Review: Blue Kangaroo Series by Emma Chichester Clark

Back in 1998 Emma Chichester Clark wrote the first of her Blue Kangaroo books, "I Love You, Blue Kangaroo!".  A delightful story about a little girl called Lily and her favourite toy Blue Kangaroo. at least he was her favourite until Wild Brown Bear comes along, and Yellow Cotton Rabbit, and the Furry Puppies, and then more and more new toys, until Blue Kangaroo feels there just isn't room for him any more.  The book won the Grinzane Junior Award and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal.

4 years after the last of the Blue Kangaroo books was released Emma has a new title out and has re-released 2 of the old favourites.

Review: Weetabix Protein

Breakfast is always a very boring affair in our house.  I tend to rush off to work on a weekday, with porridge for breakfast once I get in (the benefit to an office job) whilst the kids have whatever cereal happened to be on offer that week (at the moment they are quite happy eating Value branded Cornflakes, so you can see why I'm not a fan of spending a lot of money on breakfast cereal.  When we were told Weetabix had launched new Weetabix Protein and asked to try it out we said yes please.

Bringing the Teddy Bears Hospital to Beavers

With 2 boys of my own (1 a Beaver and 1 in training) I have spent more than my fair share of time at the Sheffield Children's Hospital in the last 2 years.  From X-rays to bandages my boys haven't been scared at all, and I really do think the Teddy Bears Hospital (TBH) has had something to do with this.

2 years ago I took them along to Western Park Museum where the Teddy Bears Hospital was being held the boys loved it and came away knowing so much more about what they could expect from a trip to the hospital.    When I was told that the students wanted to branch out to Youth Groups I couldn't get the contact details fast enough to invite Jess, Ally and the rest of the team along to one of our nights for the introduction of our Emergency Aid badge.

To find out what happened head over to my Scouting Blog here.

Review: BikyBiky Kids Cycle Harness

We've been pulling our hair out with Ben (7) last Summer.  He decided he was too old for his stabilisers but trying to teach him to ride without was frustrating us as much as him.  We tried everything recommended; holding his shoulders, holding the saddle, holding handlebars ... we bought a balance bar but still we had tears and tantrums every time we let go and he wobbled.

His confidence, it's safe to say, was pretty shattered.  So when we are asked if we wanted to try the BikyBiky Kids Cycle Harness I thought, why not.  Things can only get better.

Review: Storytime Magazine

30 years ago I remember sitting with my sister and mum and reading Storyteller Magazine,  Disappearing into a world of Gobbilino and My Naughty Little Sister and learning new rhymes and songs. When I was needed a change there were activities to do ........... Fast forward to 2016 and say hello to Storytime.

A small, independent publisher, Luma Works, had much the same views as me, magazines aimed at children nowadays are full of adverts and plastic toys.  I don't like them and my children don't like them!  They get bored within 2 minutes and abandon it in the corner of the room and lets face it most magazines nowadays cost more than a paperback book (I know which I'd rather spend my money on).    They remembered Storyteller fondly and thought it was high time the world had another story magazine for the new generation.

Storytime is about parents and children reading together, sharing great stories without an advert break.  YES - the only advert you will find in this 50 page magazine is how to subscribe for even more great issues.

I was excited when I heard about this magazine but I was worried .... what if it didn't live up to my childhood memories?  What if it was soo much better and tainted my memories?  What if my children didn't enjoy it as much as I used too?

Review: Mega Marshmallows by Innovative Bites

Me and my boys love marshmallows so when we were asked if we wanted to try the new Mega Marshmallows from Innovative Bites the boys were very quick to reply "yes".

These marshmallows certainly live up to their name, at 5 centimetres high, they really are MEGA! 

Mega Marshmallows are a guilt-free snack for mummy too, containing 0% Fat and just 84Kcal per serving

The Big Beaver (Scouts) Postcard Swap - part 2

A month ago I wrote about finding some swaps for our Beaver Postcard Swap to mark 30 years of Beavers being recognised in Scouting.  You can find it here.  As part of this I mentioned that Stress Free Printing were doing us a huge favour and printing our postcards free of charge, as a charity (not many people know that) this meant a lot to us as stamps alone will be setting us back a few quid (around £20 by my estimate as some are going overseas).    

Not only did they print them by Kev couldn't have been more helpful.  We knew from the outset that we wanted to design our own postcard showing all the fun things our colony do,  I'm used to doing all this online but with Stress Free Print you send them your design.  I decided to use Publisher to create our design in but when I sent them the image they let me know that it wouldn't have made a good postcard as it wasn't a high enough resolution.  Fortunately Kev was on hand to let me know which programme they use (yes, if you send them your images they will put them together for you!) and kept checking that I was ok and whether I needed any more support to create the design.  It was like having my own consultant, and a virtual kick up the bum :)

Review: Lapland Mailroom

There are plenty of Christmas websites where you can ask Santa to send your children a letter, this year Santa contacted me and asked us to return to the Lapland Mailroom, after last year I couldn't say no.

Review: The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold

"Amanda was dead"
Like most (strange) 7 year olds this opening line was enough to draw Ben into The Imaginary, a world of love, loss, new starts, old endings and imagination.

