You may remember that recently we reviewed the Shuffle GUESS WHO game and really liked this travel sized version of the game. We were also given the Shuffle Play Doh cards to review as well. The game doesn't involve using Play Doh, although it will certainly give your children ideas of things to make. Instead the game is about finding similarities between cards and telling stories. You deal the cards out and each player turns over 3 cards. There is an unturned card in the middle and this is used for the first player to place their cards using similarities (same colour, both fly, all animals) to get rid of their cards. If they can't find similarities then they can tell a story linking the cards instead.



The game is actually quite complex for small people. Big man (who is nearly 7) enjoyed it, but he did struggle with it at first. He found the matching similarities part a lot easier than the story telling bit. If you are looking for a storytelling game then this is nice and the children will like the play doh creations.There is a whole range of new card games that can be found by viewing the Shuffle website. I am pleased to be able to offer 2 of my readers a chance to have a go at the game themselves. Just complete the rafflecopter below. (Don't forget there is still time to enter the GUESS WHO giveaway too!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway



- See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/2-x-shuffle-play-doh#sthash.ihlhUaeG.dpuf

As a Parragon book buddy I was sent some stationary from their Life Canvas Range to review this month. I don't know about you but I write a lot of lists. Having made the mistake of doing them on sheets of paper and losing them all around the house, I now opt for a notebook instead. The Wild pocket notebook is a perfect size for jotting down all the things on my to do list.



The notecard set is also nice. They are like postcards with feathers as the picture and a coloured back.



I always like to write a little note when the boys send thank you letters for Birthdays so this is perfect. You can see other products in the Life Canvas range here.

Parragon have kindly offered a set to giveaway to one of my readers, all you need to do is complete the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway







On other Parragon related news, I thought I should update you on big man's Gold Stars challenge. In short the Gold Stars books are designed to help bridge the learning gap over the 6 week holiday. I have to say they have been great (we bought the Maths one too.) He does a couple of pages at a time and enjoys them. He isn't particularly keen on doing lots of work so having books like this where he can complete them little and often is excellent. Unfortunately having me as an ex-teacher as him Mother probably isn't the best as I mark very hard and I hope he is also gaining some exam practice tips for the future too!


We are part of the Parragon Book Buddies and have received these products to review.



- See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/stationary-bundle#sthash.YuKFGeWA.dpuf

I can't believe the countdown has gone by so quickly but today is our series 11 finale. Please meet Weegul the Wobbly Dobbly.

It is safe to say that our summer holidays aren't exactly going to plan. Rubbish weather and me being ill whilst trying to look after three little rascals was not on my agenda. But hey that is life and sometimes you just need to find something that will keep your children entertained for a bit so that you can rest. So when an e mail popped in my inbox about the Nick Jr Leap website, it really couldn't have come at a better time. Middle man is a lover of all things Nick Jr so getting him to play some educational games was a winner. As a parent you log your child(ren's) name and age and then they can start playing games with their favourite characters (Bubble Guppies, Team Umizoomi, Dora the Explorer) tailored to their age range.

Move aside Gordon Ramsey, this moshling makes you look like a happy chef in the kitchen. Casey the Croaky Cook is pretentious, talented but very nitpicky.

You know me, I love spotting Wenlocks and Gromits so was excited to hear that this year in London there are trails of book benches. On Sunday we got the train to South Bank to do their Riverside trail. Be warned it is a long walk from Waterloo to the first bench at the Globe. Then there are a few spaced out until you have a whole bunch together. The boys enjoyed it and I was really impressed with the amount of walking that middle man did. He is not usually one for walking too much. If you go to the books about town website you can download the trail map as well as a quiz sheet. To be honest I think my other half was more interested in the quiz than my children.


I was worried that the boys would lose interest as only a few of the benches are children's books, but they were happy enough looking for any colorful bench they could find.


We also found a bonus one at Waterloo Station just as we were heading home. A lovely way to spend the day and walk along the beautiful South Bank.

