As part of the fun of being a Fisherprice Mom, surprise packages arrive at our door once and a while.  These packages have toys of course, and when a box of toys shows up it sends the kids into a frenzy.  Can we say excited?

We opened the box on a Saturday morning and spent the entire morning playing with the toys (while daddy and I played, we got to enjoy some coffee of course!).

No matter what the toy (or not a toy – boxes, potatoes, ribbon – it all is fun to them) I am always amazed at the way they play using their imagination.  The way they pretend what their characters are doing, or who they are pretending to be.  When my son asks his sister ‘want to play’? She always responds with ‘what I going to be?’.  Give her a character and the play begins!

I love hearing them change their voices to represent different people and my son sets the scene well.  Imagination brings them together and it melts my heart.

care for tea in bed?

And my nerdy self was as excited as the kids when we opened the Batman and Joker toys. It’s about time my kids get into the superheroes/comic book characters I think.  Typically The Joker tries to do something bad (it’s often not explained what) and Batman comes to save the day.  The Joker usually escapes.  And somehow the kids thing Batman can fly (‘he has a CAPE mom!!!’) but we’ll let that slide for now.

Not this time, Joker!

What toys bring out your child’s imagination?

So after my post early in the new year about whether or not we will renovate this home we are currently in, or look to buy a new one, we quickly decided to stay put and renovate.  In re-reading the post, I suppose I was pretty well talking out loud to confirm what I suspected would be our decision.

We started to look at and talk about what we would want.  I’ve been on Pinterest gathering ideas like a mad woman! Our ideas quickly became grand, but the reality of staying meant that we wanted to be really happy and plan to stay for a very long time.  We looked at the house as a whole and decided that the first things to be done were:

-Organizing and purging

-Kitchen Reno

-Kids’ Rooms

We’ll get to the other stuff later, but the master bedroom, basement playroom and so on are really areas that need cosmetic, design and organizational work.  Eventually the carpets needs to be done in the basement/stairs area too.  But, I digress! (I do that a lot when talking about our plans!)

We are in a small space, and to continue to stay in it (and yes, I realize that 1800 sq feet is likely *hardly* considered small) we had to start with the kitchen.

Our kitchen is open to the dining area and living area.  It’s the main area where we eat, cook, gather when we have company, have dance parties, do arts and crafts and homework.   It’s the hub of the house so it took importance.

That’s the biggest investment we will have in the house.  So, the first thing we decide was to hire a designer.  After some really informal chats with Meredith Heron on Twitter (@meredithheron), she was really kind about giving me tips and advice when looking for a designer.  It didn’t take long for me to finally just say ‘um, would you do it?’.  She lives in Toronto and we’re in Ottawa.  In fact, she’s done projects in Ottawa before so when she accepted it was a dream (and as importantly: Andy was thrilled.  This entire project is very much a 50/50 convo between us, I’m just the front person!)

You may recognize Meredith from Restaurant Makeover and online you can find her blogging about her projects and this and that on her own site.

She’s already started putting together some thoughts about the look for the kitchen and living room.  You can see those here (feel free to gush about them in the comments, I’m ready to accept it

I think there’s something to be said about finding a fit between designer and yourself before proceed.  We loved Meredith’s portfolio and know she’ll keep us to budget but push us out of our comfort zone a little (which we need!).

Here’s a little ‘before’ shot:

Meanwhile, she continues to work on the plans and soon we’ll be getting down to the real hard work of finalizing and actually having the work done.

This means more purging, and eventually packing stuff up temporarily.

Future posts will be coming about all of this – including more kitchen stuff happening, the kids bedrooms (bunk beds of all things have been ordered, someone help me!), about getting rid of furniture (it’s time, but I have a hard time) and when Andy and I actually attempt to paint a room by ourselves (don’t laugh, we’ve never done it together. HA).  I’ve set up a new page to keep links to the posts for those interested in home decor and renovations.

So, it’s actually happening.  I’m excited and nervous and everything in between.   Wish us luck!

As part of 100 days of school and Kindness Week, my son’s class was asked to count out 100 pennies to bring for donation to a local foundation.  I LOVE this idea.  Not only is it a great way to be kind, but it was a chance for us to talk about numbers and counting.

First, I set out craft paper on the dining table.  The kids started by drawing on it and having fun with it.

Then, I drew 10 circles and marked x10 in each.

My son was tasked with counting out 10 pennies at a time and putting them in a circle.

