Missing Sleep

Turning 3

2012-02-28T11:03:00.000Z

Youngest is three today, my loveable rogue, I have a feeling three is not the magic number for instant toddler taming, but some obvious benefits! For one no more tantrums that he cannot have the chewable vitamin his brother has (every morning for about a year that has caused a meltdown!). He can also join water confidence swimming classes and gym club, which will help develop his skills and poise.

Today we are having a lovely party to celebrate, I think it has nearly bankrupted us but it’s nice to splurge on them sometimes. We have hired a balloon modeller/magician to entertain the guests. My brother has lovingly crafted a Lion birthday cake for him, with much bribing, just hope it looks lion like, but given he is a chef by trade I hope so…

Youngest is much like me in the morning, very slow to get moving, so we do not have a picture of him all beaming smiles. He looks a bit bemused and ruffled. Eldest was all like “wow its your birthday, whoop whoop, YAY!” as he is much more with it in the morning. Also you can see we utilised the left over Christmas wrapping paper, well we did need to make a saving somewhere but received no complaints.

Youngest loved all his presents. The hex bugs have been keeping one of the cats thoroughly amused, which is perfect to give Brownie the hamster some peace and quiet. So would recommend hex bugs for keeping cats out of mischief as well as being a great toy for children. We did cheat and wrapped two fantastic toys we received from Fisher Price to review so he looked like he had more presents. Naughty mummy haha.

Hubbie baked up a storm last night, have heaps of fairy cakes decorated with chocolate and vanilla butter icing, oodles of sprinkles and big chunks of rocky road bars for the adults who are all HUGE fans. We also have jelly setting in the fridge in party cups ready to furnish with squirty cream and yet more sprinkles when we get there. Party bags are filled and looking impressive, jungle themed with plenty of little treats.

Just need to cook up the sausage rolls and little sausages, and then pile it into the car ready for later. Wish me luck! Tonight hubbie and I will look forward to collapsing on the sofa when the boys go to bed. But I love birthdays they are so exciting!!!

Mrs MacCready Book Review

2012-02-27T23:16:00.000Z

We were sent the very funny Mrs MacCready was ever so greedy by Julie Fulton (Published in May 2011) to review. ISBN: 978-1-84886-065-0

Despite the boys having stacks of books between them we had yet to read one published by Maverick Children’s Books, which is nothing short of a travesty as they are very colourful and entertaining reads.

The book is written in rhyme, which is great as a change from what we normally read. It definitely sparked a lot of interest. The story involves the likeable Mrs MacCready who cannot stop eating… and eventually explodes! The dramatic end result got a burst of giggles from my two.

The story cleverly recommends eating in moderation and making sure you engage in exercise (“playing in the park”) in such a silly way, any child should enjoy this book, without realising they are learning valuable lessons.

Would definitely recommend adding to any child’s collection. If you have not had some Maverick magic on your bookshelf now is your chance! Keep checking back as we have three more reviews to follow from Maverick over the next few days.

Available from Amazon for a very reasonable £5.39 and from other good book shops.

You can see more about Maverick’s books here and get a taste for what else they have available to read. On the strength of the books I was sent, I have just placed my first order for the book "Nice Bear, Naughty Bear: Book of Good Manners" - that should go some way to domesticating my two!

Blogging tips Part Deux

2012-02-27T21:06:00.000Z

I have discussed some pointers already here, but I have one bugbear so thought I would do another little post.

1. Please get rid of word verification for comments. It is a royal pain in the bum, as I tend to always get the combination wrong, I am not quite sure how, but each time the box screams epic fail until I get to the point I think sod the comment, enough is enough!!!

2. If you have a comment from someone who blogs, it is nice to go back to their blog and do the same. I was not aware of this polite courtesy between bloggers when I started so just graciously accepted the comment with a smile on my face. Now I have been around longer I understand more and am not so naïve and woolly round my ears (I hope anyway but I still miss the occasional person not on purpose but find it hard tallying a personal name with a blog name at times, so if I have missed anyone sorry!).

3. I have since found there is a Foodies100 for those food blogs out there, so if you combine parenting with lots of baking or maybe making your own baby food purées from scratch it might be worth a nosey. Either way it’s another pretty badge for your side bar if you’re talented enough in the kitchen. We are not particularly talented but if we have just added it to the blog, it will make us try harder, that’s the plan anyway!!! Slow cooker plodded away yesterday cooking up a delicious smelling casserole for dinner, and bread maker is getting regular airings, there is hope for the Missing Sleep family after all…

4. When you host a competition, also advertise it, hop along to loquax and add your competition there it will help drive up entries, as nothing more embarrassing than a competition with no entrants… (Okay hugely hairy toes might be more embarrassing or a boil the size of a meteorite on the end of your nose but you get the idea!)

Agent of Change

2012-02-26T21:53:00.001Z

My mission is to hand out coupons and samples of Ecover to friends and family, thus making myself instantly popular at the school gate. I never got my box home intact to take a lovely picture of the complete contents, the postman caught me on the way to a playdate and at said playdate the mummies like crazed vultures took them from me with remarkable speed and agility. Usually those kinds of athletics are only deployed to get to the last piece of cake (or to the bar before closing time) so I tell you now these are lovely samples.

Everyone loves a free sample and one that is reassuringly free of harsh chemicals when you’re a parent of little fledglings is an extra bonus. We want nice and gentle products for our precious bundles of joy and for our own hands. With natural plant based ingredients your being kind to your hands, seeing as they do give away your age first, forget the fancy face cream and invest in some decent washing-up liquid, which is more suited for sensitive skin.

It is good to also help nature, seeing as our children are the future generations, I would like to think we are all doing our little bit for the environment and if my little bit smells this good then I think I can happily do it more often!

Reactions have been positive so far, happy about the size of the bottle of Pomegranate Washing-up liquid to take with them on a self-catering holiday or on a trip in a trailer tent.

You can learn more and sign up to be an agent of change here

You can also purchase directly from the Ecover here

Magic Choc Review

2012-02-26T20:22:00.001Z

We were sent a pack of this to review from find me a gift.co.uk, Magic Choc is one of the products I have been meaning to try for ages so we are very glad we have finally had a chance. I did wonder if it would be a bit of a novelty but it was surprisingly good fun.

The pack contains an Antibacterial hand wipe to ensure good hygiene, after all children and some adults can be quite grotty at times and seeing as you plan on eating your creation its nice to know it does not come complete with a side order of germs!

There was plenty of chocolate in the pack for us all to have a try at modelling something. Hubbie found it quite easy to mould but I found it trickier. Youngest spent the entire time asking, “Can I eat it?” “Can I have it now?” “MUMMY can I eat it”… so I can see why they rate it 4+, to help save parents sanity!

Eldest was very proud helping daddy; he was good at rolling out little balls for the wheels etc. So he seemed to manage handling the flexible chocolate. I obviously need to up my spinach intake and beef up! Pleasantly the chocolate does not melt all over your hands and into a sticky mess, it was all a nice and tidy process, which is always helpful when you live on the edge of chaos!

The chocolate tastes remarkably nice, the dark one especially. I could happily eat a whole bar of that. The white I was not so impressed by, but the boys wolfed all of their creations with no complaints.

The pack is currently on offer at £3.99 on find me a gift.co.uk, so I could not think of a better time to purchase one. If like me you have been curious to give it a try, you definitely should your children will have lots of fun and you can serve it up for pudding afterwards! It was the right enticement to get them both to eat tonight’s beef casserole…

You can find our more about find me a gift.co.uk here

You can also follow them on facebook or twitter

Silent Sunday 26/02/2012

2012-02-26T16:42:00.000Z

Tyrrells Crisps Review

2012-02-26T16:04:00.000Z

At the food exhibition there was a Tyrrells stand and the kind representative gave me three BIG packets (Veg Crisps, Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar and Sweet Chilli & Red Pepper) to take home and savour. I promised to give them a little mention on here…

Eldest loved all three flavours; youngest did not appreciate the Veg Crisps as highly, he did sample a few but turned his nose up and returned to the Sweet Chilli crisps.

Eldest did have a moment of alarm eating the Veg Crisps as he had a sandwich too and the beetroot had stained it a little and he was panicking his mouth was bleeding… nothing like a bit of drama during a tasting session (I wonder if Masterchef judges ever have moments of raw terror!) Once I explained to him he calmed down and resumed his contented munching of crisps… I quite liked them as a change from normal crisps. Nice to have a spot of variety in you’re snacking choices.

The Sweet Chilli & Red Pepper was also not too hot, so we could all manage it, even me the spice lightweight! I have always been a fan of the Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar crisps; they really are quite delicious, maybe too delicious as I could manage a whole pack on my own!

Great rustic crisps, fantastic flavours, you really cannot go wrong with them. Raise your party host stakes bringing out these, much better than offering your guests those dreadful mini party mix selections you got as a child… YACK. Although hubbie is now reminiscing back to his party mix days! Shakes head in disgust…

You can find out more about Tyrrells Crisps here and apply to be a taste tester too!

You can follow them on facebook or twitter

Saturday is Caption Day

2012-02-25T21:19:00.000Z

Here is this weeks offering with a picture of my youngest.

If you want to take part head over to Mammasaurus.

Izzyboo Review

2012-02-24T10:25:00.000Z

I was sent a stunning red handbag from the ones available at Izzyboo. I am so impressed with the quality and the style of the bag for a price of £29. I would have thought it would be priced considerably higher. At prices like that even the most sleep deprived, bleary eyed, baby vomit covered mum could be more glamorous. A fancy bag on your arm and your confidence can increase by the bucket load.

