Bluenose Mommy

I am a mom of 2 (a 4 year old boy and a 2 year old girl), I am a full time teacher, a tutor, a blogger, and a lover of running, yoga, and working out. I am busy, yes, and I could easily come up with numerous excuses as to why this point in my life is not the right time to have an exercise routine. Here are my top three excuses that still run through my head DAILY: My kids & dog rarely sleep through the night. Most nights all of them are ending up in my bed. Which means I have been woken up throughout the night when they initially needed me and then woken up through the nights as I get kicked repeatedly while they sleep peacefully. Morning routine is hectic! Our kids are not the fastest in the morning getting ready, and one is super difficult to wake up. Waking her up generally requires a lot of cuddling from mommy, not ideal if mommy needs to shower and get herself out the door too. I’ll workout after the kids go to bed… Who am I kidding, after the morning routine chaos,

We have yet to go out for NYE since having kids, so that means we have been celebrating at home for the last 4 years. I tend to jump at the idea of making holidays like this as special as possible no matter what the kids age. So, 4 years ago, we began the tradition of having a NYE tree. How do you make a NYE tree? It’s really quite simple. Step 1: Un-decorate your christmas tree, leaving only the lights on. Step 2: Buy a few NYE decorations from the dollar store to put on the tree. I usually put a top hat at the top of the tree and then some mardi-gras beads strung on the tree randomly, and gold ribbon or garland. Make sure to leave lots of room for balloons! Step 3: Choose 10 activities, one for inside each balloon. Here are some suggestions, but there are many on Pinterest as well! Light sprinklers Dance party Make a resolution Clock scavenger hunt Eat dinner Make sundaes NYE connect the dots Decorate cookies Coloring sheet Family picture Noise makers Pin

I am a fanatic about planning and the month I get the most excited to plan activities is definitely December. Below are two different calendars, one was made with families in mind and with a little North Pole visitor. The other was made with adults in mind. I'm also going to be posting some daily activities on my social media to promote well being and mental health in what can sometimes be an incredibly stressful time. These activities will be quick and easy, but will have big impacts on your emotional health. Find me on Instagram or Facebook: Bluenose Mommy, to follow along when it gets started December 1st

I could have given you a list of items that I would personally like this year, but that wouldn’t be very helpful for you. You want to know what the lady in your life would like for Christmas. So I set out and polled my Bluenose Mommy Facebook followers to get their input on what they would like this holiday, here are the top 12 results from that poll. Number 12: Clothing and Shoes I love clothes and I love a good shoe, but I am THRILLED that this was one of the least chosen gift options. Let's think outside the box a little bit people. Now that being said, I wouldn’t complain if there was a pair of Toms or new sneakers under the tree. Number 11: Planned Date Night with a Kid Dinner and movie, ice cream and mini putt, hot chocolate and skiing/sledding, volunteering, clay cafe, etc. There are so many options for dates with kids that will be fun for both mom and kid, or neice/nephew and Aunt. Check out my kid gift guide for ideas that could be made into dates. If the child is

Some years have been easier than others when coming up with gift ideas for my parents and in laws. I don’t want to buy them a bunch of useless stuff that will just add clutter to their homes. I don’t want to always buy them clothing items either. So I try my best to think outside the box when it comes to their gifts, and as you probably know by now, I certainly favour consumable or experience gifts. Photo Calendar: Every month they get a new picture to look at of their darling grandchildren (Both human and fur!) I’ve used multiple online options, but prefer Vista print the best. Photo Book: You could make them a photo book of their grandkids, or grab the pictures of them on their latest trip, or pictures from the past that they just never got around to doing anything with and make one for them. Did you have a big family gathering the past year, (wedding, reunion etc.) document and gift them that in a photo book. Personalized Mugs: My parents have uncommon grandparent names, mak

Full Disclosure here for a minute. Since having kids, my spouse and I rarely buy each other Christmas gifts. We just felt that our christmas budget was better spent focused on them as opposed to us. My joy certainly comes from giving and watching my kids experience the magic of the season. However, we have sometimes broken our rule of no gift giving, and prior to kids we did purchase for one another. This year, we feel we are in a better situation to add a little bit to our budget and allow for small gifts for one another. So without further ado, here are my favourite spouse gifts. Date Calendar: Buy or make a calendar. For each month of the calendar, choose a day to have a date with your spouse. Either purchase the gift card for that date prior to giving the gift, or just write the date in knowing it’s preplanned for that day. 12 days of Christmas: Starting on December 12th you can hide or place a gift under the tree for him to open that day. These gifts could be really small,

