Monday 31 August 2015

Bright Eyes Pet Cat Review


We recently have had the chance to check out Bright Eyes Pets a cute fluffy soft toy which makes sounds and eyes light up. Well when it came it was world war three with a toddler on each side of the box fighting to hug it first. Ami got hold of it first leaving a deflated Son Son of to find his own soft toy. 



They are sutible for the both the day and the night with a calming effect by stroking the back and helping the cat fall asleep. We did try this with Ami as she struggles to fall asleep and maybe thought it could potentially help her but she is so funny about teddies in her bed it did not make the cut. Son Son took it as his chance to have the cat but I had to sneak in his room and take it as it was keeping him up, I was not flavour of the month there. 


What I didn't realise that the cat had an on and off button so can be switched on if its keeping toddlers up at night. When you stroke the cats head it purrs and makes general cat sounds. Some cute some no so, but the toddlers loved it all the same. 





I caught Ami throwing the cat too the cheeky monkey. She just loved playing with it and making it purr. Especially giving it for me to hold and carry especially when she made us take it out then refused to hold it. So I got to carry the cat that purred. I didn't mind really it is quite cuddly.. As you can see from the photo below that the cats eyes do light up. They also have a little bird in the eyes too. This is to help at night (or in our case help to keep to cheeky toddlers awake at night). 


All in all it is rather cute and a good size too. It retails at £19.99 and you can find out a little more here and even buy one too. It comes in other animals if a cats not your taste there is an owl, elephant and a dog to take your fancy too.

Disclosure: We were sent this for the purpose of the review all words and opinions are out own. 

Me and Mine - August

Sorry guys I am a little late this month. With it being the summer I planned in my head plenty of beach shots, times together but no we didn’t manage to get a photo together. This month has been incredibly busy with both me and my husband volunteering at different events over the summer. 


Now its all come to an end yesterday was the lark day of Lark in the Park an event in our area serving the local area and providing free event for all ages. The kids love it they basically get a new type of freedom and the chance to be round lots of people making lots of attention of them. My husband is busy on the media team so I spent a lot of time following Ami and Son Son around. We have loved it and I knew we will miss it. We started the summer serving at a local event called Scripture union, then on to Lark in the Park Sidcup then finally Ramsgate Lark. Its been a good one, not to forget fitting in our actual jobs in-between. Busy Busy.


So it gets to tonight and my hubby was home after a long night and day packing marquees and media bits away and we thought lets go to Nandos, you know one of them cheeky Nandos then my hubby said lets get the waitress to take one, but guess what we forgot!! SO it was a quick one on the sofa ( a photo you dodgy codger). A busy busy month I am so sad its over Ive looked forward to August since last August. Its by far my best month of the year, a little bit sad my photo doesn’t reflect that. 


Heres to next month, hoping for an indian summer, no rain, no crazy wind blowing marquees around. None of that just lovely sunshine. Just so I can catch up on my tanning like my sister. 

Sunday 30 August 2015

Losing the blogging mojo

Have you ever lost your blogging spark?

Well that's a bit how I am feeling at the moment. I've been blogging for two and a half years and although at times I have loved it, I am now wondering if I want to continue to do so. 

You see I am sometimes just so busy I do not have the time to put in the effort that I would like. My posts are rushed photos are rushed and it's not what I want. I started blogging to write about our days out and what we get up to but I now mostly forget to do so like the Disneyland Paris trip from June doh. I like to write funny posts but how often do I do that?.

It's been a busy summer so I suppose getting back into the swing of things will be hard. I've got a long list of reviews to write and other things I've agreed to. Which is good it gives me content when I struggle to find anything. 

I've stepped back from some social media platforms and somehow have lost that community feel I used to get from blogging. There's so many nowadays it's easy to get lost and forgotten about. Maybe I've been a bit guilty of link dumping and other things that I've done in a rush. 

I think if I want to continue blogging I should come more organised, use my time more wisely and make sure that I enjoy what I am writing about. I be lost that spark that I have had, maybe it may come back I am not so sure. The thing is if I am busy what will I do instead.

Have you any advice for getting excited about blogging again? 


Tuesday 25 August 2015

Son Son you are 21 months

This month has flown by an we have been so busy I have intact missed a month sorry Son son when you read this when your older. I hope you don’t mind and its in fact testiment to the fact that we are busy making memories. 

SO first things first these months my little boy is changing so much. Each month we fall a little but more in love with this beautiul boy.So here you are Son Son this months update. 




This month we are finally getting a few more words, some clear ones and other attempts. 
You now call us mumma and Dadda but sometimes Daddy is called Matty. You call your dummy a more and a muzzy a mine. You also say milk you obviously love the M words. You love to shout especially when someone takes something of yours.



