My Journey to living my Passion!

This gummy mum is about to become a full time social mum and I am a lot excited and a little nervous ! All of you who do this full time - blog, tweet, Facebook, follow, lead, review, advertise, read, connect and keep it all under some kind of organized chaos . . . . I think I need your HELP!!!

It all started innocently enough back in May when I attended a @momstownca event with @mabelhood 's @juliecole to learn what this thing called "Twitter" was. 5 short months later and I am quitting my full time job and am lucky enough to be attending @shesconnected and @BlissdomCanada later this month. I'm even attending twitter parties, giving away IronKids vitamin prize packs and won my first prize at a twitter party this week - thanks @ThatEricAlper !

I have made personal in-real-life friendships with inspiring women (@fitandonthemove you know who you are) and on-line friendships with women who's creativity and marketing I admire (@eatingarainbow you know who you are!). I have found women who have helped me find myself (@soul_whispers) and women who want to help other women (@optimom, @WonderMoms_ca, @KatiaMillar, @marketing4moms), there are women who are loving life, Vodka & George Clooney (@CocktailDeeva), women who help promote others (@MommyPerks, @FashionMommies), women who are loyal supporters of me personally & our IronKids Gummy Vitamins (@BarleySugar, @80sgirlforever, @TrenDSpa, @InfoSara, @JackiYo, @ImFreckles, @marcyberg, @sherrirossi). Then there are those who share my love of running (@fitcheerldr, @hipcop, @kellidaisy) and so many more that share my passion for raising healthy kids - those who follow my blog know who you are !!! : )

I could go on - so many fabulous people have touched me over the past 5 months - I could never mention all of them or thank them enough for this new path I am about to take!

I am wondering if you have words of wisdom? How do you manage it all? How do you make time to follow all the fabulous blog posts, connect with your followers, manage your giveaways & reviews, support those who support you, return emails, write your own blog spots, engage on Twitter, keep up on the latest conference or tweet-up, comment on Facebook and still get to school on time to pick up your three little darlings . . .the whole reason you are making this leap . .to spend more time at home with the kids! How do you do it all?

They say if you are doing something you love and have passion for, you never work a day in your life. I get that now. I love this job. I am excited to sit at my computer and connect and write and spread the word about IronKids Gummy vitamins and share my husbands passion. And I am excited I get to be home with my kids . . . . heck, really I am excited I get to be home ALONE during the day when they are at school to get things accomplished . . . so that after school when we are home together I can focus on them!!!

I sincerely thank everyone I have "met" and I look forward to your comments here . . . you have all helped me get to here, your insight and wisdom can get me anywhere !!!

Making Food FUN !

I have blogged before about how I try to make healthy choices for my kids. That includes making them eat vegetables every day and fruit every day and teaching them about all the food groups. Of course their favorite food is still

jelly beans and ice cream and I am the meanest mommy 'EVER!' cause I make them eat asparagus . .they are normal kids like all other kids!

But I am not giving up or giving in!! I am very consistent on table manners and dessert. You sit at the family table for dinner every night until we are all finished, you DO NOT play with your food and you don't get dessert (or Daddy's gummy vitamins!) if you don't finish your dinner. It all gets pretty boring and repetitive around here. I get tired of hearing myself say the same thing at every meal, I can imagine how the kids feel . . they likely tuned me out years ago !!!

So, to liven things up a bit and get the kids on my good side, I started a new tradition around here a few years back. I told the kids they are ALLOWED to play with their food ! My husband thought I was crazy! But we are having so much fun with it!

Its a special thing, its a (somewhat) controlled thing; yes, its messy, its gross, its tasty and its right at the top of every kids fun list !! I have inexpensive large plastic trays from IKEA that have a nice tall edge, we wash our hands really well and we get creative! A little chocolate pudding, mix in some vanilla pudding - with your hands of course!!! - add some whip cream, jello, maybe sprinkles? Anything goes. They love mixing it up and licking it off ! We've done ice cream with chocolate sauce and I hand out straws to slurp up the melted finished product!

