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Music Monday: Lauren Daigle – Behold
Family and work colleagues know that November brings with it my most favorite selection of Christmas anthems. I love Christmas music, yo! It’s who I am! Love me for me! I will be reviewing some of the latest Christmas albums every ‘Music Monday’ from now until Christmas and, thanks to Christian Art Media, we will also be giving away a hamper of Christmas albums to one lucky reader! Today we check out Lauren Daigles Christmas offering titled ‘Behold‘.Lauren Daigle is a popular (newly discovered) Christian music singer/worship leader. Her voice has an amazing husky undertone and she has a really cool swagger about her. Now if you’re like me, and you love Christmas, then you would know that I aint playing when I say that Lauren Daigle knows what she is doing! Looking at her Christmas album’s track list, I thought that this would be a normal “tra la laaaa” Christmas album. But nay! The quirky New Orleans songstress has taken all our favorite Christmas classics and made them – no jokes – better!
For starters, from the get go, you pick up a jazzy/bluesy element to the whole album. I love that she has stuck to her New Orleans roots, which means lots of horns, lots of jazz piano and lots of husky, soulful vocal. Guys, Jingle Bells will never be the same again. She’s added a special jive to it, complete with horns and attitude.
If you love the American classics (you know, where they sing about snow and “Santa”) then you’ll love her version of White Christmas and Christmas Time Is Here. Yoh, the girl can sang! I love her rich vocal. She also does justice to the more popular Christmas carols, such as Oh Holy Night and Silent Night. I found them to be a sweet reminder of why we celebrate Christmas and baby Jesus. Both are kept sweet and simple, with an array of instruments beautifully complementing her voice as she drifts in and out of the familiar melodies that we have grown accustomed to hearing over this special time of the year.
Fans of Norah Jones and Michael Buble, you’ll love Lauren Daigle. In fact, dare I be so bold as to say that Daigle’s vocal has a lot more character than Bubles?! Gasp! But yes, it’s the truth. Looking for an easy listen this Christmas album? This one’s for you! You can read my full review on Gateway News.
I haven’t gotten Christmas Crazy at home yet, but give me a week or two to get my ish together. This year we plan to make our own decorations and I definitely want to do a tree decorating party/ceremony. I mean, what’s the point in having a small army of children, if you can’t make them do embarassingly mushy Christmas related activity?! What do you have planned for tree decor this year?
Win a collection of Christmas albums!Guys, guess what, I’m giving away a special Christmas music hamper to one of you special Christmas crazy readers!
I’ve changed the entry mechanism, to give everyone more of a chance. Simply complete the rafflecopter below! Giveaway closes on Tuesday, December 19th!
Find the rest of the reviews here:
Crowder – Oh For JoyTop 25 Christmas Hymns compilation
Matt Redman – These Christmas Lights
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Loving your rebellious child {Giveaway!}
I was a rebellious child. Well, I was mildly rebellious. But I often wonder what on earth my parents were thinking when I fell pregnant at 19. Or when I went through my “party till I die“ phase. Granted, I was pretty much a good girl, but I’ve had my moments of basically throwing my parents hard work and sacrifice right back into their faces. Fortunately, that soon ended… we all made it out alive, with our original teeth intact. But it got me thinking: what would I do if one of my kids started rebelling? Well, the other day, I picked up a brilliant book titled ‘Loving your rebellious child‘ by H. Normal Wright, that deals with this tough subject! -
Little Lumps baby dungarees made me do it
Nothing makes me go all mushy more than a cute baby in a little dungaree set. I mean, can you even wrap your brain around the sheer adorableness of chubby thighs in tiny shorts? Exactly. I didn’t think so. Hold that thought ladies, and guard your ovaries, as I gift you with pictures of my smallest child wearing Little Lumps baby dungarees:
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Review: Goodsky vacuums your blackheads!
If you’re a blackhead fiend, then you’ll be interested to know that the Goodsky Blackhead Blemish and Acne Pore Vacuum Extraction Tool is now available in South Africa. You never have to pop a pimple again! Well, you shouldn’t be popping your pimples anyways, yo. It is damaging to your skin and can leave permanent scarring and blemishes. -
Going tutu with KidCoCo {Giveaway!}
My girl goes tootoos for tutus! Seriously. It’s the first thing she grabs when she wakes up each morning. Her special collection is lovingly referred to as her “pwincess skirts” and guys, even if the hair aint brushed and the face aint washed, when she wears her tutu she believes that she IS a princess. So can you imagine the excitement when Salma of KidCoCo sent over a special package just for her? KidCoCo is one of my fave local kiddies boutiques and as a semi-pro at tutu buying, I would just like to officially state that the new KidCoCo tutu skirts are of the highest caliber, as far as tutu skirts go.
