Yeti In my Spaghetti Giveaway

Introducing Yeti in My Spaghetti (Yes you heard right). The wacky fun balance game for children aged 4+. 

The rules of this game are simple, take turns to one by one remove the spaghetti from the bowl. Its all about choosing the right pieces of spaghetti to keep the Yeti from falling into the bowl. The last player to remove a noodle successfully before the Yeti falls is the winner. 

The game is super easy to play and so perfect for children as young as 4. As well as testing your nerves this game is guaranteed to provide the entire family with squeals of laughter. 

University Games loves to create the opportunity to challenge your skills, while at the same time making the games fun and this is just what this game does. 

Yeti in My Spaghetti is a 2 or more player game and retails at £14.99.

It comes with 1 Yeti, 1 Bowl, and 30 Spaghetti Noodles

If you think this game sounds like fun then Enter the competition below where there will be not just one but two winners.

Win Game Yeti In my Spaghetti

Lily's Drawing Skills

Lily's Little Learners is all about Learning with Lily and so I just simply can't not post about her progress with her drawings.

Lily has always loved drawing and colouring. I got her crayons at one year old and even then she did a great job doing some lovely scribbles onto paper. 

Lately Lily's drawing skills have impressed me. We sat down and I got her to copy some of the patterns and shapes. I did a circle and she did a really good copy of one. Then a line from one end of the paper to the other...Easy! So I tried a zig zag to the end of the paper and to my surprise she did a great job. She even nearly managed to copy a heart I drew.

It was only a few weeks ago when I noticed really how good her drawing was getting when she started to draw what she see's as people. 

As she is drawing she would tell me what she was doing. She would draw a circle and say face. She would then add 2 arms to the side and 2 legs at the bottom, then add eyes, smile, nose and even hair. So all that was missing is the body. She then would tell me who they were. In the examples below you can see Nan and Grandad. 

What do you think to Lily's attempts? 

My Sunday Photo 28/01/17

A Way to have a Great Escape This January

If your anything like most people in January, you are probably trying to get over the excitement of Christmas, but also stick to a budget. You over spent at Christmas and then most people got paid a week earlier then usual in December, meaning their money hasn't lasted as long.

Then there is the fact that December was so exciting and January is so boring for most, you are craving doing something to liven it up. 

So I have the best cheap idea for you to escape the stress and depression of January and keep the expense down. That is by having the most epic adventurous movie night with some films that all have the excitement and adventure you will need, with out leaving your front room. 

So, Invite your friends round, or snuggle in with a loved one and a tub of ice cream and check out these 6 adventure films. 

1. The Legend of Tarzan 
Follow Tarzan as he is called back to his former home in the jungle after already being acclimatised to living in London. This action film watches Alexandra Starsgard as Tarzan as he investigates slavery activities at a mining encampment. 

2. PAN 
A version of the classic film where we watch the 12 year old orphan Peter get taken away to Never Never Land to have adventure and discover his destiny to be the hero who is known as Peter Pan. 

3. INTERSTELLAR 
Watch this exciting Sci-Fi adventure film where a team of explorers travel through a wormhole in space to attempt to save humanity. Its not looking good for earth with a future of droughts and disasters. But maybe through this wormhole is the answer to humanity's survival. 

4. In the Heart of the Sea
This adventure is based in 1820 when a whaling ship was assaulted by a HUGE whale. This film reveals the aftermath of the encounter where the crew have to fight for there lives by surviving storms, starvation and panic. 

5. MAD MAX - Fury Road
This action adventure film features a woman who is rebelling against a ruler in a postapocalyptic Australia where everyone is fighting for their lives. It also features Max, who is a man of action seeking piece of mind after the loss of his wife and child. 

6. The Wizard of OZ 
This well known film features Dorothy on her crazy dream like adventure to be able to get back to the place she loves, her home. On the way she meets a Scarecrow, a Tin Man, and a Lion who all also have desires and they decide to team up to find the Wizard of Oz to help them. On the way they find troubles when they run into a witch who is trying to capture Dorothy. 

You can find all these films by clicking this following link here. 

