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Saturday 27 October 2012

Jingle Puzzle Old MacDonald had a farm

Music for kids have launched Jingle puzzles. There is 4 Jingle puzzles available, Old MacDonald had a farm, The Wheels on the bus, Five Little speckled frogs & Twinkle, Twinkle, little Star. We have been sent Old Macdonald Has a Farm to review. It is suitable for ages 3-6 years, in the set you get  a meter long floor puzzle, a sing along CD with a bonus story at the end of the disc, an activity booklet & stickers. 

The floor puzzle is made up using 16 puzzle pieces & measures 100cm x 20cm when complete, the pieces are big enough for small hands & feature musical notes & the image of Old MacDonald on his tractor surrounded by his farm & animals. Little T loves to connect all the pieces together then make up a story about the animals, this is a great opportunity to teach your children about the different types of farm animals & also what noises they make. 
The CD featured songs are:
Old MacDonald had a farm
Goosey Goosey Gander
Baa Baa Black sheep
Good Morning Mrs Hen
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Field Mice
All the Pretty Horses
Hark Hark the Dogs do Bark
Daddy Fox
Old Hogan's Goat
Animal Fair
This Little Pig Went to Market & the story is The Three Little Pigs. 
Little T loved listening to the songs, even the ones he didn't know & also loved listening to the story whilst he coloured in the large image on the activity book, he had his sister to help him colour & they both had enough room to colour without fighting for space. They both enjoyed putting the stickers onto the space provided on the activity book when they had finished each task.


The Jingle Puzzles retail price is £9.99 which I think is a great price, the floor puzzle has been played with many times & all have stayed in great condition & none of the image have started to peel like I have found in the past with other floor puzzles.

We give this a thumbs up

I recieved the Jingle puzzle for the purpose of the review only.

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Pintoy Bulldozer Giveaway

John Crane have given me a Pintoy Bulldozer to give away to one of my readers.
This bulldozer has working caterpillar tracks! This brightly coloured vehicle fits perfectly with any of the other products in the series. Its bright yellow design makes it visible from across the construction yard and its open top section allows more creative play! 
-          Durable wooden material
-          Working roller
-          Brightly coloured
-          Open top for more creative play
-          Incredible detailing
 Height: 14.5cm
Length: 22cm
Width: 11.5cm


To enter Just fill out the Rafflecoptor form below
Ends 12:01am 14th November 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Doctor Who Dalek Spaceship Set

I have been sent the Dr Who Dalek Spaceship set from Character Building to review. I knew this would be something M & big T would love as they are massive Dr Who fans. I decided it would be M age 8 who got to build the Spaceship, she did need some adult assistance as she couldn't figure out some of the pieces, the instruction could have been better explained but if an adult is around to help them when needed then they should be fine with it, she mainly completed it alone & it took around 1 1/2 hours.

All the pieces went together great, a few items are more likely to fall off but these tend to be at the bottom of the Dr Who Spaceship & they can easily just be popped back on. It is a fun construction set that any Dr Who fan would love & yes they make slightly bug you as they fly their Spaceship around shouting "exterminate, exterminate" in their best Dalek voice but that is half the fun for the child. 

In the set you get 420 pieces which include 2 Dalek Drone micro-figures. When completed it has movable parts, laser cannons & a detachable skimmer car. The top of the dome on the Dr Who Spaceship is transparent. My children have all explored their imagination playing with this set, they have set off on many missions flying around my living room.




I would recommend this Dr Who Spaceship set from Character Building to family & friends & I may have to buy more as my children all seem to want it at the same time. The set can be bought for around £29.99 which I think is a reasonable price for this kind of toy & it is suitable for ages 6+.


I received the Dr Who Spaceship set for the purpose of the review only.


Monday 22 October 2012

Star Wars Fighter Pods

 Star Wars Fighter pods series 1 from the makers Hasbro are something I never thought little T would be interested in. My husband is a fan & has fond memories of playing with his Star Wars figures as a child but to me the the thought of having to sit through Star Wars makes me want to turn off the TV. BUT since little T has never seen anything Star Wars I was surprised at how much he has played & enjoyed the Star Wars Fighter Pods. 




