Home School fun or not so fun

It’s been a month of homeschooling our kids and I can’t complain THAT much. Our school has provided us with the online tools based on their grade and their teachers have been soo supportive. 

Of course some days are harder than others. I mean, homework with mom and dad! Plus the distraction of TV and toys all around! Plus tired Monday’s! 

They rather play with their toys! Thankfully we have found a good balance that works well for us. 

1-2 hours in the morning after breakfast Monday to Friday has become our routine. After that it's lunch time and Mommy gets time for herself! ha! but do we really!

I have found that since everything is mostly computer based for the kids, especially for my 8yo. I wanted some extra tools for writing skills. So amazon to the rescue ha! I got some tracing books for my JK and flash cards, a Grade 3 Math book and an Affirmation book for journal writing. Just a little bit a day to keep up writing skills.

How are you all holding up? Do you homeschool longer than 1-2 hours? For my kids age/grades I find that’s plenty of work for the day. The rest of the day is “creative” play as we call it. Playing with each other and their toys, inside and outside in the backyard. 

As I’m writing this, I realize that we have a pretty good routine going on! Adapting to back to school will be a whole other ball game! 

Yummy Easy Banana Bread

No fail banana bread recipe! Moist and yummy! (updated post here)

2 cups flour 

2-3 bananas 

1 cup sugar

1tsp baking powder 

1tsp baking soda 

3/4 cup veg oil ( I use avocado oil)

2 eggs 

1/3 milk 

1tsp vanilla 

My no mess steps below! 

1. In a bowl to blend with blender add ripe bananas, 2 eggs, and oil. Blend 
2. Measure 1 cup sugar and add to the bowl of wet mixture and blend 
3. Measure 2 cups of flour and add 1tsp of baking powder and 1tsp baking soda.
4. Slowly blend in flour to the wet mixture and blend. 
5. Add 1/3 of milk and 1tsp of vanilla to bowl

Optional - Add other ingredients like crushed nuts or chocolate chips!

Sometimes I scoop out into muffins, the kids love that. 

I use a 9x13 pan. It’s more of a banana cake! 

Bake 350 for 30 min. Check with toothpick. My oven is usually exact with 30min with a 9x13. 

Enjoy!! 

Health and Wellness INSIDE OUT

When it comes to our overall health, we can't forget about our Mental Health!



Health and Wellness 100% starts from the inside. The foods we feed our bodies, the daily choices we make, the way we speak to ourselves, how we treat ourselves, how we treat others.



I've been reading Personal Development books ever since I was a teenager! I've been working on ME, ever since I can remember. I have been to therapy to help me grow from my trauma. It’s set me free from my limiting beliefs and has helped me learn how to grow and understand that learning and growing never stops! I'm always picking up a new book, or audio book. I want to hear other peoples stories. I love being reminded that we are STRONG, and WE CAN DO ANYTHING we put our MIND to! No one is perfect, we are all just trying to live our best life. We make mistakes, then grow from those mistakes. Life will throw us a curve ball now and again. How will we react to them? Some harder than others too.



Now more than ever, I have my book selection at my fingertips! As soon as I finish one, I'm on to the next. Our minds need the training, just as much as our bodies do!

Every book I read, teaches me something new. My latest book was Mastering Your Mean Girl. And boy does my mean girl like to take a hold over me sometimes. This book reminded me to lead with love. It can get confusing at times, so I've been repeating to myself "lead with love""respond in love" . Do I always? Nope, I'm still learning haha. This is life though. Learning, growing and evolving.



Are you reading any books right now? Drop me a comment below. I'll add what you recommend to my list!

Here's my list of my current Personal Development Books!
https://www.amazon.ca/shop/aka_mama_t

Stay at home/school

Hey Mama’s how are y’all  hold’n up! 

I really wish I blogged everyday since the beginning of this pandemic because the waves of emotions and adjusting has been, ummmm sorta like a rollercoaster. 

We are on DAY 40!!! So let me recap for my blog records :)

This all started on the first day of the kids March break! I won’t lie, it was all pretty exciting in a weird way. Being lucky enough to work from home and keep our family inside and staying home.  The kids were up late, lots of movies and screen time and junk food as mommy and daddy were glued to the news with anxiety but smiling faces to keep everyone in as normal and fun state as possible. 

The news talked about the rise in cases and the extra precautions we all have to take. Articles and news stories about washing produce and wiping groceries, wearing masks and gloves when you are out. It got very overwhelming at times. I panicked about food in our fridge and if we had enough of there was a total lockdown.  I made list after list of things we needed. Thankfully we haven’t had a strict lockdown here in our province. 

Whatsapp chats with alll our groups of friends and families kept us super busy exchanging thoughts and support.

And now here we are day 40. 

I think we are on week 3 of the official roll out from our schools for homeschooling.  Something that is new for all of us.  Teachers working extra hard to provide their students with as much support as possible. Parents trying to juggle homeschooling, work, multiple kids and a household. The busiest kind of busy! 

All while keeping it together.  Every family dynamic is different and every family does things differently. What works for me, might not for you. These are not normal times and we all have to make the best of it. 

