We did it, we finally managed to get everyone together who wanted to go and see the Lego Movie and we went! Yeeay! We even managed to get my sister and her kids over to come with us. And it really was awesome....


We saw it in 3D at the request of the teenagers, and aside from one of ours who wanted to go shopping instead and our biggest who's moved out now, we were all there. I booked all the tickets including my sister's and her children, so 10 in total and oh my crikey, this is why we only take them all to the cinema a couple of times a year. £73 lighter....Frankly upgrading to 3D didn't even make a blip and the seats were very luxurious....

My little boys are very used to movies because I'm a very cruel Mother and don't let them watch kids TV (after 20 years of having young children you'd be fed up with it too). Everyone sat still through the movie and we didn't have any toilet visits!!! Yeeay!

I cried at the end, I'm not ashamed to admit it. It's nice to know that Lego have the same ideals as us, the ending was a great surprise (thank you to everyone who's seen it and didn't let on). The grown ups cried and the kids just sang, but everyone thought it was brilliant.

When we got home it's not really a stunner that when I went into the kitchen this is what greeted me...


And I can't really complain too much about finding this at an unbelievable 10.20pm when they'd been 'in bed' for 2 hours!!


At least we should get a lie in tomorrow....Everything IS awesome....

It's now just over 7 months since my partner developed Viral Meningitis, and he's still in a lot of pain.

We're lucky that it's mainly in one leg, the other leg and his arms are now relatively pain free, but the one leg makes up for it.

Because of the ongoing pain he visited his Doctor and last Monday had a referral with a Spinal Consultant. We're not certain that is what he needs, but it's definitely something to look at.

When the Consultant examined him it was clear to all that he has reduced sensation and strength in his right leg. His right knee didn't respond at all to the test where they bash you with the little hammer. It was a bit disturbing to watch, I knew he had issues, but the extent did surprise me.

After a lot of pulling him about the Consultant decided it's definitely worth looking to see if it's anything to do with nerves in my partner's back, so he's booked in for an MRI in 2 weeks. If it finds nothing then the Consultant suggested physiotherapy might be the next thing to try.

When we were in there the Consultant asked several times if he had any back pain and my partner was adamant he didn't. As we left my partner said "I feel like I have pain now". By evening my partner's back was really bothering him, and he hardly slept that night. He went to work the next day and was in agony by teatime. The following day he couldn't go to work, and he couldn't drive. We went to the Doctor and he's now on strong painkillers which knock him out, so he's been asleep most of the time since!

Apparently it's normal to be in such pain when you've seen a Spinal Consultant, but I wish they'd warned us! At least it should go within a few days, and it's nice for him to take a break because he's been absolutely shattered working 5 (or more) days a week since Christmas.

Don't think we're really negative, we aren't, we still feel really lucky. We're just quietly resigned and if any good comes of this then that's all the better!

I've always loved pancakes, they're so naughty! Fortunately my family love them too, so I make piles of them each year and it pleases everyone.

Making pancakes is really very simple, but requires a couple of easy techniques to make them right every time.

Basic Pancakes 

The batter is a standard batter which is incredibly cheap and easy to make. It's what you'd use toad-in-the-hole or Yorkshire puddings, but works slightly better when it's a little runnier, so has an extra 150ml of water added.

Ingredients

175g Plain Flour
2 Free Range Eggs
300ml Milk
150ml Water
Pinch of Salt

Method

Put the flour in a bowl and add the eggs, give it a mix and add the milk 1/3 at a time, mixing well with a whisk after each addition. Add the water and a pinch of salt.

Heat a frying pan and add cooking oil of your choice. Give the pan a good shake so that the oil covers the whole base of the pan and then pour out any all the excess into a heatproof container (such as a small saucepan). Your pan is now perfect for your pancake mix.

Add enough pancake mix that it covers the base of the pan when you again give it a good shake. Then leave it on a medium heat and watch. Don't fuss with it, you need to leave it alone until the bottom side is cooked. You can tell when it's done because when you shake it (again!), the pancake won't be stuck to the pan, it'll be free to move about, and the edges will have a lacy effect.


