Father's Day Craft

by Sara Let me preface this post with a statement about my artistic abilities (none) and my craftiness (about 6th grade level):  I love doing arts and crafts with my boys but am by no means 'crafty'.

For Father's Day this year we decided to make pencil / tool holders for our daddy and grandpa's.  All three are relatively handy so we hoped our gift would make a welcome addition to their tool bench or office desk.  We even bought a few screw drivers and pens to demonstrate the usefulness of the project (and ensure clarity upon gift-opening).

I bought wooden boxes at Michael's for $1.99 each but a tin can covered in paper would work just as well.

I chose the boxes because I have two boys and there was a side for each of them to paint and claim as their own.  Hence the painting tape dividing each side: they are both possessive about their painting surfaces.

My oldest painted his side first, with selection of Crayola paints.  I normally use bottles of tempera paint and mix my own colours but for gift projects he likes the variety of the Crayola 10 pack.  I'll be honest, he likes their pink and purple.

After the first side dried I let my youngest loose on his section of the box, with mixed results.  Mixed paint that is (a purplish-brown) and some very green 2-year old hair.

We finished our project with a Sharpie pen.  On one blank side we wrote "Father's Day, 2010" and on the second blank side the firefighter filled in the sentence "I love Daddy / Grandpa because...".  I also 'signed' their names on each wooden canvas so they could lay claim to their masterpiece for posterity's sake.

I always keep blank cards handy for birthday's, anniversaries etc.  For Father's Day I had our four year old draw a picture on the front of him doing something special with his dad and grandpa's and then I wrote the accompanying text.

For less than $10, we are all happy with the results!

Sara is mom to a 4-year-old firefighter and 2-year-old monkey.  You can find her at her blog, My Points of View

Daytripping – camping without the camping!

by Shawna Did you love to go camping as a kid? The day at the lake/swimming pool broken up by lunch at a brownish-red-painted picnic table under the trees, and treks along dusty, pine-scented paths to the local campground store for icy cold bottles of pop and dime freezies (that you could get by returning the bottles for the deposit)?

Now that you’re grown-up, and you know the adult hassles that come with camping – the packing of clothes for hot/cold/wet/sunny weather and water/non-water activities that may or may not involve hiking, the organizing of coolers to make sure everyone stays nourished and hydrated, the drive to and from potentially far-flung destinations, and the laundry that comes home with you, not to mention the difficulty of getting the kids (and yourself!) to sleep in an unfamiliar environment (often a tent that has to be put up and taken down at your campsite, then put up again to dry thoroughly once you’re home before being taken down again and packed away) – you may not relish the idea of camping as much, particularly when you only have a limited amount of days you can book off from work in a year. Camping can be doubly daunting when your kids are still in diapers, but are mobile and seem to lack any kind of self-preservation instinct that stops them from wandering off cliffs or straight into the lake.

If you are an intrepid soul that has no idea what I’m talking about because you think nothing of portaging your way into the middle of Algonquin park to take your triplet toddlers canoe-camping, you will likely want to skip this entry, but if you’re like me and the second paragraph sounds eerily familiar, this information may change your life: you can go to a campground for the day and not, you know, actually camp.

Just imagine it: no tents to erect, no camp dishes to haul out – you can get by with a cooler of drinks and sandwiches for one day – and you know what the weather will be like because you only need to hear the forecast for the day you go, so no packing of raingear. You tire out the kids and everyone sleeps in their own, welcoming bed at the end of the day.

A quick search of the internet has turned up a number of places with pools and/or freshwater beaches within an hour of Ottawa. Day admission fees seem to run about 10 to 12 bucks for a family of two adults and two kids, and swimming and use of casual recreation facilities are included.

For example (and these are just a few of many - check for yourself!), Sandy Mountain is only ½ hour from where I live in Barrhaven, and has both a large pool and wading pool, as well as a games room, a playground, and a place to buy ice cream. You can play horseshoes for free, or pay the extra fees to mini-putt or even full-on golf. (They don’t post prices for just the day because they don’t consider themselves to be a public pool, but they do have day rates if you ask.)

Wildwood is not much further, and I enjoyed many a weekend day in the pool there with my grandmother when I was a child (the pool there is better for older kids who can reach the bottom in the shallow end and/or swim well) though, alas, they now only allow non-campers during weekdays (Fridays only until noon) and only for 2 hour stints.  

On the July long weekend we’re meeting up with my in-laws a little further afield: Pleasure Park near Mallorytown, which has a water trampoline, a dock for swimming, and large playground.

