Spooky Fishcakes - Fish is the Dish!

The other week I went off up to Scotland to meet up with some Bloggers (Mum in the Mad House, Transatlantic Blonde, Frugal Family, Off the Eaten Track, Mediocre Mum and Susan K Mann) and the good people who are part of Seafish. It was a great time and I learnt a lot about the fish industry, the history of fishing in the UK, a lot about fish packaging for supermarkets (which was actually very interesting), I ate more fish in two days than I think I had done in the entire month previously and I also found out that there is a small chance that Transatlantic Blonde's in laws and my Mum know each other after growing up in the same Scottish village. To give you some idea of the fun we had, take a look at this little video because I think it rocks and also I think that the tune should be my new theme tune that you all hum when you see me...

(Video can be seen at http://youtu.be/UMuDL322IB0)

So why did I go to meet these Bloggers and Seafish? Well, it was the start of the new campaign to get everyone eating more fish, it is a brain food after all. They aren't trying to push one type of fish or even a brand but just trying to get people to see that fish is easy to cook and after our day in the kitchen making Pate, Soup and baked fish I have to say I agree with them! Even filleting a fish is easy, we were shown how to do it (and I kind of rocked at this by winning the little contest between us all) and when I got home I showed Top Ender and Big Boy how to do it too. That's right my seven year old and three year old can fillet fish.

(Video can be seen at http://youtu.be/5afmfj2g2mk)

Last Friday Seafish sent me some Haddock Fillets to make some fishcakes with and the additional challenge that they had to be spooky. It was with thanks to my Mum that I came up with the idea of making them Ghost shaped,

 but that didn't really work and so I gave them to Top Ender in her lunch today as spooky eye balls, with a little bit of food colouring making the pupils!

The fish cakes were delicious and the recipe that I worked from is found on Mummy's Knee I just used five haddock fillets and 5 spring onions instead of the Salmon the recipe originally called for. I guessed at how much potato to use, and Daddy was pleased as the fish cakes weren't overly fishy but had more than enough fish in them to count as a portion. They were a little time consuming to make, but they were worth the effort and I have frozen some of the excess so that it will take less time the next time we have the fish cakes. And if you want to watch me make the fish cakes you can...

(Video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46dvJgdhGsU)

You can also find lots of recipes on the Fish is the Dish website, but right now I have to go and eat my leftover fish cakes for lunch too.

Princes Brekkie Campaign #Giveaway

I received a hamper with fruit and bowls and cups and mats...

I am very much in agreement with the saying that Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and luckily for  Daddy and I both Top Ender and Big Boy are really great about eating suitable breakfast foods. Yes, I must admit that at times we do have a few too many breakfast pastries as Tops and BB have a penchant for Brioche and Pain Au Chocolate and they are really quick and easy to prepare in the morning especially when we don't have a lot of time on a school morning. At the weekend we tend to have more time and so we do things that are more elaborate and tend to be spread across several courses too. Big Boy is especially a fan of this multiple breakfast because being the smallest of us all he needs smaller and more regular meals (although I think I'm a fan of this plan too!) and so when Princes asked if we would like to take part in the Princes Breakfast campaign we thought what a great opportunity to try something new.

The first morning was after a late night at work for me and so Daddy was in charge and he provided the children with a fruit cocktail breakfast. They sat on the sofa with a bowl each and a cup of juice and had fun. They talked as they ate and joked with Daddy and apparently everything was nice and relaxed and calm. That day I made a few fruit muffins for the children to have for breakfast over the week and again everything flowed really well in the mornings. Eating fruit in the morning was giving the children something to look forward to, they didn't know what they were going to have, but they did know that something colourful and tasty was coming their way.

Princes know that having fruit for breakfast is a great way to help you start your day on your way to your recommended five a day and so they have a duplicate hamper of the one they sent to me for me to give away to someone reading this blog! I'm sorry this is open to UK Residents only and all you have to do to enter is to tell me what your favourite flavour for fruit juice is. I'm going to run it until 6pm on the 31st October 2011, so enter quick!

Chicago Town Takeaway X Factor Pizza

This is a sponsored post and I got free Pizza. Yum.

Once a week we have a family take away on a Saturday. We go with majority rules unless I fancy something that nobody else does and I get to over rule everyone, after all I am the one in charge! When we were asked if we would like to try and then review the Chicago Town Takeaway Xfactor Pizza we decided to have a family pizza night. Well family pizza lunch time! We were sent some Chicago Town oven gloves and a large Chicago town pizza cutter to help with cooking and serving the pizza and of course a voucher to buy the pizza with.

Cooking the pizza is really easy, and takes around the same time it would take for a pizza delivery, only difference being it costs a lot less. On every X factor pizza pack there is also a code to get a free music download which also enters you into a prize draw to win a share of £2.5 million worth of prizes too. Take a look at our video to see us cooking and of course eating the pizza!

(Video can be seen at http://youtu.be/IYxTZoyq1ak)

The special edition X Factor Pizza has BBQ sauce which I thought was really lovely, (not too strong but very tasty), large slices of pepperoni and mini slices of pepperoni (which until today I normally avoid), red onion, spicy beef and mozzarella all topped with a BBQ sauce stuffed crust. I claim that I don't like pepperoni, but really I think I have just avoided it after eating it once and not liking it once in the past. Of course I had to try it for the purpose of reviewing the pizza and I was shocked to find that I actually really liked it. Even Big Boy loved it and he started picking it and the spicy beef off a third slice! I think it well and truly passed the AMR taste test!

I do think that this is a great pizza to have instead of a take away pizza, the base was crispy and light and even the few slices that were left over that we ate a little later in the evening were nice cold. I must admit that I'm don't normally buy frozen pizza but these were really nice and tasted fresh, which I think is because the base isn't precooked, but cooked for the first time when you cook it and that is what makes the take away like taste. Anyway if you aren't a vegetarian (although there are cheese pizza's available if you are) then this is a great pizza to share with the family!

Sainsbury's Puff Pastry Review

We were sent a Sainsbury's giftcard to buy Puff Pastry and Sausages with. I had enough change to buy some Vampire teeth.

