When I picked up a Chill Factor Ice Cream Maker for the ice cream kit we put together a couple of weekends ago, I secretly grabbed a second one to tuck away for Miss G. I didn’t know how it would work, but I was hoping that it would be a step up from the leaky, messy plastic baggie and ice method we’ve been using to date, and I’m happy to report that it is. A serious step up, in fact. Like we’re in love.
It’s only January and we’re already starting to feel the summer heat sneaking in… Ack. I’m not ready. Jackets are becoming less needed, boots are starting to seem silly, and sandals are pretty much already acceptable {in fact I think there are several people who never gave up wearing them all winter long}. Buuut, if you sneak down to the oceanside early enough, the wind blows strong and the air is crisp.
Along with all sorts of other lovely items from back home, tucked inside Grandma Charlotte’s suitcase was this gorgeous little handmade doll carrier and I’m not sure who is more excited. Gracen has absolutely fallen in love with it and happily walked on her own for the entire duration of this afternoon’s adventure, all because she had her baby bunny strapped to her chest.
The other day, while washing a giant sink full of plastic cups and containers for what felt like the gazillionth time, I realized our babushka doll Stuck On You labels have been solidly stuck on Gracen’s drink bottles and bento boxes for the better part of a year now. They’ve been used daily, chucked into bags and purses, hauled to sandy beaches, and left in freezing cars overnight. They’ve been stored in the refrigerator for days at a time, soaked in soapy water for hours, and put through the dishwasher several times. Yet somehow, 9 months later, they look exactly as they did when we first applied them. How that’s even possible, I don’t know.
Besides our stick anywhere name labels, we also got these adorable woodland animal-themed iron on clothing labels last summer too. The verdict? They’re just as great as their stick-on counterparts. This little quilted jacket is a favourite of Gracen’s, and thus has been washed countless times over the course of the fall and winter. And despite countless washes, they are still perfectly adhered and looking new.
In addition to being very durable and ridiculously cute, these labels will be so great for when Miss G begins school or preschool (yes, I count on them lasting that long ☺). As a teacher, I see the overflowing lost and found bins at the end of the school year, and though we do try to return as much of it as possible, it’s nearly impossible as most of it is not properly labeled. But if every student had Stuck On You labels adhered onto their clothing items, books, and lunch containers, finding the items’ rightful owners would be no problem at all.
That being said, if you’ve got a munchkin headed off to camp this summer, quickly sticking some Stuck On You labels onto their belongings before dropping them off would probably be extremely helpful. And what would be more special than sending them off with a personalized toiletry kit, backpack, water bottle, or my personal favourite, a camp sleepaway pack?
Stuck On You has generously offered to give FOUR Mama.Papa.Bubba. readers a $50 voucher to purchase the products of their choosing. This contest is open to Canadian and US readers and a winner will be selected at random on Friday, May 31st.
There are multiple ways to enter. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each. To enter to win a $50 voucher to Stuck On You:
-> ‘Like’ Stuck On You on Facebook, then come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or previously did)
-> ‘Like’ Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Facebook, then come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or previously did)
-> Follow Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Twitter, then come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or previously did)
-> Follow Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Pinterest, then come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or previously did)
Obviously the more times you enter, the better your chances of winning. ☺ Don’t forget to leave your email address! The winner will be announced on May 31st and contacted via email. Good luck!!
♥
For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
One thing I do well with as a mama is capturing moments in photos… Loads and loads and loads of photos. The special occasions, the everyday moments…they’re all well documented and stored for years to come. That being said, despite the thousands and thousands of photos I take of Miss G each year, and the tons of great ones Brad is included in, I have a pitiful number of Gracen and I together. Like, really pitiful. Without a doubt, this is due to the fact that I enjoy being behind the camera much more than in front of it, but that’s no excuse. When Grae is older, I want her to be able and look back on all of the wonderful moments we shared together, mother and daughter.
It goes without saying that, when my very talented photographer friend, Amy Lee, of The Connection We Share, offered us a sneak peek of her brand new Just: Be Portrait Sessions, I jumped at the chance (literally, I couldn’t reply quickly enough).
Amy’s Just: Be sessions are designed to capture the love between a parent and child while they are connecting, bonding, and ‘just being’ together… which I adore. Before the shoot, Amy sends out a questionnaire which helps her design a personalized session, just for you. From the colour that best represents Grae to why I’m most proud of her, the questions definitely made me think. In a good way.
