Posted on by raisingriblets

Mickey and Maskin’

We got ears, say cheers!


We did it! We did the Disney World thing – during a pandemic. Side note, we did do Disneyland before, when the girls were both under 3 years old and 6 months.

Here are a few things I learned on this dry run of Disney World (we will be back, fingers crossed).


Disney was a lot of fun, and my kids were all really good ages for different experiences at the parks, 7, 6 and 2.
This time we did Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. We got on almost every ride at Magic Kingdom but really struggled with wait times at Hollywood Studios. Disney isn’t currently doing Fast Pass, and they’ve reduced park hours, which I have feelings about, but it really made it difficult to do everything we wanted to do in Hollywood Studios. We made the best of it. From what I’ve read, Disney is replacing Fast Pass with Genie+, a paid service to get onto rides faster. We will definitely take advantage of this next time we make the trip because we won’t go back without some type of pass system. It stinks that the only solution is a paid solution as Disney is already so expensive for families. However, money seems to be the only solution to all the world’s problems.


Magic Kingdom was phenomenal for our 2 and 6 year old. Our youngest is all about Mickey right now, and our middle is still into all things princess, so Magic Kingdom was where it was at.
Did you know that if your child dresses up in one of the princess frocks in Magic Kingdom, the cast members will bow and tip their hats to your little princess? This was definitely the highlight of her trip.


The ride that my 2 year old enjoyed most was the one we stood in line for the longest. I really wasn’t expecting him to go gaga over it like he did, and that was Mickey’s Railway in Hollywood Studios. His reaction and screams of glee made the wait worth it.


When visiting Disney, the Disney’s App is a must have for going to any of the parks. I had all of my tickets synced to my Apple Wallet, credit cards loaded into the app, mobile food orders and arrival times to restaurants placed through the app and park maps loaded, which was extremely helpful, especially, if you plan to divide and conquer. It makes meeting up again a breeze. Orlando, in general, is struggling with staffing issue, and surprisingly has impacted Disney. So, placing orders through the mobile app for a designated pick up time is really the best way to grab a bite without standing in line for hours. The app is also your tool to finding out when cavalcades of characters will do mini parades and finding out their locations since the characters no longer just roam the parks.


Unfortunately, our biggest disappointment, with the app, was trying to book the Rise of Resistance attraction in Hollywood Studios. Lesson learned – make sure to just book your entire party for the ride and then click OK, because if you waste time trying to click off the exact number of attendees, that may want to ride, you will not get a spot in line. Also, if you have any babies in the group, not associated to a ticket because they are under 2, it’s best not to load them into the app; they throw off booking this virtual queue.


We were a bit bummed about not making the ride, but for my 7 year old, the sheer expanse and commitment of the park to transport you into the lands associated with Star Wars, was more than enough for her. She was amazed to say the least.

Overall, the kids were thoroughly impressed and ecstatic over the entire experience, as all kids are. A few things to note for the adults though. Like I said, our next trip will be timed around once Disney has their new FastPass system in place. I’m also not the biggest fan of booking rides via the app at designated times. It sucks – you’re trying to enjoy the day, and are worried about logging on at the perfect time to get the tickets, and then your kids are disappointed when you can’t get on, is just a big bummer. I’d rather wait in line, and teach my kids that good things come to those who wait, not that good things come to those with the fastest fingers and data plan.


Some of my friends have asked about how I felt about Covid, traveling, and Disney? We opted not to fly, so my Mom and I embarked on an old fashioned road trip. I coordinated our arrival to Orlando with my husband’s flight arrival into Orlando (as his work isn’t as nice about time off). With not knowing how my 2 year old would fair being masked on a flight, driving and making multiple stops along the way, seemed like the better option with three kids.
Mom and I, Thelma and Louise’d it with the three kids, and honestly, I felt relatively safe traveling in the USA. Hotels are being majorly vigilant at this time. We opted for Hilton hotels since I’m an Honors member. I’ve noticed that they’ve made an effort to ditch the carpet in most of their hotels and up the use of bleach, which is evident, and honestly comforting lol.

We chose to mask indoors, for most of the trip, but it was nice for the kids to have the option to honestly forget, move their mask, or even just vocalize that they didn’t want it on at the moment, and for me to not have to meet them with resistance, in fear of being kicked out of a place.

