Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson Everyone knows a guy like Jared: the sixteen-year-old burnout in high school who sells weed cookies and has a scary mom who’s often wasted and wielding some kind of weapon. Jared smokes and drinks too much, and his mom is a mess, and he can’t rely on anyone for consistent love and support, except for his flatulent pit bull, Baby Killer, but now she’s dead. He’s also a kid with an immense capacity for compassion and an impulse to watch over people more than twice his age, and he tries his best to stabilize his family and keep everything afloat. But it’s weird the way he sometimes blacks out. And he puzzles over why his maternal grandmother has never liked him, why she says he’s the son of a trickster, that he isn’t human. Also, ravens have begun to speak to him – even when he’s not stoned. You think you know Jared, but you don’t.
Book of the Month Every month we will be featuring a new book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know. Son of a Trickster is available at London Drugs along with many other great titles and is on sale for the month of April.
Hooray! It’s spring. Flowers! Sunshine! Bunnies! At least, that’s what the calendar says. But in Canada, looking out the window probably tells us another story. Here’s what our spring actually looks like. #realtalk
Easter is here, so it’s time to gather the family for some quality time together this holiday weekend. But beyond an Easter egg hunt and a big delicious dinner, what are some good activities to keep little hands occupied and entertained? Don’t worry, we’ve got some ideas for engaging DIY Easter projects.
When it comes to decorating eggs this year, get fancy! You can make beautiful marbled eggs with just nail polish and water
(and rubber gloves to keep the mess down). Check out the tutorial here and try all kinds of colours!
2. Sidewalk chalk eggs
Spring has sprung, and soon the weather will catch up. Your kids will want to spend all their time outside in the sun. Get them prepared for outdoor fun by making some egg shaped sidewalk chalk! Mix tempera paint and Plaster of Paris, place the mixture inside plastic Easter eggs, wait for it to dry, and voila!
3. Pin the tail on the bunny
It’s not Easter without the Easter Bunny! Update the classic “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” game from your youth to “Pin the Tail on the Bunny”. Print the bunny out on poster-sized paper, cut out some fluffy tails, and you’re good to go. No need to use actual pins, little pieces of tape will do the trick for bunny-to-tail adherence (and save your walls). This is a fun and safe way for kids to interact with rabbits! Rather than getting them a real bunny for a pet, which is a surprising amount of work, play with pretend bunnies instead.
If your kids are really bunny-crazy, make some felt bunny hand puppets for them to play with year round. The bright colours and soft fabric make these just as fun to put together as they are to play with. They’ve got such great little faces!
5. Easter egg scavenger hunt
If you want to perhaps reduce the amount of chocolate your kids eat, as well as make the traditional Easter egg hunt a bit more exciting, try an Easter egg scavenger hunt! Fill plastic Easter eggs with clues that will lead to the next egg, and the next, until the adventurers eventually find the final egg and a special prize.
Photo via Tiny Rotten Peanuts
6. String Easter eggs
This one is a bit messy, but that’s why your kids will love it. Put those sticky fingers to good use! Blow up some small balloons and wrap them in coloured string or embroidery floss soaked in a liquid glue solution. After they dry, pop the balloons and you’re left with these cool string eggs!
7. Toilet roll bunnies
These little bunnies turn out so cute, you’ll hardly believe they were made from repurposed toilet paper rolls! Cover them in fabric or paint, add some ears, whiskers, and a tail — you’ve got a bunny! This project is really easy for kids for put their own spin on.
Say “Hoppy Easter” with these adorable envelope bunnies. With markers, construction paper, and pompoms kids can create rabbits out of envelopes, and then fill those envelope bunnies with a card and treats!
9. Mini wooden Easter baskets
This one is a bit more fiddly and time consuming, but it’ll keep your kids engaged and they’ll end up with a fantastic Easter basket to hold some chocolate eggs. All you need is paper cups, popsicle sticks, glue, and paint. If you treat them carefully, these baskets can be kept for future years and your kids can remember how much fun they were to make!
Remember, all of these suggestions should be family activities. Do the crafts with them, and don’t expect picture perfect results. The fun is in trying new things and learning together! Happy Easter!
From low-key brunches to big, sumptuous dinners, Easter meals offer a variety of opportunities to celebrate and relax with your loved ones. Whether you’re hosting a feast or making a dish to contribute, you won’t want to plan your spread without these recipes.
