my baby is no longer a baby.

July 8, 2013 by mama lola

as i write this, tears are welling up in my eyes.
birthday’s make me a bit sappy, especially my children’s.

it is hard to believe that my littlest guy, my lion, was born three years ago! his birth was a nightmare and i won’t get into that now, you can read more HERE and HERE. this post is about the happiness he brings. lion’s short life has been full of adventures, laughter and love. he has brought such joy into our life and i am so honoured to be his mama.

lion is such a sweet little boy. his big blue eyes melt hearts where ever he goes, and his little voice is hard not to smile at. he is such a character; he loves to give kisses, loves to do puzzles and LOVES to help in the kitchen. his energy is always positive, even after a fall he typically bounces back quickly and says “me okay” . lion is very easy going, always keen to participate in whatever is happening, rarely throws a tantrum but, watch out as there is always a slight glint of mischievousness in his eyes!

it has dawned on me that i really do not have babies anymore. lion has been toilet trained (night & day) for almost a year, we took his soother away at 18 months, so there is nothing left from his baby days, which really emphasizes his big kid-ness. he is able to express himself, creating opportunities for adorable conversations. his speech is still a bit slurred, and now he has started stuttering, but i think with time they too will be outgrown. every day he is gaining more independence by striving for those big goals; having a big brother is very motivating and pushes him to try new things that maybe he wouldn’t otherwise.

i am so proud of my wee lion.
he is loving, kind, smart and super silly.
he lives every day to it’s fullest effortlessly.
he is so gentle and fierce, all rolled into one awesome little boy.

happy birthday to my sweet lion.
i love you.

(sniff, sniff… gotta go find some tissues now!)

this moment.

July 5, 2013 by mama lola

i would love it if you left a link to your { this moment }.

learning to be bear wise.

July 4, 2013 by mama lola

i am scared of bears.

i live in a country and a province that has bear. black bears, to be specific.
we’ve been at the cottage and i have seen several on the property on a couple of different occasions in the last 5 years. once, when bear was about 9 months old, he and i were playing in front of the cottage when i felt like someone was staring at us, and bam, when i turned around i made eye contact with a black bear up a hill, in and among the forest about 50 metres away!

this is my sweet little guy moments before i saw the bear.

immediately i grabbed my wee baby, ran inside, ran to the window and saw the bear sniffing the ground we had just been standing on. with my adrenalin kicking i tried to find my camera to get a picture, but my hands were shaking so much and my heart was pounding in my chest… it was hard and scary…

this was the picture i got of the bear making it’s way up the driveway. my dad gave a s#it for even trying to get a photo of a bear. you see, i stepped out of the cottage, just a little to snap this photo.

i have always been slightly nervous about bears.
at treeplanting we had bears visit our camp all the time. some people even had their tents ripped open by bears, but luckily this happened when they themselves were out in the clearcut working! ha! at treeplanting there are lots of rules about how and where to keep your items with scent, because shampoo’s and even a tiny lip balm container can attract bears. their noses are so incredibly efficient and curious!

a black bear.

[ source : government of yukon pages ]

this summer the boys, dear hubby and i are driving north in ontario for our summer road trip. we are heading up to thunder bay to where dear hubby and i met and fell in love! we plan on camping a bit, and i can honestly say that i am already a little worried. so, i did a little bit of research on google about bears.
i found this map.

[ source ]

it’s pretty good i think, doesn’t really make me feel better, but at least it’s a clear visual of what i should expect. and, i should expect bears.
sigh.

dear hubby bought be a book “bear attacks; their causes and avoidance” after one of my bear sightings at the cottage. i read the book cover to cover, and really came to the conclusion that there isn’t much you can do to avoid a bear, or a black bear specifically. if they are hungry, or feel threatened they may attack. bears do not typically eat people, but again, if they are hungry enough they sure will. what really worries me is the realization that it is difficult to get away from a bear, especially when with kids; bears are fast runners and excellent climbers. where do we go to get away?

