#Winnipeg Kidsfest Ticket Giveaway! 2x Family Passes Up For Grabs!

The beginning of Summer means another Kidsfest here in Winnipeg, which means my kids are asking and asking and asking (and so on...) about how much longer until we can go to their favourite local event! The 33rd Annual Kidsfest will be happening at The Forks from June 4th - 7th this year, and the organizers are boasting an incredible lineup of amazing performers and fun activities.

Joining this years festivities are Fred Penner, Splash'n Boots, Summer Bear Dance Troupe, Kif-Kif Sisters and so many more!  

You don't want to miss out. 

Get your tickets and ticket info to The 33rd Annual Kidsfest HERE 

And Enter below for a chance to win passes!  I have 2x Family Passes up for grabs, which means 2 lucky Born 2 Be Mom readers will be able to take their kiddos to this entirely fun-filled event.  

Contest open until Monday, June 1st.  Tickets will be arranged for local pick-up.  

To Enter:  Comment below with what you're most looking forward to doing at Winnipeg's 33rd Annual Kidsfest this year!  


Good Luck!




 

Stars On Ice Review and a Jergens Canada Gift Basket #Giveaway #JergensOnIce

There's nothing I love more than having the opportunity to take my little girlie out for some Mommy/Daughter bonding time. This kid is growing up far too quickly.  In the blink of an eye, she's gone from being my sweet baby girl, to suddenly 6-going-on-16.  We're into Katy Perry, Fashion and YTV.  How does that even happen?!

Recently, I was able to share an experience I always loved as a child with the Little Miss.  I took her, and a few of my closest family members, to see Stars On Ice at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg - All thanks to Jergens.  And what a super cool show it was!  She LOVED it, and so did I.  The music was absolutely perfect, the skaters were unbelievable and the Mommy/Daughter time was priceless!

To share in the excitement, Jergens Canada is offering an amazing gift basket packed with the incredible goodies pictured above, and MORE!  You know you want it.  ;)  

Enter below and don't forget to follow @JergensCanada on Twitter for updates on their latest products!  Their summer collection is fabulous.

To Enter: Comment below with your favourite Jergens product.  Earn bonus entries by doing the following: 

1. Follow @JergensCanada on Twitter and comment that you did so!
2. Tweet out this giveaway using the Hashtag #JergensOnIce and leave a link showing your Tweet

Contest open to Residents of Canada, ends at 12pm on June 03/2015


Good Luck!

Disclosure:  I was provided tickets to Stars on Ice and a Jergens gift basket by Kao Canada.  All opinions in this post are my own. 

Amope Pedi Perfect Electronic Foot File #Review

 I'm always looking for easy gifts for friends and family members that I can throw in a "theme basket." During this time of year, I really like being able to put gift packages together that I know a person will use and really enjoy. This year, I'll be doing up a couple of Spa themed baskets and I've found the perfect bigger item to tuck inside!

The Amope Pedi Perfect Electronic Foot File is designed to treat rough, dry, cracked feet quickly and effortlessly – no soaking required.  To use it, you simply turn it on, and glide the file across the rough parts of your feet.  It buffs away hard skin in minutes, leaving you with soft, smooth feet.  Love it!  I tried it out myself and it really works as promised.  It was quick as well, which I can certainly appreciate as a busy Mom.  I don't often find the time to pamper myself, so when I do, I like to do it right! 

You can purchase the Amope Pedi Perfect Electronic Foot File at Amazon.ca for $39.59 

Additional retailers include:

-          Shoppers Drug Mart

-          Loblaws grocery stores

-          Jean Coutu in QC

-          Uniprix in QC

-          Well.ca

I'll be combing the Amope Foot File in with a nice foot soak, a wash basin, a soft, fluffy towel and some cute colored polishes.  Who wouldn't love that?  What kinds of gift baskets do you like to put together for family and friends?  Let me know in the comments below! 

Enjoy!


 

A Great Rainy Day Activity! - Sands Alive! Product #Review

We've had a lot of rain here this last week, meaning my kids (and daycare kids) who love to be outside have had a lot more indoor time than they're used to!  Because we try and limit our TV time to an extent, this leaves me often scrambling to find age appropriate activities for all of them. 

I was pretty excited to try out Sands Alive!  We've heard great things about this product and I figured my kids would really enjoy it.  I was right. 

We were sent this amazing Sands Alive! - Large Set -- which comes with everything you need for a hands on sensory activity, including 4lbs of sand, shape molds, rollers, cutters, and even a large tub to play with it in! 

