Maple Leaf Mommy

Now here is one of those things I have total brand loyalty for -- Pampers. I tried a handful of different diaper brands when my first child was born, settled on Pampers and have never looked back. I'm a sucker for those Gifts to Grow points. I also rather like their wipes, particularly the "sensitive" ones that they put out for newborns.


Well you simply can't have a Baby Shower without diapers, can you?
Here is one practical prize that I'd rather like to win, $100 in Pampers diapers and wipes!

Sister is a word that gets tossed around a lot in this household. To tell the truth, my girls are somewhat obsessed on the topic. Whenever we look at families of objects I invariably get asked, "But where's the sister?" Anytime there are two of something sitting around, say two stuffed bears for example, they are immediately tagged as Big Sister, Little Sister. So I really shouldn't have been surprised at how excited my daughters have gotten over our new Lalaloopsy Littles doll, yet I was.

I couldn't get the girls away from the box long enough to take a picture without them in it!

See, just over a year ago I wrote a review of a Mini Lalaoopsy doll, and it really wasn't that big of a hit with G-Girl who told me it was too small. Then at Christmas time my daughters received full-sized Lalaloopsy dolls as gifts from their grandmother. They seemed to like the dolls, but then as time has passed they haven't seen much play. The full-sized dolls ended up being too hard to snuggle at bedtime and too big for little hands to carry around at playtime.

It's like the Goldilocks story all over again; the Lalaloopsy Minis were too small, the original Lalaloopsy dolls were too big, but our new Scribbles Splash Lalaloopsy Littles doll is just right.


She's just the right size for my five year old to play with (ok, let's be honest, despite the suggested age of 4+ the two year old is playing with her too). And of course my daughters are crazy about the idea that she is the Little Sister to the big Lalaloopsy dolls they have. Which means our original Lalaloopsy dolls have been hauled out from the bottom of the toybox, and are now seeing some playtime too. Even if it mainly consists of sitting nearby and watching while my daughters lead their little sister on one adventure after another.

Overall the Lalaloopsy Littles doll has been quite the hit in our house. My daughters love the slightly smaller size, and that the little dolls are meant to be younger siblings to the big ones. They also love that Scribbles Splash and her little giraffe pal are artists. They like to use the giraffe's paintbrush tail to gently paint pretend pictures in the carpet, as they tote the very cute Ms. Splash around the house for all manner of adventures.


To learn more about Lalaloopsy Dolls:
- visit their website.
- follow them on Pinterest.
- connect with them on Facebook.

Disclosure - I received a doll, as described above. As always, my opinions are my own and were not influenced by the company, or by the product received.

It's already time for the next #SCCTO Twitter party, join in Tuesday night at 9pm for some fun chat and the chance to win some truly amazing prizes from a few of this year's ShesConnected conference sponsors:

• Handmade paper bead necklace from World Vision
• Château des Charmes Seventh Generation Prize Pack (That mean wine guys!) 
• $100 Maple Leaf Foods Grocery Basket Prize Pack
• One free rental from Rent Frock Repeat
• One of Three Full Conference passes for ShesConnected 2012
• Toshiba All in One Touch Screen Computer!!! (ARV $899.00)
• LOTS more

Check out the RSVP page for a complete list of all the jaw-dropping prizes up for grabs.


Mark Your Calendars
She's Connected Conference Twitter Party
When: Last Tuesday of every month.
Follow: @SCConference, @shesconnected
Hashtag:  #SCCTO
RSVP on this page: http://shesconnectedconference.com/Micro/twitter-parties/
(To qualify for prizes you must RSVP).
EDIT: Please Note that tonight's party has been moved to 9pmEST. 

Disclosure: I attended ShesConnected Conference #SCCTO in 2010 and I’m pleased to share my thoughts on the conference. As part of the Blogger Outreach program with ShesConnected, I received compensation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

My husband asked G-Girl what she would like to do to help celebrate the end of Junior Kindergarten and her good report card (I know, like anyone gets a bad report card in kindergarten!) She said she'd like to go out to a park, one with flowers. I think she had in mind one of our usual excursions to Coventry Gardens, but her father surprised her with a trip across town to check out the Queen Elizabeth Gardens.


 In the middle of one of the gardens was a dead tree who's trunk had been carved into a sort of bench.




