August's Bostik Blogger craft box has a back to school theme and we were sent lots of fab craft materials to come up with a simple craft tutorial. Little N is only starting nursery school next month so while it's not proper school it's still a big deal! He will wear a proper little school uniform like the children attending the infant school and most days the nursery children get to play with reception children. For our back to school craft we made a colourful alphabet pencil pot. If you want to see last month's sports themed craft idea you can find it here.


Craft Idea: Alphabet Pencil Pot

August's Bostik Blogger craft box has a back to school theme and we were sent lots of fab craft materials to come up with a simple craft tutorial. Little N is only starting nursery school next month so while it's not proper school it's still a big deal! He will wear a proper little school uniform like the children attending the infant school and most days the nursery children get to play with reception children. For our back to school craft we made a colourful alphabet pencil pot. If you want to see last month's sports themed craft idea you can find it here.


A few months ago I had never even heard of trampoline parks, but now they seem to be everywhere! There are a few that have opened quite locally to us, but my boys are too young to go to them. Gravity Force, who earlier this month opened a new trampoline park in St Albans, Hertfordshire, invited us along to their launch day. They hold special Gravity Tots sessions for little ones from walking age to five. And unlike a lot of places, they don't just get a small sectioned off area of the place. Oh no. During Gravity Tots sessions toddlers and their accompanying adults get the run of the whole venue, including all the trampolines, the dodgeball areas, the slam dunk hoops and the foam pit! 

Days Out: Gravity Force St Albans

A few months ago I had never even heard of trampoline parks, but now they seem to be everywhere! There are a few that have opened quite locally to us, but my boys are too young to go to them. Gravity Force, who earlier this month opened a new trampoline park in St Albans, Hertfordshire, invited us along to their launch day. They hold special Gravity Tots sessions for little ones from walking age to five. And unlike a lot of places, they don't just get a small sectioned off area of the place. Oh no. During Gravity Tots sessions toddlers and their accompanying adults get the run of the whole venue, including all the trampolines, the dodgeball areas, the slam dunk hoops and the foam pit! 

Welcome to #SundayBest! Hayley from Sparkles & Stretchmarks and I host this weekly linky to show off your favourite posts. We want to keep things nice and simple, there are very few rules and if we all play nicely then everybody benefits!

Sunday Best #3

Welcome to #SundayBest! Hayley from Sparkles & Stretchmarks and I host this weekly linky to show off your favourite posts. We want to keep things nice and simple, there are very few rules and if we all play nicely then everybody benefits!

Welcome to Happy Days!  Katy and I host this linky with the purpose of inspiring you to make the most of each day, no matter what you've been up to, and to find happiness in every day. It's where I share the little moments that have brought me joy. 

Happy Days: Pool Parties & Maize Mazes

Welcome to Happy Days!  Katy and I host this linky with the purpose of inspiring you to make the most of each day, no matter what you've been up to, and to find happiness in every day. It's where I share the little moments that have brought me joy. 

I often see memes and funny posts on Facebook about how mums always dress in stripey tops, skinny jeans and Converse, but truth be told this has always been my favourite look, for years before I even became a mama! I'm drawn to striped clothes like a magpie is drawn to shiny things and at least half of the boys' wardrobes are full of stripes too. To keep our love affair with stripes going right into autumn, Petit Bateau sent the boys and I some of their gorgeous breton tops. 

Mama & Mini Style: Petit Bateau Breton Stripes

I often see memes and funny posts on Facebook about how mums always dress in stripey tops, skinny jeans and Converse, but truth be told this has always been my favourite look, for years before I even became a mama! I'm drawn to striped clothes like a magpie is drawn to shiny things and at least half of the boys' wardrobes are full of stripes too. To keep our love affair with stripes going right into autumn, Petit Bateau sent the boys and I some of their gorgeous breton tops. 

The weather these past few weeks has been utterly glorious and we have been spending as much time as possible exploring the beautiful scenery surrounding where we live, and even when we haven't got anywhere to go, I've been encouraging the boys to play outside in the garden. Only when they're older will they appreciate that we have to make the most of the short British summer! Rex London  (formerly dotcomgiftshop.com) sent us some of their classic outdoor games to help make the garden a bit more fun - and wow, have we been having a lot of fun with them! 

