Life Is a Special Occasion

We look forward to summer all year. The kids are out of school, we can drag out our favourite summer wear, head to the beach and have fun. Only what's supposed to be relaxing ends up feeling rushed in a flurry of activity to keep the kids from getting bored. With the summer already half over, I'm reminded I need to slow down and enjoy this last month the kids have off from school.

Which is why I am pleased to be participating in a Press Pause Panel for Hallmark Canada. You may recall from a previous post that Hallmark is celebrating the fact that "life is a special occasion" and wants to remind Canadians to take time, pause and appreciate the everyday moments. Hallmark certainly has some clever and creative ways to get families to do just that.

With Hallmark’s Recordable Storybooks you can create a special memento that your child will treasure.  You simply record yourself reading the story and voila you can read to your child even if you’re not there.  This would be perfect for grandparents who live away from their grandchildren.  A lovely way to make a impact on a child’s life.  MSRP: $29.95

With the Family Recordable Memory Album you can not only display your favourite photos but record a short story or memory to go along with it.  Perfect for keeping track of special events in their life. Bright and Colourful. MSRP: $29.95

Lastly, the Family Tree frame is a lovely way to show off the whole family by filling it with lovely framed photos and special mementos. I don’t know about you but my children love to look at photos of themselves and the Family Tree frame is an elegant way to display your favourites. 


It’s actually quite sturdy and there are a number of frames that you Purchase separately to adorn it.  It’s really quite striking.        MSRP: $69.95

Of course these are a just a few things that Hallmark has come up with to help Canadians “Press Pause” and enjoy moments with their loved ones.  Like the Beach Vacation Scrapbook with fun, embellished pages just perfect for recording all those sandy moments; or the Shadow Box Frame featuring a cotton clothesline with paper attachments to record your baby’s birth; or the Recordable Handprint Kit, where your child can leave their handprint on a heart and then record a message for a long lasting keepsake.

Check out Hallmark’s website for more special moment ideas!

Zeemaid

Have I Bit Off More Than I can Chew?

Making plans, I am great at.  Executing said plans, not so much.

It’s so easy to talk about all the things need doing and what you need to get them done. Last night in a fit of ambition, I declared to my husband that we were going to finish off the paint jobs we need done and paint E’s room. 

I managed to motivate him so much that we ran off to the paint store and began the painful task of picking paint for E’s room.  Painful because E has definite opinions and she doesn’t like it when suggest alternatives.

Of course, she doesn’t understand my concern about the cost and that if we don’t like how it all turns out that we can’t just go and grab another can of $30.00 paint.  The paint she chooses she will have to live with for quite some time.  She was almost near tears at one point as she asked us why were trying to make her change her mind.

Of course we weren’t.  I was actually trying to figure out which paint chips matched the colours we had sampled out on the computer at home.  It’s amazing how quickly you forget that a soon to be 8 year old has absolutely no clue as to the paint process. She didn’t realize we had to pick the colours on the paint chips BEFORE we picked the paint.

Once she understood that things went a little better and the very nice lady at the Home Depot paint shop showed E how they add the colours, let her scan the barcode and even turn the dial for the paint shaker.  The lady even made each of my kids a little paint stick fan with the Mickey Mouse paint stickers.  She made the whole process more pleasant for us. As you can imagine three kids don’t exactly have much patience hanging around a home improvement store. 

Anyways, it’s a new day today and after making four dozen cookies for tomorrow’s bake sale (a friend of ours is letting E set up a lemonade and cookie stand), we still have to clear out E’s room, figure out a float and make a sign for her stand.

On top of that the kids keep thinking we’ll actually get started painting today.  Just wait until I put them to work scrubbing walls.

Fun With Crayola

When Crayola asked me to be a part of their Mom Advisory Panel again this year, I couldn’t have been more pleased.  I’ve always trusted Crayola products from their crayons to their water colors to their washable markers (so important with little ones around). 

It’s exciting to be a part of discovering just how creative Crayola is.  So much more than “just coloring”, Crayola brings a whole different level of creativity to kids. 

I’ve recently been sent three products to review by Crayola.  As always I’ve vetted them through my children and add my own “mom” view to each product.

Model Magic Presto Dots Vehicle Asst
Create your own puffy vehicle with this unique Model Magic Kit. $12.49   Age 5+

This may say for five and up but since we received just one and my younger daughter had already received a different Presto-Dot for her birthday, I decided to let my four year old try this out.  While it gave my son and I a perfect opportunity to sit down and do something together, it wasn’t long before he had mastered the dots and was cruising along happily without any more assistance from me.  He thoroughly enjoyed this and while the control freak part of me would have everything look exactly like the photo (I must have been fun as a child), in the end I was amazed at what a great job he did.  Very easy to do and lots of fun.  One of the things that my son liked the most out of it was that he was able to play with his car.  It really has movable wheels.  What I like about it is after a while I can just peel of the dough and he can do it all over again if wants. 

He decided he liked the dots flat.

Glow Explosion Sand Art Scenes
Crayola Glow sand lets you create awesome sand art that glows! Just activate each colour of Glow Sand and pour into the Glow Sculpture forms.
$ 11.99  Age 6+ 

I have to admit I was a little hesitant to try this product out.  I was already envisioning a huge mess and stressful explaining and re-explaining the instructions to three kids.  Because of course, while it may say 6 +, there was no way they were going to let big sister have all the fun.

