Get Fit with Fitbit!

In 2014, I've made a very conscious effort to get fit; once the snow melted, I got back into the running regime I started in the summer of 2013, I tracked my food in the Fitbit App and finally learned just how many calories I was consuming and I met an amazing workout buddy who pushes me to work harder, run longer and provides just the right amount of healthy competition.

But what really helped me get started and stay on track was wearing a Fitbit Activity Monitor.

I bought the Fitbit Force for the hubs last Christmas, but he was skeptical and wanted me to return it. Being the fabulous wife that I am, I kept it for myself instead and refused to feel guilty about it.

This simple bracelet can tell me how many steps I've taken, how many calories I've burned (including natural burn by age, weight and  gender as well as those burned by activity), how many flights of stairs I've climbed, how many active minutes I've had in the day and it can wake me up with gentle vibrations, instead of loud noises that wake the rest of the household.

I love that the screen on my Fitbit Force not only tells the time, it displays real time stats and syncs with my phone and laptop wireless. Technology these days truly is amazing.

Unfortunately, there was a voluntary recall on the Fitbit Force last year due to the fact that some people were having skin irritation from the charging terminal on the underside of the monitor. I have extremely sensitive skin, but I never had any problems with skin irritation; regardless, after months of debating, I sent my Fitbit Force back for a refund under the recall last month. A timely decision as Fitbit has now released its predecessor in time for Christmas!

The brand new Fitbit Charge has all the features of the Fitbit Force PLUS phone notifications; how cool is that?

And in early 2015, they will be releasing two more models, one with a built in heart rate monitor and one with the heart rate monitor and a GPS. I've been looking at GPS watches and noticed none of them do the daily activity monitoring as well as GPS tracking, so I may have end up holding out just a little bit longer.


But if you or one of your loved ones is looking to make a lifestyle change in 2015, a Fitbit Activity Monitor may be just the thing. I bought one for each of my parents last mothers and fathers day and to say they have some healthy competition over their step goals is definitley not an exageration. In fact at least two of their friends now have Fitbit Activity Monitors and are in on the action.

Fitbit.com offers Free Shipping (and its fast, I ordered my parents' online) and returns on Christmas Gifts until January 31st, all without having to wait in line at the mall. The new Fitbit Charge retails for $129.99, which I personally feel is money well spent.

FYI, I just ordered a Fitbit Charge for a Christmas Gift
and they are on Pre-order in Canada.
They are expected to ship in 1-2 weeks. - 23 Nov 2014

Links in this post are Affiliate Links and I will recieve a small commission should you choose to purchase a Fitbit Activity Monitor using the links; the opinions expressed in my purely my own.

'A Joy to Share' with Kinder and the Children's Miracle Network | #Kindermom

To say life has been busy lately, would be an understatement. Life has been hectic, exciting and full of change, so much so, that I almost forgot to let you know about an exciting campaign that Kinder has embarked on to help us remember to think of others this holiday season.

But I digress, over the past month and a half, we have packed box after box and through the process we've taken the time to explain to Bolt and Simba that we don't need to keep everything.  We explained that they could donate some of their toys for other children to enjoy and they seemed to take pride in placing their old toys in the donate box.  They did get a little crazy at one point and started putting EVERYTHING in the box, only to fish it back out the next day.

In this materialistic world we live in, its important to take the time to teach our children to think of others and I'm excited to tell you about a very fun and easy way to donate $1 to the Children's Miracle Network, from the comfort of your own home, with the help of your children.

Can it get any better than that?

Kinder® has partnered with the Children's Miracle Network's 'A Joy To Share Program'.  Head over to the 'A Joy To Share' on Facebook and they will donate $1 to the Children's Miracle Network when you create a digital greeting card. The program is super easy to use, you can click through options to choose your background, character, greeting and message and of course you can sign it with your own name.  

A Joy to Share is a fun way to teach your kids about giving and you end up with a card to share with all your friends and family.

