We never did get our flu shots till last year - but this year - we were all quite gung-ho about taking our flu-shots and of course Chloe had her flu-mist - that goes thru’ the nose. She was a wee bit frightened of it initially because she had almost forgotten about it - but after taking the flu mist - she decided it’s not that bad after all. Plus, she met her favorite doctor this visit - Dr Randall - who gave her a hand drawn sticker on a sticky note - like last year - boy! was she tickled. Then we had to get our flu shots - and she didn’t want to look at it - so she went out to play in the hallway where all the medicine carts were lined up in front of the doctor’s consultation room. The girls at the clinic was very nice and let her hope around it - and explained to her what were the medicine carts for and what were in them. We left the clinic after half an hour for we needed to make sure that we didn’t have a bad reaction to the flu shots. Thus far, we feel that the flu shot had been good for us - for we’ve noticed that we don’t get sick as often as we did the previous years. So for now - we will continue taking the flu shots every year. Flu shots are free in Canada.

This school year - I’m only going to do one fund raising for Chloe’s school - instead of doing a few. This fund raising - is selling Lobster tickets and as usual - Chloe is truly blessed - not only the people here buys the tickets to support her effort but her Godmother and my friends from overseas donated to the fund raising too. As of today - we’ve raised $572.00 - and we are going to keep at it till December 15. I have to say that I’m very grateful to all of my online friends - who’ve donated very generously - between $10 - $100 each. I’m hoping to raise as much as I can for this fund raiser - that way for the rest of the year - I don’t have to raise any more money.

Chloe will be 8 yrs old in a month time - mannn! time really flies - and I have to keep reminding myself to enjoy her as much as I can before she becomes and adult and leave me - to have her own life. I’m busy preparing not only for Chloe’s birthday but for Christmas as well - and looking back at the last 7 years, I’ve learned so much from bringing Chloe up. One thing for sure - is the realization of what my own mother must have gone thru’ while bringing me and my siblings up on her own. I learned not to be too critical of her and I learned to love Chloe a lot more - and because of my own father’s non-participation in our life - I made sure that PB plays a very important role in Chloe’s life. As I did not have grandparents to dote on me - I hope that Chloe’s paternal grandparents would - unfortunately, they spend so little time with her - so much so - I’m afraid when she grows up - she might not be closed to her grandparents. Chloe is a happy and sensitive kid - she is doing well in school and most importantly is healthy. I pray for all good things for her - and want her to be a good person and many, many more years of watching her grow.

Many of us remember when educational toddler toys began and ended at alphabet blocks and pull-string toys that emitted animal sounds. These days, however, the emphasis on encouraging your children to use their minds from an early age means that the field of educational toys has exploded. There are some wonderful toys out there created specifically to feed your child’s brain from infancy onward.

1. OLLO Action Robot Kit

If you want to give your child a head start on those mechanical engineering programs you hope to inspire him or her to delve into later, this OLLO kit is an excellent educational toy. Five different pre-planned robots can be built from the same pieces included in the kit, including a windmill, walking T-Rex, dog, and more. There are also plans not included that can be looked up online. All of the designs work on a single AA battery.

2. Creative Puzzle Peg

Intended for children 18 months and over, this unique puzzle toy goes a bit further than your typical sort-and-stack toy. It encourages problem-solving skills and helps to develop fine motor control. The base comes apart in four puzzle-piece shapes and each piece has a post featuring small nubs. The included brightly-colored shapes stack on the posts, but they first have to be manipulated to move the opening of the shape over the nubs to get it down to the bottom.

3. First Time Gear Clock

This child-friendly clock is based on the first mechanical clock’s design. It teaches how gears work, as well as how to follow directions, and encourages cognitive development. The color-coded set of directions shows your child how to assemble the 27 parts into a working clock that runs for over eight hours without requiring a battery.

4. Mozart Magical Cube

The popular theory that Mozart’s music helps to improve spatial-temporal reasoning in infants and toddlers continues with this toy. This is a bit more than a music box, though. It features five large buttons that are easy for small hands to work, each of which plays a different instrument – piano, violin, flute, harp, or French horn. A sixth button plays them all in a choice of eight of Mozart’s compositions while the toy flashes to the tempo.

5. Chinese Magnetic Poetry

In a world where everything and everyone is connected, being multilingual has never been more important. Many schools are teaching foreign language from preschool on up now. This magnetic poetry kit builds on this by providing an array of 140 double-sided magnets with a simplified Chinese character and its pinyin pronunciation on one side and the English translation on the other, allowing for vocabulary-building. The set comes in a hard plastic case to keep them organized.
Learning just got more fun!

