Author: cvegnad

September 30, 2018

Sesame Street – Elmo’s World: Elmo Explores! DVD Giveaway

Return to Elmo’s World with an all new two-hour DVD full of your favourite character hitting stores on October 2nd, 2018.

About Sesame Street Elmo’s World: Elmo Explores!

Explore the everyday world with everybody’s favorite furry red monster, Elmo, in the new DVD release of Sesame Street – Elmo’s World: Elmo Explores!, on October 2, 2018 from Shout! Factory and Sesame Workshop.

Elmo Explores! is a two hour collection of Elmo’s World episodes, appearing for the first time on DVD. Using the power of his imagination, Sesame Street’s little red monster explores kid-friendly topics such as painting, cooking, and habitats from a child’s point of view. Joined by the hilarious Mr. Noodle, Smartie the Smartphone, and his pet goldfish Dorothy, Elmo asks questions that lead to fun discoveries. An age-appropriate launch pad for imagination and learning, Elmo’s World: Elmo Explores! indulges children’s natural sense of curiosity about the world around them.

Each engaging installment of this newly reimagined Sesame Street segment presents young viewers with lessons to help them grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. Bonus features include two episodes of the uproariously silly Sesame Street spin-off The Furchester Hotel and three classic segments of the original Elmo’s World.

About the Bonus Episodes: The Furchester Hotel

The Furchester Hotel episodes The Count’s Vacation and Space Alien Party are presented here on DVD for the first time in North America as bonus features. The Furchester Hotel is an “almost” world-class establishment run by a tight-knit family of cheerfully incompetent monsters. The proprietors are welcoming owner Funella Furchester, her dear and beleaguered husband Furgus Fuzz, their daughter, the unflappable Phoebe Furchester-Fuzz, and Isabel, the furriest front desk bell in the business. Cousin Elmo is on an extended visit and fascinated by all the hotel has to offer. Cookie Monster has landed his dream job as a room service and dining room waiter. The family bends over backwards, forwards, and sideways (occasionally tipping over) to be sure the needs of every guest are met because a Furchester never gives up! Animal, vegetable, and mineral alike flock to this hub of hospitality, where problem solving is part of the service.

DVD Trailer

Our Thoughts

How can you not love Elmo and his crew? These shows are in its forty eight season and that shows just how much generations of children and adults love the sense of adventure, humour and curiosity presented in the shows. There is something for all age groups – I couldn’t stop watching them and I love that I can share this part of my own childhood with my own kids.

Get into the Sesame Street fun with this printable colouring page and bookmark brought to you from Shout Factory.

You can purchase a copy of this amazing, fun-filled DVD on Amazon.

The Giveaway

Want to win your DVD? Enter to win one of two DVD copies now via the Rafflecopter form below – GOOD LUCK!

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Disclosure: I received the above mentioned DVD in order to facilitate this post, all opinions expressed are my own.

September 27, 2018

Calling All Wizards! Throw a Harry Potter Themed Game Night with Goliath Games

Hands up where are all my Harry Potter fans?

I fell in love with the series years ago, I loved that the characters were young, brave and all of the magic. I wanted to be able to wave a wand and command spells long before this series came to light as a young child (I don’t think I am alone in this?). Even though the series started before my children were born, they also love the books and movies. This shows the power of Harry Potter – the story and characters can reach out to and relate to all age groups and genders.

Goliath Games has released two Harry Potter games that will add plenty of magic to your game night or to the every day.

If you are ready to cast spells, win the Tri-Wizard cup, explore Hogwarts and capture fantastic beasts – these games are for you!

Harry Potter Tri-Wizard Maze will have you muggles and wizards race around the board in order to capture the Tri-Wizard cup! Be careful as you head around the maze as there are traps that could help or hurt you.

This game is designed for two to four players and can be played by anyone five years of age and up. It is similar to Trouble, where you “pop” the center and dice will roll indicating how many spaces you can take. Depending on where you land, you may have to pick up a card which will hold either something that can help you win or put you back a couple of spaces. We LOVED this game – my youngest actually ripped the package open trying to get this one out. It was challenging but not overwhelming so that young kids couldn’t play. We played a few times without drawing the cards and it was still a lot of fun but the cards do at that extra bit of magic. My kids were quite clever with this game, I think they figured out how to ‘pop’ the dice to get the best rolls, I lost every round to them (my pieces were the red ones above!).

Maybe you are looking for a greater mental challenge? Then Harry Potter Magical Beasts Game will fit the bill.

