Project 365 Week 52 and a Half

Sunday 27th December.  Morden Hall Park, our local National Trust place. We needed to get out of the house after two days inside. I caught Shaun and H doing this from Big Hero 6 – love it!

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Monday 28th December. My sister bought H a ChillFactor Ice Cream maker for Christmas, which we’ve been pleased with so far. After reading some comments from other bloggers, it didn’t seem to work for them, but it did for us! While the quantity was quite small, there was definitely ice cream (and sorbet the day before) in there. 

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Tuesday 29th December. Polesden Lacey, and of course we did Polesdenopoly as it’s fun, silly and it wasn’t too cold either. My kind of trail.

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Wednesday 30th December. I think we had a lazy day. I don’t remember. I took this photo of H, as she had her hair cut and it really suited her, and I liked the lighting on the picture. When I think about how she was a year ago and how much she has grown up now, she does me proud. She loves reading (she has just finished David Baddiel’s ‘The Parent Agency‘) and has excelled at school. She is on the School Council as well as being one of the children who writes a little magazine in school too. She has made me a very proud mum – her confidence is starting to show now. 

H December 2015

Thursday 31st December. We visited Bluebell Railway and Sheffield Park National Trust gardens, before heading home for a quiet night in, and reflection on 2015. It has been an odd year, and who knows what 2016 will bring.

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Project 365 – Week 52

Well, somehow I’ve done it and made the whole year. So let’s get this second-to-last week in.

Sunday 20th December. Work is over, school is over, what better thing to do than gatecrash your daughter’s best friends’ birthday party to watch Star Wars – The Force Awakens, right? (the gatecrashing bit is not entirely correct, as we were okay to go, but there was NO WAY we were missing it!)

The Force Awakens with a Six Year Old

Monday 21st December. It’s Panto season! So we headed to Wimbledon – I bought tickets a while back as we need a good panto substitute (as we didn’t get to York), so thought we’d try this. There were moments which fell a bit flat (to me) but other moments (when they did the 12 days of Christmas) that were hilarious. H enjoyed it, and Flawless really were good – open-mouthed-staggeringly good. She insisted on using the Opera Glasses.

Wimbledon panto

Tuesday 22nd December. Relief! H’s front tooth fell out at last. It had been really wobbly, so much that she was wobbling it all the way through the pantomime. So when she accidentally bit into some food with it and it came away, we were pretty lucky the tooth fairy and Father Christmas didn’t have to pay a visit on the same day. Phew.

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Wednesday 23rd December. H got a delivery which made her really happy – the new Lou Kuenzler book ‘Bella Broomstick’ which she read within a day, loves (we love Lou Kuenzler’s books anyway, H has quite a few!) and even more exciting for her, she has asked Lou some questions which will be coming on Mum Friendly on the 7th January. One thing I’ve realised about H this year, she does like asking questions – her school magazine had her interviewing her old teacher and some of the questions she came up with were really good! (must take after her mum…)

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Thursday 24th December. Twas the night before Christmas, so I charged up my old camera and got it out again to get a decent photo of the tree.

Christmas Tree 2015

Friday 25th December. Merry Christmas! Someone got LOADS of books as presents!

Christmas 2015

Saturday 26th December. The day after. I love Kikki K. I’m extremely excited they’ve opened a London store, as I would always spend too much money in the Australian stores, so now I can space it out a bit. Shaun bought me a 2016 diary which I am going to make sure I use as it’s SO PRETTY! Shaun got me some awesome presents this year and I really don’t feel like I deserve them.

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Rain by Manya Stojic

We have been sent a copy of Rain by Manya Stojic, which is an enchanting and beautifully illustrated story set in the African Savannah.

Rain by Manya Stojic

Rain by Manya Stojic is a lovely bright colourful book. The story is set in the African Savannah.

The porcupine smells rain in the air. The zebras see lightning. The baboons hear rumbling thunder. The rhino feels the first drops and the lion tastes the cool water...”

The book has you joining all the savannah animals, using your senses to help them track a coming storm.

However, the hot sun dries out the land again once the rain has stopped, and the animals have to wait for the next big rain.

The sun shone over the plain. It was hot. Everything was drying out

Rain by Manya Stojic

Rain by Manya Stojic has very fun, simple text which makes it an easy book to read, with lovely big text and bright colourful illustrations.

I like that the book has an embossed cover in the shape of raindrops – shiny ones – it makes the book stand out on the shelf.

