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Who Wants To Win Their Very Own Fathead? {Giveaway}{CAN/US}

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One of the coolest things about blogging is that I get a platform to share some of my favourite things with my readers. Today will be no different as I am teaming up with one of my favourite companies and a recent contributor to my Movember campaign, Fathead, to bring you an awesome giveaway!

Don’t know what a Fathead is? Have no fear, as you’ll be begging me for one of these by the end of this post! I have been a fan of Fathead ever since I received my first one, a Miami Dolphins helmet, back in 2008. I’d show you a picture of me hugging it but it got wrecked in the infamous move of 2010…Totally my fault too, they are actually very durable. Here’s what it looked like when I got it though.

Miami Dolphins Helmet

What started out with just a couple sports logos and life size player images has turned into hundreds of different genres of Fatheads. There are Fatheads for the sports junkie, Star Wars fan, dinosaur lover and even the Disney princess aficionado! The best part is that you just peel and stick them to your wall. I do recommend that you use two people for this process though, as some of them are trickier than others. Check out how happy my children were to get their very own Mickey & Minnie Fathead’s this Christmas!

Mickey Minnie Fathead

On to the giveaway! Fathead is graciously allowing me to giveaway one of their amazing products (up to a $100 value) to one of my readers. Giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the USA and will close at 11:59pm on January 20th.

To enter, all you need to do is visit the Fathead website and tell me which Fathead you would like to win.

Good Luck!

About Fathead LLC

Fathead LLC is the industry leader of graphics products for large & small spaces – led by authentic, officially licensed sports & entertainment graphics. Fathead gives fans the opportunity to feel passion For Real by bringing their favorite inspiration to life. Fathead wall graphics include the signature line, REAL.BIG. – life-size, high definition wall graphics of athletes, stadiums, logos and fan favorite entertainment characters. The art and décor line features murals of classic & modern artists while custom Fatheads, available in vinyl or gallery wrapped canvas, put the customer in charge. For the space constrained, Fathead’s product line also includes Big Heads, Street Grips, Fathead Juniors, Teammates and Tradeables. Fathead Business Solutions provides unique signage and décor alternatives for companies and universities. With in-house design capabilities, Fathead customizes and installs interior and exterior graphics with expertise across a variety of materials – from removable vinyl to aluminum and acrylic. Based in Detroit, Michigan, Fathead manufactures all products in the USA and Canada for purchase worldwide. Fathead carries thousands of images and maintains over 500 license agreements with leading consumer brands across many industries and professional sports leagues. For more information, visit www.Fathead.com. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Fathead. FOR REAL.™

I’m Gonna Wreck It! @WreckItRalph #Disney

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My son and I were fortunate enough to get a sneak peek at the new Disney movie, Wreck-It Ralph, and I wanted to share my thoughts on it. I have to admit, as excited as my son was after seeing his beloved, Bowser, in the trailers; his Daddy was even more excited to see all his favourite childhood characters!

From Sonic, Ken, Ryu and Zangief to Pac-Man and the Root Beer Tapper, Wreck-It Ralph took me on a wild ride through my video gaming years. I had really pumped myself up for this movie, so a little disappointment was definitely anticipated. I’m happy to report that this movie was so well made, I had a hard time picking out any flaws.

The story follows Wreck-It Ralph (John C Reilly), a video game bad guy who is tired of getting no recognition for his role in the game, Fix-It Felix JR. He sets out to win a good guy medal, by jumping into a couple of different games to try his hand at being good. The movie really gets fun when he meets Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), who is an obnoxious little girl from the game Sugar Rush.

This movie has a little bit of something for everybody and I highly recommend it for the whole family. If you have ever played a video game, you will recognize at least one character in this movie and relive the glory days of when you could finish one level without asking your kid for help.

The only thing I will mention, is that there are a couple scary parts involving some radioactive bugs. Both 4 year old’s we went with mentioned that they were a little freaked out at those parts, but for the most part, the rest of the movie is fun and light.

The creativity that went into this movie is second to none and everything is very well explained. I always appreciate when I’m not left scratching my head at the end of a kids movie and this one delivered, big time! If I had to rank it among my recent favourites, I’d put it somewhere between Toy Story/Cars and Brave/Tangled.

