Family, Reviews, Healthy Living, Photography and More!
April 1, 2014
Last week I brought you an excerpt of the new novel I am reviewing, A Beauty So Rare. I actually finished reading it this weekend (could not put it down on Saturday!) and wanted to share a video on the inspiration behind the novel.
March 31, 2014
A week ago, Cathy from Cathy Thinking Out Loud sent me a fantastic activity to play with my children after a conversation we had on Twitter. She created Goldfish Go Fish cards (from scratch I have to add!) for our boys to colour in, cut out and play. We have had so much fun playing with them that I had to share it with you!
For this activity you will need:
Directions:
March 30, 2014
“Where did the Oddsoks go?…”
How many times have we put our socks in the washing machine to only have one come back out? It is almost a weekly occurrence in our home!
But where do the Oddsoks go?
The Oddsoks app for Storypanda is the story of Jimi who loves his fabulous socks! But one day half of his socks are gone leaving him with one sock from each pair. He receives a letter from the Oddsoks explaining the whereabouts of his socks. The Oddsoks are creatures that power the washing machine and love odd socks. They love odd socks so much they have taken them on an adventure.
Our family fell in love with the adorable Oddsoks and their adventures with the socks. The boys loved to be able to re-create the story using their own ideas which also provides hours of extra fun. The Oddsoks app also has some pretty awesome sound effects as well to go along with the story which our boys fell in love with and copied themselves.
Want to meet Jimi and the Oddsoks yourself? You can purchase a copy of the Oddsoks on Apple for $2.99 CDN here.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this app to provide feedback. Regardless the opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.
March 27, 2014
The Tyrant’s Daughter written by J.C. Carleson, a former CIA officer, follows the account of a royal Middle Eastern family exiled to the American suburbs.
The Story
When 15 year old, Laila’s father is killed she flees from the war torn middle east to a life of anonymity in the U.S. Gradually she begins to adjust to a new school, friends and culture but while she focuses on her new life her mother is focused on the past. Her mother is conspiring with CIA operatives and rebel factions to regain the throne her family lost. Laila feels torn as an international crisis begins to shape around her but is conflicted on what one girl can do to stop a conflict.
My Thoughts
The Tyrant’s Daughter was an incredibly powerful and moving novel. It allowed us to see inside the world of a young girl who is on the verge of womanhood and trying to discover her own place in the world. She is torn from the only life she has ever known and placed into the safety of unfamiliar neighbourhood. She slowly begins to see her family and the people she knew back home in a different light as she is allowed to use the Internet for the first time – is her Father the man she thought he was or the one portrayed on the Internet?. Being immersed in a new culture so different than her own allows her to understand herself better and at times embrace her own beliefs stronger. Everything from gender interactions to food to clothes is so different then anything she has ever experienced before.
The novel gave such a different perspective of politics and the effect it has on the families of those involved. How the decisions their loved ones makes effects them and so much more.
Rating: 5/5
A definite must read! The book is meant for young adults but I found it perfect for my own age group as well.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
March 26, 2014
As many of you may know, I have been participating in A.Vogel’s 30 Day #BeatTheFlu Challenge along with several other Canadian bloggers this past month. The challenge involved taking the Echinaforce tincture and hot drink daily as recommended on the bottle. I have just wrapped up the challenge and wanted to fill you all in on how it went!
Due to my work, I am in contact with germs on a daily basis. Combine that with two children in school and daycare it is incredibly hard to avoid germs during the winter months!
When we were little, we had a little dropper of Echinacea and we would place several drops under our tongue to help fight off colds and the flu during the winter months. So many people I knew swore by it. I had stopped using the drops by the time I was in high school (the good ole days of being invincible, right?!).
So I was ready to start building up my immune system along with my own personal goal of eating healthier and increasing my physical activity. The A.Vogel challenge could not have come at a better time for me. February to March are definitely harder hit months at work where the majority of people are off sick. Last year I was off several times during that time period due to frequent colds and chest infections.
I liked how easy it was to take the Echinaforce drops. I could add it to my water before I headed out the door and would drink it on my way to work. I never really like the taste of adding it under my tongue as a child (nor could I find the time to take the amount of required drops) so it was perfect for our on the go lifestyle to take it with me. It added only the slightest taste difference to the water (at times I could not even notice it) but it wasn’t unpleasant.
The hot drink tasted really good – hard to describe the actual taste but was quite pleasant. I had no trouble having my drink at night! It felt like I was having a normal cup of warm tea at night to relax before bed.
So the final results?
I did have a mild chest cold during the month (along with the dreaded gastro bug!) but I also found that it was not as bad (no sleeping upright because I could not breathe from coughing or nose running so badly that I have tissues stuck in my nose all night!). Echinacea has been widely used for the treatment and relief of cold symptoms, sore throats and coughs. While it did not stop my cold nor prevent it definitely lessened the typical severity of my colds and the symptoms that accompany the typical cold. I was also eating healthier and exercising more as well which has definitely helped my overall health and immunity!
Do you have any great tips and tricks to help #BeatTheFlu? Any home remedies?
Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product for free in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own. As always before starting any natural remedies check with your family doctor especially if you are on daily medications!