The Queen Elizabeth II Sunken Gardens is a bit of a tourist destination, and while I didn't snap any pictures of them even on such a hot summer's day there were plenty of small groups standing around wearing very large cameras and generally looking touristy.

And it was one VERY hot summer's day. At one point G-Girl and I were standing admiring the rather cool WWII Lancaster bombers, while I was giving her an age appropriate explanation of the fact that this was a war memorial. She seemed really interested in what I had to say, but when I asked her what she thought about it all she said, "I think I'd like it better if we were in the shade." Good point, kid.

After somewhat less then an hour it was time to get out of the sun and head for home.

Last week I had my first in-car lesson with Young Drivers. You can guess I was little nervous getting behind the wheel of a car for the very first time. However the instructor was amazing. He was incredibly patient and offered constant verbal feedback. When I became frustrated he was calm, telling me "It's your first time behind the wheel, don't be so hard on your self."

I was a little worried about looking like an idiot because I got into the car knowing NOTHING. Theoretical knowledge is just not the same as practical. For example I knew when one should put on the turn signal, but not where the heck the turn signal was, or how you turn it on.

I explained this to the instructor and he didn't bat an eye. He just explained everything step by step, showing me where each control was, how to turn it on, how to read the instrument panel, every little detail. Much of which I thankfully did remember from my in-class lessons.

Sitting in the driver's seat for the first time, I was surprised to find that the car moves without hitting the gas. Yes, I knew in theory that the car could coast or creep, but I was surprised by how much it would move without me touching the gas pedal.

My instructor most definitely didn't make me feel embarrassed. Not even when I had to say "Umm... I'm sorry,  you want me to stop how many metres away? Er... I haven't a clue what that means because I think in feet." Yes, I'm that old.

And here's where you can feel free to laugh at me...

Converting feet to metres isn't the only way I need to train my brain. It also refuses to understand the break pedal. I think it comes from years of playing video games. When you drive a car on the Playstation you hit the button to give it gas, when you want the car to stop you take your finger off the button. So I'm in the car practising breaking, letting the car creep and halving the speed and then coming to a gentle halt. I would press to slow down, slow down and then when I wanted to stop I would remove my foot from the darn break. I understood this was the wrong thing to do. But my instinctive reaction was to remove my foot from the pedal when I wanted to stop. I was fine as long as I was concentrating on breaking, but as soon as I started to focus on something else my gut reaction would kick in, and I would lift my foot to stop, and then get flustered and immediately try to correct my mistake by slamming on the break. How silly is that??


Also trying out hand over hand turns made me feel like I was tying my arms in knots. 4oclock, 12oclock, 8oclock, where, what, ack. I did better on the ride home, I was move worried about truly accelerating for the first time, and where to stop at intersections and all that good stuff. I managed to turn just fine when I wasn't thinking about it. But when I was focused on turning, and just thinking about hand on the wheel placement and all that I would get flustered and tied up.  Again, the instructor was incredibly patient and calm. Letting me know what I was doing right, as well as what I was doing wrong. (He did also tell me I should come out on my own and practice my hand over hand turns!)

While in my Young Drivers class I sat with a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach, worrying about learning to drive on the expressway, or in lousy weather, or dealing with oncoming idiots. Never did I imagine I would have trouble picking up basics like "How To Turn Left", and "How Not to Use The Break".  But again, as my instructor so patiently pointed out, it was my very first time behind the wheel. I'm sure I'm going to get the hang of this.

So there you have it folks, first lesson done. When I went to get out of the car at the end I said, "Thanks, that was fun!".  Then I thought "Wait, did I just say that?!"  Well, I guess it was fun. A bit nerve-wracking, but also exhilarating.  I am eager to get out to practice and I'm actually really looking forward to my next lesson.

I'm have to admit, I am still a little nervous about getting in our van to practice. It seems huge in comparison to the car I was driving in with the instructor. And it also doesn't have that handy emergency break on the passenger side. As it stands, my husband's work schedule has been insane over the past few weeks. I might have to coerce my mom into letting me practice in her car.

So what about you guys? Any stories to share? How did you make out the first time behind the wheel? 



Disclosure: Young Drivers is sponsoring this series of posts documenting my journey as I work towards getting my driver's license by providing me with access to the Young Driver's Defensive Driving Program.

I have got a lovely little giveaway for you formula feeding types out there. I went the exclusively breastfeed route with both of my girls, so I've never used one of these bottle sterilizer thingies myself... However, I've got to say this looks like a nice one, and I think it's rather handy that it does six bottles in one go.

