Lily's 4th Birthday

Tomorrow is Lily's 4th Birthday! I can't believe how fast it has come! I set up this blog when she was about 14 months old which doesn't feel like 2 moments ago!

I know quite a few readers here have been reading from the start and so i'm sure you also can't believe where the time has gone.

Usually for Lily's Birthday I write a little update on her. This year I thought I would do that but with a difference. I am going to tell you 17 things about Lily all from the letters of Happy Birthday Lily.

Hope you enjoy reading them.

Hyperactive - Some days I have never known anything like it. She will be rolling around the place giggling away, singing and screaming at the top of her voice. She has so much energy and never ever naps or seems to get tired. 

Argumentative - Lily likes to challenge me with every chance possible and loves to try and argue to not have to do things or to try and get her own way. Generally a simple 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 works with this and I win.

Polite - Lily's manners are hit and miss, she can be really good when someone gives her something and will hug them and say Thank you so much! But then also forget to say thank you for the little things and needs to be reminded. 

Playful - Lily loves playing with others and has now started to make friends who she loves to play with. Her confidence playing with others has come on leaps and bounds in the last year. 

Yoyo - Her moods go up and down from day to day. One day she is super happy and happy to do her own thing, and the next is clinging to my leg and winging a lot. 

Baby Dolls - Babies are one of Lily's favourite toys. She has lots of them and is constantly taking care of them and playing mummy. 

Intelligent - Since Lily has been going to Nursery she has been getting so clever. She has started to learn her name, knows all her songs, is learning her numbers and she is getting really good at copying writing letters now. 

Really Sweet - Lily can be so sweet. She says the loveliest things about her family and friends and she is always kind enough to share her sweets and chocolate with others. She always offers and If I say no Thank you, she says "Go onnnnnnn" It is a good job I am not on a diet as she always managed to convince me to have another chocolate. 

Talented - Lily has always impressed me with her drawing ability. She is always drawing people mainly but now has got good at drawing our cats and also the sunshine. Her favourite thing to paint is apple tree's and she is really good at this too, the paintings always come out looking exactly like a apple tree. 

Hungry - Lily seems to be non stop eating and is constantly asking me for foods. Her sweet tooth has certainly grown and she loves to eat cake now. I have had to move the snacks cupboard to a higher one because through out the day she would constantly be helping herself to snacks. Especially biscuits. 

Dark - Lily is still scared of the dark, but also scared of many other things too. She is slowly getting over her fear of dogs and picks and chooses which days she is scared of them. Lily mostly hates loud noises though, and is terrified of hand dryers which makes going to public bathrooms really hard work. 

Attitude - Lily is now 4 going on 14. She talks back, does a moody little pout and crosses her arm and stamps her feet. If this is her little attitude now, I dread to think what it will be like at 14.

Young at heart - Though Lily is growing up, I do still see her as my little baby and I still love the times that she wants to cuddle up in my arms. She currently has night terrors and its at these moments when I have to reassure her I get reminded of how little she still is.

Loving - Lily is so loving now and has a huge heart. She never likes seeing people upset and will comfort them by saying "shhh its okay, I got you". 

Independent- Lily's independence is growing but she is still relying on me for a lot of things. She will on some days get herself dressed, take her self to the toilet, and play on her own. But there are other days where she says she can't do it and wants my help.

Lazy - This is something I am trying to break her habit of, but she can be so lazy. Always asking to be picked up because she doesn't want to walk, won't tidy up, and is always asking me to get her things she could get herself. But at the same time she is always happy to jump out of bed and never wants to go in it at night. 

Year - Lily has changed so much in this last year. The biggest change I have noticed is her confidence. Last year at Nursery she was so shy and wasn't getting stuck in where as this year she has come on in leaps and bounds and is really getting involved. She isn't as shy anymore and seems to be popular at Nursery with the children there. I love when I pick her up and all her friends want to hug her goodbye. This really shows me that she is a character and also a lovely girl for other children to want to be around.

I really look forward to see what the next year brings for her. 

Mid Month More About Me

Fitness Update

It has been quite a while since I have updated about my fitness. As some of you may know, I currently do Aerial Hoop, Pole and Silks as well as attend the gym and for a little while I was on a diet.

I have now cut the diet, I feel I have lost enough weight to not have to worry about it, and the exercise I do helps it stay off. I do still try and intake protein when I can though, especially after a work out.

One of the things that has come on in leaps and bounds is my strength and my confidence. I am finding tricks I at one point found impossible, now are a lot easier to do.

On the pole I am easily going upside down now and I am so much more confident to let go with my hands and just use one leg. There are some tricks I have been trying to master for months now and have finally managed to do them and some I can do easily more than once. I feel great about myself for being able to do things that at one point I couldn't do. 

The same goes for hoop. I am getting so much stronger now and there are loads of tricks that I never had the strength to do before. I am also becoming more daring and doing tricks from the top of the hoop. 