Yet, it was actually relatively simply and stress free.  Of course, I was smart and we sat outside to do it so there was no sandy mess to clean up.  It comes with 8 art scenes and two sand collection trays.  The inside tray that holds all the stuff worked for a third.

Essentially you mix the glow sand packets into a pouring tray that conveniently closes leaving a hole at one end for sprinkling.  The kids then applied glue to the areas where they wanted the sand and then sprinkled the sand.  Considering all three kids have heavy hands with the sprinkling it was easy to shake back into the trays for the next use. 

It says to dim the lights when doing this product but since we were doing the project outside on a somewhat nice day, that was impossible.  However, I think it worked better this way because the surprise was all the greater for them when we went into the darkest room in our house, the downstairs loo, and looked at their creations.  My son kept saying “Wow, Wow” and they couldn’t wait to show their dad.  Sure, if they were older the project might have been more defined and sharper like the ones in the photo on the cover but still I say the results were striking and the kids had tons of fun.

The Photos just don’t do justice to how cool it looks in the dark and we hung up the pictures in the kid’s rooms and they still glowed brightly.

Glow Chalk
Pour the mixture into a mold and within 30 minutes kids will have their very own designed piece of glowing chalk!
$10.99    Age 6+

We had a harder time with this one project. Mainly because this is a project that works best when the sun sets and since the sun isn’t setting until almost 10 at night and our kids are already long in bed by that time. 

It’s actually really easy and fun to make the chalk and there were lots of tasks for the kids to help with.  Since my last testing of make your own sidewalk chalk, Crayola has improved the process by providing a funnel so that it’s easier to pour the water and powder into the chalk bottles.  It allowed the kids to assist and once the lid was screwed on, they all had fun shaking up the colors. After that it was a simple matter of pouring the chalk into the molds.  I think the hardest part was waiting the 30 minutes for the chalk to set.

 

Be sure to check out Crayola.ca for lots of great ideas. You will even find free downloadable coloring pages.

**disclosure  I was sent sent the above product to review and was not compensated in any other way.  As always the reviews and opinions held herein are my own and truly reflect my experience. **

Don’t Come to Me in A Crisis

I have long suspected that I am no good when it comes to a crisis. 

When J wasn’t quite two, she fell and bashed her head on the window ledge acquiring a nice gash on the back of her head.  My response when I lifted her hair back to and saw the gash was to cry… “Oh my god, oh my god” and panic.  Thank goodness my mother-in-law was downstairs and so was able to come up and confirm that yes this gash was going to need stitches and stayed with E while I took J to the walk-in clinic.

When E was two she ran away from me, fell off the curb and smashed her mouth on the asphalt.  I cried along with her as she nestled her bleeding mouth into my white sweater.  I cried all the way home as well as lecturing her on how she was not to run away from mommy. 

Which is probably why I spend so much of my time and effort into preventing a crisis before it happens. 

So it should come as no surprise that when our t.v. blew up the other day, I was once again pretty much useless.  K was upstairs checking on the kids when suddenly I heard a strange noise, the t.v. shut off and smoke was billowing out of it.  I stand up, yell “K, oh my god, oh my god” and think.. I need to do something.  K comes running down and says turn it off.  I go to press the off button which does nothing while he much more efficiently reaches down and flicks off the power bar. 

Yup, I’ll say it again, I’m useless in a crisis.

So our thousand dollar t.v. is toast.  We’d had it for less than five years. It was the last big ticket item we’d actually saved up for. We were very proud of the fact that we didn’t buy that t.v. on credit.  Now five years later, in a much rougher financial situation, it comes down to family holidays or t.v. ?  Ah who am I kidding, we probably can’t afford to do the family holiday anyways and so a new t.v. is definitely out. 

Guess we’re going to be stuck watching our movies for work on this…

After our 42” television, it’s gonna be something to get used to.

Where’s Summer?

So my summer plans got derailed a little what with my grandma’s passing and with the complete change in the weather.  We’ve had nothing but rain for the past week and a half. 

I enrolled the kids in the summer reading club, took them to two reading times at the library but as of yet we haven’t filled out a week yet on the reading cards so we can enter into a contest.  Yes, we read tons to the kids but E has been less than eager to practice reading on her own and the one time she practiced sounding out to write something, it ended up in tears.  Hers, not mine.  I was the epitome of patience with her for a change so I just don’t get it. 

I’ve been reluctant to push the reading thing since then because I don’t want to make her more frustrated.  Plus, the good intentions I had with trying to cultivate more patience seems to have left.  I was doing really well, not perfect but oh so much better than I was before, and then grandma died.  Like I said, it’s effect shows in different ways.

Plus hubby and I decided to try the low glycemic diet.  Not only do we both need to lose weight, I’d love to get my diabetes in good enough shape so I can stop medication. 

A)I hate taking pills and constantly forget and

B) if I don’t take these the right way (after I eat) I feel like I have the flu not to mention Norwalk.  I’m talking afraid to leave the house in case I have to get to the bathroom.

I bought this recipe book called “Low Glycemic Meals in Minutes”. It gives tips and advice on how to “quick prep” your food so that you can have meals in minutes.  It’s a shop twice a week and prep twice a week sort of program. 