When we arrived to her studio, Amy had caffine-free cookie dough tea waiting for us, which immediately won over the little miss. Grae had been up extra early that morning and it was very near nap time, but Amy was incredibly patient and creative with the ways she engaged her. The shoot itself was laid-back and short, which is any toddler mama’s dream.
When I received our images from the session, I was blown away. They perfectly capture the simple, raw moments of being Gracen’s mama that I never want to forget. They’re soft, honest, and unposed, and truly allow our personalities to shine through. Without a doubt, these images will forever be cherished.
Now for the best news! Amy is generously offering a Just: Be Portrait Session (one parent and one child), plus an 8 x 10 print with the digital negative, a $200 value, to one lucky reader. Simply click the icon below to be taken to the official entry page.
A winner will be randomly selected on Monday, May 20th, 2013. Please note that this portrait session takes place in Port Coquitlam, BC.
To celebrate the launch of Just: Be Portraits, The Connection We Share is also offering the first 5 readers who book a session a $100 credit towards any purchase. Click here to learn more and book a session.
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For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
There’s no doubt that I’m a huge fan of kid-friendly cafés and restaurants. And though a great kid’s menu is a good start, in my opinion, a kid’s play corner of some sort sets a restaurant apart from the rest when it comes to family-friendliness. Needless to say, when I heard that Corduroy, a well-known adult-centred lounge in Kits, had opened its doors for lunch and included a kid’s play area in its weekday plans, I was pretty excited.
Gracen and I headed down to check it out with some friends this morning, and I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed. Firstly, the location is absolutely perfect. Just down the street from Kits Beach, a place we frequent often, it makes for a great lunch spot after a morning of sand and sunshine.
The next thing I noticed was the kid’s menu. Grae and I normally share a dish when we’re out for a meal (partly because one dish is plenty of food for both of us, and partly because usual kid’s menus are filled with deep-fried junk and processed white carbs), but with a menu that includes meals made with wholewheat, organic, and locally-sourced ingredients, I was more than happy to let Miss G order something of her own. She picked the margarita pizza on a wholewheat honey rosemary crust, then was off to play.
The play area, which is right in front of the big open window at the front of the restaurant, was well stocked with a play kitchen and pretend food, a workshop filled with plastic tools, wooden toys and puzzles, board books, mega blocks, and art supplies. The best part, however, is that it’s fully enclosed. No escaping kids here.
Gracen’s food arrived in no time at all, and she dove in immediately. After polishing off her third piece, she paused for a moment and I assumed she’d had her fill. When I went to wipe off her hands and face, she looked at me confused and said, “But Mama, I still have more!” The girl ate six pieces. SIX.
My food was just as good. I ordered the red wine braised organic chicken panini and it was delish. And the green salad? It included dried blueberries, pine nuts, and wild rice. Yum.
After lunch, the kiddos got back to playing while us mamas finished our meals and got to visit a little bit (not easily done when out to lunch with a bunch of toddlers at a normal restaurant).
The entire visit was lovely – the atmosphere, the food, the play area, and the company included! Corduroy is definitely added to our list of go-to kid-friendly restaurants… Now to plan our next visit!
Corduroy is located at 1943 Cornwall Avenue and is open for {kid-friendly} lunch on weekdays from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.
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Last month, Gracen and I were lucky enough to receive a discovery kit from Sparked Kids Crafts. If you haven’t heard of them before, Sparked Kids Crafts is a Vancouver Island-based subscription service that delivers educational art activities, science explorations, and imaginative play activities aimed at 3 to 7 year olds right to your doorstep. Pretty cool, right?
Gracen was thrilled to receive a bright and beautiful package full of fun goodies and I was thrilled with how quickly it arrived and how professional the package looked.
Sparked discovery kits come with everything you need to complete several projects right there inside the box – markers, paper, pencils and instructions included! Our kit was pirate-themed and came with four easy activities… A folded paper pirate hat to make, a wooden treasure chest to decorate, a treasure map to create, and a popsicle stick parrot puppet to assemble.
Grae was super excited to get started and chose to make the paper pirate hat first (talk about taking me back to my childhood!)
