A recent Walmart commercial has inspired my daughter and I to do a few extra things this year!

My daughter the other day at school said to me, ” Mom, I would like to spread some Christmas cheer and give gifts to some random people to brighten their day”.

I purchased (at Walmart) 4 boxes of chocolates this year for the kids to give out as a gift to say thank you to someone they would like to show appreciation for, and the work they do.

My daugther Ashleigh who is 8 years old, acted immediately.

Yesterday, Ashleigh gave a box of chocolates to her running coach, her tutor, as well as the man who picks up the recyling for our home.  The sheer happiness in the faces of these people was just fabulous and Ashleigh was so happy to see that she had made a difference in their day.

Ashleigh has one more gift and will give to the mail carrier as she has decided.

I asked a friend yesterday who works in the community if she knew of any programs that the children could participate in, to show them about giving back to our community.

The Salvation Army was immediately mentioned so after discussing with my children, they have decided that for every present they receive this year at Christmas, they will donate one of their older toys to the Salvation Army for a child who would appreciate it.  The toy will be in good shape and have a lot of play left in it.

My children have already started collecting toys that they plan to donate and I am very proud of them to be actively involved in this and truly believe that they can make a difference in a person’s daily happiness.

They would like to be involved in these types of programs over the entire year so I will look in the community for some opportunities for my children to become involved.

This time of the year always inspires people to help those in need and appreciate what they have but we cannot lose sight that every day, we can make a difference.

Our communities matter!

Have you done anything recently to give back to your community?

 

Have a very happy holiday, from my family to yours! xx

Newmarket Mompreneur presents Jennifer Ettinger!

Find your Inner Goddess!

 

Have you ever wondered about how to dress for your body type, workouts to do for your body type or even about healthy boosting foods?  Well, Jennifer you can tell you all of this!

Jennifer is the owner of Fit Your Style and has her own show on Rogers Television. Her book has been in the number 1 position on Amazon and she recently did a book tour in the United States. Jennifer is a Fit and Style Expert and has many fabulous tips to offer.

Maria Racco from Artists Salon and Spa was gracious enough to host this evening for the ladies at her salon.   The Ladies night event was held on December 12, 2012, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm in Newmarket, Ontario.

Jennifer talked to us about health and fitness, foods that were great for our bodies, even about the vitamins that we give to our children.  She talked about having healthy cells and that when we eat and give our children unhealthy foods; we are destroying our/their cells.  It was very interesting and quite powerful to say the least!

I have had the opportunity to see Jennifer twice now but still would love to have some time to discuss things further in length with her.

Jennifer is available for one-on-one consultations and you can access all of her information from her website at www.fityourstyle.com

Diana Hoang from Newmarket Mompreneur has once again put on a fabulous event and has many more planned for the New Year!

Please visit the Newmarket Mompreneur website at www.newmarketmompreneurs.com  and thanks to Diana Hoang, Jennifer Ettinger and Maria Racco for a wonderful evening!

http://www.dogtreatkitchen.com/peanut-butter-dog-biscuit-recipe.html

I tried this recipe the other day for dog cookies. I enjoy baking cookies for all the four legged friends in my family and neighbours.

 

 

Here is the recipe off the website above as appears on the page:

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuit Recipe with Oatmeal

This peanut butter dog biscuit recipe is what you’re looking for if you want easy dog treat recipes.  With only four ingredients, one of which is water, you’re likely to have all of the ingredients on hand in your pantry.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (you can use another type of flour if your dog is sensitive to wheat)
• 1 cup rolled oats>
• 1/3 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth (I used smooth this time)
• 1 1/4 cups hot water

 

Additional flour for rolling

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Mix dry ingredients together.

• Mix in the peanut butter and hot water.  You may need to add more flour if the dough is too sticky.

 

• Knead the dough well.
• Roll out the dough into 1/4″ thickness and cut into shapes with dog cookie cutters.

 

Note – This recipe doesn’t call for it, but I put an egg wash (one egg whisked with a fork and then brushed on with a pastry brush) on the treats before I baked them.  It gives them a nice sheen once they’re baked.  Here’s how they look before baking.

• Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 40 minutes.  Turn off the oven and let them cool overnight.

 

If you and your dog can’t wait that long, cool them completely on a wire rack before serving.

Instead of cutting out more shapes with the left over peanut butter and oatmeal dough, I rolled it into balls.  Then I made a cross hatch fork mark on the dog cookies.  This is the same way you would do for human peanut butter cookies.

