Time for.....cake?

And now for a little self-promotion. I enjoy making cakes for my kids' birthdays, and I'm a little proud of them. I am NO cake maker, or artist. These cakes are made by a mom with love, that's it.

It's fun, challenging, exciting, messy, and a chance to help my boys have a special birthday. Here are a few of my "masterpieces"


Dominic's second birthday - cow cake.
He wanted a cow birthday specifically. Not a farm cake, but a cow cake. His favorite animal for about a year was cows. We got balloons from ebay and plates and cups from a local store that happened to have farm things.

Logan's third birthday - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

The boys love watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on playhouse Disney. I made this cake for him and he loved it. It was a two layer round cake. We had balloons from a local store and plates from ebay.

Logan's fourth birthday - Frog cake
We were really into Princess and the Frog earlier this year. The movie, the songs were a huge part of our lives. Logan wanted a Princess and the Frog birthday, so we made that happen. We got plates and napkins from a local website and put up pictures of the characters around the house. We played "pin the crown on the frog" and had so much fun!

Dominic's third birthday - Thomas

My guess is that once in every little boy's life they will have a train or Thomas birthday party. This year was ours. We are train crazy over here. Everything is trains. I had my wonderful friend Jenni construct the face for me (she is a real cake maker, unlike my amature cakes. Check out her website here). I made the rest of the cake with this website help. Click Here It gives step by step instructions. Theirs is really great. It was my first molded cake and I'm a bit proud of it, even if it's not spectacular. We got a giant Thomas balloon from the local balloon store and plates from wherever. (they are everywhere)

Logan's second birthday - Pablo
Logan and Dom have always loved the Backyardigans. The combination of music, imagination, and dancing really get them going. And the fact that every show is SO different is awesome. This was my first custom cake and I was so happy with it. We got Pablo and Uniqua balloons from ebay (if you haven't noticed, I love ebay), and plates, cups, napkins from there too. We have the music from the shows and we played that in the background while the kids ran around.

My point in posting these cakes is that if you don't have any artisticness (and if you've seen me draw, you know that I'm not gifted) you can do this. You can look up any cake you want to make and find a picture of it on line. Just go to google. It's easy! Get a mold of a cake you want to make. Have a friend help you. You CAN do it! If you do it this way you can choose what ingredients you put into your cake and what goes into your icing. No store bought cakes here. ( I would like to say that I am not opposed to store bought cakes. Some of the cakes, or cupcake cakes they can make are crazy amazing. Especially since they have all of the airbrushing tools they need and pieces, etc.)

We let the boys choose the theme of their birthday and then we plan around that. They have to pick about a month and a half before their birthday so that we have time to get everything. Have fun with your kids' birthdays. They won't have very many where they let you plan the whole thing! Enjoy, remember to love the little things and see the wonder in everything!

xo
Melissa

The Great Hockey Debate

Debate #1: My husband and his friends always debate the pros and cons of the different hockey games. Since I'm on here, I want to ask YOU which your husband prefers and why. Or better yet, have him jump on here and join the conversation. NHL2K11 by Take2 or NHL11 by EA. Both series feature hockey at it's best, both have similarities and both have differences. They come out at the same time of year (very soon) and the debate rages on.
Here are links to the different games:
NHL 11 for PS3 (out soon)
NHL 11 for the Xbox (out soon)
NHL 2K11 for the WII (Currently available)


Debate #2: Do you let your kids play video games. Why or Why not? We have a V Motion by VTech. The controllers are wireless, the instructions are easy and most importantly the boys love it, and they play games geared towards counting, math, spelling, letters, etc. They can play together or separately. It gets them ready for the big gaming systems to come their way. Games and parts are fairly inexpensive too!This is the VMotion. We have Thomas and Friends, Mickey Mouse, Backyardigans, Wonder Pets, A Sports one. It's seriously great! The boys are allowed to play for 10 minutes each per day and they love it! 

Get a Green Clean!

Today only at Whole Foods in Park Royal in North Vancouver and on Robson St, you can trade your old household cleaners that are full of toxic chemicals for you and your family, for a greener alternative!

Here are the deets:

Green Product Swap!
Wednesday, August 25th, 2 pm – 6 pm,
Park Royal Whole Foods Market, 925 Main Street, West Vancouver
Capers Whole Foods Market, 1675 Robson Street Vancouver

Local green cleaning company, Aspen Clean, has teamed up with Capers Whole Foods for a product swap. You bring in a conventional household cleaning product and trade it for a sustainable, Ecocert approved replacement: www.aspenclean.com

Clean your house and be green at the same time, for no added cost!!

Happy cleaning!

And check out these good books on greening:
Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things
The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances

How to Make Pizza FUN

Next time your kids want to have pizza for dinner, try making the pizza at home.
All you need is:

• Whole Wheat Pitas (or your fav. pizza crust recipe)
• Spaghetti or Pizza Sauce
• Pepperoni or another meat topping
• Green Peppers, Red Peppers, Onions, Olives, etc
• Oregano flakes
• Parmasean Cheese
• Mozzarella Cheese or your other favorite pizza cheese

Pre-heat your oven on broil and move a rack up to near the top of your oven

Heat the pitas in the oven so that they are warm

Have your child spread pizza sauce on the bottom, sprinkle oregano flakes and Parmesan cheese, put the meat and veggies on and then the cheese. Feel free to help them with whatever steps you you think they need help with.

