Ever since the beginning, Little One just had to be unique.  She insisted on catapulting herself into existence at 28 weeks gestation.  This was a first in our family's history.  There were no preemies on either side of the family.

To this day, our four year old displays her uniqueness in the way she thinks, the way she vocalizes her opinions (Ha! So young, yet has an opinion about everything), and especially in displaying her likes and preferences.

Friends and family know that I have always been anti-pink.  Even from a young age, I boycotted pink! My aunts used to always get everything in pink for me and I resisted.  I always opted for blue!

When Little One was born, I wanted no pink items.  We ended up with everything pink.  I believe it was to spite me that everyone showered us with PINK!  Despite my protests, Little One's favourite colour is pink.  She is a veritable girly girl.  I don't know how that happened, since we haven't raised her in an environment that teaches girls to love pink and be girly girls or play with dolls.

In fact, Hubby bought her John Deere outfits and we got her toy trucks, trains, school buses and cars.  Still, she somehow gravitated to the pink and the dolls, toy kitchens, doll houses, etc.  There's nothing wrong with that at all, and we encourage her to do what she enjoys.  I just think it's rather interesting how given all opportunities to use tools and do science experiments (which she loves), she also loves playing house and being a princess-fairy-ballerina. I think it's great that a princess-fairy-ballerina can play in the dirt and play with Star Wars action figures with her friends. Why not?


Since Little One is an only child, we have no reference point to determine what makes her different from other children.  She's without a doubt, one of a kind.  She has risen over what seemed to me to be insurmountable odds of being a preemie and she is thriving.  I think what makes her unique in our eyes is how tenacious she is. She's spirited and feisty...and that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

All I know is that each child is unique and special in their own ways.  I like that Kinder Canada "gets" that.  Kinder Canada has launched their Kinder Surprise Pink and they're celebrating with a contest.




I'm a fan of the original/classic Kinder Surprise with toys that are gender neutral.  Having said this, my daughter is a fan of the Kinder Surprise Pink.  She loves the cute little animals, the jewelry, and girl toys.  I have to say that she also likes the cars and cool toys found in the blue Kinder Surprise too.

Kinder Canada is having a great Pink contest!  Tell Kinder Canada what makes YOUR child one of a kind and you can win 1 of 3 $250 VISA gift cards! To enter, "like" Kinder Canada on Facebook and enter here telling them what makes your child unique!

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.

Easter is coming up and I've been thinking of traditions I'd like to share with Little One now that she's a bit older. Last year, we made EASTER CUPCAKES and I think we'll incorporate that into our "Annual Things To-Do".


Would you like the recipe? I've posted it here.

Of course, I'd like to show Little One how to paint Easter eggs. I remember in Kindergarten, our principal brought his mom to school and she taught our entire school how to make Ukrainian Easter eggs with wax and dye.

Since Little One is only four years old, I may try something easier for now.


Speaking of eggs (Ha! Well, that's a conversation ice breaker if I ever heard one!)...

When I was a kid, getting the occasional Kinder treat was always a welcomed surprise! I can still remember the excitement felt when my brothers and I opened up our Kinder Surprise, ate the yummy chocolate, and discovered what Kinder toy awaited us!  It was always a lottery - the anticipation, the excitement, and finding out what we 'won'! Well, that's how I felt about Kinder eggs when I was a kid! My favourite toys were the Smurfs!

Though the name Kinder® Canada is synonymous with chocolaty treats, there is so much more to Kinder® than you may think!

• Kinder® ‘Shake & Win’ Contest: To kick off the sharing, Kinder® Canada will be launching a fun ‘Shake & Win’ Instant Win Contest on their Facebook page, with 1,000 free Kinder® Mini Eggs coupons and 1,000 free Kinder® Surprise® 100g Egg coupons up for grabs over five straight weekdays! Starting March 4th through until the 8th, friends of the Facebook page will have one chance each day to WIN by “shaking” a Kinder® Egg. Rendez-vous atwww.facebook.com/KinderCanada 

• Support to Children’s Miracle Network: Sharing is caring. This is what the celebration is all about for KINDER® Canada, who will be donating $1 to Children’s Miracle Network of Canada for every new friend of their Facebook Page from March 1st to 31st, up to $25,000. Yet another reason to tell everyone about a great brand rooting for a great cause… bringing joy to children across Canada!

