Monday 16 October 2017

When you just can't get to sleep.....

My son loves reading he is 6 years old and a pretty confident reader, I have always encouraged reading from a young age and love reading myself so as such we are fortunate enough to get through lots of books!

Hibernation Hotel is a story about Bear.

A Brown Bear that was already late for hibernation time but he just could not get to sleep. With an overcrowded, noisy, smelly cave he makes his way to a fancy hotel to get himself some comfort and peace and quiet.

With a wake up call scheduled for the 1st March he set about hibernating after he had enjoyed many of the things that staying in a hotel offers. Finally settling into bed he felt sleepy and as he is about to drift off to sleep other guests in the hotel have different ideas by hosting a party!


 Will Bear ever get to sleep?

This is a lovely story about all those reasons we find that we cannot settle and get to sleep and the illustrations are wonderful, my son loved the funny illustrations in the book and often made comments as we were reading on his interpretation of the illustrations.


When he had finished reading the book I asked him if he had enjoyed reading the book and he said it was really good. Alex is a huge fan of animals and he loves reading factual and fictional books that feature almost any kind of animal so this book was a huge hit with him.



He liked that the font was larger in the book and said it made it easier to read and more enjoyable to read alone. 

It was lovely to see him read the book alone, taking in the comical illustrations and commenting as he read the text on what he thought of the illustrations on each page including when Bear drank water from the toilet bowl, Alex thought this was disgusting!


A lovely book for you to read to your child and also for a child to read to themselves. 

Hibernation Hotel written by John Kelly and illustrated by Laura Brenlla.
Published by Little Tiger Press 

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my opinion.

Monday 4 September 2017

Role Play Toys - Leapfrog Shapes & Sharing Picnic Basket

As a mum I have always remembered how when I was a child I enjoyed toys that involved an element of role play and with my son I struggled with this, he didn't enjoy his kitchen or playhouse both of which I enjoyed as a young child, so when my daughter came along I really thought about the types of toys that she would enjoy as a young child.

My daughter was born at the end of January so one of the gifts that she received was the Leapfrog Shapes & Sharing Picnic Basket. Admittedly it was me that fell in love with it more, the bright colours and sounds I was sure it would be a hit.

One of the main things I like about the Leapfrog range of toys is that they use British Voices which I find really helpful when your child is at the age where they are just starting to learn to talk and it also has 2 volume levels.

There is a large, brightly coloured butterfly button to the front that when pressed plays up to 30 audio responses.

Having had this from the age of 12 months it has become a very popular toy with my daughter and now at 19months of age she really enjoys the role play aspect, setting up the picnic blanket and setting out the food before then pretending to eat and drink.


 This is a lovely gift for both boys and girls alike, as it helps them to recognise shapes and colours with the help of the audio button with the preset phrases.

As with all of the Leapfrog toys they are robust and with a toddler dropping them at height and banging them around they show absolutely no signs of wear.





A 14 piece picnic basket which contains a picnic blanket, 2 plates, 2 forks, 2 cups, 6 pieces of food and the picnic basket itself.



This review is based on my own opinion and experience of using the toy with my daughter and it was provided as a gift by a family member.

Recommended from the age of 6-36months.
Requires 3 x AA batteries

Monday 14 August 2017

Ford Fiesta Titanium - Mummy's Review

Last month I discovered that my long lasting car, affectionately known to me as Freddie was no longer viable to repair and keep so the time had come to look for a new car, however with a tight budget and two young children I needed something that could match my 2005 Ford focus in size.

I had forever longed for a Ford Fiesta, yes, lots of other amazing cars out there but I have always had Fords, they have served me well, Freddy for example had been with me since the age of 3 so I was thrilled when my husband said he had found a White Fiesta for me to look at. I was so excited as it had been my preferred choice, fast forward 4 weeks and I find myself not with the White Fiesta we initially bought, but with a Silver Fiesta whilst my new red car was to be prepped. It is a very long story which I may go into at another time but for now this is a review on the car I had for 2 weeks.

As a mum of 2 young children, the car had to offer space so what better time to check it out than on a trip to the Zoo.
For a family of 4 the fiesta matched my needs, most of the time it is just me and my 2 children and as you can see they are more than happy in the back!

This is my honest review of the Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost Titanium 2017.


As for the boot space, I bought a pram that was lightweight and collapsed small as I had managed with a large chassis with my son and wanted something to make life easier and as you can see it takes up half of the boot, and the pushchair unit sits comfortably on top with a small amount of space to spare.


Fitting the car seats to the rear, the car does have isofix but unfortunately my previous car didn't so I need to look at upgrading them as they are currently forward facing seats secured via the lap and diagonal belt.
To fit the seats safely I had to remove the rear head restraints or the seats would not fit correctly.

Ok, first off the main Fiesta range do all look similar and unless you are a bit of a Ford Geek like I am you can not really tell the Style from the Zetec or the Zetec from the Titanium, they are basically all similar apart from a change in alloy and the interior specifications.

The Titanium to me does look a little more edgy with the privacy glass in the rear of the car and tinted windscreen. Definitely a bonus when having children in the back as it does help shade the sun without the need for sun visors sticking onto the windows.

The Eco Boost 1.0L engine actually offers a higher bhp than my 1.5tdci although I found it struggled a little at time and didn't appear to be as quick off the mark as my diesel, however my husband said the facts state otherwise and I will agree to be proved wrong.

The car claims to be pretty fuel efficient offering 65mpg, now my husband had the pleasure of driving this car twice once it exchanged hands and well, he doesn't drive very economically compared with me who averages 27mph on the school runs and village drives that I tend to do. £15 of fuel provided just under half a tank of fuel and just under 150 miles, now 3 days later we have 90 miles left before refuelling.
I struggled to get it higher than 40mpg again quite a difference compared with my diesel that offers me around 64mpg as a comparison.

Inside the car it's pretty spacious and I found it not much smaller compared to my focus.
The titanium has an upgraded stereo with the Sony DAB system in place which I found an absolute nightmare to just get in the car and operate, one where you definitely need to read the manual before attempting to use it whilst driving and my husband agreed.

The bluetooth feature in the car is great for calling hands free or answering calls whilst driving if required.

I liked the novelty of the puddle lights on the wing mirrors illuminating your path as you get into the car as well as the illuminated footwell, something that comes in quite handy when you have two children and something gets dropped on the dark and you need to locate it when leaving the car.

Child locks are easily activated using the key, a feature I would love to see Ford introduce is the lock system via the driver controls, much easier and much more user friendly.

Getting the kids in and out of the car is simple enough, there is plenty of room behind the seats for my 2 children to be seated comfortably at 6 years old and 1 year old.
There is a small amount of space between the two seats but not enough for a 3rd passenger in the rear of the car when 2 car seats are in place.

Cruise Control, not something I tend to use, as I only go on short journeys

Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror
I found this slightly intrusive whilst driving it seemed to cause a bit of a blind spot when driving and the positioning and design was slightly distracting.

Sony Stereo System
This looks super sleek but isn't really very user friendly, I didn't really get to grips with it in the fortnight that I used the car and I definitely needed to read the manual to work out how to even tune the radio in!


Underneath is the climate control which is a digital display a lot easier to control the temperature compared with the manual control in the Zetec version.

Overall if you are looking for a car that will accommodate the school runs, days out and will comfortably fit 2 adults and 2 children then the Fiesta does offer that.
It is great fun to drive with great steering and handling and the interior is finished off to a good standard.

If you have any questions then feel free to leave a comment on this blog post.

This car was a courtesy car for a 2 week period. All views and opinions are my own.