My Nomination for the #WindowsPhone #SummerSwitch Campaign is @LindsayDianne

How many bloggers do you know who don’t have smart phones? Not many, right? Well, I know one. She’s my assistant, and somehow she manages to be online more than most people I know, and yet… The girl just never joined the smart phone wave. That is, until now.

Many of you will remember this past Christmas season, when I was a part of the #WindowsPhone #HolidaySwap campaign. I was asked to switch my current smart phone out for a Windows Phone, and to give my honest opinions about the pros and cons as I experienced them. If you were following along then as you are now, you’ll probably remember how much I loved this experience! The Windows Phone simplified everything, and coming from the irritating cell that I had been using before? It was like a breath of fresh air.

the Nokia Lumia 920

At the end of the campaign, I was asked to nominate someone to join a new campaign based on the same idea. The person that I suggested was Lindsay Dianne, and the reason for that is simple; the girl has gone without a phone long enough. For goodness sake, we make our living in social media! There may have never been someone who needed a smart phone more.

the lovely @LindsayDianne

There’s a slight possibility that my nomination was self-serving, in a way, but don’t tell her. I mean, if you knew how quickly Lindsay responds to my emails and messages most of the time, you would have to wonder just how responsive she’d be if she was at my beck and call 24/7. And if you had an amazing assistant like Lindsay, you’d want to give her the chance to experience the Windows Phone too, because the machine is nothing short of phenomenal. 

For anyone who needs to stay connected, the Windows Phone manages to integrate your social media platforms in the best possible ways. Not to mention that the camera on this phone is the best on the market when it we’re talking smart phones. Throw in the fact that this girl is a photographer and it’s a total no-brainer! Lindsay was definitely my pick for the #SummerSwitch campaign using #WindowsPhone.

Fieldtrip Fun

My Macbook Pro died last week and it is currently away being fixed... I am in serious withdrawal. But I distracted myself by going on two fieldtrips - yesterday with Olivia and today with Owen. I had a lot of fun!

#WW - 39 and counting! LINKY

Today was my husband's 39th birthday so we took "Happy Birthday Daddy" pictures for fun. The kids felt the need to include some of their favourite stuffies too. Of course.

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Litterbugs Get Fined in Our House

We have far too much STUFF in our house and I have been wanting to SIMPLIFY but the task feels so completely overwhelming to me that I give up before I even begin.

And yes, I realize that is completely counter-productive.

My depression may or may not have something to do with it as well. I admit nothing.

The irony that having a simplified, organized home would actually significantly help my depression is not lost on me.

ANYWAY... this post is actually not about organizing my home. It is about a nasty habit my children picked up that is adversely affecting my home and making it feel exponentially worse. Over the winter I started to notice a trend with my children. They would unwrap a granola bar or a piece of gum or something and then - wait for it- drop the trash ON MY FLOOR.

Oh yes they did.

No amount of expressing my shock and horror about this atrocity seemed to make any impact on them. They would still continue to throw trash just anywhere they liked as though we don't have garbage cans placed strategically in every. single. room. in the house for that very purpose.

Last week I told them that I was done. Ok... "told" is an understatement. I lost my ever-loving mind and through horrified tears in my most guilt-inducing voice informed them that every time they threw something on the floor instead of in the garbage can they would have to go through their belongings and get rid of something.... as in recycle or throw something away that was old or broken or donate something that they no longer wore or played with.

I explained that if we were to throw trash on the street or in the park that would make us litterbugs and we would get in trouble because that is illegal and we would get a fine. I explained that throwing trash on the floor in our house is just as wrong and so they would be getting fined from now on. Since they don't have cash they will be fined STUFF. If they never throw trash on the floor they have nothing to worry about.

This pronouncement was met with serious freaking out and my husband very graciously negotiated a one-week grace period. He told them they had one week to prove that they could change. One week to prove that they would never throw garbage on the floor again. One week to prove that they could behave in our home like they behave at school and in other people's homes where they would never ever dream of throwing garbage on the floor.

