Author: cvegnad

November 4, 2014

PAW Patrol:Winter Rescues is Coming to Canada! Review & Giveaway

Six heroic puppies have come to the rescue with their team leader, Ryder, in PAW Patrol: Winter Rescues!

On November 4th, the #1 show on Nick JR US is coming to Canada for the first time on DVD. PAW Patrol combines fun adventure with awesome cuteness.

The adorable puppies – Chase, Marshall, Rocky, Rubble, Zuma and Skye are back. Led by a super tech savvy ten year old named Ryder. They work together to protect the Adventure Bay community with the belief that “No job is too big, no pup is too small”. Which is the best lesson we can teach our children – that their actions and words count. If they try hard our children can succeed at almost anything.

In this snowy adventure, the pups and Ryder make a trip to Jake’s Mountain to save Alex and look for a snow monster!! The pups will have your little one problem solving and laughing right along with the shows.

The show also places a strong focus on citizenship, social skills and problem-solving, teaching kids that working together helps get any job done – the perfect movie for your little one to not only enjoy but also learn from.

PAW Patrol: Winter Rescues will be the perfect addition under your Christmas tree this year. Our youngest son was literally screaming and jumping up and down when his copy was delivered to the door. He could not wait to pop the copy in the player to watch.

Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) can now enter to win their own copy of PAW Patrol: Winter Rescue AND PAW Patrol swag. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below – good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

November 4, 2014

Our Christmas Traditions with Kinder Surprise #KinderMom #giveaway

Wow – just like that Halloween is over and it has actually started snowing. Yes – snowing! We had little snowflakes coming down over the weekend. It is now time to start looking forward to the holiday season – yay!

The holiday season is a fantastic time for families to focus on quality family time and the love between each of us. We are able to shower our families with love and show them how much they mean to us. Homemade gifts are always a huge hit under the tree for us.

One of my favourite family traditions is our stockings! I loved waking up to find my stocking by my bedroom door full of special goodies picked out just for me – including chocolate goodies (yup – my chocolate love goes way back!). Now every year we include delicious chocolate Kinder eggs in the boy’s stockings. I love the Kinder eggs that come in Christmas tree shapes – they fit perfectly in the stockings.

Our family tradition of Advent calendars will continue this year with the Kinder Advent Calendars. Not familiar with Advent calendars? This is one tradition that you will love. The Advent calendars are used to help countdown to Christmas Eve and behind each day’s door is a chocolate surprise. Our boys have always loved their calendars and the bonus is all month long the boys get to work on recognizing numbers.

The Giveaway!

This month we want to spoil you with a Kinder Surprise Pack. One Working Mommy Journal fan will win a prize pack that includes:

One KINDER® Advent Calendar
One KINDER® Hollow Santa with SURPRISE®
One KINDER® SURPRISE® 100g Christmas egg
One KINDER® SURPRISE® MAXI 150g egg

Sounds awesome, right?! So hurry up and enter now for a chance to win! Don’t forget – you can enter as many Kinder Surprise giveaways during the month of November from the Kinder Family but you can only win once 🙂 Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I am a #KinderMom/Maman/Dad who is part of the KINDER® Canada influencer team; as part of my affiliation with KINDER® Canada, I am provided with special perks and products. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

November 4, 2014

Halloween Fun #WW w/linky

Friday night we celebrated Halloween and had a wonderful despite the rain and light flurries!

In our home we had a Captain America, a Grim Reaper and a purple witch.

How did you celebrate Halloween this year? Make sure to link up below so that I can visit each and every one of you – have a lovely day!

November 2, 2014

Big Hero 6 #SUBWAYandAMovie

Yesterday we headed down to Toronto for the advanced screening of Big Hero 6 with Subway Canada – needless to say we were super excited for this brand new Disney movie!

Big Hero 6 is an action packed comedy adventure about the special bond that is formed between Baymax and science prodigy Hiro Hamada. Baymax is a plus sized inflatable robot invented by Hiro’s brother. When a devastating event occurs in the city affecting Hiro himself, Hiro turns to Baymax and his close friends for help. The team is determined to uncover the mystery and Hiro transforms his friends into high tech heroes called Big Hero 6.

We LOVED this movie! The humour was fantastic – both my children and I appreciated every joke. It was full of adventure that our eldest son loved. Our youngest became scared at certain parts (with the masked villain) but those moments were few. I am not ashamed to admit it but I teared up at the end. It was so emotionally sweet the bond that forms between Baymax and Hiro and the ending was just incredible and powerful – I couldn’t help but tear up!

Baymax is one of the best parts of this movie. He is love able, funny and makes you want to reach out and squish him. Our boys were doing Baymax style fist pumps the whole way home!

The Big Hero 6 gang are a new league of super heroes that use more than just their strength. They use science and thinking outside of the box in order to save the day. A definite must see movies for families and individuals alike! You will not be disappointed!

Disclosure: We attended the advance screening of Big Hero 6 free of charge. All opinions expressed are my own and I was under no obligation to post.

October 30, 2014

A Lady at Willowgrove Hall by Sarah Ladd

Secrets and love swirl in the story of A Lady at Willowgrove Hall.Will the two main characters be able to forgive their past in order to live in the present and build for the future?

About A Lady at Willowgrove Hall

Cecily Faire carries the shame of her past wherever she treads, knowing one slip of the tongue could take away everything that is dear to her. But soon after accepting the position of lady’s companion at Willowgrove Hall, Cecily finds herself face to face with a man well acquainted with the past that she has desperately tried to hide for years.

Nathaniel Stanton has his own secrets – one that has haunted him from birth and tied him to his father’s position as steward of Willowgrove. To protect his family, Nathaniel dares not breath a word of the truth. But as long as the shadow looms over him, he will never be free to find his own way in the world. He will never be free to fall in love.

When the secrets swirling within Willowgrove Hall come to light, Cecily and Nathaniel must confront a painful choice: Will they continue to run from the past or will they stand together and build a future without the suffocating weights of the secrets that they have long suffered for.

My Thoughts

A lovely romantic story full of love, trust, broken promises, suffering and family. Both Cecily and Nathaniel carry such great burdens that they struggle with on a daily basis. Both find it hard to forgive themselves and to live in the current moment. Each one always allows the past to haunt them and guide their every moment.

The novel helps to teach us that sometimes we need to let go of our past, embrace it for what it was and remember it is the past and only we can shape our future. Both characters suffer under the weight of guilt and if they only learned to let it go they would be happy in their own lives and possibly in love with each other. I can’t even imagine the stress that the guilt they carry could weigh on their shoulders! Although I find it hard to let go of my own!

A lovely story from start to finish that I am already re-reading! You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page.

Rating: 4.5/5

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