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:

Review- Lise Watier's HydraForce

 Have you heard about the amazing new product from Lise Watier? It's called Hydraforce and it's hydra-protective comforting cream. I was given this product to try by GlamSense- a product testing company like Influenster. GlamSense was started by the Canadian subscription based company Top Box. I'm thrilled to be working with not only a Canadian brand but a Canadian testing company too. 

My skin does not handle our rough Canadian winters very well so this product arrived in the nick of time! My skin had been feeling very tight and dry from the cold winter weather and arid forced air from my furnace. When I opened the lid of this product I was greeted by a lovely fragrance.  Hydraforce definitely has a strong perfume smell to it so if you have a sensitivity to scents I would be cautious with this product. I thoroughly enjoyed the scent of this product but I do not have any sensitivities to smells. The cream is white and opaque and you only need to apply a small amount to your face otherwise it will feel heavy and greasy. It absorbs quickly and feels great under make up or on its own. I used this product for 4 weeks and I did notice a significant improvement in my skin. My skin very quickly stopped feeling dry and felt moisturized again. 

There is also an app you can download called Hydra-Detect. My cream with a nifty little device that plugs into the headphone jack of any phone and connects to the app. It measures moisture levels in your skin and the app tracks that info for you especially in your hands, t-zone and cheeks. The app is available for both Android and iPhone. 

So check out https://hydraforce.lisewatier.com/en/ and find an event in your area where you can find out how hydrated your skin is and get samples from Lise Watier! 

Disclosure: I received the Lise Watier HydraForce kit from Glam Sense to review. All opinions are my own.

Dearest Germaphobes, Has Clorox Got The Toilet Brush For You!

Now when it comes to dirt and grime I'm a bit a of a self professed germaphobe. So you can imagine cleaning my bathroom is not my idea of a good time and scrubbing toilets- forget about it! My toilets is used daily by a 2 year old learning to potty train, a 5 year old boy with bad aim and my husband so you can just imagine the mess!  

So when Clorox Canada gave me their new disinfecting toiletwand to try I was probably more excited than one should be about trying a new cleaning product. But as a busy, working mom I'm always looking for products that will save me time and make my cleaning regime a little but easier.  Clorox Canada did not disappoint. This product really lived up to it's name- it really is like a magic wand for your toilet! It comes with everything you need to get started: a streamlined storage caddy, a handle and 6 disposable refills. 

The caddy is white and will look great in any bathroom. You won't want to hide this toilet brush. In fact, after you try it you will want to show it to all of your friends and family.

Each disposable head comes pre-loaded with Clorox toilet bowl cleaner and all you have to do is attach it to the handle and start scrubbing. It cleans and disinfects and will even kill those nasty bacterial strains like Staph and Salmonella! The Clorox Disinfecting Toiletwand easily reaches those hard to reach spots which means it's tough on those nasty toilet bowl stains stains too. The blue suds are rinsed away easily and all you are left with is a sparkling toilet bowl. It really is a germaphobe's dream come true! 

Once you are done cleaning, pop the used head off and throw it away. The handle is stored conveniently in the caddy. No more sanitizing your toilet brush and no lingering smell in the bathroom. The Clorox ToiletWand can also be used on a variety of hard, non-porous surfaces like chrome, enamel and ceramic along with all toilets. Are you excited about cleaning your toilet yet? I am! Thanks #CloroxCanada for the samples! My toilet has never been so clean. The Clorox Disinfecting ToiletWand cleaning system and refills are available at your favourite retailers including Loblaws and Walmart.