Mummy and Me February

It has been quite a while since I posted any Mummy and Me Photographs and this month I got 2 nice ones so I thought I would do a little post for them. 

Also another good reason to post these 2 photographs are to show the crazy difference between the 2 lots of weather we have been having! The first picture is from February the 1st, and as you can see, it was very cold! The second is from last monday the 25th of Feb which was apparently 19 degree! Crazy how much the weather changed with in a month. 

These were both 2 lovely days out with Lily that I really enjoyed! Hope you like the pictures!

Win a Scruff-a-Luvs Limited Edition Blossom Bunny

Who has heard of Scruff-a-Luvs?

They are these really cute animals that need your help being rescued and cared for. First they need a bath, then a good dry, and then a good brush and then you should have a cuddly pet for life!

Scruff-a-Luvs by Worlds Apart now have a Limited edition animal out that currently needs rescuing. Bunnies!!!

The Blossom bunny's are the brand new edition to Scruff-a-Luvs and a must have pet for all. Especially if you already own some pet bunnies as it would fot in perfectly.

In the pack comes a pet, a brush and a little tiara. But it is a complete surprise which one you may get! 

You could get a yellow one, a pink one or a green one! Such a cute surprise!

If you would like to get your hands on one of these bunnies, then get entering below as I have one to giveaway!

Then keep a look out as in a few days, there will be a post revealing which bunny we got and what Lily thought about it. 

Enter on the gleam app below for your chance to win!

Win a Scruff-a-Luvs Blossom Bunny

Orchard Toys Magic Spelling Game Review

Time for another amazing Orchard Toys review!

I just love educational games and Orchard Toys have been my favourite brand for games for this very reason. 

We were offered a brand new educational game called Magic Spelling.

The game is recommended for children aged 5-7, so Lily is a little young for this game yet. But I was so impressed with the learning experience that comes with it that I just had to review it and let everyone know about it. 

The concept of the game is to race to spell out your word before the timer runs out. But there is a magic element to it where the words are hidden until you use the magic wand to reveal them. 

In the box there is - 

- 4 spell book boards
- 20 spell ingredients cards
- 36 word cards
- 36 letter tiles
- 1 magic wand
- 1 sand timer
- 1 cauldron spinner
- 1 instruction leaflet

As usual the play pieces are all so colourful and child friendly. So inviting for a child to want to come and play with them.

You start to play by giving each player a spell book board. You then need to spread out the letter tiles with the letter side facing down. Shuffle all the word cards and place them bubble side up. Then you need to spread out all the ingredient cards with the pictures facing up and get your wand and timer and spinner ready to play. 

The youngest player then starts by turning over a word card. You will be able to see a picture of something, for example a fish. then under that there would be a black block where the word would be later revealed. If the child is already at a good spelling ability then they can think about how the word fish is spelt. Or this may have to be something that a parent would help with. For Lily as she is younger, we decided to focus on the first letter. 

The timer is then turned over and the race is on to find the letter on the letter cards. But it isn't as simple as that, you must look through the magic wand to make all the letter appear on the cards. As you find each letter you turn it over in front of you. 

If they manage to find all the letters (or in Lily's case, the letter) before the timer runs out then you can shout abracadabra and rub the black strip which will reveal the word to see if you are right. I found that Lily struggled to rub hard enough to reveal the word so I did this part for her. But an older child should manage to do it. If you were right then you get to find an ingredient to put on your spell book board. The letters all go back into the game face down to be used again. 

If you were wrong, or you didn't manage to find all the letters in time, then send your letters straight back to the table face down. 

After playing for some time one player may have managed to fill their spell book with all the ingredients. This is where the spinner now comes into play. Spin the spinner, if it lands on Abracadabra then you are the winner and you can cast the magic spell that is on the bottom of the ingredient card. But if you get the cross bones, then that means you have to return an ingredient and carry on in the game.

As I mentioned above, I decided to simplify the game for Lily's learning level and make it so she was only finding the first letter of each word. This is going to be a great game for her to be able to learn those letters seen as she isn't at the spelling stage yet. Lily doesn't know all her letters but she is starting to learn some and she loved using the magic wand to find them. She got the concept of the game really easily, so an older child would easily be able to understand and enjoy playing this game.

The game is perfect for letter and word recognition, developing word building skills, promoting language and literacy and also encouraging observation.

Overall it is such a fun game that is going to be a great aid when it comes to learning to spell.

This game is £12.75 to buy and can be bought from the Orchard Toys Website. 

Would your child enjoy this game? 

My Photography Post February 2019

I always love when I get to do a type of photography that I haven't done for ages and one type which I haven't shot in years is Macro Photography. Macro images were actually one of the first type of images I shot when I first got into photography. I remember taking a close up of a really tiny snail shell I found.

