The Perfect Ski Jacket for your Kids First Ski Trip

Kids Ski Jackets 

If this is your child's first Ski Trip then one of the most important things you could be shopping for right now is the perfect Ski Jacket. Of corse one of the things that comes with Skiing is the cold. So making sure your child is wrapped up warm and protected from the elements is a must. 

Ski Jacket Features 

Things you may want to think about when it comes to what jacket to buy are the features. But how many important features could a coat possibly have. Well there are lots. 

• Waterproof
• Pockets
• Fastenings
• Hoods
• Layers
• Fur Collars
• Reflective Details
• Insulation
• Chin Protection
• Adjustability
• Dirt Repellents
• Colours and Designs

You may want to think about which of the things in a coat would be important to you. Will your child be carrying their own Ski Pass and if so pockets just the right size for the Ski Pass is important. Is a hood with the extra fur collar something that is important? Are you wanting a lightweight jacket or a thick layered one? Most coats taylor for a lot of these things and you should be able to find the perfect jacket you are looking for.

For my little girl I would say the layers, the hood, how waterproof it was and the design would be what I was looking for in a Girls Ski Jacket. If I was to buy a Ski Jacket for Lily the it would be something like the one below. It seems to have all the features with the furry hood, zip up the front, waterproof and with a fur hood. The design is practical but also perfect for a little girl to still look fashionable while Skiing. 

What Features are most important for you when it comes to buying a Ski Jacket? 

*This post was written in exchange for a voucher but all words are my own* 

Mid Month More About Me

Okay, So it is way past Mid Month now, but I have literally been dying of a chest infection for the last 15 days and still not better. But I still wanted to be able to post this post so here it is. 

This month I have decided to have a little change. I am slightly reaching into the roots of the old me, the slightly more alternative me that used to be more daring and have more fun. So I decided a hair change was in order. Not so much the style of my hair but this time, the colour. I have had red for the last 10 years or so and as much as I have always loved my hair red, I wanted to go for something compleatly different and so I went for blue!

I got my hair done 2 weeks ago now, decided that I would get a very dark brown edging towards black at the top with blue at the bottom. I also wanted a very greeny looking blue and different shades of it. 

It took 4 and a half hours to do and perfect, but here it is. 

It was done by Brit Can Balayage and she did an amazing job! Below you can see the before and the after. So what do you think? Do you like my new change? Would you get something like this done? 

My Sunday Photo 20/09/18

Baby Born Boy Review

Lily has plenty of girls dolls, and so I was really pleased when Zaph Creation offered us a Baby Born Boy Dolls to review. Dolls are something that Lily plays with quite regular and the Baby Born Boy doll looked amazing. Lily was so pleased with her new doll when it arrived. 

This doll is such a good quality beautiful baby doll. It has such lovely features such as brown eyes and long eye lashes and little rosey red cheeks. Along with that is is dressed in such cute blue baby clothing. A super soft removable hat, and a really cute baby grow with a bear on the front. The material is really nice and also stretchy so easy for children to take on and off.

Baby Born also comes with a blue and yellow dummy with a star on the front. This has a dummy clip on the end so then you can clip the dummy to the babies clothing. I really like the dummy, I think it looks just like a real babies one and it is really cute.

Other items came with the Baby Born Boy, such as a little bracelet on his wrist which I thought was a nice little touch. The bracelet is a little heart tied on with blue string, it is very cute. There is also a matching bracelet for your child to wear so they have the same one as their baby.

Also you get a blue potty and a nappy which opens and fastens on and then can be re used and fasted on again and again.

Then there is a feeding plate and bottle and a portion of porridge to feed to your baby and the cutest little birth certificate.

Baby Born Boy has 9 different functions and all of these functions work with out a battery. Which is every parents dream!

Firstly Baby Born can sleep. Simply lay him on his back and he will close his eyes. I know that making the baby sleep is something Lily loves to do.

Secondly Baby Born can cry real tears by pressing onto its chest.