Sometimes I am in awe of the amazing women that surround me in my life. I don’t have to look far to find someone who is an expert in whatever I am looking to do or a willing participant in all my obnoxious ideas. But there are 5 tribes of ladies that I rely on and am so incredibly grateful to have them in my life. My Aunt Tribe. They know the uniqueness of my family, they watched me grow up, and they aren’t scared to share their opinion. They never seem to be bothered by my sometime incessant pestering and always do what they can to help. I have always loved my aunts growing up, but it wasn’t until I became a mom that I really recognized how lucky and fortunate I am to have the aunt tribe that I do. It was as if when I became a mom, my aunts became big sisters. Big sisters whose closets I have been known to borrow from, who I’ve travelled to and with, who I happen to live next to, and whose honesty and support through motherhood blow me away constantly. They really portray the t

I love Thanksgiving. I love the weather, I love the food, and I love the time with family with no expectation of gifts. I have recently felt that Thanksgiving is becoming more and more about meals, the big dinner, and decorations and less about reflecting on what we have. I personally feel we are losing the part about recognizing how blessed we are and how thankful we should be for what and who we have in our lives. This year I want to start a tradition with the kids that allow them to show thanks for the many things they have to be thankful for. So Starting October 1st the kids and I will be recognizing our thankfulness everyday until Thanksgiving. Here is our plan: Day 1: Thankful for Toys We have a lot of toys, many that the kids do not play with nearly as much as they should. So, I could get them to go through their toys and choose some to donate, but our elf Hermie generally asks them to do that. So for them to demonstrate that they are thankful for their toys I am going

Next weekend will be, I think, my 11th Pomba sale. I went to my first one with my best friend when she was pregnant. We didn’t know what to expect, but since some would call us shopaholics, we were so excited to see what all the fuss was about. We were not disappointed! I haven’t missed a sale yet and I use it as my primary source for clothing my kids for each season. It can be a bit overwhelming though so I have come up with some strategic planning to make the most out of the trip there. 🛍 Tip #1- Make a list of what you need or are looking for. Depending on what is on your list, could change my advice for you. So go through your kids clothes, shoes, toys, outerwear, etc. and make your wish list for the sale. Sometimes I get really specific with my list and have been even know to specify the colours of shirts that I am looking for (I do have some issues where I prefer when my kids pants and shirts somewhat match). I have always been successful in getting most of the list I go

My first summer home with both of my kids I wanted to create a couple summer traditions that we could keep for years to come. As of right now, it seems we have quite a few traditions, but one of our favourite is our annual Playground Crawl. We schedule this for the end of August as a last Hurrah before September and back to school. Here are the 4 steps that I do to make our crawl a success. Step 1: Create the Event Choose a date and create an event on Facebook. I usually pre-plan a rain date as well to share in the event as I am creating in. You could make your event and invite people to it, and then try to come to a consensus on a date, but I like to keep things simple and just give the date at the beginning. Step 2: Get Recommendations Ask all the people in your group what their favourite playgrounds in the area are. We always seem to have at least one playground recommended to us that we haven’t been to before. I always try to include those in our crawl so the kids have a cha

With only 4 months away, this is the time of year that I really start to think about gifts for the holiday season and planning out who is going to receive what from us. I have to admit, that planning and shopping for gifts to give is one of my favourite things to do, honestly, I think I obsess over it, but it can get really frustrating when I run out of ideas. I am all for “non toy” gifts, if you have ever visited my rec room, you would understand why. However, kids get bored with the same toys, so I do enjoy giving and having them receive a few toys. (Yes mom, if you are reading this, you can still buy them toys too, this is not a subtle way of me asking you not to. You do your thing, you and the kids both love it!) I myself, do not tend to give toy gifts to many kids on our list. Here is a list of gifts that I enjoy giving, love seeing my kids receive, and are some ideas that I have to share. EXPERIENCES Since Christmas is in the winter, I know many people would prefer

This has been quite the summer, I'm not complaining, but I feel like we have been under a heat warning since Canada Day. It's made me very grateful for the outdoor pool so close by and for the numerous beaches that we are lucky to live and camp around. However, sometimes with two little kids I just don't have pool and beach visits in me. Sure there are lots of museums, indoor playgrounds, and stores we could hang out in, but those could add up quickly financially. So when we want to beat the heat for free, without getting wet or full of sand, here's our top three places. 1- Cow Bay & Eastern Passage It's not a far drive, but you are almost always guaranteed to drop a couple degrees before arriving there and usually you get a beautiful breeze off the water. Our go to places here are the boardwalk in Eastern Passage or the Moose in Cow Bay. Now the boardwalk does have cute shops close by and it does wind around some sandy beaches, so beware, you could end up