I have a confession.  I am the Mom of a Preemie Drama Queen.  Ever since her grand grand entrance into the world (at three months premature), Little One has decided that it's either go big, or go home.  Everything she does, she does it with gusto.  It's all drama in this household.  "Spirited" is a very mild good way of describing her character.

I also have to admit that my three year old has a closet filled with costumes.  She's a drama queen, alright!  There were days when I'd have to take her on errands to the bank, post office and grocery store, decked out in her lion costume.  Other days, she'd have to dress up as a chicken and have a tea party with her stuffed animals.  Then there are the fairy and princess moments.
The good thing about having a closet full of costumes is that she can play dress up with all of her friends.  She's got costumes for everyone and no one gets left out.  Well, unless you're a boy and don't want to wear a princess fairy tutu.

This issue has been resolved. Thanks to a fantastic company called The Orb Factory, we received the Cardboard Adventures™ Knight.
In a time when brave and gallant knights protected princesses from ferocious dragons and neighbouring enemies, this cardboard knight's armour was perfect! Our little ones have great imaginations and put this costume to good use!

The box says this is suitable for children aged 4+, and with good reason. My friend and I pretty much assembled the knight's armour (okay, my friend did 99% of the assembly since I was snapping photos!). There were a few little pieces to affix and clasp so that the pieces fit together and stayed together. Do not assemble in the presence of very young children. You will lose your parts and pieces! We managed to collect all our missing pieces and all was good in the world again.


The greatest joy was the feeling of accomplishment Little One's "boy friend" (notice I didn't say "boyfriend") had when he personalized his sword and armour.  The pieces for the sword are reinforced with additional cardboard. Thank goodness too! Little One jabbed the sword into the couch. She didn't render it useless since it was reinforced.


The costume provides hours of fun, imaginative play. We were pretty curious as to how the cardboard would stand up with a bunch of 2, 3, and 4 year olds.  It was fine!


For more information on the Cardboard Adventures Knight and Orb Factory, please visit:


Disclosure - We received Cardboard Adventures™ Knight for review purposes. All the thoughts and opinions on this blog are honest and my own.

Little One was just toilet trained over the Holidays. I know the road to being completely toilet trained is sometimes a long one.  Accidents happen.  I get that.  She hasn't had any accidents lately, but I secretly dreaded our 11+ hour drive. It wasn't so much the drive that had me worried (because we're used to taking lengthy road trips), but it was the having to stop at every other gas station or restaurant so she could use the toilet that stressed me out.

She's a fantastic traveler.  She happily sits in her car seat and "reads" books, sings, tells us stories, plays with her toys, eats her snacks, sleeps, and now watches DVDs.  That's an entire blog post on its own though. I've been boycotting getting a DVD player for the car because we don't like Little One watching too much TV.  I caved on the holidays and got her one. More on that later.

Since we live on an island (far, far, far away from all our loved ones and relatives), we always have to make the long drives to see everyone. This time, we accompanied Grampy to Toronto to pick up Lola ("Grandma" in Tagalog/Filipino) at the airport. Toronto is only a 6 hour drive.
We also decided to visit Little One's 4 year old cousin and twincess cousins since Little One doesn't get to see  her cousins often.  Any chance I get get Little One a visit with her cousins, I'll take it. I grew up with my cousins, so having all of the kids living so far apart makes me really sad.

While visiting Little One's cousins, we took the kids to Chuck-E Cheese for the twincesses' 3rd birthday. It was an early/family celebration since we were in town.  Little One and I had never been to Chuck-E Cheese before and I wanted to see what all the hype was about.
It started off really well. Little One was excited to be going to Chuck-E Cheese for the first time! She was a bit apprehensive and thought it was "too noisy".
She had fun, but I think it was a bit of sensory overload for her.  Then all hell broke loose.

Chuck-E Cheese entered the room.
Little One was terrified.  She backed herself into the corner of the booth we were sitting in. She looked like a trapped animal. It was so sad (okay, and a little funny - sadistic adults). Chuck-E Cheese left the room and then returned with a pail of tickets to throw around for the kids. When he returned, Little One freaked! She flew from her side of the booth, under the table and across to me.  It was the craziest thing I  had ever seen! She kept saying, "I want to go home now!"

