momstown Mississauga Moms and Kids Top Events in December

December was a celebration of the holidays and momstown Mississauga parents, kids and babies partied all month long. From cookie exchanges to our Secret Santa present stealing game at our Holiday Party, momstown Mississauga mamas had lots of reasons to celebrate this month.

momstown is known for Crafts and our kids were busy all month long creating decorations and keepsakes... some to keep and some to give away! You can read about salt dough handprints in our earlier blog, or see how we made snowman ornaments.

We had so many celebrations in fact it was hard to keep up with our blog, so here's a recap with some pictures from December.  Our cookie exchange was a hit and helped us fill our mamas Holiday Dessert Plates with a variety of recipes.

All ready to exchange!

 

We hosted many crafty events, which had our kids creating snowmen, jingle bells and a variety of handprint ornaments. Our mamas will be pulling these out for years to come! 

Our holiday party featured cookie decorating, reindeer crafts, foam picture ornaments, a Secret Santa game for the mommies and lots of free play time at Taima Zone.

Cookie Decorating at Holiday Party
 

Our kiddos decorated cookies right upon arrival to fill them full of sugary treats and allow for lots of time to burn it all off running and playing on the slides and cars at Taima Zone.

Reindeer Crafting

 

The mamas had a fun time stealing presents from each other at our mommy's Secret Santa game. There were some lovely handmade gifts, books, toiletries, scarves and of course yummy chocolates! What a fun idea.  

Secret Santa Game

 

You can join us for a free trial membership by signing up on our website. We offer a variety of things to do all month long and its all included in the yearly membership fee of $45/family. So make a resolution for 2013 to get out of the house, and start having some fun!

 

 

momstown Mississauga Moms and Babies Create Keepsakes

This month our momstown Mississauga Baby Basics program was busy making keepsakes. From handprint ornaments, to salt dough decorations we were busy with the toddlers and their baby siblings creating at our weekly baby chats at the Taima Zone.

All ready for our mamas to decorate!

We made snowman handprints at our Baby Basics this month. We decorated foam ornaments, by stamping the babies handprints on in white paint, and then adding this snowman poem to the back. It was a great keepsake and it was so much fun to see how our moms each had her own style.

Finished Snowman Families

Our babies are now getting the hang of this craft thing! momstown Mississauga moms and their babies meet weekly at the Taima Zone for fun get togethers, listening to speakers, learning from each other and making some fun keepsakes like these ornament crafts. 



Wiping up after the stamping

We meet weekly for these supportive and fun get togethers! Join us in the New Year and connect with other local moms who are in the same stage of life. Our membership fees of $45/year per family cover our costs so you don't have to bring a twoonie to every event. The 20+ events we host each month are all included!

Mississauga moms & babies

The Ultimate Gift: Giving to Others During the Holidays

My best friend is an advocat for organ donation  & a completely selfless person. I have asked her to share one of her blog posts with momstown Mississauga this holiday season, to raise awareness about organ donation and to inspire us all to think of ways we can give meaningfully to other people during the holidays (and anytime of year).

 

In June of 2011, I donated my left kidney to a stranger. Throughout my journey, I kept a blog so I would remember all the thoughts and feelings I had along the way. One of my favourite posts was Christmas and Family (partially below). I think it really helped me explain to my family and friends part of why I was wanting to make the choice to be a living donor. What I didn’t know is that it should be a real turning point for me in the process as it was my first post to really get any kind of attention or comments from strangers. It opened up a world for me that helped me understand the impact of organ donation (living and otherwise) on families, especially during the holidays. It was the start of many stories I would hear along the way that pushed me forward when I wasn’t sure about my choice and in the end, encouraged me to help someone else have a better life.

Living donation isn’t for everyone, but it is easier than some might think. Alternatively, there are other ways you can help people facing critical illness this Christmas. The first, is to register to be an organ donor (beadonor.ca in Ontario) and talk to your family about your wishes should they be faced with that decision. The second, is to look into donating blood. It is easy, takes less than an hour and can mean the difference between life and death for someone. It can also help cancer patients like my Dad have the strength to be home for Christmas via blood transfusion treatment.

