A Pretty Russian Doll Dress

As you may be aware that I am posting a lot more about what I am making in my stolen spare time. Time that I should be doing other things like cleaning or washing but the truth is all that stuff is never ending and it's not going anywhere. People have been asking me how I find the time to do anything with having 4 children and a husband to look after, its an unpaid full time job so I reward myself with a short couple of hours in the evening or if I am really lucky when the bigger kids are at school and the little ones are sleeping and having a quite half an hour in front of the tv. I really have to steal this time and force myself to make the time to do something I want to do as in a house that is so busy I would never have the chance, for my own sanity and well being its the right thing to do. Sound like I am feeling guilty you say? Yes I guess I do but that's because my children and my husband are my life but I want to create something for me that really works, other than this blog, that thing has to be something creative and I would love to turn that into my future career so I guess I am in the practise stage. I hated sewing at school, thought it was boring, would much rather it be break time, or even home time, with the exception of art which surprisingly I never took as a gcse, wrong choices and bad guidance I guess.

Anyway, that's enough rambling I want to show you the latest little project that I am so very proud of myself for achieving as its only the second pattern I have ever followed. I would love any feedback whether its good or bad so please let me know what you think as its really important to me to find out if this is something that I do for a future career.

Harness Buddies From Goldbug Review and Giveaway

 Little M is the perfect age for wearing a harness, not all the time but there have been moments when I wish she was wearing one purely because its hard to watch both little ones when they decide to go off and play in different directions and they usually choose to do this when Daddy isn't there to help.

Harness Buddy from Goldbug have a lovely range of designs and this fairy one is perfect for little M. They are priced at £19.99


 There are 20 different designs to choose from and they can be used anywhere so perfect for those times when safety is an issue like crossing the road or near water. 
It can also be used as just a backpack, Little M loves carrying bags around with her and already has her own little collection of bags, she didnt want to take this one off!
The straps are completely adjustable and it has safety buckles too with a secure clip attachment so little ones cant remove it themselves.
Its machine washable although we haven't washed ours yet as it is still clean and like new. 
Suitable from 18 months plus and this definitely gets a thumbs up from us as the previous harness we had for the whirlwind wasn't a fun design it was just functional and he hated wearing it.

How would you like to win one of your own harness buddies? I have one to give away and its a really cute owl! To be in with a chance of winning just complete the tasks on the rafflecopter form and complete the form, boring I know but also don't forget to read the terms and conditions. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get kids helping around the house

One of the big battles in our house and I am sure I am not alone here, is getting the kids to help out with the chores. The oldest 2 have to help out with loading and unloading the dishwasher most evenings and that seems to work nicely but when it comes to all the other time consuming things that if I did them all myself would take all day everyday and then there would be no time for play. I want to teach them that money doesn't come for free in this life, well unless you win the lottery 
but even then you have to buy a ticket! I know some people might have other opinions on this, kids should be allowed to be kids etc, yes I totally agree but we are the ones who have to prepare them for the big wide world and yes I am a stay at home mum but with a big family its really hard work and my thoughts are if the kids chip in to help then we all get more quality time together and its teaching them about earning money at the same time. So I looked around on Pinterest for a few ideas of how to make things more fun to achieve both goals. Mostly I found fridge magnets with chores on or lolly sticks but I didnt have either of those at hand. As I have started keeping glass jars when they are empty I thought this could be the perfect opportunity to use one. A really simple idea, write the jobs on a small piece of paper and how much the job is worth, ours range from 50p up to £3 depending on the difficulty and time span of the job and put them all in this empty honey jar that I decorated with some ribbon, a yoyo circle, a button and my glue gun and I have a jar of jobs. The kids reaction... "brilliant idea" so now every time I get asked for money they rush to the jar to pick a job... win win

If anyone would like a tutorial on how to make a yoyo circle from a scrap of fabric please let me know and I can put one up for you :)

Britax And BOB Sponsor The BLISS Buggy Push For a Second Year

BRITAX AND BOB SPONSOR THE BLISS BUGGY PUSH FOR A SECOND YEAR

London, UK: For the second year running, leading child safety brand, BRITAX, is proud to announce its dual headline sponsorship of the 2014 Bliss Buggy Push alongside sporty outdoor stroller brand, BOB. The Bliss Buggy Push involves a series of family-friendly 5km buggy walks or runs across the UK, designed to help raise money for Bliss, the special care baby charity.

Bliss is a UK charity working to provide the best possible care and support for all premature and sick babies and their families. One in every nine babies is born premature or sick - that is around 80,000 babies every year.

Bliss is encouraging people all around the country to organise their own Buggy Push in their local area between May and December 2014, with the flagship London launch event taking place in Battersea Park, London on 31 May.

The Bliss Buggy Push series is Bliss’ most successful family fundraising event where mums, dads and children come together to raise money for the charity. Alongside sponsorship of the event BRITAX will also be giving away one of its most popular pushchairs, the BRITAX affinity, to the highest individual fundraiser in this year’s Bliss Buggy Push series. More details about the events and how to enter the competition are available here. 

