I wrote this post back in August. Unfortunately I then went and lost my memory card adapter so didn't have the photos. Anyway better late then never, here is what we got up to in France in the summer.

Last week we had a relaxed week in Vendee where we spent most of our days by the pool or at the beach. The beaches are lovely and sandy and at first glance there's not that much to see. 

But sometimes you have to open your eyes. 

I saw a man digging with a bucket, and I was transported back 25 years when my Dad took us cockling in the exact same place. We watched the man, smiled as he showed us what to do (he was speaking French so smiling was our means of communication as I am only able to ask how to get to the port) and then had a go ourselves. The cockles were found a couple on inches down. 

Unfortunately we didn't eat them, as firstly I'm not keen on seafood and secondly I didn't want to food poison any of us. Instead we decided to re home them! We then had a look around the rocks, covered in mussels, limpets and anemones. Big man and I were in our element. 

Next we went for a paddle. At first I thought I had lost the plot when I saw a shell walk. Then I realised it was a hermit crab. I then realised there were 100's. How had I not noticed them!?! We collected them in a bucket to have a closer look before once again letting them go.

Just an empty beach with sand becomes so much more when you open your eyes and explore.

When Sage Appliances contacted me and asked if I would be interested in doing a review for them for the, Sage by Heston Blumenthal the Boss Super Blender, 2 Litre, 2200 Watt I was excited for three reasons:

This weekend I had a fantastic time at a GUMIXmas event at L'atelier des Chefs. Mark from Funky Lunch helped show us some Christmas themed snackideas that kids will just love. I must admit that I have looked at these kind of lunches before thinking they were lovely but who would have the time? However, now I realise that once you have the hang of it, it doesn't take long at all

How on earth is my baby 3? It seems like yesterday that we welcomed this little chap to the world.

And now look at him!



You wouldn't be mad to think that I already had a 3 year old. I've already written about his party and trip to Cadbury World. However, this Tuesday was his actual birthday. Little man is usually first up in the house. Strangely though he took his Birthday as a lie in! We all woke him up with a rendition of Happy Birthday and he promptly his under his covers unimpressed. He got himself together then popped his head out and remarked "Me eat my Kwazi cake now?"

So at 8am there we were again singing happy Birthday and eating cake!


We continued his Birthday celebrations by going bouncing.

And then on to Alice Holt I search of the Gruffalo's Child.


My husband remarked how easy it was finding the letters hung in trees as we turned the corner and ended the hunt...."Not that easy we are missing 3 letters!"

I can't believe my little man is 3. So what can I tell you about him at the moment? Well it turns out that although the terrible twos have passed he has turned immediately into a threenager. He is extremely independent and wants to do everything himself. Everything that is until you want to go out and then he just wants to scream and shout and watch TV. He loves to play with his brothers, and is currently pretending to be a frog called Jelly when he is with middle man. Middle man seems to like this and walks his frog around the park. Little man is Octonauts mad and spends most of his days looking for particular characters in particular outfits. Apparently Kwazi in a green suit is VERY different to Kwazi in a purple suit! He gives lots of "Huggie Huggie!" and he like to "kiss you on the nose."

Love you lots little man. Happy Third Birthday!

Now I have got the hang of making cake pops, I just keep making them. The boys love them and I love making them. These little reindeer are made using my mint chocolate cake pop recipe. Instead of using dark chocolate to cover the cake pops I used a milk chocolate cake covering.

I prepared the eyes out of icing and also used Cadbury's choclate pretzels and red smarties. I also used brown smarties as noses but they didn't look good as the Rudolph noses.


Once I had dipped the pops into the milk chocolate I immediately stuck on the red nose and the antlers. I then added the eyes, sticking them on with edible glue. I might just have to make one for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve.

