Here’s a quick update with my overall impressions of the label maker, how we’ve been using it around the house, and how the labels have been holding up.

The label maker itself has been a joy to use, and we get a lot of good use out of it. In addition to labeling everything in our storage room, I went on a labeling spree throughout our place and labeled a lot of boxes, baskets, and binders, especially in our home office.

I like that you can select a lot of type-styles for the labels, to make them more aesthetically pleasing and to suit your tastes. I also like that the labels are very durable and do not come off. They stay new-looking for a very long time. All the labels I have made still look like they were put on yesterday, with no peeling corners or edges, and no fading.

Here is an example of one of the labels I’ve plastered around our place…as you can see, it works on fabric. This also shows one of the many design possibilities:

So there you have it! Our “Getting Organized with Brother P-Touch” project turned out to be a huge success, and not only did we organize our storage room, but a lot of other areas of our home as well. The labels have proven to be reliable, and work on many surfaces and stay sticky under the harshest of conditions.

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Note: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Brother P-Touch and received a product and gift card to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

To do this, we picked the toughest room and environment of all — our storage locker!

Our storage locker is quite an adverse environment – more extreme temperatures than an indoor room, more varied surfaces, and overall just plain dirtier. Oh yeah, and very disorganized!

So with a set of bins and shelves in one hand, and my Brother P-Touch in the other, I headed down to the storage locker to do some dirty work and get that messy storage locker organized.

Here are the amazing results! Looking at the “Before” picture, it is hard to believe that it was so messy before!

The Before Shot:

What a mess it was before we got organized!

And the After Shot:

Wow! It looks like a totally different room after getting organized!

And some close-ups of the labels in action! I had fun playing with all the different label styles, as you can see:

All in all, this project was a great success, and I am loving having my storage room finally organized. The labels came in really handy for labeling all of our containers, so we know what is in each one without having to open them all.

The labels have also stood the test of time so far. They have been in our harsh storage room environment for four months now, and still look and stick just like brand new. Its as if I put them on yesterday.

Thank you Brother P-Touch for helping me get organized!

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Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Brother P-Touch and received a product and gift card to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

The Carousel Theatre for Young People always has great plays for kids (and uh, young people and adults too of course), always put on by a very professional and talented group of artists. They truly put on an amazing show that will wow you and your kids, and have your whole family laughing and having a great time.

Darren Burkett as Scarecrow and Robyn Wallis as Dorothy

I was invited to watch their current production, “The Wizard of Oz” and let me tell you, it was awesome! They did a fantastic job reviving this classic, and both me and my 5 year old son Smarty Pants loved it.

I was a little worried about taking him at first, because I know he is scared of witches, but I told him beforehand there would be a witch in it and that she was just pretending. To my great relief, he actually thought the witch was really funny and was laughing at her remarks (she really was funny at a lot of parts – well done).

One of the highlights was definitely the munchkins – all played by the adult cast on their knees. You have to see it to believe it- we were cracking up. My son is still singing “The Lollipop Guild” a week later. Hearing all those songs again really brought me back to my childhood too.

If you want to see the Wizard of Oz at Carousel Theatre, you need to hurry, as they are selling out really fast and breaking their box office records! Not surprising with such a great show and a story that people of all ages love (many people have told me it is their all time favourite story/movie). They just added another show too on Sunday, January 1, 2012 at
2:00pm to meet the high demand!

Here’s some additional info and links for you. If you don’t manage to get tickets for The Wizard of Oz, follow them on Twitter and Facebook to stay up-to-date on availability of tickets for their upcoming productions.

Info about The Wizard of Oz at Carousel Theatre:

VENUE Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright Street, Vancouver)

DATES December 2 – 31, 2011 (Various Times) – New show just added on Jan 1, 2012!

TICKETS (604) 685-6217

INFO www.carouseltheatre.ca

FACEBOOK Carousel Theatre

TWITTER CarouselTheatre

THE WIZARD OF OZ BLURB:

Follow the yellow brick road with Dorothy and the gang in The Wizard of Oz!

This brave adventure follows Dorothy and her three strange friends; a Scarecrow with no brain, a Tin Man with no heart, and a Lion without any courage as they journey on to see the great and powerful Wizard of Oz.

