January is just about over and, around here, it really flew by. We had one really cold week, but last week and this week have been just above zero. And now it is almost February. Our theme around the house this next month is hearts and love.

This month, Little Bird and I will be planning a nice Valentines celebration for Papa and Baby Bird. We will get busy on some crafts, and will decide what our family Valentine meal will be. Since the actual day falls in the middle of the week, we will be doing two meals. One homemade on Valentines Day and a fun family outing on the weekend.

One thing we have both voted on is our dessert. Hands down, we are making the new Red Velvet Cupcakes by Betty Crocker. Only available in Canada, Betty Crocker has taken the cake and made it in to minis. The package comes complete with the mix and the icing and only requires minimal ingredients like eggs and oil.

As for the dinner, we will scour books and the LifeMadeDelicious.ca website for some easy recipes. On the weekend, I think we will head out to East Side Mario’s because it is one of Papa Bird’s favorite restaurants.

February is also Heart Month and just in time to recognize the importance of a healthy heart, Cheerios is thrilled to announce the launch of their new site Cheerios.ca. They have a question and answer page, coupons and recipes. I was curious as to what age I could start giving our youngest Cheerios as a snack and the answer was right there. So if you are looking to lower cholesterol levels, make sure you check them out for more information.

In an effort to eat healthier at home, we ended up altering a lot of our recipes. If the salt content of a recipe is under 1 tablespoon, we leave it out all together. If it is over 1 tablespoon, we don’t make the meal at all. We grow our own vegetables in the summer and our oldest loves gardening. I don’t think it is a coincidence that she enjoys eating her vegetables as well. We talk about our food and we tell her how food helps her body. Instead of saying “just eat it”, we tell her why it is important in words she will understand.

I would love to hear about what you do. Please leave a comment below and share how you make meals healthy.

Disclosure: I am part of the Life Made Delicious Blogger program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Celebrate Heart Month With Cheerios and Life Made Delicious is a post from: This Bird's Day

Celebrate Heart Month With Cheerios and Life Made Delicious originally appeared on This Bird's Day on January 30, 2012.

My biggest hurdle to overcome is time and presence. I can’t afford a lot of extra time in my day to day routines on my own, so the travel time to and from workouts would have to be minimal or nonexistent. My workout during the week would need to be done after our daughters’ bed time routines, and I would prefer to be within earshot in case there are any issues. So that left working out at home.

My past experience with getting in shape has shown me that I need a lot of variety, and I don’t like to ‘feel’ like I am working out. There needs to be some level of enjoyment to my routines, or I will just stop doing it.

Xbox has launched a few new games that are played with the Kinect Sensor and I will be reviewing them over the next few months. When I first heard about this opportunity I was pretty excited. Now that I’ve had the chance to get to know the system and the games, I can’t put in to words how happy I am to have been introduced to this. The variety of active games makes me look forward to turning it on and getting started at the end of my day.

Before I get in to the first game I have been reviewing, I need to share a little background on the Kinect Sensor. The Kinect Sensor works with the Xbox console and basically turns you in to the remote. You control the games with either your hand movements, or with your voice. It reminds me of those TV shows where you see a blown up computer screen projected in to the room and the person is waving their hands and screens are opening and closing. Its pretty cool stuff. When you play a game that requires the Kinect Sensor, that means it is a full body game and you won’t be sitting on the couch.

Off the top of my head, this is what I love about the Kinect Sensor:

• It finds your whole body and it can follow you no matter how fast or slow you are moving. The character movements are in real time and match mine as I go.
• It can track my three and a half year old, so she can play some of the games as well, and she is pretty good.
• Since the Kinect games are more active, they are wonderful for really cold or hot days, making winter workouts so easy.
• Depending on the game, it can track multiple players at once so you can play along with others.

As part of their winter fitness lineup, the first game I am reviewing is Dance Central 2. It is the follow up to the best-selling game, Dance Central.

