Monday, August 29, 2011

Win tickets to see The Backyardigans!

I am so excited about The Backyardigans show coming to the Pantages Playhouse this October 1! The Backyardigans 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? 

Well, I have great news! I am going to award one of you Free Tickets to the show!!! Here's how to enter our contest:
All you need to do is visit the momstown Winnipeg facebook page between Monday August 29th-September 5th and post a picture/video/or story featuring your kids loving The Backyardigans and why they are the number #1 Fan. We hope you will get very fun and creative in honour of our friends The Backyardigans!
Don't forget you will need to come back here and post a comment letting me know you completed step 1 which was uploading your creative submission on Facebook (please leave your Facebook name as well so I can easily find you)!



I will need to see your post on Facebook and see a comment here on the blog in order for your entry to be valid.


On September 6th will choose one lucky 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! Looking forward to seeing your submissions! 
 

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Soothing Body Mask

Today we went to Tinkertown with some momstown Winnipeg mamas for a playgroup. I saw another mom who was beet red! It hurt just looking at her. It reminded me of this soothing body mask recipe that I have used in the past. Let's hope you remember to slather on the sunscreen or cover up!  But if you don't, here's the recipe for the Soothing Mask that has helped me with sunburned skin.  It can be used all over your body!


Ingredients:

  • 1 part plain yogurt
  • 1/2 part regular oatmeal
  • Optional: 2 drops essential oil (jasmine oil works nice) 
Stir ingredients together.  Add jasmine essential oil.  Make sure the mix is cold.  If not, place in the fridge or freezer for about 10 - 15 minutes.  Apply to the area and leave on for 10 minutes.  Wash off with warm water and pat dry. 


Trip to the Zoo

In September our monthly curriculum theme is Let's Go to the Zoo but we were too eager to wait until then to go to the zoo! A few weeks back momstown Winnipeg organized a field trip for moms and toddlers to the Assiniboine Park Zoo.



I think we moms enjoyed it more then the kids. I haven't been to the Winnipeg Zoo if quite a few years, so it was a nice visit. There are lots of renovations going on there. I was sad to see the petting zoo and paddle wheel gone, but I'm excited to see what will be put there in its place.






After we stopped for a picnic and the kids played in the playground. That was my daughter's favourite part of the zoo.




If you missed this event, we are going again in September. And it will be on the weekend so the working moms and dads can join us! Hope to see you there!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Coffee Body Scrub

Coffee is a necessity for many of us mamas. Many sleepless nights means brutal mornings that having us brewing up a pot of coffee to get us through the day. Not only does this coffee help us keep those heavy eyes open but you can use those coffee grinds to make your skin a little prettier.

Did you know that ground coffee has been found to be an excellent way to treat and prevent cellulite.  It increases the circulation of the underlying skin layers and distributes clusters of fat. Here's a homemade Coffee Body Scrub to help you combat cellulite just in time for those short shorts season. I got this recipe from an episode of Steven and Chris. They had lots of great tips that day.

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups ground coffee (use the left over coffee grinds from your coffee maker)
  • 1/2 cup of sugar or sea salt
  • 2 -3 tablespoons of olive oil (or grape seed oil) 

Mix all the ingredients together.  Apply to the skin by massaging in a gentle circular motion. Rinse off with luke warm water. Best to apply after taking a warm shower.

momstown Winnipeg's Birthday Bash Was A Blast!

momstown Winnipeg had our official kick off event last weekend at the Children's Museum! We celebrated our 'birth' and momstown's 4th Birthday! We had a lot of fun and we're already working on our 5th Birthday for next year.


 We had families lined up to enter the event before 9 am!


It didn't take long before our event, which was open to the public, reached capacity. We had a waitlist of moms dying to go to the event! With amazing gift bags worth over $70 each and loads of prizes from our amazing sponsors, it's no wonder why an invitation to our Birthday Bash was in high demand.


The free event was held at the newly renovated Children's Museum. We not only had lots of crafts for the kids, but Kindermusik Discovery was there, along with Dee Dee the Clown and Puff the Clown from Laughter without Boarders. Entertainment at our event was top notch! I had mom's coming up to me throughout the event with nothing but compliments on how much fun their children were having. Children (and parents) got to explore the museum throughout the day as well.




We also had Lindsay from Creative Photojournalism there doing mini photo sessions for the children and she managed to take some amazing event coverage photos for me too. One less thing I had to worry about doing thanks to Lindsay! We just got the photos back and they are amazing as always!




Here are some more great photos of this fantastic event!








We had coffee from Tim Horton's, not to mention gift cards courtesy of Madison from Tim's Community Cruiser in all the gift bags for all the moms and dads!


La Fiesta Cafecito & Bakery provided cupcakes and a cake for all the guests! It was delicious!



Our sponsors were very generous! We had a table jam packed of door prizes!



Not a member yet?  

Sign up during our birthday month of August and you receive a 4 week FREE TRIAL membership (double the usual 2 week trial).


Why you should join momstown? Watch our short video & watch your friendships grow! :)


Thanks again to all our sponsor's who made this day possible! 



Saturday, August 20, 2011

Stroller Fit Mamas

momstown Winnipeg moms got the opportunity to enjoy a free Stroller Fit class with Aileen from Fit 4 Two. I was nervous as I had never done one of these classes before and wasn't sure how my daughter and baby boy would do. I feared the tantrums and crying would stop me from working out.



