Presenting "The Most Single Important Thing you can do for your stress".  Here is a video that we watched in Hatha Teacher Training this weekend.  It is really well done and since stress is such a predominant aspect of our lives, I thought I would share it with you. 

Enjoy and remember to breathe and breathe deeply. Breathe deeply with a smile and gratitude for all that you have,for all the people that grace your life and for the experiences that help you learn and go deeper into the workings of life.

I hope your lead up to the holidays are easy and stress free.  Above is a Christmas gnome made by the hands of Suzanne Harding.  I love the star as an added touch. I also love when people send me pics of their beautiful work. Thanks for sharing Suzanne!

Birthday Party Ideas

Look at this happy face. It shines with happiness. Happiness for his 8th birthday.  

I cannot believe that my baby is 8!!! Wasn't it just yesterday that I pushed him into this world?  I still remember that day, lying on my living room floor, holding my newborn after 4 hours of hard work.  It was such a special moment that I will forever remember but alas this is not what this blog post is about.  It is about sharing with you what we did to make Owen's special day a success.

In years past we have always invited a slew of kids where they all arrive at the time,  where we go hard for 2 hours and then everybody leaves and it feels like a whirlwind has come through.  You might be familiar with this scenario.   I have found this a little stressful and for Owen a little overwhelming. This year Rob (Owen's dad) is doing the whirlwind party and I am doing a sleep over with 2 of Owen's best buddies.

Birthday Preparations...

 The Cake

 Every year Zoe and Owen ask for a store bought birthday cake.   Every year I bake one myself and tell them that my home made cake comes from my heart.  That I have fond memories of my mother baking me birthday cakes and that one day they will be calling me for my cake recipe :)  Despite the complaints, they do love decorating their cake. We ice it with chocolate icing (of course) , smarties for toppings and hidden in the moist cake are toonies wrapped in wax paper.  They love this added touch. 

I would love to say that my recipe was passed down from my grandmother and her mother and her mother's mother but this cake's lineage starts with me.  

You can find the cake recipe here: The perfect chocolate cake

Games...

 Pass the parcel

 This is a great easy game. Wrap a surprise with lots of lots of different layers of paper.  Have children sit in a circle with music on.  As the music plays children pass the parcel around untill the music stops.  Whoever has the parcel at that moment gets to unwrap one layer.  This goes on until the prize is unveiled.  In our pass the parcel everyone was the winner.  Inside was a small lego set that set me back $7.99/each This prize replaced loot bags.       

Treasure Hunt
For our treasure hunt ,the clues were written onto inflated balloons and then deflated again.  This way when the clue was found the balloon had to be inflated to read the message.  It was a nice little twist to a traditional treasure hunt.  The treasure was a science kit  for us to do together. 

The sleep over went smoothly.  After our lasagna supper we played monopoly, ate popcorn and went to bed by 08:00.  They were sleeping by 09:00.  The best part was Owen's  comment: "This is my best birthday so far".

It all went smoothly until Owen woke up at 05:00 vomiting and shivering but that is a whole other story!