Another Relaxing Mom's Night Out!

We do a lot of fantastic events! There are playgroups, educational circle times & crafts, themed parties, and we go skating and swimming and play in the snow, we always have a ton of fun with the kiddies! Last night though, was all about having fun with the mommies! No kids allowed! A wonderfully relaxing mom's night out!

We started out at Montana's in North Oshawa. What a great restaurant! The atmosphere is very warm and inviting, the staff are very friendly and welcoming, the service is quick and accurate, and the food is just unbelievably tasty! One of the mom's in our group actually works at Montana's and I asked her what she would recommend, what was really really good that I just HAD to order. After she named off more than half of the items on the menu, my decision wasn't made any easier. I ended up with the meatloaf, garlic mashed, and veggies all covered with gravy. It was to die for. Everyone else at dinner enjoyed their meals as well, without a single complaint. When our bills came, there was also absolutely no complaints as the prices are already very reasonable and momstown Oshawa - Port Perry also enjoys a discount of 15% off! A big thank you to Montana's for such a great experience!

After dinner, we all went over to the movies to see "The Dilemma". The movie was good and again, the company was great! The evening was a well-deserved break from a mom's regular schedule and routine, and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

If you would like to participate in our next mom's night out, or any one of our other events, be sure to sign up on our momstown Oshawa - Port Perry calendar!

Making Gingerbread Houses!

momstown Oshawa - Port Perry got together yesterday to make gingerbread houses! The kids were excited, and the moms were excited too! We got all the materials out and began the construction. They were looking fantastic, and although mom had to do most of this part, the kids were right in there, ready to help!

 

The instructions on the packaging suggested a wait time of approximately 30 minutes after building the house before decorating! But, we didn't wait at all! We didn't actually read this instruction until after the gingerbread houses were complete, but even if we had read it, can you imagine trying to tell a whole table full of preschoolers that they had to wait? Not after already tasting the yummy icing and candies! It would not have been an option! So we just went ahead and started adding the candy to the houses!

Everyone was working really hard!

The gingerbread houses were starting to look really great!

Until...they started falling apart! This is when the instructions were read! Who knew you needed instructions for gingerbread house building? Well, we hadn't waited for the icing to set before adding candy and so that could have been part of the problem, but the other part was that we didn't use Royal Icing to stick all of the walls together. We had decided to use regular icing because we had just used it a couple of days prior to construct a fantastic Rice Krispies Christmas Tree and it had held the Rice Krispies Tree together like glue! Again, maybe if we had just let it set, this would not have happened...

The little ones were upset at first, which of course is the worst! The last thing you want during a nice holiday tradition is tears! The tears never came though, the kid's all got over it quickly and decided to just go with it! There were a couple of houses still intact, but those that fell apart we simply improvised with!

The morning turned out to be great fun, with a lot of laughs! Memories were made and relationships were strengthened! Isn't that what the holidays are all about anyway? That's what momstown is about too!!!

After the Gingerbread Houses were finished being decorated, the children burnt off some of the their sugar high in the playroom while the moms enjoyed a nice hot cup of tea and shared a few more laughs!

For our next great adventure, that's not so much about the finished product, but more about the process and the memories created along the way, check out the momstown Oshawa - Port Perry calendar of events!

Cookie Recipe Exchange

mmm.... It has to be one of the best things about the season! Christmas Baking is such a great tradition. It always reminds me of my childhood, and I love that I can now make wonderful childhood memories for my own children, or child as it is.

This Christmas season, momstown Oshawa - Port Perry thought it would be a good idea to get together for a morning with the kiddies and share some of our delicious treats with each other. We have all been super busy, as is everyone during this time of year, and so we decided not to do a full Cookie Exchange in the traditional sense where each attendee brings dozens of cookies (one for each of the other participants). No, instead we decided to each just bake one batch of our favorite holiday treat and bring it for everyone to share. We tasted several goodies and then simply exchanged our recipes!

There were several really, really good recipes! I wanted to post them all because a great recipe really should be shared. I've decided against it however, given that I too am very busy during this time of year and currently need to get back to the kitchen to bake up some more of these delicious new recipes that I've added to my collection. I will share just one with you though as it is very festive...

Candy Cane Fudge

2 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/4 tsp salt
1 can (300 mL) sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg (510 g) Pillsbury* Refrigerated Chocolate Chip or Chocolate Chunk Cookies, cut into small chunks
2 bags milk chocolate chips
3 tsp peppermint extract

• In 3-qt (3L) heavy saucepan, cook corn syrup, butter, salt and condensed milk over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until well blended. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in cookie dough chunks. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
• Stir in chocolate chips and peppermint extract until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Cook over low heat 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is shiny. Spread in ungreased 9x13-inch (22x33-cm) rectangular baking pan. Top with crushed candy cane.
• Refrigerate uncovered 2 hours or until firm.