But not without bruising. I am still bruising and aching and also pulling muscles from my crazy tricks. 

Here are a few photographs of some of my latest moves. 

What do you do in your spare time to keep yourself fit? 

Countdown to Christmas with Wine

Have you thought about your advent calendar this year yet? There are so many options on the market this year from Chocolate to Beauty. But I think Christmas is a time to celebrate and so why not think about getting a Wine and Prosecco calendar. After all the build up to Christmas can be stressful so a nice glass of wine is a great way to unwind.

Broadland Wineries have the perfect Advent Calendar for you with this Christmas wine and Prosecco calendar.

This festive collection contains 24 small bottles inside. Each day you can open up a door and find a different bottle of wine from a wide selection of whites, reds and sparkling.

This advent contains -

• White wines - New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Australian Chardonnay, Italian Pinot Grigio, South African Chenin Blanc and sparkling Prosecco.
• Red wines - New Zealand Pinot Noir, Argentine Malbec, Chilean Merlot, South African Shiraz, Australian Shiraz and mulled wine.

Each bottle of wine is 187 ml so larger than your usual mini sized bottle.

If this is the advent calendar for you then you can head here to buy it for £46.75

Broadland Wineries have kindly sent me one of these calendars to try and I shall be tweeting through out december to show you all what I find inside.

If you fancy joining me and finding out what selection is inside then head to my Twitter page @lilyslearners

Orchard Toys Giraffes in Scarves Review

I am happy to share with you another wonderful game from Orchard Toys that we have been sent to review.

It's called Giraffes in Scarves and is perfect for children aged 4 to 7.

The game is all about counting and colour matching and the winner is the one who can collect the most scarves on their giraffe.

In the box there is -

1 Colour Dice
1 Instruction Leaflet
6 Base Boards
6 Head Cards
24 Neck Cards 

The base cards all show the lower part of the Giraffes body. Each player has to select a base card each. Lily and I both decided to have 2 base cards each.

After choosing your base cards you then need to put the base cards your not playing with to the side. As well you need to find the matching head and also put these to the side.

On the neck cards, there is a picture of a neck on one side, and a coloured circle on the other. 

All the neck cards need to be placed neck picture side down so only the colours are showing. Also the head cards need to be placed down also. 

The youngest player gets to start. So in this case, Lily beats me by far and gets to take the first roll. As she rolls a colour, she then needs to find this colour circle on the card and turn it over. If she has a picture of a neck, this can then be placed on the giraffe. The necks may have anything from 0 to 3 scarves on. 

The idea is to keep turning over the cards turn by turn to add more necks to the Giraffe. But mixed into the neck cards are also the head cards and so if you turn over your giraffes head card you must put it on your giraffe and then that is your giraffe finished.

If you pick up another players head card, you can also finish off their giraffe which stops them from putting more scarves onto it.

When everyone has a full built giraffe they all count up the scarves and the one with the most wins. 

Me and Lily had so much fun with this game and I ended up winning with having the giraffe with a ridiculously long neck.

As always I would really rate this game. It is of the highest quality, fully educational and also the characters are so child friendly. I really love the design of the giraffes who are pulling funny faces on most cards.

This game can be played from 2 to 6 players and retails at £7.75 

Head to the Orchard Toys website to find out more about it or to buy it. 

Would your little one enjoy this game? 

Monthly Book Roundup - What we have been reading in October

Each month I write about which books we have been reading during the month. I usually introduce Lily to 3 - 4 new books each month while at the same time reading some of our favourites. We have story time each night and always read 2-3 stories, depending on how tired she is. 

You can read all the other book roundups from the last 2 years here. 

This month we didn't have much of a theme. We have been reading some halloween books from last year, and haven't got any new ones this year. I have a huge collection of books and so lots for me to get reading to Lily.

This month Lily chose the new stories she wanted to read. 

1. In the Night Garden - Everybody Loves The Pinky Ponk by Andrew Davenport
Much to my delight (not) Lily has wanted to read this story most nights. She pulled it from her book shelf and suddenly decided she wanted to hear it over and over. Although Lily is now nearly 4 years old she still loves In the Night Garden and this book is great for any In the night Garden Fans. The story is all about the In the Night Garden characters and them enjoying a ride on the pinky ponk. As you read the story there are prompts to press the buttons on the side which make In the Night Garden sounds. I got send this book a while ago from Ladybird Books but you should be able to pick this up online.

2. Monsters Not Allowed By Tracey Hammet 
I really enjoyed this story. It is all about a Monster that decides to show up for school one day. It causes all sorts of chaos and eventually the headmaster tells it not to come back. The Monster was sad to leave, and all the children were sad too. Eventually the headmaster decides that the children are all too sad and they invite the monster back to stay. I think its is a really fun story and I love the connection to school that it has. Lily did enjoy this story but didn't want to read it often because it had a monster in. I was sent this book from Scholastic and it can be bought online.

