03 Jul, 2009
Posted by andrea in Easy ways to make kids happy, Photos, Recipes and Food
How do you like your marshmallows?
Charred?
Lightly browned and hot on the inside?
Raw?
or squashed between a graham cracker and a square of chocolate?
30 Jun, 2009
Posted by andrea in Easy ways to make kids happy, Oh! Things!, Photos
It’s day two of summer holidays but my work goes on. I have deadlines galore. Sadly, I require near complete silence to write/think/do anything work related. (Seriously, even someone chewing on a banana in the same room makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes. Gah.)
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve already had to remind the girls that MUMMY IS WORKING RIGHT NOW. (Um, except for right now. This is officially-sanctioned break time.)
So I got out the big guns … a paint-by-numbers set Mark and I bought the girls at the Musee des Beaux Arts in Montreal last summer. It was (and still is) by far the best and most interesting paint-by-number set I’ve ever seen. No lame-o horses or unicorns with flowy mains or peace signs or anything obnoxiously cartoony. Just lighthearted and sweet. The colour palette is hip and modern. What can I say? I like it.
They must have spent 90 (NINETY) focused (AND QUIET) minutes diligently painting within the lines.
And now they’re done. I think I’ll pick up a couple of frames for them today. Right after I finish my work, of course.
27 Jun, 2009
Posted by andrea in Easy ways to make kids happy, sanity saving parent tips, travel talk
I just just poking around some old camping files and found a photo of Emma that was taken in summer of 2004 at the *exact* moment she realized that I wasn’t actually trying to trick her and that her inflatable arm floaties ACTUALLY KEEP HER AFLOAT.
Imagine her saying: “Look mummy! I’m swimming!”
I love that photo. It’s just one of many excellent camping memories.
We booked our camping spot many months ago. This year we’re going to be staying in a yurt! (Which I’ll be writing about later.) It is a little annoying to have to book your site so far ahead of time (you have to book five months to the day if you want to snag your favourite spot), but it’s also oddly reassuring. It gives us something to look forward to, especially now school is out and everyone is talking about summer plans and looking ahead to the coming weeks.
Camping is a pretty special thing in our family. We’ve been going camping almost every summer (sometimes even twice a year) since Sarah was about two, so I’ve posted about it a lot. As a result I get lots of hits from people who are looking for information about:
“car camping” and “camping with kids”
“outdoor camping” “family”
“what to pack” + “camping”
“food” +”camping”
and “am I crazy going camping with little kids?” ;)
Clearly there are a lot of questions about camping out there.
I once outlined some tips in an article for SavvyMom (some good stuff in there, go see!) but I thought it might be handy to compile a listy-type post with the nitty gritty details.
First, let’s talk about what you need to pack. You will need to bring …
My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our two daughters Emma (10) and Sarah (8). I work from home as a web content manager, freelance writer, and family photographer. I have a passion for words (on their own or strung together), the arts, healthy living, travel, and good eating (among many things!). This is no ordinary Ottawa mom blog ... it's my journal, and helps remind me that every day is a gift and that life is an adventure of my own design. Thank you for visiting!
