Monday 26 February 2018

World Book Day Costumes From Asda

This Thursday the 1st of March is World Book Day and children up and down the country will be dressing as their favourite book characters for school. My children are so excited as they love dressing up and the idea of going to school in fancy dress sounds like such a treat for them, as they are in reception and nursery school so World Book Day is all new to them. While my children were looking forward to dressing up I was feeling a bit stressed as I am not at all crafty and the idea of spending hours creating a costume is just not me at all. 

Luckily George at Asda have an amazing range of World Book Day costumes this year and they are sure to have costumes that will suit any child, from nursery rhyme characters, fairytale characters, superheroes, Princesses and even Roald Dahl and David Walliams inspired costumes too. So we headed to the Asda Byker store just outside of Newcastle in search of a costume for my 3 and 4-year-olds to wear to school on Thursday. 

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Saturday 24 February 2018

My Little Pony Equestrian Girls Doll Review

My little girl Sophia is almost five now and over the past few months, she has become My Little Pony crazy! Her must-have Christmas toys were all My Little Pony related and she was lucky enough to review the Magical Princess Twilight Sparkle and the castle last year, which she still plays with daily. She watches the film non-stop since it was recently realised on DVD, she knows every single ponies name by looking at their cutie mark (design on them) and she even sleeps in My Little Pony pyjamas with a My Little Pony Princess Twilight sparkle ted. 

So when a My Little Pony Equestrian girl doll arrived in the post last week, she was super-duper excited and could not wait to get it out the box and start playing. This is the first Equestrian girl doll that she owns, I did not even think she knew what they were but she clearly did. We were sent the Rainbow Dash doll, which looks very similar to the Rainbow Dash My Little Pony. 

My Little Pony Rainbow Dash Equestrian Girl Doll In Box
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Friday 23 February 2018

Vampirina Toys Review

My children are huge fans of the Disney Junior channel and one of their favourite shows on it is without a doubt Vampirina. The show launched late last year and follows the tale of Vee the Vampire and her family the Hauntleys as they move from Transylvania to Pennsylvania and open up a spooky B&B. The show celebrates friendship and difference and sends a great message to young viewers about the importance of these.

As the show has been such a hit with young viewers Flair toys have recently released a range of Vampirina toys that will appeal to both boys and girls. The range includes dolls, figures, playsets, instruments and accessories. We were recently sent a box full of the new toys to try them out and see what we thought.

We were sent


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Wednesday 21 February 2018

Other Bloggers Family Lives Featuring Cup Of Toast

This week on Other Bloggers Family Lives I am featuring Jo who blogs at Cup of Toast a family lifestyle blog. Jo blogs about life with her three sons, days out, food and children activities. So let's find out more about the family behind Cup of Toast.

cup of toast blog logo

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Tuesday 20 February 2018

Supporting The #iwill Campaign

As a parent to a teenage daughter who is starting to get more independent and think about her future,  I was really interested to learn about the #iwill campaign. I had never heard about the campaign before so I was really interested in finding out more as I used to work in social welfare before having my youngest two children, so I know how beneficial campaigns like this can be. So what is the #iwill campaign? 

The #iwill campaign Aim is to call on businesses, education, public and voluntary sector organisations to recognise the capacity of young people to make a difference through social action and empowering them to do so. This campaign aims to increase awareness and understanding of #iwill, build education around the benefits of social action and encouraging parents and young people to get involved. 

Basically, the campaign wants to encourage young people aged 10-20 years of age to become involved in social action. Things like fundraising, campaigning or volunteering for a cause they believe in and which will have benefits not only for themselves but also for their community too. It is something I am keen to encourage my own daughter to get involved with. 


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Monday 19 February 2018

The Hunting Lodge Sizzling Pub & Grill In Monkseaton Review

As a family we love to dine out, however having young children we normally stick to more relaxed family friendly pubs, as we find them great value, serve food the children love and they have a nice atmosphere. Sometime's you just can't beat a good pub lunch, one of our favourite pub chains to visit is without a doubt the Sizzling pub and Grill chain as the food is delicious and amazing value. We reviewed The Anson Sizzling Pub & Grill last year and visit our local one often. 

We were recently invited along to try out the menu at the recently refurbished The Hunting Lodge in Monkseaton, Whitley Bay. We have actually visited The Hunting Lodge before, as the other halfs family live nearby, although we have not visited for a few years and we were keen to see if it was as good as we remembered it to be. 

The Hunting Lodge Sizzling Pub and Grill In Monkseaton Whitley Bay Review
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Sunday 18 February 2018

Slimming World Meal Plan Three

After a bit of a disaster and not losing any weight last week this week I got back on plan and have had a much better week. It was half-term and I did have a bit of a cheat pub meal out with my family, although I did skip dessert and ordered something a little bit healthy, chicken skewers with salad and chips - whoops! I also may have eaten a few pancakes with Nutella on pancake day too but apart from that all of my meals have been on plan this week. 

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Thursday 15 February 2018

Tonka Toys Review

My little boy Jacob is three and he is a typical little boy who is really into any kind of vehicles, he loves trucks, diggers and tractors and he will spend ages playing with his toy cars and trains. So when we were recently sent a box full of iconic Tonka toys which are available to buy from Asda, I knew these would be a big hit with him. 

