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I was starting to wonder if it was going to happen. At 6 3/4 big man has finally lost a tooth last week. He was beaming from ear to ear when he presented me with this on finishing school.

I then had a very intricate story of how it fell out and how surprised his entire class were. Apparently one of the girls had informed him that the tooth fairy leaves a whopping £2 on her first visit. Queue moans of the rate of inflation from me and my husband. You could see big man planning his trip to the sweet shop.

At night he put his tooth in a special cushion and stuffed it to the side of his pillow. We didn't want the tooth fairy having a tough time finding it.

The next morning excitement was high. His friend had been right and he also received a note.

It read:

Wow Big Man! You have taken such good care of your teeth. Well done! I noticed on my way in that you have a keepsake book on your wardrobe. On this occasion please put your tooth in there. Don't worry though you are still rewarded. Please don't spend all of it on sweets. They are bad for teeth. 

Regards Lara (Your tooth fairy) 

After a discussion that I had forgotten all about that book, we went to the top of his wardrobe and found the pouch for his tooth. We then agreed that he should probably wait until a new tooth fell out before he wrote a reply. With that he set to trying to find a new tooth to wobble.

It's that time of year again where Mother's like myself go practically insane worrying about where to book for their little ones to see Santa. It is ridiculous, the amount of hours I have put into looking into places in the past. I guess the problem is that we all want to make it special for ourselves as much as our little ones. The years when they actually believe in the magic are few and far between. Companies know this and you bet they will come up with every way possible to eek every last penny out of you. Is it worth the worry and stress? No. Is it worth researching the venue. Categorically yes. We have had some different experiences over the last few years so I thought it would be good to share the good the bad and the damn right ugly with you.

Big man was born in November 2007. He happily slept whilst being cuddled by a work colleagues of my OH by Santa. At one and two I hadn't even thought about a grotto visit. I was shocked when friends were booking grottos. We left it. Big man was none the wiser. I mean what 1 year old understands about Father Christmas?

At 3 I still wasn't into the idea. We took him to a garden centre where Santa sat in a shed. He was actually a really good Santa. He gave middle man a stocking even though we hadn't paid for him.The only problem was big man was scared of Santa. He stood there in awe unable to move. He looked so frightened in the photo they took we chose not to part with a tenner. I was actually kind of relieved that we hadn't spent lots of money on a grotto.

Then something happened. I had a third child and with it came guilt over everything. This is when I was obsessed that we must go to meet Santa even though I had quite literally just had a C-section. We chose The Watercress Line. It was nice in the fact that I could sit down. Father Christmas came through the carriages handing out presents. He needed reminding about little man. It was OK. Nothing fantastic. The boys liked it, so I suppose that is what counts.


The following year we went to Peppa Pig World. This was a lovely day. Mainly, because the park was quiet. The grotto part was fine. Lots of animated animals, but not really my thing. If you have a Peppa Pig fan and live in driving distance I would recommend this for a 3-4 year old. I just liked the pretty lights and Peppa style Santa that they put up. (Yep it doesn't take that much to please me!)



Last year we had the very best and very worst of grottos. You can read my review on Lapland UK  as well as my top tips. You need to remortgage to go there, but if you can afford it then it is fantastic. Well if you are lucky with the weather and realistic with your expectations. It is a theatrical production where the actual meeting with Santa is just a very small part. We had a lovely time and thankfully I came away understanding why it cost so much, rather than thinking I had been ripped off.



We then won some tickets to a brand new children's festival The Little Welly. We made the decision to not go and see Santa here just enjoy the festival. It was an eye opener on how a company can spin things to look good when actually they are a wash out. I have no doubt that the intentions of the organisers were to create a fantastic Christmas experience but with the wind and rain it was a muddy mess that had little atmosphere. So there is my take on the grottos I have been to. Are they worth it? Now that is a hard one. Children are believers for such a small amount of time.

So what is my advice to you?

Firstly do your research. Word of mouth tends to be the best recommendation. You may be worrying about where to go from September onwards, but your children won't. They will be happy whether they go to a winter wonderland or a garden centre.I you don't have. It is not worth spending money you don't have. Christmas is expensive enough as it is. Do you know what, I doubt your children will even care if they don't go. It is the pressure that we put on ourselves to be "perfect" parents that is the problem. Last but not least, be prepared that little ones won't be into the idea at all. Father Christmas actually commented on my top tips post saying that he had a sleeping baby surrounded by adults. Sometimes it is worth waiting.

So there is my take on grotto's. What is yours? Do you love or hate them? What is the best one you have been to?

We love a competition in this house and love Cadbury chocolate. To celebrate their Win a Banger Competition, we decided to have a competition all of our own thanks to a #CollectiveBias campaign. There is no way that my boys are ever going to turn down a chance to have some chocolate and this party game is a winner. I headed off to Sainsbury's to gather my ingredients. Some squirty cream and Cadbury chocolate. I decided the Cadbury Twirl would work well. If you want to try the game too you will also need a blindfold.