Amanda, like most children has a best friend, Rudger,  She found him one day in her wardrobe and he becomes her companion, there for all her adventures, dangers and challengers.  Amanda's mother is quite accepting of Rudger, her friends less so.  You see only Amanda can see him, he doesn't exist.  At least Amanda thinks only she can see him until one day Mr Bunting arrives informing her he hunts imaginaries and knows about Rudger.  With the rumour being that Mr Bunting eats them Rudger finds himself alone and running for his imaginary life.

Christmas: Book Advent

This has become another tradition in our house. We've gathered books as we go along and add new ones each year.

Every day in December the kids open a parcel and we share that book.

Christmas Craft: Melted Snowman Biscuits

I saw these going around the internet on various sites and we had to have a go too.  I'm terrible at making dough - I've lost count of how many gingerbread men got binned as it wouldn't roll, I even burnt homemade playdough!!! So thought it best to buy some rich tea biscuits...... except I forgot and ended up hunting the internet for an easy recipe even I couldn't mess up, and it worked, the biscuits were perfect (well they could have done with more flavour but hey ho can't win 'em all).

These biscuits are perfect for cookie cutters as they do not get any bigger during the cooking process (yes I have also made GIANT cookies after forgetting this detail!)

Christmas: Portable North Pole (PNP)

If you've never set foot in the Portable North Pole (and I cannot believe after raving about it every December I am still finding people I know who don't know about it!!) then get ready to step into Santa’s enchanted universe. A virtual gateway that reveals stories about the North Pole that now, thanks to the PNP Console and the power of the Internet, are available for all the world to share.

PNP is now in its 8th year and I've been using it for the last 7! Every year the videos get better and better with new scenarios year on year.  A few years ago you'd have never caught me spending money on a message from Santa but this is worth every penny when you see the look on your child's face.. there is a free version as well.

12 days of (Lush) Christmas

This year Lush have released their 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calender which looks amazing.  But I thought I'd create my own version of the song.......


On the twelfth day of Christmas Lush treated me to 12 Candy Mountains

A Vintage Christmas Party for our Elderly in Sheffield

I stumbled across this lovely idea last week and contacted Sarah with an offer of help from me and my boys.  We'll be popping along to set up and support through the evening and the boys have a huge stack of cardboard ready to make some Christmas cards to take along.

Woking in the public, elderly, sector I come across those who are alone not just at Christmas but during the year. They love to talk and share their experiences, I can't contemplate how hard it must be to spend Christmas on your own with no family or friends.

If you are in Sheffield and free on the 13th December, please consider volunteering your time to help Sarah.

There are also limited spaces left for guests, so if you know of an elderly person who may be spending Christmas home alone who would like to attend please get in contact with Sarah,

Recipe: MInce Meals

Gosh it is SOO cold.  My hands are going numb just typing this.  If you're anything like me money is getting tighter with Christmas presents, school events, Beaver events and work outings to pay for that the food shopping budget feels the cut.

I'm really lucky that the kids have discovered they like mince.  Normally I buy the stores value range but last month I found Aldi mince was better value and tasted so much nicer so whenever I'm near one of their stores I pop in and stock up.

Here's some cheap meals that can be rattled off using it that will keep everyone warm, full and the purse strings happy.  Do you have a favourite mince meal?

Shepherds/ Cottage pie.
Mince cooked up with any vegetable you like topped with mash potato.  We like to sprinkle with cheese before browning under the grill.

recipe here

The Big Beaver (Scouts) Postcard Swap

2016 sees Beaver (Scouts) 30th anniversary - 30 years of being recognised as an official Scouting unit, they have in reality been running a lot longer then that.

To celebrate the Scouting movement  is doing .... nothing.  So a group of leaders called the 1st Facebook Beaver Colony have arranged a postcard swap.  The leaders have, between them, messaged 30 other colony leaders within the group who they will send a postcard too, getting one back in return.

The Body Shop at Christmas

Last week Sophie at The Body Shop in Meadowhall invited Sheffield Bloggers to a closed door event where we could try their newly launched make up range for Christmas as well as their everyday body products.

It was love at first sniff when I discovered their Glazed Apple range and even more excited when I found out the body mist and lotion had glitter in.

Only a Leader ..........

Someone brought this to my attention this week and I love it.

For all you Beaver/ Cub/ Scout/ Rainbow/ Brownie/ Guide etc leaders out there who sometimes feel unappreciated ......
          .... or when you are looking at the training manual going "I do that - I shouldn't have to prove it!  :)


Dont judge scouting til you read this....

We are only leaders - we are not experts – we are your next-door neighbours – we are not perfect we are parents just like you. We don’t have any more spare time or energy than you do, we all work full time and juggle out families and our schedules and try to keep it all together as best we can.

Christmas Craft: Paper Plate Trees

We're making this one at Beavers as part of our Christmas Craft night so thought I'd share it with you as it's so quick and easy but looks fab.

Take a paper plate and paint it green.
Tip: If you use sponges and some different shades of green then it looks more 'leafy'.

Event: The Cake and Bake Show

You may have already read my post about my trip to Manchester last week for the Ideal Home Show at Christmas, which this year had decided to co-locate with the Cake and Bake Show.   This post is all about the Cake and Bake Show element of the day, as my first visit to one of these I really enjoyed it, although it was a little smaller than I expected.

Here are my highlights.

The Great British Bake Off Live

We were lucky enough to see Flora Shedden from this years GBBO cook her Sugar Free Pistachio and Apple Cake.  She gave a brilliant demonstration and answered questions.    There were some TV's so you could see what was going on on the stage.