You've got to be living under a rock if you've not yet had the songs from Frozen ingrained into your brain right? Well obviously Frozen is big news STILL in our house, I'd thought that after almost 2 years the novelty would have worn off but it truly hasnt so there was much excitemed when we were asked to review this great creative Frozen themed range
Frozen Fun Tiles Jewellery Box - Peanuts favourite by far, this jewellery box is really pretty and comes with lots of jewels to stick on the picture to turn the box into a mosaic creation. It kept us all busy for quite some time, even little Termite who loved being involved and even did very well to match the foam square properly into their right positions. Definitely a cool (see what I did there?) activity for all the family to get involved with.
Frozen Fairy Lights - This was one of the quickest creations to make, it was so simple that we all got involved, you push out the pre cut shapes, decorate with stickers and colour then they slot onto fairy lights to create different shape lanterns.so simple but a really effective and pretty end result, I was actually so impressed that I've told The Golden Child he can spend his piggy bank money on this mosaic Frozen nightlight he saw, at least i know hes buying something he will get use from!
Frozen Shaker Maker - this was my favourite of the three items, you get a measured amount of plaster of paris and two moulds which fit into the shaker maker.you pour warm water to the line on the shaker, sprinkle in the plaster,swirl, shake, open and leave! in about an hour you have a statuette ready to paint it even comes with two stands so you can display them perfectly. I loved how there was no measuring or weighing which means no mess and the kids really did all of the work themselves. This is a definite win for me although it would be nice to have a few more bags of plaster, there was only enough for two moulds which with three kid creates some issues!
Over all we were very impressed, these simple to make kits provided a whole day of entertainment and the results were lovely and longlasting.
Happy Birthday to my darling smallest girl, I can of course wax lyrical explainng how time has zoomed by and how if i think about it long enough I could cry at the speed with which you babyhood has passed by, how it feels like only 5 minutes since you were snuggled in my arms and I was feeling like I could take on the world having just had the homebirth I'd been dreaming of!
But thats al a bit obvious, all mums feel like those early days have zoomed (although thats not how we feel at 4am!) so let me tell you that you are a bright clever, kind girl, you share everything without being prompted, you have beautiful manners and the funny way you say Thankyou so it sounds like 'shankoo' makes me smile so much as does the way you say 'welcome' when someone says Thanks to you. I love how you count whenever anyone else does and how you learn so fast and converse so well. You girs certainly take after Mammy with your chatter box tendencies.
Most of all though you should know that you are amazing! You have taught me just as much about being a Mam as your brother and sister, so never think that being third is any less important than being first or second. I love that you are my hippy baby, hardly ever away from my side, breast fed past a year and mostly a visitor in our bed for the first 20 months of your life but the biggest revelation of all these things is that you are the happiest most content and independent 2 year old Ive know, obviously the complete lack of concern that I 'should be' training you to sleep, or teaching you to be independent and my complete opposite actions of those theorys has given you exactly what you need. The knowledge that we are here and you can go explore knowing we will be right behind you!
You are so lovely to your brother and sister and they in turn allow you much more leniency than I could have hoped for, sharing toys, finding out what you need and bringing it to you and taking great pleasure in being the one to make you giggle or smile.
Thankyou for two years of truly wonderful cuddles, funny moments, cat impressions and untold learning
We love you Termite you are the perfect completion of our happy family, Happy Birthday Smiler
Just recently we attended a preview of the new Spineless exhibition at The Great North Museum. Spineless Explores the awesome world of invertebrates in a fab colourful and immersive family friendly exhibition It is the first major natural history exhibition at the museum since it reopened in 2009.
Created by the museum’s own team Spineless showcases specimens from the museum’s extensive natural history collections not currently on display, with live specimens including the world’s heaviest stick insect an largest spider.
With loans from the Natural History Museum in London including the world’s only venomous crustacean.
The exhibition is set in different themes, underwater first with lots of ocean themed info and the move through to discover on land invertebrates with lots of live creatures and the chance to meet some up close during live animal talks in the exhibition Monday - Friday at:
11.30am
1pm
2.30pm
We loved the fishing game where we learned about all the different invertebrate sea creatures that we caught.