I’m not saying you should never go on any overnight camping adventures – it’s a fantastic thing for kids to experience and worth the effort. But you don’t have to wait until that expedition to Kilimanjaro; while you’re doing all the planning for your Big Trip, you can sample the camping life with daytrips here and there. It’s cheap, it’s fun, it’s easy, and it’ll make memories that last. What could be better?

Shawna is mom to 4-year-old Sage and 2-year-old Harris.  She has  been writing online since 2003, and her latest project is a fledgling photography blog.  She never appreciated the work her parents had to do to take her camping until she had kids of her own.

Strike! Bowling with kids.

by Brenda When my kids were younger, I would often long for the day when we would be able to do "older" activities. Now that they are 7 and 4, we are starting to explore some big kid outings and recently tried bowling. The kids liked it so much that it seems to have become somewhat of a monthly occurrence. I’m not sure what it is, but the whole concept of bowling is so much fun for kids. The funky shoes, the huge scale of everything, the mechanics, it’s all so different.

If the bowling alley also does the black lights and dance music thing, that brings the fun to a whole other level. Is there anything cooler than black lights?

One thing we’ve learned the hard way is to be there early. Bowling is a very popular destination for Birthday Parties, which often brings crowds and chaos.

We generally go to the Merivale Bowling Centre and the trick for us is to get there when it first opens on a Saturday or Sunday. In fact we went this past weekend and we were practically the only ones there. Less distraction for the kids and less wrangling for us, means more fun for all.

A great addition (which I don’t recall having when we were kids!) are the bumpers used on the lanes when kids are playing. This eliminates discouraging gutter balls virtually guaranteeing some pins are always knocked down. The bumpers are also helpful for parents who may be a bit rusty.

The computerized scoring on the big screens is another source of fun. Our seven-year old loves to take control and setup the matches. Typing our names into the scoring system is the educational part of the event, made even more fun when we use the names of our Star Wars alter egos. This always causes fits of giggles for our kids and blank stares from anyone else looking at our scoreboard.

The other nice thing about bowling, is that it is a relatively inexpensive outing.  For example, for the four of us to play one game, including shoe rental, the total was $28. Not cheap but not expensive so long as you can avoid the lure of the arcade afterwards! 

So my tips for going bowling for the first time are:

1. Go when the bowling centre first opens - fewer crowds, more fun 2. Make sure the bumpers are up for your lane. 3. Quite while you are ahead, most young kids will only have the attention span for one game 4. Don't forget to bring socks for everyone!

Most importantly have fun!!

Brenda is a stay-at-home mom to a 7 yr old Jedi wannabe and 4 yr old little miss.  You can occasionally find her blogging at ottawamom.com

ABC Challenge: week 10

Photography tip Locations

I thought it would be great to share some great spots to go to get really great family pictures. I put the question out on facebook and Danielle suggested the Arboretum.  I am embarrassed to say I'd never been!  So Sara and I decided to check it out.   Trees, shade, open spaces, river, flowers - what a gorgeous gorgeous spot!  And even without particularly cooperative subjects I got some great photos!! (I also would recommend this is a great spot to bring your kids just to run around and explore and run off energy :)

She looks sad, but it kind of makes the photo I think :)

Down by the river

No kids, but I love this.

So much room to run and run!

I could have done an entire post on just this place - we may have to eventually. I didn't even tell you about squirrel town!

Next week - Mackenzie King Estate

My two picks for this week

H is for hugging - these are the moments that make it all worthwhile.... until the strangling and hitting starts ;)

N is for night. - I was so excited to get a sleeping photo of him. I used to be jealous of sleeping photos because I would never risk waking my kids by taking one. And now he's an awesome sleeper and didn't budge when I took half a dozen photos of him :)

Participants' photos

Z is for zoom by Dani. I love the lighting and the creativity of this shot. So fun!

S is for swinging by Sara. I SO need to figure out how to shoot on manual. Very cool effect.

H is for hugging by Lilypilly.  My oh my that's a cute puppy!

Lara is the mom to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 1 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can find her at her blog Gliding Through Motherhood.

I survived moving: how to move with children

by Sara I feel like we deserve a bumper sticker: "We moved and survived"  I know people move all the time, some people even several times over the course of a few years, but our recent move really felt like climbing a mountain: a long haul with no end in sight.

We had been passively looking for over a year when we found our new house and within the span of 14 days bought our new house and staged and sold our old house.  All with 2 little boys underfoot.  Not to mention a 4th birthday party and lots of winter weather.  But we survived and learned a few things along the way.

1.  Its never too early to pack.  There was a three-month gap between the sale of our old home and the move into our new home.  When we began the process of staging our old home I packed away a lot of personal items that stayed packed for the duration of that three months.  Family photos, knick knacks, and holiday-related kitchen items are nice to have around but not necessities.  Out of season clothes, infrequently used toys, and stuffed animals were also on my immediate packing list.