I am not sure if I want to share my secret with my friends or keep letting them believe it’s a designer handbag! They are all coveting one. But being the kind of friend I am I think I will point them in the right direction and watch our playdates go up in the chic stakes. It even came with a bag protector to keep it looking perfect, I have never had a bag that warranted its own bag protector but this beauty sure does!

It felt comfortable on my shoulder and it had lots of useful extra zipped pockets inside so you could separate your handbag contents out nicely. I am usually hunting around on my door step for ages before I find my keys, now I will dive into my bag with poise and grace grab the keys and open the door remaining calm and collected at all times…

With mothers day around the corner (18/03/12) I would bookmark the Izzyboo page and hopefully your husband/partner will get a subtle hint and give you a bit of sophistication (and not just a haphazardly created piece of artwork by your children, as much as we love them, a bought present would be appreciated just as much, so please can we have both!). I think you cannot go wrong ordering one for your own mum either, there is quite an extensive range of styles and colours so am sure you would find something they would adore.

If your based around Suffolk you can even have a Izzyboo party and get to see all the handbags for yourself before you pick a favourite (or more they really are nice!). The party host even gets to keep a free accessory (which could include one of the amazing handbags how generous is that of Izzyboo). I wish I lived in that area as it would be a welcome change from yet another Body Shop party, which is all we seem to have again and again here! Handbags and you provide cocktails and you’re practically in an episode of Sex in the City!

You can find out more about Izzyboo here

You can also follow on facebook and see the latest available bags.

Reasons to be Cheerful

2012-02-24T08:05:00.002Z

I thought I would get involved with Mummy From The Heart blog hop as sometimes we can be all doom and gloom so its nice to recap on the lovely things going on in our lives.

I have sorted out a misunderstanding with a close group of friends, which had me going a little crazy. But it has all been resolved, with much hugging and happiness! Phew. Back to being the girls out of Cougar town, with more tea than wine drinking though!

I went to an amazing food exhibition and chomped on an obscene amount of delicious cake with another good friend of mine. We also managed to blag some freebies to take home and share with my family. I also placed an order for an epic cheesecake for hubbie so he is in an exceptionally happy mood too

My boys have had a full week of no germs, quite a record I must add, so they have not missed any of their fun after school activities or playdates

Our hamster is less feral and turning into a wonderful pet, no more blood loss in ages

My husband has quit World of Warcraft raiding so I now have my evening companion back and am not talking to myself so much!!!

Halos N Horns Review

2012-02-24T07:39:00.000Z

We were sent the Toothy Fruity toothpaste and the Baby Moisturising Lotion to review.

The toothpaste RRP: £2.34 proved very popular, because not only does it have a great taste and smell, it is bright red, which the boys thought was quite impressive. Brushing their teeth with this toothpaste was a pleasant experience; youngest did not do his usual trick of running off and dodging my every attempt to encourage brushing. I did not even have to come up with an elaborate tale to get him to open his mouth, usually a goblin is painting his teeth yellow and we have to brush them back to white and whisk the goblin out of there before he gets up to anymore mischief, so was nice just to brush and go for a change.

Great products like these really do make a difference to a tired parent who can only be so creative in their teeth brushing stories, so I am very grateful for Halos N Horns for easing my burden! As a parent I am delighted the toothpaste now also includes fluoride so would be more than happy to purchase this product again, that and because youngest thinks it tastes like jelly, what child doesn’t love jelly!

The Baby Moisturising Lotion RRP: £4.07 was lovely, made the boys skin soft and smooth. I generally do not moisture their skin after baths now they are older but I think they liked the extra pampering treatment. Again this would be a perfect product for a baby shower I plan to host. Halos N Horns avoid using harsh ingredients in their products, so everything is very gentle even for the most sensitive of skin (although Halos N Horns do recommend avoiding all skincare products for the first month of life of your new baby!).

A perfect product to use for to do some baby massage, when my youngest was born the health visitor gave us an informative session about the benefits and using a little bit of this moisturiser would be perfect to compliment the process. Supposedly baby massage helps your baby sleep more at night, what’s not to love about that!

You can purchase their products from a wide range of stockists; you can click here to see where.

You can find out more about Halos N Horns here

You can also follow on facebook and twitter

Why I love my Mum

2012-02-23T21:28:00.000Z

My mum has always made sacrifices for me, like being extra careful with money to afford to send me to college. I lived in digs and each weekend my mum (and dad) would drive and get me and bring me back so I could socialize with my friends and keep my weekend job. There must have been times when she was tired and could have done without doing the drive but she never said.

My mum has always supported and encouraged me academically. If I needed further help and she was unable to do it herself she would go out of her way to find someone who could. My mum helps me achieve my potential by not letting me give in too easily. When I find things hard she is there to offer a guiding hand but not an easy way out. Thanks to my mum I never came straight home from Camp America or gave up on my week’s work experience in the army - even after being given worm stew to eat!!!

This post is for you Mum and I LOVE YOU!

Thank you to find me a gift.com for this prompt

There are some fab gifts for mum on their site and am sure everyone's mum deserves to be spoilt this mothers day!

Sea-Band Review and Competition

2012-02-23T16:04:00.000Z

I was quite excited to review a pair for my eldest; he has started getting travelsick on the way to his weekly swimming lessons. It would not be so bad but time is limited, so stopping for him to have fresh air or to get rid of some vomit on the way often means we are running late and bless him he probably arrives in the pool a bit shell shocked from the rush.

So on Wednesday we tried him wearing his new and dandy blue Sea-Band wrist bands. His brother already sports the army variety, so this way they have their own unique look. He travelled fine there and back without any complaint of sickness. I am really pleased, no stopping, no panic just a pleasant car journey, arriving for his swimming lesson in plenty of time. He says they look cool and he will not get sick now. Not sure if its his new positive mental attitude or the power of pressure. But either way it got the desired result for everyone, so we are very happy!

Sea-Bands retail at £8.15 and are suitable for children 3+. I think this price is cheap considering how much travel sickness medicine costs. These will pay for themselves quite quickly and also being drug free, means your not having to give your children medicine unnecessarily, which pleases me no end. Plus they are so simple to use even I cannot get muddled up, just ensure that pressure is applied to the acupressure point on each wrist.

I bet these would also be prefect for morning sickness too. I wish I had the pair they kindly sent me back when I was pregnant with my two, I suffered quite badly with morning sickness both times and had to be very careful about what I ate to limit the sickness, a set of these wrist bands might have put me out of my misery and saved me from chain eating ginger biscuits…

I do not travel too badly in a car lately, so have yet to give mine a proper airing but I would love to use them on my next boat journey as I still get exceptionally motion sick from travel by sea. Many a holiday abroad has been spoiled by me hanging off the side of the boat giving the ocean the contents of my breakfast, lunch or dinner!

You can find out more about Sea-Band here including making online purchases. Alternatively Sea Band are also available at your local chemist, that’s where I bought the set my youngest owns.

You can also follow them on facebook or twitter

I have kindly been sent two sets (comprising of a child’s and an adults pack of wristbands each) to giveaway. To enter please complete rafflecopter, this competition will close on the 10th of March.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pillow Pets Review

2012-02-22T20:34:00.000Z

Eldest excited telling youngest “I have seen this on telly, let me tell you how it works, you open it like this and then you can take it on a sleepover…” Both then Oooohh over it full of obvious respect

Pillow Pets are unbelievably soft; I could quite happily snug into the sweet Penguin and have a quick nap… wonder if the children will let me share him for long enough. With an RRP of £19.99 I think they are certainly worth it, I have a feeling if you have trouble getting your toddler off to sleep you could bring out their special pillow and help ease some of those difficult moments when you know they need sleep but they just keep fighting it. Youngest has been lying on it yawning away, so do not think it would take him long to drop off!

I think when we are next on an epic journey in the car to visit the boy’s grandparents the Pillow Pet will definitely be coming along too. To settle youngest in his car seat, he can hopefully be much more comfortable and ideally my neck will be less strained not constantly turning round to check on his long list of complaints! So we will all arrive less frazzled at our destination.

Penguin has been cuddled and sat on when he was closed and has little legs. He seems a very popular toy already. “I’m walking like a penguin…” youngest keeps saying as he carries him along!

There are eight Pillow Pets available exclusively from Mookie Toys and they can be purchased from Toys ‘R’ Us and Amazon. The range includes Billy Monkey, Playful Penguin (the one we were kindly sent to review), Comfy Panda, Snuggly Puppy, Magical Unicorn, Wiggly Pig, Ms Ladybug and Bumbly Bee! They also plan on some special editions for Easter so keep watching their homepage for more updates.

I am also pleased as to how easy they are to wash, the label says they are machine washable, which is perfect as when toys are dragged around by a toddler they do get a little grubby and often spoon fed random bits of real food during the day too! So a quick cycle in the wash and they are good to go again.

Our new Playful Penguin is now tucked in bed sleeping huddled in the arms of my youngest.

You can find out more here

Surviving Summer Camp

2012-02-21T21:03:00.001Z

I have decided to take part in the final (week 4) link up at Typecast for the CLIC Sargent Do Something Yummy awareness raising campaign. For more information about CLIC Sargent, click here

I was 18 and was in the USA for eight weeks for Camp America as a young and doe eyed camp counsellor. The camp was for adults for cerebral palsy. I arrived jet lagged and overwhelmed. We worked from 8am until 10pm everyday, there were tornado warnings some of the nights and we would have to get up and get all the campers, wheelchairs and all, underground as the wind howled around us. Drained we would carry on pretty much as normal the next day.