It’s actually a really great way of doing it.  I don’t have excuses anymore to not eat vegetables when I have a bin full of chopped veggies for me to snack on.  Plus they are ready to go for any recipe from salads to salsas.  The kids love it. In fact we’ve spent more money than usual this week because the kids and us have been going crazy noshing on the veggies.

The only hard part is that we are in “phase 1” of this diet which means no carbs or sugar so we can break the carb cravings.  It’s amazing to see how carb crazy we’ve become.  It’s actually difficult to figure out what we’re going to eat, the concept of just meat and vegetables seems so foreign.

But the results are definitely worth the initial struggle because I’ve lost eight pounds this week.  Of course, I can’t expect to continue to lose almost a pound a day but still having quick weight loss at the beginning does help to keep me motivated.  I’ve now lost 24 pounds since I found out I had diabetes last December. I lost some weight when I first went on the medication but then stalled for awhile.  My pants are getting looser already and I’ve actually tried on a few outfits that I had been hanging on to for awhile and they just about fit.  They all do up but are still a little tight.  So I know it will only be a few pounds more and then I can wear them again.  Yeah!

How’s your summer going?

Saying Goodbye

I don’t even know how to start this post. 

Quite simply, my grandmother passed away last week.  She was 80, she had some health issues but still it came as a complete shock to her family.  I’ve been quiet this week as I’ve tried to deal with the suddenness of her death. 

And yet, everyday life continues which makes it almost easy to push her death to the back of my mind.  With three children it’d be hard not to be caught up in their constant whirlwind and yet… its effect on me is there in so many small ways.

I feel for my mother who had been caring for my grandmother for the past several years. While she was still independent living in a small trailer on my parent’s property, she still needed some watching over. 

My grandmother was ornery, sometimes cantankerous and often blunt.  She drove my mother crazy at times and yet, I think it’s the most difficult people in our lives that we love the most.  It must be such a hole in her life right now, not having to think about grandma and what she’s doing.

I never viewed my grandmother as a warm motherly woman and yet, I enjoyed her gruff ways and her sharp views on life.  When my mother had me, grandma was still raising two children at home.  She really wasn’t the doting grandmother type.  She never told me she was proud of me to my face but my husband said in talking with her, it was more than evident that she thought a lot of me. 

She once gave me teacups that had been used to serve tea at her wedding more than 50 years ago.  Because I loved tea cups and she knew that of all the grandchildren, I would take care of them.  I have a note from her, in her scratchy almost illegible handwriting that I will keep always. 

Because life gets busy, it’d probably been almost a month since I’d last seen her.  Like most people who lose loved ones, I wish I had one more day with her. 

At least, the last day we did have was a pleasant one as she joined us for lunch at my mother’s and sat outside and chatted while we watched my kids play. 

My kids never caught on to the great-grandma bit and simply called her “old nana” (my mom being “nana”). When we told my oldest what had happened she was saddened by the fact that she now has no great grandparents on either side of the family.  She didn’t realize how lucky she was to have known at least one great grandma since most of us are having our kids so much later these days.

Of course, it could be worse.. she could have no grandmas… like me.  I miss my grandmas.

Big Plans for the Summer

My husband laughs at me because of all the things I plan to accomplish this summer. 

You see, I want to make this the best summer for my kids this year. We can’t afford much in the way of vacations and haven’t done a whole lot in that sense over the last few years so I’d really like to plan some fun things for them to do.  Plus I tend to be a homebody so I usually opt to go out as little as possible. Which means we usually miss even the free stuff that’s out there.

I have it all set out in my mind how things are going to go.  I’m going to get up and not laze around in the morning so they can go outside as early as possible.  Then we will set some time aside each day to practice reading and math, something which E struggles with. I am determined that she will go back to school in a much better state than she left it. Without undue pressure on her, of course.

Then, I am going to plan out free events each week, we’ll alternate between parks and/or the library or museums (the cheap ones) etc.

Of course, spend plenty of time in the pool. 

Convince hubby to buy a tent so we can go camping.

Teach E how to ride a bike.   I feel so guilty we haven’t spent enough time helping her with this.

AND…. paint the upstairs.  We seriously need to finish painting the stairway and landing upstairs.  Plus the kids really want their rooms done too.

Of course, hubby would like to know when I’m going to get all this done.

What are your summer plans?

In Retrospection

 

As you know from my last post, I’ve been somewhat concerned about my daughter’s social life. What mom doesn’t want her child to have friends? 

I’m not talking about miss popularity here. 

After all, most of the popular kids I knew in school turned out to be not so successful/happy later in life.  Not to mention, they were the first ones in our age group to experiment with drugs and engage in sex.  So no, I don’t want that for my child.

Still concerned, I attended the beach day for E’s school.  When I got there, sure enough there is E playing by herself.  She was attempting to build a driftwood fort.  “Where are your friends?” I asked.  They were around somewhere but she wanted to build her fort.  I suggested that since it was the last day she might want to play with her friends since she won’t see them the rest of the summer. She sighed but made the attempt.  Only she didn’t get very far because she got sidetracked by the tidal pools and next thing you know she was on her own again.

I realized though that she was perfectly happy and content.  She is full well able to entertain herself and was doing what she wanted.  It didn’t matter to her that the others were off doing something else. 

