Today we did something awesome. Well, okay, I just did some driving - my other half did something awesome. He cycled a leg of the Team Honk Baton Relay.


The Team Honk Relay will see a total of around 200 bloggers and their families join in to take a baton from Land's End to John O Groats. In total the relay has raised over £22,000 for Sport Relief so far, and there are another 2 weeks before it reaches it's final destination.

We weren't originally down to do anything, and stepped in only a couple of weeks ago to help some friends who could and couldn't be there today, and I'm so glad we did. It was a fantastic opportunity to get the children out in the fresh air and it was a really gorgeous day for it!


My other half hadn't been back on his bike since contracting Meningitis last July, but we checked with his back specialist and as long as he doesn't suffer or do more than an hour he was given the go ahead. From that day onwards my partner has been out on his bike 'training' every day and he was determined to put on a good show for Sport Relief - and he did.


The baton started it's day with Karen from Grumpyishmum, who delivered it to Jen from MyMummiesPennies. We met up with Jen and family near Giant's Seat - fabulously dressed as the characters from Room On A Broom. They'd walked miles and started very early for a Sunday morning, they did fantastically.


We split up and off I went in the car with the boys, and my partner set off by bike....baton firmly attached!


Half an hour later and the boys and I met up with Pippa from RedRoseMummy and Sim from Simslifeblog , only a 10 minute wait before my partner was there too - complete with mud and grazes where he'd fallen off his bike. Thankfully avoiding landing in the canal....


Hand over done, and it was time to go home. I'm really proud that my family have been a part of such a great event, it was fantastic fun and the money raised goes to great causes.


We didn't actually raise a lot of money ourselves, but without taking part we wouldn't have found out that cycling doesn't hurt my partner as much as walking, so it's paid us back tenfold. He insisted on cycling to the rendezvous point, so in total he managed 8.8 miles today, which is far more than we'd have ever dreamed 2 weeks, 2 months or 6 months ago and a truly brilliant thing.


 Awesome.

Or how to make  a LEGO Movie Emmet's Piece Of Resistance!

Back when children where I lived started dressing up for World Book Day my daughter was the only one really the right age, and she had Disney Princess dresses - which are generally all based on fairy tales - we had a choice of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, so that was cool.

Boys just don't dress up the same as girls do - they tend to either BE Spiderman or Bob The Builder for about 3 years, or not be interested at all, mine have been the latter, so when it came to World Book Day 2 years ago I was really pleased with myself for using a foam axe from Halloween and a shirt and wooly hat and voila, The Woodcutter.


Last year I think school wasn't open on World Book Day, so it passed us by, this year I had two children to dress up.

I have always had a bit of an issue with children turning up for World Book Day dressed as Buzz Lightyear. It's a film, it's not a book. Captain America and even Spiderman are comic book characters, so they're passable - although a bit naughty if the children haven't seen the comics. I discussed this with my boys and said they had to pick a character from a book. My youngest wanted to wear the Woodcutter outfit like his big brother, he's seen the photo, that was all good, but my 5 year old... "Emmet from the LEGO Movie".

I tried to deter him and explain it has to be a BOOK character, this is World Book Day, and he just smiled at me, ran off and came back with his LEGO Movie Essential Guide....


I can't really argue with him, he's read that book to himself in bed every night for the past week, he's proud he can work out some of the words and follow what's happening and it's definitely encouraging him to read, which has to be the point really.

Dad spent several hours transforming a roll of red Duck Tape, a tin of sweets, a cardboard box and a children's rucksack into a Piece Of Resistance, our oldest girl made a fabulous Emmet badge, and a nice lady from ebay printed us a genuine orange flourescent jacket for a bargain £3!

And two small boys went to World Book Day celebrations at school dressed as a Woodcutter and Emmet....


And a great day was had by all.....


What did your children wear for World Book Day this year?

How To Make Your Own LEGO Movie Piece Of Resistance

It's really simple and requires only 4 items.