One of the things I love about Sainsbury's is how they have helped families see that they can feed their families nice and healthy food on a relatively small budget, the Live Well For Less name is an accurate description of what they are doing! The latest 5 Evening Meals for £20 has just been revealed too and there are a few meals there that I will add to the A Mothers Ramblings menu in the next few weeks. Some of our old favourites still haven't made it on to the Sainsbury's meal plans though, which is a shame because some of the by Sainsbury's products are absolutely perfect for them and so when we were asked if we would like to try out some of the range we thought we could try to persuade Sainsbury's to add Sausage Pie to a future meal plan by making that with two of the products.

I have talked about how easy it is to make Sausage Pie before, you just brown some sausages in this case the Cumberland Sausages from the by Sainsbury's range, before placing them in an oven proof dish and covering with gravy. I like Cumberland Sausages, although sometimes Tops and BB find them too spicy with the black pepper seasoning but these were nice, they weren't too heavily seasoned and smelt lovely as they were browning. They are £1.99 a pack (and until November 1st part of a buy 2 for £3 range) and went great with the rolled puff pastry.

The puff pastry was good, it unrolled easily and I was able to add it to my dish and use the excess to create some roses around the top of the pie which is one of my favourite additions! The puff pastry costs £1.25 and there was enough for my pie, decorations and some of the Halloween Sausage rolls that I made for Top Ender's lunch the other week which I think is a lot of pastry for one pack. 

I didn't have time to take a picture of the Sausage pie that I made, because as soon as it was out the oven Top Ender and Big Boy were singing a "We Want Dinner" chant very loudly and I thought it best to feed them before the neighbours came round to see me taking pictures of their dinner (the children's dinner not my neighbours) rather than feeding them!

They say you eat with your eyes and I think that this is true because the pie looked tasty when I took it out of the oven. It was all golden and crisp looking and there weren't any leftovers for us to eat the next day at lunch as they were all eaten that evening. If you haven't ever made a Sausage Pie then pop out and buy the ingredients this week I promise you will love it and then together we can tell Sainsbury's to add it to their meal plans!

Nature Adventure Club Challenge - Friday

This is our last Half Term challenge from the Nature Adventure Club, and I'm a little sad as I have really liked spending time with my family doing things that we might not have usually done. Although we already spend a lot of time outdoors, the activities that we found ourselves challenged to do with the Arla's Kids Closer to Nature team have taken our outdoor time to a new level of fun. I can honestly say that the bark boats and the rainbow bubbles are not something that I would have thought of doing without prompting and they were really fun so I hope that if you are looking for something to do with family this weekend you will try these out. I know that we will be looking for a lot more ideas from the website with a more open mind.

Our last challenge has involved us watching the videos on the Arla's Kids Closer to Nature Facebook page that Chris Packham (Yes *the* Chris Packham) has made with the team. We were asked to choose one video as inspiration for something to do as a family for our final challenge, but when all the ideas are great what do you do? Well, you agree to do all of them over the next few weeks and to make full use of the iphone app to carry them all out of course. Today we are going to plant some seeds because, we love watching plants grow. Below is the video that inspired us.

So we are going to go to the garden centre to look for some seeds we could plant and grow in to something to brighten up our house in these darker Autumn months. I came up with the idea of growing a few amaryllis, but we shall have a look at what the packets recommend as being suitable! We are going to keep a diary of the growth of the plants over on our Facebook page over the next few weeks and hopefully if you join in you will have some beautiful blooms like us too.

Don't forget to visit the Arla's Kids Closer to Nature facebook page to enter the competition to win one of three outdoor activity packs, including a year's family membership to all National Trust sites, kids' binoculars, a kite, National Geographic Bug Barn and Insect Lore Butterfly Garden!

Nature Adventure Club Challenge - Thursday

Since the start of term it has been a daily ritual for some people to have a look at what Top Ender has for lunch as I have been busy creating lunches that look as good as they taste. It seems that even the Arla's Kids Closer to Nature team have noticed these lunch boxes so it shouldn't have come as a surprise that our challenge today was to make a Nature Themed Lunch box for a picnic at one of the Forestry Commission sites that we found from the app we mention on Tuesday. The only problem was that it's raining here today and a picnic outside is not going to happen (my hair frizzes okay!) and so we have decided to look at the tree in our living room window and pretend we are in a forest.

Yes we really do have a tree in our living room window. It now has leaves and Halloween shapes too though. Anyway, the lunch. What to make though that was the question! 

Hmm.

Top Ender, Big Boy, Daddy and I sat down and talked about what we could make and in the end we came up with the following;

As you can see we went with two of our favourite things about October using umbrellas in the rain and colourful leaves on the Autumn trees!

The lunch was really simple to make, I used a knife to cut out the cloud from a cheese sandwich and those are banana raindrops (using a small leaf shape cutter) raining down on an apple umbrella.

The Autumn tree was fantastic fun to make as Top Ender cut a pear, a yellow apple, a green apple and a red apple into chunks and placed them around a ham sandwich trunk. The other week Big Boy and I had a big baking session and he made leaf shaped and pumpkin shaped mixed spice biscuits and so he was allowed to decorate the tree with these, although I remember making a lot more pumpkins so I think he may have eaten more than he decorated the tree with!

We are going to spend some time today carrying out a couple of the possible to do inside challenges on the Kids Closer to Nature website, including writing some poetry about trees (Poetree!), which we will share over on our facebook page. Whilst you are there don't forget to visit the Arla's Kids Closer to Nature Facebook page to enter the competition to win one of the three outdoor activity packs which includes a year's family membership to all National Trust sites, kids' binoculars, a kite, National Geographic Bug Barn and Insect Lore Butterfly Garden!

Nature Adventure Club Challenge - Wednesday

So far we have had two challenges from the team at Arla's Kids Closer to Nature, and we are really enjoying these challenges. Not just because we are spending time together as a family and having fun but because we really are getting closer to nature, which is what this is all about! Our challenge today was to make boats from scraps of bark and leaves and to then race them across puddles or a body of water... so we headed off to our local lake and went for a pleasant walk round, all the time keeping an eye out for pieces of bark on the ground that would make suitable boats.

