• Family Life - parenting

    6 Creative Date Night Ideas for Busy Parents

    With Valentine’s Day now just 2 weeks away my thoughts have been turning to how to mark the occasion. I’m not a huge fan of overly commercialised days. Instead my husband and I try to make time for each other through the month, rather than go all out on one day each year. We’re huge Netflix fans round here. Lack of a baby sitter means we often watch a film when the children have gone to bed. Sometimes it’s good to plan something which doesn’t revolve around a screen though, so I thought I’d share 5 creative date night ideas…

  • parenting

    Writing letters to Father Christmas {2017 edition!}

    Every year my mum organises for the children to receive the NSPCC Letters from Father Christmas. These are sweet personalised letters, and the money goes to a great charity. This year she was super organised and the letters arrived before we had written ours! So yesterday I sat the children down to write their letters to Father Christmas. Writing letters to Father Christmas I would love to tell you I was super organised but I’m not. I had to do a quick search on Pinterest to find a suitable free printable. I really wanted one which included “something I want,…

  • Christmas - parenting

    Giving #GiftMagic this Christmas with the Disney Store

    My children are so excited for Christmas. I feel a huge amount of responsibility to make it truly magical for them, without making them into spoilt children along the way. I thought this year might be the year that my son discovered that Father Christmas wasn’t real. Thankfully he is still a 100% believer and has been so excited to come downstairs every day, open his Advent calendars and see where our naughty Elf has moved to. Of course Christmas can be magical whether you believe in Father Christmas or not. Christmas is my most favourite time of the year,…

  • competition - film review - parenting

    Win a copy of The Emoji Movie DVD

    On November 27th Sony Pictures Animation’s The Emoji Movie was released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Little Sis and I watched The Emoji Movie in the summer and we absolutely loved it (see what we thought of it here), so we couldn’t wait until we could watch it again at home. The animated comedy unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone. Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favourite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone’s user. In this world, each emoji has only…

  • parenting

    Sharing classic children’s books – The Little Prince

    I write a lot about books because I am passionate about reading and encouraging my children to read. I took a little video of my 5 year old yesterday. We were reading her school book and I was blown away with how much progress she has made so far in Year 1. Both my children love to read and I’m excited about all the books I’ve been buying them for Christmas. The Folio Society recently got in touch about some of the latest titles they have published. The Folio Society are a London based publishing company, renowned in the literary…

  • parenting

    Mongoose Stance Scooter review

    My children have had scooters since they could toddle. Although they both have bikes they prefer to scoot everywhere. Just like a bike grows with your child, so does a scooter, and they have both had a few different models over the last few years. They both started with the Mini Micro 3-in-1 Scooter with a seat and Scoot ‘n’ Pull so we could give them a little helping hand. The seat and straps soon went and they enjoyed the Mini Micro Scooter for years, scooting to and from nursery, and then school. These scooters were brilliant and we were…

  • competition - parenting

    Win a copy of The Marvellous Moon Map

    I’m so excited for the 1st December. Not only do the kids get to discover which Advent calendars the cheeky Elf on the Shelf brings, but we also get to see our Book Advent. The kids love our Christmas traditions, and books play a big part at Christmas. One new book we have added to our festive reads is the lovely The Marvellous Moon Map by Teresa Heapy, illustrated by David Litchfield, published by Penguin Random House Children’s. The Marvellous Moon Map “I’ve got you, and you’ve got me – so we’ll be all right”. One day, adventurous Mouse sets off to find…

  • parenting

    Cleaning up packed lunches with Tinyme

    My son has now been taking packed lunches to school for 11 weeks! That’s a lot of sandwiches I’ve made. I’ve been working this week which means I’ve been making his lunch the night before and leaving it out in the morning for him to take. Working outside of the house means I have to be super organised – we’ll gloss over the fact I drove to work with both my children’s winter coats on the back seat this week! Cleaning up packed lunches with Tinyme My son enjoys his packed lunch but it annoys me every day that he…

  • birthday - parenting

    Little Sis turns 6! {Netflix birthdays on demand}

    Today Little Sis turned 6! It’s hard to believe she is 6, its such a cliche but it really does feel as though she was born yesterday. We had her birthday party a few weekends ago so the house has been full of birthday cards, balloons, a birthday banner and presents. I was super organised and bought and wrapped all her presents a few weeks ago, so all I needed to do last night was bring the presents down – ready for this morning. I woke Little Sis early this morning as I was working. Fortunately she woke with a…