December 2016 – Page 2 – Urban Suburban Mommy

Contest: Win your own copy of The Great Gilly Hopkins on DVD

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in Sponsored Post .

We love the book, we love the movie and we love to share!

Enter now for your chance to win one of five DVDs of The Great Gilly Hopkins! (Check our our review of the movie HERE)

Prize consists of 1 DVD of the movie The Great Gilly Hopkins, including shipping.

So many ways to enter, you can’t help but give it a try.

You’ll get 5 entries for each of the following:

Share on Facebook with the hashtag #GillyUSM

Share on Twitter with the hashtag #GillyUSM

Post on Instagram with hashtag #GillyUSM

You’ll get 10 entries for the following:

Tag a friend in the contest post on Facebook. Each friend is worth 10 entries. A bonus 5 entries for each one that likes Urban Suburban Mommy’s Facebook page.

Share your favourite part of the story on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, using the hashtag #GillyUSM

Rules:
One prize per household.
Contest is open to residents of Canada.
No limit to entries.
Contest closes December 20th, 2016.
Five winners will be selected by random draw on Decemeber 21st, 2016.
Winners will be contacted via social media.
Winners must answer a time limited skill testing question.
Prize has no cash value and must be accepted as awarded.
Urban Suburban Mommy is not liable for any loss or damages associated with this contest.
This contest may be ended or discontinued at the sole discretion of Urban Suburban Mommy.
All decisions are final.
All rights reserved.

The Great Gilly Hopkins – movie review

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in Sponsored Post .

Do you remember reading The Great Gilly Hopkins when you were a kid? The book, by Katherine Peterson, came out in 1979 – and it was a definite must-read.

With two boys, I’ve all but given up on passing on my beloved childhood library, but the new movie adaptation with a star-studded cast including Kathy Bates, Glen Close, Billy Cobbs, Octavia Spencer, Julia Stiles and 16-year-old Sophie Nélisse as Gilly, herself, had my whole family completely under its spell.

Released October, 2016, it’s now available on DVD, just in time for the holidays.

Courtesy of Search Engine Films

You may want to add this one to your holiday movie list!

If you love the book, this movie won’t disappoint. And if you’ve actually somehow not read it, you’ll enjoy the well-spun story and endearing characters set against beautiful backdrops. The movie has already won The Heartland Film: Truly Moving Picture Award, and, of course, the story won numerous awards when it was released too.

I’m a cryer – and this one has more than one tear-jerker moment. It stirred up the same emotions it did when I originally read the book some 30-ish years ago, only as an adult, there are so many nuances of the story that I really didn’t get as a pre-teen girl. And it was so nice to visit with a childhood fave.

The movie is a great watch. My boys loved it, my hubs loved it, and I watched it a second time after they all went to bed. The characters bring the story to life. You cheer for W.E. You feel for Gilly. You are surprisingly annoyed by Agnes.

Sophie’s talent is obvious as she brings her character to life. You start off hating Gilly and end up loving her, while your fondness and respect for Trotter just grows and grows. Hollywood has done this one up with heart and charm. It’s modernized the setting without stripping anything back from the story.

Grab it from iTunes: The Great Gilly Hopkins
Or Amazon, released December 13, 2016: The Great Gilly Hopkins

Nationwide you can pick it up at HMV and Walmart; in Quebec only at: Archambault, Renaud Bray & Superclub Videotron.

I will not elf my shelf. Or shelf my elf.

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in The Struggle is Real .

I love my kids and I’d do anything for them.

Except Elf-on-a-Shelf.

I had never heard about Elf-on-the-Shelf until it started to appear in my Facebook feed a few years ago. I thought to myself, “Wow, that’s creative.”

And then, as my kids got bigger and life got even busier, I realized just what an undertaking this Elf-on-a-Shelf is. You need to remember to move the Elf every night. You need to come up with new and fun spots and predicaments. Some of the ideas that come up through my Facebook feed are nothing short of AAA Tableaus staged by master set decorators! And they do it times 24 nights leading up to Christmas in December.

