Who Who's the Cutest Owl of Them All?!

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The Leaves are Falling!

This time last year, Samantha hadn't even learned to crawl through the leaves yet. At about 4 months old, I had to prop her up in her Bumbo so she wouldn't flop over for the picture. Trying to get her to look at the camera was certainly a challenge though, I just wasn't any competition for how how those crunched between her tiny little fingers! 

Well, it's amazing how things have changed in one year! She certainly is not my baby girl any more. Now, she not only crunches those leaves with her fingers, she can stomp through their crunchiness and even toss them in the air...well sort of (maybe not over her head). She has grown and changed so much.

I'm not sure when it happened, but it feels like she has grown into this independent toddler almost overnight. I love how she HAS to do everything on her own, especially if she sees me or Daddy doing it! Though, this can be both frustrating and amazing at the same time, depending on the mess involved. However, watching her help me rake the leaves and and then "jump" into them (or what I would probably call a speedy walk into the leaves and her squealing "AH!" and falling onto her bum into them) is simply priceless!

But please slow down my Baby Girl...Mommy still wants some baby girl snuggle time! 

I Am a Stay-At-Home Mom

There has been a lot of information, blogs and controversy flying around social media the last week about stay-at-home moms. It all started with a husbands blog post defending his wife as a stay-at-home mother, to other moms of all people!

Personally, I find it quite insensitive of those particular women to wonder what she does all day.

Without trying to offend any mother or father, I do understand that everyone makes their own choices for their own reasons. Some are lucky enough to be able to stay at home with their children, while some would prefer to go back to work and others have to go back to pay the bills.

When I am asked "When are you planning on going back to work", "Are you back to work yet" or "Where are you working now" it feels almost wrong for me to say I am a stay-at-home mom. As if staying at home and raising my daughter isn't considered work or it's taboo for me to stay at home while other mothers went back to their job.

Firstly, I would like to say that while I was on maternity leave, I was given a whopping $25/week to stay at home with my child during her first year! Yup, a whole $100/month! As a waitress, even though I paid taxes on my tips...that income was not considered for my maternity leave. Ya Canada...there are still cracks in your "new and improved" maternity benefits. So, my husband worked his butt off to make it possible for me to stay at home with our newborn daughter and not have to go back to work early, if at all.

We tried everything! Thankfully, I was able to find a "job" where I was able to bring Samantha to work with me, while he built his business. As the event planner for momstown KW, I was able to both socialize myself and Samantha, as well as get a few extra bucks in my wallet.

Now, Samantha is 15 months old and I am proud to stay that I am still at home with her!

Now, for those of you who ask "When do I plan on going back to work"...Raising my daughter is work! I am a chef. I am a nurse. I am a janitor. I am a CEO. I am a teacher. I am the one who wakes up at 2am...3am...4am and 5am to hold and rock our teething, sick or upset baby so that my husband can sleep, so I can stay at home another day.

Yes, there are days, many days, where I just want to escape and drown myself in a big glass bottle of wine. But I am a stay-at-home mom and that is work, that is my job and I plan on staying right here as long as I can! The memories that I have been able to witness and experience with Samantha are priceless and all the hard work I do on a daily basis make it everyday with her completely worth it.

...On a side note, according to calculations done by Salary.com I should be making 6 figures! Personally, I consider myself a millionaire everyday!

Nikon COOLPIX AW110: Actively Outdoorsy!

OK, so I think that Nikon Canada has completely spoiled me. I have had the chance to try the COOLPIX S30, the Nikon1 J3 and now the COOLPIX AW110!


I always try and look at each camera from a mothers perspective. I am by no means a professional photographer, I simply see with my heart and try and capture that moment so I can remember it forever.

The Nikon COOLPIX AW110 is a great family friendly camera. It is not only shock proof...so when tiny fingers find it and decide to play with it and then drop it, you are worry free! Or when you are trying to juggle a diaper bag, car keys, and a tired fussy and teething toddler...if the camera happens to bump into the door you are trying to open, no harm is done!