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So, I have a sorry fact to admit. I fell off the vitamin wagon. Actually it's more like I was pushed off, by my kids.

I wrote before about how I had started taking Adult Essentials gummy vitamins, and how both my husband and I were taking them regularly and enjoying both the taste and the health benefits. The thing is, my kids are CRAZY about their Iron Kids Gummy Vitamins (which are the kids equivalent to Adult Essentials). They beg me for their vitamins. I have to take mine at the same time I give theirs out. If they catch me removing gummy vitamins from a jar and not handing them over all heck breaks loose.


So what happened is, I ran out of kids vitamins. I still had adult ones sitting on the counter, but I didn't dare take them when the kids were around for fear that they would notice and get VERY upset that I didn't have any on hand for them. And I meant to pick up more kids vitamins, but it kept getting put off. In the meantime, I had to take the Adult Essentials jars off the sideboard and hide them because seeing the jars sitting there would set my kids off in their vitamin begging routine. So I hid the jars, and you know what they say about out of sight, out of mind? Sadly entirely too true. I forgot about my vitamins. I forgot about picking up more for the kids. I let it slide for WEEKS.

And I noticed the difference. I just didn't put two and two together very quickly. I've been feeling exhausted, run down, lethargic. To the point that I've been wondering if I shouldn't book an appointment with my family doctor. I was mulling it over, trying to think where I might be going wrong in my diet or whatnaught. What had changed? Why was I feeling this way? When it finally occurred to me, I stopped taking my darn Adult Essentials!

I'll report back in a month of so and let you all know how I'm making out now that I'm back on the vitamin wagon. I've taken the Adult Essentials out of hiding and have stocked up on plenty of Iron Kids for the girls. With them begging for their daily ration of gummies, remembering to take mine is a piece of cake.

As an aside, Well.ca has a sale on right now through the end of July -- all Iron Kids vitamins are 20% off, plus free shipping!

To learn more about Adult Essentials Gummies:
- visit their web page.
- connect with them on Facebook.
- connect with them on Twitter.
 


Disclosure: I am participating in the Adult Essentials Blogger Outreach program by ShesConnected. I received a supply of vitamins and compensation in exchange for my participation in this campaign. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Check this out guys, Mobi has put together a truly fantastic Baby Shower prize pack:


Let's start with my favourite item...

These are Mobi's award winning AnimaLamps. They make me squee. They are so darn cute. Not to mention useful.  They are cordless, portable and rechargeable. They flip open and the non-heat producing LED lights shine wherever needed. Perfect for the nursery, or for bedtime storytime. I would love to try out one of these!



Next up we have one WallMate safari character nightlight.
The built in light sensor turns it on only when needed. They glow gently and change colours.   The environmentally friendly LED light gives off no heat, so no worries about little ones scorching their fingers.


Mobi is also giving away a Pure Sounds Digital Audio Monitor, which works on a rechargeable battery and has a range of 600ft.

Last but not least, Mobi's DualScan Ear/Forehead Thermometer...

See, what did I say? Fantastic prize pack, right?

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A while back Sears Canada had a shindig in Toronto to launch their new Baby's Room. Basically Sears has rebranded their Baby area, now calling it The Baby's Room. They've also expanded their selection, which was already pretty rocking. Even though I couldn't make it out to the event they sent me a bag full of goodies, which was unexpected and kind of them.


The goodies included just reaffirmed what I already thought about Sears and their baby selection; perfect baby shower gifts!They've got all my favourite brands, decent prices, and one of the best baby registries. 

Sears was my favourite baby registry when I was pregnant with my first babe. What about you guys? Where did you register? Have you had a chance to check out the new Baby's Room yet?

The big one got the little one dressed up in this outfit, complete with tied on pieces of tissue paper....

Sheri over at Kidsumers has organized one very cool event, which launches today and takes place over the next month. Think giant online baby shower, with tons of awesome baby-themed giveaways.


I am taking part in several of these group giveaways, such as the $500 giftcard for The Children's Place which I just posted. Exciting stuff, right? Keep your eyes peeled for more fantastic Baby Bash giveaways which will be starting over the next week or so. If you're on Twitter keep an eye on the #babyshower hashtag to keep up on all the good stuff going on. Good luck!

