Winter's coming.... oh, hang on!

I am soaked! I only walked a few metres to T and J's school to pick them up but I got drenched! I look like a drowned rat.

Don't get me wrong, I love the rain. When I don't have to go anywhere and can curl up in my duvet and listen to it outside. But when I have to go somewhere, I hate the stuff! We get soggy, my shoes don't dry properly and I feel cold.

I actually prefer the snow - at least you can have fun in the snow, throwing snowballs and making snowpeople.

So hurry up snow please!

Please don't share!!

At one point we've all seen it. Friends or family on Facebook sharing random pictures. Some are Memes and are really funny! Some are of missing people and I always share these in the hope that it will reach that one person that holds vital information! Some are of scammy competitions, I spend ages trying to explain to some that they are fake and so noticeably fake! Like the current one, "Argos." see the fullstop? That's how you know it's fake! Facebook really need to clamp down on these pages, especially the ones offering 1,692 iPads because the security film is damaged and they can't sell them! (!!) I mean, really?

But they're not the posts that concern me most.

It's those ones of abused babies and children. The latest, about a boy called "Chris" who was supposedly murdered by his own father. I know this happens. A few posts ago I wrote about the subject. I'm not trying to hide the fact that it happens. Far from it! But, tell me, what good does it do to share the picture of the little baby black and blue? It won't stop it from happening to someone else. All you are doing is giving the person / people who abused that poor child the attention that they crave.

By all means, share a post of writing. Tell the world, or at least your friends, family and any followers, how you feel about this and to report anything they feel is even the slightest suspicious. Babies don't have a voice. We adults are their voices, we need to protect them!

So please think hard before you share that picture again. We need to help these innocent children but not by sharing the pictures of their abuse.

Do you Trick or Treat?

From the moment they are born, all we, as parents, want to do is protect our children. When they are old enough to understand, we drum into them the dangers of life around us. How to cross the road safely, how medicines are not sweets, why it's not a good thing to pull your little brother around by his arm (yep, I've had that!). One of the most important things we teach them, especially in this day, is not to talk to strangers. My worst fear as a parent is someone snatching my child.

 So why is it that every year we allow our children to knock on doors unknown. We dress them up in little costumes and let them get sweeties from all those who like to open their door. Yep, I'm talking about Halloween.

 It's only been the last couple of years that I've allowed the kids to go out on Halloween. J was almost three when we first took him out. Dressed in his little Skeleton outfit, he looked really cute. I only allowed them to visit people that we knew in the area, yet they still managed a bag-full each of different sweets and treats.

Last years costumes!

However, the following day while walking down my nans street, J started to walk up someone's path. When I asked what he was doing, he replied so innocently "I'm trick-n-treating mum! I want some more sweeties!"

It made me stop in my tracks. my almost-three year old was linking knocking on doors to getting sweeties. What had I done? It made me realise why so many parents don't allow their kids to go out "Trick or Treating". It also made me think how many did and allowed them to knock on strangers doors! Why do parents spend the time to inform their kids of the dangers yet freely allow them once a year?!

How about you? Do you let your children go? Do they go alone or you do take them? Do they knock strangers doors?

I am quite excited this year, as it's Baby B's first Halloween and I've bought him the cutest little Frankenstein costume!

The girls haven't decided what to dress up as yet, but I've heard some whispers about Smurfs. J wants to dress up as a skeleton again (for the third year running!). I'm even going to attempt some Jack O'Lanterns this year! 

Considering last year’s event I think it’s a smart choice to chaperone them again this year until I feel like they’re at an age where they understand the hazards involved and can do it safely on their own…it’s not all fun and games you know. This costume infographic from fancy dress ball (scroll to bottom of page) has some excellent ideas if you like me are chaperoning again this year and will give you some food for thought if you want to spook not only the kids, but also put a scare into the neighbours.