Outdoor Summer Games Fun with Rex London

The weather these past few weeks has been utterly glorious and we have been spending as much time as possible exploring the beautiful scenery surrounding where we live, and even when we haven't got anywhere to go, I've been encouraging the boys to play outside in the garden. Only when they're older will they appreciate that we have to make the most of the short British summer! Rex London  (formerly dotcomgiftshop.com) sent us some of their classic outdoor games to help make the garden a bit more fun - and wow, have we been having a lot of fun with them! 

Living in Hertfordshire there are always lots of fantastic things to do with children during the school holidays. Every half term we head to Willows Activity Farm in St Albans as they always have a fantastic programme of entertainment and events. Their Summer Spectacular, which is running from 24th July to 4th September, includes their A-maize-ing Maze, Goat Racing around Willows animal race track and live shows with Peter Rabbit and Lily Bobtail, and you can head to the Carrot Patch to pick your own bag of lovely fresh carrots! 


The all-inclusive ticket price provides a brilliant family day out with all shows, fun fair rides, inflatables, Tractor Ride, acres of outdoor and under cover activities plus entry to the Peter Rabbit Adventure Playground included in the entry price, as well as all the extra activities being put on for the Summer Spectacular.


We arrived at lunchtime so headed straight to watch the Hello Harvest show which had lots of fun and dancing for children to get involved with, whilst learning about the crops that are being harvested on farms at the moment. My stepdaughter, who is seven, really loved this and was down at the front having a great time dancing away!


We then watched the Animal Encounters show and were really impressed to see the sheepdog shepherding ducks! You can see photos of this taken the last time we visited Willows, it was amazing to see! After a spot of lunch we popped in to say hello to some of the animals and the children all had the chance to hold a guinea pig. They are desperate for their own pet guinea pig but I am yet to cave in to the pressure!


The A-maize-ing Maze was fantastic! It's a giant corn maze with a Peter Rabbit theme and you need to find various characters hidden inside the maze to unlock a code and win a sticker. It's actually a lot more time consuming than we thought it would be, and it was a scorching hot day, so we were all pretty frazzled by the time we finished. It was really good fun though!


Straight after the Maze we headed to the Carrot Patch, armed with our buckets and spades, to dig our very own carrots. Little N still hates all fruit and vegetables so he refused to join in at all, but Ian and I had a great time! It was hard work, and we realised that five buckets of carrots was a bit over the top, so between us all we collected two buckets. I still don't know what I am going to do with them all!


After some drinks and ice lollies, and a go a gold panning, we decided to call it a day and head home. You can easily lose hours at Willows Farm and we had been there the entire afternoon! The children slept well that night. We can't wait to go back for potato picking and pumpkin patch fun later in the autumn. 


For more information about Willows Activity Farm visit www.willowsactivityfarm.com, like Willows Activity Farm on Facebook or follow @Willows_Farm on Twitter. 

What have your children been up to during the summer holidays?


Find me on BloglovinTwitterInstagramFacebookPinterest and Google+


We were given complimentary tickets to Willows.

Days Out: Summer Spectacular at Willows Activity Farm

Living in Hertfordshire there are always lots of fantastic things to do with children during the school holidays. Every half term we head to Willows Activity Farm in St Albans as they always have a fantastic programme of entertainment and events. Their Summer Spectacular, which is running from 24th July to 4th September, includes their A-maize-ing Maze, Goat Racing around Willows animal race track and live shows with Peter Rabbit and Lily Bobtail, and you can head to the Carrot Patch to pick your own bag of lovely fresh carrots! 


The all-inclusive ticket price provides a brilliant family day out with all shows, fun fair rides, inflatables, Tractor Ride, acres of outdoor and under cover activities plus entry to the Peter Rabbit Adventure Playground included in the entry price, as well as all the extra activities being put on for the Summer Spectacular.


We arrived at lunchtime so headed straight to watch the Hello Harvest show which had lots of fun and dancing for children to get involved with, whilst learning about the crops that are being harvested on farms at the moment. My stepdaughter, who is seven, really loved this and was down at the front having a great time dancing away!