Thanks so much to Disney for allowing us to experience this movie! For more information on Wreck-It Ralph, please visit the Official Movie Site; or you can visit the Disney Facebook Page!

The Most Awesome Snow White I’ve Ever Met

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If I learned anything from Scott Stratten’s presentation in Ottawa the other day, it was that awesome customer service can make you forget about anything bad that has previously happened and puts your focus solely on the awesomeness at hand.

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to have been a participant in something awesome and it would be a crime for me not to share it with you all. We took our family to a local fair that we visit each year. The day actually started off on a less than stellar note as we spent way too much money on ride tickets, and then I found myself faced with a frustration that I tweeted about in a fit of monetary anger.

It was probably not one of my finer moments, but being asked to pay an extra $4 so my 2 year old daughter can ride on Dumbo for 45 seconds didn’t sit right with me. I’ve been to a lot of fairs and hadn’t had this problem before. It is what it is, I paid the fees and we had a great time on the rides despite the hit to the wallet. In what can only be described as perfect timing, right after I sent that tweet we ran into one of my daughter’s favourite Disney characters in Snow White.

Now, you may remember that I once posted about how my son was afraid of people dressed in costumes. My daughter is no different and just this July we had an incident with a princess at a carnival in our hometown, where my daughter got spooked while we went in for a photo op.

For some miraculous reason, this particular Snow White character had no negative effects on my little girl and as we approached her, I could feel my daughter shaking with excitement. We stood and talked with her for a minute as she asked my little girl’s name and gave her a high five. My daughter then surprised all of us by asking to have a picture with her, as you will see above.

That could have been then end of the experience and I would have been a happy Dad with just the fact that the interaction went surprisingly well. As it turns out however, Snow White wasn’t finished just yet. We moved on and went to the petting zoo and saw a magic act before making the trek back to the lunch area about 45 minutes later.

As we were just about to reach “Food Alley”, as I like to call it, we heard someone say, “Hi Julia”, and then I noticed my little girl stop and smile. I looked over to see Snow White waving to her and calling her name. Do you have any idea how many people she talked to that day? I’m guessing a lot, so to remember my daughter’s name and then to go out of her way to say hi to her amidst the sea of people at the fair was truly Awesome!

It really changed my whole view of the fair that day and ensured that it will remain a yearly tradition for our family. From now on, when I see the signs for this particular fair, all I will think about is that one interaction with the coolest Snow White I’ve ever met. I hope the people from the Carp Fair Board and the company that employs this Snow White, Official Princess Parties, will read this and share with their staff because this is the exact way that you create repeat business. When you impress people with Awesome, especially parents, you will be rewarded in the long run.

I realize that the people involved here will probably never see this but in case they do, I want to say a very big Thank You to our mystery Snow White! Not only did you give my daughter a memory to last a lifetime but you have also showed her that she doesn’t need to be afraid of people dressed in costumes anymore, which believe it or not, is a pretty big deal to a family who is afraid to plan a Disney trip.

It may seem like a small thing to some of you but that one small interaction has helped me understand the importance of each and every detail that goes into a job or project. Can you imagine not being able to plan a family trip for fear of your children’s anxiety? Then, in just a split second moment having those fears lifted and instilling some hope for a young family.

Totally Awesome!

Cheers!

Disney’s Diamond Collection Giveaway

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I’m happy to have the opportunity to work with Disney again and this time we’re teaming up to bring you their Diamond Collection Package, which includes the following titles:

“Pocahontas” & “Pocahontas II”
“The Rescuers” & “The Rescuers Down Under”
“The Aristocats”

This is a great collection to add to any household and your kids are sure to love it! I don’t really have much more to say about this because these Disney movies always speak for themselves!

All you have to do to enter the contest is to leave a comment on this blog post telling me what your favorite Disney movie is. It’s as easy as that!

The contest closes Aug 17th and is open to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec). I will choose a winner using Random.Org.

Best of Luck!!

Cheers!

Disney Pixar’s Brave Passes The Ultimate Test

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I was fortunate enough to find my way to a screening of Disney/Pixar’s new movie “Brave” in 3D. I had seen about a thousand clips of it with my kids but had no idea what we were in store for as the movie began.

Let’s start with the actual trip to the theater. I went with my 4 year old son, his little girlfriend and her Dad. We got there nice and early, as anyone who has ever been to a screening knows, the lines fill up very early!