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Our amazing oyster farm boat cruise with Experience Days and Stampede Cruises!
Visiting the eastern part of South Africa any time soon? Well, firstly, give yourself a round of applause. You’ve chosen to enjoy one of the most beautiful (and historically rich) parts of the country and clearly have good taste. Well done! Secondly, pay special attention to the Experience Days website to check out some of the amazing Stampede Cruises experiences! The chartered tours around Algoa Bay, in Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth), are relaxing and fun with just the right amount of adventure and edu-training thrown in for good measure. A bunch of us joined Rod and his crew on the scenic Oyster Farm Boat Cruise to the Zwembesi Oyster Farm, this past weekend, and it was all sorts of fun! -
Alove Creations turned my kid into a superstar!
I’m not saying I have a favorite child but baby Jo definitely has the best cheeks of the lot. So it just made sense when Alethea of Alove Creations picked him to be one of the clothing labels baby brand ambassadors! Those superstar cheeks won her over, I’m convinced. You might remember me raving about Alove Creations last year, when I gave away one of her fab summer kimonos. Ladies, guess what, she has recently extended her baby wear collection and it is stunning! Attending a baby shower soon? Well then, you must check out what she has to offer. (Plus there might be a giveaway at the end of this post… who’s to say..,)
The Blessed&Favored collection has a range of baby and kiddie accessories that are totally rad! My absolute fave are these snood and head band/beanie sets. Jonah and Ava did such a good job modelling these, don’t you think?I loved the look so much that I had to get a matching set for Kari and I. All the Alove Creations snoods and head gear is made with a chunky knit fabric and I love that the snoods are extra length. Aint nobody got time for short snoods, yo!
I am also a big fan of these ultra trendy swaddle sets. The set consists of a swaddle blankey and matching head gear. I’ve actually been using the swaddle blankey as a breastfeed cover as well. It’s light weight and easy to wrap your baby in, plus it makes you feel like a fabulous Beverley Hills mom. I mean, winning already, right?I’ve never really been a fan of the swaddling concept until I saw how soundly it made my baby sleep. Little ones feel safe and secure, when swaddled.
If you’re looking for a legit breastfeed cover though, the Alove Creations 4-in-1 breastfeeding infinity cover is the one that you want! (Ooh Ooh Ooh honey!)So this breastfeed cover is a (yep, you guessed it) discreet nursing cover, trendy pram cover, clever car seat cover and you can wear it as a top! Actually, I don’t know if the last one is a thing but I’ve totally been wearing the black one as a top. Yes, I’m that person. But also, it’s that versatile! Check it out, This is the perfect baby shower gift!
There are a bunch of other cool baby accessories in her collection such as wooden teethers and trendy pacifier clips. These are hand made and come in a range of amazing colors. Very, very cool.Bonus feature: Your tiny tots fingers will have a ball of time exploring the grooves of these wooden beads.
But hey, don’t take my word for it! I want to give a wooden beads teether/pacifier clip away to one of you amazing readers.
To enter, simply drop a comment below, letting me know who you’d gift it to. Make sure you’re subscribed to this blog, so that I am able to contact you if you’re a winner. (To subscribe, enter your email addy in the box on the top right corner… yep, the one right under my face…)
Update: Congratulations Laurissa Erasmus!
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Sweaty hands? Iontoderma to the rescue!
Who’s ready for summer? That many of you, eh? Well, I concur! I love those long summer days in the sun, dips in the pool and friendly get togethers filled with ice lollies, watermelon and oh wait… sweating. (And the crowd goes “boo”.) Okay, calm down everyone. Yep, warm weather usually brings on excessive sweating. But if you’re one of those people who suffer from excessive perspiring there is an affordable solution for you. -
Schnooky Pie Girls Summer 17: Pretty and Practical!
I love that my only daughter is the girliest girl in all the land! She’s like, a proper girly girl. She wears my high heels and jewelry around the house and asks for lipstick and make up. I mean, who chooses to wear heels, at home, for fun?! This girl does. She was especially overjoyed the other day when we opened a beautiful parcel from Jaclyn of Schnooky Pie. The bow bedecked box gave us a sneak peak of the proudly South African clothing brand’s new Girls Summer 17 range. If you guys remember, Kari has modeled for Schnooky Pie before. You can read more about Jaclyn’s amazing story on this post I did over at SA Mom Blogs. -
What my kids are playing with: Play-doh and Busy Box toy review
So my little miss has been giving me all the love because I brought home a couple of ultra cool toys from some of our blog friends. Hands in the air if you’re okay with being the cool parent. I know I am. I’ll take my cool points wherever I can get ’em from, thank you very much. Anyways, so you know how I love to give kids educational toys as gifts? Well, the toys I’m going to chat about today tick all the right boxes AND they encourage imaginative play, which is always a winner in my books!
