Our Stay at Jetwing Beach Hotel by the Golden Sandy Beaches

During our summer vacation in Sri Lanka, we had the pleasure of staying at the Jetwing Beach hotel in Negombo, Sri Lanka. We had a memorable stay at this hotel by the golden sandy beaches of Negombo.

Having Fun With The DoodleArt Poster

We enjoy colouring the Original DoodleArt Flowers poster as an activity to do in the evenings. This 24"x34" poster provides over 70 hours of creative colouring for the whole family. This poster kit includes 12 high quality, dual precision-tipped, washable, non-toxic colour markers. Since we did this activity as a family project we involved our 4 year old to participate in the colouring, although this kit is recommended for everyone over 8 years.

Saving Online and Making Way For Fun

With summer expenses and the cost of getting ready for a new school year, I am always looking for ways to save. Flyerland.ca and Save.ca have merged under the Save.ca brand to offer the most comprehensive online destination for coupon savings and digital flyers from trusted retailers across the country.

Strawberry Banana Milk Bars

With the summer heat we are always looking for ways to cool down, so I made this delicious milk bars or popsicles with strawberry and banana. In June when it was strawberry season in Ontario, it has become our tradition to take the kids and pick our own strawberries in a local farm close to home. I usually remove the top and cut the strawberries into two and freeze it. 

Our Stay at Santa's Whispering Pines Campground Cabin

When we went to Santa's Village, we decided to stay over one night at Santa's Whispering Pines Campground so we didn't have to drive back on the same day. This being our first overnight camping trip with the kids, we were very excited. Santa's Whispering Pines Campground has been voted to be the Best Campground in Muskoka for the last two years, so we knew we were going to be in good hands. Except for a few mosquito bites, thank God everything was smooth and we loved our experience.

Hyundai SantaFe Sport 2.0T Is A Fabulous SUV For The Family

Hyundai is true to their motto of "New Thinking. New Possibilities". My family and I feel the Hyundai SantaFe Sport 2.0T is an outstanding, well-engineered, stylish SUV that shows modern luxury. We really like the stunning look from the outside. Everyone getting into the vehicle will like the comfortable, luxurious and spacious drive. This SUV is perfect to drive in all types of weather and road conditions in Canada. 

Lots of Fun We Had a Around the Theme of Despicable Me

Since Despicable Me 2 started playing in the theatres July 3rd, it has been about minions and Gru in our home. We enjoy playing Operation and Monopoly Hasbro board games with the Despicable Me theme. We went to Home Depot and my children enjoyed making the cute Lucy's car, while wearing the minion hard hat, a badge/pin and apron. 

Gro Anywhere Blinds Makes It Night Time Even When It Is Light Outside

The Gro Anywhere Blind by Gro Company, a UK based global nursery brand is an important tool to have in every home, especially for a home with little ones and light sleepers. A dark room mentally prepares my family and I for bedtime. I find it is easier to put my children to bed when the room is dark, as it makes them think it is time to sleep. This blind has a made a big positive difference for us.

Helpful Tips When Planning A Vacation

This post brought to you by Insurance Hunter. All opinions are 100% mine.

Planning our dream vacation is lots of fun, especially if money is not an issue :) There is a list of wonderful places in the world I want to see. Narrowing down our options is not an easy task. However, narrowing it down makes it easy to plan our dream vacation.

Win a World Series Yahtzee Hasbro Game Before The Canada Day Weekend

This World Series Yahtzee game is a new way to play the classic dice-rolling challenge of Yahtzee. We enjoyed playing this fast paced game, as all the players can roll at the same time without waiting for one another. We have to roll out the right combinations faster than the other players to win. 

Exploring the Harbourfront on the Mariposa Cruise

Mariposa Cruises gives us a wonderful opportunity to explore the Toronto Harbourfront. People of all ages will enjoy sightseeing, while cruising on the calm waters of Toronto's inner harbour. Mariposa Cruises is a wonderful way to relax, enjoy the cool breeze, and see the famous Toronto skyline.

Spring comes with many occasions to celebrate

Spring is here, with it comes lots of wonderful celebrations...  My daughter bloomed in spring, along side with hyacinths so we totally look forward to spring to celebrate her birthday.  

With upcoming celebrations such as Mother's day, Father's day, achievements like graduations, birthdays, and anniversaries I look for thoughtful things to give my loved ones.  My family and I have been able to rely on Hallmark cards and products to help us make our statements of love to each other.

Million Moments of being a Mom

Petting a deer... innocence of childhood

Fisher-Price is launching the Million Moments of Joy campaign that celebrates the REAL joys of motherhood. I know we all have the joyful, good, scary, stressful and ridiculous moments we've experienced throughout the years. Our journey of motherhood starts from the first day of our pregnancy.

