Disney On Ice Presents Frozen Giveaway

OK you cant have escaped Frozen and if like me you have Frozen fans in the house you will be pleased to hear that this year Disney on Ice show is FROZEN !!!

Yep our favourite acadamy award winning  tale of overcoming adversity and love winning out have been transformed into a live ice show. Join Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and a parade of favourite Disney characters as they welcome Anna and Elsa in an epic tale of how a sibling’s love and compassion can conquer fear. Join Olaf, Kristoffand his loyal reindeer Sven, and the mystical trolls and witness a spectacular array of special effects includint the ice lighting up with Elsa's power Disney On Ice presents Frozen the must-see magical event of the season

Ther will be special appearances by beloved Disney Princesses and characters from all-time favourites like Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Disney’s The Lion King, 

Disney On Ice presents Frozen will visit Newcastle's Metroradio Arena between 19th-23rd October 2016. Tickets  are selling so fast that there has been an extra show added to meet demand! You can buy tickets here  and I'm super pleased to say we have 4  tickets to the Disney On Ice performance at Newcastle Metroradio Arena on Wednesday 19th October 2016 (6:30pm) to offer as a prize to one lucy reader, just enter the super simple Rafflcopter below, and a winner will be chosen from all the correct entries.

Why I'm Throwing Out My Scales

I've had an epiphany! I hate my scales, they are meaner to me than my inner bitch, and she can be MEAN!

See how she smiles having made me work my butt off!

Just before my holiday I felt great, a couple of tough work outs down with My brilliant trainer and I felt slimmer (dont get me wrong I'm a mile away from skinny but I felt better) so I had a sneaky weigh in.... and I was a pound heavier! I instantly felt rubbish and wanted to kick the scales but then I thought why the heck should that number make a difference? I can't possibly feel different now than I did thirty seconds ago?  When I was chatting about this to pals one of them remarked that she had seen a personal trainer call them the Step of Saddness (if it was you and you are reading this sorry for stealing but I like the phrase.) and I couldn't have put it more perfectly myself. So no more!

Dear scales and your silly numbers, I'm afraid we have to say goodbye, we have had an unhealthy relationship for too long now! I have weighed myself weekly sometimes daily for as long as I can remember even going so far as to track my weight gain during my pregnancies! I know you cant help what you tell me, I make you do it but I'm afraid I cant listen to you any more. From now on I'm making pals with my favourite outfit and we are going to be kind to each other until I can wear her again, you see I look fab in her and she has never made me feel bad infact she always always makes me feel good, so from now on dear step of sadness you are no longer in control!

The top half of my feel good outfit!

I'm saying so long and we shall keep you purely for weighing our holiday cases! No longer will I queue nervously in a Slimming World Class, hoping that today you will make me feel good, that today I'll get a shiny sticker for my achievement NO NO NO I'm done, my body is going to lead the way from now on!

Chubby Puppy - Review

We were recently sent a chubby puppy to review, it created a lot of enjoyment at monkeyfeet HQ although it has caused fights over which child is actualy is Chubby Puppy's parent!

Heres our Vlog

The puppy is priced at £16.99 and come in an assortment of 'breeds' ..

I'll be honest the puppy was smaller than I imagined but the kids seemed to know exactly what the were getting andf they really enjoyed playing with it, they've made him/her walk (shuffle limp and hop) through a variety of obstacle courses and off the chair and table to much hilarity.

The Chubby Puppy is from Spin Master Toys and is available to buy in most big toy stores 

Benefit Brow Bar

I was recently invited along to try out The Benefit Brow Bar at Debenhams in Intu Eldon Square. I love Benefit and was very excited to be heading along for my eyebrow mapping (that is a real thing I swear)

Dean was my Brow aficionado for the day and he was really great, explaining everything he was doing and asking loads of questions about my skin and makeup routines. He explained that normally they would recommend a tint as it lasts longer with great results but as I have a right dodgy time with my eyes and hadn't had a patch test I declined on this occasion, but I've had my patch test for next time.

Dean measured where my eyebrows should be for optimum arch appeal by making lines in relation to my nose, corners of my eyes and the measurements of my eyebrows.he showed me what they would look like with a tint and then he set to work waxing the strays and adding a bit of shape. I have recently had a little too much waxed from my eyebrows and I'm trying to let them grow in thicker as the edges are really dismally thin. So I should tell you that I've never had an eyebrow wax as painless as this one!! I don't know how but it just didn't hurt at all, barely any redness and it was very quick! I should have gotten him to do my upper lip while he had me in his chair, because that normally geet knacks (geordie translator: really really hurts!)

