momstown Barrie

Saying I Love You

2012-01-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

We love our kids. It goes without saying it. But how often do you say it?

This topic came up recently with some friends and we got into talking about how adorable it is when our kiddies tell us they love us.

It melts my heart to hear my little ones tell me, randomly and out of the blue, "mommy, I love you". I don't think there is anything that anyone could say that would make my heart smile more than that.

So it got me thinking, how much do I tell my kids I love them? The answer, A LOT!

I catch myself telling them how much they are loved all the time. Not just at night before bed, not just when I am leaving them to go out, but all the time. Maybe too much. But is there really too much when it comes to telling your kids you love them? I don't think so!

The three little words I whisper to my kids when we are snuggling, or that I say through giggles as we play, or that I say just out of the blue as I give them a hug for no reason at all, are just as important to me as they are for them.

I hear my 4 and half year old say it to her baby brother and her older sister. I hear my oldest tell her little siblings. I hear my kids say it to their grandparents and their aunt whenever we see them.

Whether they are aware of it or not, they are warming everyone's hearts with those words.

As long as I am their mom, no matter how old they get, I will always tell them I love them as often as I can and for no reason at all other than simply because I can and because I do.

So to my kiddies, I love you!

Family Literacy Day Fun!

2012-01-28T12:50:00.000-08:00

Family Literacy Day was a great way to remind people of the importance of reading with our kids.

It is so important to make sure our kids find a love for reading and learning. What better way to help your kids than reading with them daily! The time you get to spend with your kids enjoy some stories is precious! They are only little for so long and then they will be reading on their own!

Our momstown tots celebrated with some crafts based around early literacy. The first start to reading for kids is learning their alphabet and the sounds the letters make.

The kids made an ABC book. They had large foam letters for A B and C and then a variety of pictures that started with those letters.

The kids coloured in the pictures and then cut them out (why not throw in some fine motor skill practice while teaching them to ready!).

Once they had their pictures cut out they matched them up to the letters they started with.

The kids sat for so long making their books and were all proud of themselves!!!

Here are some everyday tips on Family Literacy from ABC Life Literacy Canada
• Ensure your child knows that how well they read or write has
nothing to do with their intelligence. Every person is intelligent
in their own way and each person is unique and needs to learn in
the way that best suits them. With practice, your child will
become a good reader.

• The television can be used as a tool. After your child watches a
television show or an episode, talk to them about it. Ask them
questions like, “What was your favourite part?” or “What was the
episode trying to teach the audience?” This reinforces media literacy skills, a medium
that is encompassing our lives today.

• Don’t lose sight of the fact that children model behaviour they see. Ensure that your
child sees you reading, whether it’s the newspaper, the mail or a recipe. This shows
your child how important it is to read.

• While reading a story to your child, pause to ask them what they predict will happen
next or have them summarize what has happened in the story thus far. Good readers
think about what they are reading and this will reinforce critical thinking skills.

• Today’s children, particularly teens, are influenced by music. Have your child read
the lyrics to their favourite song. When your child hears the song, the will visualize
the lyrics they read. Visualization is a reading skill and this helps develop the skill.

• All reading is good reading. If your child is a reluctant reader, allow them to read
comics, a graphic novel, a magazine or an instruction manual for their favourite sport.
They will be introduced to new words, sentence structure, and they will engage their
brains with new ideas and information.

Kicking the Big C in the butt!!!

2012-01-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took part in a genetics clinic for Breast Cancer research.

Breast Cancer is a cause that I hold dear to heart. This disease came into my life when I was just a teen, and everyday I am thankful for the research that is done because everyday I get to talk to my mom.

17 years ago my mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. 17 years ago she made the choice to fight. 17 years ago she had her lump removed and went through chemo and radiation.
17 years ago cancer had its butt kicked by my mom.

It was ironic that in the same month that she celebrates another year cancer free that I participated in the clinic.

It was so interesting to learn how they are tracking cancer rates, tracking the rate of sporadic vs hereditary cancer and how researchers fight to find more strains of the gene that can cause cancer.

I get my mammograms annually, and thankfully, as I sit at the same age my mom was when she was diagnosed, I am cancer free. I am grateful to be so, and grateful to have my mom around today, and this is why I will do my part to help with the research that can one day save someone elses' mom.

Like my mom said today, because she fought, she got to have 17 more birthdays, 17 more anniversaries, watch her teens turn into women and meet all 3 of beautiful grandchildren.

She fought and she kicked cancers butt!

Who doesn't love a parfait!

2012-01-20T19:05:00.000-08:00

Every month we hold a Mini Chefs event for our little bakers.

This month I chose a delicious and healthy snack for the kiddies. I thought it was simple and not too exciting, but the kids were beyond excited!

Our recipe of choice this month, Yogurt Parfaits!

We had some super delicious French Vanilla Yogurt, chopped strawberries and bananas and a surprise topping!

The kids filled their cups with yogurt, added bananas and strawberries and layered on some more yogurt and fruit.

As if they weren't excited enough about their healthy and delicious snack, I brought out my surprise topping! Cookies and Crumbs, mmmmmm!

Presidents choice makes these delicious ice cream toppings and I thought that the Cookies and Cream would be a perfect addition to our Yogurt Parfait!

The kids loved it. Some more than others... my son wanted to eat just the cookie topping once that came out!

I have to admit, I thought this was going to be a boring and all too easy snack, but the kids had a blast making their snack and even more fun eating it!

One little miss loved it so much she had a second one!

Winter Blahs

2012-01-17T10:44:00.000-08:00

fHere we are, the middle of January. It's been a weird winter. Not too cold, not too much snow, barely any actually and just plain strange.

While here in Barrie we are usually under a few feet of snow and freezing our buns of in the minues temps, we have experienced not much snow, more days in the plus, and lots of rain. Yet still, I think many of us are gettin the winter blahs.

Stuck inside, not enough sunshine, bored with our activity options and this year, confused about what each day will bring weather wise.
Don't let winter by your enemy!

There are many ways to kick the blahs away and have fun with your kids!!

momstown posts hundreds of crafts for you to enjoy, check out some of the recent crafts for winter!

Snowflakes, we all remember making snowflakes in school, why not make a snowflake ribbon!
Or how about a fun canvas painting of snowmen!

Need some snacks while having fun with the kids? Why not make some yummy Peanut Butter and Banana muffins! or some seriously delicious Caramel Smore's Cups!

Of course the best way to beat the winter blahs is by getting out of the house and having fun with others! Be sure to join momstown for all the fun still to come this month and beyond!

Literacy Day is This Month!

2012-01-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

Reading with our kids is the most important thing we can do with them to help them learn and grow.

On January 27th, we will celebrate Literacy Day. A day dedicate to the importance and power of reading!

momstown is dedicated to enhancing and encouraging the love of readying with the kiddies through our curriculum with a strong partnership with Scholastic Canada and our monthly event Tales for Tots.

Books are a great way to teach your kids, spend time with them and enjoy them. Reading a book with a child is so rewarding in so many ways.

At home I read with my kids daily. I love the giggles as we get to funny parts, or the surprise as we get to the top of a plot, or the excitement when they relate to what the story is.

I love listening to the kids read books themselves, when they actually aren't yet reading, but making up the story based on the pictures or what they remember you reading from that book. Little minds are so creative!!!

I remember watching my oldest learn to read and recognize words, and eventually read books to me. Now, 9 years late, with my middle one in JK and showing an increased interest in learning to read, it amazes me all over again how their little minds work to figure out words.

There are a million toys and activities kids can do, but reading is the best!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2012-01-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

I still can't believe that an entire had gone by so fast and that 2011 was over! It was a such a great year with so many memories made and so many new friends!

Last year brought momstown Barrie lots of joy. We had so many new members join us and fall in love with all that we are, we had many new partners join us and help the train keep moving forward and we made a difference in the lives of many people.

For 2012, momstown Barrie is looking to continue on this path with new events, new friends, new partners and new fun!

What better way to spend a year than by making memories, meeting new people and watching the kiddies grow?

This year momstown will be turning 5. It's hard to believe that it's already been 5 years! We can guarantee you a rockin' year full of celebrations as we enjoy this milestone and share our pride with you.

Happy New Year everyone!

Giving Back to our community

2011-12-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

At this time of year we all get so busy and sometimes forget the other people around us. It's really easy to do with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays mixed in with everyday life.

We are guilty of at some point being too worried about where we have to go, what we have to buy, who is hosting dinner, etc that we forget there are some people out there that have no family to be with, no food to feast on and no gifts to open Christmas morning.

This year I was feeling very blessed with all the friends and family I have around me and how lucky we are that I felt the need to do something for those less fortunate.

While every year we make a donation of food and toys, I realized this year that sometimes while those things are very much needed, so is my time. It takes many man hours by many volunteers to make sure that those toy and food donations are taken care of handed out in time.

Toys and food are donated year round and at this time of year volunteers come together to sort, package and distribute these items to the families in need.

This week, along with a fellow momstown mom, I headed over the Barrie Christmas Cheer distribution centre to give my time to help out on their busiest day of the year.

Upon our arrival there was a lovely group of high school students that were working hard to help organize the centre and prepare for the pick up of packages by the families. It was very heartwarming to see these young men and women helping out and giving their time to their community.

I was amazed to see how many people had come out to volunteer and how many members of the Christmas Cheer there were all working in harmony to ensure a smooth operation.

I was very honoured to be a part of such a great cause.

While we were there, Rock 95 from Barrie presented Christmas Cheer with a donation of $15,000. This will be a great start for next year to help over 2000 families in the area.

I am very much looking forward to being a part of this great cause again next year!

A trip to the North Pole with momstown Barrie

2011-12-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

Today we embarked on our annual Christmas adventure tradition to the North Pole!

The South Simcoe Steam Train runs this fun train ride every year to raise funds for the historic train station as well as for the local food bank.

The momstown Barrie families headed down to Tottenham to board the Santa Express to the North Pole!

Despite the cold temperatures this morning everyone was smiling and excited for the adventure.

Santas elves join us for the beginning of the ride to sing carols and chat with the kiddies.

Then the big guy himslef arrives! Santa boards the train and makes his way through the train car to visit with all the families!

Santa is so kind to take time to sit down with each family to chat with the kiddies and to get some photos taken.

As always, this was a super fun morning and lots of memories were made. The kids always feel so special to get their time with Santa and mom and dad love the smiles (or tears) as Santa chats to the kids.

Can't wait to do it again next year!

Christmas Magic Contest!

2011-12-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Time and we are all busily snapping pictures of our loved ones and capturing some amazing memories!

Well this holiday you can turn your Magical moments into a chance to win a great prize, a Children’s Customized Photo Storybook Session from Picture Your Life Photography. (Current value - $155)

momstown Barrie has partnered with Take The Party Outside and Picture Your Life Photography to bring you this fabulous contest for the Holidays!

Send us the most magical moment that you have captured during the Holiday Season. We will select the top five images that we find to be most magical and then the public will vote for their favourite one!

Show us a big surprise, happy faces, a big family hug, anything that made
the holidays magic!

3 Simple Steps to enter YOUR CHRISTMAS MAGIC

Step 1: Like the facebook pages forhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/momstown-Barrie/113424728675522?ref=tn_tnmn, Take The Party Outside and Picture Your Life Photography!

Step 2: Save your photo as your full name email to pictureyourlife@email.smugmug.com. Make sure the subject of the email is ChristmasPhoto

Step 3: Check the gallery to ensure your photo is added successfully by going to
GALLERY LINK: http://www.pictureyourlifephotography.com/Other/
Email/11328608_nJm8Br#1610701662_2GdfSzB

Deadline for Entries: Jan. 6, 2012 11:59pm (be sure it’s in jpg format!)

Our top five finalists will be notified by email before January 9th. Voting will
begin on January 9th!! The winner will be announced on January 30th at
6:00pm.

A bit about the prize:A Children’s Customized Photo
Storybook Session from Picture Your Life Photography. (Current value
- $155) Prize includes up to 2 hours of session time at Picture Your Life
Photography Studio or on location within 30 minutes from Tottenham, ON.
Includes one customized 7x7 inch soft cover photo storybook featuring your
child. Gift certificate will be valid for 12 months from date of issue.

Having problems? Email: karrie.copelli@momstown.ca

A house made out of candy!!

2011-12-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

For many people, building a gingerbread house is a holiday tradition.

Around my house its just a source of anxiety. Trying to get all the walls together, a roof on top and make it all look straight, yikes! Then to decorate it with the kids and not let my perfectionist, controlling nature take over (gees don't put all the red candies together! Space those gum drops evenly!) is not an easy task!

But today at our Mini Chefs play group one of our mamas suggested we do Gingerbread houses. What a great idea! But wait... build gingerbread houses with a room full of toddlers and preschoolers? Am I nuts? Maybe, but it's not about me right?

So I set out to find a simple gingerbread house for us to decorate. I managed to find pre-assembled houses, how genius! Half the stress removed!! So I bought 2!

The kids had a great time decorating the houses. We put them into 2 groups, boys and girls. They were so intense decorating their houses while sneaking nibbles of the candies.

The moms helped put the icing on and the kids were amazing to watch as they set out to create houses of candy!

While some candy trees were eaten and didn't make it on the houses, and gum drops devoured, candy balls rolling away, the kids managed to create bright and cheery Gingerbread houses to be proud of!

We raffled off the houses to see what lucky families would get to take them home.

This was a super fun event and super easy with the pre-assembled houses! One we will do next year again for sure!

Santa Came to momstown!

2011-12-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

HO HO HO! What a jolly day it was!

We had our 4th Annual Christmas Party today and it was a blast!

It's always so nice to see everyone together, having fun, mingling and just smiling.

We had so many newer members out this year and it was really great to see them fitting right in and having fun.

It was also great to see some of our original members still coming out, now with more kids than they started with, and having fun too! I always love these big events and having everyone together!

