Jess Foley - Writer - Blogger at A Modern Mom's Life

Rose's orthodontist - @kingstonorthodontics - is having a "share your March Break smile" contest. So here's Rose at a few Paris landmarks! #myKOsmile

My evening in reverse order: Happy #LunarNewYear from me and the @city.of.kingston. City Hall looks lovely lit up in red! One half of our dinner double date enjoying the #Horizon installation in market square. And the dinner table at @aquaterrakingston before everyone else showed up. Was delicious as always! #Ygk #DinnerDate #NotQuiteValentines #DowntownKingston #MarketSquare #DoubleDate #NightOut

Another cold winter day, but I got myself outside for a bit. Helps that I bought a new jacket that actually fits comfortably over my quite-wide hips. Those are new glasses too! How do you motivate yourself to get outside in the winter? #GetOutside #WinterWalks #SunnyDay #NewJacket #ygk #YgkMom #WinterCoat #DressForYourSize #JanuaryOutfit

For anyone who might see photos of my space on Christmas morning, please know it takes a LOT of creative encouragement of my family to get it looking that way. (Not to mention a good chunk of my time on Christmas Eve.) Here's what it looks like on any given day pre-christmas. (Usually we have the wrapping stuff out on the floor as well, but we wrapped in our re-done downstairs space this year!) Swipe to see the other side of the room. Remember that what you see on social media is rarely the whole story. AND never forget that your kids won't remember the things you didn't do - family routines and traditions are as wonderful and varied as families are themselves! #Holidays #RealLife #MomLife #BehindTheScenes #SocialMediaReality #HappyHolidays #JoyOfTheSeason #FamilyChristmas #EverydayPhotos

Let the holidays begin! Creamy leftover chicken with mushrooms. And wine! (Both in the sauce and in me!🥂) Do you cook differently during the holidays? Besides the turkey dinner part (which I have only made once so far in my life.) Not pictured, my rock n roll Christmas tunes from my youth. (Very Special Christmas anyone?) May your holiday meals be delicious, whatever they may be! #Cooking #LeftoverChicken #CreamySauce #MomLife #Holidays #HolidaySeason #Wine #ChristmasMusicToCookTo #YumGK #YgkMom #OfficiallyOnHolidays #YGK

Movie date with the family. Saw @wonkamovie today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Have you seen it? #FamilyTime #MovieTime #FamilyMovie #Sunday #ygk #YgkMom

When my husband won't be home for bedtime, I take extreme pleasure in going to bed at (or even before) 9pm. There's just something about making the time to read before bed - with no interruptions or tvs on - that I absolutely love. Tonight my teenager is the last downstairs (not counting her dad who's out working.) #Bedtime #EarlyToBed #TimeToRead #AmReading #StephenKing #Christine #MomLife #MomOfTeens #YgkMom #Bookstagram #InBed #NoSleepingYet

Last night's sunset was gorgeous, and it left a little something "behind". Swipe to see what I caught in the east as the sun was setting in the west. #ygk #Kingston #YgkSunset #KingstonSunset #WaterfrontSunset #Waterfront #TuesdayWalks #DowntownKingston #BreakwaterPark

Have you thought about dinner yet? This is our dinner tonight, courtesy of @goodfoodca. BBQ chicken with roasted veggies. Says it'll take 25 mins to make and cook. With all the veggie prep I bet takes a bit longer, but it will be delicious! Want to try a box on me? Send me a DM and I can hook you up! #MealPlanning #MyGoodFood #DinnerPrep #MealsInABox #BBQChicken #MealInABox #CanadianCompany #FreeFoodBox #FreeMeals

Our second @goodfoodca meal was also a success, despite picky eaters. BBQ pork burgers on pretzel buns with a side salad of lettuce and apples - pretty tasty! (See my previous post for the last meal's "review".) These portions were also quite generous - we have salad to spare. Visit my Story for a short video of the ingredients which spent three nights in the fridge, then scroll through the photos for the process and end result! (I forgot to take a photo of the prepped patties before I started cooking them. 🫣) I have boxes to give away, so get in touch and I will hook you up! I was surprised that they give you "consume within 7 days" on all the food. That's helpful for busy families! #MyGoodFood #FoodBox #MealPlanning #EasyDinners #MomLife #LifeWithKids #PickyEaters #EatHealthy #MealsInABox #FreeFoodBox #DeliciousDinner #BBQPorkBurgers #MealInABox

I had success with our first @goodfoodca meal...mostly. If my kids weren't so finicky it would have been better atmosphere-wise. But the food was delicious and pretty quick to prepare. And the portions were fairly generous. Visit my Story for a short video of the ingredients which spent the night in the fridge, then scroll through the photos for the process and end result! I have boxes to give away, so get in touch and I will hook you up! We have a second meal to prepare, and I was surprised that they give you "consume within 7 days" on all the food. That's helpful for busy families! #MyGoodFood #FoodBox #MealPlanning #EasyDinners #MomLife #LifeWithKids #PickyEaters #EatHealthy #MealsInABox #FreeFoodBox #DeliciousDinner #MediterranianBeefSkillet #MealInABox

If we were, say, going to Montreal for a few days with teenagers who aren't interested in anything these days, what should we check out? We're staying downtown, if that helps! #MomLife #Teenagers #Montreal #FamilyTravel #HelpAMomOut #Summer #SummerTravel

I finally feel we're back to "doing things" as we used to "before". Two weeks taking in the Movie in the Square, evening walks - just Emma and I, reading books for reviews (coming soon), and a night out watching a friend's band - great show @lazerbearmusic! (Scroll through for all the pictures 📷) And the kids are old enough we don't need to organize care for them. Bonus points when they want to tag along! Emma came to the concert last night, and met us downtown because we went out to dinner with friends first. (She got herself @bubbasoriginal poutine after making sure Rose had some dinner at home and then taking @kingston_transit downtown.) How are you enjoying your summer so far? #ygk #OutWithFriends #Concert #DowntownKingston @downtownkingston #MoviesInTheSquare #LifeWithKids #Teenagers #Tweenagers #TakeYourLifeBack #GetOutside #Summer #SummerInYgk #BookReviews #MomLife

My young model hard at work showing off her smile with @littlefriday.ca This is a photo shoot for @kingstonorthodontics - they asked Rose if she would pose for some photos for their marketing materials. (They asked others as well.) Scroll through for the #BehindTheScenes of a very hot half-hour at Lake Ontario Park! I will eventually get the images from this shoot - stay tuned! #YGK #YGKPhotography #Braces #BigSmiles #LocalPhotographers #PhotoShoot #

So many blooms at @queensuniversity! The tulips are in full bloom downtown, but in my neighbourhood, we still have fully closed buds. (One of mine was definitely a snack for a local critter...) I can't resist taking all the spring flower photos. And there's just something about the limestone backdrops... Which one is your favourite?? #QueensU #ygk #YgkFlowers #DowntownKingston #Kingston #SpringFlowers #Spring #FlowerPhotos #QueensUniversity #Gardens #Landscaping #Tulips #Pansys #Daffodils #MagnoliaTrees