The Great Sugar Cookie Debate - To be Organic or not to be

Ainsley has been at camp this week and the counsellors had planned a great activity. They had baked some sugar cookies and the kids were going to decorate their cookies and then eat them. I thought this would be great fun as Ainsley loves to bake with me and decorate so for her to be able to do this at camp as well was exciting for her.

Then I overheard a parent speaking with the counsellor about the fact that her child only ate organic food and were the sugar cookies organic. Of course they weren't. They were pre-cut ready to bake cookies. This parent expressed her dismay over this and said her child should not eat the cookie and that in fact perhaps this activity should not happen.

Now, when it comes to parents choices about how they raise their children, I try to be open-minded and basically have the philosophy that if it works for you (as long as it doesn't hurt the child) than all the power to you. This was the first time I had encountered a situation in which a parent was enforcing their own beliefs over my child and what she could and couldn't do.

Initially I was angry that this women, because of her personal belief was going to ruin this fun activity for Ainsley. I was really annoyed that another parent was attempting to dictate what Ainsley could or could not do at camp as well as the other children. Especially since the other parents had been telling their children that they would get to decorate cookies that day. So if they were to cancel this, there would be a lot of disappointed children who wouldn't understand.

I had to go and drop Juliet off at camp so as I passed the office I overheard the counsellor speaking with her supervisor and they decided to compromise by doing the activity at the end of the morning so that the child in question could participate but the mom would arrive in time to tell this poor kid he couldn't eat his cookie.

So I thought this was a good compromise, although I did feel badly for the kid who would have to throw out his creation. So my question for everyone is this and I am interested to have opinions from both sides:

Those parents who are organic, how would you have handled non-organic cookies at camp? For parents who aren't, what would you do if an activity had been cancelled becuase of 1 parents belief?

My new hobby

My parents bought Ainsley a beading kit a few months ago and she has caught the bug! So I thought it would be great to learn how to make beaded jewellery so that she and I could do it together. I like doing crafts and now with etsy I have always thought wouldn't it be great to use my creative craftiness and start an etsy shop. I never had time to do this and I didn't really want to knit or sew which are two skills I can do but aren't passionate about it. So I thought I would take a stab at beading.



So I went and bought a book about beading and Ainsley and I went to the bead store and picked out the beads she wanted. We spent the afternoon creating bracelets and necklaces for her and this is what we made.





She has been wearing them everyday and now asks everyday to do beading with me while Juliet is asleep. There is no way I would bead when Juliet is around as that is a recipe for disaster. Now, this past weekend I had some time to myself so I created a necklace with a clasp and some more sophisticated beads. It was definitely fun to pick out the beads and create a unique necklace. I think I may start an etsy shop after all. This is what I made.





The necklace is made out of 20mm Purple/Pink Agate Coins and 20 mm Grey Agate Coins with 4mm Stone Amethyst Luster Beads. Now on to the next project.

Kobo - A dream for the clutter-phobic

I love to read. When I was a kid, I used to go to the library and take out 20 books at a time and read them all by their due date 3 weeks later. Yes, they were books like Sweet Valley High and did not take much to read through, but reading was my absolute favorite thing to do. This love of reading has continued through to my adult years, however, I don't exactly have the time that I used to have to read. As a result library trips are in the past. I would probably never be able to be sure that I would finish a book within the allotted borrow time. This being the case, I buy my books.

I am a huge customer of Indigo and buy my books in large lots so I get the free shipping option :). I have many, many unread books that I am dying to read but with my busy life I have to put off. As you can see, my bedside table currently has a pile of books waiting to be read and I have book shelves in the basement filled with must-reads.



For my birthday, my husband was thoughtful enough to purchase a Kobo reader. I had not even thought about getting one to be honest. I am very much a paper person (as you can probably tell by my products) and it had never occurred to me to start reading on a digital reader. I do like the feel of a book in my hands and being able to physically feel my progress. So when I got my new reader, I was a bit skeptical about whether or not I would use it. In fact, Brett started to read a book on it before I had even figured out how to use it.



This weekend, I signed up for a book club and went to purchase a copy of The Birth House by Ami McKay. I originally went to purchase the paper version when I remembered I had the Kobo and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out.



It was very easy to order and download. I then realized what a fantastic alternative the Kobo is for someone like me. It drives me crazy that I have books taking up space all over my house. It is a nice thought that all my books can now be stored on a tiny device to read at my leisure. No more worrying about where to put them. No more dealing with my children ripping pages out of books (yes, this does happen). This will eliminate a great deal of the book clutter in my house which is greatly needed! Now not all the books I want to read are in digital format yet, so I will still get my fix of the traditional reading experience. But in the new format, packing for vacations will be easy and I will have more room for other necessities and my luggage will be that much lighter.

