For my son's 5th birthday, I made a monkey card for my little monkey.



My husband and I bought him a brand new two-wheeler  and he loves it!

To my little man: I love you more and more each day!

Here is this week's Wordless Wednesday linky:

As a French teacher, I often get asked by parents and friends with kids if they should enroll their children in French immersion. I find myself wondering the same thing now that my daughter is in kindergarten. In fact, we nearly enrolled her in a private French school last year but I backed out at the last minute. Did I make a mistake? I'm not sure.

You see, I'm not from Toronto. I never thought that in a million years I would ever live here. But then I met my husband and gave up my hometown. We found out we were pregnant just a couple of months after getting married and bought a house just before she was born. So many things had happened so quickly, I don't feel like I ever really adjusted. I've been living here for over 6 years and I'm still struggling to feel like I fit in, like I belong. I know people who have immediate family and friends overseas, and that it must be really difficult for them not to be able to take a short car ride to visit them. But it still makes me sad that I don't live closer to my family and childhood friends. It makes me sad when I think how very little time my kids get to spend with their only cousin or their maternal grandparents. It makes me so sad that I sometimes burst out into a helpless ball of sobs and seemingly endless tears. And yes, I'm sobbing right now.

As part of the Aquafresh Advanced Futures blog tour with Mom Central Canada, I have been asked to share my hopes and aspirations for my children's future. And as much as I'd like to say that I want to give my son and daughter the best education that money can buy, I won't. That would be too easy. Instead, I want the peace of mind in knowing that my children will be raised and educated in a community where they feel like they belong and with which they have a connection. So while I sometimes wonder if denying my first-born a private and "higher" education was in her best interests, I feel more reassured in my decision when I see the bonds that had been forged in her preschool years are growing stronger as she continues into grade school. I can breathe a sigh of relief as I witness my daughter's emerging personality traits and her definition of self becoming clearer. I feel justified knowing that I didn't disrupt her sense of comfort and belonging by breaking the links of relationships and familiar places.

So, to answer the question, I want more for my kids than to lead long, healthy lives. I want them to have more than a bright future. What I want is for my children to grow up with determination, a strong sense of self-worth and the skills to be critical thinkers. I want them to follow their dreams and let nothing hold them back. Whether it's becoming a teacher like their mother, learning how to trade stocks in the market or join the likes of Craig and Marc Kielburger to help less fortunate kids realize dreams of their own, I want them to not feel rushed or pressured but rather to be one hundred per cent certain that the paths they take are the ones they themselves yearn to follow.

What about you? What kind of future do YOU want for your kids?


Share your wish by visiting www.aquafresh.ca/contest for a chance to WIN a $10,000 RESP, courtesy of new Aquafresh Advanced! Wouldn't that come in handy? I know I'm a little late in sharing this with you but the contest doesn't close until November 30, 2010, so you still have plenty of time to enter.

But wait, I get to give away an Aquafresh Advanced prize pack to one of my readers, too. Up for grabs is a Philips Sonicare for Kids Toothbrush ($70 MSRP) and a sample of Aquafresh Advanced toothpaste. All you need to do to be entered in the giveaway is simple share a toothbrushing tip or trick for kids, such as make it a habit by including it in your routine and brushing for at least two minutes.

Contest is open to Canadian residents and closes on November 22 at 9 pm. Participants can enter on multiple blogs throughout this blog tour but are only eligible to win once.


Disclosure - I am participating in the Aquafresh Advanced Futures program by Mom Central on behalf of GSK. I received a sample of Aquafresh Advanced and gift card as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

It's about time I review something that wasn't a product sample. So here it is, my March Break review.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday:
It started out rough. Saturday night, we chose to order in. My husband picked up some chicken from one of our favourite places. My son went to sleep at 4:30 pm that night so it was just us and our daughter for dinner. I had fed her a sandwich because she was too hungry to wait for the chicken, and it's a good thing I did. At around 1 am the next morning, I fell ill. Stomach bug ill. The Telehealth nurse said it was unlikely to be food poisoning, but we questioned that when my husband also fell ill. It was awful! I will never forget that dreadful day. Needless to say, I won't be ordering in any time soon. After about 12 hours, I didn't feel the urgency to run to the washroom so often, so I braved a one-hour trip with my kids in tow to stay with my parents for the night. I needed all the help I could get. They were great, and after a good night's rest I was feeling much better, though still without appetite. I did manage to work on a sample for my friend's wedding invitations but I'll have to start working on the final product tomorrow.

Tuesday:
This was the day my daughter was waiting for - a meet-and-greet with Dora the Explorer at the CN Tower. And boy, did we luck out! We were fortunate enough to be invited to this exclusive date with Dora thanks to the fantastic ladies at Mom Central Canada and MegaBrands. I cannot tell you how cute my son was. Upon seeing Dora enter the room, he took my hand and pulled me along as he made a bee-line towards her. During the photo op, he just stood there, cheek to cheek. My daughter, on the other hand, preferred to be the last one to hug her.