plus that whole making noise to deter bears, well, it doesn’t necessarily work either. it can make the bears curious and draw them TO YOU, instead of scaring them and deterring them AWAY FROM YOU. that day at the cottage when bear was a babe and we saw the bear, i was actually singing super loudly and clapping in the hopes of scaring the furry beasts, as a few months earlier i had seen another bear sniffing the baby stroller we left outside!

clearly i have not shared my concerns with the kids. they know there are bears in the woods, because it comes up in conversation, the way the habitats of all sorts of animals do. but, i will not share my fears with them either, especially since my 5YO bear, is quite anxious at times already. hopefully we will not see any bears or evidence of them, but that being said… any night we sleep in a tent i will be laying there eyes wide open listening closely to each creak and tweet in the forest.

wish me luck!!!

millions of peaches… 20 awesome peach recipes!

July 1, 2013 by mama lola

we LOVE peaches! and, when they’re in season we devour baskets of them! to get ready for the world’s best peaches, which will be in season in a matter of weeks here in southern ontario, i have collected some awesome peach recipes, from pizza’s, to sorbet’s to salsa’s!
i did include a crisp and a cobbler for good measure, as well!
YUM… here we go…

{ 20 PEACH RECIPES }

gouda and peach frilled cheese from winthrop chronicles

carolina peach margarita from garden and gun

shrimp

greek crostini with peaches and feta from katie’s cucina
grilled peach pizza with goats cheese from zested

bellinin sorbet from the hungry australian

rustic grilled peach pizza from love cook eat

peach cake from i heart eating

grilled peaches from the snails view

lavender peach cobbler from the baking bird

blackberry peach crisp from the key ingredient

peach dumplings from LGB studio

molasses glazed salmon, sweet n’ spicy peach salsa from grab a plate
sweet peach pancakes from spicy southern kitchen

fish taco’s with pineapple peach salsa from kristine’s kitchen

peach tart from the patterned plate

peach, mango & carrot smoothie from eat, drink & be merry

peach salad from feasting at home

peach wine coolers from annie’s eats
summer peach rolls from my recipes

peach jam from better homes & gardens

mmm… my mouth is seriously watering after compiling this peachy list of yummy peach recipe’s. let me know if you try any of them or if you have a must-try peach recipe of your own!

the donkeys.

June 30, 2013 by mama lola

about a week ago we visited the donkey sanctuary of canada.

it was a beautiful, peaceful place where you can’t help but let yourself slow down and let your brain from racing along. we enjoyed the company of many of these serene four legged, furry animals. we were all pleasantly surprised at how calm donkeys are.

all of donkey’s here have a story to tell; where they came from and why they were brought to the sanctuary in the first place. some of the stories are heartbreaking ones of cruelty and neglect, while other’s easier to understand. there are about 60 donkey’s at the a sanctuary, and the name alone should describe the purpose of this place. it’s a safe place for donkey’s to live out their lives. we met one lovely donkey dame, names summer. she was 42 years old, which is considered old for donkey’s.

we spoke to several staff members who were eager to answer our questions and teach us about these quiet, often forgotten animals. donkey’s originate from northern africa and do not have any hierarchy in their herds, the way horses do. their “flight or fight” response is to fight, unlike the horse whose is for flight, and hence are considered stubborn.

we also had a belated father’s day picnic celebration.
the kids made my dad binoculars. it was pretty cute and hilarious!

if you’re in this area, south-western ontario, go visit the donkey’s. they need our hearts and support and they are just so awesome! check out the sanctuary’s website HERE for operating hours and other details. there are also walking trails and a pond with fish and turles! fun!

this moment.

June 28, 2013 by mama lola

as inspired by souleMama; one photo from our week, no words, only an image to sum up our time as a family. one that captures a moment in time and is a visual reminder of where we were at this time in our lives.

we have all officially survived bear’s first year of school.
here are a few pictures from his last day with his best bud and his awesome teacher’s! we love them all so much!
woohoo, summer!!!

i would love it if you left a link to your { this moment }.

mini cottage vacation in june!

