My Sunday Photo 08/10/17

Our First Autumn Walk of 2017

Im so happy to be able to feel the autumn air, see the autumn leaves and also experience a little bit of dry weather. It hasn't been the driest of summers and to be honest I have been pretty disappointed with summer. So here is to a great Autumn. 

I love Autumn, it's one of my favourite seasons. Now that October has hit you can really feel that sense of Autumn when you are out and about. I only just realised it the other day when me and Lily took our first Autumn walk. 

The day wasn't too cold, warm enough for a hoodie and it was also dry. So we headed to a local National Trust area for a nice trip out. 

Gawthope Hall isn't to far away from us. It's an area I know quite well as I used to work there many years ago and it was a walk me and my grandma often took. But as we have only just moved back into the area I haven't been for years and it was Lily's first visit. The hall itself is wonderful and Lily was very impressed to see it and called it a castle. 

The grounds to the hall are massive and there is so much of it to explore. Lily wasn't to keen on heading into the huge woodland that surrounds it. To dark she said, so we just kept to the lighter areas of the grounds to see what we could find. 

Autumn is a brilliant time to explore, and a brilliant time to learn. There are lots of things to teach your children about such as why the leaves are falling from the tree's and why they turn a different colour. Lily was fascinated with the fact that the leaves had changed colour in the tree's and was also enjoying finding different coloured leaves on the ground. She would point at different tree's and tell me what colour they were. 

At the back of the hall there are some hedges that make it look vey much like a maze as it has lots of little paths running through in different directions. Lily thought it was brilliant fun being chased and chasing me and her Nan through these. After this we then found some really nice flowers and Lily was talking about the different colours and telling me which she thought was pretty. We sat here for quite a while relaxing. Lily had so much to say about the environment around her. 

We probably spent a good hour walking and exploring before Lily said she was cold and so we decided to go in the cafe that they have there and have some tea and cake. This may have been Lily's favourite part of the day as the cake was massive and her favourite, Chocolate! The nice thing about Gawthope is that there is a nice long scenic walk to get in and out of the grounds and so even when you decided to leave you still get to enjoy some nice countryside on the way out. 

This may have been our first visit to Gawthope with Lily. But it definetly won't be our last. There is so much to explore and a such a huge amount of grounds to walk through that i'm pretty sure we will get lost in it. In fact, if you suddenly see that i'm not posting on the blog. You know where I am! 

Do you have a local scenic area to visit? 

Have you been out on a Autumn Walk yet? 

Geomag Magicubes Review and Giveaway

Lily is a huge fan of construction, she loves anything that she can sit down to and concentrate on and build. So when I got offered the Magicubes to review I just had to give them a try with Lily. 

2 boxes of Magicubes which are made by Geomag, arrived at our door. The boxes were so colourful and child friendly that as soon as Lily saw them she couldn't wait for me to get them out of the box. 

We were sent a Safari Pack and a Polar Animals Pack. 

The safari pack comes with 14 blocks and some cards with four building ideas on. The polar animal pack comes with 8 bricks and also has some idea cards included. Some of the animal ideas you could make are Giraffe, Lion, Parrot, and Camel in the safari set and in the polar set you could make a Polar Bear Seal, Penguin or Whale. 

They are so colourful and on each side of the blocks it has a different pattern which is part of an animal. The way you play with these cubes kind of reminds me of a jigsaw but in brick form, which is great. You could use the cards to build an animal that they have suggested or you could be creative and just build what ever you like as there are many different things you can make with these. 

Lily just concentrated on building rather than actually making animals and the whole concept of being able to make a animal kind of went over her head. She did really enjoy building with these though as there is something that is different and special about them. These clever little bricks actually are magnetised so then they stick together with the other bricks. This is great for tower building and construction as its much easier to do and with less chance of falling down. 

Lily hasn't managed to make an animal yet but she did love seeing the ones that I built and kept asking me to build more for her. 

The quality of the bricks is brilliant. They are really strong and made from a really nice plastic. They look like they won't ware and tear easily and will last a while. Which is great as building is one thing that children never seem to get bored of doing. 

As well as being super fun, there are so many learning factors to this toy. It encourages hand and eye co-ordination, fine motor skills and encourages the use of the imagination. 

Lily really enjoyed playing with these cubes and she has kept going back to them to play with again over and over. We haven't actually tidied them away yet as she has played with them so much. But when we do, another great thing about them all sticking together is that they can be stored in her construction tub and they don't separate and get lost. 

Overall i'm really impressed and happy with this toy and if your child loves construction and building then this is a really good option of something you could buy for them. It retails at £35 for the safari set and £25 for the polar animals set.

