Celebrating great mornings with Pampers

This is a sponsored post. 

Pampers are celebrating ‘great mornings’ and asking mums to share pictures & their sleep tips for a chance to win a professional photoshoot and appear in Mother & Baby magazine!

You can tell just by looking at your baby’s beautiful morning face whether they've had a good night’s sleep or not, and we want mums to show us what works for their baby to have a great start to the day.

Pampers, whose Baby-Dry nappies are recommended for up to 12 hours of Golden Sleep by 92% of UK mums*, are celebrating these great morning moments by inviting you to share images of the great morning moments you share with your little one along with your tip for a good night’s sleep. Simply email a recent photo of you and your baby, and your tip in no more than 50 words to pamperscompetition@hkstrategies.com. Remember to include your address and a contact number.

A selection of the entries will be shared each week on the Pampers Facebook page, and three winners will be selected to have a professional photoshoot and appear in a Pampers advertorial in Mother & Baby magazine!

Missy Woo in characteristic pose

In our house, the children's sleep habits as a baby have followed through into childhood. Monkey was dreadful for the first few months and even when he was sleeping through, he'd still wake early. He still wakes early now - I'm hoping the teenage year kick in soon but I'm sure he won't be the kind of person to sleep in all day. 

Missy Woo, on the other hand, slept so well as a baby, I used to have to wake her to feed or she would get too hungry, guzzle milk, bring it back up and get into a hungry/sick cycle. Now she's older, she tends to sleep the best - if Monkey leaves her alone, she'll happily lie in and we often have to tell her to get out of bed in the mornings. I'm not hopeful of her as a teen, I have to say! 

I'm way past the stage of being able to pass on sleep tips to mums of babies but my mantra when dealing with sleep issues was "Be consistent, be persistent". In other words, once I'd decided what I was doing, I would keep doing the same thing over and over, unless my instinct told me otherwise (eg if I really felt anything unusual was going on like illness, or teething etc). It certainly stood me in good stead - along with a healthy dose of "This too shall pass".

Closing date for entries is 9th July 2013 so don't hang around, get entering now and you could be a magazine model very soon.

*Based on a survey by 704 mums.

What would you do with the free time if you didn't have to be a taxi to your kids? Tell me and you could win a £25 Sainsbury's voucher

Photo credit - DJ_maxim

This competition was created by Sainsbury’s Bank Car Insurance and I'm taking part as a member of the
Sainsbury's Bank Parent Blogger Network.

Sainsbury's recently introduced the ‘Taxi of Mum and Dad Calculator’ — a fun way to see how much you could earn in taxi fares, if your children were ‘on the clock.’

It’s not all about money, your time is also precious. How would you spend the hours if you weren't playing taxi? Finish a good book, getting outdoors or just doing nothing, are some of the little luxuries the Money Matters team would enjoy.

To find out how parents would rather spend their time, I'm offering a £25 Sainsbury’s Voucher as a prize. All I need to know is 'What would you do with your time saved?'

To enter and win the prize of a £25 Sainsbury's voucher, you simply have to leave a comment below telling me what you would do with the time saved not being the Taxi of Mum and Dad.You can increase your chances of winning by tweeting about the giveaway and referring a friend to enter.The more times you enter, the better your chance of winning the £25 Sainsbury's voucher.

Whether or not you’re our prize winner, your affordable family activity ideas could also potentially appear in a future Money Matters Blog post. The winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter (which uses random.org) and announced on this page. The deadline for entering the giveaway is Wednesday 1st May.

Terms & Conditions

This giveaway is open to all readers in the UK.
Rafflecopter will accept entries for this giveaway at 12am on Wednesday 24th April.
Rafflecopter will close the competition at 12am on Wednesday 1st May
Sainsbury's Bank will run this competition via Rafflecopter.
The winner will be chosen by Sainsbury's Bank via Rafflecopter (which uses random.org) and announced on this page.
Entrants must have a UK address to enter. No bulk or third party entrants.
The prize is non-transferable, and will be sent out from Sainsbury’s Bank.
The giveaway winner will be contacted by the blog host to retrieve name and address.
The name and address of the winner will not be used for marketing purposes by Sainsbury’s Bank.
All entries may be featured on the Sainsbury’s Bank Money Matters blog post without further payment.
The winner will be contacted by e-mail, if they do not respond within seven days another winner may be chosen.
Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will be disqualified.