Though the finished product wouldn’t quite stay on her head, for us, projects like these are all about the process. We spent time together, we worked as a team, and we had fun together, and that’s what’s important. If we wanted to, we could attach some sort of elastic easily enough and add the hat to her dress-up station for future imaginative play.
Next up, Gracen chose to decorate her treasure box. At first she began adding splashes of colour here and there and then she requested that I draw some shapes for her to colour in. She thought decorating a wooden box was a blast and I loved that Sparked had included high-quality crafting products for us to use.
While we haven’t had a chance to make our treasure map yet, there are already plenty of things I love about Sparked Kids Crafts…
1. It’s a Canadian-based business (yay for supporting local!)
2. It’s run by two moms, one a savvy mompreneur and the other a teacher (go moms!).
3. The kits come with clear, easy-to-follow instructions.
4. The materials included are good quality.
5. The activities included are not at all intimidating, not even for those who claim they’re not crafty (I promise!)
6. A single discovery kit contains several activities, which if spaced out a little can easily keep you and your munchkin(s) creating all month long.
7. Each themed kit comes with it’s own enhancement activities and recommended reading list on the Discover More portion of the Sparked website.
Overall, I’d say that’s a lot of pluses for a fairly new small business, wouldn’t you? In the interest of full honesty, the only thing I’d say is that I did find the activities in this particular kit to be a little… uninspired? That sounds too harsh. Perhaps ‘ordinary’ is a better word? I’m not sure. Now, I’m not saying that the activities were not enjoyable, because they certainly were. And truth be told, for the most part, kids don’t really care how unique or innovative an activity is, they’re just stoked that someone’s taking the time to sit down and create something with them. I guess I just felt like the activities were mostly things that I could pull together on my own without too much planning, shopping, or prep work. But then again, I’m an elementary school teacher, an owner of a handmade goods shop, and in general, someone who enjoys getting creative, so maybe that’s not a fair assessment.
What I do think is that a Sparked Kids Craft subscription would be an amazing help to parents who are super busy, parents who don’t have the time/energy/inspiration to pull together crafts on their own, and parents who don’t consider themselves creative or crafty. I also think a subscription would make an awesome gift, because truly, which child doesn’t love receiving mail?!
WIN A SPARKED DISCOVERY KIT OF YOUR OWN
Sparked Kids Crafts has generously offered to gift a discovery kit to one lucky Canadian Mama.Papa.Bubba. winner. The contest is open until Friday, March 29thand there are multiple ways to win (please be sure to leave a separate comment for each).
To enter to win a complimentary Sparked Kids Crafts discovery kit:
–> Visit their website and tell us one thing you like about Sparked Kids Crafts
-> ‘Like’ Sparked Kids Crafts on Facebook and come back here and leave a SEPARATE comment saying you did so (or previously did)
-> Follow Sparked Kids Crafts on Twitter and come back here and leave a SEPARATE comment saying you did so (or previously did)
-> Follow Sparked Kids Crafts on Pinterest and come back here and leave a SEPARATE comment saying you did so (or previously did)
–> ‘Like’ Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Facebook, come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or previously did)
Obviously the more times you enter, the better your chances of winning. ☺ Don’t forget to leave your email address! The winner will be announced on March 30th and contacted via email. Good luck!!
♥
For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
Hello. My name is Jen and I’m a rainy day activity hoarder.
It’s true. For the last year and a half, I’ve kept a running list of awesome programs and places around the Lower Mainland to visit on rainy days. For some reason, however, I’ve been rationing them out very slowly. Does this classify as torrential downpour? Only the third day of rain in a row? Could we get away with just visiting one of our regular places? I have absolutely no idea what the reasoning behind this craziness has been. Was I afraid that I’d suddenly run dry of things to do with my toddler and we’d be stuck at home staring at the wall? Did I think that we couldn’t visit these awesome places again after the initial time? I have no clue. What I do know, however, is that now that we know we’re headed back to Kuwait in a short 5 months (and back to the Okanagan in just 3), there’s no more rainy day activity qualification system in place. Little Nest? We’re going. Maritime Museum? Yup, there too. Watermania? Absolutely. Art Gallery? Morning drop-in at Collage Collage? Salmon Hatchery? UBC Gymnastics? Cowboys and Angels? Let’s do it!
