Friday, June 28, 2013

Last Day of School... and I Am SAD


I snapped this shot of my girls heading up the stairs for their last day of school for this school year.

I have a confession to share. I will be honest I am a bit sad that the school year is over.  I am sad because it means another school year has passed, that my girls are getting older and they are growing up and learning to be their own people. I am proud of my girls and happy to see that they are growing up to be such amazing, kind, generous and loving people BUT it also makes me a little sad. I wish I could just slow down time, let them stay little just a little bit longer. 

Listen, don't get me wrong, I am thrilled we get to sleep in for the summer, that I don't have to make school lunches for the next two months and that I we can all stay in our PJ's for hours after we get up but I am lamenting of days gone by, when my girls were little. I am happy to be sending so much time with them over the next two months. Summer is our time to re-connect and I love it but why do they have to grow up so fast?

Next year I will have one daughter in grade 3 and one daughter in grade 5. Wow, I can hardly even believe it. Where have my little babies gone?


Thursday, June 27, 2013

Last School Day...Saying Goodbye


My youngest daughter is now finished grade 2. While she is happy to be moving on to grade 3, she is sad to be saying goodbye. She is saying goodbye for now to some friends BUT saying goodbye to a much loved teacher. This year my daughter's grade 2 class had two teachers, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The afternoon teacher was Miss. Medlem. She was new to our school and the my daughter loved her. She was a great teacher. She is moving to a new school next year so thanks to my friend Fran (since I forgot my phone in the car) we got this picture of Emm and her teacher Miss. Medlem. A great snapshot of the last day. Great memories of a great year!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Raising Some Runners




 Both my girls recently took part in a running race. It is called the Moon in June Kids Fun Run in downtown Burlington. The kids run 1 km. Every year my kids take part and every year I am extremely proud of them. I am proud because it takes guts to step out and run in front of so many people. I am proud because they are taking part in a great example of physical activity. I am proud because I am pretty sure that I could not do it!


Not so happy. Race just finished.
A few moments later. The freezie effect has kicked in!

She doesn't like her picture taken.
Doing a great job
The race just finished. She just got her medal and her freezie. The freezie effect has not kicked in for her yet!
























GREAT JOB GIRLS!

You make mom PROUD!


Friday, June 21, 2013

The Critter Party

So... my daughter is now 10! Wow, double digits I can hardly believe it!

For her birthday she wanted to have a critter party, with LIVE critters. So I went on a search and found this great place called Creature Quest. The rep from the company comes to the house with a number of selected creatures and critters. Perfect! So my daughter made her list of creatures, including a hedgehog, tree frog and a blue tongued skink.

Here are just some of the creatures that came to visit at our house!









The hedgehog, Pins, was the fan favourite! The kids also loved the rabbit and the chinchilla, of course, but the sweet little green tree frog, Toy, was  well loved too!

Birthday Girl

The pictures are long over due! My oldest daughter recently celebrated a milestone birthday. She turned 10! OMG, yes 10 years old. Wow, I can hardly believe it when I type it. I just don't know where the time when. I hope that I don't let the next 10 years slip by like I have the last 10. Don't get me wrong there have been amazing moments but I just wish time would slow down.



Wish I uploaded a picture of her reaction when she pulled out the Ipod Touch!


Birthday Sushi with the family!

We let the kids miss some school to celebrate Birthday Sushi

Thursday, June 20, 2013

A Little Selena Gomez Love

Signed CD cover!



 My girls have been a fan of Selena Gomez for a while now. They, like many other girls, discovered her on television, Wizards of Waverly Place to be exact. They have watched her on TV for years. When they found out that she was also a singer too they were thrilled. We have two of her CD's and they have gotten a lot of play in the car and at home. We even took the girls to see a Selena Gomez concerts two years ago at the Molson Amphitheater in Toronto. It was their very first concert. We go lawn seats and we had a blast. They girls loved it!


 Selena was recently in town, making several promotional visits. I was lucky enough to have a great friend, Rudy Blair from 680news, who was going to be interviewing Selena about her new upcoming album and I asked if he could do me a huge favour.  Both my girls had birthday's coming up and I thought it would be so AMAZING if Selena Gomez could sign the CD's for my girls as a surprise. And she did it! She is so sweet! Thanks Rudy!




My friend was gracious enough to ask Selena to sign both CDs and she was gracious enough to do it!

My girls took the CD's to school to show all their friends how Selena signed their CD's for them! They were rock stars!

Same LOVE

 

Same Love by 
Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis 

I LOVE this song. When I hear it in the car it makes me all weepy.

It makes me weepy because there are so many people who are heartbroken in this world because they are afraid to be themselves. They are afraid to be WHO they are. It makes me sad there is a child anywhere living in the shadows. We are all unique and special and we should celebrate our differences. It is our differences that make us all unique. I long for a day when everyone can live the life we were meant to live, the life we were born to live...no matter who we love.

It makes me sad to think any parent could one day decide they can not LOVE their own child anymore because of who they decide to LOVE.  Your child is born with so many possibilities, the world is their oyster. We can't live their life for them but we can and should love and support the life they chose to live for themselves, no matter their sexual preference.



 

Monday, June 17, 2013

Taylor and the Girls

 So I surprised my girls with tickets for Saturday night's Taylor Swift concert on her Red Tour. It was at the Rogers Centre. The girls were super excited! They had no idea that I bought the tickets early Saturday afternoon and by 7 pm we were sitting in our seats.

