Month: November 2025

Posted in WP Prompt

Word Press Prompt – A Cozy Moment of ‘Me Time’… Featuring My Vacuum

Posted on by Mama
Daily writing prompt
If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?
View all responses

I would love to say something clever and witty and be like ‘Oh I’d learn a new hobby’ or something like that but the truth….

Seriously you want the honest truth? You got it!

I’d clean the house spotless and then just keep it nice, tidy and completely up-kept for the rest of the time until it it needs another deep clean. I’m a busy mom with a tornado of a toddler, love her but trying to wrangler her with my husband makes it a bit difficult to do my daily/weekly cleaning sometimes. So, my house tends to be untidy with toys splayed in every room, laundry needing to be done or even put away, vacuuming, etc. Life right?

But it’s the honest truth, I’d clean. Plain and boring.

Hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!

Posted in Bookish Babble

Book Review: Ghost Camera

Posted on by Mama

Title: Ghost Camera


Author: Darcy Coates


Genre: Horror, Paranormal, Short Stories, Fiction


Number of Pages: 341


My Rating: 💋💋


Book Summary:

They’re Always Watching…

When Jenine finds an abandoned Polaroid camera, she playfully snaps a photo without a second thought. But there’s something wrong with the image: a ghostly figure stands in the background, watching her.

Fixated on her.

Moving one step closer with every picture she takes.

Desperate, Jenine shares her secret with her best friend, Bree. Together, they realize the camera captures unsettling impressions of the dead. But now the ghosts seem to be following the two friends. And with each new photo taken, a terrible danger grows ever clearer…

THE HORROR HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN.

Full of rich bonus material, Ghost Camera contains even more chilling tales from USA Today bestselling author Darcy Coates, including:

  • A woman survives a plane crash in a remote arctic tundra, accompanied only by a stranger who seems fixated on something moving through the blinding snow.
  • A house stands empty. Hungry. Waiting for the children drawn to it like moths to a flame.
  • A woman finds a shoebox filled with old VHS tapes. They have a note attached: “Don’t watch. You’ll regret it.”


My Thoughts:

I finished this novel near the end of October, so I’ve been putting off this review a bit.

I should have read the description more closely when I looked at this one on Bookoutlet.ca, because when I read it quickly, I expected the vast majority of this novel to be about two friends who now have to deal with a haunted camera or ghost camera. It sounded intriguing and I figured the bonus stories would be closer to the end of the book. Boy was I incorrect.

I will credit the author for being majorly creative and I did find some of the other stories to be far more intriguing and much better written than the novels title story. In my opinion, I found Payment for the Dead, Death Birds, Untamed Things, A Box of Tapes creepy, eerie and all around captivating. I wish these stories were longer to be quite honest or even their own novels. I would have loved to have dived in deeper and gotten more nitty gritty and detailed.

However, the title story Ghost Camera was….lackluster at best. It felt a bit rushed, especially at the end and the character development was okay. I will say the friendship between the two girls was very well written and something I feel felt like was a genuine friendship you would come across in the real world. However, the story felt a little boring to be honest. I feel like it could have been extremely unsettling if it had been longer than exactly 100 pages.

Now let’s discuss the short stories I did enjoy briefly, shall we?

Payment for the Dead was about a man who falls on hard times and takes a job as a grave digger with a man named Pieter. Working in the cover of night, digging up bodies for cash just to get by and to provide for his family, especially during Christmas. This job paid double and occurred without warning. He was later informed that he stood in a child’s grave and the parents paid the witch outside of town to have their son back….

Creepy right! I won’t spoil it entirely, but it was so good!

Death Birds was about a doctor who is working his shift at the hospital when he notices a these supernatural birds or ‘Death Birds’ as they are known. According to the story, they show up with death is about to occur and they feast on the dead bodies. There was an unusually large number, hundreds if I recall in this one location….the hospital. They called in extra staff (nurses, doctors, etc) because they were expecting a large flood of patients due to some catastrophic event, however what they didn’t expect was it to happen right there at the hospital…

DUN DUN DUUUUUUN…INCREDIBLY WRITTEN!