If you are new to this blog, I'm Louise and I am a Mum to 3 young boys and wife to one large one. I had no previous ideas on boys. I had one sister and whilst we weren't perfect, I for one was a happy to sit down for an afternoon colouring in. Having not one but three boys has been a shock to my system. I won't lie, it is exhausting. Here is my list of 10 things you need to know if you are expecting a boy. 

1. From the moment that you have introduced the world to your bundle of blue joy, family and friends will be asking you when you will be trying for a girl. I'm not sure why it is considered that everyone wants a girl, but it is. If you have 2 boys it is naturally assumed you'll have a third as you will be trying for a girl. If God forbid you are blessed with 3 little men, you will be greeted with a head tilt and comments of hopefully someone else in the family can produce a prized girl. 

2. Boys run everywhere. They seem unable to walk, just run. We don't walk to school we run there. With constant screams of, "stay to the other side of the pavement, don't push each other and look out for cars!" coming from me. It is a relief to drop them off to school each day in one piece. Boys need a good run around every day and I have been known to send the boys out into the garden and run in circles to help them work off some of their excess energy. 

3. Buy shares in superglue. My boys are good with their toys and not destructive with them yet still they manage to break things left right and centre. Superglue is a mum of boys best friend. Unfortunately it doesn't work on worms. 

4. Boys are messy. They can trash a playroom in 10 seconds flat. Big man is able to go up to do his homework and 10 minutes later his room is covered in ripped up pieces of paper and pencil sharpenings. It is a soul destroying task cleaning their rooms as they never stay tidy for long. I have been know to take a photo of the tidy room, just so I can show my husband that I had done something with my day other than eat cake and drink coffee. You can bet that by 7pm when he walks through the door the house is trashed again. 

5. Sticks and stones are important. Just accept and don't question this. It may look like a rotten dirty twig that "is definitely not coming in the car" but it is much much more to the male species. I figure it must date back to caveman times when man started fires. Give up and lose the battle on allowing the sticks to come home in the car, but insist that the sticks must be left outside the house. You can easily tell the house where multiple boys reside as there will be what resembles a small bonfire sitting by the front door. The same also applies to stones. 

6. They don't feel the cold. I have had many an argument with big man in the freezing autumn mornings over wearing shorts to school. After much discontent he has changed for us to get to school and see at least 2 other class members wearing shorts. He argues over wearing a jumper most days and as far as I can tell the only use for a winter coat is to tread on on the car floor. Little man did not think that this was a bad clothing choice in the rain last week.

7. They say the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach and this starts from a very early age. My kids don't stop eating! From conversations with my Tesco delivery driver, this is only going to get worse. The times big man has asked when is tea after he's just eaten it are occurring more and more. Apparently a sandwich is now seen as a snack item. 

8. Boys are competitive. All the time. From the race to school in the morning to the questioning about "who is top of your good boy list Mummy?" on a daily basis. A mum of boys has to learn how to use this to her advantage.

9. They have an early fascination with their bits. From very early days, the moment you remove their nappy, they will reach down to check everything is there. From what I can gather this obsession will never stop.

10. They give the best hugs. So enjoy your bundle of blue joy. They may be muddy and messy but they are lots of fun. I have 3 and I wouldn't swop them for the world.

Recently I received a Little Venice Cake Company Cupcake Starter Kit to Review. If you enjoy making cupcakes then I can highly recommend this kit. It retails at £9.99 and contains 6 stainless steel nozzles and disposable piping bags.


To demonstrate the shapes they can make, I did what any mum of children would do and filled them with Play Doh.


If you are looking at icing cupcakes on the internet, you tube videos and recipes will often tell you which type of nozzle to use. I decided that I would have a go at two tone frosting for my snowflake cupcakes and used the LVCC 2 nozzle.

To make the snowflake cupcakes you will need:

White and blue icing prepared with CMC
A snowflake plunger cutter
Betty Crockers vanilla frosting
Blue colouring (ideally paste but I used liquid.)
Little Venice Cake Company nozzle 2 and disposable piping bag
Little Venice Cake Company Elegant Cupcake Kit
Silver sugar balls
Cupcakes

I started by preparing the white and blue icing with CMC and leaving overnight. I then used a small snowflake plunger to make white and blue snowflakes.



