I grew up watching Sesame Street. Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie...They were all favourites of mine as a kid. My earliest memories are of learning the alphabet and numbers while watching my Sesame Street friends on TV. I even learned about sharing, problem solving, and friendship from the show. Fun and music are incredible tools for early learning.

I always hoped that I would be able to share part of my childhood with my own kids one day, and that included sharing my love of Sesame Street.

The Mommy Diaries is hosting a fantastic giveaway. She is giving away Sesame Street: Let's Make Music to one lucky reader.

In her review, The Mommy Diaries writes:

"Let's Make Music features cast members from the show STOMP. They help the Sesame Street characters explore music and rhythm. It's a very simple story with a wonderful message.
This sounds like the perfect DVD for all kids (and adults!) who love music and love Sesame Street.

To enter the contest, head on over here to find details.

Who is YOUR favourite Sesame Street character? :)

You know something is definitely up when your 17 month old is being way too quiet.

I was busy doing dishes, but wanted to check on Little One. She is a toddler, after all...and she is a very busy little girlie. She's always up to something. This day in particular was no exception.

She sat quietly on the floor, happily emptying out her diaper bag. As I approached, I noticed this incredibly foul smell coming from her. It was a-w-f-u-l! As I got even closer, my heart stopped for a second or two. I almost had a heart attack! Little One looked up at me with this huge smile...COVERED in sticky, gunky, brown goop!!!

Ahhhhh! One of my worst nightmares becoming a reality! If you know me, you'll know how weak a stomach I have. The slightest hint of a foul odour will send my gag reflexes into overdrive and I end up in instant dry heaving. No joke.

When Little One has exceptionally odiferous diapers, I try to suppress the gag reflexes and pass her to Hubby and say, "PLEEEEEASE change her!!!"

In return, Hubby says, "Why me?!?"

The answer? "Because you're a farmer!!! You're used to horrible poopy smells!!!" :) He likes to argue that the cattle don't smell nearly as awful as our toddler though.

Anyway, the horrible stench and a toddler covered from head to toe in BROWN stuff made me panic. That sweet face looked up at me with this beautiful, huge smile...and face and hands covered in yucky brown muck.

I cannot tell you how relieved I was when I realized it was chocolate!! We don't let her eat chocolate or sweets, but she managed to find the chocolate that Grampy (a.k.a. The Spoiler) gave her.

She did poop, but at least she didn't cover herself in it. What a relief! I almost took her outside and grabbed the pressure washer to hose her off.

Thank you to everyone who has commented and entered the Iams ProActive Health contest in partnership with MomCentral! Just a friendly reminder that the contest is still open! There is still time to enter. One lucky winner will receive a coupon for a free 17.5 lb bag of Iams ProActive Health (value of approximately $20).


To enter, just leave me a comment here.

For additional entries:
- Follow me via Google Friend Finder (on my sidebar).
- Follow me via Twitter @chancesmommy.

The deadline for the draw is May 12, 2010. For full details, please refer to my original post.

Well, it's that day of the week again!

My Mom gets upset when I say that I don't always feed my husband and daughter meat. "[Insert Hubby's real name here] is a farmer! He needs meat and carbs! He works hard and uses that energy. You can't not give him meat!"

It's true. Hubby is a farm boy and he does work very hard on the farm. He is also a meat and potatoes guy. It seems that many people in the countryside have a diet that consists of meat, potatoes, homemade bread, and sometimes two veg choices. Usually that's corn (which I don't count as a "vegetable" vegetable) and either peas or carrots. Meals in Hubby's family are usually followed by dessert. This is something I don't do unless it's a special occasion. If we have dinner guests or if it's a party, I'll make something for dessert. Other than that, it's fruit or yogurt.

In theory, eating a hearty meal like Hubby is used to is good...if you're going to be working it all off.

Hubby and I were talking and discussed the expression:

"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper."

We're going to try to adopt this practice. It seems that in my family's background, breakfast is often overlooked, lunch is skimmed or ignored, and supper is the biggest (if not, the only) meal of the day. This is sooooooooo bad! It's so hard on the body, organs, metabolism, etc. Being in the age group we're in, Hubby and I are trying to shed a few pounds.

Hubby and I make sure we eat breakfast, lunch and supper and we make sure none of our meals are too heavy. This is what's for lunch!
Asparagus and Zucchini Crudi
Recipe from one of my favourite Food Network chefs, Giada De Laurentiis!

