Silent Sunday

(Ok, so it's amost Monday now...but i just wanted to share these pics)

 

Hope that you had a great weekend!

Life Choices Foods - Review and Giveaway

Life Choices Natural Foods is a natural health foods company based in Toronto with a mission of: Making the Right Choices Easy. All of our products are not only natural, but best of all they’re kid-friendly! We provide Canadian families with healthy versions of the foods they want to eat, such as Pizzas, Mac & Cheese, Meatballs, Chicken Fingers and even Pierogies. There are vegetarian, vegan and glucose-free products as well.

When i received the opportunity to review a Life Choices product i was excited! I had seen their products many times while browsing around the organic section of my nearby Loblaws. I could not wait to try!
I checked out the website and decided that we'd try out the Chicken Strips!

"Our chicken strips are made with our premium quality chicken; vegetable grain-fed, raised without animal by-products and raised without antibiotics.Our custom-made *Multigrain Coating; with flax, whole grains and oats, provides sources of Omega-3 and fibre."

They were not only healthy but super yummy too! The coating had a great texture, and the inside was moist and very flavourful! Everyone enjoyed! and the kids didn't even ask for dipping sauce! *gasp*
I was pleasantly surprised to find that i enjoyed 'kid-food night' with Life Choices on the menu!
In fact i am eager to try out their all-beef hot dogs! i found out that they're nitrate-free! (if you follow my blog you'll know that i am a migraine sufferer, and nitrates can sure bring 'em on!). I am also very interested in the Chicken and Spinach Pizza, and the Whole Wheat Fish Sticks!

Now I'm sure that all this food talk has made you interested to try it for yourself! Am i right??

Buy It: You can buy Life Choices Foods at select stores. Click here to find one near you.

**GIVEAWAY CLOSED!**
WIN IT:  Life Choices Foods has generously offered an awesome giveaway prize! ONE lucky reader(Canadians only, sorry!) will win : an insulated lunch tote (kids can draw on it!), 3 boxes of our Mac ‘n Cheese, 3 $1-Off Coupons, as well as 1 Free Product Coupon! ( total retail value is approx. $25).



Mandatory Entry: Check out the Life Choices Foods Website, and tell me which product that you're interested in trying!

Optional Entries:

* Follow me with GFC or RSS(tell me how you do!)

* Follow me on twitter @orangeheromama (leave your twitter name in comment)

* 'Like' my facebook fan page! (leave your facebook name and initial in comment)

* “Like” Life Choices Foods Facebook fan page (please leave your facebook name in comment)
* Follow Life Choices Food on Twitter @LIFECHOICESFOOD (please leave your twitter name in comment)

* Tweet the following!(include link in comment).  "CANADIANS! #Win a prize pack from Life Choices Foods @LIFECHOICESFOOD @orangeheromama ends 08/09 http://tinyurl.com/3dheqry #giveaway" (1x per day)

* grab my button for your blog! *counts 3 entries(3 comments)!!* (tell me where to find it)

Giveaway is for Canadians only(sorry). Ends Aug 09, 2011 @ 8pm est. Please leave an email address so you can be reached if you win! Play Fairly! Winner will be chosen by Random.org. Prize will be supplied and shipped by LifeChoices!



** I received a 'free product coupon' in exchange for my honest review! You may or may not like it as much as we did! **

Day out with Thomas 2011

Recently i was selected to be a “Mommy Reporter” for the  Day Out with Thomas: Leader of the Track Tour 2011. Our awesome Day Out was in St.Thomas, Ontario on Friday, July 22nd, 2011.

Pulling out of the station for its 16th consecutive ride on the rails, the Day Out With Thomas: Leader of the Track Tour 2011 will visit more than 45 cities in the United States and Canada. Day Out With Thomas is the only place for families to take a ride with a 15-ton replica of everybody’s favorite No. 1 engine, Thomas the Tank Engine, and enjoy Thomas-themed activities at the Imagination Station, including stamps, temporary tattoos and hands-on arts and crafts.  Each year the tour grows, traveling to new destinations, adding new activities and welcoming new visitors.  