You still love to throw EVERYTHING. literally everything ends up at someones head. Its becoming a joke that you never miss. It can also be frustrating at times. Especially when you throw something at another child. 



You love your food and can demolish a huge plate of food. Your favourite food is still Mash and veg but you also love pasta too. Lunch is your least favourite meal and you hardly eat it unless its a hot meal. You know where the biscuits are kept and spend the whole day asking for one. You love to drink and could down a drink in next to no time.


You have enjoyed having a little bit of freedom this summer. Although you still shout when you can't see your parent. Especially if we go somewhere new. You like to pull your parents to where you want to go which can be not very helpful at times. You also like to bundle other children which is not always great. Especially when the child is maybe an only child and not used to another child bundling  them. You also hit other children which is very annoying along with throw balls at them. I think its the way you communicate because you do not talk so much. I hope its just a phase as its hard to tell you off as you too cute. 


You love to be outside and will play for ages outside. In the garden you won't play out on your own prefer to be with company. You and Ami have enjoyed throwing water over each other this summer. You throw lot of sand but have started to make sand castles.


You adore the sea and love to go in even in your clothes. We always find that strange as you still hate the bath!! You will play in any water thats not the bath or the shower, maybe your just copying your older brother? You have had a fun summer with a lot of it spent at the beach.


You are such a cute boy and you bring us such such joy. 
Heres to another month, well another two months that have flown by. 

We love you lots Sun Bear 


Monday 24 August 2015

Summer at Broadstairs - Beach Folk Week

Growing up by the sea we had out traditions as children. One would be as a family we would head over to Broadstairs during Folk week on the train. For my parents it was a chance to pub crawl and for me and my sisters it was amazing, we would return to our parents and get given more cash for them to have some peace. We would love it and the day would end with a carnival. We would then have to "help" them back to the train station and on a train. We used to love it was such a fun tradition. So as I have had my children I have tried to make it to Broadstairs on the train its only 4 stops for us so not far at all. I did not go on a pub crawl safe to say. 


Me and the kids and my friend Jess and her boy Noah all set of to make it for the 11am show. Which was interesting with lots of different folk dancers and entertainment. The kids enjoyed it, I didn't because I do not like those snappy dragon things they creep me out. I got chased by one as a kid and I still stay well clear. The lady below looked a little bit like my my Mother in law with Red hair which made the kids laugh.


We headed away from the bandstand and went for a little walk to get an ice cream and let the little ones have a play on the beach. It was a lovely day not to warm but not cold. Occasional sunshine making me not feel to guilty about leaving the sun tan cream at home (bad parenting). 


We let the toddlers go for a paddle Asti being far to cool to join in. Which for them was such fun except for me and my friend Jess who found it to be stressful especially when they looked like they were heading in deeper!


The summer is so my favourite time of the year. These pictures bring me such joy it really is a beautiful place to live. I love sand and the sea, we then had to get them back up the beach which was a massive mission. Three toddlers two adults, thankfully no casulties


We followed the beach of with an ice cream and a trip to the arcades. My friend got away with only spending £2 I got conned as they wanted to spend more. My son thought he was going to win a brand new phone but after £4 later it was a fake he was so disappointed. I always get ripped of in arcades they see me coming. 


We finished our day of with a trip to a park perfect little day for all of us., Home just in time for tea. I hope they look back fondly at our days out like I did. Hopefully my little blog posts might help to. I love our little adventures and random days out. Beautiful summer holidays. 



Thursday 20 August 2015

A Mothers love - Your never too old for a cuddle

Recently I have been looking at my children in a new way. Dont get me wrong I have always loved but them but recently it has really hit home how special they are. I don't know maybe getting caught up with three children took its hold a bit? I am not sure but tonight my eldest asked me to tuck him into bed. He is nearly nine and sometimes is far to cool for this, but as I did so and kissed him on his head I realise dI hadn't kissed him for a long time. I tell him I love him but when did I last kiss him. When did this slip, why does it seem uncomfortable to hug him? I don't want that.

I want him to hug me again like he did when he was a toddler. Was it having more children that let this slip. I really didn't mean it to stop, I really didn't. It makes me sad and really made me think I need to make much more of an effort. So when he asked me to tuck him I kissed him lots and lots. I thought he would push me away but no he loved it. His smile was so wide. You see for nearly nine he is my little boy.

