momstown is heading to OPRAH!

Did you hear the incredible news???

momstown has been invited by the new Oprah Winfrey Network to be part of a brand new reality TV show on mom groups!!! Isn't that awesome? We'd like to invite you to join us!!



Oh, wait... it's April 1st. APRIL FOOLS! :-)

Hopping ideas for Easter in Oakville

Would this darn snow melt so we could finally move into spring in Oakville? Please?!

momstown Oakville is already talking about Easter plans and how we're going to celebrate. Our educational curriculum for the month of April is Flowers - so let's hope those crocuses and tulips start to raise their little heads in our gardens soon!

April 12th momstown Oakville will gather for our Crafty Kid playgroup and explore our spring flower theme.


Our littlest members are super excited for the annual momstown Easter Egg Hunt on Sat April 23rd. Bring your baskets and come ready for a great race for eggs! It's perfect for all ages because each age gets a different colour - even wee ones will have a chance to fill their basket too!

momstown also features Easter crafts perfect for your toddler or preschooler to create at home with you. Visit our arts and crafts blog to find pictures and instructions for these ideas and more!!

Fuzzy Baby Chicks in Egg Carton Shell
Cotton Ball Bunnies
"Stained Glass" Egg window hanging
Old Fashioned Egg Painting
Easter Egg Mosaic
101 Uses for Plastic Eggs

Looking for some other great local for Oakville events to celebrate spring and the Easter season as a family? Here's a quick listing of some our favourite spots!

Mountsberg Conservation has an Easter Egg Extravagana on April 22-24, 2011.

Springridge Farm is opening for the season with their Easter Festival April 22-24, 2011.

Royal Botanical Gardens hosts a seasonal Easter Brunch on April 24, 2011.

The Oakville Museum is holding a Family Easter Event on April 23, 2011.

Summer Soccer!!

Are you ready for soccer season???

Many of our little momstown members are finally old enough to sign up for soccer. Most leagues start at age 3 and that means many of our momstown Oakville friends will be decked out this summer in cleats and jerseys.

My daughter started two years ago and I'll never forget the utter excitement surrounding the beginning of the season. My non-napper needed energy for the 7pm games so we instituted "the soccer sleep" before game nights.

Even though there is still snow on the ground - it's time to think about soccer and signing your kids up for the fastest growing sport in Canada. In Oakville there are lots of options for soccer like the Oakville Soccer Club or Dash Sports KIK Soccer League geared for younger players.

This summer in momstown we're talking about starting a little soccer playgroup - bringing a ball out to some of our picnics and Picasso's in the Park events and hosting a mini game for our mini momstowners! Fun fun!

Are signing your kids up for soccer this summer?

8 momstown Nursery Rhyme craft ideas

Do you know what the momstown theme is for March? Nursery Rhymes!! Our momstown Oakville themed party is happening next week - Monday March 28th - you should join us!


What's your favourite nursery rhyme to sing with your child?

Check out some cute Nursery Rhyme craft ideas on our momstown arts & crafts blog:

Baa Baa Black Sheep
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
3 Blind Mice
Hickory Dickory Dock
Little Bo Peep
Star Light Star Bright
Three Little Pigs
Itsy Bitsy Spider

If you're not a member yet, please register here for your free 2 week trial. We hope to see you at the Nursery Rhymes event soon!!

Playing Wild Music at the RBG

Looking for something different last week, I took my kids on a great little family field trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens and visited the new "Wild Music" exhibit.

Despite living so close to the RBG (it's only a quick 20 minute drive from Oakville) we had never been. I heard about the Wild Music exhibit from my baby's kindermusik teacher and then read all about how awesome the RBG was on the momstown message board.

Off we went to explore!
There were some very cool instruments to play with, animals (parrots, iguanas, turtles were visiting for March break), crafttime, storytime, interactive exhibits.... totally a place we need to plan a momstown Oakville field trip to soon!! (Kids under 5 are free - inexpensive bonus!!)


The instruments were fun to play and the interactive centre hosted handmade noise makers from remote parts of the world. We found giant African seed pods to shake, rain sticks made out of sugar cane and leather to roll, dried gourds filled with seeds to rattle and my personal "favourite" a bracelet with what looked like black mussel shells sewn on which made a fun clacking sound - then we found out they were really cow's toenail clippings, not shells (ewww!).

Once home, it inspired us to talk about making our own instruments like these simple shakers -- no toe nails needed, just rice!! We also dug out some great books on music and then had a little dance party with our shakers.

Maple syrup in my coffee, pancakes & baby pigs at Bronte

We had a fabulous day out at Bronte Creek today for the Maple Syrup Festival. momstown Oakville had a field trip and it was a perfectly sunny almost-spring day. The sap was running and well, so were the children!

Today I learned:

• Bronte has fantastic sausages with their breakfast
• maple syrup is ten million times better than sugar in coffee (seriously, you need to try it)
• go for pancakes first for brunch versus lunch, the line-ups are way shorter
  
• it takes 40L of sap to make 1L of syrup
• little boys never miss a mud puddle
• little boys would try to kiss baby pigs if the pigs were not behind the gate
• maple taffy is the best bribe ever (at only $2 it was a steal for a well behaved day)
  

If you are looking for a maple syrup festival this season - click here for a listings of all things maple from momstown!

Visit momstown Georgina's blog here for a great pancake recipe too!

St. Patrick's Day Fun!

Our Crafty Kids playgroup met at The Little Gym last week to make some funky hats for St. Patty's Day!

Check out their new hats!

momstown Oakville Crafty Kids playgroup meets every month and is a great event for all ages. Not only do we have crafts for the older kids, we also set up mats for babies to lounge on. And we have a potluck table so we can all chat over some snacks :)

If you'd like to attend our next Crafty Kids playgroup, register here for your free two week trial or contact Holly for more information.

For more St Patrick's Day ideas, check out momstown Barrie's blog for their event recap and click here for momstown arts and crafts blog for a long list of St Patrick's Day crafts and instructions.