Winter Wonderland {Wordless Wednesday with linky}

Winter started off with a big dump of snow this past weekend and temperatures went down to - 19 degrees celsius this week overnight with windchill! Definitely putting me in the mood more for Christmas than for Halloween!

I would love it if you left a comment after linking up your own WW post!

20 questions to ask your kids

I always thought it a neat idea every time I saw people writing letters to their children on their birthdays all about what that child's current interests were. Sadly, I never actually got around to ever writing one. I saw this idea recently and like it even better, especially since the child gets to answer all the questions! 

Here are the results of asking my son:

Nathan- Age 10

1. What is your favourite color?

Red

2. What is your favourite toy?

Beyblades

3. What is your favourite fruit?

Apples

4. What is your favourite TV show?

Beyblades

5. What is your favourite thing to eat for lunch?

Cheese filled Tortellini

Super Undies Pocket Potty Training Pants Review

When we received our Super Undies Pocket Potty Training pants we had been using pocket diapers for about 3.5 years. And yes we had continued to use them as training pants, which didn't seem to bother our daughter but who wouldn't want a training pant that was instead made to look like big kid underwear and not a diaper, but also super hero inspired?

Front View

Super Undies are available in a pull on trainer, nighttime undies, and pocket trainers like we received. To find out more about the difference between the pull on and pocket trainers check out this great video.

Cook'n Recipe Organizer Giveaway - Hoppin' Halloween Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Hoppin’ Halloween Giveaway Hop hosted by MamaNYC!
 We’re celebrating Halloween with an amazing event that features ALL sorts of prizes, which means there is going to be plenty of prizes you’ll want to try and WIN! With over 90 blogs participating, Hoppin’ Halloween is surely going to be a SCREAM! This event will run from October 25-31st which gives you plenty of time to enter all of our giveaways. Good luck and Happy Halloween!

I have not one, but TWO prizes available as part of this awesome Giveaway. Two lucky readers will each win a download of the Cook'n Recipe Organizer Program (worth approx $80 each) Open Worldwide! Be sure to check out my REVIEW to see just how much I love Cook'n! Enter on the Rafflecopter form below:

Monday Quiz About Me

This great little Blog Hop is hosted by Heather at Acting Balanced and Wayne at Touristic.  

Heather posts 4 questions on Sunday evening and includes a linky list, so be sure to link up after posting your questions/answers.  You also have the option of adding in your own question.

And now for this weeks Questions 

1. How often do you shop for groceries? Do you shop in one place or many?

2. How old were you when you had your first tast of alcohol?

3. How much TV do you watch?

4. How do you relieve stress?

.

And don't forget to add a 5th Question on your own blog so we can answer as we hop around!

My Answers

1. How often do you shop for groceries? Do you shop in one place or many?

I usually try to only go once a week (or less) but usually at least once a week to be sure to snap up what is one sale. And more times if forget something (which I usually do!) I shop at three or four different stores.

2. How old were you when you had your first taste of alcohol?

Hard to remember, but know that my parent's used to let us have a little bit of Bailey's Irish Cream in our hot chocolate. That was probably over the age of 11 I guess.

3. How much TV do you watch?

Too much!

4. How do you relieve stress?

I love to read or take a nice bath. Or both together. Go for a walk if I am at work!

 

Monday Quiz About Me #mqam

This great little Blog Hop is hosted by Heather at Acting Balanced and Wayne at Touristic.  

Heather posts 4 questions on Sunday evening and includes a linky list, so be sure to link up after posting your questions/answers.  You also have the option of adding in your own question.

And now for this weeks Questions 

1. What is the most interesting fact you have learned recently?

2. The alarm goes off on Monday morning.  What is your first thought?

3. What is the most memorable movie line of all time?

4. Describe a situation that always seems to try your patience.

And don't forget to add a 5th Question on your own blog so we can answer as we hop around!

My Answers

1. What is the most interesting fact you have learned recently?

My son loves to learn and repeat all kinds of obscure facts. Some of them stick in my head more than others. The most recent one was that it would take 31,400 10-year-olds' brains to equal the weight of a sperm whale. Since he is ten this once is actually somewhat relevant to us.

2. The alarm goes off on Monday morning.  What is your first thought?

Do I really need to get up....

3. What is the most memorable movie line of all time?

The one that sticks in my head is of course, "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!"

4. Describe a situation that always seems to try your patience.

Poor customer service in stores. Really if I want to come into your store and purchase something at the price advertised in the flyer I think you should sell it to me at that price. Nuff said.

 

Cook'n Recipe Organizer Review

If there is one thing that I love to do it is cook and bake. I love trying out new recipes (sometimes referred to as "experiments" by others in my house, and yes some of the times they don't turn out all that great).

But for those times when I find a winner of a recipe, I of course want to keep it. Unfortunately this has led to a bit of a hoarder type situation when it comes to saving them all. I tried printing them off and storing in a binder, but half the time they didn't make it into the binder or got taken out to use and then just stacked up in a cupboard.

In addition to getting rid of those printed recipes I would like to scale back my cookbook collection, you know the ones I have but really only use for 1 or 2 favorite recipes.

Finally I have found a solution that will help me make sense of all this mess. I have been trying out Cook'n Recipe Organizer and so far I am impressed.

DIY: Make your own wizard wand

We needed to make my son a new wand for his Harry Potter costume this year after the one from last year broke so thought I would share how we did it! 

Using an 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper roll your wand, starting out by putting a strip of double sided tape diagonally along the paper. In this picture the tape was placed to where you see the rolled paper ends. Roll the paper towards the tape, being sure to roll one end narrower than the other so the roll is tapered. Stop once the roll is stuck to the tape. Before you start you could also roll it along a chopstick for stability  We simply inserted the chopstick after rolling, this was a new thing we tried this year which I think will help with the stability of the wand. 

On the paper left smear a thin coating of glue on the entire surface, and then continue rolling. Once finished rolling leave to sit for 20 to 30 minutes to dry.

National Costume Swap Day October 13th

Image: Green Halloween

Three years ago in the US a couple people came up with National Costume Swap Day which  was born from a simple idea – trading costumes instead of buying new ones. That one simple thought has blossomed into a National Event that is now expanding into Canada. Tomorrow October 13^th will be the first Costume Exchange Day in Canada.

I just heard about this event happening in my own community yesterday and while we already have costumes for the kids this year, they love to dress up, making this a perfect event for us!. And since  my kids likely won’t want to give up any of their old costumes I love that our  Local Art Gallery who is hosting the event has given multiple ways to participate in this event:

*Simply drop of old costumes you no longer need prior to the event (in good condition of course!) and receive a swap card for the day of the event

*Come on the day of the event and swap out a costume

*Come on the day of the event and donate $5 and pick out a new costume

Plus I am sure there will be loads of accessories to go along with all these new costumes. Maybe my son will find a pirate sword to go along with the pirate costume he received this year from Costume Discounters.

I love that this event promotes recycling and creativity all while kids have fun and parents get to go home knowing they have acquired cool costumes for their kids (or for yourself as there will be adult costumes too) at a fraction of the cost of buying new (Who wouldn't be excited about that?) We of course haven't bought ourselves costumes yet, so will definitely be checking out the offerings for us adults!

So if you are in the market for some new costumes or some great accessories check out the National Costume Swap Day site and click on 2012 swaps to find a location near you. For my fellow Canadians check out the Canadian site.  Note that I found not all locations offering swaps were listed on the Canadian site so be sure to keep your eyes out for info in the media in your area.  I would love to hear if you attended a swap and the cool costumes you found!

Our Garden {Wordless Wednesday with linky}

Thought I would share the two things that grew the best from our balcony garden this year. Our strawberries did not fare as well and before I could grab a picture of their deformities a certain little girl in the house had already eaten them!

I would love it if you left a comment after linking up your own WW post!

Happy Thanksgiving & Bloggers wanted for Hoppin' Halloween Giveaway Hop

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian Readers!

As I am sitting here getting ready to enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner with family, I am reminded that the next upcoming Holiday will be Halloween, which is one of our favorite Holidays. We love dressing up and taking part in the festivities.

This Halloween I am exciteed to be participating in the Hoppin' Halloween Giveaway Hop hosted by Mama NYC!

 

MamaNYC's Hoppin' Halloween Giveaway Hop. . . 

Sign up's are OPEN!*