And if you're looking for delicious morsels for your children's stocking, be sure and check out the Kinder holiday goodies. It's been such a challenge to keep from busting open that giant egg, I do have two children and there's an odd number of treats, no one would ever know!

“Disclosure: I’m part of the Kinder® Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own”

Merry Christmas | Not-So-Wordless Wednesday

It's hard to believe that the whirlwind that is Christmas has come and gone.  The boy still has a pile of presents under the tree and has taken to saying 'Merry Presents' rather than Merry Christmas.  It's the first year he's had any sort of understanding of Christmas, or even the concept of presents.

Seeing Christmas through the boy's eyes make's everything new again, from the small Steveston Santa Parade, to the overwhelming barrage of Christmas presents, its nearly impossible not to enjoy Christmas with an eager toddler in tow.
As I hoped, my Merry Christmas came in the form of a brand new, custom Sony Vaio laptop; unfortunately it came equipped with Photoshop Elements and I've been using Lightroom, so I have some researching and learning to do before my photos will be looking all beautiful with rounded again.  I'm also hoping to learn to do a quick and easy watermark.

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas, Hanukkah or holiday season spent with those you love.

Last Minute Gift Ideas | Hallmark Press Pause Panel

I'm starting to get excited, Christmas is only a few short sleeps away.  I can't wait to see the boys face when he sees the tree and the presents waiting for him.  I can't wait to see his delight at his new toys and watch as he enjoys them.  Of course its the baby's first Christmas so that's exciting too, though he won't really know what's going on, I'm positive I'll catch him eating paper.

All that being said, I have a lot of wrapping to do.  My shopping is pretty much complete and this year Hallmark helped me out in that department.  Check out some of the great stuff I received as a member of the Hallmark Press Pause Panel.

The Rockin' Talking Santa Hat is super fun, not only does it sing Santa Clause is Coming to Town it dances back and forth all on its own.    The hat has a full frame on the inside so its a little heavy and won't fit a toddlers head, though they might just dance along.

And where there's dancing, there's often singing and the Merry-okee microphone transforms you into an elf with the push of the button.  I love the elf voice, but neither the boy or the hubs seems to get quite as much joy from it as I do.  Merry-okee comes with six pre-recorded holiday songs to sing along with, including 'silly versions'.

This is our first year with a full-size tree, so we can finally really start amassing our own family collection of ornaments.  The Wayne Gretsky Ornament is perfect for Hockey Loving Canadian dads; the hubs is getting one this year.

Have an early reader in the house? Jingle the Husky Pup Interactive Storybook and Story Buddy are super fun, read your child the story and as you read along jingle will jump right in and bark, whimper and sing.  The best part?  I was at Wal-Mart yesterday and saw Jingle in store.

Hallmark has been helping us remember to 'Press Pause' because Life is a Special Occasion all year long, and now they want to help us celebrate Christmas.  What are you doing to 'Press Pause' this holiday season?

I received Hallmark product for the purposes of this post, however all opinions are my own.

Craft Fair

I have so many fond memories of sitting on the floor of my mom`s sewing room, listening to oldies on the radio and making all sort of crafts; sewing, gluing, ironing, you name it we did it.  Of course I was usually making random crafts, while my mom was making crafts for selling, but regardless we spent many hours in that room together.

Given the recent rekindling of my relationship with sewing, I`ve been working with my mom to make some baby related items to sell at a few local craft fairs that we are going to attend with my gramma. We`ve also started up an Etsy Shop, Mom Love- to sell all of our goods, I hope to have some items listed very soon.

Here are a few photos of items that we will have for sale both at the Craft Fairs and in our Etsy Shop.

My personal favourites are the lovee security blankets.  These little blankets measure approximately 16"x14" and are made from shaggy minky fleece and patterned satin.  We have lovees in a variety of colours, in addition to the white there is brown, pink and blue minky fleece and we have satin in cherry, owls and a few geometric patterns.  These lovee blankets and are the perfect size for little hands and provide great tactile variety; my little man can't get enough of his whether he's in the car seat, Ergo carrier, playing on the floor or in his crib.

