• The top 10 things kids stick up their noses, including how to get them out

• Saving at the supermarket: 15 great grocery store tips

• Managing clutter with baby toy alternatives from around the house, part 1 and part 2 — love the paintbrush idea!

I’ve spent an eye-crossing amount of time updating and adding to the links section the past week or so. They desperately needed to be done to preserve my sanity, and also in response to what Mr. Google says people are looking for (namely: stuff to do, places to go, and birthday party centres — all for Durham).

Things are now split into what I hope are easier-to-navigate categories for y’all:

Durham links: The main entrance, also found on the right-hand toolbar over there, and directly above, under the logo

Places to play: Municipal recreation programs, indoor gyms, dance, birthday party centres

Stuff to do: Get out of the house with grown-ups (including, of course, Durham Mom’s Night Out!), Early Years Centres, public libraries, event listings, travel/tourism links

Durham daycare/nannies: Places to find childcare, resources

Safety and support: Recalls, breastfeeding, car seat safety checks, postpartum depression, parenting etc.

Local businesses and mompreneurs: List of consignment stores, baby gear, online sales, local entrepreneurs

Health: Labour, fitness, beauty

Fave Canadian retailers: The Eh! online stores we love the best

Coming soon: Baby shows, crafts and photography. Got any to add?

Have a site you love you want listed? A category to suggest? Business to add? Leave a comment or drop me an email. These are ever-expanding.

Enjoy!

Hello! Happy Tuesday and one-week-until-Christmas. Looking for some online holiday fun? Behold!

S’mores nativity set: Hahaha!

The largest collection of Santa and scared kids: Seeing this makes me never want to take Lucy to see Santa again! Funny pics, though…

The Durham Region Police Department’s annual toy drive: On until Dec. 23

Typeflake: I wish I’d seen this before mailing our Christmas cards. So cool!

Growing paper petri dish ornaments: Neat idea. But these scare the bejeebus outta me.

Is it Christmas?: I’m assuming on Dec. 25 this changes to YES?

Defected good targeted: Harper (finally) promises to update Canada’s archaic laws around product recalls and fines. Too bad this didn’t happen in October or earlier in time for Christmas.

The Cookie Cutter Shop: Not specifically Christmas, but very much in season, no? If you’re looking for a flamingo, grand piano or ladybug, you’ll find it here.

Why I won’t let my child believe in Santa: via Babble.

Cute with Christmas: Cat fury! Tinsel butt!

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s Hump Day.

I did a story for Paying Job this week on humour in the workplace, and in doing so, tried to sign up for this Hump Day newsletter. Workplace email did not, apparently, appreciate the word hump, and steadfastly refuses to let the email in.

In honour of today and the fact that Lucy is home (we had to switch some days around my work schedule), here are some great sites to help you pass the mid-week hump:

Reuseable Bags: I’d like one of each, please (lead-free lunch bags! Laptop lunchables! Safe reusable water bottles!). And Lucy would really love a Kleen Kanteen sippy cup

Kids’ art as wrapping paper: So doing this for Christmas this year…

Boss Hairstyles: fantabulous place for hair cut ideas. Both Jen O. and I used it the past few weeks

Cute Overload: Bunnies and kitties and puppies, oh my! You have to see this site to believe it

Suicide Food: Suicide Food is any depiction of animals that act as though they wish to be consumed (check out the neon cow. You’ll get it)

Defamer: the L.A. gossip rag

The Consumerist: Shoppers bite back

Some favourite new blogs: i am bossy, Attack of the Redneck Mommy, the slack daily

The World Series: it’s all baseball all the time at Chez McDougall-Foster

Durham Mom’s Night Out: tonight is hot guy movie night

ps — don’t forget to share the cute!

This is what Lucy did while I wrote this post. Note the guilty look… And yes, we ARE still in our pajamas (mine, sadly, do not have feeties. Dammit.). What better way to spend a chilly morning?

Tornado Eirinn: did you know that Jen O. is blogging? I have converted a follower! Hallelujah! Praise the Interweb! Jen is just as hilarious and sweet as in real life. Also, Eirinn is an adorable tyrant

Dollar racks @ Mulberry Bush: this great baby/kids consignment store in Pickering has dollar racks of summer clothes on clearance until next Tuesday, July 31

Snot siphon: OK, it’s called Nosefrida, but it’s really a tube you shove up your baby’s nose and suck the boogers out. But don’t worry! There’s a filter so you won’t get snot in your mouth! Raise your hand if you have a baby or toddler who will willingly allow a tube to be shoved up their schnozz

Unclutterer: Very, very cool website on streamlining your life.  Neat posts about an almost paper-free office, 10 things to do in 10 minutes, clutter-hiding furniture (seriously, check out the recharging station!), and my favourite: home organization

Instructables: want to make shadow sculptures? Rock candy? Know how to kiss or get jammed money out of a vending machine? Go here. Totally addicting

More confessions: from the creators of True Mom Confessions come True Dad Confessions, True Bride Confessions and True Office Confessions

Drunk babies: Apparently hand sanitizer, if ingested in large quantities, can cause drunkness, alcohol poisoning and even death in little tots. For goodness sake, please don’t smear chemicals on your children’s hands ever, but especially not just before a meal!

I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?: Hilarious, tears-of-laughter-inducing photos of cats. I know it sounds ridiculous. Which is why it’s so damn funny

Lucy has already created a fabulous array of artwork courtesy of Daycare Debbie. Each day Lucy comes home with another creation: hanging paper umbella, flowers and bees on ribbon, dinosaur hats, painted Easter egg.

Everything is currently hanging on our front door, or in Lucy’s bedroom. I’ve been wondering what to do with it all — then I found the coolest little kids’ artwork site.

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