The kids had a ball doing crafts, playiing games and running around!

As usual we had a great pot luck feast that filled the kids up and calmed them down (just a bit) for a visit with a very special guy.

Santa made his arrival after lunch and the kids were so excited (except for my son who screamed in sheer terror!).

The kids all lined up patiently with their moms and dads, who were just as excited by the way, and they waited their turn to see Santa.

Some of the kids were so happy to be sitting on Santa's knee, some were not as thrilled. A candy cane and a gift late they were all happy!

Thank you so much to everyone that came out to make the day special! A special thanks to Santa for making a trip just to visit the moms and tots of momstown Barrie!

Counting down to Christmas!

2011-12-05T19:23:00.000-08:00

Time goes by so fast for us adults, but kids seem to have no idea of the passing of time.

When December hits, we, as parents, feel like time speeds up as the Christmas crunch heads into the home stretch.

Between shopping and cleaning and sorting out family and travel plans, we have to find the time to fit everything in to ever shrinking days.

For kids, December hits and time slows down. The days until Christmas are within reach, but still so far away. So the official count down begins on December first, how many sleeps until the Jolly Man in Red arrives with their new treasures?

Advent calendars have been popular with kids in keeping track of the days left until Santa's arrival, for many, many years.

A popular choice for many parents is the good old chocolate count down calendar. We grew up with these and have passed this down to our own children, I am quite sure I am not the only one. This year, was the first year that we didn't do the good old chocolate calendars.

There are so many options out there to get creative and do something fun with the kids.

At the end of November, our mamas and tots got together to make a count down to Christmas chain. Each day they would tear off a link of the chain, and when there are no more left, that meant that Santa would be on his way!
All around momstown mamas have been getting creative with new ways to count down to Christmas.

Our momstown arts and crafts blog has a variety of advent ideas to creatively do your count down.

While December is already on well on its' way, it's not too late to start counting down!

Baby socks holding treats,unwrap a book a day, alphabetical advent calendars and more!

Be sure to check them all out and share with us your ideas for counting down to Christmas!

mmmmm cookies!

2011-12-04T14:38:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas time. I love everything about it. I especially love that this is a huge excuse to bake and indulge seriously yummy and decadent treats.

Every year I look forward to the momstown Annual Cookie Exchange. Who doesn't love cookies? A cookie exchange is a great way to collect and sample new cookies recipes, have some fun, be festive and play silly games all while drinking wine or peppermint schnapps hot chocolate.

Every year the momstown mamas take part in a cookie exchange. We bake our cookies and come together to share treats, laughs and more.

Each year we always partake in silly Christmas games. They are always good for a laugh... don't say the word cookie, or you lose your snowman clothes pin!

The cookies are always the highlight of the party. Getting to taste test everyones cookies is always fun. We had sugar cookies and cream filled sandwich cookies and the most decadent peanut butter cup treats... it is definitely a night to define as a calorie free night! LOL!

I am already looking forward to the next cookie exchange. Any excuse to have cookies is good with me! For some great cookie recipes and tips on hosting a cookie exchnage, pop on over to the momstown meals blog!

So, how many times did I say the word cookie? :)

Doodle Bear is a winner!

2011-12-03T06:29:00.000-08:00

The kids always love to get new toys.

My daughter has become obsessed with colouring the last few months. She will colour for hours.

When she opened up the Fisher Price Doodle Bear her first reaction... SHE HAS BOWS ON HER EARS! LOL! She loved how pretty the bear was, she is four and all about being pretty, so a pretty bear was right up her alley!

On closer inspection of the box she saw that it came with markers she was a little confused, is there a colouring book?

So when I told her the markers were to colour ON the bear, she was thrilled! Really? I can decorate my bear? You sure can!!! You get to decorate the bear and then we can wash it and you can do it all over again!!

As soon as my son saw markers he was all in there trying to get a piece of the action. Who says a boy can't play with a pretty purple bear? Make it something he can use markers on and he is game!

The kids loved that they could decorate the bear just they way wanted to. The little elastic loops on the back of the bear to store the markers were a hit, no lost markers!!!

Our Fisher Price Doodle Bear is now ready her bath, tonight, we decorate her again!

Now to make sure that the boy doesn't try to colour on all the bears in the house!

Are you a horse?

2011-11-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

This month we spent some time enjoying the Wild West! It was a fun theme and the kids enjoyed it!

This month at our Tales for Tots event we read a great book that just perfect for our Wild West theme. The pictures were bright and detailed and the story was fun!

The book we read, sponsored by our wonderful literacy partner Scholastic Canada, was called Are You A Horse by Andy Rash.

This was a fun story that the kids really enjoyed!

As Roy the Cowboy tries to figure out what a horse is so he can use his new saddle, the kids giggled at all the things he came across and thought was a horse!

As with all our Tales for Tots events, one of our lucky moms got to take home a copy of the book!

You can check out more great Wild West themed books and some crafts to go with them on our momstown Arts and Crafts Blog!

Next month, we will enjoy another great book, A Porcupine in a Pine Tree, 12 days of Christmas the Canadian way!

Is your Christmas Tree up yet?

2011-11-27T12:26:00.001-08:00

We did it! Our Christmas tree is finally up!

Some people might think we are nuts to have our tree up a full month before Christmas, but I couldn't wait! Every year it seems to get earlier and earlier. This is my all time favorite holiday and anything I can do to extend the life of it is ok by me!

I happen to know quite a few people that had their trees up and decorated long before I did. Many use the local Santa Claus parade as the marker for when they decorate for the season. I just pick a date that the family is all together with nothing to do but be together and decorate the house and put the tree up.

As soon as we open the boxes of treasures the house starts to feel different. It's like a festive peace falls on the house and everyone just is much happier and calmer (ok it doesn't last long, but still).

The excitement surround the tree decorating grows as we uncovering the special ornaments from years past, and following tradition I give my kids their new ornaments for this year. They all pick a special place on the tree for their ornaments to go and watching their little faces light up as the tree transforms bring me such joy.

So now I feel like the festive season has officially begun!

Coming up over the next few weeks momstown has a load of great events to celebrate the season! The Annual Cookie Exchange, tons of holiday crafts, or Annual Christmas Party and trip to the Santa Express, and so much more!

Happy Holidays!!!!

Pickles visits momstown!

2011-11-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

We had a special guest this week at our Connect the Tots Playgroup!

Pickles the Clown came by to see the children and sure was a fun morning!!

The kids were so excited to see Pickles and eagerly sat listening to her story of how she became Pickles the Clown!

Magic always gets the attention of kids and Pickles was sure to deliver some magic and get the kids involved! They had so much fun helping Pickles make colour appear and forms change shape!

From magic we moved on to singing, a favorite our of our tots! They love to sing and dance!

To top off her visit, Pickles thrilled the kids with glitter tatoos! This kids loved them! They lined up patiently, something so hard for a preschooler to do, and waited their turn to pick their tattoo and be glitterfied! Frogs and flowers and unicorns, the kids loved them!

Thank you so much to Pickles for coming in to entertain our tots!!

It's Parade Season!!

2011-11-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

It's that wonderful time of year already! The stores are starting to fill up with Christmas items, the malls are bringing out the Christmas trees and the Santa villages, houses are starting to light up with Christmas lights and every town is getting ready for their Santa Claus parades.

Santa Claus Parades are the pivotal point in this season when kids actually get excited. They see the big man in the red suit with and the excitement kicks in.
The bands, the clowns, the bright floats with their Christmas music and cheerful float riders are always so thrilling. No matter how many parades you go to, you still get excited, even as an adult!

My kids don't get to watch very many parades as they are in so many because of their baton club. But I tell ya, they still get so excited to be a part of the fun!

This weekend is the first of 4 parades that my girls will be in. Barrie will be celebrating their Santa Claus Parade this weekend as well, Saturday November 19th, at 5pm.

Some parades taking place this month....
Newmarket,Bradford and Barrie - Saturday Nov. 19
Orilia and Toronto Sunday Nov. 20
Innisfil - Sunday Nov. 27

HO HO HO!!!!

The Wild, Wild West!

2011-11-09T20:24:00.000-08:00

This month is all about the wild west. A super fun theme for the kiddies as they will get to dress up, get crafty and have a good ol' momstown good time!

Today we did our first Western themed craft. Our little momstown Sheriffs bade their own star badges.

After a good romp with friends in the toy room, the kiddies came to the craft table to make their Sheriff Stars.

They cleverly figured out how to turn 2 triangles into a star. They glued them together and then added their name.

Then the fun came. They started to decorate. Pom poms made a good addition to our stars. Some of the kids just put the fluffy balls on the points and some of them covered the stars in full. Kids love glue, what can I say!

This week coming is more momstown fun! movies for mommies, trikes and mittens, soup swap and so much more!

November already!

2011-11-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

I have been in denial about the fact that it is November already.

While I was more than happy to have Halloween over and done with it, I am not ready for it to be November.

The year has flown by with immense speed. Christmas is countable in a number of days that is not to insane to say out loud, the snow is coming (don't shoot the messenger!) and a new year will be upon us in no time.

I am not one to rush time by, but just saying.

This month we avoid all things that November means and here with momstown we will be celebrating the Wild West!

Cowboys and Cowgirls will enjoy some western crafts, stories and good ol' foot stompin fun!

This month we have some awesome fun in store! pizza making, decorating dudes and divas, mini chefs, tales for tots and so much more!!! Don't miss out! visit us today!!!

Boo Bash Spooktacular!!!!!

2011-10-30T08:32:00.001-07:00

Our Boo Bash was a huge success!!!

the momstown Barrie mamas sure know how to have fun, and they sure have some of the cutest tots around!!!

While I am not personally a fan of Halloween, I always look forward to our Boo Bash! The only fun part of Halloween to me is seeing the kids have fun!

It was so cute to see all the kids in their costumes! They were having so much fun running around and it was so cute to see what they were all dressed as!

We had a dragon, lady bug, dog, mermaid, Dora, some tigers, a sweet little witch, an adorable pupkin, princesses, pirates, a wee little cow and so much more!

They were all so cute and so excited to be celebrating Halloween!
The kids enjoyed making crafts, dancing and just playing with each other!

As usual we have an awesome pot luck lunch with such a variety of delicious dishes!

Thanks to all the moms and dads that brought their little goblins out for a great morning of FUN!!!

momstown and Wendy's Celebrate Halloween!

2011-10-28T15:42:00.000-07:00

Halloween is just around the corner, only 3 more sleeps!

We have been spending the week celebrating all the fun that comes with Halloween!

Today Wendy's hosted a Fun morning in their Bryne Dr. restaurant. The turnout was fantastic!

Moms and kiddies were all dressed up for to celebrate. There were crafts and balloons and free frosty's for everyone!

The kids had a ball running around in the cosutmes and playing together.

We had many new moms from the area come out to see what fun all of us at momstown have!

Pumpkin Play Date!

2011-10-26T14:59:00.000-07:00

This weeks play date was all about pumpkins!!

The kids are so excited about halloween as many of them actually understand it this year for the first time!

We decided to do an easy but fun craft, mosaic pumpkins!!

The kiddies got a paper plate, a piece of orange construction paper and 2 eyes and a mouth made from black construction paper.

First step, rip the paper into small pieces! The kids thought this was great that they actually got to rip up the paper!

Next step, glue the orange pieces on the plate! Another favorite for the kids... GLUE! Kids just love glue for some odd reason!

Once their plates were covered in orange they were able to add on their eyes and mouth and VOILA! A pumpkin!!!

A great pumpkin story read by my oldest (it was a PA day!) and then some songs and dancing and it was a perfect morning!

Stll to come this week as we celebrate all the fun of halloween, Decorating Dudes and Divas, momstown Halloween Fun Day at Wendy's and of course.... our BOO BASH!!!!!!!

OOEEY GOOEY PUMPKINS!

2011-10-23T15:09:00.001-07:00

We had our very first Mini Chefs group and it was so much fun!

With our first group taking place so close to Halloween it was only fitting do a Halloween recipe!

We had a week full of rain and cold weather and getting ooey gooey sticky while having fun was just what we all needed!

I chose Ooeey Gooeey Pumpkins after seeing what fun the momstown Oakville moms had with their moms and kiddies doing this same recipe.

Everyone loves Rice Krispie Treats, so we used this as the base to make our pumpkins! The kids helped stir up the GOO and count in the cups of rice krispies.

We scooped out big gobs of treat and the kids got down the making them into balls for the pumpkins!

Wih some bits and bites and candies, the kids got down to making their pumpkin faces!

It was so fun to watch them all so sticky and messy and sneaking nibbles and eating their candies!

I have to admit this was a great one to do just for the clean up, who doesn't love licking the bowl after making rice krispie treats!

I am looking forward to all the Halloween fun still come this week!

Celebrating momstown, Thank you Mamas!

2011-10-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

We had some big news yesterday, did you hear?

momstown was the winner of the Savvymom Mom Entrpreneur of the Year! Us, momstown, Mom Entrepreneur of the Year!!!

Our Founder Ann-Marie Burton has worked so hard to build momstown and is the reason we have momstown. She saw a need and she did something about it.

Just over three years ago she asked me to be a part of the momstown family and together along with Stacie M, former momstown Community Manager, we brought momstown to Barrie.

This was not the first time momstown was in the running to for this prestigious title. There are tons of mom entrepreneurs that vie for the title every year and this year momstown reigned Queen.

A big congratulation goes out to all the mamas that made the top 10 this year! Every single one of you had what it takes to be the Mom Entrepreneur of the year. Wonderful moms in business is what makes being a mompreneur myself so special, I am in good company!