(Disclosure - I have received a Sainsbury's voucher for hosting this giveaway)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Proud mummy moment

Indulge me if you will for a few moments. I don't write enough about the children on this blog these days, even though they are still the most brilliant thing and keep me on my toes daily, if not hourly.

Since the start of the school year, Monkey has been learning to play the ukulele. His school decided a few years ago that Year 3 would learn an instrument and chose a ukulele because they are small and easier to handle. We had to buy a ukulele for him but luckily, the school managed to buy a job lot of them from another school and it cost us £5.

Photo credit: wjunior

For the first term, Monkey would randomly practice upstairs and we could hear nothing but random strumming. Just before Christmas, we went to an assembly to hear them play and they weren't bad but obviously still learning. The teacher they get in to teach them is great with them; she sings and plays along with them and they obviously all have a ball doing it.

Then, a few weeks ago, Monkey started mentioning something about playing in a concert at a festival but the details were unclear. Just before half term, school sent home some details and asked for permission for the children to take part. Unfortunately, it was on a Thursday evening when the children have everything on. The only way I could manage it was for my husband to go into work late, taking Monkey to swimming and onto the venue, leaving him there with another parent until I arrived with Missy Woo after picking her up from dancing.

On the day, it became apparent that Monkey was getting a little nervous, but I told him to try his best and smile! The children were all raring to go but had to wait sometime as there were other classes first. When their class came around, they were the last of 3 groups to come onto the stage. Having sat through two other groups which were brass bands, they were certainly different.. It was obvious they were enjoying themselves and I thought how much they had progressed since I had last heard them play. They did three songs, and the class were ably abetted by a few children from older classes doing percussion and one sang a solo. When they finished, they got rapturous applause and I remember thinking they had a chance of winning. They were quite clearly the youngest group in terms of average age out of the 3 groups competing.

The adjudicator stood up after their performance to give her comments to all 3 groups. She was brilliant with the children and had some really constructive feedback for them all. Then it was results time. Third was one of the brass bands so we were at least second. They had a chance and I remember thinking that at least they hadn't come last.

Then she announced the second place went to.... the other brass band. I could see the children from where I sat as the realisation dawned on them. They'd won! I will admit, I was nearly crying as I turned to Missy Woo and said "They've won, they've won!" as she hadn't realised. When the adjudicator finally announced the school's name as the winners, a big cheer went up. Looking at Monkey, I'm not sure he wasn't crying too but I could see he was bursting with pride. The adjudicator handed over the trophy and a certificate. Then we all had to settle down again for the final class, the secondary ensemble, which was won by a guitar group run by the same teacher who teaches the ukulele to Monkey's class!

At the end, the children were all very excited and happy, but they'd been so well-behaved considering it was getting late, past 9pm. After sharing fish and chips at home before ringing Daddy and grandparents, two tired children finally got them to bed. Monkey had a bit of a reaction the next day as he developed a tummy ache and I had to pick him up from school early.

Then came news that the local paper was coming in. Not only to photograph them, but video them playing a song. They all had to wear uniform in the morning to school (it was non-uniform day) although they were allowed to change afterwards. Monkey reported afterwards that it went OK and I knew from school assembly that it was due to be in the paper on the Saturday.

On Sunday, (late in the way only local papers can) the video finally appeared. I was sat in the café at the gym when I saw it and watched the video, once again nearly in tears. Monkey is right there at the front, although this does seem to show up how much he is looking around and not actually playing. I'm sure he wasn't like that for the concert. Now, I'd love to share the video, but since I don't publicly name the children's school on this blog or on Twitter, I can't because the school name is all over it. However, if you ask me nicely, I'll share it with you.

And then today, there they were in the paper - on page 3, and a big write up too and a big colour photo.

The school the children go to is relatively small nor is it particularly well known. That's not to say it's a bad school - far from it, the children love school, are doing well and get lots of opportunities to do things outside of school. It's the first time since the headteacher joined the school that they have actually won something. Winning something like this gives the chance for the children to see themselves in a different way as well as others to see the school in a different light. On top of that, it is a fabulous achievement on only a term and a half of lessons - so not only did the children do a fantastic job, their teacher did too!

I will stop banging on about my children's achievements now. Normal service is about to resume...

OK, so who wants to win chocolate?

I thought that would grab your attention. One of the self-imposed rules I have for this blog is never turn down  offers of chocolate. Not usually for me, although I quite like chocolate, but husband loves his chocolate and obviously, Monkey and Missy Woo do too.

Luckily, a very nice lady regularly offers me the chance to try Hotel Chocolat products and we love their products. Obviously, with Christmas around the corner, this time we are looking at gifts for the festive season.