One of the other places that has been on my list forever is 6 Pack Indoor Beach. Located on the very industrial Mitchell Island, 6 Pack Indoor Beach is essentially a giant warehouse filled with sand (in the most awesome way possible). During the evenings and weekends, they’re host to volleyball leagues and tournaments, but during weekdays when it’s a lot quieter, families are welcome to come and enjoy their Lil’ Diggers drop-in program.
And that’s just what Miss G and I did today.
The beach was quiet… With a few teenagers practicing on the far court and two other moms with munchkins playing, Gracen and I had more space than we could ever want.
While we brought along a little bag of sand toys, 6 Pack already had all of the bases covered. From shovels to buckets, rakes, sand castle moulds, balls, frisbees, and tractors, it was all already there for us to play with. Or course laying and rolling around in the sand was just as much fun too.
As was burying ourselves.
We spent two and a half hours playing, and even then Gracen wasn’t ready to go. And I can’t blame her… She had just discovered this perfect jumping ledge and was working hard on her sand dives.
The nice thing about the indoor beach is that while you can get dirty to your heart’s content out on the sand, when you’re finished there is spacious foot washing ‘sink’ and full-on showers in the bathrooms. There’s also several picnic tables and comfy wooden loungers come lunch time.
I’m so glad we finally made our way to 6Pack. It was the perfect rainy day get away and we’ll definitely be headed back soon.
6 Pack Indoor Beach is open 7 days a week, with the Lil’ Diggers drop-in program happening weekdays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The drop-in cost is $7 and they also offer a punch pass that gives you 11 sessions for $60. Plus, they do birthday parties!
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After our recent Shopping Sense tour, some of my {awesome} mama blogger friends and I planned on grabbing a cup of coffee, sitting down, and catching up for a bit. The thing was, it was already lunch time, we were all hungry, and the kiddos were tired of being restrained in shopping carts. They needed to play. So where can you go to catch up with friends, grab a fresh delicious meal, and let your kiddos play all at once? Luckily we were in my hood and I knew the perfect place. Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company.
I’ve written about Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company before, but if you haven’t heard their story before, it’s truly pretty amazing. First off, their entire menu is designed to use the freshest, most nutritious ingredients possible. The produce they use is local and organic, the meats are Canadian and free range or organic, and their seafood is all Ocean Wise approved. Their promise is that their food includes minimal salt and sugar and absolutely no GMOs, additives, or preservatives. (Talk about a place you can feel good about eating out at!) Of course, every single thing – from dough to sauces to breads and desserts – is made fresh on site. And it doesn’t stop there. Rocky Mountain Flatbread restaurants are all carbon neutral. Amazing, right? (Read about how they do it here.) In addition to all of this, they pride themselves on being family-friendly, which is huge when you’ve got munchkins in tow. The Main Street location, which we visited, has an awesome little kitchen area, complete with felt food and miniature aprons, that kept our wee ones happy during a nearly two hour visit. And as always, the food was delicious.
What I just learned about Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company, and didn’t know before is that they do all kinds of fun special events. Some, like their family nights, date nights, and pizza making nights happen on a weekly basis, and others, like the Green Cleaning Products workshop I’m attending next week, happen only on special dates.
In addition to the cleaning products workshop, the Main Street location is hosting a Kid’s Camp this Spring Break too. It takes place on March 21st, from 9:30 a.m. until 12 p.m. and kids aged 7 to 12 will have a blast learning how to make their own lunches out of fresh, local, organic ingredients. Included on the menu is homemade ginger ale, healthy kale chips, individual pizzas, veggie dips, and their signature BEET brownies! Goodness gracious, how I wish Miss G was old enough to attend. The next best thing is being able to help a couple of other local kids go though. Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company has very generously given us TWO spots (valued at $35 a child) to give away to Mama.Papa.Bubba. readers. Yay!
Please note that this camp takes place in Vancouver, BC on March, 21st and is open to children ages 7 through 12. The winners will be chosen at random on Friday, March 15th, 2013.
There are FOUR ways to enter. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each:
–> Leave a comment telling us why your child would enjoy this camp
Obviously the more times you enter, the better your chances of winning. ☺ Don’t forget to leave your email address! The winner will be announced on March 15th and contacted via email. Good luck!!