We found three pieces quite quickly, and after scouting around for ages more for a fourth piece we decided that we would just go with three boats. I rummaged around in my hand bag and found a packet of blu-tack to help keep our twig masts with leaf sails upright (stroke of genius using blu-tack and anything that stops me from getting the power tools out is a benefit in Daddy's eyes!) and then we created these beauties below. From left to right we have Daddy's boat "Bloat" (it's a blog boat!), Big Boy's boat "Our House" (I have no idea what was going through his head) and Top Ender's boat "Angel Float" (which was said more as an order than a name). A more handsome fleet of bark boats has never been created!

We sailed our boats and didn't so much have a race to see whose boat would go furthest or fastest but whose would stay afloat for the longest to start with, especially as Daddy's boat was the clear winner, not only floating away from us nicely in the current and catching the breeze, but not capsizing until I was about to take it's picture in the middle of the Lake! I did manage to get a little bit of video though and as you can tell it was a lot of fun!

(Video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWne5p7310E)

Somehow Top Ender and Big Boy didn't realise that once their boat floated out onto the lake that they weren't going to get them back. Luckily as they kept capsizing near the edge, it only took a little bit of stretching to fish them out of the water and the children were once again happy.

I must admit that I didn't think that this would go down as well as it did. Everyone enjoyed themselves and it was something which we will repeat the next time we walk around any of the many lakes in Milton Keynes. It has also had a knock on effect that Tops and BB are very excited about carrying out more activities on the website which means more outdoor time for them and that is something I am very pleased about. As the activities are free (or nearly free as you are using products you already have at home) and are appropriate for children of all ages (including those in their early 30's) it's a win for Family Fun.

Oh and if we are ever asked to build an ark, someone else had better help us make it water tight!

Don't forget to enter the competition over on the Arla's Kids Closer to Nature Facebook page and if you make a bark boat this week let us know!

Nature Adventure Club Challenge - Tuesday

We really enjoyed our first Nature Adventure Club Challenge yesterday and we were looking forward to see what we were going to be challenged today. Our challenge told me to download the Kids Closer to Nature app, which I already had done a few weeks back. The app is brilliant for locating Forestry Commission sites near where you are and works by postcode or name of town, so even if you are away on holiday or out for the day having some family fun you could find a site near you quite easily.

One of our favourite walks is the closest Forestry Commission site to us according to the app and so we all bundled into the car for a walk around the woods. It was great fun to jump over puddles and piles of leaves and to look at the changing colours of the leaves on the trees too. Top Ender and Big Boy were having great fun playing looking for leaves on the floor of different sizes and different colours and it was good honest and free fun. The app has an activities tab, and so we explored a few of the activities that were showing such as hugging a tree, a quick scavenger hunt and creating odd shadows. We also had great fun letting Top Ender and Big Boy take pictures of the trees.

It was nice to be out and about as normal with the children, but we were able to see (thanks to the app) that there are a few more Forestry Commission sites near us that we can explore this Autumn. We love walking in the woods when the leaves are falling and we are all wrapped up nice and warm!

The Arla's Kids Closer to Nature team also gave us a voucher to go to Go Ape, but as Top Ender and Big Boy are still a little too young to go we are going to pass the voucher on to some friends who will report back on the fun to be had climbing through the tree tops. As the Go Ape sites are frequently found at Forestry Commission sites, it would be a great way to see a different view of the woods. Don't forget to go and like the Arla's Kids Closer to Nature Facebook page, so that you can enter the competition to win one of three outdoor activity packs, including a year's family membership to all National Trust sites, kids' binoculars, a kite, National Geographic Bug Barn and Insect Lore Butterfly Garden.

Nature Adventure Club Challenge - Monday

This half term is a little different for Top Ender, Big Boy and I as the Arla's Kids Closer to Nature team are going to challenge us everyday to try a new Nature inspired activity. Arla is a global dairy company and you are bound to have heard of a few of the products they are behind such as Lurpak or Cravendale and knowing how much green space there is in the UK they wanted to create something that would help reduce the amount of time some children send indoors on computers. The Arla Nature Adventure Club is a website which encourages children to go outside and learn about all aspects of nature throughout the seasons, and keeping the website as somewhere to report their findings. The website even has a handy reminder for children to go and play away from the PC if they stay on the website for too long.

Top Ender and Big Boy already love going to the Closer to Nature site and getting me to upload pictures of the challenges they have completed, it's an incentive because for each challenge they complete they get points, which then moves them up the leader board. You can even add friends, so that you can see how they have faired with the challenges, and if you feel like linking up let me know your name for the website in the comments. There is nothing like a bit of healthy competition! We are really looking forward to these challenges and we know that the challenges will be fun for everyone else to join in with too.

For our first challenge we were told to gather the following;

• Washing Up Liquid
• Food Colouring
• Plastic Cups
• Water
• Straws bent into loops held in place with Sticky Tape
• A Camera

We also needed us to go with these items into our garden. A quick mix of water, washing up liquid and food colouring and we created Rainbow Bubble Mixture!

It was great fun, not just because of blowing bubbles but because we were able to talk about what colours we could see, and what colours were our favourite too. Top Ender and Big Boy had great fun blowing bubbles together (with the help of Daddy, Granny and I) and whilst they weren't quite able to fill the sky with bubbles they did manage to fill the garden.

Of course, nobody could blow bubbles quite as well as me...

(Video can be seen at http://youtu.be/DXZhixG5k_M)

We will be uploading our pictures to our Nature Adventure Club profile, and you may even see a few pictures appear on the Arla's Kids Closer to Nature Facebook page this week. Whilst you are over at the Facebook Page don't forget to enter the competition where you can win one of three outdoor activity packs, including a year's family membership to all National Trust sites, kids' binoculars, a kite, National Geographic Bug Barn and Insect Lore Butterfly Garden! And don't forget to check back tomorrow to see what our next challenge is!

George Wilkinson Great British Bakeware Review

We were sent two items of Bakeware from the George Wilkinson Great British Bakeware Range.