In Disney masking was enforced indoors, and sanitation stations were everywhere. I do think that they should cap the capacity somewhat as there is definitely no way to physically distance massive throngs of people. I also think that they need to come up with a better way than having stand-by lines spill into walk ways, because that just adds to the massive pockets of people.


Another thing I noticed is a lot of money is being invested in Disney Springs, and it is amazing. It’s clean, fun, great shopping and amazing eats. We ate at the Polite Pig (delicious BBQ) and The Boathouse (amazing surf and turf). Both meals were absolutely great. While Disney Springs is fresh and new – parts of Disney are really starting to show their age and need some attention, sooner than later. Hollywood Studios Mickey’s Railway, in the Hollywood Chinese Theatre, is a prime example of a building showing its age. Tomorrowland is essentially yesterday land, and needs a major facelift. Many rides appear faded. Sections of Hollywood Studios and Tommorowland, undoubtedly, need some TLC. Obviously, all things a child would never notice, because for them it was all magic and at the end of the day, that’s what counts!

Posted on by raisingriblets

Renovation Rundown – Kitchen Edition

We are totally in the 11th hour here, but I tend to perform better under pressure. It’s true, I am a total procrastinator whose best work is pumped out hours before it has to be turned in. And, here I am, one week away from returning to work, full-time, from maternity leave, and post maternity leave quarantine.

To say this year has been crazy is a major understatement.  I promised you guys updates on our renovation and I know I have, totally, been slacking.  I knew that doing a renovation in the dead of winter with a 6 month old would be hard but I was totally looking forward to the break in the weather to share more updates.  Then Covid happened and this renovation got all sorts of weird.

Standing in line at hardware stores, relying on Amazon and Wayfair, and trying to piece things together became a complex art form.  Then, when we finally moved in, trying to pull together pieces to style the place was a complete nightmare with the stores being pretty barren.  But, throughout this whole process I learned to just roll with it.

I am sharing my favourite room in the house with you first.  The kitchen, it totally was a labour of love, and I mean this in every sense of the word.  My hubby’s father, literally, built this entire kitchen, the boxes, the doors, the shelves, the painting.  Without him, none of this magic would have been possible. And the canvas he built it all on was literally torn down and put back together by my hubby’s sister’s boyfriend.  Having family to lean on during this whole process and still loving them at the end of it is something that I have to brag about.

Lets rewind, I have been flirting with the idea of a kitchen renovation since 2017, while at our old house, and the idea of a dreamy gray kitchen has always been high on my Dream Board (we used Flagstone Grey by Pittsburgh Paints to bring this dreamy gray kitchen to life). I was briefly tempted by the idea of black, but then went back to my original plan (I am loyal like that). We worked for a long time with what has come to be my friend Lee @thestylebox in Windsor, Ontario. She drew us a gorgeous gray kitchen for our old home but after much discussion my husband and I both agreed that we really had just outgrown our old home and as much as we tried to finagle a renovation, there just was not enough room for 3 kids and a fur baby. As the years went by, my father-in-law picked up carpentry again in his retirement and the stuff he was pumping out for friends and family was more than impressive. So, when we bought this home, I had two big asks. Would Lee help me come up with a new game plan for this kitchen and would my father-in-law build it. Luckily, they both said yes! After many revisions to the plan, torn down walls, and a dry wall fiasco, we put together this beauty.

The butler’s pantry lives where the old Master Bedroom closet used to be, and this was literally a dream come true.  Having a place to store the serving trays, odds/ends and gadgets, we don’t use on a regular basis, helps to make for such a more functional space.  Also, a place to work out of, while hosting really does make for much more enjoyable parties and get togethers.

So, lets get into the specifics.  Our kitchen was built out of birch, we chose birch because we knew that we would be painting it, it is cost effective and hard enough to stand up to 3 kids.  The flooring is an engineered hardwood called Military Hickory and most days I love it but in hindsight a shade lighter may have served us better with hiding the dog hair.  Hopefully, a Roomba is in my future and I’ll fall in love all over again with this hardwood like I did when I first saw it in the store.

