Month / October 2016

by jo

The Von Trapp Family A Life of Music DVD Review

The Von Trapp Family A Life of Music is out on DVD, and is available now. It tells the story of the Von Trapp family, who I’m sure most people are familiar with thanks to The Sound of Music.

The Von Trapp Family A Life of Music DVD Cover

The Von Trapp Family A Life of Music tells the story of the Von Trapp Family. This time it is from the perspective of eldest daughter Agathe.

You live your life, and your stepmother writes a book about it. The book becomes a film in Germany, which in turn leads to a Rogers and Hammerstein musical. Oh and it’s the most successful musical of all time. The only problem is, you feel like the actual story everyone knows isn’t your story. You feel like your father is a different person. Any problems you had with your stepmother were completely washed over.

You’re not happy.

Agathe Von Trapp, whose life story became The Sound of Music, wrote her own book which is now a movie. This time it’s The Von Trapp Family A Life of Music.

Don’t expect songs and dance and the sights of Salzburg. This is a far more accurate tale of the Von Trapp family story, but will still feel familiar.

The Von Trapp Family A Life of Music Captain and Maria

Agathe is the second eldest Von Trapp child; the eldest was Rupert as the film swapped the sibling order.  The movie starts where you see how close the Von Trapp Family are, and how loving they all are to each other. When their mother dies, Agathe looks after the children. They struggle, so Captain Von Trapp gets help – which is where Maria enters the story.

Following in Julie Andrews’ footsteps is an enormous task. But this time Maria is a part of the story, not the main focus. This is Agathe’s story, growing up in Austria. We see her lose her love of singing when her mother dies, vowing to never sing again, which lasts for many years. We see Austria being taken over by the Nazi’s. There are no mountain escapes here, as the Von Trapp family stayed in Salzburg for a while once the Anschluss happened.

We find out Captain Von Trapp loses his money when helping out a friend (relating to the Wall Street Crash), and they’re all left with nothing. We meet Agathe’s resistance fighter best friend Sigi that she has known since childhood. We see Agathe and Sigi make friends with the famous soprano Lotte Lehmann and how the Von Trapp Family begin singing together, paving the way for their journey to America.

The Von Trapp Family A Life of Music Von Trapps Singing

As a fan of The Sound of Music, to see the story from this perspective was interesting. I haven’t read Agathe Von Trapp’s book, but did know a lot of the story having read most of Maria Von Trapp’s books. I will be ordering Agathe’s book now!

I would recommend The Von Trapp Family A Life of Music to anyone who wants to know the real story. There are still some changes – Agathe is still the eldest in this film – it shows why the Von Trapp family left Salzburg and Austria. Oh, and what they left behind too.

I haven’t mentioned the actors yet! Matthew McFadyen is a good Captain Von Trapp, Eliza Bennett plays young Agathe – I thought she was pretty good too. Maria is played by Yvonne Catterfield, a German actress who does a fine job.

The Von Trapp Family A Life of Music is released today, 31st October 2016. It is rated 12. H watched it with us and was fine – the scenes which could be troublesome refer to violence. You can buy the DVD from Amazon (affiliate link) and all good retailers.

We were sent the DVD to review. 

by jo

Half Term Fun With The Trolls Merchandise

It’s half term and H has been busy, as have we. There’s a film that I’m sure you’ve all had flashbacks to, and seen the posters. When we were in France in August we spotted them too – Les Trolls – or rather, The Trolls here.

The Trolls are those dolls that were popular back in the 90’s, though they date back to the 1950’s! Oh, and now there’s the film with tons more merchandise on offer.

The Trolls Poppy Wig

We received a Poppy Wig and a Hug Time bracelet – something we didn’t get until we saw the film. See, the Trolls are happy little beings, and every hour it’s…. HUG TIME! They have little wristbands they wear which light up around each other. Oh, and they sing a lot and hug each other lots too. The leader of The Trolls is Poppy, a princess. Her dad is King of the Trolls.

If you’re aware of that catchy little ditty that Justin Timberlake sings, ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ features in the film. There are also several other happy pop classics (even The Gorillaz are in there).

Which leads me to how H reacted to the wig and bracelet, and a spot of Mr Timberlake. After our Frubes post, she was feeling confident with her dance moves, so did a few more.

The Trolls, H's moves

We found the Poppy Wig was just a tiny bit too small – I managed to tuck H’s hair into a hairband which got it to fit. I’d say if your child has a large head circumference it may be an issue. (H was always in the higher percentiles for this!) The Hug Time wristband fits fine though – and it only makes sense once you’ve seen the film.

