What's the story? Week 2

For this weeks What's the story? I am adding an old picture of J posing with his favourite character from an advert.

When the advert first started showing, J hated it! So much, in fact, that he used to scream at me to turn it off. We didn't know why, he just didn't like it!

I couldn't even tell you what made him change his mind! But all of a sudden, he wanted to watch the advert on a loop. We got fed up of hearing ".... forever in electric dreams..."  but it was better than the screaming "TURN IT OFFFFFFF!"

We had to download the song, everytime the advert came on we had to watch it at least twice! It was like he was a new child.

On a shopping trip, J spotted this bus stop with the advert on, and he had to get a picture of him and "Zingy".

That's my boy!

It's not all bad.....

I've just found myself daydreaming. I do this quite often when I'm not doing anything in particular. I sit for a few minutes and just lose myself in the make-believe land in my mind. Each time it's different than the last. For those of you who have read Enid Blyton's The Faraway Tree, it's a bit like the magical land at the top of the tree. You never know what you're going to see up there!

What was I seeing this time? My 3 eldest children playing on the Xbox. To be more precise, playing Minecraft on the Xbox. Hang on, I'll be even more precise, they were building magnificent castles, fortresses, houses on Minecraft, on the Xbox.

Rewind back to the real world a moment. Minecraft is their favourite game at the moment. I'll guess that it'll be Baby B's as soon as he's old enough to understand too! In Minecraft they can do as they please. They can build things, break things, the girls like building houses, decorating and furnishing them. J just likes setting their houses on fire, or spawning animals inside! Yes, he's mean!

So many people are quick to blast video games. I remember a report a while back about the violence in games like Grand Theft Auto saying that the games were to blame for a high number of crimes. I have never heard so much rubbish in my life! I love the Grand Theft Auto series and have been known to play it to release my "stress"! But just because I like bashing a few cars about, or smashing some things up with a baseball bat DOES NOT mean I want to do it in real life!

However, one thing in this report that I did agree with was the age limits of these games! Take Saints Row 3 (I won't link up just in case, but feel free to do your own research) - a game similar to GTA, you can pinch and ride around in cars, beating and smashing things on your journey. Except, this one has something different. It's called "The Penetrator" - and, as I did, you only have to guess at what it is by the name. It's a weapon at least. Back in December, I was sat in our local Sainsbury's cafe with my girls when a family walked in at sat at the table next to us. The little boy, couldn't have been any older than 9, had a copy of SR3 in his hand and was excitingly inspecting the case and telling his sister, who looked about 5, about what he was going to do when he got home to play on it.

I was sat gobsmacked and amazed that his parents had bought this game for him. The age restriction is clearly shown on the front as 18+ so why did they buy this for him? I couldn't understand, so asked his mother if she realised what the game contained. Her reply? "It's what he likes to play on so it's fine by us." Here I am, sat in the middle of the cafe, with my mouth wide open. Kind of an " :O " moment. I couldn't believe my ears! Was she serious?! So I told her again. Then I proceeded to telling the sales assistant at the customer services desk. They informed me there was nothing they could do because his mum had bought it!

This has to be a joke! But what could I do? I went home that day hoping that his mother would see some sense!

Every game the kids play on, I make sure I know what it contains. This normally means I have to play a few hours of it first, but I'm not complaining! I call myself a "Gamer" and, although I haven't much time for it anymore, I love getting the Kinect on and doing some "exercise" with Just Dance or rocking out on Guitar Hero! But at least I know my kids are safe.

Anyway, back to Minecraft. In my daydream the girls were building a huge mansion. A bedroom each for everyone, a playroom for each of them and the boys, a bathroom each so J couldn't run it while they were having a shower (told you he was mean!), a big room for daddy so he can watch Game of Thrones in peace whilst kicking other people's butts on Fifa, and lastly - a huge kitchen for mum. (Umm, thanks kids, dad gets to relax, mum gets to cook? Story of my life!)

But, it got me thinking, well daydreaming. Even J is pretty good at building things - he specialises in Angry Bird models at the moment and has been trying to do Moshi Monsters too. He has mentioned doing some Skylanders but gave up after spending hours working on a portal for T to come along and destroy it (she called it payback!).

So, not only does it keep the kids from almost killing each other when they're bored, it make them use their creative part of their brains!

Here we have J in the top left corner, C in the top right and T in the bottom left. I especially like the treehouse C has made although it's not a very good picture. But it goes to show what you can do on there.

Do you let your children play video games? Which ones do they like? And what are your opinions on Age Restrictions?

Silent Sunday

Saturday is Caption Day

Those 'orrible nasty toothy pegs!

The calm after the storm

A picture can tell a thousand stories.

