Rock of Ages Cineplex Passes Courtesy of Splat!

Giveaway open to Canadians.

As I'm sure you are aware, the Rock of Ages movie hits theatres on June 15th, and Splat is giving away a pair of Cineplex tickets to one lucky This Mom Loves reader!

Based on the Broadway musical and filled with an all-star cast including Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Alex Baldwin and Catherine Zeta-Jones, this is the perfect way to get the summer started. (And based on movie prices, this prize is worth about $452. Just kidding!)



And what is Splat, you may be asking? It's a line of vivid hair colours (wash out or semi-permanent) to help you get in the mood to rock! Visit their website for more details. (And no, I won't be sampling this product myself any time soon. Going blonde was wild and crazy enough for me for one summer!)



If you're interested in the tickets, there's a quick turnaround: this contest will be open for seven days only, closing on Friday, June 8th at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. All you have to do to enter is leave your e-mail address.

Extra entries for following This Mom Loves through GFC, e-mail, Twitter or Pinterest, or liking my brand new Facebook page or Splat's Facebook Page. (See sidebar for links.) Be sure to hit "submit" when you're done!

Good luck, and get ready to rock!




Disclosure: I was provided with two pairs of tickets, one used for the giveaway, and one pair which I will use to check out the movie myself!

Cuddle Covers Giveaway

Giveaway open to US and Canada.

What's not to love about Cuddle Covers?

• like a pillowcase, but with animal features (head, limbs, tail, etc.)
• ultra-soft
• hypoallergenic
• machine washable
• can be used with your own pillow, or an Official Cuddle Covers Pillow  ($14.99)
• reasonably priced at $19.99

I was sent Izzy the Unicorn for review, and held on to it until Maggie's fourth birthday this week. It was her present from her big sister, and she absolutely adores it. I can see it being a nice transition from her security blanket, since she now has a soft and unique pillow to keep on her bed or take with her for overnight travel.

Of course, the wonderful people at Cuddle Covers want to give one a Cuddle Cover (and official Cuddle Cover pillow)to a lucky This Mom Loves reader...and the winner will even get to choose the design!
 
Would you pick...

 

I'm trying out a Rafflecopter form for the first time here...so pardon any hiccups!

If the Rafflecopter widget does not appear below, please click on the link and it will take you right there:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This contest will be open until Thursday, June 14th at midnight Eastern, after which time a winner will be chosen through Rafflectoper.

Good luck, and get cuddling!

As Seen on Pinterest: Family Hands Artwork

Pardon the broken record, but I just keep finding so many great ideas on Pinterest! This time around I was looking for a piece of meaningful artwork for my newly redecorated master bathroom (read all about it, with before and after shots, here). When the work was done in February, I got the bright idea to take a winter landscape photo on our property and have it mounted on canvas. (I think I got this idea all by myself, even without the aid of Pinterest!)

Once the weather finally changed, I no longer wished to look at a snowy scene every day, and I wanted something else. However, I'm not really into buying random pieces of art that don't have any meaning. So I decided to use an as-seen-on-Pinterest idea.

All I needed was a Dollarama frame and some scrapbooking paper (total cost of $3, and yes these were the same supplies I needed for my last Pinterest project). I even found a brushed-nickel (looking) frame with beading on it to match the new mirror and towel bar perfectly.

I traced the hand of all of the members of our household (doing hubby's and Frannie's on white, mine and Maggie's on the printed paper) and overlapped them. I had intended to use another sheet of the patterned scrapbook paper underneath but it looked way too busy with the hands. Instead I flipped it over to its solid-coloured back and used that.

It sits a little low compared to the towel bar, but I wanted to use the same nail as the winter scene (I just can't bear to put another hole in my freshly repaired and painted wall) and it's not like anyone else really sees it in my master bath. (Which of course leads my husband to question why the artwork in there even matters, but I'm in there every day and I want it to be pretty, darn it!)

Original inspiration (not sure whether it's a bigger frame or those people have

smaller hands, but I had no room for a label on mine!):

Source: i.imgur.com via Kate on Pinterest



Wednesday Words

As my students begin writing EQAO today (provincial standardized testing; one of the most anxious times of the year for me) I was looking for some spiritual inspiration.

Although I don't know exactly how these words apply to today's situation (unless the Lord is arriving with the calculators and dictionaries) it's still one of my favourite quotations from scripture:

"Be strong, take heart and wait for the Lord."

Psalm 27: 14

What does that mean to you today?

As Seen On Pinterest: Framing Grandma's Recipe

I added a new piece of decor to my kitchen recently, inspired by Pinterest, of course!

I started with a frame and scrapbook paper from Dollarama (total cost $3) and one of my late Grandma Leahy's handwritten recipes (which just happened to be for Christmas Pudding). It's even wrinkled and smudged...just perfect for this project!

I used the scrapbook paper as a matte and then a tiny bit of tape to keep the recipe in place. (I photocopied the sheet in advance, just in case.)


Et voilà:

Here is the original pin, which I found on Pinterest and added to my "Decorating/Home" Board weeks ago:

Source: homegoods.com via Kate on Pinterest

What a lovely way to preserve the memory of lost family members. I've already looked to the frame to draw strength from my Grandma, in sort of a "You raised eight kids on a farm while living with your mother-, father- and brother-in-law so I'm sure I can get through whatever is troubling me today" kind of way.

Stay tuned for other great Pinterest finds!

This Mom Loves...Facebook?

You guys! I just signed up for this cool new site I found called "Facebook"! You have to check it out!

Yes, it's 2012.

And yes, I swore I wouldn't do it...and I still sort of haven't.

While "Kate Winn" is not (and has no plans to be) active on Facebook, This Mom Loves' page is now up and running!