 In the set we got 3 x black fighter pods, 3 x clear fighter pods, Snowspeeder which can launch 1 fighter pod & AT-At which can launch 2 fighter pods. 
The characters we got in our set are; Boba Fett, Jek Porkins, Han-Solo, Sandtrooper, Bossk, Darth Vader(without mask), Yoda, Jabba the Hutt, Imperial Guard, Snow Trooper, Emperor Palatine, R2-D2, Darth Vader, Snowtrooper, Tie Pilot & Kit Fisto. The 2 Snowtroopers are different, none of the 16 characters are the same.

The Star Wars fighter pods offers 3 different ways to play, you can roll the fighter pods, spin the fighter pods or Launch them from the Snowspeeder or AT-AT aiming them at the characters that are stood on the ground. You can put a character inside the fighter pods & they will pop out hopefully knocking more characters down. The aim is to knock them all down and that is all. I caught little T adding his own sound effects when he played with them. He spent well over 1 hour just sat playing with them so I know that he is having fun playing.

The Star Wars fighter Pods which are suitable for ages 4+ can be bought from Toys R Us for £21.99 which I think is good value for the amount you get, you can also buy the single characters with a fighter pod for just £1.99 which is perfect for children to spend their pocket money on & they can slowly collect them all.



Nano Speed Super Vert crash set

In our second toyologist box we had Nano Speed Super Vert crash set by the makers Spin Master. In the set you get the track, instructions, 2 x Nano cars & stickers. Setting up the track was really easy & each piece of track had numbers on so it was easy to identify the pieces which I though was brilliant for people who are not great at setting up these kind of tracks (mainly women who spent their childhood playing with dolls). Setting it up took about 5 minutes that is how easy it was. The motorised booster 2 x D batteries, the motorised booster helps to send the cars flying around the track. In the instructions there is no mention of where to put the stickers & the box images do not correspond with the sticker given so we ended up leaving the Nano speed stickerless.

The track has 3 loops, an inverted corkscrew & 5 crash zones. The cars launch by you pulling them back until they click, this then powers them until they reach the motorised booster. This is where we hit our first problem, it was hit & miss if the car would launch, they would either flip upside down, release the wheels if the pressure was taken off the small cars or you would get lucky & they would launch.
If launched then the Nano cars would shoot through the loops & then given extra speed through the motorised booster. This is when we hit our second problem!, instead of speeding through the inverted corkscrew & back down to the 3 loops they would fly off the track, sometimes in your direction. I was not successful at keeping the 2 cars on the track at the same time sadly so I never got to test how well they crash. The motorised booster sounds like a mini jet plane when it is switched on & although this will not bother the child it can get a bit annoying for us parents. Little T had a play when he came in from school & thought it was brilliant, but he is only 4 & he didn't expect to be able to get the 2 cars crashing. He took it for what he saw, a car track to play cars with, he also struggled to launch the cars too so it wasn't me just being a silly heavy handed adult.



If the cars stayed on the track to be able to get 2 cars on it to crash then it would have been brilliant as it is the easiest track to set up, the connections work perfectly & stay intact, it was just keeping the cars on the track & launching them that we struggled with. Nano Speed retails at £34.99 which it too much for this due to the difficulties launching & staying on the track.





The Nano Speed Super Vert crash set is available to buy from Toys R Us for £34.99. 

Saturday 20 October 2012

A beautiful Autumn day

We took  trip the the Mere at Ellesmere today to feed the duck & let the kids burn off some energy at the park. All around the Mere it is bustling with wildlife and showing off its surrounding in all its Autumn glory. I love Autumn, the trees & landscape turn into a beautiful array of colour. The ground become a blanket of crisp leaves & the air is so fresh. Today was fairly warm & the sky was a lovely blue, dotted with fluffy clouds. Autumn must bring out many budding photographers as many people walked around with their cameras carefully draped around their necks. I wish I knew them so I could see what they had snapped.



Such beautiful Autumn colours.

    
I love this picture, it feels so calm




A lone goose resting on a fallen tree


 The kids always love feeding the ducks, they love running around the park even more. 
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a pigeon amongst bigger birds?


Mummy, get me off now!
wee, I like this.
Erm mum!, how did we get to a beach


Peek-a-boo
Just chilling




R loves animals, she would have taken some home if we would allow her.

Big T is always brave enough to feed them out of his hand


Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

Thursday 18 October 2012

So you want another child!