My son's first time under a sprinkler during a hot summer day in the park.

I had overall good pregnancy experiences with both my children.  I loved it when I felt my babies kicked and when my belly was getting bigger everyday :) Although, I did have moments of morning sickness and irritability. I gained a lot of baby weight because I couldn't control all my cravings ;) thankfully it was baby weight that I lost overtime. We were OVERjoyed when we had our children, although delivering babies were scariest moments in my life.  

I was and still am OVERjoyed when I think about their first smiles, every time they tightly held my fingers, their smell, cuddles, when they first turned from their belly, first time they crawled, balanced, walked, waddled, ran, ate solids, raked the garden, first lessons in soccer, swam, oh there are so many... even now when they say the funniest things they crack me up. Getting a "I love you mom hug" and "I missed you today" is somethings I am truly thankful for as they are beautiful blessings.

There were also many days I felt OVERtired and OVERwhelmed because my son barely slept when he was a baby.  I didn't know what to do as he kept me awake all the time.  I had so much to do during the day because my eldest was 3 years older than him, so as a preschooler she needed my attention in lots of things.  My husband and I were definitely tooooo tired and very stressed during the earlier years but looking back I don't think I would give anything to trade, we learned a lot and learned to appreciate each other and be thankful :) 

Being a mother is a very important part of my way of life.  I feel honoured by this blessing and take all the OVER moments as it comes thanking God for giving me strength during the OVER moments that were hard.  And for the family and friends that were there when we needed them :)

Loving the journey of being a mother :)

Disclosure: I am participating in the Million Moments of Joy campaign by MC Canada on behalf of Fisher-Price.  As a thank you for sharing my opinion I received compensation.  All rights reserved on photographs and written content Createwithmom © 2011 - 2013. Please Ask First

Family Time with Memorable Board Games & Win your own

I think sometimes we spend a little too much time as a family watching movies and shows especially on Netflix :) than playing a friendly interactive game.  Sometimes with hectic schedules we forget to spend quality time playing with each other.
The upcoming family day weekend reminds me that we need to make it a routine to sit around our family room and play interactive board games. This will allow us to reconnect, reenergize relationships and create memories.  Hasbro has a broad collection of over 60 timeless games that the whole family can enjoy.

JENGA Boom Game is similar to the classic JENGA game and is aimed for everyone over the age of 6 years.  We need to delicately pull the blocks out of the stack without knocking it down. With this JENGA Boom, we have to move fast because the detonator is pulled before we take our turn, and this is like a timer.  In order to win we have to get our block out before the time runs out and the stack "explodes."  This game includes 36 JENGA hardwood blocks, toy detonator, stacking sleeve and instructions and can be played alone or with more players.  

 

Some people might be offended by the violent aspect of the game i.e. it being called a "detonator" etc., if we keep aside this "opinion" then it is a fun game for the family to play and try to remove the block before it all comes down.  My children enjoyed laughing when the blocks came down before we got a chance to carefully remove the block.  We will be practicing this more during the long weekend :)

The CLUE The Classic Mystery Game is for everyone over 8 years and is played with 2 to 6 players.  This game includes Mansion Game board, 1 Yellow Murder Envelope, 1 Detective Notepad, 6 Character tokens, 21 Black CLUEDO cards, 13 Red Bonus cards, 6 Weapon tokens, 2 Dice and Game Guide.

We have to be detectives and crack the case of who killed the millionaire Samuel Black by questioning everything to unravel the mystery and finding clues; Who did it? Where? etc. The person who solves the murder first wins.  This is a fun twist on the classic mystery game and features new characters and a two-player version.  I haven't played the classic before so this game is new to me.

The ZYNGA Draw Something Game is for everyone over 8 years.  There is no need to be an artist to win this fun-filled Draw Something game.  While one player draws, everyone else shouts out their guesses at what they're drawing.  Whoever guesses the word earns coins along with the drawer, and the harder the word, the more coins you earn.  To win, the person has to have 15 coins.  We really enjoyed this game and I think it does test our artistic skills :) and imagination so people can guess correctly.  This game includes 4 draw stations, 180 cards, 4 crayons, 4 pads of paper, 4 coin tracker clips and game guide.  My children enjoy playing this game on the iPad so it was nice to have something physical to play with instead.

I remember spending lots of time playing board games with my brothers and friends when I was little.   Sometimes I feel my children are missing making these memories because of all the technology that surrounds us.  Hope we will all get to play some fun board games and reconnect with our families during this weekend and then make it more of a regular routine to create lasting memories.

Giveaway:
To help you get started and have your own family time playing board games, enter this giveaway below through the rafflecopter below and win the ZYNG Draw Something Game.  This giveaway is open to everyone in Canada and ends on March 15th. 
Update: The winner is Sam
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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