Magical beasts are running loose at Hogwarts and it is up to you and your friends to save the day. You can choose to be one of the main characters (we had a small argument over who will be Harry but I was able to be Hermione so I was happy!). You must work through the clues and Hogwarts building and grounds in order to recapture the beasts before it is too late. This interactive board game has a swinging playing board, both sides of the board can be used which took me a bit to wrap my head around but once you get it, I couldn’t believe how clever it was. This game is definitely a bit more complicated and geared towards older children and adults, I would suggest eight to ten years of age or older.

These games added an element of magic, mystery and fun to our nights and with this cold weather settling in, we will definitely be looking at having more family game nights. We loved that each time you played the games, it was different – you never really knew what to expect and you could add your own elements of magic into the games to make them your own.

Make sure you connect with Goliath Games on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with the newest toys, games and more!

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

September 25, 2018

A Life by Design Book Review

In A Life by Design, Elena faces escalating danger to herself and to Francesco, she must fight for her freedom, her love, and her survival.

About A Life by Design

When 20-year-old Elena Allegro leaves the Italian village of Laurino to study Fashion Design in Milan, she’s certain her dreams are about to come true. Despite her father’s warnings that risk comes with her newfound freedom, she loves her studies and develops a love interest with Francesco, the handsome young entrepreneur who offers her a part-time job in a Milan clothing store.

It seems like an idyllic situation—until a stalker targets Elena, tormenting her with mind games and threatening her safety. In the face of escalating danger to herself and to Francesco, Elena must fight for her freedom, her love, and her survival.

My Thoughts

Elena has led the life of a typical Italian young woman (and I am sure many European girls), where life is dictated by her Father and she is not allowed the same freedoms as her brother and the other males in her life. She has big dreams of conquering the fashion world but will never be able to realize this dream unless she leaves her small town and head to Milan.

Through some help from her brother and Mother, she convinces her Father to let her head to Milan to study fashion. She is in awe of the big city, the clothes and her studies – she has found her niche and can’t wait to begin her life. She even finds love in her boss, Francesco! How could anything go wrong? All seems to be going well until someone starts threatening her and stalking her. This is when the book takes a turn and you are left constantly wondering who is threatening her? Is it the rejected boy from her class? Could her love actually have a darker past? Or is it someone from her families past?

This was a well written novel that I loved from start to finish. You couldn’t help but fall in love with Elena and her positive outlook on life. She is a dreamer who has the typical constraints on her of an Italian family. You want to protect her and feel outrage that someone could be trying to harm for what seems to be her following her dreams. The stalker throws a wrench in the story as you really aren’t sure who is the suspect. Your first thought is always to the young man in her class who she rejected but it doesn’t quite sit well. Lucy leaves you guessing and questioning even yourself.

This was a wonderful journey to Milan where we are immersed in Italian culture, fashion and love. A great read from start to finish!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, Kobo, iTunes and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 4/5

About the Author

Lucy is an author of romantic suspense, historical fiction/coming of age, short story thrillers, and non-fiction books. She is also a Registered Counsellor/Wellness Coach, and works as a Rehabilitation Counsellor for the Australian Government.

Lucy enjoys reading romantic suspense, romance, thrillers, crime novels, family/historical drama, and sagas. She has enjoyed travelling to exotic places such as Madrid, Mauritius, and Italy, and draws on these experiences in her creative writing.

Lucy’s favourite authors include Kendra Elliot, Christiane Heggan, Theresa Ragan, Tara Moss, Nicholas Sparks, Adriana Trigiani, Erica Spindler, and James Patterson (to name a few).

Lucy’s interests include meditation, exercising, journal writing, reading fiction and nonfiction texts about writing, coaching, and counselling, ongoing professional development, spending time with her husband and two daughters, and socialising with friends and family.

Connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

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

September 25, 2018

Too Blessed to be Stressed for Moms Book Review

Do you feel like you re drowning in the everyday stress-pool? . . .
Wish you could make busy-ness a business so you d be a millionaire? . . .
Welcome to the maternal order of slightly sagging sisters of the ‘hood. The motherhood.

About Too Blessed to be Stressed

With her own offbeat brand of wit and near-wisdom, popular inspirational humorist Debora Coty addresses heart needs of moms drowning in the churning stress-pool of busyness. In her beloved mom-to-mom, grin-provoking style, Coty offers empathy, laughs, real-life stories, practical parenting survival tips, and fresh biblical insights to help you hear Papa God’s still, small voice through life s chaos.