Our pacifier clips come in a number of fun fabrics, including a number of Christmas styles.  What makes our clips unique is that they are all finished with either a teddy bear or heart shaped clips.  These pacifier clips are a perfect compliment to a holiday outfit or for everyday wear.

Our reversible drool bandannas are made with three layers for the ultimate drool protection. An absorbent (and cute) flannel top layer, a water resistant core and an ultra soft minky fleece layer next to your little ones' skin.  Not only are they functional they are so much cuter than a traditional bib.

We also have a number of handmade quilts, including this lovely nautical themed blanket.

Last but not least, if traditional bibs are more your style, we have reversible bibs with a cotton upper and either a flannel or minky fleece bottom.

We will have a number of other items for sale including burp cloths, and cloth bags to name a few.

This Saturday we will be at a craft fair in Ladner BC at the McKee Christmas House Craft Fair , if you happen to be in the area, drop by and say hello.  Here are the details:

McKee Seniors' Recreation Centre

Christmas Craft Fair
Saturday November 19

10am - 3pm
5155 - 47th Avenue Delta, BC V4K 1R4

Next Saturday, we`ll be at the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair - a much busier and bigger event.

Wish List

Apparently its November 13.  Its almost December and I feel like the last two weeks were literally a blur.  We had Halloween, the boy had a hearing test and a consultation with a specialist, the baby had his 6 month shots, cut a tooth and had a cold.  Add on two mornings of preschool for the boy and time has been scarce.

Christmas is in a month and a half and my family has been asking for a Wish List since the beginning of the month.  What I really really want is one big item, a new laptop, but if that`s not the case, I`d like to have a few of these under the tree this year.

• A new laptop, nothing too fancy, but something that I can use for blogging and has the capacity to run Lightroom for my photos.
• A remote timer for Nikon D3000, they are under $5 on ebay, I haven`t priced them out in store, but I can`t imagine they are that cheap.
• Soft leather gloves to keep my hands warm and my eczema under control.  Size L.
• A nice pair of Slippers, I usually buy my Mom and Mother in law real sheepskin slippers at Costco for about $30, I`d love a pair of those.  Size 9.
• Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion, my sister got me a sample and its great.
• Body Shop Mango Body Butter we used it as children and although its consistency has changed since then, I still love it.  Plus it works great for the boy and his sensitive skin.
• A new set of measuring spoons, not the kind on a ring, I want to be able to use one spoon at a time.
• Gevalia Decaf Espresso, Maxwell House Decaf or Gevalia Dark Roast T-Discs for my Tassimo Machine, mmm homemade Americano`s here I come.  I`m not sure if you can get the decaf espresso in store (I`ve never seen it), but its free shipping right now when purchased online!

And a few big ticket items; definitely more wish than a list.

• Phillips Sonicare Toothbrush, we tried them at Blissdom Canada and they were amazing. 
• A large purse style camera bag, love the Epiphanie Ginger but its a pretty big ticket item that I would never expect.
• A Kindle e-reader would be amazing, we bought both my mom and my mother-in-law one this year, so there`s lots of book lending potential, plus I hear that we may be able to borrow ebooks from the library soon!

I feel like there`s so much more that I want, but at this moment its all that I can think of.  I may add more items as I think of them.  What are you asking for this year?

Happy Holidays

Wow, it's hard to believe its Christmas eve already.  Tomorrow morning we will wake up and one of the most magical days of the year will be upon us.  As a child, I never remember any speeches or demands for good beahviour; we just knew that Christmas was a day to put yesterday's arguments behind us.  A day to enjoy smiles and hugs, laughter and warmth.  It's a day for family.

And tomorrow, that's where we'll be, with family.

I hope that you too will be with your family for the holiday's, whatever holidays your family celebrates.  I wish you and yours love and warmth and much happiness.