My Sunday Photo 11/12/16

Its a Num Noms Advent!

Its Officially the count down to Christmas and Num Noms came up with a great way for us to count down the days! 

They have sent us there very own one off edition Num Nom Advent Boxes!

When they said they were sending us a advent calendar I didn't know what to expect. Maybe a Num Nom a day?
We were so excited when it turned up, it was bigger than expected and much more than I expected. When we looked inside I was so surprised to see what was there. 

Inside were lots of different shaped parcels all wrapped up ready for us to open each day. Some small and some big!! 

What a perfect way to countdown to christmas. 

We are now on day 9 and so far we have had some wonderful goodies! Lily has been really enjoying having these to open each day. 

Head back after Christmas and find out exactly what we have been getting in our advent box or watch my Instagram and Twitter Feed for the Hashtag #NumNomsAdvent to see some posts of what we got. 

A Mum's Christmas Gift Guide

If your anything like me then you will have focused so much on what to buy our children that you will have compleatly forgotten about your own needs. When it came to Christmas this year and family started to ask me what gifts I wanted I must admit my mind was pretty blank. I was so busy thinking of what everyone could get Lily that I hadn't taken a moment to think about what I may like. 

So I thought I would put a little list together of 5 things that I think you will love and that maybe you could ask for for Christmas. A lot of things in my list are perfect for big gifts but also nice little stocking fillers and may also be perfect to buy for other members of the family.

1. Yankee Candles

This is something that I asked for Christmas last year and is always something I would appreciate if I was bought. Yankee Candles are such nice candles and make such a great gift. Everybody knows the name and so I think when people receive a Yankee Candle they know they are getting a really decent candle. For me I love that they have such a range of scents. You could almost collect them. The scents are also really decent and you can actually smell them! (Yes I've lit many candles that I couldn't actually smell) The fact that they come with a lid is also great and you can pop that back on top so they don't get dusty. One thing I have noticed about Yankee Candle is that they last ages. You seen to be able to burn them for ages and ages. The wick that is inside also never seems to get destroyed like some wicks that I have lit on other candles. Yankee Candles sent me these 3 scents to try out. Cassis, Honey Blossom and Fresh Cut Roses. They all smelt great but my favourite had to be the Honey Blossom. You can also buy bigger candles and Yankee Candle also have a Christmas range you can get. I definetly will be putting Yankee Candle on my Christmas list from now on. You can see more of the Yankee Candle Range on there Website.

Small Yankee Candles - £8.99 

2. Jelly Belly Beans 

I have always been a big fan of Jelly Belly Beans, ever since I was old enough to eat them. They always bring great memory's of Christmas for me as it would be something my parents would buy me and my brother. One great thing about Jelly Beans is that you can never be to old to enjoy them. Its years later and if I get bought some for christmas then Im super happy. The great thing about Jelly Belly is the massive range of flavours. They have the original flavours which I have always loved, but then they do packs of different flavours to and special packs just like the Jewel Mix. I got sent a pack of original flavours and a pack of the Jewel Mix. I must say the jewel mix is so pretty, almost too pretty to eat... (Almost hah). The flavours inside were so delicious. My Favourite was the green ones and red one which I didn't find out the flavour until after I ate them. They were Sour Apple and Very Cherry. I have always loved a surprise when eating the Jelly Beans. Makes it so much more fun to not find out what Jelly Bean your going to try next. The bigger box came with 40 different flavours and they way it was displayed in the box was almost like when you get a box of chocolates and look at the menu to see which ones takes your fancy.
Jelly Belly makes such a great gift and its something that if you ask for for christmas then it can still be a surprise to what you may get with there being so much variety out there. Don't forget though that Jelly Beans are not for small children and if you are to get bought some of these, do keep them out of our children's reach. The colours make them so attractive for little ones to put in their mouth and there is a risk of choking. You can check out more of Jelly Belly's selection on their website. 

