Moon Sand Pet Shop

I have always had my worries about Moon Sand think it would be very messy, So when I got the chance to try out the new Moon sand pet shop with my kids, I couldn't wait for it to arrive.
The age they recommend moon sand for is 3+, So as my son is very nearly 3 I decided to try it out on him as well as my 5 year old daughter.

It arrived when my daughter was at school so me and my son Lucas got stuck right in and set it up, The box the moon sand comes in is also used for playing with the moon sand in, There is also a bit of card that you attach to it so you can have the lid standing upright,
Unfortunately my son decided it was best to mix the two colour sands it comes with together but it doesn't effect playing with it one bit.

My son doesn't often it down for long and play with toys but he sat down for over an hour with the moon sand and even though he couldn't manage to make up any of the animals with the sand he still really enjoyed playing with it.

To save arguments the day it arrived my daughter got to play with it when my son went to bed, This way I could see how well she got on with it, She managed to make up a lot of the animals herself and was really enjoying being able to decorate the pet shop how she wanted.

Now as I said before I was worried about the mess the kids would make with this but to my surprise there was hardly any mess and what moon sand had dropped on the floor was very easy to pick up or vacume up, After getting the chance to test moon sand out I have agreed that we will happily buy my son and daughter some more.

The Moon sand pet shop comes with 13 molds, 1 press and play tool & pet shop, 1 sand box, 1 instruction sheet and 2 bags of colored moon sand.
You can buy Moon sand pet shop and many other moon sand products from all good toy shops.

New hair cut

The last time I had my hair cut was 3 years ago last week and when I had it cut I went for a graduated bob, As you can imagine 3 years with out a hair cut has ment my hair has got so long it was below my bum, It was getting a nightmare to brush everyday and would have loads of knots in it in the morning and by the end of the day.

Well last night I had a bath and as I normaly would I brushed my hair I just had enough after 10 minutes so off to google I went, I searched how to cut your own hair and found away of cutting it so it wouldn't look like I had done it myself.
It was so simple to do too all I needed to do was put my hair up in a pony tail and twist it and then cut off as much as I wanted making sure it was neat and then once I did that I had to twist it in the oppisite direction and snip again making sure it was neat.

My hair is now just below my shoulders and has a layered effect and all for the cost of £0 I feel much happier about my hair as its easier to brush and I can wear it down without the worry that it will get really knotty.

Silent Sunday

Channel 5's, City of friends

City of Friends is the beautifully animated pre-school TV show that’s turned into something of a global phenomenon. Originally from Norway, City of Friends is now airing in more than 150 countries around the world!

Currently on Channel Five’s Milkshake! the series centres around the three emergency teams – Police, Ambulance and Fire – and the three friends, Max the police officer, Elphie the fire officer and Ted the paramedic who work together to solve problems and help people around their city.

Max is everyone’s friend and the city’s mischief-maker. The children in the city think he is the coolest and the funniest in the whole city. Elphie is a bubbly and adventure-loving elephant. Her impressive trunk and its water-shooting abilities make her a natural fire-fighter. Ted the caring young teddybear, is starting his life in the ambulance service. He’s very popular and offers great comfort to people in need, providing reassurance with his cuddly warmth.

Cooperation, friendship, tolerance, knowledge, activity and fun are the key words which apply to the residents in the City. The series sparks the imagination with exciting, playful storylines which are entertaining and teach very gentle, but valuable life-lessons along the way.
The inspiration for the stories came from creator Carl Christian Hamre’s own day job working as a member of Norway’s state police. “One evening I told my son a bedtime story about the three emergency services; how they work together to solve the challenges and problems they are called out to. However, this time, I replaced myself and my colleagues, with people and animals in the emergency services, and City of Friends was born.”

City of Friends airs weekdays on Channel Five’s Milkshake! at 6.20am every day. I currently haven't seen it yet as we are never up at this time in the morning, But after watching the trailer I would really love to get a chance to see it and I know its something my son would love to watch.

