• A Year of Social Connection and Personal Reinvention.

    11/12/2014 - By 

    I have been spending a little bit of time on the internet lately. Well, I have been spending a little bit of time procrastinating lately. It doesn’t feel like December so I don’t feel the crunch to get my handmade Christmas gifts done like I should. But I will! So while I was procrastinating I have noticed there have been a lot of “change the rules” or “break the mold” kind of websites that are becoming very popular and profitable. I predict this will be a year of more social connection (how many websites encourage you to take time away…

  • How to Make Your Own Christmas Tree Advent Calendar

    08/12/2014 - By 

    Happy December! I meant to post this earlier but there is still time to make this if you wanted to. Just leave the days that have already passed empty or fill them with only tissue paper. Christmas Tree Advent Calender Here is what you need: Toilet paper rolls, cut in half. Enough to make 24 empty spots Tissue paper, in Christmas colours or only green. Your choice. Paint, watercolors or acrylic Candies (We used our leftover Halloween candy) Hot glue gun or clear craft glue. Piece of cardboard or card stock for backing (we left ours plain but you could…

  • Play-dough!!

    19/11/2014 - By 

    So everyone must have a fave childhood craft or toy that they went back to time and time again. Ours was play-dough. My husband’s was Lego, but all I remember is play-dough. We used hand me down kitchen utensils and re-purposed craft things and built a play-dough world. Food, animals, houses…you name it. It kept us endlessly entertained.   Until today my kid’s craft and utensil supplies for play-dough sucked and they still had fun. All the kids are at school, so after cleaning up lunch, I ran to the store and stocked up on supplies. I got a little…

  • Creating an Independent Human.

    10/11/2014 - By 

    I failed to write a blog post a day *sad face!!* because I didn’t come on yesterday. I had a headache, Izzy was hacking up a lung, and Hunter had to go to the dr yesterday. He had a temp of 104F and we found out he has a double ear infection. Poor little guy was feverish for 4 full days. His fever broke today at his nap-time and I have never felt such relief!! Isabella has the strongest immune system. This cough is the longest she has been sick. She gets a cold here and there but usually a…

  • Raising a Highly Sensitive Child.

    08/11/2014 - By 

    Today was tiring. Hunter has an ear infection and his fever fluctuated between 101-103F today. He puked at 3am and again 3 times during the day. I set him up with shows on a laptop upstairs and a bottle of coconut water. He sat quietly and watched, saying it hurt too much to lay down and that was what was causing him to throw up. Smart. So he sat up, surrounded by pillows. I came to check on him every 30 minutes. The kid I babysit was in the basement, also set up with shows since he also seemed low…

  • November Means Christmas Planning

    04/11/2014 - By 

    Today feels like a Sunday. In our adorable fourth floor walk-up townhouse (that means stairs between every floor, if you’re wondering), my family is busy doing various things. My Husband worked from home today and the kids are home sick from school, which totally made it feel like a Sunday. We all spent most of the day in our pajamas (mine were pink plaid Hello Kitty ones, if you’re wondering) and the kids watched a lot of movies. My poor girl Izzy is suffering from a terrible cough and sore throat and now my poor boy Hunter has the cough…

  • My Grade One Reading Corner

    18/10/2014 - By 

    Do you remember learning to read? I don’t really! I remember being three and a half and reading little words to my sister from picture books. My mom confirms this, so I am not crazy. To say it out loud sounds too young, but there I was, reading small words. I am sure that is quite common. I distinctly remember my grade one reading corner. Grade one seemed so daunting to me. A whole day around ‘strangers’. The reading nook was so comfortable and such a safe place for me to hang out. I felt at home there. When you…

  • Little Nighttime Rituals

    08/10/2014 - By 

    Isabella is a sensitive kid, just as I was when I was little, and maybe still am. As a sensitive person in an unpredictable world, she needs a certain amount of routine she can count on. I started a new night time ritual just so she would have a nice transition in to sleep. It all started when we were building Lego as a family one Saturday afternoon and Isabella turned to us and said, “I have a secret I have been keeping for awhile, and some of it is bad.” Did your blood just run cold? Mine did! My…

  • Our Master Bedroom Redecoration

    01/09/2014 - By 

    We rent. However, our rental property doesn’t have to be a jumble of random hand me down furniture and a flurry of photos. We’ve been here 5 years and will probably be here for another 5 years before we can afford to buy. We are in no hurry to buy and are okay renting. The only thing that bugged me was our bedroom. After I did Isabella’s bedroom in May, I realized the potential of these rooms. The current colour of my room was the cheap ivory colour that the landlord had put in. It was somewhere between dirt and…

  • So Our Camping Trip Was a Fail.

    25/07/2014 - By 

     I think I come off to some as someone who prefers to be pampered. Who likes things around me to be happy. I am Type A, who loves a plan and things to be properly in their place, to be sure, but I am adaptable when need be. I do like my bed. But I am not against camping at all. I’d rather be at a rustic cabin, cuz that is what I grew up knowing, but I have been camping in my teens. I’m not quite the stepmother-to-be from The Parent  Trap (Hayley Mills, I love you). When I…