In talking with another mom, she advised me not to worry.  E was happy.  So I sat back and tried not to dwell on it and just let her be.  Isn’t that the hardest thing for moms to do?  We want to jump in and help, to fix things but sometimes we just have to sit back and do nothing, let them be. 

I received the same advice from my mom and she added that in a few years, I will be glad she’s able to entertain herself and doesn’t just conform to the crowd when they start to face tougher choices.

I’ve been able to let go of some of my anxiety for her and I’m happy about that. 

Birthday Parties Suck

My so pessimistic today, aren’t I?   Well E celebrated her “8th” birthday party yesterday.  We planned all week, picked out stellar items for the goody bags, hemmed and hawed over decorations, I even bumped up the party a whole weekend so it wouldn’t fall over a holiday weekend.

I think I blogged last year about parent’s who don’t RSVP.  Last year’s party was a success compared to this one. We got two yes RSVPs and one can’t make it.

1 kid showed up.  1 out 10.  Yes, I even upped my invitation limit in the hopes that more kids would show up.  We did manage to get 2 kids to come when the girl who couldn’t make it family came back early from camping and quickly called and asked if she could still come.  A quick invite to her little brother made the party seem a little fuller than it would have otherwise been.

Now my gal was a trooper.  You could tell she was disappointed and bummed that more kids didn’t come but she sucked it up and put on her game face for her friends that did. 

But what I don’t get is why.  Why nobody came.  My kid is a likeable gal.  Everybody seems to like her.  It’s just when it comes to having one or two actual steady friends…. I don’t know. 

Sure she has her issues but what kid doesn’t.  She talks about these kids and it certainly seems like they are her friends but even her one best bud…. the bud who she had a play date with the Friday before the party… didn’t show.  This after specifically saying how she’d see E Sunday at her party and the mom didn’t even bat an eye and see one word about not being able to make it.

I know she plays on her own a bit.  She gets into games and if the other kids get bored and she doesn’t, she will just keep doing her thing even if the others leave.  So while, I’m glad she’s not being a total conformist because let’s face it that will stand her in good stead when she gets older, I feel like she’s set herself up for being a loner.

So, of course, I was up late last night racking my brain trying to figure out why this has happened.  What’s wrong with her, if anything, what have we done that contributed to this, how’s her hygiene, has her learning frustrations made her a social pariah?  I just don’t know and my heart hurts for her.  No one likes to see their child slighted. 

Even her dad could tell as they got closer to school, she started to get more and more quiet.  It must be hard to go in and face all those kids after talking up the party all last week.  The one best bud did come running up to her apparently apologizing for not making it but still.

It makes me hate this school and this town.  She never had these problems in her old school.  She was the same E there and almost everybody invited came to her parties then.  Seriously, we’ve even contemplated putting her into Christian school because the girl clics here are just terrible and basically she will be going to school with the same group of girls here till grade 7.  I just don’t see how we can afford it.

Of course her brother and sister see the up side of all this as they are already contemplating the joys of eating the candy from the left over goody bags.

Any moms of older kids have some advice for me? Am I taking this way to serious?

Freakin Jealous

There is just no other way to put it. I’ve been hit with the old green eyed bug.  Yup.  I’m freaking jealous.

The neighbours across the street pulled up this evening with the newest, baddest travel trailer you’ve ever seen.  We’re talking humongous, shiny and definitely squeaky clean new with all the extras.

I’m serious when I say I’m jealous.  I just about cried.  Because I want one too (have for the past five years) and there is no way on God’s green earth that I am going to get one.  Of course, I was planning on settling for a five to 10 year old tent trailer but even that is way out of our budget.  Heck camping in a tent is out of our budget.  We were planning on trekking with the kids to the badlands this summer but after the Play-offs wrecking our business for the month of June and a couple of forgotten bills suddenly appearing, we’re lucky if we get a day off together. 

I know I’m not supposed to be envious of others in their good fortune and generally, I can genuinely say they deserve it.  They work hard and if they’ve got the money they are entitled to spend it.  It’s just that they are a two income family while we are basically one income and even that’s sketchy most weeks.

I have to remind myself that we chose to have three kids, we chose for me to be the primary caregiver while he worked and that less money was just something we had to deal with.  But it gets tiring after 8 years.  Add in that no one counts on there being a down turn in the economy or accounting for bad financial decisions. 

I am happy out of the rat race and cringe at the idea of job interviews and going back to stressful work environments.  I guess I want it all without the work.

Still, I’m bummed.  I’ve sent the children outside and managed to busy myself in the kitchen and family room so I don’t have to look out my front window at their montrosity of a trailer and try to not peak out at them as they stand at the end of the driveway chatting happily with all their friends.  It’s exciting for them and I’ll be happy for them when I chat with them next but in the meantime… I’m closing my blinds. 

Temporary Difficulties

It’s murphy’s law, I swear.  I finally start to get some new topics for post ideas and then I get hit with technical difficulties.  For some reason Blogger has stopped saving my posts and refuses to publish them.  Of course, this only occurred after I had written a completely brilliant post.  Which is now lost and I don’t know about you but when I’ve written it all down once, I really don’t like having to figure out what I wanted to say all over again.  I guess it wasn’t that brilliant after all. 