These are the things that work for us during this crazy time.  

We have a light schedule. It’s not a strict one either. If the kids need extra sleep then they get it. They are usually up for 9am anyway. 

We enjoy breakfast together, no rushing. Plus mama needs a full cup of coffee before we fully start our day ha! 

After breakfast we head over to our workspace. Getting the boys to pay attention when they want to play instead and giggle and distract each other is no easy task haha! Some days are easier than others. We just roll with it! 

While I try and help my grade 3 with math and English, I get my 4yo to practice tracing and coloring. Then I switch over to help my 4yo with reading and site words. 

We work on school stuff for about 2 hours in the morning. The amount of work the school sends is about 1 hour a day, but we usually take 2 hours.  They complete their lessons that their teachers send by 12pm each day. 

Then it’s a free for all! Haha. They get to play in the backyard, have lunch and snacks, figure out fun games to play, relax and watch movies. I also have my time to work on my project and do house work while they have fun playing. 

This is what is working for us. This is what keeps my kids happy and having fun at home and not feeling the stress of the outside world. 

We have open communication with them, and help them understand what the whole world is going through and the changes to society right now. We have donated to food banks and those in need and pray everyday for the world and those who lost their lives to this virus. 🙏🏻

I want them to remember this time as calming as possible. I want them to remember how we were all lucky to be home together for months with love. Staying home to keep us and others safe. FaceTiming and phone calls to stay connected to those we love.

We are making history right now and we all need to be as gentle with each other as possible. 

Here’s to another day at home :) flattening that curve! 

Super Easy Lasagna Recipe

Easiest and most delicious Lasagna recipe using a pressure cooker for the meatballs and sauce! 

Ingredients

2 bottle of tomato purée 

2 mozzarella packages

Parmesan cheese

2 lean ground veal packages (if you buy the veal at the butcher, tell them to double grind it) 

1 package of lasagna noodle

Italian style bread crumbs 

1 egg (I don’t use eggs because of allergies)

Onion/garlic 

Olive oil 

Turn the sauté setting on the pressure cooker, add olive oil, (I don’t have specific measurements, but coat the whole bottom of the pot with oil!) Slice some onion very thin and 1 garlic very thin. Let these cook in oil then add the bottles of tomato purée you can add some water to jars to get all the sauce out and pour in the pot. Season with oregano/basil/ Italian blend. I also sprinkle Parmesan in the sauce mm mmm. 

Add veal to a bowl, season with with garlic powder, salt. (Any seasonings you like) Add breadcrumbs, little at a time and some olive oil. Mix with hands and form the meatballs.

Place the meatballs in sauce.

Set the pressure cooker to Soup/stew 30min!! 

(follow your pressure cooker/instapot directions) 

When sauce and meatballs are done... release the steam and open your pressure cooker. 

spoon out meatballs with some sauce in a bowl. 

Mash up the meat balls set aside. Make as saucy as you like. 

Cook lasagna noodles.

Drain. 

Get out your baking dishes to prepare the lasagna! 

Add sauce on the bottom of each dish, place lasagna noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella, lasagna, repeat. I think I did 3 layers. 

Once you get to the top, the last layer. Add the noodles and add sauce only, top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese 

Wrap with foil. Cook 30 min at 400F. 

Then remove the foil, cook another 15 mins

And done! A yummy Sunday dinner! Or Christmas lunch like we just had! Enjoy! This is the exact recipe my mother used for our Sunday lunches, minus the pressure cooker, ha! But the sauce and lasagna is sooo yummy! You’ll never know the difference!  

P.S save the extra sauce in jars for other dishes you can make during the week.

Great Wolf Lodge fun and tips!

For the past 4 years, we’ve had a Christmas tradition of going to Great Wolf lodge! I’m pretty sure I have many posts from the past about it!

Great Wolf can totally be done on a budget but also can get quite expensive with all the ad ons. Since we have been many times and know what we like, we budget in advanced for the cost! 

We usually stay 1 night. We’ve done 2 nights in the past, just depends on the great deal you get ha!

The water park opens at 9am, so the day you check in you can get there early and enjoy the water. Even though check in is later on. You can just leave your bags at the front and they will bring them over to your room. Then you can grab a locker in the water park and put the rest of your things after you change and head in the water! Or! Get the cabana!

The past few times we went with family, we split the cost of the cabana.

We love getting the cabana for the group. Instead of getting a locker you can just put your stuff in the cabana and there’s a safe too. So get there for 9am and go straight to your cabana, The cabana comes with towels, water, juice, some fruit and some snacks. They also deliver your food right to the cabana :) 

We always get the meal plan. It’s definitely worth it. Kids under 3 are free so that’s great too.

For the lunch the dads got burgers and fries, the moms got chicken fingers and fries haha (salads available too) the kids got pizza and hotdogs.


My older son was the height for all the slides but the rest of the littles could only go on a few. But there’s a wave pool, kids hottub, adult hot tub too, lots of slides for the big kids and the little kids Ha! Even the dads had a blast.