We love to bake here at A Mothers Ramblings. It might be cakes, muffins, jam tarts, quiches, biscuits or even bread but it seems that we are happiest in the kitchen (not to mention warmest when the oven is on!). It was with the greatest of pleasure though that I sat down and looked through the George Wilkinson Great British Bakeware range one evening with a view to choosing a couple of items to be sent out to me to review. I'm not sure if I was more happy that I was going to get some George Wilkinson Bakeware or looking at the website, but either way I decided to get a 12 cup deep Muffin Tray and a 13" Pizza Tray. I went with these because my Muffin Tray had gone missing and so I needed a new one and I've never had a pizza tray but with the amount of pizza and garlic bread we make I thought it might come in handy.

I know about George Wilkinson Bakewear, not just because they are 70 years old but because a lot of the foodie blogs I read have mentioned the quality of their products in the past. The company makes the products in Lancashire and so the products are British and the new Great British Bakeware range includes 35 premium items all of which can be used daily without damage. So confident of this claim about daily use that the products come with a 15 year product and coating guarantee.

The question is though, how do they perform? Well the first thing we made was garlic bread pizza and we baked it in the oven using the Pizza Tray. I think that it made a difference to the Garlic Bread as the trays purpose is to help cook the dough evenly and it was very evenly cooked.

We eat Pizza quite a bit (it's easy to make Gluten Free Pizza bases!) and so we will be using the tray a lot more in the coming months.

The second thing I made was some deep filled Mince pies in the 12 cup deep Muffin Tray. Daddy loves mince pies and has been buying gluten free ones in Supermarkets since they appeared a few weeks back and I thought that I might as well get a jump on my Christmas Baking and make Daddy happy at the same time.

These Mince pies were fantastic. Anyone who works with Gluten free pastry can confirm that it is a bit of a bother as it does tend to break and crumble if you look at it for too long and getting the cooked items out of a tray when they have cooled will normally result in half the pastry staying on the tray, but these Mince pies were a dream to get out with the non stick coating on the tray doing exactly what it was supposed to.

I was surprised at how strong the trays were considering how light they were and compared to other bakeware I own. I guess it comes down to a quality thing, and whilst the George Wilkinson Great British Bakeware isn't cheap it is worth the extra money for the quality.

The George Wilkinson Great British Bakeware ranges in price between £7.50 and £14.99 and is ideal for everyday use. Take a look at the website, to find a stockist near you.

Glossy Box Review

We were sent a Glossy Box to review.

As most people who know me off the internet will attest too, I don't do make up. Don't get me wrong I know one end of a mascara brush to the other and if I fancy or I need to I can "put my face on" to make myself look more awake and less bride of Frankenstein. The problem is that I don't know a lot about make up or beauty products as I never was a girly girl and I'm too embarrassed to ask about new products in store as the Sales Assistants are either really pushy or very glamorous looking and intimidating! So when I was asked if I would review a Glossy Box, I was intrigued. A box of beauty miniatures sent to you at your own home so you can try out the products in complete privacy before committing to a full size purchase? 

When the box arrived it was beautiful, I almost didn't unwrap it because I felt I would spoil the happy feeling I got from looking at it. In fact I was so caught up that I forgot to take a picture of the box or it's contents and now, well now the contents have been used and so there isn't anything to look at. So here is a picture of me having my eyebrows tidied up by my sister instead.

I was a little in shock opening the box as I had no clue what to do with half of the items in there and so I tied it back up all pretty again and phone my sister up and told her to come over and help me. Kitty came over and helped me go through the September Glossy box for the small fee of getting dibs on anything in the box that she liked and as it contained a lot, I was okay with that! We went through the items one by one, with Kitty explaining a little about each item (See this is why we all need a former model for a sister). The box contained;

• Dead Sea Spa Magik Sachets (AKA Salt Brushing)
• Green People (Day Solution)
• Green People (Fruitful Nights)
• HD Brows (Eye and Brow Palette)
• Kimia (Exquiste Rejuvenating Facial System)
• L’Oreal Professional (Mythic Oil)
• Mary Greenwell (Plum Eay De Parfum)
• Moa (The Green Balm)
• Neal and Wolf (Glow Super Shine Spray)
• Neal and Wolf (Harmony Intensive Care Treatment)
• Nuxe (Huileprodigeuse/ Huileprodigieuse)
• Omorovicza (Thermal Cleansing Balm)
• Rahua (Rahua Shampoo)
• Rahua (Rahua Conditioner)
• Strivectin (SD Eye Concentrate)

By the time we had emptied all the box and Kitty had explained what was what (if you want to know check the website I can't remember a word she said) I was mentally exhausted! Beauty Products are hard to understand! The problem I had is that nothing in the box was really suitable for me as a non girly girl who has no clue about make up or a beauty regime. In fact the closest I get to a beauty regime is washing my face before I go to bed at night. So I did what any great sister would do, I gave the entire box to my sister.

I think that this is actually what is best for the Glossy Box, at £10 per month plus a £2.95 (a month) post and packing fee this would make a great gift for someone who loves to try new beauty products or for a teenage girl just starting to explore the world of beauty products.

Amy's Kitchen Frozen Foods Review

We were sent some vouchers to buy some of the Amy's Kitchen Range.

Since finding out that Daddy is coeliac there have been a few meals which he has missed because they can't be made without wheat (or at least I can't make them and you can't buy wheat free versions) and so he has had to put up with seeing adverts or new products that he would really like to try but he knows he can't eat. Then the lovely team at Amy's Kitchen approached me to let me know that they have wheat and gluten free products and sent me some vouchers to buy some of the range.

Daddy went to Sainsburys (they are also stocked in Asda and Waitrose, but Sainsburys was closest!) and brought the Vegetable Lasagne, the Mac and Cheese and two Burritos as they were all gluten free. The products are found in the frozen foods aisle, but have a home cooked taste about them. It was the home cooked taste that the founders of the company were looking for when they created the products when their own daughter was small and they were short on time.

The meals were eaten over the next week as Daddy had a few late nights at work and getting home he wanted something quick and tasty. I managed to sneak a mouthful here and there and despite being designed for children they are very flavoursome and a good size too. The products are great to keep in the freezer for nights when we are running late or when Daddy decides that he wants a late night snack.

