MoneySupermarket's Big Night In

Yesterday was a special day for me and OH, it was our 6 year wedding anniversary and we went out to celebrate. We went out in the daytime though for lunch as this was easier to organise babysitting for and that point very much illustrates how nowadays we struggle to get out as a couple and so instead we try to have a good night in, rather than a good night out! We wanted to carry on the wedding anniversary vibe and so we used £50 that MoneySupermarket recently gave us to have “A Big Night In” to do something very different to the last time and instead of getting dolled up to stay in and have cocktails we decided to have a leisurely, relaxing night in. This was much deserved after a bad night with Noah, a trip to London for lunch, back to run around with the kids for a couple of hours in the garden whilst keeping an eye on the Wimbledon tennis final and then a crazy bedtime where the kids were too hot and wouldn’t settle to sleep for over an hour. Just as the hysterical laughter from upstairs started to wain we visibly unwound.

We slobbed out in in new pyjamas!

ACTUAL Fresh pizza making! (it was hot, by way of explanation of topless OH!)

Made homemade fresh pizzas (the kids helped with making the dough for these!), which we'd never done before and was fun, messy, took longer to make than we thought they would (we were waiting on the yeast to prove) but were totally delicious.

Pepperoni and Mushroom Pizza

And watched a chick-flick - just proving what a wonderful husband he is by letting me watch my choice of film! We had homemade popcorn and a cheeky rum and Coke.

It was a tech free zone, there were no social media interruptions, OH wasn’t watching the golf on the iPad whilst also watching TV. We were absorbed in the film and in each other. It was a really relaxed, chilled evening, one that we deserved after a fun, hot and tiring weekend.

Thanks MoneySupermarket for giving us the £50 budget to blow on whatever we wanted!

Little Us Dolls Review and Giveaway

LAUNCHING IN THE UK, Little Us is a brand new range of enchanting dolls for pre-school girls, each one with her own unique personality. These adorable soft dolls will soon become the must have under arm toy with girls choosing the doll that is ‘most like me’.

Let your child begin the delightful Little Us story by identifying with one the girls – maybe it will be Chloe who likes everything pink, or Amelia who loves animals and reading, or perhaps it will be Ruby who’s just a little bit cheeky, or finally Millie, the tomboy of the group! 

Measuring approximately 12” high and made from the softest plush material, the dolls are so huggable they are perfect for young children as their first doll. The dolls are ideal as a snug companion for play or sleep time and will encourage creative imaginative role play.

Isla was sent a Little Us doll to give her opinion on it. I chose Chloe for her as Isla is very much into pink like a lot of girls her age. It's a really well made doll and perfect size for carrying around (my children both carry a toy ALL the time) and as soon as she got Chloe she was fastened in her toy buggy and was pushed around the house. Chloe has become a regular part of Isla's toy entourage now and has been elevated to sleeping companion. I asked her why she liked Chloe and she said "because she wears pink!", with a tone of disdain, it's obvious Mum!

I'm giving you a chance to win a Little Us Doll. All you have to do is follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!

Read the Little Us stories and follow their adventures on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/LittleUsdollsDolls will be available to purchase from Harrods, Hamleys, Asda.com and Debenhams.com RRP £9.99.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How To Stop a 2 Year Old Night Feeding and Other Tales.....

So lately we’ve had quite a few little funny conversations and incidents, Noah has picked up OH's habit of saying "for pete's sake", which sounds rather too cute and is always in context! And Isla is full of lots of cheekiness at the moment, with her favourite insult being "Boo-Boo Chicken Face"......The one incident that sticks topmost in my mind is this one:

We’re on the bus to ballet, Isla is sitting next to me and an elderly man and woman get on. I don’t notice their faces but Isla does and asks me, “why’s that man so sad?” (obviously loud enough for most of the bus to hear – except for the man in question, thank god!). I didn’t see him, but after a minute or two I turned round to look and admittedly he does seem to have one of those naturally sad looking faces, very down turned mouth and sad eyes. He doesn’t seem sad at all (he’s talking very animatedly with the lady) but it’s just his expression that Isla has taken to mean he is sad. Just to make sure that I understand what she means she then goes on to pull lots of sad looking faces to demonstrate a sad face…..at this point I had to take a photo.

As the man got off the bus he was talking to the lady he got on with and he no longer looks as sad, Isla seemed really relieved by it and told me “That man’s not sad anymore”…….