Wow. She thought he was cute when she saw his pictures, but the man-sized mouse really scared her.  Her cousins, on the other hand, were hugging him!  I guess Disney World is going to have to wait for another couple of years.
Our 11 hour drive home turned out to be a 13 hour drive because of the inclement weather.  Snowy, slushy roads, reduced visibility, black ice...you name it, we had it.  That, coupled with a wee one who has just learned how to use the toilet, made for an adventurous drive.  I put a pull-up on Little One "just in case". I knew we'd be in between gas stations for a huge stretch of the drive. She refuses to use the potty and wants the toilet. She refuses to soil her pull-ups too.

At one point, she got carsick. After changing her clothes, cleaning her and the back of the van, I gave her Gravol and that knocked her out. Poor thing.  She did tell me, "Mommy, you saved me!"

Then she had to poop! We were nowhere near a rest station and she wouldn't go on the side of the road (it was also too dangerous to stop with the reduced visibility). Even with telling her she could poop in her pull-up if she had to, she wouldn't. She also said, "It's not good for me! Owwwweeeeeee! It's hurtin'!"

When we finally stopped, she was relieved. She said, "Mommy! You saved my life!"

Things I've learned on this trip:
1. I'm thankful I don't have to change any poopy diapers anymore!
2. Trips take a lot longer when you've got a child out of diapers/pull-ups.
3. Always carry Children's Gravol when road tripping!
4. Chuck-E Cheese is a fun place, but can be scary and overwhelming for some kids!

I won't lie. When it's really cold out, I don't feel like leaving our cozy, toasty warm house.  Because we live in the countryside, it's quite a trek to get to Early Learning Play Groups sometimes. While I'm on a break from teaching for a few months (for family reasons), I need to keep my 3-year old occupied.

Little One's friends come over twice a week to play and socialize.

In the warmer months, playing outside is great on the farm!  With a few hundred acres of land, it's a great way to tire out engage/entertain 3-year old kids! They either just run around, play with the barn cats, look for fairies in the nooks and crannies of our apple trees, go for walks, climb the rock cuts, supervised by me, of course. In the winter months, playing outside is just as fun. We can build snow forts, snowmen, make snow angels, etc. Sadly, we don't have any snow right now! 

Even though Little One loves the outdoors, sometimes the winter days can be too cold for her to venture out. Even she insists on staying in! This means I need to have lots of indoor activities to keep her occupied, having fun, and learning.

Most of the activities are ones I've stock-piled since I started teaching ESL in 1998. I've taught a few kindergarten classes AGES ago and have since added new activities to my repertoire.

Some activities we've done so far:

1. HOMEMADE SLIME!

Homemade slime is oodles and oodles of slimy fun (for kids and parents)!  It also teaches kids about what happens when  you mix certain substances together! My little one was going around telling people, "I know how to make polymer!"

2. TACTILE RAINBOW MACARONI
I dyed different types of noodles with food colouring and set them aside to dry. The kids played with them, put them into containers, bottles, etc. Then they had fun emptying them into bins. I saved the macaroni and the kids used them for crafts later on. They made pencil holders by decorating used/washed tin cans and glued the rainbow macaroni on them. They also made necklaces and bracelets with them.

3. HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH
It's not so much playing with the play dough itself that was fun. It was the process of making the play dough that was part of the excitement!

**If you want the recipes for any of the above or below, let me know :)

4. BAKING TIME
Always a favourite indoor activity for Little One and her friends.

Whole wheat pastry flour & organic raw cane sugar cookies with fruit instead of icing. A friend of mine told me about this recipe she found online. It was great fun for the kids and I didn't feel so badly about Little One eating the cookies because they were healthier than regular sugar laden cookies.
 Your not-so-sugar-free cookies below. Colourful, fun to make and decorate.


5. DRESS UP PARTIES
My 3 year old has a closet full of costumes. I'm not joking when I say this either! She has ballerina, fairy, princess costumes, as well as a chicken, lion, and strawberry costume. She loves play dress-up with her friends.

When Little One's friends aren't over, this is what her play time looks like. Yes, tea parties with her Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn™ Say Please™ Tea Set and her stuffed friends.

I have got to say "Thank goodness for Fisher-Price and their Play and Learn Family Activities!" Parents can go on there and click on their children's age groups to find activities that are age appropriate for them! How did I not know this before?!

