Win a copy of My Neighbor Totoro in celebration of its 25th Anniversary Edition

My family and I enjoy beautiful, magical animations from Japan such as Arrietty and other Japanese movies. We really enjoyed watching this Studio Ghibli title My Neighbor Totoro, which was recently released on Blu-ray by Disney.

Here is the trailer to this fun family movie.

Kidobi has pre-screened online educational and entertaining videos for our children

In this generation of information technology, many children spend more time in front of screens than on any other activity, while they are awake. We know children learn from what they watch, and while some content is safe and educational, other content that isn’t age-appropriate can be harmful for them.  It is important for us as parents to be aware of the type of content our children watch and provide them with a fun environment where they can use technology to learn and grow.

Win a ROKU 2 and 1 Year Subscription for Netflix

Subscription to Netflix is a perfect year long gift for anyone that enjoys watching movies and TV shows. Netflix wants to help families celebrate moms with a great list of family and mom-themed titles. I watched and enjoyed these movie titles, and would like to recommend these for you as well.

Enjoying sweet and salty kettlecorn while watching The Quest for Crystal Mickey

My children are addicted to this sweet and salty, organic kettlecorn from Neal brothers foods. Since the  product is made with organic certified ingredients in a nut-free environment, I feel good about giving this popcorn to my children to snack on. 

We like the sweet and salty flavour in this popcorn as it satisfies all our palates. It is not overly sweet or salty, and has the perfect balance to make everyone happy. The popcorn doesn't have any preservatives or trans fat, which made it the perfect snack to have when we were watching The Quest for Crystal Mickey.

Disney Junior celebrates Mother’s Day with special shows

Disney Junior celebrates May with new episodes of Sofia the First and the premiere of Tangled. 
We are excitedly looking forward to watch Sofia the First new episodes on Sunday May 5 and 19 at 11:30am ET.

- Sofia the First “The Princess Test” premiere on May 5th will be about Sofia finding out what being a true princess is all about when she is sidetracked on her way to an important Princess Test at her school. 

- On May 19 Sofia the First episode “Baileywick’s Day Off” is about Baileywick’s day-off being frustrated by demands from Sofia, Amber and James until the royal siblings learn about gratitude. 

Learning about gratitude is an important life skill that starts from a young age. As a parent, I think it is important for us to be role models and practice this, so it is easy to teach our children i.e to say Thank you, Please! and to appreciate one another. Gratitude should be a part of our lives and be second nature to us, so we can appreciate life and everything around us.

My Kids Enjoyed Watching Koala Kid

Meet a whole new breed of hero in this laugh-filled, action-packed animated adventure Koala Kid with an all-star voice cast, including Rob Schneider, Tim Curry and Alan Cumming. 

The story is about Johnny (Schneider) a rare white koala bear who just wants to fit in and make friends. But when a twist of fate mistakenly transforms him into a fearless protector of animals, called “Koala Kid,” Johnny finds himself in over his head on a thrilling trek across the outback. With help from his hilarious new sidekicks, including a crafty Tasmanian devil, a lovable lizard and a boomerang-flinging female koala, Johnny may just outwit a villainous crocodile named Bog (Cumming) and become a true hero after all.

My kids really enjoyed watching this movie and listening to the fun filled songs and dialogues; they have requested to watch it again :) It is out on DVD April 30th.

All rights reserved on opinion of the written content Createwithmom © 2011 - 2013. Please Ask First

A Good Hearted Monster That Visited Paris

On April 16th the internationally acclaimed film written and directed by Bibo Bergeron A Monster in Paris will be released.  

This movie is set in the 1950s Parisian cityscapes. The story is about Emile and Raoul accidentally creating a "monster" after having free reign in a scientist's laboratory and spilling potions. Monsieur Francoeur, the monster, is the product of a reaction between a common flea and one of the scientist’s mystery concoctions. 

Everyone in Paris except for Lucille, Emile, Raoul, and the scientist's monkey fail to realize that this "monster" is actually a soft-centered soul with an astounding talent for music. The stories of Paris’s newest monster attract the attention of the egotistical police commissioner who wants to become mayor. Emile and Raoul team up with the singer Lucille to protect Francoeur.

Mystery of Life: Our survival depends on flowers

Before watching the Disneynature Wings of Life I thought the movie was about butterflies.  However, while watching the movie I realized it is called “Wings of life” because it outlines the importance of pollinators such as beetles, insects, bees, hummingbirds and bats that carry the pollen grains to other plants, so the plants can reproduce. I recommend this heartwarming movie for the whole family, as it points out the importance of flowers. This DVD and Blu-ray combo will be available on April 16th.

I also read the book Rainforest by Thomas Marent, which is filled with beautiful close-up photographs of the rare beauties found in the exciting, but dangerous tropical rainforests.  The pictures are amazing, which shows us the uniqueness and the beautiful details found in nature if we just stop to look at it.  

Children will enjoy watching Disney Junior Sofia and previews of upcoming movies

My children enjoy watching Sofia the First that premiered on Disney Junior Channel in January 2013. We are so happy about the newly released 50 minutes DVD of Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess, which my children enjoy watching over and over. 

3D animated TIFF Kids Opening Night Film: The Legend of Sarila (La légende de Sarila)

The Legend of Sarila (La légende de Sarila) by Nancy Florence Savard is an 82 minutes Canadian film inspired by various Inuit legends that explore the themes of friendship, hope, perseverance and self acceptance. This animated 3D movie is wonderful to watch for anyone over 8 years. The movie shows that life can be harsh and challenging for people who live on the Arctic tundra and how important the animals in the tundra are for their survival.

Win a Family pack of tickets to the Toronto Toopy and Binoo show

If you want to win a family pack of 4 tickets to the Toopy and Binoo show in Toronto for 10 am at Sony Centre on April 27, 2013 then enter the rafflecopter giveaway below before April 13th. 

Our children come only with our own "Parental Guidance"

Parental Guidance is a hilarious movie that has everything you want in a fun to watch family movie.  While watching the movie there were many moments of laughter, sadness, and times that made me step back and think. 

I liked seeing how the movie was portraying what parents do now compared to the past generation parents.  I think it is totally true that every decision we make is up to our own "parental guidance."  Fingers crossed :) we make the right choices.  Parenting is definitely a job without a description or a manual to follow.  I totally recommend this funny movie for everyone parents or not.

Win copy for Return to Nim's Island

Return to Nim's Island is a movie about Nim's determination to protect her island and the animals from the ruthless resort developers and greedy wildlife poachers.  Nim realizes she and her animal pals can’t defend their home alone, so to save her island she gets help from an outsider Edmund, a runaway from the mainland.  
I watched the first movie, which was a fun adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Win a copy of this movie before March 26th through the rafflecopter below.  This giveaway is open to people in US and Canada.

Win a copy of the Willow Blu-ray

In celebration of its 25^th anniversary Willow is now available on Blu-ray and DVD combo back.  This fantasy tale written and produced by George Lucas and directed by Ron Howard points out that heroes come in all sizes.
Win a copy of this fantasy film Willow (1998) blu-ray copy before April 10th.

We had a fabulous experience @Disneyonice Rockin' Ever After

The opening night at Disney on Ice in the Rogers Centre was totally Rockin'.  We had an awesome time.  The show started off with a fast paced, upbeat rock and roll musical that was exciting to watch.  Special guests like Pinocchio and Cinderella's stepsisters joined Mickey and the clubhouse members in the beginning of the show.  My son said he liked it every time Mickey came to the stage.  The four stories highlighted at the Rockin' Ever After show was about Ariel, Rapunzel, Merida and Belle.  

Wings Of Life

Today is Learn About Butterflies Day. I am glad that we had a wonderful opportunity to learn about Butterflies at the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory (Niagara Falls) a couple of years ago. We liked the beautiful feeling of being surrounded by the colourful butterflies.  We also enjoyed standing still and opening our palms for the butterflies to come land on us. 

What we enjoyed about The Berenstain Bears Musical

My children and we enjoyed the wonderful story line of The Berenstain Bears show at the Living art Centre.  The lighting, music, conversation and special effects at the show made it lively.  My children said their favourite part was when Papa bear was telling brother and sister bear the bedtime story about not talking to strangers.  
Before the show began, the audience was asked to take a clubhouse oath to not eat in the theatre or take pictures of the performance.  We were able to take pictures outside the theatre with brother and sister bear.  After the show children were provided with juice and a granola bar.

We sat in the balcony of the RBC theatre in the side edge, which made it very uncomfortable to enjoy the hour-long show.  I believe theatre should be visible and fun from all angles.  There is no designated seating so we can sit wherever we want on the levels printed on our tickets.  Many people like us didn't know about this and found it uncomfortable to watch the show from the top-side angle.  Next time when we plan on a show at the RBC theatre we would go inside the theatre a little earlier to secure comfortable seats.  Despite our seating we enjoyed the show.

All rights reserved on opinion of the written content and photographs Createwithmom © 2011 - 2013. Please Ask First

How To Spend Your March Break and Giveaways

Here are some ideas on how to spend the March Break, I will update the post with more ideas and giveaway :)

Crafts and Activities:
Interactive digital story books for children
Making robots
Making gooey slime with cornstarch
White sauce to serve with vegetables

Shows, Events and Places to go:
Alliance Cinema Toronto movies for $5 (Giveaway)
Berenstain Bears at the Living Arts Centre
Disney of Ice Rocking Ever After 
Indigo Kids Play area programs
SkyZone Toronto

Contests:
Free preview of Disney Junior and $500 gift card
Watch for Easter family events by following the Kinder Canada Facebook page.
Fisher Price picture contest to win $200 value prize packs

Giveaways:
Chasing Mavericks blu-ray and 2 surf bracelets (3 winners Canada and US ends March 31)
Draw Something game (Canada ends March 15) Indigo/Chapters $50 gift card (Canada March 20)
Life of Pi blu-ray (2 winners Canada and US ends March 31)
Netflix 6 months subscription (Canada)
more giveaways on the side bar of my site :)

All rights reserved on the photograph and written content Createwithmom © 2011 - 2013. Please Ask First

Review of Life of Pi and a chance to #win 1 of 2 blu-ray copies

Life of Pi comes to Blu-ray and DVD on March 12th.  This fabulous Oscar winning family movie is about Pi Patel, a young man on a fateful voyage. 

I highly recommend watching this heartwarming family movie with the whole family.

We really enjoyed the way the movie started off with a beautiful Tamil song and vivid pictures of animals in a Pondicherry Zoo. Pondicherry or Puducherry is a place in South India influenced by the French. The architecture and feel of the area is beautifully portrayed in the movie. My children couldn't wait for the part when the adventures of Pi started in the sea.

• It was funny to watch how Pi or Piscine Molitor Patel and Richard Parkerthe Bengal tiger, got their names.  
• The scene where the family was ill-treated by the cook in the ship because they were Indian was heartbreaking.  This type of racial discrimination and prejudice still exists in our society... more about that in another post.  
• I felt really sad when I was watching the scenes of Pi loosing his family and when he retells the story.  
• Pi Patel and the fearsome 450 lb Bengal tiger are the only survivors of the shipwreck.  
• Pi did everything possible to survive by putting his faith in God even in moments of despair.  
• Although Pi knows life is about letting go of things, he regrets not being able to say goodbye in the movie to many people. 
• It was amazing to see this young boy trying to make the best of everything he had without giving up hope and believing that God did not create us in vain. I think this is something many people these days should remember as we see there are lots of people that commit suicide and loose control of their life because of their lack of belief in the higher power.

The wonderful special effects will be really enjoyed by everyone such as the jelly fish lighting up the dark ocean. It was amazing to see how it was filmed with the tiger so close and the Meerkat in the carnivorous island. This drama, adventure movie is based on the acclaimed best-selling novel from Yann Martel that has been published in 40 languages. This magical adventure of hope, wonder, survival and the power of the human spirit is wonderfully directed by Ang Lee.
The documentaries in the bonus feature of the blu-ray are a must watch. This movie won four oscars for best director, original score, cinematography and visual effects.

Giveaway:

2 people from US and Canada can win this giveaway by entering through the rafflecopter below before March 31st.  To be eligible please follow all the social media networks on the rafflecopter and comment.

Update: The winners are Arik and Jo-Anne.

a Rafflecopter giveaway All rights reserved on the written content Createwithmom © 2011 - 2013. Please Ask First

Steamed veggies with white sauce + Perks & Contests from @DisneyJuniorCA

I am super excited to be part of Disney Junior Mom Ambassadors and to bring you the good news and special perks from Disney Junior for March.

Disney Junior English will be available for us to preview for the whole month of March for FREE if we have any of these TV service providers *  You don’t have to have Disney Junior in your TV package to take advantage of this preview.  Find out which channel to tune into using the channel finder.

*Bell, Rogers, Shaw Cable, Shaw Direct, Cogeco, TELUS, SaskTel, Westman, Mitchell Seaforth Cable, Source Cable, Cable Cable, Videotron, MTS, TbayTel, Citywest Cable.

A contest from Disney Junior: 
Watch and Win a $500 gift card to shop at any retailer of your choice.

• To enter the contest tune into the Disney Junior channel daily this March between 6-7pm ET and look out for the secret code.  
• Then, visit DisneyJunior.ca and enter the contest on the same day with the daily Secret Code.  
• There will be a new secret code and a chance to win every day starting March 4th

Don’t forget to set your PVR so you don’t miss the code, while watching the commercial-free programming airing during the watch and win times.  

Keep some healthy snacks like fruits, crackers and cheese with water or juice for your little ones to munch on while they watch TV.  

I like to serve healthy foods like this steamed vegetables with white sauce.  To make the white sauce you will need...
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cube Knorr vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup of milk

Heat the butter, then add the flour and wish.  Add the stock cube crushed and keep whisking.  Then add milk and whisk well till there are no lumps and it is smooth.  
Pour the white sauce over the steamed vegetables or serve it warm as a dip and enjoy.  

The upcoming March break will be We Love our Toys Week at Disney Junior.  From March 11th to 15th, 6-7pm ET we can watch back-to-back episodes of Doc McStuffins with Toy Story shorts between them.  This will lead into an exciting network premier of “Toy Story” on Saturday, March 16, at 6pm ET. 

Disclosure: I am part of the Disney Junior Mom program and receive special perks as a part of my affiliation.  All rights reserved on mentioned photographs and opinion of the written content Createwithmom © 2011 - 2013. Please Ask First