I have often bought clothes for my daughters from The Children's Place in the past. Love the adorable outfits, love the lasting quality and durability.  So here's a prize I would most definitely like to win, a $500 giftcard for The Children's Place!  The Children's Place has been expanding their infant wear line up and to help celebrate they are giving away a $500 shopping spree!

Citizen Optimum has commissioned a new study called Citizen Mom, which is taking a look at Motherhood from the inside out. I found reading through the results of the study both informative and entertaining, so I thought I'd share a few of their insights with you.

INSIGHT #1: Don't perpetuate the myth of mom as Superwoman. Without realizing it, you're adding unwanted pressure. Mom is multifaceted, but doesn't expect herself to be perfect at all she does.

INSIGHT #2: Rethink "aspirational." Telling mom she can have it all suggests she doesn't have enough or needs more. Stats show moms don't need work to be happy, at-home moms desire time with their spouse more than working moms, and precious time alone would be spent reading, sleeping or exercising.

INSIGHT #3: Working and stay-at-home moms are more similar than different. Most working moms do it for the money; most at-home moms do it for their kids. And, given the opportunity, one in five working moms would leave work, and half of at-home moms would return to work.

I thought that last bit was the most interesting. You know what they say, the grass always looks greener, right? I have to admit, there are days when I think a regular nine-to-fiver would be easier then this full-time mom gig. But as the survey points out, we all tend to make the choices that we think will be best for our families. 

Check out this infographic:


What are your thoughts?

The prime purpose of being four is to enjoy being four - of secondary importance is to prepare for being five.  ~ Jim Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook, 1985

Over a week ago now my G-Girl turned five years old. I found the fact that my wee babe is turning five a bit depressing somehow. I was feeling a bit glum in the week or so heading up to her big day. I guess it's because at five she really is a "big kid".


She has become so independent. She only takes naps every couple of days now and at some point in the past year she stopped sucking her thumb at bedtime (thank goodness!) She does her "bedtime business" on her own each night, and she dresses herself every morning though sometimes I have to exercise my right to veto her outfit choices.

Her continuing obsession with the colour pink is deeply troubling to me. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up she answers a mom, a librarian or a doctor. She has been helping me with cooking meals more often and is really eager to learn about food. She's curious about food groups, balanced meals, portions, recipes, the whole shebang.


She loves going to school, and will beg me to go on days when she is sick. She loves fairies and Tinkerbell. She draws amazing pictures. She loves to draw robots. She can copy characters from her picture books with surprising accuracy. She loves books. She still insists on a chapter from "Dorothy-Toto" at bedtime. She loves to read to herself or to her sister.

She is a completely awesome big sister. She helps, teaches and plays with Baby-G in the most amazing ways. I'm not saying they don't occasionally try and kill each other, but mostly I'm deeply impressed by the way she treats her little sister.

She drives me bonkers with her refusal to tell me anything about her school day, or her trips to Mimi's house, or any other time we spend apart. When I ask her about her day she invariably answers either "I can't tell you, you weren't there.", or "You already know because you were there!"

The real menace in dealing with a five-year-old is that in no time at all you begin to sound like a five-year-old.  ~ Joan Kerr, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, 1957

She is an empathetic, caring, kind, sweet, intelligent, curious little girl who often drives me completely mad. I'm proud of her, I love her deeply, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her.  Happy birthday baby girl!

One lucky Maple Leaf Mommy reader will win a set of four passes to attend the screening and see this film prior to it's actual release date. I only wish I could make it out to this screening, it looks like such a fun and touching movie!

Academy Award–nominated writer/director Peter Hedges brings enchantment to the screen with Disney’s “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” an inspiring, magical story about a happily married couple, Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton),who can’t wait to start a family but can only dream about what their child would be like. When young Timothy (CJ Adams) shows up on their doorstep one stormy night, Cindy and Jim—and their small town of Stanleyville—learn that sometimes the unexpected can bring some of life’s greatest gifts.

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Sorry guys. My internet access has been patchy as best for the past little while. We have been having work done on the wiring in our house, and also on the telephone lines. I'm very much hoping that the end result will be internet that works 100% of the time, without constant disconnections and all the other garbage I've been dealing with. I also really like the part where my house will no longer be a "fire or electrocution hazard".