I cooked my cupcakes using a 4oz sugar, 4oz self raising flour, 4oz caster sugar and 2 eggs. I baked them at 150 degrees C and used the elegant cupcake cases.

To decorate the cakes I chose the LVCC 2 nozzle from the cupcake starter kit. I cut the end off the disposable piping bag and pushed the nozzle in place. I then make up a small amount of blue frosting using blue colouring and Betty Crockers vanilla frosting. I then placed this in the piping bag and smoothed it over the edges of the bag.


I then placed the bag into a pint glass and opened the bag up. In the middle I added the white frosting.


I then used this to decorate the cupcakes, giving a two tone effect.


I finished the cupcakes off by adding the snowflakes and silver sugar balls.






I was given the cupcake starter kit for the purpose of this review but the opinions here are my own.

Last weekend, little man's Birthday celebrations continued with a trip to Cadbury World. I had read mixed reviews about the place, but my friend had said it was worth the visit and it had the advantage of being half way between me and my parents so it seemed like a good spot to meet up.

You have to book a time slot to go through the exhibition so I called up on the Monday and chose the 12.40 slot. The girl on the telephone had advised that we could do the 4D Cinema and Bournville experience once we had picked up our tickets so it didn't matter if we arrived early.

We arrived at 11 and went to the 4D cinema. This was really good. You entered the cinema by taking a shaking lift (a bit charlie and the chocolate factory style) with Mr Cadbury's Parrot coming to say hi in the lift ceiling, We then went into a holding area where we played some conveyor belt memory games before heading to the cinema. Inside we put on our 4D glasses and took a chocolaty roller coaster ride. It was different to other 4D cinemas we have been to and I liked it.



There is also a children's playground in this area, which would have been good but it was shut due to the rain.

We then went and had lunch in the cafe. It was nice food and reasonably priced which was good.

At 12.40 we went through to the exhibition. The children had scratch cards asking questions in attempt to keep them interested. Little man was not up for this part at all and in a lot of the areas I felt that the speaking parts were too quiet for you to actually hear.

You then got to walk through the factory, which isn't amazingly exciting. The Cadabra was the weirdest ride I have ever been on. Timings meant that we had to queue for 30 minutes to get on this. You sit in cars of 4 people which then take you on a ride round a world full of cocoa beans. It is bizarre and only really suited for small children.

We then went down to the chocolate decorating area. Here we all got a pot of melted chocolate which was extremely sweet even for me.

We then headed off to watch the Sooty show. Cadbury World have a number of events on at weekends and holiday times and the Sooty Show was their event for this weekend. Middle man in particular liked this. Who can't find it funny when Sweep puts on Gangnam Style!?!

We then went through to the Bournville experience which was less of experience and more of a room with some old stuff in.

After having read negative reviews on Cadbury World, I can see where they are coming from. I think that the opening of the 4D Cinema has made a difference and it is now heading in the right direction. We had a lovely time, and I would recommend you to go, but only on a weekend where there is a show that would suit your children. It is not too expensive, but it isnt cheap either, so for us, the addition of the Sooty show made it more worthwhile.




We won tickets to Cadbury World and my parents purchased theirs. I haven't been asked to review it, but thought it may be helpful to some of my readers.

'Tis nearly the season to be jolly and to make some festive cake pops. First up are my Christmas pudding cake pops. These are simple cake pops to make and you could even get the children helping out.

You will need.

Sponge cake
Frosting
Green icing (ideally prepared with CMC)
Red icing or red sugar balls
Milk Chocolate cake covering
White chocolate cake covering
edible glue

Start by making the holly leaves. I purchased some holly plungers from ebay for a few pounds. Leave to harden.



