Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day

I just read about this event on Facebook and thought it was super neat.  Take A Kid Moutain Biking It's a bike day geared for kids/youth (from tricycles right up on to mountain bikes!)

We, unfortunately are unable to make it due to prior committments, but it sounds like such an awesome way to get kids outside and active!

If you go (or have gone in the past) please leave a comment so I can learn more! I will for sure be checking it out if it happens again next year!

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

40th Anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Rocky Horror Picture Show 40th Anniversary, Collectors edition, cult classics, TRHPS
"It's just a jump to the left......And then a step to the right......With your hand on your hips...... You bring your knees in tight......But it's the pelvic thrust....They really drive you insane.......Let's do the Time Warp again.....Let's do the Time Warp again."
Do those lyrics bring back memories for you? They sure do for me. The Time Warp is linked to many family dances at weddings, and of course comes from one of the most iconic cult classics - The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

September 22nd saw the release of The Rocky Horror Picture Show: 40th Anniversary it's packed with deleted musical scenes, outtakes, alternate endings and commentary by Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn, and much more.

TRHPS is the longest running theatrical release of all time, and still currently airs at over 300 theaters across the United States weekly.

Are you fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show? What's your favourite part?

Tales of Mommyhood received the above mentioned item in exchange for a feature here. All opinions are honest and belong to ToM. Your opinion/experience may vary

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Why Not Add Some Squoosh To Halloween This Year {giveaway}

my boys on Halloween in 2012
Halloween is one of my favourite times of year.  I have always loved handing out candy and seeing the little ones dressed up (and the big kids too - sometimes the effort they put into their costumes is amazing).  When Mr. J was 15 months, I took him around to our neighbours trick or treating. Not so much for the candy, but just because it is fun to parade your kids around in cute little costumes.  Once they get to a certain age, they don't like the cutesy outfits anymore and they really don't like mom and dad having a say in their costumes.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Finding Our Way Back To Routine

back to school, school kids, kindergarten, grade 3


Things have been a wee bit quiet around here lately.  The boys are just finishing up their second week of school, and things have been going very well. It's a bit of an adjustment for them, as we aren't allowing electronic devices (ipads, television, DS) during the week.  We have been doing a lot of reading, and lots of board games/card games/dice games to pass the time.  They have also been spending quite a bit of time outside before school (Mr. J practicing his skateboarding and Mr. K getting into mischief with dirt)

While they are away all day, I have been slowly trying to get my house back after the kids were home all summer.  It's not coming along quite as quickly as I had hoped, but it IS starting to get there.

I am hoping that I will be able to get back to a little more regular blog routine next week - it's amazing how much time it takes to put things back in order after 2.5 months of no routine.

I hope that all of your children are settling into the new school year, and things are going well for you!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Fruits and Veggies Taste Great With OPADIPITY Greek Yogurt Dips

Opadipity, greek yogurt dip, litehouse products, giveaway

My kids are pretty big into eating fruits and veggies, and so am I. Sometimes it's nice to add a little change in flavour though.  I was thrilled when I was contacted by Litehouse to see if I would be interested in trying out the OPADIPITY line of dips.  They sent me their selection, and the boys and I had a tasty time testing them out!

Opadipity has 7 Greek Yogurt Dips to choose from. 3 are sweet, and perfect for fruits or cookies; and 4 are savory and are delicious with veggies or crackers.

When they arrived, we couldn't wait to get started on them.  I happened to have fresh veggies and fruits all set to go in the fridge (perfect timing with them arriving on grocery day) and we tested them all out.

My favourite was the creamy ranch, and the boys enjoyed the strawberry delight the best.  They really are all quite good though, and make a great addition to a lunch kit for snack time!
thumbs up from both the boys!
How would you like to give them a try? I have been given the chance to offer a giveaway to my readers - one lucky person is going to win a box of the 7 flavours, just like I had!

This giveaway is open to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec) and the United States; must be 18+ to enter, void where prohibited.  To enter, complete the form below. Good luck!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Dreamworks HOME [Review]

Dreamworks HOME, OH, Boove, family movies, movie night

We had the chance to watch HOME last weekend - it was the movie of choice for our family movie night!  The four of us watched it and it is the type of movie that is great for all ages.   The movie follows "OH" as he flees from his fellow Boove after accidentally sending their co-ordinates to their enemy.
Along the way he teams up with "TIP" and helps her search for her mother. It's a heartwarming movie that will keep you laughing throughout while OH makes silly mistakes along the journey.

This is definitely one that I would recommend to have on hand for your next family movie night! 4 thumbs up from our family!

Have you seen HOME? What did you think of it?  It's now available for purchase on DVD and Blu ray.  Feel free to print out the activity sheet below!
to print: right click, save as and then print from your home computer

Monday, September 7, 2015

Summer Is Over, Final Bucket List Update

The time has come - summer break has ended.  Tomorrow is the first day of school for our kiddos and I am a little sad (and a little relieved) that it has arrived.  This summer has been filled with lots of fun, but also lots of fighting.  I will miss the noise and giggles that filled the house over the summer, but I am NOT going to miss the constant fighting and bickering all day long.

September 7 Monday Madness Giveaway Linky



Tales of Mommyhood, giveaways, linky, monday madness, contests, win, giveaway linky

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Back To School Ready In The Kitchen #B2S



Are you ready for back to school yet? Mentally, I am still trying to wrap my head around it and prepare myself emotionally (although I will admit that this summer, for the first time, I had days where I thought B2S couldn't come fast enough). In terms of having everything physically ready, we are prepared.

Shoe shopping has occurred and they each have new indoor and outdoor shoes; backpacks (their old ones are still in great shape) have been filled and ready for the first day - our school doesn't require much, indoor shoes and tennis balls for chair legs. Most teachers ask for a box of kleenex from each student, so I have a box in each of the boys bag. In kindergarten, they are always in need of play doh making supplies, so Mr. K's bag also includes some salt and cream of tar tar.

My pantry is stocked with quick snacks for the boys to add to their lunches for those rushed mornings, and my freezer is stocked with large bags FULL of muffins, granola bars and meatballs.

The last few weeks of summer I try and prep some easy, quick and somewhat healthy items for the boys lunchbags. I spend time making banana muffins, pumpkin muffins, zucchini muffins, oatmeal muffins, home made granola bars and some mini meatballs.

This means that my freezer is stocked and all they need to do is take an item (and there is lots of flavours to choose from to keep them from getting tired of them quickly) and put it into a re-usable container. Then they can pop them in their lunch kit and off they go. It cuts lunch making time down quite a bit in the mornings.  Having the meatballs made ahead of time, I can take a few (3 is a good serving for their lunch) out the night before and then heat them up and add them to a prepped thermos in the morning - and it's a quick, easy, healthy, warm meal for lunchtime.

Since our school requests that kids have litter-less lunches, I try and use reusable snack bags and containers as much as possible.  This does make a little extra work for me, since they need to be washed every night - but it's better than adding countless plastic bags to our garbage every week.

I am honestly one of the least organized people you will ever meet, but by taking the time now to get some of this done, it helps me out tremendously once school starts.

What are some things that you do to help stay organized and ahead of the game for school days?