We then watched the Animal Encounters show and were really impressed to see the sheepdog shepherding ducks! You can see photos of this taken the last time we visited Willows, it was amazing to see! After a spot of lunch we popped in to say hello to some of the animals and the children all had the chance to hold a guinea pig. They are desperate for their own pet guinea pig but I am yet to cave in to the pressure!


The A-maize-ing Maze was fantastic! It's a giant corn maze with a Peter Rabbit theme and you need to find various characters hidden inside the maze to unlock a code and win a sticker. It's actually a lot more time consuming than we thought it would be, and it was a scorching hot day, so we were all pretty frazzled by the time we finished. It was really good fun though!


Straight after the Maze we headed to the Carrot Patch, armed with our buckets and spades, to dig our very own carrots. Little N still hates all fruit and vegetables so he refused to join in at all, but Ian and I had a great time! It was hard work, and we realised that five buckets of carrots was a bit over the top, so between us all we collected two buckets. I still don't know what I am going to do with them all!


After some drinks and ice lollies, and a go a gold panning, we decided to call it a day and head home. You can easily lose hours at Willows Farm and we had been there the entire afternoon! The children slept well that night. We can't wait to go back for potato picking and pumpkin patch fun later in the autumn. 


For more information about Willows Activity Farm visit www.willowsactivityfarm.com, like Willows Activity Farm on Facebook or follow @Willows_Farm on Twitter. 

What have your children been up to during the summer holidays?


Find me on BloglovinTwitterInstagramFacebookPinterest and Google+


We were given complimentary tickets to Willows.
Welcome to #SundayBest! Hayley from Sparkles & Stretchmarks and I host this weekly linky to show off your favourite posts. We want to keep things nice and simple, there are very few rules and if we all play nicely then everybody benefits!

Sunday Best #2

Welcome to #SundayBest! Hayley from Sparkles & Stretchmarks and I host this weekly linky to show off your favourite posts. We want to keep things nice and simple, there are very few rules and if we all play nicely then everybody benefits!

Welcome to Happy Days!  Katy and I host this linky with the purpose of inspiring you to make the most of each day, no matter what you've been up to, and to find happiness in every day. It's where I share the little moments that have brought me joy. 

Happy Days: Off Grid

Welcome to Happy Days!  Katy and I host this linky with the purpose of inspiring you to make the most of each day, no matter what you've been up to, and to find happiness in every day. It's where I share the little moments that have brought me joy. 

Little N and JJ recently got their lucky hands on some brilliant new Bob the Builder toys. We were sent a R/C Super Scoop and a Mash & Mould Playset to review, and the boys were SO excited when they arrived they tore the boxes open and demanded to play immediately! 


Review: Fisher-Price Bob the Builder R/C Super Scoop & Bob the Builder Mash & Mould

Little N and JJ recently got their lucky hands on some brilliant new Bob the Builder toys. We were sent a R/C Super Scoop and a Mash & Mould Playset to review, and the boys were SO excited when they arrived they tore the boxes open and demanded to play immediately! 


Welcome to #SundayBest! I've teamed up with one of my absolute favourite bloggers, Hayley from Sparkles & Stretchmarks, to host this weekly linky to show off your favourite posts. We want to keep things nice and simple, there are very few rules and if we all play nicely then everybody benefits! 

Sunday Best #1

Welcome to #SundayBest! I've teamed up with one of my absolute favourite bloggers, Hayley from Sparkles & Stretchmarks, to host this weekly linky to show off your favourite posts. We want to keep things nice and simple, there are very few rules and if we all play nicely then everybody benefits! 

Welcome to Happy Days!  Katy and I host this linky with the purpose of inspiring you to make the most of each day, no matter what you've been up to, and to find happiness in every day. It's where I share the little moments that have brought me joy. 

Happy Days: Busy Boys & Mama Time

Welcome to Happy Days!  Katy and I host this linky with the purpose of inspiring you to make the most of each day, no matter what you've been up to, and to find happiness in every day. It's where I share the little moments that have brought me joy. 