In my house, we consider it a win if the Tooth Fairy shows up within three days of a tooth loss, I can not fathom shelfing that Elf every night.

Occasionally my husband and I have played funny pranks. I’m exceptional at making sure Santa’s milk was sipped and that a trail of cookie crumbs proves he ate the cookies we baked – I even chop up the carrots we leave out for the reindeers and throw them along the lawn (and into the neighbour’s lawn) so that they can see that Santa was indeed at our house.

My husband and I have been known to freeze action figures into ice, making it look like they got trapped in our front yard. We have lawn gnomes that will occasionally end up in crazy vignettes. We fill water balloons and add food colouring to surprise them with magic ice crystal balls. We mount surprise water fight attacks – but we can’t be trusted to Elf our shelf every night. It’s setting us up for failure.

I have nothing but respect for parents that can – just like I’m always impressed by people that can live Pinteresting lives in great detail, but nope, not us.

It’s good to know your limitations. Holidays are busy, we’ve got more than one tradition going on at a time so it’s fine juggling act to begin with, and the Elf would just topple our precarious balance. My son has started asking, and so my husband explained it by putting the little guy on the shelf.

Our own Elf on our own Shelf – it’s been enough to keep him from pushing the issue… this year.

Hostess gifts & gratitude

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Sara Duck Posted in Mommy Approved .

This week The Modern Curator shares her best picks for hostess gifts and gratitude: 12 hostess gifts + write a perfect thank-you card

Master the art of gift giving, with these thoughtful hostess gifts!

Flowers are my go-to hostess gift. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t appreciate a gorgeous bouquet of blooms like the ones pictured below. Swoon!

The Farmboy, seasonally inspired bouquet from Tonic Blooms

Mini Designer Fragrance Set from Winners

Pink Champagne Truffles by Charbonnel & Walker from Amazon.ca

Porcelain Dessert Plate from HomeSense

Super Soft Yarn Dyed Scarf from Indigo

Pâtisserie At Home by Mélanie Dupuis from Anthropologie

Gold Dot Stemless Champagne Glasses from Indigo

David’s Top 12 Assorted Tea by Davids Tea

1815 Bright Mugs by Royal Doulton from The Bay

Gold French Press from HomeSense

Rosé Champagne by Moët & Chandon from LCBO

Lucky Charms Paris Scented Candle by Ladurée from Amara

Now that you have a great hostess gift in mind, it’s time to think about crafting the perfect thank-you card. As the world becomes more and more reliant on technology to communicate, the hand-written card has been pushed aside in favour of emojis, funny GIFs and memes to convey our thoughts and emotions. In fact, when it comes to writing a thank-you card, sometimes I find the large empty space daunting, and find myself at a loss for words.

Can you relate?

Here are six steps to keep your thank you card writing skills sharp as a tack!

1. Think about what you want to say before your pen touches the paper. This way your card will sound well thought out and you will minimize any spelling or grammatical errors. Take your time writing, so that it’s neat and legible!

2. Give the proper greeting (Dear is always nice) and use the correct form and spelling of the person’s name. If it’s a good friend, use their first name. If it is someone you don’t know particularly well, use Mr. or Mrs.

3. Begin your thank you card by expressing gratitude right away.

Thank you so much for…
I really appreciated the…
You made my day when…

4. Add specific detail about the gift you received, the meal you enjoyed, or whatever you are thankful for. Highlight how you plan to use the gift or why you enjoyed the meal.

That homemade au jus was perfection…
Your generous gift will go towards…

5. Use the card space as an opportunity to continue the connection with the person. Suggest tentative plans for the future.

Let’s get together soon…
I know about this great restaurant we should try…

6. Always end on a pleasant note, reiterating your thanks and with your warm regards.

Many thanks… your signature
Thanks again… your signature
With love… your signature

The Modern Curator

Sara Duck
TheModernCurator.ca
@SaraDuck

The Modern Curator

The Modern Currator

That old fashioned fave – The Meringue

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in Delicious Dishes .

