Half term Round Up comp

Right sorry its a day late ....... but I am down with cold .... so here it is nothing much but here is a a picture of some little gift I bought at woodlands .... and also my tomato plant pot too ...

So its really easy to enter ... a little rafflecopter comp and a link to join my facebook page which it I get enough likes on there I will host another comp .... soon .... so this comp will last seven days  from today so check back and Retweet every day and Goodluck .......



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Woodlands Yippee .....

Friday was Woodlands day

I was lucky enough to win a family ticket to Woodlands on there facebook page this week so when I told the kids they were super excited ....(and so was I ) 

So we decided to go up that way on Friday now this was going to be the first time I have ever driven that far out of Plymouth...  as I only just passed the summer just gone so this was going to be a true test of my confidence too you can say I was a little bit nervous ..... But we made it and the kids were so happy .... and we had a spot of lunch in there picnic area and then it was off to play ....

So are first port of call on our day out was the Action Zone where the kids played in smugglers ball pool and then played in play area outside we spent some time here and then we headed off towards Ninja Zone in the next area  they got to play on a few slides and slide down Ninja towers and the boys were having great fun trying to get there sister to come down the slide lying in wait for her to finally arrive ..... they waited a while and gave up as she was too scared lol ..... yet she went on roller-coasters in bush garden but could not go down one slide at woodlands as it was in the dark ..... (Weird) 

As it was a cold day (it even snowed a little while we were there) the main water slides are not working this time of year so we then headed off too Arctic Zone which was very app as it was so cold the boys went onto Polar Pilots which they enjoyed while me and Amy watched .... then it was onto Champion Pedal Karts which I had to push Robert around as his legs only just reached the pedals .... then we played on these really cool swings why they don't have these in all parks as you can get more then two people on and one time they are awesome ....

We then were pretty cold and decided to head inside for a bit to warm up as we were all feeling a little chilly ... on the way we got to see a peacock .... we arrived at  Empire Zone where the kids went on some of the rides inside and even I went on one or two .... as Robert was a little too small and had to have a adult ... I did not mind as I am such a big kid at heart ..... Inside there they have a great place to eat and they also do kids party too .... so if you are stuck for ideas for kids birthdays you should check it out looks fantastic ....

After a while here we then headed off to Sea Monster Zone here they have a Sea Dragon Swing Ship but the kids did not want to go that one after going on the one in Florida I think that one scared them for life as it went all the way over ekkk!!! so we settled on some Bumper Boats which were great I had to go twice as the boys needed me to take them around .... once again I did not mind ...

We then headed towards Circus Drome Zone and the Master Blaster ... where I stayed outside and had a cup of Hot Chocolate to warm my hands and my tummy it was very nice while the kids warmed up by running around shooting balls and each other in the space themed room .... trying to fill the Volcano up and then setting it off ....

Then we all headed inside the Circus tent and the kids had a train ride and then played in the ball pools before it was time to head home .... they really had a fab time and so did I we hopefully shall be heading back in the summer or maybe before then and we will try and blog about some of the other exciting zones that we never got round to doing this time but if you want to have a look then please check out there website ...  here ! 

They even have a brand new section Opening up on the 11th May 2013 which is the Fantasi Forest Grand Opening  So if you are a fan of Harry Potter or wizardry fun this could be a great place to go this Spring and if that is not all then if you kids are anything like mine then guess who will be at the grand opening  Katsuma from Moshi Monsters OMG !! so make a space in your calender and head to Woodlands on the 11th May for all this exciting fun .... you would be silly to miss it !! hopefully we may see you there !!

But in the mean time I will be running a comp on my blog tomorrow to win some fab items from the Woodlands Gift shop and also some Tomato seeds so you can have a go at making some your self so look out tomorrow for my blog update .....

Making scrummy Biscuits with the kids ....

Thursday was another cooking Day

So after one successful day of cooking we decided to do some of my favourite childhood biscuits that I used to make when I was a kid .... this recipe I got from Nickelodeon many years ago and still to this day I love making these scrummy biscuits......

