Her own space

by Amy My husband and I just bought a house. We will be moving in May. This means a lot of purging and a lot of re-thinking. We’re going to have to get organized all over again.

It also means planning my daughter’s room so that it’s something she adores and something she can grow up in – and with a brand new mortgage to think about, it has to be inexpensive. (I would say cheap, but my mother hates that word).

Painting will be simple enough – though right now when I ask her what colour she wants her room to be she says pink, and then purple, then orange and then green.

So now I’m looking for simple ideas to give her a wonderful little girl’s room that won’t cost so much that I’ll feel bad getting rid of it when she outgrows it. Luckily, I have some places to look to help me with my design.

I have set up a board on Pinterest for the new house – I love Pinterest for craft ideas, recipes, and now home decor. One of the things I found there that I’m most excited to use for the kid’s new room is chalkboard paint on one of the walls. I love the idea of giving her some artistic freedom in her own space, but we can also easily paint over it if she wants us to. Pinterest helps me find ideas for decorating, and it also helps me find things I can figure out how to do by myself.

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on UsedOttawa.com, looking for furniture we could use in the new place. It’s a site where we have found great stuff for the kid in the past, and where we’ve sold some of the baby things we don’t use any more. (It’s also where I’m planning on finding a new dining set for us).

I am looking forward to getting tips in the comments on this post for how you decorated your kids’ rooms for not too much money and what’s changed as they’ve grown up.

So please, comment.

Secret Spy Birthday Party

by Sara In February my son, the firefighter, turned 6, and with a budget of $100, we set out to host, at the firefighters request, a secret spy party for his closest friends.

And for the first time my superstar husband organized the entire affair. If you're impressed with how it all came together, he deserves all the kudos.

Our nanny/au pair/life saver, who is with us 1-2 days a week, supervised the paper mâché. With her help the firefighter created a giant bomb shaped piñata for his party. It took several days to dry (on one of our hot air vents) and then the monkey and firefighter painted it black.

I typed/printed the text for the invitations and took the firefighters photo in his spy gear and he did the rest, creating invitations for all his friends.

While I had a busy morning of photography sessions my husband took the kids to Dollarama and Party Packagers to get all the party supplies. Here's what they bought:

Spy kits / Loot bags

10 Mini flashlights

10 pencils & notepads (and a pencil sharpener)

2 containers of glow sticks

Party activities

'Caution' tape

Red string (for a laser obstacle course)

Red ink pad (for fingerprinting)

Large bottle of black craft paint

Food

Black cups, plates and napkins for 10

5 types of candy for the bomb piñata

Decorations

Black balloons

In total the party cost us $88. My dad, who has made the boys birthday cakes every year since their 1st birthdays, created a grey bomb (at the firefighters request). Because the party was from 1-3 we didn't serve any other food/snacks, just juice and water.

When the recruits arrived (all wearing black and navy blue!) we gave them 15 minutes to play before they were called to the family room where their secret spy mission (to prove themselves as secret spies and complete the mission) was explained. Each recruit was given their spy notebook and pencil and then fingerprinted.

After the fingerprinting was complete we brought them to the studio for an obstacle course to test their physical stamina and readiness for the mission. They punched a focus pad, climbed through a laser maze, and then balanced on a course of beams. They also tried on a variety of camouflage gear and at one point we tied groups of them together with a long rope to see how quickly they could escape (very quickly!).

Before the mission began they had to collect 19 clues (pieces of green painters tape) from around the main floor of the house. They put the clues in their spy books (the tape looked blank but each piece was numbered 1-19 with yellow highlighter).

After passing the retinal scanner they went to the darkened basement with their flashlights to find the decoder. Using our UV light (aka, cat pee light) they put the 19 pieces of tape in order (the light made the highlighter numbers glow) on the decoder square which revealed the location of the hidden bomb (piñata).

Note: Even my fancy-schmancy camera has trouble taking photos when its pitch black ;)

Their mission was to defuse the the bomb (with a broomstick). My wise husband suggested we destroy the bomb in the garage to minimize the mess.

When the mission was complete we let the kids play for 20-30 minutes (as well as colour the huge piece of paper we'd laid out for their cake picnic) before it was time for the second bomb. The cake and sparkler were a huge hit!

Because we have gift free parties there wasn't any need for present opening and after two hours we sent the tired spies home. In lieu of loot bags (something else we avoid at our parties) we sent each home with their fingerprint sheet, flashlight, notepad/pencil, and the candy from the piñata.

Given the laughter, huge smiles, thundering feet, and excited shrieking, I'm going to say that a good time was had by all!

Sara is a photographer and mom to a 6-year-old ” firefighter”, 3.5-year-old “monkey”, and a third boy, "bug", due in May.  You can also find her at her blog, My Points of View.

Giveaway: Family Passes to Ottawa Museums!

We've always been big fans of the Museum of Science and Technology, the Canadian Museum of Agriculture and the Canadian Aviation Museum. We're lucky to have them as sponsors of Kids in the Capital and excited to announce they've given us NINE family passes (for two adults and three children) to give away!

