As a parent you sometimes think that you know a brand. You've bought their products yourself and also seen them being used by other parents. It's a brand that you're happy to buy and happy to recommend. You know and trust them. Then, as a blogger, you get the opportunity to work with said brand and look forward to doing so as you've been a satisfied customer of theirs for years. You go along to meet the brand, her more about them and see their latest product lines and at that point they absolutely blow you out of the water. Pun very much intended as that's exactly what Zoggs have done this ... read more
Keeping Those Winter Wonderful Memories with Truprint #PicturesIntoPresents
One thing that I love about living here in the UK is the seasons. I just can't imagine living somewhere where the weather is the same all year round. By the time each new season rolls around I'm ready for it. Looking forward to the change and ready to embrace what comes along next. That's why winter for me is so special. After those cosy autumn evenings snuggled up as the weather starts to get colder there's something I love about the cold snap that signal's winter's arrival. As an outdoor lover I love going out with the family in those colder winter days when it's like the frost has taken ... read more
Wakey, Wakey, Elephant – Linda Ravin Lodding and Michael Robertson
Master C is so difficult to wake up in a morning these days. Seeing as he shares a room with his sister at my place the pair of them have got into a bit of a bad habit of staying up far too late (especially for a school night) talking and playing in their room. I had been hoping that after this long the novelty of sharing a room would have worn off, but it seems I was wrong. On a weekend it's fine because I can let the pair of them have a bit of a lie in, but on school mornings I need to get them both up so they can be ready and leave on time. Usually Little Miss C just takes a bit of ... read more
Great British Sewing Bee Sewing Studio
Since moving house my sewing machine hasn't been out anywhere near enough. I have so many projects that I keep meaning to complete, but as usual there just aren't enough hours in the day. Or enough space on the singe table that we have in our living room. I know that it's only a matter of time though, and then I'll finally be able to crack own with some of the things I want to make. There must be patterns that I bought over a year ago that I haven't even made a start on yet. And the less said about the cot bed quilt that I started a lifetime ago the better. When Little Miss C first came ... read more
Thomas and Friends Smart Tablet
As you will all know by now. Master C is train obsessed. But it's an obsession that I regularly try to use to his advantage when it comes to teaching him things. For ages he wasn't at all interested in holding a pen or doing any sort of "mark making" as it's described in Early Years Foundation Stage documentation. Then he suddenly started wanting to draw trains, in particular drawing on carriage on each separate piece of A4 paper and then sticking them all together. This was swiftly followed by seeing track layout diagrams in some of my OH's model railway magazines and the next thing we knew ... read more
Morphy Richards Toaster and Kettle set
Role play is such a vital part of a child's development. Talk to any Early Years practitioner and they will tell you about what an important stage it is and why pre-schools, nurseries and reception classes all have role play areas and how much the children gain from playing in them. It's part of how they make sense of the world around them and understand their roles within the world. It stimulates their imagination, aids their social development and can also help children understand scenarios that they may have encountered in real life. For most children role playing home situations is ... read more
Ravensburger Despicable Me 3 Sneaker 3D Puzzle
What do you do with a completed jigsaw puzzle? For years I've loved doing jigsaw puzzles but then when you've finished them it's hard to know quite what to do with them. Ages ago I stayed in a little B&B in Brussels where all the walls were decorated with jigsaw puzzles. Massive ones that measured over a meter square. It was quite simply one of the strangest things I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure that normally you finish a puzzle, leave it on the table for up to a week and then pop it back in the box before moving on to another one. Fast forward to now though and jigsaws have moved on a ... read more
Baking Biscuits with Bacofoil and their Non-Stick Baking Paper
If you follow me on Instagram you'll know that I do a fair bit of baking. Especially of biscuits. My late Gran's ginger biscuit recipe is well known locally as they've been enjoyed at numerous WI, school governor and other committee meetings over the years. I was thrilled therefore to see an invitation pop into my inbox from Bacofoil to join a baking masterclass with Great British Bake Off Quarter finalist Benjamina Ebuehi where we would be creating her new white chocolate and coconut cookies using Bacofoil's non-stick baking paper. Over the years I've been lucky enough to meet a few bake ... read more
Maurice the Unbeastly – Amy Dixon
When you think of a beast, what do you imagine? Probably some ugly creature who roars and stomps around, creating havoc wherever he goes. Maurice could not be further from that image if he tried. Maurice instead is gentle and kind. Sings beautifully and looks incredibly photogenic in pictures. He's also a big fan of organic snacks. Maurice's parents are worried that he needs to learn to be less civilised and so enrol him at the Abominable Academy for Brutish Beasts where they try to teach him to behave improperly. Will they succeed though? Or will they see that being different can be a good ... read more
Magical Unicorn Activity Chest from The Works
Unicorns seem to be absolutely everywhere these days. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm more tuned in to them with a step-daughter who is obsessed, and also a daughter who currently hangs on to every word she says. The thing with having a daughter is that I see trends and obsessions from my childhood come round again with her, but the unicorn thing is something that I think completely passed me by when I was a child. I remember crazes for collecting erasers, those puffy stickers, random bits of stationery and even yo-yos advertising soft drinks, but unicorns don't feature anywhere in my ... read more