I now have a competition for you where you have the chance to win a set of Safari Magicubes for your little one. Enter on the Gleam app below - 

Win a Geomag Safari MagiCube Set

Simple Makeup Techniques for Mums - With Urban Decay

Put your hand up if your a mum who doesn't have a clue when it comes to how best to apply make up? (Raises own hand) 

I am clueless and usually doing my makeup consists of a brush stoke here, and a brush stroke there. Not only do I not know a good way to apply my makeup, but I really don't find the time to do a really nice look. 

But I have always wanted to be better at doing my makeup and so I have asked makeup artist Stacy from Pink.co to show me a few makeup tips that I can share with you all. 

I wanted to concentrate on the eyes mostly for this lesson and so Stacy had a great look in mind when it came to a beautiful day time look for the eyes that was simple to do. 

I have been lucky enough to have been sent some of the Naked Palettes from Urban Decay and so for the eye makeup for this look we are using the palette Naked 3. 

The first thing that is recommended to use is a decent primer. Now before this makeup lesson with Stacy, I didn't have a clue what a primer was and so for all the mums out there that also don't know, it is a base makeup product that you apply before your makeup. A primer makes your makeup last longer and also creates a good base to make sure the makeup goes on easily and also blends well. Urban Decay do a Eyeshadow Primer Potion and so this is what we have used first. 

After you have applied the primer, we are on to our first eye shadow step. 

The Base

For the base its good to use a very natural and not over powering shade so we used the shade 'Strange' on the Urban Decay Palette. The base goes on the eye lid all the way to the eye brow and gives a nice even coverage. Then on to step two.

Transition Shade

The second step is meant to give the eye more definition. It is applied just under the brow bone where the crease of the eye is. You are wanting to do a sweeping motion from left to right. For this we used the shade 'Limit" from the palette. This should be a darker shade than the base colour and you should now be able to notice a darker shadow where the crease is. 

Outer Shade 

Next we are looking to add the outer shade which should add even more definition to the eye. You simply add this to the outer corner of the eyes. You are wanting to use a darker shade than the last and so this time we used 'Nooner' from the palette. 

Inner Shimmer 

The next step is to open the eye more by adding a highlight. This is added to the inner corner of the eye. You are looking to add a more lighter shimmery shade for this part and so we have chosen to add 'Dust'. This look is so simple that there is only one more step to complete before the eye shadow part will be finished and that is by adding step 4. 

Top Liner 

This goes above the eyelashes in a sweeping line. It defines all of the eye area by creating a shadow. You are looking for a really dark shade for this step and so we used 'Dark Heart'. This is probably what I think is the most tricky part to the look but doable with practice. This is the last step for the eye shadow and your eyes should now have a really nice look to them. 

So after you have applied the eye shadow, add mascara for your finishing touch and your eyes should be ready for any daytime event. 

Here is what the finished results look like and although we have a young model for our example, this look can be perfect for any age. 

I have since tried the technique on myself and it is easy to do though I still need a little practice. 

Are you any good at doing your own makeup? 

Do you think you would try to do this makeup look? 

Thank you to - 

Pink.co Studio with

Stacy Hartley - Makeup

Chelsey Hartley - Hair

And Model - Imogen Rose Edmondon

Monthly Book Roundup - What we have been Reading in September

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 3 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 not get over excited at bedtime but she does grow fond of the stories each month and is happy when I pull out the stories she enjoys.

You can read all our other monthly roundups here.

This month didn't have a theme, we have so many books that we have to get through reading and so I let Lily choose from her shelf this months selection. This month Lily chose 5 books that she really enjoyed me reading. 

So here is what we have been reading over September. 

1. Mine by Rachel Bright 

I loved this story just as much as Lily did. It's all about 2 twins that don't know how to share their favourite toy 'Funny Bunny'. In the end they fight over it and it breaks. Granny fixes it and they decide that they need to make a rota to learn how to share the bunny. It's such a great story about sharing and Lily loves to tell me during the story about how they are not sharing. The story has so many parts where you can put so much emphasis into the reading and i'm a parent who just loves to put 100% effort in. Such as a part where the kids cry "waaahhhhh", I pretend to cry really loudly and Lily is such a sweetheart and always gives me a hug. Lily asked me to read this over and over and really enjoyed this story. She now also has a better understanding of sharing which is great. I bought this book from the book store Books and Pieces. 

2. Archie goes to the Doctor by Emma Brown

This book is such a classic tail of having to go to the Doctors, played out by knitted animal characters. I really like books that stick to a simple storyline. Especially when it is teaching children about a every day life subject such as the doctor. In this story, Archie falls of a swing and really hurts his arm. He needs to go to the Doctors. The story shows his sister and mum taking care of him while they go to visit the doctor and he makes him feel better. Its such a nice story to show that going to the doctors isn't scary and that doctors are really nice. Lily really loved this story and by the end of the month she had actually learnt parts of it by heart and loved to read it with me. I would really recommend this book if your child has an interest in playing doctors as I think they would love it. I won this book from a Topsta giveaway but you can pick it up on places such as amazon. 