On saying that, she sat with her Poppy wig and flicked on the bracelet, announcing “HUG TIME!” and what with her being my bestest girl, I obliged with hugs.  It would have been nice if the bracelet had done a bit more but H was happy with it.

The Trolls Hug Time Bracelet

The Poppy wig does have that classic style of The Trolls, although we had to work ours a bit – but I think it does suit H!

You can buy the Poppy Wig for £12.99 and the Trolls Hug Time bracelet for £9.99 from Argos.

We received both to review. All opinions are our own. 

by jo

FrubesMoves with Frubes

Frubes have partnered with the Angry Birds Movie. They have created a squawksome dance off between the Angry Birds and the pigs. We received some vouchers for H to show off her FrubesMoves too.

FrubesMoves – a simple verb which you won’t find in the dictionary is something H has been doing a spot of lately.

Frubes Frubesmoves collage

H used to do Street Dance at her last school and still shows off her moves from time to time. I encouraged her to grab some Frubes and do a few poses. This is the result…

H’s FrubesMoves came to her straight away, what with her having had some Street Dance lessons. She hasn’t done them for a couple of terms now. I always wondered with her extra long legs if she would make a better ballerina! With the poses involved, Street Dance and FrubesMoves come together well.

Frubes Frubesmoves collage

I like that she’s doing her dancing to all my old eighties classics! Even if I have no idea of the names of her moves…

I like Frubes. They’re the UK’s largest portable yoghurt brand. They’re available in Strawberry, Red Berry, Peach and Banana flavour. They also contain Vitamin D and calcium for strong bones.

I like to keep them nice and cold (as they’re perfect for a packed lunch) by freezing them. Then just pop them in the packed lunch the night before. By lunchtime they’re still nice and chilly and ready to eat.

frubes-frubesmoves-angry-birds-packs

Frubes is running an on-pack promotion until 31st October. You can win a chance to go to the Bahamas for six nights on holiday which is pretty excellent. You can also win Angry Birds Movie merchandise every week. H likes that each Frube is a different Angry Birds character.

What better excuse to try and win some prizes, get some delicious Frubes yoghurt snacks AND practice some dance moves at the same time?

We were sent vouchers to buy three packs of Frubes to take part in this challenge. This post is an entry for BritMums’ #FrubesMoves Linky Challenge, sponsored by Frubes.

by jo

A Bright Future With Unilever

“How can we create a bright future for our children?” is the question. To be honest, it scares me. I figure every little bit helps and my little bit is proving to H you can put clothes out to dry all year round.

Striped shirts on a line bright future

A bright future is passing on what I know to be a good thing to as many people as possible. Being someone who knows I don’t get listened to very often, I need to make sure it’s something that doesn’t involve effort and is obvious. My really obvious, easy, little thing is putting your washing outside all year round.

Next door thinks I’m a bit bonkers. Although if she sees washing out on our line she’ll copy me, as I always check the weather before pinning my things on the line so I’m fairly reliable.

If it’s raining, I don’t put it out there, mind. Only if I know the next day is going to be a fine day.

We don’t have a tumble dryer. We don’t need one. We have a heated clothes airer which is handy when it gets rainy. Often clothes go on it, and we don’t switch it on.

Clothes go on the line – all year round. I think this is a pretty important message to pass on to H.

Sunlight is a natural bleaching agent. When H’s school shirts are looking a little grey, hanging them on the line on a sunny day helps a lot. I did this with her baby clothes a lot too – plus they smell much nicer.

I saw the Rotaire Airer on Dragon’s Den, and they laughed at it. Their reason was that people use tumble driers these days. Well we don’t. A Rotaire Airer is better for the environment too, you’re not wasting energy either.

We received some Persil Non-Bio liquid which I rate. H and I are both sensitive souls, and need to use Non-Bio washing liquid. I like that it smells good too – and get it on the line and you cannot beat the smell of fresh clothes. Persil Non-Bio also has a little Stain Eraser Ball included in its design. This is handy, as all you need to do is pop, pour and rub – there’s more info over here. Yet again, it’s about working with the simplest things to get the best results.

H has been helping me when I put washing out. Just simple things like sorting the pants from the socks so I can pin the right things together. Once she has helped me do that, she tends to stay out and play. Another good reason to keep your clothes outside.

So this is my thing that I’m doing to make a difference and create a bright future for H. She will know no different when she grows up, and next door will copy me if they see I have clothes out. I think that’s pretty good.

This post is an entry for BritMums #brightFuture Challenge, sponsored by Unilever.

by jo

Having a Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts Themed Party

H turned seven in August, which we spent at Disneyland Paris. She wanted to have a party, so we decided to keep costs low that we’d have it at home. I thought that a Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed party would be a good idea.
Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed party birthday cake

A Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed party was a good idea with the ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ film opening soon. Once we knew the theme of the party we had to work out how to make it fun.