We are all so very proud of this honour! Ann-Marie has shared her thoughts on the win and her journey to get here on the momstown moments blog, be sure to read it!! Many of you might not understand just what a big deal this is for us!!! It's not just a title, it's beyond being just an honour, it's validation that we are doing something great and that YOU our loyal and loving mamas and fans agree. Without you, we would not have been able to win, without beleiving in us and voting for us, we would not be able to hold the title of Mom Entrepreneur of the Year.

This is a milestone for momstown that give us the courage and the inspiration to keep on trucking!

We give you all huge thanks for believing in us and loving us. momstown truly is a unique entity and we should all make sure to share this with every mom we meet!

Caged Animals!

2011-10-18T11:21:00.000-07:00

For any mom with more than one kid, I am sure you can relate to Caged Animal Syndrom.

I experience this quite often with my kids, sometimes even the teenager. My once well behaved children quite often turn into wild animals when out in public.

They are great at the park, the zoo, out for walks or anything that is free roaming...get the picture?

But take them to place where they need to be well behaved, quiet, hold hands or sit still and they turn into wild animals! Like they have just been released from their cages for the first time!

My kids are adorable. They are funny, smart and entertaining... but don't let them fool you!

Last night was no exception. The kids have all had coughs and finally it my teenager. We headed to the walkin clinic and the circus began!

The 4 year old decides to run wild through the waiting room giggling uncontrollably. The 18 month old is jumping around and bouncing, literally, off funiture, laughing hysterically. The oldest pretends she doesn't know us as she sits on her phone texting friends... probably telling them she is at the zoo.

I try to remain calm, I try to reason with them. "You need to sit still and be quiet, there are other people here that are sick and waiting for the doctor." They sit, for 14 seconds, before the giggling starts and the kicking feet begin, and then the jumping and running is back in full force.

SO agian, for the sake of looking normal, you try to remain calm and wrangle them in with a stern face and a firm "Now sit here and don't move."

You know people are staring. Some are laughing, I mean the kids are cute and acting wild, and some are just pretending we are not there.

It's getting hot, I am out of snacks, I know they aren't listening to me and I am trying to to either burst out laughing, cry or scream.

Finally, they call my daughters name. Oh great relief we can get out of the waiting room and into a space where people can't see us!

Oh but my relief is short lived. The tiny little exam room reminds the animals that they are still free...this is where I begin to pray. Pray for patience for me and for the lives of my children.

One starts to sing old macdonald at the top of her lungs. one tries to climb on the chair with wheels unsuccessfully, which makes him wail and push the chair into the wall. It's getting hot again, I am not sure if I should laugh or cry. I look at my oldest and we both start to laugh. Which makes the one sign louder as she plays drums on the wall with tongue depressors and the other cry louder becuase we are laughing and not helping him.

The poor doctor finally arrives, I apologize for the circus, she checks my daughter out, writes a scrit and I swear, she runs out of the room.

mmmmm PIE!

2011-10-13T08:27:00.001-07:00

With Fall comes Harvest time. With Harvest time comes yummy food!!! And yummy food that makes great pies!

Our mamas decided we needed a reason to bake pies, yummy, delicious, mouth watering pies!!!

A bunch of moms got together with their baked heaven and we all did a taste test.

The delicious apples we picked in September made for a sweet and delicious pies that everyone loved, even the kids!

Blueberries, Strawberries and Rhubarb from the summer made form yummy pies as well!!

Oh course there was the old standby Lemon Meringue, this was my fave of the day!!

With Thanksgiving having just past and Halloween around the corner one of our mamas thought a pumpkin pie was only fitting!

With all the yummy pie, we decided to skip lunch and just eat pie, lots and lots of pie!!

It was a great event, and one we will definitely do again... who doesn't love pie!!!

Happy Gobble Gobble!

2011-10-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

Ahhh the first turkey day of the season! This weekend we will all be gathering with our families to be thankful for the things in our lives.

Along with being thankful and spending time with family I am sure most of you will be indulging in big Thanksgiving feasts! Turkey with all the fixings and pumpkin pie! My Fave!!!

We were celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend with the momstown mamas and tots too.

We had a craft morning with a bunch of turkeys... I mean making turkeys. Turkey hats to be more precise!

The kids had a blast and were excited to wear their handmade hats!

From all of us at momstown, we hope you have a Thanksgiving full of blessings and good food.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Finding Focus as a WAHM

2011-10-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

Being a work at home mom (WAHM) has its rewards and its challenges.

The rewards are the easy part for everyone to see. No long commutes in rush hour traffic, no alarm clocks at 5am to get yourself and all your little people ready for the day, you can work in your jammies all day and no one would know and best of all you get to be home with your kids and watch them grow up!

The part people don't see as easily are the challenges. Excuse me, "don't touch the tv." the challenges are sometimes bigger than the reward. "leave your brother alone", "no you can't have cookies." The challenges are time management and staying focused.

Staying focused. Sometimes I think its a myth when working from home with young children, something that just isn't possible.

The temptation to do a million things other than work are is inevitable. Play with the kids, clean, do laundry, go for a walk, watch tv, play with the kids, bake cupcakes, take a nap... you get the picture, so. many. things.

I started my WAHM life 6 years ago with a simole job that didnt require too much attention and was pretty easy to do any time of day. 3 years ago I became a momstown mama and took on a whole new role as a WAHM. Last year I became THE momstown Barrie mama.... This is where I learned what it truly meant to be a WAHM!!!

We chose to be WAHM's because we love the rewards and the benefits. We didn't think about the chaos and the temptations and how difficult it is to focus. At least, I didn't about it.

To stay focused it's a good idea to make the infamous "TO DO LIST" your best friend. I find this to be a great way to make myself accountable for what I need to do, what I need to focus on. And sometimes it's a great reminder of the days I lost focus.

I try to put deadlines to those tasks as well. I am not perfect though. Sometimes my to do list seems to grow faster than I can knock the tasks off. When the list grows, this is when I stop and remind myself to focus.

Some tips I have been given and have found useful in finding my focus:

1. Find my most productive time of day and make sure that I use it. My more prodcutive time is first thing in the morning and after the kids have gone to bed.

2. Take advantage of any quiet time you might have. If the kids take nap, I use that time to turn off the tv, not look at the messy kitchen and tie myself to my desk and work. This is the best time to make phone calls. Your window of opportunity while the little people nap is slim. Use it to its' fullest.

3. Don't set goals that you know you will fail at. It's easier to focus on a few small tasks or one big task than trying to do it all in one day.

4. Don't stress.

Being a work at home mom takes a lot of dedication, hard work and love. Oh yeah, and focus.

It's not easy, but it's oh so worth it!

MMMMM Candy Apples

2011-09-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

After going apple picking last week we needed something fun to do with all the apples!

Sure many of us baked and made apple sauce, but what about something really fun?

Well our Decorating Dudes and Divas event for this month was all about apples! Candy Apples!

We melted some yummy chocolate and coated the apples... mmm!!! They were good enough to eat with just the chocolate, but we added more yummy goodness to them!

Sprinkles and candy and coconut and skor bits... oh yeah! YUM!

The kids had fun making their chocolate covered apples and I am sure they had even more fun eating them!!!

Check out all the apple recipes on the momstown meal blog! A great way to use all the apples you pick this season!

momstown kiddies (and mamas!) love their cereal!

2011-09-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love cereal? It's a great way to start any day. Quick, easy and nutricious!

This weekend we had our second Love Your Cereal Breakfast Party! This time, we did a PJ Party!!! SO FUN! As always our mamas and their kiddies arrived dressed for the party...in their PJ's!

The kids were excited, and hungry! It was so awesome of Kellogg's to think of momstown for their Love Your Cereal campaign.

I think its safe to say that most families enjoy cereal in their homes. Cereal is a great option for a healthy start to the day and also makes a great snack for on the go!!

Our moms were out in full force and it was great to see some dads out too! The kids were excited as always and wasted no time digging in to the cereal!

We had some of our Kellogg's faves on hand, Frosted Flakes, Mini Wheats, Raisin Bran, Rice Krispies, and of course Froot Loops! Along with some fresh fruit, OJ and yogurt all our families had a great start to their day! Not only were their bellies filled with nutrisious goodness but they had a fun morning with friends!

Of course no event is complete without a craft! This breakfast party even included crafts made with cereal!! Froot Loops make great necklaces and great art!

It was fantastic day for everyone and I am so glad that so many families came out to enjoy the morning!

Thank you momstown mamas and thank you Kellogg's!!!

Making our momstown community a cleaner place!

2011-09-22T06:25:00.000-07:00

The Barrie Area is beautiful. Surrounding Lake Simcoe, close to the Nottawasaga River and full of gorgeous trails and parks, it is a beautiful place to live and play.

This week our mamas and tots participated in The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. This event takes place across Canada and is a fun way to help keep our shores and water ways clean!

This year we joined Coca Cola who was supporting this great environmentally friendly effort. The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is sponsored by WWF Canada and the Vancouver Aquarium. It takes place across the country every year in Septemeber and is designed to promote understanding and education about shoreline litter issues by encouraging Canadians to rehabilitate shoreline areas through cleanups.

Our mamas headed out to Tyndale Park to clean up the beach! It was a gorgeous morning and kids were excited that they were going to be helping the evnironment!

We put on our gloves, which were huge on the little ones but oh so cute to see, and headed to the beach.

At first glance the beach didn't look too bad! We were surprised at how clean it was. But as we made our way along the shoreline and with closer inspection, it was sad to see just how much litter was around.

We collected all sorts of plastic garbage, which could be harmful to the ducks, fish and other wildlife, bottles and coffee cups. There was an alarming amount of cigarette butts, especially since smoking in public parks has been banned!

After a good cleanup, we were proud to say we had removed all the litter from this beautiful little beach!

YAY momstown mamas!!!! As a reward for the kiddies and their hard work, we headed to the park for some play time!

Apples, Apples and More Apples!

2011-09-20T08:40:00.001-07:00

One of our favourite events with momstown is Apple Picking!

It's a great way to spend time with the kiddies enjoying the fresh air and having fun.

This year we headed back to Avalon Orchards in Innisfil for a good old fashioned orchard tour, wagon ride, hike and of course apple picking!

The weather was perfect for being outdoors and heading into the orchard. It was so great to see such a big group of moms out, and many of them new to momstown!

We started our morning with a fun wagon ride through the orchard! We were the very first tour of the season for the orchard, how exciting!

The kids loved the bumpy ride along the path, and were on the lookout for apples. The orchard has over 10,000 trees!!!

We stopped for a bit of apple picking, the kids were giggling and running and collecting their apples! Even the littlest ones were enjoying themselves!

Enjoying an apple right off the tree in the middle of the orchard was a great treat for the kids... and moms too!

Back on the wagon we went and then headed for a hike. Some of the mamas with small babies stayed on the wagon while the rest of us chased our munchkins through the forest.

After a good hike, another wagon ride and return to the farm house, we were treated with some fresh apple cyder!

What a great way to spend a morning with friends!!!

Now to enjoy some yummy apple recipes! Check out the momstown meals blog for great recipes!

Who's up for a PJ Party!

2011-09-16T12:53:00.001-07:00

As kids, we all loved PJ parties. We got to hang out with our besties, in our PJ's eating pizza and popcorn and talking about "stuff" (we all know it was boys right?)

Well now we get to party in our PJ's again, with our kiddies!

We are holding our Love Your Cereal PJ Party next weekend and it's going to be a blast!!!

We can all where our PJ's while enjoying a healthy breakfast provided by Kellogg's!

Having cereal for break fast is a great way to start any day, and what better way to enjoy that cereal than with friends!

What cereal will you pick? Will you mix them? Will you share with the kids?

Did you know?

Kellogg’s is on a continuous journey to improve the nutrition of its products without sacrificing taste or quality. In the past several years, Kellogg’s has made these special efforts to improve more than 200 products:

•Lowered Sodium
•Lowered Sugar
•Removed Trans Fats
•Added Fiber

Show me how much you Love Your Cereal!

and we're off!!! To the races that is!

2011-09-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

What mom doesn't need a night out here and there? We deserve it! We work a job that is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with no paid vacations and no sick time!

We love our kids to death, don't get me wrong, but we all need ME time. Not mommy time, not just family time, ME time. Time to be Sally or Mary or Barb.

This month we took our mama's night out to a whole new level! We were buffet eating, cocktail drinking, gambling women as we took over Georgian Downs for side track side horse race betting!

What a blast!!!!!!! We had a great group of 14 mamas come out to enjoy a true ladies night. after ordering some wine and cocktails we hit the buffets before making our first wagers.

The food was fantastic and the staff was fun and courteous. With plates piled high, we all eyed the flowing chocolate fountain vowing to save room for dessert!
As race time approached we picked our horses to win. Some tried to pick by the stats...way to confusing if you ask me..... and others went by gut feeling, names they liked, etc. Sure! A Night in Paris sounds great... I'll take that one please!

While most of us didn't win much, some of us had some luck making a few bucks on the races.

One lucky mama even came out way ahead as she played her luck at the slots between races! We won't name names, I told her to keep the money and tell her hubby she didn't have any luck!

Can't wait to do it again!!!

We see giraffes....

2011-09-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

September is ZOO month here at momstown.

The weather has been gorgeous so far this month and is was a perfect day for Art in the Park to make crafts!

In keeping with our zoo theme we decided to make some fun and easy animal crafts. We chose

hand print Giraffes

!

They were super cute and the kids had a blast getting messy as they made their hand prints in bright yellow paint.

Once the paint was dried, we added their finger prints in brown. These made the giraffes spots.

The kids were able to see now how their tiny little hands formed the shape of a giraffe!

This was a super easy craft and super cute too!!!

As always, art in the park leads to some play time at the park. The kids had a blast burning off some energy in the park while the mamas had a chance to chat.

Before we knew it was lunch time! Some of the mamas headed out to Boston Pizza in Barrie for a nice lunch with the kids!

It certainly was a perfect day all around

She's a Big Girl Now!!