To get to our bedroom we had to go through our bathroom not ideal when you share with two others! The bathing water was often brown and sludge like… this story would be more interesting if it was one about me stuck on a desert island, making a hut with giant palm leaves and fishing for sharks for sustenance. But still it was not quite the same as being at home. To cheer me up I think I blew most of my wages in a British food store buying Cadburys at extortionate prices!!!

The natives were friendly but it was hard physical work lifting campers in and out of wheelchairs when you resemble Olive Oyl. Washing and helping them go to the toilet were all new roles to me, I had to learn and quickly to get the hang of the camp routine.

I was homesick and wanted to go home… I blew the rest of my wages on phone cards to call my parents and my boyfriend at that time. I was left with no money after chocolate and phone cards to travel afterwards! But some how or another I lasted the eight weeks had on the whole a great experience and am glad I managed it! Although the mosquito bites did take ages to heal! They definitely like British blood, as I was their favoured target…

I was quite content after my mini adventure had finished to return home tired and happy but with a great feeling of accomplishment having survived it! And made at least one lifelong friend!

earth friendly baby Review

2012-02-21T07:40:00.000Z

I was sent two products from this lovely organic range, the relaxing organic lavender body lotion RRP £4.99 and the relaxing organic lavender bubble bath RRP £4.99. What is not to love about products that have the word relaxing on their packaging, I felt more chilled just reading the labels.

They do a mandarin variety too; I must admit I am a sucker for citrus children’s bath products. But I realise that lavender is perfect for little ones before bedtime to help soothe them off to sleep. The scent was quite refreshing and subtle not too overpowering. You do not need to use much, so these size bottles should last you a decent amount of time, depending on how often you hog it for yourself of course!

Products like these are just the perfect addition for the baby shower I plan to host in a few months. I think any new mum would be grateful to be introduced to a brand that will be gentle on their child’s skin. Becoming a new mum can be quite a taunting process, so some lovely little treats like this are perfect for when their new bundle of joy arrives and for pampering themselves (well what new mum does not need to relax!).

And everyone can comment on how nice you smell and not just fuss over the new baby smell! New mums need love too!

At present the Earth Friendly Baby range of products are available from selected Waitrose, John Lewis, Sainsbury's, Boots & leading independent baby stores, health stores and selected pharmacies. Boots currently have a 3 for 2 mix and match on these products, not sure how long it lasts so be quick!

You can find out more about them here

You can also follow them on facebook

No plans to join Foodie 100 anytime soon…

2012-02-20T21:36:00.000Z

Operation make fairy cakes with the delectable Rachel’s low fat vanilla yogurt was not quite as successful as I hoped. I overfilled the cake cases and then had to hack off bits of cake to make it look pretty and then continue the salvage operation with lots of butter icing to disguise a magnitude of sins.

Note to anyone trying the recipe this picture illustrates cakes destined for disaster... put less mixture in!

I think it all started to go wrong as I did not do a fundamental baking essential, which was clear my work station before starting, cooking in chaos probably helped get me all in a panic!

But regardless of my botched job, these were exceptionally delicious cakes. I would recommend following the recipe and introducing a little yoghurt to your baking. They smelt lovely too; the vanilla aroma and taste made them very appetising and also gave the sponge a slightly different texture (well I think it was the yoghurt and not my unique approach to baking anyway!).

If you fancy making some of your own Vanilla Cup Cakes for Easter. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

220g butter or margarine, room temperature

220g caster sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

220g self raising flour, sifted

2 tbsp Rachel’s low fat vanilla yoghurt

Icing

80g unsalted butter, room temperature

250g icing sugar

25g Rachel’s low fat vanilla yoghurt

Serves: 12

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 5

Line a cup cake or muffin tray with paper cases

Beat together the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time.

Add the yogurt

Fold in the flour

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until half full

Bake in the oven until golden brown and springy to touch or test using a skewer, if it comes away clean the cakes are ready. Leave them to cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile prepare the icing. Begin by beating the butter and icing sugar until pale and well mixed, ideally using an electric mixer. Add the yogurt and continue to beat on medium to high speed until the icing is fluffy. The longer you beat the lighter the icing.

Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a star piping nozzle. In a circular motion swirl the icing around each cake.

(we didn't brave a piping bag and improvised with a back of a spoon!)

Decorate with mini eggs

Cost per serving: £0.15

The end result! Okay maybe one day I will aspire to be a Foodie 100!

Silent Sunday 19/02/12

2012-02-19T20:42:00.000Z

Saturday is Caption Day

2012-02-18T13:08:00.000Z

I am adding my picture for the first time and giving caption day a whirl, head over to Mammasaurus and link up if you fancy doing the same.

And if you fancy leave a caption below.

Sweetcorn Bites Review

2012-02-18T11:54:00.000Z

We were sent four packs of these little beauties to review. I was half expecting some sweetcorn puff snack to arrive so was pleasantly surprised it was actual mini corn on the cobs.

Eldest happily ate four in one sitting (which nicely translates into one of his 5 a day!). They are a great manageable size for children to hold. I liked them too. Youngest is not a sweetcorn fan so he was not swayed, even when he saw us savouring every chomp.

The packaging is appealing. My son seemed to think he was getting a treat so I think that played a part in making him want to eat so many. I have not seen him as excited when I take full size corn on the cobs out of the freezer in the past as he was with this new product.

It is reassuring that Sweetcorn Bites are 100% Natural. There are so many extra ingredients added to children’s snack products, these are refreshingly simple. I would be very happy to add these to my weekly food shop.

You can find out more about them here and they are available to buy from Ocado and selected stores at Tesco, Waitrose and Co-op.

You can also follow them on facebook

Rachel’s Organic Review and Competition

2012-02-17T09:04:00.006Z

We were sent a delightful selection of goodies from Rachel’s Organic

We have all been making light work of the multipacks of yoghurt. I have enjoyed Rachel’s Organic before but never knew they did a children’s range. I feel I have been depriving my children as they have claimed the Taste Explorers Strawberry and Banana Yoghurt to be delicious! I wish we had been introduced to them earlier. I like that your giving them a probiotic yoghurt they actually enjoy and go hunting in the fridge for (youngest is actually dragging out a chair and hopping up trying to reach them all!). The health visitor was always keen for me to get them eating something of this ilk but my children did not take to the adult versions. Now it is no problem this range is very appealing.

"Yummy, scrummy in my tummy" Eldest proclaims!

I have especially enjoyed the Apple & Rhubarb variety in the special edition Seasonal fruits pack. My tummy has not felt quite right after the sick bug earlier in the week, but I am hopeful that the bio-live yoghurt will help sort out my digestive system. The flavour is lovely, not too sweet, just right for the mummy bear of this house.

I am also going to be attempting some recipes Rachel’s Organic have kindly provided me with so watch this space for Vanilla Easter Cup Cakes and Peach & Passion Fruit Cake, which I will tenderly create in my kitchen and hopefully not burn into oblivion!

You can find out more about Rachel’s Organic here

You can also follow them on facebook or twitter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Me, Myself and I

2012-02-16T21:36:00.000Z

I have been tagged from the cleverly frugal Budgeting Mum to answer some questions about myself.

1. Tea or coffee?

Tea most definitely I wish I liked coffee with all those flavours and fancy names like mocha choca laadeedaa! But sadly black tea and no sugar is as exciting as I get!

2.                  When did you first realise you’re turning into your mother?

Pretty recently, don’t drag your feet being one of my new firm favourites for the boys and I remember my mum harping on about that back in the day.

3.                  How many children have you got?

Two

4.                  What time is bedtime?

Anytime between 9pm – midnight, the closer to midnight the more gremlin tendencies I display the next day though!

5. How do you escape being a Mummy if at all?

Girly chats with my friends and blogging has been a welcome addition (emailing PR companies I feel almost like a professional again!)

6. Where would you love to go on holiday if money was no object?

I quite like the look of the Sandals Beaches holiday. I am lured in with the idea of someone else cooking for me day and night for the duration of my stay and plenty of fun activities for the children (okay the childcare options might have swung it too!)

7. One thing you would like to achieve this year

To cook something impressive and awe inspiring like my friend over at The Good Life Mum

8. Are you planning any more children?

No and hubbie would be pleased with that answer seeing as he has had the snip!

9. Starter or dessert?

Most definitely dessert! Can I skip the main too and have a double portion!

10. Who’s your idol?

Possibly my parents if I had to be cheesy and pick. They are stayed in a loving relationship for years and managed to raise my brother and me half decently and I think that’s to be commended!

11. Chinese or Indian?

Chinese

I would like to now tag The Good Life Mum, Really Rachel, I'm Counting UFOs and Life Love and Living with Boys to answer my questions.

The Rules:

*. You must post these rules
*. Each person must post 11 things about herself on their blog
*. Answer the questions the “tagger” listed for you in their post and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
*. Choose 11 people to tag and link them to the post
*. Let each blogger know you’ve tagged them

My questions:

1. Which is worse hairy back, bad breath or distrusting eyes?

2. Marmite love or hate?

3. Do you own any tartan in your wardrobe?

4. What do you hope your children will gain from having you as a parent?

5. When did you last cry?

6. What is your favourite mummy moment?

7. Best sandwich filler?

8. Do you collect anything?

9. Have you ever drunk a cup of tea through a kit kat/twix?

10. Do you have a tattoo?

11. What’s under your bed?

Travel Photography Competition

2012-02-16T20:16:00.000Z

No fancy angles or hocus-pocus just a nice picture capturing a wonderful memory of a special weekend in Amsterdam.