Rain by Manya Stojic

I think this book is ideal for young readers – especially ones who are starting to get into expression, as well as teaching children about senses and the environment.

Rain by Manya Stojic is published by Pavilion Books and has a rrp of £6.99 and is available now! Click here to buy from Amazon. (affiliate link)

We were sent a copy of Rain by Manya Stojic for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own.

The Good Dinosaur – Our Review

Disney Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur is in cinemas – and we went to see it a couple of weeks ago.

the good dinosaur

The Good Dinosaur is the latest Disney Pixar animation, and one H was desperate to see – her love of dinosaurs and our love of Pixar films meant we went, of course.

So what happens when several million years ago, that asteroid hurtling towards earth misses? Fast forward several million years later, and dinosaurs rule the earth, and we get to meet Arlo the Apatosaurus, born to parents Henry and Ida, as well as his two siblings Libby and Buck. Arlo is shy, unconfident and timid. He’s given a task of setting up traps to protect their silo – and eventually comes across Spot, a young feral caveboy who has been stealing their corn. Arlo captures Spot but sets him free.

In the meantime, the classic Pixar ‘thing’ happens, death. Arlo then sees Spot, who he blames for the death, chases him, hits his head on a rock and ends up being saved by him. Both then try to make their way home, meeting several characters along the way and becoming friends in the process.

How scary is The Good Dinosaur? It has its moments – but as with all Pixar films, it’s family friendly – just think of the relationship between Arlo and Spot as a person and their family pet – except Arlo is the human and Spot is the dog. I found it charming and enjoyable.

Watch the trailer here –

The Disney Store have recently launched some toys from The Good Dinosaur – we were sent a Spot Small Toy (rrp £12.95) and a Tin Art Case Set (rrp £12.95) to review. H loves the Spot toy – he’s quite small but has the characteristics of the caveboy – and I would say Spot probably steals the film, so H was happy. The Tin Art Case Set has everything you’ll need for any colouring or writing you might need to do – pens, pencils, crayons, paints, felt tips, ruler and rubber plus a notebook, and a pair of young-child friendly scissors (i.e. without blades).

We think it’s a fine selection of The Good Dinosaur merchandise, and it’s available in store and online now – see the slideshow below for what’s on offer!

Star Wars – The Force Awakens with a Six Year Old

Star Wars is in cinemas now, but is it appropriate to go to  The Force Awakens with a six year old?

Star Wars The Force Awakens Logo

Seeing Star Force – The Force Awakens with a six year old might sound like a challenge – after all, the film is certified a 12A, but that doesn’t mean your child can’t go, it just means they need to be accompanied by an adult.

I had a look at other films which had a 12A rating, which include James Bond. H has only watched the very start of Skyfall (she likes Adele) which made me feel quite nervous about what The Force Awakens might have in it content-wise.

To be safe I had to check spoilers, and ask friends for advice who had seen the film before me. This link is really helpful – WARNING – it does have a major spoiler in it which you can’t avoid (it doesn’t name the character), so don’t say I didn’t warn you. Once I’d read the info on this page I felt fairly comfortable that H would cope fine with the plot.

The Force Awakens with a Six Year Old

One thing which we didn’t think about were the trailers beforehand. Obviously, being a 12A means the films being trailed aren’t sweet films like Charlie Brown, you’re getting violent content. We had around 30 minutes of trailers before the film started, so it may be worth checking how long they are before you go. They were the scariest part of it all. I kind of wished the trailers were PG, as they must know younger kids will be going (example – one film was about London being destroyed and was quite graphic).

There was one part H was left uncomfortable with, when two major characters meet in a forest and there’s conflict. Other than that everything seemed fairly standard Star Wars stuff – the violence was more implied than seen. It was LOUD. Really loud. It was possibly at my limit without earplugs – so if your child doesn’t like noise then it might be worth having some earplugs or headphones handy when you go. A lot of the film reminded me of the spirit of the first film (Episode IV these days).

In fact, on coming out of The Force Awakens with a six year old she decided to play ‘Star Wars’ with her friend. She was Rey, the most kick-ass female lead in a movie in a while. I approve. Rey put up a good fight in the film and strikes me as a good confident role model.

In fact, Disney have just released a whole new load of merchandise bits for The Force Awakens, including plenty of Rey figures included. I suspect we’ll be getting H a Rey costume at some point in the next year… All the items below are available now from the Disney Store!