Some tips for a safe "Trick or treat!":

• Please remember that, although the costumes look lovely, in darkened areas they aren't so easy to spot! Get some reflection badges or bangles - they are cheap to buy and make seeing a child so much easier!
• If your children are going out alone, make sure they understand the dangers of knocking on strangers doors.
• Make sure you keep an eye on your group when you go out. With some lovely costumes available it's likely that other children have the same one - it's so easy to grab a hand of the wrong child.
• Don't let them eat too many sweets! Apart from being bad for their teeth, too much sugar means very hyper kiddies before bed! Not a great thing, believe me!

If the weather is bad we'll be staying in and playing some games! We'll be playing "Pin the foot on the skeleton", dunking for apples and spider treasure hunt! I think I'll get the kids to carve some pumpkins too!

I’m still wondering if there’s a reasonable way to dissociate Halloween from the notion of getting treats…any ideas?

Have any of you made any cool Jack O’Lanterns?

We hope you all have fun on Halloween this year, but please remember to be safe!

This post was a collaboration :)

The Anagranimals & The Wishing Tree review and giveaway!

Our household is a big reading one. We love books. If we go on a long journey, we all have a book in our hands. If we go on holiday, we all take our books. If we want some quiet time, we get the books out. We've always encouraged books as we believe it helps contribute to a childs intelligence and vocabulary range. With reading tests in school, C and T have always been above average. In their last tests, C was 5 years older in reading level and T was 3 years older. I hope J and Baby B follow!

When we were sent "The Anagranimals and the Wishing Tree" book written by Leith Moghli, the kids couldn't wait to read it!

It is aimed at 5-9 year olds, but each of the kids really enjoyed the story (and the pictures!)

 The story is about 6 animals who wish they could do things that other animals can do. They literally bump into a magical tree. This tree is a Wishing Tree, and it grants each animal a wish!

J loved looking through the book himself, but he loved T reading it to him too. He said he'd like to see animals change in real life. I'm not sure I would like to see a Leo-Tiga-Mur!!

The book has an open ending for another story "The Anagranimals and the Weeping Willow". We are looking forward to any future releases, especially J!

It's such a warm and fun story that any child will enjoy! In fact, that any person will, as I enjoyed it just as much as the kids did!

Thanks to Leith Moghli, I have 1 signed, first edition copy of The Anagranimals & the Wishing Tree to give away! All you have to do is complete the Rafflecopter below.

The first four options are mandatory and you MUST complete all four to be entered. The other options are free for you to choose from. If you have any problem trying to enter, please see my guide on how to enter.

Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Versatile Blogger Award

I've been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award! Many thanks to Linda @ Mother Distracted for the nomination!

"What is the Versatile Blogger Award?" I hear you ask.

Well, it's an awesome way of showing up and coming blogs to you, the readers, to have a nosy at and enjoy! The rules are simple;
(1) You must add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your post
(2) Thank the blogger who nominated you
(3) Write 7 random facts about yourself
(4) Nominate 7 other bloggers.


7 random facts about me!
Hmmm, just 7? Haha, I have a lot more than 7 but here goes!

(1) I absolutely LOVE Gizmo - you know, the cute little gremlin. Not the ones that destroy everything, the cute brown and white little thing. I even bought a Gizmo Furby when I was younger!

(2) I rock at Guitar Hero! We always play it as a family and I always win! I still can't master Through the fire and flames on expert though, but I'm happy with that! Have you seen how hard it is? See this video if not!

(3) My secret weird crush is Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory. He is so awesome - the things he comes out with sends me into fits of giggles. I want a Sheldon Cooper - so much I was even thinking about naming Baby B "Sheldon"!

(4) I was a young mum. I found out I was pregnant just after finishing my GCSE exams. My doctor initially told me the reason I was constantly being sick was due to gastroenteritis and stress. The tablets he prescribed me could have caused miscarriage or early labour!  I was 16 years and 10 months old when C was born and I wouldn't change her for the world!

(5) I love doing cross-stitching! I did one whilst I was in hospital with C (long story, will blog about it soon) - it was a gorgeous Winnie The Pooh sample with her names, date of birth and weight. I haven't started T's yet, but will do soon.