Mix the sponge cake and frosting in equal quantities and put in the fridge to cool.

Roll into balls.

Melt the milk chocolate cake covering and dip the cake pop stick into it and then pop them back in the fridge for 10 minutes.


Now fully coat the cake pops in melted milk chocolate and put back in the fridge.

Melt some white chocolate cake covering. Take the cake pops out of the fridge and dip them half way into the white chocolate. Pop an icing holly leaf on the top.


Finish by adding some edible glue to stick the holly berries on.

Retro: reminiscent of things past.

Big man often asks me about the olden days. It's not surprising that he thinks I am ancient, when I tell him phones used to be attached to leads, TV's were black and white and teachers used a chalkboard. It is amazing how much life has changed in *cough cough* 21 plus 17 years!

So how have sweets changed? Well there are still drumsticks, swizzle lollies,black jacks and wham bars readily available in the newsagents. As far as I know they have never stopped making them. Infact the only thing I think has changed about them is that they have got smaller and more expensive.

Looking though the retro sweets you can buy on the internet, a few things dawned on me.

Firstly I must have spent a lot of pocket money on sweets. On a Sunday morning when I was around 12-13, my sister, friend and I would walk into town to our local newsagents. Here we would spend/waste our money on "Neighbours" collecting cards and sweets. The sweets were all in large jars at the back of the shop and bought in quarters. Here are some of my favourite purchases.




For some reason the aniseed balls remind me of Thorpe Park. I can only imagine that on a special trip here, my Dad had a bag of these and that is why there is a connection.

Army and Navy tablets and cough candy remind me of my Grandad. As do the fizzers. You see these were often used as tablets when my sister and I were playing doctors and nurses. My Grandad would lay down on the floor and we would help him feel better my emptying a pack of fizzers down his throat and banging him with some plastic hammers. In this photo, however, it seems that I was using marshmallows to cure my Dad of his imaginary illness. Happy Days!



I had forgotten all about chewing nuts and to be honest I am surprised I never pulled any of my teeth out with these.

Bananas and Shrimps were also a favourite, and still are today.

It is strange to think that sweets can have so many memories attached. Big man's retro sweets are going to be fudge and Thorntons special toffee. What are your favourite retro sweets and what memories do they bring?





This is an advertorial post but they are all my own memories and opinions.

The boys have always enjoyed the Alphablocks so I was keen to review the Alphablocks Reading Programme with middle man. He is 4 years old and has just started reception. I knew from big man that the school used their DVD's so thought that reading programme might help with learning his letters and sounds.

The Reading Programme consists of 3 packs that are sent out with a cost of £39.99 plus postage and packing. We have only recieved the first pack which is pictured above. As you can see there is a lot included. There are various different letter tiles, flip book, pencil case and 5 magazines.

The magazines have a variety of activities to keep the child engaged. There are games, stickers, and cutting exercises that help with building fine motor skills. I really can't tell you enough how much middle man has enjoyed this. He has asked if we can get his work out!



The only negative I have about the set is that the letters are not cursive. This is slightly confusing for middle man as his school teach cursive, however, he is so keen on the variety of tasks, it isn't a major issue.

When we visited my inlaws this weekend we took his reading programme with us. He enjoyed playing the flip spelling game and then we went through some of his magazine.


It kept his attention for an hour! Middle man has a good concentration span, but I never would have thought that he would be engaged in such tasks for an hour and I think that this just shows what a variety of tasks there are in the programme.


Middle man particularly likes the sticker pages and loves getting a gold star when he completes each page.




I will be updating you on my views as we receive the second and third boxes, but for now my opinion of the programme is extremely positive. If you are looking into purchasing the programme or finding out more just click here.

Or second batch arrived and it continued to have great magazines to keep middle man interested. There were no toys in this batch though. The only downside is finding time when middle man is at school. I would therefore recommend this to a child who is about to start reception.


We have recieved the reading system for the purpose of this review but the opinions here are my own.