Wordless Wednesday - Beautiful LINKY

My husband took these gorgeous pictures of our daughter today and I just had to share them!

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Olivia's Princess Tea Party Birthday

We had Olivia's 5th birthday party today! Her actual birthday isn't until December 8th but we decided to have her party a little early.

Here are a few pictures for you all ...

(face painting done by my dear friend Michelle... isn't she amazing?)

I'm so glad Olivia had fun!! :)

Happy Feet Two for Wii #GIVEAWAY!! CLOSED

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Dave for winning. 
Happy Feet Two – The Videogame is a musical adventure game for the entire family inspired by the whimsical Antarctic world of the upcoming animated film Happy Feet Two. In the game, new dangers are threatening the penguin nation, and it’s going to take everyone working – and dancing – together to save them from extinction. Players use dance moves to recruit penguins with unique abilities that help advance the adventure, stun opponents and enemies, as well as manipulate the environment around them to solve co-operative puzzles.

Product Features
Platform: Nintendo Wii

• Tap to the beat: All new, controller-based dance system that uses the player's rhythm to bring the Antarctic landscape to life. Use dance moves to stun enemies and help recruit other penguins to join the cause.
• Get in to the rhythm with a friend: Co-op play as Mumble and Ramon and unlock special challenges along the way
• Dance the adventure?in 3D! PS3, Xbox 360 and 3DS presented with both standard and 3D gameplay modes
• Game soundtrack comprised of original music by 3-time Grammy Award winner Ozoma

GUEST REVIEW by my husband Doug!

The happy feet two videogame was a bit of an unknown for me as we have not yet seen the second film which this game is based on. I was also a little sketchy on what you would 'do' in the game.

Turns out you dance your way to finding Mumble's son who has run off. The game play is simple enough and everything is made easier if you can follow the beat of the music, which is highlighted visually with several cues. The game is rated "E" and I truly think that most kids will be able to sort out how to play this game. The path is fairly straightforward with some twists and yet there was bonus items that I was unable to locate the first time through the level. Two can play at the same time and there is some co-operative game play.

I think the game might get a bit repetitive for older kids, but it's a neat game. Our kids all enjoyed it (ages 9, 8 and almost 5). As you move along you collect note shaped bonuses that can be used to open new songs and improve the ones you've already unlocked.

I'd recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of the movies or for someone who has younger kids who needs something they could play. This game would make an excellent Christmas present!

Enter to win Happy Feet Two- the videogame for Wii!

I have one extra copy of this game for one of you lucky readers to win!How to Enter:

MAIN ENTRY:  follow me on google friend connect or subscribe to this blog via email (or both for two entries)

For Extra Entries ( leave a separate comment for each task you complete please):

- follow me on twitter ( @tarasview) and tweet about this giveaway (once per day)

- share, stumble, digg or whatever else you can think of doing for this post (or any other post on my blog) and leave me a comment telling me what you did! (notice that this could be as many entries as you would like to do!)
This contest is open to CANADA (including Quebec) and the USA!

Contest ends December 5, 2011 so that I have time to send it out before Christmas. 

Winner will be chosen randomly.

*please note I was sent 2 free copies of this game for review/giveaway purposes*

Wordless Wednesday- New Headshot! LINKY

(Photo by CL Buchanan Photography)

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Smalltown Poets Christmas!

Christmas is easily my most favourite holiday of the year... I love it!! I haven't decorated the house yet but I have already started listening to Christmas music and I am getting pretty excited.

I was given the chance to review the Smalltown Poets Christmas album and I really love it. 

Just in case you don't know much about the Smalltown Poets here is a brief overview:

Smalltown Poets burst onto the Christian music scene with their Grammy-nominated self-titled debut on Ardent/Forefront (EMI) in 1997 and released two more albums with the Memphis based label. Three number one singles and a total of ten top ten radio hits helped garner two Best Rock Gospel Grammy nominations, seven Dove Award nominations (including best new artist) and aBillboard Music video award for the band. Their song Anything Genuine was featured on the platinum selling WOW 1999 compilation. In 2004 the band released It's Later Than It's Ever Been on BEC(EMI.)


The band regrouped in the fall of 2010 to begin production on their 5th studio album, Smalltown Poets Christmas. The band co-produced the project with former Smalltown Poets drummer Matt Goldman (Underoath, Third Day, Casting Crowns, Copeland).


The album will be available to fans on Nov. 1st of 2011 through iTunes, CD Baby, and other online outlets. The band will be doing Christmas concerts across the South and Midwest in December of 2011, joined on select dates by fellow bandsEchoing Angels and Elishah.

