Lee-Ann's Crazy Life!

Gymnastics Birthday Party: Princess Turns 5!

2013-09-19T11:42:00.000-04:00

Princess decided that she wanted to have a gymnastics party for her 5th birthday, which is very fitting since she is a little gym rat! We started with an hour in the gym with her friends and then went to a party room for some snacks, cake and gifts. It was a fun day for everyone and hard to believe our youngest is now 5!

Cottage Week: Day 7

2013-09-18T11:30:00.000-04:00

Day 7 Thursday August 22nd

Well my day started at 2:30am after heading to bed at 11:30. The lovely pug had me up to take her out for what I thought was a bathroom break, but oh no, she slurped up 3 tongues of water and that was that. Let me say I was livid! Of course I was now wide awake and not impressed, so a little retail therapy was in order. Retail therapy on a phone, with crappy reception, at 3am, oh let me tell you how much fun it is! I think I finally wandered back to bed around 4:30 and was able to grab another couple of hours before everyone was up again. Let me say I was not too impressed, down right cranky and ready to leave pronto.

The live in man friend and the trio talked me into letting them go back to the pool for their regular morning/early afternoon routine. I stayed back to start packing and cleaning up the cottage so that we could leave in the afternoon although we had originally planned to leave in the evening. After a lunch of random food items (you know to clean out the fridge before we left) we packed up and left around 1:45. I don't think I'd ever been so happy to drive 3 hours in my life!

It was decided that we'd take the scenic route home in hopes of avoiding traffic and we did. The drive was nice and exactly 3 hours instead of the 5 that it took us to get there. The trio spent most of their time napping on and off and playing with their electronics or dogs. I enjoyed chatting with the live in man friend and listening to the radio and thinking about my bed.

We arrived home around 5pm and unpacked all the gear and then I decided to wash all our bedding to make it just that more awesome to sleep in our bed. I slept amazing, not a lot of hours but the quality was good. Everyone is happy to be home is some ways and sad in others. I did have a good time at the cottage and so did everyone else. We'll definitely book another week next year, just at a different place. It is a great way to bond as a family and spend time together doing things you wouldn't normally have the chance to do at home.

Cottage Week: Day 6

2013-09-17T11:30:00.000-04:00

Day 6 Wednesday August 21st

We kept it pretty low key today, which was nice. We spent the morning/early afternoon at the pool and then headed back to the cottage for lunch and some relaxing time. The trio played with their electronics and we moved from inside to outside several times (it was pretty hot today so it was nice to get into the AC at times).

At dinner time I headed out with the girls for a canoe ride. We spent a half hour on the water where my biggest accomplishment was not tipping us over! It was a nice way to break up the day.

Afterwards we had BBQ for dinner and then a huge fire since this would be our last until our next years cottage week since we decided to leave a night early because of the lack of sleep for the live in man friend and I. We just couldn’t handle another night of the horrible mattress/couch/chair. So we plan to spend the day here and then head home in the evening and sleep in our own beds tomorrow night, I’ve never been so excited!

Cottage Week: Day 5

2013-09-16T11:29:00.000-04:00

Day 5: Tuesday August 20th

My crappy bed didn’t let me sleep this morning so instead of fighting with it I decided to get up and take the dogs for a walk around 6:30. It was a beautiful morning with mist rising off the water, the sun rising making the world have a glow about it, and then of course the quiet of the day that I often don’t have a chance to enjoy. I am kicking myself for not taking my phone with me to snap some pictures because it was definitely picture worthy. Though the way I’ve been going I may have a second chance to get in a morning walk before the day begins. The kids finally were up at around 8, pretty much when I’m ready to head back to sleep!

At about 9:30 I was toast, I headed to one of the bunks in attempt to get a couple of hours of sleep there. I wish I could say that bed was more comfortable, umm, that would be a negative. The live in man friend was nice enough to take the trio to the pool for a swim while I attempted to sleep. When I got up I did some cleaning around the cottage and relaxing on the porch with the pups. The troops arrived back around 1:30 for some lunch and a little quiet time.

