Top 5 Spots for Mother's Day Brunch in Mississauga

 momstown Mississauga mamas were polled and here are their top recommendations for Brunch spots for Mother's Day. There is nothing a mom would like better for Mother's Day than a hot meal that they didn't have to cook or clean up afterwards!

1. Mother's Day Buffet at Live Restaurant at the Living Arts centre. Featuring entertainment and a vast array of buffet food, this buffet is perfect for the whole family.

2. Located in the heart of Port Credit, the Waterside Inn is home to Breakwater Restaurant. Their Mother's Day Brunch features a made to order omelette bar and a Belgian Waffle Bar. 

3. Brae Ben Golf Course in Mississauga has a special menu for their Mother's Day Brunch. Featuring a carving station, a wide array of salads and more hot entrees than you can possibly try at one meal. 

4. The Orchard Restaurant has been a fixture on Hurontario Street for over 45 years! Family run diner that offers famous all day breakfasts and is know for their friendly service and generous portions.

5. Bobby's Hideaway Restaurant is a Streetsville gem that came highly recommended from our momstown Mississauga mamas. With 11yrs at this location, and over 30 yrs experience in the restaurant business this family run business is a Mississauga family favourite.

Mother's Day Cards at Baby Basics

momstown Mississauga mamas had an extra special Mother's Day gift last week. Our Moms made homemade cards at our weekly Baby Basics program using their own babies' adorable footprints.
 

Stamping the tender tootsies!

The cards were glossy and required the mamas to stamp the babies' footprints on a heavy cardstock and cut out to place on the card.  There was glitter glue and butterflies to help create this special keepsake.

 

 

Once the footprints dried they were cut out, and the cards were assembled. Its great to see everyone's creativity how a basic idea can be turned into so many different variations by our creative mamas.  

 

momstown Mississauga mamas meet weekly for Baby Basics - where we do fun activities like this one - Not just for Mother's Day but every week - all year long! 

 

  What are you waiting for? Come out and try us with a free 4 week trial membership. momstown has a special gift for you all year long. With every membership purchase in 2013 you will also receive an annual subscription to Today's Parent Magazine. 

Mississauga Moms Play Games - at Mom's Night Out sponsored by Mattel

Mom's Game Night Out this month at momstown Mississauga had our mamas excited to gather and try some new games. Supplied by Mattel - there were a variety of options for us to get our Game On! 

The game night kicked off with Apples to Apples - a fun game with a crowd. We played our own modified version of it with such a large group and it was a lot of laughs. There is bound to be an inside joke in every game. Creamed corn anyone?  

The second favourite game of the night was Mad Gab - our momstown Mamas had some real competition going with this one! Our teams were well matched. It was great fun trying these games out.

The best part is that Mattel supplied so many games we will be set for many more momstown Mississauga Mom's Nights Out to come! Some of our lucky mamas even got to take a new game home!

Do you like to play games? Mattel has a new App - Gameology. There are 4 types of players Strategicorn, Socialies, Activius or Wittian. Sign into the Facebook app with your account and find out what type of player you are!  

Books for Babies: Mississauga moms and babies read Robert Munsch

momstown Mississauga moms meet monthly for our Reading Program with Babies. Sponsored by Scholastic Canada, we receive books each month to give away to one lucky family at our Baby Bookclub and our Tots Bookclub.

This month we read Robert Munsch's Alligator Baby. Our program starts with a circle time, where we sing songs, do finger plays, rhymes and read baby-friendly stories.

Alligator Baby is about Kirsten who's parents are having a baby and get all mixed up at the zoo, bringing home baby after baby but not the right one! If only having a baby were this easy..

Join us next month when we read another great story from Scholastic Canada and you could win your very own copy to take home! You can sign up here for a 1yr or 6 month membership - and start getting out of the house and having fun! We hope to see you at an event soon!

We had a very Lucky Duckling at Tales for Tots This Month!