These are all the ingredients you will need to make these biscuits

Ingredients:

• 60g of Butter or Margarine
• 8 Tablespoons of Honey or Golden Sryup
• 160g of Self-Raising Flour
• 20g of Cornflakes
• 40g of Desiccated Coconut
• 40g of Rolled Oats
• 70g of Sultanas (optional)

Directions:

• Grease the baking Tray.
• Mix together the flour, cornflakes,desiccated coconut, rolled oats and sultanas if you used them.
• With the help of a grown-up mix the butter (or margarine) and honey (or golden Syrup) in a pan over a low heat until they are completely mixed, then remove from heat. 
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the melted mixture and mix until in becomes a stiff dough.
• Spoon the mixture on to the baking tray and roll into around 15 balls.
• Get a grown-up to put it in the oven bake at 180C/350F/Gas mark 7 for 10-12 minutes.

I make more by doubling the mixture

after around 12 minutes the biscuits are all made and ready to eat be quick as I find these don't last too long in our house ... let me know if you make these yourself ...and tell me what you think....

Also a little tip I have learned when making these is when you are doing the golden syrup bit but you tablespoon into a mug of hot water and you will find the Syrup will come over very easy without sticking to the spoon ...

Half Term Ideas

Wednesday was Gardening Day

Sorry not posted in a few days been super busy so here is my catch up over the last few days .......

On Wednesday we had a day of Potting plants and doing a bit of gardening ....as you can see our garden needed some attention.....

after we mowed the grass and had a  general tidy up me and Robert decided to pot some tomatoes ready for the summer .....

So I picked up these lovely little Tomato seed pots .... so we went to work getting one all set up ..... so the first step was emptying out some of the soil from the pot ......

Robert loved this part I had to get him to put it on a plate to stop the soil going everywhere.










once we got half of the soil out the next step was to add some water to the pot and make the layer of soil underneath damp to touch

Once the soil was damp enough we had to upon up the sachet of seeds that comes in the pot ...... you get four little tomato seeds in total which you have to spread out into each corner of the pots soil .....

Once you complete this step and you are happy with the seeds placement you then have to add the remaining soil you took out and place this over the seeds in the pot ....(plate came in very handy at this point )

Once all these steps are complete tidy up any mess and then place the lid back on the pot and place in the kitchen windowsill ready for the seeds to grow ... come back in a few weeks to see the next stage of these tomato plants ..... and if you fancy a go then enter my Half term Round up comp which is coming very soon ....

Jus Rol Pain Au Chocolat Review

Tuesday is Cooking day !

So today was a manic day for me as I had loads of running around to do! from going into town to shopping and then doctors not had a lot of time to stop and do fun things with the kids...... But once I had finished me and Amy decided to do some baking while the boys played Minecraft on the Xbox.

So after the success of making the pizza this week we decided to have a go at the Jus Rol Chocolate Croissant kit ......

As you can see inside the Box Of Jus Rol Pain Au Chocolat  you don't get a lot to play with but you really don't need much everything you need for making yummy treats are inside the box.





So you get enough to make 6 croissants in total & one can of ready made dough which is easy to open by pulling at the red triangle as you can see.

After placing 6 pieces of dough onto a baking tray Amy then started to place the little pieces of chocolate onto each end of the dough ...... then once this was complete all she had to do was roll each piece of dough around the chocolate and then turn over ready for making ... I have attached a video to show her doing this next step ...

After 12 mins in the oven they were ready and the house was filled with a sweet pasty smell ...... mmmmmm!!! and they looked great we let them cool for a moment ... and then made a cup of tea for myself and we sat down to eat what we have made while they were still warm .... Even the boys decided to come down once there noises attuned to the smell coming from the kitchen  ... these are definitely a big hit and they were not expensive and real easy to make my only issue was there just was not enough .... next time I think two packets will have to accidently fall into my shopping trolley lol .....  

Favourite Outdoor toy !!

Now this is no normal run of the mill out door toy is not expensive anyone can have one .. does not matter how big your garden is .... but this is what me and the kids love to door out in what you can call out garden please mind the mess ekkk !!!  we were having a extension added on and our garden became a war zone ... so hence the need for outside fun in the way of bubbles ....


And the photos are not great but my son is no camera man lol .....

Well as you can see we made some great bubbles ... and had a lot of fun too .... so if you are like us no much room but what to have fun outdoors then get yourself a bubble wand (we got ours at Hawkins Bazaar before they closed but you can get one on Amazon for £9.75 with free delivery too )they and really cool bubbly fun ... and a great way to spend some time with the kids and who does not like playing with bubbles I know I do !!!