The great thing about our class, not only was it fun and a great workout, it was very flexible. So if a baby was crying, you could stop and attend to him. Or if we had to run around to do a lap, Aileen would stand by and watch the strollers.




Our group of ladies really enjoyed the class. We worked up a sweat, had great conversations and laughs and even went to enjoy a nice cup of coffee at The Forks after class. It was a great event, and we burned some calories too, which is always a plus! We even chatted on our message board the next day about which body parts were hurting!



Here's Aileen, our instructor from Fit 4 Two. Check out how fit she is!
Our inspiration to get in shape.


The greatest thing I learned that day was how you really can work out anywhere. There is no excuse that we are stuck at home with the kids. You can incorporate them into your work out, and do some moves where ever you are. Even at the park! 

Thanks Aileen. We had loads of fun and look forward to attending more events this fall!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Non Toxic Paint for Kids

Tomorrow is our final Picasso's in the Park for the summer. It's one of my favourite events that we put on for Winnipeg moms and kids. It got me thinking of this paint recipe that I use to make a lot when my daughter was a young baby, just learning and exploring with paints for the first time. I wanted to make sure her first paint experiences where with non-toxic, natural stuff as she put everything in her mouth.


My little picasso painting in the dining room. I start them young! :)

Although there are paints on the market that are advertised as non-toxic I thought I'd look into making my own.  It's a fun project that you can do with your kids and it's cheap. You can't buy non-toxic paint that is this cheap. And you probably already have all these ingredients in your cupboard.

What you will need:
  • 1 Tbsp Vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp Baking Soda 
  • 4 Tbsp Corn Starch
  • 1 Tbsp Light Corn Syrup
  • Food Colouring
  • Paint trays / plastic containers / muffin tray
Stir the baking soda and the vinegar in a bowl. It will start to foam.  This is the part that the kids will love! Allow the foam to settle and add a few drops of food colouring until you get your desired colour. Stir in the corn syrup and the corn starch.  Pour into the container and allow to harden.  Now repeat for each colour that you would like.

This is like water-based paint, so best to use paper meant for finger painting.  Happy Painting!



 We used a muffin tin to keep the paint in. This way it was low enough for my daughter to reach into and wouldn't tip over either.



I always say, if my daughter ends up messy, dirty and needs a 
bath by noon then it's been a fun day!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Saturday, August 6, 2011

A Fairy Garden Party

Like many new parents, first birthday’s around here tend to be a little over the top. This is clearly not for the child, as she or he will really never recall this day, or even care if this party included everyone you know or just mom and dad.

When my daughter turned one I may have got a little too excited. Her birthday was in February. I started planning in October. Yes, that’s right! October. Four months before the big day! But we actually had her big party around Easter as we waiting until we flew back home for the holidays. So I had almost 6 whole months of planning this party.

I did have a small party at home in Burlington with a few friends to celebrate her official birthday. I kept the theme the same so I was able to use some of the party accessories twice.


I quickly decided on a theme (which I now regret that I didn’t wait until she was older as Tinkerbell is now a favourite of hers). Her first birthday was a Fairy Garden Party. You can still do this theme if you have a child’s birthday in winter. Anyone who knows the story of Tinkerbell and fairies understands that they are preparing for spring in the winter.

I even had a story in the invitation with a cute poem explaining all the details. Here's a copy of the invitation.


If you want to do something similar, this is the wording I used:
Royal Celebration
In the hush of winter beneath glistening snow Enchantment and merriment mingle below. 
Deep within the garden under canopy of flowers The fairy kingdom gathers to await the hours. 
With glittering costumes and delicate wings, gentle fairies frolic, make music and sing. 
Fairies take flight, get ready to have fun. For our sweet Isabella is turning the Big1! 
Wishes come true by the King’s proclamation 
As dancing fairies gather to make exclamation: “There’s nothing as magical, lovely and grand 
As a royal celebration in Fairy Land!”

Garden Attire
Garden girl fairies, wear your fairy best. A tutu will do, or a pretty fairy dress. 
White or pink, violet or blue. Wings of all colours will await you. 
And let’s not forget the garden bug boys. We need Grasshoppers & Bees to make some noise. 
Or fly with us to Never Never Land. We invited Hook, the Lost Boys & even Peter Pan.

This is the birthday girl's dress. We had special wings just for her too.

The good thing about planning this in October was that I went out to buy costumes and accessories after Halloween for a fraction of the price. It pays to think ahead. I also lucked out and found lots of garden accessories that started coming out right before Easter.




The birthday girl still learning to balance when walking.

All the kids came dressed up. Even the boys dressed up as pirates. I made sure to invite Hook, Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. I had a table just for all the accessories where the kids picked out their wings, wands, hooks, swords, etc when they walked in.


We had a special cake just for the birthday girl, as smashing of the cake is a must for a one year old birthday party!


To keep the kids entertained we set up lots of arts and crafts. They decorated flowers and butterflies to help prepare for spring. They also decorated their very own flower pots.




I made these pots out of yogurt containers. They held all the markers and paint brushes. My daughter still has them. We use them as containers for her arts and craft supplies.


And every kid was sent home with a loot bag filled with garden fairy accessories! As always, we had each loot bag customized based on his or her age. Flower seeds where also included for the kids to plant in their flower pots that they decorated at the party.


My little boy is just three months old and now this has me thinking….. what theme shall I do for his big party! I'll have to check out momstown's Birthday Ideas on the blog for some themes that could work for a one year old! Stay tuned until next spring to find out what theme I went with!