2.  List of all lists.  When the process began I took over an hour to walk around our house and make a list of everything that would need to be packed: every dresser, cupboard, drawer, and shelf was listed.  And then I made the master of all lists in excel of every room in the house and a plan of attack for packing.  Call me crazy (or a multitude of other things) but it worked: instead of looking at everything in our house and feeling panicked about how / when I was going to pack it, I felt like I had a plan.  From the day we sold our house I set a goal of packing 5 boxes a week until we moved.  By the time the last month rolled around I had over 50% of the house packed and could panic about paint colours instead of packing.

3.  Donate, donate, donate.  Every time you get ready to pack something, ask yourself this: is it worth the effort to pack, store, haul to the new house, unpack, and find a home for?  We donated at least a garbage a week of items to a variety of different charities.

4.  Your possessions aren't all as equally important .  When you pack boxes, number them according to the importance of being unpacked.  We labelled boxes that could wait with a 3, boxes that we would need relatively soon a 2, and boxes that needed to be opened a.s.a.p. with a 1.  It also made it easy for family and friends who helped with the move: they knew that '1' boxes needed to be at the top of the pile.

5.  Rubbermaid is your new best friend.  During renovations last year we boxed all holiday decorations, memories, and other 'rarely see the light of day' items in Rubbermaid containers.  Although not part of my moving plan, having all these things pre-packed and ready to move made life so much easier.

6.  Embrace the chaos.  This was a tough one for me (see #2) as I like everything organized and tidy.  But moving is an inherently chaotic and unorganized process, which we learned to embrace.  The boys turned the unused boxes lying on the floor into a rescue boat and the large unopened boxes of IKEA furniture in front of our fireplace became a stage.  I learned to appreciate the sight of full cardboard boxes stacked around my home as a sign that we actually getting prepared for the move.

7.  Second hand is best.  Most moving supply companies sell used boxes at a vastly reduced rate.  We bought ours at CSR near Trainyards and paid about $1 a box for smaller boxes.  And ask about coupons and discounts: I also scored a 25% coupon that was good for multiple visits.  You can then sell your boxes back to the company once you're done moving or pass them onto someone else.

8.  Permanent marker is the enemy.  I dedicated a pack of Crayola markers to the packing and labelling process, which meant the boys could 'help' label boxes and nothing was permanently damaged in the process.  While I packed, they coloured boxes, the floor, me, and themselves, but at least with Crayola I was able to clean up the mess.

9.  Let them eat cake and watch TV.  Well maybe not cake for dinner but we gave ourselves a break when it came to mealtime.  For a week long period we used disposable cups, plates, and utensils, and I relied on frozen food from the grocery store and easy meals like hamburgers and raw vegetables.  We saved a lot of money by avoiding take-out!  And the kids normally restricted TV diets went the way my sanity in favour of a portable DVD player that let mom and dad get a few things done during the 4 to 6 pm witching hour.

10.  Beg early and often.  We starting asking for help almost two months before we moved.  E-mails and phone calls were followed up with offers of food and beverages in return for sweat equity.  A bit bold, maybe, but on the first weekend of our move we had over 10 family members and friends there to move boxes, paint, assemble IKEA furniture, and unpack.

11.  Your babysitter is your new best friend.  We have a sitter that we use occasionally when we can't get one of the aforementioned family members to watch our kids.  During the move we hired her for 2 entire Saturdays and a Sunday.  This freed up all adults for the moving process and ensured that there was one person responsible for the kids at all times.

12.   Let them help.  Our oldest, who is 4, really wanted to help with the move so we gave him safe and age-appropriate tasks that kept him occupied and made him feel like he was contributing to the moving process.  He unpacked boxes in his room, he put toys away in the play room, and we even let him help paint the walls (in a room where the floors were covered entirely in drop clothes).  We also encouraged the boys to give visitors tours of their new home: they were really excited to show friends and family their new bedrooms and the play room.

13.  Kids first.  Despite my desire for a functional kitchen and somewhere to rest my weary feet at night, the first rooms we painted, unpacked, and assembled were the boys bedrooms (followed closely by the play room).  With all the disruption we wanted to make sure they had a space that felt like home.

14.   Give yourself lots of motivation.  Organize your son's second birthday 11 days after you take possession of your new house.  Invite 45 of your closest friends and family and celebrate.

Okay, so #14 is optional but it certainly sped up the unpacking process!

Sara is mom to a 4-year-old firefighter and 2-year-old monkey.  You can find her at her blog, My Points of View