We went with clean shaker style cabinets because I am all about clean lines and simplicity. Our matte black handles, believe it or not, I found on Amazon at an unbeatable price, and with stores shut down to the public, I needed an online option. Again, simple and clean. I was torn between knobs over handles for the upper cabinets, but truth be told, my nails grazing around the knobs at our old house destroyed the paint job on our old cabinets over time so I didn’t want to venture down that road again.

Wayfair for the win when it comes to the Zayn 1 by Gracie Oaks pendants.  They are simple, they pull together the matte black elements throughout the kitchen and are a breeze to keep clean.  Noticing a common theme here, I am all about efficiency and practicality.  It is a way of survival with 3 under the age of 6.

We went with quartz countertops with the Carrera finish, which helped me bring together the white island, a last minute curve ball I threw into the plan and the gray cabinets.  You see, I can be full of surprises too.

For those who know me, they know I am all about a good deal, and this massive sink, which is literally my best friend, was honestly a steal.  If you are reading this and are in Canada, you have kids, and you are looking to replace your sink and faucet, look no further then Costco.ca.  This massive sink that will hold the millions of cups my kids go through during the day and the faucet by Ancona was $399.99.  For  real sink and faucet! It’s dual mount and even when it’s full it doesn’t look full because it’s so big.  My old sink would literally have one pot in it, and I couldn’t even clean that pot without water being everywhere.  I am very passionate about this sink because I am mom and I will be doing dishes until the day I die, so me and the sink must be on good working terms.  It’s currently not online at Costco.ca but I have learned to check their site often as things come and go frequently.

The pot filler was also another Costco steal and its on sale right now (even cheaper than what we paid for it).  The water pressure is fantastic, my hubby thought it was something we would probably never use but he recently confessed that it is the best thing that ever happened to pasta night.

As for the appliances, they were one of our tougher decisions.  I have to admit, we used to own the Frigidaire Professional series, and honestly, I love the look of this line but there were two major drawbacks to our Frigidaire appliances that steered me towards LG this time.

The first drawback being the water pressure out of the water dispenser.  I thought it was just ours, but I tested my sister-in-law’s too and it just takes forever to fill a bottle of water with the Frigidaire Professional.  With 5 water bottles that need to be filled every morning having a water dispenser that gets the job done quickly is important to me, and this LG fridge delivers on the water pressure.  The stove was a major selling point too with the top being stainless steal and the knobs being angled upwards making it harder for little hands to turn.  These were things important to our family, not major things but it was what steered us towards choosing LG this time around.

I bought and returned a lot of stools for the island over the summer, but I have finally come to terms with these stools.  They’re matte black metal, again sticking to the theme (I love a good theme), but they also incorporate the warm wood which tie back to our floating shelves.  They are also super forgiving and easy to clean, which is always a bonus with three hooligans running around.  Again, another deal brought to you by Wayfair, you’ll want to check out here.  I love being able to share deals with you that may make decisions around renovations a little bit easier because, honestly, by the end of it, you really experience decision fatigue.  I had to take a break from it all for a bit because a lot of decisions, even really small ones, felt exhausting.

On another note, the Fiddle Leaf bush is real.  I bought it back in April at Annas Flowers in Kingsville, Ontario and I don’t know what it is, but if I buy it from Anna’s it tends to survive.  I had to have our photographer Daniel capture the plant in the pictures to, honestly, let the record show that I am keeping this thing alive and it is thriving under my supervision.

I am trying to think of any other detail that might be of interest to readers, so if you have a question shoot me a message. The paint colour is Agreeable Grey by Sherwin Williams and the trim and crown come from a Mill Shop in London, Ontario called Riverside Millwork Group. They were great to work with, offering extremely competitive pricing. It was installed by my amazingly, hopefully one day brother-in-law whose finishing work (trim and tile) is something to truly marvel over. I thought I had an eye; this guy takes craftsmanship to a whole other level.

We went from a kitchen that was literally almost the same length as our, just shy of 10 ft., island and while we made some amazing memories in that small kitchen having the space to allow the whole family to congregate around and snack from this giant island in our new home is something that I dreamed of.  My husband and I originally bickered over this island as he could not visualize how it would fit in the space and if you look at the old photo, I totally can see why he thought that.  The island is now the place where we all congregate the most, and it really is my favourite part of the entire design plan and home.