2011-09-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well I survived... I mean she survived. My little girl is a big girl now!

She made it through her first day of Kindergarten with ease! The teacher said she was a delight; she listened, was attentive, well behaved and smart! What a great report after day one!

I knew she was ready. She is a curious, social butterfly and smart as a whip. Mama wasn't so ready to let her go, but I knew she would be fine.

An early morning with a healthy breakfast, picked out her own outfit and she helped pack her lunch. My daughter was ready to go!!!

Once we got to school the excitement grew. She was at the BIG school, where her BIG sister goes!!

There were giggles and skipping and running. She went right into the yard without thought... I had to pull her back for a kiss!!

My other half was shocked to see how freely she went in and went to right work making friends and playing with other kids. She sure is like her mama!!

At the end of the day I waited with all the other anxious parents to pick up my baby and see how her day was. The bell rang and she came out with a long face. Dread set in that maybe she didn't like school, or maybe was sad, or missed me.

When I asked her what was wrong she simply replied, "I don't get to go on the school bus, I have to walk with you." God love her, the worst part of her day was being told she had to walk with her mom!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

2011-09-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

or so says the Staples commercials that play on t.v this time of year!

momstown mamas have been talking about it for weeks. New schools, new teachers, labelling kids stuff, we all knew it was coming.

Back to school is bittersweet this year. Normally I am jumping for joy and over the moon when back to school hits. Summer is a long 9 weeks to entertain the kids and by the end of it I am usually so happy that school has returned.

The return of school means the return of routine. A very welcomed thing in this house right now!! Normal bedtimes, normal meals and a sense of direction for the oldest one.

But this year, it's kind of sad for me. As much as I want the routine to return, back to school this year means my kids are growing.

I know, that's what it means every year, but this year is different. This year I have a teenager going into Grade 8, her final year of elementary school, her final year before she heads into high school where she will make choices about her schooling and where it will take her. How did these 13 years go by so quick?

And then to make this year even harder, my sweet little Noelle is starting Kindergarten. She is starting her academic adventure in the "big school" where she will spend her school days in the care of some other adult who is not me, who will now be a part of molding her into a little educated being.

So while I wait anxiously for Megan to come home from her first day of Grade 8 and give me the run down of who her teacher is, who is in her class, who the new kids are and dare I wait for it, who the cute boys are, I will keep Noelle close to me and cherish the next 2 days until she starts her adventure.

No one said being a mom was easy, but boy, back to school really reminds you that you wear your heart on your sleeve

Fisher Price Zoo Talker is a BIG HIT!!!

2011-09-04T06:22:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to get to try out the Fisher Price Zoo Talker this week.

When the delivery man arrived just before lunch, the kids were jumping up and down with excitement that a big box had arrived. They had no clue what was in the big brown box, but they new it had to be good!

We opened the brown box to reveal the Fisher Price Zoo Talker, the kids went nuts! "What is that?!" screamed my 4 year old. She sat on the floor in front of the big box and asked if it was for her. I explained it was for her and her brother.
As just 17 months old, Nathan was on things trying to figure out how to get the box open.

The kids helped me unpack the box with all the pieces. It looked a little daunting with so mnay pieces but it was super easy to assemble, all the pieces with the exception of the handle just snapped in! Super fast, super easy!

We put in the batteries and the kids went to town, or should I say ZOO, playing with all the moving pieces. There were 3 animals and a zoo keeper included as well.

This is a great toy for both my 4 year old and my 17 month old. There is so much to explore in the zoo! A slide, a secret door, a roaring hippo, a talking zoo keeper, animals that make noise; it really is an all around awesome toy.

The kids played for a good half hour by themselves and when friends arrived they showed them their new favorite toy and they all loved it.

I think we will be getting the other animals that go with the zoo just to add to the fun!

It sure was fun getting to check out this awesome toy! My kids loved it and I loved that there was so much for them to explore on it!

See Backyarigans Live!!

2011-09-02T06:47:00.000-07:00

We have another awesome contest for you mamas!!

Thanks to Koba Entertainment, we have a family pack of tickets to give away to one lucky winner to go see The Backyardigans in Orillia this December!

The Backyardigans and the Quest for the Extra Ordinary Aliens is the theatrical production by Koba Entertainment that brings to life the fun-loving and adorable characters from the favourite children's TV show. Wouldn't you love to surprise your little one with this special outing?

All you need to do to win is head on over to the momstown Barrie Facebook Page from Friday, September 2 until 5pm Monday, September 5 and post a picture or video show how much your kids love The Backyardigans and why they are the number #1 Fan. Have fun with this and show your love for the Backyardigans and for Koba Entertainment!

Winners will be announced on the evening of September 5th!

RULES TO WIN!!!! First post your pics or videos on our facebook page!! NEXT, come back here and post a comment letting us know you posted your pic/video (make sure you leave your facebook name so we can identify you!) You must do both to win! Facebook, blog, win!!!

At 8pm on Monday September 5th I will announce the winner!!!

Check out www.thebackyardigansontour.com for more details on the Show and make sure you go and like the Koba Entertainment Facebook page and follow them on Twitter as well!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

2011-08-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

Heading to the zoo is a perfect summer morning trip! We headed to one our momstown mamas and tots fave spots near Barrie, Elmvale Jungle Zoo.

It's a close drive to a neat little zoo where the kids can play, visit with the animals and feed them too!

The little ones love getting to feed the giraffes, goats, deer and monkeys! The giggles while they fed the animals was priceless!

After visiting some animals it was time for a lunch break, got to feed the animals we brought with us!

A play in the park was just what everyone needed to burn off some energy and give moms a chance to relax.

Going to the zoo is fun for all of, young and old!

And what better way to top off a trip to the zoo than with a pony ride!!!

September is all about the zoo with momstown! We will have lots of crafts and stories all about the zoo! check out our Arts and Crafts Blog for some great animal crafts!

Toopy and Binoo who loves you more?

2011-08-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

Are you and your family big Toopy and Binoo fans?

Well here is your chance to win tickets from momstown Barrie to the upcoming Toopy and Binoo show in Orillia on October 18th.

Koba Entertainment brings you Toopy and Binoo and the Marshmallow Moon, an entertaining and magical show about these two fun-loving and adorable characters, whose antics are driven by their out-of-this-world imaginations.

To WIN tickets to the show, be sure to go to our momstown Barrie Facebook page and post a picture of your kids showing how much they love Toopy and Binoo, then comment on this blog to let us know you posted our picture!!

Don't forget to like Koba Entertainment on Facebook as well and thank them for the chance to win tickets!!

A bit about the upcoming theatrical show:

Their unpredictable adventures inspire children to push their own limits!
You only get to make a first impression once! Preparing for his stage debut, Toopy has to not only find the perfect song to sing, but he also has to find the perfect place to perform it!
As Toopy and his best friend Binoo embark on their most important musical quest ever, they encounter a Blue Cat Blues Band, a Loud Mouth Crooner Fish, some Rock n’ Roll Sheep, a pair of Love Struck Dragons and many other zany characters along the way.
Entertaining and whimsical, Toopy and Binoo and the Marshmallow Moon is a fairy-tale for our times; it incorporates music, theatre, dance, puppetry and innovative multimedia technology to weave a story that will tickle the imagination of the entire family!

Musical Munchkins

2011-08-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

momstown events are always fun. The moms get to watch their kids learn and grow while having some social time with other moms that just "get it". The kids get to have fun, make friends and learn new things.

This week, to go along with our August theme of Music, we held a Musical Munchkins event in the park.

It was a sunny and warm morning a nice breeze. We headed to a park we had never ventured to before and as always, it was an adventure!

The park was full of moms and tots all having fun despite the little treasure we discovered... burning towels in the sand and in the field next to the playgrounds. A quick call to the fire department and the momstown fun began! To start our morning off right the kids got to see the firemen and the fire truck! Once the playground was secure and safe, we settled in for our Musical fun!!

The kids all took hold of an instrument that they thought would be fun. There was a drum and a bongo, shakers and tambourines, a mini piano and a xylaphone shaped like a ladybug!

It was a great morning to see the munchkins having fun and making their music!

Hockey in the Rain!

2011-08-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

momstown Barrie was the proud Children's Area sponsor for the 1st Boston Pizza Street Hockey Classic for Cancer Research.

The weather looked grim right from the start of the morning and sure enough, just as registration for the players was in full force the skies opened up and the rain poured down.

The wet weather didn't dampen the spirits of the players though. They suited up in their team t-shirts, strapped on their gear, grabbed their sticks and played happily in the rain!

The round robin tournament was played through the day by men and women all in support of cancer research.

The weather cleared up for a good part of the afternoon and everyone that came out was having a good time.

momstown had a fishing pond for the kiddies to stop at and do some fishing for creatures. The rain held off long enough for a bunch of kiddies to enjoy some fishing and lollipops with us.

The day ended with another down pour, a performance by Please and Thanks and an after party in Boston Pizza.

Rain and all, it was a great day for a great cause! Looking forward to next year!

Our Birthday Bash was a Blast!!!

2011-08-21T13:33:00.001-07:00

What a perfect day for a party!! The threat of rain caused a bit of a panic for me, but Mother Nature came through and the raid held off!

We had an amazing turnout for our momstwn Barrie 3rd Birthday Bash and everyon had a blast! It was great to see so many familiar faces and to meet so many new people!

I am so glad that local photographer, Jennifer Hall, from Digital Portraits and Imaging by Jennifer Hall, was on hand to document the memories from the day.

The kids enjoyed starting the party off with a round of Kindermusik. Our wonderful sponsor The Melody in Me did a Kindermusik demo for all the excited children and they had a blast!

The big draw as usual with the little kids is the bouncy castle. A giant bouncy castle courtesy of Pizza Pizza took centre stage and was the source of giggles and shrieks of delight.

Another popular spot was face painting with Pickles the Clown. Her amazing and magical face paintings were a hit with all the kids. Adorable little faces were transformed into beautiful butterflies, kitties, tigers, and more. It is always amazing to see just how magical Pickles face paintings are!

We were pleased and thankful to have local artist Please and Thanks perform his children's Hip Hop for the kids. His unique musical stylings for the kids had them laughing, dancing and grooving along. The parents even got into the fun!

After all the fun that was being had, a break for lunch courtesy of Pizza Pizza and Boston Pizza Barrie was much needed. The hungry masses lined up to fill their bellies so they could move on to more fun!!

With full bellies, the kids had a blast taking part in the Monkeynastics demo. There were songs and games and fun equipment for the kids to try!

I broke in on the fun to announce the winners of our awesme prizes, all donated by our fabulous sponsors. Congrats to all the winners and a HUGE thank you to all of our prize sponsors. Maple Leaf Foods, Presidents Choice, Little Tikes, Hasbro, Smashbox Canada, Greenworks, Clorox, Life Choice Foods, Independent Mary Kay Represntative and Regal Consultant Debby Goldrick, Bayside Family Chiropractic, Monkeynastix and of course, US! momstown Barrie gave away a free 1 year membership.

To end our party we all enjoyed some delicious cake thta was kindly donated by one of our members. The cake was perfect and everyone loved it.

It was an awesome day. It was a day of pride for me, to see so many people come out to support momstown and to celebrate our success in Barrie.

Stay tuned for more pics and a video of our amazing Birthday Bash!

Thank you to ALL of you!

Party Count Down - What makes a party rock?

2011-08-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

The excitement is building for our 3rd birthday party!! momstown is celebrating 4 years of bringing moms together, creating a network of friendship, fun, learning and memories. Here is Barrie we have been a part of this great motion for 3 strong years.

Moms have been connecting and making friends, sharing memories and helping to build strength in momstown since August of 2008, I have been a part of this since the very beginning. Sometimes I can hardly believe that 3 years have passed already!

The planning for this party has been going on for MONTHS. And I literally mean months, 4 and half long months of planning to make sure that this birthday is fantastic for everyone!

So what makes a great birthday party? This is something that I am sure we all think about when we plan our kids' birthdays. Every year the same thoughts, what can I do to make this party rock? So here are some thoughts on prepping for a rockin' party!http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

LOCATION - You need to decide what location is best for your party. momstown Barrie is hosting our birthday bash at Centennial Beach this year. Perfect for all the fun that is going to be taking place!

GUESTS - You can't have a party without guests! So we informed the masses and invited the greatest people we know in Barrie - MOMS! and their families of course! The more the merrier! (of course if you are planning a party in your home, you need to consider the size of your guest list!)

ACTIVITIES - What are you going to do at your party so your guest have a blast? Keep in mind the age group of your guests! With all the kiddies momstown will have in attendance we have planned for a load of fun including a bouncy castle from Pizza Pizza, Kindermusik by The Melody in Me, Monkeynastics, Please and Thanks Children's Hip Hop and Face Painting with Pickles the Clown!

FOOD - All that fun will certainly build up an appetite! You gotta have food! We will have pizza from Pizza Pizza and Boston Pizza Barrie as well as Cake and Cupcakes by Kreations by Kat, YUM!

GAMES - Everyone loves a good game... fun, friendly competition all to win a great prize! While our game is simple, fill in a ballot and hope to win, our prizes are AWESOME! Prize sponsors include Little Tikes, Presidents Choice, Green Works, Clorox, Smash Box Cosmetics, Maple Leaf Foods, Life Choice Foods, Precious Peekaboo Boutique, Bayside Family Chiropractic,Hasbro, Mark Kay (Courtesy of Independent Beauty Consultant Debby Goldrick) and more!!!!

LOOT BAGS - You have to have something for your guests to take away after the amazing party to remind them of all the fun they had and so they can show others what they missed! Ours are jam packed with goodies but there are only 100 so you better get there early!

Can't forget to mention our local sponsors! Service First Mortgages, Bayside Family Chiropractic, Debby Goldrick Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay and Representative with Regal, Boston Pizza Barrie, Wendy's, Portraits and Digital Imaging by Jennifer Hall.