The canals lit up at night are quite breathtaking to behold and I treasured the time we shared together as a new couple. Pre kids with not a care in the world, our romantic interlude in Amsterdam will always be looked back at fondly!

I entered the Flythomascook Photography Competition

Twenty Questions with the Eldest

2012-02-15T20:29:00.000Z

My friend over at Ju’s musings on life has tagged me to take part in the week 3 link up at Typecast for the CLIC Sargent Do Something Yummy awareness raising campaign. For more information about CLIC Sargent, click here.

I have picked the creative post, as I liked reading the interview responses of my friend’s eight-year-old son.

My eldest is four and this is how he responded:

1. What is something mummy always says to you?

“Good boy” – although to be fair his first response was naughty boy but he swapped back promptly and unprompted on his own to good boy, phew I felt guilty for a minute!

2. What makes mummy happy?

“When I listen”

3. What makes mummy sad?

"When I don’t listen”

4. How does your mummy make you laugh?

“When mummy says underpants”

5. What was your mummy like as a child?

“Happy”

6. How old is your mummy?

“You tell me”

7. How tall is your mummy?

“Medium”

Fab answer!

8. What is her favourite thing to do?

“Playing and colouring”

hmmm…

9. What does your mummy do when you're not around?

“Play with my brother”

10. If your mummy becomes famous, what will it be for?

“On telly for colouring in”

(Not sure why he thinks I am a) a huge fan of colouring in and b) in a position to become famous, I warn you I am no artist, he just means scribbling with him in a colouring book! He must like my line work!!!)

11. What is your mummy really good at?

“Playing playdoh and board games”

12. What is your mummy not very good at?

“Guitars, because you never do one”

13. What does your mummy do for her job?

“Charity shop doing jobs”

14. What is your mummy's favourite food?

“Cake”

15. What makes you proud of your mummy?

“Because she is silly”

16. If your mummy were a cartoon character, which one would she be?

“Peaches” from Mario

I can think of worse characters but I promise you I don’t run around in a pink dress waiting to be rescued!

17. What do you and your mummy do together?

“Go to the park”

18. How are you and your mummy the same?

“We both like cake”

19. How are you and your mummy different?

“Not same size, hands, feet and brain”

20. How do you know your mummy loves you?

“Cuddle and Kiss me”

Awww, bless him!

I am tagging Really Rachel to do the same!

Young Love

2012-02-15T08:01:00.001Z

My youngest gave his friend his Valentines Card he made in playschool; all the other parents received the ones their children made, except my son’s lucky recipient who also happened to pick him.

At the ripe old age of 2, already mummy is falling out of favour. I am under the impression relationships between mothers and daughters-in-law can often be fraught, so given I have two boys I best get skilled in being neutral and diplomatic.

I just did not expect to be outdone by a 3-year-old… sobs into my tissue dramatically. My little boy is growing up and is a toy boy already!

Tips to survive the future:

Supposedly I should avoid bad mouthing her mother, as it happens the mum of the 3 year old is quite lovely and am not averse to spending time in her company so least I pass hurdle number 1.

I should respect the 3 year olds friendship with my son and not run her down in front of him. Given she has no obvious vices (I have not caught her smoking round the back of playschool) I again pass hurdle number 2.

Finally I should learn to share my boys and accept the friendships and relationships of the future, I will need a big heart and embrace what is thrown at us. I hope I can be a tolerable mother-in-law when the time comes for it! If not I plan to send amazing care packages wherever they live filled with cake and all manner of treats to swing it; I am not adverse to bribery!

Grandpa in my Pocket Double DVD Review

2012-02-14T21:13:00.000Z

Both my boys had a poorly weekend with a sick bug and lots of bouts of coughing, so it was perfect timing for them to review this DVD to take their minds off the germs. The double set includes over 2 hours of lots of episodes for your children to enjoy. Mine were thrilled to add this to their DVD collection, “that’s so silly” and lots of laughter let me know they were having plenty of fun, whilst tucked up and ailing.

It is good to have an extensive DVD collection, as it’s a great distraction for unwell children. You cannot always guarantee there will be something suitable for them on television that they enjoy. So for a bargain RRP of £7.99 and an award winner (Best Children’s programme award at the Welsh Baftas) to boot you cannot really go wrong with purchasing Grandpa in my Pocket. Plus I find it quite tolerable myself, which helps if they want you to watch it with them!

If you’re not familiar with the programme then it involves the adventures of Jason Mason and his shrinking grandpa. I quite fancy a magical cap for myself... the opportunities would be limitless!

The covers for the double sets also make great “flyers” according to my eldest, who then whizzes about wearing them. So all these double DVD sets I have been reviewing are multifunctional!

Grandpa in my Pocket is available on Amazon for a very agreeable £5.71. You could give it for presents and look extra generous; a gift of a double DVD gives the impression you have spent much more!

You can find out more about Abbey Media here

You can also follow on facebook

I have five copies to give away of these double DVD’s, so you can see how marvellous they are.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Photo of Something I Love

2012-02-13T21:19:00.001Z

I am sharing an image of something I love with Love All Blogs and Albelli

Something I love is my children, dearly, completely with all my heart. The best moments are when the two boys choose to get along, to truly bond long enough to at least be captured forever by a photo! Those moments have been few and far between, with a relatively close age gap, youngest was quite jealous and did not welcome our new arrival as well as we hoped, many a time he tried to bash him with particularly heavy books… but as time has gone on they have learnt to accept and really love each other! Now it’s the youngest’s behaviour that can be at trying at times, but seeing them playing together, cuddling or just being kind (eldest has been poorly and youngest brought him his sick bucket and his drinks when he needed them) melts my heart.

So this photo is for them, as much as they drive me potty at times, they are and will always be my world. This picture is quite old now but it tickled me at the time how often eldest used to drive around with his brother sat in the back of the tractor.

Cubby Kit Review

2012-02-13T20:57:00.000Z

We were sent a Cubby Kit to review; it was a great opportunity to try something new. If you’re not sure where to start with crafts and activities these carefully thought out projects are perfect.

Today I did a Missing Sleep mummy first, I helped make some play dough from scratch, thanks to the clear instructions it was quite manageable too, with everything portioned up ready to use and labelled, even eldest and I could not get it wrong!

We had a space themed box this time, but they keep changing so your children will never tire of the excitement of having their own package arrive in the post (yes it does come addressed to them, which is a nice touch as who doesn’t like receiving something nice in the post!).

The one box covers so much for children to do; there was sticking, gluing, colouring and cooking, with plenty of resources provided to do it all. It is easy to get started, keeping this age range children can be tricky at times with short attention spans but you just open and can start straight away as everything for each activity is nicely packaged in its own brown paper bag!

Youngest was learning more about numbers doing the dot to dot constellation wall chart, so a very educational set and there were also lots of did you know facts. I must say I am very impressed. I also like the helpful hints here and there, like if you want to keep your play dough Mushy Martian you can cook it in the oven for an hour! It is all this care which really helps the box stand out from just buying random crafting supplies yourself. We received the 3-4 year old box but they also do a 5-6 year old one.

Even when the activities are all completed you will have some fantastic artwork of your children’s to treasure and bits and pieces to keep, like for the box we received a scissors, glue spreader, crayons and colouring pencils. My two had a real sense of achievement when they finished and proudly held up their creations for pictures. Youngest did get a bit messy covered in flour, but he does look so happy!

This box was a real life saver as my two have been poorly this weekend and this has really cheered them up! So I would recommend getting some boxes in and hiding them for one of those moments when you just need something, anything… to soothe and focus your children. If you feel your just about to pull out your hair or sit in a corner rocking manically, open and viola quietly attentive children!

A box costs £19.99 or you can sign up to a yearly subscription for £199.99 (meaning you get 2 boxes for free!). You can find out more about Cubby Kits here and read their blog for lots of creative ideas.

You can also follow them on facebook or twitter

Yes to Cucumbers Review

2012-02-12T13:29:00.000Z

I was thrilled to be trying two products from this range; I must admit I struggle to fit in my five a day sometimes so what better way than to do it through my skin! Okay it might be cheating but either way my skin is definitely benefiting from the cleansing and cooling properties of cucumber.

In the past I have been a fan of applying cucumbers over my eyes to help dark circles but now I can save the cucumber for the kids lunches and instead enjoy the Yes to Cucumbers Soothing Eye Gel (£14.99) instead! You can even keep it in the fridge to really cool and calm the delicate area around your eye.

My eyes are always looking tired and I have bags on my bags sometimes. It is no surprise my blog is called Missing Sleep, with youngest falling out of bed, the occasional nightmares, and both of them constantly doing battle with a variety of germs… that have all contributed to the feeling of not having slept properly for YEARS! But my eyes have looked considerably better since using this natural product.

The Yes to Cucumbers Daily Calming Moisturiser (£14.99) really helped my skin glow. It is nice and light and my skin felt much softer. I was quite partial to the refreshing cucumber scent too. I found I only needed to use a little bit at each application so this 50g bottle will last ages.

These products are great quality at affordable prices. I could see myself using them again and recommending them to family and friends. For one I especially love the spiel on the packet and I am a sucker for clever advertising:

The Power of Yes

Yes to organic fruits and veggies. Yes to caring as much about what you put on your body as what you put in it. Yes to the benefits of Dead Sea Mud. Yes to being low maintenance and highly fabulous. Yes to happiness. Yes to you!