The Golden Child loved meeting cockroaches and stick insects and happily imparted all of his knowledge learned from his bug party!
Peanut loved trying on these especially commissioned dress up outfits and I have to say the craftsmanship and quality is amazing. There is lovely wee gift shop a fab baby chill out area fenced off from the threat of big people feet and a slide, climbing frame and trampoline for a bit of energy depletion (you know it's a necessity !)
We loved the exhibition and of course it's part of the bigger museum which can easily kill a whole day of wandering, playing, discovering and a must have slice of cake in the cafe! ALL FOR FREE (well except the cafe obviously!)
The lovely team at Great North Museum have put together a goodybag containing £25 worth of merchandise for one of my lucky readers. Simply fill out the rafflecopter below and we'll choose a winner from all the correct entries (UK only, no alternative offered, acceptance must be confirmed within 7 days)
It seems strange to say my home is suffering from emptiness when we are on summer break, all of us in the house 7 days a week but whilst attempting to tidy up yesterday it hit me that my house is full of emptiness...
The freezer and food cupboards are emptier than ever because, well 5 people eat a lot of food and who has time for shopping when there's fun to be had
The toy cupboards are empty because most of the toys are spread over various floors and surfaces, games strewn across the table and jigsaws in any spare space!
Our wardrobes and drawes look much more empty because mummy is behind on the washing, it's so easy to forget it when it's hidden in a cupboard and there's fun things planned!
Mummy and Daddy's office is empty because , did I mention already, there's fun to be had
And finally my bank account is made up of 4 big fat zeros, taking time off when you are self employed means no income.
But what hit me most is that in a few days my house WILL be empty ! Like empty empty! My man will be back at work and uni, the big kids will be back at school and Termite will be at pre school 6 hours a week. I feel lonely already, I feel like I'm being dragged kicking and screaming towards school, with the overwhelming grief that I need more time! Just a bit longer before they are all busy again, a need to press pause and grab my family and bask in the lushness of being together for bit longer.
I was very excited to be offered review tickets for Thomas Land at Drayton Manor, it was going to form part of our Staycation alongside a trip to some other attractions.
We arrived about 11.45am after a rather unfortunate navigation error which has now led to the SatNav being thrown in the bin!
On first impression I found the park a smaller than I had imagined but there still seemed to be plenty on offer. We got straight to it going on the swings which are right by the entrance, but the kids were eager to get straight into Thomas Land which we were dissapointed that one of the rides wasnt on but there still seemed plenty of choice, although there are no handmaps so its a good idea to have a wander round and get your bearings first.
We headed straight through and arrived through the gates just in time to see Sir Topham Hat singing and introducing Thomas.
The kids loved the singing and seeing Thomas arrive through the Tunnel, but I have to say the shine was taken a little of the arrival by the 'driver' leaning out of the cab chewing gum and not in any kind of costume.
We'd been told by loads of people that the queues are never bad here at Thomas Land so it came as a bit of a shock when the first ride took use 35 minutes to get on. Rides include plenty that little people can go on The kids enjoyed it though and we made it round a couple more before the hunger meltdown started rearing its head.
So we took a break for lunch, the food in the park is priced pretty much as you'd expect, £20 for a family meal of 4 burger and chips was a lot more reasonable than I was expecting but we'd managed to pack a picnic so we just found a spot by the car and had a break. Then back to the park, the rides outside of Thomas Land were much quicker to get on than those inside so we managed to try a few of the more child friendly ones, there's a range of rides on offer and there's also a zoo you can visit too with the option to feed a meerkat (extra charge applies)
Overall there's plenty to do to spend the day here and lots of fun for the kids but I do think there's a certain something lacking in the atmosphere maybe that's because we'd just come from a day in CBeebies which to be honest is almost Disney like in its customer service. Or perhaps we chose a particularly busy day ? However this doesn't detract from the many rides and activities.and the kids thought it was fun which is what this staycation has been about.
Our top tips for a trip to Drayton and Thomas Land
Ensure you have £3 for the carpark or request to pay it with your entry ticket
I'd always advise packing a picnic no matter what attraction you are going to, for us we have to cater for an allergy so home cooked is always safer, but it means less cost and probably more fruit and veg.
