Archives for just cool! category
Posted on Aug 2nd, 09 at
5:18 pm under Alternative Parenting, Family Life, just cool!
2
Aug
Today is the last day of Simon’s vacation, it is raining so we are having a quiet day at home…
I am really happy with the time that was spent while he was home.. we got out often, did quite a few things but didn’t wear ourselves out… Of course it would be great if he could have a little more time off but he is keeping two of his weeks to take a bit later in the year or add to his parental leave when the new babe comes…
On Thursday night Amy left a message on the post I wrote about 6TZEN saying that she had contacted them in Montreal and that they would be meeting her for a picnic on Friday… I couldn’t pass up on the possibility of meeting the family again so on Friday morning we went to Montreal t meet up with all of them…
I am so happy that we did… the kids played, the parents talked and it was amazing to find out how much we all have in common.. In Normandy, Estelle gives workshops on Nonviolent Communication, teaches babywearing, is a homebirther and helps moms breastfeed, … though the system is set up differently there and there is less educational freedom they believe in life learning and non-coersive parenting and are in no way helicopter parents… Arnaud commented to Simon that it is amazing to things that we come from half a world away but that we have so much in common…
After a few hours of talking and get to know each other and the kids playing in the park and the water feature it was time to say good bye… It is probably the last time that we will meet but I don’t think it will be the end of communication…
Here is the family (taken in Jeanne Mance Park in Montreal)
Saying goodbye!
After we said goodbye we did a few more things in Montreal…and I loved seeing in what ways they are making the city a bit greener…
The BIXI bikes are good example… with a subscription you can grab a bike from any BIXI station to ride to your destination… then you just park it again at any BIXI station… the first 30 min are free and then there is a small fee after… not only is it a great idea but it is also widely used based on the amount of people I saw on them…
Another little thing that I saw while walking were lane ways that used to look all dingy now making people smile…sometimes it is the little things that make a difference…
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Posted on Jul 25th, 09 at
9:12 pm under Misc Ramblings, just cool!
25
Jul
As we were leaving the Chambly Fort yesterday some bikes caught our eyes…
I asked if I could take pictures and then we started to talk to the family…
Last month in June this beautiful family of six arrived from Normandy and started on a 10 month journey that started in Quebec city and will end in South America. Each bike holds 3 people and all of them can peddle except for the youngest.
The largest bike in front holds Noé who is four, Arnaud (Dad), and Nathanaël, 11.
The other bike has Gabriel (9), Mom (Estelle) and 2 year old Eva…
They try to bike at least 30km a day and they never know where they will be sleeping that night. I wish we would have lived closer, or at least in the direction that they were headed so that we could have had them over and been able to talk more…
What a beautiful Family and amazing journey they are taking…
Though their site is French, please check them out at 6TZEN.org
There is a link to their blog (in the section “SUIVEZ NOS GUIDONS”) and Maybe if you keep a tab on their journey and they pass near you you might be able to send them a message and offer them a place to stay for the night 
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Posted on Sep 29th, 08 at
2:08 pm under Awareness, just cool!
29
Sep
Through a link on a facebook page I was introduced to this movie…
I have to say that it is Really interesting… It is Free so there is no excuse not to watch it…
Though you may or may not agree with all of it it, because I may not agree with all of it either… it does bring up a lot of questions…
The first part deals with Religion and myths and truths of where so many believes took root. Pretty much all on par except for a few details of what I was taught in my studies… and of course quite interesting in my opinion.
The second part is about 9/11 and the theory about what really happened.
The third is about Financial history of the US, the creation of the Federal reserve and money ties in with historical events and then what is predicted for the future…
Check it out… and discuss!
The official website (you can watch it there by clicking the blue square or download it)
or see it on Google Video
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Posted on Feb 29th, 08 at
8:51 am under Misc Ramblings, just cool!
