Yes, I have been absent for sooo long I feel I have forgotten how to write a real blog post, as opposed to a review which I know have been plentiful. The trouble is when things get really tough it is hard to 1) write about things that really shouldn’t be in the public domain and 2) I tend to retreat into my typical Cancerian shell and hide until I feel it is safe to come out again.Unfortunately it is going to be a while before that happens…

Anyway, whoever said having children was easy? Let me tell you, make the most of the little years, teenagers are wearing…they can be cruel and it hurts. Enough said. However, having started to watch The Inbetweeners I am learning not to take anything personally…it appears to be normal behaviour.

I had forgotten how tiring four year old’s are especially when they only just start having temper tantrums.

My mum is ill… she is being amazing though!

We have just moved, for the second time in eight months, I am shattered and beyond exhausted.

Finally, I am starting a business…literally this week, and opening a shop with a friend in the next three weeks. Glutton for punishment…probably, but it’s all very exciting too. I’ll keep you updated on our progress.

As part of the Tots 100 film club we were asked to review Happy Feet Two, carrying on the story about the cute penguins that we all got to love in the first film. Mumble is now a grown penguin and married to Gloria , they have a son Erik, who like his father did, is struggling to fit into the penguin world.

Erik is having a problem learning to dance so decides to run away where he meets all sorts of wonderful characters including a huge flying penguin. In the meantime whilst he is on his adventures his family and friends back home get cut off from the rest of the world because of melting ice. It is up to Erik, Mumble and their new friends to help the penguin colony who are threatened with starvation if they don’t get rescued soon.

Just as in the first film expect lots and lots of lovely happy musical numbers with singing and dancing penguins! There are many well known voices in the film including Elijah Wood, Brad Pitt, Robin Williams, Matt Damon and Pink!

Personally I prefer the first film but as a family we loved watching this together, it is funny, sometimes sad but overall a real feel good film and together we rated this 3.5/5 cupcakes. It is definitely one to keep little children amused and the humour will keep older children and adults watching to the end.

My nine year old daughter ‘I’ loves arts and crafts so I knew that she would love a chance to ‘design your own t shirt‘ when we were asked.First of all she drew a picture on a piece of paper, I chose a t-shirt and then upload the picture and customise online!

Decisions, decisions, I know if I had been designing one I would have procrastinated for ages over what to do…so many ideas but ‘I’ drew a lilac flower. The finished result produced this:

She is thrilled with it and so proud. I was very impressed with the speed the t-shirt arrived and the fabric is good quality organic cotton. The picture is an exact replica of the drawing she did and I can imagine any child would love to see their masterpiece turned into an item of clothing which they can wear to show off the drawing. It would make a great present for a child, parent, friend or grandparent to have a personalised gift that has been made with loving care and thought.

You can find these personalised t shirts at clothes2order There are lots of different styles of t-shirts and various price ranges and also hoodies and more. I am now trying to come up with a reason to make one for myself!

As a child I could always be found holed up somewhere reading a book, I am so pleased that I have managed to pass on this passion to my children, especially in this age of technological distractions. My thirteen year daughter is obsessed with her book collection…that makes me proud.

As part of the Tots100 book club I was recommended a book called Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell by Kate at The Five F’s, I haven’t received it yet but I look forward to reading it. Passing the baton on I would like to recommend ‘City of the Beasts’ by Isabel Allende to Susan Mann. I have been a fan of South American writers for about eighteen years after reading Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.

City of the Beasts is the first in a trilogy of books about an adolescent boy called Alexander Colds who embarks on an adventure with his grandmother in the depths of South America on a quest to find the Yeti of the Amazon known as ‘the beast’.

Susan and I share a love of the supernatural and I hope she hasn’t read these books before because I would love her to discover the magical mysteries within these books. Beautifully written, Isabel Allende takes us on a wonderful journey and because of this book I yearn to visit the Amazon one day and see its wonderment for myself.

Do not be put off by the fact this is under the genre of teen fiction, you do not have to be a teenager to enjoy these books. It is a story about growing up, but so much more too, and I can’t recommend it enough…go and read it! We need more books like this.

The weather over the Easter holidays was pretty awful for quite a few days so we found ourselves forced to stay in, luckily we were sent a Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure game for the Wii which has proved a real hit here. This is a magical adventure game using action figures that ‘come to life’.

“For generations, the Skylanders have used their magical powers and weapons to protect Skylands. But now, an evil tyrant has frozen and banished them to Earth. Only you can put them on the Portal of Power™ and bring them back to life in their world to save Skylands forever.”