You will need:

A child's small rucksack or backpack
A rectangular cardboard box that has a square profile and is tall - or a piece of card that can be folded in that way.
Red Duck Tape or gaffer tape, or red paint and Duck Tape/gaffer tape
A sweetie jar or coffee lid or similar 2-3cm tall round container or lid.


Take your box, (or create your rectangle of card. Unfasten the shoulder straps on the bag, then make 4 slits in the card and post the straps through. Refasten the straps.


Put the coffee lid/sweet container or whatever else you use on the top of the box and then gaffer tape/Duck Tape the lot.



Easy peasy and very effective....

One for the kids before you get excited!

To celebrate the fact that the LEGO Star Wars franchise is now a stunning 15 years old, LEGO and Titan Magazine's Star Wars Comic are launching a great competition with a prize that money really can't buy. 

For the lucky competition winner, LEGO^® is offering to completely transform that child’s bedroom into their very own real life LEGO^® Star Wars™ universe based on their own design.

The ‘Design your dream LEGO^® Star Wars™ bedroom competition’ is launched today in the Star Wars Comic dated 6th March, and the transformation will be completed by Bright Bricks. Closing date for entries is 2nd April 2014 and the lucky winner will be revealed in the 1^st May issue of the Star Wars™ Comic - just in time to celebrate May 4th (May the Forth be with you)! Best of luck!


The new 2014 LEGO® Star Wars™ collection is now available nationwide at all good retailers.

 I've previously reviewed HealGel and I thought it was marvellous, so I was more than happy to take up the chance to review HealGel Eye.


It has an anti-aging formula designed to lift the eye area, reducing wrinkles and restoring a more youthful texture and skin tone. My eyes are constantly puffy with dark circles and they're tired because I'm tired, so it was interesting to see how it worked for me.


Before you see the photo's let me just say, I'm not a beauty blogger, it took me about 5 minutes before I even managed a photo with my own eyes in shot, and even then I wasn't actually looking at the camera... sigh....we all have skills, taking photo's of myself is not one of mine...

Here are my eyes make up free at the beginning of the trial...



And somewhat unbelievably here are my eyes, again make up free, after 2 full weeks of using the gel every single night before bed, and occasionally in the mornings....


I actually look like I've been airbrushed, and I knew no-one would believe the difference, so I retook these photo's under a brighter flourescent light, with my best shocked and smily faces....



 
Clearly it's made one heck of a change and I am absolutely delighted with it! I feel more confident and happier with my appearance, putting eye make up on is something that feels good, rather than just highlighting my wrinkles and bags. 


HealGel Eye is available in a 15ml pump dispenser and retails at around £32. It's not a cheap investment, but in my opinion it certainly does exactly what it says it will and has made an astounding difference to my eyes.You only need a tiny amount of gel on the end of a finger to gently apply around both eyes, so it'll last a good while and I feel compared to other products on the market, because of the success I've had with it, it offers good value for money.

I Will If You Will is an initiative that's been taking place in Bury, North Manchester since the beginning of this year, to get women active and fit and trying new things. I was hoping to get involved, but as I didn't get my knee operation until January, and it was a bigger operation than expected, I'll still be recovering for another month or so, and then I'll have to take it easy for a while yet, so I'm a bit stuck.


I'm happy to support the cause though, I think it's a great idea. I know I'd be far more likely to go to a new exercise class or take up something zany like Burlesque or something slightly less obscure like Pilates if there was someone to go with me, and I knew I'd be looked after.

I Will If You Will is open to women of all ages, from teenagers to retirement, with Youth Street Dance and Tea Dance both on the menu, and as long as you aren't trying to recover from an operation, there will be something for you.

There are classes and groups for every ability and level of fitness - Buggy Baby Bootcamp and Mums Keep Fit would have been brilliant for me when I had boy no.3 because I had recently moved from Derby and knew very few people in my local area. I loved my Wii Fit, but it's not quite the same as getting fresh air and meeting people like me.

