It’s Sunday night! Are you watching the Superbowl? Maybe you are reading blogs and browsing Pinterest like me.

Please put your Pinterest link in the comments if you have an account – I’m looking for a new people to follow!

If you are on Pinterest, here are 5 of my favourite Pins from this past week! Enjoy!

5 Pins This Week that I Loved

1) How cute would this be for the kids to wake up to on their Birthday?

2) I made these today without any nuts for school/work snacks. They are so good!

3) A really cute way to save our children’s scribbles

4) We are in kitchen renovation mode so a lot of my pins are related to that, but having a drawer for bread seemed like a neat idea!

5) This will be me tomorrow morning. ‘Nuff said.

Valentine’s day is just around the corner and it’s a great time to reflect on how we say “I love you” each and every day (not just on February 14!

For us is usually means chocolates, a nice meal and wine.  Sometimes a small token or gift.

This year, if you are looking for a special way to celebrate Valentine’s Day consider buying Fair Trade.

What is Fair Trade?

Fair Trade is a different way of doing business. It’s about making principles of fairness and decency mean something in the marketplace.

It seeks to change the terms of trade for the products we buy – to ensure the farmers and artisans behind those products get a better deal. Most often this is understood to mean better prices for producers, but it often means longer-term and more meaningful trading relationships as well.

–www.fairtrade.ca

There are a lot of gift options that are Fair Trade, including chocolates, coffee, wine, and jewellery.

Bit of Momsense advertiser, Ten Thousand Villages sells Fair Trade items year round and has a great listing of gift options.  There are two stores in Ottawa and they have a current free shipping promotion happening!

Here are a few of my favourite Valentine’s Day gift ideas from Ten Thousand Villages:

Beautiful Cards

Silver and Copper Earrings (how beautiful are these?!)

Mini dark chocolate (fortunately for me, my husband's favourite chocolate is dark!)

Pink Bowl (hint: fill it with chocolate!)

*Ten Thousand Villages Ottawa is an advertiser of Bit of Momsense however this post is something I wanted to write about because I am trying to buy more Fair Trade products and love the items at Ten Thousand Villages! I hope you check them out and support the great work they do.

The other day I wrote a post about how to keep the kids busy indoors during cold or rainy days.  There are a lot of ideas in that post that really work for us.

One activity I mentioned is to set up an obstacle course.  On Monday, building off of that idea, I set up ‘workout’ stations for the kids on the main floor.

They *loved* them.  They were happy to be moving and active and I choose activities that would keep their interest.

I set up three stations:

Jumping Jacks

The Plank (they lie on the floor and kind of ‘fly’ like Superman)

The Maze 

For the Maze I used painters tape and made a low section to jump over, then two higher ropes to glide under.

The kids had a blast, each taking turns going through the course over and over again (and I got to sneak in some indoor exercise for all of us!)

How are you keeping active in the cold weather?

Have you heard of CanvasPop? If you haven’t already become a customer, you may have heard the latest buzz about their Instagram printing.

CanvasPop turns digital images into canvas creating custom, personal and beautiful artwork in your own home.

A few points that CanvasPop wants you to know about:

• Gallery-quality canvas printing
• A panorama of sizes and choices
• A personal designer
• Human-powered™ customer care
• Archival UV matte laminate
• Free digital proof
• Filters and effects for low-resolution photos
• Complimentary Picture Perfect touch-ups
• Digital Facelift design services
• Instagram photos on canvas
• 100% satisfaction guaranteed

I am so over Winter. Am I alone? Because seriously, I’m not sure what it is this year but I am done.

Sadly, we still have many weeks left of winter and the unpredictable weather. It’s not easy to get the kids out the door, let alone getting them somewhere to run around and have fun.

But as a stay at home mom for over 5 years now, I’ve learned a few tips and tricks to pass the cold, crummy winter days.

