LOBLAWS...

Some of you might have seen my post in regards wanting to get an answer from Loblaws and BPA in some of there products this is the answer I got...

"Dear Ms. Wiseman,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us.

At Loblaw Companies Limited, food quality and safety have always been top priorities for us, and we maintain the highest ethical and safety standards for our products - whether they are sourced here at home, or internationally.  We would like to assure you that products sold in our stores adhere strictly to all safety and sourcing requirements as per government regulations and that we are dedicated to upholding your trust in our products and our stores. 

The health and safety of our customers is paramount to us we recognize the growing concern surrounding BPA. We are working with our vendors to reduce BPA in our product packaging wherever possible.  Please be assured that we will also continue to work closely with all relevant government agencies to ensure we are offering our customers only the best in food quality and safety.

Thank you once again for your email.  Please continue to share your feedback with us as it is one of the best ways for us to improve."

And this is what I answered back...

"Dear Ms. Weiss,

Thank you for taking time to answer my questions, however I am not satisfied with this answer.  I am in no doubt that all your products meet canadian government regulation; however it is my responsibility as a mother to ensure I feel all food consumed by my child meet my standards.  We used to buy Eden Organic beans not because they are organic but because they are bpa free.  Loblaws has now stopped  carrying this product and I am trying to find a replacement product I can purchase from my grocery store.  We do not but any products that come in packaging that contains bpa.  I have contacted some of the major brands you carry but was also curious to see if your own store brands contained bpa in the packaging.  

Please answer my question does your canned beans such as kidney beans, chickpeas, black beans and other contain bpa in the packaging.

thank you"

Lets see what happens now.

SKATING

...or is it called falling?

NO NAME BEANS DO THEY CONTAIN BPA?

As some of you are aware I am slowly switching to consuming more no-organic foods in order to save cost, we are still trying to eat locally and I do avoid foods from countries that are know to use a lot pesticides. That being said I continued buying organic canned beans because Eden is the only company I was aware of that made BPA free beans.  Most of you are very aware that I stay away from BPA and pretty much never compromise on that one. The epoxy liner in the Eden cans are clear most other manufacturers use a white liner that contains BPA, I am not saying that clear = BPA free, just that I noticed Eden's liners are clear and almost everyone else has white liners.

This week since time was a crunch and I needed beans I said f#%* it I am buying the cheapest beans I can find at Loblaws because I don't have time to make a second trip to the Big Carrot or cook them from dried.  To my surprise when I opened my No Name brand canned romano beans the liner was clear; this got me thinking I wonder if they are BPA free...

I decided to send this email to Loblaws lets see if and what answer I get:

"I am enquiring to find out what kind of epoxy liner is used in your No Name brand canned beans such as the black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans and so on.  I wanted to know if the tin can epoxy liner contained any BPA?  Thank you for your time in answering this question."

THE BEFORE PICTURE

This is C Monster before his hair cut.  As per his request he has been growing his hair for almost a year now; recently he has decided he wants to cut it.  This is the before picture of his crazy Einstein hair.

SANTA

I know this is a little late but; here is the C Monster's picture with Santa this year.  I never asked C Monster this year if he wanted to have his picture taken with Santa because last year well he really did not want to go up to Santa and also I think it's a bit creepy and weird to encourage your kid to sit on strangers lap.  However when C Monster asked me if he could go meet Santa and tell him what he wanted for Christmas  it really did not feel right to say no and crush him.  So off we went a few days before Christmas to meet Santa at Gerrard Square.

PS - C Monster asked for a cook book for Christmas, don't you just love him. 

Playdate Aftermath

This is what happens when other children come over. :)

AREA RUGS...

After we moved in we quickly realized we would need an area rug for the C Monster's play room if we wanted to avoid him screeching up the hardwood floor.  I really wish I could now be posting that we only looked at eco-friendly area rugs but well in reality I did not want to spend 1500$ upward on a rug that was going in a playroom.  We also did not want to buy a kid specific area rug, so that if in 2 years our dinning room stops being a playroom and starts being a dinning room, we would not be stuck with a 8x10 kids area rug.

We started by browsing online and found patterns that we liked and work with our space. Narrowed them down to our favourite 4; then we checked them out in-store along with many others. Here are 4 rugs that had made our short list before we started to look at them in person:

Stockholm @$299 from Ikea: I was really disappointed with this one.  It was not our favourite  pattern but the idea of a wool rug at $300 in the right size was exciting.  It is a woven flat rug that mean it has no pile which translates into a very rough surface - not good for playing on.

Gate @850 from Dwell Studio: We never visited a store with this one as this was our back up rug if we did not like the Structube ones, as the price point on this one was a bit more then we wanted to spend. 

Freeport @ $499 from Structube: In person the white is actually light grey; this  caused the rug to look soiled even when it is clean.  However this is a wool rug and I do like my natural fibres. I would like to note that before we saw any of the rugs this was Geoff's favorite.

Juno @499 from Structube: We were a bit concerned with the white and that it would easily stain.  I would like to point out that this was my favourite rug before we saw any of them in person. This one is also wool.

Some of the key points we were looking for were:

• Durability
• Thigh pill count, meaning that the yarn used to make the rug was weaved very tightly and dense
• Natural fibre
• Priced under $1000
• Size: 8' x 10' minimum and 8'-6" x 11' maximum
• Flexible design, wanted an area rug that would work in a playroom or a living room or a dinning room
• C Monster's opinion. This was by no means the deciding factor but we wanted him to feel involved in selecting the rug; it was going in his space after all.

And here is our final choice; so far everyone is happy with it; C Monster particularly enjoys driving his toy cars along the white stripes:

BLACK & BLUE

So in a 24 hour period C monster successfully slipped off his chair; fell on the ice and slammed his face in a hard snow bank.  He might not yet know how to skate or play hockey but he sure has mastered the hockey player look.

BOX RIVET SPACE SHIP

In the last month or so, we've both moved and has Christmas at the new house. With all the moving boxes around and a gift-giving opportunity coming up, I thought it would be a good time to get Christophe some Box Rivets:

They're pretty easy to use -- just take two halves, rotate them so that they're 90-degrees off-axis from one another, and push closed. It takes a good amount of force to close, but that also means that they won't pop open on you easily once assembled, which is important.

I was imagining that we might build a fort or castle, but I started talking it out with Christophe and it became clear that he wanted a space ship. So he and I and Pierrette built a large spaceship out of moving boxes and box rivets:

There's a long central axis with a side passage and some larger spaces on both ends, as well as a few doors and a 'shooter' tube:

The central tunnel is fairly long:

The side passage has a larger space with coloured transparent skylights and a pop-open access point:

He seems to like it -- now he wants to invite friends over to play in it with him.  So, if you find yourself moving, or otherwise in possession of a lot of cardboard boxes, I can happily recommend box rivets as a way to put those boxes together into a fort.