If you know from good, home-made meringue, just the mention of the word meringue is bringing that extra-sweet melt-in-your-mouth crunch and crumble sensation – and your mouth is probably watering.

Meringue can be so simple, or you can dress it up in fancy layers and flavours.

My boys love it plain.

This is actually one of the top choices they ask for whenever there’s a bake sale, school concert sweet table or a pot luck. Because it’s easy, sometimes I whip up a small batch as a treat. And what’s great is that it’s really not terribly hard to make, you can make a dozen or you can just as easily make 50 or more at a time.

What you need:

– 8 egg whites
– 2 cups sugar
– 1 tsp vinegar (white or apple cider)
– 1 tsp of vanilla

You can adjust the size of your batch by keeping the ratio of 1/4 cup of sugar per egg white, so make a small batch or a very large one.

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 250°.

Get your stand mixer out and be prepared to let it go. I couldn’t do this by hand and have no idea how they made these before modern appliances – but they did.

Whip the egg whites on high until they’re fluffy, and form stiff peaks. Don’t stop the mixer, just add the vinegar. The vinegar stabilizes the egg white foam. Add the vanilla too, and then start spooning in tablespoons of sugar, adding it in slowly, blending thoroughly.

Once the sugar has been completely mixed in, keep blending for another few minutes. It will look glossy and gooey, kind of like you might imagine how liquid marshmallow would look.

When it’s thick and stiff, it’s time to bake. You can scoop spoonfuls of it into mounds or you can use a piping bag to pipe out cookies. You can use an ungreased cookie sheet for smaller batches. When making large batches, I line an oven rack with tinfoil and cover the entire surface with meringues. I like to pipe little swirls.

If you want to get just a bit fancy, sprinkle crushed candy cane or shave a bit of chocolate onto them. The flavours should be subtle, just like the light and foamy soft crunch of the meringue. you can even add a few drops of food colouring before you stop blending and make them colourful.

Bake meringues for one hour at 250°, then turn the oven off and leave the cookies in the oven to dry out for another hour or so. They will caramelize and go slightly brown. If you don’t dry them for the extra hour, they’ll have chewy centres, they’re pretty good this way too. But the long drying gives them that signature melt in your mouth crunch.

These are a classic. I’m not sure who can turn one down, but this past week at the bake sale they were gone before my boys could come back and buy seconds. Yes, my boys ate a dozen before I handed them over to the bake sale table and then proceeded to buy two more, and I love them for using their money to buy the treats I make. It’s satisfying.

Mobile devices, crude weaponry and other distractions

Posted on December 2, 2016 by Alexis Nicols Posted in The Struggle is Real .

Four year-olds have no concept of time.

Oh sure, they say they do. Tell your kid that he has a friend’s birthday party coming up next weekend and he’ll nod in happy agreement. You may even help him circle the important date on a calendar. It’s just a ruse. You may as well tell him that the party is in one hour, because that’s how long he’ll ask you for clarification. Every day for the entire week.

“Is it today Mommy?”

“No, it’s next week.”

“Today?”

“What? No, it’s next week. In seven days.”

“On Monday, Mommy?”

“No honey. Next Saturday. In seven days. That’s six more sleeps.”

“It’s tomorrow?”

And so on.

As such, telling your child “One moment please,” while you finish up a chore or a phone call is equally futile (one moment = forever). Things have to get done – our family can only occupy a space for so long before it’s taken up with debris and general chaos. I’ve become adept at distraction and proficient at stealing, even creating time to get things done. A few things have worked for me:

photo: Eric Hamiter

1. Colouring: I give them crayons and a colouring book or blank paper (Note: I have to tell them to play nicely. This important caveat is the difference between calm parallel play and making colourful prison shivs.) Colouring lasts five whole minutes, which is exactly how long it takes to get laundry into the washer and address a Crayola stabbing. I can only throw in one load. Don’t think for a second that I have time to fold anything. In fact, I try not to think at all.

Thinking wastes time.

2. Right after school, the boys get a snack and a drink. This is prime dish washing time. They can go as long as 15 minutes if I turn on the TV.