I checked out the 3-4 Year Activities and was impressed and excited to see all the activities they have listed for children Little One's age.

I am totally saving some of these ideas to use with Little One. Recycle Art, Storybook Theater, and Sand and Water are on my list of activities to do with Little One this month! I know she will love them! I'm making a point to try out all the other ideas listed there too!

Fisher-Price not only has fabulous products for kids of varying stages of development and growth, but they're also a great resource for parents to go to when in need of fun activities that will pique your children's interest!  If you are looking for fun indoor activities to do with your children in the cold winter months, check out the Fisher-Price Play and Learn Family Activities link!
“Disclosure: I am a Fisher-Price Mom and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”

Some of you may already know that I'm a guest blogger on the Canadian Beef Blog.  I was not born into a farming family, but I married into one.  I blog about life as a city girl living on a working beef farm.  Hopefully, I can offer a unique perspective by linking city and country (coming from both worlds), let people know more about the beef farming industry (like debunk certain myths about beef farming!), and just share our adventures on the farm. Not only am I a city girl living in the country, but I'm also a Chinese-Caribbean-Filipina-Torontonian-Montrealer living on an island in Northern Ontario! This all makes for some interesting (and often comedic) blog fodder!

Here's my latest post - Not Yo' Standard Meat and Potatoes!

Pssst! If you read the post, you'll see that I've included Hubby's favourite beef recipe! It's not just your standard steak and potatoes either!
Follow Canadian Beef on their blog, on Twitter, and on Facebook too!

Thank you to everyone who entered our Pampers Prize Pack Giveaway!  Thank you for also hanging in there and being incredibly patient with us while our beloved Rafflecopter was down.  Good news is that the amazing folks at Rafflecopter have fixed the problem with my Rafflecopter form. If that wasn't good enough, I've got more news. We have a winner for our Pampers Prize Pack Giveaway!
Now, because our Rafflecopter form was down, some of you had to enter in the comments section. I had to take all the entries from the form and all the entries from the comments and randomly choose a number.

Our lucky winner is...



Please check your inbox, as an e-mail has been sent out to you regarding shipping info.

Can I tell you how jealous I am? I absolutely love, love, love that Skip*Hop diaper bag! ;)

It's the new year.  We ushered in 2012 in bed with headaches, aches and pains, fevers, and coughs. All three of us were sick.  First it was Hubby, and then the next day, Little One and I felt ill.  Fortunately for us, it only lasted 24 hours.  The farm is not going to look after itself if we're sick.  Farmers don't have "sick days", holidays, days off, or "weekends".

I know I shouldn't grumble.  Hubby says we're "stewards of the land" and really loves farming, it's in his blood, and believes this is the right thing to do.  This said, I would love to be able to go on vacation as a family someday. With this being a one man operation (plus a city girl for a wife and a very busy toddler who help in any way we can, but almost always just get in the way), it looks unlikely. We are in desperate need of a vacation though.

Anyway...

While I was busy purging our house of unneeded things (a tradition I've adopted every New Year), the dog decided to purge my compost bin of all its contents...ALL OVER the kitchen floor!  I had eggshells, coffee grounds, and avocado pits all over my kitchen floor.

More mess to clean up. Yay.

I then decided to make several different batches of food to serve as supper for the remainder of the week.  I figured that if I did that, it would save me time during the rest of the week.  As I was cooking two different supper dishes at the same time, the phone rang.  Normally, if I had my hands tied, I'd let the voicemail pick up.  Of course, Hubby had to answer the phone and he had to hand it to me.  Yes...while I was in the midst of pots boiling and things going into the oven.

It was my friend SuperAmazingMommy.  We chatted as I cooked.  Of course, my amazing little toddler (who has been on a roll with the toilet training for the past almost three weeks) came running down the stairs.  She had her brand new bathing suit on.  Why does a three year old need to wear a bathing suit in the middle of the winter?  Why, in hopes that her mother will take her to the indoor pool 74 minutes away from the Island!



SuperAmazingMommy and I were discussing something that has been weighing on my mind these days - school.  I'm on the fence on whether to send Little One this year because she was a preemie.  Technically, she's three months behind most kids her age, but doesn't seem to display any signs of being delayed.  Still, the thought of my tiny little munchkin being in school all day, five days a week, and having to make a long commute on the bus (because we live in the sticks), makes me feel ill.  It seriously makes me anxiety-filled.  She is so tiny and still needs her afternoon naps.  Without them, she is on grumpy kid.