Flip it over and do the other side for  few seconds.


Your first one will often be a bit of a failure, the pan always seems to perform better for the second one onwards.

I've was challenged to come up with an interesting and different pancake recipe. I'm not the most adventurous cook, and I like to share recipes that anyone can make and my teenagers will find useful, so here are a couple of ideas...

Pancakes are very much a 'bread', with a high percentage of egg. They're a breakfast food, so surely they're ideal to have with an English breakfast....

All Day Veggie Breakfast Pancakes

 
 Ingredients

Bacon
Sausage
Mushroom
Red Onion
Tomato

Pancake batter mix (shown above)
Thyme
Black Pepper

Method

Cook bacon and sausage and cut into slices - I'm using vegetarian options as I'll be eating some myself.
Lightly fry sliced mushroom and red onion.
Add grilled sliced tomato  if you wish.

Keep everything warm.

Add a little thyme and black pepper to your pancake batter and cook.

Roll the cooked breakfast ingredients into your pancake...



If you want to get a little more adventurous then you can add more ingredients to your batter itself before cooking. Cocoa or a little cinnamon are good, but my favourite is apple.

Apple, Banana and Cinnamon Pancakes 

Ingredients

 Batter mix (shown above)
Apple

Banana
Cinnamon Sugar (3 parts granulated sugar to 1 part ground cinnamon)
Whipped Double Cream

 Method 

Stew some apple or cheat and chop it into small pieces, add a tablespoon of water and microwave covered for a minute.
Let it cool and then add it directly to your pancake batter before cooking.

Top with sliced banana and whipped cream, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.



And of course pancakes can always be cut or stacked for another special effect...here with Duerr's strawberry jam and whipped cream....

The Dragon's Dentist is an Early Reader from Orion Books. It's in the Blue Band, so it's designed for reading together with your child with lots of repetition and short sentences. Written by John McLay, it's illustrated by Martin Brown, who also illustrates Horrible Histories books.


This is a proper book with chapters and 76 full colour pages. The illustrations are great with plenty of facial expression.


It tells the story of Harry, who is the smallest in his family and the only one who isn't a knight. He wants to be a knight and prove himself, so he sets off with his horse 'Oats' to slay a dragon.


The story really appeals to youngsters because they feel they can relate to the characters. It's a great little tale and my boys really enjoyed it. My 5 year old really did 'read it with me'. He also read it in bed to himself  for a while and the next day when we read at bedtime he proudly told me all the words he'd been able to work out for himself.

 

Over 150 top brands and products will be at the Baby And Toddler Show for you to discover and get to know better. It's the perfect opportunity to try before you buy and get a good look at what you might be spending your money on to see if it's really going to suit your needs.

You'll be able to make all the big purchases for your baby from lots of the really big names like Mamas & Papas, Bugaboo, Quinny, Silver Cross and Cosatto, as well as smaller and newer companies you may never have even heard of. Prices on pushchairs, buggies, car seats and furniture bought at the show are guaranteed to be the best, so your baby budget can stretch further and you can get all your big purchases under one roof


As well as brands and products there will also be experts on hand to give advice about every aspect of your child's first years, with workshops throughout the weekend including Sleeping, Feeding and First Aid.

Sadly I won't be there, but you can be. If you want to book tickets then you can do so via the Baby & Toddler Show website. They have kindly given me discount codes that you can use for the Manchester and Kent shows.

North West - Event City in Manchester - NWB31
South East - Bluewater in Kent - BWB31

The Baby & Toddler Show have also given me a pair of tickets for the Manchester show to give away to my readers. There will be 1 winner and they will get 1 pair of tickets. I will be giving away a pair of tickets to the Bluewater show nearer the time. Entry is by rafflecopter form below. The first question is mandatory and will open up extra tasks which will give you additional entries. Because the Manchester show is only 3 weeks away, entry will close at midnight on 2nd March and the winner needs to respond as soon as possible in order to organise your tickets in time.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Being sent to review Build-A-Bear Workshop must be every child's idea of heaven. We've not been before but my 5 year old had heard all about it and was incredibly excited. I'm happy to report it was everything he hoped it would be.

