momstown Victoria Tales for Tots sponsored by Scholastic reads "Lucky Ducklings"

"Lucky Ducklings" by Eva Moore is a classic storybook about a mama duck who goes for a walk with her baby ducklings, but then she gets separated from them as they disappear one by one through the slats of the town's storm drain. Three firemen and a pickup truck rush to their rescue in this wonderful story that also has an environmental message. Children will want to read this exciting tale over and over again.

Our Scholastic sponsored Tales for Tots program at Chapters Victoria is a free monthly drop-in on the third Wednesday of every month from 10-11 am! Join us downstairs in the children's department for a free storytime with Jennifer Ferris, craft and Scholastic book draw! 

Congratulations to this month's momstown Victoria lucky ducklings book winners!





momstown Victoria coordinates over 20 events each month to connect and support local moms, and our annual membership fee is only $45 per year! Not a member yet? Try us FREE by registering for your 4-week trial and start signing up for events today! Or contact info.victoria@momstown.ca for more info!

momstown Jr. Chef Recipe: Triple Hitter Muffins and Flaxseed and Sesame Crackers

Today at momstown Victoria Junior Chef we made two great toddler snack recipes, Triple Hitter Muffins and Flaxseed & Sesame Crackers!

TRIPLE HITTER MUFFINS

Our moms, dad and toddlers took turns helping to grate the zucchini and carrots, measuring the wet and dry ingredients, and whisking everything together. These healthy treats are also chock full of fruit and veggies.

Ingredients
¼ cup (50 mL) vegetable oil
½ cup (125 mL) brown sugar
1 egg
¾ cup (175 mL) applesauce
1 cup (250 mL) grated carrots
1 cup (250 mL) grated zucchini
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose whole wheat flour
¾ cup (175 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
½ tsp (2 mL) nutmeg
½ tsp (2 mL) salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). In a large bowl, whisk together oil and sugar. Beat in egg, then applesauce. Stir in carrots and zucchini.
2. In another large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
3. Fold dry ingredients into wet, until just mixed. Grease 2 mini-muffin trays. Spoon batter to the very top of muffin cups and bake 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean when inserted in a muffin.

Recipe by Today's Parent.

FLAXSEED AND SESAME CRACKERS 

These are a cinch to make and are very high in fibre and omega-3 fatty acids. You can use whole flaxseeds to make the crackers look prettier, but ground flaxseeds are more nutritious.

Ingredients
1 ½ cups all-purpose whole wheat flour
¼ cup flaxseeds, ground

¼ cup sesame seeds

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 ½ tsp salt

1/3 cup melted unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk

¼ cup all-purpose whole wheat flour (for dusting)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, brown sugar and salt. Drizzle butter over and stir to combine. Drizzle over with milk and stir until a dough forms. Chill dough 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut dough in half. On a heavily dusted countertop, gently flatten the dough into a disk, turning it over several times to cover in flour and prevent sticking. Roll out each piece as thinly as possible. Using a pizza cutter or chef’s knife, cut into 1 inch squares, or use a juice cup and stamp into round crackers. It’s best to bake remnants rather than roll out again; this dough requires a light touch.
3. Arrange cut crackers on 2 ungreased baking sheets and put in the upper and middle racks of the oven. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, switching bottom and top baking sheets halfway through. Store in covered container for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe by Madeleine Greey.

Looking for a fun weekend activity for the whole family? Learn fun new ways to create snacks and meals in our hands-on momstown Junior Chef program. Our membership is only $45/year and includes many great programs like this one, plus enjoy a BONUS 1-year subscription to Today’s Parent Magazine when you join in 2013! Sign up for your FREE 4-week trial membership or email info.victoria@momstown.ca for more info!

momstown Victoria Book Club Enjoys "The False Prince" by Jennifer Nielsen

Our momstown Victoria moms were delighted to have our book club sponsored by Scholastic Canada in March and to receive eight copies of "The False Prince" by Jennifer Nielsen to read and discuss. 

The novel centres around a defiant but noble young character named Sage. He is one of four teenage orphans chosen by a nobleman named Connor, who plans to use only one of the orphans in an evil plot to impersonate the king's son and prevent a civil war. If Sage is not chosen, he will be killed, and his rivals are equally at risk. Sage must use his cleverness and trust no one in order to survive. Layer upon layer of treachery is revealed, until finally the truth places Sage in the most dangerous situation of all.

