Need Your Heating On At Different Times? Hive Active Heating Can Help.

Half term seems to be one of those times bloggers all tell stories of fabulous trips they’ve had to various places, showing photos of picturesque beauty. Not us. We’ve had to work. H has been in holiday club which makes things easier, mainly as I’ve finished at the same time every day.

In addition to that H has had several trips out for the day and I’ve been instructed (by H) to come a bit later so she can play for longer. I can safely say Holiday Club has been a success.

One thing which can’t be guaranteed is the weather, nor how cold your house is when you get home – especially when you have unpredictable hours (and weather) like we’ve had all week. It’s all well and good setting your timer to come on at the same time every day so it’s warm when you get in, but getting home at different times or even just remembering to change the timer in the morning isn’t always going to happen.

This is where Hive, an offspring of British Gas comes in – a new system which links in to your heating system and can be controlled via your Smartphone or browser. So on Monday when I got to pickup nice and early around 3.15 I could have programmed the Hive Active Heating to come on by the time we got home. On Thursday when it was a 5.15pm pickup I could do the same – saving that couple of hours of heating, but not having to be home to do it.

Hive Active Heating sounds too good to be true – it does loads! It lets you monitor, alter and control your heating and hot water. You can adjust your schedules and temperatures away from home and have alerts sent to your mobile if temperatures reach a certain level.

Hive - app

I tend to do most of my personal stuff on the train to and from work, so knowing I could control Hive this way is something which works for me. Alas, our heating system at home is old and nasty (we even have an immersion switch for our hot water) so getting one installed wouldn’t be possible. A girl can still dream though! (or think about moving house)

Hive costs £199 from British Gas. The app is compatible with iOS and Android devices – and you can even control it via text. You don’t need to change your energy supplier either.

We received payment for this post, all opinions are our own.

Banoffee Pie

To celebrate H turning four and a half we made Banoffee Pie. Ever since it featured on The Great British Bake-Off, Shaun and H have been wanting to make it, but we’ve wanted a nice simple recipe so H could help too.

Banoffee Pie isn’t difficult to make. Here are the ingredients :

One pack of digestive biscuits (250g crushed)
100g butter
Can of Carnation Caramel
300ml Whipping Cream
Three bananas
Chocolate for topping (grated)

Banoffee PIe base

Crush the biscuits – these are going to be the base of the pie. Melt the 100g butter and add to the crushed biscuit base to make a solid base. Grease a 20cm tin with butter, and press the mixture into the tin to form the pie base.

Leave to set in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Banoffee Pie chop banana

After 30 minutes bring the base out of the fridge and add the Carnation Caramel. Chop the banana into slices and place on top of the Caramel.Banoffee PIe place banana

Whip the cream lightly until it forms soft peaks. Add bananas (if you think it’s a good idea – we did). Spoon this onto the top of your pie.

Banoffee Pie cream

Place in the fridge to chill for a bit longer.

Banoffee Pie Cream Top

Grate the chocolate and once your pie is ready to eat, sprinkle on top. This last step can be tricky as for some reason our grater had a weird static reaction with the chocolate so it went flying everywhere!

After that, eat.

This was nice and simple to make, the only cooking involved was melting the butter, so a perfect one for H to do the majority of!

Banoffee Pie

This recipe is based on this one from the Carnation Website and takes approximately 15 minutes (without taking the 30 minutes chilling in between) to make.

Heat Holders Thermal Tights

It’s cold. So cold. I’m cold all the time. At home it takes a while for me to warm up. At work I’m always freezing. I live in Uniqlo Heattech tops and jeans to try and stay warm before I give up and switch to thermals. Ah, thermals. Those unattractive undergarments you hide underneath your regular clothes to attempt to stay warm. Those attractive shades of beige, right?

Wrong! Read on to find more about the Heat Holders Thermal Tights I’ve been sent to review.

Heat Holders Thermal Tights

Heat Holders Thermal Tights are my kind of tights – thick black ones which don’t fall down (always a problem when you’re tall like me). I was offered a pair to review, and having bought a couple of skirts for myself in the sales I knew a good time to try them out would be on a trip to the park.

This wasn’t just any trip though. This was as the cold, icy winds were making their way towards London. Oh they were bitter. This would be the kind of weather I’d probably try and put my waterproof trousers on over my jeans for extra warmth. The park we visited is in the middle of Banstead, but still gets a lot of wind thanks to the open space.