Well, there you have it, welcome to the heart of our home, the kitchen.  I hope this reveal was worth the wait.  Honestly, it has always been a bit tough opening myself up to critics but hey, such is life – que sera sera. 

Signing off now, I have to go make dinner in my new … kitchen (see what I did there).

Posted on by raisingriblets

Blessings in Disguise

I knew we were really lucky to live through our renovation at my dad’s place. I lived through a renovation, during high school, in this same home, and it was messy and inconvenient. So, when my dad said sure we could stay here during the renovation, I felt a sense of relief.

We were supposed to be in our house by now but because of unforeseen circumstances and having to rejig a few things, we were delayed.  Who would have thought that this would be a blessing in disguise. 

While I love our new home, the yard needs a lot of TLC and, honestly, a month of being home with the kids might have been a challenge there. Entertaining them in a barren backyard. However, being at my dad’s has been full of wonder and exploration.

I would be lying if I said this whole quarantine and virus hasn’t kept me up at night, not to mention our family suffered a great tragedy of losing a loved one way too soon during this time (not to Corona), but a few things have brought me great comfort. 

One being my husband and his time in the Marine Corps.  He was born for moments like this. He has been prepared for the worst since touring countries that literally saw their daily life change over night. This kind of stuff doesn’t make him nervous because he is always prepared and has a plan, and that is the greatest comfort. 

Another thing we have under our belt is that my parents have always taught us how to do things ‘old school’, from gardening to canning to bee-keeping, and with the uncertainty of the days to come, this makes things a little easier. We’ve baked with my mom and learned to bake bread with my aunt and the smells coming out of the kitchen are ones to remember. 

But this 21 acre property that my immigrant grandparents bought by scraping dollars together has offered my kids some of the best memories these past few weeks. From exploring the neighbouring golf course my grandfather once owned to filling buckets with estranged golf balls, climbing sand traps, sliding down them in our boots and wading through the golf course ponds. We’ve started our garden, killed time teaching the kids to chip golf balls, and collected so many worms. Getting messy and muddy at the farm has proven to be one of the biggest blessings.

Posted on by raisingriblets

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Inhale and exhale.

I am finally taking a long overdue deep breath. 

The holidays for my family is such a culmination of traditions from all over the globe, and while it is insanely busy, I would not trade it for the world.

My husband and I were once referred to as ‘unicorns’ at the US Embassy in Toronto, and while I sit back and think about it, I could not think of a better way to describe our family. My husband and I are both dual citizens of Canada and the US within our own right; his mother being a US citizen and my mother being a US citizen.

Our children are now dual thanks to my husband’s service in the Marine Corps. We live in a border town, he works in the States and I work in Canada, and we are literally the most freakin’ grateful individuals – reaping the benefits of both amazing nations.

But that’s not even the half of it – my husband comes from a mixed heritage being mostly French Canadian/Métis and Pennsylvania Dutch.  He grew up attending Roman Catholic school and going to mass in the Lutheran Church – phewwww.

My family is Serbian Orthodox which in its own right is steeped in lots of old world traditions.  So, with that said, the holidays begin for us with American Thanksgiving and stretch all the way to Orthodox New Year (January 14th).

We rotate Thanksgiving annually between my husband’s family in Michigan and my family in Pittsburgh. This year we packed up the crew; along with my mom and set off for Pittsburgh where we spent time with my grandparents. My grandfather is an Orthodox priest – we spend a lot of time keeping things pretty conservative when he is around.


Thanksgiving dinner this year fell during Advent so on top of having a traditional turkey dinner, we also had a full seafood menu lovingly prepared by my aunt. 

We spent a lot of time lounging, eating and watching Disney+. My uncle could have been a standup comedian in a prior life so we also spend a lot of time laughing to the point of almost peeing our pants.

Because Thanksgiving fell so late this year, I literally had the house set up for Christmas a few days before our 5-hour drive to Pittsburgh. When we got home Christmas festivities were literally in full swing.

A few of our weekends were spent in Michigan shopping and visiting my husband’s maternal side. His maternal grandmother, currently, has 15 great grandkids under 10 which is absolute chaos when we get together, but honestly, some of the best memories of our children’s lives. His grandmother is literally one of the most thoughtful gift givers – pouring her heart into handmade quilts for the grandkids and gifting us Kennedy half dollars collected by my husband’s late grandfather.

