momstown Goes Hawaiian with Huggies!

May is Luau month at momstown, and we couldn’t think of a more perfect way to celebrate than to make grass skirts. With a little help from the mamas, our little ones made some very adorable “grass” skirts. All it took was yarn for the waist, crepe paper strips, pre-cut flowers and some glue and the kids were ready to dance. It was great to see all the creative ideas the kids had for attaching and colouring their flowers. 

Once the skirts were done, we all put on some leis and learned a new song called “I’m a Little Hawaiian Child.” The kids had fun learning the actions and the words! After our dancing and singing, we brought out the limbo stick and the kids got to do the “sea animal limbo.” We had limbo-ing crabs, fish, eel, birds, and even octopus! The kids sure had a lot of fun!  


Our littlest Hawaiian children were lucky enough to try out the new Hawaiian Diapers provided by Huggies! They totally fit our theme this month and the babies looked adorable.  

Art and Play is one of our 6 pillar programs that takes place monthly and is included as part of your momstown Edmonton South membership fee which is only $45 for an entire year! Register for a 4 week trial membership and come out to experience the fun first hand!

Alphabet Play: Letter C

C is for caterpillar! This month at Alphabet Play, we looked at the letter C. The kids got to do a fun caterpillar craft that had them working on their cutting and gluing skills (or the mamas’ skills depending on their child’s age). We cut out some green ovals for the body and a red oval for the face, and then glued the ovals down on a C shape. Once it was all glued, we added googly eyes and pipe cleaners for antennae. Finally, it was time to decorate our caterpillars with some Bingo daubers! The mamas loved seeing the variety of designs the kids came up with and how colourful the caterpillars turned out!

After crafting, we just had to read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. We saw and heard lots of ‘C’ words as we read it too! After reading, we continued our Luau theme and did some coconut bowling. It was so much fun to watch the kids try to knock over the ‘pins’ with the coconuts…until the coconuts both cracked open!

 
But that just led the way to snack time where we got to sample several different tropical fruits. Dragonfruit, starfruit, pineapple, watermelon and kiwi were all part of the delicious platter we sampled. Even the mamas got in on the sampling!

                       




              
As usual momstown events are messy! Between the bingo daubers and sticky fruit, the kids and tables needed some major cleanup! Huggies wipes definitely came in handy today! I almost have a panic attack when I leave the house without them now! 

            

20 Weeks With Baby #4 - Can't Seem to Find THE Name...

We just had our 20 week ultrasound and I'd like to start updating everyone on our journey with baby #4.  Everything looks great and we've decided to leave this baby's gender a surprise. We've had a real issue with the baby naming process this time and we're looking for some help. 

Isla and Nolan...they're adorable aren't they? 

Did you name your previous children with ease? Do you find your name picking skills have gone down the drain? Does it seem that no name fits your family or baby? If so, you've probably got BNB (Baby Name Block). With each child the naming process has seemed to get harder. We've named 2 girls and a 1 boy easily, the names were just thrown into our laps and they just fit.  This time though it has been tough. There just doesn't seem to be a name that jumps out and excites me quite like Isla, Maya and Nolan did. 

We've gone from the super popular to the super rare and they just don't seem to click.  We haven't come up with one suitable name that we can agree on.  Each time a child is named we've really cut down the naming pool.  Not only can you not pick names that are too alike but you must also consider how they sound together. This process is made harder due to the fact that I am a part of this wonderful community. This group of creative momstown mama's just happen to have used so many great names that I absolutely love.  It also doesn't help that my hubby only offers names of hockey players. It's my own fault since our son is named after Owen Nolan.  But the name for me wasn't about hockey it just fit and I loved it.  He'll never learn that no matter how many times Wendell, Clark or Wayne are thrown at me I will continue to say NO. 

I haven't turned into a name snob, but I do have a few requirements that are important to me:

• Name must be gender specific. (I just like girly names and strong boy names)
• Cannot be too popular - not in the top 20 for sure.
• Must not have more than 3 syllables (prefer 2 though) -With a last name like Heimbecker this little one's already a mouthful.
• Can't be too traditional - I'm not a William or Sophia type, I like names that are a little more modern.