Baby born can also drink real water and then wet his nappy so then you can change him. 

You can then feed your baby the porridge that has been provided in a sachet. Then using the belly button feature make baby born wee or poo into the potty. 

If you have a bath for Baby Born, then you can also place him in it or in your own bath and he is fully bathable.

Then last but not least the arms and legs of baby born can move and now move a lot easier than ever before. Making it easier to dress your baby. 

Lily really enjoyed doing all these features. Mostly she loves to put her baby to sleep by feeding it a bottle and then giving it a dummy and laying it down. She was super impressed that it came with the perfect little sized nappies for it that she could change. 

Baby Born Boy is £34.99 and can be bought from most toy retailers including Smyths Toy Store. 

Would your child enjoy this doll? 

Madagascar a Musical Adventure

I really enjoy going to and telling you all about shows. So here I have a really exciting one to tell you all about. 

We were invited to Blackpool's Opera House at Winter Gardens to go and see Madagascar a Musical Adventure.

So on Saturday the 15th of September Lily and I and some of her friends jumped in the car to go and see the 2.30pm show. 

Lily was super excited. She loves going to see shows and we hadden't been to one for a little while. 

I really didn't know what to expect about the show, but from the images I had seen, it looked like it would be a good one. 

Lily and I love the film Madagascar and I was really curious to how they would turn it into a musical. 

When the show started I was firstly really impressed with the stage. It was set up so well with so much going on, it was really colourful and Lily's eyes lit up when she saw the stage looking so amazing. All the sets were great and everything was moved on and off stage so it looked like it was doing it all by itself. It was very clever staging. I also think the stage was brilliantly lit. There is nothing worse than a dark show where you can't see anything going on but this was lit up nice and bright. 

As all the characters started to come on, I was very impressed to see their costumes looking so well done. You totally forgot it was an actor or actress in the outfit and started to see them as an animal. Lily loved seeing all the animals. The monkeys that kept popping onto the stage were her favourite. My favourite was the giraffe. Such a clever idea for a costume to still be able to give him that long neck. Also the giraffes face just looked exactly like Melman's face in the film. 

 As well as looking good, the actors did the voices of the of the characters perfectly. Some sounded exactly like they did in the films. The characters acted out the scenes from the film and spoke out some of the famous lines of the film. They then also did lots of singing and dancing.

The character I was most impressed with was King Julian. He sounded JUST like from the film. If you closed your eyes, you would have thought you were watching the film not seeing the show it was that good. 

Then came the part of the show that I had hoped they would do, sing the I like to Move it Move it song. This really got the audience dancing and lily was jigging up and down on my knee. She loved it! 

A lot of the songs sung were new and related to the film, the singing parts were Lily's favourite and she really enjoyed moving along to the music.

As for the Venue, it was huge, there was plenty of seats and the show was packed out. We were quite close to the front and you could hear the show really well. The only thing I would say is that the seats are way to low down for smaller children and it wasn't made apparent to us that there was booster seats that they could of had.

Over all the show was really good and I think children of all ages would of loved it. Id your child would have been to young to understand what was going on they would have still loved all the music and lights. 

Lily and her friends had such a good day. Although we got sent tickets from Winter Gardens for a review, tickets started at just £12.50 and so it is well worth the money. 

We can't wait to go back to Winter Gardens to see another show. Head to the website to see what else is showing soon. 

Sticklebricks Build It Big and Fire Engine Review

Sticklebricks is something that I remember playing with when I was a child. They first launched in 1969 so it is amazing that they are still going strong and children still love them just as much as they always have. Not only that, the ingenius concept that is pushing spiky blocks together is exactly the same now as it was then and still provides just as much fun. 

Lily was sent 2 sets of Sticklebricks made by Flair. One was a Build It Big Set and the other was a Fire Engine Set. 

Lily has played with Sticklebricks before and we do own some. So she was very excited to receive even more sticklebricks. 