During Dorothy’s search for the Wizard she discovers the true meaning of friendship, personal growth, and most important: there is no place like home!

ABOUT CAROUSEL THEATRE

Carousel Theatre, now in its 37th season, has produced 147 plays for young people. In its early years, the company performed at several different venues in Vancouver including the Arts Club Seymour Street and the Vancouver East Cultural Centre before moving to their home on Granville Island, where they operate a small arts complex that includes administrative offices and two rehearsal halls. Carousel is one of the long-term resident tenants at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island.

Each season more than 40,000 young people and their families benefit from Carousel Theatre’s unique programming. Under the vision of Artistic Director Carole Higgins, Carousel Theatre stages a mainstage season of Literary Classics at the Waterfront Theatre, a Teen Shakespeare Program each summer and a year-round Theatre School for young people ages 3 to 17 years. Carousel Theatre also runs a mentorship program for fledgling theatre for young audiences companies and a new play development program.

Carousel Theatre plays a unique role in the ecology of our community, and is the only theatre company in BC that produces a fully professional season of mainstage programming especially for young people.

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Smary Pants and Smarty Pants 2

Smarty Pants 2 is a little over two weeks old now, and somehow we managed to survive our first two weeks with three kids… mostly thanks to the awesomeness and strength of my lovely wife, Love Buns.

To celebrate, I would like to share three tips with you on how to survive your first week or two with your third child, should you find yourself in the same situation as me. Of course, everyone’s situation is different, but this worked for us, and maybe it will help you too:

1) Don’t let anyone into your house in the first week unless they are carrying bags of food (preferably food that you can freeze) – this may sound a bit selfish, or odd… but it is true. Your first week with three kids is hectic… you and your spouse are now outnumbered by your kids… and one of them is a teeny tiny baby that needs a tonne of undivided attention from at least one of you pretty much 24/7. Having visitors during the first week can add to the commotion, since your baby is not on a schedule yet, and you haven’t fully adjusted to having another child in your household. But, if said visitors bring some food with them when they come to visit, it is a big plus. Finding time to cook meals will be difficult, so any pre-made meals you get will be huge time savers. Especially if you can freeze some of them for later in the week when you’re really in a pinch.

I must say, we have awesome friends, and everyone who came to visit us was kind enough to bring some food with them when they visited. We didn’t ask for it, they were just thoughtful and wanted to help us out, and we gladly accepted the help. It really made a huge difference and we are very grateful.

2) Build a village – they say it takes a village to raise a family, and when you have three kids, it is truer than ever. Find out how your friends can help you, and get paid help as well if you need it. For example, we have a friend who was able to pick our son up from school for the first week after Smarty Pants 2 was born. Other friends of ours took him to school every day. What a huge help that was! We have other friends that had our daughter over for play dates with their daughter…another huge help. I could go on…

Of course, try to reciprocate as much as you can…you don’t want to take take take without giving anything back, so have some play date exchanges, give thank-you gifts, etc. In essence, build a community with other parents to the best extent possible.

3) Rest and enjoy as much as you can – luckily the baby will sleep quite a lot in the first couple of weeks. Take advantage of this time to try and rest as much as you can. If you followed steps 1 and 2 above, you should have saved some time in your day for resting. If you’re a working dad, hopefully you’ll take at least a week off of work too, and use the time to help your wife and also get some rest yourself. And of course, enjoy this time with your precious new little baby. Unless you are prepared to have four or more kids (i.e. you are really brave or really crazy), this will be your last little baby. So enjoy the time, and it will make it go that much smoother.

Leave a comment and let us know what you think of these tips, and if you have any other tips to share! Cheers and all the best!

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I don’t watch a lot of TV, nor do I watch very many movies with my kids. I prefer to take the kids out to the playground, play games with them, build Lego houses, bridges, and towers with them, and read to them. Above all, I make sure the kids get plenty of exercise and creative play time before sitting down to watch a family movie.

I enjoy a good movie as much as the next guy. The problem I have though, is that it is REALLY hard to find a good movie that everyone in my family will enjoy, and that won’t scare the kids (my kids happen to be very sensitive to any scary characters or situations in movies).

And I am not alone in my search for good quality family movie options.

