We were given a Lego set for participating in this competition which will be enjoyed lots more.

 You may remember that for my new years resolutions I was going to use up some of the "stuff" we have. Whilst I have spent January doing this, I have also ended up buying more "stuff" to use up the other "stuff".
As January comes to an end I have decided to take part in The Great British Budget Challenge. February is a month where I can easily waste money. There are two Birthdays, Valentines and half term which are all excuses to spend money. Infact a shopping trip today saw me impulse buy middle man yet another toy for his birthday. I would rather save my money to have some fantastic days out with the boys than even more toys so my plan is to save up for these instead.a

If you sign up then you will be emailed daily budgeting tips and you also have a chance of winning a £50 Love2Shop Voucher if you take part in their twitter Photo Challenge. I am particularly looking forward to seeing the photographs for February 13th!







I have not been paid to write about this but it sounds worthwhile and they are also gifting me a bottle of champagne which will help towards my budgeting of Valentines Day.

Last year was full of moments that mattered. Picking just one day was hard. But it was a day that was long (but in a good way) and packed with laughter. Most importantly it was spent with my little family altogether. We were in Paris. It was warm. (This is not always the case in Paris.) There was magic in the air. A day filled with fun rides, smiles and cuddles. There is something about Disneyland that turns you into a kid again. Who can't smile when a large bouncy tiger comes to greet you at the dinner table? Little man was in his element when a giant lady mouse came to say hello and have her photo taken with us. Fireworks, music, and lasers projected onto a dream castle. The magic was alive and bought a tear to my eye. Then a quick light sabre fight before bedtime with my gorgeous boy.



These are my moments that mattered. What are yours?


Thank you to Lloyds Bank for making me remember that fun with my family matters. They are also sending me some gift vouchers for writing this post.

Here are some things that have made me smile recently. I hope they make you smile too.

Firstly, I through some old photos and found this of little man. Yep I am one embarrassing Mummy!


Then if any of you are into geeky jokes then this made me laugh.

Yes I was "that" Chemistry teacher.

Last but not least, I really enjoyed reading this post on the surprises of parenthood. Makes me realise I am not alone! Have a fantastic week!

Heroes Of  The City is a cartoon about rescue vehicles in a small town, that is aimed at children aged 3-6. When I received the items to review, I thought that little man would like it the best. Although it doesn't hold my attention, all of the boys are enjoying watching the DVD with it being a particular favourite of middle man. When I asked big man what he liked about it, he said that he liked that there were a number of different episodes on the DVD. I think this is because middle man often watches the same thing over and over again. The DVD and model cars were a hit immediately. The story book contains quite a long story which requires a lot of concentration. There is also an app you can download on itunes or Google Play. This enables you to watch the movies and play games too.

I am pleased to be able to offer my readers a chance to win a Heroes Of  The City bundle of their own.



(Cars may vary from those shown.) Just complete the rafflecopter below for your chance to win. Good Luck!

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Fancy winning a £100 Show and Stay voucher or a Stay and Play break at a theme park? Just click here to answer a quick survey and your chance to win.

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Middle man watches far more TV than I would like, and he really does get absorbed into it. He acts out parts to his favourite programs. For a whole day last week he would only answer to "Kip" and kept asking when Andy (big man) finished school as he was acting out Andy and his Wild Adventures.

Last summer Big man and I camped out in the garden for the first time. Unfortunately we didn't have a junior sleeping bag, which is why he managed to wriggle out of the adult rectangular one that he was in and adopted a starfish pose for the majority of the night. So when sleeping bags outlet asked if we would like to review a junior sleeping bag, I jumped at the chance. My husband was immediately impressed that it was a good quality 3 seasons cocoon style bag. I was impressed at how small it was.


When we went on our Sun Holiday last year we paid extra for bedding as it was too much to fit in the car. However, as we are planning on more weekend getaways in the future it is certainly worth looking into some quality sleeping bags to take with us as they would pay for themselves pretty quickly. I am afraid that whilst I enjoy reviewing items, there was no way that I was going to get the tent out in the cold weather that we have had at the moment, however this sleeping bag can be used in extreme temperatures of -5 degrees. Big man was too excited by it to wait to try it out so he did take it to bed one night. We then had to put it away as he wanted to sleep in it every night! I am sure that come the summer he will be pestering me to camp in the garden again, and hopefully this cocoon style will mean I have more space to sleep. This bag retails at £19.99 but prices start from £12.99 for a junior sleeping bag on the sleeping bag outlet website.