We have even brought in a tray full of snow from outside. I give them some small cups to make little snow forts on their trays and some food colouring to turn it colours . . they play til it melts and then we go get more from outside !!

I am hoping my healthy kids find ways to always enjoy food . . . cause its not just for eating you know !!!

Lunch Note Love

How do I miss thee . . .let me write a Lunch Note!

Yes, I am one of those moms. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t intend for it to go this far. But it is what it is. I am a Lunch Note Mom. My kids expect it, look forward to it, complain heavily if I forget it, and for now, still think its cool!!! And I am getting creative at finding ways to make it easy – cause who can hand write 3 lunch notes every single day of school? I don’t have that much cute stuff to say!!

Here is my story of becoming a Lunch Note Mom.

As with all great things, it started with necessity . . . . My first born daughter is a ‘sensitive’ girl. She cried a lot as a baby. She cried a lot as a toddler. She cried at Nursery school. She cried at JK. And SK. And Grade 1 . . .everyday til Christmas. She’s a sensitive girl! To make her transitions easier, I did all the tricks; I gave her things to hold in her pocket, gave her extra kisses, volunteered in her class, tucked photos in her backpack and I wrote Notes . . . everyday. But I quickly ran out of time to write notes . . . everyday.

I had two more children by now and mommy brain in full swing. I needed to find a way to get out of this or at least make it easier as

I continued to lose the battle to get to school on time! I found a website that did lunch notes, printed them on colour paper and viola. But there were only 6 notes. I was sure they would notice I used the same note for the other 38 weeks of school. But that web site gave me an idea. Clipart. I searched for every free Disney & Princess character clipart I could find, I found High School Musical, I found Dora – I added a cute message like “Have fun with your friends ” and I printed out 30 Lunch Notes on heavier card stock paper! I was on a roll!! But then I used up all those and had no time to search for new clipart. And my oldest child was quickly outgrowing princesses!

My younger girls insisted on getting Lunch Notes too. I had a new idea. I found a sticker book with 100 of the coolest, hippest,colourfulest stickers of girls, dogs, cats, cars, beaches, dolphins and ice cream cones! I peeled off a sticker, stuck it to card stock, hand wrote in marker things like “Girls Rock!” and for under $5.00 I had 100 Lunch Notes !!

This year I have 3 kids in school, lots of lunches and lots of Lunch Notes. I needed something new to mix in with the sticker Lunch Notes. While I was printing all our best summer photos at the Kiosk last week I had an idea. If I used the “mini” photo feature I can get 4 or 6 photos on one 4x6 print of our summer in cute mini pictures. I printed out 200 mini photos for about $7.00 and cut them out, stuck them on card stock and added my cute message “Remember Kayaking! Fun Times!” The kids are in the pictures & it reminds them of all the fun we had that past summer. And the best part . . . I had hundreds of them now !!

If you have children that are a bit messy, tuck the notes into a ziplock bag. After all, how is a lunch note to survive, let alone be given to a sibling the next day, when it has sat in a puddle of yogurt all afternoon? Or go extreme like me!! I bought one of those mini laminator things – takes no time and is kinda fun to run them through. For this Lunch Note Mom, its working!

So go ahead, bring on those 255 lunches I will be making this year – I have a Lunch Note for you !

What do you send to school with your kids? Or were you savvy enough to never start !!!

Managing the Morning Madness !!

School starts in less than a week and just the thought of school mornings with 3 girls and deciding who's wearing what, what hairdo will do, who's turn it is to man the toaster and who will get their shoes on fastest to get to the car first used to be enough to make this mom hide under the covers!

But no more! I have figured out how to Manage the Morning Madness !! Last year I read some back to school advice that made my life so much easier, that I want to pass it along as another September is upon us!

The secret to managing your morning is . . . .Ownership! My kids Own their morning. They decide how its going to go. Kids love to do stuff IF its their idea and IF they can have some control over it . . . so that is what we try to do here! And if its a successful morning, Mommy high fives them all the way to school!