• New Kinder® Easter Gallery: You’ll be delighted to discover Kinder goodness you’ve never seen before such as the Kinder® Surprise® Egg Painting Kit or the Kinder® Mini Eggs in 35g format with their brand-new ‘Easter’ Gallery on Facebook. So many treats to discover! Our Toy Gallery will also show off our (10 BIGGER!) 'Easter' toys found in their Kinder Surprise Maxi 150g and Kinder Surprise 100g!).  Vote for their favourite here:http://bit.ly/KinderToys

• Our beloved Easter bunny Harry is touring Canada! Keep your eyes peeled, Harry will be making surprise appearances at family events in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary & Vancouver this March to celebrate Easter and spread the joy with FREE samples of Kinder® Mini eggs. Stay up to date on where Harry will be by checking the Kinder® Canada Facebook page!

Sure, we're excited about the Kinder treats, but I think the most exciting thing by far is that from March 1st to the 31st Kinder Canada will be donating up to $25,000 to the Children's Miracle Network. Bringing joy to children across Canada is another reason to tell everyone about this great brand.

My four year old is going to be excited to see the Easter basket she got from Kinder Canada! Can't wait to surprise her with it!

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.

Our Kinder Canada box arrived, and to my surprise, it contained forty-eight Kinder Surprise eggs! FORTY-EIGHT! 24 KINDER® Barbie and 24 KINDER® Hot Wheels eggs! How eggciting!

Before I begin, I have to say that we tried to raise Little One in a non-girlie fashion. When I found out I was pregnant, I opted for all gender-neutral items and wanted nothing pink or blue. When Little One was born, everyone kept giving us pink items! PINK!

As much as I resisted and boycotted, and didn't want Little One to grow up a total girlie girl, things sort of turned out that way. Even though Hubby and I never encouraged or thrust upon her all things girlie, she has developed a love for frilly, frou-frou, blingy, sparkly, PINK things. Though in our house, we never introduced her to Dora, Barbie, or Hello Kitty, princess, fairies, Little One is obsessed with all of the above.

To say Little One is a girlie girl is indeed a huge understatement. Take a look for yourselves:
A friend gave Little One her first Barbie last year for her 3rd Birthday, and all of a sudden, they multiplied! She now has six Barbies and two Kens! Ken has changed since I was a little girl. He sort of looks like Justin Bieber now, don't you think?

Anyway, when we found out about KINDER® Canada's Barbie and Hot Wheels eggs, the excitement could not be contained. Curious about Kinder for Girls? Click here for more details.

Little One instantly gravitated towards the Barbie box, but she was also interested in the Hot Wheels, saying that she can't wait to share them with her friends. She does like cars, and plays racing games with her friends.

Though we love the classic Kinder Surprise eggs, Little One is pretty excited about the Barbie and Hot Wheels ones! I did let her have one Kinder Surprise after school the other day as a treat for doing a great job practicing getting in and out of her snow pants and coat --something she is having difficulty doing on her own at school. She says her zipper sticks. She did well when we practiced, so I let her have an egg. When she got the little Barbie inside, she was elated! I can see how these Kinder toys will add to her playtime fun. She is using her little Kinder Barbie as one of her other Barbies' babies! She said "Barbie and Ken had a baby. This is Baby Barbie!"

Have I mentioned how much she loves playing house and cooking? She was cooking for her Barbie and Ken dolls, saying they were her children and that Arthur is her husband. Ummm...Apparently, Little One thinks she's going to marry Arthur. Arthur the aardvark from the cartoon series! Oy!