As you possibly know I have 5 children, I think the blogs name is a dead give away. Everyone who knows me, knows I am a sucker for a newborn baby. The smell, the new life, the soft skin, those little tiny fingers & toes, what is there not to love about newborn babies?. I generally have good pregnancies & easy short labours so not even the thought of a painful labour puts me off. When I was pregnant with R I had vowed she would be my last so I enjoyed every second of the pregnancy, I tried my hardest not to complain even when I went 1 week overdue as I knew that it would be the last time I would carry a child. Sure enough thoughts of baby no 6 crept into my head but I knew Daddy2five would never go for no 6 & even if baby no 6 was a possibility it would be know more. Why, well R is my ASBO baby, okay she is not quite as bad as the name suggest but......


She strops like none of my other children did, if you dare take something off her she proceeds to throw a tantrum.
If she is ignored she starts off nice & sweet then proceeds to get louder "Nanna, Nanna, Nanna, Nanna, Nanna, NANNA" She say's Nanna when she wants something right then, its usually food related.
She has the attitude of all 5 rolled into one, she knows when she is doing something naughty & will glance over at you just before she commits her crime just to check to see if you are looking her way or not.
She is fearless, she thinks nothing is more fun than standing on the edge of the sofa yelling mamma, only for your heart to skip a few beats & just about get to her before she leaps, I think I have a mini stunt woman.
Sleeping is not for her, well sleeping in her cot is not, she likes to do the starfish in mummy & daddies bed. Let her cry it out I hear you say, I would if she didn't wake up the whole house & the neighbouring properties. After 5 children I am at a loss of what to try next. She knows how to wake us too, she will grab my hand and make me tap Daddy to wake up, she knows once I am awake we get up whether it be 6am or 8am. When mummies eyes open it is time to get up.
She knows what she wants & if you don't get it quick enough well lets just say you know about it. I had just sat down to feed her, I had cooled down a spoonful of lasagne ready to scoop into her mouth when she started to cry very loudly, I knew the reason behind her tears straight away, she wanted to feed herself!, I passed her the spoon. This got knocked out of the way with the contents spilling out onto the floor, her cup shortly followed afterwards all because I had not placed the bowl on her tray. Steam was billowing off her meal so I transferred it to another bowl & began blowing it cool. R continued to scream the house down & when I had finally cooled the lasagne enough so that she could feed herself she scooped up a spoonful in a "I will show you" manner, shoved it in her mouth then spat it right back out again. Was it cold? no, she had just got herself that worked up that she now would not eat!.  

So the moral of the story is child 1, 2, 3 or even 4 may have been a doddle but be warned that extra child could be the one that turns you hair grey, I joke that if she were my 1st she would be an only child. 
Would I change her? 
No, never her cheekiness is what makes her, her.
Do I wish she was a well behaved toddler?
Sometimes but I would laugh a lot less if she were.

She has her Mummy wrapped round her little finger but Daddy is a harder nut to crack.

Some family members say I have spoilt her with her being my last, maybe I have but who knows? So long as she needs cuddles she will get them as will the others.

Have I convinced you that having more children is a bad idea sometimes? Don't worry I am not all that convinced either!.

Wish me luck for the terrible 2's in a good few months

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Skylanders Giants Surprise box giveaway

Skylanders Giants are coming, they are on their way. The kids are going to be excited about the launch & even more exiting news is that I have a Surprise Skylanders Giants box you give away to one lucky reader.

To enter the giveaway just complete this sentence

If I was a Skylander Giant I would........
answers in the comments below please
The giveaway closes at 5pm on Friday 19th October
1 entry per person
Open to UK Residents only

WINNER
The winner is Tasharotty & answered if i were a giant skylander i would conquer all evil in the world to make our planet a peaceful place to live in :) x x

Congratulations could you please send your name & address details to mummy2five@live.co.uk 


Mini Lalaloopsy Silly Fun House Jewel Sparkles review

MGA have brought out a brand new range of Mini Lalaloopsy in the Silly Fun House range. We have been sent Silly Fun House Jewel Sparkles to review & I gave this one to my 8 year old M to try out, it is aimed at ages 4-104 so she fitted into that bracket nicely. Silly Fun House Jewel Sparkles is dressed ready for the carnival in a pink cat suit topped off with a tiara on her head and tiny yellow bow at the tip of her tail. She is around 8cm tall including the tiara, her arms legs & head are all movable parts. Silly Fun House Jewel Sparkle comes with her cute pet kitten who is pink & holds a lolly in her tail, and 3 other fun accessories are included. 