1- Board games and card games

When my children became old enough to play card games (starting with memory and go-fish, now UNO is the game my 5 year old and I love) it felt like a new world of play.  It was fun, accessible and different.

2- Let’s get physical!

I have written about fun activities before, including how to set up an indoor obstacle course. It doesn’t have to be difficult, but something to get everyone moving works!

Another game is pillow long  jump.  Use a pillow and encourage the kids to try and jump over it without touching.  Be sure to be the announcer and call their names like at the Olympics to make it more exciting!

Still looking to get moving? One we love is this circle time dance activity.

3-Crafts

Messy sometimes, but fun, always.  Craft time is wonderful for using little imaginations, helping fine motor skills and spending time together.  Check out the activity page for ideas like making their own puzzle or home made playdough

4-Old Activities, New Twist

Despite my terrible drawing abilities, my kids like to play pictionary.  We don’t play the traditional board game way, I just start to draw recognizable objects and have them guess (and as they get older they can do the same!).

Another (strangely) and hugely popular game is hide and go seek with a sticky note.  I know it sounds strange, but I draw either an object (a ghost at Halloween etc) or a happy face on a sticky note (which can be hidden in more creative ways than other objects!) and hide it while they count.  On the back of a chair, on the wall, on the guitar – the opportunities are endless!

5-Relax

Sometimes, a pyjama and movie (or Wii) day is in order.  Everyone is comfy and warm, relaxed and not having to plan something or feel like you have to go somewhere is important.  I think we should just have free play and be together some days in the comfort of our own home!

6-Around the town

If the roads are clear, getting out to our local museums (including the Agriculture Museum because the barns remain open in the winter!), doing a drop in at our local gymnastics place, or visiting the library are all inexpensive, but really fun ways to spend a cold winter day.

Still looking for more ideas? Fisher-Price has a great listing of family friendly activities that are easy to play with your children.

What are you doing to get through the winter with the kids?

Disclosure: I am super excited to have been invited to be a part of the Fisher Price Moms panel with Mom Central Canada. I receive special perks for my participation, but my opinions and choice to share are my own

Here’s a round up of some of my favourite pins from Pinterest this week.  Enjoy!

Wow, it’s hard to believe we are staring at the end of January.  But, here we go again – onto another month of great stuff happening in Ottawa!

Have an event you want people to know about? Feel free to add it in the comments!

**ETA: Thanks to a reader who also mentioned that the Rink Of Dreams is now ready! Great family fun skate time.  Ottawa is amazing…

January 28th: Museum of Civilization is hosting a children’s reading session with author Barbara Reid.  Free with admission to the museum.

January 28th at the Tartan Pub in Orleans, the United Way is having a chili competition.  $10 gets you in to taste. YUM!

February 3-20 is Winterlude in Ottawa again! The Rideau Canal is open for skating and events are happening over the next couple of weeks that will be fun for the whole family!

February 6 is the F.A.B. Women Gala promoting positive change to create awareness about women’s body image and eating disorders.

February 14 is Valentine’s Day. Parents, you may be like us and realize that a fancy dinner out mid-week may not happen, so how about ordering a fancy dinner in? Epicuria has launched their menu (it looks amazing) and kids eat free when 2 adult meals are ordered!

February 17-24 is Kindness Week in Ottawa.  There will be lots of opportunities to participate, but if you are a blogger think about some ways to share with your readers how to be kind.

February 18-20 is Funatorium Explorium!  A weekend long family fun event that has something for everyone – rock climbing, Lego Zone, workshops, creating spaces, a marketplace and more, this is a special way to spend a cold winter day.

So here’s a little look into what my day looks like as Stay at home mom, as blogger etc.  I’ve arranged some pictures to give you an idea (ok, this isn’t every day, but I happened to take a lot of pictures today so here you go

——–

The am begins with coffee, of course.  Followed by dropping my son off at school.  Sometimes easily, sometimes getting ready in the morning is a chore (for all of us).

