Canada Day Celebration!

Canada Day is celebrated on July 1st- just a few days before one of my favorite holidays, the 4th of July. My husband is Canadian, which makes my children part Canadian as well. Since they are now old enough to understand this, we are trying to celebrate our family's Canadian heritage as well. This past October, we celebrated our 1st official Canadian Thanksgiving. So, it only seemed appropriate that this summer we also celebrate Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!

We decided to make Canada T-shirts and make a festive meal. To make the t-shirts we used a plain white t-shirt for my son and a white onesie for my daughter. I did my best to draw a maple leaf on the shirts and long vertical rectangles with a fabric marker resembling the Canadian flag.

Canada Day Onesie

Then the fun began. My children painted the shirts using Tulip brand fabric paint. (I admit I am a little bit of a control freak and painted both of the maple leafs.) The shirts look adorable and they are so proud of them!

Painting Canada T-shirts with Tulip Fabric Paint

For our meal we made crock-pot boneless ribs with rice, cheesy broccoli, cauliflower, orange and yellow carrots. The finale of our meal was the most special- a chocolate sheet cake with the best frosting ever (both recipes from the Pioneer Woman) decorated with strawberries to look like a maple leaf. My children and I all have a sweet tooth (and my husband doesn't mind cake either!)

What a delicious end to our Canada Day!

We had an amazing 1st official Canada Day!

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Creative Ideas for Easter Baskets

Are you finished filling Easter baskets for the little ones in your life? With only 2 week until the bunny makes his annual visit, I am just putting the finishing touches on this year's Easter baskets. 

We try to go lite on the candy/chocolate; and I am always looking for creative ideas for Easter goodies. You don't have to spend a ton of money to put together a really fun Easter basket. I like to start out with a few must-haves like a sought after toy, book, and one piece of candy. Then I fill the basket with fun inexpensive items (Target's $1.00 section is great for these items!)

Here are some ideas for creative Easter baskets for both babies and toddlers/preschoolers.

My daughter's Easter basket. Filled with goodies for  first time eating!

Easter Basket Ideas for Babies

Easter book

bubbles

ball

summer hat

bathing suit /trunks

Little Marsupials Organic onesies

blanket

teething ring

bibs

Organic baby food

Organic snacks (puffs, yogurt melts)

sippy cup

bowls, plates, spoons, forks

Music!

 

My son's Easter basket from last year. Filled with all things "boy".

Toddler/Preschool Easter Basket Ideas

Books

DVD/CD

learning flashcards

matching games (think Memory!)

coloring book/activity book

crayons/colored pencils

watercolor paint book

bubbles/bubble machine

sidewalk chalk

ball

bathing suit/swim trunks

summer hat

sandals/ Crocs

sand toys/ shovels

thermos

organic snacks  

Wishing you a blessed Easter season!

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New Tradition:The Christmas Eve Box

This weekend, I began to think about how quickly this past Christmas had come and gone. As much as I tell myself each November that I will slow down and really enjoy the season, the hustle and bustle of daily work schedules, family commitments, baking, and shopping make the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas fly by.

Last Christmas, baby girl was only 4 weeks old; so we were really just enjoying Christmas while getting used to being a family of four. This year, we knew we wanted to start special Christmas family traditions of our own. We had planned on a trip downtown to see a "Santas Around the World" display, but the stomach bug hit our family just days before Christmas. With our trip downtown being out, I began to explore my Christmas Pinterest board for ideas. If you are on Pinterest, I’m sure you have seen the “Christmas Eve Box”. The idea is to give your children each year on Christmas Eve a gift of new pajamas, a holiday book, movie, and a snack. Easy enough. I had already picked up the matching boy and girl version of snowman pajamas. A trip to Target completed the box with the book, “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”, the DVD “The Cat and The Hat Knows A lot About Christmas”, and a box of Annie's Organic Honey, Chocolate, and Chocolate Chip Bunny Crackers. The Christmas Eve box was festively wrapped and placed under the tree as the first gift of Christmas. Our course, my 3 year old wanted to open it right away, but we managed to wait until after the Christmas Eve church service.

Christmas Eve Box

The Christmas Eve box was a hit! The favorite gifts were definitely the DVD and Annie’s bunnies. Later, we all curled up together enjoying our snacks while we watched the “Cat”. And luckily, I remembered to wash their pajamas before wrapping the gift, so they were soft, clean and ready to be worn as they dreamed of St. Nick. 

What's Inside the Box?

New Christmas Pajamas

 Do you have any special Christmas or Christmas Eve traditions?  I’d love to hear about them!

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