I feel empowered already!

Yes to Cucumbers is available to purchase from Victoria Health.

The Dog, Cat and Hamster Saga

2012-02-12T11:53:00.000Z

We had my parents’ dog overnight she was up to her usual tricks of not particularly liking the cat; whilst the cat has just discovered the hamster and camps outside his home tail twitching, watching intently Brownie’s every movement. It was like an episode of Tom and Jerry here!

Yes bet your lost as Shuffles is no more, don’t worry he hasn’t met some tragic fate he has just been renamed Brownie… am hoping name changing won’t be a regular occurrence, but with my two boys who can tell!

Hubbie dismantled the Rotastak Space Command Unit with relative ease. It was very handy as Brownie can be left in one compartment whilst you clean the others and then swap him round and clean the last one. A quick and easy process on the whole, took about 15 minutes. But hubbie is a bit of a pro when it comes to building things; I have nominated him as the weekly hamster home cleaner! If he didn’t want the role, he shouldn’t have done such a good job methinks…

We have also discovered a really easy way to catch him when he is in the wheel you can gently take that part off and get to him for extra handling! Last night went exceptional well, no blood loss to either hubbie or myself!

The Byofresh Small Animal Deodorising Wipes made the Unit smell really lovely. I was under the impression they were for the pet, but hubbie says no for the unit. So I settled for hubbies way just in case! My friend said it would be like giving the poor fellow a facial! Just had a proper look at the packet and they are for Brownie himself, we will have a very dapper hamster with a wipe of this...

I have put in my first order with Monster Pet Supplies, am hoping the selection of extra hamster treats we bought will convince Brownie that I am a lot less edible than honeyed banana’s. I used the code WELCOMEBLOGGERS to get my 10% off my first order!

Bath Food Soap Review

2012-02-11T23:01:00.000Z

I was sent a package of exquisite soaps to indulge myself with. These soaps are created by another blogger friend of mine based at The Good Life Mum. Her blog is a fascinating read with lots of lovely craft and baking activities to do with your children. I must admit I do read with awe and long to be more skilled! To top it all off she even makes soap, beautifully scented and pleasing masterpieces. If I ever had a case of the green-eyed monster it would be with my talented new friend, if it were not for the fact she is so kind, caring and funny.

My pregnant friend was over having dinner with us and when she saw the soaps was quite swept away by the aroma of the Chocolate Truffle, which smelt so lovely I had to stop her chomping on it right there and then. I let her keep it on the proviso she did not get a craving to eat it and only used it for some much needed pampering! Bless her with her blooming figure she deserves some TLC time.

I gave my mum another of the soaps.But I must admit if anyone had wanted the Tangerine soap it might have turned ugly as I had my eye on that from the beginning.It smells particularly refreshing, just what I need to coax my reluctant body into life during my morning shower after yet another sleepless night!

I love how every soap has a list of ingredients and batch number on them. You feel reassured your getting a quality product. I just washed my hands again in the Figs and Brown Sugar another new firm favourite. My eldest has a sickness bug so these soaps are bringing pleasant smells back into our life – thankfully!

So much care and attention has been given into these tenderly created soaps it is almost a travesty for them to be on sale at a bargain of £2 each. But alas they are so snap them up quick before the storm of luxury soap bargain hunters get word of it!

Over to Helen the lovely founder of Bath Food:

I started making soap for my husband who suffers from eczema but loves bubble baths also with a two year old daughter I wanted a gentle soap for her delicate skin.

I am also a keen forager and two of my soaps are my signature soap stinging nettle soap and rosehip and ginger pate bar my soaps also contain good luscious oils such as olive oil and sweet almond oils.

This Christmas I ventured out into some scented soaps such as tangerine a fresh zesty orangey soap great for a wake up in the morning, and fun soaps such as cookie dough that has beautiful warm scents of caramel and vanilla. There is a chocolate truffle soap that contains 70% dark Swiss chocolate and my friend calls this her lucky soap if you know what I mean. Then there is a lovely simple soap called snow topped with crystal glitter for a little sparkle. For the more sophisticated tastes there is a gold frankincense and myrrh for a more exotic wash.

I also sell bath time accessories such as bath scrunchies and natural loofahs to polish dead skin away and sensible attained wooden bath racks made from Hemu wood to help look after your soap as well as fun novelty flannels.

I do have a facebook page here.Currently I am having a big sale in order to help raise funding toward a new soap collection for the new year so get them before they go and at only £2 a bar they are worth a try as a little treat.

Green People Organic Children’s Range Review

2012-02-11T17:52:00.000Z

We were sent three items to review, all with a lovely citrus theme. We had the Citrus & Aloe Vera Shampoo (£7.75), the Citrus & Aloe Vera Bath/Shower Gel (£7.75) and the Mandarin Toothpaste (£3.50).

After using all these products my children smelt so sweet. It really is a pleasant smell and the toothpaste being a different flavour to mint is a HUGE novelty for the boys. It has been a lifesaver for bribing them to get dressed and ready for school and getting ready for bed promptly numerous times already, so they can get to the brushing teeth part!

I definitely recommend keeping a tube or two for emergencies like that… especially as in the eldest school newsletter they were giving the guilt trip about letting the children down and seeing the disappointment in their faces because they do not get to school on time! I just whip out the Mandarin toothpaste and they fall in line quickly, raring to go…

These products are probably more than I would normally spend, but they seem like big bottles because you do not need much with each application… plus I am lucky I have two boys with short hair so will keep us going for ages!!! Also knowing my children are using products that are Organic, natural and very gentle is of great importance, I would gladly pay a little bit more.

You can find out more about Green people including special offers here, with free delivery in February there has not been a better time to make an order

Purple Ronnie brightens up Valentine’s Day

2012-02-11T11:55:00.000Z

I just wanted to introduce you to a fun charity partnership between UNICEF and Dulux. In this house Valentines is a bit hit or miss, am not entirely sure I will get anything, sometimes we bother sometimes we don’t. We love each other (alongside the odd argument!) all year round so it really depends on our mood at the time!

But seeing as it’s most unlikely I will be writing something vaguely romantic for Valentines (unless of course youngest gets anything off his many lady friends!) I thought I would share this with my followers.

Romantic rhyming favourite, Purple Ronnie, is creating a series of one-off poems for loved-ones this Valentine’s Day, to accompany a very special gift – your very own colour.

A world first, men and women will be able to gift their loved-ones an actual colour for them to own, through Facebook.com/OwnAColour, for a minimum donation of £1 – an initiative in aid of UNICEF, the world’s leading children’s organisation.

The gift of colour, accompanied by a unique Purple Ronnie poem, will be available from 8th February – for those who are organised – until Valentine’s Day itself – for those not so organised – and provides a special solution for all those Valentine’s Day gifting dilemmas, whilst also contributing to a great cause.

The limited-edition poem, in Purple Ronnie’s iconic cheeky style, will appear on your loved-ones Facebook wall on the 14th February, along with a link for them to pick and name their colour of choice.

With Own A Colour, your Valentine will be the exclusive owner of one of the 16.7 million colours that the average computer, smartphone or tablet can display.

To Own A Colour, and for more information, visit: Facebook.com/OwnAColour

Learn time easily with Circa

2012-02-11T10:05:00.000Z

My boys have such a variety of toys, its hard to rack my brain to come up with new ideas that they don't have a variation of already!

But I quite like the sound of the Circa an innovative educational toy calendar designed to help children understand the cycles of the calendar using the toy's rotating and circular stacking design. Anything that helps with teaching our children can only be a good thing.

My eldest is slightly hooked on computer games (I don’t mind them being used some of the time though!), so anything new and a bit interesting will I am sure help coax him off computer games and with inquisitive eyes lit up be engaged by this. Every toy has its place and this one would be welcomed with open arms I am sure!

Melinda, mummy inventor of Circa, has been recognised with the following awards:

· Top Drawer September 2011: Best New Children’s Product

· Rainbow Toy Awards 2011: Highly Commended – Wooden Toy Category

· British Female Inventors and Innovators Network (BFIIN) Awards: Winner – Inventors Award, Semi-Finals 2011

· Highly Commended award for “Toys that Help Communication” at the Talking Tots Toy Awards 2011

Although once these two learn a concept of time, which I am sure they would quickly with this beauty, I will be hounded with only so long till my birthday, Christmas, Easter… still I think its worth it when we impress the grandparents with their new skills!

You can find out more about them here

Sudocrem Skin Care Cream

2012-02-11T09:35:00.000Z

I have used Sudocrem Skin Care Cream before and have been impressed so thought I would point you in the right direction for a great competition they are running to win an iPhone, a swanky handbag and a years supply of their cream! Perfect accessories for the yummy mummy who lunches! If you win you can make sure your new handbag always has the Skin Care Cream ready to help in the bad weather, no more sore hands!

So how do you enter (because quite frankly I bet your chomping at the bit to get at that prize!!!):

Step 1– Go to www.facebook.com/SudocremTube and ‘Like’ the page

Step 2– Click on the Diane Von Furstenberg & iPhone 4S Competition page

Step 3- Follow the competition page instructions: Enter your email and answer the three product related questions correctly

Step 4- Keep your fingers crossed that your name is drawn from the hat of correct entries on 25 February 2012

Competition Finish Date – 25 February 2012

Competition winners announced - 29 February 2012

Quaker Oats Oat So Simple Kids Review

2012-02-11T08:34:00.001Z

We were sent a packet of the Chocolate variety to try for mumsnet. We have not had much success introducing porridge to my boys before so I was really hoping the addition of the chocolate flavour would hopefully swing it and they would embrace porridge eating.

