Last year my mother-in-law had one trick-or-treater at her house. Let's put this into perspective, shall we? There was a nice old lady sitting with her porch door open, giving away free candy to kids, and only one kid showed up. ONE. I mean, what the heck? We didn't have too many kids show at our place either last year, maybe a dozen. The truth is, in the ten years we've been … [Read more...]
Fear the unknown…
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” ~ HP Lovecraft … [Read more...]
Why I Let Them Watch Me Vote
I made an odd decision this morning. Every day after I put the girls on the bus I go for a walk around the neighbourhood, just for a bit of exercise. Sometimes I run errands, sometimes I just walk a few blocks out of my way, making a big circle and looping around back home. Today I walked to the bank and deposited a few cheques, walking back along the main drag I noticed the … [Read more...]
The Real Menace When Dealing With a Five Year Old…
"The real menace in dealing with a five-year-old is that in no time at all you begin to sound like a five-year-old." ~ Jean Kerr, Please Don't Eat the Daisies … [Read more...]
Cooking : The Good, The Bad and The Surprising
I have always loved to cook. I assume it is the same with many families but for me it was always a time of togetherness with a side of great adventure. My mother had this spiral notebook which held mystical recipes that she used to turn boring dinners into tasty delights. I remember fondly my excitement at being old enough to use that notebook with my mom, and one day on my … [Read more...]
TODAY is my favourite day!!
There is always lots of excitement and squeals going on in this house, and I'm pretty sure today is my five year old's favourite day too! … [Read more...]
How to Make Your Kids Clothes Last Longer…
Confession time -- I am horrible at doing the laundry. Both my mom and my mother-in-law are going to shudder when they read this, but I don't sort things by like colours. I don't sort things at all. I just dump dirty laundry bins into the basket by the armful, toss it in the machine and wash it. Everything goes in on the same setting, heavy, cold water, second rinse, extended … [Read more...]
How I’m Saving Money by Using Thermos Funtainers…
The school my girls go to offers a milk program. For $2 a day you can get a serving of milk to go with your lunch, in one of those wee personal-sized cardboard cartons. They offer both chocolate and white milk, though my eldest daughter confided in me that no one ever takes the white milk. I've been sending my daughter to school with milk in a bottle since kindergarten, and … [Read more...]
So Long Pampers? No! Always a Pampers Mom
You guys probably didn't even notice when it happened, but a little over a year ago now I took the "Pampers Mom" button off of my side bar. Now I don't usually do a happy dance when I take a button off of my side bar, but this time was different. For me this was a break out the wine, let's all jump and dance, cheer-worthy moment. You see me taking that button down marked the … [Read more...]
What I Learned and What I Know, About Gardening…
Ever since I was a little girl my dad would tell me..."you never want to do anything unless you already know how to do it." This has been a common theme throughout my life. I would always have to read and re-read and study up and explore options and check and check again...before I would even attempt most things. I was never that just try and see kind of kid (or for the most … [Read more...]
The One Where My Kid Admits She Lies to Me Daily…. And My Heart Explodes…
The youngest daughter has been putting me through my paces lately. Testing. Pushing boundaries. The other day I had pretty much hit the limit, my patience was gone. I was in that place where I was so happy the day was over, so happy it was finally bedtime. As I was standing there tucking her little pajama clad five year old body into bed she caught me by surprise, saying, "I … [Read more...]
On Knowing When to Declare a State of Emergency…
Getting a #CleanSleep with the Dyson V6 Mattress Vacuum
How often do you vacuum your mattresses? For me the answer to that question was, "Wait, what? I'm supposed to vacuum the mattress??" But apparently I'm in good company -- Dyson recently surveyed Canadians and found 61% of us neglect to vacuum our mattresses. Seriously, vacuuming beds was something I've never even thought about until I got an email from Dyson talking about … [Read more...]
Education is a FIRE….
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." ~ W.B. Yeats … [Read more...]
Housework Can Kill…
"Housework can kill you if done right." ~ Erma Bombeck … [Read more...]