Dean then used a host of product to WOW my Brows. He used Browvo Conditioning Primer which promotes lush brow growth and condition apparently, Goof Proof Brow Pencil, Gimme Brow for some extra colour, and then Ready Set Brow for some extra shape and to set . These products were only launched on Friday so they may well be in high demand yoou can pop into a store to check them out and use the great colour match guide to choose the most suitable from the 6 choices available.


I'm going to be truthful here I got a bit of a shock when I looked in the mirror as my brows looked so dark and defined and, erm, in 39 years I've never once used an eyebrow pencil or product! But they certainly made a difference.

Next up I was show to the make up counter and talked through different products that were being used for my make over. I really don't wear a lot of makeup and I think I disgusted my lovely make up artist when I informed her my routine involves slapping on my BB cream with my fingers like a moisturiser and that's about it! So we went for a dewy look and she used primer, foundation, powder, highlighter, blusher and bronzer and lippy to achieve the finished look....

Overall, I have to be honest there was such a difference in my brows I felt a little conspicuous but you must remember that I wear very little make up, so I took to social media, as you do, and the opinions were positive and reassuring 

nobody gasped in shock at the school gates and lots of people said they thought it was a great look for me. 

I can definitely see a difference and Dean did a cracking job, So if you are looking for a little subtle change in your look you should definitely pop along and let Dean (or any of the other Brow experts) Wow Your brows 

The entire range of Brow products priced between £16- £25, and all the makeup used on me can be found on Benefit's website, and you can follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

What do you think to my makeover then? Do you use brow products? I'd love to hear your thoughts...

How To Claim Your Free Limited Edition Zelf

Zelfs are launching their 6th series at the end of July and with that comes the coveted limited edition Zelf! We are super pleased to have gotten our hands on this one...

Heres our #Unboxing video

Mary Go Round The Carousel Pony is the rarest limited edition to date with only 400 available in the UK and they are not for sale, to claim yours  go to  www.evolutioncomps.co.uk/carouselfponyzelf  and claim using receipts from purchases of zelf products from  2016  to the value of £30. 

If like us you are Zelfs fans you can joing Zelfs Club  to keep up to date with all the latest news and offers. Zelfs are available to purchase in most toy stores

Family Dining at Intu Metrocentre Qube

Its no secret that my love for the Metro Centre is a recently new thing, I've always thought I didn't love it until a recent visit when I discovered it is totes amazebonks! So  now I'm  happy to go along whenever possible, obviously I jumped at the chance of sampling a selection of the best food the QUBE has to offer.


The QUBE which opened in 2009 is located in the platinum mall and houses Odeon cinema alongside so much  choice for food and drink that you could probably eat out every day for a year and have something different each time. The QUBE was extended this spring with nine new restaurants Ask, Barburrito, Bella Italia, Coast to Coast, Chiquito, Five Guys, Subway, TGI Fridays and Thaikhun All of the restaurants in the QUBE  have awesome menus with something for everyone. To see the full list of dining choices at the Metro Centre click here 

We arrived to find a 10 ft chef welcoming us to an evening set to tantalise our taste buds and then we proceeded to work our way through a taster menu....

 

Rainbows and Dreams Mocktail from Chiquto 

Prosecco for Mammy and Daddy

We tried food from our favourites, Wagamama and Chiquito but also tried some new places like Yo Sushi and Thaikum both of which I really enjoyed. The kids loved their milkshakes and mocktails and we had such fun meeting the Metrognomes (who you can see throughout the Summer Holiday)

We 

I'm amazed by the choice and would highly recommend a trip up to test out some of the eateries on offer, we've recently been back and we popped into Coast to Coast for drinks and then Wagamama for food, but seriously the choice is so vast you couldn't go hungry

Thumbs up from Mr Monkeyfeet (high praise indeed)

Showing of his goody bag 'haul'

Gorgeous Coast To Coast Cheese Cake

Pink Lemonade

Showing Off our Wagamama Apron

The Fabulous North East Family Fun, Our favourite Family 

If you are looking for family fun and food you should definitely pop along next weekend (2nd and 3rd July) there will be fairground rides and retailer sampling in Exhibition Square and a giant beach in Town Square. A chance to check out (STAR WARS ALERT!!!) 99th Garrison , Disney Princesses, panto characters from Nice Swan Theatre and the hilarious Granny Turismos. and our pals The Metrognomes will be back with their very own Kids' Club craft event in The Village and giant games in Upper Green Mall. 