1. Ham and Artichoke Quiche with Mustard-Rye Glaze
Enjoy all of the succulent flavours of an Easter feast with this savoury quiche, perfect for brunch. Chopped artichoke hearts, gruyere cheese, and a nutty crust combine to make what’s sure to become a family favourite.
2. Leg of Lamb with Stuffed Artichokes, Spinach, and Red Pepper
Searching for a triumphant main dish for your dinner? Look no further. This leg of lamb is stuffed with a gorgeous assortment of veggies, and is bound to impress and delight everyone at your table.
What’s Easter without some thematically adorable treats? This Easter Egg bread is not only seasonally appropriate, but is bread-making-beginner-friendly.
What’s more reminiscent of spring than fresh herbs? This scalloped potato dish is covered in a rich and creamy sauce, and topped with fresh rosemary. It’s the perfect accompaniment for any Easter dinner.
Even if you’re not a huge fan of peas, this salad is dressed up with so much flavour that you’ll never notice you’re eating your greens. Prepare it the day before to save time and let the veggies marinate in the dressing.
No Easter spread can be considered complete without a tasty egg dish. These aren’t your standard deviled eggs, either. A rich sour cream and bacon filling will make this a fast favourite.
Roasted carrots are the perfect side dish for any Easter feast. If you love buying them with the tops still on but don’t have a resident pet bunny to eat them for you, you can turn them into a tangy pesto with this simple recipe.
If you don’t feel like having a big to-do so that you can enjoy more time relaxing with your family, this is the perfect dinner recipe. You need only eight ingredients, fresh herbs for garnish, and you’re set!
This succulent ham recipe includes a how-to to make your own simple (yet so delicious) glaze out of aromatic cloves and citrus flavours. If you’re planning on cooking a ham for your Easter dinner, you’ll absolutely want to give this a try.
This decadently adorable dessert will put the Easter bunny to shame. If dessert is your domain, this is for you (and it will look great on your Pinterest board, too!).
With the cold weather upon us, we know that extended indoor time can be a challenge. So here’s 15 ideas for entertaining the little ones within your four walls.We offer these ideas for entertaining the little ones within your four walls.
Have a big cardboard box taking up space in the house? Before you toss it into the recycling bin, take a handful of crayons or markers and drop them inside, add one toddler (or two if you have another on hand) and watch it come to life. We all know toddlers love to write on walls, and these walls are fair game. Older kids can join in the fun too with more elaborate creations on the outside–pirate ship, princess castle, space shuttle, airplane–the possibilities are endless! Speaking of endless, there are loads of fun and simple activities to do with cardboard boxes.
This fantastic game is inspired by The Floor Is Lava, but it’s a little more involved. The planning is worth it, though, because it gets your kids moving and thinking with colour matching, exercise, riddles, and more.
If your kids love finger painting but you hate the mess, keep it under control with sponges. Makeup sponges work great for keeping the paint in one place, and clean up is easy if you keep them on a plate or plastic tray.
Baking
Baking is a great rainy-day activity for kids of any age. Not only do they get yummy treats at the end, but they learn a little about chemistry and where their food actually comes from. No worries if you’re not an expert baker yourself – try these super-simple recipes from Delish.com that anyone can master. Don’t forget to stock up on baking tools and supplies!
Yes, your little ones can do yoga! There are lots of great DVDs to help your toddlers and kids get started with yoga, but our favourite videos are from Cosmic Kids. In each free YouTube video, likeable host Jamie walks little yogis through a new adventure, including favourites like Moana, Star Wars, Frozen, and other fun stories, while learning the basics of flexibility, balance, strength, and mindfulness. Move the coffee table, grab your mat, and get ready for some fun. Bonus–you can sneak in your own workout right next to the kids!
If grilled cheese and baby carrots are getting a bit boring, inject some fun into lunch and have an indoor picnic! Pack portable containers into a basket, clear some space, put down a blanket or tablecloth, and voilà! For extra fun, add some “outdoor” details like homemade grass, flowers, trees (aka tall potted plants), etc. Don’t forget to invite the stuffed animals! You can also continue the fun into the night with an indoor campout. Especially fun for a sleep over!