Here is what our Victoria moms said about "The False Prince":

"I found it captivating as soon as I opened the book."  We all agreed that both the plot and the character of Sage were intriguing, and that once started, the book was hard to put down. 

"I honestly felt that it could have been written as an adult novel." Despite the treachery and murder in the plot, the adventure is accessible to most reading ages. We agreed that adult-oriented content could have been added, but that the novel was entertaining enough on its own. 

"It was a little predictable, but as a young teenager this is exactly the sort of novel I would have read." Even though we were all able to figure out the final layer of truth before it was revealed, that did not detract from our enjoyment of reading it all the way through. All of the moms agreed that we would be interested in reading the rest of the trilogy to find out what happens to Sage. 

Thank you Scholastic Canada for a fun read, and we look forward to reading the next installment of the Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer Nielsen: "The Runaway King." The book we're reading this month is "Streetsweeper" by Elliot Perlman. Our moms' night out events are just another great reason to join momstown Victoria! Register here for your FREE 4-week trial membership! 

March Scholastic Baby Book of the Month: My First Hockey Book

She shoots, she scores! Or at least, she will when the winner of last month's Scholastic baby book, "My First Hockey Book," by Ian Crysler, gets a little older! 

The bright and colourful photos and the simple action words and concepts make this book a wonderful start to any child's first collection of hockey books. It is a great board book for babies and preschoolers to take with them to watch a hockey game or practice! 

Congratulations to last month's winner! Our momstown Victoria Baby Basics program is designed for all moms with babies aged 0 to 12 months looking to connect with other moms with infants. 

We will be giving away this month's baby board book at Baby Basics: Sharing Circle & Baby Book Club on Tuesday, April 23rd! Like free stuff? Become a momstown member! For starters, you'll receive a BONUS 1-year Today's Parent subscription when you buy a 1-year momstown membership in 2013! Sign up for your FREE 4-week trial today! (If your free trial has expired and you haven't had the opportunity to experience one of our events, please let us know, and we will extend your trial for another 4 weeks!)

BC Family Child Care Association 2013 Conference & AGM

BCFCCA would like to invite you to participate in our annual conference, 

Early Literacy: More than just ABC’s and 123’s

The Board and staff of BCFCCA have been extremely busy putting together a weekend that is intended to educate, excite and inspire you. At this year’s conference, we invite you to be open to creative ideas, innovative ways of educating and caring for our most important citizens. We have brought in presenters who are truly inspiring and are ready to help you embrace new ways of thinking.

Friday night join us for a meet and greet in the Nanaimo Museum, relax and mingle with other child care professionals.

On Saturday, take time to explore our Mini Market where local vendors and vendors from across the province will be bringing their exciting products to share.

Finally, we end the weekend with breakfast, our AGM and a terrific workshop. We are sure you will be as excited as we are, we sincerely hope you can join us!

For more information, please visit www.bcfcca.ca.

momstown Victoria will be participating as a vendor at the Mini Market! Visit our table where you can enter to WIN one of these three amazing prizes from Fisher-Price! See you there!

Scholastic Tales for Tots at Chapters Victoria with Jennifer Ferris and "Good Night, Canada"....and Lego!

This month's Tales for Tots at Chapters was very special! Jennifer Ferris joined us as our wonderful guest storyteller, and we shared "Good Night, Canada" by Andrea Beck. Later, a few of our momstown Victoria moms and kids joined in the Ready, Set, Lego! Spring Break program at Chapters. It was a memorable day and an extra treat for our Lego fans, and we are so proud to continue partnering with Chapters Victoria!

Storytelling is a fun, communal and engaging way of teaching children, and Jennifer's tale of "Pete the Cat - I Love My White Shoes," had all the parents singing and the kids learning their colours! Story time was followed by craft time, which explored this month's momstown curriculum theme - Space. We made an alphabet craft and turned the letter A into an adorable astronaut.

 "Good Night, Canada" is a beautifully illustrated book that will have children wondering and dreaming about the names, culture and geography of our provinces and territories. The pages turn from "east to west, then up to the north to tuck in the rest," and both kids and parents will love to study each illustration together as they say good night from coast to coast. Congratulations to our lucky winners!




momstown Victoria coordinates over 20 events each month to connect and support moms in Greater Victoria! Our 1-year membership is only $45/year per family and includes a BONUS 1-year Today's Parent subscription! Click here to register for a 4-week free trial!

