As any Christmas should be, ours was all about family and friends and a trip to see the church nativity. Middle man was pleased that he was able to wear his donkey onesie again!

For the boy's Christmas party I had a go at making a Christmas Pinata cake. I can confirm that it is easier building an icing igloo than a real one. Strangely I left the cake on the table and all the smarties disappeared!



T'was the night before Christmas and outside the house, big man was ensuring that the reindeer's would not miss us by sprinkling reindeer food over the entire road.



Christmas morning was an array of wrapping paper everywhere, and the boys were pleased with all their new toys.




We had celebrated with both sides of our family prior to Christmas with presents so on Boxing Day, middle man was shocked that there weren't anymore. But then we met some friends so there were!

Time with family, friends and lots of parties. Christmas was lots of fun. Now to welcome in the New Year with a trip to the panto and dinner with friends. Goodbye 2013 you have treated us really well. Wishing all my lovely followers a happy and healthy New Year xxx

Our Parragon Book Buddies book for December was The Carrot Cake Catastrophe by Elizabeth Dale and illustrated by Gemma Raynor. It tells the story of Jenny the Rabbit who with the help of her Grandad bakes a carrot cake for her mother. I was concerned that as there was pink on the front cover, middle man would dismiss the book as being for a girl. However, middle man likes cooking and was keen to give the carrot cake a go!


I was half expecting our carrot cake to turn out as a catastrophe but it was actually really tasty! I particularly liked the recipe at the back of this book. With the rabbit theme it would make a lovely Easter gift instead of an egg. (I am sure there must be Cadbury's cream eggs in the shops by now.)

I was given the book to review as part of the Parragon Book Buddies scheme but the opinions here are my own.

Recently I was sent a years supply of Nano B toothrushes to review. As you may have worked out by now, I like trying out new products. I immediately loved the design, with them coming in their own test tubes. (I love Science too!)


The Nano B website states that they are the only manual toothbrushes to kill 99.9% of bacteria due to them containing nano sized particles of gold or silver.

A twin pack is currently on offer on their website for £11.99

In the new year I will be booking a dentist appointment. It will be interesting to see what he says about my gums. I am usually told that I need to see the hygienist and told to floss. My gums do sometimes bleed, but so far this has been much less since starting using the Nano B. I am also looking forward to trialing the gold brush as this is meant to reduce staining on the teeth. I will update you on how I get on in the new year.

Slightly late on this mosaic as Christmas got in the way! November seems to have centered around cake and chickenpox. Two birthday parties and lots of fun....

When Vistaprint asked if I would like to review one of their Photo Wall calenders, I thought it would be nice to make up one to give my Mum when we see her at Christmas. Earlier in the year I reviewed their Photo Book and was really impressed with the quality.

Uploading photos was fast and there was only one size of wall calender. I went for a plain red border but there were many different designs to choose from. I chose a picture of the boys from each month of last year and included pictures of my parents and sister where I could. I did do it in a bit of a rush and I would recommend that you take more time. The wall calender is quite big so it is important to have high quality photos.



The calender is nice, but I wonder whether it would have been worth upgrading to the premium glossy paper to make it special. There just wasn't the same feeling of quality that I feel the photo book has. Having said this, for £6.99 plus postage and packing, it is a good price and worth looking into if you are looking for a personalised calender this coming year.


I was given the wall calender for the purpose of this review but the opinions contained here are my own.

Are you in need of any last minute present ideas? Have you sorted Christmas but have Birthdays coming up in January? I am pretty much sorted now for Christmas, but I thought I would give you a few ideas if you are still in a mad panic and last minute shopping.

One thing we reviewed earlier in the year was the Chill Factor Slushy Cup. I have bought my boys one each for Christmas so that I can have that one for myself. Maybe it's because I never got a Mr Frosty when I was young that I have an obsession with them. Either way we can all enjoy some orange juice slush in the summer now without any arguments on whose cup it is



My boys love having glow stick baths in the winter and this underwater bath light from IWOOT is going to bring a smile to their faces. It can float on the water or you can add a weight so that it sinks. It is worth noting that 3 AAA batteries are required and not included. I have only played with this myself but I am sure the boys will enjoy having it in the bath. Personally I don't like the really fast flashing mode, and prefer the gentle colour changing.