Back in May, Debenhams launched their #KnowYourSize campaign to encourage women to use their free expert bra fitting service so that they can reap the benefits of a correctly fitting bra. 8 out of 10 women in the UK currently wear the wrong size bra, thanks to outdated fitting techniques such as the "plus four" method. As part of this campaign Debenhams have been kitting me out with some beautiful lingerie. This month I have been sent an utterly gorgeous Freya bra and brief set and I have a set to giveaway to one lucky reader, too!

Debenhams Bra Fit Challenge #KnowYourSize | Review & Giveaway: Freya Fancies Plunge Bra & Briefs Set

Back in May, Debenhams launched their #KnowYourSize campaign to encourage women to use their free expert bra fitting service so that they can reap the benefits of a correctly fitting bra. 8 out of 10 women in the UK currently wear the wrong size bra, thanks to outdated fitting techniques such as the "plus four" method. As part of this campaign Debenhams have been kitting me out with some beautiful lingerie. This month I have been sent an utterly gorgeous Freya bra and brief set and I have a set to giveaway to one lucky reader, too!

Welcome to Happy Days!  Katy and I host this linky with the purpose of inspiring you to make the most of each day, no matter what you've been up to, and to find happiness in every day. It's where I share the little moments that have brought me joy. 



Happy Days: Beaches, Friends & An Enormous Cake

Welcome to Happy Days!  Katy and I host this linky with the purpose of inspiring you to make the most of each day, no matter what you've been up to, and to find happiness in every day. It's where I share the little moments that have brought me joy. 



We've teamed up with Gravity Force to offer you the chance to win four free jump sessions at their St Albans site, which opens 17th August. The boys and I will be there on the launch day and will be telling you all about it! In the meantime, read on to find out how to win four free jump sessions for you and your family and how to get 25% off by pre-booking! 

There is something for everyone at Gravity Force. “Gravity Jump” is the core session and gives you access to all the park’s facilities. “Gravity Tots” kids’ class is suitable for toddlers from walking age up to five-years-old, along with any parents or guardians. “Gravity Fit” provides a high intensity, low impact structured fitness class that burns fat whilst building, toning and defining muscle. Children can also host their birthday parties at the trampoline park.

Giveaway: Win Jump Sessions at Gravity Force St Albans, opening 17th August

We've teamed up with Gravity Force to offer you the chance to win four free jump sessions at their St Albans site, which opens 17th August. The boys and I will be there on the launch day and will be telling you all about it! In the meantime, read on to find out how to win four free jump sessions for you and your family and how to get 25% off by pre-booking! 

There is something for everyone at Gravity Force. “Gravity Jump” is the core session and gives you access to all the park’s facilities. “Gravity Tots” kids’ class is suitable for toddlers from walking age up to five-years-old, along with any parents or guardians. “Gravity Fit” provides a high intensity, low impact structured fitness class that burns fat whilst building, toning and defining muscle. Children can also host their birthday parties at the trampoline park.

Growing up I didn't really notice that I looked different to the other kids, not until I reached high school. Everything changed from that point; people noticed that my skin colour was darker than theirs, but I confused them by having straight brown hair. Before asking my name, or anything else about me, kids would say "where are you from?"

No, I'm not the childminder - yes, I'm their biological mother

Growing up I didn't really notice that I looked different to the other kids, not until I reached high school. Everything changed from that point; people noticed that my skin colour was darker than theirs, but I confused them by having straight brown hair. Before asking my name, or anything else about me, kids would say "where are you from?"

At the start of this year, Katy & I launched our new Instagram project, #MyHappyCapture. The aim of the project is to celebrate your happy moments, those that make you smile. We want to use the hashtag to build an Instagram community where you can share photos that encompass happiness. Every month we choose our favourite photos that have been shared using the tag and round them up on our blogs and Instagram feeds! 

My Happy Capture: July Round-up

At the start of this year, Katy & I launched our new Instagram project, #MyHappyCapture. The aim of the project is to celebrate your happy moments, those that make you smile. We want to use the hashtag to build an Instagram community where you can share photos that encompass happiness. Every month we choose our favourite photos that have been shared using the tag and round them up on our blogs and Instagram feeds! 

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