Memorable Ballet Experience with Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes and Broadstreet Dance

momstown Victoria moms, dads, kids and babies enjoyed a delightful afternoon at Music and Movement with Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes and Broadstreet Dance! Our little dancers were adorable in their tutus, ruffles, dance outfits, and even a lovely angel costume, and all of the attendees were treated to a free photo shoot with Lily and Lane Design and Photography!

The children made their own ribbon wands by tying pieces of ribbon to a wooden dowel - a simple craft that brought a lot of joy!

We also made beautiful butterfly crafts with feathers, jewels and sparkle glue.

Two play areas were set up, one with musical instruments and one with a dollhouse, and there were also Barbie™ colouring sheets, activity booklets and a handprint tutus craft!

Broadstreet Dance did a lovely ballet demonstration with two talented young students, followed by a fun and dynamic "Dance to the Music" class that had all of our little dancers stretching, spinning and twirling! 

Congratulations to the winner of our Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes DVD! And congratulations to the winner of our grand prize - a full year's dance class with Broadstreet Dance valued at approximately $700!!!

Thank you to our title sponsor, Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes, for helping momstown Victoria to support local moms, and thank you to Kelsey, owner of Broadstreet Dance, for sponsoring our fabulous location at Dance Victoria and providing the excellent dance entertainment and amazing prize. Special thanks to Nicola of Lily and Lane for taking the beautiful photos and for the countless hours making the gorgeous backdrop and emailing all of the photos to the moms - you truly made the event special! For more event photos, please check out momstown Victoria and Lily and Lane's facebook pages! 

You can enter to win your own copy of the Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes Blu-Ray DVD on our blog, until March 31st!  Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes is an exciting ballet movie in which Barbie™ stars as Kristyn, the hard-working dancer who wows the big ballet company in her performance of Giselle and Swan Lake. Through this journey Kristyn learns that when you dance from your heart - your dreams can come true. You can also buy your own special Barbie™ in the Pink Shoes BARBIE® as Kristyn Farraday™ Doll (2-in-1). Twirl the doll around to reverse her skirt in a magical transformation!

momstown Victoria coordinates over 20 in-person events a month and an online message board to connect and support local moms! Our 1-year membership is only $45 for the entire year and includes a BONUS 1-year subscription to Today's Parent Magazine! We offer a FREE 4-week trial - register today! ;)

momstown Easter Bunny Hop 2013!

Easter craft round-up at momstown.ca

momstown Victoria

EASTER BUNNY HOP!

saturday, march 23rd

10-11:30 am
Pearkes Recreation Centre 
Lam Room

Join us for a fun Easter celebration with crafts, games, storytime and dance party! This event is exclusively for momstown Victoria members, so please sign up for the event on our calendar!

Photography by Lily and Lane

Local Storyteller
Jennifer Ferris

Not a momstown member yet? We coordinate over 20 events each month to connect and support local moms! Our membership is only $45/year and includes a BONUS 1-year subscription to Today's Parent Magazine! Sign up for your FREE 4-week trial and follow us on facebook and twitter for updates and tips!

Meet Nicola of Lily and Lane Photography and Design

Since graduating from the University of Victoria, Nicola has been working as an office administrator for a local landscape architecture firm and moonlighting as a photographer for friends and family. Having grown up in Victoria, Nicola has a great appreciation for the beauty of the West Coast and gets most of her inspiration from the natural world around her. When not holding a camera, she can be found crafting with friends and playing with her dog Rosie.

Connect with Nicola of Lily and Lane on facebook, twitter, and at our momstown Victoria big events!

momstown Victoria is thrilled to be partnering with Lily and Lane as our Official Photographer! Nicola will be joining us at many of our big events, including Music & Movement with Barbie(TM) in the Pink Shoes on March 16th and our Easter Bunny Hop on March 23rd. 

Check out our blog and facebook album to see some of the beautiful moments captured by Nicola at our OverJOYed Baby Basics sponsored by Fisher-Price on March 12th!

momstown Victoria Moms & Babies were OverJOYed at Fisher-Price Baby Basics!

This week our momstown Victoria moms and babies were overJOYed to have Fisher-Price sponsor our Baby Basics playgroup! This special event for our members included a potluck snack, handprint craft, circle time, and an amazing prize draw with four smart and engaging toys from Fisher-Price. Thank you to Nicola of Lily and Lane for making the event extra special with professional photos of our beautiful moms and babies!