SuperAmazingMommy reminded me of what our Neonatal Specialist (who is also our pediatrician) said.  "There is no rush.  Too many parents do their children a tremendous disservice by rushing them." This goes for potty training as well.  I've been feeling the pressure from all ends on the potty training issue.  I forgot that Little One's Neonatal Specialist told is not to rush her and that she would potty train when she's ready.  She said not to even consider it until after she's three years old "corrected" (which would be in February).

Just as I said, "Well, [insert Little One's real name here] has been a toilet training superstar!  No diapers.  Peeing and pooping in the toilet and not the potty. No accidents at all", what should happen?

I heard a thundering gush like the sound of Niagara Falls coming from the stairs leading to the kitchen.

"MOMMY! I had an accident!"

 The other week, the family and I enjoyed a rare "day out" together.  Many of you know that we live on a farm. Because we've got cattle and there are always lots of chores to do on the farm, we don't get to have a family day out together very often.

We spent the day in the "big smoke" and even had a chance to get some items for a doggy basket for Chance. He's been a good pup and deserves some treats!

We decided to check out the new Walmart in Sudbury.  We usually go to the one located at the New Sudbury Center, but wanted to see how the new Walmart fared.  I am happy to say that the pet supplies section had a lot to choose from.  There was a good selection of Milk-Bone® and Pup-peroni treats, but no Milo's Kitchen treats to be found.

We brought home Chance's goodies and Little One helped me make a doggy gift basket for him! In the basket, we added a stuffed animal (Chance loves his stuffed friends!), Milk-Bone® dog original biscuits, Milk-Bone® Oral Care Crunchy Bites, Milk-Bone® Soft & Chewy Chicken Drumsticks, Pup-peroni Lean Beef flavoured treats (with Omega-3 fatty acids for healthy skin and coat), and a doggy chew toy.

Yes, this is one lucky puppy!

 Little One was pretty impressed with herself.  She picked out all the goodies for Chance herself (with the help of Mom and Dad, of course)!
 Chance, the very happy recipient of this doggy gift basket, was willing to show us every trick he has in his repertoire (which isn't very much)! :)

We love our canine baby...and he loves his Milk-Bone® Doggy Basket!
You can view all the photos of our excursion by viewing my  Google+ album.

Disclosure - This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions on this blog are honest and my own.  #ILoveMyk9 and #CBias

2011 has been an eventful one.  We've experienced some amazing highs, some moments of frustration, and moments of sadness.  Like my father always says, "You can't appreciate the good if you don't experience the bad".

January
Balancing family, the farm, freelance jobs and teaching ESL proved to be more difficult than I thought. Thankfully, I have some very supportive family members (thanks to my Hubby, Lola, Grampy, and MIL). I also have great friends who help me get through even the toughest, most challenging moments of mommyhood.

February
There were moments when I thought I was going to completely lose it.
 I don't think I ever told anyone (except my husband and my best friend) how difficult a time I was having trying to keep things together. I struggled immensely with trying to balance motherhood and all the zillions of other things I had on my plate (like work, committees, farm, house, and everything else). To this day, I am still amazed at how women all over the world just do it and not get burnt out. I don't believe it has to be an either or decision - motherhood or work. I believe the two can be happily married, but it is a challenge. It's a lot of figuring out how to do both and do them both well.

Little One moved into her "big girl" bed. Everything is changing. I'm not sure if I'm ready for all this change.

March
I try to always trust my gut instinct. Thank goodness too. I was almost a victim to an online scam where this person tried to swindle me out of my money by posing as an ESL student in need of assistance. Luckily, I'm not that gullible. Luckily, I do my research. I just hope he/she/they don't take advantage of any other good, kindhearted people. If you see a suspicious-looking e-mail, always report it. I hope the police can nail this person. It just makes me sick to think of all the unsuspecting people who have already fallen victim to him.

Little One is still as busy as can be. Some days, I wonder if I'll be alive by the time she's five.