Heat Holders Thermal Tights

The verdict? Freaking marvellous! I had such warm legs!! This was a whole new experience for me – tights I’ve worn in the past are generally 80 denier and vaguely warm until it gets chilly. This time I was toasty warm all over – and it was Shaun and H who both wanted to leave the park first due to being cold. I’m really impressed, they’re lovely and thick (140 denier), come in four sizes (small, medium, large, extra large) and have a tog of 0.52. We’re not talking duvet warm, but we’re talking warm.

The Heat Holders thermal tights wash well and so far I’ve had no issues with snagging. In fact, my only issue is that I need more pairs – at £8 they’re not cheap, but having tried them I’m going to get myself another pair, if only to be able to wear more skirts again!

Heat Holders Thermal Tights can be bought from the Sock Shop for £8 a pair.

Heat Holders Thermal Tights

We were sent a pair for the purpose of review – all opinions are my very toasty own.

Love Our Library – The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems

The Pigeon Wants A Puppy by Mo Willems is another in the wonderful Pigeon series, and one which we picked up from the library last week.

H’s reading is really coming on, so as an experiment (as we’re working quite hard on expression at the moment) I had her read the book and sound out any words she wasn’t sure about. There aren’t many words, but there’s a good story to be read.

The pigeon wants a puppy. He really does. He’d really love a puppy and he’ll tell you why, repeatedly. He’s SO in love with the idea of wanting a puppy that when he actually does get one he realises he didn’t actually want it at all.

Pigeon Wants a Puppy

Within the book there are plenty of exclamation marks, it’s funny, the pictures work well alongside the text, and for a four year old who is moving gradually into regular books it was lovely to hear her read it, not struggle with any words and giggle at the funny bits.

Pigeon Wants a Puppy

We only own ‘Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus’ plus another one of his books, though I spotted there’s a new pigeon book due in April which is VERY exciting indeed. In fact, there’s a whole website of goodness over here.

We love Mo Willems’ books, we really do. REALLY.

Weekend Box

Weekend Box is a new idea – four easy activities posted to you in a box, aimed at children from 3-8 years old. That’s the simple version, there’s a little more to it than that though – read on to see what we think.

Weekend Box

Weekend Box were offering a free box via Facebook, and being someone who loves to try before I buy I went for the offer – and a week or so later our first box arrived.

The weather hasn’t been great lately and while we’ve got out, there are only so many games of Pop Up Pirate you can have before it’s quite nice to do something different. Add to that we’ve all been full of cold and thinking of things can be an effort, especially when there’s some preparation involved. The Weekend Box is like a takeaway of decent kids activities, posted twice a month in a letterbox sized box.

This was our only problem – the box had come undone so some parts were missing. A quick email and the missing bits were posted and arrived two days later which is great customer service. There is a list on the website of what you should get which is really handy.

Each box has four activities – Something to Make, Something to Cook, Something to Read or Write and Something Green. Ours were to make some Snowballs, make a Miniature Kite, some Finger Painting and some Map Making. All these activities are perfect for H – she often comes home with a map she’s created at school, loves flying kites and loves baking so we opted for the latter two.

Weekend Box

When each activity is done there’s a small sticker to put on each page, and one bigger sticker to add to a poster – when you’ve completed a certain number of activities you can send Weekend Box a picture and get a surprise.

There is also an option to rate each box after you’ve tried it which is handy.

Would you like to try a box for free? If so, my referral code is JO1848 – put that code in when you register (which only takes a minute). Each box costs £7.50 which if you consider the convenience (they even include glue) isn’t too steep a price to pay if you know you’ll do the activities. 100% of the Weekend Box contents are reusable or recyclable; 95% come from recycled material.

The snowballs were good, and H took charge while we were making them (Shaun took care of the baking). The kite was also made with one of our old Ocado bags and flies quite nicely indoors too if you happen to move fast enough; we haven’t dared brave the winds yet, they’ve been strong and loud.

My favourite part of the Weekend Box was being advised of the extras we’d need to do the activities – more often than not we’ll get things we don’t have in stock, and as I do my online shopping at the weekend for the following week it’s nice to plan a few days ahead.

The Weekend Box is fortnightly, I love the organisation of it, and like other boxes you can stop your subscription at any time, thanks to their new customer portal. We’ve had our second (paid for) Weekend Box, but I will be pausing ours, if only to catch up!

First Proper Packed Lunch

H has a week of holiday club this week while Shaun and I work. She also has several exciting trips planned throughout the week, most of which require us to send our children in with a packed lunch.

Packed lunch isn’t something I opted for at school for her – it’s easier for her to have school dinner, it’s easier for me. Working from 8.30 and picking her up some time between 3.20-4.20 every day means by the time you’re home and you’ve gone through her school work, you kind of run out of time.

