Saturday 31 August 2013

Gumigem Bubba Bag Giveaway

I am a huge fan of Gumigem. Their jewellery is not only stylish for us mummy's, it is also great for our little ones to chew away on, relieving some of that awful pain they go through.

Well the lovely people at Gumigem are always developing new designs and they have now expanded their range.

Introducing the Bubba Bag

gumigem bubba bag
This bag comes complete with four toys in it, the toys are all made from the same flexible non toxic, washable silicone that the rest of the Gumigem jewellery is made from. All the toys carry the CE marking so you know they are safe.

contents of gumigem bubba bag

Included is a chunky key set which is suitable from 10 months, a credit card, a purse and a phone which are all suitable from 0+ months.

The neoprene bag in which they come is fully washable and sits open ready for your little ones to take their toys out and pop back in again.

Giveaway

Well my lovely readers, Gumigem have been kind enough to allow me to give away one of their new Bubba Bags to one lucky reader. All you need to do is fill out the rafflecopter form below. The competition is open to UK residents only and will run until 11.59pm on the 21st September 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck

xxxx

  Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

Schwartz Grill Mates and Perfect Shake Review

A little while ago I took part in the Britmums challenge testing Schwartz 2 in 1 range. Well I was recently contacted to see whether I would like to review Scwartz newest ranges, Grill Mates and Perfect Shake. I'm always on the look out for new ideas on what to make dinner so I was more than happy to oblige.

I couldn't believe just how many sachets and shakes I was sent in the post.

schwartz grill mates
schwartz perfect shake





















The Grill Mates feature delicious US flavour combinations which are ideal to bring your food to life, whether you decide to make a BBQ in the glorious Summer weather we have been having or even if you decide to just put cook your meat under the grill for a delicious family meal. 

The Perfect Shake range are made up of tantalising herbs and spices which can be used in many things such as marinades, sauces, or even sprinkling over things like chicken, beef and fish.

Both these ranges are great for making the most of the Summer season. 

Perfect Shake

I was sent the Perfect Shake range in the following flavourings : 

Season All : This is a great alternative to salt and pepper

Piri Piri : For anyone that loves Nandos, this is the one for you

Chargrilled Chicken : Great to marinade your chicken in whether you favour breast, drumsticks or thighs

Fish : Use on any fish from prawns to tuna, adds a little zing to your meal.

So far I have used the Chargrilled Chicken and the Fish Perfect Shakes. I sprinkled the Chargrilled Chicken one over one of caesar salads, it was lovely, not an overpowering taste but definitely added a little kick. I used the fish one when making Daddy Hazelden king prawns, this mixed with some chillis and lime made for a refreshing meal. 

Grill Mates

I was sent the Grill Mates in : Deep South Brown Sugar, Mojito Lime, Cajun and Smoky Texan. So far I have only put the Cajun to the test but the whole family was really impressed.

Simply mix the packet mix with 75ml water and 50ml oil


Put the chicken and the mixture into the bowl and marinade for 15 minutes or if you want stronger flavour you can leave it over night in the fridge.


Then simply pop into the oven for however long you need to cook it for and...


You have some delicious chicken to accompany whatever else you decide to make, in our case chips and peas :) The marinade made the chicken really moist and the flavour was wonderful, not too spicy, even Layla enjoyed eating it.

Both ranges are quick and easy to use and with prices starting from £1 you really can't go wrong. It makes any dinner or salad that little bit more exciting. I'm looking forward to trying out the Mojito Lime next mmmm.

Which flavours would you like to try?

xxxx

Disclaimer : These items were sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Friday 30 August 2013

Doc McStuffin and Sofia the First CDs Review

My girls are huge fans of the channel Disney Junior on the TV and they are even bigger fans of the newest programmes to be broadcast on the channel, Doc McStuffin and Sofia the First.

I was asked to review the soundtrack CDs that accompany these TV programmes and there was no way the girls were going to let me turn down this opportunity.


So let me tell you a little bit about the programmes, just incase you haven't had the chance to watch them yet, yes I watch them too!! :)

Doc Mcstuffin follows a 6 year old girl named Dottie McStuffin, she wants to become a doctor like her mum, so pretends to fix up dolls, toys etc. When she puts on her stethoscope all the toys magically come alive and she is able to communicate with them. She has her trusty stuffed animal friends, lambie, stuffie, hallie and chilly. Each episode gives advice to your children about staying healthy, helped along with catchy songs.




Sofia the First follows Sofia, who after her mum marries the king, is whisked off to the castle where she learns to be a real princess.

Classic princesses such as Cinderella make appearances to give words of wisdom as Sofia learns lessons about kindness, forgiveness, generosity and self respect.

And of course some beautifully worded songs help relay these messages.




These CDs are a great edition to any little girls CD collection.

There are 26 songs on the Doc McStuffin CD. All the songs are quite short which makes for easy listening and you will recognise them all from the TV series, especially the well known time for your check up

All very upbeat and catchy, you can't help but know the words and sing along.

I asked the girls their favourite songs on the Doc Mcstuffin soundtrack :

Elise said : a lambie like you

Freya said : everyone gets hurt sometimes

Gracie : be good to your tummy

The songs help relay messages of being healthy and looking after yourself and others but in a way that is fun to children.

There are 13 songs on the Sofia the FIrst CD, this includes 2 bonus tracks. Starting with the theme tune, you are immediately made to get up and dance. The girls loved singing along to their favourite songs and it made them remember watching certain episodes of the programme. The series itself is aimed at 2-7 year olds and I would say the CD is aimed at the same age range. I wouldn't say it is just for girls because my almost 2 year old nephew loves to watch Princess Sofia.

When asked for their favourite songs on the Sofia the First soundtrack :

Elise said : true sisters

Freya said : princess things

Gracie said : Sofia the First theme tune


The CDs themselves were even made to look good, bright purple for Sofia and the Doc McStuffin one was designed with plasters all over it.

The booklets inside that tell you about each song have beautiful pictures of the characters from the television programmes,

I would recommend these CDs to anyone, even if you haven't watched the programmes before.

The songs managed to keep my children entertained for hours and they were all singing along to them together, they actually managed a couple of hours without arguing with each other!!

Disney have yet again produced enjoyable CDs that are fun for anyone who listens to them.

I will admit that even I know a few of the songs and yes I do sing along to them.

You can't tell me you haven't found yourself singing along to your childrens TV programmes/CDs before??

xxxx

Disclaimer : These CDs were sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.




Thursday 29 August 2013

Scooting About Town

As a treat for the Summer holidays, Daddy Hazelden and I decided to buy the girls new scooters as their previous ones were not only only getting a bit old and tatty, they were also a little bit too small for them now, what with all the growing up they keep doing!!!

This was also a great excuse to go for a nice bimble about town in the glorious sunshine that is still gracing us with it's prescence.

My little Gracie is getting quite brave, when she first started scooting she didn't actually scoot, she instead just walked along pushing the scooter beside her. Just look her in action below though :


And just prove how clever she is, she even managed to lift her other foot off of the floor. Not a huge achievement to most people but I was definitely one proud mummy!!!


Now Elise and Freya are old pros on their scooters now so they decided the best way to have fun was to race each other. Freya started off in the lead but her older sister sped past her and claimed victory!!

       
Little Layla is still a tad too young to be scooting about town so I carried her on my back so she could watch everything that was going on over my shoulder and of course this made great exercise for mummy too :)


So how do your kids travel about town, do they love to scoot or are they more a fan of riding a bike??

xxxx

Ethans Escapades

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Beanies Coffee Review

I'm sure a lot of you are like me and need that daily cup of coffee in the morning to be able to function properly!!

So when the lovely people at Beanies contacted me and asked if I would like to review their coffee, the answer was an enormous yes!!!
beanies logo

Beanies are a company that produce flavoured coffee. The company has been going since 2009 and they claim that the secret is in the blend and remember it is all about the flavour but not improving the coffee flavour, no adding a bit of variety and va va voom.
Using the finest raw materials, their coffee brings you a twist on the normal cup of coffee and to my delight, it is low in calories too.

Producing both instant and premium roast coffee, there is something for everyone in their range. I was sent a couple of jars of their instant coffee for my taste buds to tackle.

beanies coffee

I received a jar of the french vanilla flavour and a jar of the rich hazelnut flavour. If these don't appeal to you, you can also get : amaretto almond, caramel, cinnamon & hazelnut, double chocolate and irish cream.

I love the packaging, the bright colours draw you in and the fun bean design makes you really look and start reading what is inside of the jar.

Now this was a review that Daddy Hazelden was more than happy to help with, he too loves his cup of coffee in the morning. We differ on how we take our coffee though, he will drink his with milk and two sugars, I however will drink my black with one sugar, what is it they say, opposites attract!!

Upon opening the jar, you are instantly met with a heavenly smell, this was the same for both the vanilla and hazelnut. You only need one teaspoonful per cup, so the small jar will last you quite a while, depending on how many cups of coffee you have in a day.

It is extremely easy to make, just add boiled water and then sugar and milk if this is something you like.  I can see you all looking at my picture and thinking that coffee looks really appealing right about now.

preparing beanies coffee

The flavour was just as good as the smell. What I really loved was that the flavourings weren't overpowering, you got the taste of coffee first and then the taste of vanilla/hazelnut as more of an after taste. Also the flavourings weren't overly sweet. It definitely helped make the start of my days positive.

Daddy Hazelden and I both agreed that the french vanilla was the better flavour out of the two however I wouldn't hesistate to recommend the pair of them.

With prices starting from just £2.50, you can purchase the coffee online or you can buy their wonderful coffee from Sainsburys, who stock an exclusive range of Beanies. Next on my list to try is irish cream and amaretto almond mmmmmm, what flavour will you be tasting first??

xxxx

Disclaimer : This coffee was sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Tuesday 27 August 2013

What Size Do I Buy??

When I buy clothes I don't tend to have the time or hands free to be able to go into the changing rooms to try each item of clothing on.

Most of the time when I am clothes shopping, I have the kids with me and they do not have the patience to stand around and wait for mummy to do a little fashion show for them. I've tried before and it turns into a battle of keeping little hands of clothes and hunting for other children inbetween the rails of clothing.

For this reason, I like to be able to go into a shop, pick what I want off the rails, pay and then leave again.

However I have been steadily losing weight and getting back into shape over the past few months, my size 12's were getting bug so I needed new clothes and I wasn't sure what size I would need.

First shop I ventured into was Peacocks, browsing through the sale items, I came across a pair of purple trousers, being my favourite colour I had to have them, being the classy lady I am, I tried them on underneath my skirt out on the shop floor, in my defense I couldn't squeeze all four children into the changing cubicle. To my surprise a size 8 fit, over the moon doesn't cover it, I haven't been this size since I was 13 years old!!!

Next shop I went to was Primark, well who doesn't love a bit of primarni. I picked up a pair of jeggings  but thought I best try them on as they were slightly different material, well in primark it turns out 10 was the winning number, with this in mind, I continued to pick up another couple of pairs of jeggings in a size 10, assuming because they are from the same shop that the sizing would be the same......

When I got home I thought I would compare the trousers, I was intrigued as to how I could be a size 8 in one shop and a size 10 in another.




Just take a look at the picture on the left.


Can any of you explain to me how the size 8 trousers from Peacocks and the size 10 trousers from Primark mange to be almost the same size??


No wonder they both seemed to fit me, the measurements are practically the same.






This wasn't the worst bit though.....



I decided to try on the other pair of jeggings I got from Primark, to see what the colour looked like etc

Boy did I have to breathe in, to be able to wear these, I wouldn't be able to eat a smidgen of food during the day.

The picture on the right shows both pairs together and as you can see, there is a significant difference in size.

I would say the darker pair are nearer to a size 6 than they are a size 10.



What I would love to know is how do shops get away with selling clothes that differ so much in size?? When you look at size guides online, they all seem to use the same universal sizing and measurements for waist, hips and bust, this would lead you to believe that all the clothes would in turn be of the same size, obviously not the case.

I now have to make a return journey to Primark to get the bigger size jeggings because I really would like to be able to eat and breathe whilst I wear them!!!

So my lovely readers, what shops have you had trouble with when it comes to finding the right size of clothing for you, do you tend to stick with the same shops so that you know what you are getting, do you really know what size you need to buy??

xxxx

Monday 26 August 2013

Popagami Review and Giveaway

Have any of you tried to do origami before?? I know I have, my mum used to have a book full of different origami animals and items to make, I always found things far too complicated and found myself giving up half way through attempting to make something.

So when I was asked by lovely people at Popagami to review their new combo pack, I was more than a little intrigued. For those of you that haven't heard of popagami is a twist on the priginal origami, you get given popagami sheets which can be folded and inflated to create different animal characters.

The combo pack that I received included a book - The World of Popagami, Origami Animal fun and 24 popagami sheets, 2 of each animal character.


As I always found the original origami difficult, I was expecting to find popagami hard too but I was pleasantly surprised.

I love straight away that I don't need to cut my sheets of paper into squares, each sheet is already the correct size and shape so you can get making instantly.

Inside the book there are clear step by step instructions, including a key guide to show exactly what each part of the instructions mean. And as you can see from the picture above, the book also tells you what each animal is and their names, this comes in handy later on once the pop-ettes are made. There are even little suggestions in there of what you can do with your pop-ettes once made.

My 7 and 5 year olds joined in with the fun of making the animals. I did have to help them a couple of times when folding certain parts but for the most part they did it themselves and I think with practice they will be doing it independently in no time.


I think the best part of the process is watching the animals come to life. To inflate them you simply blow through the hole at the back, easy peasy.

As you can see from the picture below, practice really does make perfect. The first picture demonstrates my first attempt, I admit, I could have done better!! As you can see by the third picture I really had mastered the art of popagami.


The only thing left do was cut the ears into shape which I left Elise doing.


Once you have made the animals, it is time to play. As I said previously, the book tells you the name of each animal and this allows your children to create their own popagami world, letting their imaginations run wild. I think it would be great if they could introduce these in school as it not only helps with coordination etc when making them but it makes for a great game to play in the playground.

The fun doesn't stop once you have used up all the sheets in your pack, oh no, you can then go on to buy supplementary pop-ette packs and you can even download and print even more characters from as little as £0.20 and the lovely people at popagami are always creating so expect some new animals popping up soon.

The combo pack is available at the brilliant price of £7.99, an inventive twist on the original origami. Although more suitable for older children and adults to make, it is an activity that can involve family and friends because you get to play with them once they are created, my 3 year old was pretending she had a new pet!! I wouldn't hesistate to recommend this to others.


Giveaway Time

Popagami have kindly allowed me to give away one of their combo packs to one of my lucky readers. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is fill out the rafflecopter form below. This giveaway is open to UK residents only and will close at 11.59pm on the 14th of September 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck Everyone

xxxx

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

Saturday 24 August 2013

AudioGO Audiobooks Review

As a child I remember listening to stories at bedtime, you know, when we used tapes instead of CDs. One memory always springs to mind, of when you came to the end of one side of the tape, there would be someone telling you to "please turn over".

I always found having audio stories on a good way to relax and drift off to sleep and my children are no different, their collection of CDs is steadily building with a mixture of musical ones and story ones.

When I was asked by the lovely people at AudioGO if I would like to review a selection of the audiobooks, I was more than happy to oblige.

AudiGO themselves are the UK's leading audiobook publisher and retailer and they were formally known as BBC Audiobooks. Their expanding range extends to over 10,000 titles including complete and unabridged audiobooks, which includes many children's titles, all of which can be bought in CD or downloadable form and they also produce many large print books.

I was asked to pick a couple of titles from their range but I declined and said I would much prefer a surprise and I couldn't have been more happy with what they chose for myself and the kids to review.


I received :

Mr Men Stories Volume 2 - Written by Roger Hargreaves - Read by Arthur Lowe

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Written by Lewis Carroll - Read by Gemma Arterton

The Secret Garden - Written by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Read by Jenna-Louise Coleman


The girls were just as thrilled with what arrived in the post for them. Each CD is roughly an hour long, this I think is just long enough. The girls have fallen asleep listening to these which I have to assume means that they manage to relax them!! These have been especially great for my 3 year old because her sister's will always sit and read a book when in bed but Gracie is still a tad too young to know how to read, so listening to these CDs was something that kept her included.

The stories were perfectly narrated, clearly spoken yet the change in tone of voice etc kept the children engaged, you really felt the emotions of the characters. And unlike when books are turned into TV programmes, the stories on the CDs are true to the originals.

Weirdly I used to have The Secret Garden on cassette and it has always been my favourite story so I was keen to see what this newest version was like. Jenna-Louise Coleman really made the story come alive in my opinion and it was nice being able to share something from my childhood with my daughters. My eldest daughter is now keen to read the book to see how they compare.

The Mr Men stories were as wonderful as ever, again something I associate with my childhood. I found the girls laughing through it quite a lot of the CD, lovely to hear and very entertaining. This was Gracies' favourite out of the three. And the good thing about this one is that there are six different stories on there so you can listen to something different each time you pop it on.

We listened to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland last. Of course the kids and I have read the book together and watched the DVD (good old Disney), so to hear it instead of see it made it for an interesting listen. Again a job very well done, it was another classic bought to life and Gemma Arterton seemed to add a touch of class to it.

I think sometimes hearing a book is better than reading it because I don't know about you but I don't always know how to pronounce certain names and sometimes you misjudge what emotions a book is trying to convey when reading the words on paper. 

Each of these CDs can be bought for £5.99 or you can download them which costs £1.49, either way both are fair prices in my opinion for the amount of times these stories will get listened to. And lets be honest you don't just have to listen to them at bed time. I think it is much better to pop something like this on in the afternoon than sit and watch programmes on the television.

xxxx

Disclaimer : these cds were sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Friday 23 August 2013

Ice Ice Baby .......

...... well the coconut kind of ice :)

Myself and my daughter's love to make cakes, biscuits, anything sweet really, pesky sweet tooth.  I guest posted over on emmysmummy last week when the kids and I were making chocolate cheerio cakes.

Well when we stumbled across a recipe for coconut ice bars in one of Freya's recipe books, I decided I would have a go at making them for the girls.

I decided to keep it a surprise for the kids and they definitely didn't need to know that I was going to have to "test" them first,  this has nothing to do with them being one of my all time favourite treats, no no, I have to make sure that they are good quality don't I, wouldn't want to feed my kids any old rubbish.

Well the recipe and method of making them looked fairly straight forward, so I was hoping they would work first time, the only thing I wasn't sure about was getting the colouring correct, wouldn't be traditional coconut ice without the pink and white effect.

The list of ingredients was fairly small so therefore not too expensive :

* 340g icing sugar

* 400g condensed milk

* 340g desicated coconut

* red food colouring

So off I popped round the supermarket with my shopping list in hand.

It cost me less than £6.00 for all of the ingredients and this was going to make roughly sixteen coconut ice bars, depending on how small you cut them up when they have set.

Making them was simple and quite quick to do :

* butter a tin that is roughly 20cm x 15cm

* heat the icing sugar and condensed milk in a pan over low heat until all of the sugar has dissolved

* remove from heat and stir in the coconut, this bit you have to do quickly as the mixture stiffens quite fast.

* pour half the mixture into the tin

* as the first half cools, add a few drops of red food colouring to the mixture left in the pan, mix and then pour into the tin over the first layer

* once cooled cut into bars, squares or whatever shape you want really

I was so impressed by the final outcome, not only did I manage to get the pink colouring of the top layer, it tasted exactly as I remember it, delicious, remember I did have to test them first.


Do you have any other easy recipes to share or is there anything that you would really like to bake/cook that you haven't yet?? As always I really love your comments.

xxxx

Thursday 22 August 2013

Teething Bling Review

As the teething journey continues for Layla, so does the ongoing grabbing of anything near her and chewing on it and of course not everything that she finds should be going in that little mouth of hers!!!


Teething Bling is the original teething jewellery, producing a wide range of pendants and bangles that are great for both mummy and baby. Teething Bling is sold in this country by Smart Mum UK, these are the only approved distributor of Teething Bling in the UK. When the lovely Lynne at Smart Mum UK asked me to review a couple of items from the Teething Bling range, I was more than happy to oblige, I mean what woman in their right mind would say no to jewellery!!!

I received :

* a shimmer pendant in the mother of pearl colourway

and

* a turquoise bangle

All Teething Bling jewellery is made from the same material as most teething toys which is FDA approved.

The products are non-toxic and free from phthalate, BPA, PVC, latex and lead.

They also carry the CE certification, making them completely safe for your little ones, this also gives you as a parent peace of mind that you know exactly what your baby's are putting in their mouths!!

The pendants each come with a doughnut shape ring which is attached to a long black cord. At the middle of the cord is a breakaway clasp, just an added bit of safety for you and your child.


You can see from the picture above that the cord is quite long, this gives plenty of room for your little one to move around whilst they are holding onto the pendant, this also means that mummy won't get pulled around as baby moves, no sore necks in sight. 

I think I loved the bangle more than Layla did, the bright colour meant that it made a great accessory for me, it really brightened up my outfits and I have to admit that turquoise is one of my favourite colours.


I have tiny wrists but I still managed to keep the bangle on easily. The good thing about the bangle is that your little ones can sit and play with it by themselves as there is no risk of them swallowing it, getting strangled by it etc.

The material that all the jewellery is made out of is nice and flexible, soft on the gums but little toothy pegs don't leave any bite marks on them once they have had a chew on it. 

I struggle to find anything negative to say, the only thing that I can say is that I found there to be quite a strong rubbery smell that lingered for a while once out of the packets, it has lessened the more the jewellery has been used but that was slightly off putting.

All jewellery is dishwasher safe and can be washed and cleaned in warm soapy water, so no pesky germs left lurking on there.

With bangles priced at £8.95 and pendants starting at £10.00, I think Teething Bling is well worth the money. With so many beautiful colours to choose from, I would be tempted to buy one for every day of the week. The jewellery is made to last and once your little one has made their way through the teething stage, mummy can still keep using it as jewellery for herself, well I say mummy, my girls have taken to using Teething Bling as jewellery for themselves too, so one for all the family really!!

xxxx

Disclaimer : The teething jewellery was sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Sliding The Time Away

Whenever you ask the kids what they want to do, their first response is always, "go to the park", not just any park though the park with the silver slide!!!

Both myself and Daddy Hazelden have fond memories of this park from our own child hood, so I think it is nice that we have been able to share this with the kids.

As you can see from the picture to the left, this isn't a small slide.

It takes the girls a while just to climb the stairs and reach the top.

However, coming back down takes next to no time, especially if you don't hold on and bring your feet in the air.

It has become a competition recently as to who can go down it the fastest and whether you can reach the end of the slide.

Infact my kids have turned into daredevils, sliding on just their bums is boring, no they no go on their tummies, their backs, head first.

Elise only yesterday came sliding down on her feet instead of her bum, my heart was in my mouth!!!

What I love is that it is something that we can all join in with, Gracie has gained a lot of confidence on this slide because we first started bringing them, she would only go down on Daddy's lap and now she goes down all by herself just as fast as her sister's.

First we have Freya


Then Elise


Bring up the rear is Gracie


Oh and even Layla gets in on the action, on Daddy's lap of course


I think the park is one of the original and best ways to spend a day together as a family, it is free and fun, what more could you want?

Do any of you have fond memories of certain parks you went to as a child, have you taken your kids there??

xxxx

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Joining the Hygiene Revolution

A while back I was sent a couple of samples of products from the people involved with Hygiene Revolution. I have been using them over the past month and wanted to share with you what I thought.

The idea behind the hygiene revolution has been borne out of claims made by other brands in the hygiene/cleaning industry. What they believe is that products containing Byotrol technology are the only products on the market that can kill and protect from unwanted germs for up to 24 hours. Having children I am more concerned than ever that everything is squeeky clean, especially with a baby crawling around and trying to put everything in her mouth, so the idea behind all of this already has me interested.

What is Byotrol technology?

Byotrol contains no bleach or alcohol. In simple terms Byotrol will continue to protect surfaces after cleaning by creating a barrier which remains even after the product dries, this in turn prevents those pesky germs from settling on that surface again for up to 24 hours. It is powerful and long lasting, yet gentle to those who come in contact with it.
This is totally different to traditional products which contain bleach and alcohol, as those products tend to stop protecting after it has dried on the surface it has been used on.

I was sent a Multi purpose anti-bacterial cleaner and an anti-viral hand foam to try. As you can see from the picture below, I have actually used all of the cleaner. It has been used all around my house, kitchen, toilet and bathrooms. Now I don't have magical powers, I can't actually tell you how long the product actually protected all those surfaces for but what I can tell you, the product cleaned well, no smears in sight and after 24 hours my house still smelt of the apple scent of the cleaner and that was really refreshing and much better than the smell of bleach in my opinion.



We took the anti-viral foam on holiday with us. It was was the perfect size to have in my changing bag and came in really handy when out and about, especially if there isn't any hand wash in the toilets. Easy to use by pumping out a small amount and rubbing into your hands. Once it dried it left your hands feeling smooth, no stickiness. There wasn't much of a scent but I much prefer this rather than a strong perfume smell and what is even better, it is alcohol free. Again I don't know how long it protected for but it certainly made our hands feel clean.

I like the idea behind byotol and the hygiene revolution and I wouldn't hesitate in using more products that use byotrol technology, these products are clearly marked with the word byotrol on the front. The idea of not using bleach and alcohol in products is really appealing, I have always hated the smell of bleach to the point where the smell makes me feel sick, so if I have the option to use alternative products, I will definitely do so. There are products containing byotrol available for you, your baby, your pets and your home, so why not join the hygiene revolution now??

If you want to learn more, why not visit the Byotrol site where it explains everything behind the technology and how it works.

Have you heard about byotrol before, if you have what do you think? What cleaning products do you currently use at home??

xxxx

Monday 19 August 2013

Please Stop Scaring Me

I think you are all going to laugh at me now. There I was getting all impatient, really willing Layla to start moving, just a few more steps I said.

Well I take it all back!! I would really like it very much if Layla would just sit still for longer than five seconds now, she really likes scaring me now.

She seems to be unstoppable. Within a week her walking has come on leaps and bounds, if she falls over, she gets straight back up again and carries on moving forward. The trouble is the more she is getting about, the more accidents she keeps having!!

Since learning to walk, she has also learnt to climb, she decided to make herself comfortable in her sister's bed the other morning, much to my shock.

Yesterday I had my head turned away from her for all of a minute and what did I find her doing.....

.... the little monkey was halfway up my stairs, I was about ready to have a heart attack then and there.

So I suppose it is time for me to start baby proofing the house again because I really don't want any serious injuries occurring, although we have already had a few bumps and bruises to the head.

I'm sure you can guess what is top on my list for baby proofing, the stair gate.

Daddy Hazelden actually built one when we had our eldest daughter, it can move from upstairs to downstairs so we only need the one.

Another thing that I need to invest in is locks for the cupboards and drawers and this is a first for me, my other three children never attempted looking inside the cupboards, Layla is a different kettle of fish altogether. The trouble I have is that I still want my other children to be able to open the cupboards and drawers so any suggestions would be much appreciated.

The one thing I don't need to buy is plug socket covers, these have been firmly in place for almost 7 years now.

You would think after four children that I would be well aware of exactly what is needed in a house to keep my baby safe but I think because each child has been different, every time there has been something else I need to "make safe". It is surprising just what little fingers will go to touch and just how far they can reach, sometimes I think Layla is the female version of stretch armstrong!!

I know I can't protect Layla from every little thing but I will keep definitely keep trying. So what top tips do you have for baby proofing a house??

xxxx

*this is a sponsored post*

Saturday 17 August 2013

Parragon book Reviews

You read the title right reviews not review. I was contacted by the lovely people at Parragon to see if I would like to review one of their books, I was only expecting one book, so imagine my surprise when a package turned containing not one but four books in it, so I thought I would put all four reviews in one post.


I can't tell you how grateful I was to receive four books to review. It meant that there was one for each of my daughter's to have a look at, no arguing for once.

Parragon is a publishing company that started in the lated 1980's. Although now based in Bath UK,  they have regional offices all over the world. Their main publishing areas are cook books, adult non-fiction, children's books and licenced character books.


The four books we were sent were :

* Goodnight Little One by Margaret Wise Brown

* Peek-a-boo Rainbow which is part of their Little Learners collection

* Pinkabella's sticker activity book

* The Ladies Book of Baking which is part of their Love Food collection.

It was decided that Peek-a-boo rainbow would be Layla's, Goodnight Little One would be Freya's, Pinkabella's sticker activity book would be Gracie's and The Ladies Book of Baking would be Elise's, although they were also told that they had to share their books with their sister's, not that Layla really understood that part, the art of sharing is something she is yet to learn but you are never too young to start learning!!

Layla loved Peek-a-boo Rainbow immediately. It is a gorgeous little book that in my opinion is great for babies and toddlers.

For babies, it is colourful, full of fantastic little pictures, from ladybirds to caterpillars, it really is eye catching.

I especially love that at the top of the book there is what I would describe as a handle. This is very handy for small hands to be able to carry their book around with them.

It can be a great learning tool for toddlers too. Each page gives you a different colour of the rainbow, this means your little ones can slowly learn their colours.

With pictures on each page, you can ask your child what they are looking at, what colour a certain object is, how many of something can they see.

Then there is the added peek-a-boo hole. What can they spy through the hole? There are so many things to keep your little ones interested and best of all you can ask them different questions each time you read the book, keeping it fresh and exciting. Very simple but cleverly put together. This book works well for when your child wants to sit and do something by themselves but it also a lovely book that you can sit and enjoy together.

Gracie like many other children, is a huge fan of stickers. I find them stuck to random places around the house all of the time!!

So Pinkabella's sticker activity book was a perfect fit for her. With 250 stickers inside, this book kept her occupied for hours.

Being pink it was a lovely and girly. I was able to sit down with Gracie and help understand where she needed to place certain stickers. The stickers came in all shapes and sizes and were very easy get out.

I was pleased to see that this wasn't just a sticker book, there were other activities inside to keep Gracie entertained. There were puzzles and pictures to colour.

Her older sister's actually took the time to sit down with her and help her complete the activities, Freya even wrote Gracie's name at the beginning of the book so that everyone knew that it was hers.

Just like Peek-a-boo Rainbow, there was a little handle at the top of the book, Gracie took great pleasure in carrying her book to Nannie's house, gave her a little bit of independence looking after something. Once the book had been completed, there were still stickers left, so the fun didn't stop there. We got lots of paper out so that they could create some pictures of their own with the remaining stickers. Parragon have a lot of other sticker, colouring and activity books to choose from, I think these books would make great Christmas presents.

Freya picked Goodnight Little One by Margaret Wise Brown to be hers.

My little girl is apparently all grown up and since starting school last September, can read most words all by herself so she took herself off to read it by herself.

I finally managed to pry it from her so that I could have a look too!!

The book itself is a lovely size. I like slightly bigger books sometimes and as I see this being read at night time, I think you need it bigger to be able to fully appreciate what you are looking at.

The story isn't too long. The flowing words make it almost sound like a lullaby and the beautiful illustrations that go along with them really bring the book to life, they compliment each other.

I think this book is a perfect bed time story and it can be read to babies, toddlers and children, I feel it is a book that could soon turn into a classic.

The last book was The Ladies Book of Baking, this suited Elise to a T, more because she sound so posh, she is the complete opposite to her mummy, common as muck me.

This is a fab book for anyone that enjoys baking or even for people wanting to try their hand at baking.

With recipes for cakes, biscuits, pastries and much more, you will be able to make something different every week, although I can see my hips expanding with all the yummy things to be made.

Each recipe is presented clearly. You can see exactly what ingredients you need, how many it will serve, how long it will take to make and bake and the method of how to make them is broken down, so even a novice would be able to make these without going wrong some how.

What really makes this book stand out is that there isn't just recipes inside. It tells you how you can present your cakes at things like tea parties, how to make invitations to your party, how to wrap up your cakes and biscuits so that you can give them to people as presents. The girls are looking forward to making a few of the cakes and biscuits during the Summer holidays and I am now thinking about making a few and giving them to people as gifts at Christmas.

Each of these books that I have reviewed I would recommend to different people. Well written, beautifully presented, just all round quality. They have now all found a place on our bookcase!!

Disclaimer : I was sent these books free of charge for reviewing purposes, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.