If you have a shark fan, then this book is great. Big man has taken it into school and loves learning new facts. I don't really think about buying non fiction books for the children, but I really should as big man enjoys them just as much, if not more than a story book.



Last but not least why not have a go at making a present? I am pretty pleased with my Malteasers and chocolate orange Christmas pudding. I know I would be happy to receive one.


I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and wish you all the best for 2014!



We have recieved these products throughout the year for review purposes.

Where do you hide the Christmas presents?

This is a question my Mum would love to know the answer to. She continued to make us stockings once we had found out about Santa, and would buy things throughout the year. I was with her when she bought a foam snail pencil. Where did she hide it? To this day we still don't know! We are figuring that it somehow found his way into the rubbish bin. Now as a Mum myself I totally understand how she felt, with things hidden all over the place, so the boys can't find them and often me too!

So where does my husband hide his Christmas presents? Usually somewhere where I end up finding them! It doesn't take much effort to wrap a present up quickly and hide it at the bottom of a draw, but he never does this. Generally it is right on the top of one of his drawers and I end up finding it. If he does go to the effort of hiding it he tends to leave the receipt in full view on the chest of drawers. Luckily I am not a person who enjoys surprises!

So where do I hide the presents? Now that would be telling! But with 3 boys it isn't an easy job. Buying things online doesn't help as your recent views are always popping up in adverts. Hopefully I have managed to hide the presents well and there will be 3 surprised faces on Christmas morning.

A few weeks ago little man turned two so this week I took him for his 2 year check with the health visitor. I must admit I am rather similar to Basil Fawlty when he meets a psychiatrist i  situations like these. I automatically think that a health visitor is going to say I'm a bad mother and take my children away. I know this is a ridiculous irrational fear, but it is one I have. This doesn't help when they ask you simple questions about your child and you look blankly as though you have no idea.

"Can he match things?" "Ummmmm yes I think so."

"Can he climb?" "Yes too well. Actually if I can just go and get him off that table as he seems to want to demonstrate it to you now."

"Can he say too words together?" "Yes he can say Mummy Help! I then had to explain that this is what he shouts in his swimming lessons as he doesn't like being on the woggle by himself."

So after what seemed like a million questions she decided that everything seemed fine. Now just to measure and weigh him.

Easier said than done!

Little man seemed to have a fear of the height tool and ducked everytime it got anywhere near him!

Middle man demonstrated in a hope that it would encourage his brother. It didn't. It just caused middle man to demand a sticker for being really really brave! Ok now for the scales. Great. This is when he decided to demonstrate his jumping skills.

Health Visitors conclusion?

"You are a bit of a pickle aren't you!?!"

Yep she has summed up my little man perfectly.

When Poundland asked me to take part in their Christmas blogging challenge, I jumped at the chance. My friend had recently made a gorgeous bauble wreath with baubles she had purchased from Poundland, so I was going to a go myself. It is so simple, I don't know why I haven't tried before. I got one of my husbands old coat wire coat hangers that he had got from taking his suit from the dry cleaners, and cut one of the sides off as I didn't want the wreath to be too big. I then used my glue gun to secure the tops of the baubles stayed on. Next I threaded the baubles onto the wire. The tricky part came when I needed to make the wreath into a circle. The wire was thick so hard to bend. If the wire is too thin it wont hold it's shape. I then attached a bow using the decorative ribbon I purchased from Poundland.


It is now sitting happily on our door and even better is that the left over baubles are on our tree as I may have gained a slightly fatter tree than I was expecting this year.

All together the baubles and ribbon came to £7. However, Poundland gave me £20 so what else did I get?


A pack of stick on moustaches for middle man's stocking. I am not sure why he has asked for these. I am guessing he must want to become James Bond and these are for important spy work.
2 Table Runners. I have a plain red table cloth and  I thought these would make it look more festive
A pack of Moshi Monsters plasters - again a stocking filler for middle man
A pack of plastic tableclothes and 20 festive paper plates for a Christmas party that I am throwing for the children
A large tube of smarties which will be the middle of a pinata cake for the party
A pack of 3 plastic Christmas plates for the boys to have their Christmas dinner on and to use at the party
A pack of Walnut whips for my friend who at the age of 37 has never tried them as she thought they were coffee flavoured!
2 bars of Milka White Chocolate and 2 boxes of Malteasers so I could make these Malteaser and Chocolate orange Christmas Puddings which I had first seen on Mummy V's Work. It was really simple. I just melted the Milka chocolate to glue on the malteasers and then as the cream. I made the holly using icing. I think it would look nicer if you had a milk chocolate chocolate orange and glued with milk chocolate, but I am happy with this as my first attempt. I am now also going to have a go at making a cake along the same lines.


