Being the proud father of 9 month old twins, it’s becoming more and more apparent that babies are nothing more than really small zombies.

Let me count the ways:

1. They start out not really moving, or doing much, you think you’re safe, and like zombies, they really stink.

2. Slowly, they start to animate, becoming more and more mobile.

3. They develop a hunger for human flesh (teething process, and beyond).

4. When they chase you, they may not be fast, but they are persistent, and will catch you eventually.

5. They eat your brains. I haven’t been able to think straight for months. My brain is technically gone.

6. They turn you into one of them. I have a glazed over look, shuffle around like a zombie, and haven’t showered in days.

7. Like a typical zombie apocalypse, you are the only one left. All of your friends and family who used to visit seem to have disappeared, never to be seen again.

If anyone can recommend how I would fight the baby zombie apocalypse, I would be very grateful.

kitestring wants you to grab your hat, trowel, watering can and boots because we’d like to introduce you to our newest pro-bono brand, Sprout Summer Growing Camp. This down-to-earth day camp will get the kids in our community back to nature with lots of exciting activities. Everyone knows that the easiest way for us to learn is through hands-on fun and that’s exactly what kids will get when they attend Sprout. Campers will spend lots of time outside making eco-conscious crafts, playing educational games, getting their hands dirty in organic teaching gardens, going on green culinary adventures, learning about the big “sustainability” word and lots more! Sprout Camp sessions run from the beginning of July to mid-August for kids ages 4 to 13 years old. To register a camper visit www.sproutcamp.ca or send Sprout leader Kelly an email at getgrowing@sproutcamp.ca. Have a buggy, muddy and veggie filled summer at Sprout Summer Growing Camp!

It’s 2:30 and I just sat down from putting my little dude down for a nap.

As you may have guessed, I’m at home today.  A nasty ear infection has thrown our daily routine into a bit of a whirlwind.

As I was upstairs rocking Jack to sleep, I got to thinking about how wonderful it is that I can stay at home with him and spend the day snuggling him back to health. I have no worries that projects are falling behind or that clients are left stranded. The team at kitestring doesn’t miss a beat when a hiccup is thrown into the team mix. Having this kind of team behind me lets me to ‘be in the moment’ when life happens and I need to wear my mom cape for the day.

I came to realize pretty quickly in my mompreneur career that working from home was not for me. It was too tempting to throw on a load of laundry in between emails and perhaps a batch of muffins if I was lucky. Turns out, I’m much more productive and happy when I have focused time for both work and home.

Having said that, I knew that to accomplish this structured work and home life, I also need a strong support on the childcare team as well.  Having this allows me to ‘be in the moment’ when I’m at the kitestring office. I never worry about Jack or feel guilty that I’m not at home with him.

Figuring out this work / mom formula has taken me some time but in the end, I know it makes me the best mom and business owner that I can be.

Okay, Blog post done! Maybe I still have time to vacuum before Jack wakes up…

-jenn

Not sure if you’ve heard the news but – the Holiday season is upon us!

We’ve quickly been thrown into the purchasing, wrapping and other preparations that surround us at this time of year.  With each year that passes I always vow that “I’ll be better prepared next year”. A great aspiration but, by the time the next Christmas season rolls around, I’m usually back in the same crunch that I always find myself in.

Not this year! This year, I promised to make a conscious effort to make it a little less stressful and a little more magical without  the post-Christmas financial hangover. We started our shopping earlier than we normally do – allowing us to put thought into what we are buying for everyone  and spread the spending out over several months.

I also enlisted the help of technology.

Too often, we wonder around the mall with a mental list of the people to check-off the and, worse, only a mental tally of the money we’ve spent.

This year, I downloaded an application onto my iPhone called ‘Holiday Shopping List’. It’s just one of the many available in the App Store. This handy little addition has allowed me to build our list, assign individual budgets for each person, categorize folks, make notes as we shop and keep a running tally of what we’ve spent (both individually and in total).It also allows you to mark a person as ‘finished’ – one of my most favorite features!

Now, as we shop, I have a current list in my pocket. No more scribbles on paper for us! I love this application. It’s allowed me to keep a really accurate tally on our status of what’s left to do and what we have left to spend. For once, I’m in control of Christmas Shopping and not the other way around.

Such a little thing has made a big difference! With our shopping in a good place – it’s left us time to actually enjoy the time leading up to the big day. We’ve been watching holiday movies, baking cookies, checking out the Christmas lights – who knew that the pre-Christmas weeks could be so fun!

Happy preparing!

- jenn

I’m not sure why I like this new Cadbury commercial. It’s kinda freaky. But I think that’s part of it’s charm. The song is catchy and you’re just not sure how they got those kids to do that. All I know is I want some melt in your mouth goodness. What do you think?