Please enjoy as much as I have!  For more tasty recipes to use for your holiday baking and throughout the year, check out the momstown meals blog! And, definitely be sure to remember to sign up for the momstown Oshawa - Port Perry Cookie Recipe Exchange in 2011. Not only were new holiday treats tasted, but new friendships were built as well!

Picasso's at My House or Your House?

"Picasso's in the Park" is a famous event held at all 18 chapters of momstown.ca that involves, you guessed it, art activities in the park! It is so much fun for kids of all ages to be given the chance to get creative, make beautiful masterpieces, and sometimes, get a little messy! Children work on many areas of development including cognitive, fine and gross motor, and social emotional (a big one for the kids and moms)!


With this cold weather we are now getting, and with the end so very far in sight, momstown Oshawa - Port Perry decided to bring "Picasso's" inside! In the spirit of November's theme, "My House, Your House" momstown members were given the opportunity to host the event! momstown brought all of the art supplies including paper, paint, markers, crayons, modelling clay, scissors, pipe cleaners, pom poms, sparkles, stickers, glitter glue, foam letters and numbers, feathers and glue.

The kids got busy, and yes - a little messy! But they all had fun, including some of our younger members who watched from the sidelines with a huge smile!

After the little "Picasso's" were finished creating, they did a little role playing, building with blocks and worked on a couple of puzzles! The hostess' home was one of all girls, but even the boys enjoyed the princess stuff! ;)

"Picasso's at My House or Your House" was so much fun, momstown Oshawa - Port Perry will be sure to put it on the calendar monthly until our beloved "Picasso's in the Park" returns!

The Mamas & Chicks Show

On Friday, October 22nd, momstown Oshawa-Port Perry and momstown Whitby-Ajax teamed up yet again to be part of The Mamas & Chicks Show!

As sponsors of the show we were very excited! We arrived very early to get our table all set up for big day! We had the opportunity throughout the day to meet many new moms and moms-to-be and tell them about all the wonderful things momstown can bring them!

We accepted payment for membership as well as took many new registrations for our four week free trial! It was a great day! Thanks Mamas and Chicks!

If you missed the show, you can still get on our site and register! We will still be honouring the four week free trial period until the end of the month! Beginning November 1st, our trial period will be reduced to two weeks!

Oshawa Centre FUN!!!

On Thursday, October 14th, momstown Oshawa-Port Perry went to see Toopy & Binoo from Treehouse Live at Oshawa Centre!!! This was a free family event for all and WOW did the community LOVE IT! There were actually four shows Thursday at 11 & 2 and Friday at 11 & 2. I'm not sure if it was because we were at the very first show, or if Toopy & Binoo always pull in this size crowd, but it was packed! We knew ahead of time that it would be busy, so we arrived an hour before the show with lots of toys and snacks to keep the little ones happy and we waited. It was tough, but finally the hour passed and the show started! The kids all dropped their jaws in amazement and admiration and the fun began!

This is just one of the many great family events at Oshawa Centre. There seems to always be something fun going on and momstown Oshawa - Port Perry is sure to be there for all the excitement! momstown members have also been regularly visiting the mall for monday mall marathons to keep us active even on cool and rainy days, book club meetings to help moms socialize and work on getting rid of that "baby brain", and new member meet n' greets to get moms out of the house and meeting new moms, and that's just to name a few!

Grand Opening Launch Party!

The big day finally arrived and our Grand Opening Launch Party was a great success! With all the excitement in the community leading up to the event we drew in quite a crowd! There was stroller parking, but as you can see by the stollers in the picture there was a while there when the space allocated for strollers just was not enough! But, that didn't stop anyone! Moms with babes that ranged from 2 weeks to 5 years all came in to see what momstown was all about!





momstown Oshawa - Port Perry was celebrating with momstown Whitby - Ajax the opening of the two newest chapters of momstown.ca and Durham Region was SO ready for us! Nicole (left) from Whitby - Ajax and I from Oshawa - Port Perry were able to meet so many great moms and explain to them what makes momstown so fantastic! The response that we received was pretty much the same across the board - "When and where can I sign up?!"

While the kiddies got busy playing with blocks, puzzles, books, manipulatives, and a variety of art materials, moms had a chance to sit back and relax and talk to other moms!