Dance Central 2 has a long list of songs that you dance to by mirroring the dancer on the screen. From the first time I tried this, I was hooked. I did okay when I first put it on, but not great. The best part was that I was alone in our basement so I didn’t have to worry about anyone staring. I just gave it all I had and probably missed a lot of steps but who cares? It was exercise, and I was sweating.

If you just want to dance, you pick your song, the difficulty level (Easy, Medium or Hard) and you can begin. You can also customize the dancer that you want to mirror when you dance and the location that you want the dance to take place in. While you dance to the song, the Kinect Sensor shows an image of you in the top right (or left if you are doing two players) of the screen. This was helpful because I kept getting low marks on one move and I thought I was doing it right until I watched myself and realized that I wasn’t doing anything like what the dancer was doing.

Up to two people can dance at the same time which makes it fun for the whole family. The sensors can pick up our daughter (3 1/2 years old) so she can dance along with us to some of the songs. A feature here that I like is that you don’t get kicked out of a dance because you can’t do it. Since my daughter is young, she can’t match the moves of the dancer, but she doesn’t know that because her player just keeps on going and she has a lot of fun. During the song, there is a freestyle section where the Kinect Sensor takes snapshots of you busting a move and plays them back to you, and a final picture is taken at the end of the song so you can see how you ended off.

If you want to learn the steps to the various songs one at a time, they have a ‘Break it Down’ practice mode that will teach you how to dance. While practicing, if you nail the move right away, then you go on to the next move. If you are off, then you keep trying it until you get it right three times. I’ve done this on a couple of the songs, and my scores improved.

One of my favorite features of this game is the ‘Fitness’ option. If you are interested in seeing your progress, you can turn on the fitness tracker and as long as you are signed in under your profile, it will track the total time you danced both during your current session and all time. It will also track your current and all time calories burned and it will keep a running total of how many songs were played and the average calories per song. Within the Fitness option, you can also opt to do a series of songs that focus on a certain goal. For example, the first option is called the ‘Easy Start’. It is just over 20 minutes and has 8 songs in it that are on the easy side to do, but that will still get you moving and warmed up for more.

You can also choose to do a Crew Challenge. In this section, you dance with a crew and try to impress them and move on to meeting new crews as you get better. After you complete a certain number of songs with them, you get to do a final challenge, then you unlock more crews to dance with.

Here is a short trailer so you can see how the dancers move.

With each review, I will share my weight-loss progress. I started this year at 225 pounds. I weighed myself just before writing this post and I am at 218 pounds. I’m sure the first pounds to go are the easiest, but I will keep at it no matter how much I do or don’t lose.

If you want to learn more about Xbox, the Kinect Sensor, Dance Central 2 or any other games they have, make sure you visit the Xbox/Kinect Website.

You can find the Xbox 360 console, Kinect Sensor and Dance Central 2 anywhere that video games are sold in stores. You can also purchase Dance Central 2 on Amazon.com for $29.99 or Amazon.ca for $46.99.

Too cold outside to go shopping? You can order everything right from the comfort of your own chair. The Xbox 360 console is also bundled with the Kinect Sensor and a Kinect Adventure Game. You can purchase this on Amazon.com for $277.33 or on Amazon.ca for $299.00.

I’ll be back in a few weeks with my next review. If you like playing sports games, you’ll want to check back in.

Disclosure: I am participating in an online campaign involving Xbox 360, Kinect Sensor and various games. The following post is a reflection of my own personal thoughts and ideas and do not represent those of the named brand. Any claims of health benefits or weight loss are my personal results only.

Xbox 360, Kinect Sensor and Dance Central 2 is a post from: This Bird's Day

Xbox 360, Kinect Sensor and Dance Central 2 originally appeared on This Bird's Day on January 23, 2012.

Today is Chinese New Year, and it is the Year of the Dragon.

We are currently teaching our daughter about different languages and cultures. Since she is only 3.5 years old, we have been keeping the lessons light. We tell her that there are many different languages other than what she speaks. We talk about places that are far away from us, and we celebrate other cultural holidays and meals.