That and I’m permanently tired. However, now I’ve had to make one (as my girl isn’t going to starve), it’s actually not so bad. As long as I have fresh bread (we baked some last night) and plenty of fruit and snacky bits, we’re fine.

We also have the Munchkin Bento Box which is ideal for packed lunch that we were sent to review late last year.

Packed Lunch

So I kept things simple. H fancied cheese sandwiches, so I made them up and cut them into heart shapes. My bread was a bit of a disaster so I was only able to get three heart sandwiches from two slices, though they fitted perfectly in her lunchbox.

We had a Barny Bear sponge cake which tucks nicely alongside it, leaving enough space for a banana in the main compartment. I’m already feeling proud of this.

The two smaller sealed compartments have chopped pepper and carrot for her to snack on (and probably share with her friends), and some mixed fruit (cherries and cranberries) in the other.

As she didn’t need the spoon and fork with this food I left them out and tucked in a Bear Nibbles Yo Yo under the lid which fits perfectly.

All my preparation took me approximately five minutes. In fact, it was pretty easy really. I have another packed lunch to prepare later this week so I’m going to see how much more I can fit in…

Barny Bear Returns – The Celebrity Biscuit Bear

We tried out Barny Bear snacks back in September, and have now received two new flavours. A lot has changed since last time…

Barny Bear returns

Barny Bear are yummy bear shaped sponge snacks, previously available in milk and chocolate flavours and now also available in strawberry and apple. We were sent a box of the latter two flavours to try. Oh, and Barny has his own adverts over here now – which H insists we all watch. Barny is pretty easy to find these days – many a time I’ve spotted him racked out in the supermarket, never mind those television appearances (during the ad breaks). Let’s just call him a Celebrity Bear…. H certainly thinks he is.

The only trouble is, when you want to head out for a bit of peace and quiet and you take some Barny Bear in your backpack, people seem to want to photograph you.

Barny Bear returns

On Saturday we headed to Westfield Stratford changing trains near St. Paul’s. Someone must have been tipped off, as photographs exist of the backpack where Barny Bear resided. Must’ve been the paparazzi, right? They’ll do anything to find the bear… Good job H can demand no more photos, right?

Barny Bear returns

Today there was a party and as I’m conscious of too much sugar, a Barny Bear is a good pre-going-crazy-at-soft-play kind of snack when you know party food is coming an hour or so later, so I packed one in my bag in case of emergencies… fortunately the only photographer was the family hosting the party, I think our celebrity bear was safe. I’m not so sure about that zebra though, getting a little too close to our Barny Bear for comfort.

Barny Bear party snack

The day finished with a quick race in the back yard. There was only one prize to be had for the winner – a Barny Bear snack of course. Shaun and H were poised; ready, steady, go! and they were off.

Barny Bear love

H won of course! So she claimed her prize. The verdict? “I thought it was nice. I like the apple taste and it isn’t too sugary” says H. I can go for that. There is no further word whether the paparazzi are still seeking Barny Bear, since his mysterious disappearance…. ahem.

This post is an entry for BritMums ‘Winter Little Adventures Challenge’ sponsored by Barny, individually wrapped bear-shaped sponges with a hidden filling. Find out more about Barny here. We were sent a pack of each Barny flavour to participate.

Topsy and Tim are Coming Back to Cbeebies!

Newsflash!

Topsy and Tim are coming back to Cbeebies – there’ll be some episodes repeated from the 17th February at 5.30pm, with brand new episodes from Monday 24th February – so that’s a big hurrah from us!

We were invited to visit Twickenham Studios where it was filmed late last year to watch some of the final episodes being filmed – they finished a week or two before Christmas. I did a brief writeup over on the Adequate Parent. There are a lot of episodes so it isn’t going to disappear just yet though, so don’t worry too much!

So yes, tune in to Cbeebies next week and get ready for new episodes – we can’t wait!

Reef 2 – Coming Out on DVD and Blu Ray!

Reef 2 is set to be released on the 17th February 2014 on DVD, Digital and On Demand from Paramount Home Media Distribution.

Paramount Pictures in association with Empire Film Distribution Ltd  Reef 2. TM, ® & Copyright © 2014 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Reef 2 is the sequel to the 2006 film Reef and brings the return of the little fish Pi (short for Pisces) who has to save his beloved reef. Troy the nasty shark that Pi saw off in his last adventure returns, with several of his friends just in time for high tide.