A ball of yarn or string is all you need for this secret mission. Find a narrow passageway like a hallway or stair case, and wrap the string at different angles back and forth at kid-height (painter’s tape works well too, if you’ve only got walls to deal with). Little kids will have a blast trying to climb through the configuration, and you can take the challenge up a notch for older kids with spy backstories, timed races, secret maps, special treasure missions, or a spy movie shoot. More ideas and instructions at mykidsadventures.com.
Make Your Own Book
If you’ve read the 478th book to your kids, why not get them to make their own books? There are many tutorials online about homemade book projects, but we found a great place to start with this simple one, which is good for beginner crafters, or for a sweet gift for someone. All you’ll need is a few sheets of paper, scissors, and crayons or markers. You could also add magazine cut-outs to practice pre-schooler scissor skills.
Don’t be alarmed by the name! This game is as safe as it gets. For this one, you’ll only need some cotton swabs, bowls or small bins (even old yogurt containers would work!), number stickers or tape, and some drinking straws. You’ll foster some healthy competition with everyone in the family with this lively game. Full instructions at thatswhatchesaid.net.
Painter’s tape, light, throw-able objects, and a doorway is all you need for this active game. Have fun looking for things around the house that will stick in the web, like balled up newspaper, balloons, small toys, etc, or make it a competition by adding points or a timer.
A no-brainer if you’ve got a tub full of toy cars or trains. Make it colourful and fancy with washi tape like the one above, but regular old painter’s tape works well too (and is just as fun on carpet and furniture!). You can keep it contained in the kids’ room, or take it all over the house for an epic race. You can even add a souped-up garage or train station, like this one:
Want more ideas for fun and learning with just a roll of tape? Check out more ideas at Hands On As We Grow.
If you’ve got a house full of kids, Minute to Win It games are a surefire hit. Bring the popular game show into your living room with rip-roaring races like “Junk in the Trunk,” “Cookie Face,” or “Pong Tac Toe.” The entire family, neighbours, cousins and the mail carrier are all going to want to join in this one. More ideas for MTWI games at happinessishomemade.net.
This indoor activity is perfect for 4-6 year olds to practice fine motor skills. You will need to pick up a few supplies, but it’s a creative and colourful project that your pre-schooler can be proud of. Full instructions at kleas.typepad.com.
If you’ve reached your creativity limit, an I’m Bored Jar will be your best friend. Simply put, it’s a container filled with things for kids to do. Some people fill it with fun stuff, others mix in chores kids can help with around the house. You can get creative with the design using tokens, popsicle sticks or laminated cards, if that’s your cup of tea, or you can just write the activities on slips of paper and put them in a jar. Every time you hear a small person in your house utter the phrase “Mooooooom/Daaaaaad, I’m BOOOORED!”, you can bring them the jar and let it do its work. More ideas for jar design and activities at wellnessmama.com.
What’s your favourite activity for beating kids’ cabin fever? Let us know in the comments!
Everybody loves getting something sweet Easter morning, but there’s nothing wrong with shaking it up every now and then, especially when the majority of us are still working through that Valentine’s Day bulk.
Personalized Mugs
With 47 different customizable Easter mug templates, you’ll have no problem finding the perfect breakfast companion for everyone at the ‘big kids’ table.
Spend some quality time with the tots! Have little ones create their own handprint art, which can be easily digitized so you can add it to an Easter-themed mug design. You can digitize your artwork using an at-home scanner, or visit your local London Drugs Photolab in-store to use our self-serve scanner, or have an LDExpert scan it for you.
April long weekend is best spent with the family, April 1st – get personal.
Easter Cards
For the family unable to make it – or the sentimental aunt, cousin or grandparent – customize an Easter-themed greeting card! Choose your favorite vacation photo, a dance recital snapshot, or the hockey goal candid – tell a story, share some news, or just send a ‘Happy Easter!’ greeting.
There are over 30 different templates to choose from, and our LDExperts are always available to help you through, step by step, at every London Drugs Photolab.
But what is Easter without eating an entire Lindt bunny before breakfast? We’re all kids at heart – can anyone say no to the kind eyes of the marshmallow Peep, or turn down cracking open that mysterious orange plastic at the center of every Kinder Surprise egg? So why not fill that personalized mug with Easter goodies, as an added treat!
Yes, we know it’s not technically spring yet, but we think it’s never too early to get a jump on spring cleaning. We’re kicking off our 2018 Spring Cleaning blog series with some beautiful and practical solutions for many people’s organizational nightmare–the bedroom closet.