Our house was built in 1954. Mostly I love it. However, we've been having tons of problems with power surges frying appliances throughout our house... like for example our dishwasher, which is only two years old and now probably has to be replaced. Given the constant odd and ongoing issues we've been having with power surges, we hired an electrician to come in and take a look at the place. The first thing they did was put in a shiny new surge-protected electrical panel, as ours was outdated. Then they did a top to bottom inspection of the house and discovered huge problems throughout. 99% of the outlets in my home are not grounded, and about half of them have reverse polarity. I have two really questionably wired light fixtures featuring lovely sections of bare exposed wire, etc, etc. Needless to say I am rather upset right now with the home inspector who I paid several hundred to when we moved into this place, and who told us this house was up to snuff.

Currently I am waiting on an estimate on the remainder of the work, and then for the electrician to come back and finish it all up, which I'm guessing will take another day or so.

In the meantime, my house is in complete disarray, as we moved all of the furniture into the centre of each room so there would be access to all of the outlets. I have no dining room. The girls and I have been having a lot of front room floor picnics. I am really looking forward to having this all finished and everything moved back.

At the same time I figure might as well have Bell finally come in and look at the phone lines. We have been having issues where the phone will occasionally cut out while I'm chatting with someone, and we've also been having problems with our DSL access. Two visits from a Bell technician, several days with no DSL access, and I'm still not certain the problem is solved. Since it just cuts out sometimes, and at other times works fine for days or even weeks in a row, I'm left waiting to see if it starts acting up again.

So that's what's going on over here. I felt like I should offer an explanation, since I haven't been online as much as my norm. I'm really hoping everything will be back to normal soon. I have a backlog of review posts I'll be trying to get to over the next little while, though I also suspect another day or two without electricity is in my near future.

A little over a year ago we received a Maplelea Girls catalogue with my daughter's Chirp magazine. These Canadian play dolls looked amazing. They captured my attention immediately, and that of my daughter as well. I knew that G-Girl was too young for Maplelea Girls at the moment, but I was definitely leaning towards getting her one once she was a bit older. My only hesitation was the $99.99 price tag. The dolls looked lovely, but were they worth it?

Having now had one of these dolls in our home I can say that they are worth every penny. You need to see these dolls in person. They are absolutely amazing. Yes, I received this doll for free as a review item, but now having had this doll in our possession I would without hesitation buy a second Maplelea Girls doll for my younger daughter once she reaches an appropriate age.

I was simply blow away by the quality, and I love the educational aspects as well. The Maplelea Girls dolls are designed to help kids learn about Canada's culture, heritage and geography. These 18" vinyl play dolls are high quality, sturdy, and made with an incredible attention to detail. Each Maplelea Girl has different interests, lives in a different part of Canada and has different stories to share with her new owner via her accompanying journal. We recently welcomed Saila into our home and G-Girl is utterly enchanted with her.

I have to admit I had some reservations about handing a hundred dollar doll over to my not quite five year old daughter (especially since the suggested age range is 6 to 12+). However, G-Girl has had this doll trailing her like a shadow for a few weeks now and Saila still looks like new. She is incredibly durable and well made. G-Girl is also treating her with a gentle reverence that is sort of touching.

The other day Baby-G (age 2) said to me, "That's not a doll. That Saila. She people.", which is a pretty accurate representation of the reverence with which her older sister's new friend is getting treated.  G-Girl views Saila as a guest in our home and she wants to introduce her to everyone and show her everything.



G-Girl had picked this particular doll from the line up of Maplelea Girls, and she knew she would be arriving in the mail. On the day the doll arrived we opened the package and my daughter shyly reached out and touched the doll and said, "You must be Saila! I'm so happy your here!" She then removed her from the box and said, "Saila this is my mom and this is my little sister. Guys this is Saila!" It was really disgustingly cute, and completely different from how I've seen her interact with dolls in the past.

G-Girl loves that Saila has a soft body and is "fun to hug". She loves her long dark hair, and her detailed outfits. She enjoys whispering secrets in her ear, and carrying her with us everywhere we go.





And I can totally understand why G is enamoured with her. Everything about this doll is absolutely amazing. The doll itself is incredibly well made. Her hair is beautiful, as are her lidded close-when-you-lay-her-down eyes. Her clothing is gorgeous. The attention to detail is amazing. Saila comes dressed in jeans and t-shirt, plus a warm zip up vest, and a pair of traditional Inuit boots called kamiik.  Gorgeous is not usually a term I use for jeans and a t-shirt, however in this case it's entirely apt. The jean material has a shimmer woven into it so that they sparkle. The jeans and the sleeveless vest both have real pockets! The t-shirt is gathered around the neck, and has a maple leaf embroidered in the corner. Each piece is just incredibly well made, and VERY easy to take off and put back on, which anyone who has ever helped a young child play with dolls knows is a BIG plus.