Pi’s family feature in this animation – his good lady fish Cordelia (voiced by Busy Philips) and their son Junior. Pi trains his friends in fish-fu to help defend themselves in case of attack. Things don’t quite run to plan when they find out Ronny is a spy for Troy. Cordelia is fish-napped leaving Pi and Junior to rescue her!

Reef 2 also sees the return of Nerissa, the wise old sea turtle voiced by Rob Schneider.

We watched Reef 2, and while some parts were a little scary for H, overall she enjoyed it. Think along the lines of Finding Nemo when that gets scary (shark teeth – eek!) and you’re close. There were several funny moments too, and we had an enjoyable movie afternoon watching it together. We were able to talk about the scary bits and what a big meanie Troy and his gang were which helped with her understanding of it all!

Reef 2 runs for 80 minutes and has a U Certificate. Reef 2 is released on the 17th February 2014 and is available for preorder now.

Watch the official trailer:

We also have some fun activity sheets which tie in with the release of the film – right click to download them!

 

We were sent a DVD copy of Reef 2 for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own and honest. This post contains an affiliate link.

Big Fish Little Fish Balham – Coming Soon!

We’re big fans of the Big Fish Little Fish events held in North and South London – nice social events where you can relive the music from your past with your kids at an acceptable volume, with themes and plenty of crafts to go with it.

Big Fish Little Fish Craft Room

Big Fish Little Fish Balham is about to launch – the Brixton events continue and now there’ll be further events held at The Bedford on Bedford Hill, a short walk from Balham tube and mainline rail stations.

Here’s the press release-

Big Fish Little Fish is a two-and-a-half hour afternoon rave for families with kids aged 8 and under. Born of a desire to create fun and friendly social events that adults and children could both enjoy, it brings together credible DJs playing quality music, craft activities for older children and a safe space for babies to chill out and play. Owner Hannah Saunders started BFLF to provide a place where music lovers of all ages could cut loose, enjoy themselves and meet like-minded souls. Her vision resonated so well with parents all over London that every single event in 2013 sold out.

We are pleased to announce that from January 2014 Big Fish Little Fish will run monthly in both Brixton (Effra Social, 89 Effra Rd, SW2 1DF) and Crouch End (Earl Haig Hall, Elder Avenue, N8 9TH) and from March in Balham (The Bedford).

Big Fish Little Fish dance floor

All venues have a fully licensed bar, two top DJs, club lighting system, free glowsticks, bubble machines, confetti cannons and a parachute dance. BFLF provides everything you would expect from a grown-up night out – but on a weekend afternoon, and with extras for the younger attendees. There is a cake stall, baby/chillout room playing a mix of music by Speakeasy D (with tents, tunnels, ball pool, inflatables etc), Happy Monkey craft room managed by child craft expert Captain Cookie, buggy park, full changing facilities and free healthy snacks (provided by Bear) and free smoothies (provided by Happy Monkey) for the children. There will also be a fancy dress theme each month.The craft area will have materials to make accessories fitting the fancy dress theme, temporary tattoo station and a giant mural that everyone can add to.

The Talent

The headline DJ for Brixton on January 18th was Frank Tope (Wild Geese/Rooty) and in Crouch End on the 25th it was Robin Hexstatic. In February in Brixton on the 15th we have Mark Force (Bugz in the Attic) and in Crouch End on the 22nd Jonny Trunk (Trunk Records). Our first Balham event  on the 2nd March will feature Mixmaster Morris.

At previous parties DJs have included: DJ Food (Ninja Tune), Will Nicol (Big Fun/Soulshaker), Nihal (BBC Radio 1/Asian Network), Si Begg, DJ Chefal (Rinse FM / Anti Social Entertainment / Deep Medi Muzik); JC (Queen of Hoxton); Joe Muggs (Mixmag; Sound of the Cosmos; Beat Hotel Glastonbury); Jody Thompson (Secret Garden Party) and Amanda Gettrup (Bestival).

At future events DJs will include Noodles; Mixmaster Morris and Altered Natives.

The Minnow Club

BFLF craft room leader Captain Cookie runs a craft and music cafe where parents and children can relax, socialise and have fun at the Prince of Wales pub, 469 Brixton Road, SW9 4HH on Thursdays from 10 – 12. Entrance £5 per family, no pre-booking.

BFLF Radio

Hannah and Natasha present a monthly magazine show on MEATtransMISSION (the new radio station run from MEATmission in Hoxton Market) with special guests, music and parenting chat.

 You can buy tickets for all events here

We can’t make it to the March Big Fish Little Fish Balham event, but will be there in April! Their website is over here.

Big Fish Little Fish Brixton