Next year, big changes are coming to The Lunchbox Season and Summer of Funner …dare we say, a transformation? With this in mind, we thought we’d bring you our biggest, best, and most ambitions CHRISTMAS EVE CHECKLIST ever! But, here’s the deal, folks. This isn’t your Christmas List! No need to get all of this […]
It’s that time of year! Time to make the much beloved Bûche de Noël! This year, our sixth, we’re taking a break from inventing a brand new recipe and choosing from one of the FIVE, count the, FIVE Bûche de Noël recipes we’ve offered up in the past five years. My top choice would be […]
If our Advent started off with a family book swap, it can’t end without a Family Pajama Exchange! Today, we’re drawing names. And, everyone is rushing out to the stores last minute or going online to select a set of pajamas for the person whose name they drew! Ideas? DAUGHTER Bea loves the Soft Flannel PJ Pants from […]
We’ve got school bake sales and cookie plates a-plenty this week. Time for a new [old] cookie recipe! This is a fresh take on a favourite cookie of ours…. A chocolate cookie exploding with chips and bits of Andes Mint. And, a recipe that’s nut free and easily doubled! What could be better than Double Chocolate Cookies […]
Once again, this year, we’ll be donating non-perishable items to the Daily Bread Food Bank box at our local grocery store or making a contribution online to Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank. The Daily Bread Food Bank is a registered charity that is fighting hunger in our communities. Every year thousands of people across Toronto rely on food banks. […]
Whatever the weather, it’s outdoor game night! And what’s on our agenda? A game of Nerf Football in the park after dark. We’re going to grab a new Nerf Football like this bright one from toyrus.ca: We’ll adorn ourselves with an array of neon glow-sticks from the dollarstore. And, we’ll run down to the park and have […]
It’s baaaaack! The kids loved it so much last year that we’re going for round 2: Rewrite the Song of the Summer as a Holiday Carol!! What were the Songs of the Summer for 2016? Well, we checked out Billboard for their official list. Top of the Charts was Drake’s “One Dance.” [Thank God it was Drake. […]
Today is the day when we bake ALL of the Christmas Cookies! In addition to the world-famous Nestle Tollhouse Cookies recipe on the back of the bag and Better Homes & Gardens’ recipe for Gingerbread Cookie Cut-Outs, we’ve developed an immense list of ORIGINAL Christmas Cookie recipes that we love to bake each year. After six years […]
We did it last year, and we’re doing it again! It’s the big night! Surprise, kids! We’re going out for Dinner & Star Wars! This time, it’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story! We can’t wait! Can you?
Today is our Random Act of Christmas Kindness day. Do something kind, and, if possible, in secret, for someone you don’t know, or, at least, someone you don’t know very well. As with last year, we’re not going to give you any lists of ideas about how to go about making other people happy. You can figure that one […]
Today, everyone in the family is going to Write and Illustrate a Beastly Christmas Tale. What does that mean? Well, that’s where interpretation comes in. What’s a “beast”? And what does “beastly” mean? I’m going to leave this up to the kids to decide. I’m asking them to write anything from a brilliant post-card story to a […]
On this #givingtuesday, which is also St. Lucy’s day, a day of light and hope, we’ll be suporting Plan Canada/Plan International by giving a Bee Hive! By purchasing the Buzzing Bees Gift of Hope, we will help pay for a hive, honeybees, and the essential training for a person or family to begin a family […]
I’m so excited for this Sunday’s entry in our 2016 Family Advent Calendar! As you may know, Shakespeare has often been a part of our Advent festivities. My favourite Shakespeare-related advent activity so far is when we read and illustrated As You Like It. Today, we’re doing a King Lear Cold Reading. That’s right, we’re going to […]
It’s time for our annual Saturday of Christmas Canning. What’s top on our list this year? The Lemon Ginger Marmalade with Champagne and Elderflower that we made over the summer.It was a huge hit with friends and family! So, for the holidays, we are going to tweak it by making the marmalade with St. Germain instead […]
Tonight, it’s a party! We’re going to make our famous Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizzas and settle down to watch a festive film or two. I really want to cheese it up this year, so I’m rooting for White Christmas with a side of Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer. Though, I might be persuaded to watch Santa […]
This evening, we’ll offer the kids the opportunity to choose between going skating down at city hall or going on a winter walk. If the choice is to walk, which I have a feeling it will be, we’ll give them the opportunity to choose what kind of walk we’ll take. Will we look for holiday lights around the city? […]
Today, we’re going to design some Christmas cards in which we place Santa in a famous work of art. With the success of our Lichtenstein Inspired Cards, Frieda Kahlo and other Famous Artist Cards, and our Picasso Inspired Cards, we’re sure this will be a hit! Funny thing, after I came up with the idea for […]
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…It’s time for our Holiday Book Swap, a.k.a. our Family Book Exchange! A few days ago, I had everyone pick names from a stocking and choose a book for that person. Last year, we had a theme: Give a Books in which Gifts are Given in Secret. This year’s theme? Simply, […]