♥
For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
When I learned about Times Two, a beautifully illustrated, hardbound children’s book written and illustrated by two talented local mamas, I knew I had stumbled upon something special.
The story, which was originally a lullaby written by singer songwriter Sheree Plett, is about the beauty of limitless love. As you flip the pages, you’re taken on a journey of two raccoons, determined to show their love for one another across oceans, into the sky, and up to the moon and the back.
Accompanying the soft, lyrical words are gorgeous, dream-like watercolour illustrations done by artist Shari-Anne Vis. Gracen and I were lucky enough to meet Shari-Anne {and her little boy} a while back and not only is she absolutely lovely {and obviously remarkably talented}, but she’s a real mom, which I just adore.
Grae and I have enjoyed this book time and again over the course of the last few weeks. She loves the whimsical little animals throughout and the book is the perfect size to take along with us in the car.
And as an added bonus, included is a link so you can enjoy Sheree’s song and the book {and a little drum session if you’re Grae} at once.
I can’t say enough good things about this charming little book. Not only am I glad I found it for our own benefit, but I’m excited to have a new go-to newborn/baby shower gift to add to my list as I’m certain almost any new parent would fall in love with it immediately.
To purchase your own copy of Times Two, click here and to stay up to date with the Times Two crew, like their Facebook page here.
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For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
It seems like one of our weekend traditions has become going out for afternoon tea as a family of three. We have lots of little local cafes we love to support around the city, but one thing I’ve noticed is that many of them close between 4 and 5, which often doesn’t work out well with Gracen’s afternoon nap.
So today, we headed down Main Street to try something new. I’ve had my eye on The Last Crumb for a long time now, and as luck would have it, they were open until 6. We made our way inside, ordered drinks and chose a couple of baked goods (they have tons of gluten-free options too), and made our way upstairs to a quiet table in the corner.
While they don’t have a kids’ area like many of our favourites do, I did spy a big empty corner near the washrooms that would make a perfect kid-friendly space, so maybe it’ll happen one day? I don’t know… I do realize not every establishment wants to cater to children and I completely understand, but I can still hope right? ☺
Our drinks were good, the baked goods were yummy, and the overall space was lovely – bright, open, and modern. Gracen loved watching food being made from above and I enjoyed {politely} checking out the afternoon tea set-up a couple of ladies had next to us.
It was a lovely way to end our Saturday and we will most definitely be back.
The Last Crumb is located on 3080 Main Street and is open every day of the week except for Mondays.
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Since she was just an itty bitty little thing, Gracen has complimented my painted toes and asked for hers to be done the same way. And though I’ve painted them for her a few times, I’ve never quite felt right about putting regular {reeky, toxic} polish on her tiny little nails. So when we were contacted by NailPolishCanada.com to try out Piggy Paint, the newest addition to their stock, I was completely game.
I had read about Piggy Polish many times in the past and knew that it was non-toxic, eco-friendly, and made from a water-based formula and had added it to my mental ‘Gracen wish list’, but had yet to come across it in my day to day travels, so this was the perfect opportunity.
I love having Miss G make decisions for herself (age appropriate ones of course), so we sat down at the computer together and scrolled through the many Piggy Paint colour options on Nail Polish Canada’s site. While I probably would have picked a soft {and nearly unnoticeable} pink like Sweetpea or Angel Kisses, my not {always} so typical girly girl was immediately drawn to Ice Cream Dream and Glitter Bug instead, so metallic teal and silver sparkles it was!
The polish arrived at our doorstep just two days after ordering, and of course my little mail lover was more than thrilled to open up the package and find her new polishes.
Grae decided that she’d like to try the teal paint on her toes first (and I tried the sparkly one on my fingernails just for fun). Besides the ridiculously quick shipping, there were many things I loved about the polish right away. First off, there’s no reeky smell involved. If anything, the scent reminded me of being in my Grade 12 art class during our clay / sculpting unit, and rightfully so as Piggy Paint’s tagline is ‘natural as mud’.
Secondly, the polish goes on easily and you get full coverage in a single coat. You know when you buy a new beautifully coloured polish and you apply it only to realize that you’ll need at least 4 coats to reach the colour it is when in the bottle? Well that’s certainly not the case with Piggy Polish. These brightly hued teal toes? One coat only. I was especially impressed with the sparkly polish. In the the past, if I’ve bought a glittery polish, it normally turns out to be mostly clear with a few sparkles here and there… Not so with Glitter Bug. My nails were fully covered with sparkles in one coat and extremely covered in two.