Chloe had a appointment with the specialist last week - and she had all sorts of breathing test done for her - and then of course, she got to see the asthma doctor too. The whole process took about 2.5 hrs - for the asthma doctor took an hour to talk to us. Yup ! you heard me right ! while most doctors here can’t wait to get you out of their office - so that they can see another patient - this doctor was totally different - which took us by surprised. But a pleasant one ! Anyhow - Chloe was taken off her puffer - but she had to be monitored the next time she catch a cold or flu - to see if it was worst. We too hope she is not going to be dependent on the puffer - because PB is till today. I was quite worried when she first had to take the puffer - because Chloe was quite resistant towards it - but after she learned that it wasn’t bad or hard at all - she took it like a champ. But taking steroids is not good for anyone - so we are keeping our fingers crossed that she only had a lung infection the last time.

Halloween is round the corner and we are getting ready for Halloween - since we have to spend part of the evening at home. Of course, we can’t missed the personalized pumpkins from Chloe’s grampie. Wonder why grampie never make one for PB every year - haha!

This is mine - as you can see here.

And Chloe’s.

And the classic witch smacked and landed on our door.

And a straw puppet. I’m not done decorating yet - because I had been busy decorating the store first. When you own your own business, you usually have to take care of the business first.

So we were up in the city a few weeks ago - and had seen all these guitars for sale - and Chloe had asked for one as well - but she already has one - that her ex-babysitter’s father bought for her one year for Christmas. Once in a while she would strum on it and try to make music out of it - but refuses to go for lessons to learn how to play the guitar for real. So I told her that when she decides that she really wants to learn guitar or learn to play it for real - and not for the fun and strumming it and making noises - we will get her a proper guitar for the guitars that we saw on sale weren’t cheap at all. Like we all know that kids can’t really decide on what they really want for now - and unless she is learning how to play classical guitar - I doubt she can play the guitar without the nylon strings - the other type of strings are just too hard on the fingers even for me. I’m all for music lessons - but knowing the brat of mine - she would probably give up after a few lessons - so for now - we’ll just have to play by ear.

P.U. - what does it mean? I’ve never heard of P.U. till chloe started school and each time her school friends or camp friends say that the food she eats is P.U. - she becomes so embarrassed and stopped eating immediately. So each time she comes home with all her lunch intact - I know something is not right. This week - I gave Chloe some rice with chinese mushrooms and whole mushrooms with oyster sauce for her lunch and she brought almost everything back without finishing it. Apparently, one of her classmate - said her food was P.U. meaning “smells rotten”

So what do you do - if you were the mom? we encouraged her to talk to her teacher about it - but she won’t, then what do we do? we write a note to the teacher - hoping she would address it of course - so we’ll wait and see what happens? or do I take the easy way out and not give her food that she likes? I know that Chloe needs to grow some backbones and not be too bothered by what other children say - but she is and no matter what we say - she is just offended. I don’t want to teach my kid to be rude and say P.U. back to her friends - it’s tough being a kid when we were kids - it’s even tougher to see our kids being a kid *sigh*.

Not only Chloe but myself - I’ve thought of going up to the city with some of my girlfriends for a night or two - but I have separation anxiety !!!! yup!! me!! but can you blame me - I’ve never left her side except when I had no choice during surgery a few years ago - and that already I was not too keen but had no choice.

Before having Chloe in my life - I had no problems whatsoever traveling at anytime and any place - i didn’t have anything to worry about - nor anything to keep me from traveling but things has changed so drastically for me - I sometimes don’t recognized myself - hahah!! or had I been this way all the time? or have I suddenly turned into a wuss ? And I do not like the thought of me becoming one or turning into one - or is one ! I’m a very tough person - so why is it that I don’t want to be separated from my daughter just for a night and an entire day? Am I the needy one ? or do I think that Chloe is the needy one?

A check with my other girlfriends with kids - some feels the same way but some didn’t have any trouble with spending a brief vacation with their girlfriends. Hmmm… ! interesting isn’t it ? I will chat with my family doctor about this.

We had brought in some apples for Chloe’s class like we usually do every fall. When the Apple farm where grammie works has apples for sale we usually get a 10lb bag every week. They are very cheap, and sometimes grammie will pay for it or there is no charge from the good Wallace owners. We are grateful always for such kind people in this area and cannot thank them enough for being so kind to Chloe. We are really blessed because just on the weekend - Chloe received a huge teddy bear - one that is bigger than her, from our customer - Gillian - just because, therefore I always have thank you cards handy, so that I can write out thank you cards to all these wonderful people who’ve not only been kind to us but also touched our lives.