Back at home, while my 3 year old plays, I get some work online done.  This morning I did some admin stuff on the blog, answered emails, tweeted, Pinterest etc.  I was working hard, looking at files like this:

thanks Gwen for sharing this with me

I mean, lots of hard work.

I played with the three year old then gathered up a picnic lunch.

We picked my son up at school and headed to the Agriculture Museum.

The barns are open and the admission is free! Mama pig and her fresh babies made me feel happy.

After, we had our picnic lunch in the van and started to drive home.  Luckily, a drive-thru Starbucks *happens* to be on the way home.

AND they had Gingerbread Lattes still!! It was like, well, Christmas!

My daughter fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep even when I brought her into the house.  I ended up baking muffins and prepping supper (Traditional Macaroni and Cheese) then had to stare at these:

Got those away and now have been asked to play a game where I’m a dragon, or some thing of the sort.

Supper is ready to go in the oven and I’d say it was a pretty great day!

Anyone relate?

I am really excited to have been asked back as the United Way’s Kindness Week blogger again this year.  This will be my third year writing about kind acts during Kindness Week.  This year, Kindness Week is between February 17 and 24 focusing on themes like “Give”, “Volunteer”, “Say Thanks”, “Celebrate Kindness” and “Pay it Forward”.  It’s a chance to highlight the good in our community, people helping neighbours and focus on something positive.   And yes, there are many different ways you can get involved.

This initiative is now in its fifth year and is intended to get us thinking about how we can be kind in our every day lives and ACTING on those moments to be kind.  How we can teach kindness to our children, the impact eventh the smallest of acts may have and the message to be kind year round is an important one.

You’ll be reading and hearing about Kindness Week much more over the next few weeks leading to February 17 and then of my blog posts will be up on the Kind Ottawa Website.

Looking to get involved? Want more information? Just want to support the campaign? You can start now!

Follow the Facebook Page (facebook.com/kindottawa) for great up to date information and inspiring links and stories.   The Facebook page also has an event calendar to keep up to date with kind events (and you can request to add yours!)

And non-Ottawa readers, it’s still a great page to like with many links and stories being shared (not just from Ottawa!).

Check out the Kind Ottawa website for ideas on how to be kind (hint: small gestures really make a difference!) and to learn more about the initiative.

Follow Kind Ottawa on Twitter (@kindottawa) and when you see a kind act, or RT one, add the #kindottawa hashtag so it can be shared!

Ottawa should be proud  to be focusing on kindness in such a special way. Let’s work together to make sure kindness happens year round too!

Stay tuned for more – and get ready to be challenged to think about what kind act you can do.

Do you have a kind act happening at your work? In your home? At the school? Feel free to share it! We love hearing about wonderful stories that bring people together to help others.

Purging! January has been about clearing out our space since we have pretty well decided to renovate rather than look for a new home.  So in our small space everything becomes about efficiency – and letting go.

This is a hard thing for me to do.  Because that gift you gave me 5 years ago? Likely still in my house.  That box of random stuff I didn’t unpack when we moved here 9 years ago? Still under the stairs.  I have a hard time letting go.  I put sentimental value on almost everything.

Is it because I can’t let go of history and memories? Absolutely, that’s part of it.  I also collect a lot of antiques and hold on to them (even the ones that collect dust).

But I worked hard in the new year to give some items up (as you can see in the picture above).  With only one double bed in the house, why did we have 5 changes of bedding?  Or 20 extra pillow case covers?

Fortunately, in my area, charities call and offer to come pick up household items to be donated.  They sort and sell these items to raise money for their causes, so it’s a win-win for all of us.  I just wait for the call and get to work.

I’m proud about letting go, and I feel good.  Getting rid of too much stuff is like a weight being lifted.  I still have more items to clear out – the toys and storage rooms still have to be looked at.  But I’m taking it step by step.

Do you find it easy to clear out your stuff? Or do you hold on like I do?