Untamed Things was part of the excerpt on the back of the novel and frankly they did a pretty good job at a short description. This is about a woman who survives a plane crash and discovers there is only one other survivor. The woman claims to have experience in the frigid mountains that they landed in and fixated on moving forward so they don’t get caught by the creature following them. Eventually a rescue team finds her in the nick of time, but her companion is no where to be seen…

OOO, honestly so creepy and had me at the edge of my couch reading it!

A Box of Tapes was another excerpt on the back of the novel and once again, well done for a quick short description. A woman moves into a new home, in a new town with her daughter. She finds a box of old VHS tapes and attached is a warning note not to watch them. Curiosity killed the cat and she begins to watch the videos, disturbing imagery and unnerving events are depicted. What’s worse is that things begin to happen in her home and around her daughter which makes her begin to question and investigate what really happened within the tapes….who is that creepy woman? What is happening to her? Is she really seeing the woman in the woods?

To say this was so unsettling is an understatement, it is literally everyone’s worst nightmare! Incredibly well written and should have been a novel all on it’s own.

Sadly though, those were the saving graces of this novel. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend reading this book personally and I had such high hopes for this one. However, I am not saying the author isn’t talented, like I said the few short stories I did enjoy in this were intriguing and you can tell she is a wonderful writer. So I have a few other novels on my TBR list by her that I will eventually get to. But sadly, for me, Ghost Camera kind of missed the mark.

Hope you enjoyed and keep an eye out for the next review which will be the novel Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy. This one I recently finished.

I’ll also be doing, what I am going to call, Mini Book reviews. It’s the first in the series and these will be books, magazines, etc that I finish quickly. So look out for Scary Book of Christmas Lore: 50 Terrifying Yuletide Tales from Around the World by Tim Rayborn.

Ciao!

Posted in Holiday and Traditions

🎄Ornaments, Giggles & A Mama’s Cozy Christmas Home

Posted on by Mama

It’s been a minute, but this month has been weirdly busy, especially with birthdays. Not complaining just saying.

Plus, I decided to decorate yesterday for Christmas which had me and my mom searching a bunch of stores for a Christmas tree that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Which was a feat let me tell you! She generously bought it for us because she wanted Valeria to be able to crawl under the tree Christmas morning to get to her presents and to help decorate since she understands now. I also needed to dig out our Christmas decorations from the basement, that was…..something…. All I have to say is thank goodness for my husband and his muscles. Those bins were heavy!

Valeria loves Christmas, it’s official and she takes after my husband. I enjoy Christmas too, there is something so magical about it. Family, friends, the twinkling lights, the incredible aromas from baking all the way to spiced wines, and even the snow (yes, I love having snow for Christmas, but then that horrible frozen water can shoo!). It’s a wonderful time of year and in our house, we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

But the tree went up and Valeria was super excited, she helped daddy unpack it and touched the leaves going “tickles, no hurt” repeatedly. It was cute and funny and when the tree was standing tall at 7 feet, she looks up and goes “BIG ONE!” Anthony and I started laughing at that one.

She decided after that to start taking the tops off the bins and remove whatever decorations her little hands could pull out. The toddler way is to make pure chaos and to assume mommy and daddy understand her method. How could we not right?! Eventually we changed her focus to decorating the tree, handing her ornaments and she would place them where she please and of course daddy would pick her up if she wanted to put one near the top. It was really nice to be able to decorate the tree together as a family. Not to mention, we made some some homemade salt dough ornaments together as well.

I opted to not buy any new ornaments, but instead utilize what I had, could make or were given to me and honestly, I absolutely love how everything turned out. I dried out some fruit as well and made some garland and ornaments as well. I also made Pomanders too! Oh my goodness the smell of orange and cloves is incredible! Unfortunately, the cloves were a bit pointy and too difficult for Valeria to help with this year, but while I worked on the pomanders, she proceeded to run away with a handful of my cloves and shove them into her toy calls. As she did that she would tell me “mmm nice smell!” She is such a funny little girl. Maybe next year she can help with them.

Hi from the t.v.!
My garland laid on-top of the faux greenery and Santa and his gnome helpers

I just wanted a more rustic, natural, nature based style with some old vintage feels. I think we nailed it on the nose. But we are pretty much done decorating for Christmas, and my faux fur tree skirt came in today, however the photos I’ll be posting here are from Sunday night.

