November 2014 Sharing Time - Week 2

Welcome to November's Sharing Time Linky!
First, our week in review:

This week I posted my sister's adorable Pink & Gray Nursery and how she made some of the items in it.

I asked about how you teach your kids about Remembrance Day & Veterans Day.

I posted about a Kinder Giveaway for Canadians.

..and I asked for your vote for my blog (because it's up for an award!)

Just click on the banner below (you can vote once in each of the 2 categories)
Then click on the blue button that says "VOTE FOR ME +1" and you're done!

Now, on to the link party- I can't wait to see what you share! :)

Please join the Raising Memories Sharing Time & add a link to your latest and greatest blog posts
about activities to do with your children or fun projects that you have done!

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If you're participating, please share the button on your blog & "hop over" to at least one other blog post that's been linked up- let's support each other!

<a href="http://http://www.RaisingMemories.com/" target="_blank"&_blank"><img src="http://oi43.tinypic.com/10gbrwy.jpg"/></a>

An InLinkz Link-up

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MiB Awards... Vote For Raising Memories! (Also Giveaways!)

October was a very exciting month for me in regards to this blog!  With the sudden popularity of my 100 Non-Toy Gift Ideas post , came a lot of traffic to the blog and it has been exciting to see it grow at an increased rate!

I write this blog because I want to share fun ideas with other parents.  When the blog grows, it reaches more parents and that's my goal!  I am so grateful for those of you who keep coming back to read this blog- I'm so happy you like it here!

So today I wanted to tell you that this blog is up for an MiB (Made in Blog) award and I wanted to let you know so that you could vote for me!  (It's super quick & easy and you don't have to register or log in or anything)

Just click on the banner below (you can vote once in each of the 2 categories)
Then click on the blue button that says "VOTE FOR ME +1" and you're done!



While you're there voting, you also have the chance to win gifts!   You can enter to win Smart Set gift cards, Uber credits, and a Clarisonic Mia 2!

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The Countdown is On with a #KinderMom Giveaway!

I am getting so excited about Christmas! I'm itching to pull out the decorations (and will probably break down and start doing it any day now). We have our tradition of setting the tree up sometime in November with just pink bows (for Katrina's birthday in early December) and then switching over to the Christmas ornaments after her birthday. This year she wants a Frozen birthday party, so we might just decorate the tree with wintery ornaments until her party. :)

When do you pull out your Christmas ornaments? Do you have any countdown traditions? I think we're going to use our advent to keep track of Christmas activities this year (I'm already making a list of ideas). Speaking of countdowns, Kinder has some adorable advent calendars and other Holiday themed treats and since I'm a #KinderMom, one of you will win a Holiday Gift Package of Kinder treats! (I checked out the advent in stores and it's got some delicious treats in it, including a full sized Kinder Egg! :)

The prize pack includes:

One KINDER® Advent Calendar
One KINDER® Hollow Santa with SURPRISE®
One KINDER® SURPRISE® 100g Christmas egg
One KINDER® SURPRISE® MAXI 150g egg

Just fill out this form to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note: The contest winner will be required to provide a full name and complete mailing address to be shared with KINDER® for shipping purposes. While you may enter as many of the KINDER® contests as you like, you can only win once.

In other news, if you're headed to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto this year, 

you can find the KINDER® SURPRISE® Smile Booth there from Nov.7-16th!

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Remembrance Day & Veterans Day with Children

How do you talk to your children about Remembrance Day? Or Veterans Day if you're in the U.S.?

What do you hope they will learn and understand about this day and what it represents?

Last year Talia was asked to carry her class wreath during the school's Remembrance Day assembly. It was a good opportunity to prepare her and talk about the meaning behind the day. This year both girls are off to school for Remembrance Day and we've sent them with Poppies and a discussion this morning about soldiers and war and what it means for us that those soldiers fought.

Left: Talia with the wreath. Top: Talia on stage with the wreath.  Bottom: My dad, Katrina & I in the audience.

I hope they'll learn even more at school and I plan to talk to them more when they get home.

As I talked to them this morning though, I found myself wishing I had thought a little more about it before today, and thought about what might be most important for them to take away from this day. I considered getting books from the library about it or teaching them a bit of the history of the wars, but I wonder if that could be too much for them at this age. I don't want to get too graphic on them!

So I'm curious, how do you talk to your kids about Remembrance Day and Veterans Day?
 How much detail do you get into?



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Pink and Gray Baby Girl Nursery

I had to share this adorable pink and gray baby girl nursery with you!

My little niece Tori is growing up fast! It seems like just yesterday that I was taking newborn photos of her and now she's a little crawler! When I went to my sister's house to take photos of Tori for her Parts Poster, I also took photos of the nursery she had been preparing for her. She did such a nice job on it! There were a lot of little homemade projects involved and it all came together beautifully. 

Today I want to share those photos with you and a bit about how she created some of the pieces in the room (or where she found them).

Jo Totes Millie Bag in Grey Review

Last week I shared a review of my Kelly Moore B-Hobo Bag and I mentioned that I would share another camera bag/purse review today. That's because ever since Jo Totes came out with their Millie Bag, I have been thinking about it! I finally purchased the Jo Totes Millie Bag in Grey in November and want to share my review of it with you today.

The reason I wanted to own this bag in addition to the B-Hobo was that I thought the Millie would be a smaller bag, perfect for bringing along to events with my 'big' camera, when I didn't need an extra lens. I liked the idea of a smaller bag. The B-hobo served that purpose pretty well, but it was still a bit big. Turns out the Millie worked great for this purpose! I was especially relieved to find that my camera (the Canon 5D) fit into the bag just fine, despite hearing that it may not.

But that's enough about the B-Hobo for now. I'll be back next week with a comparison between the two bags. For today, I want to focus on Millie:



I opened the box to find the bag wrapped up & protected in this bag:


The Millie has a large zipper pocket on the back:


The strap is adjustable and has an easy to remove, snap-on shoulder pad:


The front flap of the bag closes with a snap that attaches to the bottom of the bag:


Under the flap, there's a large front zipper pocket. The top, main section of the bag also zips closed:


This bag comes with 2 removable, padded dividers. They have velcro on three sides.


Because I like to carry my camera with a lens attached, ready to shoot, I only use one divider. This gives me room to store my Canon 5D with a Tamron 28-75mm lens attached on one side, and my Canon 480 ex flash in its case in the other. I also have a bulky camera strap cover that fits just fine, above the camera.


Here are a couple of pictures of me, wearing the bag. I found shots like this helpful when I was shopping online for a camera bag because it gave me an idea of how big the bag actually was. The left 2 photos are just over the shoulder, and in the right shot, I've lengthened the strap in order to wear it across my body.


...and that's the Millie! If you've got any questions for me about the bag or my experience with it, let me know in the comments, and I'd be happy to reply.
My review of the Jo Totes Abby Bag.
My review of the Kelly Moore B-Hobo Bag.
My review of the Jo Totes Gracie Bag.
My review of the Jo Totes Missy Bag.My review of the Jo Totes Siena Bag.