It's also Waterproof, though we never got a chance to try this feature (insert sad face here) and freezeproof. I can't believe I'm about to put this out into the universe, but that feature almost makes me wish it was Winter so we could play outside with the camera in the snow!

This camera truly would be an amazing outdoor camera! Great for going on hikes, bike rides, swimming, camping, really any outdoor activity that you need a durable camera to keep up with you!

 I must say though, after trying out the the COOLPIX S30 and the Nikon1 J3, the COOLPIX AW110 wasn't my favorite camera. Not that I'm complaining, this camera was still great, but I felt like it wasn't the most user friendly camera. Though there are a lot of different preset settings you could use to capture that special moment, I found that trying to find the correct one for that particular moment not only took time, but some of the settings also took some time to "process" the picture. I guess sometimes more is not better.

I also found that it was hard to focus on an object and, for whatever reason, just could not get the zoom to "super zoom in". Which would have been great while we were on our walk and say an Osprey perched in the trees!

But while at the butterfly garden, the sharpness and clarity of the pictures were amazing! I just love the way the COOLPIX AW110 picked up on the various shades of color and the textures! 

I also loved the panorama option too! It was perfect to see the apple orchard when we went apple picking!

It also had a neat built-in slide show. At first I was taken a back by it a bit, because I didn't understand why my pictures kept changing while trying to view them...lol...but then I realized and was able to take advantage of it while showing the pictures to my grandmother, who is not tech savvy in the least!

And though I prefer photography over videography, Samantha seemed to enjoy capturing her toes against our wood floors. Not the best example of what this camera's video is capable of, but with the Full HD camera, you can see just how cute those piggies look!

All-in-all, for the price range this camera is a great family-friendly camera that I would suggest for the amateur mommy photographer. Play with the camera and then find your favorite features before you try and capture those precious moments of your family.

Here are a few more of my favourite moments I got to capture with the Nikon COOLPIX AW110!

So from my family, to yours I truly hope you enjoy your Nikon COOLPIX AW110! 

For more information on it click here! 

Thank you again to Nikon Canada and Strategic Ampersand for helping me to 

capture and preserve my families memories, smiles and laughter! 

Now I understand why Nikon is "at the heart of the image"

Nana's Homemade Pizza Soup!

Growing up, our family didn't exactly roll in the money. My mother must have been so stressed out, as a single mother of two, working part time AND going back to school to get her nursing degree, she had a lot on her plate. She truly is an inspiration to me.

Unfortunately, as much as she had on her plate, we often had little on our dinner plates. Not that we starved or were undernourished, but dinner was always a "Mama what's-in-the-fridge Creation". So, come dinner time, as many families do, my mother would look in the fridge and cupbards and say to herself "OK, how am I going to make for dinner tonight?" She is truly a whiz in the kitchen, making the most delicious meals out of barely nothing! Something, I have yet to master...

One night, along came Pizza Soup! This dinner quickly became our family favourite and I am happy to say that that has not changed at all in the Laur family! Last night, I could not feed Samantha dinner fast enough! And in between each bite she would wiggle and giggle for more!

Well, there are just some recipes that should not be kept a secret!

Nana's Homemade Pizza Soup

Ingredients

1 Pepperoni, sliced

1 can of mushrooms, drained

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can of beef broth

1 green pepper, chopped

garlic, parsely, oregano and basil

dinner buns

grated mozzarella cheese

Simply combine the top 6 ingredients into a large soup pot and simmer over med for 20-30min. 

Taste at about 5 min and add more herbs as necessary. 

Serve in a large bowl and top with mozzarelle! Add a dinner bun on the side (to dip and eat, yummy!)

Can you believe it? That's it! Ta Da...Nana's Homemade Pizza Soup! 

I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine does! 

Please feel free to comment below and give me your feedback or how you modified it for your family!