Book Review – Babies of Two

IMG_4037Babies of Two is a children’s book written by Kim Gosselin with illustrations by Alisa Belzil. It is a very cute book that shows twins Mollie and Maddie making their grand appearance to the world. The story is wonderfully written and the illustrations are a beautiful watercolor style of art. I think the dialog between the twins is really clever and I love the touches with Mama and Daddy.

Kim reached out to St. Louis Dad asking if it would be okay to send over a couple copies of her latest book, Babies of Two. One to keep and review and one to give away. Of course I agreed as we can never have too many books in the St. Louis Dad household. The books arrived very quickly but had been sitting on my desk waiting for me to open them up. With the holiday and several other projects already on my calendar I had to push off this review for about a week longer than I really wanted to.

Daddy, where is my twin?

After reading the story with my daughter Abby, I was asked about babies and twins specifically. I did my best to answer Abby’s questions about why there wasn’t two babies when she was born and a few other silly questions about twins (think The Corsican Brothers). She loved the illustrations just as I did. Abby cannot read yet but we have been practicing, but I’ll tell you what… When a child that cannot read but can still tell you the majority of the story through the illustrations provided you know you found a good artist. I have illustrated a number of children’s books and interpreting the story into artwork can be a challenge sometimes. I applaud Alisa’s work. I will definitely be looking out for more of her art.

IMG_4036As for Kim’s story, it is just fantastic and I highly recommend picking up a copy. Did you know she is the author of 17 children’s books? That’s incredible! Check out her amazing catalog of books here and also check out her publishing website Rockingchairpress.net!

So I am sure you are curious, who got the extra book?… Well, it just so happens that Abby has a friend that is the same age and looks very similar to her. I thought it would be great to pass on a great children’s book to another great kid. Especially one that is almost identical to my own!

World Backup Day

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Are you prepared for a total system crash? Did you know that March 31st is World Backup Day? Take the pledge and find out how you can be sure your data is safe and secure!

Backing up your data can be tedious and boring. However it is super important to do. Nowadays with a smartphone in just about every pocket and purse with potentially thousands of pictures and videos on each device, there are thousands of reasons to make sure that data is backed up. I routinely back up our data in our house. I probably do not get a backup as often as I would like but probably once a quarter I make sure I got everything.

There are many tools that you can use to automate backups to make it easier. I usually just use the copy and paste method but shooting data out to the cloud or another storage medium can be relatively hassle free these days. Gone are the days of having to use hundreds of floppy disks or tape drives. The cloud and USB storage is insanely cheap, there is not one good reason as to why you cannot be backing up your data!

If you are unsure of how to protect your data visit the WorldBackupDay.com website and get some good tips on what you can do to make sure your data is backed up and safe. You really don’t even need to spend any money to make it happen, just make sure you do it. As an IT professional that has recovered a good amount of crashed hard drives, please save me the time and create a good backup of your data. I an the rest of the IT world thanks you. Thank yourself for that matter as you have now protected your data!

Do you have any questions about backing up your data? Post them in the comments!

*Image and video courtesy of WorldBackupDay.com

Seriously, Beef Liver is Tasty!

chewy.comBeef liver may not be tasty for you or me, but my dogs sure do eat it up. Chewy.com sent over a tub of Evanger’s Nothing but Natural Beef Liver Gently Dried Dog & Cat Treats for us to try out with our two crazy doggies Clark and Miss Lady.

When I saw that it was beef liver flavor I am pretty sure my stomach turned a little bit thinking of liver. I’m just happy these are not for me to eat. They are a perfect size as a reward treat to use when practicing tricks or other training techniques. Both Clark and Miss Lady will sit very pretty for one of Evanger’s Nothing but Natural treats. I also like the tub that these treats came in. After these are out I plan on keeping the tub to use for other treats.

IMG_3884Clark and Miss Lady will most definitely be enjoying the rest of these treats while also getting a re-enforced education in sitting, laying down, and other standard dog tricks. I tried and failed many times trying to get a picture of the dogs practicing their sitting while waiting for a beef liver treat but just couldn’t get it to happen. Follow me on Instagram to catch a photo when I do get it.

There are more flavors than just the Beef Liver if that is not your thing. Check out Chewy’s website for more awesome Evanger’s Nothing but Natural Dog and Cat Treats. I can see these being a go to treat for training for any dog. I’m not sure about a cat because I don’t have one but comment below if you have any experience training cats. I have heard they are hard to train and really independent. So I am interested in your responses.

All in all you cannot go wrong with these treats. Clark and Miss Lady love a good treat and when I can get them to sit for one of these tasty beef liver treats.

Chewy.com provided St. Louis Dad with these products as compensation in exchange for an honest review. Please visit Chewy.com for more toys, treats, and other items needed for your pets!

Monster Energy AMA Supercross in St. Louis!

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Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, is the world’s premier stadium motorcycle circuit, comprised of 17 races of heart-stopping racing action in some of the largest venues in North America. Every week, the best riders from across the globe, like Ryan Dungey, Eli Tomac, Chad Reed, Ken Roczen, and Justin Barcia seek to outrace each other on the sport’s most challenging tracks. Featuring tight corners, fast straightaways, challenging rhythm sections, triple jumps, and whoops sections, these tracks pack excitement into every inch of dirt.

Get your tickets today for the April 16th event at 1:30 for as low as $10! You can save $5 per ticket with code TREAD5! (Disclaimer: Offer valid on regularly $30 and $20 seating only. Offer expires Friday, April 15 at 11:59pm CST. No double discounts. Additional fees may apply.)

St. Louis Dad is also giving away FOUR tickets to Monster Energy AMA Supercross via Twitter! All you have to do to enter is retweet this tweet by April 7th for your chance to win four tickets! Tickets will be held available at Will Call for pick up one day prior to performance. Winners will be contacted on April 7th after the drawing. If the winner does not respond within 24 hours another winner will be selected.

RETWEET TO WIN FOUR TICKETS TO THE APRIL 16th EVENT!

We are extremly excited for this event. Watching the races and the jumps are awesome to see and a great time for the whole family at a great price. Let us know in the comments if you will be at Monster Energy AMA Supercross!