Snip Snip

I'm sure that pretty much everyone has had a hair trauma in their lives. I've had a few. From seriously crooked bangs to a bad Sun-In experience, we all take a mini leap-of-faith when we step into the hairdressers's chair.

I do love getting my hair cut. I love the freshness and the instant change that comes from a hair cut. I will try anything once and usually tell my hair dresser that "I am in their hands". When it comes to the girls, I am definitely more attached to their hair than I am to my own. Intellectually I know it will grow back and it's only hair. However, when they sit in the hair dresser's chair I have to tamp down my urge to yell "Stop the cutting!" Think of a scene from "What Not To Wear" when the person getting the make-over has a total meltdown before finally accepting that they must cut their four foot long rats nest.

I am not sure why I have this reaction to the cutting of my daughter's hair. I really don't know why the momster in me rears its ugly head at this particular event. It's a good thing the girls are not old enough to want a tattoo as I may just have to lock them in their room to keep them from marring their beautiful skin.

So, at each hair dressing appointment, I tamp down my crazy inner-voice, smile and encourage the girls to have the fun the I have when I change my hair. I want to pass down the freedom that change can give them and the artistic expression one can have with their hair. I think I have done an admirable job as you can see from the pics taken yesterday.

Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3 Giveaway

It's giveaway time again! We have 4 tickets to Toronto's Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3 to give away for one of the following dates:

March 15 7pm

March 16 7pm

March 17 7pm

All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment on the blog telling me what your children's favourite Toy Story 3 character is. Please also include your email address so I can contact the winner.

Good luck!

If you don't want to leave it to chance, you can purchase your tickets at

http://www.ticketmaster.ca/Disney-On-Ice-DisneyPixars-Toy-Story-3-tickets/artist/841113

and use code BLOG to receive $5 off.


Giveaway ends Feb 28th.

Social Media Family?

As my daughters grow older, I have begun to think a lot about our world and how it has embraced social media and what that means for my girls and our family.

I have embraced the social media trend, I am on facebook, twitter, linked In and have a You Tube Channel. I am very active on all these mediums and have realized the benefits one has in being a part of this social revolution. But what does this mean for my kids? Ainsley is almost four and has yet to play a video game or truly interact in an electronic medium. We have watched You Tube videos together but that is the extent of her computer exposure.

I was invited to attend a conference session yesterday on Social Media and the Family. It really got me thinking about how important technology is to our society and the benefits of being plugged in. It changed my thinking from how long can I keep the electronic world from my children to the thought that perhaps I am doing them a disservice from not exposing them to this world at an early age so that they can develop the necessary skills to thrive in our highly technology based world.

So how does one introduce their children to computers? Well, on twitter (fitting) Maria Pilar-Clark from @mariapilarclark who writes for Chicago Parent tweeted this morning that VTech was coming out with a tablet for kids. How timely is this? So I went on their website and am pretty excited about this product. The article about it is below

http://http://www.chicagoparent.com/community/cosmotot/2011/february/vtech-debuts-innopad-tablet-for-kids

I am hoping this is available in time for Ainsley's birthday next month. I think that as I have fully embraced computers and social media, that it is time to let this filter down to my eldest and see where that leads us.

I will still not be registering a domain in their name (yes, apparently some parents do this at their child's birth) nor will I be opening a facebook or twitter account for them. I think that when they are old enough to want to do this, then we will have the conversation about internet etiquette and hopefully they will want to be my friend.

Keeping Snack Time Interesting

When it comes to food, I like to keep things interesting. I like to try new foods and flavours all the time to offer my girls a wide variety of tastes and at to keep from getting bored of cooking the same old thing. I struggle with keeping snack time interesting though.

Snack time is unique in that the food consumed needs to be quick and easy and sometimes portable. Add healthy into the mix and things get tricky. While my girls would be happy if they could just eat crackers at every snack, I try and push the fruits and veggies at each snack time.

I was recently introduced to Baby Gourmet. It was recommended by a friend and then I was contacted to try it by the company and see how we liked it. While it is geared towards younger children I thought I'd give it a try as the girls like applesauce, it is healthy and it is easy to take on the go.

I was very excited to receive our box and even more excited when I saw the flavours they had sent us. With flavours such as Old Fashioned Apple Crisp, Tropical Banana Bliss and Sweet Potato Pie my mouth started watering! I opened up the Apple Crisp one first and was delighted to find that it actually tasted like Apple Crisp and had the texture of Apple Sauce. It was a hit with the girls! Juliet liked eating it out of a bowl with a spoon and Ainsley enjoyed eating it directly out of the spout! Yay, we can add a new portable snack item to the list!

Even the vegetable fruit combos were very well received and of course had to taste it and it was blended very well. These are also great to add to smoothies or yogurt for great flavour and to up my veggie and fruit intake.

Overall, I was very happy with the product and the packaging was great! I am excited to have a new healthy snack option to offer my kids.

Cleaning up the Linen Closet

When we were away on our vacation in December we had Brett's brother Sean do a few things in our house. One of the tasks we had him do was to rip out our old linen closet that had drawers that did not slide properly and install a new shelving system.

When we got back from Cuba before I had a chance to put all our linens back properly, I got sick so Brett put everything back in the cupboard in a haphazard way as you can see below.



It was not too pretty and it was hard to find things. This past weekend I had had enough (and I had time)so I got to work tidying up the cupboard. It actually did not take very long to get everything back in its place. Now it is easy to find what we need and it looks much nicer. This is especially important as we don't have our new closet doors installed yet. Here is a picture of our newly tidied linen closet.



I am looking forward to the installation of the new doors and for now, the closet is off limits to all but me!

Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3!!!

I am very excited to be taking the girls to see Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3! I took Ainsley to see the movie this past summer and she loved it! Any time she sees a picture of any of the characters she gets excited. I enjoyed the movie. Especially the Ken Fashion show!




I love taking the girls to shows as each one is a new experience which feeds their imagination. Below is some information about the show and what we will be seeing:

The summer’s biggest hit movie, Toy Story 3 and famed moments from Toy Story and Toy Story 2are hitting the ice in this sensational live production coming to Toronto!

Catch all the heroic action when Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and the Toy Story gang escape from the rambunctious Sunnyside Daycare tots and hit the ice, in their most daring adventure ever, introducing Barbie’s groovy bachelor Ken and Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear. It’s the biggest Toy Story experience on ice, jam-packed with fast paced adventure including Buzz’s galactic battle with Emperor Zurg and a hoe down on the set of Woody’s Roundup.

Rediscover the humor, friendship and unique toy ingenuity when Disney On Ice presents Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 takes family fun to infinity and beyond!

I have another discount code to share with you! Use the code BLOG to receive $5 off your tickets.