Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The end of the season- Dragons Den is a wrap for another year.

Tonight marks the end of the Dragons' Den Season for another year. It was so amazing to have been part of the show and I feel doubly lucky to have teamed up with Brett Wilson, since he will not be returning for the next season.  He was the lead deal making Dragon on the show and when it was all said and done in three years he closed 31 deals and one was with Snappy Socks.  This season was the highest rated ever, with an average of 1.7 million viewers.  Make sure to watch the last episode tonight as they have saved the biggest deals for last. (To us Breast Friends and Snappy Socks were the biggest deals of the Year!!)

So here is the update from Snappy Socks.  The factory is hard at work making 25 000 socks that will cover sizes from newborn to adult.  We have 50 Stores from across Canada that are going to be carrying our socks in their stores.  The first shipment is set to arrive in May, (which will be one year since we taped our episode in Toronto) at which time we will be hosting a product launch at a baby boutique in Calgary and Brett is planning on attending the launch along with me, Patrick and my amazing sales rep Karen who has been working like crazy to sign stores up.  We are already planning our order that will be here in September for back to school and will be running a contest for new designs so stay tuned for that in the next few months. If you haven't already please join our Facebook page for all the latest updates.  Snappy Socks on Facebook.

Brett not only invested his money into the company but also time and expertise.  One of the first things he did for me is set me up with a sourcing company in China called Dunn Global.  They have been instrumental in securing manufacturing and ensuring the design and quality of the socks have been exactly what we ordered and for the best price possible.

Another great thing about appearing on the show has been getting in touch with other business owners that have also appeared on Dragons' Den.  Rachel from Hillberg and Berk jewelry in Regina is an amazing business woman and is such an inspiration. Marissa McTasney, another Warrior mother entrepreneur, owns a company called Moxie Trades.





Marissa's Products will be on sale at Mark's Work Warehouse.  She held a contest for a tagline for her products on Facebook and I was the lucky winner.  I suggested Moxie Trades All Guts No Balls.  Her ad department tweaked the tag line to be You don't have to grow a pair, you just have to wear a pair.




So now thanks to winning the contest I am the proud owner of a pair of size 10 Pink Work Boots.  I have big plans for the boots and since my signature color is Pink after all I can hardly wait to show them off.  It will take me back to the year I spent as an industrial arts teacher at DHS!  Thanks Marissa so much for the boots and I look forward to being a part of the Dragons' Den Alumni with you and a part of Team Wilson!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

You Should be Dancing.....Ya!

With the end of the hockey season upon us our focus shifts to dance.  Kelsey will be in one last 3 on 3 tournament and then we will pack up the stinky hockey equipment until August. Yesterday, Kelsey had two teeth pulled, then went to an hour long 3 on 3 practice and then straight to dance class for 45 minutes and then 45 minutes of stretch class.  Wheeeew what a trooper.

 Last weekend I drove to Wynyard to photography the Wynyard School of Dance with my sister in law Shannon of Backyard Studios in Foam Lake.  We had such a great time, it was fun to work together. Before we left town we did our dress rehearsal for the kids dance competitions.  

I love in this picture how the boys are completely enthralled in video games and ignoring the girls.  Olivia loves the swishy skirt and her sissy is in love with her and everything dancing.  If you ask Ellie, "What are you going to do next year?" She says, "I go Dancing!"  To which I reply, "Well then you have to poop on the potty. "
On stage at the Sky Center, I don't know what lit up the room more his silver shirt or his smile!

 He gets to twirl and lift the girls in his class.
 Brag Alert.....  Yesterday after Class Kelsey received his results of his dance exam.  He had asked to take the exam, filled out the form and reminded me to take it back before the deadline.  He worked really hard with extra lessons and practice at home and missed some of his hockey to prepare but all his hard work was worth it as he passed with a mark of Highly Commended!  The examiner for the test was Brian Foley the man who created the dance Syllablus 30 years ago along with his wife Faye. http://www.adaptsyllabus.com/   Kelsey got a real kick out of the examiner, Mr. Foley, as he was so much fun!  Way to go buddy we are very proud.  