I love when holidays like Chinese New Year roll around because it is another opportunity to open her up to the many cultures that make our world a wonderful place to live.

If you would like to celebrate this holiday along with the rest of the world today, VH has you covered. They carry sauces and steamers that will help you turn any Monday night dinner in to a Chinese New Year celebration that your whole family will love. They have sauces for everything from stirfrys, dipping, soya and regular cooking.

There are also a number of recipes on the VH website that you can try out. You know me, I’m all about the slow cooker and VH has a nice looking 5-Spice Slow-Cooker Chicken recipe that I am dying to try out.

If you aren’t sure what to make, you can filter the recipe search down by meat type (so you can finally get rid of that extra chicken sitting in your freezer), then further by sauce(s) type and it will list just the ones you would be interested in.

And what would Chinese New Year be without a celebratory giveaway?

One lucky This Bird’s Day reader will win a VH Chinese New Year gift pack valued at $60.

To enter (MANDATORY ENTRY): Leave me a comment below telling me what your favourite VH Sauce or Steamer is. Please also leave a way of contacting you if your comment is randomly chosen. *You must do this for any additional entries to count.

After you have completed the first entry, you can enter an additional comment one time for each of the following:

• Like VH on Facebook
• Like This Bird’s Day on Facebook
• Follow This Bird’s Day on Twitter
• Daily Entry: Tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to copy and paste this into your Twitter page:
  

  CAD Only #Giveaway – Win a Chinese New Year prize pack ($60 value) from #VHSauces on @ThisBirdsDay at http://www.thisbirdsday.com/?p=4327

• Become a follower on Networked Blogs of This Bird’s Day (at the bottom).
• Subscribe to This Bird’s Day (at the top right).

This contest is open to residents of Canada only and runs until 9pm MST on Friday, February 10, 2012. Readers may enter the contest on multiple blogs, but are only eligible to win oneprize. Prizes will be shipped within 6 weeks from when your winning information is submitted.

Disclosure – I am participating in the VH Chinese New Year Celebration program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of VH.  I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

GIVEAWAY: Happy Chinese New Year #VHSauces is a post from: This Bird's Day

GIVEAWAY: Happy Chinese New Year #VHSauces originally appeared on This Bird's Day on January 23, 2012.

It is so embarrassing to admit this, but I have an irrational fear of zombies. Yes, I know zombies don’t exist; I said ‘irrational’ didn’t I?

My top three fears (in order) are:
1) something happening to my kids or husband
2) zombies
3) natural disaster

I know this isn’t right. Not only did I put zombies as my number two worst fear, but I also didn’t even list an actual real life disease outbreak in there.

It isn’t the gore that goes along with eating brains that I hate. I find that part kind of entertaining. I guess you can say I have a kind of ‘enjoy / fear’ relationship with zombies. I would love to dress up and participate in one of those ‘Walking Dead’ nights where groups of people walk city streets as zombies, usually around Halloween. At the same time though, when I have nightmares at night now (which isn’t often), they usually involve zombies.

And, if I don’t say so myself, I think I would make a pretty fine looking zombie. If you like that sort of thing. Check me out.

I think I just ate some brains. Not too sure what else I would be smiling about if I was a zombie.

So why do I have this fear now? I blame the evolution of the zombie.

When zombie movies first came around, they walked so slow that you could always outrun them. Their only hope of eating brains was catching you by surprise, falling on you, or getting you while you slept because you chose the dumbest guy in the group to be your lookout, and he fell asleep too.

Nowadays, they are super-sprinters. Actually, when I work out now, in the back of my head, I sometimes think that one day I will need to be in good enough shape to carry my girls and outrun at least someone else. Not only can they run fast, but if you check out some of the games that are out these days, they have bulged out and their physique can rival any championship bodybuilder.