As I mentioned in my family movie jams, Walmart and P&G conducted some cool research that reveals parents are quite keen on finding good family entertainment options.

Here are some of their findings:

• 94 percent of parents surveyed said it’s extremely or very important that their families spend time together and entertainment is a primary way their families get together.
• 81 percent said they enjoy watching movies with their families and 75 percent enjoy watching TV together.
• 69 percent of moms said they wish there were more family-friendly TV programs that they can enjoy with their kids.
• 75 percent of moms admitted to having to change the channel because of inappropriate content in a program they thought was family-friendly.
• 71 of parents would go out of their way to find family-friendly TV programs.

If you are similar to the majority of those parents surveyed, and are at your wits end (like me) because you can’t find any family-friendly movies that meet your stringent criteria, one option you have is to expand your selection. You can check out http://www.SatelliteTVFamily.com/ for a few options regarding movie channels and programs that come with Satellite TV. Through these options, you can gain access to complete libraries of family movies. Having more options might help you to find some family movies that are just right for you and your family.

And again, don’t forget to balance out your family movie time with family sports time, family game time, family crafts time, family story time, and family dinner time too! The more things you can do as a family, the better!

What do you think? How do you like to get your family entertainment?

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Note: SatelliteTVFamily.com provided sponsorship for this post, however the opinions expressed in this post are mine.

The Best Job There Is!

There is a much greater reward than any cash compensation could ever replace though… that is, the smiles, the kisses, the hugs, the love… seeing them grow and develop.. the list goes on and on.

But of course, we all need some cash to get by. So what can parents do to earn real money, and still not miss out on those wonderful moments with the kids?

An office job is one option… but… we’ve all seen the tired-eyed mom or dad show up at the office with burp-up stains on his or her shoulder… heck, I’ve been that guy in the office many times. Having a full-time office job with kids can really be tough. I remember a time when my son was still a baby… I would get home from the office at 6pm or so…already exhausted… have dinner, and put him to bed. I hardly got to see him, and those hours that I saw him, he was mostly tired and cranky.

Lucky enough for me, my job now is pretty flexible and I can work from home. I have shifted my hours to earlier hours in the day, so, I am still tired, but I finish early enough that I can spend time in the afternoon with my kids. If you ever get a chance to have a job with flexible hours like that, take it! It is really great  to be able to spend more quality time with the kids.

If you are looking for ways to work flexibly from home, here are a few examples of the possibilities, to get your creative juices flowing:

-Find an employer who allows flexible work arrangements so that you can work from home (kind of like my employer). Best Buy is an example of an employer that is leading this movement.

-Do some freelancing – like website development or graphic design (there are a lot of websites where you can offer your freelancing services).

-If you are the crafty type, sell your crafts on sites like Etsy or eBay.

-If you are web-savvy, try out some online affiliate marketing, through sites like Clickbank, and/or set up some websites where you can sell your own products or services – check out the book: Get Rich Click!: The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet for some great Internet business ideas and tips on how to put them into action.

All of these ideas can help you work flexibly from home, so you can choose your hours, work as little or as much as you want, and still bring in some money to help support your family. Of course, some will work better than others, and it will also depend on your talents and how much effort you are willing and able to put in, but choose what works best for you, your financial situation, your family, and your schedule.

Also, if you happen to be in the UK, check out WorkingMums.co.uk, for some good postings and ideas on part-time jobs , flexible jobs, work from home jobs, etc, for mums!

If you decide to make the move to working from home, I wish you all the best and guarantee you will enjoy it!

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Why, you ask?

If its hot chocolate, she'll try it.

Those of you with picky kids will know… it is a struggle… every night the same old story… try it… I don’t want to… just try it… I don’t want to… one bite… no!

If this sounds like you and your kids, you are not alone. I’m with ya… and I’ll share with you a little trick I tried with my 5-year-old son Smarty Pants last night that worked really well.

So, my dear wife made potato soup, and swiftly left the house as soon as dinner was served. All alone, I was left to fend for myself, with two children frowning at the bowls of soup set before them. I knew I had to come up with an approach… and fast.

It started with the usual: “I don’t want this”… “Just try it” ping-pong… but… then I threw in a curve ball. (Is it possible to throw a curve ball in ping-pong?)