They have also offered another Highlander Cadet 350 camoflague junior sleeping bag for me to giveaway to one of my readers. Just fill in the rafflecoper below. UK entrants only. Good luck!

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Don't forget I also have a giveaway running for a Kodak Easyshare camera.

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

We were given the sleeping bag for the purpose of the review but the opinions here are my own.

Dear Fitness Instructors,

I attend a gym, mainly to get a change of scenery and get out of my house. I also think that doing some sort of exercise helps with my stress levels. Unfortunately, I have little self discipline, and left to my own devices, rather than an energetic run, I will opt for a leisurely bike ride whilst watching Eastenders. This is why you will find me in your class as I am too polite to walk out half way through. There are however, some things that I would like to point out:

1. I don't want to hear you sing. Just because you have a microphone like Madonna, doesn't mean you are Madonna, so please stop the singing.
2. If you look around the class, it is the same bunch of people that have been there for the past 4 years. We don't need talking through every single step. We certainly don't need the music down low so that we can hear you talk through every step for a whole hour.
3. I have tried wearing contact lenses, but they are not for me. I wear my glasses so I can see. I don't need the mickey taken out of me for wearing them every week. In the same tone, you are lucky that men come to your class so again they don't need to be laughed at every week either. Once, now and again is fine, I have a sense of humour, as long as it is not every week.
4. I expect the classes to run on time. An hour is precious to me. I don't want to get home late because you over run every week because you start late as you are trying to get people to buy a t-shirt with your logo on it.
5. I never want to give anyone except one of my kids a high 5. I certainly don't want to give a sweaty stranger a high 5.

Just needed to get that off my chest. See you in class next week

Louise

I wanted to make an Angry Birds cake for big man's birthday as I thought it would be easy. Big man wanted a Star Wars cake.We compromised with a Angry Birds Star Wars cake. When I make cakes I tend to Google and take ideas from here and there so I figure that is what other people do too and that this might be useful.

The base was just made out of a big and small sponge cakes filled with Betty Crocker's fudge frosting and then blue roll out icing over the top. If you freeze the cakes it makes them easier to handle and put the icing on as they are hard rather than soft.


The death star pig was a giant cake pop. I crumbled a small sponge and mixed it with frosting. It then went in the freezer for 5 minutes. I took it out and rolled it into a ball, then put it back for another 5 minutes or so to get harder, before wrapping it in grey icing. I then added details (which is why you can see a Duplo brick - makes good circles) and some edible glitter. I ten stuck him into the cake using a few toothpicks.


It was then time to make the Star Wars Angry Birds themselves.

Then it was just assembling the cake and inviting some Star Wars and Angry Birds fans over for a party. The only problem was they all wanted to eat Darth Vader!

Since turning 2, little man has discovered the naughty spot. I say spot, it is usually the bottom stair. Once a cute lovable smiley boy, he is now the devil in disguise pushing every boundary to the limit. Last week he spent the majority of one meal time sitting on the naughty spot. I don't even remember why I put him on there. I think he spat his drink. I know he refused to apologise as his word of the week was "No."

Once on the step he decided he was going to test me to my limits.

First up he decides to walk off the naughty spot in Daddy's large shoes, hoping that I wouldn't notice he had moved or will find it so incredibly funny that he will get let off. I noticed and I didn't laugh at him. Two minutes later I go and ask him to apologise.

He beeped my nose.

A minute later and he see's if I find him walking in big man's croc's any funnier.

I don't.

Two mins later and I return to find he has emptied the stair basket on the floor and is wearing a sun hat. I was not happy. I was torn between making him tidy the mess and doing his time on the spot. I decided that I would clear the bits up whilst he waited. I bent over putting the objects back into the basket. The problem? Little man noticed I had a builders situation going on and stuck his hand down there.

I screamed. I laughed. He won.

Mummy 0 Little man 1.

It turns out it is not just me that loses against little man though. Daddy put him on the naughty spot at the weekend for being mean to middle man. His way of avoiding his 2 minutes and apology this time? He fell asleep!