Recently I got the chance to borrow a friends Macro lens and so this lead to me doing some exploring with it to see what I could find. The days I got to shoot, were both either wet or snowy days and so perfect for Macro pictures.

So here are some of the images that I shot. You may notice quite a theme of droplets.

1. Icy Tree - 
Ok this is actually a twig, but I love how the Macro lens makes it seem bigger than it is and love the little snow crystals resting on it. 

2. Ice Droplet -

This was the tiniest piece of grass hanging from this thorny twig covered in snow. It took quite a bit of effort to get such a tiny strand in focus.

3. Water Droplet 
I spotted this tiny little droplet coming from this twig and just had to capture it. 

4. Moss Water Droplets 
I just loved the ice that had melted on this moss to form little water droplets. The Macro lens could get really nice and close up to get the detail of each bubble. 

5. Metal Drip -

I just loved this large drop of water coming from this piece of metal and the way the light was caught on it. I also love the detail of the metal itself. 

6. Droplets -

Again I loved the way the droplets all formed on this metal bench. Love how you can get such detail from such a little thing by using a Macro lens. 

7. Life amongst the snow -
I found the tiniest of little plants just starting to grow peeping out from the snow. 

8. Melting Snow - 
Love how you can see the snow that was on this leaf melting and just leaving a tiny bit of ice behind on the back of the leaf.

Which of the above photographs do you like the most and why? 

Monthly Book Roundup - What we was reading in Janaury

It is a new year, which means a whole new set of books for me to read to Lily. Lily is a lot fussier with the stories I read her now, and she does go back to her old favourites a lot of the time, but I do get chance to introduce her to new books each month. Just don't get to read them as often as I would like. I think it is because she is getting older and the repetition of the same books doesn't interest her as much as it did when she was little. 

I still like to read 2 - 3 stories a night to Lily though. Usually we have one long one and 2 shorter stories.

You can read all my other book reviews Here

January I just let Lily choose a few new stories from her pile of books. We didn't have a particular theme to which stories we read.

Here is what we read in January -

1. Kiki and Bobo's Birthday Surprise by Yasmeen Ismail

Firstly this is a brilliant flap book. It has so many little flaps to open up with surprise pictures underneath. Lily loved opening them all to see what she could find. The story is all about Kiki finding out from Bobo that is is a very special day. Straight away Kiki thinks that it must be Bobo's birthday and so she goes and starts planning a party and starts to make him a cake. In the meantime, Bobo knows that actually it is Kiki's Birthday and he goes out to buy her a present. When he gets back she shouts surprise and Happy Birthday, to which he explains its actually her birthday. They then both enjoy the party together. It is a lovely Birthday surprise story. Lily asked for this one often this month. I was sent this book by Walker Books but you can pick it up from online.

2. Sugerlump and the Unicorn by Julia Donaldson 

Sugerlump is a lovely rocking horse who often gets played on by the children of the house. But one day he gets bored and wishes that he could be out of the house and become a real horse. The unicorn is magical and can grant wishes and so does this wish for him. But eventually Sugerlump isn't happy again, and wishes to become something new. He keeps getting bored of his new horsy lifes and eventually decides he misses the children, and so the Unicorn turns him back into his rocking horse. Unfortunately the children had by now grown up and so there was no one to ride him. This is where the Unicorn takes it upon herself to turn Sugerlump into a fair ground ride so he can be rode all day by lots of different children and so never get bored. The story I really enjoyed and I thought that it had a lovely ending. There was also some lovely little rhymes throughout the story which kept getting repeated and so made the story enjoyable to read. Some of the pictures are also covered in glitter which adds a magical touch. Lily was bought this book by a friend and it can be bought it most book stores.

3. The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson  

Lily asked for this story quite a few times this month. It is all about a little girl who owns some paper dolls and takes them on an adventure. She loves to play with them. One day a little boy tears up her paper dolls, but this is where the story doesn't end up sad, because the paper dolls get to go and play in a very special place, the little girls memory. I think the idea behind the story is to show children that they don't need to get upset about things that break or that are lost, because we will always remember them. The story also has some rhyming in it and is very nice to read. I would really recommend this story, especially if recently your child has encountered loss. This book Lily was bought by a friend, but it can be picked up online and in most book stores.

Which of the above books do you like the sound of the best?  

5 Gift Ideas for Valentines

Not long until Valentines Day, and if you haven't got your gift already, now is the time to get it bought. 

Are you out of ideas? This is where my short but sweet little Valentines Gift guide may come in handy.