So you ready for a great party now? We are!!!! momstown Barrie Birthday Bash takes place August 20th from 10am - 1pm at Centennial Beach near the pavilion. See you there!

A camping she will go....

2011-08-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Overnight Summer Camp seems to be a right of passage for all kids growing up. Packing your bags, being dropped off in the wilderness to sleep in cabins with other kids your age and spend your days having fun. The only connection to your parents were written letters that were sent in the mail (GASP!) and not by email and special parent visitation days.

In our family, this has not been the case. Our family has a cottage and we spend summers roughing it out there. We pack our bags, drive North and live the "cottage life", lounging on the dock, boat rides, all day swimming, BBQ's, camp fires, fishing etc, etc. It's beautiful, right on the lake, surrounded by the forest and nothing else. It also comes with a full bathroom (no outhouse for us!), dishwasher, washer and dryer and air conditioner. Oh, yeah, can't forget the satellite TV and Internet. The only thing "rough" about it, the Internet is dial-up. But it's just perfect for me!!!

As a kid my sister and I didn't do summer camp either. When I was younger I did attend a day camp while my parents were at work, a glorified daycare I guess! It was at a recreation centre of sorts in Toronto called St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club. From memory I believe we did the normal day camp type stuff day trips, swimming, crafts etc. Like I said, glorified day care!

My kids have never attended summer camp. Not even day camp.

Today my oldest embarks on her first adventure at overnight summer camp... baton camp of course for anyone that knows my daughter. She is beyond excited. 6 days in the wild (if you can call Camp Muskoka the wild) with friends, doing what they love. There will be camp fires and swimming and other "campy" stuff I am sure and it will be loads of fun for her. The catch... no electronics at camp. No computer, no cell phone, no ipod. What is a teenager to do?

So as we check the bags for the final time (bug spray, check. towels, check. toothbrush, check.) and prepare to head North and meet up with all her friends, I can't help but think.. God bless the camp leaders when all those teenage girls get bored!!!

The more we get together...

2011-08-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

The happier we'll be!!!

Another fantastic day at the park for Story in The Park courtesy of Scholastic Canada.

This month momstown has a music theme going on and it's been lots of fun!

Today's books were You Are My Sunshine and The More We Get Together both by Carolyn Jayne Church. These books were adorable and such classic songs all us mamas sing with our kids!!

The kids enjoyed listening to the song-stories, read by my oldest daughter. To top off all the fun, we all sang out loud The More We Get Together, it was so cute as many of the kids knew the signs to the song from taking Baby Sign classes!

After reading and singing we held our raffle to see who would take these great books home! Little Miss Sophie was our winner! And proud she was!!!

The wind this week has not ruined our fun! We managed to read books, do crafts, and play, play, play!!! Hopefully summer will return with some warmer and less windy weather next week for more momstown fun!

Tambourines in the park!

2011-08-10T15:40:00.000-07:00

The weather has been windy and cool this week, but it didn't stop us from having some musical fun this week!

A sunny but windy morning at the park made for a perfect morning of crafts!

This month is all about music, so we made our own music makers, paper plate tambourines!

The kids decorated their plates and added their names in some big sparkly letter sticker.

Once they were all decorated we filled them with some dried split peas and sealed them all up with tape or staples, glue would have taken too long to dry and the kids just wanted to play with them!

Once they were all done the kids got down to shakin' things up in the park with their Paper Plate Tambourines!

A super simple craft that made for lots of fun!

Happy Birthday momstown!!

2011-08-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's August and that means Birthday Time!

momstown turns 4 this month, wow!!! Four years of fun, friendship and memories!

Here in Barrie we are celebrating our 3rd Birthday, 3 years full of FUN!

We don't need gifts though, we get those all the time by getting to meet so many great moms, enjoying great events and having fun!

This year the gifts are all for you!!! momstown is spoiling everyone this month with awesome contests (including a birthday cake recipe contest!) with amazing prizes from our incredible sponsors! Be sure to enter them all, you won't want to miss the great prizes we have! Did I mention there are over $10,000 in prizes! WOO HOO!

Of course birthdays need parties! We have another fabulous Facebook Fan Party coming up on August 18th at 8pm. Be sure to join us for your chance to WIN!

And we can't forget all the amazing birthday bashes coming up all across Canada! Be sure to check the momstown moments blog to find out when the party is coming to a town near you!

To mark our birthday this month, momstown has put together an incredible video showing the fun we have all around town and across 18 strong chapters! Check it out and see if you can find yourself!!I hope that you will take some time to help up celebrate!! Join us for our Birthday Bash in Barrie on August 21st from 10am - 1pm at Centennial Beach.

Until them, take a moment and leave us our comments telling us why you love momstown!

Baby Snuggles

2011-07-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

I am a baby lover. I love all babies and everything about them. I love their itty bitty toes and chubby feet, I love their tiny little hands and fingers, I love their little lips and button noses. I love the way babies smell, the way they sigh, their tiny little cries, their big toothless smiles, their adoring eyes... you get the picture.

My babies are not so much babies anymore. I still cuddle them and snuggles them at every chance and I adore everything about them, but they are not so little and anymore.

The great thing about being a part of momstown is the baby train. Someone is always having a baby! This way I get the pleasure of meeting so many sweet babies.
This year seems to be an especially big baby year. I feel like everywhere I look there are pregnant mamas and new babies. Just this week alone I have watched a friend become a grandma, another friend become a mom for the first time, 2 momstown members welcome their second babies, and their first sons, and showered a friend for her third and possibly final baby.

It's bittersweet for me. I love to see the glow of pregnancy on people, especially on my friends. I love to watch the excitement of planning and preparing for the babies, especially when their are little siblings who are just beginning to understand.

The bittersweet part comes from knowing that my baby days are over. No more babies here... at least this is what I have been told by the Mister. I guess you should never say never, but for now, I have to accept that the only newborn babies I will be snuggling are those of others. Don't get me wrong, I adore the snuggles I get from my own kids very much, no baby will ever replace the snuggles I get at home. But there is just something so special and so different when it comes to newborn baby snuggles.

I try to get my snuggles whenever I can. Not to worry though, I avoid snuggling strangers babies, though I must admit that I have been tempted many times to ask random strangers if I could hold their little ones. Of course I never would, but the temptation has been there!

I save the baby snuggling to those that I know and hence I have become "The Baby Hog". Any of my friends that have had babies recently can attest to the fact that I will take their baby and hang on until I am forced to give them back. I have been fortunate this year to watch many friends welcome babies and having all these new babies around is so incredible!! Having a great circle of friends where we have watched each other go through pregnancy and bring our babies into this world together has been amazing, I know it has made me feel closer to my friends and their families and I thank all of my friends for letting me be a part of that and most importantly, for allowing me to snuggling their babies!

It's been an awesome week of babies and I know there are still so many to come in the next few months.

Welcome to this world sweet babies!!!

Birthday Bash Countdown!

2011-07-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

momstown is turning 4 years old this August, wow!!!

3 years ago this August momstown came to Barrie, boy does time sure fly!!!

We have been busily planning an amazing Birthday Bash to celebrate our birthday for this August! There will be loads of fun for the entire family!

JOIN US!!
Saturday August 20th, 2011
10am - 1pm
Centennial Beach next to the pavilion

We have some great entertainment planned with Kindermusik and Please and Thanks Children's Hip Hop, crafts, a bouncy castle, and so much more! Not to mention jam packed Goody Bags, pizza, and some awesome prizes courtesy of our sponsors!!

Sponsors for the event are amazing this year and there are still more to come!

Sponsors inlcude:
Presidents Choice
Little Tikes
Smash Box Canada
Kids CBC
Maple Leaf
Green Works
Clorox
Life Choice Foods
Crocs Canada
Hasbro
Sharpie Canada
Spin Master Toys
Fisher Price

and on a local level...
Service First Mortgages
Pickles the Clown
Wendy's
Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay Debby Goldrick Bayside Family Chiropractic
and more to come!

We hope that you will join us! Last year was a blast and this year will be even better!!!

Birthday parties are always fun, why not help momstown celebrate 3 years in Barrie!!!

Portholes at the Beach!

2011-07-26T18:45:00.001-07:00

It was a windy day, but the sun was shining as the momstown mamas headed to the beach to do some art!

Following our theme this month, we made an ocean themed craft, portholes!

The kids had a chance to get messy with some finger painting!

They painted an ocean on some paper plates. The blue paint was super messy and the kids were all very blue!

Once our little smurfs were done the finger painting and they oceans had a chance to dry, they glued on their little fishies.

The portholes were complete and the kiddies loved them! They were super cute and although the kids and some of us moms were a little blue, it was a great craft for a windy morning on the beach!

It was such a great day that many of the moms lingered around as the kids played at the park, headed to the beach and just ran around in the sun.

Days like this remind me of how awesome summer is and how awesome momstown is!!!

I hope all of our moms remember to VOTE for momstown in the Savvymom Mom Entrepreneur of the Year!!!

Summer FUN!

2011-07-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

This week I have been out of town with my oldest daughter while she competes in a World Open Baton Twirling Championship in South Bend, Indiana at the University of Notre Dame. While here my daughters teams have captured 3 World Open Champion titles... all in categories of over 23 teams... and being the only Canadians there!!

It's a fun, crazy and long week. I miss my 2 youngest kids terribly but have enjoyed having some one on one time with my oldest... something we don't get enough of at home!

I also miss all my momstown mama friends! It's been a week with no crafts, no park days, no play time, no care free playing and I really, really missed it!

This summer has been amazing! We have done so much in these first weeks of summer and there is still so much to come!!!

We have gone to the beach, the splash pad, done crafts and just had an awesome time making friends, enjoying summer and letting kids be kids!

I was looking back at some photos of some events we had so far and seeing the kids have fun always makes me smile!

We started the summer with a trip to the strawberry patch to pick some sweet, juicy summer berries! It was loads of fun, not too hot and the kids had a blast!

The kids enjoyed picking the berries and even more so, enjoyed eating them!!!

We have also done some fun crafts! The month of July is all about the beach. So last week we made and Ocean in a bottle. The kids had a blast heading down to the beach and filling their water bottles from the lake.

We added some colourful little ocean creatures (star fish, whales, dolphins and octopus) to the water, sadly they didn't float like we had hoped.

The kids didn't mind though! We added some oil and blue food colouring to the water and voila! A gorgeous, bubble blue ocean with creatures!

I can't wait to get back in town and get together with the mamas! This week are painting in the park, heading to the splash pad and having a pot luck dinner!

Gotta love summer!

Birthday Celebrations All Around!

2011-07-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

It's birthday time around momstown! This August marks 4 years since momstown started helping moms connect in the community with moms just like them!

Here in Barrie, we are marking our 3rd year of fun!!

This week I celebrated another 4th birthday, that of my daughter Noelle! It's hard to beleive that 4 years have passed already, time just flies by the older I get and the older my kids get.

This year, like in years past, we asked our friends and family to join us to celebrate our baby girls birthday and that they did!

It was a perfect summer day, sunny, hot and full of fun, and rainbows!

This year I went with a rainbow theme. It was a lot of fun getting ready for the party, especially making the cake!!

After mixing lots of cake batter for our giant rainbow cake, I coloured the batter. Red, Orange, Green, Blue and Purple (yes, I know, I left out the yellow, but did it on purpose for the cake!).

To make the rainbow cake you just layer the batters and bake as usual!!!

Decoarating the cake was fun too! Noelle's favorite candy made for the perfect rainbow, Skittles!

The cake was a great success, and tated great too!!

To help make the rainbow day perfect we were sure to have rainbows for decorations, rainbow fruit platters and table ware and of course a rainbow Pinata!!!

With the hot weather the pefect entertainment was our splash pool for the kiddies... and yes, it just happened to have a rainbow!!

The day was perfect! I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate my little girls 4th birthday!!

Be sure to join us for momstown Barrie's birthday this August 20th at Centennial Beach Park. Festivities start at 10am and run until 1pm. There will be lots of fun for everyone!!!

The Ice Cream Games

2011-07-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today was super fun! momstown Barrie held its' first Ice Cream Games!

It was the perfect day to gather and have some fun! The kids and moms had a ball playing games, shoe toss, water relay and marshmallow golf!

The little ones loved the marshmallow golf, I think more marshmallows were eaten that actually played with! Watching the toddlers with the little golf clubs trying to hit marshmallow was a site to be seen!!!

The shoe toss was just as much fun for the moms as for the kids! The kids had a bit of trouble getting those shoes to fly, but the moms had no problem and many ended up in the trees!!!

The water relay was a bit of a task... the little ones wanted to play in the water and didn't quite understand the nature of the game but loved that they were splashing and getting wet in the water while playing with the big kids!

After all the fun and games it was time to head to some shade and enjoy a cool treat! Ice cream cones and home made popsicles for everyone!!!

The messy faces and sticky hands were a sure sign of the fun that was had!!!

A splashin' good time!!

2011-07-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

What better way to spend a hot muggy day than by splashing around in some cool, refreshing water?

Well that's just what the momstown mamas did today in Alliston. We headed to the splash pad to enjoy some time with the kiddies splashing around in the water!!

We spread out blankets and towels under the shade of the large trees and the kids headed straight for the showering water!!

The laughter and screams of joy was the best part of the morning. They ran through the water and chased each other with squeals of joy! The babies found the only mud puddle and happily played in the ankle deep mud, at time taking a taste of their mud covered fingers and toes.

It was hot and sunny out, but the shade of the trees and the light summer breeze made for the perfect morning. It was so easy to watch the kids and chat with the moms, a treat from the crazy parks we normally head to!

Can't wait for the next splish splashin' fun in the sun kinda day!!

Tomorrow is The Ice Cream Games... outdoor games for kiddies, swimming and of course, ICE CREAM!