There are over 30 Skylanders (action figures) who each have their own unique abilities and powers and a portal that is used to switch the figures. The Skylanders remember each game experience as they battle creatures and collect treasure. A starter game can be added to with additional Skylander packs to build up a collection. The game is available for consoles including Wii, XBox 360, PS3 and Nintendo 3DS and the game can be played with, or against, friends.

There are different levels to work through with various challenges and the Skylanders become more powerful the more they are played with.

This has kept all five children busy for weeks, they really like it, from the four year old (although it’s not recommended for children this young) through to the seventeen year old.

Here are a few of their comments;

“Thrilling!”

“Addictive”

“I like flying on it”

“I like going to the Fairy to get new powers”

“Great!”

“I really like seeing the different worlds in each level”

The starter pack for the Wii retails for about £44.99 which isn’t cheap but my children have spent hours playing with it and I am now being pestered to buy even more Skylanders. I love seeing the children playing together and this is one game that has done that. I would definitely recommend this game.

photo credits

Getting us into the mood for what looks to be the party season for all things British thanks to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, is this sponsored guest post from John Lewis

First it was the swinging Sixties, then came Brit pop and the Spice Girls phenomenon. And now, thanks to this year’s Diamond Jubilee and a certain little sporting event we’re holding later in the year, it’s cool to be British once again.

British nostalgia and patriotism are back in fashion in a big way and reflected not only in clothing looks but home interior trends too. Classic symbols of our national identity, such as the bulldog and the Union Jack, were spotted at this year’s Ideal Home Show and Prince Charles, who opened the event, was even seen trying out a Union Jack recliner. Speaking at the show, TV’s Laurence Llewelyn Bowen said that quintessentially British pieces such as the ubiquitous’ Keep Calm and Carry On’ posters were a great way for people to give their homes “a lot more character”.

So how can you show off your patriotic side in your own home? Thankfully there’s no need to unfurl a massive St George’s flag and play Land Of Hope And Glory until the neighbours complain…unless you want to of course.

Flying the flag

Nothing says national pride more quite like some Union Jacks dotted around the place. Luckily you won’t have to look very hard to find them – they’re everywhere at the moment! You can get Union Jack deckchairs, cushions and roller blinds. There’s even gorgeous Union Jack bed linen for the most patriotic-looking duvets. If plastering the iconic flag on every available flat surface is not to your taste, you could just choose a red, blue and white colour scheme for your home.

Purple reign

Of course, there are all sorts of bunting, tableware and souvenir items available to help you celebrate the Diamond Jubilee in style. But for a more subtle salute to Her Majesty the Queen, why not decorate your home in an altogether more regal fashion? Purple has been an aristocratic hue for centuries as the dye was so expensive it took a right royal budget to be able to afford it. Luckily, times have changed and even us non-royals are getting in on the act in our own homes with purple throws, sofas and cushions. Purple table lamps even offer regal lighting options.

Made in Britain

If bulldogs and bunting aren’t your cup of tea, there are still ways to show your patriotic side. Choose unique pieces crafted by British designers, such as some kitsch wall art by Wayne Hemingway. Or give your home a British country house feel by going for classic wallpaper prints that were made in Britain, such as a floral design by Sanderson, one of Britain’s oldest surviving wallpaper brands.

Olympic spirit

Don’t despair if you weren’t lucky enough to get tickets to your favourite sporting event at the Olympics this year. You can still get into the spirit of the games by getting some accessories for your home – look out for Olympic linens that will get you cheering on Team GB every time you do the washing-up, or make your sofa feel a more sporty place to be with appliqué Olympic cushions.

Images: All products featured available at www.johnlewis.com 

At last I have made a gluten free brownie that is deliciously moist but of course you can substitute gluten free ingredients for normal ones. They’ll just be even gooier…perhaps.

Ingredients Obviously use gluten free ingredients if making gluten free

• 125g plain flour
• 250g dark chocolate
• 50g cocoa powder
• 200g unsalted butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• 30ml milk
• 150g Cadbury’s caramel chocolate mini eggs. Thorntons do similar that are gluten free as well. Or if not Easter chop up a Cadbury’s caramel bar

1. Preheat oven to 160•C/ Gas mark 3
2. Put the butter and chocolate into a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Keeping the bowl over the saucepan remove the pan from the heat and allow the chocolate & butter to melt stirring every so often
3. In another bowl whisk the eggs and the sugar until creamy
4. Add the chocolate mixture to the eggs and stir well
5. Add the vanilla extract and the milk, stir again
6. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the mixture and mix thoroughly
7. Add the mini eggs and stir again
8. Put the mixture into a tin 20 x 30 cm that has been lined with foil and greased lightly
9. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes. When you test with a knife or skewer you want the mixture to still be squidgy as this will leave you with lovely moist brownies
10. Leave to cool in the tin slightly and then remove and cut into squares
11. Serve warm if you can’t wait. They will be delicious. They will also stay fresh for a couple of days if kept in a sealed container

Makes about 15 big brownies

We were invited to watch the English National Ballet’s ‘My First Sleeping Beauty’. Performed by graduating students of the ballet school this is a specially adapted version aimed specifically at young children and choreographed by Matthew Hart.