You'll need money for extras like grabber games and hook a duck and cash machines in park charge for use.
Bring some in queue entertainment, we like romp trumps as its small and can be played anywhere, it came in really handy for the longer queues
Try to hit Thomas Land with early morning or late afternoon and spend the rest of the time in the zoo or the rest of Drayton Manor
Keep a look out for discounts and special offers, a family of 5 costs £135 for the day which is a lot of money but there are offers to be had by searching on line, singing up with Drayton and even using Tesco clubcard points where £10.50 in points exchanged with a boost will get you a day ticket!
To continue my Birth Storys feature I'm pleased to share today my lovely pal AK's story of her first born Finn Eduard, AK blogs over at My Buggy Junction
I
had my first sweep on Wednesday 28th
when I was 10 days overdue and the MW told me I was 1-2 cm dilated.
Thursday I was
meant to come in but I decided that I want to wait another day (just
in case bump decided to finally come out!!) to see if something would
happened on its own, already done all of the pineapple and curry
eating I could stomach over the last week!
So on Friday
afternoon I reluctantly went to the birth centre again after a
convincing and rather comical phone call I had earlier in the morning
with “Idiaky” the Spanish male MW who told me I got 2 choices I
can stay at home and pray for a wonder that the baby will come out
before the induction or I will have to have all the drugs in the
world and a slow long labor to get this baby finally out on the
weekend. Followed by a question if I tried making love to my babies
daddy yet which I replied no because my mother is here so rather to
the amusement of Mr. C. he told me to put him on loudspeaker to tell
my mum to walk around the block 3 times!
When we got
there Idiaky and a student MW welcomed us and she did the 2. Sweep on
me, like agreed beforehand I let him check me after she done the
sweep just to be 100% sure she was right and he confirmed that I was
3-4 cm dilated by that point (I am sure it had something to do with
his big hand!!)
With the
induction day glooming (scheduled for Saturday) my hopes for a
“normal” water birth slowly slid away and I try to get use to the
fact that I might have a long day ahead of labor ahead of me.
Friday evening i
had some of the family around and after dinner my mum suggested a
walk (which we did religiously up to 3 times a day since my mum
arrived on bumps due date.
A few minutes
into the walk i could feel contractions coming and going and timed
them lasting 30sec every 8min. Mr. C.´s Family just thought it was
nothing but I defiantly didn’t have those kind of period like pains
before in the last few days so I took it as a positive sign that the
sweep might have done the trick and something is slowly moving
forward.
After a bath and
a call to the birth centre i was ready to leave at 0.30am in the
morning with my contractions being 3 in 10min apart. Whilst I stood
in the doorway ready to leave the house Mr. C. stood in front of the
Wardrobe and couldn't decided what t-shirt to put in with his shorts
(and they say woman take long to get ready!) I just flipped (overdue
pregnant woman are allowed to do so) and told him that its not a
bloody fashion show and to get on with it I am having a baby!!!
After finally
arriving at the birth centre (just if you are wondering Mr. C.
decided on a brown t-shirt) I got examined to be told I was 5 cm
dilated. At 2pm i got into the pool and after the first contraction
the midwife ask me if i want to have any gas & air, brave as I
wanted to sound said no thank you I try without it.
Yeah right! 2
seconds later with the next contraction coming on I was hooked on
that stuff and no I didn't share it with Mr. C. although it would
have maybe helped him calm down a bit he was pretty nervous not
knowing what will be next.
Just after 3pm
my water broke (my brain was a sieve by then but luckily mum is my
walking diary when it came to times in my labor) and I had this
instant urge to push not knowing if I am allowed to just as it
happens non of my 3 attending midwifes where in the room at that time
to tell me what to do. Once they returned and checked me again she
told me to go for it because I am fully dilated.
I was really
glad they examined me in the water because I think I wouldn't have
handled “dry land” by that point well at all!
After a long 1 ½
hrs of pushing and what seemed like a lifetime to me our baby finally
arrived and after I fished it out of the water we saw that we where
proud parents to a baby BOY!! After cuddles and kisses Finn took it
up to himself just minutes old to say hello to his Daddy with
gripping his tiny hand around his finger.