This list isn't outrageous so I just need some help. I'm only half way through but the control freak in me just needs to know we have a few names on the list.  Can I find a name that I love?? Is it possible this time or have I just used up all the names that I adore?

Mother's Day Pampering Event!

We love to pamper our mama's on Mother's Day! This year we did a mom's day out event with some extra treats for our very deserving mama's.  Each mom brought their own mom, sister or friend to share in the experience and relaxation! A huge thank you to mG Makeup Artistry & Pretty Mama Ltd for the hair and makeup - we were looking good for our supper out at Yianni's afterwards!

What's a party without sweets? Tastie Treats by Terrie provided delicious cupcakes for our mama's to enjoy and Chocolate Temptation - Velata had a chocolate fondue table set up! Delicious!

We put together a video for the mama's who attended the event to say thank you for being members as well as amazing mothers!

Thank you to our prize sponsors!

Birth Source Inc

Mother Haven

Velata

The Melting Pot

Snow Pea Portraits

Lush Lash Bar

Godiva's Toy Chest

How To Make Sidewalk Chalk Paint

We all have buckets of sidewalk chalk but I thought we'd try something different at our Play & Social:Park-hopping Playdate this week! It was simple to make and super fun for the kids to play with! We had all the kids at the park that day coming over to try it out!

Ingredients: 

Cornstarch

Food colouring

Water

The recipe is so simple!  The ratio is 2 parts water to 1 part cornstarch. This made fairly runny paint, you can see in the pictures that the colours are not as bright as they look in the bottle but they dry much brighter. A ratio of 2:2 will provide a thicker paint but won't go as far. I used a whole box of cornstarch to make the three colours and washed milk jugs and a mason jar to store the paint.

Your next question - does it stain?

We had a few kids who were covered head to toe, it brushed right off of clothes, hands, feet and faces!

Junior Chef: Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes!

Today at Junior Chef we continued our luau theme with Pineapple upside down cupcakes! This recipe was fantastic to make with a group because there were a lot of ingredients and many different steps, everyone had a chance to add something into the bowl! Check out the recipe here!



I always pre-measure the ingredients when I cook with kids so there are only dishes to put away afterwards. I also don't have to worry about consulting the recipe and making a mistake with so much distraction! (Ever added salt instead of sugar? I have!)

Nothing like baking with thirteen kids to teach a little patience (to all of us!)

The fun part - adding pineapple and cherries! we cut the pineapple rings into thirds because they were too big to fit into the cupcake pan, if you use muffin pans the rings fit perfectly



Yum!

 Finished product! Pretty good for so many little 'helpers' in the kitchen and to top it off, they were delicious! Must have been all that extra mixing!

Aloha mama's! ;)

No One Wants To Be The Mom With "That Kid"

I had to write this post after a conversation recently with a momstown member who said she rarely came out to events because she doesn't want to be the mom with "that kid". I understood what she meant and I do know "that kid".  "That kid" pushes, cries, takes toys, hits, throws tantrums, pulls hair, screams, runs away, and gets into everything.  I'd be hard pressed to find one kid that does all of these things at a single event.  But I've seen every momstown kid display at least one of these behaviors (including my own) at one time or another.  Guess what? We all have "that kid".  No one has a perfect child and not one of us claims to be a perfect parent.


Moms. If your kid is driving you nuts - get them out of the house.  Whether they misbehave at a momstown event or at home, at least you get some sanity saving conversation and a little bit of a break.  I know it can be embarrassing to have "that kid".  But at least you aren't at the grocery store getting glares from people who don't understand.  You'll be surrounded by other mom's that have "that kid" too and no one is judging you, your child or how you deal with it.  momstown is about more than just entertaining your kids.  We want to support you.  We want you to connect with your community.  We want you to know you are not alone.  The best way to get the most out of momstown is to just jump in - even on the cranky days ; ) 


If you have a lot of cranky days (like us) sign up for a free 1 month membership! 