And boy, this one would make a special gift!

This is a chocolate wreath, known as the Purist wreath. A whole chocolate wreath, studded with almonds, hazelnuts, and jumbo golden raisins. The chocolate itself is 70% dark chocolate - my favourite sort - which is made from cocoa from a single estate in Ecuador. And it's solid; boy is it solid! Total weight is 450g and you need a knife (or a clean hammer!) to cut or chop it. This made it very chunky and crunchy to eat.

The chocolate is as rich as you would expect dark chocolate to be. Being quite chunky, we found it quite satisfying and rich to eat so we didn't gorge on chocolate. A box of chocolates would have lasted much less - we actually made it last several days without even trying. The children didn't really like the almonds but I loved all the nuts.

This would be a special gift for a lover of real good quality chocolate. It's quite expensive at £25 but if you can't afford that, there's a smaller one available for £9.

However, I'm giving you a chance to win one of your very own wreaths, worth £25 if you enter my little competition. It's been so long since I last ran a competition on here, I've almost forgotten what to do! To enter, just follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below. The competition closes at midnight on Thursday 29th November, so get entering.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

George at ASDA Halloween ‘Spooky Scribes’ Challenge

Helloooooooooooooooooooo!

Hmm.

Do you like Hallowe'en? I must admit, it's not really me. I think it's my age - I used to think of it as spooky, whereas my two just think "sweets!". Hey ho.

Anyway, I shall stop being a miserable so-and-so for a minute. George at Asda invited us to join their Spooky Scribes challenge. The idea is that one of the children writes a very short story about Hallowe'en based on a costume that we've chosen from their Hallowe'en range. Now, writing is something that Monkey needs to work on a bit so I asked him if he was up for it and to my surprise, he was. However it has not been easy but after a few false starts, he's finally come up with something that I can share with you today. As part of this process, I have discovered that a) he thinks he has no imagination (which I find quite sad because he has a good imagination) and b) he writes better on a computer than he does writing it with a pen and paper. In order to finish this off, he did dictate the second half of this story to me but his spelling was noticeably better than when he writes with a pen.

Anyway, here is Monkey's story, which I will call

Hallooooooooooooooooooowe'en birthday

On the day of Halloween, I was extremely happy because I was going trick or treating, but it was also my birthday. I was going to wear my werewolf costume; it has a hairy, itchy chest, sleeves that tickle my elbows and a squished nose. I don’t look very scary with a squished nose.

I am so excited because after trick or treating, I’m going to Grandma’s for a sleepover and she’s got my present. I don’t know what it is, but it had better be good!

I go downstairs and everyone sings Happy Birthday. I open my presents; Lego, cars, and a games console.

The day passes slowly and I have lots of fun. Then it starts raining hard and Mum says I can’t go trick or treating or I’ll catch a cold. I start to cry. “Don’t worry,” Mum says, hugging me. “It’s time to go to Grandma’s.”

Knock, knock, knock on Grandma’s door. “Hello”, says Grandma when she opens it. “Are you here for your sleepover?  I’ve got your present, let’s go inside.”

My present is a bike. I’m so happy, I howl like a werewolf. “Not bad for a werewolf with a squished nose”, says Grandma.

THE END

(He insisted I add the words "THE END" bit to the bottom, in case you didn't know that it had finished!)

There is a competition to win a £50 voucher for the post with most comments but I'm not really bothered about that - I'd like people to leave comments to encourage Monkey, to give him confidence that he CAN write and he does have good ideas. I will read all comments to Monkey (and possibly allow him to reply to them too!).

(Asda sent us a free fancy dress costume along with some facepaints in return for a story being written about their costume. They also asked for a link to the fancy dress Hallowe'en costumes be included in the post. All participants in the challenge will receive a £20 Asda voucher and a commemorative book, but the post with the most comments will receive a £50 voucher.)

Where was your best family holiday? Answer this and you could win a prize!

V60 - image courtesy of Volvo Cars UK

This is a sponsored post (but stick around, it's not that bad!)

Well, where was it? Our best was probably last year to Devon (which I blogged about several times) when  we stayed in a lodge, visited the Eden Project and my sister, and ate cream teas until we were fit to burst. We loved it so much that we're going back there soon - it was a good location for day trips as well as easy for us to get to, there was plenty for all of us to do and the lodges are of a really nice standard. We're all excited about our trip back there soon.

