livingfamilytravelmediahome decor

Bullying is Bad. Wear a Pink Shirt.

thumb

Back in October, I wrote a guest post on the PhD in Parenting blog titled "Bullying is Bad. Don't be a Bully." It started like this: It's not politically correct, but I'll say it: I'm tired of hearing about bullying. I feel like we spend a great deal of time as a society these days talking about bullying and the importance of teaching children that bullying hurts. I think children already know that bullying hurts. That's why children -- and … [Read more...]

My Ill-Informed Oscars Predictions

oscar

Tonight is the night! It's pajamas and tiaras, accompanied by yummy food and great gals. I did do my best to cram in as many of the nine films that were nominated for best picture this year. In the end, I saw: Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Lincoln, and Silver Linings Playbook. I also really wanted to catch Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, but that didn't happen. But just because I haven't seen most of the films and just because I haven't read … [Read more...]

Saturdays with Stella: Dracotopia (Part 2)

Original illustration by Stella.

To start at Part 1, click here. We are done thought Victoria. Suddenly a female voice screamed a command and the dragon froze in its place. “Windisk! You know better than that!” the voice continued. “Stop threatening those …err… visitors” The girl then walked out. She was about twelve years in age. She introduced herself as Cloeshi. Cloeshi wore a toga under billowing robes but her feet were bare and a small wooden hair band type thing … [Read more...]

Winterlude’s Snowflake Kingdom

Standing back, here is a view of the ice slides.

Ottawa is my home. And yet, for most of my life, I thought that Winterlude only took place on the Rideau Canal -- you skate, you look at snow sculptures, you have hot chocolate and a Beavertail! These are very fond memories and stand as some of my favourite things to do during this winter carnival. Over a number of years though, there is somewhere else that has edged its way to the top of our Winterlude-heart. It's Snowflake Kingdom. … [Read more...]

Saturdays with Stella*: Dracotopia (Part 1)

dragon

On a stormy night before the nineteen thirties, two sisters, twins to be exact, were huddled on a ship by themselves. They had set out on a voyage to Indonesia for a vacation, and all had gone totally wrong. Most of the crew members had fallen overboard, this included their father. Diseases spread, food ran out and the ship seemed to have a knack for getting attacked by sharks. Then soon scurvy began to take its toll. The sisters seemed to never … [Read more...]

With Apologies to my Husband on Valentine’s Day

cook

Dear Hubby, There's no easy way to break this to you. I thought the heart-thumping joy when seeing his face would fade, but alas, it's been four years now and I need to accept that my love for him is simply far stronger than even I could have imagined. (That's right, I'm telling you that I'm in love with another man via my blog. If being in love with another man doesn't have you running for the door, that surely will.) While I've always … [Read more...]

Saturdays with Stella*: Eggs and Hamadeus at Canada’s NAC

greeneggs__large

I'm really sorry about there not being a post yesterday  The reason why is that I was going to an NAC concert with my best friend! So I had to postpone the blog post to see it, because who wants to hear about my predictions! You want the actual event!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (excessive use of exclamation marks!) So yesterday afternoon I set out with my friend and her family to go to the NAC to see Green Eggs And Hamadeus. The traffic was … [Read more...]

Cramming for the Oscars 2013

source: Oscar.og.com

The other day someone mentioned the Oscars. Oh! That means it's time for my annual cram-fest ... where I see how many nominated movies I can manage to see before the actual event. This year's Oscars are on February 24th, which means I have 17 days to see what I can squeeze in and not feel like a pop-culture wallflower (aka a parent). Last year, out of the 10 films that had been nominated, I'd seen three. This year, there are nine films … [Read more...]

Saturdays with Stella: Have you been to Halifax?

800px-Citadel_hill

Stella is my 10-year-old daughter and on Saturdays, I let her rent this space from me because she thinks blogs are cool. It is her hope that her writing will appeal to kids her age as well as to the adults who read here too. (For the intro to Saturdays with Stella, click here.) This week, Stella wants to tell you all about Halifax, which we visited last summer on our holidays. source Halifax: A Wonderful Place to Visit! If you ever go to … [Read more...]

It’s Friday, Friends. Ring that Bell!

In February of last year, my dear friend was told she had cancer. Bone cancer, to be precise. It was a blow out of nowhere. One day, she is fit and healthy and playing basketball. The next, she is being told she will need to have life-changing surgery on her leg and endure countless rounds of chemo. Once she got over the whole shock of it, she told me that losing her hair, enduring the seemingly never-ending sickness of chemo (aka "poison … [Read more...]