Anyway… it went a little something like this:

Me: “Don’t eat it!”

Smarty Pants: (giggles… a little taken aback)

Me: “It tastes really good, so you shouldn’t eat it”

Smarty Pants: (still looking confused, surprised, and giggling).

Me: “If you eat it, you are going to like it, and then we are going to have to make it all the time for you, and that is too much work. So it is better that you don’t try it.”

Smarty Pants: “But are you going to eat yours?”

Me: “Yes”

Smarty Pants: “Then I am going to eat mine.”

Me: “No, don’t… you are going to like it and then we are going to have to make it all the time, and we don’t want that.”

Smarty Pants: “I am going to try it.”

Me: “Okay.”

And he tried it, and he liked it. Hurrah!

Mind you, Smarty Pants is a little more apt to try things by nature, so I can’t guarantee this technique will work with all kids (it only kinda worked with my daughter, who NEVER wants to try anything… she tried it, but then broke into tears as soon as the soup hit her tongue).

In any case… it was kinda fun, and it made him laugh, so try it yourself and see how it goes! (Actually… don’t try it… the technique is too good, and then you are going to have to use it all the time, and ask me for more tips… so please don’t try it!)

Till next time, happy parenting, and leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Cheers.

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The movie is called “Game Time: Tackling the Past” and it is airing on Saturday, September 3 on NBC at 8pm ET/7pm CT.

I caught a sneak-peek preview of the whole movie, and watched it with my three year-old daughter and five year-old son. My son loves football, so he was excited to watch it with me… my daughter was excited to watch the football sequences too, although she kept calling it “soccer” (but to her defense, she also speaks German, where “soccer” is call “Fussball.”)

The film tells the story of Jake Walker, a pro football player who hasn’t been in contact with his family for several years, after getting into an argument with his dad and then leaving for the pros. He returns home when he hears news of his father’s heart attack, and while home he “tackles the past” and must face the issues with his dad and brother, that have gone unresolved for many years.

I really enjoyed watching the film, and so did my kids. The football sequences kept the movie exciting and interesting for them, and they still got the overall message of the film, which was the importance of communication and teamwork, both on the field as a football team, and off the field as a family.

What I like about this movie is that it is fun (football, fun characters, including some cool kids) to keep the whole family engaged, and it conveys a lot of good family messages at the same time. Equally, there is no violence or swearing and no scary or evil characters. So you never have to worry about covering your kid’s eyes or ears, and can really sit back and enjoy it with them.

After the movie, you’ll have lots of good topics to talk about with your kids, including the importance of communication in your family and the importance of teamwork and helping others.

The movie also does a nice job touching on the importance of family. I liked how those characters with strong family ties were really portrayed as the ones who “have it all.”

Net-net: Game Time: Tackling the Past is a great family movie for any family to watch. For fathers and sons, and particularly fathers and sons who love football, it is a definite must see! This is definitely a movie that will leave you and your familly with the “warm and fuzzies.”

For more information, visit the Official Game Time: Tackling the Past website.

Go ahead and Like It on Facebook too!

Don’t forget: The movie is called “Game Time: Tackling the Past” and it is airing on Saturday, September 3 on NBC at 8pm ET/7pm CT.

Until then, watch the trailer- right here, right now!:

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Nota Bene: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of P&G and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate. The opinions expressed here are all my own.

So we are happy to take part in a series of adventures in getting organized with Brother P-Touch. We’ll be putting Brother P-Touch labels to the test, and using them to get organized. We’ll report back to you how we get along with the labeller and labels, and if they live up to The Dad Jam’s toughness tests.

Here, in Episode 1, we’ll put some Brother P-Touch labels through the ringer and see if they stay stuck and maintain their integrity. Then, in Episode 2, we’ll show you how we used the labels to get ourselves organized. In Episode 3, we’ll wrap it all up and let you know how the labels are holding up against everyday use.

Episode 1:

Episode 1 began with the arrival of our Brother P-Touch Extreme Test Kit.

The test kit included: P-Touch Sample Labels, a Plexi-Glass Block, Nail Polish Remover, bleach, a brush, and a scrubber sponge.

Our mission: to see how well the label would hold up to some intense scrubbing and an abrasives.