The Smalltown Poets Christmas album is beautiful- it is a great mix of old and new Christmas songs done with a Smalltown Poets flair. I have listened to the whole album dozens of times over the past couple weeks and am totally not bored of it yet. I really can't pick just one favourite song off the album but I think their versions of O Little Town of Bethlehem and On Christmas Day are especially fantastic.

My husband loves Christmas too... but his passion for the holiday doesn't even come close to mine so when I first put on Christmas music this year he gave me a sort of exasperated "really?" look... but even he enjoyed this album!

Take a listen and see what you think...





You can follow Smalltown Poets on twitter, find Smalltown Poets on Facebook and check out the Smalltown Poets Youtube channel as well.

You can buy this fabulous Christmas album for less than $10 on iTunes (or Amazon) and it is a wonderful way to get in the Christmas spirit!

I really do love this album :).

Christmas is in 33 days!!!! YAHOOOOOO!!

the Perfect Plus Size Clothing for Christmas

I have mentioned Satin Woods Boutique before on this blog because I just love them but I wanted to point out that they have the most beautiful plus size clothing for women and there is still time to order before Christmas!

You can see the beautiful Satin Woods outfits I have in my Blissdom Canada post but here are a few of my favourite new arrivals in their shop:

I love this red dress- it would look amazing at a Christmas party...

 I think this pretty top looks like it would be really comfortable to wear as well as lovely to look at...

and this bellini would look great all year round...

The customer service at Satin Woods is top notch and you can also purchase gift certificates for the perfect gift. Satin Woods is a Canadian company but ships to the USA as well.

It can be ridiculously hard to find beautiful plus-size clothing but Satin Woods makes it easy!

Prima Princessa Presents Sleeping Beauty

Description: 

Created by two stay-at-home-moms, Prima Princessa DVDs for ages 3-6 feature an enchanting, child-friendly combination of professional ballet performances and ballet dance lessons. In each show, the cartoon ballerina fairy, Prima Princessa, takes a group of preschool age children to see a condensed version of a classical ballet and in between acts, the children practice ballet steps demonstrated by students from the School of American Ballet, the official academy of the New York City Ballet. London's Royal Ballet stars in "Prima Princessa Presents Sleeping Beauty", a fairy dust filled spring-time adventure that is sure to inspire the ballerina in any child. At the end of the show join Prima Princessa for a magical tea party bonus feature and fun craft projects.


PrimaPrincessa.com brings ballet to the whole family with ballet inspired coloring pages, a ballet dictionary, educational games, links to ballet schools and more. Prima Princessa’s blog TutuZone.com features craft projects for girls and other fun family activities.

OUR REVIEW

Prima Princessa Presents Sleeping Beauty is great for any little aspiring ballerina. Olivia (who turns 5 in a few weeks) watched the whole show from start to finish. Several times she got up to imitate the ballerinas and dance. I asked her what she thought and here is what she told me:

Olivia- I like it. I didn't like the evil queen. Sleeping beauty was pretty. I liked the costumes. I want clothes like that. 

At the end of the DVD there is a few little extras- one being the Prima Princessa Tea Party. Olivia was very impressed and has asked several times to have a tea party "just like that".

As you might expect my boys has zero interest in this DVD. Not a surprise considering it is really not geared to boys in the 8-10 range!

If you have a little ballerina dancing around your house than this DVD might make a great Christmas present :).

Ben 10 Galactic Racing for Wii review

Ben 10 Galactic Racing for Wii

Here is some information about the game from the manufacturer ...

BEN 10 Galactic Racing lets players use offensive and defensive attacks themed to each character’s abilities as well as unique Omni-Node Pick-Ups, including a special Ultimate power that unleashes a super-charged, race-changing boost of speed, for those who fall too far behind.  Players can race with or against friends in any of the various game modes where up to fourplayers can compete on the same screen at one time.  These modes also allow players to win Galactic Grand Prix trophies from each of the circuits or race their favorite tracks in an attempt to set record-breaking times in Time Trials mode.

BEN 10 Galactic Racing introduces the character Fasttrack, one of Ben’s new aliens making his video game debut on Xbox 360, the Wii™ system from Nintendo, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Nintendo 3DS™.  Nintendo DS™ players can play as Diamondhead, another popular alien hero from the series, who uses one of his mighty fists to shoot shards to block other racers!

GUEST REVIEW by my husband Doug


This game caused a good amount of excitement when it arrived at our house.  Our younger son, Owen, is a big Ben 10 fan.  He was anxious to play the game.