If you can answer this question - and others - you could win a prize this coming Sunday. Volvo Cars will be giving away a range of prizes - such as a Kindle or a family adventure weekend - in their V60 getaway competition on Twitter. Oh damn, that means I need to have fitted that answer into 140 characters. Brevity was never my strong suit. Maybe you can do better?

I do a lot of online competitions as a hobby and I dislike most Twitter competitions - they usually require you to follow an account and then to retweet stuff into your followers' timelines, effectively spamming everyone. So, I was pleased to see this was not like that.

First, you need to be following Volvo Cars on Twitter. On Sunday 27th May, they will ask a series of questions. Tweet them your answer using the hashtag V60getaway and they will give away prizes every hour during the duration of the promotion. No spam! A Twitter competition I can join in.

Personally, I was hoping they were going to give away an actual V60 which you can learn more about here, but sadly not. I could do with something a little more stylish but practical to drive and the V60 would definitely fit the bill, although sadly, my budget definitely doesn't stretch to it at the moment.

So don't forget - if you want to try and win a prize, follow Volvo Cars UK and keep an eye out for the #V60getaway questions starting on Sunday. Good luck, I hope you win a prize!

I am a member of the Netmums Parent Bloggers Network, a unique community of parent bloggers from around the UK who have been handpicked by the Netmums team from our database to review products and brands on their behalf. I am paid an expenses fee to cover my time but Netmums have no editorial control whatsoever about what I blog about. Being a member of the Netmums Blogging Network means that I can ‘opt in’ to try out products and brands and get my expenses covered but that I retain full editorial integrity.

Competitive (dis)advantage?

Photo credit - wvubush

There is no doubt about it - Monkey is a competitive child. He is stubborn and determined, and he has learned that if he keeps trying at things, he will get better. In many ways, that is a good thing and it means he needs little encouragement to stick at it, certainly in his school work.

Cologne part 2 - tips for travelling with children, tips for the Christmas markets, plus win 4 flights on Germanwings!

So yesterday, I told you all about our fantastic trip to Cologne to see their Christmas markets that we were lucky enough to be invited to see by Germanwings and 9flats. I wanted to end the post by giving you our tips for travelling with children on short breaks and a few tips if you go to the Christmas markets in Cologne yourself next year. It'll have to be next year now as Friday is the last day you can see them so you'd have to be quick. And who knows? You could be there. Keep reading.

I'll start with some more general tips. If you're going away on a short break, you'll want to make the most of every second and travelling will be tiring for everyone, not least the children. And if you don't want tired children spoiling your break, I'd recommend planning a few things in advance.

Before you go

- If you're driving to the airport, shop around for great parking deals. Valet parking is often well priced booked in advance for quieter times. We managed to get a deal parking in the multi storey at the airport terminal, which meant it was a short walk into the terminal. This saves time on waiting for transfers with tired children when you arrive back.

- Try to see if you can just take hand luggage if only going for 2-3 days. We took three trolley cases for three of us when we went to Barcelona in March but managed two trolley cases between four of us for Cologne, with the addition of a rucksack and my lovely new bag. It doesn't work if you're intending to buy loads, but it will save you time waiting at baggage reclaim. Don't forget to put your liquids into a little bag though.

- Make sure you've all got E111 cards, which are free. Yes, travel insurance covers most things but I believe there is an agreement that if you have a valid E111 card, the insurers will waive the excess of any health related claims.

- Keep a wallet with passports, boarding passes, E111 cards etc. I use a plastic wallet with a popper so I can seal it when I'm not showing passports etc - there is then less chance of losing anything and it's quick to lay my hands on it.

- Check in online if your airline offers this to save more time. Even if you have luggage to check in, you can normally check in, print boarding passes and in some cases, choose your seats. Then all you have to do is go to the luggage drop if you do have cases. If not, you can just walk into the terminal and go straight through to security if you like.

- Consider buying tickets to fast track security.Ours were £3.50 each. I'm glad we did as it eliminated yet more waiting. However, it did make me forget to remove my liquids from our cases and we got our hand luggage searched! Never mind, it was still quicker.

- Buy a treat for each child that you know will keep them occupied during the flight and hide it in your hand luggage. Only produce this on the plane. We find this almost guarantees good behaviour for flights under 3 hours. Sticker books work for us, it could be colouring or puzzle books, but don't forget crayons or a pen. Buy it at the airport if you don't have the time.

At the airport

- Once through security, remember you can buy as much liquid as you like from the shops. We tend to buy a bottle of water for the flight.