3. Tyrannosaurus Drip by Julia Donaldson 

This book needs a little bit of practice but then when you do get the hang of the long dinosaur words and the rhyme, its such a great story to read. The story is all about a group of green dinosaurs called Duckbill and a group of Tyrannosaurus's. The Tyrannosaurus's want to hunt the Duckbills but can't because of the river as they can't swim. One day a Compsognathus steals a Duckbill egg but ends up dropping it into the T-rex nest. When it hatches, the T-rex's bring it up as there own, although its different. One day the Duckbill realises its different as it doesn't want to eat meat or hunt and so it runs away and swims across the river where it meets the other Duckbills. So close to a happy ending when a branch falls across the river and the T-rex's can cross it to hunt. But the Duckbill is clever and finds a way to frighten the T-rex's and they all go falling into the river leaving the Duckbills safe. 

As usual for Julia Donaldson, she does not fail to impress. The story is written so well and holds so much excitement that kept Lily glued to the story. It has repetition and rhyme which Lily tried to join in with and Lily really enjoyed the characters. If you are a fan of Julia Donaldson books, and your little one is a dinosaur fan then you will not be disappointed with this story. This book can be bought from most book stores as well as on amazon. 

4. Topsy and Tim go on a Train - By Jean and Gareth Adamson

I always used to love Topsy and Tim as a child and so its really great that Lily really loves Topsy and Tim too. In this story they take a train journey to see there gran. The story goes through all things that happen on the train, including the ticket inspector, eating lunch and going through a dark tunnel. It's a really great book if your child enjoys going on a train or a perfect introduction to train journeys if maybe your child is about to go on a long one. Lily loved the part with the tunnel, telling me that "its gone all dark". I bought this book from Waterstones. 

5. I love you so Much by Igloo Books

After all the excitement in the other books, this was such a lovely story to settle down to at the end. It has such a calm story about a fox and its baby and talks about snuggling up and being held and how much they love each other. I really enjoyed reading this to Lily at the end of the night and giving her a big kiss to show her that just like in the story, I loved her too. It's also not a long story and so perfect for that nice quiet settling to sleep book. Lily really liked the characters and thought that the baby fox was cute. You can get this book from the Igloo Books online store. 

Which book do you like the sound of the most? 

Appy Kids Co Drinks Review and Giveaway

We have been fans of Appy Kids Co Drinks for a while now. Lily has always enjoyed there refreshing fruity taste and fell in love with the fact that the drinks have her most loved characters on the front.

This time Lily was even more impressed to see that her favourite flavour of Apple had her favourite characters from Paw Patrol on the front. We were sent some Paw Patrol Apple drinks and also some Dora the Explorer Mixed Berries drinks.

Appy Kids co have always been on the parents side, making sure their drinks are low in sugar and calories but yet are keeping that flavour to make sure that the kids love them and want them. While also making sure that these healthier options of drinks are also affordable. 

There are so many positive things about these drinks. They are wholesome by being made from the goodness of nature and the Paw Patrol drinks are fortified with vitamins A, C and E. To top it off their packaging is also renewable and are used from recycled materials. Overall this brand shouts high quality goodness to me. 

Lily was so thrilled when the boxes turned up. She was excited to see Paw Patrol but also knew who Dora was and was excited to have drinks with her on the front also. Each box comes with 5 pouches of drinks. 

The Dora flavour is Mixed Berries and the Paw Patrol drinks are Apple. The pouches are bursting full of juice. It was great that they were so full and provided a decent drink for Lily. Each pouch is 200ml and comes with a straw and an area to pierce. I did find that at times the hole was tricky to pierce and had to be very careful to not spill the juice all over me as I did so. 

Lily really enjoyed the juices, mostly the apple ones as they are her favourite flavour, but she did also like the berry ones. In fact the paw patrol ones she drank so quickly and she wanted more than one a day most days. Im so glad to know they are low in sugar so I don't have to worry about her having more than one. I did try the juices myself and they are really full of flavour and although low in the sugar they are still really nice and sweet. 

I would be quite happy to buy these for Lily again. I love the fact that they are pouches and so perfect for lunch boxes and on the go. 

You can buy Appy drinks from places such as Tesco. 

Would your child love these drinks?

If you like the sound of these juices then you can enter below to win 8 packs of juices! Appy have let me give away 4 boxes of Apple Paw Patrol and 4 boxes of Orange. Use the Gleam app below to enter.

Win 8 Boxes of Appy Kids Drinks

My Sunday Photo 01/10/17