I would love to say that this is the last you will hear of little man's behaviour but fear with the terrible two's in full swing it could be a long year! This week's word seem's to be "mine" so I think more trips to the stairs may be on the cards.

I must admit that Persil is not my usual brand of washing up liquid. Having been sent a bottle of their warm spice washing up liquid, I will certainly consider it in the future. It cleaned our pots and pans fine and at £1.00 for a 500ml bottle, I think that is a really good price. The warm spice smell isn't really for me as there is a strong smell of cloves that I am not keen on, however, fragrances such as apple fizz and lemon burst sound more of my kind of thing.

We were given a bottle of the warm spice washing up liquid for the purpose of this review but the opinions contained here are my own. For more information on the Persil range visit www.persildishwash.co.uk

Big man loves Science. I love that he loves Science. In the Summer I took him to the Science Museum in London and he still talks about it now. He was keen to take his brothers there, but as they are smaller and the hustle and bustle of London is a bit too much for them and me, we decided to go to the INTECH Science Centre and Plantarium in Winchester.



It is a hands on Science centre with a variety of activities. We started our day by going to the cardboard rocket chatterbox show. This is a planetarium show that takes a whistlestop tour of the solar system. Big man loved it from the start. We booked the chatterbox showing as it meant that he was able to talk without getting "ssshhhed!" This was a good thing as he was so excited he kept commenting out loud. Middle man also enjoyed this, even though he got a little scared at each planet as he wasn't sure if they would make it back into space from them. The show was ideal for small children and although my husband claimed the screen made him suffer a little space sickeness, the boys really enjoyed the show. The main problem is that they now want to build a cardboard rocket!

Other activities we enjoyed were racing, recycling and pressure experiments.



Big man had a go at wheelchair basketball. He really enjoyed this, but we did have to explain that people in wheelchairs don't choose to be in them because it is fun.



We stood inside a kaleidoscope and saw what it could look like if we were cloned!




As we visited the centre I thought I had better find out what the family had learned

Big man: Mars is quite windy and dangerous with craters. Jupiter is also very windy and the dot in it is very very windy.

middle man: It is very cold in Pluto as it's so far from the sun.

Little man: Although he is too little to tell me, he loved the wind generator that he could balance a ball on. He may only be 2, but he worked out that if he turned it off the ball would drop. And he liked putting his face in the breeze too. I am undecided if he will become a scientist or a sky diver in years to come. Maybe both.


My husband said he learnt that we should recycle more.




We had a lovely time, and big man is already asking to go back and watch other shows. We would like to thank the Actimel Wellbeing trust for funding our trip and encouraging us to LEARN together as a family.

I can't go within a stones throw of the village I grew up in without stopping by to remissness. So on Sunday after our trip to the Science Centre in Winchester, I took the boys to Alresford to show them where their Mummy lived at their age.

We stopped off and saw the shop that Nanny worked in part time.



We walked down by the river where I have many happy memories of feeding the ducks as a child.





I then got a bit annoyed when the boys took the higher path and excitedly shouted that they were higher than me.



I then smiled as I remembered that my sister and I used to do exactly the same thing.

KOR GEOMAG is a new magnetic construction toy. At the centre is a strong ball magnet. You then arrange the magnetic pieces around the ball to make a larger ball that resembles a death star. You can then get creative, building your own little creature, by adding the green pieces and then the eyes, wings and spikes.

The Tazoo Paco we were given lives in the forest, so you can arrange the plastic pieces to represent a frog/lizard/an animal with spikes.

One thing that I imagine being a problem in the future is that you only have the right number of magnetic pieces to fit around the central magnet. My boys tend to lose things like this so I will have to make sure that everything is packed away nicely so that the pieces don't get lost.

Big man enjoyed playing with it, middle man enjoyed taking it apart! Big man had lots of questions about it coming from a meteorite and had a go at making his own character. He struggled with the idea of it being a 4 layered system. It is aimed at 5+ and he has just turned 6. He wanted to stick the eyes and wings straight into the death star shaped ball. He got there in the end and here is his creation.


The teacher in me couldn't help but quiz big man on the adaptations of the creature he had made. This animal eats mushrooms and small bugs. It is able to fly but also enjoys watching TV on a Saturday.