My reasons for holding out (being a teacher, the whole oxymoronic "private blogger" thing, my fear of frittering away even more hours in front of the computer) are still keeping me from being a personal Facebook user, which is why I have not responded to the friend requests I've received since first setting up an account. (You have to have a personal page in order to create a fan page. And I think I have explained that to most of those people, so they wouldn't be offended. If I missed you, now you know it was nothing personal!)

However, it has become increasingly clear to me that in order to continue growing and fostering This Mom Loves, I must stop ignoring one of the most prevalent forms of social media. I love communicating with my readers, and I am learning that the majority of them go to Facebook first to communicate.

So...please pop on over and take a look. At the risk of slipping into a bad Sally Field misquote, I really hope you'll like me!

Right here:

This Mom Loves

Promote Your Page Too

Links to my posts will be published there, as well as other news and tidbits that I think my readers would be interested in. As well, future giveaways here on the blog will offer a bonus entry for "liking" This Mom Loves' Facebook page.

If any bloggers have tips for how to effectively partner Facebook pages with blogs, I would absolutely love to hear them. I'd also be interested in learning (from any Facebook users) what not to do as a "Fan Page" in order to maintain and grow a following (rather than spamming/annoying/scaring everybody away!) This is all new to me and feedback would be very much appreciated.

See you on Facebook!

Younger Skin Tomorrow With Avon's Resurfacing Expert Smoothing Fluid ~Giveaway~

Giveaway open to Canadians.

Please allow me to preface everything else here by saying that I realize looking younger should not be the ultimate beauty goal. I did a Beauty and Self Esteem Workshop with students this year, and painfully admitted to them that I had actually purchased (and used) a product with "Age Rewind" in the title. This led to a lot of discussion about whether I would really want to rewind ten years of my life: before kids, house and the job that I love. No thanks.

But is it okay to want my skin to look its best? Of course it is. As my regular readers know, my skin has always been "my thing" to struggle with. The acne woes of my youth are now replaced by the onset of fine lines and little age spots, and I've tried all sorts of products looking for improvement.

When I was sent a bottle of Avon's new Anew Clinical Resurfacing Expert Smoothing Fluid (try saying that one three times fast) I thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot, and I've been exceptionally pleased with it.


Some of the product's claims:

• retexturizes skin overnight, exfoliating and replenishing skin to leave it younger, smoother and revitalized
• in a clinical study vs. three professional microdermabrasion treatments over 12 weeks, the product was found to be 79% as effective as a professional microdermabrasion, without the same irritation (or cost. I've done microderm, and while I didn't notice much irritation with it, the cost was significant).

I've found that my skin feels more taut and pores look tighter when I wake up (here I am talking about large pores; see how I've opened up to my readers this year?)  I can even tell if I forgot to apply it the night before. (It's definitely a 'night' product: it gives the skin a shiny look and leaves a bit of a film that washes off in the morning.)

With a price tag of $39.00, it doesn't even break the bank. The dropper gives you the perfect pre-portioned amount of fluid each night so there's no guessing or waste, and my first bottle has lasted me more than two months of almost nightly application. (I requested a second bottle, fearing that the first one would run out before I could get through a six week trial, but have been pleasantly surprised by how long it has lasted.)

You can order this product through your Avon representative or http://www.avon.ca/... or you can enter below to win a free bottle! All you need to do is leave your e-mail address, with extra entries if you follow me on e-mail, GFC, Twitter or Pinterest (links in my sidebar). The contest will run until Friday, May 25th at 11:59 p.m. Eastern, after which time a winner will be chosen through random number generation. Good luck!



Disclosure: I was provided with a free bottle of the product for review purposes. Opinions are, as always, my own!

Anastasia's Picks: Her Latest Book Reviews For Tweens

My ten year old niece Anastasia shares her most recent book recommendations.

THE SHADOW COLLECTOR'S APPRENTICE BY AMY GORDON

Cully is an ordinary boy. He lives on a apple tree farm, goes to the soda shop in the summer, and hangs out with his friends. He is normal except for one thing: Cully has no father. Then, things get even worse. The rest of the family (his three aunties) run out of money! Cully finds a summer job at a pawn shop, but strange things begin to happen there too. Cully's boss has a hobby of collecting shadows. Soon, Cully has a sneaking suspicion. Did the owner of the pawn shop collect his father's shadow too? Cully and his new friend, Isabelle, set out to find if shadow collecting is right or wrong, save his farm, and bring back his father.

What I liked about this book is the climax. The tension gets really high when Cully discovers something new!

What I disliked about this book was the length of the chapters. they could be a little bit longer.

This book is for 9 to 12 year olds.

All in all, I am going to give this book 3 stars!

THE EXCEPTIONALS BY ERIN CASHMAN

Claire is a fifteen year old girl who is caught with a friend who has alcohol in a dance party. She is kicked out of her old school and sent to one for people with special powers. There, she makes new friends and starts fresh. But people have gone missing from the school, and as her parents go looking for them, they go missing as well. With the help of friends, she sets out to save her parents and develop HER special power.

What I liked about this book was the magical powers. I LOVE ANYTHING about magic!

What I disliked about this book was the beginning. At first I didn't know what was going on.

I will give this book 4 stars!
TEMPLE GRANDIN BY SY MONTGOMOMERY

This is a book about a marvellous lady, Temple Grandin, who has autism. But still, despite her differences, she went on to become a successful woman who works on building, making, discovering, and bringing back machines that will make cattle's lives easier. This also talks about Temple's life, past to present. This is an awesome book, and I hope to read it again and again.

What I liked about this book is that Temple has a foreword at the beginning, so I can hear her opinion as well.

There was nothing to dislike about this book. I'll give it 5 stars!