We had our dinner’s while standing in line, placed our cell phones in the brown paper bags (because I usually bring my buddy and our kids to the movies with the intention of taping it on my iPhone…) and 3 trips to the bathroom for my little guy….he gets scared in theaters and it makes him have to pee (a Lot).

My son is what you would refer to as a scaredy cat when it comes to watching movies. He hates witches, bad guys & any kind of frightening character, to the point of not wanting to watch anymore. I thought bringing his friend along would be a wise move in attempting to keep him interested.

In case you are one of the few who haven’t seen the clips for this movie yet, here’s a peek!

I’m proud to report that with the exception of a couple of scenes with the ancient bear Mor’du, my son got through the movie relatively unscared! There is a witch in the movie but Disney did a great job of getting away from the traditional scary witch for a sneakier version. Personally, I appreciated that fact as I never understood why they had to make these kids movies so frightening.

The other thing I enjoyed is the relationship the female lead, Merida, has with her father. I thought it was cool that they portrayed them as best friends, which is something as father, I can only hope for with my daughter someday.

I’m not going to ruin any of the story in this review, I just wanted to share my experience from the screening. I have read a lot of reviews from this movie, some good, some bad, some very, very strange, but my personal feeling is that this is an excellent movie for the whole family. The stunning animation alone is worth the price of admission as I feel it’s one of Pixar’s best to date.

Oh Yeah, I almost forgot! In true Pixar form, my son decided that he was going to dress as Finn McMissile for this trip to the movies. One thing I’ve learned is not to bother arguing if he wants to leave the house in costume, lol, Kids Will Be Kids! Plus, he’s just like his Dad!

Brave opened June 22nd and if you haven’t seen it yet, I urge you to check it out as you won’t be disappointed!

Cheers!!

I Can’t Wait For @Disneyland To Open #CarsLand This June!

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I want to start by saying a couple things here. First, I have no affiliation with Disney, Disneyland, Pixar, Mickey Mouse, Owen Wilson, Lightning McQueen or any other Disney entity. I’m just really excited about this new park they are opening. Cars is my favorite Disney movie so this one looks like a dream I once had, where I was in the movie!

The Second thing is that I will most likely never be able to afford to take my family to this theme park. That doesn’t mean I can’t still be excited about it and live vicariously through those who are actually going to experience it!

I first heard of Cars Land around Christmas of last year and thought it was a joke at the time. That was until I started Google searching it and found hundreds of images of blueprints. I was amazed at how much it looked just like the real Radiator Springs.

As more and more clips come out, my excitement level rises higher and higher! I have failed so far in my attempts to convince my wife that we NEED to go here. Understandably, once we are able to afford it, our family will most likely travel to Disney World instead, which will be fun as well. I guess. It’s definitely cheaper than a family trip to California, so I get it.

Seriously though, look at the photos and videos! They’re all there! Flo’s V8 Cafe, The Cozy Cone Motel, Mater, McQueen, Fillmore, Sarge!! It’s an overload of awesomeness and I can’t stop torturing myself with the videos and images that are out there! The best tour I’ve found so far is the one provided by my buddy Mater on the actual Cars Land website.

Out of respect and fairness to my wife, I have not showed my son any of the pictures and videos that I have been watching. That would be like using WMD’s in my fight to get my family to Cars Land and I’m not going to do it! I’ll just keep picking away until it simply becomes the thing we HAVE to do! In the meantime, I will watch my videos and read the blogs of the lucky families who get to roam the streets of Radiator Springs!

I think I’ll leave you with a couple of my favorite Cars Land videos to date. The first one is great because it explains some of the amazing features the new park is going to have. The second one is for me, lol! I hope you enjoy them as much as I have and maybe I’ll see you there someday!

KACHOW!

Today I Thought Twice About Killing A Bug

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I’d never really thought twice about bringing down the Hulk Smash (Yes, I just saw the Avengers and now you get to deal with that) on an unsuspecting bug that had gotten too close to my inner space. In fact, in the world of bugs, I might even be know as a bully!

That was until today.

While playing outside with my kids, I noticed an ant moving dangerously close to my Diet Coke. Just as I was about to bring down the Hammer of Thor (Yep, another one), I noticed that my daughter was infatuated with this tiny little creature.

