Welcome to Sponsor Tumblers Gymnastics

We're so lucky here in Ottawa to have a great selection of gymnastics centres. Some are recreational, while other combine both recreational and competitive options - which means that anyone can participate, regardless of ability (wouldn't it be cool to have an adult gymnastics class? I'll admit I'm rather jealous of my 2 year-old tumbling around on the mats!) Tumblers Gymnastics Centre has been around for 25 years, incorporating in 1989 as a not-for-profit organization. It's now one of the largest gymnastics clubs in the province. Recreational classes follow the CanGym program, and specialty classes include Introductory Rhythmic Gymnastics, recreational trampoline, and Acro for Dance.

We had a chance to go and check out Tumblers' drop-in class, which runs every morning at 10:30 a.m. except Tuesdays.

The centre is GIANT! My daughter was in awe of all the fun things to check out - she had access to all the equipment during the drop-in. For a two year-old, it's better to be free to run around :) Her favourite things to do were jump on the trampoline and walk on the balance beams!

Staff were welcoming and friendly, and interacted with all the kids on the bars, trampoline and balance beams. A viewing area in the lobby is available for parents to watch their child's progress in kinder and recreational classes (a.k.a quiet time for Mommy to drink coffee ;) )

Check out the Fall schedule now for drop-in times, kinder and recreational programs - children can participate from as young as one year in parent-assisted classes.

If you're in the East end (or anywhere for that matter!), come by and check out Tumblers Gymnastics Centre - my daughter is already asking when we can go again!

Welcome to Postedad Classifieds!

If you're like me, you've got PILES of stuff lying around your house that never gets used. I really am trying to get better, but two small children, a dog and several jobs leaves little time for purging and organizing. Hopefully once the girls are a bit older, I'll find the time to really minimize what we own. I find I breathe a huge sigh of relief when another bag of stuff exits my home. And bonus if the stuff you own is worth something to someone else! Not only are you reusing or recycling for the environment, but you're also spending less money by purchasing used. My husband and I saved up for our flat screen TV by selling things around our house and putting the money we made into a jar. You'd be surprised how quickly it adds up!

Selling used just got easier in Ottawa, with a new free classifieds website called Postedad.ca. The website is locally owned and managed, and their kids and baby section was planned with parents' needs in mind.

There is no charge for ads, and you can upload as many photos of your stuff as you'd like. There's also some neat features, like alert settings for new ads and reward points for promoting or highlighting your ads. The points are gained simply by registering on the site, posting ads and referring friends.

With this in mind, I'm off to sort through some baby stuff... :)

5 Stars for Starr Gymnastics!

Welcome to Starr Gymnastics, our featured sponsor this month!

Our daughter was delighted to check out Starr Gymnastics (Orleans location) this past week. We've been living in Orleans for three years now, and have definitely been missing out on this local gem!

With a bright and large open space for plenty of exercise, Starr has it all - a climbing wall, a swinging rope, several mini-trampolines, and balance beams and bars. There is also a nice quiet room in the back, intended for use by parents with really young children, and a raised area where there are four large round trampolines, and a foam pit for the children to dive into. There are also slides, balls, hoops, bean bags, and small play equipment spread throughout the space.

Starr offers regular instructional classes,March and Summer day camps, and private birthday parties. We checked out one of the many drop-in play times. My husband was very impressed with the instructors, who he said were enthusiastic and very helpful. The highlight of the hour was the parachute, when the kiddies got to send a bucket full of balls flying up into the air. By the end of the drop-in, my daughter had already decided that instead of soccer this summer, she would rather do gymnastics camp!

We'll certainly be signing her up for a class. If you're looking for last minute March break activities, there are still spaces available in their half or full-day camps. For those who like to plan in advance, summer camps will be posted soon!

Have you visited one of the three Starr Gymnastics locations? What's your child's favourite activity?

The Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest

Our new sponsor, The Ottawa Public Library, is once again launching The Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest! Children and teens between the ages of 9 and 17 are invited to submit their original, previously unpublished poems and short stories in either French or English to any branch of the Ottawa Public Library You can submit either in person or online.

You can find all the contest details and submission form on the Ottawa Public Library website. The contest deadline is February 9, 2014 and winners will be announced in the spring and you can win lots of awesome prizes! Local authors Tudor Robins, Michel Lavoie and JC Sulzenko will judge all the submissions.

In order to help Ottawa's young authors get ready to write, the contest judges will be offering English and French workshops to share their knowledge and experience with young authors. Registration for workshops begins January 10, 2014.

Get your kids ready to write and help them share their words with the world! Good luck to all.

Welcome to FlowersInspire and Little Florist Birthday Parties

FlowersInspire, our new sponsor, is a great idea for kids of all ages. They are a professional floral design studio providing inspiring, fun flower arranging experiences for all ages and interests. It’s fun, unique and you get to take your flowers home to share with the whole family. When you’re trying to decide what to do for your little one’s birthday party, I bet you’ve never thought of Flowers.

FlowersInspire, located at 174 Colonnade Road, provides everything you need for a Little Florist Birthday Party - all of the tools, containers and flower supplies for your birthday child and their guests. They offer one-on-one training for each kid and a great space to do it all. There’s room for your floral creations, food and fun. They even have space to open gifts.  Plus, they take care of the clean up, which makes it tops in my books.

For older florists and adults, FlowersInspire also offers Seasonal Floral Design Seminars where you can learn to create different arrangements throughout the year, celebrating occasions with unique, decorative, floral accents. And best of all, when you take a seminar and make your own arrangement, the cost is about the same as buying the same arrangement in a store… but you get the fun and experience of making it yourself!

Working with flowers is a great way for kids and families to connect and to tap-into with their creative side.

With FlowersInspire, it'll be a blooming good time (excuse the pun!)