A friend just told me I’m a Godsend but little does she know that she is the one Godsent and I cannot thank all of them enough for always sending food and gifts from home for Chloe and I - even all the way from Australia. And I’m usually so busy and even sometimes forget to send thank you cards to all these wonderful people, therefore, we do our bit for the kids here and pay it forward. Friends who sends food and gifts to us never expect anything back but I’m always grateful and want to do kind things for others because of them, so they are the ones who are Godsend. Once again, I cannot thank them enough.

Every little girl needs a dollhouse don`t you think? I think so ! and when we saw one up in the city - that we feel that we can justify - we went back to MicMac Mall to get it for Chloe. She was a happy girl even though she was very sick but I guess I wanted to get it for Chloe because I didn’t have stuff like that when I was a kid and I sure envied my friends when they talked about their huge dollhouse. Deprived of a lot of stuff when I was a kid, I want to make sure that mine gets a reasonable amount of stuff but I wouldn’t go overboard on any toys for Chloe and what other people do with their kids is none of my business. To each their own - and more power to those who buys expensive toys for theirs, it is not for me to judge. But having said that Chloe’s grampie will be paying for Chloe’s dollhouse so I’m buying him some Padron cigars that he likes for being so generous.

So before the school year started for Chloe this year, I ordered some labels from Mabel labels for Chloe`s stuff for school. Now this decision was made because of a stolen hat from Chloe before school ended earlier this year - and yes it was in school. That made me a little paranoid and at the back of my mind I just felt that I need to label just about everything that Chloe have from then on. Not really because of the cost of the missing hat - but more so because of how devastated Chloe was with her lost hat, she felt that it was her fault but it wasn`t.

Mabel labels were expensive but they were by far the best quality I`ve seen, so I ordered them online and since they came from Vancouver it took a few days to reach us - at the other end of Canada. But it was worth the wait - Chloe loved them - because she loved fishes but as soon as her classmate said they didn`t like fishes - she wished she had chose a cupcake instead for her icon - hahah! wished the kid would stand firm on her own and not be swayed so easily though.

So yes, we labeled just about anything we can find of Chloe`s and still have some left. I know we can`t stop those who are out to steal her things - but at least we can hope that if she loses it, someone will return it to the office at school.

12 yrs as a owner by association to the spouse’s business - you would think that he would get the hint and get me some business cards right? well apparently, my hint wasn’t that good - so I am going to get some business cards by postcards and the price is so cheap - the spouse cannot even say I spend too much on it. For as little as $6.99 for 100 business cards - you cannot go wrong with it - i’ll say. One can even upload your own photo if you so desire - for example if you are a realtor or a mortgage consultant and even a banker - like I get all the time when I visit my bank.

1000 of templates to choose from and if you are not internet savvy - no worries - they have a live chat person to help you along the way. But it’s very easy to do - just follow the instructions - and you will receive your business cards from as little as 2 days. I liked that moms like myself can order as little as 20 business cards just to have when we want to give them out to teachers, principal or other parents for play dates.

And since Christmas is just around the corner - I too am looking at making some personalized greeting cards with our family pictures on it - just like the ones I received every year from friends and family. I admired those cards tremendously and since they are so easy and cheap to make online - I’m going to try it out this year. So friends and family look forward to our family picture in our greeting cards for this year.

Chloe is currently in Grade 2 and besides her school friends - we also make sure she has friend from other schools. And since she is taking up so many extra-curricular classes, it is inevitable to be asked out for play dates and vice versa. But my play dates usually involves the mommies as well - that way moms can get together and eat, chat and drink - and most importantly relax. Thank God for electric grills , because we can grill just about anything for everyone. So everyone brings whatever they want to feed their kids and just throw it onto the grills I have and it’s that easy. I make lots of ice lemon tea and lemonade for the kids - and for us mommies - I add in a bit of my special liquor - like the cranberry ones that I bought locally from Lunenburg. My play dates are always a hit - because we have the trampoline - the swings and those big inflated castles for the kids to bounce and slide.

Yes! Ms Sassy Pants came home and said she was going to run away from home. Started packing her blankie and some clothes and asked her dad to put them in a bag. Of course, PB didn’t do nothing - but I handed a bag to PB and asked PB to put her stuff into the pink Toys R’ Us bag - and then I pushed her outta the door and locked it behind her. She started screaming and crying and of course, PB came to her rescue. So I told her - ” yer’re lucky your dad is still at home and not gone to work yet - coz’ i would have locked you out till the cops came!” Had to show her whose the boss now eh! muahahahah!!!

Saving for a child’s college education is something that takes certain level of dedication and commitment. Starting early and making wise choices will help to ensure that the adequate amount of money is available when the child is ready to attend college. There are a number of key factors to remember when looking at saving for college.