At around 2 the power and water went out, and with it the temperature inside the cottage rose. We decided to head out for another adventure and this time ended up at Crowe Bridge Park to enjoy the water and rapids. It was like Healey Falls but on a bigger scale and with some deeper water to actually swim in. The kids had a blast and at first I brought the dogs for a swim but eventually they became too much to handle because there was a lot of people so I drove them back to the cottage quickly before returning. We spent about 2.5 hours enjoying the park before heading back to the cottage for some more quiet time. My boy was on the verge of a meltdown because he was over stimulated and needed a break.

I wish we had gotten away without the meltdown but nope, after some gaming it came anyway. *SIGH* We had an easy to make dinner and then headed to the playground for a little while. We decided against a fire and instead enjoyed a movie together before heading to bed (or in my case to a chair).

Cottage Week: Day 4

2013-09-15T11:18:00.002-04:00

Day 4: Monday August 19th

After another awful night with the pug who was up at 1:30 and again at 6am; add in the awful lumpy bed and that equals barely any sleep yet again. I know I’ve complained about the sleep a lot but here is the thing, I’m on vacation and sleep is one of my favourite activities so for me to be at my best and enjoy my vacation the most I need a good nights sleep and usually a nap as well! I’m really not going to enjoy the fact that I spent my vacation sleep deprived when I go back to work. I remember thinking a couple of days before we left that I didn’t need to nap because I would catch up on my sleep while at the cottage, ummm, ya, that would be a big fat NO!

Eventually I started to move my zombie body and the trio decided we would go down to the pool, we get there and it is locked up because they are shocking the pool, why pretell did they not do this in the night is beyond me. I then dragged my carcass back to the cottage where we chatted about our change in plan. In the end we decided to go to a local provincial park to check out the Gorge suspension bridge and the rapids/falls they had there.

$10 for a day pass to the park seemed like an awesome deal except when we realized that the rapids area was not accessible and the suspension bridge could only keep us busy so long. We did enjoy the hiking through some of the trails and some of the views were beautiful but definitely not as fun as the previous day trip to Healey Falls. We swung by the play area on the way out but it was pretty sad so we headed to get some groceries before heading back to the cottage.

Groceries done we headed back for a deck side lunch at the cottage and then headed to the pool for the afternoon. Once we were finished for the day at the pool I decided to take advantage of the shower stalls they had available at the recreation center, I figured it couldn’t be worse than the miniature shower we had in the cottage. Thankfully the shower was another tick in the right direction for the park and the trio and myself were all able to enjoy a hot shower with a huge stall to be able to move around. Once clean we headed back to the cottage for a little quiet time before starting dinner.

A walk with the dogs, a quick fire because of the very buggy night, and everyone headed to bed pretty quickly. I think the lack of sleep for all of us is catching up.

Cottage Week: Day 3

2013-08-25T21:55:00.001-04:00

Day 3: Sunday August 18th

Thankfully with a little more sleep in me I wasn’t as cranky as the day before. I did eventually return to my bed around 7am since all the smaller creatures of the house were stirring. The trio watched a movie while eating breakfast and the live in man friend sat beside me on his laptop while I flipped and flopped trying to get comfortable enough to get a couple more hours. Eventually it was time to get up and moving. I had the joy of using the miniature shower and learned that the water heater holds about a litre of hot water. I don’t take leisurely showers but apparently the water heater thought I did.

I headed to the pool with the trio loaded up with snacks, towels, pool noodles, and laundry (a bonus point for the park). It was pretty warm so I spent most of my time in the pool with the kids keeping cool. Finally the live in man friend arrived and I snuck away not long after to start lunch and send the dogs out.

Nap was mandatory at this point; the kids were starting to become crazy with little sleep and too much sugar, fair enough, so was I. My boy had a time out on the pool deck for not listen. A nap never hurt anyone. First born beauty was on dog duty on the porch with a book. I headed to the lumpy bed and the young ones were in their bunks while the live in man friend did some work while grumbling about the lack of reception. I was lucky enough to get about 20 minutes of uninterrupted sleep before the barking started, then it stopped because she was put into her crate, where she proceeded to whine for the next 30 minutes while I attempted to try to go back to sleep; pretty much a fail.

