Sunday, July 31, 2011

Welcome to the Boost Your Buzz $1,000 Summer Giveaway! One lucky person is going to win $1000 USD paid via Paypal!
The giveaway starts August 1st 12:00 am EST until August 15th 11:59 pm EST and is open worldwide. $1,000 CASH prize will be delivered via paypal as soon as the winner’s entry has been verified.
Enter the Boost Your Buzz $1,000 Giveaway! One lucky person is going to win $1000 USD paid via Paypal!

Gain entries in this giveaway by following Yippie Momma on  Google Friend Connect


$1,000 CASH prize will be delivered via Paypal after the winner has confirmed. The winner has 48 hours to confirm their winning notification.  If the winner does not respond within 48 hours of receipt of the winning email a new winner will them be drawn and so on and so forth.


To Enter:
Boost Your Buzz $1,000 Summer Giveaway can be entered on Survey JunkieSimply Stacie or Little Yaya’s (you only have to enter on one of the sites as the forms will be the same on each).

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Summer Vacation



Whew.... what a whirlwind of vacation that just happened in our house! Is it just me or do vacations often need yet another vacation to recover! We embarked on a road trip to heavenly Tofino, BC Canada. What a magical place this is. Abundant wildlife (eagles, whales, and bears oh my), cute town, amazing amazing beaches...with SURFING nonetheless... and the peace and quiet only a small remote village can offer.

Here are a few pics of our time there to entice you to visit this awesome place. If you want solitude, beauty, nature, and good ole fashioned fun...this is the place for you.



Thursday, July 14, 2011

summer fun



In a past life (otherwise known as my single days), I worked at a summer camp! BEST.JOB.EVER. Who wouldn't love hanging out with some great kids, playing all day, soaking up rays at the beach AND getting paid for it! I learned a lot in those years as I put myself through college working with kids. One of the things I learned was how to entertain kids in the summer without a lot of fuss or money.

Here are a few of my fave easy summertime games/things to do with kids!

Water Painting: Here is a super easy thing for all ages! All it takes is a bucket of water and some old clean paint brushes of any size. Find a fence, or side of house or sidewalk even and "paint" the water on. It darkens the tone of whatever is being painted, but dries quickly...no mess but tons of fun!

Drip Drip Drop: This is best played with a few kids (and kids at heart). Basically Duck Duck Goose, but with wet sponge instead of a tap on the head!

Shadow Tag: This can be played two ways. One like regular ole "tag your it". The other like "freeze tag". You tag the person by stepping on their shadow! If you play the freeze tag way, you get defrosted by having your teammate match their shadow with yours!

Beach Collage: Bring a piece or two of construction or cardstock and white glue to the beach with you. Then make a design with the glue on the paper. Sprinkle sand over the glue to create your masterpiece. You can add shells and other treasures to it as well.

Here are a few links to help add some fun to your summer fun roster. Remember that games are usually easily adapted to meet every age and ability level...just use your fun creative side!

Games Kids Play - not a fancy pants site, but FULL of great stuff. I used this site all the time.
Ultimate Camp Resource - everything summer camp here!
Kaboose Holidays - mash up of everything

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

 
My daughter having a silly time on the swing at the cottage.... can you say "ham"?

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Tasty Tuesdays


Having just returned from the cottage, I am still in cottage mode....so this week I am reminding everyone single one of my readers to go and enjoy a roasted marshmallow or smore at least ONCE this summer.

This sticky gooey bit of heaven is a summer time essential. Nothing is more fun than sitting around a campfire (or BBQ if you can't enjoy a fire) and slowly rotating a marshmallow until it is perfectly golden.

Here are a couple items to make this a reality for you!

Coghlans Telescoping Fork

A telescoping roasting fork makes campfire goodness easy! I like the thumb-rolling feature.

These are the ultimate in hybrid roasting. You still get to hunt for the perfect roasting stick, but you get the double prong benefit of a metal roaster. Plus they fit in a backpack or picnic basket.


Do traditional marshmallows turn you off?? Maybe give these morsels a try! 100% vegan!
Happy Roasting!

Love, from Nora WINNER!

Pleased to announce the winner for the Love, from Nora giveaway......*drumroll*......

Congratulations to Just the Two of Us! I contact you today!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

growing cuter everyday

I discovered the CUTEST growth charts the other day and I have to share my find with you all!

Check these out! I dare you to find a cuter handmade original growth chart!

I asked the wonderful seller if she would customize a chart for my son's VW theme room. She happily obliged. What an amazing job she did (and super fast too!).


She has generously offered a discount for my readers! Use coupon code BLOGFRIEND10

If you follow her on Facebook, you can get an additional 5% off too...here is her page!

Stop by her shop, Love From Nora and take a look...she has some super cute things! Ready your credit card!


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Tasty Tuesdays



As summer is FINALLY upon us, I need to share our all time favourite summer salad. It is easy and delicious - my two requirements for recipes these days.
This is made best with fresh fresh fresh produce (try out those markets I was preaching about last week).

Tomato Bocconcini Salad

Fresh tomatoes - sliced (or halved if cherry tomatoes)
Bocconcini (or tiny cheese balls as my daughter calls them)
Fresh basil - torn or coarsely chopped
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Basically use as many tomatoes as people, unless using cherry tomatoes, then just cut up how ever many you want! Same goes for the bocconcini -  I love the stuff, so I use a lot...
Add about 1/4 cup of basil for a salad for two or to taste (see how easy this is! No rules!)
Then sprinkle about a tablespoon of vinegar and two tablespoons of olive oil - again, use more if bigger salad. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste.

I like to make this in advance since the longer it sits, the better!
Enjoy.