Ingredients

• 2 zucchini, trimmed
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ounce shaved Pecorino Romano, for garnish

Directions

Using a vegetable peeler, shave the zucchini into long thin strips. Thinly slice the asparagus on a diagonal. Toss the slices together and place the salad in a serving bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and drizzle over the vegetables. Toss to coat. Garnish with the pecorino shavings. Serve.

C's Easy Lentil Soup

INGREDIENTS:
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of chick peas
1 can of lentils
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups baby spinach
1 or 2 cups water
*optional* 4 or 5 slices of bacon cut into small pieces

1. In a large soup pot, cook bacon pieces.
2. Sautee onions with the bacon once bacon has started to turn golden brown (if you are making this a vegetarian meal or do not eat bacon, omit the bacon and use a bit of extra virgin olive oil).
3. Add tomatoes.
4. Drain and rinse lentils and chick peas and then add them to the pot.
5. Add a bit of water (depending on how chunky or how 'liquidy' (another made up word!) you like it.
6. Let cook for 30-40 min. Add spinach at last minute.
**Since this is Meatless Monday, do not use bacon in this recipe.**

"Oh, don't try it! You won't like it. It's horrible!", said Hubby (in hopes that no one would eat the cake and that he'd get to keep it to himself).

You may remember that I recently had the opportunity to attend the Choco-Latte Fest in Little Current last month. Ultimately Chocolate and Loco Beanz put on a great evening of chocolate and coffee tasting. It was a mini workshop on everything chocolate and everything coffee. Trust me, these ladies really know their stuff! It's no wonder that chocolate and coffee have become their passion and their craft!

Ever since that night, I've been excited about having Ultimately Chocolate on the Island. Why? Well, for starters, they specialize in CHOCOLATE! Ultimately Chocolate brings gourmet cakes and cupcakes to Island residents and they use only the finest and all-natural ingredients. The use of certified organic and fair trade chocolate coupled with the fact that the chocolate creations are preservative-free, make one's occasional indulgence of chocolate a little less of a guilty pleasure!

For Mother's Day, we got the Caramel Crackle! It's four layers of moist chocolate cake with butter cream icing. The Caramel Crackle is a smooth caramel buttercream icing layered in your choice of chocolate or vanilla cake (we chose chocolate, of course!) and decorated with crunchy caramel bits. The top is covered with rich chocolate and some caramel.The cake is mouthwatering! I only had a sliver of chocolate decadence. Pure heaven. The cake just melts in your mouth. It's soooooo good. Both grandmas had a slice of cake and were in LOVE. The cake is so rich and so decadent that only a small piece will suffice...if you can restrain yourself. Surprisingly, we still have 3/4 of the cake left. Hubby is trying to be good and save some for our dinner guests tomorrow night.
Psssssst! Keep reading the blog for more posts on Ultimately Chocolate, their new website (which I'll post once it's up and running), and even an amazing Ultimately Chocolate giveaway to one lucky reader of Random Thoughts and Musings from the Island Reviews!!! Exciting stuff to come!

Check it out here...

I wasn't joking when I said that all I want for Mother's Day is for Little One to continue to be the happy, healthy baby that she is.

Really. That's all I want.


Perhaps she'll adopt the tradition my brothers and I practiced for our mom on Mother's Day of every year when we were kids. We (with the help of our dad) would bring my mom breakfast in bed. We'd excitedly burst into her room with a tray that held toast, eggs, bacon, fruit, coffee and orange juice. We showered her with presents that we made at school for Mother's Day and we'd give her cards that we had made and flowers that we had picked. It was usually lilacs or daffodils, because that's what was growing at our place at that time of the year.

Now that I think of it, my mother must have loved us tremendously. She humoured us by being so excited to receive our gifts and breakfast...even when she was not a morning person and never ate breakfast! To this day, she cannot eat before noon! All those years, she entertained us because that was our gift to her and we were so excited and pleased with ourselves.

I'm sure she's kept a lot of the trinkets we made her when we were in elementary school. That jewelry box I made in grade 4 (out of a gold spray painted tissue box and decorated with macaroni and pasta shells) was the coolest thing on earth back then. Now, it probably looks gaudy. Moms appreciate their kids' creations and love their little presents for the treasures that they are.


Again, Little One is only 17 months old. She's a happy, healthy, funny, and busy little girl. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Being a mother is a gift.