Image Source: http://forthemommas.com/articles/back-to-basics-saving-your-savings

Being Organized

People can have the best of intentions when it comes to saving money. Unfortunately, things get busy and schedules are often hectic. Something as simple as making a deposit into the college fund can easily be forgotten.
The best way to eliminate this problem is through the use of automatic withdrawals. Depending on the specifics, this can be set up so money is withdrawn from a checking account and placed into the college fund on a set schedule.

Regulating Debts

There are most likely going to be other factors that will affect the amount of money that can be placed into a college fund. This can include things such as credit card bills. If a good deal of money is spent simply on paying interest each month, it is difficult to save a substantial amount of money. When looking to set up the college fund, it might also be wise to look into things such as debt consolidation and paying down a particular credit card that carries a high balance.

Choosing the Optimal Savings Account

The type of a savings account that is used can certainly determine how good of a return can be had. For an education account, it is usually a good idea to have one that does not allow withdrawals to be made for a certain period of time.
This will eliminate the possible temptation when it would be easy to borrow money out of the account. Many high interest savings accounts will provide customers with a great interest rates and may feature this stipulation on withdrawals.

In addition to traditional savings accounts through banks, there are a number of different agencies and organizations that give individuals options when it comes to saving for college.

These can include state and federal agencies that offer the ability to set up tax deferred accounts and plans where all interest is not taxable. Looking into state and federal government agencies can usually provide a parent with a wide variety of options that many people might not have previously considered.

It is always best to start early in a child’s life when it comes to saving for his college education. With the right account and a good deal of dedication, any parent should be able to more than adequately provide for this.

Chloe just finished her summer day camp on Friday and we spent a little time together for the entire day on Friday - I asked her about summer camp if she had fun - and if she had gotten herself some good friends - in which she replied that she did have some good friends - but some kids were mean and nasty. And some only wanted candies from her - before they would let her play. So I thought about it - and tried to think what it was like when I was a kid and how I handled being friends with people back then.

Was I a popular kid when I was young ? I was - in fact - I’m like the red indian - when I grew older - I’m always at the center of attention - because I speak the loudest and played the hardest - I wanted to excel in everything and anything. I remembered one year in my secondary school days - I was the best speaker for the LDDs debate team. I headed the team - and I was the school editor for a school paper one year. But i also realized that after my secondary school I didn’t come ahead with too many “best friends” because I didn’t really cared too much about what other people thought about me - I like to do things the way I liked.

But of course, as I grew older and at 46 now - I also have no time for nonsense when it comes to friendship. It takes a long time for me to call you my friend - you have to earn it - and to me - no one is indispensable - friends come and go - but the true friends - you don’t need a lot. True friendship don’t need flattery words - a good friend is one who will tell you the truth and look out for you. So I told Chloe not to sweat the small stuff - good friends are those - you can lean on always - and yes - I want her to be good to her friends - be sympathetic, be kind and be gracious - but never be a doormat to anyone. And most importantly, one have to love oneself first before you can have true friends.

Well, we survived the first week at school as a Grade 2 student and she seems to be quite happy with school - although she complained that they are doing the same thing all over again. Hopefully, it gets a little bit more difficult for her soon - so that she will be a little bit more challenged. I think this year I’m also more comfy because she is with the same teacher - and I’m trying not to go into class with her so much and disturb her home room teacher as much as I did last year. I’m surprised her home room teacher took all my nonsense last year and I appreciate it very much - that she didn’t kick me outta class last year - hahahha!! So wish us good luck eh! the fun is only beginning.

This weekend is Grandparents’ Day - although some may argue that it’s a way commercial business make you buy more gifts and spend money - I think it is important to acknowledge Grandparents who played a very important part in your child’s life. After all, Grandparents are the next closest relative besides the parents right? and even though grandparents don’t look for gratitude - I think it’s important to show Grandparents how much we appreciate their help, love and gifts they pour onto your kids. While I had gotten my mom gifts at Shari’s Berries - for grandparents’ day - we are going to order some cheese and flowers. So for those who are not aware that Grandparents’ day is this weekend - you still have time to order your gifts now - it doesn’t need to be a whole bunch of gifts - just chocolates, cheese or flowers are very nice gestures to show you appreciate them.

The new school year starts tomorrow - and Chloe will be in Grade 2 this year - with the same teacher. I’m pretty happy with the arrangement for she did really well with this teacher. She is also looking forward to school tomorrow - and today is the long weekend of Labor day - so she is out playing with her friends on the trampoline. She should have been in Grade 3 had it not been the crazy french teacher she had for the first year. But oh well - she is doing well now - and that’s all that matter. This year she will have a new principal in her school and also a new Music teacher - she loves gym a lot - so she loves her gym teacher and talks about her all the time. In fact, she wants to be a gym teacher - sometime last year - hahah!! I can’t wait for school to start and see what she learns this year.