This seems to work best if your kids are entering Grade 1 or higher, but my JK'er happily followed her older siblings example last year! We started with some brainstorming. The kids and I discussed what they CAN do on their own. We break it into 2 lists - a "Before School" and an "After School" List. The kids come up with what they are willing to do, and I made up the list in big print the older ones could read and some clip art photos the younger one could look at for reminders. Before school we have brush hair, teeth, pack library books and After school is empty lunch bag in kitchen, homework on table, wash hands - easy stuff to start !

Every single school morning instead of me saying "brush you hair" 3 times to each of them (tha's 9 times if you're counting!) or "where's your homework" til I'm dizzy or "put your lunch dishes on the counter" until I threaten to send the mouldy ones back for lunch the next day . . . now all I have to say is "Did you finish your list?" and these girls RUN to check and make sure. They RUN! Its a game - who can finish the list first . . OK - its a competition, but whatever - they are doing the List !!

They own that list, they decided what went on it and they are super proud to actually do it ALL! I figured the novelty would wear off after the first week of school, but you know what? It didn't. And this year, they want to add to the list! My Grade 3'er can start making healthy choices for her own lunch (she just read this and said "seriously - can I?!"), my Grade 2'er can empty the dishwasher and my SK'er - well, she is going to take all morning on her hair and deciding on which princess dress to wear for the day I'm sure !!!

So what will be on your Before School list? What do your kids to after school to help transition into homework, snacks and activities? I'd love to hear your suggestions as the kids and I prepare to make our list for next weeks first day of school !! And then check back and let me know if the lists work in your house!

What Happens At Summer Camp, Stays at Summer Camp

We did it . . . I mean they did it !! Each day they went to summer camp was better and more fun then the day before. Every mothers dream - your kids are happy and having a fantastic week! I should be thrilled . . and I am, except for one little question they can't seem to answer. . . "What did you do all day?"

Sure I get the old "we played games", or "we sang a song", or "we went canoeing" or "we went hiking", but I already knew all that - it was in the brochure, part of the program, what I paid for! What did you REALLY do all day?

I could tell them how I watched that clock every hour, how I wondered if they had sunscreen on, how I worried about my 6 year old the day they called for thunderstorms, how I hoped someone made sure they got on the right bus every night, how I checked my cell phone 30 times a day "in case" the camp called with a sick or crying child. Oh I could give them details.

But all they could give me was "we had sooo much fun", or "I loved it", or "I can't wait to go back next year", or "my counsellor was awesome." I guess its time for this mom to accept her girls are growing up, to revel in picking the right camp for her kids this summer and to realize that what happens at Summer Camp, is gonna stay at Summer Camp.

They are happy, so I am happy. And hey, I did find out one thing . . . .look what they made on craft day! How did your kids do at summer camp this year? More importantly, how did YOU do ??

Summer Camp - I did it!

I believe that raising healthy kids is not just about what food I put on their plate, but also about what experiences I introduce into their lives – well rounded, adjusted kids are happy healthy kids. I take creating memories for my children very seriously - they only have one childhood and I hope when they are older they can look back on it and remember the super amazing fun times they had. And my kids do have fun – we go to Marineland, to cottages, to beaches, to ski hills, to outdoor movies, to campsites and to grandma’s house. They each have pool parties in the summer, a March break hot tub party in the winter and a gingerbread making party at Christmas time with all their friends . . every year.

One thing was missing though. Summer Camp. I mean the real kind where you take a bus to a Conservation Area and you spend ALL DAY outside. You sing camp songs, you play camp games, you make camp crafts, you swim in the lake, you take canoe lessons and archery lessons and you make lifelong memories. And your Mom is NOT there. Gulp.

Today was the day. My two oldest girls boarded a bus with 3 of their bestest friends (could not send them ALONE!). I had prepared them – oh yes I had! Two weeks ago we went on a pre-camp beach day . … just me and them - we scoped out the bathrooms, the beach area and saw where the other campers that week kept their back packs and where they canoed! I Mabel Labeled their hats and sunscreen, gave explicit instructions to the forgetful one to put her shoes and underwear IN her backpack when she took them off and spent weeks convincing my teary one that this would be the most fun ever!! I made lunches and put in extra treats . . . even made a batch of spinach brownies (see my first blog!) and apple oat bars. I stayed up late last night and printed photos – used my Sharpie and wrote “have a great day” with tons of x’s and o’s all over them – and snuck those in their lunch bags. And their camp counselors phoned yesterday to tell them how excited they were to meet them at camp the next day, about all the fun they were going to have and to bring some spare socks for craft day. This is going to be PREFECT!