So, in an effort to reel in my fear, I turn to search engines to put everything in to perspective and remind myself that I am being silly. I start typing and … wait for it … oh no you di’int.

Great.

Guh.

I’m scared of zombies.

Then a zombie walked in and it got awkward! is a post from: This Bird's Day

Then a zombie walked in and it got awkward! originally appeared on This Bird's Day on January 20, 2012.

BlogWest 2012 will be in Edmonton from March 8 – 10, 2012 at the Delta Edmonton Centre Suite Hotel and there are already many fantastic speakers and fellow bloggers attending.

If you blog, or are thinking about starting a blog, conferences like these can really help to point you in the right direction. They can help you to focus your creativity, schedule your time, network, and start your blog or keep it going in a direction that you are happy with.

Not to mention, you get the chance to meet many wonderful fellow bloggers, sponsors, companies and more.

I’ve gotten to know quite a few amazing people and bloggers online, but I have only met two of them in person and there are some speakers and bloggers that are attending that I am a huge fan of so I am excited for this conference to roll around.

If you are at all interested, I suggest you check out the BlogWest 2012 website. Read through all of their tabs. They are beginning to list their speakers and the workshops that will be available and they are updating it as more are confirmed.

Until January 29th, tickets are listed on their registration page at an early bird rate of $199 (fees and taxes extra, but not much) and gives you access to all keynotes, seminars, workshops and the brand floor. It also includes breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks Friday and Saturday as well as all receptions.

I am looking forward to this conference and I’d love to hear from you if you are either attending (as a blogger or company), or are thinking about attending, leave a comment at the end of this post. I’d love to meet you there.

PS – I am not weird in person or anything.

#BlogWest 2012 Conference: Edmonton, Alberta Mar 8 – 10, 2012 @BlogWest2012 is a post from: This Bird's Day

#BlogWest 2012 Conference: Edmonton, Alberta Mar 8 – 10, 2012 @BlogWest2012 originally appeared on This Bird's Day on January 17, 2012.

This is the biggest new specialty coffee introduction ever in Canada, and if they are anything like their regular coffees, we are in for a treat.

Their new specialty coffees include

• Espresso
• Latte
• Cappuccino
• Flavoured Latte
• Flavoured Latte Supreme
• Mocha Latte
• Espresso shot (single or double)
• Tea Latte

I am a huge fan of Chai Tea Lattes so I will be trying one out this week. And to celebrate this new introduction (and the fact that they are also now on Twitter), Tim Hortons wants to give you the chance to enjoy some coffee on them.

Tim Hortons is giving away one (1) $25 Tim Hortons gift card to two (2) lucky winners.

GIVEAWAY: Two lucky This Bird’s Day readers will win a $25 gift card to Tim Hortons.

To enter: Leave me a comment telling me either which specialty coffee you would like to try, or, if you have tried them already, which specialty coffees from the Tim Hortons menu you like. Please leave a way of contacting you should your comment be chosen. *You must do this for any additional entries to count.

After you have completed the first entry, you can enter an additional comment one time for each of the following:

• Follow Tim Hortons on Twitter
• Follow This Bird’s Day on Twitter
• Like Tim Hortons on Facebook
• Like This Bird’s Day on Facebook
• Daily Entry: Tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to copy and paste this into your Twitter page:
  

  CAD Only #Giveaway – Enter to win 1 of 2 $25 GCs for @TimHortons on @ThisBirdsDay at http://www.thisbirdsday.com/?p=4269

• Like this post on Facebook (there is a little ‘Like’ button at the top of this post, click it and like)
• Become a follower on Networked Blogs of This Bird’s Day (at the bottom).

This contest is open to residents of Canada and runs until 9pm MST on Tuesday, January 31, 2012.

Disclosure: I received a gift card from Tim Hortons to complete my feature. The opinions expressed in this post are mine only and are in no way influenced by any outside factors.

Tim Hortons Introduces Specialty Coffees Across Canada is a post from: This Bird's Day

Tim Hortons Introduces Specialty Coffees Across Canada originally appeared on This Bird's Day on January 15, 2012.