Jewel Mix RRP - £5.40
Original Mix 40 Flavours - £16

3. Jadu Tea 

I am a huge tea drinker and so tea is always a gift that definetly gets used. Recently I have been getting really into my loose leaf tea. I guess tea is not something you may think to ask for for Christmas but you can actually get some really lovely special tea and Jadu Tea is one company that really stands out to me. Firstly their lovely tea comes in such a beautiful box. With a nice suede blue lining with gold writing on it, it really is presented so nicely and really does sing luxury and sophistication to you. Then on the inside your tea is bagged up and then tied with a golden bow. I was so impressed with just how lovely the box looked.  Jadu Tea sent me loads of different flavours to try and so i'm going to be doing a full write up trying each flavour soon. But for now I want to tell you about the mademoiselle grey I tried. The blend is a slightly different take on the flavour Earl Grey which I just love and so was very excited to try this one. This blend is made up of Lankan Uva black tea, Lemon peel, Orange peel, Lemon Grass, and Red Cornflowers. The loose tea itself looks really pretty with all its colours and is so nice to watch dance about as you infuse it. It tasted amazing and really does make one amazing cup of tea. Don't know if I can quite look back to normal tea now after this treat. I would definetly recommend you putting this on your Christmas list. I know I definetly will be in the future. You can see the range of tea's at the Jadu Tea website and please head back to read the review after Christmas. 

Jadu Tea Box - £21.50 

4. Morse Toad Personalised Chocolates 

After seeing some Morse Toad chocolates at a wedding I decided to have a look on their website. I found that you can find some amazing gifts and especially some nice Mum gifts. This is a direction you could send your other half in to buy you a nice gift maybe from your son or daughter. I know most of us generally have to Hint Hint to our partners at what we may like. Morse Toad let me pick something out on their website and so I picked out this lovely personalised Mum gift to show you all. The chocolates all come in a really slender and lovely box and I think its a lovely thing to open on Christmas day. Then you open the box and in my case there is a lovely photograph of Lily with a chocolate message that reads Best Mum in the World. I think this is so nice and if I hadn't of picked it out myself and actually received it for christmas then I would have been made up. On the website there are different choices of messages to put and you can choose your own photograph of a message to be put into the card slot. This set comes with 22 chocolates and Ive tried these chocolates and they are a really yummy solid milk chocolate. You can head to the Morse Toad website to check out what other gifts they have to offer. 

Personalised Photo Set - £14 

5. The Body Shop 

This one is my something I ask for every year item. Although I haven't been sent anything from The Body Shop it just had to go into my gift guide. Each year I always ask for something from this shop and thats because Ive always found their products to be amazing. Also if you have never tried Bodyshop before, there products are natural and so are perfect for anyone to try. There is so much choice from Bodyshop and I could go on and on about every product I own but I will just mention a few I like. In the picture above you have Peppermint Foot Scrub, British Rose Body Butter, and an Exfoliant. Usually you can buy gift sets for each product or in fact any product as you can make up your own gift sets. I love the foot scrub as its a really refreshing scrub for your feet. Especially for us mums that are on them all day. The British Rose body butter smells amazing! Its my new favourite Body Shop scent and I always love a good exfoliant. I have found the Bodyshop ones really do make your skin so silky soft. There is so much more you can buy at Bodyshop to, hand creams are one of my favourites. If you were to put Bodyshop onto your list for Christmas I can guarantee that you would be in for a treat when you open it Christmas day. 

Body Butters - £12
Peppermint foot Scrub - £7
Body Scrub - From £5 

So which gift from my Mum's Gift Guide do you think you will be asking for?

Mr Tumble Toys from Golden Bear - Review

If you have a baby or a toddler then I assume you know the famous Mr Tumble from Something Special. If you don't then you are definetly not spending enough time watching Cbeebies. 

Lily is a huge Mr Tumble fan and has been since she was a baby. She would always be transfixed onto the screen and I think it was the first TV show that she had a really good giggle to when Mr Tumble was pretending to sneeze. 

I was really excited for Lily when I found out that Golden Bear Toys were releasing something very special with a line of new Mr Tumble Toys. 

We were really lucky to be approached to review 2 new toys from the collection. 

We were sent the Mr Tumble's Fun Sounds Musical Car and the Mr Tumble's Fun Felts Set. 