With it so cold lately I really think it is the perfect children’s breakfast, to warm them up and fill them with 100% natural ingredients before sending them out in the snow!

My son happily rubbing his tummy, smiling. I was convinced he must be enjoying it, as soon as the picture was taken he promptly spat his mouthful on the carpet…

I think he was just being a true professional for the camera! But I am honour bound to tell you the truth and unfortunately it was not to be for my two. Hubbie did not mind as he quite happily ate their two portions and plans to finish the box.

If your children already enjoy porridge these new flavours will most likely be a hit. I wish I liked porridge more myself as the other flavours in the range, sound quite delicious, Fudge, Honey and Blueberry. If your children are unsure about porridge at RRP of £2.19 for 10 sachets it is definitely worth giving them a try. They might surprise you and love it!

You can find out more about the range here and it is available to buy from Tesco (on offer at the moment any two packs for £3.50, so the perfect time to give them a try!

HiPP Organic Mini Pots Review

2012-02-10T18:17:00.000Z

We were sent Mini Pots in both of the varieties, ‘Apple and Pear’ and ‘Banana and Peach’.

I was not sure how my two would find these, as it has been a considerable time since we have fed them pureed fruit. Eldest turned his nose up at it, he moved the spoon around and tried and failed to hide his lack of excitement for it. I was hoping they would have been as readily accepted as the Little Nibbles range but unfortunately it was not to be.

Youngest rubbed his tummy (but this is not always a sign of approval he has done this before and then spat the contents out on the floor, such a charmer my youngest!). But then he went on and ate most of his. So one out of two enjoying the pots is something.

I am sure children and babies younger than mine will adore these new pots though, mine went through many pots of something similar when being weaned. I should take credit for making my own food but it would be an outright fib… Plus I never felt too guilty given the quality of the ingredients and being organic to boot!

I like these mini pots, as they are just the right size. Refreshing not having to waste food throwing half used pots in the bin, as 50g of tasty puree is such a manageable portion size even accounting for the bits they manage to get all over the table… The little bit of yoghurt mixed in is also a good idea so babies don’t just get a taste for sweet fruit.

I will try eldest again with some ice cream on the side and see if he comes round but if not youngest will be more than happy to have the rest for himself!

You can find out more about them here

You can also follow on facebook and twitter

Syner-Med Non Contact Thermometer Review

2012-02-09T20:12:00.003Z

I was sent a Syner-Med VeraTemp Non Contact Thermometer to review; I was very keen to try it out as I think it is a fantastic idea. I have always been a fan of checking my children’s temperatures anyway; I think it is vital in small children as the risk of fitting from high and out of control temperatures is a huge and very real worry.

My dad says what’s wrong with the old method of just hand on forehead! Well I think that is prehistoric, when you have innovative and affordable technology in your grasp I think it’s important to embrace it!

Eldest was sent home from school once, as he felt hot… Using my dad’s technique I might have been tempted to give him medicine to lower it, but using a thermometer I soon discovered his temperature was fine. He was hot from coughing not a fever like the school had thought. Always best to avoid having to give children medicine unnecessarily.

Then it comes to the question of what thermometer to buy; well I have started to get royally fed up with the cost of all the probe covers for our current thermometer you place in your ear. Hubbie with his infinite wisdom decided at one point to try and save money and not use the covers; he ended up with a severe ear infection and popped eardrums!!! So something I would definitely not recommend doing if times are hard… just invest in a Syner-Med thermometer in the first place and save so much more money in the long run. Shares in Amazon might plummet now I won’t be placing any repeat orders for more probe covers, but my bank balance will be a lot happier!

I especially love that it is non contact, when your children are unwell sleep is so important to recuperate so its nice to be able to hold this away from them rather than have to stick it under their tongue or in their ear and potentially wake them up when you don’t need to.

The thermometer only costs £36.95, which is something of a bargain, considering you can use it for testing babies bottle, food, bath water and room temperature on top of body temperature. Hubbie is going round holding it 5cm away from anything giving it a click and proudly reporting back on its temperature. I think the novelty is not going to run out anytime soon!

Hubbie checking the children’s porridge is a suitable temperature.

We also compared readings with our trusty old thermometer and they matched up nicely, which was very reassuring. I would have no hesitation recommending this to all my mummy friends and family.

You can find out more here including ordering online.

If you would like to win one and am sure you will please fill in the rafflecopter and get your entries in by midnight on the 1st of March.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Toddler Tantrums

2012-02-09T08:18:00.000Z

They come out of nowhere like stealthed ninja’s. They creep on you when you’re least expecting and throw you off balance. When everything is looking on target and great the screaming, shouting, tears, arm flaying, feet stomping, floor wrestling commences in full force.

My favourite tantrums from youngest were when he wanted me to get rid of his shadow, it was offending him, he did not want one anymore, no sense or reasoning would stop his. He eventually calmed down on his own in a corner, where he could not see his shadow… thankfully he seems to have learnt to live with it again. As that’s one thing mummy cannot really rectify for him.

My other favourite was again one that mummy could do little about. He woke up hysterical looking bewildered roaring for his giant bunny. He has no giant bunny; it later transpired he had dreamt he was holding hands walking around with a giant bunny, which upon waking he then really missed his new friend. Once more not much I could do apart from reassure him they might meet in dreamland again one day.

How do you handle tantrums? My usual tactic is to grin and bear it, ignore the stares, wait for the boys to slowly calm and just eat more chocolate in the evening to settle my frayed nerves.

Hubbie and his white flag offerings

2012-02-08T22:10:00.000Z

I think I should vent about my outrage at being ignored more often!

Hubbie thinks with some outright flattery, home baking (with youngest helping), flowers and chocolate, I will be putty in his hands! Forgetting all the Ssssshhing he told me so he could fully concentrate on speaking to his raid team in World of Warcraft.

I think I have defrosted slightly but a full thaw has not commenced. I am like an Elephant and never forget when it comes to arguments, other things fly out of my brain quicker than Concord ever did. I will stew, I will grumble, I will use it for leverage for a LONG time.

He did say this evening if I gave up blogging he would give up World of Warcraft, I think its just a ploy to look willing and able to detox himself. I nodded encouragingly but I have blogging addiction myself now, I have to get my daily fix… I think I would be a bit lost without it!

So we will both continue to satisfy our habits in our own way, I will just benefit from the guilty bounty that comes my way…

Aromatherapy Associates Review

2012-02-08T11:27:00.000Z

I was sent three very indulgent products to review from this range. I decided to be very kind to my mum and let her put the Refining Face Oil through its paces. I can be nice like that sometimes…

The Refining Oil has an RRP of £37, which seems quite high for a 15ml bottle, but you only need to use such a small amount that one bottle will really last for ages. My mum found it greasy and heavy at first that is why it is very important to use just the recommended one or two squirts. But that feeling soon disappeared once rubbed in. It absorbed in well and my mum said her skin felt nice and smooth. My mum loved the smell and the product was given high praise indeed, my mum is also somewhat of the beauty product connoisseur so you know you’re on to a good thing when she accepts it!

As parents always on the go, I think it nice to take some time out and really feel pampered. With this range you feel like your getting the quality of luxury spa products without the price tag being in the same league. Much more convenient to re-create the spa atmosphere at home, without having to find a suitable babysitter!

I loved my time out having baths with the Miniature Bath & Shower Oil Collection, with this pleasing box set you have 9 x 3ml bottles to relax and unwind with. The RRP is £28.50, so £3.16 a pop (Yikes). But each bath you take turns into a magnificent aromatherapy sensation rather incomparable to a drab bit of bubble bath you had on offer in the chemist! Just keep opening the box and smelling it, it is so lovely, before I used the products I just enjoyed doing that and feeling the calm wash over me.

I loved smelling like Turkish delight with the Renewing Rose Cleaner (RRP £22.00). Another great product easy to apply and should become a key part of your skincare routine. I could even see the impurities coming away on the cotton wool and my skin felt less greasy than before. I especially like that it has Geranium in it which helps balance emotions, being a parent is an up and down rollercoaster of a ride, so anything that keeps keep you grounded, is VITAL! I wonder if I can eat less cake and just use this product instead to keep me happy. I definitely smell sweet enough.

Perfect for Mothers Day or with Valentines Day just round the corner bring a little joy to your partner (hubbie please note you and your World of Warcraft habit are bringing me NO JOY!), I must admit I am not used to spending these kind of prices on beauty products but maybe its time for a change, once you have had a taste of the finer things in life it must be hard to go back to anything less…

You can purchase from Liberty, Space NK and Fortnum & Mason (fancy shops just scream out quality product, so don’t just take my word for it!)

You can find out more about Aromatherapy Associates and also order online here.

You can also follow them on facebook and twitter

Konfidence Swimming Toys Review

2012-02-07T18:40:00.000Z

My son and one of his best buddies go swimming once a week. He is coming along really well, as is his friend. I think the addition of some fun toys have really helped too. We were sent 4 of the Floating Blinkies, which cost £1.99 each and 1 of the Quikfinz Floats, which cost £2.99 to review.

At these kinds of prices I think any parent should consider purchasing them to encourage your children in the water. It is a very inexpensive way to engage them, we played lots of fun games, we would throw a blinkie away from us and then my son would sort of half swim and half sink after it… but his technique is definitely improving and I am a very proud mummy!

