Reviews

Kate Middleton’s necklace from Merci Maman

The duchess necklace, inspired by Kate Middleton - a beautiful gift for Mother's Day

A beautiful necklace for mothers When the world started asking where Kate Middleton found the lovely necklace she was spotted wearing a year ago, Merci Maman were proud to realise that it was one of their own pieces, purchased by Pippa for her sister after the birth of Prince George. Sweet and simple in design, it was classic enough for a royal mum, but personal enough that any mum would love to have her own version. So they created the Duchess necklace, which retails at £79.  What I love about this necklace is the mix: the simple inscription of a …

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Modz Angry Birds blood glucose meter review

The Modz Angry Birds blood glucose meter has clear and colourful graphics

  Type 1 diabetes is not a cheerful subject. It’s even less fun when you’re a child; and certainly no fun at all when you’re a 10 year old who has to prick her finger before she can eat. Nor is it nice waiting for the result of that finger-prick blood test. GG has been known to cover the screen of her meter as she tests, slow-revealing the result so as to lessen the blow. So anything that makes the whole daily slog of managing diabetes as a child will always get a massive tick in our house. Modz Angry …

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A compassionate Mum: Tesco Mum of the Year Awards 2015

Compassionate Mum winner Tesco Mum of the Year 2015

It’s no secret that we’ve had a tough few months here. My daughter’s diagnois of Type 1 diabetes at the end of the summer has really wiped the floor with us, again and again, in ways we could not have imagined when we first heard those words in the GP’s surgery. I lost a ton of weight, and not in a good way; I just couldn’t eat. Or drink wine – imagine! Over time – although acceptance is still a long way off – that initial shock has become less acute. I found myself tweeting this over the weekend, after noticing that …

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9 Brilliant Books for Tween Girls to Expand Their Reading Level

Books for 10 year old girls The Twistrose Key (by Tone Almhjell) Full of mystery, it slowly leads you up to the main event, until you’re so into it that you’re guessing what might happen next! (GG) Have you ever wondered where your pets go when they die? In your wildest imagination you couldn’t imagine this scenario for them, but when Lin finds her way to the land of Sylver, imagination becomes her reality, and an eternal winter plays host to racing adventure.  It started out as an advent calendar of one-page chapters for the author’s sister and became a …

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Whittlebury Hall Hotel and Spa Review

Spa at Whittlebury Hall hotel and spa review

Christmas coffee, gingerbread muffins, and champagne! I am well and truly ready for Christmas. Last week I had finally stopped ignoring the fact that my cupboards were empty of potential giftware, with two expectant children and their eager faces goading me into entering the festive fray. I threw myself headlong into the frenzy of preparation, and bought all (well, most) of my presents for family and friends online. I thought I was doing well, until the to-do list began to resemble my old school homework diary in the run-up to GCSE’s. I was frazzled. But this week I returned from …

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Do you believe in Santa?

Do you believe in Santa? I remember peering down at the bottom of my bed through the dark, at the bulky, mis-shapen pillowcase I’d laid out the night before. I have no idea what the time was, but it was cold, so it was too early for the heating to have switched itself on. There was no going back to sleep though. Nothing could stop me from crawling down to the end of my bed and retrieving that sack full of magic. I don’t remember anything after that. The presents, the unwrapping, the consuming of goodies and playing with toys …

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Never too old to swing!

Where do the birthdays go? They seem to come round much more frequently than once a year, and my children are growing up far too fast for my liking! My girl, especially, is turning into a young lady (or a grumpy teenager – ask me on a good or bad day and you’ll get a different answer!) almost as I watch, and as she hit double figures recently I was struggling to know what to get her for the big day. Until I asked her. What she most wanted, in all the world, was a swing. The best wooden swing …

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Dog on Stilts: a book with a message for children

Dog on Stilts: a book with a message for children

Medium dog has a problem. At least, he thinks he has. You see, he’s just medium. Average, ordinary, normal. And that doesn’t suit him. He wants to be noticed. He wants to be liked. He wants to BE someone! Luckily, he thinks he has the solution, and embarks on a project that will see him walking taller than all the other dogs. But will it make him happy? Dog on Stilts A little dog with a big message for children Dog on Stilts is the second hardback children’s book by James Thorp and Angus McKinnon, of The Superhairies group. We …

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Getting a head start on Christmas!

Christmas has started!  I know I’m totally going to polarise opinion here, but ever since I had children, I’m firmly in the camp of kicking off Christmas as soon as possible. There is just so much fabulous stuff to fit in, and I don’t want to be a chaotic heap of stress the week before the big day, only to wonder what hit me once the wrapping is off and we’re all stuffed full of Christmas pudding. So yesterday our Christmas tree went up. Often I get carried away with the romance of schlepping to the garden centre and choosing …

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How I finished my Christmas shopping in one morning.