Vosene Kids Afterswim

We were sent some Vosene Kids Afterswim.

I love the smell of chlorine on my skin after I have been in a swimming pool and will often not shower until later to make the most of it. Daddy, Top Ender and Big Boy aren't fans however and like to get rid of the smell as soon as they can. We were sent some Vosene Kids Afterswim and so we took it with us when we went swimming for the last time at the outdoor pool. I kept repeating the once popular catchphrase "Why Take Two bottles in to the shower?" as the Afterswim can be used as a hair and body wash and so we only needed one bottle!

The afterswim has a melon smell and I thought was quite pleasant. It's been developed to neutralise all of the chlorine smell and it doesn't have some nasties in it that dry out skin and more importantly it has a no tears formula! I used it to wash our hair and our bodies (well not Daddy he did himself) and it foamed up well and we did all feel clean after we had used it. The children smelt lovely as they were drying off and you could smell the mellon smell for the rest of the day. It was only me who the smell didn't seem to suit as later that evening I found myself sniffing my arm after having worked out that the slightly odd smell was coming from me. Teach me for using the children's body wash I guess!

The Vosene Afterswim Hair and Body Wash is around £2.49 and is available in Sainsburys and Boots.

Splasha Towelling Wraps

We were sent two Splasha Towelling wraps to review.

When we were at the Lego Duplo event the other week we went swimming with Jen and Maxi and Mini. It was great fun and both Big Boy and Top Ender were exhausted after having swam and splashed around for so long. When we got out the pool Daddy and I wrapped them up in new Splasha Towelling Wraps that we had been sent by Morrck and went back to our hotel room with two very cuddly children!

The Splasha Towelling Wraps are really soft and very absorbent but as they are more like dressing gowns they are really easy to wear. There are two patterns for the towels and Top Enders favourite was the spotty pattern in shades of pink and Big Boy loved the stripey shades of blue which was lucky really seeing as how the sizes we were sent gave them each their favourite option! The handy pocket at the front is perfect for putting hair bands and combs in and they were perfect for holding googles in on our way back from the swimming pool to the Hotel room.

I have found that they wash and dry really well, although I had to check if they could be tumble dried after having found them in the tumble dryer when Daddy transferred the washing from the machine to the Tumble Dryer without checking what he was moving! My Mum even said (after putting them away when she was babysitting for us) that they were still really soft after a few washes and that she wished they made them in her size!

I really think that the towels are great and Top Ender and Big Boy love them and ask if they can have them when they get out of the bath, when we go swimming and we shall take them with us when we go to Nanny B's! The Splasha towelling wraps are £19.95 each and are available from the Morrck website.

Win Lego Duplo Prizes!

As you know thanks to the lovely Big Boy we get to play with lots of Lego Duplo here at A Mothers Ramblings as we are Lego Duplo Experts. One of the great things about this is that we get to co-host competitions where you could win lots and lots of goodies and we get to tell you of special offers that might be appreciated by your Bank Manager and you come the New Year.

From Monday 17th of October if you spend £30 on Lego Duplo at Toys R Us you receive a free DUPLO cuddly bear worth £10! And if anyone doesn't want him then please send him to me, as I think an army of cuddly bears on my bed would be quite sweet!

To celebrate this exclusive offer with Toys R Us, Lego Duplo are allowsing the Lego Duplo Experts to co host this competition and here is what you can win;

First Prize (2 winners will get this)

·         1 x Cars ‘The Pit Stop’
·         1 x Cars ‘Tokyo Racing’ 
·         1 x Cars ‘Agent Mater’
·         1 x Cars ‘Luigi’s Italian Place’
·         1 x My First LEGO DUPLO Set
·         1 x DUPLO Brick Box

Second Prize (3 winners will get this)

·         1 x Cars ‘Tokyo Racing’
·         1 x Cars ‘Luigi’s Italian Place’
·         1 x DUPLO Brick Box

Third Prize (10 winners will get this)

·         1 x My First LEGO DUPLO Set 
·         1 x DUPLO Brick Box

We reviewed some of the Cars 2 prizes and I can honestly say, that they are great fun to play with! All you have to do to enter is send an email to duplocompetition@digital-outlook.com with the subject line A Mothers Ramblings. Just provide your full name and postal address and do it before November 6^th and you could be one of the winners!

New Bedroom Furniture?

This is a sponsored post.

My Mum was a visionary when it came to decorating mine and my sisters bedrooms, she could see what the bedroom should look like, and could work out a clear plan to get it that way. I've never been like that and so when it comes to decorating Top Ender or Big Boy's bedroom I rely on inspiration found in pictures in catalogues and on websites for childrens bedroom furniture. That way I can see what works and I can work out how to adapt it for our home.

At the moment I am looking for inspiration for Big Boy's room. The one condition that he has given Daddy and I is that he wants his walls to be Green (his favourite colour) but the rest of the room is completely up to us. This panics me, I know that he is three at the moment but soon he will be starting school and then all the things that he loves now and seems like he will never grow out of are going to be grown out of as he is exposed to new influences in his life and I won't be able to redecorate his room and buy him new furniture again for a few years.

I think this is why I love sites such as the Feather and Black one, because the style that they present is something which is adaptable to any home. The furniture is both modern and classic at the same time and it is easy to get the look that you want by picking and choosing the furniture and accessories that appeal to you. At the moment I still have no idea what Big Boy's room is going to look like, but I know that we will get there eventually...

I just hope that Big Boy still lives at home by the time I have finished admiring all the different looks and we can get some pyjamas to match his bedroom!

Win a LG Optimus 3D!

I received a gift-card for Tesco for hosting this competition.

I was in my late teens before I had my first mobile phone, I hadn't wanted one but my sister did and so my parents brought us one each from Tesco for Christmas. It took a while to get use to it and now of course I wouldn't be without my mobile and even sleep with it next to my pillow, although that is a habit I have picked up from Daddy really. The launch of Tesco Mobile’s new Capped Tariffs, which allow you to keep track of how much you spend on your mobile phone, is a great way to keep an eye on how much teenagers are spending on mobile phone bills and I am sure that my parents would have made full use of this if it was around when they first brought me a mobile phone!