Mother Blessings - A Beautiful Spin On The Baby Shower

You all know by now I'm a doula and little on the crunchy side. Even so, when I was invited to my first Mother Blessing I was a little intimidated. Would I say the right thing? Sometimes I have trouble saying what I mean to say and I didn't wanted to fumble my words on this very special day honouring a good friend. We were asked to bring three items with us:


- A bead for a necklace that the mama-to-be will wear during labour. The bead should remind you of this mama in some way or hold a special meaning for you.


- A piece of fabric with a message for the mama written on it. The pieces of fabric will be sewn together and hung up during the labour.


- A flower for a bouquet for the mama to be


Okay. So a little more pressure was added. I wasn't sure what items to bring and what if no beads spoke to me? I don't normally hear voices when I walk the craft aisles, why would I expect more of the beads today? What if I could think of nothing to say on the piece of fabric? Luckily, I know this mama well and I was instantly drawn to a bead I felt represented her and found the words easily that I thought would help her through her labour. 

I am not often moved to tears, but on this day it was hard to hold them back. The feeling in the room was of complete support and love for this mama; exactly what a soon to deliver mama needs. There were no ooh's and ahh's over baby booties and not a onesie in sight. This was a shower of love and encouragement, not things. I believe that if every mama had an experience like this that mother's would go into their labours feeling supported and confident - now that is a gift. 

Emergency Preparedness: Are You Prepared For a What If?

What if there was a fire in your neighbourhood and you weren't able to get home. What if there was a hazardous material spill and you were quarantined to your hours for 72 hours. What if you went off the road in the winter with your kids in the backseat.

Are you prepared for any of these situations? I was lucky enough to attend a free Emergency Preparedness Workshop presented by the amazing volunteers at the Canadian Red Cross in partnership with momstown.ca.

Talk about a wake up call.

On a scale of 1-10 I would have fallen around a -2. I was so unprepared that I had no idea I was unprepared. Yes, I walked away feeling like a terrible mother who would be that mom in an emergency that leaves the house with only a pair of flip flops and a picture frame.

But, when you know better you do better and I have a lot of work to do. This weekend we'll be assembling our emergency kits. 

We're following the three simple steps that Red Cross suggests:

Risks: Know the Risks

Plan: Make a Plan

Kit: Get a Kit

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to learn about Emergency Preparedness. I hope we never have to use our kits but I now know how important it is to have one. When I arrived at the workshop I felt nervous looking around the room at all of the emergency equipment, I left feeling like I had the knowledge to be prepared and ready to get started.

The partnership between momstown.ca and the Canadian Red Cross is a perfect fit. Who better to educate about emergencies and how to keep our families safe than Canadian mothers? We'll be partnering all year to present more workshops for momstown members, from water safety to CPR & First Aid.

Want to help momstown make a difference? You can help us reach our goal to donate $5000 to the Red Cross by making a donation here. On twitter use our #RedCrossMomtown Hashtag to share your support.

Crafty Mama's Pinterest Party!

This month at Crafty Mama's we made some personalizable wine glasses. No need for charms to mark your glass when you have a a gathering, why not just write names on the glasses with chalk? As always with Pinterest finds, there was some trial and error, but I think we've figured out how to get the best results!

If there were price tags on the bottom of your glasses be sure to remove the residue (peroxide does a great job) and let dry completely. 

Supplies: Chalkboard Paint, Painters tape, parchment paper to set the wine glasses on and protect the table, high density foam paint brushes and a container to hold the paint.

 Dip the bottoms of the wine glass and let the excess drip off.  Once you set the glasses down to dry you need to move them around every 10 minutes or so to avoid the excess paint from drying to the glass.

We found that we had to paint the bottoms after they had dried a bit to avoid white spots showing through, once the bottoms are painted set them to dry upside down. 

You should let the paint dry for at least 24 hours before writing on them and the paint needs to be conditioned by rubbing the chalk all over it sideways before writing words on it. 

Voila! Now...where's that bottle of wine?