I first introduced Lily to the car. As soon as I got it out she was so eager for me to get it out of the box and luckily it wasn't that hard to get out. As soon as it was all out for her she began playing with it straight away. 

The Mr Tumble car has so many different fun features and even I found exploring the car good fun. 

The first thing you notice about the car is how colourful it is, you can definetly tell its Mr Tumbles Car and the colours will really appeal to children wanting to play with this toy. As soon as you start pushing it along the floor you hear the engine start and a horn also toots. Its a really fun sound for children to hear as they push along the car but then again not the most fun sound for parents to hear again and again. But as your child gets older, sounds like this happening through out the day definetly seem to bother you less. At the end of the day as long as its keeping Lily entertained then it can beep away all it likes to me. 
As the car is pushed it also wobbles from side to side. It runs really smoothly on carpet or laminate flooring. 

Another feature which is all about sound, is the big button on the top that you can press. As you do it then sings the Mr Tumble theme tune and you can also hear Mr Tumble catchphrases. This tune is generally stuck in my head from the moment I hear it but again, as a parent you do get used to that. haha 

On the side of the car are 2 more buttons, one has Grandad Tumble on it and you can hear him say some of the catchphrases from the show and the other side you have Aunt Polly who also says her catchphrases. There is a range of things that they say so you can press the buttons plenty of times. 

On the front is another button!!! This one when you press it it flashes red. All the buttons are really obvious and Lily found them all easily and pressed them all. 

Lily loved the Mr Tumble character that it came with. He is really chunky and just the right size for little hands to grip. She was also so excited to see that you could lift the front of the car open and place him into the car. This is something she loved doing the most. 

Last but not least the set comes with 4 colourful makaton cards for them to look at. These slot into the back of the car. Lily really enjoyed placing them in and out of the car as well. 

Overall the car I love and Lily loves. I think its a really good toy to encourage touch and sound recognition as well as providing hours of fun. The toy retails at £29.99 and if you child is a fan of Mr Tumble and a fan of cars then this is the perfect toy for them. 

The second toy I was really excited about myself. It was the felt set and I used to play with felt sets loads as a child. Its something I would of never have thought about buying Lily but now she has one I've learnt it would have been a real shame for the idea to never enter my head. She LOVES it. 

The set comes with a flocked board and over 60 felt pieces to stick onto it. I was super impressed with how many it came with and it gave such variety to the pictures we could make. The pieces are all about dressing up Mr Tumble and friends and there are lots of different costumes and funky things from the show to stick on. 

I took all the pieces out of the felt that it came in, and then let Lily be creative with it. I was quite impressed that she straight away knew what to do and started to place them down onto the board. She is a really big fan of stickers and so I think that this is why she understood what to do. She also did layers with the felt pieces to make up outfits and also gave the characters things to hold in their hands. The one thing she didn't seem to understand though was that unlike sticker books, the felt pieces could be taken of and re used. At one point she fully filled the board and then got frustrated that there was no more space. I had to show her that she could take them all off and do it all again. 

After showing her this, she spent ages playing with this toy. I haven't seen her sit so quietly with a toy for ages and its great that its something she can play with without my constant help. 

The felt board is a great price of £7.99 and If your child is a sticker fan then this is a must buy seen as it has the same qualities as stickers apart from you can use it over and over again. 

You can see all of the Range of Something Special toys over at the Golden Bear Website 

Which of these toys do you think your child would love? 

My Sunday Photo 04/12/16

Monthly Book Roundup - What we have been Reading in November

Its time for my monthly book round up again. Each month I write about new books that I have introduced to Lily at bedtime and what we think of them. We always read around 4-5 books a night and most nights we end up reading the same ones with a few odd ones read in between. I find reading the same books helps Lily relax and she does grow fond of the stories each month and gets excited when I get them out to read each night. 

You can read all our other monthly roundups here.

There wasn't really much of a theme this month. But we have had a great selection and variety to read. 

So here is what I thought of the books I read to Lily this month. 