You can view the trailer here

Not what I ever wanted to hear

As many of you are aware my son has loose lenses in his eyes, Well this week he went for his eye check to see how his glasses are helping, Well it turns out there not helping a lot and his eyes have got worse, My husband described the way our son sees is like if we was crying and had tears in our eyes, My heart sunk when I was told this, But that wasn't all of what my husband told me, My son has now been refered to great ormond street hospital and we have been told that it is likely that our son will need an operation on his eyes of course my heart sunk even more.

Now I feel in limbo as we curently dont know whats going on, Lucas preschool are aware of his eye problems and have said they will get in specials things like extra large print books for him, Which I think is really good.

Silent Sunday

So annoying

I'm getting so annoyed and theirs only so many time I can moan to my husband about this,I live in flats but theirs only 8 flats in the building and only 3 people that live here don't have kids, Where I'm getting annoyed is the fact that everyone just slams there doors when there really is no need to do it, Every night Jovie is woke by doors slamming and the same goes for during the day with her, I have tried asking the people that do it (nicely)not to but they still do it, There excuse is that they have there hands full so can't shut it quietly, All I can say to that is if I can do it surly you can too.

Our housing officer just don't care its been mentioned to her a few times from a couple of different people and all she says is and I quote " I will send a letter out to everyone" Have we ever had this letter NO we haven't.

A few times I have got that annoyed I have wanted to go and stand by my door and just keep slamming it but then I feel if I do that then I will be just like them.

Sorry for the rant but I really need to get it off my chest before I explode with anger.

Finally a doctor that is willing to do something

Since my son was about 6 months old he has been in and out of hospital from breathing problems, We was told by the hospital that it was due to the really bad mould that was in our old place, I wish I had photos of it so you could see just how bad it was, The thing that annoyed me most about this mould was we could never get to speak to our landlord as he would never answer his phone or call us back so it just got worse and worse, Until we was lucky enough to be offered our flat via a housing association.

Sadly for my son it was to late and now every time he has a cold he is always rushed to the doctors as he has troubles breathing, Over the past few months it has got worse and worse he couldn't even make it to school without getting out of breath, So even though the doctors has been fobbing us off saying they can't diagnose anything with him as he's to young I decided it was time to go again and this time I wasn't taking no for an answer, As I felt bad having to tell a nearly 3 year old that he had to stop playing so he could get his breath back.

Well anyway we saw a doctor that we have never seen before he checked Lucas over and said he's even worse at the moment because it turns out he has a chest infection so right away prescribed him medicine for that, I then told the doctor what he was like everyday when he doesn't have a chest infection and he said no child at that age should have to sit down to get there breath back and decided to put him on a brown inhaler to take twice a day everyday, He also gave him a blue one for when he gets out of breath.

The doctor wants to see Lucas again in a months time to see how he's getting on with them, I currently have mixed emotions about this as im happy somethings being done but im sad that my son has to have so much stuff, I'm now just hopeing that these work for my son and that he can carry on being a normal little boy.

RM Education brings intelligent play to UK Grab, play and learn; new Sifteo Cubes connect technology with creativity

RM Education has launched Sifteo Cubes in the UK, bringing the innovative game system to classrooms across the country. Sifteo Cubes are inspired by classic play pattern games such as chess, jigsaws and crosswords. By combining these play traditions with interactive game technology, Sifteo Cubes create an “intelligent play” experience that is interactive, tactile, challenging and fun.

Aimed at key stage two (KS2) and above, Sifteo’s games offer a range of education benefits including:
· Numeracy skills by building awareness of number association
· Language and literacy skills
· Help to develop higher-order skills like problem solving, sorting and classification ability
· Development of spatial skills through relationships between objects in terms of distance and orientation
· Kinaesthetic learning
· The cubes are also ideal for use in SEN learning
Each clickable 1.5 inch block offers a full colour LCD display, a variety of motion sensors and a rechargeable battery. The Six Pack Starter Kit allows access to a range of games to address different skills (games are managed within Siftrunner, a free to install application). During game play, the cubes communicate with each other through sensory technology and the information is then sent back to a nearby computer via a USB wireless link. Customers receive three games for free, with subsequent games costing around £5 each. A software development kit is also included.