3. If I want a morning sleep-in, I’ll give the kids my iPhone. I can gain an extra 30-minutes and will only have to replace half of my apps. I can sleep right up until the eldest pokes me in the face and announces that he called Tokyo. He’ll mis-pronounce it so it seems cuter.

4. Sometimes, not often, I wake up before my kids do. I realized a long time ago that I would never sleep through the night again, so I don’t fight it. It’s prime time to steal a shower, brush my teeth and start breakfast. Typically, I only make it to the shower before tiny hands and arms are poking my flabby bits through the curtain.

5. On weekends, we run our kids pretty hard. Swimming, skating, soccer – we let them off their leads whenever possible. My four year-old gave up his naps a long time ago, but every once in a while he’ll crash. If it’s time right, there’s a perfect intersection between his nap and the baby’s nap. We call this time the Mythical Unicorn Happy Pants Dance. In theory, there is no limit to the things I can accomplish. Usually, the list is so overwhelming that I implode and sit down to watch non-cartoon related TV.

There are times when 100% focus is not an option – driving, using the stove, operating a forklift, shopping online during Cyber Monday, etc. When it comes to the small stuff (and 85% of it is small stuff), I resign myself to leaving it half done. My older child will ask me to help him count the coins in his piggy bank, or my youngest will drag a book twice his size to the kitchen, calling “Mama! Dis!” I’ll stop what I’m doing and sit with them.

It would be terribly boring and sad to look back and say: “My kids fought really hard for my attention, but damn I had sparkling plates!” Life is about more than keeping a clean house. It takes far less effort to enjoy my kids than to figure out how to distract them.

Grocery shopping 2.0

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in The Struggle is Real .

The Lost Art of Grocery Shopping – Why don’t they teach this stuff in school? Shopping for groceries is a daunting task and very expensive.

Is there a strategy? A rule? An easier way?

Yes, there is! Start with menu plans and list making and then add on afterward.

1. MENU PLANNING

Jot down 7 breakfast ideas, 7 lunch ideas, and 7 dinner ideas. Here is a sample from my menu planning. The lunch section pertains to my school aged kids.

You don’t have to make each meal in order. There are no hard and fast rules here. Just plan and do what you can.

Great! Now that you have your meal plan you can start my making a list. I’m sure there are many, many different ways to do what comes next, but this is what I have found is easiest for me and the grocery stores I shop in. As you get used to this list writing technique you will tweak and customize it in your own style.

I divide each item I need into the category in which it is found in the grocery store. If you are just starting to do this and are unsure of the layout of the store you are shopping in try grouping your list into the food groups you learned in grade 2. I promise it totally works. (Dairy, Meat and Alternatives, Fruits and Veggies, Breads and Cereals, and then add the stuff that doesn’t fit in the groups Pantry, Non-Food, etc…)

Shopping List

You will save money by planning, and if you find you are enjoying the menu planning and list making then go ahead and add coupons, rebating, collecting points, etc… I price match with a flyer app on my phone. The stars on the list indicate where the price matching is.

Feeling inspired?

Don’t do it all at once.

Start with the menu planning and list this week, then get into price matching. It’s a lot to learn and figure out. Getting overwhelmed and giving up isn’t a good start. In time, you will come up with your own grocery protocol. You will be able to tweak the above list into categories that make sense to you. Always start with menu planning and an organized list and groceries won’t seem so daunting.

Happy Shopping!

P.S. Go get a PC points card. NOW. (Or a points card to your local grocery store.) Its silly not to. Its free groceries! I spent $0.00 on Christmas dinner last year.

Crazy, right?!

Jenny DiPietro is a homemaker, placenta encapsulation specialist, blogger, and most importantly, wife to Paul and mom of 4 fantastic kids. She has recently formatted a brand TV show entitled, “Let’s Talk, Mom”. Jenny is having fun hosting guests and leading discussions through topics such as, “Planning for Postpartum”, and “Breast Milk”. In her quiet moments she enjoys hiking with her kids and dog and watching Netflix.

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