Is an overdue book review still a book review? I think it is, so let’s get to it! My kids wanted to make a video and I needed to review a great new book from my friend and The Animated Woman writer, JC Little, so we combined them and the end result is below! In short, we loved The Last Snowman and highly recommend it!
After the Super Bowl and the release of any super hero movie, Father’s Day is the day that dads everywhere look forward to most each year. Because it’s not customary for dad to get flowers and chocolate, like our motherly counterparts, we usually have to dig deep in order to find something that we really want. Something that says, I did a good job as a dad this year and now I am going to accept this award in exchange for that job well done.
Of course, I am kidding about the award. In my house, I am more than happy to completely disconnect from the digital world and spend the entire day enjoying the company of my wife and children. We usually find a cool local trail and spend the day outdoors, which is all I really need. Inevitably, my wife will ask if there is anything I want, I will say no, then she will tell me that they are getting something anyway, so I’d better pick something.
I mentioned recently that I am a big fan of supporting local businesses, so I decided to check out what terra20 had to offer and have listed my top 3 picks below. Just as a side note, I could have listed the entire House of Marley line but decided to cut it down to three things…
As someone who suddenly finds himself doing a lot of travelling, I realized that carrying my computer and notepad in an old softball duffel bag is probably not the best idea. This House of Marley Messenger Bag is at the very top of my list, so if my wife is reading this, you know, me likey!
I had a chance to play around with the House of Marley Chant Player when I visited terra20 last summer and fell in love with it. It stows away anywhere and connects to your mobile device with amazing sound quality. This is the perfect gift for the dad who does a lot of work outside.
While this may seem like an unorthodox choice, learning to cook is something that I have had on my list for a while now. The thought of being able to learn to do so with my kids is something that brings me a lot of joy. I can’t promise that I won’t burn the pancakes but I’m willing and ready to give it a try!
That’s right, terra20 is building a father’s day gift guide and are offering a $100 gift card for your assistance in putting it together. How do you enter, you ask?
Men, you need to browse the terra20 website for a few of your favourite items that you think would make perfect Father’s Day gifts. Ladies, either ask your man to do this or pick something you think he would love from the terra20 site.
Once you find your favourite item, leave a comment below with a link to that particular item and you will be entered in the draw! It’s that easy!
Giveaway closes Sunday, May 18th at 6pm and is open to residents of the Ottawa area, excluding Quebec. One winner will be drawn at random from eligible comments and will win a $100 terra20 gift card to be picked up at one of the two store locations. *In addition, if terra20 is chooses your gift suggestion to be in the gift guide, you may be contacted by Canadian Dad about your comment being included. By entering you recognize that: there is no guarantee that your suggestion will be in the gift guide, and in the case of more than one person suggesting the same item, no specific attribution will be required on the part of terra20.
It occurred to me while I was reading “Men Get Pregnant, Too”, by Kenny Bodanis, that there aren’t a lot of books out there for dads. I noticed this as I nodded my head along with the stories Kenny tells in the book and found myself wishing that there had been something out there like this prior to my having children. Kenny Bodanis is an award winning, Canadian blogger and radio & television parenting columnist, who lives with his wife and two children in Montreal.
My favourite thing about “Men Get Pregnant, Too”, which shares the same name as Bodanis’ blog, is that he doesn’t hold back in the stories he tells. Another thing I enjoyed was how he added pet peeves and tips for men who are about to enter into fatherhood, such as
“Plug in. Have answers. Be interested. Not for everyone else but as a reminder to your spouse that her husband is excited to be a dad.”
Reading this, I wished I had a time machine so I could go back and do it better.
Kenny also talks at length about the different emotions and stresses that fathers face and tries to help encourage dad to own those emotions. This is also something that I failed miserably at with my first child and didn’t figure out until I started writing about my experiences as a father. It’s important that dad doesn’t completely take a back seat during the pregnancy and Bodanis does a great job of explaining why that is so important.
With Father’s Day right around the corner, I can’t think of a better gift for dad than this book. It really covers almost everything you are going to come up against and does so in a light-hearted and very relatable voice. Men Get Pregnant, Too is available in both paperback and kindle versions on Amazon. You can also check out Kenny Bodanis on his Twitter and Facebook pages.
Since I began blogging two years ago, I have developed a new appreciation for the term “Shop Local”. There is something really special about the small businesses that make my city great and I have been able to find this out first hand. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of Ottawa’s small business owners and am constantly amazed by their kindness and hospitality.
My first experience with this was when I stumbled into Tag Along Toys for a wine and cheese event that they were running. That night I met the owner, Patti, and we have been good friends ever since. My favourite part about going in to Tag Along Toys is that it always feels like I am at home while I shop there. Everyone is greeted with a smile as they walk in and now my kids even ask if we can go see Patti, even though they know they won’t always get a toy.
It’s through local businesses and owners like Patti that I have learned the true value of supporting local companies and I highly encourage you to do the same. To thank YOU and all of her customers, Patti from Tag Along Toys has asked me to help her in giving away some very cool LEGO sets from the recent hit, The LEGO Movie!
