Month: November 2014

November 18, 2014

Getting Into The Holiday Season #WW with Linky

Thanksgiving has past and for the first time we have our Christmas decorations up before December! My little ones helped with the decoration this year and I couldn’t wait to show off their hard work on our tree.

They chose a new colour for our tree this year (the first time it has been updated in over ten years!) and went with a green and silver theme.

I found this snowman at the Dollar Store and it has been one of my favourite finds so far this year! He is so bright and cheery and sitting near our television.

My two rescue Santa’s! My parent’s were cleaning up their home and were ready to get rid of a bunch of old decorations. I couldn’t bare to part with these memories so I ended up taking a large box back home with me and these two are just a small part of what I saved.

Make sure to link up below so that I can visit you this week. Have a lovely day!

November 18, 2014

Keep the Laughter Coming This Winter Season with #Netflix #StreamTeam

Brrrr!! It is getting cold outside – this morning was a chilly -21C with the wind chill! I honestly did not want to get out of bed it was so cold. But here I am up and working away even though all I want to do is curl up on the couch with a warm blanket and a great movie playing.

With the temperature drop there seems to always come the rise of cold and flu symptoms which tend to peak in these early months, trend off and start up again near the end of the winter. Last week I was under the weather with a gastro bug for two days. For two days I was pampered by my boys and was able to watch all of my favourite comedies on Netflix (okay in honesty only the second part is true – I like to imagine my boys were pampering me!).

I love my cartoons – the animated movies that they are producing are incredible with humour that both adults and children alike can appreciate. Those two days were spent watching all of my favourite animated comedies and laughing my way back to health. My two favourite movies of all time have to be Despicable Me (love those minions!!) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I can’t even begin to count how many times we have watched these movies but they are just as funny each and every time (Bee Do Bee Do Bee Do….).

Laughter is so important for all of us (and too often we are not spending enough time laughing and bonding with the ones we love) so we should always make time to do the things we love together, watch funny movies together and just be plain old silly.

Don’t believe me? Research has shown that laughter is important for:

laughter boosts the immune system
laughter triggers the release of endorphins (remember those natural feel good hormones in your body, yep those ones!)
increase blood flow which in turn helps the heart
decreases stress
improves mood
strengthens relationships

Do you have a go to movie for the winter months when you and the family are stuck in bed unwell? Or maybe not unwell but just want to spend the day in bed getting cuddles from the little ones (how I miss those days!!).

Disclosure: I am a Netflix StreamTeam member and receive perks. All opinions expressed are my own.

November 13, 2014

Creating Lasting Memories During the Holiday Season With Posterjack #giveaway

A photograph can capture an important milestone, a special secret, a happy moment and so much more. These moments are captured forever on canvas print as a way for us to always hold on to that moment.

The holidays are the perfect time to collect the best memories of the year and have them developed into a canvas print and delivered to a special person in your life.

Canvas prints by Posterjack make not only great gifts to give to Mom and Dad but are also the best Grandparent gifts – I let our kids choose their favourite picture of themselves (sometimes we get lucky and find a great one with Grandma and Grandpa) in order to put it into print and to be framed. They love being able to give their Grandparents such a special token of love on Christmas Day.

For our family, this year will mark our first Christmas without my Grandfather. This will be extremely difficult for all of us but even more so for my Dad. We wanted to capture my Grandpa and I fell in love with this picture (he was so camera shy!) and will be enlarging it for my Dad to give him as a remembrance gift for Christmas this year.

No kids in the house? No problem!

Long before I had children I loved photography. Being able to catch a perfect moment in nature is what I loved the most. A tree bark or pond has the most intricate details if you take the time to stop and look at it.

This holiday season why not treat yourself or a loved one with your own canvas print of your work of art. My office has one wall dedicated to my own photography and it reminds me every day of my passion and to never give up on my dreams.

This holiday season, Posterjack wants to help you turn your work of art into print! They are generously giving one Working Mommy Journal reader a $100 credit to Posterjack.ca!

I am super excited for one of you – I had our wedding photographs put into prints and framed by Posterjack which were so beautiful I cried (and this was four years after my wedding!).