But enjoy the photos and hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in WP Prompt

Word Press Prompt – Beach Bones, Mountain Heart

Posted on by Mama
Daily writing prompt
Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why?
View all responses

I haven’t done a prompt in a while and this one seemed interesting. So, let’s dive in shall we!

In my younger years, I would have said the Beach. I could live at the beach; especially if it was by the sea with the salt water blowing on my face, the sun beaming it’s warmth on my skin, the sand between my toes and the sound of the waves was just pure tranquility. Not to mention I was literally a fish out of water, I could spend the whole day in and out of the water with minor breaks for food and drinks. Finding shells, rocks, sea glass, driftwood and even sometimes bones while I walked along the sand was a treat. My daughter has taken my spirit for the beach instead these days and it makes me yearn for a beach vacation on her behalf.

However, since my late 20’s and into my 30’s, I find the mountains and forest to be more of a serene and peaceful environment for me now. Hiking is my number one favourite thing to do and I wish I could do it more often, but unfortunately I currently live in a city where I am surrounded by a concrete jungle. Ideally, I’d love to move more north to be a bit more within nature. Though living within it would be even better! The calmness it brings is incredible, stepping away from technology and the fast pace of life to just enjoy your surrounds (the mountains, trees, plants, animals, etc) is magnificent. There is just something so special to me about it. It truly does calm me completely; mind, body and soul.

Maybe one day, I’ll live among nature with my family, but for now I’ll enjoy it whenever I can get to it.

Hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

☕November So Far… In All Its Warm + Messy Glory

Posted on by Mama

Evening everybody!

It’s been a minute since I’ve written and I was going to post a book review…or two, however I’ve opted rather to catch you up on what’s been going on in my November so far. So, shall we?

First off, Valeria is growing like a literal weed and learning something new everyday. It’s astonishing the things that come out of her mouth. She is quickly becoming her own little human and knowing exactly what she wants and needs. If she doesn’t like something she will surely tell you!

Trying to navigate her feelings and emotions lately has been a struggle for her and us. She is truly a little ball of chaos, both good and “bad”. However, I am struggling to understand why she has suddenly been so hesitant to go down the stairs and with her potty training at times throughout the day. Is it a regression? Is she trying to push boundaries? If anyone has a clue, I’d love to be informed!

Speaking of potty training, might have to do a post on that….hmmm…

Second, I removed my fake nails and went to just shellac. Doesn’t last nearly as long (shellac chipped after 3 days and one my nails broke from being so fragile), however I felt like this was a bit more cost effective for the future. Or if I even continue to do it. Times are rough here in Canada and my money can definitely go elsewhere.

Third, I cut off my hair. Let that sink in for a moment…. I’m not just saying a little trim since my hair was half way down my back. I mean full on chopped it off. One side shaved and a little bit edgy, which suits my style. HOWEVER, it was a little shorter then I had intended, so I’m going to grow out the longer side a bit.

BEFORE

And here is the AFTER

Drastic right? Yeah, I’ve had a few moments where I’ve doubted that I did the right thing and wondered if it made me look too masculine. But, no turning back and hair grows. It’s always kind of been my motto when I do short hair cuts.

You might be wondering why I did this though and it wasn’t just for the change of style or a fresh start. All valid reasons included in this change, but ultimately I was sick of pulling out chunks of my hair all day long. I was shedding so badly I couldn’t handle it any more and it’s not just from postpartum. I’m severely anemic and that’s just one of many wonderful symptoms I’ve been dealing with the past year. A tale for another day.

Fourth is that we celebrated Silas’ 1st birthday (one of the nephew’s on my husband’s side of the family) and it was great. He was a smiley and happy boy through his whole party and it was wonderful to celebrate with everyone. The kids had a blast running around and playing together. My favourite part of the whole day was all the kids helping to blow out the birthday candles (Valeria included) and when Silas took his first bite of his cake. Those little eyes went so wide with happiness, it was magic.

Fifth, I took down all our Halloween decorations and put them away. I went to bed spooky and woke up festively kooky. Haven’t started decorating for Christmas yet, but maybe next weekend. We’ll see.