The Tazoo range is on the expensive side, but it is a well made item that will not easily break. Ideally I think you would need a couple of sets to keep a child's interest. Big man particularly liked the look of the Proteon range, because it looked more like an action figure on the box.


We were given the Tazoo set for the purpose of this review but the opinions contained here are my own.

Asking the boys some questions at the beginning of the year as a record seemed a good idea. Simple questions about their favorite things and what they enjoyed about 2013. Simple. Or so I thought.....

What is your favourite colour?

Big man: Red
Middle man: Red

What is your favourite TV programme?

Big man: Spongebob
Middle man: My favourite colour is red!!!

Who is your best friend?

Big man: I don't have one.
Middle man: Red, red, I said red!

What is your favourite toy?

Big man: Lego. (This is probably as we had the Duplo out and were playing with it.)
Middle man: I don't want any. I love my red coloured brick!

What was the best thing you did in 2013?

Big man: Lapland UK
Middle man: I don't want to tell you anything, I just want to show you my favourite colour is red. Big man what is your favourite colour?
Big man: Blue. (Contradicting his original answer.)

With that I felt I was totally wasting my time with a child obsessed with red and another that just says the first thing that comes into his head without even thinking. It was a nice idea and I will try again next year, by which time little man will be able to join in with the random answers or colour loving!

Do you do questionnaires with your children at New Year or their Birthdays? If so when is a good age to start? I'm thinking not 3 with middle man.

I have never really been described as Groovy, but thanks to Kate on Thin Ice I'm going to give it a go! Last year I struggled a lot with my desire to be a perfect wife, mother and housekeeper. I failed miserably on all accounts as it's bloody hard looking after 3 young boys with a husband that works away much more than I would like. Being groovy is all about getting back to being who you want to be. The only way I can do it is in small steps. I have a massive list of things that I need to do. Last year did teach me a few things though. Firstly I need to exercise to help reduce my stress levels. Secondly I enjoy making things so I should do more of this. I really enjoyed making Santa sacks for the boys out of some off cuts and the boys old clothing.



Thirdly I would like a tidier house, and this can be done - it just won't happen overnight.
So in my quest to be groovy again, I will set myself some small targets this week. I will go to the gym 3 times this week (1 down 2 to go!)
I will declutter 2 bags of "stuff."
I will start making the pirate pin board for middle man's room.
I will go on a rare date with my husband and enjoy it being the two of us. Well that's a lie it is his work's party, but it will be us without the boys and we will have a taxi ride home to chat.

If you want to be groovy too - head over to Kate's blog.

You can read about our British Gas Smart Meter installation and how we have found using it here.

Over Christmas, with people staying, we may have gone off the rails a little, but now that the New Year has arrived we have refocused again and are keeping an eye on our energy consumption.

The main changes I have made since having a smart meter installed are:

• Only heating the room that I am in (rather than the whole house.)
• Not filling the kettle to the brim when I'm only having one cup of tea (or coffee!)
• Turning the lights off when we aren't in a room.

We are yet to receive our first Smart Enegry Report. It will look something like this.


You can watch the video telling you more about the Smart Energy reports below, but in essence they provide insights on how you use energy in your house as well as providing you with tips on how to save energy.

I am particularly interested to see how we compare on energy consumption with similar households in our area.




If you are an existing British Gas customer you can register your interest in receiving a free smart meter upgrade. 


British Gas have given me a Kodak easyshare sport camera to giveaway to one of my readers! All you have to do is to complete the rafflecopter below. The only mandatory option is to comment with your best energy saving tip. Please see the terms and conditions - UK entrants only. Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget I also have a giveaway running to win a junior sleeping bag from sleeping bags outlet.


We were already British Gas customers, so the smart meter installation was free of charge, but I have been compensated for writing this post to raise awareness of their scheme

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

2013 was a great year. A busy year. Filled with memory making. At the beginning of a new year, I think it's a good time to refocus and set some goals

December saw a sprinkling of Christmas magic. A day to remember at Lapland UK helping the elves make toys. A number of Christmas Days and parties and then sprinkling reindeer food to guide Rudolph and his friends. May 2014 treat us as kindly as 2013 did.