I have just had the most brilliant morning. Yes, I should have been working, and yes, I do now have a little deadline pressure to catch up on. But it’s totally worth it for what I have just achieved. You see, my Christmas shopping is all done. And I only started today! Christmas shopping with Paypal saves time! This Christmas PayPal are asking you to share your Magical Christmas Moments with them, for a chance to win some fabulous prizes every week. Plus, if you use PayPal to do your Christmas shopping, you’ll have the chance to win back up …

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Ox Pasture Hall hotel review

On a cold, blustery wet weekend in November, we travelled to Scarborough. The north-eastern coastline might not seem like the best place for a wet winter weekend, but we weren’t there to sun ourselves on the beach. We were there to review Ox Pasture Hall Hotel, and whilst it’s a place beautiful enough for a summer’s weekend, the winter weather totally does it justice! Still beautiful, despite the season, as we made our way through the garden to the small reception, we knew we were in for a cosy retreat, and we weren’t disappointed. The children very quickly laid claim …

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Budget hotel luxury with Premier Inn

Premier Inn budget hotels: a good night guaranteed

Premier Inn Harrogate is pink! Can we really afford a weekend away? Staying away from home is expensive, and when you factor in a couple of kids the price often makes the whole adventure financially too stressful to bother with. Especially if you need more than one night to make the trip worthwhile. We travel a lot as a family; it’s part of our way of making memories that last for all of us, and of making the most of our children, before they decide their parents are too dull to spend time with! And whilst we love a luxury …

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Growing up gently with Teen Parcel

It may not have escaped your notice that we have a tween girl living with us. I say tween, as that seems to be the descriptor most used for a child who has not yet hit the teen years, but is most definitely moving on from childhood – if inconsistently! It’s a wonderful age. She is amazing company, really funny, developing – with the odd raised eyebrow from us to keep it in check – a sarcastic dryness to her judgements, yet still young enough to be helpful, to declare her love for us, and to accept that there have to …

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Blackpool Illuminasia light show

Blackpool Illuminasia - Terracotta Warriors in the Mysteries of China Zone

We visited Blackpool for a family weekend away whilst the Blackpool Illuminations were on. Every year, from the end of August, until early November, Blackpool’s seafront plays host to the most incredible light attraction you will see in the UK. I loved it as a teenager, and I loved it again when I took my family 3o years later, and it has really left me in the Christmas spirit. Blackpool Illuminasia But if the 3 mile stretch of Blackpool’s illuminations aren’t enough for you, you can extend the pleasure of colourful light installations with a visit to Illuminasia, the world’s …

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Starstruck at Madame Tussauds Blackpool

Madame Tussauds Blackpool One Direction

The stars at Madame Tussauds Blackpool. On our recent trip to Blackpool we paid a visit to Madame Tussauds. We’d heard that someone rather famous, and very very important was going to be there, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet them… 😉 We’ve visited Tussauds in London previously, and whilst it is undoubtedly a spectacular day trip, it is massively busy, which can be a bit stressful with young children. Madame Tussauds Blackpool was refreshing though; all the wow of the same stars, without such a big crowd. We did still have to queue up to see …

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Blackpool for families at the Cliffs Hotel

Family at Blackpool Pleasure Beach

 Blackpool is also for families! It was the biggest thrill of my life. I honestly thought I’d left my stomach at the top of the ride, and I sat, shellshocked, waiting to be let out of my harness. I couldn’t do it again. I was 14, scared senseless, and in love with rollercoasters. I rode them all, then consumed a hot-dog, an ice-cream, and a candy floss, and wondered why they made me feel sick. But I still had room for a stick of rock as I waited for my donkey-ride on the beach, and I begged for a clear …

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Type 1: What my girl would like to say…

I wasn’t going to write about World Diabetes Day. This is a family blog. It’s a happy space, where I record the things in our lives that I want us to remember: the holidays, the letters to Father Christmas, the amusing anecdotes about funny toddlers that will make guests at their weddings laugh. It is not a blog about diabetes. But as I think about my daughter, about all she has had to come to terms with in the 3 months since her diagnosis, I know that I can’t let the occasion pass without some comment. I was going to …

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Wot so Funee? Getting used to a new bike.

You have these weird things sticking out of your back. Yes, they’re my bumpers… He’s skinny, my boy. The result more of running around using his young body for fun, or for football, more than a lack of interest in food. It means that the definition in his form is easy to see, from his enviable six-pack, to his shoulder blades. Lucky that he has such ‘bumpers’ then, because this week he got a new bike, a bigger bike, and it took a bit of getting used to! I remember the thrill of my first Raleigh Twenty (yes, I am …

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Why You Should Plan a Weekend in L’Estartit on the Costa Brava

Visiting L'Estartit during the Medes Islands Pirates and Corsairs festival

When you think of a weekend break, it usually involves the car. If you do decide to venture further afield, maybe the Eurostar. You don’t generally think of getting on a flight to Spain. Especially with the kids. But you should. Oh, you really, really should. Here’s how we managed a family weekend in L’Estartit, on the Costa Brava.   How to make the most of a weekend in L’Estartit A few weeks ago I picked up the kids from school on a Friday afternoon, and headed down to Gatwick. Less than 2 hours after take-off, our Vueling flight touched …

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Simple but delicious: food on the Costa Brava

Catalan food - Surf and Turf Paella

Mummy, I’m on fire! And he was – kind of. As part of our weekend break on the Costa Brava we took a drive out to the gorgeously secluded La Vinyeta for a spectacularly different kind of dinner. As we pulled into the privately-owned vineyard, the sun was setting over the vines, and the distinctive smell of a wine cellar wafted over to us. Olives and grapes mingled in the fields, and we paused to squeeze and inhale the aroma of the fruits as we wandered down to the kitchens.   Catalan food to please the whole family. The wonderful chef Jordi …

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