To enter, simply leave a comment telling us which of the museums you've most recently visited, have visited or would most like to visit.  We will be drawing three family passes for each museum on Thursday morning at 9am.

Good luck! Wouldn't be be amazing to visit all the newborn animals at the farm this long weekend!?

Flashback: Proulx Sugarbush and Berry Farm

Proulx Sugarbush and Berry Farm is located 5 minutes east of Orleans. The Sugarbush is open from late February until early April, and there are special Easter activities on Easter weekend.

The Sugar bush hours vary, but is usually open from 9 am until 3 or 4 pm on the weekends and is open during the week if you make a reservation.  There is also a buffet that is open from 9 am to 3 pm on the weekends.  If you'd like to visit the buffet during the week, you need to make a reservation.  Although its not required, Proulx recommends that you make a reservation to visit the Sugar bush on Easter weekend because its the busiest weekend of the year.

Admission to the farm is $5 + tax (kids under 37 months get in for free).  Included in the price of admission is access to the petting farm, nature walking trails, and the play parks and slides.  These activities are located in a different part of the farm than the maple syrup shack but a horse drawn wagon ride is included in the price of admission so you can visit the Sugar bush to watch sap being collected and visit the syrup shack to see how sap is transformed into maple syrup.  A variety of maple syrup products are available for sale at the farm, including maple taffy on snow ($3), pure maple taffy lollipops, maple taffy filled cones, and maple sugar leaves (3 for $2.50).

My boys both loved visiting the play houses and slides.  Despite the freezing cold temperatures we were outside for over two hours playing in the mud and snow. Learn from my mistake: wear snow pants and winter boots!  Until the temperature warms up, rubber boots make for a cold outing.

Last year when we visited the temperature was hovering around 0 and rubber boots and splash pants were a necessity.  The farm and sugar bush are very muddy so be prepared to wash everything your kids wear that day when you get home.

There is little in the way of scheduled activities and the petting farm is pretty sparse at this time of year (a donkey, a goat, a few sheep, and some ducks).  There isn't any entertainment and our three hours visit was occupied by the wagon ride and free play in the play structures and slides.

Unfortunately, the cold temperatures meant that the sap wasn't running.  We saw a lot of frozen sap in the bottom of buckets but the boys weren't able to watch is flow through the types and drip into the buckets, which sounds a bit like watching paint dry but is remarkably exciting for 5 year olds!

If you're planning to eat at the buffet, be forewarned: its expensive and on the weekends the line-ups are long.  We were lucky only to have to wait in line for 30 minutes.  We had friends who visited the weekend before and waited for over an hour.  The buffet is $23 (plus tax) for an adult, $18.60 for children ages 9 to 11, $15.05 for children ages 6-8, $10.40 for children ages 3 to 5, and free for children 3 years and younger.  They're pretty vigilant about counting family members as you arrive and plate sharing is discouraged.

Proulx Sugar Bush is a great family outing but a lot more fun when the temperatures are hovering closer to zero.  They do have a large heated tent so I would suggest packing a picnic lunch instead of visiting the buffet.

Sara is a photographer and mom to a 5-year-old ” firefighter” and 2.5-year-old “monkey”.  You can also find her at her blog, My Points of View.

March 2012: What you might have missed

Activities for Kids It's that time of year and many of us are thinking about going to the sugar bush. Or staying a little closer to home for a treat at Sippy Cup Cafe. We also got to hear about the Whales Tohorā exhibit that's open until September at the Museum of Nature. (Don't miss out on it - it sounds fabulous!) Finally, we got to hear about going to see The Lorax at the movies.

If you're looking for some fun things to do at home, you could do some bean bag games at home. A great way to introduce your children to environmental consciousness is to choose eco-friendly activities to do. Here are a few fun ideas inspired by Pinterest.

Cooking and Crafts

This month Alicia's green crafts in honour of St. Patrick's day were a real hit! We also talked a bit about beading with kids.

It's always wonderful to make things with children - particularly food. Slow cooker chili is a simple one to get the kids in on - "dump and stir"!

Parenting Tips

Have you ever gone on a long drive and wondered how you'd stay sane? We got some good tips for keeping kids happy this month. We also heard from a veteran mom and organizer about how to keep your children's toys organized and manageable - for them and for you.

Karyn from Tail Wags gave us some incredibly valuable advice about helmet safety. If you read nothing else - don't miss this post. Finally, our question of the month was all about potty training and finding out all the methods that have worked for different families and children.

Social Media Mondays

We talked about how parents can manage raising children in this age of digital sharing and almost-constant connectedness. Related, we shared a few fun videos we've been watching with our families recently.

KIC Community

We've received a number of pictures already and there's still time if you want to contribute to our Call for Pictures. We'll have a new banner up next week showcasing a few kids from the capital!

What have YOU been up to this past month!? :)