Lady and the Tramp on DVD + Blu-ray February 7th!

It's no secret that I am a fan of Disney - such a fan that we had hidden Mickeys at our wedding, our colours were red, black, and white, and we had Disney trivia for whenever people clinked their glasses.

When I was young, I always loved Lady and the Tramp - it is such a cute love story!  That's why I'm excited about the new Diamond DVD + Blu-ray Edition of Lady and the Tramp!

"A classic love story unfolds in the best Disney tradition as a lovely young pedigreed cocker spaniel named Lady, who lives a pampered life, finds herself falling romantically for Tramp, an amorous street-smart pooch without prospects. Although they have fun together on several dates, including a sentimental spaghetti dinner by moonlight at Tony’s restaurant, their relationship is strained not only by Lady’s loyalty to her human family and their newborn baby, but by Tramp’s devil-may-care attitude that eventually gets Lady in trouble and tossed into the dog pound. However, good-hearted Tramp redeems himself by saving the baby from potential harm and thus wins Lady’s love and the affection of her human family."

Here are a couple of fun activities for your children, including a great way to save money on Valentine's Day cards this upcoming Valentine's Day (click on the picture for a larger version to print):

Keeping your kids busy indoors this winter

In the summer it's so easy to find things to do with your kids - the sky is the limit and you can easily enjoy both indoor and outdoor activities. But in the winter, when it is really cold outside, many of your activities may be concentrated indoors. Especially if you are like me and hate the cold! If you have older kids, this may lead to a bit of 'cabin fever'. Luckily, Lyla is still too young to know the difference between indoor and outdoor play and we can easily fill our days with indoor activities without me being asked every 5 minutes 'Can we go outside yet?' or 'What can I do?...there is nothing to do inside!'. I'm sure those of you with older kids know those discussions all too well.

Lyla and I have been finding it pretty easy to fill our days between dancing, tummy time, spending time exploring new toys, and practicing new skills (like sitting)!

But, I remember when I was babysitting, I really had to get creative to keep the kids entertained and away from the television.  I loved trying to find activities that stimulated both their minds and their bodies (not easy while staying inside).  Some go to activities that I always loved doing with the children I babysat include:
-Crafts
-Colouring
-Dancing
-Baking
-Board and Card Games
-Reading
-Story-telling
-Make-belief play
-and more!

So as you can see, just because it's winter and cold outside, it doesn't mean you have to be bored inside!  The Fisher-Price Play and Learn Family Activities resource has some more great ideas on how to keep your children entertained indoors.  It is conveniently categorized from birth to three years.  I especially love that this tool includes activities for even the littlest little ones (starting right from birth).  One activity that I look forward to trying with Lyla is the Wiggle Worm, helping her learn cause and effect, motor control, and practice those pre-crawling exercises!  This easy to use resource will help add a little fun to your days inside.  I'll be sure to be using it for the remainder of the cold months and beyond!

Disclosure:  I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Me & My Slow Cooker at 11pm on a Wednesday Night

This isn't typically what I find myself doing at 11pm on a Wednesday night... But, this week my husband and I went shopping at Costco and bought a HUGE box of Steel Cut Oats. I have been hearing a lot lately about their benefits over traditional rolled oats and wanted to give them a try.

So, tonight I'll be preparing breakfast for the next few days - Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal. I found the recipe over at The Merry Gourmet - a very cute foodie blog. Here is The Merry Gourmet's recipe for Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal. Tomorrow morning I plan on topping mine with honey and almonds. On Friday, I think I'll treat myself and top it with some sliced bananas and chocolate chips.  If you are looking for more ideas on how to top your Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal, visit the Oh She Glows blog for more ideas (and another variation on Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal).

Photo by little blue hen (Flickr)

This is a easy, nutritious, and fun meal that is perfect for the whole family. Plus, by topping your oatmeal with the ingredients of your choice it makes it a breakfast that everyone will enjoy!

Have you ever tried steel cut oats?  How do you like them compared to traditional rolled oats or quick oats?  What recipes do you use them in?

Tim Hortons Giveaway!

If you could find someone in Canada who had never heard of a Tim Hortons, honestly, I'd be a bit surprised! Tim Horton's is so widespread that 'Tim's' and 'a timmies' (a coffee from Tim Hortons) has easily integrated itself into the Canadian language. Although, I don't drink a lot of coffee, I do appreciate my occasional special treat of a Café Mocha and a Honey Cruller or a Canadian Maple.  You could definitely call me a Tim Hortons fan!

That's why I'm excited to share with you, information about the newest beverages at Tim Hortons across Canada - introducing Tim's *new* Lattes!  "The addition of lattes, mocha lattes and cappuccinos made with premium espresso is the biggest new specialty coffee introduction ever in Canada."

Tim’s Café Favourites now includes:

Classics
French Vanilla Cappuccino
French Vanilla Cappuccino Supreme
English Toffee Cappuccino (Can't wait to try)
English Toffee Cappuccino Supreme
Café Mocha (my favourite)
Hot Chocolate (my husband's favourite)
White Hot Chocolate
Apple Cider

Espresso
Latte
Cappuccino
Flavoured Latte
Flavoured Latte Supreme
Mocha Latte (Also can't wait to try)
Espresso shot (single or double)
Tea Latte


The new lattes, mocha lattes, and cappuccinos start at only $2 and are available across Canada and the United States.

*GIVEAWAY*

How many winners are there? Two.

What can you win?  Each winner will receive a $25 Tim Hortons gift card!


To enter, tell me your favourite Tim's beverage OR tell me which new *new* Tim's beverage you'd like to try.  This must be done to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway (unless stated otherwise). If an entry option is worth more than one entry, please leave a separate comment for each entry:

- Following @TimHortons on Twitter.
- Adding the Everything Up Close blog button to your blog or website.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky) and tweeting about the giveaway with a link to this page. Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can tweet 1x a day.

Enter to #win 1 of 2 - $25 Tim Hortons gift cards @ihchicky. Ends Jan 27. http://bit.ly/TimsFavourites #giveaway #coffee #canada

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).
- 'Liking' Everything Up Close on Facebook.  Please leave your name (First name and last initial) that is shown on Facebook for verification. 
- 'Liking' Simply Beautiful Beginnings on Facebook.  Please leave your name (First name and last initial) that is shown on Facebook for verification. 

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment.

- Talking about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post. 2 ENTRIES!
- Visiting Simply Beautiful Beginnings and commenting on one of the posts.  Please tell me the name of the post and the name (or email address) you used to comment.
- Telling me about a topic you'd like to see covered on Simply Beautiful Beginnings.  Suggestions must fall into the scope of Simply Beautiful Beginnings to be considered as an extra entry.

Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Friday, January 27th at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blogger profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.  

This giveaway is open to residents of Canada only!

Good Luck!

**Disclaimer** I was compensated for sharing this giveaway with my readers. All the opinions shared in this article are my own.