H and Milo the Giant African Millipede from Wild Fangs

We booked Wild Fangs who were brilliant! Wild Fangs have a great website with all the information you could need and I highly recommend them.

H and Derek the Bearded Dragon from Wild Fangs

Wild Fangs were fantastic. Faik was brilliant when it came to keeping the kids attention. This was quite a job, there being seventeen of them. He brought along five creatures from his selection. The kids all got to meet each one, and H got special attention as she was the birthday girl. Even the shy children were stroking the creatures at the end which was good to see.

H and Tiny the African Bullfrog from Wild fangs

The creatures were only a small part of the Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed party. As it was at home it meant we could do bits to make it feel a bit more like Hogwarts. Poundland, Tiger Stores, Hema and Wilko all have a great range of Halloween products in-store at the moment. I stocked up on cobwebs, bunting, spiders, rats and halloween themed sweets at a low cost.

Tiger Stores cobweb bowl

Besides this, I had to create as much Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed party ideas as I could. There were some easy ones – Golden Snitches made from Ferrero Rocher. Just stick some greaseproof paper wings on them.

Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed Golden Snitch Ferrero Rocher

Train shaped cheese biscuits which H said could be Hogwarts Express cheese biscuits.

Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed Hogwarts Express cheese biscuits

Shaun was the creative one – he found some great things. Get a sheet and a bathroom cleaner sponge, and print bricks onto it.

Making Platform nine and three quarters for a party Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed

Stick it around your doorway and you’re going through platform nine and three quarters. I may have seen a few Potter-mad kids doing it several times as they thought it was so cool.

Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed Platform Nine and three Quarters

How about floating candles? Get the inside of kitchen roll tubes, use a glue gun to make some drips down the side like candle wax. Paint it white, and then make a ledge inside for a battery-operated flickering candle. Hang them from the ceiling using cotton and some good strong sticky tape. It looks fantastic too.

Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed party floating candles

Of course, no party is a decent one without party games. Our Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed party games included Judge the Odd Socks competition. All kids had to come with odd socks on in honour of Dobby. Sleeping Lions became Sleeping Fluffy, in honour of Hagrid. Musical Bumps was Musical Expelliarmus, and Musical Statues would have been Musical Petrificus Totalus. We had Pin the Scar on Harry – just a simple printed out picture of Mr Potter, and a post it note cut into the shape of the scar. We ran out of time for that one too.

There was an epic Pass the Parcel game too. Inside was a Smiggle glittery ball (£2 in their current sale) which you might find in a Divination lesson at Hogwarts… maybe?

Making chocolate frogs for the Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed party

My favourite thing were the frog moulds I bought. We made several chocolate frogs, complete with a cola bottle middle (which tasted SO good). After all, everyone loves a chocolate frog, right? You can get the moulds on ebay for about £8. H enjoyed making them, and initially we tried them with ground up Swizzels sweets which was good too.

All in all, H’s Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts themed party was a success. I’m pleased we managed to pull it off at short notice, and the kids enjoyed themselves.

by jo

Ten Years

It has been ten years.

Ten years since my dad died. Ten years. How did that happen? I can remember so much but also so little. My daughter grows up having never met him.

Taken away too young by cancer. Bowel cancer which had spread to his liver. Too late to save him.

Only 64. He had all the signs, and yet nobody thought it could be that. He had tests and more tests until they revealed the truth. “a matter of months” was what they said. Four months later it was over. Friday 13th October 2006.

We were there. Sitting in the hospital, in our own room. York hospital didn’t have a cancer ward at that time. My Dad was on a ward where people go after having hip replacements. It was a happy positive place which was quite nice to go in and out of. It wasn’t a place someone went to die.

We stayed awake with dad. He was barely conscious, having uttered his last words to us on the Monday, breathing his last breaths.

I hate cancer. I hate that it has affected my family, and will continue to do so. My mum (who is still alive) has had it twice. H has been  brought up knowing what she needs to look out for. By the time she’s an adult there will be a cure, I hope.

Ten years though. What has changed in the last ten years? I’m not sure. Are you seen quicker by a doctor these days? When dad got his diagnosis his treatment started. He had chemotherapy, to try and shrink the tumour.

Back then he was considered too young for the regular bowel cancer screening, as you had to be 65. These days the age is lower. I’ve had various tests offered to me at 46 underfunded wonderful NHS.

Things are changing, People are still dying.

Ten years though. How? Please read the Beating Bowel Cancer links above, pass them on to a parent. If it helps save a life then that’s a good thing.

Dad at Marston Moor