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Kid Approved Chicken Udon Noodles – Cooking With Kids
Chicken Udon Noodles to the rescue! As my children get older, time is even more precious and demands on time are somehow even greater than ever before. But eating meals together is still important. Sometimes as a family we battle finicky appetites and hormones. That can be challenging. Very honestly, I can tell you that my tween and teen were so much less picky when they were small. As toddlers they ate everything I gave them. I never ever heard: “What’s for dinner?” or “Can I just make myself a sandwich instead?” So cooking can be more challenging than ever. It’s deflating when someone comes to dinner and turns…
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Farewell Hope The Guinea Pig – Losing a Pet
I know I am not supposed to have favourites but this little critter was my fave of all the guinea pigs. Hope was just a tiny little thing when we brought her home from the pet store. She was Payton’s guinea pig. She sadly passed away on Easter weekend. It was a really sudden event. Farewell Hope Losing someone or something you love is never easy. Losing a pet can be super sad for kids. My daughter was heartbroken. For those of you who remember we have had a slew of guinea pigs here at our house. The kids each wanted one way back when and so we got two…
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Microsoft Summit on 21st Century Learners – EVENT in Windsor, Ontario, April 11 Geared Towards Teachers
When I see educational opportunities like this Microsoft Summit on 21st Century Learners happening nearby in Windsor, Ontario I get excited, for several reasons. I am a parent of two children who are still in grade school. Digital kids. I arm both of my girls daily with technology at home and at school and I am abundantly aware of how they absorb media and how they learn. It’s radically different than how I learned 20 to 30 years ago. Only 20 to 30 years ago we trotted off to school with books and pencils and paper. Now kids carry tablets, iPhones, iPods and sometimes laptops too – technology that for…
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Five Indoor Chores Most Kids Can Do and a Reward Chart Printable
Indoor chores are simple for any age. If your children are old enough to stand at the sink then they are also old enough to learn to help. There are many small simple indoor chores even toddlers can help with daily. The trick is making any job fun and encouraging them along the way. We have a few rules at our house. One of them is that we all strive to be respectful. That is a work in progress some days, because my kids are now 11 and 13 and they often argue a lot. But even when they do that we are clear that when someone hurts another person’s feelings…
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Best Three Cheese Extra Cheesy Spaghettini Bake
This cheesy spaghettini bake is perfect for nights when you have no idea what to make. This recipe will be sure to delight everyone in the family. Best Three Cheese Extra Cheesy Spaghettini Bake Comfort Food Any Time of Year I know I’m not really still supposed to be making comfort food in the spring, right? But cheese!! Cheese makes me happy. So when I discovered Ivanhoe cheese is also made by Gaylea Foods, I thought I might give some a try and concoct a meal out of as much cheese as I wanted. We ended up with the best three cheese extra cheesy spaghettini bake, and we found a new…
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Why I Protect My Family With Vaccines #ONVaccine
Maybe it’s because it took almost forever to become a parent that I feel so strongly about holding my kids close and protecting them from illness, accidents and harm. Maybe it’s because I have a compromised immune system myself. I have Crohn’s Disease, an autoimmune disorder. I know I can’t afford to get ill. When I get sick, I have a much higher likelihood of ending up hospitalized than your average Mom does. Maybe it’s because our babies, both adopted as infants, needed more health care, more nurturing, support, and security, because circumstances of their birth were not what I would have wished and their fragile immune systems struggled…
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Family Ski Lessons #WordlessWednesday #Tremblant #Travel
Well, if you already follow me on Instagram then you probably know what we’ve been up to. This past weekend we headed to Tremblant by plane, which was super fast and efficient by the way. Thanks very much Porter Airlines. Much to my surprise and enjoyment my kids began speaking French really well from the time we arrived at the airport. Our weekend was amazing and such a great chance to play together as a family. But more about that tomorrow. Stay tuned for the recap of the entire beautiful experience. I think this is another one that lends itself beautifully to a few posts. Anyways, as it is Wednesday, this…
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Best Friend Sisters #WordlessWednesday
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.
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Seven Mouth-Watering Muffin Recipes
For years I lived on muffins. So easy to make and I loved all the various varieties of muffins out there. Now I eat them quite a lot less than I once did and that’s okay. You know how absence makes the hard grow fonder. Well, that’s kind of how I feel currently about muffins. Now, as far as my family is concerned – they can’t get enough muffins. So I need to have some easy and delicious muffin ideas on hand frequently. We are big fans of honey bran and carrot. Sometimes the old stand chocolate chip muffin recipes are the best. Simple works, right? There’s nothing quite like…
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Why I am Speaking Martian Again: FASD Looks Like This and I am Still Proud to be a Health and Special Needs Blogger
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 we question sometimes what happened there. We wallow. We question…