Add to the fact that blogger doesn’t seem to be aware of this issue and any old advice requires switching to Chrome.  Been there done that, bought the t-shirt.  I switched back because while I loved it, it didn’t work well with editing and some other sites I used just would work with it.  So….

Anyways.  I’m trying something new, Windows Live Writing, so we shall see if it works before I waste any more time on posts that will end up wherever ghost posts go. 

If this works… I’ll be back to posting soon. 

Can we say.. Hold the Water, Please!

I know, I know my actual posts have been few and far between.  I think I've mentioned on here before that I'm having trouble adjusting the work schedule with my home routine (which includes blogging) and then throw in extra dance classes for the past two weeks in preparation for this week's big recital and well....

In fact, as I am typing this I realize that I haven't even shared my most recent O story.  This is one to go down in the books.

One night I was juggling assisting E with her home reading and watching J do Star fall on the computer.  Hubby was working and so O was left to his own devices.  He's 4 now so you'd think he'd be able to play without supervision. 

Apparently not.

The only thing I can think set him off is that he wanted to go on the computer but his sister was already on it and I told him he'd have to wait.  He didn't make a big fuss or anything, just went off into the living room.  Twenty minutes later, E and I are almost done, J is off the computer and O comes back and goes on the computer.  It's not until bedtime is approaching and I've shooed the kids off upstairs to get ready when J tells me that the floor is wet in the living room.  ?!?!  Okay, I said, clean it up please.  All the time wondering what was up with that.

Then I went to go up stairs.  Every step was a puddle of water.  We're not talking drips, or small amounts of water from a spilled cup.  We are talking a cupful of water at least... per... stair. 

The culprit, O. 

Clipart thanks to Mark du toit  http://www.marktoon.co.uk/about.htm



I literally had to walk up the stairs crab legged so as not to step in it.  Of course, I was so furious at what he had done that he was sent straight to bed with no books.  I get the girls settled in for the night and then proceed to take towels to the stairs to try and mop up some of the water.  Pain in the ass but at least it was just water. 



When I was all done, I grab my cup of tea and am about to sit on the couch when I notice the wet spots.  The little bugger poured water on each of the three sofa cushions.  So I couldn't even sit on the couch.

Like I said I have no idea what set him off or why he did this because I had no notion that he was even upset with us and like I said, as soon as J got off the computer he came and went on it himself. 

Yep.  You just have no idea what they will get into their heads to do. 

Ohhhhhh and that's not the end of it.  All three of them got into big time trouble just this week with their shenanigans.  Post and pictures will follow.  

Crazy Night is Pizza Night with Dr. Oetker

There is always at least one night a week that I consider to be the "crazy" night for getting dinner together; the night I have to drive my daughter to dance.  Sure I could throw a meal together ahead of time but most of those types of meals tend to be casseroles which at least one of my picky eaters turns their nose up.  So my idea of being organized for "crazy" night is to have frozen pizza as back-up in the freezer.  It's cheaper than take-out, ready in less than twenty minutes and even the pickiest kid loves cheese pizza.

This week E had three rehearsals coming up for her big dance recital so when I was asked to review the new line of frozen Pizza by Dr. Oetker, I was in luck.  I was able to try something new and feed my family at the same time. 

I found Dr. Oetker's Panebello Bakery Crust Pizza easily in the frozen food section of my local grocery store.  It comes in four varieties:  Country Pepperoni, Classic Canadian, Vegetable and Goat Cheese and Brushetta.

We tried the Country Pepperoni and Brushetta.  What first struck me on opening the plastic packaging was that it actually smelled fresh despite the fact that it was frozen.  I could actually smell the sauce and the tomatoes and vegetables. 

Of course, like all froze pizza, it's ridiculously easy to prepare.  The instructions do tell you to place the pizza directly on to your oven rack; however, I NEVER do this.  I have had bad experiences with dropping pizza, cheese melting into my oven etc.  So instead I put it on a round foil pizza pan and I don't think it harmed the pizza whatsoever.  The crust was deliciously crisp on the outside and wonderfully soft on the inside just like they promised.  In fact, my husband who is a bit of a pizza expert having managed a pizza restaurant for over 8 years, specifically commented to me on how good the crust was.

Overall, we really enjoyed both pizzas.  I wasn't sure how my kids were going to take to them because they generally only eat plain cheese pizza.  In fact, I had picked up a separate plain cheese pizza as a back up just in case. Of course, they had to prove me by asking to try ours and then promptly eating the rest.  I was certain they wouldn't eat the pepperoni pizza at all but they just gobbled it up suddenly announcing that they "like" pepperoni.  I shouldn't be surprised because I found the pepperoni to be very tasty myself and not so spicy as you usually get.  You can definitely tell that quality ingredients go into these pizzas.

Our only complaint.... we would have liked a bit more cheese.  Granted, cheese is the most expensive ingredient on the pizza and by having less cheese probably made the pizza healthier overall but still, we all like a tad bit more cheese. 

Still, definitely very tasty pizza and I will definitely be purchasing this line again.  We just loved the fresh ingredients and the crisp crust!

