Category: Movies

February 21, 2015

Creating Your Own Destiny with Netflix #StreamTeam

Brrrrr it is cold out there!! With these bone chilling temperatures lately we have been spending more time inside catching up on our favourite Netflix shows.

This month, Netflix is bringing back all of our favourite childhood characters but taking it to a new level. Now we get to find out what happened to all our favourite characters – turns out they became parents and had their own children!

In Ever After High, premiering this month on Netflix, the famous fairy tale character’s children are at a boarding school for teens destined to follow in their parent’s footsteps. Ever After High celebrates the idea that our lives are not predetermined for us and only we have the power to change our destiny.

Also premiering this month is Richie Rich (a brand new version of the old favourite!) and Season 2 of Mako Mermaid.

Our favourite show this month? The Mind of a Chef! This show is all about what it is like to think, cook, live, create in a food obsessed world of the mind of a chef. Yum yum! I love to cook so this was perfect for me.

Getting our children to think of the future (so hard to think of my babies all grown up!) and challenging them to set a path for themselves to create their own destiny is important. They need to know and understand that only they have the power to control their future and what happens to them.

So with some inspiration from Meet the Dupiens, we helped our children Reach for the Stars with their own destiny banner.

We asked our boys: What and where do you see yourselves in the future? What do you want to be when you grow up?

Their answers:

Power Ranger or Batman
Soccer Player
FIFA World Cup Player
NHL hockey player
professional gamer
Live somewhere where it is always hot!

Oh to be young again!

Pull out the magazines and pencil crayons and get colouring and cutting! Have your child put together photos of their dream destiny to put on a banner. This banner can be hung up in their room or on their door to be a constant reminder to always aim high.

It is so important for our children (and us too!) to remember to follow our dreams and work hard to achieve our goals.

Catch up with all your favourites this month on Netflix and new shows that teach us to always reach for the stars and that anything is possible.

What are you looking forward to watching on Netflix this month?

Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix StreamTeam and receive perks with this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.

February 6, 2015

I Love Toopy and Binoo Valentine’s Day DVD Giveaway

Toopy, Toopy, Binoo, Binoo

Toopy and Binoo!

Hands up if those lyrics are played almost non stop in your home?!

Although almost seven years separate our children both of our boys have always loved Toopy and Binoo. So much so that when we brought our puppy home eight years ago she was lovingly named Toopy!

Toopy and Binoo are the adorable stars in this series. You just can’t help fall in love with these two, who love each other with all their hearts and are always up for fun and adventure. Toopy is the witty and engaging mouse while Binoo, his best friend in the whole entire world, is the silent cat. When Toopy has lost something or when he can’t figure something out it is always Binoo who helps him find his way.

I Love Toopy has a total of fifteen heartwarming episodes for a total running time of seventy-five minutes.

The episodes include:

Duckling (The Best Of)
Baby Toopy
Worm Circus
The Big Race
Gone Fishin
Space House
Little Red Binoo
Jungle Toopy
Super Toopy
Magic Mirror
Toopy Goes bananas (our personal favourite!)
Camp Out
Storm in a Bottle
Space House
Bubbles

The second DVD, I Love Binoo also comes with fifteen episodes and a running time of seventy five minutes.

The episodes included are:

Pet Palace
Binoo’s Birthday
Sparkle Binoo
Toopy’s Surprise
Binoo’s Letter
Magic Whoosher
Superball
Funny Bunny
The Castle
The Big Blue
The Lost Bear
Where’s Binoo?
Invisible World
Egghead
Toopy’s Present

Although we thought we had seen all the Toopy and Binoo episodes that were out there we were pleasantly surprised to find new ones on these DVDs! Our youngest son brought his DVDs to daycare so that all of his friends could watch their favourite show together! It was so sweet!

kaboom! Entertainment is giving one of my readers the chance to win their copies of I Love Toopy and I Love Binoo! Canadian residents can enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

January 11, 2015

Bringing Literature to Life with Netflix #StreamTeam

As we begin to get back in the swing of things with school and home life, Netflix has loads of literature inspired movies playing throughout the month of January to help ease this transition. This includes the ever so popular and adorable, Puss in Boots, which premieres on January 16th, 2015.