After all the
hard work Mr. C. needed to have a sit down on the floor and a strong
coffee to get over the shock of ME giving birth!
Finn
took onto my breast straight away and he feed for 1 hour and had a
good sleep afterwards unlike me who couldn’t stop looking at him
and worrying if I would fall asleep I might not hear him waking up.Iam
still chuffed to pieces, overwhelmed and cant believe Iam the mum of
this sweet little thing.
We tend to call
him little king Finn now after having 3 midwifes my mum and me
present when he arrived on this earth he couldn't ask for more girls
attention in his first few minutes of his life!!
Finn Eduard born
31.07.2010 at 4.28am * 8lbs 11 ½ oz * 56 cm
A while ago I saw a lovely display of Facebook support for Vicki (aka the very brilliant Honest Mum )who posted this picture of herself in a bikini...
This led on to a rush of motivated Mum's proclaiming their proudness in their bikinis. Posting pictures of themselves on twitter using #ProudInMyBikini I'll be honest i found it uplifting and motivational and I started researching bikinis for the lady (well me) with larger ladies (boobs you know) and I discovered Curvy Kate, not only do they have gorgeous bikinis, swimwear and undies in sizes up to cup size K! They are also super lovely, when I explained what I wanted to join in with they agreed not only to send me a bikini to review but also to offer one as a competition prize. They were supportive and positively encouraging that I should proudly show off my curves.
In my head I thought I'd post a picture of me on a lovely beach on our holiday to Tunisia (everyone looks glowing and glam in the sun right?) but that holiday obviously never happened and then chicken pox hit and poor Peanut was very miserable and the bikini sat looking at me from my desk and every time I thought I should tell you all about it I got nervous and then I read something awful.... A gorgeous plus size blogger, Laura, from my lovely Bloggers Network posted a picture of herself in a lovely Jumpsuit on her blog What Laura Loves and it was shared on the Simply Be's Facebook page only to be met with unkind words and comments and that swhen I got very nervous about what I'd agreed to. I mean I'm not glam or gorgeous or a fashionista and Laura is Plus Size model, she's glam and gorgeous and confident and lush!!! What the heck are folk going to say about me?
So I quietly ignored the most beautiful bikini I've ever owned, despite the fact that actually the great fit and quality stitch make this bikini really comfortable and super flattering , the skirt provide a bit of coverage for my less than firm mum tum and the top has a great bandeau style that lifts and supports, and that my first thought was oh my I'm looking forward to wearing this on the beach.
I quietly let the unkindness of a minority overshadow the uplifting words and comments I'd seen for loads of mums and I took the cowards route of just burying my head. The weird thing is though, I look much more kindly upon my body now in its post baby state than i did when I was a slinky 21 year old! I dont mind the soft squashiness of my tummy and the fact that I shant be going braless ever again is just testament to the work my boobs have done nourishing my three beautiful babies so theats fine too.So why should I even care what people who Ive never met might say?
And so I'm not going to let haters spoil something good for curvy women who want nice swimwear and underwear. So here it is.... Little ole non fashion blogger mum of three in a bikini for the first time in 15 years.
You know what Im not as Glam as Laura or Vicki and generally on holiday I wear a huge cover up unless I'm actually in the pool but there I am I did it (eek)
But what a bikini! It's high quality, well made, well fitting and comes from a company who care about their customers and who are positively encouraging that we should love what we have and give our boobs the support they desrve. Thankyou Curvy Kate, I may not be getting a far flung holiday this summer, Im never gonna be a model but I'm gonna rock this 'kini all over splash landings on our staycation!
If you'd like to win a bikini of your choice check out the fab range over at Curvy Kate To see which one you'd choose, then fill out the rafflecopter below and don't forget to tell all your pals too
I was really excited to be asked to review Pebli with the kids, what is it I hear you ask? Well they say...
"Pebli is a connected pre-school toy from ToysAlive. It uses fun traditional play pieces and a physical play board that interact with a tablet (Tablet not included) to bring the toy to life. Pebli comes with 4 exciting interactive game modes; Story Teller, Game Player, Story Creator and Video Room. The board uses hot spot technology, which means that any actions on the board are translated to the tablet. 99% of all game play is done on the board with the physical characters, so children don’t have to directly interact with the tablet."