My little boy who may act so old but he will always be my boy. My boy that brings me so much joy. My boy who makes me so so proud. My boy who may be a bot of a handful at times but I know he will do well in life. He is so unique so special. I don't want to miss out on this, I don't want him to grow up thinking he can't cuddle his mum. You see thats how my parents were, I do not remember cuddling them and I don't want that for mine.

My boy is growing up and needs to be investing in, I really hope I don't fail him. We are trying our hardest with him, trying to keep him involved, not getting stuck in toddler mayhem.

Its such a special time this raising kids. Although we don't feel it its such an massive privilege to be a parent. I always remind myself that I am more than blessed with my little children.




Monday 17 August 2015

Disney Doc McStuffins Pet Vet Bag Review


We recently got sent the Doc McStuffins vet bag to review, Ami was over joyed. She loves Doc Mcstuffins and loves to help her toys and animals. The set contains a plastic vet bag and 9 different things that go in the bag. Including a special watch like the Doc on the show that you press and it glows. 


The bag contains a brush, comb, file, magnifying glass, otoscope, scissors, stickers and the light up watch. The couldn't wait for me to get the bits out of the box so they could have a play. They are little toys so perfect for little toddler hands.


The things they loved the most was the scissors and the brushes. Ami changed the game to hair dressers even with my explanation. I wasn't too fussed its all part of using imagination I suppose.  The handles are all glittery too and brightly coloured.


They struggled to open the case as its kept shut with magnets. Which is good to keep the toys in but not so handy when you have a poorly toy dog to take care of. The sparkly set looks nice from the outside too and the handles are not too big. I can see this set bringing lots of opportunity for creative and imaginary play.


They did enjoy playing with the little toys and making the toys better. The poor dog ended up with broken nose and needing a haircut. The set could do with some more plaster stickers as these were the first to go but all and all,  I  think if your child is a Doc Mcsuffins fan they would love this set.

This Set retails at around £22.99 and is aimed at the age of 3 + although Son Son did enjoy it too. Its available in most shops and online. 

Disclaimer: We were sent this product for review all thought and opinions are my own. 

Sunday 16 August 2015

Im a Ravensburger twitter Party Host

Who doesn't love a twitter party, a party where you don't have to sit round the edges of a school hall feeling too awkward to dance. We are planning to have a little party our selves with my children and their cousins and enjoy playing some puzzles and having a lot of fun. Not Only that during that on Twitter there will be lots going on, there will be prizes to be won, lots of chat and all the fun of a twitter party.



We love jigsaws here, I used to spend ages as a child making puzzles and then sometimes turning them the other way for a harder puzzle ( thats what kind of cool kid I was). There is something special seeing a child concentrating putting a puzzle together. For us its a good way to get the kids to stay still for longer than 5 mins other than sitting on a screen.

We were sent a huge box of puzzles for the monkeys to try and work there way through. Great timing too as the summer holidays can be long and expensive to do stuff each day.

Heres some sneak peaks to whats in the box. Believe me I was flabbergasted and now really excited for the twitter party.


Its all so exciting literally had toddlers fighting over the puzzles (thankfully we were sent two of each so can tame them for now). We have lots of fun activities to do along with awesome party bags for our little party. One of the activities is to make your own puzzles and also a pass the parcel. The party bags contain some shopkins toys, sweets and colouring sheets. 


Theres such variety of puzzles to play with from floor puzzles to 3D puzzles, thankfully the age range for our party is 1-9 so then nobody is missed out. My son loves inside out so he can't wait to get stuck into the puzzle. As we have two of each they can all take a puzzle home to, Im looking forward to making the 3D minions puzzle have never made a 3D puzzles and the fact that it is minions is super cool! 


So there you are, a little insight into our little party box!! Hopefully we won't have any fiascos such as toddlers breaking older kids puzzles or crying at pass the parcel. Do make sure you join in to win and see what we thought of the puzzles. You can hear how our little activities have gone and who wins the prize. SO don't for get the details. 

* Tuesday 18th August *

* 2pm - 4pm *

* #ravensburgerpuzzles #puzzling *

* @mummy_madness1, @ukmumstv, @Ravensburgerpc *

Its going to be fun don't miss it. 

My Sunday photo

Wednesday 12 August 2015

5 Second Rule Board Game Review


We as a family love playing Board games. Quite frankly we don't do it enough and something we really would like to do more of. So when we got sent 5 Second Rule I was over the moon.  My Eldest at 8 is old enough to get a grip on how games work and it really can be good fun. Works best the more players you have best for 3 - 6 players. The age range on the box is 8 and over which I think is appt. as some of the questions were a bit hard for my 8 year old and we did have to swap a few to make it a little easier for him.