Great Wolf lodge isn’t only about the water park. It’s the whole experience.  At Christmas it’s fully decorated with lights and it’s soo festive! We love it! Santa even shows up for pics! 

Oh back to the meal plan. The meal plan comes with lunch, dinner at the buffet and breakfast at the buffet. 

They have a good selection of food and desserts.

My little guy was standard with the nuggets, fries and pasta. 

Mr K had everything, from salmon, mussels, pasta, Mac and cheese, ribs and a huge ice cream bowl with all the toppings.


We stayed in the water park until 4pm (water park is open 9am-9pm) then headed to the room to get some rest, shower and come out in our Pj’s for for dinner. That’s a must at great wolf! 

We always get the wolf den suite with bunk beds for the kids! 

In the evening there’s soo much to do at great wolf lodge. 

They had a snow fall! (Bubbles)

Story time for the kids! 

PJ dance party! 

They have a few cafes for mom and dad to get coffee or delicious sweets and ice cream  haha

Our kids have had the paw pass in the passed

Which gave them their wolf ears, magiquest wands (which we activate every year) and their stuffed animal (which you choose and stuff when you get a paw pass)

The magiquest game is all over GreatWolf lodge so it’s always a fun game with the kids and adults going through the stairwell and all the floors waving their wands.

Ohhh and I can’t forget the arcades. We always end the evening at the arcades. Playing allll the games!

We all had a blast! 

Mama T tips!

Bring bathing suits haha duh!

Flip flops! 

Robes for the kids is good for when they walk over to the room.

Pj’s! 

Waterproof phone cases!

I recommend getting the meal plan too.

Bring snacks for your room for the night while you cozy up and watch a movie with your fam. I brought water bottles, chips, candy, granola bars. 

If I think of anything else I’ll add it in the comments.

Or just DM me on Instagram and I’ll be happy to answer any questions!


Since the falls is just around the corner and it was a nice Sunday afternoon. We stopped by the falls and even did the journey behind the falls! 150 ft down by elevator and through the tunnels, behind the falls! 

Ha! Those rain coats were needed. 

The kids were fascinated. 

**this post is not an ad, although may sound like one ha! Just sharing my family adventures! - Mama T

Mason jar portion fix meals!

If you've been following me on instagram (aka_mama_t)

Then you have been seeing all my tips and inspiration on
eating healthy and a healthy balance of it all.

I came across the idea of the Mason Jar salads and quickly realized that
I will use these jars as my quick, go to lunches!
Not only with salads either. You'll see below!

Using my portion fix containers, I decided to make a warm lunch in my mason jars.
The mason jars save space in my fridge too, so I love that. No plates or big containers taking up space.

So to meal prep at the beginning of the week. I grabbed the costco ready made chicken I had in the fridge and frozen veggies and made a quick stirfry. I also made some oven baked sweet potato chunks.

Using my portion fix containers, I just scooped what I needed.
1. The Red container for the chicken (1 Red/protein)
2. The Green container for the veggies (1 Green/veggie)
3. The Yellow Container for the sweet potato(1 Yellow/carbs)








Super easy meal prep. Everyday this week I had lunch in the fridge ready for me!
I just grabbed a mason jar that was already made to the exact portions I need for lunch.
Poured them into a bowl and heated it up in the microwave. I added a touch of hot sauce
and lunch was warm and delish!






The week before I made loaded salads in my mason jars. Soo good too!

1. Red container for the chicken (1 Red/ Protein)
2. Purple container for apples (1 purple/ Fruit)
3. Green container for spinach (1 Green/Veggie)
4. Yellow container for quinoa (1 yellow / Carb)
5. Orange container for balsamic dressing (1 orange/ dressing)
6. Blue container for feta (0.5 blue/fats)

To ensure my spinach didn't get soggy, I put the dressing at the bottom.
Then added the quinoa, chicken, apples, spinach and feta.
Easy to grab from the fridge, toss in a bowl and eat my yummy lunch!



See, super easy! What are your go to lunches? Be sure to share them with me too!

MrM 4

This little cutie started junior kindergarten! 

Ohmygosh he was the absolute cutest. So brave, sooo ready, soo determined to check out this “school” thing. 

No tears and he was totally chill about it. Although after the first day he asked me where I went when I “left him there all day” haha 

Umm making 2 lunches felt so stressful the first day. Was I packing enough, will they like it, will the eat it. 

Good news. They ate it allllll, the both of them! Little M said he ate it all by himself with no help and he was soo proud to talk about it. He is loving his independence, 

He’s grown  so much over the summer and it was shocking to see him so put together and ready to begin this new stage! The boys always surprise me with their courage. 

Big bro was amazed too, and he’s so happy to have little brother in the same school. 


The second day of school he had show and tell. He brought his Spider-Man mask and couldn’t wait to show his friends.

He strolled in the school yard, didn’t even look back.  

He came home talking about his time at  recess with friends and the conversation they had. Haha

He told big brother that he said prayers in class. 🙏🏻

Just melted my heart. 

My little not so baby, baby boy, off to school ❤️