Tonka is a name that I am sure we are all familiar with, the company originated in Minnesota USA back in 1947 and have been selling metal toys for almost 70 years. Tonka toys are built on the notion that 'a toy shouldn't break just because a child plays with it', they are built to be strong, sturdy and long-lasting. Making them perfect for boisterous little children like my own to play with. Tonka has recently started selling toys in selected Asda stores and to celebrate we were sent a box of toys to test out and see what Jacob thought of them. 

Tonka Toy review newcastle family life blog
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Wednesday 14 February 2018

Other Bloggers Family Lives Featuring Have Kids Will Travel UK

This week on Other Bloggers Family Lives I am featuring Jemma who blogs at Have Kids Will Travel UK, a family travel blog. Jemma blogs about UK days out and travel tips. So let's find out more about the family behind Have Kids Will Travel UK.

Have Kids Will Travel UK Logo
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Sunday 11 February 2018

Slimming World Meal Plan Two

Last week I posted my first Slimming World meal plan and I was feeling motivated after losing 5.5lbs in my first week. This week has not been as great as it is star week and all I have wanted to do is eat crisps and chocolate, I have tried being good but I did go over my syns a couple of days this week. This week I have tried a few new meals from the latest Slimming World magazines so let's have a look at what I have been eating this week.

boiled eggs, salmon, salad, beetroot and cous cus
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Wednesday 7 February 2018

Other Bloggers Family Lives Featuring Mummyem

This week on Other Bloggers Family Lives I am featuring Emma who blogs at Mummyem, a family lifestyle blog based in Essex. Emma blogs about parenting and local days out in her area with her 4-year-old daughter. So let's find out more about the family behind the blog. 


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Monday 5 February 2018

January 2018

It feels like such a long time since I have sat down and written about the month gone by and I can't believe I am writing about 2018, time goes by so quick when you're a grown-up. January was a pretty boring month, not a lot happened for us, we spent a lot of time at home, the weather was awful and I have even been a bit quiet on this blog lately as I have been too busy binge-watching Netflix and scouring Pinterest for wedding ideas (it's lethal as it makes me change my mind about everything!). 

January is normally a time full of change and new year resolutions and I feel like the month just passed us by with no changes, hopefully, Febuary will be a bit more exciting for us. 

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Sunday 4 February 2018

Slimming World Meal Plan One

I am back on Slimming World (again) and this time I am determined to stick at it as I have a wedding dress to fit into next year - if that won't motivate me to lose weight then nothing will! I recently rejoined my local class and was warmly welcomed back, Slimming World is the only diet that works for me but I always lose a stone and then give up as I get bored of eating the same meals. So I have decided to start writing weekly meal plans, hopefully, it will inspire me to make new meals and it might help any of you who might be sick of eating the same meals too. 


I am not the best cook and I am a work-at-home mum of three, so my meals are often quick and easy. I am actually also following the Slimming World plan myself and I pay to attend group each week just like everyone else. I also genuinely do have weight to lose, I am not one of those people who just have a stone to lose for their wedding (I wish!), I want to lose about 6 stone for my wedding. So if you are reading this and want to lose weight with Slimming World I am in the same boat as you are. 
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Friday 2 February 2018

Baking A Pirate Cake With Baking Mad

I hold my hands up and admit I never bake. I have never once baked a cake from scratch before, the only time my children bake is when I buy a box of ready to make cupcakes with their favourite character on. I come from a family of bakers, my grandparents and uncle ran their own bakeries and my Mam was always baking from scratch but I have never had any interest. However, since having children I keep seeing fellow parents baking their own children's birthday cakes and I often wish I could do that for my own children, as they seem that bit more special then a shop bought one. I honestly had no idea where to start baking a cake though, I didn't even know a cake recipe - that's how clueless I was! 

So when I was offered a Baking Mad kit which included everything I would need (minus butter and eggs) to create a Pirate Cake I thought this would be a great chance to have a go at creating a cake from scratch. Baking Mad have a range of party kits such as Peter Rabbit, Princess, Pirate, Superheros and Unicorn designs, each kit will have everything you need to create the cake. You can also buy matching party accessories such as plates, goody bags, napkins and bunting too, meaning you can buy everything all from the one place. 

Pirate party cake and pirate cupcakes
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Thursday 1 February 2018

Making Healthier Choices With The Change4Life Food Scanner App

Like a lot of people, I am starting the New Year trying to be healthier, I hold my hands up and admit that I have gained weight over recent years and I want to change that. I want to lead a healthier life and I want to lead by example so that my children lead a healthier life in return. My children are 3,4 and 15 and I admit that as a result of me not being as healthy as I should be my youngest two have been allowed a few too many treats recently. 

I do try and ensure they eat a balanced diet, they have three meals a day, one of which is always a home-cooked meal. We don't allow them to drink pop, they are limited to just one packet of crisps and/or sweets per day and we encourage them to eat fruit as snacks. However bad habits have started creeping in, as they have got older they want to choose their own foods more often and chocolate covered cereals, sugar-laden drinks and a few too many convenience foods have crept in.

Using the Change4Life food scanner app

So when I recently heard about the new Change4Life Food Scanner app I downloaded it straight away to my iPhone, as I thought this would be a great way to help us make better food choices as a family. You can find out more about the app at www.nhs.uk/change4life

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