Big man is very thin, and a bit short. This causes a problem with school trousers. Firstly I need to get him ones with adjustable waistbands secondly they need taking up. I have tried wonder web and sewing and they all manage to fall apart after a few wears. I am now going to give VELCRO® a go! If it works it means that I can also adjust the length as he grows. I used the iron on VELCRO® and just made sure that the fuzzy bit was on the bit that may touch his leg and the prickly bit on the turn up - I believe these are the technical terms!




I can't tell you if this is a long term solution yet as he hasn't worn them enough. Time will tell, but for now I am excited!  I will update the post when I know more!

Using VELCRO® stick on tape means that he can easily take it off and hang it on his door if he thinks he needs some time alone. Yes this is my just turned 5 year old. What will he be like when he is a teenager? 





We were sent a box of VELCRO® products for the challenge. Follow other peoples uses on twitter using #101uses.

We have a whiteboard in the kitchen. The idea is that you write down what you need when you have run out of it. The problem is that it never came with a pen holder! Nine times out of ten I don't write down what we need because there is no dry wipe pen. Well those days are now gone, as the VELCRO® has come out again. This time in the form of "super slim stick on" Hey presto - I now know where the pen is. And as you can see I should probably be doing an internet grocery shopping order from the length of that list, rather than blogging. 





We were sent a box of VELCRO® products for the challenge. Follow other peoples uses on twitter using #101uses.

With Christmas on the way and the inevitable influx of toys, I have been trying to sort out the playroom. I have cleared out a couple of toys that my boys have outgrown and thrown away any broken ones.Some of my boys' favourite toys are VELCRO® fruit and veg. As they have been played with a lot, some of the VELCRO® has come off or is looking worse for wear. Rather than throw these I have refreshed them with VELCRO® dots and give them a new lease of life.





We were sent a box of VELCRO® products for the challenge. Follow other peoples uses on twitter using #101uses.

A few days ago big man spun a story about the tooth fairy getting confused and leaving a peanut M&M under his pillow, so he thought he had better eat it. My response "How dare you make up lies! The tooth fairy wont come to little boys that lie, and neither will Father Christmas!"

Hmmmmnnnn so that's one lie responded to by another then.

And so comes Christmas full of deciet. How many of you have threatened your kids with no presents unless they are good? How many of you have come up with the most confusing explanations as to why Father Christmas is at the local carnival/shopping centre/on posters around town. I am dreading the questions this year. I need to get my lies sorted in my head before big man asks the questions. He is a very questioning little five year old. Recently when we went to watch Ice Age Live he asked the question I fear just as much as those about Santa. As the actors came out of the costumes in order to do the fight scenes he asked "Is Mickey Mouse real Mummy?" This was an easy one for me to answer. "Well I believe he is!" When I am in a Disney bubble I really do! I then, however, made the mistake of continuing to talk. I told him that this was a story about the ice age and that these animals are now extinct which is why actors are playing them, but Mickey is real as we have seen him in Paris. Of course he doesn't talk because he would get a sore throat talking to all those people and there are many languages he would need to know.

So is it right to lie to your kids? When it comes to Christmas I think it is fine. He is only five, and it is so magical when they really believe that Santa will visit. Obviously we have a slight problem this year in that Middle man is a little bit naughty. Big man keeps telling him that he won't get any presents! I think I therefore need to start highlighting and praising any good behaviour middle man exhibits, infront of big man. Alternatively, I could just give middle man a satsuma from Father Chrsitmas this year. Which to be honest he would probably be quite happy with!

So what white lies have you come up with about Christmas? Do you just keep it simple or have you told a web of lies? Just to really complicate things I have arranged a free phone call from Mickey Mouse who will tell the children that Santa knows they have been good. I am making it go to answerphone though so they don't get upset that the pre-recorded message doesn't answer them!

There is a part of our bedroom that annoys me a lot and it looks like this:



I am forever getting the cables tangled and spending far too long untangling everything. So when I saw the VELCRO® cable ties, I knew exactly what to do with them!




 Now I have some neat and tidy bundles instead. Just need to get a box to put the items in and I will be happy. Hubbie is away for a couple of days now so I am going to see what jobs around the house I can do with my VELCRO® in the next few days.....

As part of National  VELCRO®  month,I have been sent a box of  VELCRO® goodies to see what I can do with them.I have had a lot on so have a lot of catching up to do! First up is the  VELCRO® kids masks. Yes I had no idea there were such things either! The concept is simple, a mask that you can stick pieces on to. We were given the pirate and jungle set.







