Caring for Baby Gently & Naturally

Caring for a baby can be a daunting task for a first time mother...and even for a mother who's take care of newborns before there is still a lot to think about! Between bathing your baby, calming your little one, etc. there are plenty of things to keep mom busy! Weleda has a great line of baby bath & skin care products...all which are made with natural ingredients and are infused with soothing calendula.

Protect your eyes!

The last week has not been great for gardening around here...it's been rainy, cool, and mostly just too wet to even think about plants and dirt mud. I did a bit of planting on Saturday afternoon, when it was dry for a while, and I was sure glad for my fantastic garden gloves from Dig It! When I was finished, my gloves looked like mud, but my hands were clean underneath! The gloves were great when I attacked the dandelions with my digger a few days earlier as well; the grippy spots allowed me to easily grasp the plant to pull it out, and kept me from getting all that sticky dandelion goop on me. The gloves were easy to rinse off under the tap and most of the mud came off right away. My husband has been working outside when he can, and is really impressed with how the gloves function as well - he can grab and pull out small plants easily with the gloves on, when before he'd have to take his work gloves off to do "fine-motor" jobs.

Dk Discovery Day ~ Eyewittness DVD Flight ~ GIVEAWAY!

We don't watch a lot of TV or movies in our home...mainly when we are sick or as a special treat. :) However, I must admit, that I love to find fun ways for my children to learn...and sometimes watching videos is one of those ways! DK Canada has a great line of Eyewitness DVD's on a variety of topics, and these DVD's are packed full of information!

We received Eyewitness DVD ~ Flight which is perfect for our son who is extremely interested in jets, airplanes, rockets, etc. at this time. I've often heard that people retain information the best when they WANT to learn about that particular topic...so when our boy wants to learn about airplanes, let's do it! :) This video was a great lesson on flight. It included not only information on airplanes, but also included great stories and facts about the first "fliers" - birds & insects. There was a section which included some mythology at the beginning that our 5 year old found to be a little less interesting, but once we got to the parts where it explained how flight happens, and how airplanes are designed and work, he was captivated.

Get Soaked with Hasbro!

The moment the snow melted this year our kids were ready to play in the sandbox, pull out their swimming gear and go have some fun in the sun! Unfortunately it takes a bit of time before it REALLY warms up here in the prairies. :) When that hot weather hits though we will be more than ready to pull out the water toys and get soaked!! Super Soakers are one of the best known blasters around, and Hasbro carries several super soakers that will definitely equal hours of wet fun this summer! We received a few to try out, including the SUPER SOAKER Tornado Strike. Sounds pretty powerful, huh? Well, it is! With one pump you can send a spinning water stream up to 20 feet away! It comes with a detachable stock as well so that you can adjust your blaster to your reach and make soaking your opponents a breeze.

Live Clean for Kids!

We are big fans of the Live Clean company in this house. I think every member of the family uses at least one product from Live Clean! There are a quite a few things I really like about the company in general - maybe the most important is that they have something for everyone!

What else do I like about Live Clean products?

• Made with up to 98% Plant Ingredients*/Petroleum Free
• SLS/Sulfate Free/DEA Free
• Paraben/Phthalate/Phosphate Free
• Pure Vegan / Cruelty Free 
• Enriched with Certified Organic Botanical Extracts
• Biodegradable Ingredients / Recyclable Package / Local Sourcing
• Reasonably priced and easy to find in local shops

Battleship from Hasbro!

Any of you ever play Battleship as a kid? It's definitely a classic, and there's a good reason why - because it's simply a GREAT game! Well, to go along with the new Battleship movie that just came out in theaters, Hasbro has introduced the Classic BATTLESHIP Movie Edition Game. It's the same game, with the same rules, but an exciting new design! You can command the alien fleet, or the human navy which both come complete with movie-based ships to play with. This game has been a huge hit in our home - especially for Dad & son! They've had a great time sinking each others battleships. :) The only downside we found to the new battleship game is that the 'playing boards' are bigger and open up a bit farther than the original game of battleship - so it's a little easier to cheat if you're sitting close together as you can see the other person's 'map' easier. Let's hope that we all play with honesty though and don't peek to see where the opponents ships may be! ;)

TGIF Family Fun Nights with Pizza Hut!! ~GIVEAWAY!!

Ok, so I know yesterday wasn't Friday...but it felt sort of like a Friday, or maybe more like a Saturday! :) In any case, it certainly felt like a day I didn't want to cook supper! I had a bunch of outdoor jobs to do and didn't want to spend a lot of precious nap time indoors preparing a meal. So we called it TGIF Family Fun Night and ordered in from Pizza Hut!

Scholastic Monday ~ Don't Wake the Bear!

This week we are thrilled to feature such a FUN title from Scholastic Canada! I just loved this one, and so did our kids. Don't Wake the Bear! by Steve Smallman is am adorable and whimsical story of the woodland animals who are having a party to celebrate the arrival of spring. There's just one problem...and that would be the big, HUGE bear that is sleeping nearby...

The woodland animal friends do their best to be extra quiet so they don't wake that scary-looking bear and with much tiptoeing and whispering they get the party set up and are ready to start their celebration. BUT while they are taking care of the final details - blowing up the balloons - one of the animals accidentally pops one. And yes...it wakes up that big, hairy, scary bear!

The story continues on and has an ending that is sure to be a "crowd-pleaser!" I would highly recommend Don't Wake the Bear! - it is such a neat little story and it's a great one for our current season of spring as well!

**Disclosure: The product/s mentioned above have been given free of charge from the company or PR firm in exchange for being featured on Glimpse. The opinions expressed in this post are those of Glimpse and have not been influenced in any other way. Please see the full Terms of use.

Getting ready for the sun!

I was going to title this "Getting ready for summer!" But I decided that's not really accurate, because this is about sunscreen, and sunscreen use isn't limited to summer. We're all aware of the issue of UVA and UVB rays...were you aware that your skin needs protection from Infrared Radiation (IRA) as well? I wasn't...

SkinCeuticals recently entered the Canadian market. This US-based brand of skin care products provides advanced skin care backed by science. Their product range includes cleansers, moisturizers, products that protect the skin and prevent skin damage. When it comes to sun care for the skin, they've got you covered!

Spring Must Haves!

Spring is a fabulous time of year! It's filled with new life and the promise of summer just ahead and I LOVE it! :) This spring was extra special for our family as we welcomed a new life into our own family! And to help welcome this new little one we received a few hand-picked Spring Must-Haves for 2012! This list of spring musts is for perfect for new moms...so let's get right to it and see what made the list for this spring...

Being Neat Freaks!!

I don't know if anyone in our family could actually honestly be called a Neat Freak! :) As I look around me right now (play area), I wonder where to start. :) There's been some exciting organizational changes in a few areas of the house lately, and it's enough encouragement to keep on.

You see, a few weeks ago, we received several packages from neatfreak! This great Canadian company has some great organizational solutions to household collections, clutter, and everyday "problem" areas. They make a great ranges of products for children and their rooms as well as for adults. Adult products are available in neutral colours, while children's products are more vibrant and "fun!" I'll tell you more about the adult products in a couple of weeks; for today, I want to focus in on the items our children are using.

neatKids storage and sorting items are available in 2 colour schemes: pink with multi-coloured stripes trim and orange/blue/brown with circles trim as well as some plain colours. These colours work perfectly for our kids, and I imagine they would suit most families. Here's how we've been using the items we were sent:

Original Sprout ~ GIVEAWAY!

When it comes to taking care of your hair I've always had somewhat of a tough time finding natural hair care products that work WELL. It seems that even a lot of the "natural" ones have ingredients on the list that are very unnatural. Baby Grins recently started carrying a new line of bath & body products though that we are really enjoying in our home! The ingredient list truly is from natural ingredients and the great thing is that I can even pronounce most of the ingredients. ;) Original Sprout has created a fabulous, natural line of products for babies, children and adults.

Hallmark Disney Contest!!

CREATE MOMENTS AND MEMORIES WITH MICKEY, MINNIE AND HALLMARK

A little Disney magic can go a long way…all the way to the Magic Kingdom for three lucky families! From now until June 17, 2012 Hallmark and Disney fans can enter for their chance to win a Disney Parks vacation with Hallmark’s Moments And Memories 2012 Contest. See below to learn how you and your family can get in on the magic.

Dino Dan!

Is your child a fan of dinosaurs? It seems like our boys are in that phase right now. So when we were offered the chance to check out a new DVD from the series Dino Dan, I figured our boys would approve. I was right - they did!

Dino Dan is a Canadian/American television series for children ages 2-7. The series is produced in Toronto, Canada, by Sinking Ship Entertainment.  Dino Dan follows the adventures of paleontologist-in-training Dan Henderson as he imagines dinosaurs into the real world! Join Dan as he plays a game of chase with his prehistoric pals, tracks down a mysterious dinosaur and learns how dinosaurs got their names. He uses the scientific method to gather clues and solve mysteries! One of the brand’s partners is the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, Canada. The Royal Tyrrell Museum is Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the science of paleontology.  This museum houses the world’s largest display of dinosaurs.  Dino Dan has filmed at the Royal Tyrrell Museum already for seasons one and two and plans to film again for seasons three and four.

So what is Dino Dan all about?

DK Discovery Day ~ Ultimate Sticker Collection ~ GIVEAWAY!

If there's one thing that kids around the world seem to all enjoy, it is stickers!! There is something about special about stickers, and I know that our kids LOVE them and they get used up far too fast in our home. Our 4 year old daughter especially loves to create scenes and pictures and stories with her stickers.

DK Canada has a fabulous line of sticker books that are perfect for kids and will provide hours of fun and entertainment. We received an The Ultimate Sticker Book - Baby Animals. It is perfect for either boys or girls and I can guarantee that the entertainment value of this book will be great for both children & parents. ;) One of the other features that I loved about the sticker book is that the animal stickers have real-life animals on them! It can be a great learning tool as well for children who are learning about the animal kingdom.

More Laundry, Less Waste with Seventh Generation! ~ GIVEAWAY!

Seventh Generation is a fabulous company that creates some of my favorite eco-friendly and non-toxic cleaners, soaps, etc. The great thing is that their products are readily available in almost any grocery store these days! Their products are loved by many and have been tried & tested and are obviously doing the job well! I'm very excited to share with you Seventh Generation's latest brilliant idea! They have created packaging for their laundry detergent that is made from 100% recyclable materials. So that means when you're done the detergent, just throw that container out into your compost pile, or simply recycle it again! Yes, the container is actually made from recycled paper. The new detergent packaging is made from an outer shell of 70% recycled cardboard fibers and 30% old newspaper fibers.

They've also come up with a recyclable #4 plastic liner and a recyclable #5 spout and cap. It was rather strange to pick up a container of liquid detergent and to feel the 'paper' container in my hands! But completely intriguing as well and I do love the idea of how much waste this eliminates!

Guides for us Gardeners ~ GIVEAWAY!

One of my favorite parts of summer is my garden. I LOVE gardening - thought it is a little tricky at times with four kids 5 and under trying to "help" me. :) Gardening is a great way to spend time outside enjoying the sun & fresh air - plus it's completely practical and productive too since it provides lots of fresh vegetables for us to enjoy!

Although I have now had my own garden for about 10 years, I still feel that there is a lot to learn and often turn to my gardening-expert neighbors for help! I recently received a copy of two great and very helpful gardening books to help me along as well! The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Small Space Gardening is one of them and this is perfect for us. I like to go all-out and plant LOTS of stuff and squeeze as much goodness out of my garden as I possibly can. But when your backyard is not huge, and you live in town the space is often limited! This book is full of creative strategies for gardens on balconies, ledges, planting beautiful borders and walkways, kids gardens, and more. There are piles of great ideas of how to make the most of the gardening space that you do have...even if you live on the top floor of an apartment complex! It has all the information you'll need on which plants to put where, how to keep away those pesky weeds and best of all - how to turn small spaces in productive, beautiful gardening spots.

Giovanni ~ Taking Care of Your Hair

I love the different hair colors that we see in our world. Each person is so unique - and beautiful in their own way! And although our hair really is a small part of our body, it is also an important part and it's great to be able to highlight it, and protect and take care of it. Giovanni knows this and has created a fabulous line of shampoos and conditioners that are made specifically for certain hair colors. From blonde to black and all the hair colors in between, Colorflauge has shampoos & conditioners that have been tailor-made for your hair color!

For Mom on the Go

Have you ever been out and about and realized that your diaper bag is lacking some sort of small, but necessary item?! Or that in the rush to get out the door, you forgot to pack  something that you definitely were going to use? This has happened to me many times! In fact, one time we were in such a hurry to get out the door that we forgot to put shoes on our toddler...in the middle of winter! Oops! :)

Visit Hallmark for Mother's and Father's Day Ideas!

In our recent Hallmark spring "Press Pause" collection, there were some great ideas for Mother's and Father's Day. These products could also be used for Grandma or Grandpa, or for a teacher at the end of the year. Hallmark always has a great selection of greeting cards for any occasion...and these gifts would go over well too.

Scholastic Monday ~ MOTHER'S DAY GIVEAWAY!

Mother's Day is just around the corner...and it's such a special day, isn't it?! A day to celebrate our moms and all they do and have done for us. The job of a mom is a big one, and it never ends...once a mom, you're always a mom...and as a mom myself, I will vouch for the fact that it is the best job in the world. I never knew how deeply my heart could love until I became a mom! So...to help celebrate moms and motherhood Scholastic Canada is featuring (and giving away!) three precious stories for moms to enjoy with their children this Mother's Day!

Hair Accessories for MOM!

With three little princesses in our home now we sure have our fair share of beautiful and fun hair accessories for these little girls. From clips to headbands to sparkly hair ties, they've got quite the collection! However, the one girl in our home who's hair accessory supply is not worth mentioning is mine. Yes, Mom's hair accessories in our house basically consist of plain hair ties. They are a quick and easy way to get my hair out of my face so I can cook, clean, change diapers and play hide and seek! So, is there a better way - maybe even a more stylish way for mom keep that hair out of the way and look great? AND to be able to do this within minutes...or even seconds? It turns out that Stylish Mode was the answer to end my never-ending ponytail hair-do's! Stylish Mode is the perfect place to shop for trendy or classic hair accessories for women. Their shop is filled with a huge selection of fabric headbands, and there is something to suit any taste and every occasion.

May the 4th Be With You!

Do we have any Star Wars fans out there?? Star Wars is often loved by both parents and children alike! DK Canada prides themselves on offering products that can be enjoyed by all ages and they have a fabulous selection of Star Wars books for a variety of ages! This weekend is a special one for DK Canada and to help celebrate it and get the word out to Canadians we received several Star Wars books. Two of their new Star Wars readers were included in the pack...Ackbar's Underwater Army and Chewbacca and the Wookie Warriers. These are Level 2 and 3 readers and are great for those who are just starting to read alone or who already love to read alone. Each book is complete with full color pictures to help bring the stories to life! We also received a book that can be enjoyed by Star Wars fans that are a little older.

Great skin with Vichy!

Just in case you need to add to your list of gift suggestions for Mother's Day, or you need something for the mother (in-law?!) who doesn't make a suggestion list:

Vichy is a French skin-care product company that started in 1931 when Dr. Haller discovered the benefits of Vichy Thermal Spa Water. His idea was to use this therapeutic water and incorporate it into cosmetics. Since then, the Vichy brand has created many products, all designed with our skin's best interests in mind. Vichy choose to work closely with pharmacies and drugstores, as a way to distribute their products while enabling customers to benefit from a professional consultation.

I was sent a selection of Vichy products to try, and from what I have experienced, I'm certain they would make a great addition to any Mom's skin care (or anyone's really!).

Dig it!! ~ GIVEAWAY!!

Has gardening season got your fingers itching? I like to work in the dirt, tidy up the flower beds, get rid of the weeds (there's something very satisfying about getting that long dandelion root out!), plant vegetables...but I don't like to get dirty. Strange, but true.

My mom says I should use garden gloves. She has average-sized hands, that fit a lot of available garden gloves. Plus, she always has short nails, so there's no where for the dirt to hide. I have small hands - so garden gloves are always too big for me. They're too floppy, and interfere with my ability to work, so I usually just take them off again. I also like to have longer nails (sometimes). Nothing fancy, just longer. But dirt under the nails is so unbecoming.

Recently, I was at a gardening trade show with a friend of mine, and we noticed a new kind of gardening glove. My interest was piqued, especially when I noticed that they came in FOUR different sizes. Surely one size would fit me!

2mi.ca...Unique and Fun! ~ GIVEAWAY!

The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in our home...it's where we make food to nourish our bodies; it's where we wash dishes together with our kids; it's where we gather around the kitchen table and spend time together as a family and so much more. Our kitchen is really an important room in our home and as much as boys love their garages, well, us girls can love our kitchens! :)

One thing that I love discovering are unique, fun and useful products to use in the kitchen. 2mi.ca is a perfect place to find products like this not only for the kitchen but for your home and office as well.

Reduce your home phone bills ~ GIVEAWAY!!

We've been looking at our monthly phone bill for a while now, wondering what we could do to reduce it. We have a grouped plan that includes our phone line, our internet connection and my cell phone and is supposed to be discounted because it's bundled. Still, the cost seems high, especially when it's repeated 12 times per year. Going without a landline isn't really something we want to do, and any VoIP (voice over I-P) option we'd looked at didn't have all the features we wanted - one being 911 calling. After all, in a house with small children, 911 calling could be (and has been) very important. Hopefully we won't be calling 911 anytime soon again, but knowing that we can is a very comforting thought. Other services were only available within the United States... what we were really looking for was a digital phone service in Canada.

When I was contacted about netTALK Duo, I was intrigued. Here was another option to our phone bill situation and it had some interesting points. netTALK.COM, Inc., a telecommunications and consumer electronics company offering a variety of innovative, easy-to-use products designed to help consumers save money on phone calls and more, announced earlier this year that the netTALK DUO telephone adapter and digital phone service is now available from coast-to-coast across Canada.

CardSwap GIVEAWAY!!

Enter to win one of 3 $25 Gift Cards from CardSwap!

That's right, 3 of our lucky Canadian readers will receive a $25 Gift Card of Their Choice.

So what is CardSwap? CardSwap is an awesome online environment where you can buy, sell or donate your gift cards.

For Mom in the Kitchen! ~ GIVEAWAY!!

Mother's Day is fast approaching - really!! As a Mom, although I really don't need presents, it's always nice to receive something that everyone has thought about and chosen because it really suits me. Here's an idea that would - hint hint!! It would likely be suitable for your Mom too - and would be great to put on your suggestion list! Do natural soap or natural personal care products appeal to Mom? Read on!!

Upper Canada Soap is a great Canadian company with a large selection of products, extending way beyond soap.  They got their start back in 1969 with soap - bayberry soap to be exact. Things have gone far since then...

With over 2,000 bath and body products to our name, our focus is a commitment to natural product formulations leaving harsh chemicals and preservatives out of the mix. And as always, we keep our products close to home by developing and manufacturing all of our personal care products locally in Canada.
None of our products or ingredients are ever tested on animals.
Our products are sold across North America and in 10 countries worldwide including Costa Rica, Dubai, The Bahama’s and Australia.

Upper Canada Soap has recently introduced its KITCHEN collection. What is it?

An inviting and nostalgic kitchen collection for the home.  KITCHEN by Upper Canada is inspired by the delectable epicurean delights, and creates warmth that will bring you to a place where life’s simple pleasures are the focus. These scents invite you, your family and guests to the most important place in the home: YOUR KITCHEN.

Follow Upper Canada Soap on Facebook and Twitter to keep up on their latest news, including new collection releases!