When you order from the website they tell you that the dolls come packaged in a sturdy storage box. Of all things, I was blown away by how nice the box is. It's is INCREDIBLY sturdy. Baby-G tried using it as a stepstool, and while I tucked the box away for now so I wouldn't have to keep convincing her it was neither for sitting on nor standing on, the box came through totally unscathed. It's made from a very thick board, with a nice smooth glossy paper overcoat. Seriously keepsake level nice.

I had been talking to my mom on the phone about how cool the journal was, all the neat info in it, how much G-Girl loved me reading it to her, how there were prompts and blank pages for her to fill in her own story, etc. Of course the next time my mom stopped by our house the first thing my daughter wanted to do was to show off her new friend and her book. My mom oohed and awed over the doll, then picked up the journal and said to me, "You didn't tell me it was beautiful!"

And it is. The outside of the journal is a soft rubbery plastic, with an elasticized band which hooks over a cute flower button to keep it closed. The paper and print quality is lovely, as is the layout and design of the journal pages. It's obvious that someone put a lot of thought and work into designing these.

I love the educational aspects of the journal. I love that my daughter is learning, reading (and re-reading!) about Saila's life in Nunavut and constantly asking me questions. The journal is written for a grade four reading level, so some of it is over my five year old's comprehension level. But that's okay with me, it just leads to some really great conversations as I try and answer her questions.

The outfits that are available for the dolls are adorable. Again the quality on the clothes is simply amazing, better made then some things currently hanging in my closet. When G-Girl received money in a card from her great-aunt for her birthday, she immediately knew she wanted to spend it on an outfit for Saila. We ended up picking up a set of Polar Bear PJs, they came complete with a wee polar bear for the doll to hug and a set of soft fluffy slippers. Also, like every outfit available for the Maplelea Girls the set included new journal pages. There was a page containing some neat facts about polar bears, and a blank page. As with all of Saila's journal pages there were three copies, one in English, one in French and one in Inuktitut. I was easily able to open the journal, which is like a small three ring binder, and add the new pages in. Both I and my daughter were impressed.  I am certain that more outfits and accessories for Saila will be a favourite gift on special occasions for years to come.

Overall, I would definitely recommend the Maplelea Girls dolls. I am in love with Saila. In her we have found a well made quality plaything that helps nurture my daughter's curiosity about this awesome country we live in.


Maplelea Girls dolls are available for sale only directly through their website: www.maplelea.com
Check out their website to see the many gorgeous outfits and fun accessories available, as well as the six different Maplelea Girls dolls.  You can also sign up to receive a Maplelea Girls catalogue in the mail, which is full of beautiful photos and fun to look through.



So what do you guys think? Have any Maplealea Girls living in your house?

To learn more about Maplelea Girls:
- visit their website.
- connect with them on Facebook.
- connect with them on Twitter.

Disclosure: I received a Maplelea Girls doll for review purposes. As always my words and opinions are my own.

When I was asked to write a piece for the Dove Celebrate Mom Contest, I was excited and immediately said "Yes!". The message that Dove is trying to impart, how positive female role models play a huge role in nurturing self-esteem is young girls, is one that I believe strongly in. So I leapt on board but I was at a bit of a loss as to who I was going to nominate for the chance to win $2,500 for herself and $2,500 to be donated to the charity of her choice.

I sat here thinking about how there are so many amazing moms out there doing fantastic things both big and small, donating their time, fund-raising for charities, volunteering, working through adversity, struggling with disease, inventing, creating, and producing. I thought of the many inspiring women who work as scientists, political activists, artists, dancers, Olympic athletes, writers, environmentalists, brain surgeons, judges or lawyers. And I realized I didn't want to nominate a single one of them.

As a mom with two young daughters self-esteem and role models are topics that are constantly on my mind. According to research done by Dove, only 9% of Canadian girls between the ages of 10-17 are most comfortable using the term "beautiful" to describe their looks. A positive role model can make a world of difference by helping a girl develop a positive relationship with beauty and encourage her to achieve her full potential. When girls feel they have a role model, they are less likely to let anxiety about looks hold them back.