After: The cookies get very hard, just the way dogs like them!

Storing: This peanut butter dog biscuit recipe makes biscuits that will last in a sealed air tight container at room temperature for one week.  You can store them in the refrigerator for 3 weeks and in the freezer for up to 6 months.

…………… My comments below:

I did decide to try the egg wash and it gave it a nice golden brown. I also used the leftovers as above and made round cookies.  I doubled the recipe and had approximately 48 cookies.

My dog would not leave the kitchen during the mixing, and entire cooking process.

Definitely dog approved!

 

 

Every year when December starts, it makes me think of christmas baking.  All the good and yummy treats I can make. I like to make cookies for friends, neighbours, teachers and even for the four legged doggies.

I started my first baking today. I made chocolate chip cookies (this was courteous of Pilsbury). And by the way, they were very good.

I found a newspaper that my Mother in law had given me last year full of cookie and holiday recipes.  I decided to try one of them, called “Chewy Oatmeal Bars”. The recipe was submitted by Emma Graber.

Recipe is as follows:

1 cup butter or margarine

2 eggs

1 tsp. soda

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts

2 cups oatmeal

6 0z chocolate chips

M&M candy

Mix in order given. Set oven at 350 degrees. Put batter in 13 inch by 9 inch pan, sprinkle with m&ms. Do not overbake.

( I cooked this for approximately 15 minutes)

These bars turned out very well and a big hit with my children.

 

 

 

 

 

Baking can be fun with children- let them measure the ingredients, mix and sprinkle the m&ms on top.

It is very yummy so if you are looking for a great recipe, feel free to use this!

 

 

 

Did someone say cookies?  Mmmmmm, cookies!

I was invited to a cookie exchange a couple of years ago and had a fabulous time. Not only do you have fun and a chance to socialize with your friends, you get to eat yummy, and delectable cookies!  Who wouldn’t want that?

The way a cookie exchange works is very easy.  You generally would want to put a cap on the total amount of people invited because for every person participating, you will bake them each a dozen of cookies.  The cookies cannot be store bought and must be homemade.  Each person will make 12 cookies per each person plus one dozen for the treat table.   This will give everyone the opportunity to sample each cookie. You can make it all pretty by putting your cookies on a christmas plate, or in ziploc container or however you wish to present these.

Serve coffee, tea, hot chocolate, wine, or pretty much anything goes.

I had a cookie exchange at my house last year and had a fun afternoon out with the ladies.  And if your husband or guy friends like baking, invite them too.  The best part is that you have your baked goods ready to freeze and to eat during the holiday season at your parties or even just for the family.

Mmmm, I am getting hungry!

Every year, people joke with us that we are the Griswold’s (refers to Clarke Griswold and family movie classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation)  in the section of our street.

My husband spends a few hours and hangs lights about the garage and around the outside of the house, lights around the door and windows. We have lighted up garland on our porch, Santa in the garden with some candy canes and even colorful lights in our front tree.

We also have a music box that we bought a few years ago at Walmart. You can program the music to correspond to the beat of the music and have the lights blink on and off or steady. There are a few different types of Christmas music you can pick from to be heard outside.

I decorate the inside with a decorated tree, Christmas village on my mantle with the stockings hanging over the fireplace.  There are poinsettias throughout the house and a lighted garland that goes up the stairs to the top floor. I even have lights in the kid’s bedroom windows that face out onto the front of the house for the full house effect.  I have a flashing neon sign that blinks “Merry Christmas” in our basement.  I like putting my tree up in the middle of November.  Are we crazy? Am I crazy?  Well, yes I am!

 

I always blame the decorating on the kids but I will finally let the secret out- it is me! I am the one who insists my husband decorate the outside the way he does. I love Christmas, I love Christmas decorations with the pretty lights, pretty colors and even the music. I love the cheer that it brings to me and the way people get together to be charitable and help out where they can. And I am guilty about shopping and my husband will agree, I love spending money and picking out gifts for loved ones.

I am a snow fan but not a fan of the cold and windy winter season we get in Canada. If there was no wind or cold and a mild winter, I would love it. I could live without snow for 364 days a day, every day except for Christmas day!  I love having snow on Christmas day!  It feels more like Christmas with the beautiful white on the ground.