Once he completed all the circles, we talked about counting by 10s, how many pennies there were in total and so on.  He seemed to really enjoy it!

Add on: While he was doing that, my daughter was counting (trying) nickels into 5 circles marked x4 in each. When everyone’s money was sorted, we talked about which pile (the 10×10 pennies or the 5×4 nickels) had more value.  My son picked the pennies (there are more pennies afterall!) but then we talked about how many pennies are in a nickel etc.

It was a great activity! When it was all done, he had a bag of pennies for donation.

Kindness Week has begun!  Although we know that it should be year round, this is a week to really focus on what we can do, as individuals and as a community, to make our world (and that of our children’s) more kind.

I’m blogging on the Kindness website this week and my first post includes my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe.  On Friday, we packaged up the delicious cupcakes and dropped them off at friend’s houses as a kind gesture.

I also have a Kindness board on Pinterest that has some really great kind ideas and sentiments that may help to inspire us.

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, February 22) between 8 pm and 9 pm EST, Candace Derickx (@seemummyjuggle, Life in Pleasantville) and I will be hosting a Twitter Party to talk about being kind.  Nothing formal, just a way to share ideas and celebrate how wonderful it is to be kind and witness kind acts.

Lastly, if you have, or are writing about kindness, please don’t hesitate to post it on my Facebook page, or in the comments below so that I might help share the word!  Use the #kindottawa hashtag on Twitter and follow the Kind Ottawa page for event information and more kind details.

Happy Kindness Week everyone! What are you doing to be kind?

Hockey is truly a Canadian sport.  It seems many (most?) children in Canada grow up watching it on TV, or playing it, or dreaming about playing it.

My husband has always been a huge OHL hockey supporter.  He grew up in Windsor and over many years we have watched a lot of Spitfires hockey on TV (even when they play Ottawa!).

As I’ve said before on this blog, we are really lucky to have so many family friendly activities to do in Ottawa.  The Ottawa 67s have long been a large part of our community – from the game itself to giving back charitably.

I love taking kids to sporting events because it’s a perfect atmosphere for most – loud and fun with lots to do.  Watching the game, walking around, taking in the sites.

The Ottawa 67s have a St. Hubert Family Zone where there is no alcohol.  There is a mascot and activities during the intermission.   Sounds like a fun and affordable family friendly event!

WIN!

The Ottawa 67s are giving Bit of Momsense readers a chance to win one of two packs of 5 tickets for an upcoming date!

To win: Comment below and tell me your favourite childhood memory about hockey.  Don’t have one? No problem! Tell me your favourite winter memory

2 draws each for 5 tickets will be made.  Giveaway open to Ottawa and Ottawa area residents.  Dates eligible: Friday, March 9^th  @ 7:30pm, Sunday, March 11^th  @ 2pm, Friday, March 16^th  @ 7:30pm.  Winner will be mailed (time permitting) tickets or will pick them up at the Box office.  

Giveaway ends on Friday, February 24 9 pm EST.

Good luck!

Here it is, 5 of my favourite pins from the week.  Add any of your favourites in the comments!!

1- I love this idea for the kids art work that can be rotated frequently

2- With Easter coming up, I thought this was adorable

3- These sound really yummy – with oats, peanut butter and bananas

4- For those of you who are fellow bloggers and are trying to get organized, this may be of assistance!

5-Since it’s Kindness Week, this pin had 100 ideas on how to be kind to our children

I will admit, I think the weeks are flying by.  Despite each of the kids each having a cold (one worse than the other) for a weekend in February and myself run down (but better now!) there is nothing ‘slow’ about February.

It’s mostly been filled with family fun in truth.  The kids and I are spending time at gymnastics, play dates, and museums and I think all of us sense that spring is in the air and are itching to go go go.

When I can sit to write and chat online there’s a lot of exciting happening there as well.

I’m the Brand Ambassador for momstown ottawa which is looking for someone to become an entrepreneur with them in this area.  More to come on that, but I love what momstown stands for and what they do so it’s a wonderful position to have.  Check them out on Facebook and Twitter in the meantime and I’ll chat more about it here soon.

Kindness Week launches today (February 17-24) and I’m blogging on their site over the next week about kindness as I have done for the past couple of years.  I truly believe that the kind spirit should take place year round, but this week is a perfect way to highlight how fantastic this city is and most importantly how wonderful the people are.

