cvegnad, Author at Working Mommy Journal

July 23, 2013

Walmart Toy Testers 2013

This weekend we were able to participate in Walmart’s 2013 Toy Testing!

What an incredible experience – needless to say my children were beyond thrilled at the idea of testing toys (can you blame them – even I was excited!). I had never been before so was unsure of what to expect. Walmart was fantastic and sent out an agenda before hand explaining the age groupings, refreshment area and so on. We were able to show up thirty minutes before hand to register which was fantastic (it is so hard to keep children entertained while waiting in line to register!).

The toy selection was incredible (each numbered toy had three of the same toy so there was more than enough toys for the children there). Our youngest was in his glory in his section – shooting small bullets, playing with superheroes and being with other children.

This toy was our little one’s top pick!

By far the section I enjoyed the most was the 6-12 year old area. The toys were incredible! I can not believe the variety and imagination of the toys that are coming out! You barely even know where to start looking.

Here are some of our eldest son’s picks:

Overall it was an incredible experience that I was so happy to be able to share with my family. It is something we will never forget. I can not wait to apply again next year.

July 23, 2013

Summer Storm

Over the weekend we had a scary summer storm – to be honest it is the worst I have ever been in. We were terrified! Our little one cried and cried.

When the storm started moving in we were actually at the soccer field for our eldest son’s soccer game. All of a sound these fierce looking dark clouds moved in. This is what we captured from our car:

By the time we made it home the sky cleared up a little bit and had a strange look to it. Within twenty minutes our view looked like this:

What I learned from this experience was how ill prepared we were for an emergency – we were without hydro for over fifteen hours! We had to go to the store to buy candles, flashlights and had no emergency rations. It was terrifying!

Do you have an emergency kit ready to go? What do you keep stocked in it?

July 17, 2013

In Need of Vacation Time! #WW

Where I wish I was on vacation right – Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls, Ontario!

July 11, 2013

Great Canadian Inventions – #TGCBB

I am very proud to call Canada my home! We have so much to be thankful for in this great and diverse country, Canada. As part of the Great Canadian Blog Bash ’13, I wanted to learn more about what makes Canada great so I did some research into Canadian inventions (some of them shocked me!). Here are some of the top ones which I am proud to say are Canadian!

1. Insulin: Insulin is used in the treatment of Diabetes and was discovered by Dr. Banting and Dr. Best in Toronto in 1921. They were also awarded the Nobel Prize in 1923 for this discovery.

2. Five pin bowling: I did not know this and I love to bowl! Thomas Ryan invented this in 1908 in Toronto at his Toronto bowling club in response to customer complaints that the ten pin game was too strenuous. He cut down the tenpins down to about 75% of their size and used hand sized rubber balls.

3. Electric wheelchair: The electric wheelchair was invented in 1952 by George Klein to assist injured veterans after World War II.

4. Wonderbra: The Wonderbra was designed in 1964 by Louise Poirier for the company, Canadelle. It was designed to lift and create cleavage.

5. Canadarm: The Canadarm formally known as the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) is one of Canada’s significant contributions to the space program. It was developed in 1975 and is used to capture items in space.

6. Snow blower: Arthur Sicard completed his first prototype of the snow blower in 1925 based on a concept he had developed in 1894. He went on to found Sicard Industries in Quebec.

7. Goalie Mask: Jacques Plante, a Canadian professional hockey goaltender, who’s hockey career ranged from 1947-1975 developed and tested many versions of the hockey mask. He was also the first goal tender to wear a hockey mask.

8. Robertson Screw: Peter Robertson was a Canadian inventor and salesman who popularized the square-socket drive for screws. He produced his screws, that were patented in 1908, in his Milton, Ontario factory. The Fisher Company, one of his first customers, who also built car bodies for Ford Canada used over 700 screws in its Model T car!

Image from Ripple.ca

9. Poutine: Yum – poutine! Could not leave this popular Canadian dish out! It originates from Quebec in the late 1950s. It is a delicious dish made from french fries, gravy and cheese curds.

What makes you proud to be Canadian?

July 11, 2013

Posterjack’s 31 Day Photo Challenge #JulySnapshots

We are a very artistic family and love taking photographs. We try to go at least once a month to a park or beach and photograph nature (while Mom and Dad try to take photographs of our little ones!). We have decorated walls with our photographs!

Posterjack is an online Canadian company who offer the largest variety of photo art products in Canada. They even offer prints in acrylic and metal! Talk about literally turning your photographs into works of art!

Posterjack is currently running a photograph challenge for the month of July. Each day has a different theme and participants are encouraged to share their photos either on Facebook or Twitter tagging the photos with #JulySnapshots.

The prize? Posterjack is giving away a daily prize of $25 to their site!

Here is my photo for today’s theme of “fresh” – I am using “fresh” food for today!

Have you been participating? What would you chose for today’s theme?