Happy Holidays Blogger Giveaway

The Holidays are approaching and schedules are filling up quickly. This is the "most wonderful" time of the year...but we all know how very busy and costly it can get! To help you relieve some Holiday stress, I've teamed up with some FANTASTIC blogger friends to do a Holiday Giveaway !

As bloggers throughout the year we sit behind a screen, typing away with nobody in the room. We hit publish and just hope that our words reach out to somebody reading. We strive to hit your heart and your minds with content that interests you as it has us. Each and every time we see a comment from a reader that acknowledges we have sparked interest, we are validated. With each page view you give to us, we are validated.

We bloggers appreciate our readers!

We want to thank you all for choosing to read our words and to do so, we've come up with what we hope you think is a GREAT Holiday giveaway!

3 readers will each win a $100 Amazon gift card!! This giveaway is open to residents of the USA and Canada who are 18 years or older.

Entry is simple:

1.       Leave me a comment on this blog post telling me one thing you'd buy for yourself if you won.

2.      Sign into the Giveaway Tools form below and enter!!

Entry-Form

Christmas Gifts On A Budget With Groupon Coupons

 This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine

I can hardly believe it's the middle of the November and there are only 38 more days until Christmas! I still have so much shopping left to do and a budget that can only stretch so far. I'm always looking for ways to save money. I stalk the weekly flyers before they even start for deals and I love coupons. A great place to find coupons is Groupon. Groupon Coupons allow you to save on events and experiences but Groupon also shares verified coupons to use at your favorite retailers. These include Claire's, Things Remembered and Shutterfly to name a few. Searching for coupons is easy and you can even search for coupons based on your geographic region!

I found a great deal for personalized Christmas ornaments at https://www.groupon.com/coupons/stores/thingsremembered.com. Right now you can save 20% plus you will get free shipping. Budget friendly and a fantastic gift for the grandparents on your list. Another fab coupon is  15% off your entire order at Ashley Stewart. Save on beautiful clothes for that curvy girl on your list. They promise gorgeous clothes at very affordable prices. You may even find a gorgeous holiday outfit for yourself! Stock up for Christmas and save!

Sticking to your Christmas budget can be easy, just head over to Groupon Coupons and find coupons and promo codes to save at all your favourite retailers!

Saving Money on Kids Beds with Groupon Goods

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine.

Now that my daughter is 3 and growing like a weed, my husband and I have decided it's almost time to replace her toddler bed with a big girl bed. It seems like only yesterday that I was moving her from her bassinet into her crib. Now she's potty trained and talking about going to school next year. So while we may not be quite ready for this next step our girl definitely is! 

We are very fortunate to have my grandparents bedroom set and we have refinished it for our daughter. It's a beautiful set that's over 60 years old and solid wood. My husband stripped and painted the dresser for her nursery and will do the same with bed. So while we have the bedroom set we still need to purchase a mattress and box spring and beautiful bedding fit for a princess. 

So in my hunt for new bedding for my girl I discovered Groupon Goods. With Groupon, you get more than just coupons and you can save on more than just events and experiences. With Groupon Goods you can find amazing deals and services from many of your favourite retailers and items such as electronics, jewelry and items for the home. I found some fantastic deals on bedding! Check them out here: https://www.groupon.com/goods/kids-beds. I have always loved using Groupon to save money and now there are even more ways for me to do this! 

Something I find helpful, is if you log into your Groupon account before browsing you will find deals specific to your geographic location. I also love that there is no sign up fee or membership needed to shop with Groupon. So tell me, what do you love to shop for on Groupon? 

Win Big with @AsanaWomanCA on the #YouveGotThis #Giveaway

In collaboration with Asana and Urban Mommies, we have an incredible giveaway that will set you on a fresh start for fall's new beginnings. Helping you be relaxed, happy, confident and ready for anything, the amazing folks at Asana are sponsoring a giveaway valued at $650. It includes:

1. Beats by Dr. Dre Solo 2 Bluetooth Wireless Headphones - Gold (Value: $299) 2. One Year of Asana Woman assorted pads and pantyliners featuring biowave technology: (value: $110) 3. One iTunes gift certificate (value: $25) 4. Philips Hue starter kit ($130) 5. La Senza Gift Card ($100)

WATER FIGHT! Summer Fun with ZURU Bunch O Balloons

These last few weeks of summer have so hot and humid that you and your little ones may be tempted to crawl inside and hibernate in the A/C but since are summers are so fleeting I've been determined to get my family outside every day. My kids love the water and would spend hours swimming in a pool or sitting on a beach building sand castles but since we can't do those activities every day I've had to look for other ways to stay cool in our very own backyard.

Luckily I discovered the amazing ZURU Bunch O Balloons! These self tying water balloons are a parents dream come true! No more fussing with tiny balloons under the kitchen tap or trying in vain to tie them faster than your kids can break them. With ZURU Bunch O Balloons you simply attach the whole bunch to your hose (it comes with the attachment) and fill. So easy!