About Sands Alive!:
Bring all the fun of the sandbox indoors with Sands Alive! Easily make and mould shapes, patterns or creative sculptures with this unique indoor play sand. The texture of Sands Alive is similar to cookie dough, but completely dry to the touch. Mould it into hard durable shapes and with a soft touch, it will break apart and appear to move! This product a parent tested, parent approved award winner, and is water-soluble, 100% non-toxic and anti-bacterial. Sands Alive won't stain and easily removes from your hands. The Sands Alive Large Set includes 4 pounds of Sands Alive sand, the large sand tray, and 14 sand tools!

 This kit has kept my kids busy for hours upon hours.  They love shaping the sand, making "castles" and all kinds of different things. And I have to admit, it's a lot of fun - I like playing with it, too!  We do find it a little bit messy, but that's more about the kids not keeping the sand in the tub as they're supposed to.  It's great for outdoors, and indoors we just use it in the kitchen.  The sand is easy to vacuum up after play time is over.  I honestly can not recommend Sands Alive enough!  Seeing kids ranging in age from 2 (with direct supervision) to almost 6 playing quietly and cooperatively together is all the proof I need that this toy is a keeper.
 

 

Kidsfest #Winnipeg 2014 Family Pass Giveaway!

Looking for a fantastic day out with the littles?  Winnipeg Kidsfest is happening on June 5th-8th 2014 at The Forks, and I have a Family Pass to giveaway! This will be a quick one, as I'll be mailing the pass out on Friday to the winner. Here's some information about the event!

Highlights at the event include performances by Fred Penner, All Simmons and Jake Chenier among many others.  A list of Activities can be found here.  And check here for the Kidsfest 2014 Schedule.

Enter below -- and GOOD LUCK!  I hope to see you there.  :)

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Sleep Soundly With Baby: Levana OMA Movement Monitor #Review & #Giveaway

When my daughter was born, my first child, I was naturally nervous for the first couple of weeks. While I'd done plenty of childcare in the past, nothing really compares to having your own newborn to love and watch over.  That said, I can't say my fears then come close in comparison to how I felt after my son was born.  True, because he was my second, some things were much easier.  Breastfeeding, for example.  And the basic knowledge that expectations are useless.  But having been on bed rest with him for 5 weeks during pregnancy, with complications and the loss of my twin girls in between my two kids, meant I was very, very on edge.   Looking back, I can see that the reason my baby boy had so much trouble sleeping at night (in addition to the fact that he's always been an eating machine, lol) is because I was a bundle of nerves.  And he felt that.

If I'd had the opportunity to use something like the Levana Oma Movement Monitor, my nights may have been far less restless.  I remember my doctor coming into my hospital room on day 2 or 3 asking if I had slept at all. ... I just shook my head.  I was worried about my boy!  Even when he did fall asleep, I just couldn't stop listening to his breathing.  The bags under my bloodshot eyes were pretty obvious evidence of this.

The Oma Movement Monitor:
Oma™ clips snugly onto baby’s diaper and senses baby’s tiniest movements with a soft, flexible sensor at the belly button area.  Because your baby is in constant contact with the sensor, it is unlikely to give a false alarm, unlike an under-the-mattress monitor. Knowing you will only be alerted if the situation is critical will help you feel more at ease during baby’s deepest sleep. 
If the sensor detects more than 15 seconds of complete stillness, OMA™ will beep loudly to alert you that your attention is required immediately*. 

I love the peace of mind this device gives to parents, giving them the opportunity to get more done around the house, get more sleep or just unwind.  Because the Levana exclusively manufactures baby monitors, they specialize in making them exactly right.  The OMA and all other Levana alarms are digital and wireless, eliminating the risk of cord strangulation.  It's great to know that Levana has baby's safety as a very first priority.  These devices are added reassurance and peace of mind, making them something invaluable to parents.  That said, I always stress the importance of checking on little one yourself periodically -- nothing can replace that! 

The Levana OMA Movement Moniter is available at Walmart.ca for $89.99  
Enter below for a chance to win an OMA Movement Monitor of your own!  Good Luck! 

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Levana. The opinions and text are all mine.

Celebrate, Empower and Give with @MetoWe and DHL Express this Mother's Day

During the various holidays and gift giving occasions, I love to shop where I know I'm making a difference.  The Me to We Shop is the perfect place to look for beautifully created pieces - featuring everything from Jewelry to Clothing, Books and more. 

This Mother’s Day Me to We and DHL Express Canada have teamed up to celebrate and empower mothers at home and overseas with a fashionable gift that gives from one mama to another. The feature piece, Me to We Artisans’ Neno Mom Bracelet, is handcrafted by Maasai mamas in Kenya and provides a connection between the consumer and a working artisan. For each bracelet purchased, DHL Express Canada will donate $5 to provide one health clinic visit to a mother and child in a Free The Children community overseas. DHL Express provides in-kind shipping services to move Me to We Artisans products from Free The Children’s Adopt a Village countries to Me to We headquarters, helping connect over 800 Maasai mamas to a greater market for their traditional beadwork. By expanding the reach of Me to We Artisans products, the mamas are empowered with a sustainable income to lift their families and communities out of poverty.