 

Wishing everyone in the momstown family a happy and healthy holiday season and 2013!

 ~ Lauren Herschel

 

Christmas and Family

Regardless of whether or not you are religious or what religion you practice, this time of year is about family. It's about spending time with people who are important to you, taking the time to call loved ones who are far away and remembering special people in your life that are no longer with us.

This year is the 15th anniversary of my Dad's last Christmas. In July of 1995, he was diagnosed for the second time with Esophageal Cancer. That time around it was inoperable and terminal. He chose to fight it and did a pretty good job of it well into the fall of that year. But by Christmas, the disease was taking its toll on him. He was becoming a shadow of the man I knew and as a 20 year old, that was pretty hard for me to understand.

Despite how sick he was, there are good things I remember about that Christmas. For one, his illness had slowed all of us down enough that we had time to stop and really get to know each other better. I think I had more conversations with my Dad in those last few months than I had in the five years prior. One of the really good memories I have of that time is the shopping excursion we took late in December to get my Mom one more present. My dad was a creature of habit and every year his gift buying formula for my mom was exact-there was always a fancy Christmas decoration like a wooden antique Santa or some kind of festive table top display. There was also some kind of orange and chocolate sweet (bleck..not my thing). The third part of the formula was that he always got her something nice to wear. No longer able to drive, he needed me to take him to downtown Oakville to a little boutique, where he found a pretty purple silk blouse for her. The snow was falling, the picturesque streets were bustling with people walking past well decorated store fronts. It was something out of a Disney movie and more importantly, it was wonderful to spend that kind of time one on one with my Dad….

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momstown Mississauga's Bookclub For Moms and Kids!

momstown Mississauga moms and kids had a great time this month at our Tales for Tots book club for kids! This month we hosted at The Fun Side, an indoor playground in South Mississauga. The event kicked off with singing a few Christmas Carols before getting down to our stories.

 The book this month was generously supplied by Scholastic Canada – they are our sponsor across Canada for our Tales for Tots program.  Scholastic provides us with a book to give away to one of our lucky members every month.

 

This month’s selection was Finding Christmas, by Robert Munsch. A Tale about the mischievous Julie who searches all over the house every year to find her Christmas presents. 

Singing before our stories

After the stories, we headed into the party room to do our Craft. Cotton ball snowmen were created out of egg cartons with some simple cardboard accessories and yarn.

Snowman crafts!

After all the caroling, crafting and fun we had lots of time for free play and catch up with each other. We meet monthly for our Tales for Tots program, join us for a free 4 week trial membership and start having some fun with other moms in Mississauga!

 

Our lucky bookclub winner!

 

Nutella Sponsors Junior Chef Cooking Program at momstown Mississauga

This week momstown Mississauga moms and kids enjoyed perhaps our yummiest Junior Chef Program ever! Nutella was our sponsor for this month’s kids cooking class. We made a delicious breakfast recipe for French Toast Cups.

 
Nutella sponsored research on Canadian families eating habits. They have created the Nutella Breakfast Table, an online community where Canadians can share tips, find advice and learn about the importance of breakfast.

momstown Mississauga moms enjoying French toast with Nutella!

 Our momstown moms and kids had a great time at our Junior Chef program, cracking eggs, measuring, mixing and creating all the parts of the recipe. One little girl flipped all the soaked pieces of bread in the egg mixture using tongs – she was quite the professional!



Mixing up the eggs

 After the French toast was ready, we chopped up some fruit, and spread on the Nutella. What a treat! The kids dove into it, and our moms were happy to sit and chat and enjoy some breakfast too!

 

 

 
We had chef hats available for the kids to make, but there was too much interest in the cooking! Our kids were delighted with this French toast recipe. Here are some other great Nutella Recipes you can try with your family:

Banannalicious Nutella Pancakes

Nutella Breakfast Bars

Nutella Breakfast Muffins

Fruit 'N' Nutella Yogurt Parfaits
 
Our moms received breakfast recipe cards and a jar of Nutella as a thank you from our Sponsor.    