Basically it's a really cool way to socialise game play for kids, a perfect compromise in my opinion between allowing kids screen time but stopping them becoming disconnected and encouraging imaginative play with ACTUAL toys.Suitable from age 3 and up and between 1 and 4 players this is a perfect family activity. Most of the game play happens on the board rather than the tablet. So by moving the charachcters around the 'hotspots' you interact with the game. Pebli has 4 interactive stories with more than 20 endings, 4 games and 200 video all child freindly and all relating to the characters.. The box contains, 4 characters, A doctor, fire officer, artist and chef. a play board and buildings that slot into the board.
It is really easy to set up, you just download the Pebli app, switch on blue tooth, unpack your Pebli Town, press the button and you are off and running! So simple even technophobe me managed no problem
Pebli Town is priced at 59.99 which makes it quite a purchase for a computer game but, my kids really enjoy playing with this, even Termite who's not yet 2, they played together so actually that money is divided by 3, and the games are educational with loads of different ways to interact and play, so while i would normally peg computer games in the 'we dont buy them' category. this is much more than that so I think as a joint gift for my family this is a good present.
I'm really pleased to tell you that we have been given a pebli town set to give away (tablet not included) so just enter via the raffle copter below.
We love a good afternoon tea here at Monkeyfeet HQ. I blame my lovely nana who's answer for any problem was tea and a cream scone! My Lovely pal was turning Thirty + Ten this week and we were looking for a suitably special venue for afternoon tea and where better to go than Jesmond Dene House
She doesn't look a day over 25!
I've passed this hotel ( the only independently owned boutique hotel in Newcastle) many times and alway admired it's lovely appearance, gorgeous location and we've heard great reviews too.
I was not disappointed, infact they truly impressed me, let's start with the concierge who greeted my motley crew with not a raised eyebrow, a fair achievement whe said motley crew were screeching with delight at the resident hotel cat 'Riley' who has his own wee house outside. We were taken into a lovely comfortable lounge to await our table, he even asked which type of high chair we would like!
One of the most impressive parts of our afternoon tea was the lovely service, upon sitting down our server informed us that we could have a dairy free afternoon tea if we wished, now I don't know if this is the work of their lovely PR who knew if Termites newly acquired dairy allergy or if the staff had overheard Oesnut telling me she would eat all the cake because Termite was allergic to milk (she's very kind, our peanut) either way I was stupidly pleased that this was an option as Termite is struggling to come to terms with her newly restricted diet. So one veggie, one dairy free and one standar afternoon tea were ordered with some english breakfast and some coffee and we didn't wait long for the beautiful offerings to arrive.
A great selection of finger sandwiches including, hummus and vegetables, tomato and pesto, salmon, chicken, ham and goats curd. Alongside cheese, plain and fruit scones, and a lovely selection of dairy and non dairy cakes.
My first impression ( because I'm a greedy mare) was that the selection was not as big as some afternoon teas I've had, but I was very very wrong I was struggling to finish at the end and that was even with sharing my scones with the greedy gannet children! The children really enjoyed the whole experience and obviously the cakes and scones (and our cakes and scones!!)
Yep, too busy eating mammy's scone, can't possibly look at the camera!
My bestie was very impressed with her veggie selection and enjoyed her coffee especially as 'they warmed the milk without being asked' always the sign of a nice establishment.. The restaurant was busy but this didn't affect the service at all, We had tea and coffee replenished swiftly and there were always staff in sight and checking that we were ok without actually intruding . After our tea we had a wander around the lovely garden and I realised that there are seats out on the terrace overlooking the gorgeous gardens, so next time we visit i think we'll 'take tea on the terrace' that way the kids can play in the garden (and not scoff my cakes!)
I'd highly recommend Jesmond Dene House for an afternoon tea its a lovely treat in a lovely hotel. Speaking of the hotel I was excited to hear that they cater happily for families with suites and interconnecting rooms. We like a nice boutique hotel and often choose to spend a night somewhere nice locally and I cant think of anywhere nicer than here for our next North East Holiday especially if it means dining in the restaurant again!
Posted with Blogsy by The Monkeyfooted Mummy 
