• West London Racing Centre
    days out - Hillingdon - Local Review - London - parenting

    West London Racing Centre {exploring the local area}

    June 3, 2017 - By 

    I’ve mentioned a few times that my husband and children have a collection of model cars they like to race (this is on top of the model cars and model planes!). When we moved to West London we began looking for somewhere to race the cars, other than the woods or local park. Someone recommended the West London Racing Centre. The West London Racing Centre is in the corner of Pole Hill Open Space, a park in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The WLRC is designed to provide an organised venue for racing 1:10th Scale Electric On-Road radio control model…

  • Doodle Dogs by Tim Hopgood
    book review - competition

    Win a copy of Doodle Dogs by Tim Hopgood

    June 2, 2017 - By 

    Macmillan Children’s Books have a lovely new activity book for children from author/illustrator Tim Hopgood. Doodle Dogs features different breeds of dogs, allowing children to have fun doodling while teaching children to harness their creativity by learning artistic techniques from famous artists. World famous artist Paul Klee once said, ‘A line is a dot that went for a walk’, so get ready to do some creative dot walking! Fromt dots to dashes and squiggles to scribbles, this book is all about making marks, creating characters and having fun with art. Get ready to do some creative dot walking with Tim Hopgood and doodle Dog,…

  • easy Summer votive craft for kids
    crafts - Father's Day - Recycled crafts

    Summer votive craft {A-Z Play at Home}

    June 2, 2017 - By 

    One thing the children love to do is raid the recycling box for crafting materials. Yoghurt pots seem to be a favourite but all kinds of cardboard tubes, egg boxes, cereal boxes and jam jars go in – waiting to be given a new lease of life. With Father’s Day coming up this month the children wanted to make something special for their Dad, so raided the recycling box for ’empties’ – jam jars which they turned into summer votives. Summer votive craft for kids We used baking parchment colouring pens empty jam jars sticky tape LED tealights I roughly…

  • Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig
    book review

    Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig

    June 1, 2017 - By 

    The latest book I have been enjoying is Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig. Published by HQ today, 1st June 2017. I have no experience of Autism at all, other than reading A Boy Made of Blocks which I read earlier this year. I don’t think that matters because as soon as I read the blurb for Ginny Moon I wanted to read more. Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig Ginny Moon‘s painfully honest narrator is Ginny, a girl with autism living in a world that just doesn’t add up. Five years ago the police forcibly removed her from the home of her abusive mother Gloria.…

  • Celebrating Elderflower season with Belvoir
    baking - days out - London

    Celebrating Elderflower season with Belvoir

    May 31, 2017 - By 

    I’m so excited for the start of June tomorrow. May has been a great month but I can’t wait for more sunshine – mainly so the kids can play out more! Did you know that the beginning of June also marks the traditional start of summer when the Elderflower bursts into flower in our English hedgerows? Baking Madeleine Hot Air Balloons with Lisa Faulkner Elderflower sums up Summer perfectly for me. We had an Elderflower tree in the garden of our old house and every year my husband promised to try making our own cordial. We never did get round to…

  • Is it worth installing underfloor heating in your home?
    homestyle

    Is it worth installing underfloor heating in your home?

    May 31, 2017 - By 

    Who doesn’t love the feeling of walking barefoot on a heated floor on a cold winter’s day? As well as giving you a warm fuzzy feeling inside, there are many advantages to installing underfloor heating in your home. That being said, underfloor heating is a big investment to make and may not be suitable for your property, so you shouldn’t make the decision to install underfloor heating without a lot of prior thought. The main advantage of underfloor heating is that its energy efficient and therefore, more environmentally friendly and cost effective. An underfloor heating panel heats a larger portion of  your room more effectively,…

  • The Diary of a Wimpy Kid screening with Joules Clothing
    days out - film review - London - parenting

    The Diary of a Wimpy Kid screening with Joules Clothing

    May 30, 2017 - By 

    Today we were invited by Joules Clothing to attend a screening of the latest film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, at 20th Century Fox. I’d heard of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series of fiction books, written by the American author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney. All the main books are the journals of the main character, Greg Heffley. We haven’t read any of the books or watched the previous films but were excited to see the film based on the trailer, which we all thought was funny. We had a lovely afternoon in London before the…

  • Star Wars BladeBuilders Spin-Action Lightsaber
    Hasbro Toy Tribe - parenting - playing - toy review

    Star Wars BladeBuilders Spin-Action Lightsaber

    May 29, 2017 - By 

    I think I’ve mentioned  a few times that we’re big Star Wars fans in our house. So when we were offered the new Star Wars BladeBuilders Spin-Action Lightsaber from Hasbro I knew my 7 year old would love to review it. He has one simple lightsaber but this one sounded a lot more fun! Star Wars BladeBuilders Spin-Action Lightsaber Jedi Knights, Sith Lords, Stormtroopers, X-Wings, Star Destroyers, AT-AT Walkers, droids, Wookiees, Rebel heroes, and more! Discover the exciting stories of good versus evil in a galaxy far, far away with the Star Wars Bladebuilders Spin-Action Lightsaber! Take a look at…

  • weekend in Wiltshire
    homestyle - Monday Happy List

    Monday happy things {Week 139}

    May 29, 2017 - By 

    This week saw my second week of work. I’m an Exam Invigilator at a local school and I’m really enjoying it so far. The work fits perfectly around my children being at school and I even managed to fit in my weekly reading sessions with Reception and Year 2 too. I’m still adjusting to being so busy! It was a busy week for my blog too and although I’m grateful for the opportunities my blog brings it does feel like I’ve been burning the candle at both ends lately. It’s also been another week of making and editing a lot…