At momstown Mississauga we meet monthly for a storytime at Chapters. Our moms and kids read a story provided by Scholastic Canada and make a related craft! This month's story was great, Lucky Ducklings by Eva Moore.  A perfect story for spring, about a mama and her ducklings and their exciting adventure.

 

 

April's Book!

Each month momstowns across Canada are able to give away copies of these bookclub books! All of this is courtesy of Scholastic Canada. Our joint missions to promote literacy in Canadian Children is  the reason this program is possible!

 

 

 

Lucky Winning Family!
 

If you haven't checked us out yet in person what are you waiting for? We meet several times a month at public locations like Chapter's - you can drop in and try a program out for free! Follow this blog for updates or Like us on Facebook to keep up with everywhere we are all month long!
 We also offer a 1 month trial membership to momstown Mississauga so sign up and get started having fun meeting other Mississauga moms and kids today!

Many Faces, One Portrait Photography Project at Art Gallery of Mississauga

Karen Maze is a Mississauga resident, a photographer, mom to 2yr old Graham and also a member of momstown Mississauga. This is Karen's guest blog on her photography exhibition at the Art Gallery of Mississauga.

 

 

Many Faces, One Portrait is a photography project that I worked on in conjunction with the Art Gallery of Mississauga and the Mississauga Library System as part of their Roots & Branches initiative. It has been an honour to be involved in the project, particularly because I am a Mississauga Resident, and through this project I was also artist in residence at Erin Meadows Library.

I set up a backdrop and light at the library on six different days in January and February 2013 and asked for volunteers to be photographed as the entered or exited the library. The response was from the library patrons was exceptional. Most people - over 350, in fact - agreed to be photographed.

As a photographer, I am interested in the idea of "local". What makes a place unique, interesting, and distinguishable from other places? What does it have in common with the rest of the world? Inevitably the answer comes from and is the people of that place. The goal of Many Faces, One Portrait is simply to show a cross-section of the faces of Mississauga from the vantage point of Erin Meadows Library. My hope is that viewers will connect with the individual portraits as well as the group as a whole, and that a unique portrait of the city emerges.

44 faces of Mississauga are on display as part of Many Faces, One Portrait at the Art Gallery of Mississauga through April 20. For more information, please visit the Art Gallery of Mississauga located inside City Hall. Admission is free.

Art Gallery of Mississauga

300 City Centre Dr, Mississauga, ON, Canada

artgalleryofmississauga.com

905-896-5088agm.connect@mississauga.ca
Admission: Free

Making Fruit Fun - How to Turn a Mango into a Hedgehog

Do your kids love to eat fruit? At momstown Mississauga one of the 6 pillars of our programming is  Nutrition. We offer a program each month called Junior Chef, where our momstown our kids (aged 18m- 6yrs) get cooking in the kitchen dishing up some fabulous snacks and easy meal ideas. This experience  gets them excited about healthy eating.

Make a mango an extra special treat by following these easy steps to turn a mango into a fun and fabulous creature - a hedgehog! No special tools are required!

Finished Hedgehogs

Supplies:
Mango (s)
Knife

Step 1. Make sure the mango is ripe. It should not be too firm; press the mango lightly and see if it springs back.   

Step 2. Wash the skin of the mango

Step 3. Holding the Mango on a cutting board slice down from the Stem along the middle of the fruit, just to skim the pit in the centre. Slice the other side next. You will end up with 3 pieces. Two can be hedgehogs!

 

Step 4. Holding the cut side in your hand gently run your knife in a pattern inside the mango skin being careful not to pierce the skin. Make a pattern of squares.

Step 5. Gently push on the skin side to puff up your hedgehog. Place it on a plate and decorate with eyes. Use cut up grapes, cherries, strawberries etc.

Step 6. Enjoy! My kids ask for hedgehogs for dessert! It's messy though! 

While mango isn't a tough sell for lots of kids since its so sweet, turning the fruit into something fun can inspire consumption in those who are harder to convince!