(6) When I was a teen, I had Bell's Palsy. The left side of my face wouldn't "work" properly. My eye wouldn't shut, if I smiled the left side would stay still, but my body was fine. My doctor said it was very rare for a child of my age to get it, let alone a female of my age! You can still see the effects of it in my face, my eye is a little droopy and my smile is crooked.

(7) I started smoking when I was 13. I smoked for 11 years, but I quit 5 years ago. I'm very proud of myself for that!

7 bloggers I nominate:

(1) Jacqui & Kelly's Us Two Friends - very good friends of mine and well worth a read!

(2) Lucy's The Parent Game - pop on over for a wonderful read.

(3) Su's Soosie Wales - a fellow Welshie, pop on over!

(4) Christine's Mummy of 3 Diaries - this lady has a lot of choccy as competitions. No good for my diet! Haha

(5) Erika's Eclectic Enchantments - a new blogger but a lady after my own heart! And I love the dress!

(6) Claire's Penny For Them - she has a wonderful blog and even better taste in music!

and last, but by no means least;

(7) Joanne's The Blunt Truth - another Welshie friend, I love reading about her thoughts as her boys grow older.

Take a look at these wonderful blogs and share them with your friends :)

If the shoe fits! Brantano shoe fitting review

A couple of weeks ago, J and I took a little trip to Cardiff to visit Brantano. As J started school in September, I knew the importance of getting the correct size shoe for him. And because he has weird feet just like his mum (sorry babes!) I knew that it was even more important to get him measured so he would be comfortable all day in his school shoes.

Excited at having a new pair of school shoes!

 The lady that measured J's feet was lovely. J is normally very shy around strangers, but she made him comfortable and kept him talking about school and his friends whilst she measured his feet.

Having his left foot measured.

First,  she started by measuring the length of each foot. Many children, and adults, have different sized feet. You probably wouldn't even realise without measuring them!

As it were, J's feet were the same size.

Now for the wideness!

After the length's been measured, the width of the feet is then done. J's was off the scale as he has such wide feet.










After having his feet measured and picking out a pair of shoes he liked, J received a certificate and a sticker. On the certificate is his name and his feet measurements. I thought this was a great idea as it means I can just refer to that if I needed to get him another pair in the coming weeks!

"Look at my certificate mum!" - J

So, with J's feet measured there was only one thing left to do - try his new shoes on! We went for an 11.5 H shoe and they fitted lovely, with space for growing too! The lady explained that when buying shoes you should always be able to squeeze your little finger around the heel and there should be about a thumbs width at the toe of the shoe to allow for growth.

His new shoes fitted perfectly!

J was really chuffed with his new shoes and couldn't wait to show them off in school! We really enjoyed our little trip to Brantano, it was so simple and relaxing to get him a pair of school shoes with no stress! Why not take a visit to your nearest store? The shoe fitting service is free! I think it saves a lot of hassle and moans of "They're hurting mum!".

Disclaimer: We received a free pair of shoes for doing this review and visit. However, our opinion is 100% our own.

When? What? Where? Who? A Paperblanks 18-month dayplanner review

Are you like me? Do you forget almost everything? I am useless when it comes to appointments. Birthdays I'm pretty good at remembering - just don't ask me how old - and some phone numbers, but you can almost guarantee I'll forget an appointment. And with four children, that's not great.

Paperblanks were very kind to send us an 18-month dayplanner to review. I'd been looking for something I could store everything in and this was perfect!

 There is everything you would ever need in this planner. As well as week-to-view pages there was a removable address book, national and international holiday dates, a world time zone chart, birthday and important dates page - the list goes on!

Simple and perfect.

Don't forget to add your I.C.E. details!

With monthly-to-view pages you can mark and see all of your important dates at a glance!

I can even add the kids timetables so I know what they need each day for school!

Plenty of space with the week-to-view pages.

A detachable address book!

The ideal size, this diary now has a permanent place in my handbag. I have all my dates in reach and I now have no excuse to forget any!

Disclaimer: We were sent the dayplanner for free to review. However, our opinion is 100% our own.