The main features of the Tesco Mobile Capped Tariffs are:

• Being able to fix your tariff so you can only use your inclusive minutes, texts and data.

• Ensuring your monthly bill is never more than the cost of your tariff.

• The ability to top-up with a Pay as you go top-up, if you run out during the month

Tesco Mobile are also the only network to offer this scheme across all handsets, and all price plans. I think that is rather nice as it does mean you can chose whatever handset you like and whatever price plan is right for you rather than picking from a restricted few.

So what could be a better way to celebrate a way of letting our children have the freedom of a mobile with the peace of mind as parents of knowing there isn't a huge phone bill at the end of the month than by giving away a LG Optimus 3D? I know, I'm good to you right?

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment below before the 28th October 2011 at 4pm letting me and Tesco Mobile know which money saving tip you want to make sure you hand down to your kids. Sorry to my international readers, but this is open to UK readers only.

Weetakid and Weetabix

We were sent some Weetabix and an ipad which we borrowed for a week. I didn't want to send it back.

Weetabix is a firm favourite breakfast food in our house (for Top Ender, Big Boy and I at least) and when Weetabix asked if we would like to borrow an ipad for a week so we could try out the new Weetakid game we jumped at the chance and not just because we wanted to borrow an ipad! The game is designed for children and has an augmented reality part, when used with an ipad or iphone that has a camera. We discovered this when we used Daddy's iphone and whilst I was impressed the children were more interested in the actual game! Just make sure you pick up one of the special boxes in the supermarket to see how cool the interaction with the packet is, I tried to get a picture but it just didn't look that good.

The idea of the games is that a baddy called the Evil Eater has stolen all the energy and wildlife from the Weetakid's planet and through playing the two mini games you can collect stacking items to rebuild the planet. Each stacking item gives the planet a different area, and it is only by collecting all of the different stacking items that you can create the planet again. It was great fun to stack items in a random orders so you could have a snow covered mountain in the background with a sandy desert in front. Top Ender loved the game, but Big Boy really really really loved the game and he keeps singing the tune to himself which is great as it is a lovely tune!

The app is available to download for free in the Apple app store, it requires iOS 4.3 so my ipod touch was too old for it and it's quite large at 127MB but it really is fun to play.

Christmas Film Giveaway!

Every Christmas we task ourselves to watch a Christmas film everyday as a family. It might be a classic film that we watch year after year or a brand new one that we haven't seen before. It seems that every year we start earlier and earlier watching a seasonal film at the weekend and Top Ender, Big Boy and I are lucky that Daddy puts up with us!

This week we have been lucky enough to be given the chance to give away two great films Santa Who, starring the late, great comedy legend Leslie Nielsen, and Gotta Catch Santa, featuring the voice of William Shatner.

Santa Who is about a TV news reporter Peter Albright ready to cover the usual holiday stories and the last thing he expected was to get the story of his life as Santa Claus drops in– literally!

Having fallen out of his Christmas sleigh, Santa crashes done to earth and suffers complete amnesia. Unable even to remember the words of “Jingle Bells” Christmas is under threat as Santa can no longer ho-ho-ho. Confused and lost it is Santa’s elves to the rescue as elf-boss Max launches a search to find his ever-jolly boss, whilst Peter’s girlfriend persuades Santa to work as department store Santa. Will Christmas magic put Santa in his sleigh and Peter back with his loved ones in time for Christmas? Will a Christmas miracle happen this year and will Santa still be asking Santa, who?

Gotta Catch Santa is about Trevor a true believer in the holiday spirit, so his sceptical best friend, Veronica, challenges him to show the world actual proof that Santa is real!

Trevor and his friends embark on the adventure of a lifetime to catch Santa in action and reveal the true magic of Christmas. But they've got to find Santa before LeFreeze - a dim-witted monster who's carrying a serious 100-year-old grudge - and his snowman minions put Christmas on ice forever!

I have three copies of each film to give-away so leave a comment before 27th October 2011 letting me know what your favourite Fun Christmas Family Activity is and I shall enter you in to the draw! UK entrants only, as the discs won't work elsewhere!

The A to Z of me Meme.

I was in the toilet earlier today (stick with me, it gets less disgusting in a minute) when I thought it had been a while since I had been tagged in a meme. Obviously my toilet is magic because a few hours later and the lovely Susan tags me in a meme. So here is the A to X of me! Just in case you didn't already know enough about me...

ANORAK…Do you have a sad side? Yes, of course I do. I like to make lists and I have to eat peas in multiples of two and... actually better not tell you about that particular habit.

BODY…What physical attribute would you most like to change? My weight. I'm working on it, but wish it was easier.

CELEBRITY…Which one would you most like to date and why? David Tennant and Alan Rickman. I can't choose and you can't make me.

DEBUT …Tell us about your first ever blog post. What made you start blogging?

The first ever ever ever? Okay I'm not telling you where it is though. It was about my life when I was in my late teens. I am pretty sure it went something along the lines of;

"Saw a cute guy at work today. Wondered if he would need my help. He didn't."

I started blogging again properly when Tops misunderstood me when I said Goodnight Sweetie Pie" and thought I was going to eat a pie of sweets.

ERROR …What’s been your biggest regret? Sorry, can't tell you my biggest regret! My next biggest though was not keeping up with my studies.

FUNNY – who’s making you laugh? Right now? Big Boy is pretending to be Curious George. I'm listening to Dave Gorman's new audio book at night which makes me laugh and of course I love listening to Bleak Expectations, the Radio 4 Comedy series.

GRAND…If we gave you one right now what would you spend it on? An ipad each for Big Boy, Top Ender and me.

HOLIDAY… What’s your favourite destination? I loved Italy. Would have to go back there I think.

That's us in Italy that is!

IRRITATE… What’s your most annoying habit? My most annoying habit? I don't have annoying habits. 

Well apart from being perfect of course...JOKER…Whats your favourite joke {the one that makes you laugh everytime you hear it}?I don't think I have one! Yup thinking on it, I can't think of one.

