May 14, 2014
Family Night Out at Boston Pizza #WW w/linky
We went out on Friday night for some family time at Boston Pizza. We had a wonderful time with the kids and wanted to share our special time with you! The hubby ordered Thai chicken bites while I had a special Gluten Wise pizza with chicken, green peppers and tomatoes.
Make sure to link up your wordless Wednesday post below so that I can visit you too!
Have a great day!
May 9, 2014
Surprised by Grace #review
Renowned writer, Elizabeth “Tib” Sherill, brings us her personal faith journey in Surprised by Grace – showing us God’s work in our every day life.
In Surprised by Grace, we discover how God’s love transformed her life from one of struggle to one with a clear direction. Surprised by Grace helps us find inspiration, hope and strength for our journey. Elizabeth shares stories about her own family and relationships, from her unhappy childhood to her marriage and beyond. We meet her friend Mea, her father in law who sees her for the complex person she is despite being blind. We follow her around the world and through the decades in this journey to help her find God and herself.
Surprised by Grace is a beautiful story of Elizabeth’s life that draws you right in. You feel like you are right there with Elizabeth step by step feeling her pain and her joy. She writes in a manner that you can feel her pain and her happiness. She becomes like a close friend and a confidante as she shares her personal life with us (can you imagine how hard this must be to do?!). In this book, Elizabeth brings it all. The good, the bad and the ugly. She tells life as it is and not as how we all wish it could be. It reminded me that at all times God is with us, that He loves us and is there to guide us through all. A fantastic read for all of those looking to strengthen their relationship with God.
My favourite quote from this book: “It is to God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the end of our journey, He is also at every stopping place.” – Elisabeth Elliot
To find more reviews on this book, check out the Litfuse blog tour page here.
Rating: 5/5
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
May 9, 2014
Backyardigans: Sea Deep in Adventure with #KOBA Entertainment
How many of the parents out there have children that love the Backyardigans? If your children are like mine your hands must be waving right now! So you can just imagine how excited they were to attend the live show; The Backyardigans: Sea Deep in Adventure with a meet and greet!
The Backyardigans: Sea Deep in Adventure follows the story of five friends as they explore clues and discover underwater surprises. The five friends meet up with an Octopus and a pair of dolphins in this adventure packed show.
The show was roughly an hour long with one twenty minute intermission which was perfect for the kids in the audience. The audience ages really ranged from one year old children right up to junior elementary aged children.
The best part of the show for our family was a combination of both the music and dancing. The show really came to life! The music was energetic and fun ranging in style through out the show. The costumes and props were fantastic and brightly coloured that really helped to engage the children and catch their attention. All parts of the show were constantly moving and engaging from props dropping down to the backdrop itself.
The boys fell in love with the cast at the beginning of the show when they were able to meet them backstage. The entire cast and staff were excellent and so upbeat – they were so full of energy that really helped the children get over their shyness. The cast really went the extra mile to make this a special moment for the children that they would not forget!
The Backyardigans Sea Deep in Adventure is definitely a production we would go back to see! Everything was upbeat, fun and entertaining. A definite must see production for families!
May 8, 2014
Mother’s Day Books: Small Space Garden Ideas #DKCanada
Some of the best gifts that I have ever received have been books. I love to read (no question about it!) – it allows me to escape for that time period, browse and learn new ideas and so much more!
We moved into our new home about a year ago and since we moved in it has been my goal to create not only a vegetable garden but a proper flower bed (where the flowers grow and don’t wither like they usually do for me – my boys still tease me about managing to let a Bonsai tree die!). Last year we did a lot of work on removing items and re-sodding as well as making room for my garden. We just never made it to the actual garden part (I guess I was a bit chicken?!).
For Mother’s Day this year, I have asked my boys to make me a raised garden bed so that I an plant some vegetables. Since I am not the best gardener out there, I want to start small! When I was given the opportunity to review Small Space Garden Ideas I was anxious to get my hands on this book thinking how helpful this would be for us.
Small Space Garden Ideas is full of creative ways to use the smaller areas around your home to create a wonderful garden whether it be a wall, balcony, porch or window sill! They thought of every type of space in this book and used it so well. Some of my favourite features of this book were the easy to read instructions (great for this beginner gardener!), the material needed, large photographs (not to mention a great amount of photographs for each activity) that really helped me to visualize my project from start to finish as well as pro tips. I found the pro tips to be quite useful and have to started to implement them for my first garden project. The projects ranged from easy to difficult and the same with price range. There is a great variety of both and lots of middle ground for more advanced beginners. You will not be bored with the variety of projects in this book!
I started off small and using their directions planted Rosemary for our window sill which I am hoping to transplant into our garden when the weather becomes nicer. I had no idea I was supposed to be putting rocks in the bottom of the pot so that the roots don’t sit in water (oops – maybe this is the cause for all of my dead plants??). I am keeping my fingers crossed for good results and I have high hopes this time! I am determined to have a green thumb this year.
Do you have a book lover in your house that would love books for this Mother’s Day? Make sure to check out the Mother’s Day Boutique to receive 30% off your order!
What kind of books would your Mom love to receive for Mother’s Day?
Disclosure: I received the above mentioned book free of charge in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
May 8, 2014
Mother’s Day books: Family Cookbook #DKCanada
Ensuring that I have healthy, good quality meals on our table every night is extremely important to me – my only problem? Coming up with a good variety of healthy meals that everyone in the family will like! Some days I feel like I am in a cooking rut – what do I cook, what will be the easiest to get into my boys and not to mention what is going to be the quickest to cook (can’t believe I just admitted that to you all!).
DKCanada’s Family Cookbook is the perfect solution for those stuck in the recipe rut. With more then 700 recipes (yes- 700!) this recipe book is full of delicious and nutritious recipes. The recipes are easy to prepare and easy on the budget. The ingredients were simple and easy to find in the pantry. DKCanada’s Family Cookbook includes recipes that are perfect for all taste buds – from the picky eaters all the way to foodies. They even had a section for making your own baby food (so helpful!).
Some of my favourite features of the Family Cookbook includes the variety of the recipes, large photographs to showcase the recipe, easy to read directions (no small print here like I am accustomed to in so many cook books) and helpful tips that follow each section. I found some excellent freezing tips and tricks on seasonal cooking which I can not wait to put to use this summer!
The cookbook is divided into several sections including (but not limited to!) fish, poultry, meat, side dishes, rice, pasta, desserts and baking. There are plenty of recipes in each section to add plenty of variety to your family’s diet. We started off with the chicken stock (photo below) and used it in several of the recipes that are included in the cook book – pretty awesome right?!
Do you know a Mom that is a foodie? Or a Mom who just really loves to cook and try new recipes? Right now DKCanada has a 30% off sale at the Mother’s Day Boutique! You can save on books for your Mom just in time for Mother’s Day.
Disclosure: I received a copy of the above mentioned book free of charge in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