We headed out for some adventure once everyone was up (how the younger two slept through the whining is beyond me). My plan was to find Healey Falls but we ended up the locks, which in the long run was super cool. We spent about an hour there and had the chance to see a couple of boats pass through. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a lock go through the process of passing boats through and the kids definitely haven’t before so they were pretty intrigued. We took the dogs with us to hopefully burn some energy so they would sleep and not whine all night long.

In an attempt to find Healey Falls we decided to take a little drive so that we would know where they were when we went out the next time. Once we found them though, we were there 1.5 hours. The trio, dogs, and grown-ups were having a blast. We have found that Daisy the pug likes to swim so we took her in the water a bunch. Eventually I even let them off leash and they ran around like wild animals. The kids were in and out of the water, looking for things, and just having fun. I spent my time taking pictures, enjoying the water, and whole heartedly living in the moment with my family. Everyone wants to head back and we will for sure before we are done our week.

Then it was back for dinner and another campfire with more yummy smores before everyone headed off to bed. My favourite thing about renting a cottage is the routine of the day. We are busy in the morning, then enjoy lunch/nap, and then stay busy again before a later dinner. It is really nice to end the day with a campfire as well and before you know it the little ones are yawning and asking to go to bed, which means you’ve had another successful day at the cottage.

Cottage Week: Day 2

2013-08-24T22:28:00.000-04:00

Day 2: Saturday August 17th

After not sleeping most of the night I then got to partake in the days activities in a foul mood. The trio was up with the loons and the whining dog. They made themselves some breakfast while I attempted to return to bed. I think I slept in 1 minute increments in bed since the kids were loud, the dogs were loud, and then when I thought things couldn’t possibly get any louder, the live in man friend turned on the shower. Holy hell, I can’t even explain the noise that came from it! So pretty much no sleep and then it was time to hit the pool.

The pool I have to say is the most impressive part of the park. It is salt water, clean, warm, and provides hours of entertainment to the kids. It is unfortunate that the beach is just not up to par and really who wants to swim in lake water when there is a pool 20 feet away?! I eventually got bored and headed back to the cottage to start lunch and toss the dogs outside. I wish I could say that they were well behaved but alas of course they weren’t. They barked their tiny furry heads off at anything that moved, or nothing at all just to see if I could actually be committed by the week end.

With lunch done we contemplated a nap but before we knew it, it was 3pm and the trio was raring to go. They played outside for a while which is where we heard the blood curdling screams of first born beauty who was graced with her first wasp sting, right in her scalp. Some tweezers, ice, and calming helped us move on with the day. The live in man friend decided to take them out in the paddleboat. I was planning to catch some more sleep but of course my furry friend felt that it was not meant to be. So she whined and freaked out in her crate some more. My brood returned with stories of how they watched some people fall out of a canoe and grumbling about the crappy paddleboat and how it is more broken then actually useful, another strike against the place that we paid a hefty penny for.

It was decided that the live in man friend would then take the trio to the pool again while I headed into town for some groceries and items we forgot during our first shop. That worked out nicely for me, I love me a car drive, some good tunes and some sunshine.

After a BBQ dinner, a stroll with the dogs (where I snapped some awesome sun going down off the dock shots) we started up another fire (although it took forever) and ate way too many smores. The kids went to bed in sugar induced comas. When I was finally ready to head to bed I found it occupied with my boy and live in man friend. It was the couch for me. At least the dog didn’t whine all night but of course you can just imagine how comfortable the couch is after hearing about my bed!

Cottage Week: Day 1

2013-08-24T00:13:00.002-04:00

Day 1: Friday August 16th

We left at 11 for our 2^nd annual cottage week in the Campbellford area. Thinking I knew better than the live in man friend I decided that the 401 wouldn’t be that bad. Ummmm, try doubling our travel time, it was that bad! Thankfully the radio & airport kept us entertained for some of the ride, which is a pretty hard task when you are travelling at 5km/hour with no AC, 2 adults, 3 kids, 2 dogs and a gecko (yes we took the stupid gecko with us).