29
Feb
On the way to and from the pulp and paper museum I saw something that not only caught my eye but made my heart skip a beat…
“Musée des Religions du Monde” (Museum of World religions)
I am so excited to check that place out… I have a feeling that the kids are too young to enjoy it and if they are with me I might not be able to look at the things I want to look at, so I might head out there alone so I can really look at things…
I can’t believe that I had no idea that it existed though…. I am so glad that I saw it!
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Posted on Dec 31st, 07 at
10:04 am under Misc Ramblings, just cool!
31
Dec
Simon has an Ipod which has most of our music on it… and I had a small mp3 player that was just not cutting it anymore… I had to change the music on it often because 1 gig just wasn’t enough to get me through the day…
So I asked Simon what he was getting me for xmas and then told him that I would love to have a new music player…
I didn’t want to spend too much and I wanted to have more space… So I looked on the net and starting “window shopping”… I was about to decide on a sansa 8g that was on amazon for 129$ and Simon “OK’d” the price… but then I saw that the brown Zune 30 was on special for the same price so I decided to go for that… of course since I am in Canada I would have to have it sent to a friend… By the time I got her response on if she minded or not the price had already went up… so… determined to get it around that price… there was a few places that had it at 99$ and I looked around and found it at Dell for 95$… I was so excited… I paypaled my friend the money and she bought it for me… then a few days later I noticed that I would only get it in Feb!! I checked on online a bit and saw that I was not the only one to have ordered it at that price and have a Feb delivery date… it was a “black friday” special so all the prices had since gone up… so people were stuck waiting or cancelling their orders…
So I decided to call Dell… I told them that I was in Canada and I had bought it though a friend and that I was dissapointed in the delivery date because it was a gift… they told me that I could cancel my order and give me a 45$ credit so I could get another colour (the other colours were being sold at 195$) so I told them that it was not fair that I should need to pay more for the same player in a different colour because they had sold too many and couldn’t deliver. So I got a 95$ credit! So I asked my friend to get one of another colour… then saw that with the 95$ credit the new Zune 80 would only be a 50$ price difference… and only 20$ more then I was originally going to pay for the Sansa… So I got that instead…
My friend was so amazing and patient because there was a wait and everything with the refund and credit but it all worked out and I did all of the talking with Dell so she didn’t have to deal with all of that…
I just got it on Friday and I am LOVING it… the software is not great but the player itself is amazing and I am LOVING listening to all my music and having podcasts etc… and I still have tons of space on it!
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Posted on Aug 25th, 07 at
11:54 pm under just cool!
25
Aug
I found this at a little artisan stand today…
but first a bit of history of it…
The woman that had the stand co-founded a company called eco-coco… and they import fair trade coconut products… the shell of the coconut is usually thrown away but they realized that sanding it down actually makes them gorgeous and now they make products out of that and pay the workers 2X the minimum wage…
http://www.ecococo.org/ is their site (in french only)
So here is my new little treasure…
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Posted on Aug 31st, 06 at
8:50 am under Alternative Parenting, Awareness, just cool!
31
Aug
I am a big Raffi fan… as a child I listened to his music and now the boys love him too and recognize his songs and his voice…
I knew that he was for child rights and was an amazing spokeperson for children and now, I respect him even more…
Look at this… A Covenant for Honouring Children
The words of A Covenant for Honouring Children suggest nine guiding principles for living. Taken together, they offer a holistic way of restoring natural and human communities, thus brightening the outlook for the world we share. They form the basis for a multi-faith consensus on societal renewal.
Respectful Love
is key. It speaks to the need to respect children as whole people and to encourage them to know their own voices. Children need the kind of love that sees them as legitimate beings, persons in their own right. Respectful love instills self-worth; it’s the prime nutrient in human development. Children need this not only from parents and caregivers, but from the whole community.