June 26, 2013 by mama lola

sometimes, a mini vacation is just what i need to re-charge my batteries, get my head in order and just relax with family.

we went up to the cottage with our dear bubba & patty. the kids had a fantastic time playing in the water, swinging on the new tire swing, collecting sticks n’ things, making smores, sleeping in (wait, no that didn’t happen), and just having a jolly fun time! If you are interested in having a cottage vacation, you can find a great range of self catering holiday cottages in Silverdale or somewhere more local to you!

to our dismay, the cottage (or mansion worth $3 million) next door to us was purchased by a very wealthy person, who has now built an even bigger mansion worth at least $10, 000, 000!!! it’s not so much the value of the new “cottage” that us disturbing, but it’s the destruction they are doing on the natural environment that is heartbreaking. they have cut down massive swaths of trees on theIR property, which has in turn caused terrible erosion on their hillside land. everything about this mansion is custom and extreme to the max. the windows and doors are all bigger than anything you would find at home depot! they are creating a water feature about the same size in width as the cottage itself, with a waterfall, a river and a pool. this confuses me, BECAUSE THE PROPERTY IS ON A LAKE!

the new neighbours will not be moving in this summer, maybe not even next, as construction on such a massive scale takes years. all day, everyday the dirt road was busy with catering trucks feeding the workers, various pic-up trucks and vans driving back and forth… the dust was insane!

and then, one day we came back from town to this in front of our drive way…

a huge digger being transferred onto a flatbed, to be taken away. yes, this was a five year old’s dream, so we stood there and watched as the worker drove the digger on there, and then chained the huge piece of equipment on. but, it wasn’t really what we had hoped as our lion was napping in the car!

but, that being said we did have a great time boozing, snoozing, playing games, canoeing and hooping! We were able to enjoy a range of different games whilst we were out here. When the kids went to bed, the adults would make use of online casino websites to have our own casino night. We made sure to use a reliable recommendation website like best-casino.net/ to find a good casino website. Then we were able to enjoy slot machines and poker games online. That was fun. The cottage has decades and decades of family memories in it, and being up there is always so amazing!

eating outside is one of my favourite things to do at the cottage!

a dear friend and her darling daughter came for a visit, so we went out on the row boat.

the boys love the water up here.

went into rosseau. played on the bouncy castle and at the beach.

dear hubby and bubba put up a tire swing.

i got back into hooping! everyone had a turn!

us adults had many boozy nights with a lotta laughs and all sorts of shenanigans!

oh, the cottage life!

happiness!

some of the pics are taken with my phone so that’s why the quality looks different. I’m considering getting something like memory t shirt quilts made from all of the photos to remind me of what a terrific vacation this was.
HAPPY HUMP DAY EVERYONE!

the river runs through it.

June 22, 2013 by mama lola

our city has two rivers that run through it. every year the community gets together and cleans up the garbage left over from winter along the river beds. but, this year there were other projects as well for people to participate in. projects like building crayfish habitats, adding mulch to the previously planted trees along the riverbank, or cleaning up the garbage from the river and it’s banks. we chose to learn about how to build crayfish habitats.

some sections of the river are busy with canada geese and at this time of year their goslings are busy growing. the wee grey puff balls are so cute!

although our kids are young, we think it is so important to get them involved in our local community, to learn about our local environment and participate in its up-keep where possible. it’s one thing to just live in a place, but to be involved in a community’s health and spirit are something very different. we met some really inspiring people, full of energy and knowledge to try to change things.

you can’t tell in these pictures, but lion fell and sat in the mud. his bum was covered in this thick, sticky mud. and his shoes, the cotton runners were drenched in water and mud! at home i had to do a thorough rinse before chucking them into the washing machine!

i had packed a picnic lunch, which we gobbled up quickly. building crayfish homes was exhausting work!

this moment.

