• family - Giveaways

    The Cadillac of Connectivity – Netgear Router #Giveaway

    Excellence in connectivity. I may have mentioned once or twice that we moved this year. Why do I mention it so much? Well because moving your entire family is a big life change and it comes with numerous other small and sometimes tedious changes that can linger, prolonging the experience for months. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all good and it’s worth it. But there are often tiny things that crop up all year after the move. I mean first there’s the unpacking of course and then the settling in and getting reoriented. The reason for my move was twofold.…

  • family

    Halloween Mantel Ideas

      This is the first year we have ever had a fireplace in our home. In our old house we had some lovely spaces, but no fireplace. I never thought I cared. Now in our new house we have a fireplace in the living room. It has a mantel and is a focal point for the eye as you enter the front door. So naturally I have been thinking about potential for decorating the mantel this coming holiday season. I started looking forward to decorating that mantel several months ago. Halloween has provided the ideal first opportunity to get creative…

  • homes

    My Home Office Chair #WordlessWednesday

    This is the chair that awaits guests in my office. It was discovered by my good friend Margarita Ibbott, who has an eye for these things. I think I need her back here again to help redo some of the other rooms in this house actually. She is a fellow blogger and a professional organizer, but she has a lot of style and an eye for colours too. So, when it is time to get some new furniture for the living room I am likely to call on her for her input and even if I don’t, she is likely…

  • family - Food - Giveaways - homes

    Pass the Gravy – A Canadian Thanksgiving #Giveaway

    It’s time for Canadian Thanksgiving. Yippee! Now pass the gravy. We have so much to be thankful for this year. In fact, if you live in Canada, I am pretty sure you all need to be thankful for the gift of geography and how blessed we each are to be living in a country so rich with resources. After my recent trip with World Vision Canada, I can tell you my perspective on gratitude and life in general has changed dramatically. Canadian Thanksgiving is a great time to share your home, your heart and a beautiful meal together. But before…

  • family - homes

    Office Chairs That Work #InkscrblrATWork

    This is the second post in a series about decorating my new home office. Thrifty Mom Media headquarters is now almost 100 % complete. I have maybe two more things to hang on the walls and I am still hunting madly for some drapes that are the right size and colour. Then it will be complete and all will be right with the world.   The final office space BEFORE Office Chairs – now resides in my daughter’s room I have been a freelancer for several years and so I have worked at home in one capacity or another for…

  • homes

    Home Office Decorating #InkscrblrATWork

    Months ago we moved to a new home. If you read this blog at all, then you know that we moved to a lovely new neighbourhood and we have a pool and super neighbours. We had some of that in our old neighbourhood, but our house was a bit too small for my family, and it was most definitely way too tiny to contain a work space for me. My social media consulting and blogging business grew fast and had taken over my old house. I needed a dedicated office space. I also needed to do some Home Office Decorating. The…

  • Food - Health

    The Honest Company Kitchen Products

    Recently I was introduced to The Honest Company Kitchen Products and happily tested them out in my home. Here’s what I found out…. Let’s start with the name. The Honest Company. That’s genius. I want to buy honest products from honest people. The word itself is heavily weighted in emotional appeal. So I heart that branding. The packaging is adorable and this company gave every Mom 2.0 summit attendee a great bundle of their products. But do The Honest Company cleaning products live up to their name? [tweetthis]Do The Honest Company cleaning products work? Here’s what I found. [/tweetthis] It’s…

  • family - homes

    Five Jobs Kids Can Do When Your Family Is Moving

    Kids can and should help when moving. After all they are part of the family and moving is a massive undertaking. So why not get them involved. We found several easy ways to get our kids involved and invested in the process of moving to our new house.   It’s no big secret that our family is moving. I have been writing about the process for weeks and getting prepared to move for months now. Finally the countdown is on. On Valentine’s Day weekend our family will move out of our first home and into one that will give us…

  • Parenting

    Five Easy and Free Sensory Play Activities for Kids

    With an increasing number of kids who have sensory processing disorder or sensory issues related to brain injury, concussion or autism, there’s a lot of new knowledge about sensory play and sensory activities. We started reading up on sensory play and sensory processing disorder years ago when Ainsley was first diagnosed.     Depending on whether your child is sensory seeking or sensory avoiding any one, or all of these may appeal to them.   FIVE EASY SENSORY PLAY ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS     Fill a sink with warm water and soap suds. Have them wash things. Toys, dolls, dishes.…