Sixth is that we were suppose to visit family this weekend, however they all got sick even the baby. So I have been keeping in touch throughout the week and told my cousin for them all to rest and recover. We can always plan for another weekend, but no rush. I know when we aren’t well, we just want to be left alone. With winter fast approaching, it might be a weekend in the spring time.

And that’s about it right now and nothing else really to report. Other than a mountain of chores, ideas floating in my head on how to make Christmas more vintage, homey and warm. Along with a ton of other things floating around in there. Ahh got to love anxiety and over-thinking!

I hope your November is going great and that it’s been nice and cozy so far. And I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Tiny Boots, Twirling Leaves, and Mama’s Magic Moments

Posted on by Mama

We’ve had some pretty great fun this Fall – spooky foods (compliments of mama chef), silly crafts and great outdoor adventures. I truly believe that parents, especially us mom’s, are the memory makers for our children. Those precious little moments and things that we do for specific seasons/holidays to make it more…magical.

Who doesn’t want stuffed bell peppers with a Jack-o-lantern face. Really easy and simple to make and tasty too! She loved this dinner, she thought it was funny.

Mummy hotdogs anyone? Okay forgive me for the mayonnaise/mustard eyes, I had to improvise. But super delicious, filling and easy to make.

For Halloween dinner, we decided to have spaghetti and Monster balls, which she really loved the monster balls, she thought the eyeballs were funny. (They were edible, however we did not allow her to eat them).

There were plenty of baking days as well sprinkled in there, between making pizza dough all the way to cakes and cookies. It was non-stop kitchen fun with her these last two months. However the fun wasn’t just limited to the kitchen!

I’ve sprinkled a few of our crafts that we’ve done together through various posts in October, but I find all the patterns online. Please, if you want some wonderful craft patterns for kids, this is my go to: https://www.simpleeverydaymom.com/

I found her site by accident and it’s been such a great tool to use, so full credit goes to her. But I’ve also gotten ideas on Facebook (from mom groups) and on Pinterest as well. Here were the last two crafts we did in the month of October.

Isn’t it cute!? Valeria loved sticking the apples together (with some help from mommy).

This one was a lot of fun and really nothing crazy is required! I had a picture frame looking cardboard piece that was used from a package we received. It was perfect for the sheer fact it looks like a little frame for the tree. The craft was easy; draw a tree trunk and colour it, then cut it out, place packing tape along the back for the leaves to stick to, go for a walk and let your little one collect leaves to stick on. That simple! Valeria placed all the leaves herself, pretty beautiful if you ask me.

I also have been putting the month and year her crafts were made so we have that as part of the memory.

We also had two pretty great day trips to an apple orchard and a honey activity farm. Lots to do and it’s become a bit of a tradition that we go every fall. This is our second year and it was so wonderful to watch her run around through the corn maze with us, to pet/feed the animals herself and to just explore and play. Truly a blessing to be a part of it as a mom.

But that’s about it, we had a wonderful Fall season full of activities, parties, cooking/baking and crafts galore! Another Fall season in the chaos chronicles completed. Now…onto the Winter fun!

I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Monthly Goals and Recaps

Mama’s November Reset: Comfort, Gratitude, and Growth

Posted on by Mama

Ciao Ragazzi!

This month’s goals are going to be a little different and frankly I’ve already started some of my to-do list as of November 1st. But it’s been a crazy busy few months and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down in the slightest. So I’ve decided to embrace little moments with my family, self-care and just enjoying the calm this month will hopefully bring. It’s also my Birthday at the end of November so, there is that.

So, this won’t be a very long list this month, but it’s worth mentioning anyway. Let’s get to it!

  • Clean the fridge
  • Take down the Halloween decorations
  • Work on Valeria’s letter
  • Book some appointments
  • Finish the book I’m reading
  • Celebrate a few birthdays
  • Visit my cousin
  • Look into some winter activities for Valeria
  • Taking care of myself physically and mentally

That’s my list and it’s perfection in my humble opinion. Nearly every weekend is booked this month and I truly just want to enjoy some peace and quiet with my little one and husband in-between the chaos.