And so I waited. For one week I left all the garbage on the floor that they threw there. I didn't pick it up. I didn't say anything. I just left it there.

Shockingly *insert voice dripping with sarcasm here* they did not follow through on their promises to never ever never again throw trash on the floor. I'm sure you are all just as surprised as I was.

So today my children were informed that they had to go through their belongings and find things to get rid of. And oh there was weeping and gnashing of teeth but I stood my ground. Litterbugs get fined in our household.

It's actually killing two birds with one stone - not only are we teaching them not to be complete slobs by reminding them that there are consequences for their actions, they are also helping me go through all their STUFF. Actually it is four birds because we are reminding them that donating things actually benefits those who are less fortunate than us and recycling benefits our planet. It is an all-around good thing and no crying or yelling (on my part) was required.

And yes- they also had to pick up all the garbage they dropped on the floor.

Incidentally did you know that if you stop cleaning up after your kids stuff gets messy really fast? Because it does. Just in case you were wondering.

#JumpstartDay Twitter Party Thurs May 23

Did you know that one in three Canadian families cannot afford to enrol their children in sport or recreation activities? In fact we fall into that category ourselves. If it wasn't for disability funding and low-income scholarship money our kids would not have been able to participate in sports this year. Because of that special funding Aiden and Owen were able to join swim club for the first time and Olivia was able to take her very first dance class. This is the first year my children have participated in extra-curricular sports because we could simply never afford it without help.

I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful swimming was for both of my boys but especially for Owen. My son has found his home. He has found where he belongs! He loves being in the pool and says things like "when I am in the Olympics...". That is a beautiful thing to hear.

Aiden was able to build relationships with his swim team. Yes, he swam and he developed as a swimmer for sure. But he learned some very important skills as team mate that are hard for kids with Autism to learn.

And Olivia- oh my little girl! She danced her heart out and she twirls and leaps and does her ballet everywhere she goes. Such a gift.

To think we almost missed out on that because we couldn't afford it.

And we are certainly not the only ones!

I only recently learned about an amazing program called Canadian Tire Jumpstart and I am thrilled to tell you about it.

Canadian Tire Jumpstart is a national charitable program that helps financially disadvantaged kids participate in organized sport and recreation. Jumpstart helps cover registration fees, equipment and/or transportation costs.


Since the inception in 2005, Canadian Tire Jumpstart has given more than 581,177 kids across Canada the chance to play. Canadian Tire Jumpstart is dedicated to removing financial barriers, so children can participate in organized sport and recreation.

How can you support Canadian Tire Jumpstart?

• Make a donation.
• Host your own event in support of Canadian Tire Jumpstart.
• Support a fundraising event for Canadian Tire Jumpstart.
• Visit one of our partners: any Canadian Tire, Gas+, Mark’s, Sport Chek , Atmosphere or Pita Pit location and get your own Jumpstart Red Ball for a $2 donation.
• Visit your local Canadian Tire on Jumpstart Day , May 25th.
• ‘Like' the Pita Pit Facebook page during May, and Pita Pit will donate $1 for every like they get to the page.
• Visit Buffalo Wild Wings on Wednesdays in May, and donate 10% of your bill to Jumpstart

100% of customer donations go directly to help kids in financial need participate in organized sport and recreation.

The Canadian Tire Corporation funds all the general and administrative expenses as well as the program delivery costs of the Canadian Tire Jumpstart program.

Join us on Thursday May 23rd for the #JumpstartDay Twitter party from 9pm-10pm. Great prizes and a celebrity guest! Don’t forget to follow your host @CTJumpstart and your moderators: @Nugglemama, @Tarasview @Shasherlife @RossanaWyatt.

Prizes are available to Canadian Residents Only, but all are welcome to the party. RSVP below to be eligible for prizes. We’ll be chatting about sports, getting kids participating in activities and chatting with a celebrity guest!

Follow the party on our custom Tweetgrid here.

Make sure to enter your Twitter Handle “@yourTwitterhandle” in the Link/Blog Title field, and Twitter URL “www.twitter.com/yourtwitterhandle” in the url Field*