What an incredible gift to give!  Helping mothers and children in need while showing your own Mom (or your children's Mom) how much you truly value everything they do could not be more appropriate.  This bracelet  is such a gorgeous piece - one you can wear on a daily basis as a reminder of the meaning of Motherhood.  I'm sure anyone would be happy to receive this lovely piece of jewelry.  For me, it's a reminder to count my blessings and to cherish every moment with my two beautiful kids!  Motherhood is a journey for women, no matter where they are in the world.  It's time we start showing more support to one another -- And I can't think of a better way to do so than purchasing the Me to We Artisans' Neno Mom Bracelet for a Mom you know and care about. 

To purchase the bracelet, visit the Me to We Shop - Neno Mom Bracelet 

Visit the Me to We Shop to see other pieces from the "Mamas to Mamas" Mother's Day collection.  

 
 

Million Dollar Arm Advance Screening Double Pass #Giveaway #Winnipeg

Million Dollar Arm is coming to theatres on May 16th, and Born 2 Be Mom is giving away 1 double pass to the advanced screening in Winnipeg on Wednesday, May 14th at 7:30pm @ Silver City St.Vital.  

As a long time fan of Mad Men, I'm looking forward to seeing Jon Hamm on the big screen!  He'll always be the handsome and mysterious Don Draper to me, but in this movie Hamm plays Sports Agent JB Bernstein.  Here's a little bit about the film:

MILLION DOLLAR ARM

Based on a true story, sports agent JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm) finds that business has changed and things aren’t going well for his career. In a last ditch effort to save his livelihood he concocts a scheme to find baseball’s next great pitching ace. Hoping to find a young cricket pitcher he can turn into a major league baseball star, JB travels to India to produce a reality show competition called “The Million Dollar Arm.” With the help of cantankerous but eagle-eyed retired baseball scout Ray Poitevint (Alan Arkin), he discovers Dinesh (played by Madhur Mittal from “Slumdog Millionaire”) and Rinku (played by Suraj Sharma from “Life of Pi”), two 18 year old boys who have no idea about playing baseball, yet have a knack for throwing a fastball. Hoping to sign them to major league contracts and make a quick buck, JB brings the boys home to America to train. While the Americans are definitely out of their element in India — the boys, who have never left their rural villages — are equally challenged when they come to the States. As the boys learn the finer points of baseball — JB, with the help of his charming friend Brenda (Lake Bell) — learns valuable life lessons about teamwork, commitment and what it means to be a family.

Want to see it?  Enter to win below.  Contest open to residents of Canada.  Winners must be able to attend the Winnipeg screening on May 14th at Silver City St.Vital.  Ends May 2nd, 2014.  

Good Luck! 

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Getting My Breakfast On with #New Foods from Kellogg #Canada #Giveaway

Kellogg Canada is a brand I often turn to for breakfast foods and snacks. My kids are die hard fans of Original Special K cereal, which sits quite well with me because it sure beats any of those sugary, cartoon character varieties of cereal I grew up on!  As a part of the Kellog Canada bloggers network, I'm given the opportunity to try out the new products on a regular basis.  We're pretty excited about this!  The new line of snacks, cereal and shakes are really tasty.  Here's what you'll find on your store shelves now:

Strawberry and Apple flavoured Fruit Crunch bars, Kellog's To Go Breakfast Shakes, Protein Shakes, Chocolate Pastry Crisps, Chocolatey Red Berries Special K Cereal, and Special K Cracker Chips. 

When the box of goodies arrived my kids (and my big-kid at heart husband) were quick to dive right in, so I apologize for the lack of photos!  The Pastry Crisps were gone so fast I didn't even have the opportunity to try the Cookies & Cream variety myself - although I'm assured they were extremely delicious, lol - but the Caramel flavour was all mine and I really enjoyed them! 

Lucky for you, I'm able to giveaway a box just like the one we received to one lucky Born 2 Be Mom reader.  So if you're ready to get your breakfast on, then hurry up and enter below!  And good luck!


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Know the White Glow: An Early-Childhood Vision Concern & How To Catch It #Parenting

This past Fall, my husband, kids and I went on a long road trip to Yellowstone National Park.  We bought a new tent trailer, packed up the gear, the kids and our dog Nova and hit the road.  We had an amazing time.  While there, of course we took our fair share of obligatory pictures -- of the landscape, the activities we participated in, and of the kids in our fancy new trailer.  (Up until then when out anywhere besides our cabin, we'd been tenting!) 