I am very excited to start my first e-book! Did I mention there are accessories???

The Organized Family Calendar

I am excited to announce the latest product from Glow Baby: The Organized Family Calendar. This calendar is the perfect way to keep track of all family members schedules with its unique design. Including both a monthly view and weekly views, this calendar is a wall calendar and planner all in one. Please visit www.glowbaby.ca to pre-order. Take advantage of our 25% off pre-order special with shipping scheduled for September 2010.



Calendar details include:

• 12 month calendar runs from January 2011 through December 2011
• Unique and stylish design includes both a 12 month calendar and 52 removable weekly planner pages
• Perfect for tracking each family members' extra curricular activities, work and social schedules
• Weekly planner pages accommodates 6 individual schedules
• Opens to 14" x 21.5”



I can't wait until January so I can finally use this calendar! It will definitely help me keep my mom schedule, work schedule and the girls schedules organized and I desperately need that!

Check out http://www.glowbaby.ca for more information.

First Year Anniversary

Today is Glow Baby's First Anniversary. A year ago today, I got my first box of Baby's First Journal hot off the press! While a lot of work went on behind the scenes before this moment, I consider this our anniversary as this was the day our journals made it into their first store.

A lot has happened over the past year. Glow Baby products are now being sold in over 80 stores across North America. We have received rave reviews from moms and many press outlets. It's truly amazing to look back at the past year and see how far Glow Baby has come in such a short period of time.

Just in time for our first anniversary we are announcing our latest product the Organized Family Calendar (details below) to help all busy families organize the family schedule.

Thank you to everyone who has offered support and guidance over this first year. Here's to another fantastic year.

AVOIDING THE SUMMER READING SLUMP

AVOIDING THE SUMMER READING SLUMP by Wendy Toone

Guest contributor and MobiStories.com producer Wendy Toone, offers great tips on how your kids can avoid brain drain when they're out of school. Take a look...


It's Summertime! Catching fireflies, eating dinner on the deck, swimming, no school!!!


What have your kids been doing? Waking up late, lazing around in front of the TV? It's nice to decompress after the school year. For a few days. But now what?? Camps, classes, playdates can fill up the days and keep the kids active and occupied. But my fear is always that their brains will turn to mush by mid-July, leaving them (and in turn, me) frustrated and floundering come mid-September when they're back in school with flabby grey matter that hasn't been exercised in way too long.


According to Kent State Graduate School of Education's Dr. Timothy Rasinski, professor of literacy education, students can lose as much as 3 month's worth of reading level over the summer. Research shows that younger elementary school students rarely make up deficits in reading once they fall behind. Conversely, students who read during the summer could end up 3 months ahead, too.


So, why not be even just a little pro-active in keeping your kids reading. That doesn't mean they need to plow through "War and Peace" by August 24th. Here are just a few FUN ways reading can become part of your family's summer fun activities:


Don't fight TV: Kids insist on watching TV? Try letting them... with the sound off and the closed caption on (sneakyyyyy)


Act it out: Get the whole family in the act and tackle one of the classics as a play. How fun is "Charlotte's Web" when every family member plays a different character and reads aloud...don't forget to speak in accents and voices, use arm motions, whatever to have FUN.


Campfire stories: The art of storytelling is the original 'reading' before the printed page.... Everything sounds good around a fire - family memories, ghost stories, or fairy tales can captivate kids. Try a "make-it-up" story where everyone adds just one line at a time."


Discover the classics : Treasuries of classic literature is available for even younger readers that may not be ready for the "real" version. Advanced readers can expand their world with the likes of Jules Verne and Mark Twain in addition to Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling!


Log reading hours in a Read-A-Thon : Several non-profit groups such as Reading Is Fundamental and PBS Kids have read-a-thons that can be found on the web. Great goal-setting activity for the summer as well!


Use Your Local Library!! So many summer programs are available for all ages/reading levels. Story/song time for toddlers, book clubs for tweens and teens...And they're FREE!


Organize a Book Swap: Get together with friends and neighbors to exchange previously read books. This allows the kids to read the latest titles (not always available at the library) while you save $$.


Get your kids excited about reading this summer by getting them excited about stories in new ways to keep them from suffering the "Summer Reading Slump."

Wendy Toone is a child expert, having owned and operated a leading children's fitness center and now produces MobiStories, Digital Books for KidsTM. She is a cableAce-award winning television producer and has worked on hundreds of television commercials as a Production Manager after spending a decade onstage as a professional dancer. Wendy's two children have been inspirational in the creation of MobiStories.


To download a free digital book for your PC visit MobiStories.com, click on Summer (in the Ages 2 - 4 category) add it to the cart and Michelle Obama then enter the code SUM0710 in the Coupon Code Box. Here's a How To video for reference as well.

To purchase more stories, visit Mobistories on iTunes.