Put them back in the oven until the cheese is melted.

Make this a fun Experience for the kids. They will learn how to make fun food and how to enjoy food at the same time. This is a good recipe for picky kids as you can put whatever ingredients you want on the pizzas.

What we do to make it fun: SHAPE PIZZA!!! Make your pizzas then get the cookie cutters out! Make any shapes you want. They can be stars, flowers, Christmas shapes, Halloween shapes, etc. Our boys love making their own shapes with the pizza. They might need help getting the cookie cutter all the way through the pizza, so make sure you are on hand to provide the muscle.

Enjoy!

Free Entry and Rides at PNE!

Sunday August 22nd is free entry day to the PNE. Rides are also free until 12noon.
A friend asked me today "just what IS the difference between playland and the PNE? Why would I go to the PNE when I've already been to playland before?" Well, I said, "the PNE is so much more then just rides!" To be honest, the PNE is where it's at. There is a market place with booths for vendors to sell their items (we got a train to go around our Christmas tree last year), lots of food, free shows (like wonderdogs, this year they will have the Backyardigans!, etc), painting on cars for kids (yes, real cars), and much much more. It's just so much fun!

If you are thinking of going to the PNE on Sunday, get there early. Gates open at 9am, rides are free until 12:00pm, but they are expecting over 90,000 people to be there. Go for the whole day, but first, check out my prevous blog about saving money at the PNE.

Baby Shower Gifts?

I recently had someone talk to me about their baby shower, and they were uncomfortable asking people for gifts and they were given basically everything they needed for the baby already from friends and family. They were going to have a "no gift" baby shower, but people do feel the need to bring gifts anyways. I suggested that she ask for contributions to the baby's RESP.

RESPs are for save for your child's future post secondary schooling. The government will add money to it to help them go through school as well. It can be difficult with a new family to find the funds to start an RESP for your child/children, and asking friends and family for contributions instead of gifts is a good way to start one. Depending on which institution you decide to go with for the RESP savings, you may need a certain amount to start with, or you could start with any amount you want. Shop around and see which bank or private investor will be right for you. Another way to ensure that you are putting in for the RESP is to have your Universal Childcare Benefit go straight into your child's RESP account. Every family in BC with a child under the age of 6 will receive $100 per month from the government to put towards childcare - well we all know that doesn't even put a dent into the actual cost of childcare, but you can put it to other good use as well.

RESPs will help your child not go too far into debt to ensure they have a higher education than just grade 12. And, if they decide not to go to school after high school, the money is given back (minus the government added money) to you to use. Decide what will be best for your child and your family and start saving for them, weather its in an RESP, long term savings account, or something else. Just remember - don't go into debt helping ensure your child doesn't go into debt. Take care of your family, and put a little aside for your child's education, by the time they are 18 and ready to go to university, they will have a good dent into their education payments already at hand.

On the other side, you can also ask for donations to put towards a high priced item - stroller, crib, organic crib mattress, breast pump, etc. This way, you don't get a lot of little things you don't want, and you can still choose what to buy while making people feel like they've made a contribution. It's a win win!

Carter's - The Journey

So, I went to the infamous Carter's/Oshkosh today. I was disappointed. The clothes were cute as usual, and looked awesome, and the variety looked quite large. BUT...... all the clothes were size 0-24 months. I'm sure that if you have a child in that age range, you will be very happy. The only clothes that Carter's has for kids 3 years and older is PJ's (my fav item from Carter's actually). The Oshkosk, which takes up the back of the store, Does have big kids clothes, but it's a wall the room for about 6 pegs of clothing. And there is 1 or 2 racks for big kids. Needless to say, my excitement is not as large as it was, and I will still be travelling to the states to buy my Carter's clothes for my boys.

Carter's is in BC!!!!

I cannot say how excited to be writing this right now. I feel the need to jump into my car and drive to the store just to see the sign. Yes, I'm aware that they will be closed by 10:00pm when I get there, but it would be worth it!

The fantastic (seriously, the best EVER) children's clothing store Carter's has FINALLY opened a store in BC!!! I have had to go down to the US outlet malls to go to a Carter's, or ask any friends who have been going down to get me clothes for my boys, but not anymore!!!! Right by the Walmart in Langley at 66th and 200th is my wonderful little store Carters. I cannot wait!!

For those of you who do not know Carter's, let me paint this picture for you. My boss gave me his boys' clothes when I had my oldest son. At the time, they had two kids. I then had two boys. When a co-worker of mine had a son, I gave them the clothes. When they were done with them, they donated them to goodwill. That is at least FIVE children who went through the same clothes!! And they were all boys. That is amazing! The clothes are cute, they are durable, they wash very well, and they fit great. The best part of sizing is that they not only put the size on the tags, they also put the weight of the child it will fit. If you have a 6 month old who is 30 lbs, the 6 months clothes will not fit them, but you can find clothes that will!

Seriously, I am so excited about this store, I need my Carters fix, NOW! It is a mixed store of Carter's and Oshkosh, which is super duper cute stuff as well. (Sorry Oshkosh, I just love Carter's so much!)

What you can get: Boys and Girls Clothes size NB to 6. Everything from  shirts and pants to PJ's and accessories. Here is the link to find the store nearest you.

PS. When you buy something, they usually throw in another coupon for 20% off your purchase the following month! Savings that we can all use!