I am really pleased with my purchases from Poundland. £20 really does go a long way and the decorations will be used in years to come.


I was given a £20 voucher to spend at Poundland so I could take part in their blogger challenge.

We have recently had British Gas smart meters installed. I sometimes wonder if I can really make a difference when it comes to saving energy. After all we are just one of billions of families. Will we really make a difference? However, if we all make small changes then a bigger difference can be made, so I continue with trying to be as green as I can. I must admit I thought that the UK would be right at the top of energy saving in Europe but was surprised to hear that 94% of households in Italy have smart meters installed. You can read about my smart meter journey here. My boys are now showing an interest in the smart meter too which is fantastic as they are the next generation. If they start learning about energy saving now hopefully this will continue in the future. Even better is that it helps us save money too.

Conservative forecasts estimate that between 90 and 130 million meters will be installed worldwide every year until 2022 with the initiatives underway around the world. Closer to home, London is on course to save 219m through the smart meter revolution. If you are an existing British Gas customer, you can register for your free smart meter here. If you are looking for more information about them, then why not have a quick look at the video below.

I was very excited when Hobbycraft sent me a selection of their Christmas Crafts in a Stocking. Firstly, because little man is in need of a stocking and secondly, because I like to make handmade Christmas cards for family. For close family I like to send a card with a picture of the boys on. I printed out an H and an O and cut them out onto red foam. I then took photos of each of my boys holding them. I quickly edited them in Picmonkey and printed them off. I then used the lovely red cards and paper flowers from Hobbycraft to decorate them. The only thing you need to remember is to check the postage on these cards as the jewels are raised so it might be classed as a large letter.


For some really simple cards, I stuck these glitter Christmas trees in a row and added a seasons Greetings sticker that I had in my craft supplies.



Our elf has also got into crafting and even modeled his own foam Santa one night!



Middle man has now finished pre school for Christmas so next week I plan to use the other embellishments with him. I also need to finish little man's stocking which I am planning to decorate with a snowman off of his old sleepsuit from last year. Hobbycraft has really made it easy to do some crafting, which is great as at this time of year, I need some quick solutions. Have you been making any Christmas crafts? Have you got any ideas for quick and simple crafts?




We were given the goods above for the purpose of this post but the opinions here are my own.

Big man is an Angry Birds fan so he was excited to receive The Great Egg Hunt  press out and play book to review. You can make your own towers, balance the pigs and then throw the birds at them to knock them down. The book so has a number of games to play ranging from a simple board game to spot the birds. I like this as it gives you a range of activities to complete.

It seem's that lots of people are adopting the idea of a Christmas eve box. If you are then this book might be just what you are looking for. I am sure that you already know the poem The Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore, and this book combines it with beautiful illustrations.


Whilst the language is quite difficult for younger children, I think that they should still be exposed to this classic rhyme, and the fantastic illustrations will capture their imagination. We will certainly be reading it on Christmas Eve. You can purchase The Night Before Christmas from Amazon.


We are Parragon Book Buddies and were given this book for the purpose of this review but the opinions here are my own.

My sister was lucky enough to go and watch Shrek the musical at the West End. Unfortunately I couldn't make it as I couldn't get a baby sitter. So when Shrek the musical came out on DVD I was happy to review it as my sister had told me how good it was.

There is no substitute for seeing a play live as a DVD can't draw you in, in the same way. It does however, enable you to watch something in the comfort of your own home and see a variety of angles that you wouldn't have been able to appreciate if you had gone to the theatre to see it. If you like musicals and like Shrek then I don't think you would be disappointed by the DVD. As in the film, I really like donkey. There are some fantastic actors and fabulous costumes. I particularly liked Pinocchio's nose growing. All in all a lovely stocking filler for musical fans.


We were given a copy on DVD for the purpose of this review but the opinions here are my own.