As soon as we walked in and over to the counter we were greeted by a big smile and made really welcome. A lady called Charlotte came to look after us.

We arrived an hour before closing on Valentine's Day, so the Valentine's bears were in short supply, but there were absolutely tons of  other bears to choose from. As well as traditional bears there are My Little Ponies, Spongebob and loads of different animals.




Next stop was to decide what we wanted to put into our bears. Charlotte was really patient and explained everything to the boys very clearly.We went to choose a 'sound' for our bears. Monkey was getting a Star Wars theme tune and there wasn't one to suit Panda so my son recorded his own bear noise.



They both decided they wanted a special heartbeat and a scent in their bears. The heartbeat, like the sound, is a plastic shape a little larger than a tealight, with an enclosed battery. The sound is placed in the hand before stuffing, and the heart goes into the bears chest. The scent is flat and again goes into the chest. We had cotton candy and strawberry and they should smell for a good 6 months.


Before stitching was the important job of putting a soft fabric heart into our bears. The boys had to take a heart and make it special by touching it on their cheeks to make the bears a little cheeky, their hearts to give it love, their heads to make it smart etc. When the hearts were full up with great stuff I had to give them a little kiss before the boys put their heart into their bear and the bears backs were sewn shut.








The detail on the clothes is fantastic. Pockets and zips, turn ups and a hole at the back for the tails! They're beautifully finished and really well made. The little shoes are great and the laces are even discretely sewn on so that they can't be lost. 


Before you can take your bears home they're registered on the computer. When the hearts go in, so does a tag that can be read by a scanner. Your bear is registered to you, so if you lose it and someone hands it in, it should make it's way home again.

I was impressed that Charlotte encouraged the boys to do their own typing - again she was incredibly patient! She also didn't laugh when they chose the names for their animals. We now have a Monkey called Star Wars and a Panda named after it's owner!




Build-A-Bear Workshop is not just buying a bear, it's a whole experience. Your child puts a lot of effort and personalisation into their bear. They make everything how they want it and it's really special to them. We were there for an hour, although it didn't seem like it, and I left with two boys who had been on great trip out and had something fantastic to take home.


I was really incredibly pleasantly surprised by Build-A-Bear. I expected it to be good, it was great. The interaction was fantastic, the staff were lovely, the boys had a great time and adore their bears.

Added together, especially with all the extras, it makes for an expensive package, but the quality throughout is superb, and really you aren't going to get anything like it for the prices you pay anywhere else. Bears actually start at only £9, which I feel is very reasonable. I will more than happily go back and pay around £12 for a little outfit or £5.50 for some pumps for Christmas or a birthday present.

I would advise anyone going to consider the size of animal they choose as some fit different outfits better than others. I'd probably also give my child a maximum budget because it would be incredibly easy to just buy everything as it's so sweet.

 There are loads of  extras you can buy for your bear including playsets, beds, raincoats, and my favourite - a wheelchair. My 5 year old has already asked for a skateboard and helmet for his panda for his birthday.

I think younger children who attend school and nursery really benefit from being encouraged to carry on reading and writing during the holidays because they're at the age where a week off is a very long time and can put them a step back.

We've 4 boys, and we've 3 girls - when they were younger the girls would happily colour and write and draw, whereas the boys think of the whole thing as 'work' and none of them, however different they are, have ever really taken joy from sitting for long with workbooks. It's always a challenge to find things that they're happy to do to keep them on track through the holidays, so here are a few of my ideas.

Printables

Holiday Cottages have a 3 free printable games that you can use to keep the kids entertained whether at home or out and about - Roadside Bingo, a Countryside Treasure Hunt and a Beach Treasure Hunt. You can download them here.

Tiny Me, the people who made our lovely wall stickers, have a great range of free printable activities for any occasion, and can certainly give your children a few hours entertainment making masks and door hangers and all kinds of things. Their printables can be found here. 