I took my two little princesses with me, although at nine and thirteen years old they are not so little but the theatre was full of two, three, four year olds dressed up as little ballerinas. I am not sure that M, aged four would have sat through the ballet but the young audience here were certainly enthralled and took part in the cheers and hisses much like in a pantomime. Something that is also very different, this ballet has a narrator so that young children can follow the story with ease. At first I found this a little irritating however I can see the ingenious way this teaches children how dance talks to you and she also put quite a lot of humour into the ballet.

This may be a ballet especially for children but no expense has been spared on the beautiful costumes. They are just magnificent, probably some of the best costumes I have seen.

Now I have been to a few ballets before, but I have to admit even as an avid ex dancer that I have never really been completely won over by ballet before, but I felt myself pulled into this ballet, I could really ‘feel’ it and was entranced by it. It was cleverly divided up into sections which is perfect for the short attention spans of little ones and was a perfect length of 1 hour 25 minutes long.

We all loved this and would highly recommend any young ballet fans to go and see this, it is the perfect first introduction to ballet performances with a lovely traditional story that everyone knows along with Tchaikovsky’s well known music, plus a few other well known fairy tales added, and stunning fairy princess costumes. Tickets can be bought here and the ballet is touring until June 2012.

Note: Teenagers and ballet…expect giggles when the male dancers are wearing white tights! Yes, that toilet humour rears again!

Photo credits

A fun day was had by all, aboard The Erasmus to celebrate the release of Alvin and the Chipmunks – Chipwrecked film on DVD and Blu-ray. We were lucky to spend a few hours on a glorious Sunday cruising along the Thames. There were bacon butties, chocolate fondue, marshmallows, games, tug of war, kite making, treasure seeking, water bombing, film watching and of course cake! Lots of it…And then there were the Chipmunks Alvin, Simon and Theodore on hand the whole time for that all important hug or high five!

On board was the most amazing balloon maker I have ever seen…there were life size ostriches walking around, Disney’s Ariel and Rapunzel, Sharks, Fishing rods, Chipmunks, and so many more all made from balloons, thanks to him. I think I heard him say he had a repertoire of 65,000 items that he could make.

Tug of War!

Getting ready to throw water bombs to unsuspecting people in other boats, yes it was us. Ooops!

The Party Boat Erasmus

The DVD and Blu-ray is available to buy now except unfortunately in Tesco’s. To read a review of the film that I wrote at the end of last year click HERE, it is an action packed, laugh a minute family fun film that I highly recommend.

Thank you to all the staff that made the day possible, we had a fab time.

April Fool’s! Sorry for those that believed this, I was taking part in and April Fool’s along with Kellogg’s.

I don’t normally rant about things such as these as in the grand scheme they seem so trivial but reading this in The Sunday Mirror today made my blood boil. Apparently Eurocrats in Brussels are trying to ban Rice Krispie Squares from being called squares because they are in fact rectangular in shape. We are big fans of the Rice Krispie Square in this household, although I am still trying hard to forgive them for not making them gluten free anymore (another story) and it appears that Kellogg’s will either have to re-name the cereal bar or make the bars squarer at a cost of millions?

What is wrong with the World? How absurd is this? Surely we should be able to name products whatever we want to…but it seems that Kellogg’s tongue in cheek marketing campaign ‘it’s all lies, they’re not even square’ has backfired on them. Under a subsection of the ‘Poisson d’Avril amendment of 1958,which governs laws appertaining to the size and shape of food goods, Kellogg’s may be forced to change the shape of the popular cereal bar forever.

Excuse the pun, but this really takes the biscuit…where will this stop? EU legistations are getting out of hand and I am sick of it. Just leave us alone.

Anyway, according to the article Kellogg’s are going to fight this all the way to the cereals and snacks division, or the Tontos de Abril office, of the European Court of Human Rights because according to their legal team mathematically speaking all squares are actually a sub form of rectangles anyway!

What do you think? Do you think this is a step too far and it is time to make a stand against these ridiculous laws that the European Union are trying to force upon us?