Story in the Park

2011-07-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

We had our monthly Story in the Park this week sponsored by Scholastic Canada.

The location was perfect for this months' book, the beach!!! My oldest daughter joined us this time, now that school is out she wanted to tag along and see all the little kids.

After the event she asked if she could write the blog for this one... so here is her take on the event. My guest blogger, my daughter, Megan.

It was a great day at the park today we started off reading “The Sandcastle Contest By: Robert Munch” everyone enjoyed the book and after we read it we did a raffle for it and the lucky winner was Giulia!

After the story all the kids wanted to play in the park, some went down the slide, some sat in the little metal car they had at the park and pretended to be their moms and drive around town, while others like my brother Nathan, just wanted to sit in the swing, I'm not sure why, but he did, and he was happy, he didn't even care if he just sat in it without moving as long as he was in it.

My sister Noelle on the other hand didn't care about the park at all she just wanted to swim in the water but she didn't have a bathing suit. So she went in with her clothes on and swam away! So did a few of the other little ones, and of course by the time she was done playing and it was time to go home she was soaked head to toe but she didn't care she just had to go home with no clothes on. It was so cute hearing her say “everyone is gonna see me”, she gets so shy but its so cute!

Overall it was a great day and I'm glad everyone had fun!

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Canada Day Barrie!!

What a way to start a weekend, a long weekend to exact, but with a celebration of our Nations birthday.

I am proud to be a Canadian. Proud of our history and our culture and proud of our diversity and most of all our freedom.

To start our long weekend and our summer we headed up north to the cottage with family and friends for a fun and relaxing weekend.

My kids were proudly celebrating Canada Day decked out in their Canadian gear waving Canada flags and decorating our dinner table with Canadian tableware.

It was a great start to the weekend, and to the summer.

Swimming, swating horseflies, relaxing and enjoying a few cool beverages made for a perfect day.

We ended the day with some awesome fireworks and cheers from the kids.

What a perfect day!!

A bitter sweet end to the school year

2011-06-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

The school year is done for my girls. I have been dealing with the end of school excitement and anxiety for 9 years now, but this year was different. Before I get into why this year was different, I will answer the question you might be asking...Why the end of school brings anxiety? Well, summer is a long time in a kids life, its 8 weeks of 'mommy, what are we doing today?' and 'mommy, I'm bored' (and that is usually by 9am!) and of course there are the 'mommy can I's', the 'but mommy's' and the 'mommy I want's'. While 8 weeks to a grown up usually flies by, and while summer always seems to short, the above can drive you nuts making it feel like years, not weeks.

So while the end of school bring much excitement to the kids, it brings on some anxiety to a lot of moms. Don't get me wrong, I love having the "extra" time (and I use that term lightly!) to spend with the kids, the day trips, the time at the cottage, the beach, the zoo, the park, picnics, play dates, water parks, BBQ's, farms, fairs etc. etc... you get the picture right?

So now back to why this years end of school was bitter sweet and brought on some new anxieties. My sweet almost-4-year old just finished her first year of nursery school and will be going into JK in September. She is growing up! The year flew by and now she will be heading into the beginning of her elementary school years. Just as my oldest is heading into the end of hers. She started the year not knowing how to print and can now proudly spell her name and recognize some words!

My oldest will be 13 this summer a frightening realization in itself, because really, how could I have a teenager??? And she will be heading into grade 8. Her last year in elementary school before venturing into the world of high school. This is what brings me new anxiety, a teenager, last year before high school, my pre-schooler starting "real" school... my girls are growing way to fast!!! (hence my tendency to baby my sweet little boy, he won't grow up too fast will he? Denial is my middle name)

So the summer has officially begun! My little angel got her diploma for completing nursery school and my big girl got a solid straight A report card.

I am excited for what is yet to come with my kiddies and anxious for the long days of "mommy...."

As my mom always tells me, take it one day at a time, what doesn't get done today will get done tomorrow...maybe I should take her advice and just relax and enjoy summer with the kiddies!

Let the summer begin!!!!!!!!!

Family Fun!

2011-06-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

Family time is precious time. A time for everyone to be together, spending time, making memories.

This weekend we had our Family BBQ Potluck and Pool Party. The day started out a little cool for the pool part, but we still enjoyed a beautiful day with momstown friends and family.

Our momstown Family BBQ is a time for our mama to head out as a whole family, dad included, to spend time with friends having fun.

We had a great group come out and it was so nice to see so many dads join in on the fun.

The kids played, the moms and dads chatted and all was perfect!

There was a ton of yummy food on hand as usual! Our lovely hostess Lauren made sure that everyone was well taken care of while her hubby tended the grill.

With burgers and hot dogs to start us off, there was lots to choose from at the food table! Pasta Salad, potatoes, grilled onions, fruits and veggies and of course, DESSERT!

Everyone filled their plates and sat with their family and friends to enjoy lunch.

It was a really great day, with really great families.
I look forward to our next momsotwn family gathering!!!

moms in business, it's child's play!

2011-06-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

Moms are the greatest multi-taskers out there! We can do many things at once, including selling our business, networking and comforting a baby all at the same time!

momstown, in collaboration with Boston Pizza Barrie, held it's first mom entrepreneur luncheon this week.

It was a chance for mom business owners to come out and showcase their goods and services and network with other mom run businesses.

We all had our kids with us, I mean really, this is what being a mom run business is... we work with our kids underfoot, whether they are crying or playing quietly, we get the job done!

We had a wide variety of businesses on hand. A Sweet Pea Bakery, Epicure, Sporty Stroller Fitness, Zumba, Primerica, S.M. Mortgages, Norwex, Baby Signing Time and of course, momstown Barrie!

It was a great morning followed by a great lunch. Thank you to Boston Pizza for hosting and promoting and for all the moms that came out!

Dads Rock too!

2011-06-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

So we all know us moms rock. We are pretty special people. I mean we are the ultimate multi-taskers, we cook, clean, fix boo boos, educate, socialize, put toys together, colour, paint, sing, you name, we do it...moms are super humans!

But Dads are great too. They tell bedtime stories, they teach you how to ride a bike, or mow the lawn, they BBQ, the tell jokes, they take you fishing, they do lots of cool stuff.

So to celebrate our dads this Father's Dad the momstown mamas and their kiddies headed to the park on a gorgeous morning to make dad a little something special to remind him that he too, ROCKS.

The kids thought it was pretty great to make a craft with rocks... to spell the word rocks!

Of course as with any craft, and the distraction of other kids and a playground, moms got in there too helping to complete their kids creations. As moms, we know dads are an important part of our kids lives, this is why helped our kids say, DAD ROCKS!

Summer Reading Club wtih TD

2011-06-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

All across momtown communities, kids can join summer reading clubs at their local libraries! You don't need to be a reader to participate - one moms young son was only 2 yrs old the first summer he joined, and the books they read to him counted towards his participation!

Sponsored by TD Bank, the reading program is launched Canada-wide at the end of June/early July in many communities*. The goal is to encourage children to engage with books throughout the summer.The

The Barrie Public Library will be running this great program!

Upon signing up, children usually receive a poster, stickers, colouring book, and a way to track their summer reading. When milestones are hit (say, 10 books read) kids receive a reward - such as a free ice cream from a local restaurant, or a pass to a local entertainment complex.

The theme this year is Splash! Celebrate Summer and the website has lots of links to recommended book lists (ranging from pictures books up to teenage years).

An interactive kids website has been designed to engage kids in reading with online games and activities. Whatever momstown community you're part of, there should be a local library ready to engage your kids in reading this summer!

momstown has a strong literacy program as part of its educational curriculum for children aged 0-5. Our kids and baby book clubs, book reviews, and parent resources help families make reading a part of their every day.

Even the youngest child can engage with letters - momstown has a full range of alphabet crafts to get kids interested!

Join us this summer - momstown OBarrie has a fun calendar filled with park and water play days, art in the park, crafts and so much more!!!

Creative Fun for Father's Day

2011-06-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

As with all holidays at momstown we love to celebrate with crafty fun!

On Friday we headed to a great place in Barrie, Creative Cafe. The mamas and their kiddies had a great time painting pieces for dad... or themselves!!!

Kids love to be creative, they love to get messy and they love to have fun. Painting pottery was a great way to do that!

The kids and the moms picked out pieces that they wanted to paint for dad and got down to the messy fun! They had loads to choose from, picture frames, mugs, cars, a tank... you name it!

It was so nice to see some of the moms with new babies out making mugs for dad. With the babies too young to paint their own pieces it was sweet to see their tiny foot prints on the mugs that mommy painted.

The older kiddies were able to put their hand prints proudly on their pieces with the help of Creative Cafe owner, Lynn.

The kids had fun, moms were proud of their kids artwork and in a few days the pieces they painted will be ready to pick up and give to dad on Father's Day.

Hope dad loves them as much as we do!!!

Lightening, and thunder and rain, oh my!

2011-06-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

They had been calling for the storm for a while. Again today it looked like it would pass us by.

The evening came and it was still sunny and hot and humid. We were outside trying to find the little hole that keeps taking the air out of our kiddies pool when my hubby and I noticed that it was suddenly dark, very dark.

It was like in a matter of minutes the sky had gone black, the wind had picked up to near tornado like strength, and the air felt heavy. And then the big fat drops started.

The sky opened up and the rain came down. In Buckets. The thunder and lightening made their grand appearance as well.

We all watched from the patio doors. I love storms personally. The strange, eerie calmness in the air one moment while the next moment pure havoc plays out from the skies.

The storm was short but fierce...flooding the front yard but hopefully our basement!

I am glad that my kids also like the storms. I know some kids are petrified. The loudness, the dark, the not knowing what is happening. It can certainly be a scary time for little ones!

I guess this storm is just another sign that summer is here, summer sure does have the best storms!!

Inspirational Moms!!!

2011-06-06T17:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the annual momstown Spring Conference.

All the lovely momstown ladies gathered at the momstown Headquarters for a weekend of learning and bonding. As always it was a truly empowering weekend full of learning and fun!

The Cole notes version of momstowns' history; 4 years ago 2 fabulous women started momstown in their town of Burlington, it quickly grew with more chapters opening after just one year. Within months of that licensing of the chapters began, the momstown movement was in full forward motion and the momstown fever was catching across Ontario!!!! Soon the fever spread all the way to Alberta and this month Winnipeg will be catching the fever too! Last year the HQ run chapters were licensed out and now all chapters are owned by strong, smart, motivated women, moms to be exact.

So back to the weekend... in short it was fabulous. I was a tad late to day one but arrived just in time to get my picture taken... not my favorite thing to do, but it was fun with all the ladies laughing and enjoying themselves.

The energy was high and the ladies were so pumped to head out to the tweetup planned for that evening. Going to a tweetup was a first for me and I was super excited for the evening ahead. I was not disappointed and it was an awesome evening full of incredible women, all mom entrepreneurs, who shared the energy with us and kept our night full of fun. Truly amazing women, and I was so glad to meet them all!

After some laughs, a salut to "drinking the kool-aid", we made our way back to headquarters for our traditional sleepover, it was the perfect way to end the day and prepare for the next.

Day two was truly motivational. We were pumped up with plans for the future and shared some inspiring tear worthy moments. You know you are surrounded by wonderful women when they cheer your success and tear up at your triumphs.

Some great speakers shared their wisdom and taught us some very valuable lessons that are not just business worthy, but life worthy.

The most important things I learned this weekend:
- Believe in yourself
- Believe in what you do
- Being happy IS success

Moms are the most powerful people in the world, don't underestimate us!

Bubbles,bubbles and more bubbles!!!

2011-06-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

The weather was perfect on Friday for the momstown mamas and their kiddies to head to The Gables for a morning of bubble fun!

We met in the parking lot and headed in to the forest to take the path to the beautiful clearing that over looks the lake. It was a long walk, the kids ran, the dogs explores and the moms chatted.

We were met in the clearing by swarms of mosquitos... not our plan! SO back out we headed to enjoy our morning of bubbles in the grassy clearing by the parking lot.

The walk out is a little harder...all up hill! But it was fun, the kids ran again and the mams struggled to push the heavy strollers, but it gave us all a good workout for a Friday morning!!!

Once we got settled, the kids enjoyed their bubbles! There was lots of tiny bubbles flying around, magic bubbles. Why were they called magic bubbles? Well we found out the hard way!!! These magic touchable bubbles are super sticky!!!

They were sticking to arms and legs and clothes, and we baby heads!! We parked the magic bubbles and moved on to more conventional bubbles!

The kids had a ball chasing and blowing bubbles! The weather was perfect, it was warm and sunny with a light breeze, the perfect summer day!!!!

Fiesta!!!!!

2011-05-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

Summer is here! What better way for the mamas and kiddies of momstown Barrie to celebrate a gorgeous sunny, hot day than with a visit to Mexico!

We gathered at Lisa's house for a trip to Mexico complete with a sombrero and maracas, and little moustaches!!

The kids were so excited to get to make their very own homemade tortillas! Thanks to Perdita from Epicure, the kids prepped and pressed their own Tortilla shells!

The kiddies used their muscle power to flatten their dough and then the grown ups fried them up!

When they were all ready the kids put together their tacos. The excitement on their little faces as the got to enjoy what their own little hands made was priceless! They loaded up their tacos and dug in!

After their lunch the kids headed outdoors to play in the sunshine! A bouncy castle and banana popsicles added to their fun!

It was truly a perfect preview to the summer! Bring on the sunshine, warm weather and fun! momstown mamas are ready!

OOBLECK!