Educational Play The Schleich Way

I've seen Schleich figures in many shops and visitor attractions over the years but we have never owned any, just recently we were contacted to see if we would help out with a new campaign they are launching ' Educational Play The Schleich Way'

So Schleich have launched a catalogue with ideas and games on how to use the figures in their range for the most educational benefit. Now I'm one of those mums who sees learning in everything we do and I love making up games and plays with the kids, on a recent holiday we forgot to pack our card and to be brutally honest there are only so many times I can cope with Monster High Top Trumps, so I resorted to making games up.... We played 'What animal am I' a lot and I now cant wait to try that again but with some of our new figures. We also played Bedroom Boules. Bed Golf and Finger football! All the games we made up with things we had to hand so it just goes to show you don't need fancy technology and a house full of toys to entertain the kids! So you can imagine this project sounded right up my street

you can download the brochure here or by clicking this image

The brochure is free and if you are a bit cynical. like me, its not just a blatant advert for Schleich toys! There are loads of helpful bits of information about play, with game ideas, information on language development and tips to encourage play and combat boredom. I love that the games and ideas suggested can be adapted for your situation. 

Keeping in mind some of the ideas on Balanced play and different game ideas we took the opportunity to throw our new Schleich animals in the rucksack on a trip out....

First we talked about perspective and optical illusions, aaaaargh elephant in the road!

Then we did some role play in the car where the kids made up a space pony/ alien zebra story!

Termite tried her hand ant some disappearing animal tricks.

There was some 'fungus amungus' dressage (I played no part in that idea it was all them!!!)

And then we shared our dinner 

I love the idea behind the brochure and man alive I get the attraction with Schleich figures the quality and detail is awesome and even the kids noticed a difference when they got their hands on them with comments like 'ooh thats heavy' and 'ee look at the wrinkles on this elephant'!

There is also a competition in the brochure, not that you need any more encouragement to download it,  to win £100 worth of toys thanks to Schleich and Uk Mums TV

Happy 6th Birthday to The Golden Child

Oh my gorgeous boy, how can it be that you are 6?

I feel sad because 6 sounds so grown up and yet in my heart you are still my little baby, I can still carry your warm sleepy body back to bed and I can still sneak in and kiss your sweaty head while you sleep giggling while I listen to you snore or talk in your sleep. You still climb into my bed in the night for reassurance that you aren't alone and I can still make everything feel better with a cuddle! But those years are going too fast and I'm sure that soon enough (far too soon for me) you wont want to hold my hand o cuddle in for movie night and that is not something I wish to think about. If only I could bottle each passing year to save for the future!

You are such an awesome little man so funny and kind full of laughter and joy.

You are a sensitive soul and still content to just be with Dad or I happy to sit on our knee or in the 'middle' (that's the coveted spot of curing up on the puoffe between dads feet, insane I know but as important as can be at  Monkeyfeet HQ) . You are kind and funny and love to build and play on your tablet, in fact I think if we left you with your tablet and no restrictions you wouldn't even notice if we danced around the living room covered in feathers!

I love how you ruffle your baby sisters hair every single time you pass her, how you hug her tight when you come home from school and how you love to teach her things and show her things. I love how you still see your big sister as the best thing since sliced bread and you still want to play with her every single day. You are patient and passionate kind and caring and you are the sweetest most lovely little man ever in the world. Don't ever change you gentle ways my boy they are a traits that will stand you well in a world of toughness.

I love you more than all the sweeties in the world, all the sand on the beach and all the salt in the sea! Happy Birthday to our Golden Child

 

La La Loopsy Style n Swap - Review

My Peanut loves La La Loopsy dolls (although I've always found them quite strange, my opinion is not the important one here) and we have a little collection of the larger dolls, so when we were asked to review the new range of La La Loopsy Style n Swap Mini's she was over the moon. Here's our unboxing video....

This set is priced at £9.99 but the range also includes multi sets at £16.99 with two figures in, or play sets ranging up to £26.99.

Overall I think we prefer the minis as they are easily transportable and fun for imaginative play, all three of my kids has enjoyed playing with this figure, changing her outfit and hair (much hilarity at making her bald!). these would make a greta gift (I say that a lot but this really is our price point for gift for school pals party's)  theres a nice small collection to add to and I like that they help fine motor skills for little Termite 

You can find out more about La La Loopsy on the website or by following them on Facebook and Twitter