When they are happy playing children forget their fear of water and increase their Konfidence no end! Learning to swim is an important skill, so anything that can help in any way should be actively encouraged, I spend huge chunks of my time in the pool pretending to be Hook after treasure or escaping from giant crabs to keep my son focused and doing little swims. So nice sometimes to let the Floating Blinkie do the hard work for a change…

The float was good to hold onto but is quite small, but much loved by both the children, who took turns having a go, pushing it and chasing after it.

And after all the fun in the pool you can bring them home and use them in the bath too. The Clown Fish being an instant hit, who does not love little Nemo.

You can find out more about Konfidence here

You can follow them on facebook too

I hate World of Warcraft

2012-02-07T11:03:00.001Z

Hubbie being on the computer three nights a week playing World of Warcraft I can just about tolerate… but him wearing headphones and me being completely ignored, I cannot!

To test this I say things like “hubbie dearest I have booked you in for a snip reversal operation next month”, “hubbie I ran up a massive credit card bill booking me and the girls on a spa trip” and “hubbie I am leaving you for the milk man”…

Response nothing, NADA!

Laptop promptly slammed shut in disgust and I sulked off to bed…

I have expressed being disgruntled about World of Warcraft before on here but last night hubbie was definitely at his worst… “SSSsssshhh I am concentrating…” If he says that to me one more time I will personally ram the World of Warcraft box set down his throat!!!

If Blizzard ever gets in touch wanting reviews done you know where you can stick that email!

Harry and his Bucket Full of Dinosaurs Review

2012-02-06T22:34:00.000Z

My boys absolutely loved this set and demanded to watch both DVD’s back to back. I think everything has a time and a place and film watching is one of them. Given miserable weather I indulged their wish and they snuggled on a sofa each wrapped in blankets watching to their hearts content.

I think Harry and his Bucket Full of Dinosaurs has universal appeal, as all children seem to love dinosaurs. This DVD would be at home in either a boy or girls collection.

I cannot comment on the storyline as I escaped to do chores. But I do know the boys did not stir till all the episodes on both DVD’s had been watched. Not hearing one scream of “its not fair”, “he did that”, “MUMMY!” means I would recommend this set wholeheartedly. For times when the chores just need doing, your children have met their fresh air quota and need some quiet rest and recuperation time this is the DVD.

Harry and his Bucket Full of Dinosaurs is also another series ideal for teaching valuable lessons like the importance of saying ‘please’. Sometimes with all the full on action of Ben 10 it’s nice to go back to these kinds of programmes, which are calmer and gentle.

Great value at a RRP of £7.99, as a whooping 12 episodes are included in this set. You can even get it from Amazon for £5.99, so at that price its perfect for affordable birthday presents for your childrens friends.

You can find out more about Abbey Media here.

You can also follow on facebook

I have five copies to give away of these double DVD’s, so you can see for yourself how fantastic they are.

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Gü Puds Review

2012-02-06T21:18:00.000Z

We were sent a voucher to treat ourselves to some of Gü Puds finest offerings.

We settled after much debate for some of the After Dark Hot Chocolate Soufflés and After Dark Chocolate & Vanilla Cheesecakes. I think the After Dark refers to the time you should eat it, when the children have gone to bed, when you can let out an indulgent sigh, put the kettle on and taste a little bit of paradise.

After 7pm when the house is restored to order is quite a heavenly time anyway but to have something decadently gu-ey is that extra bit special. Am I selfish I chose not to share with the children… perhaps, but given they show excitement over pretty much any sweet offering, I thought these belonged to someone who would do them justice! I am much more selective…

Both of these were delicious, I am not normally a Cheesecake fan but oh my word Gü Puds soon changed that! What I also like about Gü puddings are the glass ramekins that you eat from, these can be saved afterwards and kept for a multitude of uses. I remember using one as a pee pot to dip my pregnancy test in when I had nothing to hand and was desperate for my result... you will be pleased to hear I did not use it again, but recycled it!

For £5 we managed to buy 2 packs of the Cheesecakes and 1 pack of the Soufflés. I think given you pay £5 for one single portion of pudding in most restaurants this comes as quite the bargain. So check out your supermarket for the available offers and stock up quickly whilst they are half price (perfect for a romantic valentines!).

You can find out more about Gü Puds here

You can also follow them on facebook

Nanogen Hair Growth Factor Review

2012-02-06T20:24:00.000Z

I volunteered myself for a spot of hair product reviewing, then found out it was for products designed for thinning hair. I promptly decided to re-allocate hubbie to review as he was best placed to test these.

For once I think he was grateful to be able to slope off and enjoy a hot shower in peace whilst I entertained the children, even if it does mean I am labelling him as someone in need of hair growth. But his crown is starting to show the strains of the passage of time, as much as my knees are starting to creak… We have hit our thirties and our steady decline. With products like this we can fight back!

From the small samples we received he did not receive miraculous hair growth, but he did feel some definite thickening. So I think if you did stick with these products you might notice an improvement in your hair condition and thickness. Hubbie liked the smell, he called it “old timey”, but I just thought it was unassuming and subtle. His hair felt nice afterwards, clean and soft, not heavy with product. The Weekly mask you do need to leave on your hair for 10 minutes, which hubbie found rather a long time as he is used to fast showers on the go, but he said it’s a good length of time for having a shave whilst you wait.

The products are fairly pricey but I am sure considerably cheaper than investing in a realistic toupee or in regular trips to the barber to shave it all off, so at least worth a try if your receding. They also have a range for Women too, my hair is actually quite thick and in relatively good condition, unlike my joints. But useful to know just in case!

To find out more information visit here and also you can purchase online or the range is available in Boots.

Safer Internet Day

2012-02-06T18:14:00.000Z

Tomorrow is Safer Internet Day and Lucy Woodward from Disney Club Penguin has come up with some tips to try and keep your children safe when using online technology.

Over to Lucy:

Club Penguin was founded by three dads who wanted a safe, ad free, online environment for their kids to play so safety was built into the design of the virtual world from the very beginning. When Club Penguin was conceived they shared the same concerns as most parents do today as their children start taking their first steps online. So here’s some tips for parents whose kids want to join an online community:

1. Create your own account

What better way to get to know a game than to create your own account. For safety reasons, most kids virtual worlds require you to create an ‘avatar’, a character through which you explore and interact with the virtual world and those within it. This means players stay anonymous and there is no sharing of pictures and profiles, like you might see on an adult social networking site like Facebook. This is a good moment to test a sites technical filters and moderation – if you can get away with giving your avatar a rude name you can make a decision as to whether or not you’d want your child making friends with a character like that.

2. Strike up a conversation

kids, in character, can ‘chat’ with others in virtual worlds in a number of different ways. Some have pinboards where you can leave messages, others have live chat but both should be moderated. At Club Penguin we use technical filters, so only words that we’ve typed into our ‘white list’ of approved words will get through the filters. Words not on the white list don’t get through and only our moderators and the child typing the word will be able to see the phrase. This was designed to encourage good behaviour as kids who might try to be naughty soon get bored as they think they are being ignored. So go on give it a go, test the moderation by trying to leave a rude message on your own pinboard (please not anyone else’s and delete quickly after!) or if you’re on Club Penguin see if anyone reacts.

3. Stay anonymous

There is one really easy and simple rule which we encourage all our players to follow so that they keep themselves safe, wherever they are online: don’t share any personal information. Whether you’re seven or 70 sharing personal information can get you into trouble so it’s good to instil this in your kids from a young age. Teach your children to never give away details about where they go to school or live or their email address and telephone number. We don’t have school names, addresses, email or numbers on our white list so these words won’t get through our filter. If you see this kind of information it’s important to report it to the site’s moderation team.

4. In Moderation

Some sites will have some kind of filtering technology working alongside human moderators. We believe human moderation is an essential safety net, as well as keeping an eye on in-world happenings our moderators also keep our white list up to date, as the English language changes so much. It’s worth trying to find out if the virtual world your child is playing in has a dedicated moderation team and how large it is or if the company outsources the work. We have over 250 full time moderators on our staff world wide to make sure our players have the best possible experience.

5. Know what buttons to push

It’s important that kids are able to take control of their online experience. On Club Penguin, if kids want to block another user they can so they’ll never see each other in the game again. Or they can report a player to a moderator by clicking ‘M’ in the top right of the screen to report a player. When you are exploring a new virtual world with your child, it’s worth being familiar with which buttons to push

6. Customer support

If you have questions or want to know more get in touch with the customer support team, they’re there to help you. We like to hear from kids and parents and are happy to answer questions from any parents who want to know more about Club Penguin. Our team can be reached at support@clubpenguin.com

Brother Max Bath Toys Review and Competition

2012-02-05T21:24:00.000Z

My boys were sent a pack of bath toys from Brother Max to review. Now that the Crazy Soap is all but run out its great they have something else to make bath time exciting again…

These products are designed not only to make bath time fun but also to teach children the basics of learning to wash and keep clean. It is good to start them off young, so they will be nice and presentable and used to regular bathing before they hit their teens!

Heat sensitive changing dots take the worry out of ensuring you have the bath at the right temperature. I love my baths VERY hot, so if I test the boys ones with my elbow, it is not a very reliable gauge at all. So these bath toys can guide me perfectly in my quest to achieve a safe water temperature. It is so nice to have one less thing to worry about, as being a parent is quite the epic battle as it is…

You know your going to get a decent quality product with Brother Max because the team behind the brand are a merry band of parents themselves who have lived through the troubles and concerns we ourselves have and have developed practical workable solutions, like those fantastic bright orange dots for safety checks.

