First Day of School Ideas

I can't believe that the kids are heading back to school in just a couple of short days.  It feels like the summer barely started and now it's over.

While doing some surfing through Pinterest this weekend, I came across some neat First Day of School ideas.

A neat thing to do, especially if this is your child's very first school adventure, take a pic of your child holding a sign with the grade they are going into and the year.  This is a great memory for you and them!  You can look back at the end of the year and see how much they have grown!

Another great idea is to start working on name recognition.  If you haven't already, it's not too late!  There are so many awesome crafts you can do with the kids that will help them learn to recognize their name!  momstown's arts and crafts blog has a great roundup of things you should be teaching your kids!  Their name, phone number, if they have allergies, all important things that will help them when they are away from you!

If your little one is having some separation anxiety, or if you are, send little love notes in their lunch!  This will remind them that you are always with them and always thinking about them.  They will be sure to smile when they open their lunch box and see your little note. 

If your kids can't read yet, no worries!  just putting a big heart, or a hand for a high five will make them smile!  As they learn to recognize some words, you can easily add little notes like "I love You"

Hoping all you moms are ready for school!

Birthday Bash was a BLAST!

Thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate our Birthday with us!
It was a fantastic day and it was all thanks to the community of Barrie, our amazing Sponsors and our vendors! A huge thank you to Bulldog Interactive Fitness for hosting our event!

It was such a joy to watch everyone having fun and seeing all our sponsors and vendors getting to interact with the kids and parents

We have had a great visit from Clifford the Big Red Dog and special visit from Spider Man!  Clifford made his rounds with the kids, having fun and bringing smiles to their little faces!

Spiderman was a surprise guest from our friends Investors Group that sure got some little one excited, especially when he joined the dance party!!

We were treated to a fantastic Martial Arts Display from our sponsor Lewis Karate and the kids got to make some great take home crafts with Art Innovators! And of course we can't forget our fun musical games with Alexander Doan School of Music!

The kids had the chance to test drive some awesome toys from Fisher Price Little people!

Thank you to all our vendors for taking part in our special day!  Thank you for the amazing prizes and the fun you added to our party!

Arbonne
Baby Boo Bear Boutique
Embellish Me with Lia Sophia
Enjo
Flavours Gift Co.
Inner Motion Fitness
Monkeynastics
Peek a Boo Beans
Steeped Tea
Sugar Bugz with author Susanna Mosli
The Spotted Giraffe

A big thank you to the folks from Kiwanis who brought us a great BBQ!  We were also lucky to have a visit from the Barrie Fire Department!  They brought their big red fire truck for all our kids, ok and moms and dads too, to check out!

Be sure to visit our facebook page for more fun pics from the event!

A summer eco walk is a great way to learn!

Our moms and tots took a little field trip to the Bear Creek Eco park in Barrie.  This is a little treasure in the heart of Barrie that I had never heard of until one of our mamas told me it would be a great place to go explore with the kids.

It was a hot day, but the kids didn't seem to mind since there was so much to see and so much to discover.

A short little path off a hidden parking lot on a main street, led us to a long bridge over a pond full of wildlife for us to see and explore.

We saw dozens of turtles basking in the sun on logs throughout the pond, tons of frogs and a family of ducks!

While we walked along the bridge the kids were so excited to see if they could spot the turtles and the frogs hidden in the bulrushes, on the logs or swimming in the water.

When we got to the end of the bridge we walked up to the next clearing and to another path where we had a treat of running into a nature scientist that was with her family.

The scientist had caught a frog and was teaching the kids about how they live.  It was very neat to have the kids get this extra experience on our walk and learn something that I could never have taught them! 

It was a great day and we will be going back for sure!

Our Birthday Bash Is Coming!!! Are you going to be there?

The excitement is building in Barrie!!  Our 6th Birthday Bash celebration is just 11 days away!!!

I am super excited as things are coming together and hope that our community is as well!

It's with a huge thank you to Bulldog Interactive Fitness and Investors Group Barrie South that we bring you this fantastic event!!

















We have a fun day planned including entertainment, vendors, activities and crafts, prizes, Fisher Price Little People Play Area and so much more!!!

Be sure to visit our Pillar Sponsors!  Our Art and Play Sponsor is Art Innovators of Barrie!  Our Fitness Sponsor is Lewis Karate and our Music Sponsor is Alexander Doan School of Music!

We have a special guest coming to visit us!  He had so much fun last year with all the families that he is back again thanks to Scholastic Canada!  Kids can meet and get their picture taken with Clifford the Big Red Dog!!!

As well, meet the Barrie Fire Fighters and see their big red fire truck!

While you are having fun, be sure to check out all of our amazing vendors!!

Arbonne
Baby Boo Bear Boutique
Embellish Me with Lia Sophia
Enjo
Flavours Gift Co.
Inner Motion Fitness
Peek a Boo Beans
Steeped Tea
Sugar Bugz with author Susanna Mosli
The Spotted Giraffe
Thirty One Gifts

You also have the chance to WIN tickets to see DORA live!!!!  To find out how you can get an EXTRA chance to win these tickets, READ HERE!

We will have the Kiwanis Club joining us again this year with an amazing BBQ with all proceeds going to the Red Cross.

And of course, we cant forget to thank our AMAZING national sponsors, because without them none of this could be possible.

 

Summertime fun in the sun....come back!

It's August and so far we have had a great warm summer. July was awesome.  Hot days and nights, little rain, and it was perfect!  But lately it feels like August has brought the end of it.

The weather has been cooler and rainier than normal and I, for one, am not ready to give summer up!

The kids still have more days of playing on the beach, swimming in the lake, and splashing in the sprinkler. 

We wait for months on end for the warm weather to come and when it comes we need to enjoy it.

I don't want to think about fall, back to school or worse yet... winter.

Our summers are so short as it is.  Please Mother Nature, bring back the summer weather!

Holding On To My Baby Happy 15th Birthday

Today my baby turned 15.  I have no idea how that many years have gone by so fast.

I call her my baby even though she is midway through her teens and in high school and is not my youngest by far.  No matter how old she gets she will always be my baby.  So cliché of a mama, I know.  But it's true.

She was the one that made me a mom.  She is the one that set my life on it's path to forever wearing my heart on my sleeve, forever knowing what it feels like to love someone more than you could imagine and forever knowing what it means to be loved back by someone unconditionally.

My baby was a surprise.  The best surprise I could ever receive.  She has been surprising me ever since with her kindness, her intelligence, her quirkiness, her witt, her beauty, her achievements, her strength and her determination (lots of it!).

I look at her today and am proud to be her mama.  She has grown up to be such a beautiful young lady.   And while she is still young, and I remind her daily she is still a child, I will hold on to everyone moment that I can and make whatever memories I can. 

The years pass by so fast when you are a mom.  One day they are tiny newborns relying on you to keep them alive, then they are walking and talking, then they are off to high school (where you learn to try not to kill them) and soon driving (oh good lord help me!) and then off to college and starting lives of their own.

I only have a few years left to treasure my baby as a child. I know she will make a wonderful adult, but for as long as I can I will treasure every moment of her being a child and more.

I love you baby girl.  Happy Birthday!