Review: Playmobil 123

We may have mentioned once or twice how much Playmobil is adored in this house, and as Lara's birthday present mountain will attest the collection continues to grow and grow.  Sophia plays with the 'real' Playmobil too, but often gets pushed out of games by her older sister, so when some lovely Playmobil 123 arrived for her recently, she was delighted!

Review: Love From... Lalaloopsy Magazine

Lara is absolutely Lalaloopsy-mad, and has an ever-growing collection of the mini dolls and a couple of the bigger ones too.  She brandishes her Collector's Guide with relish and goes through checking off her mini dolls and making lists of who she wants next.  So when we were offered the opportunity to review the current issue of Love from... magazine, we jumped at the chance!

7 Ways To Make The Most Of Shared Parental Leave

It looks like the government is gearing up to make shared parental leave finally a reality. This is great opportunity for equal parents to spend time together with their newborn child and the rest of their family. But how can you make this time special?

Small Business Guide: The Value of Local Listings

With so many small businesses and local independent traders struggling to keep their heads above water, today's guest post gives some sound advice on getting your name out there.

In the current economic climate small businesses need all the help they can find to get their name out there and attract customers. Many businesses are not only operating in a competitive environment, they also have to factor in rising costs such as rent, gas and electricity. To some extent expenditure can be reduced in these areas by comparing energy prices from different suppliers, and not just the big names – for instance, Ovo reviews show that small providers can often give the best deals. But in other areas it is more difficult to cut expenses, so entrepreneurs always need to be able to innovate and search for new advertising and marketing opportunities.

Review: Barny Cake Bars

Barny cake bars were launched last autumn in chocolate and milk flavours, and now new strawberry and apple flavours have joined them.  We were supposed to go on a special adventure to enjoy our bars, but due to the continual ill health here, Sophia's apparent gluten intolerance, and the never ending pouring rain, we didn't manage to go on our adventure, and then it was too late to join in the BritMums linky.  A big fail all round!

World Book Day and Learning to Read

On Thursday it's World Book Day and up and down the land mums and dads are frantically preparing dressing up costumes.  When I was teaching Year 4, it seemed that half the class turned up as Harry Potter on 6th March.  I thought this was largely because our school tie was the same gold and burgundy stripes as the Hogwarts one; so just draw a scar on your forehead, add a cardboard wand and you're there!  But a recent survey of nearly 700 parents revealed that 1 in 8 children reported Harry Potter as their favourite fictional character.  Impressive statistics.

Review: Mega Bloks First Builders

Mega Bloks First Builders range was relaunched last summer and the girls were lucky enough to review a selection of products from the new range.  Sophia, then about 18 months old, has played with the toys and blocks pretty much every day since!  The range has now been expanded to include some excellent learning toys and more, and we have been sent a selection to play with.  Just look at Sophia's face when she saw what was in the box!  You might say she loves Mega Bloks!!

Parenting Prompt

Silent Sunday

Tatiana: 10 Weeks Old

Spring at Last!

SO happy to see these - and the sunshine - this week!

Happy Spring everyone!

Lara's 4th Birthday

By some extraordinary alchemy my darling baby Lara turned four on Tuesday.  Last weekend we had two parties to celebrate, the first with her little friends at our local soft play centre; and the second a 'grown ups tea party' at Lara's request at home.  Lara had a fantastic time at both her parties, although at times she found it all a bit overwhelming, poor thing!