The toys can now be bought singularly which I think is great because then if you have a firm favourite you can pick that one rather than purchase a whole pack. My boys especially liked the Sprinkler, the Twister and the Toy brush. The Sprinkler in particular I loved as it helps increase confidence with water, mine were happy letting it sprinkle out of the holes onto their faces. As much as most children like baths one aspect I find difficult is they do not always embrace water on their face. So with this helpful bath toy we are seeing an improvement already.

Although I would imagine the Wear-me Bath rattle and Sponge Bath Rattle being hugely popular with younger children and babies, as I remember how much my two relished rattles when they were little. I think most of their toys at the time featured some shake and hear a noise feature, so you can rely on these two being a popular choice also.

The bath toys appear easy to clean, they come apart effortlessly and the flannels are machine washable which is very reassuring as bath toys do have a habit of getting really grotty! So Brother Max really has thought of everything.

Each bath toy has a RRP of £4.99 and is available from selected Tesco and Jo Jo Maman Bebe stores and kiddicare.com and Amazon.co.uk

You can follow them on facebook or twitter

I have one set of all 5 bath toys to giveaway to a lucky follower to enter please complete the rafflecopter form below.

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Treasure Island Toys

2012-02-05T15:48:00.000Z

Treasure Island Toys (www.treasureislandtoys.co.uk) has been a popular online store for many parents in the UK since 2008, but as of November 2011 the site became an entirely different sort of online experience.

Treasure Island has created what they like to call a ‘Fun and Party Search Engine’ and is unique in the fact that not only can parents buy toys, furniture and birthday presents from the website, they can now arrange parties and days out for the kids, by finding children’s entertainers, party venues, kids attractions, evening classes, workshops and much, much more - all in one place!

By entering a postcode or place name, parents can find a whole range of child friendly activities and more which are in their local area. They then have the ability to refine their search by using hundreds of different keywords ranging from Ballet, Balloon Modelling and Paintball, right through to Peddle Boats, African Drumming, Theatres and everything inbetween.

The website uses the latest technologies to make it super quick and utilises great features like ‘Favourites’ lists, videos of entertainers, date ranges for events, reviews, social networking (Facebook/Twitter/Google+) integration and much more.

The website is also what is known as a ‘wiki’ site, meaning that anyone can add a listing to the website for FREE, quickly and easily by themselves. So if you are an entertainer or are a parent that knows of any great kids’ attractions and local events in your local area, you have the ability to add them in seconds and let other parents benefit from your knowledge.

With thousands of listings already on the website, and more being added each day, we are confident that Treasure Island is the place for parents to go when in need for some great ideas to keep the kids entertained.

For parties see www.treasureislandtoys.co.uk/parties.aspx

For fun days out see www.treasureislandtoys.co.uk/fun.aspx

Rotastak Space Command Unit Review

2012-02-05T09:18:00.002Z

Am now sporting a plaster, which overhangs one of my fingertips so typing is interesting! But Shuffles decided to take a bite out of my finger, which bled profusely everywhere…

Aside from my minor injury he seems very sweet.

Eldest loved getting to have a closer look at him last night. But it comes as no surprise he nipped me I mean would you be happy to leave your home if it looked like this…

Monster Pets have truly spoilt our new addition, with his fancy new home and his extra treats. I think it has gone to his head and he has decided he is the boss of the house!

The Rotastak Space Command Unit is a fantastic piece of kit for the discerning hamster. Shuffles can now feel like the lord of the manor with heaps of freedom to uncover and explore, the huge tunnel system is great as it is like their natural environment of burrows in the wild (aside from being fluorescent yellow but that is great as Shuffles is more space cadet than minimalist!). The Unit comes complete with wheel, water bottle and bowl so I do think you get a lot of value for your £47.18, if you compared how much all those items would cost you separately.

Building the masterpiece did take 40 minutes but that was the addition of a very “helpful” toddler and an excitable older brother.

At more than one point they were both taking it in turns wearing the top of the Space Command Unit as a hat!!! Doing it unaided it would probably been much faster.

The drawback of this enclosure is that if your pet is located anywhere but the large first floor it may be tricky to get him out. I see this as an advantage as owning two cats, I do not want it to be so easy that the youngest will decide to let Shuffles out when I am in another room. As I know the cats would be keen on a hamster snack given half a chance and we would all be sad then. If you do not have residing felines then you can rearrange the system to your liking, as it seems quite flexible, you could probably add them all on one level with some creative thinking, making the matter of hamster catching more achievable.

The cleaning of Shuffles home will feature after the event occurs next Thursday, to see how manageable it is but I must say I am very impressed with this Unit and would so far recommend it whole heartedly.

Monster Pet Supplies seem the most friendly and sincere pet company I have had the pleasure to deal with. I have had many pets over the years (hubbie was under the impression we were thinning the ranks but the boys like pets!) and dealt with many different companies but they seem to go that little bit extra and take a genuine interest in the happiness of your pet.

I will definitely be choosing them for future pet related purchases I need to make especially with the discount code for my first order. You see the lovely people at Monster Pet Supplies have given me the promotional code WELCOMEBLOGGERS for ALL my followers to use. The terms and conditions state that 10% off is the first order only from the Monster Pet Supplies website www.monsterpetsupplies.co.uk. Can be used once per customer and expires 21/07/2012. See monsterpetsupplies.co.uk for our full terms & conditions.

You can follow Monster Pet Supplies on facebook or through their blog.

If anyone has any hamster taming tips my sore finger would gladly appreciate them!

The All-New Care Bears Double DVD Review and Competition

2012-02-04T21:11:00.002Z

Eldest would not watch this. Which was a shame as I reminisce about the Care Bears from when I was a child, but it was okay as the youngest was quite happy to snug in with me and give it a go. It is hard to believe Care Bears are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year! Nothing like that to make me feel old…

This film would be fantastic for any little girl, lots of singing, hearts and pink! But boys do enjoy it too as “Oopsy does it” features a bad guy, a funny little hard done by robot and lots of fairground rides. Oopsy Bear has to help put things right after he inadvertently helps Grizzle complete his “Care taker” machine which he plans to use to steal belly badges with.

“The Giving Festival Movie” is about the Care Bears preparing for their annual Giving Festival. Another story that will touch your heart, as all the gang work together.

Both the films in the pack teach value lessons about the importance of friendship, sharing and helping out others. The Care Bears are such a sweet addition to any DVD collection.

This lovely pack is rated U and is available from the 6th of February with an RRP of £9.99. You can purchase this film from a range of stockists, it is currently only £7.49 from Amazon to preorder, which is quite a bargain for two feature length films with such kindhearted caring content.

You can follow Abbey Home Media on facebook here

I have 5 copies to give away, so if you would kindly enter with rafflecopter, your little ones can also hopefully enjoy the wonder and magic of the Care Bears.

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ZaraMamaS Gourmet Popping Corn Review

2012-02-04T15:57:00.001Z

We were sent the 6 Bag Gift box to review, looking it at first I thought surely we would not get much popcorn from that.

We let the boys pick a colour each; made the first lot up and then quickly realised we could save the other colour for another day. One little 90g bag makes LOADS!

Nothing like a house with the smell of fresh popcorn in the air, then settling down for a film with your warm popcorn, with butter or sugar to your own taste! The whole experience of making it was mystifying for the boys too; they loved all the popping when the corn was hot enough. We have only ever had shop bought ready-made popcorn but I think it would be very hard to go back to that after experiencing this.

Hubbie proclaims this is the favourite review we have done here. So he must have enjoyed it! Eldest has wolfed all the contents of his bowl too. It really is an effortless and pretty affordable option to have quality popcorn. The gift box can be purchased from their page for £6.75; hubbie says he would easily have paid £10 for it. They even sell ZaraMama Popcorn seasoning in Maple Syrup and White Cheddar, which again makes the whole snacking experience more fun!

I think their popcorn would make a step up from giving the gentlemen in your life socks for Christmas. My dad is a huge popcorn fan, so good to know about ZaraMama and their fantastic offerings.

You can follow them on facebook or twitter

HiPP Organic Snacks Review and Competition

2012-02-04T14:08:00.003Z

We received a selection of snacks to try out on my boys. I do find it difficult to keep coming up with suitable snack ideas for constantly hungry growing boys.

My eldest has not eaten rice cakes since being much younger, so he surprised me as to how enthusiastic he was about them. He chomped them down quite earnestly and asked for more. I shall be re-adding them to my weekly shopping list rather than dismissing them as a snack just for toddlers.

The elephant biscuits went down well too, as did the Little Nibbles (cereal and fruit) bars. Both the plum & apple and peach & apple variants were quite edible even to me… and they must have been good as the boys actually tolerated sitting nicely next to each other for me to take a picture, something which can be quite a rare occurrence in the Missing Sleep household.

I think it is very reassuring to reach for a snack that has no added sugar and is organic when your child is hungry. You can feed these without the guilt of too much chocolate or sweets. Perfect in your handbag for enticing reluctant walkers home from playschool and for warding off potential hungry meltdowns before they happen… whipping out one of these Little Nibbles bars at the right moment might offset you having to later scrap them off the pavement when they are face down wailing about some injustice!!!

Another great mummy sanity saver from HiPP Organic

You can also follow them on facebook or twitter

I have three sets of Little Nibbles Snacks to giveaway to enter kindly fill in rafflecopter.

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