Thirdly, the drying time is amazing. Without a word of a lie, I finished painting the toes on Grae’s first foot, moved onto the second one immediately, and as soon as I was done, the first foot was 100% dry. So nice when painting the nails of busy, go-go-go toddler.
Now… The one thing I don’t love about Piggy Polish is that it doesn’t last that long. These are Miss G’s toes 4 days after applying the polish, and in all honesty, it started to chip off a day and half to two days in. Buuuuuut, in its defence, although we did blow dry the polish for one to two minutes as recommended, we did not have the base or top coat to try, both of which increase its durability. And here’s the other thing… Can one really expect polish that is free of all toxins to last as long as its chemical-filled cousin? I think not. And frankly, I’m fine with a little girl’s nail polish only last a couple of days… It’s just for fun after all. ☺
To order some Piggy Paint for your own little one (a perfect stocking stuffer!), click here. You can also keep up to date with NailPolishCanada.com by following them on Facebook and Twitter.
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One thing I adore about the city of Vancouver is the endless locally-owned specialty shops that line the streets of many neighbourhoods. One of our favourites, located just down Main Street near Heritage Hall, is Urban Source.
Urban Source specializes in alternative art materials and sells all kinds of leftovers, misprints, over stock, cut offs, and discards from local industries as unique art supplies. So whether you’re in the market for wooden doweling, ceramic tiles, cardboard cutouts, old-school slides, or leather scraps, Urban Source has probably got you covered. Besides the always changing stock, I love the giant selection and knowing that by purchasing ‘alternative’ craft materials we’re saving them from heading straight to the landfill. My little miss, on the other hand, loves the fact that she gets a {flat rate} brown paper bag that can be filled to the brim with materials of her choosing.
Today we popped in and after very patiently waiting for me to browse the selection of new items, Gracen retrieved a brown paper bag and began filling it with treasures of all sorts. With a tiny bit of help from Mama {who had specific projects in mind}, the bag was brimming with crafting goodies in no time.
In the end, this is what we came home with in Gracen’s $6 bag… Everything from gift wrap to acetate sheets to brown boxes to medicine bottles and puzzle pieces…
I see a whole lot of craftiness in our future.
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Urban Source is located at 3126 Main Street {Vancouver, BC} and is open daily from 10:30 to 5:30, with the exception of Sundays when they open at 11:00.
A couple of weeks ago, Gracen and I attended an awesome Halloween-themed story time at Pottery Barn Kids. (Who knew, right? It happens every Tuesday at 11 a.m. for those of you who are in Vancouver.) Afterwards, the kids got their Book Club passports stamped and were each {very generously} gifted a Kiwi Crate to take home.
I’ve seen Kiwi Crates on a few of the blogs I read and I’ve always thought they were very neat, so I’m not sure who was more excited about the gift…Gracen or I. (If you’ve never heard of them before, they’re basically little boxes that arrive to your door each month and are filled with all of the materials/instructions/inspiration needed for hands-on projects. Some are science activities, some are arts and crafts, and some are geared towards imaginative play.)
This afternoon we took out our crate, opened it up, and found all of the materials needed to put together a window garden. Needless to say, my little gardening enthusiast was thrilled.
Included was a clearly laid out instruction card complete with diagrams, and a sweet little observation booklet for Miss G to draw in.
We carefully set up the garden, referring back to the instruction card after each step. Gracen, Miss ‘Let’s Do a Project!’, loved it and took her work very seriously.
With the exception of really making sure the suction cups were stuck to the window and printing the words “mint” and “basil”, Grae was able to do everything on her own, which was lovely.
We now have a sweet little garden set up right in our living room and I can’t wait to help Grae water it each day and watch as our fresh herbs grow. ☺
Because we enjoyed our Kiwi Crate so much, and I sincerely think they are a great way for parents and children to try new things together, I contacted Kiwi Crate and asked if they’d like to share the love with one of our readers. And guess what? They do! One Mama.Papa.Bubba. reader will receive a complimentary crate of their own, and will have the option of selecting a regular crate or one of the new holiday-themed crates.