Today it is time to meet the Ultra Rare Popov Dancing Dinkinov.

The idea is simple. Someone nominates you to have a bucket of ice cold water tipped over your head. You donate to MND. You post your video on Facebook and nominate your friends to take the challenge too. Simple right? Well you would think so wouldn't you. Not for me.

As soon as I heard about the ice bucket challenge I knew it wouldn't be long until I was nominated. My sisters friend has MND so it is a charity close to our hearts. Sure enough she nominated me and out I went to buy a bag of ice. It wasn't that warm on Friday, but I had to get it done. I put big man incharge of the ice bucket and my OH in charge of the video.

I did it. It was cold. I screamed.

"Ummmmmm" came from my OH's mouth.

"Ummmmmm what?" I barked at him. It didn't record. His phone is very unwell and he is holding out for the new i phone release. The battery had died just as I had the bucket tipped over me.

Take 2.

Change of clothes, nominations, then big man tips the water over my lap! Very cold but in the wrong place.

Take 3.

Change of clothes and we did it! And here it is.


There are not many charities that I would do the ice bucket challenge 3 times for, but MND one of them. Money needs to be raised to find treatment for this disease. If you get nominated, please give it a go. It is only cold water! Either way please consider donating (text ICED55£amount to 70070 for MND #icebucketchallenge.)

Have you done the ice bucket challenge. Did you manage it in one take? My advice? Always check recording equipment and never work with husband's or children!

Day 9 of our Moshi Monster series coundown and I bring you this ultra rare King Brian the Dandy Lion.

I have been blogging now for 2 1/2 years. I would hardly call myself an expert, but I am not a newbie either, so I thought that I would put together a few top tips for anyone that is starting out.

1.Either go self hosted or buy a custom URL (if you are on blogger) if you are interested in doing reviews/sponsored posts or care about getting to the top of the Tots 100 rankings. If you do it when you start out it is easier than trying to change it later on.

2. Bloggers do not get freebies. Like it or not, not everyone blogs for the love of writing or recording their life. Some people want to get "free stuff." They have seen other bloggers getting "free stuff" and want some of that. From my experience you will only get approached by PR companies if you write good content. Yes bloggers get sent review items and sometimes get invited to amazing events, but they work for them. It takes time to write a good review, it takes time to build up and audience. Bloggers don't get stuff for free, they have worked for it. There is also no point in getting jealous of the opportunities that others get. Work hard and you will get amazing opportunities of your own. Oh and if you start earning money from sponsored posts you need to register as self employed. If you earn over the tax threshold you need to pay tax on your earnings. Never see it as "pocket money."

3. Comment on other blogs. You may write amazing blog posts, but if the only person that reads them is your Mum, then it is a bit of a waste. By commenting on other post and joining in linkies you will find new readers. I try to comment on posts if people comment on my blog, and it is a good way of finding blogs you like and they might even like yours.

4. Don't link drop. Whilst we love promoting our posts on all of social media, there is one thing that annoys people and that it link dropping. By that I mean, that you are in a Facebook group and you post a link to your amazingly brilliant blog post on the Facebook Wall. Most groups have post or comment threads for these.

5. No follow v follow links. Lots of bloggers get confused by this. When writing a blog post you may want to recommend a great place to eat and put a link to your favourite restaurant. This is fine and the link should be follow. It says that you like the restaurant and in the eyes of Google it will push it higher up the rankings in the search engine for great places to eat. However, if the restaurant have paid you to put the link in or given you a free meal at the restaurant then the link should be no follow. In simple terms, Google want the company to pay them lots of money to rank high on the search engine not pay lots of bloggers a small amount to get to the same place. If Google find out that you have broken their rules they can take away page rank from you and the company. This means they wont be found in a Google search. It is down to you if you choose to do follow or no follow. SEO companies will pay for follow links as sponsored posts. If you don't rely on Google for your traffic then you may want to do this. If you do rely on Google then it is probably best not to.