If you have have read my blog before, you will know I am keen on memory making rather than physical possessions. That is why I am really pleased to be able to offer you this giveaway from Experience Days. As their name suggests, they offer experiences ranging from a relaxing pamper day to a thrill seeking skydive. (I have done a tandem and a wind tunnel and I loved both.) I have yet to experience the company myself, but looking at their website there really does seem to be something to please everyone. I couldn't turn the opportunity down for one of my readers to have an experinece day for themselves. So why not try your luck and see if you can win something for a loved one or yourself in time for Christmas.



Please read the terms and conditions, in order to receive this prize in time for Christmas the winner needs to reply with their address details by 19th December.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

I love the idea of getting crafty with the children at Christmas. I am less keen on a complete mess being made. I have tried footprint reindeer's before, but this year I opted for the mess free version of drawing onto foam instead.

After forgetting to publish my post in time last month I have promised big man that I would take a photo of his drawing and post it on time this December.

Christmas is on it's way and most of all big man is continuing to worry if Santa's elves are able to make the Supergrafix he has asked for. I have assured him that if worse comes to the worse and they can't make it they will be allowed to purchase it from Argos!

As he now thinks he is an artist, I think he will be very happy on Christmas Day and even more happy to take part in Sonia's linky. So here is big man's Christmas picture:

One of Santa's elves making a robot.

I absolutely love his happy elf! And I think the elves will like it too and give him the drawing gift he wants for Christmas (even if they did go to Argos to get it!)

Portable North Pole (PNP) is a virtual and personalized greeting from Father Christmas to your child. We have done it for the boys for a couple of years now, and this year there are even more options to choose from.

You are able to make a video for free, choosing the name of your child, whether they have been naughty or nice and uploading photos of them into the good book. You are also able to upgrade to a premium optoion where you have more choice of scenes and extra personal memories of the year added.

After having big man question how Santa got our photos last year, I decided to make the message for little man. I was able to choose which scences I wanted in the video, which is a great idea if you have used it in previous years. I have also arrange a telephone call from Santa on his birthday next year (which is November) which I am sure he will love as he understands more.

I would certainly recommend having a look at the site (you can even make messages for adults!)

I am also able to offer my readers a discount code of  20% off digital products in the PNP store which is valid until 1st Jan 2014 just enter BLG20BKP and make Christmas magic.

Christmas Day in our house usually goes something like this:

Hardly a visit from my parents goes by without a reference to one of our family holidays.

"Remember the time when Sara ate a hot hog that was as big as she was?"

"Remember Dad ordering drinks in France "Coke? Coke? Deux Cokes""

"Remember the days spent playing in the swimming pool."

The list goes on. That is because family holidays are memories in the making. Time when you can forget about everything for a week or two and enjoy the company of each other doing new and exciting things.

I must admit that since having children I often think about the holidays I had before they came along. I used to love to go skiing. Although my I insistence on not going too fast meant I was shattered by the end of day one, as I had zig zagged across the slopes so much.

Please note this is not a black run. I would not be smiling and my husband would not be in a position to take a photo!

I will never forget my husband reading the map wrong and ending up on a black run instead of red. Apparently it is also important to take a photograph of your wife if she falls over before you help her up!

This isn't a black run either. I just accidentally went off piste into a huge pile of snow!

I also long for warm holidays where I can see and do new things. I have enjoyed scuba diving on the great barrier reef and my husband has even turned his hand at sailing in Antigua. Best of all I got to swim with a dolphin called Zeus. All of these things are hard to combine with children in tow.



What I need to find is a company that provides childcare that my children will want to go to and activities that will suit everyone in the family. That is why I am applying to be a #MarkWarnerMum. I had heard of Mark Warner before, but had never really known much about them until I started blogging and reading the posts by the Mark Warner Activity Bloggers. With three little men I certainly need to keep them active to ensure a peaceful nights sleep!

On an average day there is lots of activity going on in rain, shine and snow.



Our holiday memories this year have included cycling, swimming and a magical time in Paris. This year has been filled with making memories and as it come to an end I hope that 2014 will be filled with active memories too.


What are your holiday memories? How do you like to spend this special time. Are you a thrill seeker or would you rather relax on a lounger?

This is my entry to become a #MarkWarnerMum