We meet monthly for programs like this Junior Chef cooking class. All the supplies and cleanup are on us (included in the $45/yr membership)! Join us for a free
 4 week trial membership and start having fun with other Mississauga moms!  

Enter to Win A Family Package to Family Jingle and Mingle from momstown Mississauga

Enter to Win A Family Four Package of Tickets from momstown Mississauga to Jingle and Mingle!

FAMILY JINGLE & MINGLE

Celebrate Christmas like never before with live entertainment, an indoor carnival, motorized plush
animals, walk around characters, and an interactive zoo!

On December 16, 2012, families will come together to celebrate a unique Christmas party at the
International Centre, 6900 Airport Road, Hall 5 in Mississauga. This year, everyone at Family
Jingle & Mingle has made a commitment to support The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada.
Children’s Wish will also be present with a Wish Family.

Children and families can visit with a live zoo from Hands On Exotics. The zoo will feature a
variety of different animals from bugs, to birds, to reptiles, and even a kangaroo and flamingo!
Guests will be free to pet, touch, feed, and hold some of the zoo animals. As if this weren’t as
exciting enough, we were able to enlist the help of ponies this year; sorry, Santa’s reindeers are
too busy this December to visit. If children are too timid to interact with real live animals, there will
also be motorized plush animals that children and adults can ride.

Entertainment includes a live stage preview of Stage West’s production of Jingle and Jangle, a
musical based on Jingle and Jangle, two of Santa’s elves. The Watts School of Dance
choreographers and dancers are actively practicing their performance for Family Jingle & Mingle
guests. In addition to all of this, Suzie Sunshine, a well-known children entertainer for the past
30 years will be performing some of her hit songs.

The Peel Police and a fire truck will be onsite for kids and families for pictures.
Pockets the Clown will be available to transform the faces of children into a specific chosen
design, while Cha Cha the Clown will be strolling around mingling with families and handing out
small gifts. Santa will also be meeting with the good boys and girls of the GTA. The secret is
out! Two very special lovable cartoon mice will be meeting with and taking pictures with lucky
families.

How can Christmas be celebrated without an indoor carnival and bouncy castles! A Carnival
atmosphere will be created with various amusement rides and music that children and adults can
take part in.

WHAT: Family Jingle & Mingle
WHEN: Sunday, December 16, 2012, 10:00am to 5:00pm
WHERE: The International Convention Centre, 6900 Airport Rd. Mississauga,
ON. L4V 1E8 (close to the Toronto Airport)

Best time for photo opportunities will be at 12:00pm, 2:00pm, and 4:00pm
For more information on the Family Jingle & Mingle Christmas event please visit www.jingleandmingle.ca

Leave a comment on this blog to enter to win one of 3 Prize Packages of a Family 4 package of Tickets to this event or enter our Contest on momstown Mississauga's website.

momstown Mississauga Moms Share Top 3 Holiday Traditions

momstown Mississauga moms have been talking a lot this month on our message board about spending the holidays with their extended families, babies and kids! momstown Mississauga's chat forum is full of hot topics including favourite movies and holiday traditions.
Here are the Top 3 Holiday Traditions we've been talking about.



1. Christmas Pajamas:

• every christmas eve we recieved christmas/winter pjs im continuing this with my family :)

• I'm doing the Christmas Eve PJs too! My son's still wearing his from last year but its funny to see how much he's grown- the arms are so short!

• We do the Christmas eve PJs as well. Christmas eve we go to church, come back and sprinkle reindeer food, put out carrots, cookies and milk, and open the PJs.