To kick off this amazing launch of these new Kinder Surprise Barbie and Hot Wheels eggs, Kinder Canada is giving away 40 Kinder Barbie and Kinder Hot Wheels Prize Packs!

As of January 10th, for 4 weeks, you can participate in the Kinder Canada Barbie and Hot Wheels contest simply by becoming a fan of Kinder Canada on Facebook and following the contest rules!


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.

Seeing the expression on Little One's face when she receives her special Kinder Surprise treats is incredible. Who knew that something so little like receiving a chocolate egg with a surprise inside could totally make a child's day?

We give Little One a Kinder Surprise treat when she accomplishes a task like getting her coat buttoned and zipped by herself or cleaning up her toy room. Sometimes she gets an occasional treat just because.

The best part about being a #KinderMom is that now we receive Kinder Surprise to share with all of Little Ones friends! For Halloween, she shared ALL of her Kinder eggs with her Junior Kindergarten class. She's even made random egg drop-offs to unsuspecting neighbours. We live in the countryside and our community has a lot of senior citizens. They love it when Little One pays them a visit. Sometimes, she brings them a Kinder egg. I find it amusing that she says, "I love chocolate! You can eat the chocolate. I'll let you, but can I have the toy?" *sigh* Kids!


Here are some of the awesome Holiday-themed Kinder Surprise goodies we received.

Little One has discovered my hiding place (Yes, I hide all the Kinder Surprise loot!), and she ate some of the chocolate and continues to enjoy playing with the toys. This said, she has done a super job at sharing.  We always get odd comments like, "Wow! For an only child, she's really good!" or "Wow! I'm shocked! For an only child, she's good at sharing!" We have absolutely no idea what that's supposed to mean. We're just glad that she loves to share with friends and family though.


Since the Holiday Season is fast approaching, so is the season for sharing and giving.  We realize that sharing and giving is important year-round, but during the holidays especially.

Little One is no stranger to the idea of "Giving Back". Because she was a preemie and spent the first 72 days of her life in the NICU at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Mount Sinai and the NICU are near and dear to our hearts. I keep telling people this, but it's true. If not for our "second family", Little One would not be with us today. We give back monthly by monetary donations and this year with a fundraiser where 100% of proceeds go to our cause - the Perinatal Parents Association. We want to help families with babies who are in the NICU. We know what it's like, because we've been through it.

Little One is also giving back this year to children less fortunate than she is. Though we are by no means rich monetarily, we are so rich in many other ways. Little One will be donating her clothing she has outgrown, as well as giving some of her toys away. Hubby wants to do "for each new toy Little One receives, she must give one old one to a child who doesn't have as much as she does".

Speaking of sharing...

I'm excited to tell you about the KINDER® A Joy To Share Program! 

KINDER® Canada is proud to support the Children's Miracle Network. The Children's Miracle Network has been to save and improve the lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals since 1983.

In support of The Children's Miracle Network, KINDER® Canada will be giving away 7,500 coupons to enjoy their delicious KINDER® Mini Eggs for free! Giveaway begins November 26th and lasts for 10 weekdays (750 coupons each day at 12pm EST)! This is exclusive for KINDER®’s Facebook community and is celebrating KINDER®’s 'A Joy To Share' program in support of Children's Miracle Network of Canada!
{Not-So-Secret-Mom-Confession}
Little One has decided she doesn't like nuts. She doesn't seem to like the texture of nuts. Unlike Kinder Surprise, Kinder Mini Eggs do contain hazelnuts. Mommy and Daddy got to share the Mini Eggs. So good!

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.

 KINDER® Surprise has always been a part of my life.  As a child, my brothers and I used to get Kinder eggs as a treat every once in a while.  I remember collecting Smurfs and other little toys that we had to assemble! Of course, we loved the chocolate, but the fun and excitement was in what kind of surprise would be awaiting us in that little egg!