The fire engine set comes in a tub which is perfect for storing your sticklebricks in. The lid of the tub is made like a sticklebrick so it can be used as a base to build a fire station on. Inside is then all the pieces you will need to create a fire truck. Lily found it easy and fun to assemble her fire truck and then she had a great time pushing it along the floor making fire engine noises. The firetruck looked great when it was all built up. The set also came with a little fireman sticklebrick. 

This is a great add on set to if you already have sticklebricks because it just creates a little more excitement to the things you have already made with with the bricks. 

The larger set we were sent was the Build It Big Set. This is a box which is full of different sized, shaped and coloured bricks. Perfect for letting the imagination run wild by being able to make what ever you like. The set comes with a base that things can be stuck to, and it also comes with some sets of wheels so then you can make vehicles. 

We decided to build a house with a person to play inside it. The design came totally from our heads and Lily did a great job helping me push the pieces together. After it was built, Lily played with the person and the house. 

In total there are 84 pieces in the set so you really can make lots of different things. 

Sticklebricks are perfect for children of Lily's age because they are perfect for the imagination but also they are perfect for younger children too. Sticklebricks are perfect for hand and eye co-ordination and helping develop dexterity as they are the perfect size for children to find easy to hold in their hand. 

If your child doesn't have a set of Sticklebricks yet then the classic Build it Big set is perfect as a starter pack as it has all that you will need to start your child's love of construction. 

The Build It Big set retails at £19.99 and the Fire Engine one retails at £16.99. 

You can find StickleBricks at most retails such as Argos and Amazon. 

What would your child build with Sticklebricks? 

Happy Linen Company Launches New brand and Product Range

One-trick pony, be no more! When the Happy Linen Company was first set up, it was never meant to be more than a temporary Christmas pop-up selling affordable bedding. However, they quickly realised that designing and selling bed linen was more enjoyable than their day jobs. Six months later and they quit the corporate life, completely reworked the brand and redeveloped the entire product range. With over 20 years’ worth of experience in the textile industry between them, the step made perfect sense.

Working together with talented local designers, who do a brilliant job of refining their rough sketches into beautiful designs, they are also expanding the range to include a wider variety of all-year bedding for adults and children. The new Black Label range introduces a more luxurious offering, but never loses sight of their affordable bedding promise. Being dog lovers, they have even taken the plunge into the world of pets, introducing a range of cosy dog blankets in various sizes and designs. 

Lucy Doovay, Head of Brand & Marketing at Happy Linen Company said: ‘We’re now no longer just a bedding company, but true to our name, have taken on the wider world of home textiles. We’re hoping that our new products and ranges will speak to all those customers who we had to turn away last year looking for matching curtains, cushions, throws and more. We think that what we’re doing is something a bit different and hope the reception matches the effort we’ve put into every single product and design.’

They are now also partnered with two charities as part of their Sleep Happy, Not Hungry campaign. Every time one of their bedding sets is purchased, they help fund a meal for those most in need in Manchester and further afield. They also regularly support local children’s hospices and shelters by donating their bedding.

Despite rethinking their approach and turning the business into a (slightly) more serious operation, they don’t forget why they decided to set up Happy Linen Company in the first place. Their ethos summarises this perfectly: "we are serious about happy".

Head to Happylinencompany.co.uk to check out their wide range of bedding. 

To celebrate the new launch. Happy Linen are offering one lucky winner a chance to Win a Bed Set from their Toddler, Kids or Adult Ranges. (This excludes the new black label range)

For your chance to win head to one (Or ALL) of the following Social Media's and Enter! We are looking for you to tell us your favourite bedding on the website!

Facebook 

Twitter

Instagram

Terms and Conditions

One Winner over all Platforms

Uk Only
Ends - 12th October

Winners to be contacted privately and announced on Winning platform

Black Label Range not included in the prize

This post was written in collaboration with The Happy Linen Company

Peppa Pig Count With Me Interactive Money Box

Lily is a huge Peppa Pig fan. She has been watching it on Tv for years and is always excited about new Peppa Pig Toys.