Olivia's turn on stage.  She said to me later the next day, "Mom my legs are really hurting."  So I told her.  "You have missed school for 4 days and the only exercise you have had is changing chanels so when you get up and dance your heart out for 30 minutes then maybe your legs will hurt."  I could tell by her face she thought I was brilliant.
 So proud of my dancers.  Carson and Ellie were in the audience and Ellie sat with the girls and was so good.  Carson on the other hand was mad when he went to the bathroom and saw the Casino and asked to play video games and his mean mom wouldn't let him go play the vlts.  Then he put on his coat and said he was walking home because he was mad he wanted to dance on stage too!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Fun Fabulous Friday

Enough sad talking about sick kids.  I have more pictures to share from Disney World.  This time Typhoon Lagoon. We picked the warmest day of our trip to head to the sand and spend a great half a day swimming and sliding.  


Levi reluctantly stopped and let me take a picture.
Quite and impressive place and we almost had it all to ourselves.

The little two spent a lot of time in the sand and the wadding area.  No need to drag shovels and pails there.  The kid's lunches come in a pail or you can get a cheap one at the gift shop.
Look out mom.
Such a dickens.


I'm the King of the World.
Holding up the ship.


A friendly Foam Laker.
Hunk of the Month Club.  Patty!


A lady stopped me because of my sweatshirt.  Go Riders, Where are you from?  Swift Current.  Oh me too!  What are the odds?

Enjoying the sand instead of the snow for a while.

Chillin.

We soaked up every minute of sun we could until it started to rain.  Not content to pack it in we all geared up to meet the rest of the crew at Magic Kingdom.  It was a wet night followed by hours of blow drying runners.
The members of the Orange Brigade.
So awesome the passed out pose.
Sunburnt brothers.
The night owl.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Who Cares?

Do you equate caring for your children and family to caring about them?  Sometimes I think if I spent less time caring for them that I could spend more time caring about them.  Today I am caring for two sick kids that continues a trend that started in mid January.  Last night Kelsey came to my bedside to say he had thrown up on the bathroom floor.  I staggered from bed and cleaned up the bathroom, (ok I wiped a towel over it with my foot) and then went to Olivia's room as I had left Kelsey in sleeping on my side of the bed that was closest to our bathroom.  I thought I would lay quietly with Olivia but she was on fire too and Ellie woke up so I spent the night moving from one bed to another only to have Olivia barfing so hard it came out her nose first thing in the morning.  I have to say I feel exhausted and yet having a nap would probably make it worse, so I do laundry, clean bathrooms and tidy up bedrooms. 

So here is my dilema.  I spend what seems like every waking hour doing laundry, making beds, running to sports and school talent shows and music lessons.  I find myself doing things "for" my kids rather than with my kids.  If I took an hour to play a board game with them I am sure they would appreciate that.  Instead I am busy picking up 1000 Poly Pocket pieces.

(Just Blackberry pictures since I was too tired to carry a kid and a camera bag!)
 Carson asleep at the Dr.  Ear Infection
Kels sleeping off a hacking cough and the pukes.  

My pretty pink princess.  
 So I wonder.... Do they know that I love them when I volunteer at their school at lunch hour? Or take them to the dentist? When I scoop poop out of leggings in the middle of potty training?  Or book an orthodontist appointment for a teenager who thinks I am ruining his life with braces?  It makes me think of all the things my parents did for me that I probably took for granted.

My awesome sitter was out with the kids when I picked them up the other day.  They were all enjoying the flash of spring.  They painted their names on colored sticks and raced them down the puddle.  They were all having so much fun I thought to myself.  I have to walk away from the washing machine once and a while and just make time to play!  


So I find myself in the grocery store choosing a recipe to make for supper that would be easy to barf up.  So here's what's for supper at the Circus House. I email myself the recipe and then use my phone to follow the recipe.



Fish Cakes

1 pound cooked, flaked fish 
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Dash each salt and pepper
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
Oil for frying
Combine all ingredients except the bread crumbs and oil. Shape the mixture into patties. Coat the fish patties in bread crumbs.
Preheat the oil in a skillet. Pan-fry the fish cakes in batches in hot oil until crisp and brown on one side, then turn and brown the other side. Each side will take just a few minutes. You are only trying to get the ingredients hot and the breading crispy. Everything is already cooked.
Serve with homemade tartar and wedges of lemon.




