Working Mommy Journal

February 11, 2014

Beating the Indoor Blues with #DKCanada Sticker Boutique

Sticker time is always fun time! From beating boredom, adding to crafts and fixing boo boos at the doctor’s office – stickers have always fascinated kids!

I was (and still am) a huge sticker fan – I actually still have my large collection of stickers in the original tin box I collected them in. My boys are able to go through them and use them in their own pictures – although they are full of hearts and animals which I never hear the end of. Stickers have come along way since my childhood – you can now even purchase favourite characters (from Disney to Lego to Superheroes, the possibilities are endless!).

With the deep freeze we have been under lately (and not to mention the constant colds!) my boys have been itching to find new things to keep them busy. For them the chance to try out some of the DK Sticker Books from their boutique was the best news they had received in a long time.

My boys were beyond thrilled when they received their books. Superheroes and Lego, yes please! Our youngest is going through a huge Hulk and Spiderman phase – he even slept with his book that night!

The boutique offers sticker collections ranging from Disney princesses and movie characters to Lego and superheroes as well as animals and dinosaurs. There are over 1000 reusable stickers (the pages are made so that they can stick them on and peel them off – not sure how many times they would last through this process but my boys peeled them off about five times without causing them any problems with how effectively they stuck on). The book itself is thick which is perfect for little ones as you know it wont tear easily and cause tears. The selection in each book was perfect and also had extra stickers because if your children are like mine – many will end up on a nose or cheek or even as a pretend tattoo!

We fell in love with the DK Canada Sticker boutique and the boys rated them a 5/5 for being awesome, superior collection and downright fun.

http://cn.dk.com/static/cs/cn/11/nf/features/stickerbookboutique/index.html

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

February 11, 2014

Craft Time #WW

With all this cold weather and my children being sick we have spent quite a few hours indoors lately. This past week we have done so many crafts so I wanted to showcase them in action.

I would love to visit your Wordless Wednesday Post so please link up below! Have a wonderful day!

February 6, 2014

Hopeful Blog Tour: Review

I have only started reading Amish fiction in the last two months but I have become a huge fan of this genre. I love the feeling of community, the selflessness and the stories are easy to relate to.

Hopeful by Shelley Shephard Gray is a story centred around Miriam Zehr. Miriam works at the Sugarcreek Inn and has been there for a very long time. The Sugarcreek Inn is a favourite among both the town residents and the tourists. Miriam always keeps herself positive at work but it is a reminder that she is missing her own family to love and care for.

Miriam has always felt like a wallflower and not quite pretty. She has always been a little heavier than the other girls her age making her self conscious. She has always held a special spot in her heart for Junior and when he finally begins to pay attention to her she is elated. She thinks that he has finally noticed her only to realize that he is using her to help him gain the attention of her pretty friend, Mary Kathryn. Miriam is faced with the dilemma to help him and be able to spend time with him or potentially lose him.

I felt like I could closely relate to Miriam. I have always felt self conscious and a bit of a wallflower. I have always been shy and afraid to talk to others in my classes. I was always self conscious about my body and she was just a character that really touched me. You can’t help but like Junior even though the situation is frustrating and you feel bad for Miriam. He is just a likable character!

The characters in this story are easy to fall in love with and care for and you just want to know more about them. There is a real sense of community and you can see how the series is beginning to develop. I looked into The Sugarcreek series (Seasons of Sugarcreek) as many others have suggested and I am going to start reading from there as many people stated that some of the characters in this novel were also present in her past novels. I love seeing this type of continuation but it also did not affect the plot line at all.

Shelley Shepard Gray is a two time New York best seller, a two time USA Today best seller, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award and a two time Holt Medallion winner (pretty lengthy list right? But very well deserved!). She lives in Southern Ohio and writes full time. You can learn more about her here.

To find more reviews of Hopeful in the Litfuse Blog Tour you can visit their page here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

February 6, 2014

John Faubion’s FRIEND ME Kindle HDX Giveaway!

John Faubion is celebrating his debut novel, Friend Me, with a Kindle HDX giveaway!

One winner will receive:

A brand new Kindle Fire HDX
Friend Me by John Faubion

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on February 22nd. Winner will be announced February 24th on John Faubion’s blog.

Don’t miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by John’s blog on the 24th to see if you won.

February 6, 2014

Friend Me: Thrilling First Novel By John Faubion

Friend Me is a suspenseful thriller that will have you turning the pages right through the night unable to put it down! A troubled marriage, an online virtual friend company and an unstable employee in that virtual friend company produces a thrilling book that gave me the goosebumps and had me up late at night reading.

Friend Me is the first novel by John Faubion. It is centered around the troubled marriage of lonely housewife, Rachel, and her frustrated husband , Scott. Scott wants his wife to understand his high pressured financial job and maybe even have her be a bit more like his own mother. Rachel wants Scott to see how lonely she is. She has given up so much for Scott and given him a family and she wants her husband and friend back.

They both turn to a virtual friend company. Rachel creates a “copy” of a dear friend of hers who has passed away. While Scott creates his ideal cyber girlfriend. The twist comes when the employee behind these creations, Melissa, decides that Scott is her ideal match. Melissa is determined to have all of him – not only him but his family and Rachel’s life.

Melissa begins to grow bold and tries to transition their virtual world into the real world. It is only then that Scott and Rachel realize they have fallen for something that has begun to feel like a trap. They have to fight against time to save all that is important to them.

In the opening of the novel I had a hard time following the idea behind this virtual friend idea but the more it was discussed the more you can see this becoming something real in our own present life. Technology is advancing daily and people are connecting to each other in ways that were never possible before. Online “friendships” begin and can be disastrous to marriages and trust.

Through out the novel you wanted to beg and plead with Rachel and Scott to just talk to each other. So many marriages can quickly fall down this road and it is so important to be open and honest with our spouses. Friend Me opens up a real concern that is present in society today about online and virtual relationships and how these affect marriages.

I have not read a thriller like this in a while and it is definitely a book I will be re-reading again! I am definitely looking forward to reading more of John Faubion’s books! To find more reviews on Friend Me check out the Litfuse Blog Tour here. Want to purchase your own copy? You can do so here.

Rating: 4.75/5

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.