I found some of the combinations a little freaky - for example big man insisted on being a pirate owl! The boys had fun with them and with Christmas coming they would be a good stocking filler.






We were sent a box of VELCRO® products for the challenge. Follow other peoples uses on twitter using #101uses.

This week I ate too much Gruffallo.



And then I ate too much smurf cake too.



Although the scales haven't shown it, I am pretty sure it will show up next week instead. But my boys' birthdays are now over, so I need to get back on track. What I have found out though, is after I have eaten one thing that I shouldn't it is very easy just to continue eating more and more and more that I shouldn't. I think I am going to find the next month quite hard, but must stay on track. The scales told me I had lost 4lbs this week which I was shocked by. They also told me that I need to lose nearly another stone - which was a bit depressing. My other half is travelling lots in the next couple of weeks, so I need to try and be good as this is another time where I get tired and eat the wrong things.

Don't forget to check out my weight loss buddies and show them some support too.

With only 5 weeks to go, it is time to get crafty with the kids. I always used to make my own Christmas cards, but don't have the time at the moment - which is why I think these kits are such a good idea. They are aimed at children, but are great for anyone. I thought I would have a go with middle man who is two and a half. He loved them. He did these three all in one go, which is great concentration for such a small person. When he finished he announced "Wow! They beautiful! I expert!"



Ok, they aren't perfect, but that is what I like about them. Even better was that there was no glue, paint or glitter involved! If you fancy making some of these cards, with or without your kids, you can buy the kits here. Some of the stickers are small for very small children so they will need help, but that's all part of the fun if you ask me. The pack consists of 12 cards and envelopes, enough stickers to make the 12 cards (2 of each design) and postage and packing is included in the price.

And here the cards I made.



I was given a pack of stickers for the purpose of the review, but all the opinions here are my own.

If you are a Masterchef fan, you might be interested to know that Tidla rice have teamed up with Dhruv Baker to make a limited edition rice pouch - British Curry Steamed Basmati. They sent me one to try so I had a look around the cupboards for some ingredients. I found, an aubergine,  green pepper, onion, Thai curry sauce. I then defrosted some chicken from the freezer. Last week I went to a pampered chef party, and now have a renewed interest in my rectangular baker, so just bunged all my ingredients in, for 40 mins in a medium oven, and then heated my rice up in the microwave for 2 mins. Nice and easy.



The rice tasted good - with a slight onion taste. If you go to the Tilda website there is a recipe to follow to make Dhruv's Biryani, which I am sure will taste good. But, to be honest mine was pretty nice and used up all my left overs too.

I was sent the packet of rice for the purpose of this review but the opinions contained here are my own.

Just a quick update this week. I have been without "Jenny" and I am pleased to say that I managed to lose 2lbs. This included going out to the Harvester for lunch. They are helpful by displaying the number of calories on the menu, but it is pretty horrific when you work out that under normal circumstances you have easily eaten a days worth of calories in one sitting! Anyway my babies birthdays are coming up the next couple of weeks so I may have to indulge in a little bit of cake here and there.

This week, reading Misty's post about gender stereotyping got me thinking. My boys are usually dressed in blue and usually play with boys toys. Having said that, they like play food - which seems to be mainly focused on girls, and big man's sweet shop from Argos definitely had a sticker on it saying that it was a girls toy! Maybe boys aren't meant to eat sweets or pretend to be a shop keeper, who knows!?! Whenever we go to a friends house who has girls, my boys head straight to the dolls and prams. They don't have any of their own as given the choice they will choose a stereotypical boys toy for themselves. When I say they haven't got any dolls, I haven't included Tractor Girl.

Fuss pots from Annabel Karmel are a new ready meal for kids. Big and middle man tried out the the chicken chow mein and chicken korma. I took a risk with the korma as I have never been able to get them to eat curry, but I know they will eat spaghetti bolognase, so felt I might as well try something different.


As an adult, I can tell you they taste lovely (even if my pictures below don't look that appetizing.) The flavours are mild and they have veg combined in them too. The boys both ate the chicken chow mein, but weren't as keen on the korma (which I expected.) The portions are big and if I had thought about it, one pot would have fed both my little men (who are 5 and 2 1/2.) On an empty stomach they may have been more willing to eat the korma. The pots aren't cheap, when I went to Sainsburys they were £2.90 each. However, you pay for convenience and as they are just a few minutes in the microwave, there will be occasions when I am prepared to pay this premium for a quick dinner.