At least that was the place I was coming from when I made my one resolution for 2012.

I haven’t participated in making resolutions in years, but this one is important. I am determined to make changes in my life and daily routines so that I can end this year as a healthier person. Some changes will be big, some small, but I am hoping that they will add up to me being a healthier person. I want to be an example for my kids, and I want to experience my daughters’ lives for a long time. I want to grow old with my husband, not have him needing to take care of me near the end of our lives together.

I am excited to be a Life Made Delicious connector this year, and I have some great post ideas in mind to help me (and you) eat healthier and stretch your dollar further.

This post is about how to make one meat purchase of just over $12 last over seven meals for three people. There are other ingredients involved, but it was not expensive at all and I had a lot of the ingredients already on hand as we always have extra fresh and frozen vegetables, seasonings, and noodles lying around.

I purchased a full roasting chicken for $12.50 and this is how the meals broke down:

• Roast Chicken Dinner – I just cooked the chicken according to the instructions on the package. I also made mashed yams and Green Giant frozen vegetables. (2 adults, 1 child ate – 1 meal worth)
• Chicken Fettuccine – The new Betty Crocker cookbook has a great fettuccine recipe on page 385 that I added some of the roasted chicken to and it was really good. We had cut cucumbers as a side to get our vegetables in. (2 adults, 1 child ate – 2 meals worth)
• Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup – I used the bones from the roast chicken and boiled them and added some additional chicken soup broth to make a chicken soup. I took out the bones, then added carrots, celery, onions, Green Giant frozen peas, dill, paprika, sea salt, chicken from the roast chicken dinner and extra noodles. (2 adults, 1 child ate – 4 meals worth)
• Chicken Sandwiches – There was enough chicken left over to make 2 chicken sandwiches.

The start of something good...

So, in total, our family of two (plus one child) used the chicken for a total of seven meals and one lunch. There is still a little bit of soup left for the person who can get to it first at lunch time.

If you don’t have a soup recipe of your own to work with, you can always search through the Life Made Delicious website for some healthy recipes that are pretty easy to make.

I love meals like this for a few reasons.

1. You can make your money stretch farther by focusing on using one large meat item for multiple meals.
2. The meals can be made how you want them. Cooking and eating at home instead of ordering out helps you to see exactly what goes in to your food. I can cut back on salt, add more veggies, etc.
3. Even though you are using the same type of meat, the meals don’t become boring if you switch it between a meat, pasta and soup dish. It still feels like there is a lot of variety between each meal.

Eating healthy is important for overall health, but in order to really benefit, some form of exercise needs to be included.

This February you can join me in taking the Fibre 1 Chill Challenge. On February 29, at participating Running Rooms across the country, you can get out in the brisk outdoors for a short run or walk to promote staying active in the winter months. You can sign up on the Running Room website and registration is free. The first 10,000 to register will also get a free cap (you must show up to walk/run to claim it).

I’ve registered and I will be bundling my two girls up and taking them out with me to conquer the cold tundra walk for 20 minutes. I hope you will join me by signing up at a location near you.

Disclosure: I am part of the Life Made Delicious Blogger program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Stretching Your Dollar, Eating Healthier and Staying Active #LMDConnector is a post from: This Bird's Day

Stretching Your Dollar, Eating Healthier and Staying Active #LMDConnector originally appeared on This Bird's Day on January 11, 2012.

Funny guy.

I predict that by the time our girls graduate, people will be thinking and dreaming in code. So if you want to keep up with the technical Joneses you should try to understand coding. And if you are thinking about starting, or already have a website of your own, learning this skill should be a necessity.

Code Year was just launched at the beginning of this year and already has over 250,000 signed up users. It is free to create an account and each week, you will be sent an interactive programming lesson that will help you on your way to coding freedom.

So if understanding the source of what you see online is important to you, then you can sign up for a free account on the Code Year website.