We had decided to stop at The Big Apple before we even left. The live in man friend and I had stopped there about 12 years ago and this time we stopped with our 3 little people.

Needless to say we blew $50 in food for lunch and took some pictures. The kids enjoyed the animals and for some reason my boy was obsessed with seeing the chickens, which is really odd since there was way more exciting animals to see.

After an hour we hit the road again, thankfully the rest of our drive was quick, about 45 minutes and we were there. I wish I could say that I was impressed with our choice (okay, mostly it was my choice) but we walked into a tiny cottage (mobile home) that had a miniature bathroom. The good points were that it was clean, there was a deck, and that the kids could sleep in bunks, which they thought, was the best part. I only wish I had been so happy with my sleeping arrangements, unfortunately mine consisted of a mattress that I’m pretty sure is older than me, questionable linens, and a dampness that seemed to seep out of the bed that almost made it feel like I was swimming the first night. Unfortunately my bad gut reaction didn’t end there, add in the fact that I was missing pillow cases, the Wifi that was listed on the website is in fact located at the recreation area only (which of course was not disclosed in the listing), and that the owner seemed like a creeper when he asked the girl to ring up my wood for a higher price because of my Coach purse and then had the nerve to inappropriately touch my arm. The man friend and I left with the trio to get groceries grumbling our way to town.

The kids of course wanted to check everything out, so we headed over to the park, took a peek at the pool, and took a gander at the beach area that pretty much was decided that we wouldn’t be using. After our little stroll we headed back to the cottage for our first campfire and roasted a shitload of marshmallows to celebrate our first night.

As if my bed wasn’t bad enough, my pug, Daisy, thought it would be okay to whine all night and try to break out of her crate. This is not normal for her and I’m guessing has something to do with the fact that we were away from home. So I had the pleasure of sleeping in my lumpy bed in 2 hour increments most of the night before I finally crashed on the couch to try and keep her quiet.

Monsters University #KinderMom

2013-08-01T23:52:00.000-04:00

This is my final #KinderMom post with Mom Central Canada. It has been an amazing year and has gone by so fast! Thank you so much for the opportunity.

The Product
We really enjoyed receiving our last trial pack of Kinder Eggs which contained licensed Monsters University toys! You can check out all the cool toys on the Kinder Canada Facebook page.

I was especially excited to open my Kinder egg which contained Archie the Scare pig! I think the part in the movie when Mike was riding him was the best!

Monsters at Our House
My trio has never worried too much about Monsters and when they think of them I think they really think of the funny ones from Monsters Inc and Monsters University. We went to see Monsters University when it first came out in theatre and the trio loved it!

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.

Celebrating The Princess

2013-07-09T18:04:00.002-04:00

Princess decided to have dinner at Montana's for her Birthday dinner this year. Afterwards we went home for presents & ice cream cake. She had a blast.

A big kid scooter!

Our Trip to Whistler, BC

2013-06-24T09:10:00.002-04:00

For the first time ever the live in man friend left the trio for longer than a night! It was also our first real vacation ever! Our first plane ride together too! In almost 15 years since we’ve been together, that is pretty sad! We spent 5 nights/6 days in Whistler BC.

We headed to beautiful Whistler BC to hang with some grown up family. We had a specific reason for going but unfortunately one of our party had a fall and ended up in cast so our plans changed. Regardless we had an amazing time and enjoyed the relaxation and quiet time of just taking care of ourselves.

Day 1:

The first day was pretty much a write off since it involved all the travel. First a trip to the airport and then a 5 hour flight. Once in Vancouver my sister picked us up in the rental car to drive us to Whistler, she and her boyfriend had arrived several days before. We enjoyed some good laughs and a very long traffic jam in downtown Vancouver. Once we were on the highway heading towards Whistler the scenery was just amazing.

We had a pit stop at the Walmart in Squamish to pick up some supplies since our condo had a kitchen in it. From there it was a short drive to Whistler village and our hotel The Westin.