I hope your November is wonderful and cozy and that you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Monthly Goals and Recaps

A Heartfelt Goodbye to Our Spooky Season🎃

Posted on by Mama

We sadly will be saying goodbye to our beloved spooky season (this mama’s absolutely favourite time of the year) and venturing into the colder winter months here very soon. But we can’t do that without reviewing our lovely month of October!

So, grab your Halloween candy and a cozy drink and let’s get into it!

  • Plan Valeria’s party – It was absolutely incredible and chaotic! Plans kept changing and I did the best I can with all the preparations for decorations and food. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and Valeria was over-the-moon happy. That was truly the best part of the day, her eyes going wide and the smile on her face when she walked in, not to mention the continuous laughter she had throughout the day. Perfect day!
  • Put together a grocery list for Thanksgiving/Valeria’s Party – Done and we ended up not doing a Thanksgiving dinner, but instead a very delicious BBQ/Pizza party.
  • Plan a weekend to go down to celebrate Valeria’s birthday with Anthony’s family – We had planned for the following weekend, October 18, however I fell ill and we were unable to go down to celebrate. However, we did spontaneously end up going on October 23-24 to spend time with Anthony’s mom. No party just spent time together, it was great. We even got to pop by my sister-in-law’s to see them and the baby. Bonus for Valeria was the gifts she got when we went to visit.
  • Buy Halloween Costumes – Nope, Valeria kept saying “No Halloween, no Halloween”, so Anthony and I decided to stay home this year with her and have a fun dinner, a cozy movie night with her and bake some cookies. We’ll hand out candy to the kids who come by instead.
  • Pictures printed – YES! FINALLY! I have handed out pictures to everyone who I wanted to give them to and even a few for us. However, I need to print more….I need a few 5X7, not just 4X6 for us. *Facepalms*
  • Valeria’s book printed – Yes! We finished it, printed it and included this in with her birthday gifts.
  • New puzzle started – I did two new puzzles this month, both 500 pieces. It took me about a day for each of them. I know…I’m a crazy puzzle lady…
  • New book started – Yes, started and finished, review to come soon.
  • Write my two book reviews – Done and done, book reviews for The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley and Silence for the Dead by Simone St. James are up and under Bookish Babble if you are interested.
  • Do some crafts with Valeria – We did quite a few crafts, including some for her birthday party.
  • Do some Halloween baking with Valeria – We made a pumpkin Spice cake and I made pumpkin cinnamon rolls. We also baked some cookies for Halloween.
  • Get my nails done – Yup! I got a set for Valeria’s birthday that was mermaid inspired and then I just got basic black for Halloween.
  • See my friend Tasha – Yeah, we went for a hike and also we went to one those haunted house events set up for Halloween at our Pioneer Village. It was a blast, very spooky!
  • Go to therapy – Yes, it’s been helping me immensely. I feel like she is the only medical professional who is listening to me lately.
  • Get another Pelvic Ultrasound done – Yes, I had this done at the beginning of the month. The female technician was very kind and polite, however the results were still the same. Frustrated to say the least, but that’s a topic for another day.
  • Buy a new Agenda – Absolutely yes! Am I the only one who still enjoys using an actual written agenda to keep all my plans, notes and so on? It just makes me happy and brings a bit of nostalgia from my school days as a kid.
  • Update our magnetic calendar – But of course! Halloween inspired this month, it was fun.
  • Watch as many Halloween/”scary” movies as possible – Of course! I watched some of my absolute favourites and some I haven’t seen in some time. Also a few really BAD ones I shouldn’t have wasted my time on.

Halloween night was great fun and although Valeria “dressed up” as a little Fisher Lady in her Bass Pro sweater and cargo pants with her toy fishing rod, she only went to Grandma’s and my brother’s house to Trick or Trick. She loved handing out candy to the kids who came to the door, saying “Appy Halloween” to everyone as they left. We ended the night with a little cozy movie night, Hotel Transylvania, which she cuddled for 10 minutes watching before playing while watching the movie. A perfect end to the night.

That’s it! It’s been quite an October, and one that has left me busy and tired, but ultimately pretty successful. Enjoy this beautiful coloured tree and let’s get into November!