Family, Reviews, Healthy Living, Photography and More!
March 25, 2014
Last week we were able to attend a Safe and Sure car seat demonstration (as well as have our car seat fitted in properly into our car). While we were there, our eldest had a field day looking at the cars (he is a huge car fan!). He wanted me to feature his favourite for this week’s Wordless Wednesday, so here it is:
Beautiful right?
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March 25, 2014
Don’t miss Denise Hunter‘s latest Chapel Springs Romance, Dancing with Fireflies. Reviewers have already labeled Dancing with Fireflies “swoon-worthy” and “the perfect love story.”
Join Denise in celebrating the release of her new book by entering her Kindle HDX giveaway and RSVPing for her April 10th Facebook party.
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 10th. Winner will be announced at the Dancing with Fireflies Facebook Party on April 10th. Connect with Denise for an evening of prizes, book chat, and an exclusive look at the next book in the series.
March 20, 2014
Our children are so precious and every time we place them in their car seats we trust those car seats to ensure their safety. But were you aware that the misuse rates range from 44% to 81% for car seats and 30% to 50% in booster seats (Canadian Paediatric Society). I don’t know about you but that statistic terrified me! Especially when considering that a properly used car seat reduces the risk of fatal injury by 71% and the risk of serious injury by 67% (Canadian Paediatric Society).
Part of the problem (I believe anyways!) is that the car seats themselves are constantly changing along with the rules and regulations. To be honest, I had such a hard time installing our car seat that I gave up and asked my husband to finish it. I could not get the restraints tight enough no matter how hard I tried.
With those statistics in mind and child safety at the forefront, Chevrolet is launching the national Safe and Sure Child Car Seat Installation Workshop Program. Families can receive expert advice on installing car seats into any make or model of vehicle for free. Yup – for free.You can sign up for the free workshops at Safe and Sure.
The workshops were piloted in Toronto during 2012 and 2013. Due to overwhelming positive response from parents, grandparents and caregivers (yes the program is open to any one who will be responsible for driving a child in a car seat!), Chevrolet is working with Parachute to offer this program in three major cities.
If you are not familiar with Parachute they are a charitable organization dedicated to preventing injuries and saving lives. They officially came into being in July 2012 and united the former Safe Communities Canada, Safe Kids Canada, SMARTRISK and ThinkFirst Canada. You can learn more about them on their website.
With all of this in mind, our whole family headed out to Budds Chevrolet in Oakville to have our car seats examined and re-installed if needed. We were a bit worried that the boys would be bored but they were very happy when they received Hot Wheel cars! While I headed outside to learn about car seats the boys stayed inside checking out the cars and taking photographs of each one (no lie here – his favourite one is now our desktop image!).
I learned so much this past weekend at my workshop. As well as learning the how to’s on how to ensure a snug fit with an inch or less movement at the base, I was able to get hands on with the representative and help out.
Some important things to remember:
Check out this great video about the workshops:
Have you ever attended a car seat workshop in the past? Do you have any recommendations for first time parents out there?
March 20, 2014
Quilts tell many stories. Stories of love, loss, hope, faith, tradition and new beginnings. The Quilts of Love Series focuses on the women who have quilted their family history. A Sky without Stars is part of this series.
Set in 1951, A Sky without Stars, is the story of Frankie Chasing Bear – a Lakota caught between cultures. She wants to raise her son, Harold, to revere his Lakota heritage but she feels like he will need to become more like a “white man” in order to succeed. After her husband is killed in a bar brawl, they move to Arizona where she begins a Lakota Star quilt for Harold with tribal wisdom sewn and prayed into it.
She distrusts Christians as her parents were forced to convert at an Indian School. When she meets BIA agent, Nick Vandergriff, a half Lakota who is also caught between cultures she begins to understand more about her faith, tradition and her place as a Lakota in the world.
A Sky without Stars was an excellent read that touched on many topics including the Native cultures, beliefs and their treatment. There were many times through out the book that I felt angry towards the treatment of the Lakota people and how they were forced to assimilate. Frankie was treated unfairly in her new community and not trusted by the people regardless of what she did. The book painted a in depth look of the life of a single, Lakota woman during the 1950s. A Sky without Stars was a story of strength, faith and self discovery.
Rating: 5/5
The author, Linda Clare, is an award winning co-author of three books. She is also the author of the Fence My Father Built. She has taught college level creative writing classes and edits as well as mentors writers.
You can find more reviews of A Sky without Stars here.
Linda is celebrating the release with a Kindle HDX giveaway and joining her fellow Quilts of Love authors, Barbara Cameron and Joyce Magnin, for a Facebook “Spring Fling” party on April 1st.
One winner will receive:
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 1st. Winner will be announced at the “Spring Fling” Facebook Party on April 1st. RSVP today and connect with the authors from the Quilts of Love series, Barbara Cameron, Linda S. Clare, and Joyce Magnin, for an evening of book chat, quilt trivia, prizes, and an exclusive look at the next Quilts of Love book!
March 19, 2014
Romance, espionage and WWII combine in the romantic thriller City of The Sun by Juliana Maio.
The back drop is 1941 and the Axis forces have the Allies on the ropes in North Africa. Rommel’s Afrika Korps are closing in on Egypt and the prized Suez Canal while Britain struggles to maintain control. The young King Farouk is crumbling under the enormous political and military pressure. The Muslim Brotherhood is gaining power and the seeds for the State of Israel are slowly being sown.
It is in this background that European Jewish refugee Maya Blumenthal arrives with her family in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis (translated as the City of The Sun). Her arrival coincides with the revocation of American journalist Mickey Connolly’s visa. Before he can be deported he is offered an opportunity that will change his life both personally and as a journalist. He is asked to go underground to locate Erik Blumenthal, a quantum physicist refugee from Germany. Mickey accepts their offer but he quickly realizes that his life may be in danger and the mission is not as simple as he originally thought as the Germans are also in Cairo looking for Erik Blumenthal. Romance begins to blossom between Mickey and Maya when they meet but Maya is hesitant to give out any true information about her life and family. Mickey begins to fall in love with Maya and would risk anything to win over her heart.
I completely fell in love with City of The Sun! Juliana writes in a way that draws you right into the plot line of war torn Cairo in WWII. She includes in depth detail that allows you to feel as though you are there in the war zone walking the streets of Cairo and Heliopolis. Knowing that Juliana was born in Heliopolis and was forced to flee during the Suez Crisis, you can feel how she brings her connection to Heliopolis through every turn of the page.
City of the Sun had me reading long in to the night – I just could not put the novel down! My heart went out to the characters in the novel – knowing how many people went through this makes it that much harder to put the novel down. City of The Sun is a definite must read novel.
Rating: 4.5/5
Juliana Maio was born in Egypt but expelled from the country with her family during the Suez Crisis. She was raised in France and completed her education in the USA. Julia practices entertainment law in Los Angeles. Prior to this she served as vice president of the worldwide corporate and business affairs for Triumph Films. Juliana co-founded Lighthouse Productions.
Residents of the USA can enter to win one of two copies of her novel, City of The Sun! Enter via the Rafflecopter below.
Good luck!
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.