Tartar Sauce

1 tablespoon onion, grated
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped capers
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped or 2 tablespoons chopped dill pickles
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Cajun seasoning to your taste (optional)
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
Mix everything together and add salt and pepper to taste. The fresh dill is nice, but the traditional tartar sauce we see all the time has the little flecks of real pickle in it.

Courtesty www.cookingnook.com

I will let you know how it turns out and if everyone keeps it down!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Hey Coach


Like a good episode of Sesame Street.  What do these two pictures have in common?  They each have a Coach in them.  

This is my pink Coach purse that I bought in Florida.  I went to the outlet mall with the 14 year old to shop and found myself hating a past time I used to love.  There once was a time when I would work all summer as a lifeguard just to spend every cent I made in a day long shopping trip with my Mom to the Cornwall Centre.  I didn't understand then why my mom hating shopping so much.  At the time I was a tanned teen with a tiny waist.  Well at least with a purse it is one size fits all and I didn't have to go in a cramped change room with fluorescent lighting and look at my equally fluorescent white skin.  So this was my one thing I bought for myself on our Disney trip.  It is pink and purty and has butterflies on it.  I am sure the people at Coach would recall my purchase if they saw that I take it to work with my lunch inside a Diego lunch kit.  
This is Coach Pat with Kelsey's team just before we did their team picture.  This weekend was the last hockey weekend until next year so a big farewell to the rink!  Carson went from laying on the ice making snow angels to a real hockey player.  Kelsey played all positions this year and loved being in goal.  Levi had a great year and was a real team player.  Now that he is older his practices are so late at night that I had to stay up to go get him.  Next year he will be getting his learner's licence and will want to drive home after hockey!
  I went looking for the coffee Pat was holding for me after the team picture only to find a giant brown blob on the ice that was being cleaned up by the zamboni. Ah well I probably slept better by not drinking coffee at 5 in the afternoon!

Friday, March 11, 2011

What a Character!

Having never been at Disney before I didn't really know what to expect.  I imagined the characters strolling down the street giving "High Fives" to passersby.  I think at one time that is how it went until the characters would have inevitably been mobbed by overexcited tiny fans.  Now the characters are escorted through the park by helpers and find a spot where you line up to have a photograph or autograph.  Mickey and Miney are in their own house where you get some private time with them to visit!  The kids loved meeting them all.  

Here we are at our hotel waiting for the bus to take us to the Contemporary hotel beside the Magic Kingdom for our Character Breakfast.  It was a cool day but we were so excited it didn't matter.  
The kids checking out the popular vinylmation.  Tiny Mickies that are decorated in a million styles.  I think people trade them.  I saw a group over adults emerge from a store at Downtown Disney with treasured boxes in hand and with childlike anticipation they counted 1,2,3 and then ripped open a box to see what they had got inside.  Which one did you get?  Ahh I love that one, I need that one.  Reminded me of kids on the playground with a pack of hockey cards.  Too much fun.  
We had a reservation for breakfast and the bus just wasn't coming fast enough so our group jumped into taxis.  8 of us could fit into one van which cost about $20 from our hotel to the Contemporary Resort.  
The monorail runs through the middle of the hotel where we had breakfast which means there is an open passage to the outside, which means there were birds flying around in the hotel.  I imagined my mom covering her head and running for cover from this poor little birdie.  
The kids were prepared with their autograph books.  Carson was concentrating so hard that he followed a group of strangers thinking it was his family.  
Levi got all styled up for Daisy and Minnie.  
This was one of my favorite moments on the trip.  You realize in going to Disney it is not just the action and excitement, the rides and shows that you will remember and cherish.  It is the quiet moments on a bus ride at the end of the day when your child snuggles you, games played at the airport to pass the time, jokes shared in the hotel room while kids are trying to fall asleep.  And waiting for your name to be called for breakfast when a Dad can slip off with his two grown sons to and share a moment where he tells them about the lake and renting a boat and you know in your parents eyes you are always their little kid.  
Chef Mickey.

Everyone twirl your napkins.  
Thanks for breakfast Mickey!
Ellie LOVES Minnie.
I think Carson learned his moves from his Dad.  
The big people love the characters too!
High five  er....... four!

Mom makes a brief appearance with Pluto.  Got to get out from behind the camera once and a while.