5 Second Rule is a fast paced game which as you may guess by the title you have 5 seconds to answer the questions on the card. It sounds simple but it took us a while to get to grips maybe were just slow learners. For expample you have 5 seconds to name 3 famous Michaels which might sound easy but when your under pressure soundly it all gets hard. Bit like the cube on the telly when you think WHY can't you do that simple task. When we first played it my eldest Asti started to shout out about three types of vegatables and he said "Tomatoes, Carrots and chocolate". The game comes in two different streams so you can play to the players weather its young people or adults. My son wanted us to play the adults version and him the kids, although I personally didn't see much difference in the two, doh!


We loved the spiral timer too really good fun. Asti got given the privialdge of being in charge of the timer which was sometimes not the best move as he would often turn it over before the question had finished meaning you have even less time! With in that you get two different cards to make the game a little more interesting they are pass on and switch. For example if you got a card that you didn't know the answer you could switch the card to a different or pass it on to another player. Which when we played it everyone ganged up on me and passed the questions on to me. Meaning I lost ever game they really do love me this bunch.


We did enjoy playing this game although it didn't last too long and wasnt too difficult. A good game for a ice breaker or a warm up game especially with children or with a youth group setting. Obviously the toddlers didn't play they just wanted to feel like they were taking part! This game retails at £19.99 which is a little steep compared to some other games on the market. A great idea as a gift for a family maybe for christmas or birthdays. We do love a good board game and this is a great fun trivial game for all.

You can buy 5 Second Rule in most Retail stores a great choice for family fun.


Wicked Wednesday - 3 going on 13


Alright I was only looking in your hair clip box.

Tuesday 11 August 2015

The Summer of Adventure part 1 - 2015

Sorry my little blog I've left you unattended as of late. I hope you forgive me you faithful readers we've been away and enjoying the summer holidays (also been working too drain). I have really enjoyed life these last few weeks but have found that time is just going by far too quickly. This is some high lights from the last few weeks, sure I can knock out some posts in a few weeks time when everything doesn't feel so busy.



Our summer started of the same way it has since I wAs a child with the Minnis bay scripture Union holiday club. This is. Beach mission run by a swarm of volunteers. My own mother sent me and my sisters as children just to get a bit of free time, little did she know it was just the start of a journey for me. I volunteered to help in the toddler venue which was fun and busy. There is also the massive water fight too where lots of  children meet for a massive water fight. There must of been well over 1500 people it was crazy and overwhelming. Lots of fun too, well I say fun I hate getting wet so does son son. 

I was then back to work and had my birthday which was a bit rubbish being at work, but thankfully my colleagues made it a good day and I got to see the kids after work. My friend Jess came in and embarrassed me with a cake and a flashing crown. Im never really a lover of my birthday no since having children.

We then had a little party to celebrate Ami's 3rd birthday and make sure she can see her friends and family as we were going away that day. She loved it although wasnt instructed in opening presents more playing and making a lot of mess typical Ami. When everyone had gone we finally got all the presents and opened them whilst Son Son had a nap so he would break any of it. We packed a weeks worth of stuff and headed down to Sidcup to be part of Lark in the Park.


We had a great few days at Sidcup the kids adored it. I volunteered in the toddlers again which I finally plucked up the courage to talk to some of the people who came along. We as a family love Lark in the Park, its a safe place where my children can run around and be free. We hardly saw Asti all week, we loved being able to ge this own food and play with his friends. His highlight was being in the teen tent he love it. Ami had her face painted most days which is a new expfeience for us as she rubbed  it all over her face making me want to repaint her every few minutes. She really is growing up, I have loved seeing her sit down with all the other children and really enjoy being with the other children. Son Son is still all over the place but thankfully Ami is sensible at times.


It was Ami's actual birthday whilst we were away too, We woke her up in the morning saying its her birthday she said "No its not my birthday its Zacks" (her cousin). We had a normal day she got sung happy birthday a few times which she loved. In the evening we went out for Dinner with her cousin Zack as they share the same birthday. He is 11 years older and wanted to go to a rib shack place. As per usual Ami and Sonny ate nothing but Asti enjoyed it. The restaurant then put on this loud happy birthday and the whole restaurant clapped, was so worth it for that however red I got.

We had to leave Sidcup early for me to come back and go to work. It was very sad leaving early but the weather was good when we got back. I say that I was stuck in a hot hospital.


So thats the last two weeks briefly, I love the summer. I love Scripture Union and Lark in the Park. They make our families summers so special. Its such a blessing to get along these things no matter how tired it makes me for work. I tell you Friday I was exhausted needing countless energy drinks to get me through. Sorry if Im not posting much we are either at the beach or at work.