After our brush with the revered celebrity, we were cordially escorted to the high-speed elevator and given a complimentary tour of the CN Tower, who hosted a number of fun activities as part of their March Break Adventures. We visited the infamous glass floor where I failed to keep up with my kids due to weakened knee joints. I should get those checked. And thanks to the phenomenal weather, we got to take in some gorgeous views of the Toronto area from the Sky Pod. Coo, what a sight!

This blog carnival is as easy as it sounds...

Each week, The (Un)Experienced Mom and A Working Mom will pick a category, then ask you to share your Top 3 thoughts on it. This week, they want to know...

What are your Top 3 favorite things about being a parent?
Or, if you're not a parent yet, the Top 3 things you're most looking forward to about parenthood? 





#3. Being a parent is a lot of hard work. You're always worried or feeling run-down. But at the end of the day, it's wonderful to know that you have someone who looks up to you, depends on you and learns from you. You are important to them in a way that is different from any other relationship and that is what makes it so special.

#2. Tiny arms that wrap around you, never wanting to let go... what could be more precious than that?

My favourite thing about being a parent:

#1. The miracle and blessing of creating new life, caring for your children and being able to watch them grow and learn. It never ceases to amaze me how much learning actually takes places from birth. Every milestone they reach is a reminder of how proud I am to have two amazing children!

My son is now 20 months old. From a very early age, he began to teethe and wasn't given much of a break. He would usually get two at a time, followed quickly by another two, or sometimes suffered four cutting teeth at once. Now, he has his last set of molars to go, and while I'm thrilled one has finally cut the gum, I can't wait for the final three to come in. Let's face it, I'm sleep deprived and beyond cranky. I know my son must be going through a lot of pain. But the sooner we get through this, the better. It's been about two weeks now that my son has broken his heavenly sleep routine of 7pm to 7am and now wakes up 2-4 times a night. I shan't complain because at least he'll fall back to sleep after walking around with him in my arms. My lower back is not nearly as appreciative. Two weeks ago, he would stay up for 2-4 hours, completely wide awake, with no sign of complacently returning to his crib. Let's hope he gets back into his routine very, very soon.

Written by,

Sleeped-Drived Mom

So it's finally happening. My daughter is starting to sound out words phonetically! It amazes me to know end and although she spelled Africa "Afik" I am so excited to see how her skills will grow from here. It makes me light up with utter joy to hear her spell words on her own and read isolated words. She is so smart! My son is also making some achievements of his own as well. Not only is his lexicon ever expanding, but he is also saying these new words with more clarity. And he notices it, too. I love it!

I just wanted to share this picture I took of them around Halloween.


And here is a recent picture of my little ham!

...you get excited over a simple word like house. Why did I get so excited over the word house? Well, it's because my son, who is just shy of turning 1 and 1/2 years old, was watching his Baby Einstein DVD this afternoon and instantly pointed to the first image to appear and cried out, "House!" I was elated! So much so I didn't believe my ears at first. Then he said it again. And then I was certain, as was he, that he named it correctly. What a joy! Lately, he seems to be making more attempts at saying words but can thus far only manage beginning sounds, such as the [k] in car, though his mouth forms the [ar] blend, it's just that no sound comes out. But it doesn't matter because I'm excited about that, too!

My daughter has since made a proud achievement of her own. For the longest time, she has harboured a slight fear of knives, mostly instilled by us, her parents, as a safety guard to ensure she won't go near one, let alone touch one. But now that she is four, she has mastered the use of a butter knife. Last Friday, her nonna invited us over for dinner and enlisted the help of her sous-chef, my daughter, in making her delicious homemade gnocchi. My daughter is almost a pro at this since she's had more experience than I have had at making them. When she ran out of little balls of dough to roll into the gnocchi shape, she wanted to cut a chunk from the large roll of dough. Under her nonna's supervision, she carefully picked up a blunt serrated knife (for the first time) and cut a piece of dough, and at that very instant she turned around to look at me with a grin from ear to ear and proudly exclaimed with near bewilderment, "Mommy, I did it! I used a knife and I didn't get hurt!" That moment was priceless!

Like most people, I look forward to the Christmas holidays and the excitement it brings. Now more than ever my daughter better understands what it's about and for the first time is eagerly anticipating the 25th. She received an early Christmas gift of a Playmobil Advent calendar and wakes up every morning so excited to open up a new box. (It's such a neat idea!)

In the meantime, I'm crazily trying to care for two kids (what seems like on my own) and prepare for the Christmas festivities. I was doing pretty well, having bought the majority of the children's gifts long ago, but I still have plenty of family members to buy gifts for and there's not much time left. There are so many other things that have to be done and I am feeling extremely stressed, so much so that I have regretfully lost my patience with the kids on a couple of occasions. Isn't that terrible? Through no fault of their own, I have blown up under the pressure of Christmas preparations and other household duties, etc. This is not what the holidays are all about. It's about family and friends, peace and joy, and Baby Jesus, is it not? I must remind myself not to get too caught up in the commercial frenzy that has become of the Christmas season.

I'd rather immerse myself in the memories of my family, and my children and the happiness that they bring to my life...