We will be selecting two winners and each will get one of the sets in the image above. The only catch is that you have to be able to pick them up in store at 499 Terry Fox Dr in Kanata. Deal? Alright, just head down to the form below and get yourself entered so you can scream “Everything Is Awesome” when you win! After you enter, you should pop in to the Tag Along Toys Facebook and Twitter pages to say hi to Patti for me!
I recently came across a website called, Novica.Com, that had some fantastic hand crafted items and knew immediately that I was going to get sucked in. NOVICA gives Artisans from around the world, many living in rural communities, the means to sell their work on the international market by providing them a free platform to reach a global audience.
With my wife’s birthday fast approaching, I was excited to dig in to find something special. The website is perfectly laid out to find a gift for any occasion and when I spotted the spirituality section, I knew the gift would be in there. My wife has undergone an inspirational life transformation and yoga has been a big part of that, so I was really excited when I saw this Handmade Chakra Energy pendant necklace, pictured below. I was a little nervous because it was shipping from India but it showed up on time and even had a thank you postcard from the artisan who created it, which I thought was an excellent touch. PS – My wife LOVED the necklace!
I wanted to give you a chance to take NOVICA out for a test drive, so I’m giving away a $25 gift card to one lucky reader just in time for Mother’s Day! All you have to do to enter is check out the Rafflecopter form below and I will select a winner on May 1st! Good Luck! In the meantime, you can also check out NOVICA on Facebook and Twitter.
Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this campaign.
Part of my duties as a Hot Wheels® Connector Club Ambassador is to demonstrate how easy it is to grab some random pieces of track and turn them into a masterpiece. I recently teamed up with my children in order to create our entry into the Hot Wheels® Track Builder Challenge! PS, you should totally enter because the Grand Prize includes Hot Wheels® coming to your house and building a giant indoor track!
Check out this video to see we managed to come up with and keep reading to see how you could win a Hot Wheels® Prize Pack!
Pretty awesome, right?! We had a blast building and the kids have changed it up a bunch of times since then. I want to give you the opportunity to spend some time building with your children and have managed to get my hands on a really cool Hot Wheels® Prize Pack that includes:
All you have to do to enter is follow the steps below and I will hook up a winner on April 30th! You must be a resident of Canada to enter and I wish you the best of luck! And, don’t forget to enter the Hot Wheels® Track Builder Challenge for your chance at more great prizes!
Zazzle is an online marketplace where you can custom design nearly anything-from phone cases to jewelry, and I am teaming up with them to help you with your Mother’s Day gift shopping! As someone who has frequented Zazzle’s services in the past, I am consistently impressed with the quality of their products. I even committed the faux pas of wearing my own band’s t-shirt back in the day because it was so nice!
With Mother’s Day fast approaching, and as someone who isn’t always the best at coming up with ideas, I thought it was great that Zazzle has organized their site to show you a whole bunch of Mother’s Day Gift Ideas. The item shown above was chosen off the Zazzle website by my children and given to my wife for her birthday last week. The excited giggles from the kids as she opened the necklace were enough to keep me coming back time and again. We chose Zazzle again for our Mother’s Day gift and while I’m not going to tell you what we’ve chosen, for obvious reasons, the kids and I are really excited for mommy to open it! There’s just something special about personalized items and Zazzle has everything you need for any occasion.
In order to help make your Mother’s or Father’s Day extra special this year, Zazzle is offering one of my readers a $50 Gift Card! Just follow the steps below in order to enter and I will draw a winner on April 29th. Good Luck!!
Disclosure: I received compensation for my participation in this program.
Incredible ! I thought when I tried this shave gel it would be just like the rest of them, but it exceeded my expectations. I loved it. It smells great. It stays where you put it until you shave it off, not runny like other brands I have tried in the past. It feels as if it made my facial hair softer making it easier to shave with less “pull”. And afterwards it left my skin soft and moisturized. I’m a believer ! I will make this my regular brand from now on. ~ Mark
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My husband and I tried the new edge sensitive pro relief shave gel this weekend. We put it through various tests. He tried it when his facial hair had a week’s grown and after a day’s growth. I tried it after a long winter and was feeling like a bear coming out of hibernation. We normally use a shaving foam for sensitive skin so using a gel was something a bit different. When we tried the edge shaving gel we really liked that it had no perfume smell to it and no colour. The gel felt great and it didn’t foam up too much. It was gentle as we shaved. Normally with our usual foam we get a scratching and scraping feeling, along with an avalanche of foam . The gel gave us a smooth shave that felt like it was moisturizing our skin with no burning sensation afterwards. We both agreed the Edge sensitive pro relief shave gel gave us an overall better shaving experience than our regular shaving foam did. Our skin feels great! My husband’s face is kissably smooth and I am ready for Spring! ~ Julie & Colin
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Feels soft to apply and pleasant scent. Is great for reducing cuts and nicks, and is non-irritating. Goes on smoothly and comes off just the same. Gives a great shave making you look awesome. ~ Kelly