We were able to play a little together and I have played the game a little myself.  It’s a fun game.  If you’re familiar with the Ben 10 series there is many of the characters available to race with, with each you can choose one of two ‘cars’ to race with.  So there’s lots of variety of racers, something my kids really enjoy, they love being able to make their onscreen racer look and feel different.

The game is reminiscent of Nintendo’s MarioKart for Wii, but with a completely different look and feel, due to the Ben 10 theme.  The controls are slightly different, which threw me for a bit.  

It does take a while to figure out what each of the power ups do, but that’s part of learning a new game.  The game is not as easy as you might expect.  So while we had a blast playing the multiplayer game, I had a more difficulty then I expected playing the first few tracks due to the fact that I kept losing.

All in all, good game premise, decent graphics, and fun gameplay.  I’d recommend this game if you have a big Ben 10 fan in the house or if you’d like a good multiplayer racer.  However, if you have other kart style racing games and don’t want the Ben 10 theme, then you might have more thinking to do. This might make a great Christmas present for the Ben 10 fan in your house. 


~Doug

Wordless Wednesday - Love Those Eyes LINKY

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Searching for the Perfect Holiday Dress?

As we get closer to Christmas there are more and more parties and festivities to attend. If you are looking for that perfect dress to wear be sure to check out Dress911.

Some of you may remember that Dress911 sent me this beautiful "Mystery Theatre" dress to wear to the ShesConnected conference...

It was so pretty and SO comfortable to wear- I loved it. They also sent me the lovely "Braided new Start" necklace that I am wearing in the picture. I got a ton of compliments on my outfit that night! I will definitely be wearing the dress again this holiday season.

Dress911 has a great selection of very reasonably priced party dresses in regular and plus-size. Here is a bit about them that I took off their website:

Dress911 is an indie-pendent online dress shop in London Ontario Canada
that offers indie dresses, retro dresses, party dresses, and indie clothing all
at awesome prices. We work to bring in a variety of dress styles that are unique,
just like you. Shop online or in-store and If you have any questions regarding a
product or how to purchase your next dress please call or email. Customers in
London, Ontario can visit our new cozy warehouse store location to try on dresses.
Shop online with confidence as we offer free return and exchange shipping.
We have one of Canada's best selections of dresses and add new dresses each
week to our collection, so be sure to come back often to see the latest styles.

Thanks again Dress911.com for helping me look my best at ShesConnected!

Cars 2 Review

Film Synopsis:

Star racecar Lightning McQueen and the incomparable tow truck Mater take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2” when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Mater finds himself torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret mission orchestrated by master British super spy Finn McMissile and the stunning rookie field spy Holley Shiftwell. Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. The fast-paced fun includes a colorful new all-car cast, complete with menacing villains and international racing competitors.

 

OUR REVIEW

When the first Cars movie came out years ago it became an instant favourite with my boys. They were 3 & 4 years old at the time and it didn't take long for them to have the movie practically memorized. My son Owen has always been especially enthralled. He even used to sleep with his Lightning McQueen cars every night. Needless to say when they heard that there was a Cars 2 they were more than a little excited.

We went to see Cars 2 in the theatre in 3D this summer and all three of my kids loved it. They were extremely excited with the Cars 2 blu-ray DVD combo pack arrived in the mail last week. I am sure we have watched the movie at least a dozen times since it arrived.

I asked the kids what they thought and here is what they said:

Aiden (age 9): I like it even better than Cars 1. I like all the race cars.
Owen (age 8): I love the whole movie and I can't even pick a favourite part but the part at the end where they let Mater keep the rockets is hilarious. My favourite car is still Lightning McQueen and Mater is still the funniest.
Olivia (age 4): I like Holly the girl spy car because she can do anything and even fly. And she is pretty. And she likes Mater and Mater is funny. 

There are a couple of fun extras on the disc too- "Air Mater" and "Hawaiian Vacation". Here is what the kids had to say about the extras...

Aiden: Air Mater is really funny and I can't wait to see the Planes movie too.
Owen: Mater got to fly and he is so funny. The Hawaiian Vacation one is funny too when they make a beach out of kitty litter and Buzz is in Spanish mode and Ken and Barbie fall into the snow.
Olivia: I like the Hawaii one where Ken and Barbie kiss. I like Barbie. She's pretty. 

Cars 2 is an all around great movie for kids. It would make an excellent Christmas present as well :).

Remembrance Day at School

Today we went to the Remembrance Day assembly at our kids' school and each classroom had made a wreath as a tribute. I thought they were all beautifully done.

Our son Owen's grade 3 class sang a song and they did a great job!



Our school did an excellent job teaching the kids about the importance of Remembrance Day.

Lest We Forget