The contest is open until Monday, November 26th and there are multiple ways to win (be sure to leave a separate comment for each).
To enter to win a complimentary Kiwi Crate:
Leave a comment below telling me something you love to do with your kid(s).
For additional chances to win:
–> ‘Like’ Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Facebook, then come back and leave a second separate comment saying you did so (or that you had previously).
–> ‘Like’ Kiwi Crate on Facebook, then come back and leave an additional separate comment saying you did so (or that you had previously).
–> Follow @jkossowanon Twitter, then come back and leave a separate comment saying you did so.
–> Tweet about the giveaway and leave an additional separate comment saying you did so.
Don’t forget to leave your email address! The winner will be announced on November 27th and contacted via email. Good luck!!
♥
Kiwi crate did not ask me to write this post, nor did they compensate me to do so, but in the interest of full disclosure, I did sign up to be a part of their affiliate program. This means that when Kiwi Crate products are purchased through the links i’ve provided, I get a small kickback from the company.
Getting family photos done is something I’ve wanted to do for the last two years. Yet somehow, I just haven’t made it happen. There was excuse after excuse after excuse… It started with we’ve got way too much to do before returning back to Kuwait with a 20 day old baby, to it’d probably be really hard to find our kind of photographer here in the desert, to let’s just wait until we’re more settled back here in Vancouver. The problem with the whole situation is that before long, you have a 2 year old {who is going on 5} and a single family photo that was taken in the living room with a blanket draped over the mantle and a camera propped up on an ottoman and a stack of books. Not good.
So when Bethany, of Images by Bethany, contacted me and offered us the opportunity to have a family photo shoot with her, I jumped on the opportunity. I had originally met Bethany at vancouvermom.ca‘s Top 30 Mom Bloggers celebration, where she took head shots of each of the 30 mamas, so I already knew how beautiful her work was. We selected a date and planned to meet at Granville Island, a place we love and frequent regularly.
Somehow, amidst a rain-filled week, our shoot landed on a gorgeously sunny afternoon with not a rain cloud in sight. We met with Bethany, she immediately made friends with Grae, and we got started.
Now if I’m being honest with myself, the biggest reason we probably haven’t had family photos done until now is that I really don’t enjoy having my picture taken. The awkward poses, my smile that quickly becomes fake… It’s just not my idea of a good time. But with Bethany, it wasn’t like that at all. In fact, it kind of just felt like we were walking around the island chatting with a friend who occasionally snapped a photo or two. And to me, that was the best part. It felt natural.
On the night of our viewing session, Brad and I made our way downtown to Bethany’s beautiful little studio. She greeted us with hot tea and world’s most amazing organic doughnuts (made of locally-sourced ingredients no less!), and turned on a slideshow of our images. They were stunning.
The photos spewed Gracen’s little personality and made the simplest of things – walking hand in hand, collecting leaves, marching, and buying bread – look beautiful.
We’re so very grateful to have our very first set of family photos and I’m beyond excited to share that Bethany is generously offering one lucky Mama.Papa.Bubba. reader a chance to win a complimentary family portrait session of their own! The prize includes a 1 to 2 hour photo shoot in a Greater Vancouver location of your choosing (a $350 value!), an in studio viewing session, a month long online photo gallery, and an 8 x 10 print of your choice (a $30 value!) HUGE, right?
The contest is open until Sunday, November 18th and there are multiple ways to win (be sure to leave a separate comment for each).
To enter to win a complimentary photo shoot with Images by Bethany:
Leave a comment below telling me your idea of a perfect Greater Vancouver photo shoot location.
For additional chances to win:
–> ‘Like’ Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Facebook, then come back and leave a second separate comment saying you did so (or that you had previously).
–> ‘Like’ Images by Bethany on Facebook, then come back and leave an additional separate comment saying you did so (or that you had previously).
–> Tweet about the giveaway {Lower Mainlanders: Win a FREE family shoot at www.mamapapabubba.com ($350 value)!} and leave an additional separate comment saying you did so.
Don’t forget to leave your email address! The winner will be announced on November 19th and contacted via email.
♥
Details: Family portrait session will be done on location (Greater Vancouver area only) and will be 1 – 2 hours long ($350 value). Session must be booked for January – April, 2013. Includes an in studio viewing session, a month long online viewing gallery, and an 8 x 10 print of your choice ($30 value).