I will admit that our chosen date was a VERY hot and humid day and i was not super excited about being outdoors or 'stuck in a train'..but when we got there i was instantly in a better mood. The staff/volunteers were so friendly, and the different things to do were inviting and colourful! I loved that the first thing we saw when we went through the gates was the crazy bubble truck and all the buckets of bubbly fun! There were bubbles everywhere! My kids saw the petting zoo though, and away we went! We love animals so we HAD to check that out right away! When it was our turn we headed over to the boarding area for Thomas. We got there just in time to see Thomas pull in! It was such a magical sight! Inside there were banners hanging, and Thomas music playing, and just a whole lotta happiness! And the breeze through the train was heavenly! While on our ride i LOVED the expressions on the faces in cars as Thomas passed by at railway crossings. It was absolutely priceless, and i can only imagine what they were thinking! When our ride was done we went into the arena to check out the inflatables, the activity stations, and the gift shop. All were very well run! There were minimal lines for the bouncy train and the castle didn't have a line at all! And the gift shop was priced well/competitively! I had my eye on the rare wooden day out with thomas train for our wooden set at home, and it was $18.99, which i certainly found to be a normal and fair price! But my daughters had other ideas of course and Hero picked out the Henry Pez dispenser, and Orangie wanted the Day out with Thomas reusable totebag. We had a fantastic time, and we plan on going again next year! We'd recommend it to anyone(we saw everyone there from babies right up to the elderly)! Such a magical day!

For more information about the tour take a look at Day Out with Thomas Schedule! Thomas the Tank Engine will also be sharing photos, tweets and reports through his Twitter feed-- http://twitter.com/trueblueengine.

** i received 4 tickets to Day out with Thomas in exchange for my honest review, etc...You may or may not enjoy it as much as we did! **

Homemade Mac and Cheese!

Yesterday i was whining on twitter, i really had no motivation to make dinner. It was hot and humid and frankly i was TIRED!
Then i realized that dinner really wasn't gonna make itself, so i went off in search of something simple to make that wasn't crappy kid food!
I have no idea what prompted me to pull out my recipe box, but i did and came across the mac n cheese recipe of my ex-husbands mother. Comfort food to the max. It had to be made!
and i was shocked to find that i actually could make it, and that the kids said it was just as good as hers if not better! (good girls!)
So here's a shot of the finished product:

Now i can't exactly go and give you a 'secret family recipe' (lol)..so you can find a VERY similar recipe HERE! (though i did not use parmesan cheese, it's already VERY cheesy). Enjoy!

SO, since i am having a horrible time with meals lately..can you recommend any easy, yummy, not-too-costly recipes that you love?? I'd sure appreciate it! :)

Sea-Bands Winner!

I am so happy that this giveaway had such a great response! But there could only be ONE winner!

Yay! The winner is #29!

Soooo who is it?

Tina L!

(she has been the confirmed winner!)

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Wordless Wednesday - camera playday

Today the Mr thought that we should go out and give the new camera a workout! Here are a couple of my fave shots, they have been edited but very quickly, as i am exhausted!

*tell me that you can see the tiki head resemblance here!*



my new friend Nikon!

A VERY VERY exciting thing happened to me today...i finally(and i mean FINALLLLLY) got my DSLR camera!! I have been lusting for one since about 2007. I went to the store in 2008 to finally get one and they convinced me that i didn't actually need one and that i could do more easily what i needed with a Canon powershot pro S5. Which indeed is a fantastic camera and certainly did serve my purposes well, but well, i always craved a little something more.
And the deal FINALLY presented itself in this weeks BestBuy flyer. I am now the very happy owner of a Nikon D3000 with the 18-55 and the 55-200! *squee*
Now i just need to learn ASAP how to use the darn thing! I refuse to be one of those people who waste their time/money on 'auto'!

Tomorrow i'll share a pic with you..but it won't be the first one i took..i wasn't thinking when i pushed the button, and it was a totally crappy shot with junk in the background, and after i snapped it i was like 'NOOOOOooooooooooo!!!!'(yeah, cause i'm weird like that!lol)...anywho..till tomorrow!

**oh! and don't forget! only a couple days left on the Sea-Bands giveaway! Enter now!**

Melting!!

(cute pic removed)

I wasn't going to make this post...but i really thought that i should explain my M.I.A'ness!
As you may well know half this continent has been having some BRUTAL heat lately. Well i don't have A/C. So i've been hiding in a/c'd places a LOT lately! (meeting friends for iced drinks, hiding in the basement, daytripping, etc etc). I've never been one to really care about having a/c, i really do prefer open windows, and just a fan for the bad days...but oh man! One day it reached with humidex 48C(118F), it was HORRIBLE!! and that night it was 34C(93F) in our bedroom and that was late at night too! Worst sleep ever!!
SO that is where i've been! but now that the temps are (a bit) more tolerable, i am back in action my friends! :)
How is everyone else doing out there??

Wordless Wednesday - Chippy!