So when I got offered the Count with Peppa Interactive Money box from the Trends Learning Electronic Range to review I just knew Lily would love it.

Lily was so excited when it turned up. She could see that is was Peppa straight away and wanted to open it and play with it. The toy looked so inviting as you could see exactly what is was and could touch it while it was still in the box. 

We opened it straight away and Lily was so happy to have a new Peppa Toy.

Inside the box there is the money box Peppa and some Plastic coins which have numbers on. The toy needed batteries so to begin with Lily just played with it posting the coins into the slot. 

The coins are quite large and so easy for little ones to grab. Lily is nearly 4 so she could post them quite easily into the slot but I think that a child of a smaller age may need help. The coins are really colourful and so really encourage children to want to play with them. They have the number itself on and then also some pictures for the child to count. So for example, 4 dinosaurs.

After the coins are dropped in, they fall into Peppa's belly. You can then open the belly up and out they fall. 

As soon as we got batteries for it we popped them in as the toy just got 10 times better. Firstly Peppa encourages the child to count along with her by inserting the coins, then as the child does it counts the coins. Peppa recognises which coins have been placed in and responds. I think this part of the toy is really clever. Peppa may ask for a number 5, and if you give her a different number, she tells you that its not a number 5. This is a really fun way for children to learn. Lily still struggles to recognise her numbers and so this toy will really help her when it comes to recognising them. I will definitely be doing focused activities with this toy to help her learn how to recognise her numbers.

As well as counting, Peppa has a colour mode where you can teach your child about colours. This is perfect if you child is yet to young to understand numbers. 

Last but not least, Peppa does the one thing that all children love and all parents hate. She sings!!!!

The songs are ones from the show and even I recognise them and can sing along. Not that I do... honest!! It features the Counting Song, Head Shoulders Knee's and Toes and The Rainbow Song.

The sound quality of the toy I am really impressed with, It is really clear and also quite loud. I am always quite disappointed when you can't hear the sound of the toy to well but this one I definitely wasn't disappointed with. 

The Toy is aimed at children aged 18 months to 4 years and the toy retails at £19.99 and can be bought from Amazon.

I now have one to giveaway to one lucky winner! Enter on the Gleam app Below. 


Win a Count with Peppa Pig Intereractive Money Box

My Sunday Photo 08/09/18

BigJigs Toys Magnetic Weather Board Review

As you may know, I am always trying to teach Lily new things. Though now she is in nursery for 3 days, she isn't around as much for me to be teaching her.

Bigjigs Toys wanted to know if I would like to review something from their educational section. So with that the fact Lily is in nursery 3 days a week, I wanted to find something that me and her could do together to aid her learning. 

Thats when I spotted the Magnetic Weather board and thought, great the perfect activity to do together. 

But the BigJigs Toys Magnetic Weather Board, isn't just a weather board. It also features days, dates, months and time. 

Lily was at home the day it arrived and she was so excited when it came. 

She wanted it opened straight away and then we set to organising it together. The magnets all come in separate sheets and you need to pop out each little magnet. We first did this into a little dish so they were all together. When they were all popped out, we started to place the magnets in the correct places. 

Along the side of the board and along the bottom are squares for all the numbers, and dates and seasons. These all stick here until you are ready to use them. The left hand side of the board, there is an area where each day you can put what the weather is like, the date, the season, and also state what activity you plan to do for the day. 

This is an activity we have done each... (okay most) mornings. Lily is getting really good at knowing what the weather is like. She can pick from Cloudy, Rainy, Sunshine, Sunshine and Clouds, and Snowy. But she is still learning about dates and days of the week. She also doesn't understand why we aren't changing the month, year and season regularly. 

But these are all things to learn about and the weather board gives a great opportunity to do this. Now Lily is attending nursery, it should also help her learn the days of the week. 