Right now you can enter to WIN 1 of 5 $500 Home Bakery Bundles online at Divine.ca. Each prize pack is valued at $500.00 and includes:

• • 8 coupons for two of each of the new Dr. Oetker Panebello pizza varieties
  • 1 Breville Toaster Oven
  • 1 Pair of Dr. Oetker Oven Mitts
  • 1 Dr. Oetker Pizza Cutter
  • 1 Williams-Sonoma Pizza Peel

  Contest ends June 13th.  Open to residents of Canada.  To enter, just click the image below.

  

***Disclosure: I received free coupons to obtain the pizza product for review.  However, my opinions are my own and reflect my true experiences with the product consumed. ****

Well, I didn't get the Job

I kind of gave it away, didn't I?  I didn't get the job.  Or at least I don't think I did.  It's officially been two weeks and I haven't heard back and she said if I didn't hear in a couple of weeks that they'd moved on. Which came across as a little harsh after the nice chit chat we'd just been having.  Little bit of reality check there.

I have mixed feelings about it.  I'm disappointed because it was a perfect fit for me (It was for a book store) but relieved that I won't have to go to more interviews and meet more new people and impress them with my smarts. ;) 

And relieved because I've been working for hubs like crazy this past few weeks and while I may be getting paid a bit because I'm taking the place of one of his employees that quit, I can't say that I'm loving the juggling of work and homelife all that much.  At least it's doing something that I'm familiar with (renting videos) but can I just tell you my husband is a slave driver. 

I knew there was a reason that I didn't really want to work for him.  Work with him as a manager sure.. but as a lowly employee.... no not a big fan of it.  For one thing, he is just so much more strict and uptight on how things are done in this store than I was in mine.  If I wanted to watch a movie because the night was quiet, I did.  At his store, while he did say reluctantly that if it was really slow he'd let me watch a film, I could tell that he really didn't want me to and so that was that.  I tried watching a movie on the computer but the stupid trailers running in the background pretty much drowned out any interesting dialogue.

Then there's the late list.  I SOOOOOOO hate calling people to tell them their movie is late.  Why, I don't know.  So what if they are annoyed.  I just don't like calling people I don't know.  Never have.  This gal would rather eat that weird frozen thing in the back of the freezer than actually phone and order chinese food.  Strangely enough, my brother is the exact same way. He makes his wife do all the calling and I make my husband do all the calling.  I kid you not.

I thought I was safe from "the list" until I had to work Saturday and Sunday day shifts.  Fortunately both days I was just too busy to get it done.  Boo hoo. 

At my store, my evening shifts consisted of me helping out the customers and then sitting my arse on the chair in front of the computer blogging or doing the books in between.  At his store.. there's only one stool and it's higher than the counter and you feel like a tool using it.

Then there's the vacuuming, the cleaning of the popcorn machine and the tidying up of the wall.  All the movies have to placed behind the covers from left to right and if one is missing you need to shift the available rentals over so that the spaces are all filled out evenly. Talk about OCD.

You see when I was management... I gave lists I didn't get lists of things to do.

It's been a real adjustment going back to work.  When it was just two evenings a week it wasn't so bad even though mentally I had to adjust so I stopped booking playdates or appointments for those afternoons.  But then I had to do Saturday and this past weekend Sunday too and I'm completely exhausted.  By the time I left for work Monday evening I was feeling just a bit teary eyed as hubs shrugged his shoulders at me because he didn't get why I was so tired.  Well, after a kazillion trips to the bathroom with explosive diarrhea and two days of stomach pain and about 5 pounds lost, it's pretty apparent that I'm so damn tired because I picked up some kind of virus.  Of course, thanks to google I was almost certain I had pancreatitis but now I'm not so sure. ;)

At some point, it dawned on hubs that I was legimately tired and ill and not just being a whiny wuss and he's been a tad more sympatic and he actually managed to work in a night off for me. 

Thank you, master.

iVillage Comes to Canada! - Necklace Giveway

I am betting that you all have heard of iVillage. Of course, you have since it's one of the largest content-driven communities for women online.  Back in my pre-children days, I used to spend a lot of time on their site sifting through content on everything from dieting to working on your relationships.  When baby #1 was expected, I used their online calculator to predict my due date and to get day to day updates on my baby's progress. I loved it.  When baby #2 was on the way, I used the tool to show my oldest daughter photos of how the baby sits in mommy's tummy. 

So I was thrilled to learn that Rogers Media, in partnership with iVillage, has launched iVillage.ca for Canadian women. 

"iVillage.ca is proud to bring a slate of A-list experts and contributors to the table for launch, including one of Babble’s top 10 Canadian mommy bloggers, Catherine Connors (Her Bad Mother) who will write an exclusive weekly column titled “Straight Up from Her Bad Mother”; Home Heist’s Cheryl Torrenueva who comes on board as the iVillage.ca home expert; and Lianne Phillipson-Webb, author of SproutRite, who will dish out weekly nutrition advice for the family. "

And what better way than to launch a new site than with an amazing contest opportunity called the iVillage Passion Project where by simply watching a video of a woman sharing her passion can result in an immediate prize to be won and your name to be entered into an ultimate prize draw for a trip for four to Disney World.  You need to register to play but it's quick and simple and the videos are fun to watch.  (I wasn't a winner today but I will try again tomorrow) ;)~

Of course Rogers Media and iVillage.ca want to get the word out and what better way than to offer one of my readers an opportunity to win their own iVillage.ca necklace designed by Canadian Jewellers, Foxy Originals.

