I suspect that many camping families get themselves in a bit of a rut now and then. I think we find a magical campsite and then just keep going back and back. Sure, there's nothing wrong with returning to the tried and true. Let's a lot of advantages actually: kids often feel happy when they're in familiar surroundings and mothers often feel happy when they now how to navigate themselves through the forest to the toilets in the middle of the … [Read more...]
This Year’s Pinata: A Flying Dragon
On Friday, Stella turned nine years old. And in keeping with the birthday traditions around here, a piñata was a usual must. While last year, the angler fish was the creature of choice, the mighty dragon is this year's. Stella's favourite is the Chinese Lung Dragon, which looks like this: Time and materials were in short supply this morning before the full extended family were going to descend upon the house this afternoon for a … [Read more...]
The Rolodex: To keep or toss?
A Rolodex is a rotating file device used to store business contact information (the name is a portmanteau word of rolling and index). The Rolodex holds specially shaped index cards; the user writes the contact information for one person or company on each card. The cards are notched to be able to be snapped in and out of the rotating spindle. Many users avoid the effort of writing by taping the contact's business card directly to the Rolodex … [Read more...]
The School Lunch (aka “Kill me now”)
I know some moms who literally rejoice at the start of summer vacation solely because it releases them from the morning grind of the school lunch. And who can blame them? The school lunch really is a tedious task. And it’s fraught with pitfalls -- pitfalls that are just waiting for me to fall into! So, with school just around the corner, I thought I'd gather some tips for myself. And hey, I might as well share while I'm at it! Pitfall #1: … [Read more...]
Fun new necklace, by What a Novel Idea
Although Chantelle Wilson is now best known as founder of The Maisies -- a singing trio that brings to life the vintage harmonies of girl groups from the 40s and 50s -- my daughter will forever know her only as the girl from Treehouse TV's 4 Square, and for my part, I will forever know her as one of the cool girls from my Drama club in highschool (think white-blonde hair and dark red lipstick) whose mother let her host all of us gleeks for … [Read more...]
Do you fold your underwear?*
There are so many domestic subtleties that I am clueless about. For instance, Hubby and I toss any kind of dirty laundry into the washing machine altogether. But apparently, whites are to be separate from darks (but is this really necessary if your clothes are already pre-washed and there is no risk of the dark colours leaking out onto the light colours?) and then I recall my friend rolling her eyes at me when she saw me putting towels in with … [Read more...]
A Day in the Land O’ Lakes
While I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago, an e-vite into my BlackBerry titled "Girls and Kids Day at the Beach." Without reading the details, I just replied that I would be happy to partake. And that day was yesterday. All up, there were six girlfriends and seven children invited up to a friend's cottage for the day. Located in an area referred to as the Land O' Lakes, the cottage was an easy drive from Ottawa. Just over an hour. Lucky … [Read more...]
Toilet-Training: Trials, Tribulations … and Tears?
Our boy Max, who is three, is our second child; our second round at this potty training business. The first round was about 6 years ago now, and more of a faint memory. What I remember of the experience was that I had timed it for when I would be on holiday, I showed our daughter Stella some Dora the Explorer underwear as bait, I covered the sofa with a towel and there was only one accident that I can recall. Easey-peasy, right? Right. Now, … [Read more...]
A Visit to The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto
For our family, a museum visit is often a highlight when we're travelling. In fact, I think Hubby and I have taken in at least one museum in every large city we've ever visited. And last weekend we were in Toronto to farewell our out-of-town guests before they hopped on a cross-Canada train trip. So before driving home on Sunday, we decided to squeeze in a tour of The Royal Ontario Museum, or "the ROM." We debated whether we should bother or … [Read more...]
Guest Post! “Harry Potter crafting” by Andrea Tomkins
It's not that I don't have a bazillion things I'd love to write and share with you, it's just that I haven't had two moments to myself lately. (I'm not exaggerating, honestly. We've had guests from Australia for the past three weeks. It's been busy but soooo amazing to have them here!) Things will be calming down soon, but in the meantime, I have called upon my bloggy buddy Andrea to help me out. I call her my "bloggy buddy" because we both … [Read more...]
Relieved and so very happy
So, after 14 years of planning and then stalling, and then debating whether we should renovate our charming little place, we decided to move. Since Hubby builds houses regularly, he was going to be the main force behind the reno. But so many years later, we now have two children and two full-time jobs and we even manage to have hobbies and interests now and then ... all of which we realized would be sacrificed in some way or another if we spent a … [Read more...]
Photos from Canada Day in the Capital
View from Parliament Hill, with the waiting crowds for the evening show View from street, outside of the Chateau Laurier Hotel View from the water, on a boat moored on Rideau Canal beside the National Arts Centre … [Read more...]
Teachers’ Gifts: The Bi-Annual Conundrum
Every Christmas and end-of-year, there is the conundrum: What should I give my children's teachers? I like to give a little something as an expression of thanks, but what to give is often a challenge because I don't want to be giving something that will end up in the lunchroom with the tag "free!" on it. And, well, I also don't want to go broke either. Max has three teachers at his preschool and Stella has two teachers at her elementary school … [Read more...]
Dads Rock!
Happy Father's Day to all the Amazing Dads out there!!! (Yep, that includes you Dad! And you too Hubby!) … [Read more...]
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