Choco Chimps Cereal Review + Nature's Path EnviroKidz Instagram Contest

I recently got the chance to try a new breakfast treat: Nature's Path EnviroKidz Choco Chimps cereal. It might remind you of a certain Dracula-themed chocolate corn puff breakfast cereal from your childhood, but better. Choco Chimps are organic, whole grain, sweetened with cane sugar & fair traded cocoa gives them a chocolatey punch. At nine grams of sugar per serving, it's not overly sweet--that's about the equivalent to two sugar cubes. I think we'll save it as a special treat or eat it dry like crispy little candy when we're out & about. 

Besides the fact that it's a pretty guilt-free treat, being organic, fair trade & not made from any weird processed ingredients, EnviroKidz Choco Chimps Cereal helps support The Jane Goodall Institute, global leaders in chimpanzee protection.

Choco Chimps retails for $4.99 and will be available nationally at major grocery and natural food retailers by April 2014.

Not only did I get to try the cereal, but I've got a treat for you: Nature's Path is giving away three prize packs of their Choco Chimps cereal, Cinnamon Jungle Munch cereal, plus two flavours of Crispy Rice Bars. To enter, all you need to do is 

1. Follow @NaturesPathOrganic @Spokesmama @MommyFootprint @Cheriak19 on Instagram
2. Either repost the image below on Instagram OR post a photo of your Nature's Path breakfast
3. Use the hashtag #EnviroKidzBox on your Instagram post

Contest ends on April 6. You can enter daily for more chances to win! Good luck!




Dislaimer: I was given a product sample, but was not otherwise compensated to write this review. Words & opinions above are my own, as always.

 

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10 Things I'd Do Over As A Parent

Brontë gets amazing hand-me-downs & gifts--there's really
no need to buy more clothing... yet I still do...

I try not to live my life with a lot of regrets, but parenting... good grief. There doesn't seem to be any way to emerge unscathed from the guilt & what-ifs. Despite only having been doing this for about five years (I'm counting all the way back to my first pregnancy here, since I figure that should be included) I've racked up a fair few regrets. Here they are:

1. Video watching. We got rid of our TV when Linnaeus was about a year old. I do let him watch videos the computer & since the exhaustion of my final trimester with Bronte in my belly, he's watched more than I'd like. I still use videos as a way to get things done, like showering, making meals & blogging. 
2. Yelling. I'm really not sure if it's even possible to parent without yelling, but I wish I did it less.
3. Swearing. I have a serious trucker mouth. I have no problem controlling this at work, in front of grandmothers or any other social situation where four-letter words are really not appropriate. However, when I'm at home, I lose this filter for some reason & have let fly a lot of expletives in front of my children. Consequently, my three-year-old is an adept user of the F-word. Heh.
4. Allowing ANY battery-operated noisemakers toys into the house. We managed to avoid a lot of them, but still had a handful creep into the house. Gawd those things are annoying. 
5. Buying too many clothes. I got pretty excited about having a baby & got all kinds of really adorable & really impractical clothing for Linnaeus. You know the ones--tiny jeans, jackets, shirts that look just like the adult stuff, right down to the functional pockets. I didn't spend a huge amount of money, as a lot of it was from the consignment store around the corner, but still. I still haven't really learned my lesson, buying all kinds of things for Brontë that she's worn once or twice before growing out of. Linnaeus too, still has drawers stuffed chock full of clothing. At least he wears it all for a year or two these days, but it's still way too much.
6. Not doing the major renovations in our house before having children. This isn't exactly parenting related, but... Now that we have two little kids, the thought of not having a proper kitchen for weeks is too daunting to consider. So we're stuck with the barely-functional 1960 kitchen.
7. Waiting until we were 'ready' to have kids. This is kind of antithetical to #6, but I think there's no way to be really, fully 'ready' to have kids. You just need to jump in & I wish we'd jumped a little sooner, in some ways. I will be in my late fifties when my daughter graduates from high school--no spring chicken.
8. Not going hiking or camping. Somehow this part of our lives, which used to be so important to us, (we got married on top of a mountain that we hike up, for Pete's sake!) just fell by the wayside when we reproduced. We've been meaning to do both things, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. I really want my kids to spend more time in nature--not just green spaces like city parks. 
9. Waiting so long to get a child bike seat. We bought our iBert when Linnaeus was about 20 months old, & we have used it a lot in the two years since then, but we could have bought it a year earlier. He definitely prefers it to the trailer, which we got when he was about eight or ten months old.
10. Not bringing Linnaeus to the pool until he was 15 months old. I didn't have any specific reason for not doing this--it just never happened. At three & a half, he gets quite anxious when his feet don't touch the bottom--floating is right out of the question unless I'm holding him tight. I suspect he might have been more comfortable in the water if I'd taken him earlier & more often. I hope to avoid this with Brontë--she's already been swimming at just a few months old.

Now don't leave me hanging... what are yours? Maybe just one or two or three? Leave them in the confessional comments section below to make me feel like I'm not the only one here... ;)

Join in the fun yourself--enter the link to your list here (click on the Listicles button to the right), or just browse the many other entries on Northwest Mommy.

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Coming Up For Air, or After The Ball

Me, all gussied up for Savour Our Neighbourhood

Whew. TGIF. Or, more like, TGTFIO (Thank goodness that fundraiser is over). Though I had a relatively small part to play in organizing this fundraiser, it's been constantly on my mind for weeks & weeks. Hence the somewhat spotty blogging here. If you missed my post about it or my incessant promotion of it on Facebook & Twitter, here's a recap.

I, along with more than a dozen other board members & staff of the Mount Pleasant Family Centre just hosted our very first proper big adult fundraiser: Savour Our Neighbourhood, at Heritage Hall. We involved more than a dozen eateries, bakeries & even an artisanal ice cream shop, four breweries, plus literally dozens of local businesses who donated prizes. We coordinated raffles, basket draws & a silent auction, debuted a video all about the Mount Pleasant Family Centre (SEE BELOW), & held a Twitter contest. It was a crazy learning curve for many of us with BC's byzantine liquor laws, not to mention all of the complications of getting food from that many providers.

I can't even talk any more about the insane amount of work & stress that went into this, or I'll trigger some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder. (Okay, I jest. But only a little) What I will say is that the event went off without any major hitches. The sold-out crowd thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful beers, wine, food & fabulous band (Some of the members of SoulStream & some from Smokin' Section). Once I'd finished my duties at check-in/greeting, then raffle ticket sales, then Twitter contest management, I got to relax for a few minutes.

I'm so glad we did it &, at the same time, I'm also so glad it's over. On to the thank you notes, 'post mortem' debriefing, & patting ourselves on the back. See you in this space a little bit more often, too!

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Wordless Wednesday: #365FeministSelfie Week 12

No theme, but I added in a bonus shot for the week, so there are eight. 

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Do Something Concrete For the Environment: The Great Shoreline Cleanup

Canada’s shorelines need your help!

This spring, the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, presented by Loblaw Companies Limited, is the ideal opportunity for you to help clean Canada’s waterways & shorelines (any point where land meets water), ensuring their health for the wildlife & communities that depend on them. Over the last two decades, this national conservation initiative of the Vancouver Aquarium & WWF has removed more than one million kilograms of litter from our shorelines. If left on our shorelines, this litter would have had a serious impact on the health of our oceans, lakes & rivers – as well as our communities.

Join this year’s spring cleanup by organizing or participating in a shoreline cleanup in your community from April 1 – July 31, 2014. Register at ShorelineCleanup.ca.

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