However, I think the role models that have the biggest impact on my daughters' lives are the simple every day ones. Now I'm not saying I don't want my girls to grow up one day and invent a new way to travel, cure cancer, or dance in the Winnipeg ballet. But to me, the heart of the Dove Celebrate Mom Contest is celebrating the simple everyday heroes, the plain Janes, the everyday role models, those that handle the daily grind with grace and verve.

So with all of that in mind, I would like to nominate my mom. She has done absolutely nothing of great significance with her life. She is however an amazing woman, and a fantastic grandmother and I couldn't imagine a better role model for my daughters. We are blessed to have her in our lives.

My mom who as the eldest of six children has always had a big heart and a helping nature.

My mom and her sister. (Mom's the one on the right.)

My mom who over the years has worked as a florist, a hotel receptionist, a toy store clerk, a short order cook, and a furniture salesman.

My mom who stayed at home with us kids, in a time when many of her peers were working. And looking back I know she often lamented her lack of freedom, stuck at home with three kids and no car, making due with the same clothes for ten years at a time; living life in stained clothes and dealing with boogies, diapers and skinned knees while teaching us to sew and cook and play.

My mom who strongly believes in providing trucks for little girls and dolls for little boys.

My mom who has always taught me that the best way to be beautiful is to be healthy and to be comfortable with yourself.

My mom who is the handy-man in the family, and the one I call when I have a plumbing problem or need to borrow a wrench.

My mom who stepped in and tried to take over the family business after my dad has hospitalized with congestive heart failure, only to discover that the business was failing, and after years of trying to make it work and slipping further into debt she had to make the heart-wrenching decision to dismantle and sell everything off.

My mom who is always there for me, always ready to listen or to lend a helping hand.


My mom who is always eager to spend time with her grandkids, gives them 100% of her attention and is willing to get down and get dirty playing in the grass with them.

My mom who stepped in and took over as the major bread winner, when my dad's various medical conditions forced him into early retirement.

My mom who at the age of 56  had the courage to go "back to school", taking classes and training to be a certified Financial Assistant.

My mom who is simply beautiful inside and out.  She has never let the daily grind grind her down. She is my hero, and I am so proud to have her as a role model for my daughters.

Who is your hero?

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Visit www.CelebrateMom.ca by September 4th to nominate a mom who’s an inspiring role model to women and girls in the Dove® Celebrate Mom Contest. Four inspiring women will win $2,500 for herself and $2,500 to be donated to the charity of her choice.


And check out more stories on YummyMummyClub.ca about amazing role model moms: www.yummymummyclub.ca/family/mummy/celebrate-­‐a-­‐mom-­‐in-­‐your-­‐life

As you folks already know, I am lucky enough to be working this year as a brand ambassador for ShesConnected Conference 2012. Which means I've been chatting with folks bunches about conference attendance, and I find myself constantly fielding questions about how to prepare for the conference, what to bring, what to wear, etc, etc.

So while I am FAR from a conference veteran, here's what I learned last year, and what I would suggest to this year's conference newbies....

1. First and foremost, seriously, just bring yourself, in comfortable clothes, prepared to meet folks and learn.

2. I recommend comfortable shoes, as you may be surprised at how much time you end up spending on your feet!

3. You might also want to bring a dress or some sort of dressy outfit for the evenings. After-parties are a great way to mix, mingle and unwind after a long day of cramming your brain full of blogging info.

4. Leave plenty of room in your luggage to bring home swag.  Last year I totally under-estimated on the amount of goodies we would be gifted with, and ended up leaving much of it behind. This time I'm thinking an extra empty bag might not be a bad idea.

5. Bring something to take notes with; a pen and paper, a netbook or tablet, whatever works for you.

6. Bring business cards to give out! When I was asking around last year How many cards should I bring I was told a good rule of thumb was one card for every person attending, so if they sell 200 tickets bring 200 cards. So last year I purchased 500 cards, and then after attending two conferences I had about 450 left (However, I will admit I was being a bit timid with handing them out.) Based on my experiences I would guess that 100 cards would probably do.

7. Don't forget about someplace to store business cards and a pen to write on them with. You will likely collect tons of business cards, having a pen handy to jot notes on them is useful (Where did you meet this person? What did you want to email them about? What was the follow up for this card?) I think some sort of container to toss them all into would be useful too, as last year I ended up with WAY more then would comfortably fit in my wallet.