Canadian residents, 18 years of age and older can enter via the Rafllecopter form below. GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

November 11, 2014

The DK Canada Gift Boutique for Holiday Shopping #giveaway

I love to read as I am sure many of you have figured out by now! Reading takes you to a whole new place, allows you to learn new things as well as enjoy some good quality down time.

One of the best gifts you can give a child is the gift of learning. Children love to explore and learn about their favourite topics. As parents (and aunts, uncles and grandparents!) we are here to nurture this love and have some fun with their learning at the same time!

DK Canada has their spectacular Gift Boutique full of fantastic reads that will be sure to be a hit under the tree this holiday season.

Have a budding scientist in your home? Maybe an animal lover? We are bringing your little learner a fantastic giveaway with two great titles, Utterly Amazing Science and The Animal Book.

These books will have you learning right along with your little one while you explore the world of science and the animal frontier. Both books are in hardcover format so no worries about ruining your book while out on your adventure! They can definitely do some travel time with you.

Utterly Amazing Science takes a look at the core principles of science. Using fun, interactive elements (pop ups, pull outs, flaps) each page in this book features colourful illustrations and fun activities that covers key topics such as force and motion, light and colour, elements and matter. To top it off the book is packed full of interesting facts that will keep your child constantly learning and discovering.

The Smithsonian Animal Book covers the world’s extraordinary diversity of animals. This guide is full of creatures both big and small. A tree of life greets young readers at the beginning of the book charting the complex relationships between species. Every plant and animal is presented in proportion with in-depth pages giving a sense of scale for each animal. This will satisfy the most avid animal lover’s interests! The Animal Book is also a 2014 Mom’s Choice Award Gold Award Winner!

Now Canadian residents can enter to win their own copies of these two incredible books from DK Canada and Working Mommy Journal!

Enter via the Rafflecopter form below – good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

November 11, 2014

Protecting Our Eczema Prone Skin with Polysporin #EczemaAndMe #shop

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

The fall (and quickly approaching winter) season is upon us. With the cooler weather we find that there is a typical rise in eczema symptoms in our home. Both of my children as well as myself suffer with eczema. Each of us has our own triggers but the one thing that holds true is that the cold weather makes our skin rawer and much more sensitive. Finding the right products to deal with our eczema can be difficult – normal lotions just don’t cut it! We headed out to Walmart to pick up the new Polysporin Eczema line as part of the #CollectiveBias campaign and couldn’t wait to try it out on our already sensitive skin.

Not familiar with eczema? Here are some of the signs of eczema (don’t forget to always take your child in to see the doctor if you feel they have eczema!):

patches of chronically itchy,dry, thickened skin
if scratched these patches can open and bleed (yikes!)
eczema blisters (nothing is worse than seeing these form on your child – I speak from experience here)

Eczema can interfere with your day to day routine as well as your self confidence. When my arms are at their worst I will cover them with long sleeves because I am embarrassed at the state of them – I don’t want anyone to see the blisters and raw skin. Proper care of our skin as part of a daily routine is essential in order to ensure the flare ups do not occur or lessen the occurrence of the flare ups. This includes using a body wash and lotion designed specifically for eczema prone skin.

Polysporin Eczema Essentials Daily Body Wash (as one part of their #EczemaAndMe campaign line) is an excellent tool to help protect your skin on a daily basis. Their brand new unique formula includes a lipid, humectants, emollient and botanical blend to help cleanse and moisturize your sensitive skin.

When purchasing a body wash for eczema prone skin it is so important to ensure that the product is fragrance free, contains an emollient (helps to cover the outer layer of the skin to prevent water loss) and designed for eczema prone skin. Polysporin Eczema Essentials Daily body wash covers all of these points!

After several days of use we are already noticing an improvement in our skin texture and eczema. The Polysporin body wash lathers on thickly with even a small amount coating the skin – which is perfect as it helps retain the moisture in our skin. Don’t forget when you towel off to pat dry to prevent irritating your skin.

Polysporin also has a fantastic coupon on their site to help you save on their eczema products (yay!). The English coupon can be found on their site here and the french coupon here.

Not following Polysporin on Twitter yet? Head over now and follow them to find great tips, deals and more!

What is your first line of defense against eczema?