To find out more about what's happening in Bury and the surrounding area go to the I Will If You Will website. If you aren't in the Bury area then contact your local council by email or telephone and ask about initiatives where you live.

We like Tiny Me, their personalised children's products are incredibly attractive and the prices are good.

We previously reviewed their Trucks And Diggers Wall Stickers, which we love, so I was more than happy to take a look at one of their Amazingly Awesome Personalised Activity Books. 



 The characters have the familiar Tiny Me style, and can be a bit quirky and different, and we like that.


The book is nicely made with good quality paper and has great drawings, my son loves the fact it's his and has his name on it, and that has encouraged him to try and read more of the instructions inside. I'm a bit disappointed that the only colour is the cover, but then it's up to the user to colour it in however they like.

My one complaint probably stems from the fact I have worked in a nursery school - it's all in capital letters! It's confusing for early readers and instead of being helpful in teaching my son to read, it's showing him a way to write that he shouldn't copy.

The Tiny Me Amazingly Awesome Activity Book costs £12 and has 32 pages, each of which has personalisation including your child's first and last name and gender. 

If you had a magic flying bed, where would you go?

That was the question that was put to my children by Memory Foam Warehouse this weekend. To give the children inspiration they sent us a huge parcel of snacks, a pad of paper and an art set, and a copy of the 1971 children's classic - Bedknobs And Broomsticks.

Treasure!

Isn't that Jessica Fletcher?

  

Very proud - he's never had his own art set before

My 5 year old took it very seriously. He decided that his magic bed would take him somewhere very real - the jungle! He started with a tiger and trees, then added monkeys swinging from vines. Then he drew himself on the magic bed - complete with magic bedknob and patterned duvet - I was very impressed.


His finished masterpiece also includes a beach - because every jungle needs a beach and refreshing water with waves to keep you cool.... I asked what the weather would be like - sunny with little white clouds. Apart from the tiger it sounds idyllic...


My 3 year old wanted to draw a jungle like his brother, but when he started it turned into a space scene - which is far more his usual sort of storyline, and I was pleased because it's much better to use your own imagination.


Although he managed to draw on his face, hands and neck with 3 different felt tips before I put them away, my 3 year old's picture was all in orange "because it's the best".

He's sitting on his bed and floating around among the stars.....it's a lot more peaceful than I'd expect from my lively littlest one!


It was really sweet to see what ideas they came up with, and I was surprised that both of them chose something far more 'normal' than the land full of talking animals that appears in the film.

We had a great afternoon and the boys really enjoyed it. Where would your little ones choose to go?

LEGO Legends Of Chima: The Lion, The Crocodile And The Power Of Chi is a 2 disc, 3 hour compilation DVD with 10 episodes of the Legends Of Chima animated TV show, as broadcast previously on Cartoon Network.


It features the familiar characters from all of the animal-based tribes in Chima, including lions, wolves, crocodiles, gorillas and eagles among others. The tribes are all fighting to gain control of the Chi, a mystical power source that provides energy for the characters.

The episodes included in The Lion, The Crocodile And The Power Of Chi are:

Disc 1
The Legends Of Chima
The Great Story
The Warrior Within
The Joy Ride
Market Day

Disc 2
Attack On Eagle Spire
The Hundred Year Moon
The Biggest Race Ever
Gorillas Gone Wild
Foxtrot

Each episode is approximately 20 minutes in length.

The quality of the animation is good and the stories have humour and just enough depth. Each of the characters has a distinct personality, and although they are officially 'fighting', they work together whenever it's necessary to protect the tribes as a whole.


