When participating in Twitter parties, I always found it easiest to follow along using TweetGrid. Now that the site is no longer available, I am turning to TweetDeck. I like to use the web version versus the mobile version since it's easier for me to follow on a big screen as compared to my small iPhone. Here I provide a tutorial with six steps on how to use TweetDeck for Twitter parties.

Step 1: Create an account on TweetDeck.com. You will need an email address and will be asked to create a password.

Step 3: Authorize TweetDeck to use your Twitter account. You will be asked to log on to your Twitter account first. If you're already logged on, you will just need to click on 'Authorize app.' 

National Ice Cream Day is on July 21 and Cold Stone Creamery invites you to our #ColdStoneCanada Twitter party in anticipation of this delicious day. During our chat, we will talk about your favourite flavours and toppings, take part in some ice cream trivia and learn about their Signature Creations. Of course, our Twitter party wouldn't be complete without some yummy prizes to be won, so be sure to RSVP using the linky below.

Here is an idea of what's up for grabs:

• $100 Visa Gift Card
• Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream Essentials Prize Packs ($100 value)
• A variety of Tim Hortons Gift Cards

Are you new to Twitter parties? I have included the following tutorials to help you out. As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

How to RSVP for a Twitter party

How to Use TweetDeck.com for Twitter Parties 

How to Add a Column on TweetDeck.com Using a Twitter List

Located in my hometown of Hamilton in the Heart of Ontario, HMCS Haida National Historic Site is home to a distinct class of destroyer. HMCS Haida is a Tribal Class ship which served during the Second World War, Korean War and Cold War. Only 27 such ships were built, eight of which were built for Canada. Thirteen were sunk, thirteen were scrapped and only Haida remains. When our family was invited to take a tour of the site, it felt like an honour to be able to witness first-hand a piece of remarkable Canadian history. 

Upon boarding the massive ship, guests are given a station card, similar to what the sailors would receive. We were greeted by our lovely tour guide as well as Jim the ship-keeper.

There are about 26 stops on the tour where you can learn about where the sailors ate, slept and spent their time off duty, visit command centres, discover the inner workings of the ship and see the armament up close.

And we were graciously given an opportunity to hang out in the Radio Room, which is generally not open to the public. All the equipment in this wood-panelled room is fully functional and my daughter was given a chance to transmit a coded message using one of the original typewriters. Yeah, typewriters. Remember those?

Okay, so it may not exactly be the big screen but it certainly appeared on my new flat screen. Which is larger than my old tube TV. Thus, you could call it the bigger screen. Last night, I stayed up late to watch the Canadian romantic comedy Please Kill Mr. Know It All. A little over a year ago, I received an email from one of the co-directors Colin Carter. He mentioned that their lead character is made famous by a video going viral and that he wanted to feature my site, Toronto Teacher Mom, as one of the sites that features the story on Ask Mr. Know It All. After a conversation over the phone, and several months later, the movie saw its theatrical release in the spring and I am pretty excited to see that my site was included. And remember Colin Mochrie from Who's Line is it Anyway? He's in it, too!

Here's a little synopsis of the movie:

Cynical SALLY (LARA JEAN CHOROSTECKI) lives a life free of excitement and romance and that's just the way she likes it! Although she'd like to be a novelist, she makes ends meet ghostwriting a local advice column under the pseudonym Mr. Know-It-All. But, after a celebrity endorsement (COLIN MOCHRIE and TOM WILSON) turns her column into an overnight success, the newspaper requests a photo of the author from Sally's best friend and agent, PATTI (KRISTINA PESIC). Sally decides to submit a sketch of ALBERT (JEFFERSON BROWN), a handsome stranger she spots in a movie theatre who just so happens to be a contract killer. Once the picture is published, Albert cannot walk down the street without being recognized, and so, for the sake of his livelihood, he decides he must kill Mr. Know-It-All.

While Albert is determined to meet Mr. Know-It-All, Sally wants to conduct a hidden camera interview with Albert to satisfy the media's need to know more about the popular columnist. But, as Albert and Sally begin to spend more and more time together, ulterior motives quickly turn into mutual attraction and Sally decides to confess that she is Mr. Know-It-All. At this point, Albert doesn't know whether to kiss her or kill her and his seeming indifference causes her to push him away. Soon, the girlfriend of Albert's MOB BOSS (AL SAPIENZA) decides to pack up and leave after reading an inspiring newspaper column and Albert finds himself contracted to kill the author Mr. Know-It-All!