June 21, 2013 by mama lola

i would love it if you left a link to your { this moment }.

themed thursday: road trip activities & games! (part 3)

June 20, 2013 by mama lola

keeping kids content, quiet and busy is an important part of the SANITY piece for parents road tripping with kids, to preserve your sanity even further, you could consider a service like Comfort Drive where a safe driver will ensure you safely get to your destination whilst taking care of your kids. It is super important to plan ahead a bit and to know what kinds of activities will keep your kids happy, especially for those long hauls! if you know that you are going to be going for a long drive, then think about what sort of vehicle you should take as well. is your normal car good enough for the journey? or would you do better if you invested in something like a motorhome for your family? at least this way you get all the space that you need, and you won’t even have to worry about finding a room to stay in? sounds good right? if this is something that interests you then don’t forget you’ll need to get insurance for it (check out Staveley Head for more information on this). getting a motorhome might just make your road trip with your family a lot easier!

we don’t have DVD players in our car (by choice) and don’t have tablets, so we rely on the kids to entertain themselves and each other.

FELT GAMES:

felt boards are super fun and a wonderful way to get the kids’ imaginations going. they are basically story boards for kids to create worlds with, where all sorts of adventures can take place.

MAGNET BOARDS:

last year i used cookie sheets as the board, this year i stumbled upon these adorable magnet boards at chapters. they come with magnets, but we will bring along our super, awesome 3D dinosaur magnets, which you can learn how to make HERE.
i also found a bag of magnet letters at value village for 99 cents.

these are the magnets i made last year for a road trip. kids LOVED them and they are still in circulation!
we made other magnets as well, which are still in use on our fridge! CLICK HERE and it will take you to how to make these awesome toys!

SCAVENGER HUNT:

i love the idea of pictorial scavenger hunts. since my kids will be 3 and 5 years old, they won’t be able to read a long list of words. but, one with pictures is right up their alley! here’s one by the bird feed NYC, which is great, so i will use their concept, but will gear the lists towards our trip more, using specific road signs i know we will see, wildlife, sites and things. the kids can work together, which i love!

[ source ]

SONGS:

what’s a road trip without family sing-a-longs? here’s a few very fun songs that my boys really love, “old mcdonald had a farm“, “ABC“, “the wheels on the bus“, “the ants go marching “, “
we do also have a stack of CD’s, MP3’s and sirius radio to choose from for when we need to give our vocal chords a rest. i love to mix it up as well, playing classical, bluegrass or top 40, but sometimes it’s also good to just drive in silence.

GAMES:

my kids, especially bear, loves to play eye-spy when in the car. we still play the colour instead of the spelling version of the game! counting games are also great! sometimes we just count all the red cars we see, or all the transport trucks and so on.
other classic faves are (found HERE at MSN): 20 questions, license plate bingo, word chain and more!
older kids may like mad-libs.

TOYS TO PACK:

each boy brings his fave stuffed animal.
we bring about 10 books and just cycle through them. sometimes along the way i will buy a new book as a souvenir for the kids.
markers, paper, colouring books, activity books and a few stickers.
small toys like cars, animals, people so the kids can create little imaginary worlds.
buckets n’ shovels.
deck of cards, UNO, other small travel sized games.

here’s what our dudes looked like last summer on our trip to the canadian maritimes. each had a plastic basket for toys at arms reach, a bin of books in the middle and it worked great.

OTHER TIPS:

and parents, don’t forget to pack some extra creativity, flexibility and patience. keeping kids peaceful in the back can be tricky at times, and sometimes when the volume of the screaming increases, it’s worth it to stop and get out for a bit. i realize this makes the trip longer, but that’s where being flexible comes into play.
on our longer stretches of driving, we actually would start after dinner. kids would play, have stories and would eventually fall asleep and we would drive until midnight or so. until we found a motel. it was a great way to make good time!
before getting in the car to drive we made sure the kids had a chance to run some beans out. whether at a motel or camp site. and we made sure the first leg of driving was short, as it’s not a very fun way to start the day. but, truth be told, maintaining any real schedule was impossible. all bedtimes and nap times flew out the window and we just had to let the kids sleep when they were tired!

SAFE DRIVING! SAFE TRAVELLING! HAVE FUN!

what are some of your family’s favourite songs and games to play?