Project 365 – Week 51

Sunday 13th December. We went shopping in Epsom to get H’s friends their Christmas presents and spent the morning writing Christmas cards. We found a shop and bought H a replacement Mood Ring, as she lost hers when we went on holiday in August. Apparently I’m relaxed and calm here.

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Monday 14th December. I was given a bottle of champagne at work which is a Very Good Thing indeed. It is currently chilling in the fridge, ready for Christmas!

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Tuesday 15th December. I was invited out for a payday lunch at the lovely Doukan in Wandsworth Town near work. It’s a wonderful Moroccan place, and I treated myself to a large glass of Moroccan wine, plus a Falafel Burger and a Chocolate Tart. £25 altogether, and just for me! I didn’t photograph my food as I’ve surrendered to the rubbishness of my camera phone, however, I did photograph Wandsworth Town station as I do like the way you feel almost level with the hill as you look up Alma Road.

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Wednesday 16th December. Ha. So I thought I hadn’t taken any photos today, but it would appear H has – on my phone. A few selfies – oh, and a video. She makes me smile, this was a treat.

H selfie

Thursday 17th December. I’ve finished work for the year! So I had a day rushing around doing stuff, picking up H from school and then rushing out to knitting. H and her friends had a quick playdate here after school and played Annie. H was Miss Hannigan. This is the result. Yes, that is a Hannah Montana wig – we have never seen it, my mum bought it for H a couple of years ago.

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Friday 18th December. School’s out! H announced yesterday she doesn’t want to go to her infants school any more and wants to move up to the juniors now – given she was quite worried about it up until we went to the school fair last Saturday, I think it’s fair to say she’s looking forward to it now! So the last Christmas at her current school, and of course Christmas Jumper day.

H christmas Jumper day

Saturday 19th December. Quite how Saturday has come around so quickly I’m not sure, but we headed to what will be our last football lesson of the year at Carshalton Athletic with H’s pal, and then had a lazy afternoon watching Paddington. This is Shaun and H at the football – a surprisingly warm day.

H and Shaun after football

Project 365 – Week 50

Sunday 6th December. Father Christmas at Chessington today – with a handful of rides open and their Zoo Days in full swing, we headed there a couple of hours beforehand, had enough to do and had fun at Santa. It was quick but not rushed.

Santa Chessington

Monday 7th December. Christmas Radio Times!! H is super excited as there are FOUR David Walliams programmes on based on his books which makes her really happy.

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Tuesday 8th December. I cannot remember anything about today nor find a photo.

Wednesday 9th December. One of H’s Christmas presents. See, I grew up with Peanuts and she isn’t. So now she can. Properly. She did say to me that she wanted my 1970s Snoopy, which I refuse to let her have. “oh well, I’ll get it when you die anyway, so it’ll be mine one day!” she sweetly replied. 

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Thursday 10th December. We took the day off work, visited H’s new school (very impressed) and went to her Year 2 Christmas show. She was a shepherd which should be easy, but I’m so bogged down with everything at the moment that my only option was buying a costume, which I did thanks to a local buy and sell page. Phew. Here she is.

H school Christmas

Friday 11th December. Catching up with my Lindt Chocolate Advent Calendar.

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Saturday 12th December. We were sent some goodies by Disney for The Good Dinosaur – a blog post is coming very soon!

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The Book of Everyone – A Personalised Book

We were given the opportunity to create our own book from The Book of Everyone – a unique book personalised to suit the recipient. In our case, it had to be H – so what does the book hold for a six year old, and how easy is it to create?

The Book Of Everyone - Book of H

The Book of Everyone is a unique personalised book which you create using the recipient’s name and date of birth, gender and name. Because I don’t use H’s name on here I’ve edited it out on the pictures, but rest assured her full name is used! You have an option to produce a book based on current age or the one coming up as well.

How easy is it to create? Very! Because the book is facts-based rather than the kind you would add photos to, it knows important stuff like star signs (we’ve never really known as she’s on the cusp, though I’m happy I’m right and she is a Virgo) and the number one record when you’re born (which I wish I could edit as at the moment she sees the word ‘bitch’ as a swear word, it’d be nice to censor it with an asterisk in the book – but that’s not a fault of the book, it’s a fault of the potty mouthed David Guetta ft Akon).

The Book of Everyone - tv and number 1

We were given a code to order a hardback book, which arrived a week later (not bad, as we’re in Christmas post times). I also opted for the Christmas book which includes a Rodeo Santa dedication page (Here’s a treat that’s special, unique the whole book through, and although Christmas shouldn’t be, this is all about you!), a festive cover and various Christmas bits throughout.