Mike Beech, Head of Product Marketing at RM Education comments, “Sifteo Cubes truly represent a new take on games-based learning, encouraging an exciting range of thinking skills. RM Education is constantly looking at ways to bring innovation into classrooms and Sifteo Cubes will promote and enable intelligent play amongst learners. We’re incredibly excited by the potential of games-based learning and delighted to be taking it to the next level in the UK.”


RM Education has exclusive distribution rights of Sifteo Cubes in the UK market education.


Sifteo Cubes are available for just £230. For more information visit www.remeducation.com/Sifteo

RM Education has been helping teachers to teach and learners to learn for nearly 40 years. We develop, manufacture, install and manage hardware, software, IT networks and services and classroom resources all specially designed for schools to help deliver inspiring engaging learning.

Schools and local authorities outsource their IT to RM Education and we also provide systems that help mark exam papers, deliver school performance data and enable access to learning platforms from home or school. Our customers include schools, colleges and universities, local government, central government education departments & agencies.
Visit www.rmeducation.com/uk

Dirt Devil DCC070

As much as I like housework I have been finding it very draining, I constantly have to get the vacuum cleaner out to clean up after my 3 kids and have always found it a pain getting it in and out of our cupboard and then putting all the pipes together.
Lucky for me I was chosen by Dirt Devil to try out one of there latest vacuum cleaners, When it arrived I was expecting the box to be very heavy but was surprised that it was very light compared to my normal vacuum cleaner I use.
Once I opened the box I was impressed to see their wasn't really much to put together and even better was you could keep all the pipes attached and the floor brush has a hook on it for storage, The main tube of it is called a telescopic tube and instead off attaching two tubes together like I would with my other vacuum, The tube on the Dirt Devil simply extends, You get two main floor brushes with this vacuum cleaner the first one is a basic floor brush that has a setting for hard floors (perfect for my kitchen floor)and the second brush is called an intense turbo brush the main use for this is for if you have pets, As the only pet I have is a guinea pig I didn't think I would have much use for this one but tried it out any way and found it picked up the hay my daughter always drops when feeding the guinea pig really well, So this brush is used a lot now in my house.

The Dirt Devil has 2200w high power which is much more powerful than my other vacuum, It is also bagless so you wont need to go out and buy new bags, The filters are treated with Microban which is 99.5% effective against common household bacteria, Dirt Devil do recommend you replace the filters after 9 months of use and they are very easy to remove from the vacuum.

Another great thing that comes with this vacuum is an accessory holder that attaches to the main tube so all the other little tools that come with it are always at hand, The tools you get to put in the accessory holder are Dusting brush,Upholstery tool and a crevice tool.
This is now the only vacuum I use in my house as its so small I can leave it out and it doesn't get in the way, The only thing I have said that I don't like about it is the mains cable just isn't long enough for me a I now have to unplug it to move on to vacuum the next room, But like I say its the only thing and it hasn't stopped me using it and even though it has a shorter mains cable than i'm used to it wont stop me recommending it to my friends and family.

I have also found that even though my old vacuum cleaned well my floor just seems some what cleaner.
If you would like to find out more about Dirt Devil you can visit there facebook page here and also there website here

My son makes me proud

I know every mother always says how proud they are of their children but I have to say I have never been more proud of my son than I am right now, As you already know he started preschool a few weeks back, Since he has started I have been worried that I will get a phone call saying he's hit someone or done something terrible but thats not been the case all I have had is positive comments sent home from the staff.

Today my husband dropped him off and he told me that Lucas just went strait off to play with no fuss, So I felt very relaxed today and not worried about getting any calls, I got the lucky job of picking Lucas up from preschool today and as I walked through the door I saw him sitting crossed legged on the mat with most of the other children, He saw me walk in but didn't get up and run over like the other children did when they saw there parents instead a staff member had to bring him over and then he happily said good bye to them and off he went to come home.

When we got home I checked his book bag to take out any work he had done from the week before only to find the cutest mothers day card that he had made for me.

It now has pride of place on my living room window sill and when I ask him who made it he proudly says me. To top things off since starting preschool everyday he has come out with a new word and he has also calmed down so much he's like a different boy.