KENNEL… Do you have any pets?  Three Cats (Moses, Tabbitha, Willow), two invisible dogs (Cassie and Ezra), an invisible Gorilla (Fred) and several hundred invisible monkeys

LOVE…Are you single, married, engaged, living with a long term partner? Married!

MEAL… Whats your ultimate starter, main and dessert?

Oh erm. I don't know! Maybe Baked Brie with Rare Steak with vegetables and garlic potatoes and for pudding proper chocolate cake

NOW…If you could be anywhere right now where would you be and who with? In my Mansion throwing a party for a few hundred closest friends and family members.

OFF DUTY…What do you do in your spare time? Spare time? Remind me what that is again? Oh right. In that case play on Facebook, watch Movies and read books!

PROUD MOMENTS …What are you most proud of? I was in Joseph in the West End when I was 13, I still grin about that.

QUEASY …What turns your stomach? You know Itchy and Scratchy from The Simpsons? I can't watch it as they make me feel sick. The violence just makes me feel sick even though it is a cartoon.

RELAX…How do you relax? By playing on Facebook, watching movies and reading books!

You read and eat chocolate to relax too right?

SONG…Whats your favourite song of all time? I don't have one favourite song, I have lots. Dean Friedman and Joshua Kadison are two of my favourite singers though.

TIME …If you could go back in time and relive it again, when would you choose? Jeepers there are a lot of times that I would like to relive but I think that I would be too tempted to change them and then I wouldn't be me!

UNKNOWN…Tell us something about yourself that no one else knows? I failed A Level History. Like ungraded failed.

VOCAL…. Who is your favourite artist? Oh that's Dean Friedman and Joshua Kadison!

WORK….. What is your dream job, and are you doing it now? Erm, I think being a presenter on TV or Radio. Not quite yet no...

XRAY…Any broken bones? Nope, once crushed the bones in my arm with a roller skate so got to wear a plaster cast but never broken any.

YIKES…What’s been your most embarrassing moment?  I fell over in the snow next to a row of cars waiting at a set of traffic lights. They all saw me struggle to stay upright and then struggle to get up out of the snow.

ZOO…. If you were an animal, which one would you be? I think I would have to be a Cat because they are smart, clean and can jump really high!

So now I am tagging Vic and Emma because I haven't seen enough of them recently, and Kathryn because she gives great advice and Kat because she cracks me up.

Faces - The Gallery

I was glad that we had extra time for The Gallery this week. I really wanted to take part because I loved the theme (and I rather like the idea of the Kodak Pulse but that is another story) and I wanted to find the right photograph or take the right photograph that would show just what I see when I look at the faces of those around me.

Take my Grans face for example.

That face and smile says so much to me. Her skin was always so smooth and soft, I mean really soft. You know your favourite soft blanket or jumper? Softer than that. I think she must have bathed in milk or something to get her skin so soft. She didn't have wrinkles or spots or dry patches just a great complexion, which I like to think I have inherited. Her eyes always had a twinkle that showed her true spirit, she loved a joke and even when she was pretending to be disgusted with a rude joke we had told her, you could see her eyes laughing along with you. She was a wise woman that even now I imagine myself talking to to get the answers to what ever problem I am facing. Just looking at this photograph I can hear her laugh. Oh my goodness you would never forget it if you had seen her laugh, her whole face would turn into the broadest smile as she would laugh with delight. She could laugh for ages and it was the sort of laugh that would just make everyone join in with her even if they didn't know what was funny to start with. If you looked close you could see her face told the story of her life. A hard life, but a life full of love and laughter.

Then there is my Nan.

This is another face that I keep in my memory to recall when I can because I don't get to see her as often as I would like. A face that has browned in the sun and has a few wrinkles here and there, but is beautiful just the same. There are lines around her eyes that tell of a million smiles and probably a million tears and they help to keep the knowledge of the ages contained inside. This is the woman who has stayed strong to her beliefs, who knows what she feels and isn't afraid to say things are right or wrong as she sees it. The face is open and honest just as she is with everything she does. Nothing is sugar coated, maybe omitted but never because she wants to deceive you only because she wants to protect you. I don't think I could count the number of times I have looked at this face or this face has looked at me and everything has been made better, made to sting less. A different face, but one that tells a story just the same.

I see stories when I look at peoples faces. The story of their lives, the story of their loves and losses, the stories of what they mean to me, of what they mean to others around them and whilst I'm not the best photographer in the world I hope that my pictures will show this to others.

Help Dora Help - An Update!

Even though Big Boy doesn't go to a Nursery (My own fault I want him here with me) I know that the right Nursery or Playgroup for a child can make all the difference. Top Ender for example went to a fantastic Nursery (it was where she got her moniker after all!) and I know that the confidence she had starting school was partly down to her time at Nursery. I think this is partly why I was so pleased when Nick Jr asked if Big Boy and I would like to be a Nick Jr Official Blogger Friend, because they get that Nurseries are important and the Help Dora Help campaign is pretty fantastic.

As I mentioned before Nurseries and playgroups across the UK were invited to apply to the scheme before five Nurseries were shortlisted (and they each received some discovery and learning equipment) and now you can vote at the Nick Jr website for which of the five you think deserves the fund to benefit children in their local area.

So to Alfriston Pre-School in East Sussex, Beaufort Hill Nursery in Gwent in Wales, Bradford Academy in Yorkshire, Hope Nursery School in Belfast in Northern Ireland and Overtown Community Nursery in Wisham in Scotland Good luck!

Jacket Potato Mice - Wordless Wednesday

Turns out it isn't just fun to turn Sandwiches into works of art...

Privacy, Playground Gossip and Me

Twice today I've been asked about Privacy in blogging. It's not something that I really think twice about I mean I choose to blog, that means I am putting my life out there for someone else to read about. It could be my neighbour (Hello Neighbours), my family (hello Sister of mine), someone from my past (Hello Tor), someone from my husbands work (Hello K!) or someone from the School Playground. I'm not ashamed of my blog, and will tell everyone I meet about it if it is appropriate! I mean I'm on Three Counties Radio every Saturday morning talking about what we have done this week and I was in one of my local papers after I won the MAD Award for Family Fun so it's not like I'm quiet about it.