The idea is simple. Make a cream "pie" with the squirty cream and add half a twirl to the middle.

Then blindfold your first competitor. Middle man was keen to have first go. Once blindfolded, a team mate directs them where to go to pick up the chocolate with just their mouth.


Big man was the winner he just dived in, middle man came a close second.


Little man was disqualified for refusing to wear the blindfold and then using his fingers.


I may have slowed Daddy down a little by pushing the chocolate a bit deeper into the cream.


In last place was me! It seem's I have trust issues and was worried that I was going to have my head dunked. (Possibly my own fault by being slightly evil to Daddy.)



We had lots of fun and it is a great party game. Maybe you could use it if you are planning Halloween party next month. The boys love it as at the end of the day everyone wins, as they get some tasty Cadbury chocolate.

If you love competitions too, with no purchase necessary, why not enter the Cadbury Win a Banger competition. The main prize is to take part in a rally to Barcelona, but there are thousands of other prizes to be won, including some yummy Cadbury chocloate. You could have a go at this game yourself. All you need to do to enter is to be over 18 and fill in your details. The hardest part is answering the question: which is your favourite bar? After a lot of deliberation I chose the Twirl, although I do love a Boost too.

Do you love a competition? Have you got any great ideas for kids party games that you can share?

It seems only yesterday that I kissed big man goodbye, got into the car with my husband and headed to the hospital in a nervous but excited state ready to meet my gorgeous middle man.

Well where did those 10 weeks go? I set myself 5 goals 10 weeks ago and here is my update. I have to confess once again I have not done as well as I had wanted. Partly due to life getting in the way. It turns out that I am in my usual style I have managed to get a tropical food poisoning bug without going anywhere tropical! So the last few weeks have not been that successful as I haven't been up to doing that much. But what have I achieved? Well I put some colour into my garden.



I have made my own playdough and bubble dough. Both so easy to do, I wonder why I have never done it before. Tidying the house is a work in progress but I feel as though I might get there at some point. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Our bedroom is certainly tidier after I won an ottoman from Emma in Bromley. As for crafting, I have neglected that goal. But when you don't feel good you don't have the concentration to do much. I have however, got some ideas for Halloween from Pintrest so watch this space.

The goal I have done best on is cooking.

I have made  plum crumble



I have made some Whoopie Pies


Lego Cupcakes


Mojito Style Ice lollies


and Lemon and Chocolate Drizzle Shortbread



So maybe my gold for the autumn should be to go on a diet!

I don't know about you, but when I was pregnant I loved looking at all the latest things for babies. Well there is now a Baby and Toddler Show coming up on 10th - 12th October in Bluewater where you can do just that. Oh and there's loads of toddler bits too! With over 150 brands, great money saving deals and free expert advice, this sounds like an event not to be missed for anyone that is pregnant or has little ones. If you live nearer Manchester then there is one there on 26th -28th September and you can find more information on the Baby and Toddler Show website.

I am really pleased to be able to offer one of my readers a pair of tickets to the show in Bluewater on either the 10th, 11th or 12th of October. Just complete the Rafflecopter entry below. Good Luck!

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Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com - See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/pair-tickets-baby-and-toddler-show-bluewater#sthash.2UDjvHEX.dpuf

I have never tasted whoopie pies before so have no idea if these taste as they should, but fancied having a go at making them. I must admit I was hoping for something light and they weren't, but the boys enjoyed them and have asked for them again so they can't be that bad!

So what do you need to make them? Well there are loads of different recipes on the web but as I had forgotton to order butter on my Tesco shop I went for one using vegetable oil instead.



To make 12 whoopie pies (24 halves) you need:

• 250g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 125ml vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 180ml milk

These were then put in an oven at 180C for 12-15 minutes.



I let these cool before filling with a layer of marshmallow fluff, and enjoy.

On Friday last week I took the boys to see a life sized replica of the Bloodhound supersonic car at Brooklands museum. The real Bloodhound has not actually been built yet, but is hoped to break the current world land speed record of 763 mph held by Thrust SSC. So what was special about this replica? Well it is a World Record itself, being the World's Largest K'NEX structure, using over 383,422 parts. It was built by the RBLI as well as BLOODHOUND fans over a 2 month construction project. I think that you will now understand why I was more than a little nervous about the boys taking a closer look and asking how it was made and poking it a bit. (I am pleased to report than the structure is still intact!)



This World Record build was commissioned by the BLOODHOUND 1K Club to promote The BLOODHOUND project, which aims to inspire children about science and engineering by developing a 1,000mph Land Speed Record car. Well I am pleased to say that the boys were certainly keen to have a go at constructing themselves and big man had a go at making his own K'NEX cars and testing it on a runway. Here is how he got on.



He was also very keen on all the motorised K'NEX toys that they had to play with too! Who knows maybe this has sparked an interest in Science and Engineering into my little men for the future. Lets hope so.



We recieved complimentary entry into Brooklands Museum for this event and the boys recieved some K'NEX goodie bags.