There are many books that I have first watched on film that inspired me to read the book (or books!) behind it – Divergent, Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games just to name a few. I love how film (when done right!) really brings the characters and setting to life .

Netflix has several fantastic literature inspired movies out this month. One of our personal favourite? The Cat in the Hat. Oh how naughty he is with his adventures! We are always full of giggles watching this movie.

Looking for more family favourites to watch? Why not try Peter Pan or How to Train Your Dragon. I grew up reading The Babysitters Club (how many of you formed your own club because of these books??!!) and can’t wait to sit down with this movie again.

With a few simple supplies (paper bag, construction paper and glue) you can create your own Puss in Boots puppet to accompany the premiere of the movie. Your kids will enjoy acting out sword fights alongside Puss in Boots. You can find all the directions by visiting Sweet Potato Chronicles.

You can’t forget the feast to go along with your sword fighting crafts and movie! Why not try this recipe inspired by the movie. You can find the complete recipe at Sweet Potato Chronicles.

What is your favourite literature inspired movie?

Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix #StreamTeam and receive perks because of this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.

January 7, 2015

Guess How Much I Love You #Giveaway

Guess How Much I Love You, the much-loved story for all ages, has now come to life in DVD format! Guess How Much I Love You, with a release date of January 5th in the US and Canada, has a total of seven heart warming episodes full of love, friendship and the ever important love between father and son. In each of these episodes, Little Nutbrown Hare and Father Big Nutbrown Hare remind us that there is no greater love than that of the love between a parent and their child.

Guess How Much I Love You is full of incredibly sweet songs with catchy tunes (I have been singing the ‘Guess how much I love you’ tune for the last week and it has been our new catch phrase at home!) and loveable animal characters with excellent illustrations. The animation brings back so many memories of my own favourite childhood characters! As a family we were able to join Little Nutbrown Hare on his adventures as he meets new friends, learns new songs and dances all to show Big Nutbrown Hare how much he loves him. Each episode is just over ten minutes long with a total running time of eighty minutes. This makes it perfect for short viewing times for the younger crowd with the ability to play the DVD for longer for the older child.

The story is based on the love between a parent and a child and how strong that bond is. It was great to be able to cherish this with our children and to watch their faces as they watched the episodes.

kaboom! Entertainment and Working Mommy Journal are offering one of my readers the chance to win not only their own copy of Guess How Much I Love You but also the brand new panorama accompanying book! My Canadian readers can enter via the Rafflecopter form below – Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to follow kaboom! on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with new releases and giveaways.

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

December 23, 2014

It’s Time to Party It Up King Julien Style with Netflix #StreamTeam

Our family loves a good animated comedy – something perfect for the whole family that can leave us all in stitches.

Not too long ago we were able to attend the premiere of the new Netflix series All Hail King Julien in Toronto. King Julien is the love able and cheeky character from the popular Madagascar movie series. King Julien delivers it all in this new series dedicated to his favourite person – himself!

This Netflix original series premiered on December 19th and is available for all to watch (not going to lie we have already viewed the series twice it is that good!). King Julien is at his funniest in this series along with his sidekicks Mort and Maurice.

The kids are on their Christmas holidays now so we are getting in the holiday mode by catching up with some of our favourite holiday movies on Netflix. I was so impressed when I logged in yesterday to find so many holiday themed shows to watch! We started with the traditional Frosty the Snowman and continued in with the Madagascar Holiday series.

For the big kids this holiday season (this includes Mom and Dad!) we are watching Elf and Christmas with the Kranks! Two of our family favourites from when our eldest was young!

We are looking forward to this holiday season and ringing in the New Year King Julien style! How are you planning on celebrating the holidays and New Years this year?

Disclosure: I am part of the Netflix Stream Team and receive perks associated with this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.