We’ve also been battling with Noah over his nightly milk consumption and we decided a fortnight ago that it needed to stop. An almost 2 year old does not need milk during the night! It has stopped you’ll be pleased to hear but we had a hellish 3 or 4 days where it was literally cold turkey for him and a full 90 minutes at about 1am with a battle of our will against his. The second night that we were doing this, I dealt with his screaming and crying very calmly and just tried to talk him down and get him back to sleep. He could try the patience of a saint though, bear in mind that it’s 1am, this is a small excerpt of his random requests, starting off with the obvious one:

“I WANT MILK”

“I WANT MILK”

Me: You can’t have milk, here’s some water if you’re thirsty

“I WANT MILK IN BOTTLE” (we cut out bottles at the same time as cutting the milk)

“I NOT WANT BEAKER”

“I NOT WANT WATER, NOT LIKE WATER”

“I NOT WANT WATER, NEVER, EVER, ANYMORE!”

Me: Well that’s all you can have I’m afraid (gritting my teeth at this point)

Then things went crazy and even though I was tired, I did want to giggle at these requests:

“I WANT GO IN GARDEN” (It’s 1am, I don’t think so)

“I WANT GO DOWNSTAIRS” (not a chance)

“I WANT BISCUIT” (most definitely not)

Intermittently there was a return to the milk request. Met with a firm no.

“I WANT RABBIT” – give him his rabbit, it’s thrown on the floor “I DON’T WANT RABBIT”

“I WANT TEDDY” – give him his teddy, it joins rabbit on the floor “I DON’T WANT TEDDY!”

Then we have a conversation about the dustbin men, as he loves watching them out the window on Monday mornings. I explain calmly (although finding it hard to stay calm by this point) that it’s actually Wednesday and it’s around 1.30am by now and I don’t think they come at this time. Then we chatted about going to the park. Then we go back to the milk thing.

“I WANT MILK, I NOT WANT WATER”  This repeats for about 20 minutes

“NOT WANT WATER”

“WANT WATER” – I nearly fall over at the shock that perhaps he’s serious and he wants water, give him water, he conks out and I go back to sleep.

It was a hard week. I’m not going to lie but it has led to him sleeping through the night now and after a full 6 nights of sleeping through I feel confident that it’s dealt with. Thank the Lord!

An Afternoon on Bournemouth Beach

This week we went to Rockley Park, Haven Holiday Camp in Poole. We got back today and we're positively exhausted. The kids loved every minute of it. More of the holiday camp itself to come in another post but here are a few snaps from a few hours spent on Bournemouth beach. It wasn't the best of weather but we still managed to have a good time and the kids loved the freedom of space that the beach afforded them (I'm sure on a hot summers (?!) day, space is hard to find on Bournemouth beach!). 

We started off with a walk down the pier and then this happened:

I don't know about you, I love and hate these rides. It's like the kids have a radar for them and once they've spotted one then they can't get them out of their heads. I love that the kids just have so much fun on them, what I don't love is the badgering to keep going on them, BUT we were on holiday so it's allowed.

Next we hit the beach. It was overcast and I was all for getting back in the car and going back to the indoor pool at Rockley Park (and a cuppa in the van), but we stuck it out and I'm glad we did. It's really us adults that spoil the fun sometimes and so I put thoughts of being in the warm aside and we left Grandma in the deckchair covered up with a towel and started to make 'something'. We don't really know what it is that we made but it was a family effort and it gave Isla a sense of pride once 'it' was finished! She was responsible for all the decoration - obviously - I mean that's what she loves doing. We collected shells and looked at them and had a good look at some seaweed too. Noah spent most of his time trying to knock down our good work!!

Here we are with our masterpiece!

Isla also practised writing her name, the sand is such a great place to do this as there is so much of it!

Finally there was just about time for a bounce on the most monstrous bouncy castle you've ever seen!

A massive sleep was had in the car after this, which we took advantage of with a quiet cuppa in the caravan!

Bezerkaz Circus - Amazing Entertainment for Any Event!

From village fetes, weddings, birthday parties & town Festivals to nationwide events such as Glastonbury Kid’s Field, WOMAD, the Girl Guide Association Centenary Camp & World Scout Jamboree - Bezerkaz Circus have performed jaw dropping tricks, made gigantic bubbles and taught exciting circus skills all over the UK and beyond.

We set out to amaze, inspire and facilitate a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Set up in 2001, we offer an incredible variety of tricks for children’s parties and are much more than just children’s entertainment. We can mix shows, walkabouts & workshop activities, for a unique experience of both amazement and meaningful learning. 

Photo Courtesy of David Weedon

Our circus skills workshops allow children to try challenging activities such as plate spinning, diabolo, juggling, twirling, balancing objects, bubble making, clown games and lots more, meaning that everyone will find something they enjoy and CAN achieve- So much more valuable than ONLY watching a show. We adapt and tailor workshops for all ages and abilities and are specialists in the field of special needs and disability schools and integrational workshops.