Once we settled a little it was off to find the rest of the family, Kimmie who was our broken party member, Sue, and Ally. We enjoyed dinner and drinks. I enjoyed enough before heading back to our room for bed, I was exhausted and lucky enough to come down sick! The live in man friend went out with everyone else and had some fun before dropping into bed at 1am. I have no idea how he did it with the time change!

What happens when you run out of plates? You use a frying pan!

Day 2:

I felt like crap but we went out and wandered the village for the day. We enjoyed walking around and checking out all the little shops. Plus it was beautiful. After stocking up on some drugs we heading back to the condo for a nap. Afterwards we met up with the family on the patio of a local restaurant for drinks and some food. It was so crazy to watch people skiing down the slopes with only tee shirts on! Afterwards I went to the pool with Nicole for a swim, sauna, and hot tub. Super awesome! Later on we met up with everyone again and more drinking commenced. Needless to say that was an evening occurrence. We hung out and played games and talked. It was nice.

Day 3:

I felt the worst this day and didn’t do a lot of anything. We walked the village a little but not even half way, I was feverish and just needed to go to bed. We did stop and have crepes at a place but we weren’t too impressed with them. We checked out some shops and spent time looking for swim shorts for the live in man friend so he could join us in the pool. We did finally find some, wow, those were an expensive pair of Quicksilver shorts!

After an afternoon nap we headed down to the pool again and enjoyed some time down there. I felt not too badly after being down there, which was nice. We headed back to Kim’s place for food and drinks.

Day 4:

After sleeping in, I headed over to the Eco Chic Spa were I was pampered for 3 hours. That was pretty awesome! I started with a salt scrub, which I highly recommend and will do again because my skin never felt so soft! I had a 30-minute massage, facial, pedicure and manicure. The only thing I really didn’t enjoy was the manicure and she didn’t do a very good job on my nails. Otherwise everything was great.

I hit up the pool area with Nicole after a nap. The live in man friend and I spent the evening just hanging around the room. At one point I headed out to get some food, Zog’s, the best hot dogs ever!

Day 5:

A pretty low-key morning but eventually we got moving and did the village walk again. We stopped in to see if it was a good time to head up the gondola and do the peak-to-peak tour but it was pretty cloudy and they suggested we come back later. We stopped a cute little restaurant where the live in man friend finally had a good crepe meal. We thought of going back for their fondue dinner but we ended up at another place with Nicole and her boyfriend.

Around 2pm we headed back to the gondola and bought passes to go up. The clouds had cleared and there were some amazing views. We took the gondola up Blackcomb and then did the peak-to-peak gondola across to Whister and back again. It was really neat on the way back because we were able to get into the glass floor car. The views were amazing and the weather was just perfect.

We headed out for a dinner and enjoyed a good meal with some more drinks. Unfortunately it started raining, which kind of sucked, but we found ourselves at an Irish pub for more drinks and laughs. They had a live band, which was cool. Eventually we headed back to the hotel to pack, even in my drunken stupor.

Day 6:

We headed out on a drizzly car ride back to Vancouver for our flight. We arrived home around 10pm and the trio was awake waiting for us, they were pretty excited to see us and us them. They enjoyed checking out their souvenirs and then it was off to bed. I wish I could say I bounced right back into life but the jetlag killed me for a couple of days and then I ended up sick again on top of that.

Our tired travel mates!

Regardless we had an amazing time. I’ve told the live in man friend we need to add vacations for ourselves into our other annual trips, like the summer cottage rental and an annual trip to Florida. It was really nice to get away and see that we can actually have a conversation and spend time together for an extended period of time without being totally bored. It is nice to know we won’t have to separate once the kids leave home. LOL

I'd like to sum up our trip with this. ;)

I'm a Certified Birth Doula! Let's Celebrate with a Giveaway!

2013-06-12T09:08:00.002-04:00

Please head over to my business page to enter to win an Earth Mama prize pack!

