Try Shomi Free Right Now and Enjoy Great Kids Entertainment All Year Long

December 21, 2015 by Kathryn 59 Comments

Brought to you by Shomi and TheCo.

My boys love watching cartoons and children’s programs, but when it comes to finding great content, we don’t always agree on the best shows. They want variety, and lots of it. I want content that’s age appropriate, no matter what. Shomi, Canada’s newest streaming service for top television shows and movies, promised to deliver both. So I was thrilled when we got the chance to test it out and see for ourselves how we liked it.

Shomi can be streamed either on a home computer, select Internet television devices, a mobile device, an Xbox 360 or, for Rogers and Shaw customers, through the cable box without Internet access. Since my boys have an Xbox 360 that they use almost exclusively, adding Shomi to that just made sense. I also set it up on my laptop so that we could plug it into the television and watch on the large screen in the living room if we liked. Then I set the boys loose and let them start browsing!

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Come Join the #ThisLifeCBC Twitter Chat on December 7 at 9pm EST

December 4, 2015 by Kathryn 3 Comments

It takes a lot for a TV show to impress me. I tend to have a want-it-all attitude when I watch any show; I want to laugh, I want to be touched, I want to connect emotionally with the characters…needless to say, there aren’t many programs that can manage to satisfy my desires! But CBC’s new series This Life has had me hooked since the very first episode, and I know I’m not alone.

The series follows the story of Natalie, a single mother whose terminal cancer diagnosis turns her family’s lives upside down. While her journey and struggle are the focus of the series, the adventures of her siblings, parents and teenage children all provide their own substance and development to the story. It’s impossible to watch an episode and not feel your heart aching for the characters, even as you’re sometimes laughing along too. [Read more…]

Throwing a Hit Viewing Party is Easy with the SUBWAY Canada Prime Rib Melt-Giveaway #ItsPrimeTime

November 12, 2015 by Kathryn 315 Comments

I’m really not a big television person, but I do have a few must-see shows. In the spring, I always make time for the newest season of Game of Thrones. And in the fall, watching the latest episodes of The Walking Dead is a must. My significant other has the same must-see television list that I do (in fact, he was the one that originally got me hooked on The Walking Dead), so watching the latest episode together each week is one of our bonding moments.

Usually, it’s just the two of us relaxing at home while we watch but last Sunday, SUBWAY Canada challenged us to make our prime time television viewing even better with our own The Walking Dead viewing party. And with the hugely popular SUBWAY Prime Rib Melt featuring 100% Canadian beef back as an everyday menu item at SUBWAY Canada, we knew we had the food figured out!

The Decor

Throwing a viewing party might seem like a lot of work, but I soon learned that it doesn’t take much to turn an ordinary night of watching television into something special. We invited a few couples over for the event and I started planning ways to add some zombie style to the house. My first stop was the dollar store. I grabbed “blood” red plates as well as a katana-style toy sword like the one Michonne uses and a black toy gun to toss on the table as props. [Read more…]

Celebrate Your Unique Family with Great Shows from Netflix #StreamTeam

May 20, 2015 by Kathryn 19 Comments

I’ve never been much of a fan of the concept of a “traditional” family, perhaps because my own family was so different. My mom was my dad’s second wife; he’d had four children with his first wife that were all so much older I tended to think of them more as aunts and uncles than sisters and brothers.

My own parents then also divorced after having three children together: my two siblings and me. My dad remarried a third time and had one last son. My mom remarried as well and had two daughters, but then divorced again. She’s currently engaged to the man I generally think of as my stepfather.

That means that in total, I have two older half brothers, two older half sisters, my own brother and sister, a younger half brother and two younger half sisters. And that’s not including the stepsiblings. When trying recently to describe the origin of a book I received as a childhood git, I actually used the phrase, “my ex-step-grandma.” [Read more…]

Take Control of Your Child’s Screen Time with Kidoodle.TV-Giveaway #KidoodleMom

April 4, 2014 by Kathryn 24 Comments

Television is really not something that I enjoy so about a year ago, I disconnected the satellite in my house. I’d started to feel as if I was paying money every month for the two children’s channels that my boys watched. With plenty of DVDs, I didn’t see any need to have anything else. It worked fairly well at first, but I noticed two distinct problems after a while. The first was that my boys craved variety, even with the large number of DVDs at their disposal they often asked about shows they had loved prior to my disconnecting the satellite. The second was that, when left to their own devices, they’d often sit in front of the television for hours watching the same shows over and over. Needless, to say, I didn’t approve of that at all! But at the same time, I had trouble monitoring the time they spent in front of the television.

Kidoodle.TV sounded like the perfect solution for me, and recently I got a chance to test out the service for myself. This online streaming network features a variety of popular children’s shows so that kids can find all kinds of fun new content to enjoy. But what really sets this service apart from the competition is the high level of parental control. Not only can I customize the programs that are displayed to my boys, I can set a time limit so that they can only watch until the timer runs out. [Read more…]

Kick Off the Christmas Season with Holiday Specials from Disney Junior #DisneyJuniorMom

December 2, 2013 by Kathryn 25 Comments

I love absolutely everything about Christmas, from the music to the lights to the food to the decorations. And one of my very favourite Christmas activities is watching Christmas specials with Zackary and Benjamin. I have to admit, I don’t actually watch a lot of television for the most part. But when December rolls around, I can’t resist spending a cozy evening watching fun holiday shows with my boys.

Disney Junior is making that easier than ever with a full month of holiday content, and I can’t wait for it to start! The fun kicks off this Saturday, December 7th at 11:00am EST with a special extended episode of Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse, with an encore presentation on Sunday, December 8th at 3:50pm EST. The best part is that the special features guest appearances by Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin, Snow White and other Disney friends! Seeing a favourite character in a holiday special always feels like the official start of the Christmas season to me! [Read more…]

Television Fans can Share, Chat and Find New Shows with the Tubetime App and Connector

June 19, 2013 by Kathryn 7 Comments

Watching a favourite television show used to be a fairly solitary pleasure but with the popularity of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, watching TV has now become a social experience and a new app called Tubetime is making connecting with friends, discovering new shows and sharing your passion for your favourite program easier than ever before.

The app debuted for the iPhone in Canada some months ago and recently became available on the Android operating system as well. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is my smartphone of choice so I was very excited to have the chance to test out the app for myself when it appeared in the Google Play store. I also received the incredibly handy Tubetime Connector that let me use my smartphone as a universal remote to control my television, satellite system, DVD player and more!

tubetime remote function — The Tubetime remote!

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Free Preview of Disney Junior All Through March and Enter to Win a $500 Gift Card Every Day #DisneyJuniorMom

March 11, 2013 by Kathryn 3 Comments

disney junior gift card My boys have loved Disney Junior since it first debuted in Canada and even though they’ve grown a lot in the years since then, they haven’t outgrown the fabulous family-friendly programming on Disney Junior at all! Whether they’re helping Mickey Mouse save the day on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or sailing the seas with Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Disney Junior is something that my incredibly competitive boys don’t argue about at all.

If you’ve always wanted to check out the channel and haven’t had the chance, you’re in luck! For the month of March, most TV services are offering a free preview of Disney Junior! Just use the handy channel finder to learn what channel you need to tune in to and enjoy all the magic of Disney free for the whole month! This week is We Love Our Toys week featuring Doc McStuffins and Toy Story shorts! [Read more…]