In addition, we can meet and greet on stilts, perform bubbles, make balloon models, juggle fire and offer a clown show all helping to make your event and unforgettable and educational experience.This year we will be working all over England - Lounge on the Farm in Canterbury (Kent) , Party in the Park - Woking (Surrey), Whitehaven Maritime Festival (Cumbria and Lake District), Lyne Family Fun Day (Surrey), Dursley Town Festival (Cotswolds), Bakewell Music Festival (Derbyshire), Burgess Hill Fun Day (Sussex) as well as countless schools, school fetes and children's birthday parties. 

Please do see our websites 

http://www.bezerkaz.co.uk

http://circus-workshop.net

or call 07866261346 for more information. 


This isn't a paid for post, this is a post for a good friend of mine. I can vouch that he is a born entertainer and would be brilliant for events, particularly for children. 

Disney Pixar Monsters University - Guest Review

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to a first screening of Monsters University in the UK. Unfortunately we couldn't make it!! So I emailed a good bloggie friend, Jo at Adequate Parent (don't be fooled - she is more than adequate!) and she said that H, her little girl would love it, so here is her round up of the screening of Monsters University:

 

If you've seen Monsters Inc then you'll know what happens - this prequel shows us how Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan (aka Sulley) meet and end up working together as a team. Actually, doing this is refreshing - it's not Monsters Inc 2 which you get which generally Disney-Pixar get right (see Toy Story). Here's the trailer :

There were activities for kids before the movie started - and we were lucky, H got her face painted and got a Mike balloon made for her, from this chap who made a huge balloon Monster hat everyone got to try - but the main reason everyone was there was to see the film, and we were told by the directors that actually we were one of the first audiences to see it in the world. Blimey!

We were introduced to Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae as well as other key people who made the film before Mike and Sulley came and waved hello to us all. After that, the film - we were treated to a new Pixar animation 'The Blue Umbrella' which was charming, and will be shown alongside Monsters University (so make sure you get there in time - it's only six minutes long). 

So, Monsters University. What is there to say? The film focuses around Mike which surprised me as I felt like Monsters Inc is definitely more of a Sulley film, but actually it works - and you find out about his background, and getting into University. He's the hard working one who dreamed of becoming a Scarer, whereas Sully is the laid back (almost horizontal) student whose father works at Monsters Inc. Mike has the ambition, Sulley the skills. Add to that they both become fiercely competitive - and take an instant dislike to each other.

I don't want to give a lot of the plot away, but going to Monsters University and being thrown out of the course you really need to get to Scare School isn't great, so they need to find an alternative way to get in - and both of them work out that working together is something they actually do well. 

Don't expect it to fall into the obvious conclusion either - that's what makes the film. It's a hilarious, happy film, one we enjoyed watching as a family - and was also our first 3D experience. Was it scary? Not at all. Did H enjoy it? Absolutely! It's rated U here and ends up being a nostalgic trip to University which people of all ages will enjoy - there's enough humour for a three year old and a forty three year old to laugh at the same jokes; we loved it! 

Monsters University is released on July 12th 2013, Certified U.

Directed by Dan Scanlon, Produceed by Kori Rae. With voices from: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Charlie Day, Joel Murray, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Julia Sweeney, Peter Sohn

"Like" Disney Pixar on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DisneyPixarUKDisney's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/WaltDisneyStudiosUK 
Follow Disney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DisneyMoviesUK

We were sent free tickets to the screening of this film, all words and opinions are courtesy of Jo at Adequate Parent and they are honest and true! Thanks Jo for stepping in for us! 

Hungry to Happy Challenge - Tasty Moroccan Meatballs Recipe

We were sent some of of the new Richmond Mini Meatballs to try and used it as an excuse to try out new flavours on the kids. Here we have........

Tasty Moroccan Meatballs: Total cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 x packs of Richmond Meatballs
1 red pepper - diced
1 onion - diced
1 clove of garlic
1 tspn cumin
1 tspn ground coriander
1 tspn paprika
1 tin of tomatoes
Dessert spoon of runny honey
1 tbspn sundried tomato puree
200 ml water
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 200C - once pre-heated pop Richmond mini meatballs in the oven for 8 minutes

While meatballs are cooking, prepare sauce:
Fry off the pepper, onion and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes gently until soft
Add the spices and fry for another minute
Add Tinned tomatoes, water sundried tomato paste and runny honey and bring to a fierce bubble! Then turn down to simmer for 10 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper.

Next I blitzed the sauce with a hand blender so that it was smooth for the kids and took the meatballs from the oven and added them to the sauce. 

I served with Cous Cous. 

The kids actually loved it! They love meatballs anyway and these are perfect in size for their little mouths. They are so quick to prepare and versatile. I think I will just cook them with homemade chips and peas next time we use them rather than jazzing them up with a sauce.

This post is an entry for BritMums’ Hungry to Happy Challenge sponsored by Richmond Mini Meatballs. We were sent a voucher to use to buy the meatballs, but as is typical with me I forgot to bring the vouchers when I needed to buy them!