Also if you are looking for new outdoor ideas the try Toyz World they have some great toys on there our personal fav is the Ozbozz Pogo Stick they look great fun ... reminds me of the old space hopper kind of fun ... and they retail for £39,99 and is available in Pink/purple for the girls and black/silver for the boys great for ages 5 and up 

Half Term Monday !!

Monday is Park Day!!!


Well today we decided to go to Central Park I took my mug of tea and gloves to keep myself warm and I do believe after two hours I lost most feeling to my toes and fingers and tried to remind myself .... the kids are having fun and this is not costing a thing ......

Has you can see it was a lovely day today in Plymouth despite the cold ... and the kids had a lot of fun running around and burning off steam .....

Also I went up into the loft today and got out my sons old garage ... and then remembered why i put it up there in the first place I am yet to find a garage for his cars that is any good ..... so I am now on the look out for any company's that may have one that I can review as I have gone through loads of different brands and they all break or fall apart .... and then are useless but he loves playing cars .... so if you are reading this and you know of any companies please let me know or email me as I would love to review one that is half decent......

Also on a fab note my Five year old son has now for the first time spelt his name all by himself I could not be more proud at this moment in time ...... I have a smile that wont go away and I had to share this big moment on here .... look you can see he is getting there but this is the first time I have seen him do it result .....

Pizza Maddness Oh my!!

Well with the half term now upon me I was thinking of ways to amuse my kids.... without spending silly amounts of money in the process so this week hopefully I will be sharing with you some nice and cheap ways of having fun.... with the kids this half term.....

So Sunday nights entertainment was pizza making with the boys as my daughter is in London seeing dancing on ice tonight..... 

So I bought some Jus Rol Thin Crust Pizza to make with the boys.... so on opening the packing and laying out the dough the boys were very excited and making their own pizza ..... so they both had a tray each and set to work spreading the tomato purée all over there bases  (I was surprised the pot provided in the box had a loads so there was more than enough to go around)  ..... 

Once that was complete then the fun part adding on the cheese..... They had loads of fun doing this part (kitchen floor was not so pleased). 

Especially Spiderman that is.......

Once all the cheese was somewhat evenly spread over the fresh pizza dough I gave them the option to add toppings ... but my boys and very boring and love there pizza plain.... but if I had my way there would have been peppers onions the lot ....

After about 15 mins the pizza where ready and they looked fantastic the boys were very proud that they made tea and had lots of fun in the process too.... I even got to have a slice and adding some nice lettuce and spinach on the plate for myself.... and I must say it looked real yummy was inexpensive and the kids loved making it will defiantly me doing this again soon.... so thanks jus rol never used this before and with definitely be using it again ..... I even picked up there chocolate croissant kit too so watch this space will be doing this during the week too....

The best thing the kids loved it and ate the lot and so did I

Kingston Technology DataTraveler Locker Review

I was lucky enough to be asked to review for Kingston Technology and jumped at the chance being a gadget geek gal and all ...... the service was fantastic and the item came very quickly my courier such speedy service I was already a little impressed .... So I got to work unpacking my new little toy which was a DataTraveler Locker+ G2 Personal Security 16GB which retails for around £19.00 which I think is great for the amount of storage you have and the added security too .... 

And in this day and age we are living putting a price on personal data just does not happen with news reports of personal data, Id Theft and fraud always gracing our headlines, us as consumers are trying to find new and easier solutions to protecting our information from personal photos and videos of your children to course work being stolen the opportunity for these things being stolen is increasing.

So Kingston Technology have come to our rescue some what and made this handy little storage device which come in sizes from as little as 4GB to 32GB with  a 256-bit AES hardware encryption which utilizes a nice and easy password solution for unlocking the device giving you piece of mind your data is safe.

And the best thing is this lovely handy device is only just over 2 inches big so it can fit into your wallet or bag with ease all the data in such a small space (shame I cant dot hat with the kids toys if only!! )

As you can see from the photos its very sleek and stylish its made with durable metal casing and has a built in loop that can be easily attached to a briefcase, Bag or backpack.

Specifications

Capacities 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB

Speed 10MB/s read 5MB/s write

Hardware encryption: The best in personal security to keep your data safe.

Superior password protection:  user sets a password to prevent unauthorized access.

Versatile: Works interchangeably between Mac OS X and Windows.

