feature
No big secret here that my kids are Barbie fans. So, when we heard this new movie featuring Barbie was coming out we had to see it to believe it. Some days I am still certain Barbies are hatching a plot to take over my house. My one daughter has collected Barbies since she was two. I have written about our Love for Barbie often over the years. I fact my daughter’s love of Barbies is well documented. But what about my Barbie beginnings? Timeless Toys Look Like This In the 70s and 80s I grew up with Barbie and I can still recall every last dreamy pink Barbie…
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How Soccer Balls Make an Impact in Taminango Colombia
I never thought a soccer ball in Taminango Colombia could make me cry. Let me explain… How Does the Gift of Sports Change Lives? This is what the gift of a soccer ball looks like in Colombia. A team in the middle of a dirt field practising every night. Two young men, sponsored as children, now coaches, committed and clear-headed. Mentors in every way. This is the living breathing outcome of presents from a World Vision gift catalogue. A vulnerable space made into a soccer field in a community where drugs, gangs and crime are extremely big threats to a child’s safety. Poverty lives here every day. It can easily…
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Handmade Snowy #DIY Simple Christmas Ornament
Are you a fan of simple DIY Christmas ornaments the kids can make with you using inexpensive materials? Well, here’s one of the easiest ornaments I have found yet. It requires paint, an ornament and your child’s handprint. Trust me this will become a cherished Christmas ornament from here on in. Looking for a few Simple DIY Christmas Ornament ideas? Then I have a Do it Yourself ornament idea for you. DIY Easy Christmas Ornament Normally this time of year we have a big beautiful real tree, decorated to match our living room, spreading pine scented love throughout the house. But real trees don’t go with hardwood which we…