Nice picture of me right?

Then there are things that I am quiet about. I don't discuss my husbands job or work for example (He develops entertainment systems for the hospitality industry. Which is boring compared to what I was told in the playground his job was!). I don't talk about my sex life (it's rather fantastic thanks), I don't talk about how Bedfordshire County Council annoy me with stupid policies (I will one day though), I don't talk about what I think about people who endanger children's lives by parking on the corner of a junction just so they don't have to walk an extra 100 yards and I don't discuss the private business of those around me. I think most importantly though I don't discuss people I barely know's business and I like to think that I am above the kind of childish behaviour that some of the playground Mums have been indulging in.

That's right, good old playground gossip is doing the rounds again. The thing is it isn't just about me, but about a friend, someone I care a lot about (You know who you are). The gossip that they have been spreading is about something that hasn't been put out there in the public realm. It's something which is personal, something which they don't know about and are discussing without thinking of what damage they could be doing by spreading half truths in their quest for something to pass along to others. Then there is the bit about me. Something which is so untrue it is funny and flattering at the same time and something else that makes me think that I'm being physically attacked because they said something about my blog.

Part of me wants to stand up and shout that I know they are talking about me and my friend and that if they want to know anything all they have to do is ask us. We might not tell them what they want to hear but we would be open and honest. Part of me wants to march up to them and practice my kick boxing on a real person instead of the punch bag in the garage I would even give them the name of a great plastic surgeon so they could have their broken nose fixed afterwards. A little too violent for me maybe.

Most of all a part of me feels sorry for them if all they have to talk about is me and my friend. I mean I know I am fantastic and amazing and all but really I'm the fodder for gossip? It's been suggested that they are jealous. Are they jealous of my incredibly strong marriage? Are they jealous that I have fun with my family? Are they jealous of my two very clever children? Do they wish that they had a blog? Are they jealous of the money I earn through my blog?  Are they jealous of the number of Twitter followers and Facebook likes I have? Are they jealous of the things I get sent for free? Then again maybe they are just bored housewives who sit around gossiping for something to do between watching Jeremy Kyle and hating their lives for being so boring.

Still I think that Oscar Wilde said it best.

The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

Top Ender Giggles - Love is Blind

When we were watching the last Doctor Who of the series Top Ender was a little confused over how Amy saw Rory as so muscular and strong jawed in her mind when Rory is a little more scrawny in real life, well real TV life.

I looked at her and explained

"When you are in love with someone you see them as the most handsome or beautiful person in the world and other people might look at them and not see them as handsome or beautiful but it doesn't matter because you do. Just like when I look at your Daddy I see the most handsome man I have ever seen."

Top Ender paused for a second thinking over what I had said then she slowly looked her Daddy up and down and started laughing.

Guess she doesn't see it then.

Caption It Monday! #8

I'd be lying if I said that last weeks was the best Caption It Monday so far. I'd also be lying if I didn't put the blame at my own feet as I kind of forgot to pimp it during the week to get people to spot it for commenting on. Still onwards and upwards and this weeks picture keeps making me giggle with stupid comments that seem to caption the picture.

And now for last week!

And the winner from last week was;

Winner

TopEnder was delighted to have discovered the "Baby's Guide to the Internet Site" from Ramblings of a Suburban Mummy

Don't forget the winner and the runners up will get a link in next Monday's post!

£15 Clothing at Tesco Voucher to be won!

Clothing at Tesco provided us with School Uniform and some Back To School goodies and a Clothing Gift Voucher.

The first half term of the New School Year is always something that I look forward to. It gives me a chance to have both my children home with me again during the day (Summer already seems to have been so long ago) and together we can start creating crafts for Halloween and Advent. It is something which over the last four years has become tradition. The other part that I quite like is the checking of School Uniform for the rest of term. I've already had to sew some buttons back on and repair a split seam in an old cardigan and I added new polo shirts to the weekly shopping list just last week. It seems that Top Ender always manages to spill something down her that means come half term one of her polo shirts gets re-purposed into part of a Halloween Costume or decoration!

This year Tesco had sent me some school uniform for Top Ender (like they did last year) and Top Ender cast her critical fashion eye over everything and gave it the thumbs up. When she tried it on she looked so much older than she had just a few weeks before at the end of the Summer Term so I think that the fun we had as a family in the holidays did her good! We were also pleased to see that Tesco are still running the "You But One, We Give One" initiative where every item of uniform sold under the scheme sees Tesco's donate a full uniform to a child in Sri Lanka, Kenya and Bangladesh.

Tesco's have very kindly given me £15 to give away so if you are like me and you are needing to top up the School Uniform Supplies (or buy a Halloween Costume, or some new PJ's) then simply leave a comment below (before Monday 24th October 2011 at 3pm) letting me know what you are planning to do this October half term and if you want me to be ever so grateful you can also add me to your RSS Reader of choice too!

Silent Sunday

I so LOVE this Boy.

Lily Charmed - a website I like to look at!

Something that I have been doing in all my time online over the last month or so is looking for a gift suitable to give the pregnant ladies in my life, once they have their baby. It started when I had Top Ender, my sister had brought Top Enders crib for me (she was rich back then) and came round a few days after Top Ender was born with another package. I didn't want her buying more gifts for Top Ender, but it wasn't it was a gift for me. There was a book and some hot chocolate and some bubble bath (and something else I'm sure) and it was just for me and I loved it. It wasn't that I was jealous of a baby getting gifts and me not, but it was nice to be remembered as being there!

Then I was introduced to the Lily Charmed website. It sells beautiful Stirling Silver charm necklaces that you can customise (with a very easy drag and drop section of the website) or a range of designs already designed with some sayings that will be sure to raise a smile. I must admit that I thought it was going to be horridly expensive, but you can create a design from £18 which I think is a good price.

I'm not going to show you the designs that I have been looking at for Kitty and Emma, but needless to say they are every bit as beautiful as the images below!

Just so you know I wasn't paid to do this blog post, I didn't get a discount but I do really really like the necklaces and thought someone else might like them too!