Family PJs

2. The Gift Game:

• 'Every Christmas we play the "Gift Game" everyone buys one gift. After dinner, we pile all the gifts in the centre of the room, then we pick numbers out of a hat for who goes first, after the first person goes the next person can steal the gift that was just opened or pick a new gift until all gift are open which can take a bit of time some year a especially when there's a gift everyone want. always a lot of laughing going'

• i used to do the "gift game" too - always good times lol

3. The Elf on the Shelf:

• We do the elf on the shelf, exchange pjs and take a family pic in the foyer each year. That's about it for traditions we've started.

• totally forgot about the elf on the shelf..... we have him too. He should be arriving any day now. Might as well stretch this out as long as possible - lol!

• I've heard from friends it ends up being a lot of work, since you have to remember to reposition him each night.. and he often gets into mischief of his own...

Would you like to join the conversation? Check out our website and sign up for your free 4 week trial membership - or buy one for a friend as a holiday or baby shower gift. Expecting moms get a free membership until 1 month after the baby is born.

Sparkly Holiday Gingersnap Cookies

momstown Mississauga had a cookie exchange this week to help our moms save time during the busy holiday season!

Ginger is a spice that makes you think of the holidays. Every good cookie plate has some type of ginger flavour element this time of year. These cookies are easy to prep, and they freeze well. If you halve the recipe you can easily freeze it in plastic wrap. It will be ready to bake quickly for those last minute holiday guests.



Gingersnaps

Ingredients

3/4 cup room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup light cane syrup (Lyles brand is best)
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 cups cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt 1/4
1/2 cup turbinado sugar (the large crystals in this sugar give the cookies that sparkle)

Directions:

In large bowl, beat butter with granulated sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and syrup. Stir in crystallized ginger.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
Stir into butter mixture in 2 or 3 additions. Refrigerate until firm, 1-2 hours.

Place turbinado sugar in a bowl. Make balls from rounded 1 tsps of dough, then roll in the sugar to coat completely.

Bake 2.5cm apart on the parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Lining the pan is an important step as the sugar on the bottoms harden to create a crunch, but it can burn if placed directly on the pan.

Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven until browned on edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on pans on racks for 2 minutes. Transfer to racks; let cool completely. Freeze in ziplock bags, or an airtight container for up to 1 month. As if they will last that long!

Your whole house will smell wonderful

Holiday Cranberry Brie Wreath

Holiday Cranberry Brie Wreath

This impressive wreath creation was adapted by Kathy Stewart, a Mississauga momstown mama, devoted mother of 3, student of Nutrition and Pampered Chef Consultant. Kathy runs our momstown Mississauga Junior Chef program and is an enthusiastic teacher, sharing with our moms and kids how to make everyday cooking easier & healthier! 

Impressive Party Appetizer! 

Serves about 20

Ingredients:

Dough:

1/4 cup warm water (110° to 115°)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (or olive oil)

1 teaspoon salt

3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast-  2 tsp

Filling:

1 (12-oz) bag fresh cranberries  - 1 ½ cups

1/2 cup orange juice

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin spice

200g double-cream brie cheese,

 1/2 cup whole pecans

Optional egg wash: 1 egg + 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

Dough: 

Put  dough ingredients into bread maker and put on DOUGH setting.  Allow breadmaker to run full 1.5 hour cycle.   OR

Dissolve the package of yeast in 1/4 cup warm water, with 1 tablespoon sugar. Stir and let sit 5-10 minutes, until yeast starts to foam. If it doesn’t, the yeast may no longer be active, and try again with a fresher pack.

Add 1/2 cup sugar, the warm milk, butter, salt, and 2 cups flour to the bowl. Beat until smooth (either with an electric mixer or a whisk). Add in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead 6-8 minutes, adding more flour as necessary if the dough is too sticky, until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Place in a large greased bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 1.5 hours.

Filling: 

Meanwhile, prepare cranberry sauce by bringing 1/2 cup orange juice and 1/2 cup sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add bag of fresh cranberries and reduce heat. Let simmer about 10 minutes, until cranberries break down and sauce is thickened. Add 1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin spice.  Let cool.