2011-05-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

Kids love to learn and they love to try new things and the love to get messy! One of our newest momstown events is our Kids Science Lab! Previously we made volcanoes, which were a huge hit with the kids! This month we made OOBLECK! The mysterious goop that isn't quite sure if it's a liquid or a solid! It's messy, it's slimy... it's FUN! We got the momstown mamas to mix up the coloured water (just a few drops of food colouring to plain old water!) and good old cornstarch. Moms had to get messy here as it's really hard to mix, turning into a solid as you get to the right consistency!! Once it was all mixed up we could dig in! Grabbing hand fulls of the hard mixture only to find out easily it turns to slimy goo!!! The kids dug right in! Some of the kids loved getting their hands dirty.... some weren't so sure about the gooey mess! But the sure moms had fun!!! The trick to keeping it solid it to keep it moving! The constant movement of your hands can keep the oobleck in a perfect ball! But as soon as you stop moving, it oozes through your fingers!!! Even our little scientist got in on the goopy fun!

The Perfect Long Weekend!

2011-05-23T17:39:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh Long Weekends! The first one of the season is always a crap shoot for how the weather the will be. Some years it's warm and beautiful and others it's cold and rainy and miserable.

This year we got super lucky with a gorgeous, warm and sun filled Victoria Day long weekend. They kept calling for rain but it held off until Monday evening! What better way for Mother Nature to make up for the crappy start we had to Spring.

Long weekends are always a favorite for everyone. Extra time with loved ones, that extra day at the beach or the cottage, time for BBQ's, friends, picnics and all those good things, but when the weather is perfect, there is nothing you can do but smile.

This weekend was the perfect example around here.
Friday started off cool and windy as the momstown mamas headed to the park for some butterfly art.

The kids played at the playground and then created beautiful butterflies by using coffee filters and bingo dabbers!

For my family, the afternoon and early evening was then spent shopping for plants for our garden and prepping for a weekend of cleaning while fitting in some play time with friends.

The true test of a fabulous and perfect long weekend is the fun that was had and the memories that were made. A day of backyard play, fun in the sprinkler, a BBQ with friends and finally fireworks, certainly made this May long weekend one huge success with my family.

Hopefully this is a preview to what the rest of the summer season holds in store for us!

Sale Success!

2011-05-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend we held our 3rd Annual Spring Mom to Mom Sale.

It was a lot of planning, a lot of hard work and time, but very worth it!

I worked with some awesome students from Barrie Central this year. They helped to plan and organize the sale and did all the setup and then worked the sale! It was awesome to have so many young men and women helping me out this year!

On Friday night all the sellers and vendors came out with their goods to setup. The students got right to work unloading cars and helping wherever they could. Everyone was so impressed with how helpful and polite they were!

Once everyone was unloaded and the gym was full of toys and gear and bins upon endless bins of clothes, they got down to sorting, organizing and displaying.

By the end of the night, after 5 hours of hard work, we were all set for the doors to open Saturday morning!!!

We all returned bright and early to be sure that everything was good to go. Our checkout crew setup and were pumped to check out the crowds of moms that came through, there were students around the gym to help the shoppers, keep organized and just watch their hard work pay off!!!

The moms came out in masses. By 9am there was a line up dozens deep just waiting to get at the goods! And shop they did!!!

The baby gear and toys were flying out of the gym. Some moms had arm fulls of clothes and shoes! Everyone seemed really please! It was so good to see so many momstown mamas out too!

Even the kiddies had a great time! Pickles the Clown was on hand to do her magical face painting and the kids looked amazing!!!

It was a great day for everyone! As the day came to an end and the shoppers disappeared, the vendors gathered to have a little fun!

Until next time, thank you to everyone that made the sale a success!!!

Preparing for THE sale of the Season... by a procrastinator

2011-05-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am a procrastinator. There, I said it. I work well under pressure, I put off what can be, and when crunch time hits I spend countless moments saying, "why didn't I do this yesterday?" The upcoming mom to mom sale is no different.

This Saturday May 14th from 9am to 2pm at Innisdale Secondary School, momstown Barrie is holding it's 3rd Annual Spring Mom to Mom Sale. It's going to be huge. It's going to be awesome. And no one will know what a procrastinator I am...unless of course they read this!

This year I had the wonderful opportunity to work with a bunch of students from Barrie Central Collegiate that are taking a Business Leadership class. They have taken the sale on as a project to gain some real life, hands on experience in running a business and planning a community event.

The students have been great! They have answered emails, fielding all sorts of questions regarding the sale, they have advertised and promoted the sale, they have coordinated door prizes, and secured clothing racks. They have worked hard. As students, I don't think they realized what an undertaking it was to organize this sort of event. They did great and I can't wait to see what they all think come tomorrow evening when dozens businesses come to set up their tables of goodies and of course, when the dozens of moms converge on Innisdale Secondary School (our sale location if you missed it) with bins upon bins of gently used items all to be sold to the masses that will come out to shop. These young kids are in for a shock at the amount of "stuff" us mamas collect!!

But this will be nothing compared to Saturday. If past years tell me anything, this year is going to be huge. Hundreds of mamas coming out to shop. Not just any kind of shopping, bargain shopping. What us mamas do best!!

So as I sit here, taking a brake (ok, fine, procrastinating some more) from tagging and sorting all of my own children's items, dreading each bin as I open it to find millions of pieces of precious clothing and memories, I can't help but wonder... why didn't I do this yesterday?

Spring at the Farm!

2011-05-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to the Farm yesterday! Last week our trip was cancelled due to a very cold and rainy day. It all worked out for the best since yesterday was the perfect day for the momstown mamas to head to Rounds Ranch.

The sun was shining, it was warm and everyone was in good spirits! We all met at the farm and had a little introduction from one of the farmers, Wendy!

While we waited for a few moms that got lost (and yes, I was one of them, had a lovely tour of Wasaga Beach though.), Wendy took the kids on a tractor train ride. The kids just loved it... and so did a few moms!

The kids piled in the barrels all brightly painted with animals, and held on tights as they were pulled along for a ride!

Once we had all arrived we headed to the barn area to visit with the animals. Wendy explained to everyone about the animals they had, which we could visit right in their pens to pet and play with and which ones were in a separate barn with their newborn babies.

The kids ventured in with the rabbits and chickens checking out their homes and looking for eggs. Wendy took one of the bunnies out for the little ones to hold and pet. All the kids were so excited, even the babies!

We were fortunate to get a special visit with the newest members of the farm. We were introduced to all the new arrivals, including a bunch of goats just one day old!

While visiting the baby goats, one of the mama goats decided it would be a good time to make a run for it and our momstown mamas, pregnant and all, corralled the goat so she could be put back in a pen. It sure was a moment to remember!

Seeing all the babies was so much fun! The kids were still ready for more fun though, so we headed to the hand wash station to clean up and then to the fields for fun. Some of the kids, big and small, took a ride on the peddle cars, some ventured into the moo maze and some headed to the large play structure where the kids climbed and played and braved the enormous slide and the super fast zipline!

It sure was a great day! Thanks to all the momstown mamas that came out to enjoy the morning with us!

Mother's Day, in a gym....

2011-05-08T17:39:00.001-07:00

While most of your were spending time with your families enjoying the gorgeous weather, taking a walk, having dinner or just hanging outside in the sunshine and celebrating your Mother's Day, I spent mine in a gym with my oldest daughter as she competed in a baton twirling competition in New York.

As moms we know that our lives are dedicated to our children. We make sacrifices everyday to ensure our children have the best childhood we can possibly give them. I am sure most of you will agree that the greatest thing we can give our children is our time.

I think my daughter realized today, more than any other day, that no matter what, no matter when, even on a day dedicate to ME, I will always make time for her.

On our long drive home, we reflected on a day full of accomplishments. And as per usual, my Queen of the Self Portrait Took her customary selfie of us in the car. A day to remember!

As a mother to a competitive baton twirler, a lot of my times is spent travelling to lessons and competitions and sitting in gyms watching her twirl her heart out to perfect what she loves most, twirling.

Watching my daughter grow as an athlete and as a young woman has been an honour. I have raised a beautiful and intelligent girl and I am so extremely proud of her. Watching her put her heart and soul on the floor of a gym in front of dozen of people, judges, her coaches, her competition and her mother is such a humbling experience for me. I never thought it was possible to feel so much love and pride.

Today, as I sat in the gym with all the other mothers, on our Mother's Day, I know that this feeling of pride was understood by everyone around me, and that these little moments that we give to our daughters are the most important ones.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mamas!

Pancake Party for Mom!

2011-05-06T18:46:00.000-07:00

Being a mom is the best thing on Earth! You get to have little adorable people love you no matter what you look like, what you do or don't do, or what you say. You get unlimited kisses and hugs with no expectations in return.

Celebrating Mother's Day isn't just a day for others to celebrate us, but to remind us mos of what we get to be a part of and how important we are and how special we are.

Today we held our Pancake Mother's Day Breakfast in honour of all the momstown mamas! It was a fantastic morning full of fun and food and giggles.

The moms got the chance to sit and chat and enjoy a coffee while the little ones played and made cute little cards for their mommies.

We all enjoyed an awesome breakfast of pancakes, including blueberry and the ever popular chocolate chip version! The kiddies especially enjoyed their pancakes and the chance to picnic on the floor with their little friends!

With tummies full and sticky fingers cleaned the kiddies continued to play while the mamas enjoyed a coffee.

We also got the opportunity to sample a very delicious, and healthy, cake courtesy of Sweet Pea Bakery. The gorgeous cake was devoured by the moms and kids and even though it was only 10:30 in the morning we all felt good about eating the cake made with veggies!

All in all it was a fantastic day! Again, thanks to all that came out! Another reason we all love momstown, the fabulous MOMS.

Happy Mother's Day!

Celebrate Mother's Day with momstown!

2011-05-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

momstown is ready to celebrate Mother's Day and we are starting early this year with a special gift for you!

We love our mamas and we now how much you all love momstown so from now until May 10th we have our special bonus offer running!

Just for purchasing your 1 year membership ($45 +hst)to momstown you will receive $150 in bonus discounts!!! That's an awesome deal!

Who wouldn't love discount to some awesome retailers like Mabel's Labels, Gingerbread Monkeys, Photobook Canada, Lavish and Lime and so many more!!

This is a great time to tell a friend about us as well! Your friends will love you for turning them on to momstown. Fun, friendship and this month, discounts!!!

Hurry and purchase your membership today! This bonus offer is only available until May 10th, 2011!

If you haven't joined us yet, now is a great time joing the neighbourhod!

It's Election Day!

2011-05-02T08:24:00.001-07:00

Today is the big day. Election Day. While advanced polls have been taking place the last little while, today is officially the day to cast your vote. Voting centres opened early this morning and will remain open until this evening.

It's a tight race, down to the wire. Who would have thought?

This is your chance to exercise your right and your privilege to vote! Have a say in our government and be a part of what happens to all of us. You can't have your voice heard without making a vote.

There are many people out there living in countries where they don't have the privilege to vote and have their opinions heard. Enjoy your freedom as a Canadian and have your say.

Do you know which way you are voting today? Have the candidates changed your mind in their efforts to win?

So mamas get out there and vote! Make your voice heard and shape the world that we will live in. All you need to vote is proof of address and a valid Canadian ID. If you have just moved and your ID has not been switched bring a piece of mail with you that has your current address on it.

To find a place to vote near you visit Elections Canada.

Why momstown is the perfect Mother's Day Gift!

2011-04-28T06:42:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has ever come in contact with momstown loves it. Mama's love it for a million reasons. They get to meet new people, have fun, watch their kids socialize and have fun, learn new things and experience some fantastic stuff!

This Mother's Day momstown is reminding us all just why momstown rocks and why a momstown membership if the perfect gift! Give a membership to a friend, family member or even to yourself; this year it will be extra special!

Be sure to watch our May newsletter for details of just how awesome your membership purchase or renewal can be!

EASTER FUN!

2011-04-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

Today we continued the Easter celebrations around momstown Barrie.

A bunch of our mamas and kiddies got together for a super fun Easter egg hunt and pot luck lunch. It was a full house with lots of excited kids!

The kids all made a basket to collect their treasures in and then the hunt began!

The kids were scrambling around and giggling while looking for the hundreds of hidden eggs and treats! They all filled their baskets and were so happy with their goodies.

Even the little ones, who aren't quite ready for a chocolaty afternoon treat got into the spirit looking for the brightly coloured eggs... some even managed to sneak a taste before mamas eyes caught them!

After an egg hunt, and some play time, everyone enjoyed a great lunch and some chit chat.

It certainly was a great way to end an extra long weekend!!!

Happy Easter From momstown Barrie

2011-04-21T19:58:00.001-07:00

So this week was a cold one... too cold. It rained. It snowed. It was miserable for late April.

We had to postpone our Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Chappell Farms by a day due to the rain and sleet only to be welcomed with a day of cold. Last year we had jackets off and were warm... this year was the polar opposite, no pun intended!

But momstown mamas are the best...we headed out to the farm for an afternoon of fun! Bundled in our winter coats, hats and mitts we braved the cold to make the best of a winter like afternoon all for the sake of the Easter Egg Hunt.

It was well worth it. The kids had a blast! We went on a very cool, and I do mean the temperature, wagon ride, but the kids enjoyed it!

We fed the animals that were so excited to see the kids and the food they had for them. And of course we had a special visit from the wagon riding Easter Bunny who threw out gobs of candy and chocolate eggs for the kids to hunt for.

The cold didn't get to the kiddies as they searched and giggled and ate their Easter treats.

The Easter festivities of the day set the tone for a great weekend to come.

Happy Easter from all the momstown Barrie mamas and kiddies!

WIN with momstown!!!

2011-04-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

We all love to win stuff...makes us feel good, even if it's just a coffee at our favourite java joint!

momstown.ca has a whole bunch of awesome contests going on now!

Check them out for your chance to win a grocery gift card and other awesome prizes from sponsors like Kellogg's, Envirosax, Scholastic, and more!

Want to get in on some more awesome prizes while having FUN? Check out our momstown.ca Fan Page Party on May 4th at 8:30pm!