ENTER TO WIN

Mandatory: 

• -visit iVillage.ca and tell me one area that you'd be interested in exploring more.

EXTRA (leave a comment per each entry):

• Follow In the Mommy Trenches on GFC
• Tweet this contest once a day on twitter
• Register on iVillage.ca and play the Passion Project Game and come back and tell me if you were an instant winner. (good for three entries)

Contest open to CANADIANS only and will end June 15, 2011.


*disclosure - I will be receiving an iVillage.ca necklace in compensation for posting but any opinions
represented herein are my own and reflect my true experiences.

Wanna See Something Gross?

Ever since moving to this community last year, one particular grocery store has won the majority of our business.  Despite the fact that we have two grocery stores, one literally 2 mins from my home and another a discount type Superstore btween us and our favourite store Safeway.  

Why do we love Safeway?

• they have just about everything I'm looking for
• they break down their prices by grams on the price tag making it easier to comparison shop
• they often have great buy one get one deals
• the first Tuesday of every month is customer appreciation night and you either get 10x the airmiles or 10% off your grocery bill. 
• oh and they take airmiles.  We've racked up a ton of airmiles since we started shopping there.

You get the picture.  Sounds like a perfect store to customer relationship, doesn't it?  So what's the point of this post and when are you going to see something gross.....

Well, you see all the stores are now coming up with their own "brand" of products and obviously they make their brand at least 10cents cheaper so you'll buy it.  Only be prepared... you might just see this

That's right.  A worm.  MMMMM extra protein.  Okay, that's disgusting. I'd never say that but my dad would. 

Oh and get this, I never noticed the worm until after I had heated it up and served it out to my kids.  Because hubby wasn't home that night, I just dished it out.. thinking boy there are a lot of yucky kernels in this can, set the plates on the table in front of my kids and turned my back to serve myself when there it was... wormy goodness.  I turned to my kids to tell them to stop eating the corn but of course, even though they are supposed to wait for me they were busy shoving it into their greedy little faces.  I just about heaved as I grabbed their plates and quickly scrapped off what was left.  That was when I loved my BB all over again as I took photos and sent them to hubby at work.  It was enough to make him gag too.

Well, needless to say that's turned me off buying store brand and will never buy store brand again.  I packed up the rest of the cans in my cupboard, left the worm in the bowl and sent hubby (cause I'm a big chicken) down to the store to show them Mr. Worm and get my money back.  Of course, the "people" who would deal with this situation wasn't available, they were on break so she'd take our number and someone would get back to us.  Two days later and we've yet to hear anything.  She did reimburse us for the can of corn and the other products we had brought in.  Still, it would have been nice to get a phone call to know they are taking it seriously.  I mean, it's not like we're going to stop taking our business there because why shoot ourselves in the foot, but we definitely will not be being their Store Brand ever again. 

So was that gross enough for you?  Have you ever found something gross in your food?

Arm & Hammer - A Review

One of the things that I like most about Arm & Hammer laundry detergent is the smell.  I don't know about you, but there is just nothing like the smell of fresh clean laundry.  With Arm & Hammer I find that fresh laundry smell really lasts. 

A few months ago we had run out of Arm & Hammer and ended up buying something different because it was part of the store buy one get one deal.  Sure the product smelled nice in the bottle but it didn't really last with the clothes.  Plus, I realized that more and more of my t-shirts were full of mysterious oil spots that just didn't get clean in the wash.  If I know I've spilled something I'll treat it but you can't catch everything.  Still, I thought I hadn't had this problem for a while so what's up now.  That's when I realized, I had stopped using Arm & Hammer.  So what brand you use really does make a difference.

Just a few items from their product line include:

ARM & HAMMER Essentials® Liquid Laundry Detergent provides more savings:  $0.12 per wash load versus $0.21 per wash load of a leading brand detergent.   Has the cleaning power to tackle tough stains and provide clean, white, fresh laundry - all while being eco-concious.  It is the only detergent that combines Arm & Hammer Baking Soda with plant-based soaps.  Available in Mountain Rain scent and Perfume and Dye free formulas.    The New Clean Rinse formula leaves less residues and is perfect for home and cottage, safe for septic tanks.   Retail:  2.03l   $4.99-$5.99   3.12L  $6.99 - $7.99.

ARM & HAMMER plus OxiClean® Power Gel laundry detergent is made of a new gel formula that is thick and powerful and available at a fraction of the cost of leading liquid detergent.  With a thick formula with a gel, it can be used more effectively as a pre-treater and in the wash as it sticks to and ensures the elimination of persistent stains.  Available in Ocean Breeze scent.  $4.99 to $5.99

ARM & HAMMER plus OxiClean® laundry detergent is 66% of the cost of the leading detergent on a per wash load basis  It combines the proven cleaning and freshening of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda with leading stain fighter - OxiClean® to get out tough stains the first time.  Available in Fresh Scent and Cool Breeze.   $4.99 - $5.99

ARM & HAMMER Essentials® Fabric Softenter and Dryer Sheets  Offering 100 sheets per package, 20 more than the leading brand for the same retail price.  Not only are they cost-effective but they contain biodegradable softening agents, natural essential oils and are packaged in 100% recyclable paper board packaging.  Available in two long lasting fragrances:  Mountain Rain and Lavender and Linen.  I have to say, I'm not a Lavender fan but these sheets smell heavenly.  I don't as a general rule use them for all the wash but I definitely love to use them with my sheets and towels.   It definitely reduces static clean and makes my sheets and towels feel softer.   $4.99 - $5.99

For more laundry trips, visit http://www.armandhammer.ca/.