3. Wriggle and Roar by Julia Donaldson

Lily really enjoyed reading all these rhymes. The rhymes are all about making noises and sounds and movements and some of the rhymes have sounds like ah ah ah in them. They are all sounds that the children can learn and join in with. There was some rhymes in this book that I thought were brilliant and some that I didn't rate to highly. That said, Lily seemed to enjoy them all. The book is quite long and has 17 rhymes in. Some long and some short. If you are someone who enjoys Rhymes then you would enjoy this book. This book can be bought from shops or online.

Which of the above books would you like to read? 

Wally The Washer Review and Giveaway

Wally the Washer Review and Giveaway 

As it comes closer to Christmas, one of the things you may be thinking of is buying your child a new game to play. For me Christmas is all about games and so I like to make sure that Lily has new ones under the Christmas tree.

Recently I got sent a new table top game from Drumond Park to Review, called Wally the Washer.

I just knew Lily would love this game. She is obsessed with helping me do the washing and loves to play role play washing using cardboard boxes. 

As soon as she saw it she was very excited and wanted to play straight away. So we got it out the box. 

In the box there is -

Wally the Washing Machine
Giant Clothes Peg
Dirty Sock
Sticker Sheet
5 Clothes Pieces each in Red, Green, Blue and Yellow
Washing lines and poles in Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. 

The great thing about the game is that it doesn’t take much assembly or setting up. You need to put some stickers onto wally, and a sock, and then stand up the little washing lines by slotting them together. You also need to pop some batteries into the washing machine which is on the bottom and needs to be opened with a screw driver. 

First thing you need to do is fill up the washing machine. There are 4 different coloured washing lines as this game is for 2-4 players. Each player chooses a colour to be. You fill up the washing machine with all the coloured clothing and objects. To open the washing machine door press down the soap button on the top of Wally. The aim of the game is for each player to hang all 5 pieces of washing onto there washing line. 

Wally the Washer spins the clothes around and around until you press the button on the top and the door opens and out flies all the washing. Youngest player goes first and when they have pressed the button them and the others players then need to look through all the washing and see what has come out.

Only clothes may have fallen out of wally, if this is the case then all the players find and pick up their coloured clothing and hang it on the line. If the dirty sock falls out with the washing then this means that the wash was not finished and so all the clothes must be placed back in and none picked up. 

Then this is where the giant nose peg comes into play. The player who pressed the stop button then needs to peg it on their nose. They must leave it on there until the next time the sock falls out of Wally. The peg doesn't hurt at all to be placed on the nose and is very gentle. Lily wasn't too keen on having it on her nose though. 

You also may press the button and nothing falls out of Wally, that means the players turn has finished and the next player must take its turn. 

The first player to hang up all their washing is the winner. In the case that 2 players final pieces come out, its a race to who can get theres onto the line the fastest to be crowned the winner. 

I really love the concept of this game. It provides laughs and giggles and it is so different to a lot of games. I love that the washing machine actually spins around. The game is also great for children to practice looking and recognising their colour. 

Lily has been really enjoying playing this game and I can see her getting it out quite often to play. 

The game is retailed at £24.99 and is aimed for Children 4+. You can find out where it is stocked at www.drumondpark.com

Win Wally the Washer Game

Freeze your Unwanted Fat with Pulse Light Clinic

For some, getting rid of that unwanted fat can be a nightmare. For some dieting and exercise alone just isn't enough and there are still parts we aren't happy with. It is at this point you may feel at a loss and wonder what more you could be doing to help with fat loss.

This is where Pulse Light Clinic in London can help.

Pulse Light Clinic is a clinic that specialises in freezing your fat. The treatment is called CoolSculpting and is a non surgical treatment. It is a quick solution to killing fat cels and the best part is that it is needle and pain free.

Some of the common area's that are worked on with cool sculpting are arms, chin, inner thighs, stomach and flanks (love handles).

CoolSculpting uses a fat freezing technique called Cryolipolysis. The way the treatment is done is by a CoolSculpting pack being placed onto the area where you want the fat eliminating. This would be left there for an hour while you sat back and relaxed. As you are relaxing the fat cells are being frozen which causes the fat cells to die. After you have had the treatment you leave your body to do the rest of the work as your body naturally gets rid of the dead cells. It can take from 6 to 12 weeks for the final results to be visible to the body and this is because of its natural way of letting your body do the work.

CoolSculpting is a new effective way of getting rid of fat without having to have any marks or damage to the body. After each treatment you should see 25% fat reduction so more than one treatment is recommended to be able to see the optimum results. 

All the treatment is carried out by a doctor or nurse and is FDA cleared and seen as safe and effective. 

If this sort of treatment is something that you are interested in you can receive a free consultation at the Pulse Light Clinic which is located in London and only 3 minutes walk from Bank/Monument Station. 

Pulse Light Clinic

1st Floor

20 East Cheap

EC3M 1EB

Would a treatment like this be something you were interested in? 

*This is a sponsored post but all words are my own*