8. There should be free wi-fi at the conference, and live tweeting is always a fun and popular pastime. If you have a smart phone or an iPod Touch or something of that sort, you'll probably want it at hand. (I used my iPod Touch for this last year and it was perfect!)

9. I recommend staying on site, or at the hotel closest to the conference. It's totally worth the extra money to be able to drop stuff off in your room, those bags of swag get heavy!

10. Another great reason to stay on site-- late-night networking at the hotel is FUN. Be sure to bring a nice pair of comfortable PJs that you don't mind folks seeing you in.


For the first time conference goers.... Did you find these tips helpful? If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

For those of you who've attended a blogging conference before...  What did I forget? What would you add to the list?

On the last day of school we walked straight from the bus stop to the corner store where G-Girl got to pick out a happy end of the school year treat. She choose a Nestle Drumstick and enjoyed each and every lick of it. But goodness, what was I thinking mixing icecream eating with walking? Quite the mess. She had a full on chocolate icecream beard by the time we got home. She didn't want me to take pictures of her looking messy, but I managed to sneak a few anyway.

This is Mr. Mojo. Peacefully resting until he hears the shake-a-shake of TEMPTATIONS treats.

I like that TEMPTATIONS contain no artificial flavours and are less then 2 calories a piece. I feel like I can let Mojo have a couple treats a day, without feeling guilty that I'm overfeeding him. 

My cat is wild about TEMPTATIONS treats. You know that whole shake the bag and your cat will come running thing? Yeah, totally true. You shake the bag and he goes from sleeping to wide awake. Not only will he coming running, but he will jump onto the top of the nearest high surface, pose, meow and beg for more. We also have to be careful about where the treats are left because he will try to go after them. When I received my sample treat packs from Whiskas I tossed them all into a reuseable shopping bag for storage, and then realized maybe this wasn't such a hot idea as I had to fish the cat out of the bag, multiple times.

Oh, hey, wait... is this an entire bag full of TEMPTATIONS treats? I'm just going to move in here, k?

If you want to see that whole "Kitties go wild when you shake the bag" thing in action you should check out this KittyCat Hijack Facebook app that TEMPTATIONS has put out. It's dead simple to install. Simply "like" the KittyCat Hijack Canada Facebook page and drag a virtual bag of TEMPTATIONS treats onto your bookmarks tab. Then you can KittyCat Hijack any page on the web, with hilarious results.

And oh my goodness I have to tell you guys, the first time I tried out the KittyCat Hijack app I was literally laughing outloud. I don't want to give it all away... Just try this out and tell me you don't giggle. (Hint: At first I though it wasn't working. You have to give the bag a few shakes before anything really interesting starts to happen.)


TEMPTATIONS also has one rather exciting contest going on right now where you can win $100,000!
(And who wouldn't love to win that kind of cash??)

Here's how to enter:
Step 1) Buy specially marked KittyCat Hijack packages of TEMPTATIONS treats for your kitty.
Step 2) Head to www.temptations.ca and enter the PIN number found on the bottom of each pack.
Step 3) Give treats to your Kitty.
Step 4) Receive Kitty adoration.
Step 5) Head back to www.temptations.ca on the next day and enter another PIN number.

You can enter one PIN number a day now through September 1st, and each time you do you have a chance to win one of the Moment In Time or Instant Win prizes. It's sort of neat -- Each Moment-in-Time Prize is only available to be won for a randomly-determined second in time during the promotional period. If you happen to enter your PIN# at the correct moment, you win $100,000! There are also tons of Instant Win prizes to be had, ranging from free TEMPTATIONS treats to cash prizes up $10,000.

Okay, so that's two shots at a prize every time you enter a PIN number. But there's also a third way to win. Each time you enter a PIN code you automatically get $250 added to your "Fill Your Pockets" account, up to a maximum of $10,000. Once the contest closes five lucky grand prize sweepstakes winners will be drawn and each will receive however many TEMPTATIONS bucks they have in their account in actual Canadian dollars.

That is a heck of a lot of chances at cool cash prizes in exchange for one bag of TEMPTATIONS treats. See, I told you it was an exciting contest! Head to www.temptations.ca to check it out.

Want to win some tasty TEMPTATIONS treats for your kitty? Just think of all those potential free entries in the KittyCat Hijack contest....