My children always struggle to find things to buy with their pocket money, they normally try to get us to allow them to spend it on sweets but so far we have managed to discourage them & have encouraged them to save. The mini Lalaloopsy range is perfect for them to spend their pocket money on as the rrp is only £5.99 & they can collect them all, the more they have the more they can imaginative play. M was not too keen on it to begin with and asked what she should do with it, once I explained more about Lalaloopsy she happily played, sending her in & out of her photo booth.  
The box can be kept as Silly Fun House Jewel Sparkles very own photo booth & is also an excellent was to store away when your child is not playing with them. 
If your child loves Lalaloopsy & especially love to collect them, the Mini's are perfect for collecting as they are great value for money.

The Mini Lalaloopsy's are available to buy in all good toy retailers

I was sent the mini Lalaloopsy for the purpose of the review only, all opinions & words are my own. 


Monday 15 October 2012

Sylvanian Families Twitter Party Tuesday 16th October

Tomorrow, Tuesday 16th October, a fantastic Party is being held & you can attend without leaving the comfort of your own home. Twitter is the place to be, 25 parent bloggers are hosting the parties & there will be plenty of games & prizes to be won online.


Follow me on twitter @mummy2five1 & also @ukmumstv, you can follow the hash tag #sylvanianfamiliesparty.

See you there 

Moxie Girlz Horse Riding Club Doll & Horse Review

MGA Entertainment have refreshed the Moxie Girlz  Horse Riding Club Range & have sent me Avery & Moonstone to review.  We bought some of last years Moxie Girlz Horse Riding Club for M for Christmas & she loved them so I knew that she would love the newest range. Avery is dressed in a traditional horse riding outfit along with riding boots & riding hat. She comes with a pink comb that your child can use to style Avery's hair or even Moonstones mane & tail. 

Moonstone comes with his very own saddle & bridle, in the set you also get a display clip that goes into the back of the saddle that holds Avery in place for when she goes for a ride on Moonstone. Moonstone has a lovely long main & tail that M loves to brush, he also walks on his own when 4 x AA batteries are fed to him(ok they go in the battery compartment) Once he has walked a length he neighs which M thought was brilliant as she didn't have to press anything to make him neigh & whilst walking you can hear the clip clop of his hooves as he carries Avery along. 

If last year is anything to go by the Moxie Girlz Horse Riding Club range will be popular this Christmas, I would recommend buying them early as last year we had to drive far & wide to get them, I left it late to do my shopping though & most of the retailers in my area had sold out. Thankfully I did manage to get hold of the stable which can be seen in the pictures. Available to buy from all good toy retailers & Avery & Moonstone have a RRP of £34.99. 





Saturday 13 October 2012

Allergic reactions in Children

Yesterday little T came home from school is usual happy self, I got him changed out of his school uniform & never noticed a mark on him but 20 minutes later my husband noticed both of his ears were red & also the area around them was red too. He called him over to look and as he did little T's top raised up slightly & that is when I noticed it, bright red raised hives all over the side of his abdomen. I instantly said "what the hell is that" which may not have been my best response as it sent little T into a panic. We stripped him down & discovered hives all up both sides of the trunk of his body, under his arms, on his neck & his ears that was not there 20 minutes earlier. Little T started to cry whilst asking what was wrong with him & the only answer we had was "don't worry we just need medicine to make it go away". I was not sure if it was an allergic reaction because when he's had an allergic reaction in the past it has always been contained to where something has come into contact with his skin. I immediately called the DRs to get him seen, in the hour we was waiting until his appointment the hives spread to the from of his stomach & also started to creep down his legs. I had not seen nothing like it before so I have to admit I was quite worried.
The Dr gave him a thorough check over & said it was an allergic reaction, he prescribed Piriton which is an antihistamine. We was told if his temperature raised or he started to wheeze, we had to take him straight into A&E. Throughout the evening we constantly checked on him, especially as in the past his allergies normally bring on his asthma resulting in a hospital stay & close monitoring. I think the only thing that has stopped that from happening is his steroid inhaler that we give him twice a day. 
When we woke this morning I was greeted by little T proudly showing me is hive free body, we was both amazed that just 2 doses of Piriton had made the hives go away so quickly.
Now we just need to figure out what it could have been that caused it, we may never find out but we have to try. We have also made the decision to go ahead & have him tested for what he is allergic to, I am hoping that they will do this through a blood test rather that the skin pricking. We know he is allergic to dog saliva, pollen & even some sauces have burnt his skin around his mouth. It may take a while but at least we would have some idea of what causes his little body to react this way so we can avoid it in the future.