I have 5 lovely items that would make the perfect gift for Valentines. Some for women and some for guys. Or maybe if you spot something you like you could use this to give a little hint hint at a gift you may like to receive?

So here are 5 gifts ideas for Valentines. 


1. Songmics Jewellery Box - RRP £19.99 *Buy Me Here* 

I was sent this Jewellery Box by Songmics and it really is a perfect little box. I love how neat and tidy it looks and how pretty the silver fastening is on the front of the box. Inside there is a little compartment with 4 individual section to it. One is for rings, 2 are empty spaces and one has a little closed lid. This lifts out and then there is another compartment under that which has another 4 sections for Jewellery storage. It also comes with a mirror in the lid so you can see what the jewellery looks like on. This Jewellery box is really stylish, compact and so easy to take with you as well as keep at home. It also has a key lock feature to make sure any valuable jewellery is safe. I think it makes such a lovely gift for any Jewellery lover at Valentines.

2. Personalised Beer Bottles - RRP £24.99 *Buy Me Here*

I think men are a little harder to buy for at Valentines and so a nice safe option is to go for something alcohol related like bottles of beer. But that doesn't always show much thought and so if you are wanting to go one step further then you could think about personalised beer bottles. I think these are really quirky. The labels on them all have a nice Valentines message but they relate it back to beer which I find very fun. The 3 beers in the set are from Best of British Beer and they come in a nice little gift box with a plastic slider on the front and 3 compartments for the beers to sit in. Then to make the gift even better you also get to personalise it. On mine I just used the word Always, and added Love Cassie. But instead of the word Always, you can add your partners name. The perfect gift for when simple beer is just not enough. 

3. SEAMS Hand Cream - RRP £14.00 *Buy Me Here* 

I am not sure if this is just me or most women out there. But I LOVE handcream. I will always find it a treat if someone buys me hand cream so then I can treat my hands. SEAMs hand cream is perfect for hard working hands. It is made with Shea Butter, Macadamia Oil, and Fragonia Oil. It really is such lovely hand cream and dries instantly into your skin leaving it feeling non greasy but moisturised. It also has such a lovely smell and one of the things I love the most about hand cream is how lovely your hands smell after. This would be a lovely gift to give someone who adores hand cream or its the perfect thing to add if you are making a little luxury hamper for someone. 

4. Personalised Teardrop Decanter. - RRP £49.95 *Buy Me Here*

This really would be a treat for someone who is into their drinks. I have never actually seen a decanter in this shape before and I really love it. It is nice to find one that is different shaped to the normal square or rectangle ones you find and so this makes it that much more a special gift for someone. It is made from a really solid class which has a bubble base giving that floating bubble effect. It has a glass stopper in the top and holds a really decent large amount of alcohol.
Not only is is a gorgeous looking Decanter, you can also get it personalised and place your own message on the front including names. I simply wrote on my With Love from Cassie. It would be a Valentines Gift that someone would hold dear for the rest of their life. 

5. Kiss the Moon Love Face Oil - RRP £48.00 *Buy Me Here* 

With this lovely face oil, you would not only be giving a gift that says I love you, but you would also be giving the gift of sleep. It is classed as beauty sleep in a bottle and not only does it smell so relaxing with its scents of Rose and Rosehip Seed Oil, Frankincense & Ylang Ylang but it also encourages skin renewal over night. I think they was this little bottle is presented is so lovely. It comes in a little box that lifts open from the side. It doesn't feel like a product box and feels more like a neat and tidy storage box. I know I wont be getting rid of the box and my little oil will live in there when I am not using it. This lovely product has won aromatherapy awards and so would definitely be happily received as a gift. 

Which of the Above Products do you like the sound of? 

*Disclaimer - AD - All Products were Gifted*

Couple Fun at Valentines

You might be the type of couple who loves to go out for a romantic meal at Valentines, or you may enjoy having a romantic night in alone. Or you may not be into either of those things and you would prefer a fun night with your other couple friends with a couple of drinks and a laugh. 

Well if you are that type of couple then I have the perfect idea to make your night even more fun. 

Why not get your self a couples game to play??

I can suggest just the one for you. I got sent a game called Know Your Partner by Cheatwell Games. 

This fun game is all about matching answers to score points and it comes with a fun little board game to expand the fun. It is all about how well you know your partner and puts your relationship to the test but in a fun way.

The game needs at least 4 people to play, so 2 couples who play against each other. Then you roll the dice to see which of the questions you need to answer.

The questions are super fun and have multiple choices as the answers. Some of the answers as so funny and I did have a good giggle at some of these. 

So if you are at a loss of what to do you Valentines, then why not concider buying this game. You can get if from The Gift Experience for £16.99.

Would you play a game like this at Valentines?