It was at this time we noticed something strange about the pictures of our handsome Little Man.  Since we took several photos at night, we began noticing that when the flash caused red-eye on our daughter, our son would always have one eye -- his left eye -- glowing white.  My husband had seen something about this on TV, and I remember my daughter's optometrist warning me to look out for that in any of my children's photos.  It can mean some pretty scary things, including a cancer called Retinoblastoma, or Coats Disease which is an eye disorder involving abnormal development (and ultimately deterioration) of the blood vessels of the retina.  

At first, we thought it might have to do with the flash on my husband's iPhone.  But we took more pictures, and more pictures with a different camera.  At this point it was obvious:  No matter what Little Man was up to, the angle we took the photo at or how well he was sitting still, his left eye always had the same white glow.  And now we were scared.

Google is not your friend when something like this happens.  While we were thankful that we had noticed it, we had several long weeks to wait before we were able to get in to our Pediatric Optometrist.  As a Mom, you can't help but fear the worst -- Even while hoping and praying for the best.  I read up on the white glow and the things I was finding were not things I wanted to read.  

When we took our kids in to get checked, I was sitting on pins and needles.  Our son did amazing.  He sat through all of the tests, answering the questions about what he could see as best as his little 2 year old vocabulary would allow.  He let my husband hold him while he was given eye drops, and let our eye doctor look into his retinas to see what was really going on.  And finally, we had our answer.  Of all the possibilities when something like this happens, this one was the best.  His vision in his left eye is completely unbalanced from his right, and he does need glasses.  His eye is in danger of going "lazy."  No, we're not happy about it.  It makes me sad that my son has to wear glasses at such a young age, and that we are having to fight to improve his vision.  But we are so, so thankful that it's nothing worse.  And we're thankful that we caught this problem early, as they say the earlier the better.  

So the moral of my story?  Please, pay attention when you take pictures of your kids!  If you see something like this, have it looked at immediately, because you never know exactly what it could be.  And even if it is something like what my son has, your best bet is to catch it in Early Childhood and get it taken care of.  You may be able to save your child's vision.  Do check out The Children's Hospital of Los Angeles KNOW THE GLOW for more information on the white glow.  And please book an appointment to have your children's eyes checked, as soon as they are able to recognize and communicate basic shapes, letters, animals, etc.  Even earlier if you are noticing a problem.

With that... Here's a picture of my little guy in his adorable new specs, right after he got them.  Almost a Harry Potter lookalike, no?  :) 

 

#Winnipeg Splash Pad Hours & Locations 2013

Looking to get the kids outside, and stay cool at the same time?  Why not check out one of Winnipeg's super, duper fun Spray Pad locations?!  I've taken my kids to a couple of these, and they've had a wonderful time. 

Spray Pads are Open from 10am - 9pm DAILY 

Rules for Spray Pad Use:

Spray Pads are unsupervised

Spray pads do not have deep water but children must be closely supervised at all times and follow these rules:

• We recommend that children under 12 years of age be accompanied by a parent/guardian
• Footwear is strongly recommended
• Bicycles, skateboards, scooters and in-line skates are not permitted in the area
• Glass is not permitted
• No pets
• People with a communicable disease or having open sores shall not use the spray pad
• Do not drink from the spray feature

Winnipeg Spray Pad Locations & Washroom Availability:

Central Park Spray Pad	400 Cumberland Ave.	Available during wading pool hours only
Fort Rouge Spray Pad	295 River Ave.	None
Lindenwoods Spray Pad	414 Lindenwoods Drive W.	Available at Community Centre during regular operating hours only
Provencher Park Spray Pad	620 rue Langevin	Available at Provencher Outdoor Pool during regular operating hours only
River East Spray Pad	1400 Rothesay St.	Available at Peguis Trail Fitness Centre during regular operating hours only. ** For safety reasons - you must dry off and wear shoes prior to entering the facility.
River Heights Spray Pad	1370 Grosvenor Ave.	Available at Community Centre during regular operating hours only
St. James Assiniboia Centennial Pool Spray Pad	644 Parkdale St.	Available at St. James Assiniboia Centennial Pool during regular operating hours only
St. Norbert Spray Pad	3450 Pembina Hwy.	Available at Community Centre during regular operating hours only
Shaughnessy Spray Pad	75 Tyndall Ave.	Available during wading pool hours only
Transcona Centennial Spray Pad	1101 Wabasha St.	Available at Transcona Outdoor Pool during regular operating hours only
Vimy Ridge Memorial Park Spray Pad	821 Preston Ave.	Available during wading pool hours only
Westdale Spray Pad	550 Dale Blvd.	Available at Westdale Outdoor Pool during regular operating hours only

Stay cool and have fun!