1. What about me? By Emily Johnson 
Lily actually chose this book from the shelves of The Works. She has lately been really interested in babies. If she hears one cry she wants to go over to it and she loves playing with her baby dolls or watching anything that has a baby in. Like the Episode of Peppa Pig and Baby Alexandra that we watch over and over and over again. So it was great to read this book to Lily knowing it was her choice. She asked for it many nights by saying "baby" and always sat so quietly and listened to the story. The storyline is of a little baby sister being introduced into the family and her big brother isn't very happy about the attention she is starting to get. He feels ignored and so tries to do all sorts to get noticed. In the end he does and his parents show him that he is loved. Its a great book with a nice rhyme to it and I think I would recommend it if you have a big brother in the family that is getting a tad jealous of the attention the new baby is getting. 

2. Gordon's Great Escape by Sue Hendra
We have read quite a few of Sue Hendra's stories now. This one me and Lily really enjoyed. Its all about a balloon who after attending balloon school goes off to find his place in life. He gets a best friend but that doesn't work out, he becomes a magicians assistant but that doesn't work out either. In the end he starts to work for the circus and thats where he finds his place. But the story doesn't go with out this balloon finding all the dangers a balloon would and has to avoid situations that might make him pop. The story is exciting from start to end and keeps you wondering what may happen next. The illustrations are also really colourful. Lily really enjoyed naming all the colours of the different balloons. This story I won from a Toppsta giveaway. 

3. Dylan the Doctor by Guy Parker-Rees 
Lily really enjoyed this story and would ask for it by saying "bag bag" as in the story it shows Doctor Dylan's doctors kit. The story is all about Dylan the dog and his day of being a doctor and helping out all the other animals. Children will all love this story as every few pages they all make the nee naw sound as he pretends to drive to an emergency. If other children are anything like Lily then they will be as obsessed with "nee naw cars" as much as she is and love this book. The story is slightly longer than some but It did keep Lily interested all the way along. This book I also won from a Toppsta giveaway. 

4. How to catch a star by Oliver Jeffers 
This story is a lovely one for before bed. Its a really sweet story of a boy who really wants to have a star of his very own. He looks at them each night in the sky and one day decides to catch one. But not understanding stars very well and the fact they are up in the sky and also don't come out in the day he struggles. Of corse the story can't have a sad ending and he does eventually get his star he wanted. This story Lily loved because she really likes stars at the moment. She would point to the big stars in the story and say "big star" and then say "baby star" for the little ones. Its just the right length for a nice bedtime story. This book my friend picked up from WH Smiths and got it Lily as a gift. 

Which of the stories do you like the sound of the best?

Bratz Hoverboard Review

Bratz Dolls are just getting cooler and cooler! They have just brought a new line of dolls out that have one very cool accessory. Hoverboards!

We were sent Chloe and I am so excited to have her and tell you all about her. 

Im really impressed with this doll. Its the first of dolls that I have seen to do such a cool idea. Chloe stands on a hoverboard and its all controlled by you using the remote control. The remote control is radio controlled and links to the hover board that the doll is standing on. 

Hoverboards are the new in thing now and so to see one on a doll is very cool. 

She can go forwards, backwards and even do a 360 turn. It comes with an adjustable stand that helps keep the doll on the hoverboard and helps keep her stable and upright.  

The hoverboard also has LED lights on it that can be lit for while she rides. Which does a really cool effect. They are really bright and on chloe's hoverboard they are blue. 

It does need quite a few batteries so if you are buying this for Christmas day, make sure you are stocked up. It needs 2 x AA for the remote control and it needs 3 x AA for the hoverboard itself. 

Chloe couldn't look cooler with her outfit and its really good to see her wearing the essential safety things that you would wear to ride, the pink helmet and knee pads.

This doll is bound to keep any child entertained for hours. I know as a child I would of loved to have one of these to make ride around the house. Its aimed for children aged 5+ which is why I haven't given it to Lily yet but as soon as she is old enough I can't wait to give it her to play with. 

The Hoverboard dolls are priced at £39.99 and can be bought from many toy shops as well as Amazon. 

If your child is a Bratz fan then either Chloe of Yasmin with their hoverboards would make the perfect gift!

What do you think to this doll?