Assembly:

Punch down dough and roll on a floured surface into a 16 inch by 12 inch rectangle. Spread cooled cranberry sauce over the surface of the dough. Make sure the sauce spreads all the way to the shorter edges of the dough, but leave a 1-inch border on the long edge of the dough furthest away from you (the edge you will be rolling the dough toward). Cover with slices of brie, as evenly as possible. Sprinkle evenly with chopped pecans. Beginning with the long edge of the dough closest to you, roll the dough towards the opposite end, jelly-roll style. Pinch the seam to seal.

Transfer the rolled dough to the round baking stone and form into a wreath, pinching the two ends of the log together as best as you can. Use scissors to cut into the wreath so that the filling is slightly exposed - cut about 1/2 to 1 inch into the dough, at about 2 inch intervals (you don't want the filling to fall out, just to show). Cover and let rise 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F.

If desired, prepare an egg wash for the dough by whisking together one egg with 2 tablespoons of water. Before baking the dough, brush the surface evenly with the egg wash (make sure you cover every part of the dough evenly so there are no differences in colour).

Bake the wreath for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool slightly, then slice and serve warm.

Recipe and Image provided by:

Kathy Stewart 

Pampered Chef Consultant

Childproofing Expert Visits Mississauga Moms and Babies!

At momstown Mississauga's Baby Basics group (held weekly at Taima Zone in west Mississauga), we recently had a child safety expert come in to speak. Kenn MacFie from Bullseye Child Safety is a Certified Professional Childproofer (one of only a handful of certified professionals in Canada). 

Kenn demonstrating a door lock

Kenn talked to the group about the importance of proper installation of child safety measures. His company Bullseye Child Safety offers home visits to help parents identify safety concerns for growing families. The service doesn't stop there, once the areas of need are determined, the professionals from Bullseye will supply and install top quality solutions customized to your home! Saving parents time and energy from buying and installing things that may or may not work in their particular situations. There are so many safety solutions on the market its hard to know which brands are quality and if they will work in your home.

Our moms watching the presentation

There were interesting fire safety tips too - Bullseye sells fire blankets, and tons of innovative products perfect to suit every situation and need. If you are looking for help with childproofing, pool safety or car seat installation they have a service to match your need.

This mom got timely info on car seats! 

Do you like what you see? Join us for a free 4 week trial membership and start meeting other parents in your local Mississauga community! Get out to have some fun and learn valuable tips from local experts and other parents just like you!

Mississauga moms and babies make keepsake holiday ornaments!

momstown Mississauga moms and babies gathered at the Taima Zone in west Mississauga  last week to make ornaments during our Baby Basics class.  We join together weekly at this momstown signature event to socialize, listen to speakers and do some fabulous keepsake crafts with the babies. 

We had with free play time for the babies (and their older siblings) at the Taima Zone, while we prepared the dough. The recipe is super simple and if you own a stand mixer, it comes together with very little fuss. 
See below for the recipe this photo is the finished product! 

Finished Ornament 

Chatting with the babies

Already holding hands... great momstown friendship

Play structure fun! 

momstown Mississauga's Salt Dough Recipe: 

Ingredients: 

1 cup salt 
2 cups all purpose flour 
1 cup luke warm water 

Directions

1. In a large bowl mix salt and flour

2. Slowly stir in water. Mix well until it forms a dough 

3. With your hands form a ball with your dough and kneed it for at least 5 minutes. The longer you kneed your dough the smoother it will be. If you have a stand mixer just use the dough hook to mix it all and then let it go for at least 10 minutes. You may need to scrape the sides. 

Store your salt dough in a plastic zipper bag or container for up to 3 days.

You can paint your creations with acrylic paints and seal with varnish or polyurethane spray.

You can let your salt dough creations air dry, however salt dough can also be dried in the oven. Bake it at 200 F until your creation is dry. The amount of time varies based on thickness.  Thin flat ornaments might be 45-60 minutes, thicker creations can take 2-3 hrs. If you increase your oven temperature to 350 F, your dough will dry faster but may brown. Cover to avoid browning.