100 Family Adventures is a thick book full of fabulous activities that families can do together in any different situation or with any level of ability that you can think of. It has ideas for in the house, in the garden, on the beach or anywhere families can play.


We really haven't got up to much the last couple of years, which is a real shame as our older children all went camping every couple of weeks throughout their childhoods, so it feels the little two miss out on that. Camping might be something for later in the year, but what can we get up to right now?

If the very worst happened, or seemed to be happening, and your home was at risk from fire, what would you save first? I think it's safe to assume that anything living would feature at the very top of that list, my children and partner safe, the pets would be next.


I spoke a couple of years ago about what I would save in a fire, in this post here, and events over the last 2 years have altered my opinion a little. Having a partner develop a life-threatening condition like Meningitis, and then suddenly losing one of our children with no warning, has shown me exactly what is important.

This is a late post, but I am obviously aware it is Mother's Day, and I didn't want my update post to be a dampener for anyone. All the Mums out there deserve as lovely a day as I've had. I had a lie in, cards, croissant and Danish pastry in bed, and I came downstairs to a beautiful vase of flowers and a pile of presents big enough to match my last birthday. I didn't even have to cook all day. I love our kids...they're ace.


There have been a few tears today, just a few. It is 7 months since we lost Elspeth, and it's beginning to feel like it might be a long while now. That's double-edged because you don't want it to be a long time and you don't want to forget anything, but at the same time you want to run away as far as possible, and time is one way to achieve distance. Time is however making more sense now. We're starting to be able to plan things in the future and life isn't jumping up and surprising us so much. Less time is spent aimlessly most days. Life is more organised.

We've just reviewed the Swizzels Matlow Spring Selection sweet tub and now I have an opportunity for you to win one of your own. Swizzels have very kindly offered one of these huge buckets full of sweets as a prize for one of my readers.


Filled with Fruity Pops, Double Lollies, Parma Violets, Fizzers and lots more, these buckets are brilliant for Easter Sunday treasure hunts and have plenty of sweets to keep the whole family happy all Easter.

This Spring, Swizzels Matlow have released a brand new Swizzels Spring Selection tub full of all your favourites - Love Hearts, Parma Violets, Drumstick Lorries, Double Lollies and more. We have the awful job of reviewing the Spring Selection...

Getting the chance to review an online Chemist was a job I nearly turned down until I considered it properly. I always need stuff from the Chemist, my teenagers always want stuff from the Chemist, and it's always a pain in the neck to go to the Chemist. An online option surely is a brilliant thing.


My 15 year old daughter helped me with this review, in fact she could barely contain her excitement, so I let her look at the website first. She was using her mobile phone and found it very easy to navigate around the site. Within minutes she was sending me screenshots and links to products that she wanted - and she was very sensible! She even ordered items for the other teenagers too.

It's always great for children to be able to explore their own creativity and make something fabulous, and in my experience if it's something they can wear it's even better. When they are small they like to make masks and hats, and as they get older the opportunities for expressing your own individuality and creating your own clothes really open up.


buytshirtsonline sent a us T-shirt Kit so that my 2 younger children could let their inner artist escape and get creative, designing their own personalised t-shirts. The boys chose Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and LEGO transfers for their t-shirts, and when they came they were delighted!

We're big fans of Dr Oetker frozen Pizza here, and I'm meant to be telling you about their new Limited Edition Pizza Pollo Arrabiata with chicken and spicy Roquito sauce, but I haven't been able to find any in the 4 supermarkets I've tried near me, so I guess it's popular enough already...


What I did manage to pick up is a fairly usual order for us - Pizza Pepperoni-Salami for the carnivores and Pizza Mozzarella for the vegetarians. At only £2.50 per pizza (and on offer at £1.50 in Tesco last weekend), you really can't beat the Pizza Ristorante from Dr Oetker.

We're really lucky in that we get to work with some amazing companies, and try out lots of exciting new things, sometimes before they're even in the shops. Sometimes I work with a company once, and other times I have an ongoing relationship. Today I can tell you about two new Ambassadorships for the coming 12 months.


Today I'm delighted to announce that we will be spending the next year as Ambassadors for LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Manchester and it's neighbour at Barton Square in the Trafford Centre, SeaLife, Manchester.

A Monster's Moved In! is  a children's story book written by Timothy Knapman and illustrated by Loretta Schauer. It's now one of my favourite books ever, and is a brilliant book to read with your children on a rainy afternoon. Hilarious and with a fantastic twist at the end..


A Monster's Moved In! tells the story of a young boy named Barnaby who is stuck indoors on a rainy day. He doesn't have anyone to play with until he builds a den and a monster moves in....