After you have finished your fuss pot the packaging can be turned into a little monster, which my little monsters enjoyed, and if you buy some cress seeds (or similar) then the monsters can grow some hair too! For more information on the Fuss Pots click here.



We were given the fuss pots for the purpose of this review, but the opinions here are my own and those of my boys'.

I learnt something this week. It is possible for me not to eat any of the kids Halloween sweets! I therefore expect that it is also possible to get through the festive season without eating my body weight in Celebrations and Roses.

Aunt Bessie's to me, means Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and chips. All very tasty but not great if you are on a diet. Which I am. I thought I would need to give this Britmum's linky challenge a miss as I am no good at resisting temptation, and didn't want to serve the family up a toad in the hole whilst I was chewing on a lettuce leaf. I was therefore really excited when I saw that Aunt Bessie have a much larger product range than I thought, including vegetables, fruit pies and casseroles. Here is my recipe idea for the family.

Stuffed Vegetables and Potato Croquettes

Ingredients:
Aunt Bessie's roasted vegetable stuffing mix.
Vegetables to stuff (I used peppers and tomatoes)
500g of lean minced beef
Garlic
Tomato puree
Cheese (I used half fat cheddar)
Aunt Bessie's potato croquettes (or if you are me, some salad)


Make up the roasted vegetable stuffing mix as instructed on the back of the packet. (Just add boiling water.)

Cut and hollow a selection of peppers and tomatoes. Spray with oil and put in a roasting tin in a preheated oven at 180 degrees. Also place the potato croquettes in the oven.

Fry the mince with garlic. Then combine with the stuffing mix and add tomato puree to taste.

Take the vegetables out of the oven (they should have softened slightly) and fill them with the mixture. Add some cheese and put them back in the oven for 10 more minutes.

Here are the finished meals. The boys don't like peppers so I did them tomatoes. Baby man gobbled it up.





And now for dessert.....

Apple, peach and pear crumble with custard.

Ingredients:

Apples
Tinned peaches and pears
Aunt Bessie's tempting golden crumble mix
Aunt Bessie's creamy instant custard with no added sugar.

Peel a couple of apples and cut them into small chunks. Heat them, until softened, in a pan with some of the juice that is in the tinned pears. Empty the tinned fruit and apple into a dish and sprinkle the crumble mix on top. Bake as per instructions on the packet.

Make up some creamy custard just by adding boiling water.




As I told you earlier, I am not good at resisting temptation so I had to try a small portion. It was yummy, and I really liked that the custard has no added sugar as the dessert is already sweet enough with the crumble topping.

If like me you thought Aunt Bessie's was just Yorkshire Pud's then take a look at their range on their website. And if you feel inspired by what you see, why not join in the linky challenge too - the competition closes on 15th November.

I am so happy that now that big man has started school he has started to take an interest in learning. He has always been inquisitive but is now interested in reading, writing and mathematics. We were recently sent Hot Dots to review by Learning Resources. It is an electronic pen that can be used with the Hot Dots flash cards. We were given the numbers and counting pack which is aimed at ages 3-6 years. The pack contains cards which cover counting, sequencing and matching.

Both middle and big man have enjoyed using the hot dots pen and cards. Middle man (who is 2 3/4) needs help and can only really attempt the counting ones at the moment. Once explained to big man, he was able to recognise each task and complete them independently. Below is a photo showing a selection of tasks you will find in this box.


I really like this product. It's only downside is that your child has to hit the dot on the right answer. If they miss and hit the box which contains the dot, it will tell them that it is wrong, which can cause some confusion. Big man has enjoyed using it, and has even asked if he can take it into school to show his teacher. He is able to complete most of the tasks on his own, after I explained what it was asking him. You need to buy the pen and cards separately.



In my opinion this is a good learning tool to reinforce what your child has learnt in the classroom. I will be purchasing some extra sets of cards. First on my list is the Beginning Science set as big man is very excited about the science set that Father Christmas is getting him and this will compliment it nicely. I would like to add that Father Christmas has already purchased the Primary Science Lab Kit which is also from Learning Resources and it is great for a 5 year old, with chunky test tubes and beaker.




I was sent the Hot Dots pen and Number and Counting pack for the purpose of the review, but all the opinions contained here are my own. I would like to add that before children I was a Science teacher and this is why I am so excited that big man has asked for a science set for Christmas.