Which of these films would be on your escape list? 

Mummy and Me January 2017

As usual, January passes with a blur and it comes to the end of the month and I don't have many pictures of me and Lily. I really should start asking people to take more pictures of us. So the best picture we have from this month is taken just a few days ago when Lily got to meet her idol Peppa Pig! 

I have a great picture in mind for February to mark a special occasion, So lets just hope I remember to get someone to take it! 

Fred's Box Giveaway - A Fun Subscription Figure Box

Is your child a fan of Little Figures? Maybe your child really loves a surprise and opening a box up not knowing what is inside? Then look no further than Fred's Box. 

Fred's Box is a fun subscription service tailored for children aged 4 - 13 containing mini figures that are perfect to add to their collection. They are all custom made figures and are compatible with all leading brands of blocks. The boxes contain figures with all different themes from Action Hero to Princesses, Tv characters and Film Characters, Celebration themes such as Santa, and many more. They currently have over 100 different figures that will keep the surprise exciting and your collection growing.

The way the box works is that you can subscribe to either a one off box being sent out, or a 3 months or 6 months or annual subscription. You can also choose a size of box. There is the small box that has 2 figures in. The medium box which has 6 figures in, standard size which has 8 figures in or the large box which has 10 figures in. You can choose from a boys box, girls box or a unisex box of figures. If your box is changed to a girls box then the front of the box will say Lily's box instead of Fred's box.

These boxes also make a great gift as you can also add a greeting card to your box. 

Each month your box will be shipped to you with brand new figures in and you won't know who you have until you open it. The best bit is, that your box fits through the letter box so there is no need to worry about missing the post man. 

The prices range from £4.85 for a one off small box to £180 for a annual subscription for a large box. See the website for all the prices.

If you love the sound of Fred's Box then you may want to enter this great competition to win a 3 Months subscription to a small box. 
Enter on the Gleam app below. 

Win a 3 Months Subscription to Fredsbox

Our Day at Toy Fair 2017

Yesterday was an exciting day for both me and Lily as we were attending the Toy Fair that is held at Kensington Olympia. Both me and Lily are big toy fans. Of corse Lily loving lots of toys because she is 2 years old, and me just simply being a big kid at 30!  

I didn't know what to expect from the toy fair but when we got there the place was filled with so many stalls filled with toys. There was so much to see. 

We didn't actually manage to get around all the stalls but did get to see a lot. For me the day was filled with many meetings. Some with brands you see me working with on the blog on a regular occasion and some new. 

A few brands that I was excited to be meeting was Orchard Toys and Learning Resources and Ravensburger who you may have seen me work with on the blog. They have some great new toys that we got to see and try out. But i'm not going to spoil the surprise. Hopefully you shall be seeing me write about a few of those in the coming months. 

We visited lots of more stalls and Lily really enjoyed playing and testing out some of the new toys. It was really nice seeing the brands really enjoying watching Lily enjoy their toys.

Lily really enjoyed the toys at the Tomy stall. She was screaming loudly in excitement and giggling away at all the new toys and what they did. It was so lovely to see! We also popped to the Big Jigs stall and Lily enjoyed playing shopper in their village shop toy.

While we were there I just had to go and visit Lottie. One thing you may not know about me is that I collect dolls. I have always loved Lottie dolls but only ever seen there photographs so it was so nice to see them in real life. This is something I think I was a little more excited about than Lily. Told you i'm a big kid! If you don't know Lottie Dolls then keep a eye out on the blog as I may have an exciting post about them coming up soon.

We then headed past Sylvanian Families. Ive always been a big fan of them and now Lily is getting older she has started taking an interest to. I got Lily a Freya Rabbit when she was around 18 months old and she now loves her and knows exactly who she is. She loved this bigger Freya that we found stood on the stall and Lily just had to give her a cuddle. I can't wait for Lily to have more Sylvanian families to go with her Freya.

One company I was really impressed with was The Irish Fairy Door company. It was great to see a range of things they did as one thing I didn't know about them is that they do more than just doors. Also the detail on the doors is so beautifully done. They really are special. At the stall, Lily made friends with a fairy who was working on their from the Irish Fairy Door company and they became best friends. She introduced her to the other fairy's which Lily gave really big hugs to. The stall was lovely to visit and the experience was made really magical for Lily. 