Then, Keri-Ellen Walcer from MusiGo came!!! Everyone was very happy to see her! The kids loved the music and movement program that she was doing with them and were especially happy when she brought out some of her props! The children were able to wear animal masks and use musical instruments, there was ball play, 'Roll Play' (of course) and a whole lot of dancing!!!

Throughout the whole morning, our very special guest Bellybutton the Clown made the children and adults alike smile and laugh! She did some fabulous facepainting, made lots of children very happy with balloon animals, and told lots of jokes! Even children who thought they might be afraid of clowns, warmed up very quickly to Bellybutton! What's not to love?!

At the end of the day, all of the children went home with some homemade playdough and a recipe card so that they could make more at home with mom! Homemade playdough is the best because it's fun to make (and it doesn't take too long), it's all natural (so even the littlest babes who put everything in their mouths would still be safe to play with it), and it's an excellent fine motor, creative and sensory activity that's suitable for all ages (a perfect thing to get out when you want to get children of different ages to be able to play together)!

It wasn't just the children who went home with something, there was stuff for mom too! We did a contest for a bouquet from Bobbi's Cake Lollipop Shoppe, and gift certificates from FitMom, Once Upon a Child Ajax, and of course, momstown!!!

What a wonderful day! Thank you to all of the people who made this event the success that it was, and a very big thank you to Oshawa Centre who made it all possible! momstown Oshawa - Port Perry and momstown Whitby - Ajax are both so happy to hear that so many moms were able to enjoy their morning out and were given the opportunity, if they hadn't already done so, to sign up to become a momstown member so that they could get out like this more often!

If you missed the launch party, that's okay! There will be plenty more events coming up! Each chapter offers over 30 events per month to help get moms out of the house and connecting with other moms! There is always a wide variety of events on the calendar to suit every schedule and interest - but if there is something that is not on there that you would like to see happen, we are always more than happy to hear your suggestions and will do our best to accomodate them!

If you are the type of mom who just cannot seem to find the time to get out to events, we have a 24/7 online message board just for moms! This offers you the ability to connect with local moms right from your own home!

We also offer great member discounts and privileges that are momstown exclusive so that your membership will pay for itself, and then some!

If you are not a member yet, check us out now for your free 4 week trial membership! This offer is only good until the end of October and then we will be going back to the standard 2 week trial. So now is a great time to join the neighbourhood!

Hope to see you soon!

Lucky Winner of FREE One Year Membership!!!

Yesterday morning, we reached 50 members!!! Very exciting for momstown Oshawa - Port Perry and also for dtmitchell who was the lucky winner of our FREE One Year Membership! momstown loves contests, prizes and free stuff! That's why we won't be stopping here! Every month there will be a new contest posted up for momstown members, and every month another winner of a great prize! So if you`re not already a momstown member, be sure to register now!

Grand Opening Launch Party!!

momstown Oshawa -

Port Perry

&

momstown Whitby - Ajax

are celebrating together! Both chapters of momstown.ca just opened in the last few weeks and so we are teaming up to throw a Grand Opening Launch Party together!



Where is this exciting event taking place? Oshawa Centre's Centre Court!!!





Make sure you get down to Oshawa Centre on Wednesday, September 29th, 2010 from 9:30am - 12:00pm. There will be a ton of exciting momstown activities and crafts for the children and a special momstown MusiGo presentation with Keri-Ellen Walcer! Keri-Ellen is a children's fitness consultant and the founder of MusiGo! She has been getting children everywhere active and enjoying music through her live performances, "Roll Play" Treehouse TV series, and community programmes! Click here for more information about your local community programmes, and for registration information!



As exciting as that is, that's not all!! momstown is also bringing you Bellybutton the Clown! Bellybutton the Clown will be making us laugh and painting all of the smiling little faces!!! Bellybutton the Clown has been making the world a funnier, happier, and more wonder-filled place for many years and does all kinds of parties, everything you can think of, just check out her site!

There will also be contests and giveaways at the event! Something you just have to see is the lovely cakepop bouquet that will be up for display and contest! Check out Bobbi's Cake Lollipop Shoppe for a glimpse of some of these extremely delicious treats!

momstown Oshawa - Port Perry and momstown Whitby - Ajax are extremely happy to be bringing all of this excitement to you at our Launch Party! Although, really it's just the very beginning! Each chapter plans over 25 events/month and offers many opportunities for moms to connect with other moms in their neighbourhood for conversation, support and a whole lot of fun!!!

