• Celebrating National Chocolate Cake Day
    Family Life

    Celebrating National Chocolate Cake Day

    January 27, 2018 - By 

    Did you know that today, Saturday 27th January, is National Chocolate Cake Day? My children were so excited when I told them this and couldn’t wait to make something special to celebrate. To celebrate Chocolate Cake Day my daughter was sent a bundle of Series 4 Num Noms and all the ingredients she needed to bake some delicious Num Noms-inspired chocolate cakes. Have you heard of Num Noms? You can mix and match Num Noms to create sweet, scented recipes! There are 120 Num Noms in Series 4! Scented Nums are adorable, squishy characters with tons of personality. Noms are scented nail polish or…

  • Family Life - homestyle

    Top 3 family-friendly floors

    January 26, 2018 - By 

    Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash As a parent there are often a lot of things to consider, have you safety-proofed your home? Are they getting enough vitamins? All the usual palaver. But have you ever considered your floor? Flooring has been overlooked by a lot of people, so if you are one of those, we’re here to inform you of the choices you can make when it comes to child-friendly flooring. Bamboo: Yes, you read that correctly, bamboo – it’s not just for pandas you know! Over the past decade this material has seen a huge increase in usage due to its ability to handle a…

  • Family Life - homestyle

    Planning my dream craft space

    January 25, 2018 - By 

    Photo by Giulia Bertelli on Unsplash I’ve been sorting out some of my craft supplies this morning. Everything has spilled into our spare room and as we are about to re-decorate my daughters room, she will need to move into the spare room for a week or two, I really need to tidy it up. You may remember that one of my craft goals for this year was to organise my craft stash and books, and plan a craft space for me. Somehow my husband has ended up with the spare room as an office (even though he rarely works from home) as…

  • Family Life - mindfulness - Monday Happy List

    Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Morning and happy Monday peeps. The cold weather made for a loooong weekend, I’m just a little bit grateful that it’s Monday and my children are back at school! Time for my weekly Monday mindfulness post – about the 5 things which made me happy over the last 7 days. Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things Last week was busy for me as I was back in school doing some exam invigilating. I was grateful for the work but it meant I was less present on my blog and social channels. Which was a shame, as I had so much…

  • MULLED WHITE WINE
    Family Life

    Winter Mulled White Wine

    January 21, 2018 - By 

    The weather has been so atrocious today. It was cold and snowy. The children were so excited to see the snow but we soon realised it wasn’t really settling and they wouldn’t be building a snowman anytime soon. We adults needed a pick me up to lift our spirits so made some winter mulled white wine. We love mulled red wine and admit to making quite a lot of it during December. I quite like mulled cider too but I’d never tried a mulled white wine before. January seemed a good time to try making some. White wine is lighter…

  • join me at the #superzingsparty
    Family Life

    The latest collectible – SuperZings!

    January 19, 2018 - By 

    Kids love collectibles so I’m excited to tell you about the latest one to hit the shelves – SuperZings from Magic Box Toys (who also made Star Monsters and Zomlings). Next Thursday 25th I’m taking part in a Twitter party with Magic Box Toys, PlaytimePR and The Entertainer and you’re all invited! SuperZings Series 1 Heroes and Villains Hitting UK shelves today, the SuperZings are everyday objects brought to life in a fun, comic ‘Hero vs Villain’ rivalry theme. Clad in iconic superhero capes and eye-masks, there are more than 80 multi-coloured figures to collect in total, each with a matching…

  • 11 days out in London for train mad kids
    days out - Family Life - London

    11 days out in London for train mad kids

    January 18, 2018 - By 

    This weekend we are off to the Model Engineering Exhibition at Ally Pally. We try and go every year. You may not think it sounds like a fun day out but we all enjoy it, especially the children. My son has always loved trains. When he was a toddler he had a wooden toy Thomas and Gordon that he took everywhere. He had a wooden train set he loved and we used to go on a lot of trains with him! We’re lucky that we’re surrounded by miniature railways and heritage lines where we live which we can visit. I…

  • A day out at Barrington Court Somerset
    Family Life - National Trust - Somerset

    A day out at Barrington Court Somerset

    January 16, 2018 - By 

    Between Christmas and New Year we travelled a lot of miles to see family and friends. We had to plan places to stop to break up the journey and picked Barrington Court in Somerset. It’s owned by the National Trust so was free for us as we are members. A day out at Barrington Court Somerset Barrington Court has the honour of being the first house acquired by the National Trust, in 1907. It’s a beautiful Tudor manor house begun around 1538 and completed in the late 1550s, with a vernacular stable court (dated 1675). It was almost derelict when it was acquired by…

  • Family Life - Monday Happy List

    Monday Mindfulness – 5 Happy Things

    January 15, 2018 - By 

    I hope you had a lovely weekend. It’s time for my weekly Monday Mindfulness post – 5 Happy Things from the previous week. Last week I took part in the Mollie Makes Insta Challenge. I lasted 5 out of the 7 days! It was a lot harder than I thought but I enjoyed sharing some craft photos over on my Instagram for a change. I got tickets to the Exploring the New Town with Sylvanian Families at the Mercure Leicester next month. I’m excited to find out more about the new Sylvanian Families town series and it sounds like a fun afternoon.…