The last thing I have to mention about the Toy Fair is the big characters that were walking around. This made Lily's day as she got to meet some of her favourites. She met Ben and Holly, The Twirlywoos, Upsy Daisy, and her favourites Peppa Pig and George. She was so excited and gave Peppa a big hug!

We met so many great toy brands at the Toy Fair and we had a great day. I Look forward to blogging about some of the great toys we saw there soon. 

My Sunday Photo 22/01/17

Num Noms Series 3 Review

Our ever growing collection and love for Num Noms is just getting bigger and bigger. I could not contain my excitement when I found out that Num Noms was bringing out a series 3 and that we were getting sent some. I was so excited for Lily as I know how much she loves Num Noms and love hearing her shout NUM NOMS really loudly as she see's them. 

If you haven't heard of Num Noms before, let me tell you a little about them. Num noms are cute and collectable food inspired and smelling toys. Each one has a different scent and they also stack on top of each other. Num Noms also have motorised Noms, Lip glosses and stamps. They have also just introduced erasers and flashing Num Noms. 

In our exciting bundle we were sent - 

Series 3 Lunchbox
Series 3 Starter Pack - Candies
Series 3 Mystery Tub

And we were also sent 2 packs of Series 1 Num Nom Lights. 

The Lunch box is so cool. I love how it comes with a little handle and if you open the box up carefully, it can be used for storage or to transport your Num Noms around with you. The Lunch Box comes with 10 Num Noms, one being a complete mystery to who you will get. It also comes with 2 cute erasers and a stamp. 

The Num Noms are so cute and colourful and all have different expressions on their faces. I really loved the grape one out of the set as it was actually shaped like grapes. The Num Nums smell amazing and super sweet. Its really good fun to try and guess which scent it may be without looking at them on the box. 

In the lunchbox we got - 

Oscar Orange
Maple Sugars
Cherry Ann
Wanda Wildberry
Carrie Corn
Nana Hearts
Brooklyn Blue
Payton Peppermint

Victor Vines

We opened up our Mystery Pot and just loved who we got. We got Cheesy Burrito who is super cute with her little bow. The 2 erasers that we got are called Slice and Wedge, and Lily really loved these. She doesn't know what a eraser is but loved how small they were and called them Baby Num Noms. She was carrying them around with her for quite some time. The stamp we got in the pack was really cool and different to any we have had before. It was a peach and it was actually furry like a peach would be. 

Our second pack was a starter pack of Hard Candy and BonBons Num Noms. I love the ideas of having sweeties as the Num Noms. Can't think of a better thing to smell than sweets! In my pack I got - 

A Spoon and Jar
A Melon Gummy Stamp
Gabby Grape
Mia Mango
Courtney Candy

My Favourite was Courtney Candy. As well as smelling amazing I just loved the design with it being see through and all rugged like.

Lily really liked the stamp and was pleased to have a green one as it was a stamp colour she didn't own yet. The stamps also are scented and smell great when you smell your paper after.

We then opened our Mystery Pot. Inside there was a Num Nom with a Lipgloss inside. This Num Nom was slightly different as it had the opening in the top instead of the bottom. The Lipgloss also had 2 different glosses inside and the casing for it was see through. I love the new design of the lipgloss. Our Num Nom we got was Zane Zest.

The last thing for us to open was the new series 1 Lights. We had recently got one of these at Christmas time in our Advent Box and so was excited to have more. The lights are great and have a little button to turn them on and off. The Num Noms also are glittery and look really pretty. We got Cherie Gummy and Sparkle Berry Gummy. 

The only one disappointment and this was more for Lily than me was to see that there was no motorised ones in any pack. As much as they really annoy me when vibrating noisily on my laminate floor, Lily loves these the most and is always playing with them.

But we really can't wait to collect more of series 3 and can't wait to see who we may get next.

What do you think about the new series 3 and the series 1 lights?