Motherhood Moments Facebook Page

Giveaway closes June 30th at 11:59 pm EST. Open to Canadian and US residents. To win you must "like" my page and comment on the giveaway post. To earn an extra entry please share and comment that you did so.

The Going Ons Around Here

2013-06-11T12:09:00.002-04:00

What happens when a 4 year old does her own makeup!

Super psyched about getting a hair cut!

"Mommy, take my picture!"

Watch out for Darth Vader if you come around here! (Yes he is wearing his birthday piñata on his head!)

Fell asleep during Earth Hour

Crazy ice storm, the trees were almost touching the ground!

Passed out while listening to me read Harry Potter before bed.

Spring has come, that means bike rides to DQ!

#KinderMom Post: Unique Kids + a Contest

2013-06-10T10:58:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Mom Central Canada and Kinder for including me in this great campaign, we have been enjoying it so much.

My Unique Kids
I never realized how different children can be from one another until I had 3 of my own. I am always shocked that my kids have their own personalities that differ so much from one another when they have been raised in the same house and same manner. Yet those personalities seemed to shine through on the day of their birth.

First Born Beauty is a thinker. She sits with her thoughts often and occasionally will come out with a question or thought that will seem like it is from left field. When she was born she was a content baby and as she grew had no difficulty playing on her own. At almost 10 she often retreats to her bedroom to read, do crafts or just be on her own. First born beauty hates all things girly, she won't wear pink, her favourite colour is blue and I can barely get her to brush her hair in the morning.

My boy was cranky the minute he was born; he was not happy. Since birth he's had 2 moods; unhappy or super happy. His personality is based on his general mood; when happy he is funny and thoughtful. My boy seems to flit through phases where he loves all things loud or all things pink. He never seems to follow the gender norms and I love that about him.

Princess was pretty content for the first 6 months of her life and then she seemed to pick up some sassy attitude. She is funny, cute, and loving on top of her sassiness. She loves all things girly; glitter, pink, and dress up.

Think Pink
I previously introduced you to the new pink Kinder eggs here. With 3 very different children I'm sure you can understand why the new pink eggs are a hit at our house. You can check out all the cool toys from the pink pink eggs on the Kinder Facebook page. While you are there make sure to enter their current contest.

Contest
Head over to the Kinder Canada Facebook for your chance to win 1 of 3 $250 Visa gift cards by sharing what makes your child unique.

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.

Daisy

2013-05-27T21:02:00.002-04:00

Yes I know I have issues! But isn't she so adorably cute!?! I totally need to add some pearls!

Princess Fashion Show AKA Mama Shopped Too Much!

2013-05-22T00:00:00.000-04:00

Naartjie is one of our favourite brands, especially their spring/summer lines.

Gymboree is a go to classic for Princess.

This dress is an old Gymboree dress that her big sister wore! I bought it and plan to recapture a picture I have of first born beauty.

Crazy 8, has some super cute stuff with great prices. I tend to buy for the older kids their but loved this set!

Mini Boden is always a favourite as well!

I pretty much over shopped for Princess this spring/summer. I'm hoping she'll wear everything! I had to admit it but there is more that we didn't do a fashion show with. :s

Happy 5th Birthday Princess

2013-05-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Princess,

Today you turn 5, that is half way to 10 or a decade. Since the day you were born it always felt like you were here with us. You fit in with our family so well from the beginning and I can't imagine my life without you.

You have grown so much since the day they showed you to me over the curtain, where I got a small glimpse and found out for the first time that you were a girl. It was such a wonderful surprise after all those months of waiting.

This past year you have grown and become more independent. You call my name for help less often and tell me you will do it yourself if I offer to help. You don't want to be the baby, you want to be a big kid.

You've enjoyed an exciting year, starting kindergarten, enjoying taking part in the more advanced gymnastics class, and you are so excited to start another season of soccer. I'm glad I get another year to keep you home part time with me so I can enjoy your baby sweetness for one more year before you because a school aged big kid and head to first grade full time.

Happy 5th Birthday my sweet Princess and I'm wishing you another wonderful year.