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Both my husband and myself tried the Edge Sensitive Pro Relief Shave Gel. He used it on his face after about 5 days of not shaving. He loved the way it lathered & that it didn’t have a strong scent. It left him clean shaven & with no razor burn. I noticed his skin seemed much softer than normal. I used it on my legs & loved that it didn’t smell manly. It had a nice light scent & a thick lather. Loved how soft my legs were after using it. No nicks or cuts. We would both use it again! ~ Melissa
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Both myself and my husband has tried it,and give it a big thumbs up! I have shaved my legs with it a few times and it made them super soft and left me with no scrapes or knicks! It lathers up nicely as well. My husband as always used Edge shaving cream for his shaving,so was no surprise that he loved this new Sensitive Pro-Relief one as well.. He said it was nice on his face,and it left him with no razor burn or rash. His face was nice and soft afterwards 🙂 I would definitely buy this for my husband,,and as well for me ..hehe! ~ Karla
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I don’t usually shave with a shave gel as I switched to using a liquid soap a few years ago. I found I got a closer shave with less irritation & bumps with the liquid soap. So when I signed up to review the Edge shave gel, I was a bit hesitant to try it but decided to give it a go & see if it stood up to the “sensitive” claim it was making. The first thing I noticed about Edge Sensitive Pro Relief shave gel was the smell. It wasn’t the usual in-your-face stinky fragrance that most shave gel’s seem to give off. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed the subtle almond scent of this product. At least, almond is what it smells like to me! The second thing I noticed was how thick & creamy the gel lathered up to be. Now, don’t forget I haven’t used a shave gel for a few years but this lather was pretty impressive! I quite enjoyed it! The shave itself was uneventful – no nicks, cuts or swear words (I even treated myself to a new blade for this test!) so that was pretty amazing. Afterward, my legs were soft & smooth! The most impressive point for me was that my legs did NOT have any tell-tale signs of using a new razor OR a shave gel! No red, angry bumps afterward! I moisturized with some coconut oil, which I do after every shave, and my legs did not burn. Overall, I am very impressed with the Edge Sensitive Pro Relief product & will very likely buy it again. Thank you for the chance to try this product, I am quite happy with it! ~ Lori
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This is an awesome shaving gel, the gel foamed up really well!! I seem to get a closer shave with Edge gel products than with shaving creams and also seem less likely to cut myself or have skin irritation afterwards. I highly recommend Edge.~ Tammy
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Thank you for giving my husband the chance to try out this product — It was very easy and smooth to spread all over his face. It felt very soft to the touch and very nice to shave with it!! He loved the smell that was very pleasant and would use it again.~ Diane
Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this campaign.
Hey you! Yeah, you. See that basket filled with Skylanders goodness up there? Do you want to be the heroic parent that delivers this to their child? Well, it’s your lucky day because the fine people at Skylanders HQ have tasked me with finding this basket a good home. Here’s what you get:
Skylanders Giant Easter Basket
· 3DS starter pack (Skylanders SWAP Force game)
· Springtime toys – 4 characters
· Mega Bloks set
· Monopoly game
· Gill Grunt pillow
· Blanket
· CSS Egg with tattoos/stickers
· Book
· Dangler
· Slap band
· Topps trading cards
· Battle packs/adventure packs
· Stickers
· Stationary
· Markers
· Roller stamp markers
· Journals
I don’t really have much more to add. Skylanders are awesome and please don’t tell my son that I am the only one who is not allowed to win this… This is open to residents of Canada, excluding Quebec, and closes at midnight on Friday, April 18th. Good Luck!
Disclosure: I accepted a copy of Skylanders Swap Force in exchange for facilitating this giveaway. I would have rather had the whole basket but figured I’d share with all of you! You’re welcome ;D
There is a buzz in the city of Ottawa right now as we prepare to welcome a new CFL franchise to town! The Ottawa RedBlacks, led by owner Jeff Hunt and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, will make their long awaited debut at the newly redesigned TD Place (Formerly Frank Clair Stadium) on July 18th against the Toronto Argonauts. Ottawa hasn’t had a CFL franchise since the Renegades folded in 2006 and there is a very different and extremely exciting vibe this time around.
Due to the overwhelming demand, tickets to the Home Opener are only available by purchasing season’s tickets or by taking advantage of the Home Opener Ticket Pack promotion that runs from March 22nd to April 5th. The Home Opener Ticket Pack includes a ticket to the home opener, plus two other games of your choice throughout the RedBlacks season. The packs start at $69 apiece.
Lucky for you, the Ottawa RedBlacks have given me 5 pairs of Home Opener Ticket Packs to give away to all of you! Throughout this week I will be hosting a “Giveaway a Day” and awarding a pair of ticket packs to one lucky fan each day of the week throughout my various social channels. That said, make sure you are following me on my Facebook and Twitter pages because there will be giveaways specific to those networks throughout the week!
To enter right now for a chance to win a pair of Ticket Packs, simply leave a comment below and tell me who you think will win the 2014 Grey Cup? I will draw a winning name on Friday at 4pm! Good Luck!
In the meantime, you can head on over to the Ottawa RedBlacks Official Website and grab your tickets today!
*Disclosure: I received tickets to the Ottawa RedBlacks in exchange for my participation in this promotion.*
Congrats to Shawn M for winning the RedBlacks Home Opener Pack! Thanks to everyone for playing!