I have a great competition for you. Num Noms are letting me give one lucky winner a bundle of their own. Enter on the Gleam app below for your chance to win. 


Win a Num Nom Series 3 Bundle

Household Object Painting - Empty Biscuit Packets

One thing I love to do is to try and see what things around the home we could use for painting. Lily loves using a paintbrush but from time to time its really nice to vary up what she uses to paint with.
I like to do this in the cheapest way possible by using the things we have around the house to see what different patterns we can make. 

After Christmas I had lots of empty cake and biscuit packets and looking upon them noticed that they were all different shapes and also had a checked pattern on them. I thought "I wonder what they would look like for a painting activity". 

So yesterday I got them out. Cut them up to make stamps for Lily to print with. I had to be careful as after cutting them up there was lots of sharp corners which I cut to make smooth so they wouldn't hurt Lily's hands. 

So I got out some paints. Pink which was Lily's choice and got some paper. I did the first one to show Lily what to do and then she did really well with the rest and understood that you had to press the shapes down with your fingers to create the shapes. 

I do recommend not putting to much paint on you plates ready to print or you don't get the pattern. We found this out with the first few we did. 

These worked perfectly as stamps and we got some really nice shapes out of them and I think they created really nice pictures. 

So next time you are about to throw out your biscuit packets. Think again because they could make a great art activity. 

Here are some photographs of Lily doing the Activity. 

 And here are the finished pictures. 

Would you consider using biscuit/cake packets as stamps? You could also use the shapes from the chocolate trays.

Check out the other home object paintings here.

My Blogiversary - 1 Year old, Plus Giveaway!

Today marks the day of my Blogiversary! Above you see one very tired but happy blogging mummy celebrating the only way she can. By sitting on her computer about to write a post! A year ago today, I posted my first first post which was a very simple Hello! My First week of a blogger was all about getting my blog looking good, and all the hard work of putting it toggether began.

Lily was already 14 months old and so I had the hard task of writing all about the last 14 months for my few first blog posts. You really don't realise how much you forget until you go to write it all down. The good thing is, I now have lots written all about Lily from the age of 14 months to 2 years old. Im so looking forward to looking back through old posts and reading all about her and nice memories.

One thing that is great to look back on is My Sunday Photo. If you follow my blog you will notice each week that I a photograph of Lily on sunday which was taken that week. Looking at week 1 of Sunday Photo, and the Sunday Photo just gone, I really can't believe how much she has grown. 

The blog has taken off so much faster then I thought it would and there have been so many highlights. I wrote a highlights post a few weeks ago so I won't write them again but if you are interested you can read them here. 

My social media's all have so many more followers than I thought I would in a year. As it stands I have - 

Twitter - 4151 Followers
Facebook - 1715 Followers
Instagram - 1346 Followers

And i'm really happy to be in the Top 500 of Tots100. Im ever so proud of my blog. Its really nice to own something that is all your own hard work and also something you look at and love. If  few years ago I told myself that I had a blog like this, I would of laughed and not believed myself. As a matter of fact. Ive always hated writing so its really funny that i'm doing something which is almost 100% writing and i'm actually enjoying it.

So now I look towards another year of blogging. There are definetly a few things I would like to do and a few things to work on. Here are some of the things you can expect to see. 

1. Post More Activities - This is something I feel that I really wanted to focus on and haven't. Now Lily is getting older she is getting more interested in doing things with me and so we will definetly be getting more creative. 

2. Bake more - I plan on baking more and posting what I bake (disaster or not). This is a love and hobbie of mine and so its something i'm thinking of featuring on the blog more often. Baking is a great thing to do with our children.  

3. A Monthly Photography post - Photography is something I really want to be doing more of. I really hope to get back into my love for it. It may be shoots of Lily, or may be other shoots. It may be old work, or it may be new work. Or I may write about photography I love. This is a post I will be doing for me. Just to be able to keep my interest and enthusiasm in something I love so much.

4. Mid Month More about me - This is something I have wanted to start up for a while. Im thinking of maybe creating a linky, where once a month we can write a post where we tell everyone a little more about ourselves and then share them with each other. You read so many blogger posts without actually knowing much about the person you are reading about, so I think it would be lovely to write about the things we love and dislike and the things we have done in life. 