This is Baby B after half an hour of screaming because of those teeth. I know how bad I feel when my teeth hurt, but for a little baby it must be even worse. They can't tell you what they want, they can't tell you where it hurts, all you feel like doing is crying with them!

It's so awful. And for Baby B it's even worse. Not only is he teething, he's suffering with colic too. My poor little man, what can I do?

Every night at the same time it starts and goes on for up to an hour. I've begun to dread that time of day. Some days are worse than others, some days he won't suffer at all. But everytime he does I wish I could take the pain away for him.

As if they don't suffer enough - they endure being cramped in a small space for 9 months, go through the journey into the wide world, get poked and prodded at every chance by a doctor or a nurse, measurements, injections. Then of course the colic, the teething, eczema (all mine have suffered). Poor little babes!

Well, while writing this he's fallen asleep on my arm, with a little smile on his face - anybody would guess that the last half hour didn't happen! He's clammy and damp from the crying so I think it's time for bed.

Babies are amazing. They go through so much yet they still come out smiling. Maybe we adults should take a leaf out of their book!

Goodnight from us 

Skin Salveation Review

As a baby, C suffered really badly with eczema. It usually meant a trip to the doctors at least once a week, creams being applied 4 or 5 times a day, baths with added concoctions daily, and even special shampoo and suncream for her to use!

It was a nightmare! She'd end up with little scratches all over her body from where the itchiness was just getting too much for her. I used to get upset because there was nothing I could do for her.

Suddenly, that all stopped when she was 2. My mum took her abroad to Malta whilst I was pregnant with T, so I couldn't fly. After spending almost two full weeks in the beautiful mediterranean sea, her eczema had gone. Not one little spot of it. Anywhere. We were astonished!

We thought that was the end of it. Until last year, when it flared back up again. I had visions of going back and forth to the doctors weekly again, her in pain itching and scratching! Of course, the difference now is that she's almost 13! Not being able to afford to take her abroad again, and with the power of Google at my fingertips, I started searching for an answer. Something new, a remedy that would actually work, just anything to help my girl.

That's when a friend passed on the details of Skin Salveation. I contacted them, and they sent us out some lovely samples:

Body cream, Baby & infant cream, laundry powder, stain remover soap, a scoop and a few leaflets with information.

Over the last 2 months, we've tried the body cream and laundry powder on C and her clothes.

The picture on the left is her crease in her arm before we started using anything. You can see just how dry her skin is and, although it wasn't as red, it was much itchier.

The picture on the right is after 2 days of using the products. Her skin was more moist, less itchy, although it did go a little redder.

After using the laundry powder, I noticed there wasn't much difference between it and a normal washing powder. However, C informed me the clothes felt nicer on her skin, and they smelt lovely too!

Here, the picture on the left is after using the products for a week, while the one on the right is after 10 days. You can see the difference - and C had stopped itching altogether by then!

I couldn't believe it! A simple cream was the answer - and we'd gone though plenty of creams in the past!

This cream was our hero! It is amazing!

But why does it work better than other creams?

Believe it or not, we have a small group of miners to thank for these wonderful products! With all the "hands-on" work they did, their skin would become inflamed and sore - until they discovered certain ingredients combined naturally helped! They spread the word to friends and family, who soon realised it was great for helping other skin complaints!

Dr Stephen Randle, along with Dr Stephen Drew, held trials and concluded that the formulation had a "uniquely beneficial effect" on even extreme cases of dry skin.

You can read more about Skin Salveation and it's history here.

Do you suffer from eczema?

Take a read of this article from Skin Salveation. Even though I've been a mum for almost 13 years, and C has suffered since she was born, there are many interesting facts I didn't know - and I thought I was an expert! I think on our next visit to the Doctor's I'll be giving him some advice!

It's amazing, you don't realise just how important skin is.

And it works for other complaints too!

Have your child ever had impetigo? T and J do very often, all because they will insist on getting as dirty as possible when playing outside! T had a blister on her ankle, which she kept scratching with dirty nails. It soon flared up into impetigo. I wish I had realised back then that this cream would be ideal for that too! Have a read here for more information.

So, finally...

I would like to thank Skin Salveation for the products I received to review. I have not been paid for writing this and it is 100% my own honest views. If you have any questions, queries or worries about any skin complaints, especially eczema or impetigo (I'm ALMOST an expert!) feel free to contact me using the comment box below or on my contact page.

The truth about the eggs...

Earlier this week I posted this picture as part of #SilentSunday

I suppose, looking at it now, it does look as if the egg on top is a normal sized one making the bottom one huge! It is, in fact, wrong. The egg on the bottom is the normal sized one, the one on top being very small!

Both these eggs came from the same chicken, within a few days of each other. The same chicken that, last year, laid an egg twice the size of a normal one! To see two different sized eggs from a single chicken is awesome, to see THREE is amazing!

Just wanted to clear that up :)