Secure: Drive locks down and reformats after 10 invalid login attempts.

Easy to use: No application installation required.

Password Manager: Access and store user names and passwords for up to 20 accounts. 

Compatibilty: Interchangable beween Mac OS X and windows systems.

Password set up menu very simple and easy to use feature.

So overall I love my new little gadget it has been a great new toy to add to my gadget collection ... and I would highly recommend anyone to get one of these if they are worried about keeping there personal data safe no don't fear no more and follow my links to take you to there page where you can buy one today ......

John Greed Jewellery’s Valentines Day Blogger Challenge

John Greed are running a Valentines Day BloggerChallenge  where you create a mood board showing the items of Jewellery you would like you partner to buy you for Valentine’s Day(here is hoping hint hint ).

This is a challenge considering its tomorrow so doubt this would happen for me anyway but if I could use a magic wand and have £250 to spend at John Greed then this would be my dream wish list ... now it was not easy as i could spend this 10x and more as there are so many things I would love but after a while I narrowed it down to these items ... now you may think some are not very valentine’s day inspired but to me it’s what would be personal to what I would like .. and what would make my valentine’s day one that I would always remember ...

Not saying my hubby is romantic but the last few years let’s say I have corpse bride on DVD and a film called double jeopardy not really romantic if you ask me lol

For my first choice I have chosen SwarovskiNightingale Pendent Which is of a butterfly ... as most people know I love butterfly's and would love to receive something like this for a valentines present as it shows the person buying it for me that they know me and this would be a great alternative to a bunch of flowers any day 

For another choice would be a selection of Pandora beads my husband bought me a Pandora a while back and yet I still have no beads and would love to add to my bracelet I am off to Vegas next month for my 30th and I have chosen a selection of travel related beads to symbolise a big part of a new memory that is going to happen very soon ....

Pandora Silver Suitcase Charm 790362

Pandora Silver Camera Charm 790961

Pandora Silver Aeroplane Charm 790561

If I was lucky enough to get these charms from my valentine it would fab I know it’s not very traditional but it would mean a lot more to me then flowers or chocolates and would last a lot longer and hold more memories than anything else ....

Coeur De Lion glass and white bronze bright Rainbow Necklace

Now since I can remember I have always loved the rainbow  necklace from Coeur De Lion who wouldn't its absolutely stunning and I will own one day with it s rainbow colours it gives me a uplifting mood ever time I look at it and takes me to happy place ...

The total of the items I have chosen comes to £251 bang on hope they let me go over by a £1 if not ekkk !! I’ll pay he! he! Was hard to narrow it down but I love my choice hope you like what i decided on too ... let me know what would you chose if you could have £250 to spend 

Pancake Day Whoopie !!!

I love pancake day .... and I love looking out for comps to enter .... last year I made a rainbow and a thunder cloud seen here .....

All I won was a spook which is  a fork and spoon in one ... the kids like using it ... I must say... but this year me and kids all made three different pancake scenes.

 My son Robert who is 5 wanted fishes ....

We used coloured pancake mix and strawberries and blueberries to make this creation ...

My daughter Amy who is 10 wanted butterflies ....

To make this we used edible glitter and edible gems  and pancakes ...

And finally Thomas who is 7 wanted dinosaurs as he is learning about them in school so we did the meteor shower ...

To make this apocalyptic event we used coloured pancake mix cut using dino cutters and some strawberry laces to make the red sky and edible glitter to make the look of the meteor shower and currents to make tar pits   

Hope you like what we made and if want to have ago yourself then all you need is your basic pancake recipe which is ....

1. Put the flour, eggs, milk and a pinch of salt into a bowl i like to add touch of cinnamon to mine then whisk to a smooth batter. Set aside for 30 mins to rest if you have time and this is where i get all my tools ready cutters and food dye gels.
2. Use a medium size frying pan  over a medium heat and carefully wipe it with some oiled kitchen paper. When hot, cook your pancakes for 1 min on each side until golden.
3. Serve with lemon and sugar, or your favourite filling. or have a go at making some scenes like ours above ... 

Good luck at your pancakes would love to see pictures if you have any ...... 

just about to send off my pictures to confused.com they are giving away a  Phillips airfryer been after one of those for a long time wish us luck if you want to enter too then click here and follow three instructions on entering