Games and Puzzles

Spending time playing games with your children is an excellent way to bond and make memories as well as reinforce learning about numbers and counting, turn-taking, being a good loser and honing fine motor skills. I very well remember playing Monopoly with my Father when he was off work and hopefully my children will remember playing games with me. 


Some of our most favourite games for younger children are Orchard Toys games, with Round And Round (age 3+) and Counting Caterpillars (age 3+) being great examples. For older children we like Drumond Parks Wordsearch Junior (4+) and The Magic Tooth Fairy Game (5+).

Reading Books Together

There is no better way to get a child interested in reading than to read with them and it doesn't have to be a purely bedtime activity. When your children are driving you bats, fighting or tearing about the house like madmen, 10 minutes quiet reading time can make all the difference. We love the Early Readers from Orion Books because it really is a team effort to read along with my 5 year old, with my 3 year old watching, listening and learning.

Cooking And Baking

All children love baking with adults, and it can be a super simple no bake like our Rocky Road, or something more complex like making their own pizzas for tea. Of course cookies and cakes are always popular too. It's fantastic for learning about all kinds of things - nutrition, science, weights and measurements, colour mixing, different cultures and even history. There are loads of excellent ideas on the Pinterest UK Official Cooking With Kids board.

Museums And Libraries 

 Libraries and most museums are free to visit and they're absolutely crammed full of interesting stuff to stimulate children and adults. They go to huge effort to lay on extra activities during the school holidays. We recently visited the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, who have a week of activities around Spies, Disguise and Ways To Hide - with a special focus on animals role in war time.

Screen Time

Screen time doesn't have to be mindlessly beating up aliens or racing round a track, it can be a fantastic tool for learning and keeping your brain working, and it's a brilliant reward or a break for a child who has been a star.

Heroes Of The City

Books that have accompanying apps. like Heroes Of The City (age 2+) or Robotslayer (age 5+) encourage reading and puzzle solving. Heroes Of The City has free levels and films to watch and The Robotslayer app. is totally free for half term week on IOS - you can download it here.


Online educational products are fun as well as teaching tools and your child will be learning without even realising as they play games and solve puzzles. We're particularly fond of Reading Eggs and there is a code for a free 4 week trial on my review page.

Lego

Build something together. Start a project. Stretch your own and your child's imagination. Build on fine motor skills and design ideas, problem-solving and logic skills. Create something you can be proud of. Playing isn't just for kids, adults need a break too....


Enjoy your break, and enjoy spending quality time with your children....

My 5 year old has an eye test at school today, so at some point I'll get a call from the school nurse to tell me that he's colour blind. I already know, I spotted it when he was very young because I've been here before. My 16 year old son is also colour blind (colour vision deficient).

I have always been around colour blind people. My brother, Grandfather and other male relatives were colour blind. My ex (of 15 years) is also colour blind, and my partner's father. This post hopes to answer some of your questions regarding the most common type of colour deficiency - Red-Green Colour Blindness. An inability to fully see red or green.

I was given the opportunity for 2 people to review The Neighbour's Chef restaurant in Oldham and I really was excited. We never go out, we don't have relatives nearby and there's always someone needs us, or a lift, or something. We could have Valentines a week early.  It's the perfect push we needed to actually take some time as a couple and dare to leave the teens in charge of the little ones. A meal out? Just the two of us? Ohhhh yes.


We booked our meal for 7.00, so by the time we arrived it was already bitterly cold and pitch black. The Neighbour's Chef is housed in a building which obviously used to be a large pub, so it's really spacious and had a good sized car park which is right off the main road and easy to spot. 

The waiter/owner came straight over and he was lovely, really keen and sat us at a nice table. He asked us if we were there through Groupon, so I had to come clean and tell him we were there for a review and bless him, he looked really nervous.


The restaurant was beautifully laid out, very spacious and neat. It was fairly early on a Thursday, so there were only 6 diners including us.