The board also has a clock, the time isn't something that Lily is yet learning but that is the great thing about this board, she can learn more and more as she grows. She does love setting the time though and even though she gets it wrong, she will say its 5 o clock or may say its dinner time. This is great as she is understanding the concept of time. The clock has 1-12 and also a 24 hour clock. It also has written on it things like quarter too and half past. The hands of the clock both move around very easily and so perfect for little hands. 

I do love that the board is magnetic, it means it is really easy for lily to be able to take things from the board and place them back on. The magnets also stick really well, they are very good quality. So far Lily's board is in her bedroom leaning against the wall and none have fallen off and onto the floor. The board is also made from a nice thick wood with a lovely finish. As usual for BigJigs Toys I am not disappointed in the quality. 

I do also love how colourful the board is. Also the colours relate to things like the seasons, with blue being for winter and yellow for summer. 

Bigjigs Toys have made the design of the magnets very cleverly. The months all also have a symbol of the season on it and also match in colour, this helps children remember and match up months to seasons. The activities that are on the magnets are at a guess, music, birthday, school, games, reading, the park, the beach/holiday, and sports. I think these are a good selection though would have loved one for those home days where you stay in because of the rain. We have them often here up north. 

I am really happy with the magnetic weather board and it is going to get plenty of use over the years. The board is £18.99 to buy and can be bought from the BigJigs Toys website. 

BlogOnToys Introduce Yourself Linky

I am so excited that I have decided to go to Blog On again this year. I went last year and had such a brilliant day. This year is a special one all about one of my favourite thing! Toys! I am hoping this year to meet some of the bloggers that I have spoken to over the year as well as some of the brands that I have been working with.

To start off the celebration of attending Blog On this year, I have decided to join in with the BlogOnToys Linky. Hope you enjoy reading my answers to the following questions and if your also coming to BlogOnToys then... See you There! 

• What is the best thing about blogging? I think just owning something that is compleatly my own. Something I have put effort into myself and built from scratch. Something to be proud of. When I think of my blog, it is one thing that I feel really good about and love.
  
• What was your dream job when you were growing up? I had so many jobs I wanted when I was growing up, but mainly I wanted to be a teacher. I left school not getting the correct grades though and ended up in childcare. Looking back I do wish I would have re sat some of my GCSE's but I don't remember getting that option suggested to me. I am hoping in the future to be able to re sit some of them as I would now like to become a Photography Tutor.
  
• What is your lucky number? I have never had one. I always use my birthday which is number 8, though not sure why, there is nothing lucky about my birthday, it is the week after new years and so is always rubbish because everyone is partied out.
  
• What is your favourite season? It is between Summer and Autumn. I love summer for the warm weather and being able to get out more, but Autumn has crunchy leaves and nice colours. Though, last year I remember Autumn being really wet and there was no crunchy leaves around. So I guess it all depends on what the seasons actually turn out to be like.
  
• If you had to choose one what would your favourite dish from the Chinese be? Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup for starters, I am addicted to it, and if I am ever unwell it is my food I really crave to eat as it always makes me feel better. Then for main I love mixed Veg in Blackbean Sauce with rice.
  
• What is your useless talent? Useless talent.. hmmm. Maybe being able to stand on my tip toes for a very long amount of time? Although, it isn't that useless. When I was watching an England Match over the summer in a large crowd, I couldn't see and literally managed to stand on my tip toes for the entire match. I think it comes from being short and constantly having to do it.. and practice makes perfect right?
  
• If you could keep any animal as a pet what would you choose? EASY!! I would have a giraffe. Im pretty sure that it would live happily in a garden. It is practically a giant horse with a long neck.
  
• Which one meal would you eat forever? (If you had to choose one!)
  I think Waffles, covered in chocolate sauce and strawberries and ice cream. Thats a meal? Right?
  
• What is the last thing you check before you lock your front door?
  I don't, I lock it, then unlock it again running in doing all the things i've forgotten to do. Like switch off the lights usually.
  
• If you won £50,000 what would be the first thing you would buy? I would get a mortgage most probably. Then invest the money in education that I want to and possible get myself my own studio space. How sensible do I sound? It is probably not true, I would probably have to take myself on a shopping trip first. Been ages since I have had a splurge on myself.
  
