Some of the earliest Ladybird books published in the now familiar format centred around animals. As well as the very first series (series 401) which was all animal rhymes, series 497 was a series of 10 different animal stories, first published in 1949 and Tiptoes, the Mischievous Kitten was the second book in this series. Written by Noel Barr, and with illustrations by P. B. Hickling, there is a 1940s charm and innocence about the story that almost makes it seen old fashioned compared to some other Ladybird books in my collection. Much as the title suggests, Tiptoes, the Mischievous Kitten ... read more
Mix Up the Magic with Petits Filous Magic Squares #MagicSquarePlaydates
When I was first asked by Petits Filous to blog about mixing up the fun when it comes to my kids playtime I have to admit I was a bit stumped. It can be so hard at times to know how to snap your children out of that post school day slump where all they want to do is zonk out in front of the TV set. Seeing as we were being asked to mark the launch of Petits Filous' new Magic Squares I actually took influence from something I saw in their TV advert. I find that actually my kids do still have enough energy to engage with a fun activity, but after a day of following instructions at school and ... read more
The MADS 2015
Seven years. Yep, this month I will be celebrating the 7th anniversary of when I started writing Being Mrs C and boy what a lot has happened in those 7 years! We've moved house into a proper family home, I gave up my job in London and we've also started a family with the arrival of Little Miss C and Master C. My motivation when I started this blog was to record and share the things in life which make me smile and that's what I still aim to do today - although I admit that a few challenging times have snuck in too. I wanted to motivate myself to focus on those good things in life though and ... read more
Latest charity shop haul – May 2015
I've not been having as much luck as usual in charity shops of late. Despite lots of looking there just haven't been any items of clothing I really liked and Ladybird books seem to have dried up a bit since the publicity push for the 100th anniversary of the publisher. Still, all my efforts have turned up a few gems - so here's my latest charity shop haul. I'd love to hear about what thrifty gems you've found recently. ... read more
Review: Schleich Horse Riding Arena
I've blogged before about Schleich toys and how much my kids love them. They're always amazing quality and really encourage children to engage in role play which is excellent for their development. I therefore jumped at the chance of being able to review the Schleich Horse Riding Arena. We've only previously bought individual animals so I was intrigued to see what one of their larger sets is like. Firstly - what is included? As well as the arena itself, you also get a horse and rider, a couple of jumps and a few accessories like straw, carrots, horse blanket and reins. The ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Multiplication Made Easy
Maths. It's a school subject that seems to divide people - both children and adults. Some people just hate it and find it so so difficult, yet for others, like myself, it is their favourite school subject! When you think of Ladybird books most people remember the Keywords scheme which taught children all over the country to read, they remember fondly the classic stories and also the vast array of history books that Ladybird published. They may also recall all the nature books with their amazing illustrations and the various hobbies that were covered in other series. The books that may ... read more
My week in crafts
Strangely it's felt like I've not done much crafting this last week, but then I look at my photos as to how much my ripple blanket is growing and realise that I've actually done more than I thought. I mentioned last week about my dilemma as to whether or not to take the ripple blanket on the train to Manchester for Blog On MOSI with me and it had been my intention to find a smaller project, but in the end I was just too disorganised to find something else. Also, seeing as I was carrying a huge empty suitcase there with me in preparation for the haul of stuff I'd be bringing home there ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Nelson
I mentioned a few weeks back that I'd found some other Ladybird titles that have recently been republish and Nelson from the Adventures in History series (series 561) is one such book. This title was originally published by Ladybird in 1957, but some time in the late 1970s or early 1980s (I'm unsure of the exact year) the book was reprinted with a different cover, giving it a look that was consistent with the new Adventures in History books that were published around that time. All the inside pages and illustrations were identical to the original 1957 version. I'm not exactly ... read more
How to explain the general election to a four year old
As we were driving back from Little Miss C's swimming lesson last week she asked me why lost of houses has signs in their front garden and why they were all different colours. With the general election fast approaching she was of course referring to the signs that people put up showing who they were going to vote for and encouraging others to do the same. A couple of years ago she first noticed similar signs for local elections, but now she's able to articulate her questions and thoughts so much better. As her school will be used as a polling station on Thursday (meaning she has to go on a ... read more
My week in crafts
Once again it's been all about the crochet here, but a bit of other crafting has managed to sneak in too. For the first time in ages I've actually sat down and made something with Little Miss C and we actually had great fun doing so. Our paper plate Care Bear was a huge success, especially when she took him to school for show and tell. After never showing any interest in anything crafty Master C has also surprised me this week buy asking to join in when LMC was painting paper plates for her Care Bear and then when it was just me and him at home again asking to do some painting. ... read more