Twitter Party: Sports, RESPs, and $1000 in Prizing in 1 Hour

My son started playing hockey this year. He was so excited all summer waiting for the season to begin. I was excited too but also apprehensive. I worried about him getting hurt (what mother doesn't?) but I also worried about the cost. I want my children to learn and experience everything life has to offer but I also know that some of that money should be invested in my children's futures. 

As Canadian parents, we have big dreams for our kids to follow in the footsteps (skate steps?) of most Canadians before them. Maybe just maybe you are the parent of the next Wayne Gretzky or Sydney Crosby, but you never know unless you invest all your money, time and give up your weekends for out of town tournaments.

Or you can sleep in because 5 AM practice is not for everyone, am I right?
Extracurricular activities can really add up in costs, especially if you have big dreams of going pro. You may even need to get a second (or third) job.
Or you can put the money towards your child education by opening an RESP today and make all of their dreams for the future come true. An education is the best way to ensure your child’s success in the future and starting early saving for it will let your kids know you believed in their dreams even before they knew what they were.

#LetsTalkRESPs Twitter Party
We’re throwing a party! A virtual party. On Twitter. We’re gonna chat about your child’s future and extracurricular activities—like hockey—but also how to save for your child’s education. Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation (CST) Vice-President, Peter Lewis will be on hand to answer any RESP questions you may have. We’re going to be giving away $100 for each question, plus more chances to win for RT’s and participation. New to Twitter parties? No problem, we made this blog for you!

Who: @ParentLifeNet @CSTConsultants
When: Thursday, November 24 at 9 p.m. EST
Where: Twittersphere (using the hashtag #LetsTalkRESPs)
You Need to RSVP for the Chance to Win Cash Prizes!

RSVP Button HTML:

You Need to RSVP for the Chance to Win Cash Prizes!

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:

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. 

Your Child's Future and the #CST Learning Project

Do you ever wonder what your child will be when he or she grows up? I do all the time! I love watching my kids interact in and explore the world around them and as they get bigger with each passing year it becomes more apparent to me that technology will be a very big part of whatever career path they choose. At the age of 2, my daughter knows her way around an iPad better than my husband does! They are growing in this fast paced world where with a click of a mouse I can shop for my groceries without leaving my house or deposit a cheque right from my phone. Technology is part of our every day lives and that isn't going to change. It has already changed the way we work and live.

CST Learning Project Competition

CST understands this and as a result they just launched their annual CST Learning Project competition which funds new learning activities for children with $250,000 up for grabs. (They take the future seriously). It’s part of their cool Inspired Minds program that also includes Careers 2030—a deep dive into the possible careers our kids will have- Robot counselor? Data miner? Are you ready to talk about the future? Check out the CST's website for more inspiration: http://learningproject.cst.org

#CSTLearningProject Twitter Party

Parent Life Network and Canada Scholarship Trust (CST) Foundation will be hosting a Twitter Party and you’re invited! Join us for an hour of fun to discuss the future, robots and all of the possible jobs that will be available to our little ones. We'll be giving away $1,000 in that hour!

Date: Thursday, April 7
Time: 9 p.m. EDT
Hashtag: #CSTLearningProject
Hosts: @ParentLifeNet @CSTConsultants
Eligibility: Canada-wide

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

Important: You must RSVP below in order to be eligible to win the cash prizes.

                                                         

KIDSFEST- Ottawa Get Ready For A Day of Fun!

If you are in the Ottawa area and have young children then you NEED to check out KIDSFEST! It's Ottawa's biggest & best kids expo! It is being held at the Ernst & Young Centre (located at 4899 Uplands Drive, near the Ottawa airport) April 2 and 3 from 10 am-4 pm daily.  I took my family to Kidsfest last year and we had an amazing time!

This year you can expect an even bigger lineup of fun and entertainment as they are celebrating their 15th birthday! Slated to appear are Fred Penner, Little Ray's Reptiles, Francophone TV sensation Mini TFO, Junkyard Symphony and a litany of Star Wars characters and Super Heroes. Other highlights include:

• The eccentric Adam and his amazing Dino Project
• U of O Engineering and Maker Faire Ottawa hands-on learning
• To Go mobile video game theatre
• Live demos on the Inspiration Stage and Demonstration Stage
• Giant inflatables and fun games
• More than 70 exhibitors in education, retail, health and fun
• A charity raffle in support of Roger’s House (Ottawa Senators Foundation)

Tickets prices are: 

Adults: $14 but if you use the code MUSINGS you will automatically save $3 off  an sdult ticket

Children aged 4-17: $8

Children aged three and under: Free

Seniors: $11

Family pass (2 adults and 2 children): $38

Tickets are valid for one day only and can be purchased online or at the door and parking is $8. You are welcome to bring your own snacks or food can be purchased at the event. And this event is stroller friendly! Hope to see you and your family at KIDSFEST! Enter my giveaway below for a chance to win a family pass (2 adults and 2 kids) to KIDSFEST:

KIDSFEST Family Pass Giveaway