Here is our dear friend Chippy! He lives under our front porch. In fact this pic is taken with him(or her?) about a foot in front of me..he's sneaking up to take whatever is in his mouth to his home. He's absolutely ADORABLE. We love to see if we can spy him whenever we come home..he tends to be on our windowsill, or in the gardens, or near our neighbours house. We love you Chippy!


** on a sidenote, i haven't been online as much recently(or blogging) as i have managed to injure my shoulder/neck/upper right back, and moving/turning has been RATHER uncomfortable. And since i can't afford a chiropractor, i am using muscle rub and advils and hot/cold packs and praying that it heals ASAP!
oh! and it happened at the beach, it's rocky, and the rocks shift a bit as you walk and well they did and i jolted to catch my balance and threw something or pulled something..sigh.

and he's gone..

We finally found a home for Finnie, and he left just before dinner yesterday. I really shouldn't have put the pic in before i started typing as i find myself starting to cry now. There are just so many emotions come out of this whole puppy situation. Even though there has been a huge weight lifted from me, there is also so much put on me now. I thought that once he was gone i'd feel better and we'd be able to just enjoy the summer and the freedom etc. But now there is mama-guilt(i brought home a puppy and now he's gone and my kids are sad), there is embarassment(people are starting to ask where pup is, etc and it sucks to admit that he's been re-homed and we couldn't handle it, it really sucked to have to admit it all to my ex-husband *sigh*), sadness because i do actually miss him, etc etc. I just keep beating myself up over it(i tend to always do this)...

We miss you Finn!

Great Day plus EPIC FAIL!

Today was another great summer break day! The Mr has been working a LOT lately, so we took advantage of a day off and hit the town. We started out at the library for another turn at the summer reading program game. Then we were off to check out the Children's Museum in town!

Look! They have chicks!! So darn cute!

And a cute pic of Hero in the treehouse!

And here is where my awesome parenting took an EPIC FAIL...i helped my youngest create a...get this.. 'sea-c*ck rubbing'..i don't make this up..when i announced it to the Mr i nearly peed myself laughing..and then try to NOT explain why you are rolling in laughter..oh mom. EPIC FAIL!!

Then tonight Orangie went to her first ballet class!! It's just a city run program for 5-6 yr olds. But it's a BIG STEP for Orangie. She was a little hesitant to go in, but the teacher said excitedly to her 'COME ON IN!'..and she did! and had a great time!!
Here is my little ballet nut!

And that is our day! Hope that you had a great one too!

Finding New Friends Weekend Blog Hop (guest co-host)

<a border="0" href="http://myadventureinmommyhood.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_oO_3wDOzJ0g/TZVJTQltXuI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/hf3U5o2UMZs/Friendship%20Blog%20Button.jpg"/></a>

It is Week 16 of Finding New Friends Weekend Blog Hop hosted by Shelly from My Saving Game and Jeannette from The Adventures of J-Man and MillerBug! Thank you all for helping make this hop so successful! We love you tons! Now what are you waiting for? Let's get to hopping! We are finding some fabulous blogs through this hop and having a great time getting to know so many of you! So thank you for linking up again this week to those of you who are hop veterans and welcome to those who are new! Let's continue to make new bloggy friends and increase our traffic! We do have a few simple rules for you - nothing too tough though. So here we go:

1. Please follow your hostesses My Saving Game and The Adventures of J-Man and MillerBug. Leave us a comment and we will follow you back! (If you already follow us on GFC, we'd LOVE it if you would follow us on Facebook or Twitter.)

2. Please follow our guest co-host who this week is Christy from Home of OHM.

3. You don't have to post our button but we sure would like it if you did. Not only does it help our hop grow so we can all get new followers, but each week we will choose a guest co-host and to be considered you must have our button somewhere on your site! If you post our button and want to be considered for guest co-host, please email me at jmanandmillerbug@gmail.com to express your interest.

4. You can link up blogs, facebook, twitter accounts, whatever - just be sure to specify what each link is.

5. Hop around and find blogs that you enjoy. Be sure to tell them you are following them from Finding New Friends Weekend Blog Hop so they can follow you back!

6. Have fun!

Link Code:

Wordless Wednesday - Books!

So this is 3 out of the 5 shelves on my bookshelf..it is approximately 90% UN-read! I have a problem! lol.

(actually it's not a big problem because i mostly buy my books at thrift shops)

Just Like Mom!

After a rather unfortunate accident where our adorable middle-aged piano teacher broke her wrist, Hero wound up with a REALLY nice pair of K2 Moto Rollerblades(and wristguards)!! So finally on a dog walk recently i gave in and let her try them out! and check it out:

This 10yr old girl can rollerblade! Making this mama so proud(because i grew up on Rollerblades, and was lucky enough to get them when they first came out...and they were a stupid strap-on pair! I'm so old! lol)

GO HERO!!

Sea-Band - review/giveaway

I have to admit that i was both excited and yet skeptical when I got the opportunity to review Sea-Bands. If you follow my blog you'll know that i am a migraine sufferer! But while reviewing them i realized that my migraines don't actually come with nausea so i wasn't sure how I'd review them...but when getting ready for a trip to visit family I finally clued in! My youngest is prone to car-sickness! She loves to read or play her DS to keep her occupied, but mix that with a 1 hour car ride and that spells disaster! So she eagerly put on the bands, and was happy to find that not ONCE did she feel sick!! I admit i thought it might have been a fluke(i'm a skeptic)...but they worked again on the next trip a week later! and again on the 2.5 hr car trip with her dad to the zoo! So Orangie has claimed the Sea-Bands to be all hers. She loves them! (and so do I!)

Did you know that 28 million Americans suffer from migraines! Are you one of them or do you know someone who does? If so, you understand that these chronic headaches are exceptionally debilitating and, on top of the intense pain, can trigger nausea that makes them even more uncomfortable to deal with (eight out of 10 people who are diagnosed with migraines report experiencing nausea). Plus, nausea makes it difficult to keep down the medication needed to treat the migraine to begin with.

 This is where Sea-Band Drug Free Nausea Relief Bands can help. A study conducted at the Berolina Clinik (which specializes in migraine and headache therapy) in Loehne, Germany, showed that 85% of chronic migraine sufferers who participated by wearing Sea-Band (acupressure wristbands better known for helping people with motion/travel sickness and morning sickness) during a migraine attack reported positive results:

• 41 patients participated in the test; participants had, on average, suffered from migraines for more than 26 years
• All participants had forgone the use of anti-emetics (anti-nausea drugs) for the purpose of this study
• 83% indicated a perceptible reduction in nausea associated with migraine as a result of wearing Sea-Band
• 44% indicated a significant reduction in overall (collective) migraine symptoms
• Relief was reported after an average of 28 minutes of wearing the Sea-Bands
• Nearly all participants (98%) said they’d use Sea-Band again

 How Sea-Band works:
Approved by the FDA, Sea-Band works by exerting constant, gentle pressure on a point on the inner wrist known as the Pericardium 6 (P6) acupressure point. It brings effective relief and can be used before or after the onset of nausea. Sea-Band has traditionally been used to effectively reduce nausea from morning sickness, travel sickness, chemotherapy and post surgery. The all-natural, drug-free, latex-free Sea-Band does not cause side-effects often associated with anti-nausea medication such as drowsiness, disorientation, dry mouth or possible interactions with other drugs. It’s safe for patients taking prescription medications, pregnant women and children. Packaged in a convenient carry-case, they are washable and reusable, and one size fits most.

Sea-Bands may be used to relieve motion sickness, morning sickness and cancer nausea and vomiting. To ensure your Sea-Bands work properly, please follow the instructions below to position your wristbands correctly.

• Place your middle three fingers on the inside of your wrist with the edge of the third finger on the wrist crease. The Nei-Kuan point is just under the edge of your index finger between the two central tendons.
• Position the button facing downward over the Nei-Kuan point. Repeat the process for the other wrist. 
• One band must be worn on each wrist to be effective. Sea-Bands can be put onto your wrist before you start travelling, or after you have started your journey.
• Sea-Band is suitable for adults and children.

Sea-Band products are available in the U.S. in Walmart, Target, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, as well as in Canada in Overwaitea, IDA, Familiprix, Guardian and other independent drugstores or pharmacies throughout North America or online at drugstore.com and at http://www.sea-band.com/shop. Suggested retail price is $10.99 per pair in the US, and $12.99 in Canada.

To learn more and to take advantage of special giveaways, connect with Sea-Band on Facebook at www.facebook.com/seaband

***GIVEAWAY CLOSED!***
Now who wants to win?!  

Woohoo! One lucky reader (Can/US) will win a pair of Sea-Bands and a package of Sea-Band Anti-Nausea Ginger Gum!

Mandatory Entry:  Leave a comment to let me know why you'd like to win!

Extra Entries (do as many of these as you wish, but don't forget to leave a comment for each one):

• Follow me with GFC or my RSS feed.
• Like Sea-Bands on Facebook.
• Like Home of OHM on Facebook.
• Follow @orangeheromama on Twitter.
• Tweet about this giveaway! (1x per day, please leave link to tweet)
• Grab my button for your blog! (let me know where to find it!)