By December 25th we attended 5 family Christmas’ and by January 5th 3 Friendmas’. Two birthday parties (my dad’s big 60th), one date night, a wrapping present party with my husband’s step-grandparents, a night at Greenfield Village with friends and my mom, my daughters first singing recital and my middle baby’s first piano recital. A Christmas Concert/Turkey Luncheon at the kid’s school, the town parade with friends and my mother-in-law, St. Nicholas Day and finally Orthodox Christmas where my daughters débuted in the Nativity play as a lamb and singing in the children’s choir. And a “PARTRIDGE IN A FRIGGEN’ PEAR TREE.”

We baked, we gingerbreaded, we arts and crafted, we shopped, movie marathoned, gameboarded, laughed, drank and cuddled in matching pyjamas and we went to bed exhausted – ‘while visions of sugar plums danced in our heads’. But, when the kids tell me that their family is the best, I am renewed with new energy every time. It is so fun to be able to introduce our children to family traditions, some of which have been passed down for literally hundreds of years, while we create new ones. I am blessed to have married my unicorn of a husband and to share all these unique experiences and traditions with our kids.

Posted on by raisingriblets

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

I’m the type of person who gets really cozy and comfortable when things are good, I mean why rock the boat? I promised myself when I turned 30 I would step outside of my comfort zone and do things that make me feel a little uneasy because without risk there is no reward. I also wanted to show my girls that it’s ok to try things that are new or something you couldn’t picture yourself doing. Setting new goals and challenges are all a part of the journey.

Step 1. Start a blog, so far this journey has been really gratifying; have I become a blogging world sensation over night, no. But have people come up to me and said, ‘loving your blog,’ yes! And that is more than enough for me. I wanted to write stuff that was honest, true and gives people warm fuzzy feelings. Something that makes them feel like home when they read it. If I am doing that for you, yay!

Step 2. Move and start a home remodel. Moving with 3 little kids is like an Olympic sport, I think we placed bronze in this category, near the end I’m pretty sure my husband and I were just stuffing things into the storage bin – only the strong will survive. Also, this is the first time we ever ran into a snag with closing a home (mind you this is only are 2nd home) – and let me tell you snags and closing a home is a sure fire way to shed a few pounds. Remodel starts this week, stay tuned for more pictures and updates.

Step 3. Try one of those supplements people lose a ton of weight on and claim to be changed from. I did it, I jumped on the band wagon – the Herbal Life bandwagon. I did it for a few reasons, one being with kids I am always just stuffing whatever I can grab into my mouth – at least with the shakes I’m getting some essential nutrients; not just table scraps. Another reason being I really like some of the girls in this accountability group and the way they set goals and inspire others to do the same.

The holidays are upon us and the new year will be here before you know it. I’ve got a kick start on my resolution and so far stepping outside of that comfort zone is proving to not be too uncomfortable.

Posted on by raisingriblets

Raising Riblets

We’re the Riberdys.

A family of 6 living in the land of maple syrup, hockey and #1 on the list of countries with the happiest people: Canada. I am one of these ‘happiest people’ and I like to think I am a pretty good mom, my kids are happy well adjusted little humans, I must be doing something right.

I am a working mom but in Canada we get a glorious maternity leave and right now I am at home raising the littlest Riblet and his two older sisters. I will share with you stories and if you want parenting advice I will happily give it, but for the most part my babies are off limits to the public.

My hubby, he’s a smart guy with a crazy busy job, he served in the US military and is the most honest and trustworthy person you will ever meet. He makes for a great husband and wonderful best friend. He is definitely my person and makes for the perfect Capitan of our team.

Our fur baby is 7 he is a terrier and my first baby.

When I am not on mat leave, I work as a project coordinator in a sweet warehouse that makes amazing training for amazing companies. In every aspect of my life ‘I get shit done.’ From work, to mommying and wifeing. My job is to manage chaos in the workplace and amongst our 3 kids. It’s a crazy life but a good one.

So, if I am not sharing every detail about my kids why have I started this blog? Well, we bought a farmhouse! I can’t believe this finally came to fruition. We have big plans for this home and I finally get to ‘Joanna Gaines’ a place.

Join us on what I promise will be a really amazing transformation. If managed chaos sounds like your cup of tea, then this place is for you.