I love spending time together with family, and friends over the holidays and with so many children in the family, it is always so much fun to see the excitement within all of them. Christmas spirit is the best!

What do you all love about Christmas?

It is hard to believe that my Introduction to Fundraising course is almost over- even though it started in September, it feels like it went very fast.  My last assignment and quiz were submitted today.  Exam review will start next week and a few weeks after that, I will be writing a 3 hour exam. Yikes!

The transition of completing assignments, reading and researching topics after years out of school was easier than I had thought it would be.  Guidelines were given, deadline dates were given and we were able to work at our own pace.

Overall, I was very happy with this course and begin a new one beginning January 7, 2013, called ” Fundraising as a Management Process”.  This course will finish in April and then I am hoping to take two more courses over the summer months.  I would then have 2 remaining as I begin to look for a full time opportunity when my little girls go to school full time. *tears*

All I can say is Phew….. now to study!

A few days ago, I hosted a Lia Sophia jewellery party.  I had met Penni Ellwood while I was covering the Newmarket Mompreneur show a few weeks before. The jewellery was beautiful, very reasonably priced and I thought ” what the heck!”  I don’t normally host these types of parties because from past experience, I have found that not a lot of people will attend these types of parties. I had advertised it as a low pressure event so that if course, if people had came, they were not obligated to buy but as being in other people’s shoes, I know that it is hard to go if you don’t intend to buy.  I get it!  There were a few people who came out and enjoyed some wine and snacks.

Penni arrived at my house about thirty minutes before the party start time and had all of the jewellery displayed before people arrived.  The jewellery itself is beautiful and had a lifetime guarantee and is very reasonably priced.  As a hostess, you have some “perks”. You receive special hostess pricing, a number of half price buys and fabulous deals.

Did I say the jewellery was beautiful and reasonably priced?  I wasn’t kidding!

Penni was very professional and I would recommend her as your rep if you ever decide to go ahead and host a party.  You can check her website out at  http://sites.liasophia.ca/sites/embellishme

The party I hosted was closed today and I will receive my orders by the end of the week so the delivery time is very speedy as well.  Great Christmas shopping ideas as well!

If you are looking for some new jewellery, this is the way to go!  I am sooooo excited for my new jewellery to arrive!

As a female, we deal with many things from child birth to menopause and many things in between. Do you feel tired all of the time, sluggish, notice that you are gaining weight even though you are exercising and eating right?

If so, you could have a low thyroid condition called hypothyroidism.

I first discovered I had a low thyroid condition when my second child was 8 months old. I was so tired and not just regular busy mom tired, it was a lot more than normal.  I felt tired all of the time and just that something was off. I visited my doctor, got tested and sure enough, my thyroid was below average. I was given eltroxin (common for low thyroid issues) and even though my dosage was only 0.05 mg, it was enough to get me back to that normal level.

Fast forward three years, I am pregnant with twin girls. I continued my thyroid medication and even though a lot of changes were going on inside my body, my thyroid stayed at the normal range.

So now fast forward four years this time, I do a regular blood workup and my thyroid condition is GONE!  Wow, how did that happen?  I had been told that once you are put on that medication, it is for the rest of your life.  I beat it, woo hoo!

A couple of months ago, after a week away on vacation,I was tired but didn’t think much of it and I had been eating badly on vacation so the weight gain I was noticing I had figured was from my bad summer habits.

I had a feeling that my thyroid condition was back so off I went to the doctor’s to get blood work and can you guess what turns up?  My thyroid is below the normal range once again.  I am prescribed the eltroxin again and a couple of months in, I do not feel as tired as I had and thank god, the weight gain has stopped.

Another possibility if you feel the same way I did, you could also have low iron (hemoglobin) which by coincidence, I am now taking a thyroid medication and an iron pill every day. (I had both.)

Trust yourself, listen to your body, and if something doesn’t feel right, it usually isn’t!

Good luck!

Last night, I met friends at the Newmarket Silvercity for the early screening of Twilight Breaking Dawn 2.

I am not going to give any spoilers so you can watch it for yourselves but you will get to see Jacob (Taylor Lautner) with his shirt off.  This was a big hit from the audience in the theatre.  They did a nice touch at the end showing all of the characters from the entire movie series.

By far, this is the best one in the series, in my opinion.  Our mouths were open with shock and excitement and the characters also were easy to look at.

I definitely recommend you to go see this movie. It was well done, some twists and turns but in the end, was fabulous!