Whether you’re struggling with stress related to attitude, time-management, guilt trips, patience, or something in between. . .this humor-filled volume will deliver a much-needed smile and equip you with simple-to-implement tips for attaining the peace we all crave the peace that passes all understanding.

My Thoughts

A Mom’s job is tough – you never know if you are doing the best job, you constantly question and doubt yourself (not to mention comparing yourself to others) and the never-ending list of things to do. It can be an overwhelming, stressful, underappreciated role but when you look at your children, you realize that there is nothing better in life then the job of a Mom.

When we feel stressed and overworked, it can be easy to overlook the good parts in our life and feel blessed. We tend to focus solely on the things that are worrying us and causing us anxiety. We begin to feel inadequate and judge even ourselves. As a Mom, you are not alone! There is not one Mom who hasn’t questioned their ability and their parenting ability at one point.

This book acknowledges those feelings but also reminds us that we are not alone. That we all feel like this at times and the best medicine? Faith, humour and remembering the basics – your kids just need you to love them, to support them and fully be engaged in them. Coty uses her own personal experiences – that not only will have you giggling away but that you can one hundred percent can relate to – to help share her story of hope and guidance. Each chapter has a unique focus and gives us personal examples, tips and quotes to help us get through the hardest times. This was a well written, personal book that I couldn’t put down. It was like having a glass of wine and a fantastic conversation with a best friend – you just didn’t want it to end! A definite must read for first time Moms and second (third and fourth!) time Moms.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Debora M. Coty is a popular humorist, speaker, and award-winning author of numerous inspirational books, including the bestselling Too Blessed to be Stressed line. Deb considers herself a tennis junkie and choco-athlete (meaning she exercises just so she can eat more chocolate). A retired piano teacher and orthopedic occupational therapist, Debora currently lives, loves, and laughs in central Florida with her husband, Chuck, and three grandbuddies and one grandprincess.

You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

To celebrate the release of Too Blessed to Be Stressed for Moms and to bless a mom that needs to de-stress, Deb is giving away a “Take a Day for Mom” $75 VISA Cash Card. The card can be used by a mom for a day of pampering or just getting away and enjoying a day to herself. Do you need a day away or know a mom who does? (Is that a trick question?) Then, enter the giveaway and share it with all your friends. (Another little secret… you don’t have to prove you are a mom in order to win!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Trailer

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

September 22, 2018

Captain LaPlank: The Perfect Pirate Book Review

In Captain LaPlank: The Perfect Pirate tells the story of LaPlank as he sets out on adventure with his crew.

About Captain LaPlank: The Perfect Pirate

This rhyming pirate adventure tells a funny story of LaPlank perfectly captaining his ship as his new crew watches, until one by one they begin making minor mistakes and are shown the plank! It’s a classic and timely tale of something our culture today struggles to overcome, the desire to be perfect and in control. At a time when parents and children are bombarded by images in the media of perfect families and extreme athletic, educational, and financial success, we have much to learn from LaPlank’s epiphany, “It has nothing to do with ship captains and crews—perfection’s not something that pirates can choose. They’d bungled their business but those are the breaks—mistakes are just something that everyone makes!”

Our Thoughts

Mistakes are a normal part of life – stuff happens all the time but it is how we react to these mistakes can make or break us as individuals and our relationships with others.

In this book, LaPlank expects his crew to be beyond perfect – mistakes are never ever allowed to happen and if they do, you walk the plank! No one can do their duties or perform well under these extreme expectations and LaPlank’s crew is no exception. One by one they each make mistakes and it is their turn to walk the plank. It isn’t until there is no one left and the Captain has to perform all the duties, that he realizes how unfair he has been. Especially when he finds his own mistake! He learns the error of his way and returns to find his crew and make amends.

This was an excellent, funny book for children. They will laugh at the antics of the Captain but at the same time they learn an excellent lesson on understanding, acceptance and forgiveness. Out of every mistake, we learn something so we should never be afraid to try and make a mistake. Too often children don’t feel this, they feel overwhelmed to be perfect. It is important that they understand that perfection is impossible standard to have, instead we should embrace mistakes and share a good laugh over them. This would make a great starting point for parents to have a conversation with their child about mistakes they made, how they fixed them and moved forward.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon. Learn more about this book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

An emerging children’s author inspired by Dr. Seuss, Flibber T. Gibbet wrote the whimsical cautionary tale of Captain LaPlank: The Perfect Pirate to inspire perfectionist parents to focus on embracing children doing the best they can, and perhaps they can learn a little something along the way too.

Book Trailer

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