• What is your favourite social media channel?
  I use facebook the most I would say, although recently I haven't been enjoying it just from seeing to many videos and links to websites telling you this and telling you that, telling you about who you are. Some of it really relates and is so true but then it just doesn't help with the over thinking. So I am going to say Instagram. It seems to be the place people go to post more positive messages in the form of pictures.
  
• Tell us more about your best ever holiday
  All of my holidays have ended up being in the same place, which is Weymouth in dorset. So I couldn't really say a favourite. So I am going to say my trip to prague. I went all on my own and so it was the best, just doing what I wanted to do and spending time with my own company, just me, my camera and this wonderful place. When I look back to that week, I felt on top of the world.
  
• Name one cake you rock at baking 
  Chocolate Brownie... Yum! I need to get one made this month for sure.
  
• Which session are you most looking forward to? SEO and Monetisation. Something I definetly need to learn about.  
• What is your favourite book ever? I don't really do reading, so I am going to say one of my photography books. I prefer to look at pictures than read.
  
• Which special event is your favourite? (Halloween, Christmas etc)
  It most definitely is between Christmas and Halloween. But which one depends on how much of a good one I have. I really want to do more for Halloween this year. Christmas can be great, especially now that its all about Lily and making it special for her.
   
• If the internet vanished right now how would you share your message or life story without a blog?
  I would say stand in a crowded area and stand on a bench and shout really loud. But I expect that I would get dragged away like a crazy person for doing that. It would be a very interesting experiment to see if there was no internet. Would people still be so interested in other people lives? 

Virginia Hayward Chocolate Hamper Review and Giveaway

Has the image above got your mouth watering already? 

I think as soon as Virginia Hayward Hampers said the word Chocolate mine started to. They asked, "Would you like to try one of our chocolate hampers?" It was a tough one. Would I... a chocoholic, like to try a chocolate hamper? "YES! Yes I would" was the answer. 

Soon after, a delivery arrived at my door and I could not wait to see what chocolate treats were inside. 

Virginia Hayward specialise in making truly delicious chocolate hampers and they have such a selection on their website. They have hampers for all budgets and some even go as far as to having bottles of wine or champagne in which always make the perfect companion to chocolate. 

I was told I was getting the Love Chocolate Hamper that is priced at £19.99. Which I think makes the perfect gift. It was super nice to be receiving this hamper, it wasn't my birthday but what a treat to get such a lovely gift through my door!  

It all came inside a nicely decorated cardboard box. I wasn't sure what to expect but was hoping that it came with the lovely basket in the photograph on the website. 

I opened it up and it did. It was presented so lovely and if it was my birthday and I had opened this up as a gift, I would have been delighted. 

So what were the contents of my lovely chocolate hamper?

Inside it had - 

• Chocolate and Caramel Fudge
• Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Biscuits
• Chocolate Cake
• Soft Nougat Chocolate Bar
• Chocolate Stirring Spoon
• Jar of Chocolate Sauce

I think the selection inside the hamper is such a great one. It holds such a variety of different things that aren't just chocolate but chocolate flavoured and themed.

I am really looking forward to making a hot chocolate with my stirring spoon and I know that Lily is going to enjoy helping me eat those biscuits.

I think my favourite thing from the hamper had to be the chocolate cake and chocolate sauce. It was such a treat as I love chocolate cake and the sauce went perfectly with it. The cake was super soft and had so many yummy chocolates on top. It did not take me long to finish it.

If you fancy the look of this hamper you can buy it from the Virginia Hayward Website, or you can head there to see other fantastic indulgent hampers that they have to offer.

But I also have the chance for one lucky winner to take this hamper home. If you would like to win a Love Chocolate Hamper for yourself. Enter on the Gleam app below.

Win a Love Chocolate Hamper

My Sunday Photo 02/09/18

Lily and her little friend Elsie