***disclosure, I received the above product in compensation for my review.  However, I believe in blogging with integrity and all stories and/or opinions related in this post are true and reflect my actual experiences. *****

Wait... Don't Throw That Out!

When we moved into this house, it came with the appliances. It wasn’t until after a few loads of laundry that we realized why the seller had no qualms giving up her appliances. The washer shimmers like Britney Spears in her hey day and squeals like a cat on a chalkboard. I’m serious, it sounds that bad.


Of course, I’d like a new machine but money is tight and in my new green conscious thinking, it doesn’t make sense to toss out an entire machine when surely we could find a part to fix it. (Something my husband has been meaning to do for a year now). Sure we could hire a repairman but that’s not exactly in the budget these days, either.

So when I received an email from PartSelect, an online retailer of appliance parts, it couldn’t have come at a more convenient time. Especially when I learned that they have installation videos (already available on 105 of their parts with more being shot each week) that shows a repair technician, Steve, installing each part step by step.

Part Select has also recently added a Virtual Repairman – a free tool that helps you figure out exactly what’s wrong with your appliance. They’ve spent years doing the research and collecting data on symptoms for each individual model and put that information together to diagnose exactly which part is causing the problems and how to fix it.

Sounds great, right? Well, I was a little skeptical.  After all my machine was at least 8 years old and there are so many different kinds out there what are the odds they'd have information on mine.  I was wrong. I plugged in the part number and immediately shown a list of symptoms. I clicked on “noisy” and up comes a list of parts that might fix the problem. Of course, I’m not sure if this is the right part for the problem so I scroll for more information and see a ton of customer comments where they describe in more detail what their symptoms were and it was easy to see that I had a match. PartSelect customers are able to rate on how understandable the instructions are, give their own tips on how they repaired their machine and what tools they used.

Amazing. I’ve lived with this problem for a whole year to find out that it’s a $60.00 part and easily fixable by my husband. It even lists what tools are required, which are all ones that we have kicking around the house. Not some specialty tool that someone had told my husband we needed.

My understanding that no other online part site has the ability to help their customers at every stage of the repair: diagnosing the problem, figuring out the part needed, getting the part, and then installing the part.

PartSelect is a BBB Accredited Business, offers same day shipping, 30 day returns and one-year warranty. It has a Canadian dedicated site as well as a U.S. site. (.com or .ca)  So while this may be a different sort of recommendation post than I normally do, in this day and age of saving money and reducing what we toss into our landfill, it behooves all of us to find a way to give new life to these old machines of ours.



***Disclosure: I was compensated for this post by Part Select; however, I blog with integrity and the experience I have written about herein is a true and accurate re-accounting of what occurred with our washing machine. ****

I'm Still Nervous

I just had my first job interview in over 16 years.  It was by phone.  I knew it was coming because I had applied last week and when I saw who was calling on the call display, I knew that this was it.  Thankfully, she was just setting up a time for the actual interview so I had some time to prepare. 

I knew this jumping back into the work force was going to be hard and I was dreading the interview process but you know it wasn't so bad.  Sure I was nervous and I still have butterflies in my stomach hours afterwards and I wish I had refined some of my answers more but when it comes down to it all I can do is be me.  I am who I am. 

Did I ace it?  I'd like to say that I did but I don't think so.  My work experience, while it is similar to what they are looking for just doesn't compare to what the job is.  Sure I'd like to think that I can do the job and do it well but will they see that capability just from a phone interview.  Besides if I make this cut, I still have at least one more if not two interviews to pass through.  OMG.

In the end, I am relieved that this interview was by phone.  I didn't have to dress for it and I was in my own surroundings.  Part of me hopes for a second interview while the other part of me is happy to stay at home without the need to answer to anyone else but myself and plan our family vacations when we want it.

Unfortunately, the SAHM gig pay sucks. 

Another Marriage Bites the Dust

Is it just me or do you find it increasingly disappointing on hearing which celebrities have split now?  I'm not talking this fly by night marriages but of the long term ones.  If you are wondering what I am talking about then perhaps you haven't heard today's news regarding Arnold Schwartzenegger and Maria Shriver's split.  Twenty-five years of marriage down the tubes.  Is that not incredibly sad?  Makes you wonder if his years in office was harder on their marriage than his many years of acting.  Or maybe he was home TOO much now. 

Of course, there will be lots of speculation and while I know it's their business, I can't help but wonder why.  What makes two people who managed to work through their differences for 25 years decide to split? 

In this day and age of celebrityitis, the younger generation really look to their idols and unfortunately they are falling far short. Sure they are only human too but the examples they are setting en mass of divorce, relationship jumping, drug abuse, etc... is rampant and worrying. 

It just makes me realize how much more my husabnd and I need to really set the example for our kids.  Cause right now, we're the most important people in their little lives.  We really need to make this time count.