Bengi Bingol Yalcin, UK Marketing Manager at BRITAX remarks, ‘We’re very proud to be coming on board with Bliss again this year. The Bliss Buggy Push is an incredible event that’s really accessible to anyone who wants to get up and active with their little one - and the best part is it’s all in the name of a fantastic cause.’

This year, the London Buggy Push closely follows the launch of the brand new BOB Revolution PRO, BRITAX/BOB’s most versatile outdoor stroller yet. The Revolution PRO allows parents to run and train with their child, with the added flexibility of having a swivel front wheel, making it the perfect everyday stroller too. So if you’re looking for a new training companion ahead of your push this year, don’t forget to check it out.

Musical Rainbow Tea Party From LeapFrog

Its my total pleasure to be able to show you another product from LeapFrog. Suitable for ages 12-36 months this fantastic toy teaches colours & matching, manners & greetings and counting. It has 10 pieces, basically everything you can see in the picture. The teapot sings 7 different songs and has over 50 phrases and sounds including a realistic sound of pouring tea. It also lights up when you make the pouring tea action by tipping it up and it tells you when the teapot is empty and prompts the child to press the button on the front to fill it back up. There are 2 different volume levels which is handy at times.

Little Moo loves playing with this and pouring cups of tea for mummy and then pretending to drink the tea too, a girl after my own heart, I love a good cuppa! 

Since playing with this toy she is picking up the names of the colours really quickly and before long she will know them really well. I think this is a great way to learn colours as it has kept her engaged in play for a good 20 minutes which is fantastic concentration for a child that is not yet 2.

Both of the little ones are playing with it as I type and are making playdoh cookies and food to go with their little tea party. Pretend play is so much fun and yet so important for their development, they are like little sponges learning and soaking everything up. I have to say there is only one thing about this toy that I would change and it comes down to packaging. 

There are 2 holes in each teacup where they have been attached to the packaging and sometimes the little ones like to take their pretend play a little step further by using water as their pretend tea but they are unable to do this with this toy because of the holes and a simple change of packaging would solve the need for the holes although this toy is not meant for water play it would be good to have that option if they wanted. Other than that we really love this toy and give it a big thumbs up. 

You can buy the Musical Rainbow Tea Party for around £19.99 but at the moment they are only £14.99 on amazon, what a bargain. I would definitely be happy paying that for a toy that has brought so much entertainment and learning qualities for us.

We were sent this toy for the purpose of the review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A trip to the woods

Its funny that we sit here and look for places to visit for family days out, usually ending in spending money on entry to somewhere and fuel to get there but that means we sometimes miss what is right on our doorstep! We just went literally around the corner and went for a stroll through the woods that we have never been to the whole time we have lived here! It was a lovely sunny day, clearly not the last couple of days as it hasn't stopped raining. Typical for the Easter  holidays so it looks like we will be finding some craft projects for the little ones to keep them entertained in the hope that the weather brightens up and we can get some fresh air and exercise. It its lovely being out and seeing signs of spring, growth and new life and great to see the kids playing nicely together and having fun. This was only a short walk as the Mr had to go to work but it was just good to get out.
G seems to love climbing and managed to find several places that he could climb and he even found a few places to hide, he is developing new skills all the time and he loves being outdoors.
The older 2 enjoyed trying to stay upright whilst rolling logs across the ground. All this fun in under an hour, it was a real shame we couldn't stay longer. A very refreshing trip :)

Henry HuggleMonsters Roarsome Scooter Review

Based on the hit Disney show, Henry Hugglemonster, Golden Bear is introducing a Roarsome new toy collection including all of the favourite characters from the show that are bound to delight and entertain little monsters everywhere!

The family TV series follows the adventures of fun-loving, five-year-old Henry Hugglemonster, the middle child in a happy, madcap close-knit monster family – the Hugglemonsters. Each story transports pre-schoolers into Henry’s world as he guides the young audience through the ups and downs of being part of a loving but bustling family. The series is based on the award-winning children’s book “I’m a Happy Hugglewug” by Niamh Sharkey who is Irish Laureate for Children's Literature, and also executive producer for the series which has been watched by over 6.2 million viewers aged 4+ since its launch less than a year ago, on Disney Junior.

 Henry HuggleMonster is one of the favourites here so the little ones were delighted to receive this new toy from Disney. Henry's roarsome scooter is recommended for age 3 and above although little M who is nearly 2 loved playing with this too and there are no small parts so I felt perfectly fine letting her play with it. Henry can be detached from his scooter and he says 6 different phrases, his arms and legs also move so you can put him in different poses. 

He comes complete with batteries so no need to faff about when you take him out of the box, he can be played with straight away. I think he is rather cute! He rolls along the floor easily when pushed and its easy to put him on and off his scooter too.  Henry HuggleMonsters Roarsome Scooter can be bought for £14.99