1. Create Closet Zones
Most closets have one long rod that goes straight across from one side to the other. That might have been easy for whoever built the closet, but it’s a terrible use of space. The best way to maximize your closet space and keep things organized is to divide it into zones. Find a simple closet system that fits your space using three short rods rather than a single long one. Hang long dresses, robes, and coats from one high rod; hang blouses, jackets and short items from another high rod; and skirts and folded slacks from a low rod below.
Space still tight? Use the vertical space both above and below the closet rods to store even more:
– A shoe shelf is a must-have to increase your closet storage capacity. This bamboo shoe rack will not only look beautiful, but it will make all of your shoes easy to find, and will help stop you from letting that messy pile accumulate on the floor of your closet.
– Store your most-used items at eye level, less-used items below, and least-used items up high. If you are storing a lot of things up top, keep a space-saving step stool close by for easy access.
– Don’t waste that door space! The door on your closet or bedroom can come in very handy for storage with the help of a NeatFreak Closet Organizer. It’s got 20 roomy pockets for things like socks, scarves, ties or even 10 pairs of shoes.
– If you don’t have the time or the space to install anything in your closet, these stackable Sterilite drawers are an easy and inexpensive way to keep things tidy. You can stash shoes, sweaters, t-shirts, undies, or anything else that doesn’t need to be hung. The best part is you can move them around to suit any space or mood.
3. Make Your Closet Beautiful with Matching Hangers and a Coat of Paint
One of the easiest ways to improve the look of your closet is to upgrade your hangers. Investing in a new set of matching hangers will quickly take your closet from bargain rack to Beverly Hills. For the most luxurious look, wood hangers are your best bet, but they take up quite a bit of space and aren’t the most affordable option. Plastic hangers do the job nicely, too – the key is to make sure they all match and are strong enough to hold heavier items like coats and long dresses. Flocked hangers give a refined look while keeping the price point low, and slippery items won’t be on the floor all the time. Don’t forget to pick up a few pants/skirt hangers – essential for keeping work wear organized and wrinkle-free.
On first thought, painting the inside of a closet seems like a waste of time, considering the doors are almost always closed, and when they are open, the walls are blocked by clothes and shelves. But, a burst of cheerful colour can be just the ticket to refreshing the look of your closet. It might even take the dread out of figuring out what to wear every morning!
4. Maintain Your Closet Organization All Year Long
Once your closet is organized and looking great, maintaining it is a lot less intimidating. One way to keep things tidy is to store out-of-season items. Why have those bulky sweaters taking up valuable space in July? Only keep the items in your closet that are suitable for the weather, are appropriate for your current lifestyle, and that fit you today. Trust us, you will feel better if you donate the “I’ll wear this after I lose weight” items–they take up space and make you feel bad every time you look in the closet. Store or donate anything else you don’t currently wear. Many closet organization specialists suggest doing this at the beginning of every season, but we all know how unpredictable the weather is here in Canada, so we recommend doing it twice a year for Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter.
If you are going to store items, especially if they’re going into a musty old basement or storage space, you’ll need to protect them. Of course, Rubbermaid bins are everyone’s go-to storage solution, but not everyone has the space for those. Underbed boxes are a lifesaver for maximizing every inch of space in your bedroom, and Ziploc Space Bags will be your best friend if you have little to no space to spare. If you’re storing delicate or vintage items, you’ll want to keep them hung up, but be sure to stay away from plastic garment bags – the plastic can yellow lighter colours, and they will trap moisture that leads to mold. Instead, go for a fabric garment bag that will take gentle care of your most precious items.
Another great tip for keeping track of the space in your closet is to turn all of your hangers backwards. As soon as you wear the item, turn the hanger around the right way. Then, if you haven’t worn it in 12 months, donate it. Face it – if you were going to ever wear it, you would have worn it by then.
If you want to get serious about simplifying your closet, consider putting together a capsule wardrobe. What’s a capsule wardrobe, you ask? It’s a limited collection of a few classic, high-quality items that don’t go out of fashion (such as skirts, trousers, and coats) which can then be updated occasionally with seasonal pieces. It takes some discipline, but in the end it will save you closet space, time in the mornings, and best of all, it will save you money in the long run! Sound good? Here’s more information on getting started with your own capsule wardrobe:
