Teangi Shampoo and Conditioner Giveaway

I think everyones kids must have gone back to school by now. Mine went back last week and this meant getting into a routine again and that includes checking for head lice. It's a problem that can be avoided with regular checking/treatment. I wrote a review last year for Teangi shampoo and conditioner and it is a product we have continued to use since.

One of Teangi's recent studies revealed that 70% of women will only choose a skincare product for their family with known effective results. 31% of those choosing a product which contains natural ingredients. And then there's the 60% who dread sending kids back to school for fear of coming home with head lice.

Teangi products do an abundance of useful things. Containing tea tree it can not only help treat and repel head lice but their other products such as the witch hazel cream sooth skin irritiation and help heel cuts and burns.

What The Summer Holidays Does to Our Sleeping Pattern

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say the routine goes to pot when the kids are off school. We are far too busy enjoying the freedom of Summer holidays to be worrying about when to eat, what time to go to bed etc. I mean the late nights mean lots of lay ins, I've really been enjoying the peace and quiet each morning when I get time by myself as the kids carry on snoring longer than usual.

But this change in our sleeping pattern paves the way for some resistance when it's time to get back into routine ready for the children returning to school. Can't say I blame them because I'm not looking forward to the pile of clothes that awaits me, you know the ones that need labelling.

5 Reasons I Hate My Kids Going Back To School

I know many parents who are all ready to celebrate when the end of the school holidays get closer.
Getting excited to have some peace and quiet, less noise from those bickering children. Time to pop the kettle on and finally catch up on the back log of missed TV programmes, jeremy kyle here we come.

I personally dread the children not being at home all of the time and not just because I miss having them around.

Here are just 5 reasons why I hate my kids going back to school.

Early wake up calls should be banned!!

Gone are those extra minutes in bed, no more getting ready at your leasure.

The evil alarm which wakes you up at some horrid hour before the sun has even managed to rise is back. This is not the way I wish to be woken up!!

I'd say thank god for the snooze button but I can't tell you how many times I've been late because I've gone back to sleep thinking I have hit snooze when in fact the alarm has been turned off completely.

Hello morning rush.

Making Fajitas With a Little Help From Birds Eye

I don't know about you, but I seem to find myself extra busy in Spetember.

After a relaxing interesting 6 weeks off from the school run, we are back into the routine of school, homework and early bed times with a bang.

Dinner times can end up being boring as I just don't seem to have the time to come up with new ideas of things to eat, we end up getting stuck in a rut of eating the same things on a weekly basis.

Birds Eye to the rescue.

This lovely company have enlisted the help of some talented little chefs to bring us parents a range of ideas for tasty dinner time recipes, designed to be yummy and appealing to even the fussiest of taste buds.

The list includes :

Fish Finger Pizza

Waffle Submarine

Waffle Nachos

The girls and I opted to make the Chicken Dipper Fajitas seen as normal fajitas are always a family favourite.

Debenhams Back to School Review

With the kids well and truely back at school, all of the essentials have been purchased and they are all kitted out for the next few months to come.

Debenhams kindly asked me to review a a selection of items from their back to school range, I was told I could pick out four things, so I chose school shoes for both Elise and Freya, a jacket for Freya as she had out grown her previous years coat and a new lunch box for Gracie as she is now having packed lunch at playschool.

Now I don't know about any of you but I lose count of the amount of pairs of school shoes that my daughter's have been through, I'm not sure how they manage it but the shoes just seem to fall apart. So I was on the look out for a nice durable pair.

The shoes below are Lands End All Weather Moccasins. My lovely five year old informed me straight away that looked boring, I promptly told her that they were smart not boring. Made from all weather friendly suede, they have reinforced stitching and slip resistant heels. These shoes were actually put to the test on Monday when they had to face torrential rain. I'm pleased to report that they survived and the girls feet were kept nice and dry inside of them.

With elastic vents and tabs at the back, these are easily slipped on, no worry about laces or velcro that doesn't stick however I think if your child has wide feet they may struggle.

At the moment they are on sale for the bargain price of £17.46-17.50 and I would be more than happy to pay a dearer price for them.

  I chose a black quilted jacket for Freya to wear on those days where the weather is still seasonably warm.

The jacket is in a fitted style with two front pockets and cord trims. Although quilted, it is quite thin and very lightweight.
It doesn't have a hood so would be no good on rainy days but it works well for those slightly chillier days when the wet weather stays away and I think it would be perfect for the Spring season too.

As you can see from the photo above, Freya really loves the jacket and was more than happy to pose for pictures whilst wearing it. The black colouring is very neutral so would be fine to match any uniform.

On sale for between £16.00-20.80 at the moment, it is beautifully made and adds a little style when playing in the playground!!

The last item was the lunch box. I let Gracie decide which one she would like, I'm pretty sure I would have picked the right one if it had been left up to me, what does every little girl love... Disney Princess.

This little girl is a huge fan of everything Disney Princess, especially Rapunzel!! She couldn't wait to show it off to her friends at playschool.

It is insulated inside, keeping those lunches fresh and it is fastened by a zip around the outside. There is a card on the back for you to write your childs name, number and class, just incase the lunch box ever gets lost or mixed up with someone elses. Priced at £8.00 at the moment, I think this reasonable compared to other shops selling similar ones, I just wished it came with a bottle too instead of having to bu one separately.

The girls and I were very impressed with the items we were sent from Debenhams. I was impressed with the quality and the pricing, whilst the girls were very impressed with how they looked, the difference between a child's and a parent's thoughts!!




Debenhams have up to 20% off their entire school range at the moment so if you've realised that you have forgotten something, or maybe you just want to stock up for next year, why not check it out!?

What back to school bargains have you managed to purchase??

xxxx









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

Don't Forget Lunch

Today was the day, back to school time has arrived!!! I dread this day every year for many reasons, the biggest one being getting myself and the kids back into a routine so that we can make it out of the door on time.

The horrible sound of an alarm ringing signalled go time at 7am. Unfortunately for me, I've been up since 6am with Layla, not sure what way is better to be woken up really.

I was greeted by a surround sound of groans from three children as I told them it was now time to get up and have breakfast.

However once they were up and in the land of the living things started running smoothly, phew!! By 8am we had two girls all fed, washed and dressed, all ready for the new school year.

I have to admit feeling quite proud of myself that I'd managed to get everyone sorted without rushing around. That was until 8.20am rolled round and Elise kindly reminded me that I hadn't made their lunches, ooopppps. 

Let the rushing commence...... Didn't stop me from getting one last photo before we left the house and as you can see they all had lunch boxes at the ready :)

So that's day one of back to school complete and I would call it mission success, although I am already missing my girls, it is far too quiet without them around!!

How has everyone else coped with going back to school, have you all made it to the school gates on time??

xxxx