• family - Giveaways - parenting

    Join World Vision Canada’s Meaningful Gifts Twitter Party #MeaningfulGifts

    How hard is it for you to come up with new gifts every year? Do you find gift giving a chore? Do you run out of time every single year like I do? Sometimes I think it’s a good thing that there is a cutoff date actually or I’d keep searching forever to find something just right for every single name on my list. This year skip the socks and ties and reach for the World Vision Canada gift catalogue. There are dozens of meaningful gifts there every holiday. In fact the World Vision Gift catalogue is my Go To resource for…

  • family

    Family Friendly Entertainment with Wind at My Back #TMMGG16

    Family friendly entertainment is important to me. I know my kids see and hear things out in the world that I have no control over. But at home, I want to make sure that the shows we watch are pretty wholesome. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not All PG, All The Time. We’ll watch Marvel movies and on my own I watch The Walking Dead. But when we watch together, family friendly entertainment is the rule.   Family Friendly TV – Wind at My Back This Holiday Season why not give a gift set of one of the most family…

  • family - Health

    Holiday Preparations That Save Money

    The holidays are fast approaching and for many that can be overwhelming and also extremely expensive. I am a thrifty shopper and I plan ahead. Holiday Preparations Now can save me stress later. So I have been buying sale items throughout the year and putting them away. That works for me. Even now, it’s not too late to start saving. This season, if you prepare now, you will feel less of the pinch and stress later on. There are many ways to lessen the financial load and get your family ready now.  Holiday Preparations that Save Money: Make Your Own…

  • family - Health - Travel

    Every Child Deserves a Shot at Life -Vaccines Work

    Every child should have a Shot at Life. All children have a right to health. But, in developing countries around the world many families face overwhelming obstacles to accessing life-saving vaccines. Shot@Life is an organization that helps and advocates for funding to deliver lifesaving vaccines to those in need. I visited Zambia as part of a fellowship with Shot at Life through the UN Foundation recently. It was an  amazing experience. Over the next few weeks I will share posts about that trip and the many clinics and aid organizations we visited. Yesterday I shared my first post about Preparing for…

  • family - Health

    Cold and Flu Season – Prevent Getting Sick with Cold-Q #ColdQtotheResQ

    Cold and flu season is going to be vile this year. How do I know that? Well, that’s simple. My younger daughter and I have been sick on and off since school started! What started as a cough with my daughter spread to me. Then one of us had bronchitis. After that the two of us got a cold. Actually, we got the flu, but we thought it was a cold. Yes, cold and flu season is here, and it has not been kind, already. That’s why I got excited when I heard about Cold-Q. Make Cold and Flu Season Easier…

  • active family travel - Travel

    What to Pack for a Cruise – 5 Must Haves #Travel

    What to pack for a cruise. It’s something you’ll be thinking about for some time once you decide to take a vacation on the sea. Of course there’s the standard swimsuits, shorts, etc., but there are a few things you don’t want to be without. Every diehard cruise lover knows there are a few cruise hacks and products that simply make the sailing smoother. Not really essentials but cruise hacks for packing. A few of these are oddball things you might not think of, but trust me they can make your cruise so much sweeter. So if you need to know…

  • Health

    5 Tips to Get Better Sleep at Night

    Are you having a hard time falling asleep at night? Do you toss and turn and still barely get any shut eye? Luckily, there are a number of things you can do to help improve this problem. Better sleep is pretty simple with a few changes of habit.   Here are 5 tips to get better sleep at night: Turn off electronics an hour before bedtime. Using your TV, computer, e-reader, or cell phone may be making it more difficult for you to fall asleep. Shutting down all of your electronics an hour before bedtime may help you fall asleep…

  • family - homes

    Preparing for Winter – 8 Things to do to Get Your Home in Order

    Preparing for winter is something we should all start thinking about. After all, it’s already mid-October, and there are only so many good days left! Preparing for winter is about getting your home and your property in order, so it can withstand the rigors of bad weather, especially up here in Ontario. Preparing for Winter and Saving Future Headaches The last thing you want in the winter is to be without heat or to have to deal with a busted pipe. The last thing you want in the spring is a clean up hassle. These tips can help you save…

  • active family travel - family - parenting - Travel

    Vow Renewal – A Few Memorable Destinations #travel

    Vow renewal is a beautiful and romantic thing. It’s a way for couples to reaffirm their commitment to one another in a way that’s more than just the everyday “I love you” and the occasional flower bouquet. I’ve been thinking about this lately and contemplating whether this is something we should do for our 25th wedding anniversary. I like the idea of building a memorable romantic trip together as a couple. Renewing our vows could add a touch of magic to our marriage. It might remind us how we felt that day when we first slipped those rings on our fingers in…

  • active family travel - family

    Family Memories – Preserve Them in a Unique Way

    Family memories are something we usually preserve with tons of photos. Whether they’re action or candid shots at a party or family portraits, we document our lives with photos. But very often they stay on our phones, our Facebook or Instagram feeds. But what if we could take our photographed family memories and do something really unique with them? Actually, with Canvas N Decor you can. Family Memories in a Memorable Way My family loves to travel. For us travel is one of the greatest ways to make and build shared memories. We take a lot of pictures when we…