Perfect? I am still convincing myself!! Chanting right now – awesome summer memories, awesome summer memories!! You see, I am a stay at home working mom. My kids are either with me or with my mom. Mostly with me. I love being their mom – bad days and all - I am still so super happy that I can be home with them to have beach days and hot tub parties with their friends. This camp thing, on a bus, to a place farther away than the local dance academy has this Mom rocking in her corner office! I did OK this morning. Happily took photos of the kids getting on the bus, held their hands til the very end and kissed the tears of the one that was crying. I even boarded the bus to make sure they had a seat with their friends and no boogie men were on it and then . . . I . . .waved . . goodbye.

I did OK all day. Watched that clock and boy did it move slowly. I am not used to not being able to call and 'check in' mid day when they are not with me!! Finally it was 4:35 and pick up at that same bus stop but this time the kids couldn't stop squealing with excitement. Telling me all the amazing things they did all day and showing me the sock puppet - oh its something else (have to post a photo of it tomorrow!). And that same teary child? Her first words to me off that bus were "Mom, that was so AWESOME!"

Summer Camp is a success for all! Memories are being made and they are awesome ones!!! And next year, do they want to go again . . why yes they do, and to a sleep over camp!! Gulp!

Brownies for Breakfast!

I know, a blog on raising healthy kids and here I am on my 2nd post talking about Brownies for Breakfast!!

Having 3 daughters, I am careful to avoid instilling those negative body image issues you hear so much about in today’s young women and I think brownies for breakfast can help me with that! Now bear in mind, I am not a certified anything and this is just my own personal experiment that I have been conducting for the past couple of years . . . for the real scientific results you will have to check back when my kids are in their 20’s and see how well adjusted they are! For now, I am going on gut instinct!

Here is what I am doing so far:
Lead by example – Check
I run, I eat granola and drink shakes for breakfast, salad for lunch, serve balanced dinner every day. Kids have health conscious parents to model.

Healthy Food First – Check
Few rules here – you must have breakfast, you have to eat all your lunch at school and not just the treat, you don’t finish dinner, you don't get dessert or vitmains. Simple and always enforced. They know the 4 food groups and know healthy food first. Always.

Family Meals – Check
We eat dinner together every single night as a family. Dad too. At the table. No TV. And we talk. Having said that, my kids are 4,6,8 and haven’t developed full on lives of their own yet so I can have Family Meals !

I also do something else important, I make eating FUN!! Broccoli is never fun when you are 6, but you have to eat it. To offset that, we have "play food" nights. Pudding for dessert, served on a tray and eaten with . . . your HANDS! They love it . . mix up a couple flavours and they are happy little kids! Jello on a tray works too . .add in the whip cream for super YUMMY Fun!

The brownies for breakfast happened by accident one day, but it’s the same idea – its Fun. My kids birthday is always a special day for them and one year we had birthday cake left over so I jokingly said, “who wants cake for breakfast” and of course they all said “ME” . . and I thought, why not? So now when it's anyones birthday, the whole family gets to have cake or brownies for breakfast.

It’s not going to hurt them, not going to decay their teeth, not going to turn them into sugar monsters. It is however, going to make that a super fun day (it started with cake!!), make them the envy of all their friends (they had cake for breakfast!) and make some amazing lifelong family memories (no one forgets cake for breakfast!) and it makes me one super cool mom (I LET them have cake, FOR BREAKFAST!).

And the best part? Since a DQ Ice Cream cake is what I order every year on my special day, I get to have ice cream for breakfast on my birthday!!

Do you let your kids get messy with food sometimes or have dessert first? How do you make food fun? Leave me a comment so I can try it out on my kids ! We love having fun!