Every Mom knows how difficult it is to "keep things together", and when going out with babes in tow, it's not always easy to make sure you have everything. For myself, there's always something I've forgotten (even when I have a list of things I need to bring). Most of the time it's my cell phone I've forgotten to put in my bag or an extra bib. I once forgot to bring baby wipes! How crazy is that?!

I have several diaper bags. Too big. Too small. Stylish, but impractical. Super ugly, but practical. I end up having to alternate between bags depending on the nature of our excursions. Small bag for grocery trips, giant bag for swimming days...you get the picture.

I still somehow can't find anything really quickly in any of the bags. I always have to fish around and what I need is usually at the bottom of the bag!

Enter Mrs. Smith's Bags.

With tons of features like insulated compartments for food, a place for Mom's sunglasses, camera and cell phone, this bag is fantastic! Added insulated pockets give room for sippy cups or bottles. Hey, why not carry a bottle of water for Mom and a bottle of milk for baby in there? There's also a spot for Mom to put cash or a debit card. The compartments keep things organized, which is what I love. What I love even more is that there are different styles and designs to choose from. Practical does not have to look frumpy!

Jen over at A Busy Mommy is hosting a fabulous giveaway! Head over there to enter for your own Mrs. Smith's Diaper Bag!

While Hubby was working off-Island today, Little One and I had a little adventure on the farm. Why does it seem like every time Hubby is off the farm, things seem to go awry?

While Little One sleeps in the morning, I usually get my some writing done and get chores done. When she's awake, she's just so busy. It's hard to get anything done when she's up. She's a very active girlie.

As I sat at the computer, editing some documents for a student in Japan, I looked out the window and saw something unbelievable. There was a COW staring at me through the window! She was right by our front door, near our patio!

Little One was napping on the floor and I didn't want to wake her up. My general rule is to never wake up a sleeping baby if I can help it! I also didn't want to leave her in the house on her own, since I knew that if she woke up while I was at the barn, she'd totally wreck the house! She'd turn it upside down and inside out! C'mon! She's 17 months old. Getting into everything is what she does best.

I went outside to see where the cow went. She went around the to the side of the house. I just wanted to make sure she didn't head up the lane way toward the highway.
I ended up going back inside and putting her in Little One crib so I could leave her for a few minutes to take care of a delinquent cow. To my surprise, Little One didn't wake up. Thank goodness!

I quickly ran out to try to get the cow back into the barnyard, but the most incredible thing happened! The cow was nowhere to be found! It DISAPPEARED! How was I going to explain to my husband that I LOST A COW!?!?

Yes, it's true. I must be the worst farmer's wife ever!

People sometimes ask me why I blog. I never really know what to answer. I started blogging just to keep friends, family, and students up to date on our life on the Island. We live far from most of my loved ones, so the blog was an easy way to keep everyone connected.

Little did I know, the blog would turn into something completely different. It's been a place where I could express myself and a place where I could network. To my surprise, I've made some wonderful friends through the blog. One of my closest friends is someone I met through the blog. It feels like Maddy's Mommy and I have known each other forever, yet we only "crossed paths" in the blogosphere just days before I was sent to the hospital by air ambulance when I was pregnant with Little One.

The fabulous husband and wife duo from PhotoCaptiva also turned out to be a special part of our lives. It's amazing how people come into your lives and you cannot imagine life without them in it.

It comes to no surprise that one would "meet" inspiring, creative, and giving people on the net. I used to be very apprehensive about meeting virtual strangers, because the net can be a place where creepy, dangerous, just plain weird people dwell. It can also be a place where like-minded people gather. It can be a place where enriching friendships and connections can be made. It can be a place where we find inspiration from the stories and lives of others.

One blogger in particular comes to mind.

Chantal and her Oma Mary have taken on an amazing cause. They make receiving blankets and proceeds go to helping the less fortunate.

"All proceeds are used to make blankets for children in need. We work with organizations to provide blankets to traumatized, neglected, and impoverished children. While you wrap your beautiful babe in our blanket, know that we are wrapping those less fortunate."

Chantal and Oma Mary have entered a contest to win $10,000 so that they can fulfil their dreams of helping others. So far, they've sent 65 blankets to Haiti!

Please show your support and help Chantal and Oma Mary reach their goal. Check out their video on YouTube, and join their Facebook Fan Page.



Hubby and I want to teach Little One that it is important to support a cause and take part in something that is larger than us. We're involved in and support various charities (Heart and Stroke Foundation, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sick Kids Hospital, and a few others). We will now be supporting Chantal and her Oma's cause.

People who make it their mission to help out others inspire me. Who inspires you?