Excited to be at the show!



Sold out show! 45,000 excited fans.



Taylor Swift! Great concert.

Holding the CN Tower!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Delish School Lunch


This is what my kids took for lunch today! What we call a taco salad.

It is a great way to use some of the toppings from the taco dinner the night before. It is pretty simple really. My kids like iceberg lettuce on the bottom topped with taco meat ( seasoned ground beef), shredded cheddar cheese and avocado! So good.



Thursday, June 6, 2013

Birthday Party Craft



 This craft was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest. Are you surprised?


I needed a critter craft, and fast. My orginal plan for a Birthday party craft for this Sunday fell through so natuarlly I hit pinterest. And that is when I found this! 



This! find it here
 
 These are some of the cutest book marks I have ever seen so naturally I had to follow the link and found this siteCTBaker In The Acres site is great!

Tonight, my girls tried making a few of these Origami Bookmarks to see how easy they were to make. Success! 

This is a beaver

The girls loved making them and they were super easy. My girls are 10 and 7. They made a lizard, a chicken and a bear. 


So I hope all the kids have fun this weekend making their own Origami Bookmarks. I will post pictures of some of the creations.

Unique and Special



Every child is special and unique. Even in the same family children are so different and that is no different with my children. I love that they are different, special in their own unique way. I love that we are able to encourage them to embrace who they are, love who they are and share it with the world.

My oldest daughter just turned 10! Wow. She is growing up to be such a kind, generous and loving young girl. I love that about her. She is always quick to help a friend, neighbour or family member. She is always there when a friend is hurt on the playground, offering support and kindness and help. It warms my heart to know that she has such a kind heart.


My youngest daughter will soon be 8 years old. I can hardly believe how the years are speeding by. I remember when she was still small enough to curl up in my lap. Today she is funny, sassy and smart. She loves to read and write just like her mom! She is loving, fiercely loyal to her family and will stand up to anyone she feels has wronged her or anyone in her circle.


My kids LOVE Kinder Surprise. They love to share them with friends. There really is nothing better than sharing something fun with friends. 

Kinder Canada has launched (or should I say hatched) a new Kinder Egg. This one is pink!



 Much to the joy of my youngest daughter. She is my girlie girl.While she has always love the traditional Kinder Surprise this new pink version is right up her alley. She loves the prizes/surprises inside. She gets to embrace her strong feminine side when she cracks open one of these new eggs. There are over 30 new toys and although the egg is pink no all the toys are just for girls. You can check out the new collection here and vote for your favourites.

I think this is my favourite of the new toys!


Giveaway: Every Kinder friend who LIKE them on Facebook and share about what makes their children unique on the Kinder Canada Facebook will be entered to win 1 of 3, $250 VISA gift cards. They will be drawing one winner each week for three weeks. So go ahead and share your story from May 29 to June 19.



Disclosure: I’m part of the Kinder® Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

More Juicing... because of Joe




 This was one of the tastier juices my husband has made. I like juice with more fruit.

Are you a juicer? Check out my previous post about juicing and how Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead inspired us.  You will also find details about a giveaway there too!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Juicing Because of Joe ....and a GIVEAWAY!!!


***CLOSING THE GIVEAWAY THIS WEEK. Saturday July 6th 11:59 pm eastern. The contest will close and the winner will be drawn at random****


A few months back my husband watched a documentary. He loved it so much he could hardly wait to tell me about it and watch it with me. The documentary was called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It featured  Joe Cross along his journey to a healthier way of life.


The documentary follows Joe on a road trip across the United States as he talks to people about food, lifestyle, exercise and juicing. During the film, Joe loses weight and gains better health. His transformation was nothing short of inspirational. He brought his juicing routine on the road, juicing on the road literally. Joe would stop on the side of the road sometimes, pull out the juicer from the truck and juice right there. He was able to show people during his journey about the benefits of juicing but he also showed people how easy juicing can be. I know we were inspired!

Just days after watching the documentary, my husband and I went out to buy a juicer. We also loaded up our fridge with fresh fruits and veggies, particularly green apples, limes, kale, cucumber, celery and carrots. We juiced that same day!I first wrote about my journey to kick the caffeine and embrace juicing back in January. It is hard but totally worth the effort to strive for better health. Our kids are also joining us. There are so many benefits to getting more fruits and veggies into our kids, no matter if they drink them or eat them!


Joe's incredible journey and documentary inspired him to create Reboot with Joe. The website offers visitors the tools, information and support to make a change in their own lives.  One the things I love the most about the site is all the recipes!

 This month Joe and his team celebrate the second anniversary of the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  There is lots of great stuff happening at the site to mark the amazing anniversary check it out here , including some great contests!


What is even more exciting is that Joe is currently filming a new documentary! I can't wait to see this one.  You can follow Joe Cross on twitter @JoetheJuicer and read his full story.

 GIVEAWAY 

 As part of the second anniversary celebration the Reboot With Joe team has given me a copy of the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and a to go cup to give away to one of you! Tell me about whether you juice or not, any of your favourite juicing recipes or what you thought of Joe's story and/or his documentary. I will pick one winner at random. Comment below and add your email address so I can contact you if you win! Good luck!