You get to choose your colour scheme, so knowing H loves blue I opted for this. The book has ‘The Book of H’ on the cover and spine, and my name (as I created it) on the spine as well.

The Book of Everyone - Ant stamps

The Book of Everyone is bright and colourful with loads of facts and things which relate to H’s life so far. It’s funny having the Ant Farm page, where you can follow H the ant – although the camera isn’t working at the moment. I know that’s something she’ll find funny! There are pages you can edit which helps customise it – you get this icon when you’re previewing it.

The Book of Everyone edit page

The Book of Everyone has things I know H will be able to relate to. The personalisation aspect is something which makes her feel like it’s for HER, than a general book. For that alone it gets a thumbs up!

The Book of Everyone Quotes

Now, the important stuff. How eco-friendly are the books? From their website – We picked our printers because of their exemplary approach to minimising the environmental impacts of printing. Our UK print partners Pureprint were the first CarbonNeutral® printer in the world. Also, do you need to be in when the book is delivered? Our book fitted through the letterbox fine, so you don’t need to worry about that either!

The Book of Everyone Christmas version costs £29.50 – though there are other options available. You can create a digital version for £7.50, and a softcover for £19.50. You can view your book online once it is created too, and once you’ve bought a physical edition you have access to a free download version by using a unique code. Their website is here

The Book of Everyone personalised snowflake

It’s also worth mentioning, you can create your own personalised snowflake on their website for free – I’ve enjoyed playing around with it. You can find that here. You can order a print of your snowflake which goes towards helping conserve polar bears at http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/

The Book of Everyone logo

We received a code to review this book, all opinions are our own! 

4000 Stickers Christmas Book

As Parragon Book Buddies, we’re sent a new book every month to review. This month is the very apt 4000 Stickers Christmas Book – guaranteed to keep H busy (which is a good thing).

4000 Stickers Christmas Book

The 4000 Stickers Christmas Book from Parragon isn’t just a sticker book, mind. There are loads of activities – and when I say loads I mean LOADS. From puzzles to mazes, to spot the difference to just adding stickers to scenes to make them your own. There’s a lot of choice.

Right now H is loving Spot the Difference puzzles, and indeed appears to find the one pictured “easy peasy lemon squeezy”  – in fact, my main problem is reminding her not to mark the puzzles so she can go back to them in a week or two from doing them, forgetting what the solutions are!

4000 Stickers Christmas Book Spot the difference

The 4000 Stickers Christmas Book has a fine selection of stickers – everything you would expect is in there, and oh my, there’s so many. Add to that all the puzzles and activities inside and you’ve got a great addition to any stocking for a child – this is the kind of book that would keep them busy for a while!

The stickers aren’t big, but then with 4000 of them you wouldn’t expect it to be. There are just lots of them – but that means there’s plenty of places you need to find to stick them!

4000 Stickers Christmas Book stickers

At £10.00 it isn’t cheap, but there are so many pages full of activities, with bright fun illustrations, I would say it’s worth getting. This isn’t a book which will be used once or twice – it’s one your child would keep going back to. Also, I’ve spotted The Book People are selling it for £2.99 at the moment – so worth considering.

We received this book for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own.

Project 365 – Week 49

Sunday 29th November. We went to the Cinema to see The Good Dinosaur (it was sweet! Fun, not too scary for H) and bought some bits afterwards in Sutton, including H’s first dressing gown, as modelled here.

dressing gown

Monday 30th November. Rainbows. I have just completed a second row of badges on H’s Rainbows shirt. Considering she still has two terms left there, it’s going to be one seriously full shirt by the time she leaves!

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Tuesday 1st December. And so we’re off again – the elves are up to no good. As usual I’ve forgotten to plan anything, so we’re making it up as we go along – a bit like life!

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Wednesday 2nd December. I made this! My first proper crochet attempt at following a pattern. Did okay. Have probably forgotten most of it though.

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Thursday 3rd December. Sneaky Advent Calendar chocolate binge eating so you don’t have to share with anyone alert. Well it is a Lindt one.

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Friday 4th December. I appear not to have taken a photo today. Not sure why…

Saturday 5th December. Spotted there were previews of the Snoopy & Charlie Brown movie happening at all the cinemas locally, so took H – we loved it. A proper family kind of movie with nothing scary and many many nods to the Peanuts gang I grew up with. I approve big time!

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