'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse Those opening lines to Clement C. Moore's The Night Before Christmas are ones that so many people know off by heart and just hearing them reminds me of reading a version of it as a child. This year Parragon have brought out a new version of this classic seasonal rhyme with accompanying artwork by Henry Fisher. Little Miss C wasn't at all familiar with this rhyme and at points the slightly old fashioned language and references to St Nicholas, rather than ... read more
Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day
Be prepared for your eyes to be hurt tomorrow - in the nicest possible way of course. Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day is back (Friday 13th December) and this year it's going to be bigger than ever! The idea is simple - get into the Christmas spirit by wearing your best bit of festive knitware and donate a pound to Save the Children to help support the wonderful work that they do for children around the world. I had big plans for either buying myself a perfect Christmas jumper that sat perfectly between retro cringeworthy and cool or even making myself something a bit special. ... read more
How to make the perfect cuppa – northern style!
These days there aren't all that many subjects in which I'd say I was an expert. Several things that I've had lots of practice in, but I'm not necessarily all that good at them. Then I saw Mummy Barrow's post about making the perfect cuppa and though - hang on a minute, this is actually something I know how to do. And something I do bloody well if I say so myself. After all I'm from Yorkshire. Tea's in my blood. Literally. So - how to start. Firstly tea should always be made with boiling water, whilst coffee should be made with just hot water (one of the first things you learn at I Am Barista ... read more
I’m a blogger, get me out of here!
It's been a while since I've done a meme on here so when I was rather keen to join in when I was tagged over on Boo, Roo and Tigger too to take part in this I'm a blogger, get me out of here meme which started on Kate on Thin Ice's blog. The idea is simple, and the rules are as follows: 1. Answer the 10 questions and consider the mission.2. Tag a few bloggers to do the same3. Come back to my original blog post and tell me you have done the questions and answers so I can take a look and promote your post. So, whilst I might not be a fan of the TV show, here ... read more
Win a Kidkraft Pirate Play Set from Cuthberts Toys
Part of my "day job" at the moment involves working with the lovely people at my gorgeous local independent toy shop Cuthberts Toys and writing their blog for them. To tie in with my latest review for them I'm delighted to say that they have provided me with a Kidkraft Pirate Play Set to give away in time for Christmas*. We were fortunate enough to review this pirate play set and Little Miss C fell in love with it as soon as she saw it. A full review can be found over on the Cuthberts Blog, but here are some highlights. Firstly, the sheer scale of the Pirate Ship is impressive. The small box ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: The story of Newspapers
The Ladybird Tuesday post on The Story of Newspapers can now be found over on Penny Reads. You can read it in full here. If you have a collection of old Ladybird books then please feel free to join in with Ladybird Tuesday. There are no formal rules to follow, just leave a link to any post you write in the comments below and if you're feeling kind link back to my Ladybird Tuesday category here on Being Mrs C. Thanks! ... read more
TASSIMO Hot Chocolate with a caffeine kick!
It's time for another TASSIMO Blogger Challenge and this month I'm embracing the cold. Whilst autumn and winter may not be everyone's cup of tea there's actually something I quite like about wrapping up warm in a scarf and hat, or under a blanket on the sofa. I like how cosy you can make it at home once you've drawn the curtains and everyone is in from work and school. I also like winter warming meals and in my mind nothing beats wrapping your hands round a hot mug of something when there's a chill in the air. We were asked to use our TASSIMO machines to come up with a ... read more
Yikes, Stinkysaurus! – Pamela Butchart and Sam Lloyd
"My favourite dinosaur book ever mummy!" That's exactly how Little Miss C described Yikes, Stinkysaurus! after a couple of days of reading it, and for a child that's going through a bit of a dinosaur obsession at the moment that's pretty high praise indeed! The fact that this is apparently going to be the first in a series of dinosaur themed books makes it even more exciting. Stinkysaurus is the smelliest dinosaur there is. He refuses to take a bath and as a result all the other dinosaurs can smell him wherever he goes. He soon becomes the scariest dinosaur ... read more
Take a seat workshop
Back on what I think was the last day I felt vaguely normal before taking to my sick bed I had an amazing child-free day cashing in my birthday present from Mr C. Rather than buying things I asked for an experience gift and he came up trumps by paying for me to attend a workshop at local shop Lavender Blue. The workshop I chose was one in which you take an old chair, very much like this one... ... and then use Annie Sloan paints and fabric to turn it into something quite special. Before attending the workshop I'd got visions that much of my day would be spent sandpaper in hand ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Levers, Pulleys and Engines
I've blogged before about my love of Ladybird series 621 (Junior Science) and Ladybird Tuesday has already featured Magnets, Bulbs and Batteries and Light, Mirrors and Lenses from that series. I'm on a mission to try and collect the whole series, both the originals and the updated versions from the 1980s, and I was therefore delighted when my sister picked me up a copy of Levers, Pulleys and Engines. This book is a perfect introduction to so many aspects of physics and tries to align them with things that are familiar to children. There are also some lovely little ... read more