One thing I really miss since having children is being able to go out for dinner or a weekend lunch on a whim with Mr C. We were very lucky in that we could just phone each other in the afternoon and decide where to meet for dinner that night - a big luxury indeed. I was thrilled therefore when a weekday lunch for local bloggers was organised on a date that I could actually do and on a day of the week when Little Miss C was in nursery. The venue was the newly opened St Albans branch of Brasserie Blanc and we were all invited to try the November version of their seasonal fixed price menu - The ... read more
Review: CBeebies: The Album
Parents here in the UK certainly can't be in any doubt that their TV Licence is value for money and that's all thanks to the wonderful CBeebies. One disadvantage to allowing your little ones to watch CBeebies is that you will find yourself suddenly in the shower, or driving the car, and humming along to one of the songs that you've heard in there. If you're like me then it will be one that you don't quite know all the words to, but yet you still can't get it out of your head for the rest of the day. Children love CBeebies and also love all the songs that are either part ... read more
Review: Wigwam Play Tent
Even the recent bad weather hasn't stopped us from making the most of this lovely wigwam play tent that we have been sent to review. Admittedly all the wind and rain has prevented us from putting it up in the back garden, but Little Miss C's new bedroom is luckily large enough to accommmodate a wigwam in the middle of it and the novelty of having a secret den in her bedroom has completely delighted her. The wigwam comes boxed rather compactly but Mr C found it easy to assemble. No tools are required as all you need to do is slot together the two parts of the wooden poles with a plastic ... read more
First adventures with Hama Beads
I must have seen Hama Beads mentioned on loads of parenting and craft blogs in the last year or so, but somehow I still hadn't quite worked out what they were - that may well tell you something about how poor my speed reading skills are! I had always assumed that they were something for slightly older children than Little Miss C, but then Merry from Craft Merrily told me about Maxi Hama Beads that are designed for children ages three and up and I realised that it was time to take a closer look. LMC has recently spent hours playing with a box of buttons, arranging them into colours ... read more
Richard Scarry’s Best Counting Book Ever
I'm very quickly learning that with a newborn and a toddler in the house having a pile of books available so that all three of us can cuddle up on the sofa together at feeding time is a good thing. It's lucky therefore that Little Miss C and I have a backlog of books to review together at the moment. We've read quite a few Richard Scarry books together, but as soon as I saw a description of Richard Scarry's Best Counting Book Ever I knew that we just had to review it. Little Miss C is really into numbers at the moment and is getting quite good at counting things and we try to encourage ... read more
Jack’s Mega Machines: The Rocket Racing Car – Alison Ritchie & Mike Byrne
We love books in this household, absolutely adore them, and our bookcases are heaving as a result. As good as they all are they therefore have to be pretty special to stand out from all the rest around them especially when you're reading them through for the first time. That's where Jack's Mega Machines: The Rocket Racing Car has a fantastic unique selling point that instantly makes it stand out from all the other books on Little Miss C's bookcase - inside the back cover is this cardboard vehicle - exactly the same as the racing car in the story. When we put this together for LMC ... read more
Review: Canvas Print from photo-canvas.com
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only parent who takes heaps and heaps of photographs of my daughter, but then manages to do nothing with them other than post a few on Facebook and leave the rest sitting on my hard drive. I have romantic visions of going through all my photographs during the long winter evenings, printing selected ones out and creating some beautiful albums with them, but then I never quite manage to find the time to do so. Original picture taken in Norfolk - un-cropped Back when Little Miss C was only nine months old we ventured to Norfolk with her and she had her first real ... read more
Review: Jingle Puzzle – Old MacDonald Had A Farm
Just the day after blogging about Little Miss C's love of jigsaw puzzles I was thrilled to be asked to review a Jingle Puzzle. What freaked me out slightly was that as soon as we arrived at the local sorting office to collect the parcel LMC somehow knew that it was a jigsaw for her without either of us even opening the package. She happily carried it to the car telling everyone we walked past that it was a jigsaw for her to do. More than "just" a jigsaw Jingle Puzzles are based on well known children's nursery rhymes and songs and each box contains a floor puzzle, a CD of music (with track ... read more
Review: Miniland Lacing Buttons
I've always been a big fan of educational toys and games and I was therefore really pleased to hear about a range of educational toys that I hadn't come across before - Miniland Educational. We were sent a couple of things from the range to review and I have honestly never seen Little Miss C jump on anything as quickly as she did the Lacing Buttons. Within mere seconds of me opening the big brown box they came in LMC had them out and had spread them across the living room floor as she excitedly started threading them onto the laces provided. For half an hour she sat there ... read more
Cussons Mum & Me Bump Range: Relax and Unwind Bath Soak
With everything going on here at the moment there's no doubt that relaxing and unwinding should be top of my to do list, but finding time to do so can be a bit problematic. I was rather pleased to be asked to review the Relax and Unwind Bath Soak from Cussons Mum and Me Bump Range as I figured that I could then justify having a relaxing bubble bath as being "work related"! The thing I particularly like about this bath soak is that it does actually seem to lead to a better night's sleep if I use if just before bedtime. Made with camomile to help you relax it's not overly scented (a good thing ... read more