Make sure you make it to Oshawa Centre and join us in Centre Court on Wednesday, September 29th 2010, from 9:30am-12:00pm - IT'S ALL FREE - you don't want to miss it!

Apples, Apples, Apples!!!

There are apples everywhere! We love it! After going to Archibald Orchards yesterday, momstown mama's and their babes definitely know what they will be having for snacks! There was a great variety of apples available for picking and they were all so big and juicy! We couldn't get enough!

The little ones were great at throwing the apples into the bags - it's a good thing our apples are going to be primarily used for baking!

The ones who were old enough to pick apples, took great pride in showing them off to their moms and to the littler members in our group! Nice sharing!!

After we had our fill of apples (at least for the morning) we headed over to the children's play area where the little ones played in the sand with large toy trackors and excavators, on horse tire swings, and in giant tractor tires!

Once everyone was good and dirty - and tired out, ready for a nap - we went home with our apples to eat some more!

momstown Oshawa - Port Perry has many more exciting field trips "in the works" that will be posted up on the calendar very soon! It is so nice to get out with other moms and to see the sweet little friendships that the children are developing. Can't wait to see you all again next time! Enjoy those apples!

FREE One Year Membership!!!

To help us celebrate the exciting launch of momstown Oshawa-Port Perry we have decided to give away a FREE ONE YEAR MEMBERSHIP!!!





That's right! As soon as we hit 50 members a name will be drawn! You do not have to enter to win, you just have to sign up for a free trial membership and your name will automatically be placed in the draw.

momstown Oshawa-Port Perry launched just over 48 hours ago and we are already at 26 members - more than half way to that free membership!

So if you are a mom in Oshawa, Port Perry, Uxbridge or any of the surrounding towns and you haven't already registered at momstown Oshawa-Port Perry, why not? Get over there now and get signed up! momstown offers support, conversation and a whole lot of fun to neighbourhood moms!

With 25+ events every month, great member privileges and discounts, and a whole 'neighbourhood' of moms just waiting to connect with you, you have nothing to lose, and so much to gain!

For a limited time, momstown Oshawa-Port Perry will also be offering an extended free trial period! Instead of the usual 2 week free trial, we will be giving you 4 weeks! But this offer will only last for a short time! So register now! And tell your friends to join too!

See you around the neighbourhood soon! And good luck in the draw for the full year's membership FREE!

We have arrived!!!

Today is opening day for momstown Oshawa-Port Perry! We are so pleased to be able to say that we have arrived! The last three weeks have been full of excitement as we've prepared the website, planned our fun-filled September calendar of events, and gotten ready for this official launch!

Now, our message board is already getting people talking and getting moms connected for the support and companionship they have been looking for and our events calendar already has people signing up!

If you're a mom in Durham Region, or a surrounding community, head on over to our site and get registered! If you join us in the next 2 months, you will receive an extended Free Trial of 4 weeks! If you know a mom in Durham Region, spread the word of mom to her too! We don't want anyone to miss out on all the fun we're having!

momstown Oshawa-Port Perry has arrived!

momstown arrives in Oshawa - Port Perry!!!

Before becoming a momstown mama, I had a career that I loved, working as an Associate Director of a childcare centre. Watching children grow and develop, and being involved with the planning of an enriching program, was extremely rewarding. Even more rewarding however, was becoming a mom. My daughter Alyssa was born on March 25th, 2009. From that day forward, I knew that I would always be interested in working with young children and their families, but now my priority was to be a great mom!

I did go back to work after my maternity leave ended, but found great difficulty in working full time and making a long commute everyday. That's when I stumbled upon momstown and was shocked that I hadn’t heard of this fantastic way for moms like me to connect with other neighbourhood moms and talk about what's going on in our lives. With a monthly calendar packed full of exciting events and member discounts that I could really use, I wondered how I'd missed out on being a part of such a great opportunity sooner! I then realized that the reason I had not heard of momstown was that it had not yet reached my home town, and that is when I made the decision to open a chapter of momstown in Oshawa – Port Perry!

Finally, I've found the perfect balance in my life; an amazing family life and an exciting and fulfilling career. I am thrilled to be able to offer this amazing resource to moms in my community and to be able to tie in my love of enriching the lives of young children and their families with my desire to spend more time with my own child! I cannot wait to meet more moms in the neighbourhood and look forward to great conversation and support, and to all of the fun events where we'll make lasting friendships and memories!

Stay tuned for more details and updates as we approach the launch of momstown Oshawa – Port Perry, scheduled for late August, 2010!

Your momstown mama,

Nancy