I have two giveaways coming up this weekend – one from Future Shop and one from the Ottawa 67s so stay tuned for those! (The best way is to sign up to this blog by email – wink wink)

In January, our first Mind Her Business workshop took place that Amanda Degrace, Gwen Leron and myself co-organized.  I think it was a huge success and most importantly it really helped me set some goals and plans while there.  We hope to continue with some events which I usually post on my Facebook page.

Plus, you may have been reading about my advertisers? Can I just say how awesome they are? It may help that I’m also a customer for most of them (some before they were advertisers!) but really, having the ability to work with such businesses is a pleasure and if you get a chance, check them out. They are worth it!

I’m also working on a few other things but it’s all a little hush hush right now but over the next couple of months more will be shaking.

Meanwhile, I continue to write about a little bit of everything on this blog, where my true writing heart lies.  When I think about writing about kindness, and kid activities, and house renos, and television – I realize that I am really writing about the life of a mom aren’t I? There’s no rhyme or reason, no one topic that we focus on.  Just a little bit of everything.  And I like that

Wishing you a kind week!!

Today I was under the weather. Not serious. It started with a headache that I couldn’t shake, then the chills.  But in the end I suspect I’m just run down and fighting whatever the kids had the past couple weeks.

But what is striking is how, as a stay at home mom, I can’t ‘call in sick’, so instead, I have to hope that the kids cooperate and agree to have a quiet day with me. (It should be noted that if I was worse, my husband would have come home, but for a headache it wasn’t necessary.  He did, however, leave a few minutes early).

Ever since I became a mom, my kids somehow gave me a reprieve when I wasn’t feeling well.  They are patient and get along.  They don’t insist I run after them.  They are kind and caring.

For this I feel blessed.  Fortunately, I haven’t ever been really ill when at home with them but it’s nice to know that on days when mama just doesn’t feel well, they care for me, as I do for them when they are sick.

I guess that’s true love isn’t it?

Heading to bed early and I’m sure I’ll feel fine tomorrow!

Everyday is a day to tell our loved ones how special they are and how much we love them.  Today has extra chocolate.

I am surrounded by the people I love most and feel grateful for that each day.

Be kind and have a sweet day.  And when you can, check out the cute google.com video they have!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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]]> http://bitofmomsense.com/2012/02/14/happy-valentines-day/feed/ 0 http://bitofmomsense.com/2012/02/14/happy-valentines-day/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bitofmomsense/ORQv/~3/kI6gp-sCaDI/ http://bitofmomsense.com/2012/02/13/welcoming-new-advertiser-tag-along-toys/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:21:45 +0000 Rebecca http://bitofmomsense.com/?p=2365

I feel like a kid in a, well, toy store, when I visit Tag Along Toys.  Located in the west end of Ottawa, Tag Along is a locally run neighbourhood toy store that is just amazing. I say that as a customer who can go in there and spend way too  much time some time shopping.

Now I have the pleasure of welcoming Tag Along Toys as a Bit of Momsense advertiser!

Tag Along Toys opened in September 2001.  It was started by Patti Taggart who saw Kanata was a growing Neighborhood in the West End of the city and wanted to combine her love of learning, children and fun.

I had worked as an Early Childhood Educator at Algonquin College Early Learning Centre with Infants to Preschoolers for over 10 years so felt my expertise of working with young children would help me in starting a business relating to children.

I am so proud to see the smiles and reactions on childrens,parents and grandparents faces when they enter the store and they say wow what a beautiful store with a great selection of unique items. I often get emails from customers sharing there experience with me and how we provide such great customer service that they will share with friends.

Also so proud to see my son and how he reacts when he comes in the store to visit and it’s like a new place to him every time.

—Patti Taggart, Owner, Tag Along Toys

Having a locally run toy store is important for a lot of shoppers.  Honestly, at Christmas, my mom and I drove from Orleans to Kanata to shop there (happily).   We were both amazed at the selection (such a selection!) as well as the service.

Did I mention that Tag Along Toys offers a 20% off discount on the last Thursday of each month to Grandparents and 10% off everyday to teachers and educators?

You can find a lot of Playmobil at Tag Along as well as other brands such as Djeco and eco-friendly lines such as Plan Toys, Hape Toys, Blue Orange Games, Kiss Naturals, Green Toys and so many others.

Follow Tag Along Toys on Twitter and Facebook for product updates, discounts and special offers.

Welcome Tag Along Toys!