I have to say that the adults and teenagers didn't really get much from this DVD, it was fairly formulaic and we could see the storylines opening up before they happened. It didn't hold our attention. It also didn't hold the attention of my nearly 4 year old as it was a bit beyond him, however my 5 1/2 year old thinks it's brilliant. He could follow the storyline and really got engrossed into what was happening. He sat and watched the whole thing and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think that this is a great DVD for a child of 5+ who likes animated shows, whether they have an interest in LEGO or not (heaven forbid). It has male and female characters, but I honestly think that it's probably going to be more attractive to boys as it's the sort of action adventure that they tend to prefer.

LEGO Legends Of Chima ~ The Lion, The Crocodile And The Power Of Chi was released by Warner Bros' Home Entertainment on 17th Feb 2014 and is available now from most major supermarkets and online from Amazon with an RRP of £7.00.

If you haven't yet seen The LEGO Movie and you're going to, you probably should wait and read this later. I'll try not to spoil it too much, but inevitably I'll give stuff away and I don't want to ruin it for you.

Before you see it, you might feel the LEGO movie is very American and schmaltzy, and has also lost the original ideals of Lego, and indeed I did think that might be the case, even when I started watching, but as it turns out, it isn't true.


LEGO have had a lot of stick lately for making everything too formulaic, losing creativity and concentrating on movie tie-in's and branded LEGO. The fact is that, hard as it is to believe, in the mid 90's LEGO sales were on a real downhill slope and by 2000 it was getting scary. They began desperately searching for new ideas and ways to break into new markets in a world obsessed with  technology. They stuck a finger in every pie and came back with very little. By 2003 they were on the verge of bankruptcy and Mattel were waiting in the wings ready to take over.

Proper focus with clever expansion towards 'adult' LEGO in the Mindstorms and Technic ranges, and the collaboration with good quality franchises such as Star Wars were what saved them....and us. By 2012 they were the world's 3rd biggest toy producer and they're riding a hugely successful wave right now. Everyone loves LEGO and everything is awesome. Interestingly Mattel (the world's biggest toy producer) yesterday made a bid yesterday to buy Megabloks - clearly they're still keen to expand into the block market.


So isn't it a little unfair to complain about what was necessary in order to survive? I think so. I also think that people who complain about Movie tie-in LEGO and kits with instructions stifling creativity are missing the point.

The sets are great because they teach the techniques and building skills that the children can take away with them. They show how to make better use of bricks and create corners and vehicle chassis and all sorts of other things. They give you special and interesting elements to enhance what you have. They give you a basis to work with and you can then build 'another car' or an extra bit of scenery to go with what you have - Batman needs a Batcave? No problem, the parts from Goblin King's Battle make a great Batcave when you make it taller and leave a gap underneath. Sets can stretch the imagination, they don't stifle it.

My blog backdrop is a photo I took using stuff from my children's bedroom floor that they'd been playing with that day. They were younger there and LEGO wasn't even something they used by itself, it was a part of a bigger play scene which included cars and Playmobil and anything else they wanted. Now they've moved on from wooden blocks and are better able to create whatever they want from LEGO, so they don't mix it with other brands so much, but they definitely mix it up. This is part of my living room floor this morning. These are all kits with instructions, but they've been dismantled to make something else.


The movie starts off in LEGO City, and then the characters break out and escape into other worlds. The Western and Space and Star Wars worlds collide with Lego Friends. We have a scene we've actually had at home ourselves - where no-one is actually sure if they're looking at Dumbledore or Gandalf - it's brilliant!

The LEGO Movie reminds us that we don't have to follow instructions, creativity can be everything and leaving models intact isn't always right, they're to be played with. I've had a long running joke with a couple of other bloggers to this effect, and I'm proud to say I was the one telling them glue was the Devil's work and should be banned. It's LEGO, you can rebuild it to the instructions later if you want - that's the whole point!


We've obviously gone out and bought sets from the movie, we had the winnings from our Carcraft competition to spend, and as yet they're still intact and complete, no doubt they won't be for long. We don't have a Benny or a spaceship to go with it, so my 3 year old made his own. Creativity is alive and well. Everything is awesome.