For our first test, we subjected the “Test Zone” label on the plexi-glass block to the following abuse:

1. Nail Polish Remover

2. Intese brushing

3. Bleach

4. More intense brushing

Here are the before, during, and after photos:

Before

During

More During, and Enduring

After - Still looking Great!

Looks like the labels were holding up well! So for the next test, we upped the ante:

1. Bleach

2. Sponge Scrubbing

3. Brushing

4. 5 minutes of water pouring onto the label

5. Nail Polish Remover

6. More Brushing

7. More Sponge Scrubbing

Did the label hold up? See for yourself:

Before

During

Another during shot...

After the test - still looking as good as new!

As you can see, we couldn’t do anything to break these labels! The text was totally unaffected, and the labels did not come off at all!

The only thing that was damaged in this whole process, were our fingers. They were totally red from all the scrubbing and chemicals!

This testing did more damage to our fingers than to the labels!

So there you have it. Looks like we have some really tough labels on our hands. Looking forward to using the labels to get organized, and putting them to the test in our house. Stay tuned for Episode 2!

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Nota Bene: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Brother P-Touch and received a product and gift card to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Daily Physical Activity: the Foundation for a Healthy Lifestyle – Six Great Tips for Getting Your Family Active

By: Kathleen Thomas, Primrose Day Care Schools

Experts suggest that young children need to accumulate at least 60 minutes and up to several hours of physical activity every day. Unfortunately, many children are not nearly as active as they need to be. Along with poor diet, physical inactivity has contributed to a large increase in childhood obesity in the United States in the past 20 years. The following statistics are unsettling:

• Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese nationwide. (Source: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
• The percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states. (Source: Trust for America’s Health)

Research has shown that children who develop basic motor skills such as throwing, catching, kicking, jumping, skipping, and balance are more likely to grow into healthy active adults. Studies have shown that daily physical activity helps children academically as well. Learning basic physical skills is essential to the healthy growth and development of your child.

Dr. Stephen Sanders, author, professor, and director of the School of Physical Education and Exercise Science at the University of South Florida is a member of the Primrose Schools Education Advisory Board. He says that children do not necessarily learn physical skills on their own. He has found they need guidance and assistance from adults, challenging activities, and opportunities to practice and refine physical skills.

The amount of time children spend daily in physical activity is decreasing, and it will take a determined effort from parents to reverse this trend.

What can parents do to teach their children about the importance of being physically active and help them learn these necessary skills? Trying the six tips below will help you and your family create a fun environment for physical activity and will contribute to everyone’s physical health.

Six Great Tips for Getting Your Family Active:

• Find appropriate, safe spaces for quality physical activity: Provide safe spaces inside and outside for your child to be active.
• Ensure the availability of age-appropriate supplies: Being physically active is like learning to read, write, or do math problems in that each requires proper materials or equipment.
• Provide abundant supplies of balls, hoops, hockey sticks, bats, paddles, racquets, musical instruments, jump ropes, etc. They need balls of all sizes, shapes, and weights such as beanbags, sock balls, and rubber balls. Equipment should be soft, lightweight, and made for children.
• Be active with your children: Don’t just send your children outside to play–be a role model!  Go outside with them and participate in games and other activities that require physical exertion!
• Use sidewalk chalk to create your own four-square or hopscotch grids; blow bubbles then chase them around the yard to see who can catch them; go on a walk around the neighborhood or through a park as a family; play music and dance inside or outside; and when the weather is nice put on your bathing suits and run through the sprinklers.
• Promote a feeling of success when you play with your child. If your child is not yet able to successfully throw and hit a target, encourage them to move a little closer so they can be successful. Skills are acquired incrementally. Children who do not experience success have a tendency to quit and not practice. Acknowledge their efforts with specific comments. No matter what your child’s skill level is, be a supportive coach. They will benefit from your encouragement.

When children come into the world, physical activity is at the very center of their lives. They have a mission to learn to crawl, walk, run, throw, catch, and kick. If they are going to enjoy participating in physical activities now and as adults, they need to build on that foundation of success an enjoyment that begins in infancy. So, grab a ball, badminton racket, or jump rope and set aside time each day to play with your child!

Leave a comment and tell us what you think and what you are doing to keep your family active!

Thank you Kathleen for the amazing tips!

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