Silent Sunday

And Grandpa makes six

Meet our newest family member grandpa, Hes come all the way from the lovely people at John crane, So expect to see lots more from grandpa on what he' been getting up to while he's with us, He will be having a visit to my daughters school some time next week and he will be going to preschool with my son and My husband has said he will take him to work to ride on his forklift truck, So grandpa will be busy.

He arrived today and while I was putting the washing out he just sat and watched.

MAM Bowl and Fork and Spoon set

I was asked to test out a review the Mam bowl and fork and spoon set with Jovie, I was very excited to try this out as we have been having problems getting Jovie to eat any food thats not puree.

The Mam bowl and fork and spoon set is just like any other Mam product and is BPA free, The bowl has a suction ring on the bottom to keep it attached to babies highchair, I have to say as I was preparing Jovies food it got stuck to my worktop and I struggled to pull it off, So I can safely say it does its job there, Theirs also a lid for the bowl so if your going out somewhere you can bring your babies food alone in there own bowl or even if your baby no longer uses a the bowl you could use it for food storage, The bowl has two levels inside it to help make it easier for your child to pick there food up with there fork or spoon.

The fork is perfect for little babies and toddlers as it has all the normal things a fork would have only its more rounded so it wont hurt your baby or toddler when eating, Even though its more rounded than a normal fork you can still pick food up easy with it, The handles on the fork and spoon are curved to help your child learn how to hold them properly and they also have a nice rubber grip on them so they wont get slipey and become hard to hold.

If you would like to find out more about MAM and all there other products you can do so from there facebook page here
And you can also check out there website and shop here

Very clingy 10 month old

Just recently my daughter has got very clingy to me and my husband, I only noticed it the other day when I had a workman out to fix an hindge on my door and as he was doing it all she did was scream unless I was holding her, I thought at first it was just because she had never seen him before but then the next day my neighbour/ friend took her and my son while I went to hang my washing out(we live in a flat so the garden doesn't back right onto my flat and it means leaving the flat to do it), My daughter is normally ok with my neighbour but this time she just screamed.

The next time I noticed this was when my dad was round fitting my new washing machine again she screamed unless I had hold of her, Then me and my husband wanted to go out for a meal so we had my sister round to babysit for us and guess what, she screamed again but this time she made herself sick doing it, So me and my hubby had to drive back to get her and take her with us.

I just wish I knew how I could make her less clingy.

My little mans first day of preschool

After talking with my husband we decided the time was right to get our son into preschool, It all happened very quick as well, We made our minds up 23rd Feb so filled the forms in and gave our deposit on the 24th next thing I know im getting a phone call saying he can start on the 29th Feb, So on the 28th we had the chance to go visit, Lucas was very quick to leave me while I spoke to the people that run Pre school to hear what they do with the children.

Lucas enjoyed his visit that much that he didn't want to go home, So the 29th came and Lucas was all excited, me on the other hand was very nervous as I was worried how he would be when this time he wont even have me in the room with him, So at 9:15am the doors opened and Lucas ran in I followed after so I could hand his book bag in and say good bye at this point Lucas started to cry, I left quick so the ladies that run it could get him settled.
When I got home I decided to blitz the house and the whole time I was doing that I was checking my phone incase I got a call to say they couldn't settle him, Before I knew it it was time to pick him up, As Jovie was asleep in the pushchair I asked one of the staff if they could send Lucas out for me, A few minutes later out came Lucas holding one of the staff members hands and I was greeted with a great big hug.

When we got home I checked his book to see a really nice comment from one of the staff members to say Lucas settled in very well and really enjoyed painting, I was so proud when I read this as Lucas can be a bit of a bully to his sisters and wont share things so I was expecting a comment to say something like that, So I'm one proud mummy.

Hayley's Secntsations

I was sent some gorgeous smelling samples from Hayley, From the moment the package was given to me by the postman I could already smell the samples,
Scentsy is a safe alternative to wickless sented candles great for if you have children and like to have your house smelling great all the time.
All you need is to buy a warmer that has a heating element in and of course the Scentsy bars, The warmers prices start from £25 and Scentsy bars are priced at £5,

Their is a huge choice of fragrances to choose from and to use it all you need to do is add a couple of cubes from your bar to your warmer and you will have a great smelling house.
For more information you can visit Hayleys facebook page here and you can also visit her very own website here