The Neighbour's Chef is so named because they wanted to bring together different foods and flavours from all of their neighbors throughout the world, so the menu features a fantastic array ranging from curries and noodles to risotto, pizza and nachos. Lots of items on the menu can be customised, for example you choose exactly how you want your pizza rather than just selecting from a list of 5.


I was especially delighted to see that the menu online is only 2/3 of the actual menu, there was an entire extra page - including a big veggie section!

It's instantly clear that the prices are really incredibly reasonable - the Neighbour's Chef Poppadum Platter at £2.25 is cheaper than it would cost me to buy 4 poppadums from my local take away, and the quality is great.


The onion chutney was incredibly fresh, I'd believe it was cut especially for us. When I make it at home it isn't that fresh when we get to eat it. There were 2 varieties of poppadum too - which is a first.

We also ordered a mixed vegetarian starter with onion bhaji's, pakora and samosas. Again it was really incredibly fresh and beautifully cooked, crispy and not at all greasy. When we'd finished there wasn't so much as a smear of oil on the plate.


Everything is freshly prepared by the in-house chefs and all of the meals are chosen for flavour, not fads or fancy names.

For main course I had the Chef's Special Vegetable Dum Pukht Biryani (at only £5.99) and my partner had Chicken Thai Green Curry. Again they were lovely - more lovely than my photography which was suffering slightly from the 2 pints of Cobra and the fact I actually had relaxed.


The Kulcha vegetable stuffed naan bread was gorgeous. I took about 20 photo's of it for some reason....and insisted on taking home what I couldn't finish....


Neither of us managed to finish our meals, and the waiter/owner was more than happy to 'doggy bag' it for us to take home - I did only take the remaining naan bread though.


Tragic as it was, we were not able to fit in a dessert, although I have a feeling I would have enjoyed anything from the menu...


Before we left, a quick visit to the loo and it was exactly as I expected. No frills but spotlessly clean.

The Neighbour's Chef is an independent restaurant run by a keen team who want you to enjoy your meal. They're very proud of their service - after we had eaten the waiter couldn't wait to bring out some amazing little tablets that turned into full sized hand cloths when he poured warm water on them.


We were asked throughout if everything was okay, but we were left alone to enjoy our meal, there was exactly the right amount of interaction.

A man who has every right to be proud of his business

I'll be honest, their website is full of spelling mistakes and 1/3 of the menu isn't even shown, but I'm not bothered because I'm not there to see how great a website they have - I'm there for the food and the experience. If they pumped all their money into website design then they could end up all hot air and no product.

I like to be able to support independent products and services, and I would definitely recommend The Neighbour's Chef to anyone. We've promised to return with our troop of children and we definitely will because the prices are excellent, the food is delicious and the staff are absolutely lovely. It's a place I would feel incredibly comfortable taking our children and I could be certain they'd ALL find something they loved on the menu. We might even go back again on our own.....

The Neighbours Chef regularly hosts special nights -
On Valentine's Day they have a Dance Performance and 3 course meal plus wine for £35 per person
On 23rd Feb they have a comedy night with Daliso Chaponda and Tony Vino and 3 course meal for £27.99 per person

Reef 2 - High Tide is the long awaited sequel to the 2006 film Reef, an animated tale of couragous little fish Pi, who is battling to save his reef from the evil shark Troy.

Due to be released on February 17th,  Reef 2 - High Tide sees Troy return with his shark friends and Pi once again has to try to save the reef. Anna from In The Playroom was lucky enough to take her family to the cinema to see the preview showing and her review can be found here.


Pi is grown up now and has his own family to protect, his wife Cordelia and his son Junior, so he decides to train his friends in the martial art of fu-fish. As is often the case everything doesn't quite go to plan....
Below is a printable activity sheet that you can right click and save and print off - other sheets are available on other blogs listed at the bottom of the page...



UK entries only please. The competition will end at midnight Sunday 2nd March 2014 when the Rafflecopter form will close. The first question is mandatory and an answer should be given as a comment on this post. Extra entries can be gained by completing more tasks as shown on the Rafflecopter form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

More printable activity sheets can be found by clicking the following links....

Mama Mummy Mum
Mummy Of Two