Love,

Mommy

Maple Syrup Festival

2013-05-19T20:39:00.000-04:00

Our town has an annual maple syrup festival and we try to attend as often as we can. Unfortunately we’ve missed some years but this year we were able to attend and had a great time.

They always have some pretty classic things that we do, such as having a pancake breakfast and walking through the sugar bush where they show you how they make the syrup. This year they had a hot air balloon ride, which was pretty cool! My boy wasn’t too keen on getting on it at first but once he was up there he thought it was awesome. I enjoyed having my feet planted firmly on the ground so I could take some pictures.

We also enjoyed a horse drawn hayride (minus the hay). I’m a sucker for beautiful horses and the two pulling us around were really sweet. A bonus, I was able to snap and really great picture of the live in man friend and the girls.

It was a fun day with the family and the weather wasn’t too bad, we had some frozen kids when we left but overall a good day!

Award

2013-05-15T20:47:00.002-04:00

Thank you so much to Ashley over at Sewrite for sharing this award with me. It has been a while since I've seen any around the blogosphere and it is always fun to play!

Three things I love about being a Mom:

1. Watching my children sleep, there is nothing more peaceful than a child or baby sleeping.

2. Having a good giggle fest with the kids.

3. Making memories with the kids that I hope they'll take with them as they grow.

I'm going to share this award with:
Teresha from Marlie and Me
Stephanie from How to Survive Life in the Suburbs
Nicolasa from {My} Perspective

When you receive the award do the following:

Save the award image and include it in your acceptance post
List three things you love about motherhood
Nominate other deserving mamas – as many as you’d like

Thanks Ashley! :)

#NatrelBaboo Sharing Firsts + Free Sample

2013-05-09T10:03:00.002-04:00

Thank you to Mom Central Canada and Natrel Baboo for selecting me to be a part of this fun tour!

A Journey of Firsts With Princess

It is amazing how fast your little one grows, just take a look at Princess as she conquers some amazing "firsts" in just 6 short months!

First Smile

First Curl

First Tooth

First Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

First Christmas
Sits up

First Solid Food

The Product

Natrel Baboo is a transitional milk made for toddlers (12-24 months). It includes a lot of vitamins and nutrients that those growing little ones need. To view more information about Natrel Baboo, check out their website located here.

Free Sample

To receive your free sample head over to the Natrel Baboo Facebook page for a coupon.

Disclosure: I am part of the Natrel Baboo Blogger Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Skiing

2013-05-05T00:30:00.000-04:00

For Christmas this year first born beauty received money and she bought herself some skis. We paid for her to go to 8 weeks of ski lessons at our local hill and she had a blast.

Next year we are planning to put Princess on some skis as well. I picked up a pair super cheap from a going out of business sale. She is super excited about using them.

Skating

2013-05-04T00:17:00.000-04:00

During a PD day in January I took the trio for a trip to the skating rink. It was an early morning skate and we had the entire rink to ourselves. This was the first time Princess was on skates, she worked pretty hard and I'm sure had a sore bum from all the falling by the end! The big kids had a good time, they have improved since the last time I've seen them on skates! Afterwards we went to have brunch together. We'll definitely have to get back on the ice next year.

Ice Angels

Christmas with Cousins

2013-04-30T10:18:00.003-04:00

After Christmas we had a cousin Christmas opening party before heading to the Mandarin for a yummy buffet meal together. Everyone was well behaved, especially baby boy who sat in his high chair for over 2 hours playing with spoons, he barely made a peep! It was a great way to end the holiday mayhem, a meal where someone else cooked and cleaned up after our mess. :)

A Day in Our Life with High Functioning Autism

2013-04-24T18:14:00.001-04:00

Today was a rough day. For those of you that still struggle with the diagnosis of my boy, you should watch this video. This is becoming a daily occurrence and as of this week included a similar episode at school after doing really well for a long while. Truthfully I don't know why the meltdowns are happening so often. I also have no clue how to deal with them most of the time. This just shows you how I dealt with it today.

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Daddy & Son Lego Fun

2013-04-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

The live in man friend and my boy made this during the Christmas break together. It is super cool and I want them to do another one!