5. Re vamp the blog - I do like the way my blog looks at the moment. I don't really want to make drastic changes. But you may notice a few start to happen. For example i'm hoping for a new logo and banner very soon.

I would love to know what you think to my ideas and also what else you would like to see from Lily's Little Learners. 

Thank you for following and I hope that you carry on to do so for the year ahead.

Oh and One more thing... 

It wouldn't be a Blogiversary without some sort of giveaway would it? So seen as I love all my readers and followers so much. I will be treating one lucky winner to an American Candy Box. 

All you have to do is enter on the Gleam app below. Thank you for Following and good Luck! 

Win an American Candy Box

My Sunday Photo 15/01/17

Dinky Duvalay Review

As Lily has just turned 2 years old, we decided it was time to take the side of Lily's cot bed. Just as we did I got a email from a company asking me if I would like to review the Dinky Duvalay. 

This couldn't of come at a better time and so we said yes to reviewing in the hope that it would help Lily's transition to having no side on her cot. 

Lily slept in her bed with no sides for around 2 weeks before the Duvalay arrived and although she loved the freedom of being able to get out of her bed, she didn't seem to settled. 

I expect your thinking what on earth is a Dinky Duvalay. Well the Dinky Duvalay is a very cleverly designed transportable sleeping bag. It can be used at home on your toddlers bed and then also rolled up to be taken on holiday or used for sleepovers. 

The Duvalay is a mattress and duvet all in one and also comes with a pillow. Its designed for children aged 2 to 8 years and can be rolled up so you can take it places with you and use it there. The idea behind it is that instead of your child sleeping in a strange bed, they get the comfort of being in their own familiar space. 

When the Duvalay arrived it was much bigger than I though it would be. It came rolled up and kept toggether with straps and the pillow came separately. I did think that for us for the moment it would be hard to transport as it is large and we don't drive. We mostly travel by train and so this isn't something small to carry. Although you can buy a bag on the website to put it in which would help. It looked great though and I couldn't wait to use it to see if It would help Lily feel more comfortable in her bed. 

When Lily saw it on her bed she ran straight to it and jumped in. I snuggled her in and wow she looked really comfortable. The duvet itself was thicker than the one she previously had so that was good as it was getting a lot colder in her bedroom. The print is great and matches her white and brown cot and its great that its a unisex design which means that it can be used again if we ever have a boy. Lily hasn't really taken much interest in the fact there are animals on it which is kind of a good thing in a way so then she doesn't get distracted when it comes to sleeping. I think the pattern is calm and natural and with the animals not being cartoony it doesn't make it an over exciting print.
I did find it was a little to big for our cot bed and slightly hangs over the side but I think we actually have a slightly small cot bed. 

The Duvaly can be opened from either the left or the right side and so we decided to make the open side of the dovet to the open side of her cot so she can easily get in and out of bed. Lily has never liked feeling restricted. It has a really soft memory foam mattress which moulds to the shape of the body for support. I was really impressed with how soft and thick it is and so I was really happy for her to be sleeping on it. The cover is made from cotton which is fully washable and the duvet is made with a hollow fibre. One thing I did find about the cover and the duvet is that the duvet slides around inside the cover a lot and so each day I would find loads of material left at the top and the duvet all lumpy. Im currently having to shake it out each night before I put Lily to bed. Lily does seem to move her feet around in bed almost like the looseness annoys her and if she is anything like me then it probably does. Thats one thing I can't stand when I sleep is feeling the covers loose. 

So, How did Lily get on with her nights in the Dinky Duvalay. Firstly the pillow spent around 10 minutes on the bed before I knew it wasn't going to work for her. It was way to small and thick and her head kept rolling off it. It reminded me more of a cushion than a pillow and we would of preferred a thinner one that perhaps could be rolled into the Duvalay for travel. But apart from that Lily did seem really snug inside the Duvalay. I wouldn't say it helped Lily sleep any better. I really am still trying to work out what actually will. I think that it could help her sleep when she is somewhere strange as she will relate it to her own bed. Lily did actually fall out of bed while in the Duvalay. She hasn't got quite used to not being able to roll too far, but the entire Duvalay actually came with her and she ended up with a nice soft landing because of it. She hasn't done it since though so I don't think it was because of the Duvalay that she fell. 

