We just came home from a little trip to Red Lodge Provincial Park and I am so happy I found this place! Here’s why:
I was brought up to be aware of how my actions affect others around me. Whether it is with words, actions, or implied – everything we do causes the people around us to react either positively or negatively. As a parent this is a HARD concept to teach especially to young kids. But then I realized one day that it can be simplified in little actions which will grow to bigger actions as they get older.
Which leads me to the shopping cart.
We’ve all seen the abandoned shopping carts in the parking lot but have you ever considered the way those carts left in the middle of the parking lot affects others?
Someone with limited mobility may not be able to park as close as they want to now.
A mom struggling with a car seat/stroller situation can’t park there now.
A person making barely minimum wage now has to go collect all the carts around the parking lot making their job harder.
Now this concept doesn’t just apply to shopping carts. Food trays in mall food courts, leaving a fitting room a mess after trying on clothes, or dropping your garbage while on a walk. Someone is cleaning up after you when it really is so simple to clean up after yourself.
These small actions may seem like second nature to some but they are taught. If you have been to a mall food court lately and have seen the amount of garbage left on the tables you know that the message hasn’t reached everyone. Kids watch EVERYTHING we do (just ask your kids’ Grade One teacher just how much kids really see!) so by showing them that these small things are big things to others; we are more able to take these small lessons and turn them into big lessons as they grow older.
Deanne Ferguson is the owner of Box Social Event Planning. When she is not planning fun, family, friendly events she is finding the yummiest food for the Edmonton Home and Garden Show Food Stage. She loves her #cocktailsMonday dates with her husband and chasing around her two boys. You can find her at @DeanneFerguson on Instagram and @BoxSocialYEG on Twitte
This past weekend we decided to take advantage of the sunshine – it’s few and far between lately! My daughter has become interested in taking photos – especially of flowers – and we had never been to the St. Albert Botanic Garden so that’s where we went!
1. It’s FREE
You park in the lot and it’s right there. There is a gift shop you can peruse if you like but entrance is free.
2. It’s bigger than you expect!
I hadn’t looked up anything more than where it was so when we got there, the entrance gardens were already impressive. But then we kept walking. It’s LONG. There is an entrance park, an East park, a West park and more additional gardens. We stopped along the way so much to take photos we spent almost 2 hrs there.
From age 9-16 I was a competitive swimmer for a small summer swim team in Jasper National Park ; the Jasper Red Fins. We were small but mighty and we called ourselves “RED HOT!” WE were very proud. I didn’t actually learn to swim until age 9 but my parents focused on it so much that within months, I had completed all the levels and joined the swim team. Swimming became my life. I wasn’t the fastest swimmer but my technique was good and I loved it! I enjoyed early morning practices and I would even go to the pool to “swim laps” on my own regularly. Our pool had a Kilometer Club and where the goal was to swim 100km in the specified time frame and we got prizes at different milestones. When I say swimming was my life, I’m not exaggerating!
After age 16, I started coaching the swim team. First I was an assistant coach then a year or so later, I was the head coach. The team was mine! I was a “take no crap” kind of coach. I was a 6am practice kind of coach. I was a “no junk food or unhealthy food the week before a competition” kind of coach. Like I said, swimming was my life. I did this until about age 21 when I stopped spending the summers in Jasper.
Which person are you? The person who meal preps for the week on Sunday or, the person who is now panicking because “what on earth am I going to make”?
I’m perpetually person two. I’m not prepared, I don’t enjoy meal prepping or even cooking. Depending on what is going on at home with kids activities and work, our life can get a little chaotic. This is where Simply Supper has saved my life at least 3-4 times in the last month. Instead of reaching for Skip the Dishes or Papa Johns app, I’ve actually had a homemade meal in my house instead of take-out. When I say it’s been a game changer for this mess of a human (that’s me), it would be an understatement.
Growing up I LOVED my moms strawberry freezer jam. I remember getting excited when I saw my Dad bring home cases of strawberries because it meant that we were making jam soon. We would spend hours in the kitchen together washing the jars, mashing the strawberries, stirring in the sugar, and pouring the jam into jars ready to be frozen. All while listening to Sunday morning classics on CFCW because it isn’t canning unless you’re listening to the oldest honky tonk music right?
I loved when our cousins, friends or Grandparents stopped by and were able to help too. Cooking is always better when you’re working in a group!
That is why we were so excited to host a canning party with Bernardin. We wanted to recreate that feeling of friends and family coming together to cook while getting the kids involved.
WAHM/D, SAHM/D, Work out of the home or other? WAHM
# of Kids? Ages? 2 Kids: I have two kids; Manessa (6 years) and Malik (3 years)
What movie makes you cry? My Sister’s Keeper. It just hit close to home. When it came out, I was struggling with some health issues. Most often, I tear up in movies that have to do with Parents and their children.
Tell us about a mom/dad who inspires you?
My own parents for sure! My parents made a very tough decision to leave home; Egypt; to seek a better future for themselves and their children. They learned the language, worked 7 days a week, built their life together one brick at a time. They were typical immigrants working for the dream. They raised my sister and I here in this amazing country trying to balance an Eastern culture and Faith in the Western world. They taught us to be proud of who we are, and to remain rooted. They taught us to work hard, be honest and to do what you can in life then leave the rest up to God.
By Leah Elzinga
“My kid spends all their time in their room playing video games. I’m worried they’re not making friends. At least they like technology?! Maybe you can teach them to code!”
Every six weeks or so I receive an email or request similar to this one, with frazzled parents begging me to teach their kid to code to get them out of the basement but… that doesn’t work. Here’s the thing: I love technology. I love the thing itself, I love the process of building it, and I love the people involved. In and of itself, though, technology isn’t the solution to all of our problems: people are.
So let’s unpack this problem. Kid spends all their time playing videogames online. Ok, so this isn’t really a problem in and of itself. Is the kid still active? Gets their homework done? Let’s assume the answers there are a “yes”.Kid is anti-social. Ok, so this we can work with, but maybe not in the way you’d expect.
How did I not know this little piece of camping paradise existed right in our own backyard?
The Mamas were very lucky recently. Arrkann RV set us up with some sweet trailers for Glamping right in Edmonton. You can read all about our take on the trailers here – but I digress.
Rainbow Valley Campground boasts 39 15 amp powered sites + 29 natural sites;
And a massive green space WITH a playground.