April
We said goodbye to my ESL student. I taught him for eight months. It was really sad to say goodbye. Little One was particularly fond of him and thought he was part of the family. It's amazing that he saw her from not really talking to all of a sudden speaking in sentences. I love that Little One is exposed to people from different cultures.

May
Little One's vocabulary has increased tenfold. I've been learning how to cook more Korean dishes. That's one of the great things about teaching ESL. My students learn English and they learn about Canadian culture. In return, I learn so much from them (like cooking Korean Bulgogi)!

June
Hubby and I celebrated five years of marriage.

We took Little One to the Mount Sinai Hospital NICU/Preemie Picnic. Hard to believe our healthy, happy, fiercely independent toddler was once a 980 g baby. It was a very emotional day. It was great to meet up with some of the nurses, staff, and other NICU parents who helped us through Little One's first few weeks of life.

July
Every now and then, I am reminded of how blessed we are to be living in our little corner of Ontario. Though I sometimes miss my city life, I am reminded of how breathtakingly beautiful Manitoulin Island is. We're surrounded by beaches and we're not too far from Tobermory. I took my students to Tobermory for a class trip. The glass bottom boat tour and the shipwrecks were a hit with the students.
August
August is always a busy time of the year on the farm. Our students learn a lot here. They don't only learn English, but they learn about where their food comes from. 

Little One won the Cutest Baby contest over at PhotoCaptiva.


I am excited to say that I am a recipient of the Mom Central Canada Blogger Grant! What an incredible honour!

September
I was invited to the She's Connected Conference in Toronto, where I was able to network with brands, meet some fabulous ladies, learn more about the social media world and what brands are looking for in social media women, and just hang out with some of my favourite Tweeps.

Okay, I was a bit starstruck when I got to meet one of my favourite TV cooking personalities!Yes, it's Christine Cushing! Does this woman ever know how to cook!? Amazing!

Little One was weaned from her soother/pacifier. We went to Montreal for my godson's baptism and I conveniently forgot to pack her soothers. She was forced to go cold turkey and hasn't looked back. It was a brutal few days and she kept asking for it. Okay, she kept crying screaming for it! She survived and hasn't had it since.


I was given the opportunity to be an official food blogger for Food Network Canada's reality TV show, Recipe to Riches! 
October
We learned that a good friend of ours died. He and his wife used to come to the Island every Fall and spend a week with us. The news had me so depressed. With each announcement of the passing of friends, I am more and more aware of how finite life on earth is. With loved ones and family members getting to the age where death or serious illness is not surprising, I think about my grandmother in the Philippines and wish she could be closer to us. It makes me really sad to think about losing family members.

I won a Toshiba Tablet from a ShesConnected Twitter party. Love, love, love!
November
Little One turned three years old. 11/11/11. Lucky year, maybe? She seemed to have gone from my sweet little preemie to all of a sudden a little girl. She feeds herself, dresses herself, and wants to do everything herself. I have to be honest and say that I really, really miss the baby years. It's true when people say, "cherish these moments forever, because they grow up fast". They really do.

I was selected as a #ToshibaBrandAmbassador! Thank you, ShesConnected!

December
I attended the taping of Recipe to Riches' season finale. I also had dim sum with Melaney Gleeson-Lyall as well as a coffee date with Melissa Lam (Recipe to Riches contestants). Through the Twitter world, we've become friends (online and offline).

With Melissa (Banana Chocolate Wow Cake) and Brad (Maple Pouding au Chomeur) at the taping of the finale.

I was selected as one of the #FisherPriceMoms! So excited! Thank you, Mom Central Canada!


We also started a new tradition with our friends - Olde Fashioned Christmas! A few friends with children Little One's age will celebrate each Christmas (well, the weekend before Christmas) with a potluck party and good times for all. The kids made Christmas ornaments, the adults had a good visit, and before the night was done, the kids exchanged homemade presents with each other.


Little One seems to be completely toilet trained. After a few weeks of potty retraining, a few set backs and accidents, she seems to have finally mastered peeing and pooping in the toilet. She is so proud of herself! I am so proud of her. I am also so relieved for myself. That had to be the most frustrating two weeks of my life.

BabyBro came to the Island to spend Christmas with us. One week is definitely too short. He's only been gone two days, but I already miss him.


Looking forward to another wonderful year with friends and family. May the New Year be a very happy and healthy one for everyone.