Diversity
is about abundance: of human dreams, intelligences, cultures, and cosmologies; of earthly splendours and ecosystems. Introducing children to biodiversity and human diversity at an early age builds on their innate curiosity. There’s a world of natural wonders to discover, and a wealth of cultures, of ways to be human. Comforted by how much we share, we’re able to delight in our differences.
Caring Community
refers to the “village†it takes to raise a child. The community can positively affect the lives of its children. Child-friendly shopkeepers, family resource centres, green schoolyards, bicycle lanes, and pesticide-free parks are some of the ways a community can support its young.
Conscious Parenting
can be taught from an early age; it begins with empathy for newborns. Elementary and secondary schools could teach nurturant parenting (neither permissive nor oppressive) and provide insight into the child-rearing process. Such knowledge helps to deter teen pregnancies and unwanted children. Emotionally aware parents are much less likely to perpetuate abuse or neglect.
Emotional Intelligence
sums up what early life is about: a time for exploring emotions in a safe setting, learning about feelings and how to express them. Those who feel loved are most able to learn and to show compassion for others. Emotional management builds character and is more important to later success than IQ. Cooperation, play, and creativity all foster the “EQ†needed for a joyful life.
Nonviolence
is central to emotional maturity, to family relations, to community values, and to the character of societies that aspire to live in peace. It means more than the absence of aggression; it means living with compassion. Regarding children, it means no corporal punishment, no humiliation, no coercion. “First do no harm,†the physicians’ oath, must now apply to all our relations; it can become a mantra for our times. A culture of peace begins in a nonviolent heart, and a loving home.
Safe Environments
foster a child’s feeling of security and belonging. The very young need protection from the toxic influences that permeate modern life-from domestic neglect and maltreatment, to the corporate manipulations of their minds, to the poisonous chemicals entering their bodies. The first years are when children are most impressionable and vulnerable; they need safeguarding.
Sustainability
refers not merely to conservation of resources, renewable energy development, and anti-pollution laws. To be sustainable, societies need to build social capacity by investing in their young citizens, harnessing the productive power of a contented heart. The loving potential of every young child is a potent source for good in the world.
Ethical Commerce
is fundamental to a child-honouring world. It includes a revolution in the design, manufacture and sale of goods; corporate reform; “triple bottom line†business; full-cost accounting; tax and subsidy shifts; political and economic cycles that reward long-term thinking. Ethical commerce would enable a restorative economy devoted to the well being of the very young.
I am going to be following him more closely now and I would love to get my hand on the book and CD for us “Beluga-Grads”
Resisto Dancing, Songs of a Compassionate Revolution, the musical expression of Raffi’s Child Honouring philosophy…
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Posted on Aug 21st, 06 at
1:49 pm under Misc Ramblings, just cool!
21
Aug
For the last few years I have been lurking on the Quebec homeschooling Association page and about two months ago I had responded to a message from a mom looking for homeschoolers in the area, I got a PM from one mom, sent her a PM and then didn’t hear back right away and then went on the site a few times after that to see if there had been more responses hadn’t been one yet…
With the vaccation time and summer I had just not went back to the site for a while… So when I went back last week there was two month old PM’s waiting for me, one from the mom that had pm’d me before asking to get together in the near future…one from a mom telling me where she lived (about 2-3 min away from me by car) and asking me how old my kids where …. I answered both of them…
A day or two after I got an e-mail from the second mom… she said she realized soon after my message that we already knew eachother… and then went on to explain that she is a breastfeeding volunteer also (we saw each other once though) and that we had met at the grocery store when she asked me if I was the one that sold wrap and slings…. and then while talking to someone and talking about babywearing stuff she clicked on my user name…
I had found her really cool when I had seen her at the grocery store but had forgotten that she was just starting out as a volunteer…
What is really cool is that she said that homeschooling is already a big part of her life even though her daughter is only 4 1/2… So now I will have someone local that I will be able to talk to about homeschooling and has an interest in babywearing and breastfeeding and has a child about Xavier’s age…
Now, if only her # wasn’t busy each time I tried to call her
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