Be sure to visit the momstown.ca Contest Blog today! http://momstown-contests.momstown.ca/

Spring in Barrie

2011-04-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Last week was full of fun around town!

Our walking club met on a beautiful spring day down by the lake and took a nice long walk with babes in strollers and the older kids running and playing alongside.

It was a gorgeous Spring day, warm and sunny with a light breeze coming of the lake that was actually warm!!!

Getting out and being active was a perfect lead into our special guest that came in to talk to our momstown mamas about getting fit and losing weight.

Personal trainer and boot camp organizer Amy Whitfield joined us to talk about the benefits of being healthy, building muscle and losing weight. With a short demonstration of what to expect in a boot camp class our mamas were sweating up a storm and feeling the burn. I can tell you I felt that sweet pain of working muscles in places I didn't know had muscles!

The moms were pumped and are looking forward to our momstown Boot Camp starting in May!

With Easter quickly approaching, we spent a day make a cool Easter craft! The kids made Easter Wreaths out of paper plates, tissue paper, stickers and Easter clothes pins. They all had fun gluing and creating and getting messy!

With a full week of fun under our belts, we head into another full week of fun!

Today was our mama's morning out at Wendy's and it was great to see so many new faces and to have some new moms

join the neighbourhood!

Coming up this week... Our 3rd Annual Easter Egg hunt at Chappell Farms, Easter Fun at Victoria Village, Earth Day fun and more!

mamas helping mamas

2011-04-10T09:04:00.001-07:00

Recently there have been many fires in the Barrie area bringing hard times on the families that have lost their homes.

One of these families was a neighbour to one of our long time members, this hit very close to home for her to see their home lost, the family displaced and with mom being pregnant and a toddler that now has nothing. So she reached out to her fellow members and our mamas were quick to respond to the plea for help and dug deep in their homes to come up with not only the necessities that the family needed, but some things to just might put a smile on their face.

A crib, clothes and toys for their daughter, baby clothes, diapers and other baby necessities for their unborn child, clothes for mom, linens and household items and more.

It's so heartwarming to know what wonderful moms are part of the momstown neighbourhood. Our moms are caring and selfless and didn't need to think twice to help out a family in need.

Just another reason to love momstown and why I love all the mamas!!!

Flowers were in bloom today for momstown Barrie kiddies!

2011-04-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

Ah flowers, one of my favourite parts of spring is seeing the flowers start to sprout and bloom filling the gardens with colour. I just love pretty flowers!

Today we got in to the Spring spirit and the kiddies made their own flowers!!

Crafts are a great way to get kids to use their creativity, sharing skills and more!

A messy morning of painting egg cartons left the kids colourful and momstown moms taking home bouquets of pretty flowers!

The kids worked so hard making sure their "flowers" were super colourful! Kids just love paint, and all the bright colours let their imaginations "bloom"! Even the boys got into the flower making!

Missed today? Then try this Egg Carton Flower craft at home and let us know how your crafty day went - leave us a comment here, on the momstown Barrie message board or our momstown Barrie Facebook page.

Check out our friends in momstown Newmarket-Aurora also had a great day exploring Flower Power and making Bingo Dabbler flowers to celebrate spring as well.

Playgroup Fun!

2011-04-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

What a great morning our momstown mamas had! We had an awesome turnout this morning at our dropin with lots of new moms and new kiddies!

The kids had a great time making friends and playing and moms enjoyed their chit chat as usual. It's always nice to see the experienced momstown Barrie members welcoming our new members and making them feel right at home in all the chaos.

We had an adorable group of babies today too! The youngest was just 8.5 weeks old and cute as a button!

Our dropins are held twice a month and usual entail a craft that falls under the theme of the month.

This month our theme is Spring and Flowers. So today, with our wonky weather in mind, the kids decorated their own umbrellas. They had lots of fun and made some pretty awesome look umbrellas! Moms got in there too helping the little ones... or maybe just enjoying some craft time themselves!

I have to say that watching new friendships blossom, seeing the kids grow together and play together and watching them learn new things is my favorite part of being a momstown mama!

Spring Cleaning Swap

2011-04-04T11:37:00.001-07:00

Today momstown had our first even Spring Cleaning Swap. It was fun!

We all get in the mood to clean out our cupboards and closets as the weather gets nicer and then we end up with piles of "stuff" we don't know what to do with, so we either put it back, in a different place of course so it looks like we actually did something, or we haul it off and dump it at the local Goodwill.

Sure donating to a good cause is nice but what if you could swap that stuff you no longer need for stuff you could use? What a great idea thanks to one of our long time momstown Barrie members!!

So personally I got rid of a few things that were lying around the house... but I came home with more than I left with... now to hide it all from the hubby!

We have decided that next is a toy swap! Will the kids notice missing toys? Will the hubby notice the new ones?

Need help filling up?

2011-04-01T12:38:00.001-07:00

Gas prices got you down? Want some relief at the pumps?

Let momstown help ease the pain of gas prices and get you out to more of our events by entering our contest to win one of two $25 gas gift cards.

It's super simple and sure quick... all we need you to do is help us learn more about YOU so that we can serve you better, deliver more catered events and help you get the most out of momstown!

Click here to enter your chance to win! Good Luck to all!

momstown Uniforms?

2011-04-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

April Fools From momstown Barrie!!!

We would never force ya to wear a silly uniform just to come to our events!!

BUT we will be having some great momstown swag coming out soon for you to order! We really hope you love enough to use it and wear it proudly around town to let people know that you are a momstown mama!!!

Thank you for being a part of momstown! You are what makes us FABULOUS!!!!

Volcanos are a Blast!!!

2011-03-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

Today our kiddies got their first taste of the fun that can be had with science! Today was our first momstown Science Lab!

Our kids got together and learned about volcanoes. They made their very own cool volcanoes with their own little hands... and the help of some mommy hands too!

It was an experiment that most of us adults have seen done at some point in time, and while quick and easy, the kids enjoyed and amazed at the miracle of science!

We filled their hand made volcanoes with baking soda and food colouring and the kids got to pour in the vinegar to make their volcano erupt!

The expressions were priceless as their volcanoes bubbled and overflowed with "lava".

This definitely was a cool way to end our week, teach our kids a little something and introduce them to the fun of science!

Moms Morning Out at Wendy's!

2011-03-24T10:32:00.001-07:00

This week we ventured out a for morning of fun with our newest partner in Barrie, Wendy's!!

What a fun morning it was! The kids were treated with balloons and face painting while they played and the mamas chatted and enjoyed a complimentary coffee.

It was so nice to see some new moms out along with some familiar faces! The new moms came out to see just what momstown is all about and left with smiles on their faces and plans to become a part of our neighbourhood!

Wendy herself was on hand to entertain the kids and quickly became their favorite person in the room when she came out with a tray of chocolate and vanilla Frosty's for the kids to enjoy!!

After a fun morning of playing and chit chatting everyone stayed to enjoy a delicious Wendy's lunch.

Thank you Wendy's!! Stay tuned for the next Moms Morning Out With Wendy's coming in April.

Happy 1st Birthday to my Baby Boy!!

2011-03-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

Today my only son turned one. My sweet baby boy is not a baby anymore!

It was an awesome day, full of mixed emotions. I was so happy to reflect on what an amazing and sweet boy I have and how much he has grown in the last year, but also sad that a year has gone by already and my last baby is growing up; too fast if you ask me.

We made lots of memories today though, ones that I will cherish through the passing years.

It's been a year of firsts. It all started with my first all natural birth (this one was a vbac, with the first baby I had a blessed epidural and the second was a horrible c-section), his first smile, first giggle, first foods, first words, first steps and now, first birthday. I wouldn't change today for anything... unless I could stop time.

Today was just another reminder of how we need to cherish every moment with our kids, before we know it they will be all grown up and having kids of their own.

Now to prep for the big party..... Happy Birthday Nathan!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day was a great one this year with all the kiddies enjoying a morning of fun!

Fruit Loop rainbows, Corn Pop pots of gold and egg carton shamrocks!

The kids had so much fun making their St. Patty's Day pics!

They also got to enjoy some super delicious shamrock cookies coutesy of one of our mamas!

Happy St. Patty's Day from momstown Barrie!!

And our Biggest Loser is.....

2011-03-11T11:34:00.000-08:00

So back in January we started our 4th Biggest Loser Challenge. Lots of new faces, some repeat challengers, and past winners.

The moms were all pumped to get started on their weight loss journey, and a sweet pot of $200 for the winner was great motivation... at least at the time!

As the weeks went by the mamas chatted about their successes and failures and tried to stay motivated. Losing weight is not easy, especially for busy moms! The temptation to finish what's left on your kids plate at dinner, or to just stop for takeout when running late for dinner is just too easy.

Some of the moms did really great though. Me, not so much! While I did lose a whopping 2.9% in 8 weeks, I was no where near what I really had hoped to accomplish. Willpower does not live here!

This morning our moms weighed in, some with surprise at what they had actually lost and some with disappointment. And one mom surpasses all the others by leaps and bounds... our winner Natalie (and previous Biggest Loser winner in our very first round) lost an impressive 11.47%!!! Way to go!!!!!

So of course we all wanted to know how she did it. Her secret? Eating healthier, drinking lots and lots of water and cutting back on "crap". A true testament to how eating a little better can make a world of difference in the battle to lose weight.

So now I will use her inspiration to hopefully lose the weight I would love to lose. No more donuts for dinner.

Congrats again Natalie!

Pancake Tuesday!

2011-03-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

What could make a Tuesday better than having breakfast for dinner! But not just any breakfast - pancakes!! Oh yeah!

We love pancakes in my house! Usually I save pancake day for Sundays, the amount that I need to make to feed this crew (my hubby alone eats a whole batch!) makes this a weekend kind of breakfast. But a few times a year I find an excuse to have them for dinner, and today I didn't have to make the excuse, all hail Pancake Tuesday!!!

Pancakes make a great meal, tasty, healthy and versatile!

The kids were excited when I told them bright and early this morning that we were having pancakes for dinner. My 3 year old has asked me 87 times today when the pancakes will be ready!!

So as I made my pancakes - plain, with chocolate chips (for my oldest!)
and a new oatmeal pancake recipe, the kids excitement that there were no veggies to be eaten tonight created a great atmosphere in the kitchen. The table was set without me asking for help and they all say eagerly waiting for them to be served.What a great night.

The kids loved their breakfast dinner! Even my little man, he shoveled in the sweet oatmeal pancakes like they were candy!

Pancake Tuesday, I love you.

Smiles all around

2011-03-03T11:19:00.000-08:00

This week some of our moms and tots paid a visit to the Victoria Village Retirement Home in Barrie.

It was a truly an amazing morning full of smiles and laughter. It was so heartwarming to see the little ones interact with the seniors just like they would with their own little friends.

The ladies were bowling when we got there and the kids were so excited to be able to take part and take their turn to bowl!

It was so sweet to see the young one cheer on the residents and to clap and yell "score!" when one of them knocked down the pins.

As the kids warmed up they even wanted to help pass the ball to the next player and set up the pins that had fallen.

As we got to know the lovely ladies that let us join them for bowling, we met learned that Reena, a long time resident had just turned 100 this past September, as she held little Daxton, who was born this past October, it was an awe inspiring moment when we all realized that there before us was 100 year of living life.

Looking forward to our next visit and more smiles and memories!

Do you love momstown just as much as we do?

2011-02-23T05:18:00.000-08:00

Valentine's may be over, but the month of love is still in full swing!

momstown.ca is running an awesome contest all about LOVE, the love you have for momstown!

We all have our reasons for loving momstown, share your reasons and you could WIN!

What's the prize you maybe wondering. The prize is a stunning personalized "Sophia" LOVELINX necklace from Riverstone Designs!

Want an extra entry into the draw? Share this contest through Facebook or Twitter and come back to the Comments section of the contest to let us know you did (feel free to share our link too!) Just head to the momstown.ca Contest Blog and share the contest!

Do you have a blog? Write about why you love momstown in your blog, include the link to the blog in our Comments section, and receive TWO extra entries!

Thanks in advance for the 'love' - we have the best members, subscribers and fans ever!

P.S. momstown will be be posting what we love about the 'momstown experience' too, following the contest - and we'll be linking blog entries and including shared comments too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T07:08:00.001-08:00

February 14th, a day to reflect on love. As moms we really do just have so much to love and be thankful for - our kids!

This holiday has become a retailers dream! We head to the stores to buy chocolates and candy, stuffed animals and cards. It sure is a sweet holiday, and what only makes it sweeter is the adorable little faces that light up our lives everyday and the smiles that melt our hearts.

This year Portraits & Digital Imaging by Jennifer Hall did some mini Valentine
photo sessions for the momstown Barrie mamas. The pictures speak volumes about her talent and about the adorable little beings in our lives.

Happy Valentine's Day from momstown Barrie and all our mamas and their super adorable kiddies!!!

Breakfast is a great way to start any day!!

2011-02-12T11:55:00.000-08:00

Today was our Valentine Breakfast Party!! It was a fantastic event all sponsored by Kellogg's and their Love Your Cereal campaign.

We had quite the snowy start to the morning, but it didn't' keep the moms and tots away from a fun filled morning of breakfast, crafts and parachute play!

Watching all the kids excitement over their bowls full of cereal was great fun! They all seemed to love the Froot Loops and Corn Pops, and moms loved the new knowledge of just how healthy they really are!!!

Our moms also dug in and enjoyed bowls of cereal with their kids! Our pregnant moms all went for the sweet ones... and felt good about it knowing they were filling their bellies with wholesome goodness!

Who would have thought that breakfast could bring so many people together and bring so many smiles to little faces? It truly was a great way to start a Saturday morning.

To top off the fun, all the moms took home a goody bag full of cereal all thanks to Kellogg's!

Thank you Kellogg's, we really do all Love Your Cereal!!!!