It is recommended that you when you fill them, you do so in water. You may use a bucket or like us, use a small pool. After they are full (apple size) shake and they will simply come off the attachment into the water already tied! 

You are now ready for a water balloon fight of epic proportions! These wonderful little balloons are even biodegradable and the straws are recyclable so you can even feel great about soaking your partner  (or kids!) from head to toe knowing these balloons won't hurt the environment! 

You will receive 3 bunches of balloon per pack and each bunch contains 35 balloons for a grand total of 105 balloons! They are recommended for children over 6 but with proper supervision we safely used ours with children ages 3 and 6. They are available at a large number of retailers including Canadian Tire and Costco. 

Don't forget to follow ZURU Bunch of Balloons on Facebook and Instagram!

ENTER TO WIN your very own Bunch O Balloons: 

Win A Bunch of ZURU Water Balloons!

No compensation was received for this post. We were gifted this product to try. All opinions are my own. 

Creating A Love of Books with MeBookz + A Giveaway

When I was a child I always had my nose in a book. Books were my escape to adventure, far away lands and new friends. When I found out I was pregnant with my son I vowed to instill the same love of books in my children. I started reading to him before he was born and that tradition has carried on. We read every night before bed and both my son and daughter look forward to it. It's our time to snuggle up after a long day and read a story!

So you can imagine how excited I was to discover a Canadian company that creates a completely illustrated picture book that is customized especially for your child. MeBookz personalizes your book by creating a character that looks just like your child. You provide them with a photo of your child and the star of the book is born. 

MeBookz creates your story in 3 easy steps:

1. Choose your story- There are a variety of stories to choose from and in both official languages. Most of the picture books are geared to children ages 3 and up. 

2. Add details like hair colour and eye colour and upload your child's photo. In the "Knights and Robbers" book you can personalize more than 1 character but this option will be extended to other stories soon. 

3. Download your book or order a high quality copy that will be mailed to you. 

Ordering from MeBookz really is as easy as it sounds. It took me less than 5 minutes to order and personalize two books.  In less that 2 weeks my children's books arrived and you can see from their very excited little faces how thrilled they were to be starring in their very own books! Even the envelope the books arrived in was personalized!

The caricatures of my children created by MeBookz are fantastic! They truly captured my kids likenesses. And both stories "The Knights and The Robbers" and "Aubrey's Big World: Case of the Missing Skunk" are well written and the perfect length to hold a small child's attention. Starting at $24.99, these books are very reasonably priced and a colouring book option to go along with your personalized story is also available to order. We have read our books over and over since they arrived and I think they will continue to hold a special spot on my children's bookcases for years to come.

The Knights and The Robbers

Aubrey's Big World: The Case of the Missing Skunk

So what are you waiting for? With free shipping on orders of over $100 and the MeBookz guarantee that your book will be error and damage free order one for your child today! Order here: https://mebookz.ca/shop/

MeBookz is generously offering one of my readers a chance to win their very own personalized book! You could win your very own copy of either "Knights and Robbers" or "The Case of the Missing Skunk." Enter here: 
MeBookz Personalized Book Giveaway  

Don't forget to follow MeBookz on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! 

*I was gifted these products to review however all opinions are my own 

Investing in Our Future: #LetsTalkRESPs Twitter Party

Having kids is so rewarding but it is also very expensive- from diapers to clothing to extracurricular activities it costs thousands of dollars to raise a child. And then comes post secondary education. And every year the cost is skyrocketing! The experts are predicting that by 2034, four years of university tuition will cost $84,000 and that doesn't include room and board. That's $21,000 a year per child! This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately even though my kids are small. At night when I sneak into their rooms to kiss them and I look down at their tiny, perfect faces I don't want them to struggle to pay for university the way I did or give up their dreams.

When I finished my post-secondary education I graduated with honours and a HUGE student loan. This debt caused my husband and I to delay getting married, buying a house and even having kids. So my husband and I have promised our kids that we will help them in any way we can when it comes to post secondary education. But we want to have a plan in place for our savings and we both feel that an RESP for each of our children is the best way to do this. And just like you we have lots of questions about them! Luckily the Parent Life Network and Canada Scholarship Trust Consultants are hosting a twitter party to talk about RESPS and there will be experts on hand to answer any and all questions you may have about them- how to get started, how to set up an RESP and how to access government grants. Are you ready to invest in your future?  Then have your questions ready and RSVP below:

#letstalkRESPs Twitter Party
Parent Life Network and Canada Scholarship Trust (CST) Consultants will be hosting a Twitter Party and you’re invited! Join us for an hour of fun to get your burning RESP questions answered. We’ll be giving away $1,000 in that hour!

Date: Thursday, May 5
Time: 9 p.m. EDT
Hashtag: #letstalkRESPs
Hosts: Peter Lewis, CST Vice President (and resident expert), @ParentLifeNet & @CSTConsultants
Eligibility: Canada-wide

Prizing: $1,000 in prizing to be awarded.

For a chance to win a prize during the twitter party you must RSVP by registering here: