Max & Ruby show giveaway

Giveaway
If you would like to win a Max & Ruby prize pack that includes a cute DVD and book please leave a comment on this post and enter through the rafflecopter below before September 15th.  The giveaway is open to people in Canada.
Update: The winner is Fanterra
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Canadian Tour Dates
November 9 – Surrey, BC – Bell Centre (6:30pm) - $26.50
November 10 – Vancouver, BC – Centre for the Performing Arts (1:00pm) $28.50, $25.50, $22.50 
November 12 – Kamloops, BC – Sagebrush Theatre (6:30pm) - $27.50
November 14 – Kelowna, BC – Kelowna Community Theatre (6:30pm) - $27.50
November 17 – Red Deer, AB – Memorial Centre (1:00pm) - $25.50
November 18 – Edmonton, AB – Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (1:00pm) - $28.50, $25.50 November 20 – Fort Macleod, AB – Empress Theatre (6:30pm) - $26.50
November 21 – Calgary, AB – Epcor Centre’s Jack Singer Concert Hall (6:30pm) - $28.50, $25.50 
November 23 – Saskatoon, SK – TCU Place (6:30pm) - $27.50, $25.50, $23.50
November 25 – Regina, SK –Conexus Arts Centre (1:00pm) - $26.50
December 13 – Hamilton, ON – Hamilton Place (6:30pm) - $28.50, $25.50
December 14 – Peterborough, ON – Showplace Performance Theatre (6:30pm) - $26.50
December 15 – Toronto, ON – Sony Centre (1:00pm) - $43, $35, $27, $20
December 18 – Ottawa, ON – Centrepointe Theatre (6:30pm) - $28.50 

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Max & Ruby in the Nutcracker Suite coming to Toronto

Max & Ruby will be performing in the musical Nutcracker Suite in select provinces/states in Canada and US this holiday season from November 9th till December 18th.  

Coupons and Contest
From August 21st to 23rd we can use the code ENCHANT to buy our tickets.  
Enter this Facebook contest for a chance to win 4 tickets to the performance.

Download free activity sheets and learn more about the show and its locations/dates.  

We are excited that Max & Ruby in the Nutcracker Suite will be coming to the Sony Centre For The Performing Arts (1 Front St. E Toronto M5E 1B2) on Saturday, December 15th at 1:00 p.m.

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Win tickets to Toronto Fall Home Show

Toronto’s largest Fall Home Show presented by Scotiabank runs from September 20-23 at the Better Living Centre Exhibition Place, 195 Princess Boulevard Toronto M6K 3C3.

The show will features more than 300 renovation and home décor specialists offering advice, solutions and inspiration for a wide array of home renovation and décor projects for our home.

• The Main Stage is presented by HGTV, where local experts and celebrities will offer insight, inspiration and advice.  
• Design Equations by Casalife and Benjamin Moore bring solutions for today's design and décor challenges.
• Discover innovative new trending products and design solutions with Tina's favourite fall finds.  
• Habitat for Humanity will have an ultimate upcycle challenge where we can see household items being repurposed.  
• Building Industry and Land Development (BILD) and Reno & Decor Magazine will give people opportunity to ask renovators one-on-one free advice.
• And lots of other programs...

Show dates and hours:
Thursday, September 20, 2012   11am to 9pm
Friday, September 21, 2012        11am to 9pm
Saturday, September 22, 2012    10am to 9pm
Sunday, September 23, 2012      10am to 6pm

Admission:                              

Adults:                            $15.00 at the door / $12.00 online
Senior (65+):                   $13.00 at the door / $10.00 online
Children 13-17:               $13.00 at the door / $10.00 online
Children 12 years & Under:   FREE

Giveaway:
2 people can win 2 tickets each to the show (it is free for children).  Giveaway ends on September 5th.  Open to people in Canada.  Please leave a comment on this post with an email or social media name so I can contact you back.
Update: The winners are Colleen and Victoria
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Making bulletin boards, My little pony and Power Rangers

My little pony is one of my children's favourite.  They were excited to watch My little pony friendship is magic: royal pony wedding on DVD.  The movie is available to purchase since August 7th.  This movie from Shout! Factory is made in collaboration with Hasbro Studios.  

There are 5 episodes:

A Canterlot Wedding, Part 1

A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2

Hearts And Hooves Day

Sweet & Elite

The Best Night Ever

Here are some printable colouring sheets and activities.

The DVD can be bought on Amazon, the series is currently airing on Hub TV network in the US.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1 Volume 1 will be out on DVD August 21st.  There are 3 discs 30 episodes that is over 10 hours of family friendly entertainment.  

You can preorder on Amazon and ShoutFactory.  I watched Power Rangers growing up with my siblings and I enjoyed watching it with my children.

The Lorax has also been out since August 7th.  We attended the kids workshop at Home Depot to make these bulletin boards and coloured Lorax themed art.  

Children made Framed Bulletin Boards using a kit... to make it at home you will need the material below, which can be bought at hardware and craft stores.

1 top and 1 bottom framing piece (look at the picture for a better idea)

2 side framing pieces

1 cork board

4 long nails

2 short nails

1 sawtooth hanger

hammer

1. Attach one of the long sides (top) to the width side, using a nail and a hammer.
2. Insert the cork board into the slot and put the other long (bottom) piece over it and attach it with a nail.
3. Push the framing piece on the cork board and nail it.
4. Lay the board facing down and use 2 small short nails to attach the sawtooth hanger.

Start pinning :)

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Staples Back to School event and contest

Staples Canada is the largest office products company that has a wide choice of office services and products.  Staples offers an assortment of designs and essentials throughout the year to fit the needs of students from kindergarten to college and university.

Here are some product trends:
The Staples Better Binders that mix and match notebooks, pencil pouches and other basics come in beautiful themes such as Sugar rush (vibrant candy-coloured hues) and Graphic Fantastic (retro 80s sci-fi era).
Everyone will enjoy the cute cool lunch bags such as the built NY lunch bags, fun lunch bags and personalized water bottles.  I liked the stylish lunch bags i.e. Elle for girls and ladies.

Staples has a wide range of backpacks that come in fashionable colours, Disney themes to attract the princess and superhero fans.    
Older children can choose from the selection of ergonomic bags i.e. Hilroy Five Star backpacks to help avoid injuries because the shoulder straps ensure even distribution of weight and sits correctly on the back.  
There are lots of products and learning supplies for educators, preschoolers and young children. 
 
I liked all the locker gears.  The selection of locker accessories are vast, wish some of these were available when I was in high school :)  Everything was in fashion inspired colours and patterns.  They also have different styles of Dudley combination locks.  
There are lots of innovative stylish calculators and earbuds.  The Crayola Earbuds looked really cool.
Many products were in animal prints such as pencils, books, scissors and many more.

The functional flash drives were very neat, everything looked cool enough for us to start a collection.  There were different types of USB drives i.e. cartoon characters, movie characters and cars.  I liked the car USBs; I wouldn't have thought these were flash drives.

I liked the products that were available for home office and geared for moms to help stay organized such as the planners, colour coding files, labels etc.

Staples back to school 7th annual school supply drive
Many Canadian families struggle to provide their children with the supplies needed to succeed; so Staples Canada along with the customers are collecting money or supplies until September 9th.  
Support your local community by donating.  All donations remain in the respective local communities.  These items are not just tools, but a way to start the school year with confidence and enthusiasm.  Staples goal is to raise a total of $1.5 million.  

Contest
Build Your Backpack on the Staples Canada Facebook and win school supplies prize packs.  Students will be encouraged to share both their creativity and wish lists through the app.

This pen reminds us of the upcoming September 14th Finding Nemo on 3D coming to the theatres, are you excited to SEA it as well :)
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Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax movie is arriving on Blu-ray 3D and 2D combo pack on August 7th.  The story of the movie is based on the best-selling children's book by Dr. Seuss.

3rd Annual Wild Blueberry Festival

Celebrate the 3rd Annual Wild Blueberry Festival at Evergreen Brick Works on August 11th from 8a.m. to 3p.m.  Everyone is welcome to attend this free event.    


There will be...
hands-on workshops for children and adults, 
wild blueberry pie bake-off, 
wild blueberry tie-dye, 
listen to stories, 
face painting, 
meet growers and local chefs making savoury and sweet dishes 
and many more things.  


Happy Wild blueberry month :)

Evergreen Brick Works is located at 

550 Bayview Avenue, Toronto

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Fresh from the Field Riverdale farm event

Did you know 60% of Ontario's younger generation is unaware of where their food comes from?  As a reason, Farmers Feed Cities has taken initiative to educate people about farms.  My family and I were invited to Riverdale farm to learn about farm life, visit the farm animals, to play interactive games and to speak with farmers.

Green living show 2012

The Green living show, North America's largest green consumer event will be held from April 13th to 15th at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition place. There will be over 400+ exhibitors and companies in Canada that will exhibit all types of product categories; energy, food & beverage, health & wellness, home & garden, transportation, eco-tourism & recreation, fashion & beauty...

Here is the schedule

Friday April 13th 10 AM to 9 PM

Saturday April 14th 10 AM to 9 PM

Sunday April 15th 10 AM to 6 PM

Free admission If you bring electronic waste to recycle sponsored by Samsung and Sears. Children under 12 years accompanied by adults get in for free as well, a good opportunity to teach children about green living.

Elementary schools get in for free when they participate in the Passion for E-recycling school challenge.

Join other green-minded Canadians, learn and enjoy from these fabulous attractions. Some of the cool ones :)

EcoKids Zone sponsored by Earth Day Canada will provide entreating workshops to create crafts, seed balls, eco activities and live animal presentations.

Learn about the importance of birds for the ecosystem and watch live bird attractions

Interactive exhibition about Canada's oceans

Explore new innovative electric mobility technologies hands-on at the vehicle show and test drive environmentally friendly automotive.

Bring your bikes, there will be valet bike parking weather permitting.

Swap your pre-loved DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs

There will be a farm fresh fare with restaurant chefs making gourmet meals using Ontario grown ingredients. Part of the proceeds from the Farm Fresh Fare ticket sales will go to Evergreen's children's food program and Slow food Toronto's learning garden programs.

There will be an Eco fashion show, farmer's market, job forum and lots more...

Follow on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date. Looking forward to see you guys there :)

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Disney Dare to Dream comes true

My children have been talking about going to watch Disney on Ice for several weeks before we went :) and we were excited to be at the show on the opening night. The doors to the event at the Rogers centre opened at 6 pm and the program cheerfully started at 7 pm. The show started with the story of Princess Tiana from Princess and the frog. It was a little distractive with people coming in late and trying to find their seats especially since the seats at Rogers Center are small.

The story of Princess Tiana was my least favourite part of the show.  My children were enjoying it, although I am not sure how much of the story they followed because it was a while ago that we watched this Disney movie.  It would have been nice to have watched Aladdin or something else instead of Princess and the frog :)

Cinderella was the second story of the show, which we all enjoyed. The familiar story of Cinderella was well presented. We enjoyed watching the beautiful horse carriage and the colourful ball. There was a little break for the ice to be cleaned and for us to stretch our legs, use the washroom and get some snacks. The prices of almost everything that was sold at the show was $12; despite the price almost everyone there including us :) got a souvenir.

After the break was Tangled, this was our favourite Disney on Ice Dare to Dream performance.  I think you would agree with me :) It was vibrant, beautifully presented with lots of lovely special effects such as the lantern. The skating and acrobatic moves were remarkable. Tangled was the first movie my son watched at the theatre and both my children have watched it many times. This Disney story is one of our favourite so I could see that my children were excited when they were watching.  It was cute when Maximus the horse in skates appeared :) The costumes were very creative.

The finale was grand indeed.  We met all the Disney couples beautifully dressed in shimmering white clothing.  My daughter was super excited, she was telling the names of all the couples. The presence of Goofy, Donald, Mickey and Minnie as hosts were a lovely idea because they gave the opening remarks of each part of the show. Mickey and Minnie were also on the shiny ice floor. Disney on Ice Dare to dream is a fabulous show, which was a little over 2 hours with the break.

Glad I got the opportunity to see the show with my family and to host the giveaway for another family in Toronto to attend the show.  Here are some words of appreciation from the winner, Sadaf and her family... "The Disney On Ice show was mesmerizing." 

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IceFest Canada's Winter Wilderness carvings

We went to enjoy the IceFest on a chilly winter day. It was a lovely experience for the children and us to see how ice sculptures are carved.

The event was sponsored by businesses around the Bloor-Yorkville area, and the ice sculptures that were carved represented the sponsors.

We enjoyed watching the ice carvings. It could have been more organized by the ice carved village. We couldn't capture the cute creative ice village because of the crowd; it would have been better if people could enter through one way and exit the other.

We got complimentary gogo crazy bone toys inside the ice kiddie cubes after waiting in line for a while. It would have been nice if the companies had sponsored complementary hot chocolate because it was pretty chilly.

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Springfest ticket giveaway

3rd annual Toronto Springfest will be at the Downsview park on March 12, 13 and 14.

If you want to win $50 worth of tickets for 2 children (admission and unlimited ride bracelets) and 2 adults (admission to the event) leave a comment with your email on this post by March 8th.

It is at 40 Carl Hall Road

10 a.m. to 5 p.m

Free parking

Lots of attractions, shows and indoor rides for children age 2 to 10.

Midway rides, inflatable jumping castles, slides, fun game zone, pre school play area, interactive games and prizes for all ages.

They will also have venders, characters, face painting, video arcade, food, drinks and lots more.

Live theatre shows will start at 10:30 and 2:30.

See you there.

Updated The giveaway winner is Sadaf.

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IceFest 2012 Canada's Winter Wilderness

This February the annual IceFest is happening at Bloor-Yorkville area from February 24th to the 26th. This year the theme is "Winter Wilderness."

This year there will be ice sculptures such as Ice Log Cabin, Lumberjack, Moose, totem trees and more. You will get to watch the artists put the finishing touches on 30,000 lbs of ice on the 24th.

On February 25th and 26th between 12 p.m to 5 p.m the festivities will continue with the ice display, on-street performers including skating performances by "Glisse on Ice", ice carving demonstrations and tasty treats from Baker Street desserts. Children will get "Ice Kiddie Cubes" with a collectible Gogo's crazy bones toy inside.

Come celebrate this family friendly Free event.

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Disney On Ice Dare to Dream

Disney On Ice Dare to Dream is coming to Rogers centre in Toronto during the March break from the 14th to 18th. We are super excited, to watch Disney On Ice. You too have a chance to win tickets to go with your family, by leaving a comment on this post. Make sure to leave your contact information so I can reach you or Email me.

Contest ends on February 14th.

You can purchase 4 tickets for $44 if you are watching performances on weekdays (Monday through Thursday) or save $4 per ticket for performances on weekends (Friday through Sunday) with the code MAMA.

Updated: Winner of the giveaway is Sadaf

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Tofu stir fried with Chinese cuisine inspired VH sauces

Tofu stir fried with VH sweet and sour sauce

I like the variety of VH products that are available. This is a lovely way to start introducing diversity to our meals. These sauces will impress anyone. Whoever tastes the dishes made with VH sauce will know that it tastes just like the cuisine is supposed to taste. They might even think that you got take out because the food is ready within minutes.