Albert is torn between love and responsibility. Will Albert do the hit? Or will they find happiness in the end? Can they outwit the mob? Will the one-legged man find revenge?

Last weekend, I attended my friend's baby shower. Of course, I had to make a personalized diaper cake for her and lucked out to have found a box of Pampers Swaddlers in size 2 on sale at Shoppers Drugmart last week. The first week of summer vacation was busier than I had anticipated so I left wrapping it up to the last minute. Unfortunately, while in Hamilton for the weekend, I discovered an apparent cellophane shortage.

Link up your Wordless Wednesday post below.

Last weekend, my daughter and I attended a baby shower for one of my oldest friends. And by old, I'm not referring to her age, because we were born in the same year so that would imply that I'm old. Which I'm not. What I mean is we've known each for about 30 years and I couldn't be more thrilled for her. I sat at a table with a number of friends from high school, many of whom just had a baby or were expecting. It was a virtual babe-fest, in fact. When I heard that Melissa, the creative mind behind Hitch-it ~ don't lose it, offered to organize a friend's nursery right after having baby number three, I was amazed, and a bit envious, that she seemed to have a knack for organizing. And wait, she actually enjoys it! It goes without saying that I had to tap into her motherly wisdom so that I could have the honour of sharing it with you, my readers. She claimed that she wasn't very good at writing and wasn't sure she could come up with enough tips but I think she did an amazing job. Here they are:

Five Tips for Organizing the Nursery

Over the past few years, I have shared some of my handmade cards here on my blog but have neglected to share many of them on my craft blog. Now that I have a fancy DSLR camera, I have been making it more of a priority to share photos of these cards over at Diana's Designs Blog. This week alone, I have posted three new cards and hope to post some over the next few days. I would love it if you could pop by and share your thoughts on any of your favourites. Any feedback would much appreciated.

Last weekend, we took the kids to Niagara Falls for a few days and afterwards we stopped off at the Welland Canal on our way to the Toronto Ribfest. The kids had never been and I hadn't been back since I was a kid. We lucked out as we arrived just in time to see the Wilfred M. Cohen from Sault Ste. Marie enter the lock.

The place has really changed a lot. The Visitor's Information trailer has been replaced with the impressive Welland Canals Centre which houses a miniature display of the canal, a museum, and more importantly, clean facilities!

Saucy ribs, buttered corn, baked beans, pulled pork, blooming onions... why I had never before been to the Toronto Ribfest sure beats me. Our family spent nearly six hours on site yesterday but we clearly could have stayed all day. We were on our way home from a weekend getaway in Niagara Falls and arrived shortly after noon.

As a #PGmom, I was invited to bring the family to enjoy some complimentary ribs and rides. Bounty, one of the key sponsors, was on hand giving away free rolls of Bounty DuraTowel so that everyone in attendance could easily tackle their post-chow mess. Seeing their tent reminded me of the dishcloth test I participated in with P&G. After using a dishcloth to wash dishes for three consecutive days, my dishcloth was sent to a professional laboratory here in Toronto. The results revealed some pretty dirty secrets: the dishcloth showed 1,310,000,000 counts of bacteria and 32,000,000 counts of yeast and mould. Yeah, I'll take a roll of Bounty, please!

Once we picked up our order of Hawgs Gone Wild ribs, beans and potatoes, we headed over to the VIP lounge with our Bounty paper towel in hand. Go ahead, Toronto Ribfest. Bring on the mess!

The kids devoured their ribs but I wasn't fully satisfied. So I waited about 30 minutes in line for what I was told were the most tender ribs you could find. Apparently, Kentucky Smokehouse ribs are 'more tender than your mama's love.' While that is still up for debate, they were mighty fine ribs. Which would explain why they had one of the longest lineups.

The midway was lots of fun for the kids. They rode the bumper cars, spinning rides, mini roller coaster, car rides and much more.