Our babies were definitely soothed by the gentle bubbles, soft music and warm lights of the Ocean Wonders Aquarium. The remote control is a great feature for moms and dads, which allows you to restart the toy without disturbing your baby's focus.

This beautiful baby just loves her new Laugh & Learn Click 'n Learn Remote! It sings, plays tunes, and helps baby to learn about numbers, opposites, shapes and more. And it's a great way to keep baby distracted from the real thing!

The Little Snugabunny Cradle & Swing was so plush and snuggy that the mom who won it had her baby sleeping in it as soon as they arrived home!

"Mom, may I have some, please and thank you!" Teaching manners is just one reason that moms enjoyed the Laugh & Learn Say Please Tea Set, which also helps baby to learn numbers, shapes, opposites and more. Babies can play peek-a-boo with the lid and press the teabag to play songs. 

Thank you again to Nicola of Lily and Lane for capturing the JOY and fun at this event, and thank you to Fisher-Price for helping us to support our local moms by sponsoring our events with high quality, fun and educational toys! 

Not yet a member of momstown, proud partner of Kids CBC and Today's Parent? Our membership is only $45/year and includes over 20 in-person events each month, plus a BONUS 1-year Today's Parent Magazine subscription! Try us on a 4-week FREE trial today!

Be momstown Victoria's Official Photographer!

momstown Victoria has a 2013 sponsorship opportunity available for a 

great photographer that enjoys photographing kids, families and fun events. 

Our partnership package will include:

• a professionals editorial spot in our monthly newsletter (your choice of month)
• an online block ad posted on the momstown Victoria website
• a momstown membership for your family
• planned photo sessions throughout the year (grandparents session, family sessions)
• photographic coverage of at least one momstown weekend family event per month (Valentines, Easter, etc)
• provide professionally-edited photos with time sensitivity to momstown Victoria for blog and social media sharing
• social media sharing of your business website and facebook fan page

If this sounds like a great way to grow your photography business and portfolio, please contact Melissa Hogg for for more information & contract details at info.victoria@momstown.ca.

Please note, this is a business sponsorship opportunity for a professional photographer and not a paid position.

Thanks for your interest and happy clicking!

momstown Little Scientists: Dry Ice Show with Glenn Kachmar

momstown Victoria moms and kids enjoyed an incredible Dry Ice Show with Glenn Kachmar at our Little Scientists program at Saanich Neighbourhood Place! Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide, the same stuff in our soda water and which we exhale when we breathe. It is called "dry ice" because it sublimates at a temperature of -78.5°C, meaning it changes directly from solid to gas without going through a liquid stage. The very cold temperature will cause frostbite to the skin, so the children were asked to stay behind a green line of tape for safety. However, we did get as close to being hands-on as possible! First, we took turns blowing on the ice to create large clouds of gas!

Next, Glenn made a Queen and a polar bear wave at us. He chipped a toonie into a block of dry ice, and the coin started to rattle and squeak. Why did it vibrate? One child answered that it was because the Queen was cold and shivering! Actually, the coin at room temperature starts to rapidly convert the ice, and the CO2 gas trapped under the coin starts to push the coin upward, like the lid on a pot of boiling water. Pressing the face of the coin onto the ice even caused a squealing sound. (That poor Queen!) Later, the kids got a chance to press metal spoons onto the ice to feel the spoons vibrate and make the same high pitched sound.

Next, Glen filled about ten plastic film containers with dry ice and secured the lids. Then we sat back and waited as the CO2 gas built up and forced off the lids with a very loud POP! The expressions on the kids' faces were priceless!

Here is a peek at a few more of his exciting dry ice demonstrations:

Glenn can do workshops on almost any science topic that one would teach to elementary or middle school students! Some of his other popular topic include The Human Body, Light and Sound, Rube Goldberg Devices, Chemistry, Force and Motion, States of Matter, Physics, Structures, and many more. He also does birthday parties! Do check out his website to see an amazing slide show: www.somethingincredible.ca.

In March, Glenn will be out of town teaching a workshop (and tearing up some powder in Whistler,) but he has arranged for us to have a substitute! Join us at Saanich Neighbourhood Place on March 28th for Flight and April 25th for Locomotion, 3:30-4:30 p.m. and please bring a toonie donation! And while you're at it, ask about all the other fun stuff that we coordinate for our momstown members, and learn how to register for your FREE 4-week trial!