She screamed with joy, literally, and followed it around everywhere it went. And then she dropped the hammer on me. She looked up at me with her cutie pie eyes and said “Buggy looking for Mommy & Daddy!”

If I wasn’t convinced about letting it live yet, that pretty much sealed the deal. Could you say no to that smile? I certainly can’t.

How could I raise my kids to be kind and love all things, if bugs isn’t included on that list? In this Disney world that my kids live in, that ant is most likely going back fun fairy land village like Pixie Hollow, where Tinkerbell and the Bee Movie guy frolic through fields of Strawberries and stay away from the dreaded humans!

I don’t want to be a dreaded human! And I certainly don’t want my kids to be dreaded humans!! It seems we have no other option than to be friends of the bugs and allow them to roam free on our yard, with no fear of being picked off by one of my shoes, which I throw with the accuracy of one of HawkEye’s arrows!! (Reaching, I know)

Point is, my kids love bugs and they really don’t do any kind of harm to us, other than being gross and creepy and disgusting….well, you get it, right? I guess it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to just observe the bugs while they’re around and then let them move on to their fantasy land, where they can see their Mommies and Daddies.

Who knows, maybe they do go back to Mommies and Daddies. Truth is, I couldn’t care less to look it up, lol. I’ll just pretend they do and let them live from now on!

In closing, Bugs of the World, you have safe passage through my yard for the time being. I can’t promise that you won’t get accidentally squashed by a runaway PlasmaCar or a size 2 rain boot but I will not purposefully crush you if you don’t get in my face!

Oh yeah, There’s one more thing. This entire post does not apply to one particular species of bug and you know who you are. Even if my kids fall madly in love with you, I will hunt you while you sleep. I believe Liam Neeson described it best:

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

I’ve got my eye on you wasp. And it’s as sharp as Fury’s one good eye (Yes!) Don’t push me!

Cheers!

PS – Ironman, Captain America, Black Widow! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, that’s better!!!

Wisdom Imparted To Me By My 3 Year Old Son

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Kids are wonderful creatures. Their imaginations put most adults to shame and their lack of knowledge makes for some interesting conversations.

For that reason, I’ve compiled a list of things that my son believes to be true and there will be no convincing him otherwise.

Without further ado, here’s what I’ve learned.

#1 – Pinocchio’s character originates from the movie Shrek and NOT from either the 1883 children’s novel or the 1940 Disney classic. End of argument!

#2 – Boys have weiners and Girls have nooners. Common knowledge I know, but he feels the need to share this tidbit every few days.

#3 – Toots are hilarious, no matter the time or place they happen. I was already aware of this one but wanted to include it for those of you who had forgotten.

#4 – I am not allowed to be Spiderman. He is always Spiderman and I have to pick from the leftover super heroes. Note: He’s never seen Spiderman other than in toy form. Also, I wish I could be Spiderman.

#5 – Sharing is optional when he has something but is mandatory when he wants something.

#6 – No matter what episode of The Backyardigans I choose to play from the PVR, it’s the wrong one. There are 32 episodes on there and only one is correct each time.

#7 – Nana brings Donuts, therefore Nana is more valuable than Mommy and Daddy.

#8 – Going to WalMart means we’re either getting McDonald’s or Toys. There are no other reasons to go to WalMart.

#9 – Hide and Seek is still fun if you hide in the same place every time. Also, if you’re not found in 3 seconds, it is acceptable to stand up and say “Here I am!”

#10 – Hockey is boring but dropping rocks in sewers is amazing!

#11 – Banana’s are gross! So are grapes, strawberries, oranges, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, blueberries and any food with colours in them.

#12 – If at first you don’t succeed, move on to something else. I’m working on this one….

#13 – Every game is called “I Win”, even if there are no winners and losers. Ex: Putting the last piece in a puzzle you do together is a win for you. I do not ever get to put the last piece in.

That’s all for now! As you can see, I’ve learned so much in my short term as a parent that it’s hard to keep track of it all.

I know there’s much more to learn from him and maybe I’ll revisit this when I have enough knowledge to share with you all.

Do your kids have any fun beliefs? Feel free to share them in the comments section and as always, don’t be afraid to share and tweet this post if you feel so inclined.

Cheers!!