Lily is still sleeping in the Duvalay and seems quite happy in it and we can't wait to try it out at a sleepover.

The Duvalay retails at £85.95 which does seem a lot until you think about the amount you are getting with it. Its such a clever idea and a one of its kind so definitely something to consider if you travel about a lot.  

You can see more about the Dinky Duvalay here on the website.

What do you think about the idea of The Dinky Duvalay?

My Birthday Cinema Trip

The cinema is something that me and my partner no longer get chance to go to. We have no babysitters here and so when I visited my mums this week up north, me and my partner made the most of her being able to babysit and we took 2 trips to the cinema.

Its so funny to get super excited about the cinema but I forgot how relaxing going to watch a film is. 

The first film we saw was Why Him. 

At first the trailer of it we watched didn't really sell the film to me too much, and I didn't think I would find it very funny. But my partner said to me it was meant to be really good and as there wasn't much other choices I agreed to go and see it. 

Im so glad I did. It was REALLY funny. I would say I was laughing most the way through the film and the end had me with tears in my eyes from laughing.

Bryan Cranston plays the role of a dad who find out his daughter is dating someone that turns out to be less than what meets most dads expectations. In fact this guy is covered in tattoo's and swears most than a guy with turrets. He also doesn't care about what comes out of his mouth and is really open and that lands him in a few situations that really don't please the dad. But these situations are super funny for us to watch as a viewer. I would 100% recommend going to see this film if you are a fan of comedies. 

The second film we went to see was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them.

For me and my partner this was the opposite away around. He wasn't to sure about seeing it where as I really wanted to. Ive always been a fan of Harry
Potter and I think JK Rowling is an amazing writer so I expected it to be really good. 

I wasn't disappointed and I also managed to change the mind of my partner who enjoyed it to. The story line is set way before the Harry Potter story but mentions of Hogwarts and Dumbledoor and other Harry Potter things are mentioned through out the film. But it is in no way related to Harry Potter at all. The lead character is a Ex student that was actually expelled from Hogwarts, his main interest is about all the magical Fantastic Beasts that exist. He heads to America with a suitcase. But its not just any suitcase, its actually full of these Fantastic Beasts. He accidentally swaps his case with a muggle (non magic type) and the beasts escape. He teams up with the muggle to try and capture them. At the same time there is a beast going around destroying the city and the government are also trying to capture him for having the beasts escape. Its full of action, some comedy, and best of all loads of magic.

The thing I loved about the film was that it recaptured some of the exciting new magic feelings you got when you watched the very first Harry Potter film.

Harry Potter fan or not, I would definetly recommend seeing this film.

Have you seen any of these films? What did you think?

Which would you like to see?

Why I have not been Blogging as much.

If you are one of my regular readers you may have noticed my posts have been going from 1 a day to having big gaps of 3 or 4 days. Of corse I did take a break for Christmas, but I expected to come back after that full of energy with loads of great new posts for you. 

But i've been ill. You may already know theres a bug going around? You may of had it yourself? Well i've had it since day after boxing day, and it just keeps coming and going. Ive had some days and felt fine and others terrible. I sit here right now with a achey body and a throat that feels like its had acid poured down it. 

Im finding it really hard to have enthusiasm do blog or think up posts to write and i'm the type of person that really hates not getting on with things. 

Im feeling super guilty for Lily who has had way to many boring days though at least she has got plenty of new Christmas toys to be playing with in the meantime. 

And not only that but it was my 30th Birthday last weekend and I made my self try and enjoy the day but spent most of it coughing and sneezing. 

Im going to try and get my act toggether and get you some nice posts to read. I have a few exciting reviews coming up and a competition with Num Noms coming soon to. So please do keep popping back.

Hope everyone has had a better week than mine. 

My Sunday Photo 08/01/2016