** please make sure your profile includes your email address or leave it in your comment..must be a Can/US resident..winner will be selected by random.org and notified by email and needs to respond within 48 hours..supplier will issue the prize..play fairly!..Contest closes Wed July 27th @ 8pm EST...goodluck! **

** I received my Sea-Bands for free in exchange for my honest review!

Hidden Valley Ranch for the win!

I recently had the chance to review Hidden Valley Ranch, and i have to admit that i knew my family was going to love it, they love creamy dressings and dips, but myself though, i was not as eager. I think it's because my mom over-did it with the ranch growing up. It was her fave and it was pretty much all she bought, so i just got sick of it! But when i sat down and did the taste test with my family i found out that i was actually a fan of the Hidden Valley Light Ranch! It was less creamy than the original and had more herbs/spices in it! It was such a nice surprise!

So let me go back a bit to the beginning when i first received my review pack by UPS. It came in this big box and it was kinda funny because the UPS lady was struggling with it's weight..we had no idea what we were in for! I think had i know i probably would have asked if i could take her picture with it(!) because when we opened the box and there were EIGHTEEN bottles of Hidden Valley Ranch in there!  6 bottles of each: Fat-Free, Light and Original. I was told to share with family and friends. Spread the love. I was SHOCKED. I have never seen a company be so generous with their 'samples'!!

So i definitely spread the joy. I gave it to friends and family! I also took some bottles to a family bbq, and it was well received! And once again, the light was the dressing of choice! Though while we were there we got to chatting about how they weren't fans of 'light' or 'fat-free' foods because when you take out the fat it's generally replaced with some form of 'chemical'..but we were amazed to find out that NO there was nothing in it like Aspertame or Acesulphame or anything like that(thankfully since the acesulphame gives me mad migraines)! LOVE IT!! So now no one is afraid of the fat-free!

The only issue that we found was that there was a higher vinegar content in the fat-free so my man didn't like it..but i think he's a tad crazy because he LOVED it when i used it in a breaded chicken recipe. lol.
Speaking of recipes, the Hidden Valley website has some awesome recipes on it! I plan on making this Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo recipe very very soon! And i would love to make this BowTies and Springs Pasta Salad for my moms birthday tomorrow!

So thankyou HiddenValley Ranch! You had your work cut out for you converting me to being a ranch lover! and you succeeded! :)

So now i invite you to go and check out Hidden Valley Ranch yourself!! You can check them out on their very informative website, on Facebook, or twitter!


**i received a crazy amount of Hidden Valley Ranch in exchange for my honest review, which i gave! You may or may not feel the same way when you try it!**

Finnigan

I'll try not to make this post too wordy, because it's supposed to be *wordless*...It's been a VERY long and stressful 2 weeks in this house. Finn is so darn adorable, but we're absolutely losing our minds with this one. We've placed the ad to re-home him, now we're just praying that we find a loving buyer with a TON of patience. (no judgements please, this decision is killing us)

*and now for a bit of a beg..could you please 'like' my Home of OHM facebook page PLEASE. The numbers are just not moving over there..I'm stuck at 200.*

Canada Day!

Well, today was a wonderful day. Life has still been a bit rough with the new pup, but i decided to not let it get me so down today, i'd just do the best i could.

The day started out pretty slow, because my allergy meds caught up with me HARD and i crashed for 2.5 hours(till noon) while my girls were REALLY awesome and played/read/etc QUIETLY around me. Then we took Finn for a big walk to the pond at the end of our street where we picked lots of wild flowers etc, then we came home and i showed the girls how to use their flower presses! Now we just have to wait the 2 wks for them to dry and 'be ready'!

Then after lunch we decided to head to the park/splashpad to have a little fun. It was a GORGEOUS day! And Finn of course got a lot of attention! lol. (and he absolutely loves it too).

*Hero with the Finn-ster!*

*love this shot as we were leaving!*

Came back and made a big yummy dinner of homemade chicken wings, bean salad, and garden salad! After that, we hopped in the car for some icecream at McD's.

When we got home, we realized that we needed to take Finn for a walk, so the girls grabbed their bikes and we set off for a big neighbourhood walk/bike.

*Orangie on her bike!(appropriately also orange!)*

After that we chilled for a bit and then got ready to head downtown for the Canada Day fireworks! I was so glad that we decided to go! They were beautiful!

It was a fantastic Canada Day for us! What'd you do?