Learn to Code Your Way Through 2012 is a post from: This Bird's Day

Learn to Code Your Way Through 2012 originally appeared on This Bird's Day on January 8, 2012.

Our youngest has her first two teeth in, and we have introduced solid foods. She is a very good eater. Her first word was ‘da da’. I’m happy about this, our oldest daughter’s first word was ‘ma ma’, so we both get one. This year, we are looking forward to:

• her standing unassisted (at 7 months, she stands wonderfully while we brace her)
• her first step
• her sleeping through the night for a stretch of three nights
• her growing interactions with us and our oldest daughter
• every moment she discovers something new

Our oldest daughter is brilliant in my biased opinion. She has an amazing memory and at three, she can even call me on it when I try to skip a sentence in one of her many bedtime books because it is getting late. This year, we are looking forward to:

• her ABC’s – she is so close to getting them all. She just misses from m – o. It is really cute actually. She sings a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, la la la, p, and so on.
• starting preschool
• writing her name

We play some games together on the Disney Junior website and they have a fantastic layout complete with games and videos. She is learning to use a mouse as well, which you may not think is important, but kids start school with computers these days, so having her understand how to get around will be a benefit to her once she gets in to a classroom.

Speaking of Disney Junior, next weekend is the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Storybook Magic Weekend!  Tune in to Disney Junior from 9 – 11am ET on January 14th and 15th and enjoy storybook, fairy tale, and fantasy-themed episodes.

And, if your little ones love Jake and the Never Land Pirates as much as mine do, then you won’t want to miss Pirate Rock Week, also on the Disney Junior Channel during the week of January 23rd from 6 – 7pm ET. Music-themed episodes, including “The Pirate Pup/Pirate Rock” new episode will air. And, if that wasn’t enough, all week, sing-along versions of the Never Land Pirate Band music videos will show between each episode.

So, back to milestones; do you have any milestones for your kids that you are looking forward to this year?

Disclosure:  I’m part of the Disney Junior Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group.  The opinions on this blog are my own.

Magic and Milestones with Disney Junior #DisneyJuniorMom is a post from: This Bird's Day

Magic and Milestones with Disney Junior #DisneyJuniorMom originally appeared on This Bird's Day on January 8, 2012.

Being pregnant and caring for a newborn will do that to you.

That being said, this has been an amazing year filled with growth, milestones, laughter and of course, new beginnings.

Our family grew by one little girl with a big personality. She is so aware and she loves to smile and laugh. She is easy going and her favorite person in this world is her big sister. And the feelings are mutual.

We took my oldest out of daycare and I am at home with them both now full time. It is the most challenging thing I have ever done, but I couldn’t be happier. I spend my days teaching and learning from them and I know we made the right choice for us.

As you can see, I changed the design of my website about a month ago. I loved my old site, but we all grow a little through the years and this was a little spurt for me.

It hasn’t been all sparkles and icing sugar though. At the beginning of the winter, my husband was in a car accident. He was hit from behind by someone without insurance. He was injured, but has been following his treatment and is doing well. We are, however, down one vehicle. The girls and I are just happy to still have him with us, so we are thankful.

As you may be aware, I haven’t posted for just over a week. My family flew back to Winnipeg to visit our family for the holidays and we got our youngest Baptized. It was a lot of fun visiting everyone, but there is never enough time. Our daughters had so much fun though and it was wonderful to watch all of the smiles and giggles.

I am excited about more experiences and adventures online this next year. I have a couple of other online projects on the go right now and I am excited to see how they both unfold. I am looking forward to the new people, PR, companies and brands I will get to meet, work with,  and learn about. Our family is planning a trip back to Winnipeg again in the summer and I am hoping to get a trip to the mountains in with our girls in the fall.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and I wish you the best in the new year.

See you in 2012!

Another Year Comes to a Close is a post from: This Bird's Day

Another Year Comes to a Close originally appeared on This Bird's Day on December 31, 2011.