• Smyths Our Generation review - Awesome Academy
    Family Life

    Smyths Our Generation review – Awesome Academy School Room

    September 22, 2018 - By 

    My children love playtime and seem to particularly love role playing toys. They are a great way to help children explore the wider world, encourage their creativity and imagination. We’ve been fortunate to be sent some wonderful toys recently and with the weather turning decidedly Autumnal we are so happy to stay indoors and play! Smyths Our Generation range Recently we were sent a totally new type of toy to review. Invite your child into a world of imagination and play with Our Generation dolls and accessories at Smyths Toys Superstores. From school rooms to horse stables, from camping to chemistry,…

  • Win a copy of Dirty Bertie: Frights and Bites
    competition - Family Life

    Win a copy of Dirty Bertie: Frights and Bites

    September 21, 2018 - By 

    I really enjoy Autumn. We’ve been looking for conkers and kicking leaves on the school run and fully embracing the changing weather. Our thoughts have been turning to Halloween and I’m hoping to find some pumpkins this weekend so we can start planning our Autumn decorations. With Halloween on the horizon I’m happy to have a spooky Halloween giveaway to share with you. Created by David Roberts, one of the UK’s foremost children’s illustrators, Bertie is the star of two picture books – Dirty Bertie and Pooh! Is That You, Bertie? – as well as this fabulously funny young fiction…

  • SUPERZINGS SERIES 2
    Family Life - playing - toy review

    Introducing SuperZings Series 2

    September 21, 2018 - By 

    My children are huge fans of SuperZings. You may remember we reviewed Series 1 earlier this year. They are a great pocket money collectable and my children just love collecting and swapping them. Series 2 was released at the end of last month and brought exciting new additions, changes and range expansions. Clad in iconic superhero capes and eye masks, there are 80 new multi-coloured characters to collect, each with a matching ‘rival’ including an ultra rare character, 2 gold, 6 silver and 24 ‘SuperCrystal’ characters (a brand new finish!). We were sent a bundle of SuperZings Series 2 to…

  • he's making a list
    Family Life

    He’s making a list {Smyths toy catalogue}

    September 20, 2018 - By 

    Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? The Smyths toy catalogue launches in store this Friday (tomorrow!) which always makes my thoughts turn to Christmas. We try to ban much Christmas talk until my daughter’s birthday at the end of November, but I sneakily have to do quite a lot of shopping behind the scenes to keep on top of it all. He’s making a list Smyths toy catalogue is bursting with over 328 pages of inspiration for little ones to enjoy, offering the best possible selection of toys, outdoor, video games and baby products! My children love…

  • What next for Orla Kiely?
    Family Life

    What next for Orla Kiely?

    September 19, 2018 - By 

    I’m sure you’ve all heard the news today that Ola Kiely ceased trading on Monday following the collapse of its parent company  Kiely Rowan. There were a few rumours about this in a Facebook group on Monday, yesterday a notice was put up on the Orla Kiely website and today the story hit the BBC. To say I am gutted is an understatement. I have loved Orla Kiely for about 15 years and use an Orla Kiely handbags every day. I was only in the Orla Kiely Covent Garden store 2 weeks ago. I loved that little shop and went…

  • Win a Sylvanian Families Cake Decorating Set
    baking - competition - Friends of Sylvanian Families

    Win a Sylvanian Families Cake Decorating Set {Celebrating National Cupcake Week}

    September 18, 2018 - By 

    As a big fan of cake we just love celebrating National Cupcake Week! Did you know it’s National Cupcake Week? This year it’s celebrated from the 17th to 23rd September and anyone can get involved by sharing their delicious cupcake creations on social using the #NationalCupcakeWeek. Celebrating National Cupcake Week! My kids love to bake. I’ve always wanted them to be confident in the kitchen and I’m pleased to say they are. Baking is great fun but can be educational too, just think of all the maths skills they use with all that measuring! Our baking adventures have included pizza,…

  • finding painted rocks
    Family Life - Monday Happy List

    Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things

    September 17, 2018 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone. Hope you had a great weekend. I was pretty happy to see the weekend after going back to work. Each week I start off by writing my Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things blog post. It’s a great chance to reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures – it’s a post I always enjoy writing. Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things Last week was busy with just too much going on. It was a full week at work with lots of meeting after school…

  • Family Life

    Keeping kids safe online

    September 16, 2018 - By 

    Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash When I went to school back in the 1990s I remember my computer lessons being very limited. The computer room was basically a cupboard which wasn’t even big enough to take a whole class. Everything was very basic and didn’t really pique my interest. Fast forward to my Uni years and I was given an email address but I barely used a computer, except for typing up my coursework. My experiences put me off computers and if it wasn’t for my husband, I really doubt I would be a blogger and enjoy social media so much. He…

  • EASY CRAFT STICK STAR DECORATIONS
    Bostik Family Craft Bloggers Network - Crafts for kids

    Craft Stick Star decorations

    September 16, 2018 - By 

    I’ve been looking forward to crafting with the children for a while. Last week was busy with after school clubs and playdates but today we finally had some crafting time. The weather has been warm and sunny today, a really Indian Summer. We should have been out making the most of it but it was lovely to look through the latest box of craft supplies we were sent at Bostik Bloggers. Each month we are sent Bostik craft supplies to make something, the theme was Space. Easy Craft Stick Star decorations We decided to make and decorate craft stick stars.…