- Make use of priority boarding for families if this is offered. It can make it so much easier getting on and if you don't get allocated seats, you have a much better chance of getting a good seat sat all together.

On the plane

- Don't expect a child that has previously flown OK not to be scared. Children change so much. Missy Woo suddenly announced plaintively "I'm scared" as the plane left the gate as she thought the plane was going to tip back to vertical when we took off.  She has flown before and didn't bat an eyelid. Even Monkey suddenly developed an aversion to the plane turning mid-air when we flew to Barcelona and gripped my hand but he has got used to that now.

Arriving at Cologne airport

- The train is fast, frequent and cheap (3 euros for an adult) from the airport into the central station, taking about 20 minutes.If you arrive late, when there are fewer trains, a taxi might be a better option. They cost 30-35 euros.

Getting around in Cologne

- You can get a Cologne Welcome card from the tourist office and other places, that costs 9 euros each or 19 euros for a group of up to 5 people. It gives you travel on public transport for 24 hours and discounts at various attractions. Just don't forget to validate it when you first get on an underground train or tram *cough*. I think it's valid for travelling to the airport. (At least I hope so!) It's definitely worth getting as it will probably save you more than you spend if you travel back and forth between the different markets and where you are staying.

The Christmas markets themselves

- Try to visit the busiest markets early, especially at weekends when it's at its busiest. The market by the cathedral is particularly bad at the entrance by the cathedral itself but once you're in, it's just busy by the food and drink stalls. The Gnome market get very packed and it just won't be nice for little ones, especiallyas  a small minority will try to push and shove. The Fairytale and  Angel markets seemed to be a lot quieter, the children enjoyed them a lot more and we were all a lot more relaxed.

- Pace yourself and have breaks. Visit a market or two, then go and do something else for a while, even go back to your apartment. Looking back, we think we should have done this but we felt we had to try and cram it all in. If nothing else, you will get a break from children asking you if they can buy everything.

- Wrap everyone up in layers. It will get hot in crowds but you'll suddenly turn a corner where it's much less crowded and the wind can cut you in half.

- Pace yourself on the buying too! You'll want to buy everything as soon as you see it because you'll see the same stalls repeated around the markets. The children will want to buy everything too so either set them a limit of what they can spend or just let them have a small amount of money and be firm once they have spent it. Be realistic about what you can take home.

- Plan your trip - if you have to take a late flight flying out to Germany, I would recommend a 3 night trip, but if you can get an early flight, a two night trip would be fine.

Flying back out of Cologne airport


- Beware that food and drink options airside are limited but seem to be plentiful and more varied before security. If you need to eat at the airport, I'd try landside first.

So, would you like to go yourself, perhaps next year? Or would you like to visit another part of Germany? If you do, then I have some brilliant news. Germanwings are offering one lucky winner 4 return flights on Germanwings (you can see their full network here, just click on your nearest airport to see which airports they fly to). To enter, just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget, which I'm trying out below. As an an absolute minimum, you need to read my first post on Cologne and tell me in the comments which Christmas market was our favourite and also where you'd fly to if you won and why. (I won't hold you to this!)

The competition close at 5am on 1st January 2012. (That's midnight Eastern Time on 1st January 2012.) Get entering, and best of luck to you all.

Please note that Rafflecopter won't accept entries until 5am on 21st December 2011. 

Give a child a breakfast - and win a year's supply of cereal for your school's breakfast club!

You may remember that earlier in the year, I blogged about children having breakfast. It was prompted by a bloggers' event arranged by Kellogg's and they shared some shocking statistics about how many children miss breakfast.

Back in September - which seems like ages ago now - they invited a handful of bloggers to a spa at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester. It wasn't all glamour - they shared some information with us having updated their research. 1.7 million children do not have breakfast and 325,000 of those children eat nothing until lunchtime. And of the ones that miss breakfast but eat something beforehand, a sizeable chunk buy chocolate, crisps, even burgers on the way to school. Not great. We all know the benefits of breakfast, both in improved concentration and performance at school, as well as helping to prevent obesity.

Good, clean, scary fun – your chance to win a family ticket to Blackpool Tower Dungeons

We’re over in Blackpool quite a lot, largely because my husband grew up there and most of his family is still there or thereabouts. We don’t often visit as tourists, apart from the odd trip to one of the Blackpool attractions, because we mostly leave that to the grandparents as they take the children to see the Illuminations (normally involving sleepover, yay!). There are a lot of things to do in Blackpool – and I’ll be honest with you, most of it is not up my street, but the children love it.

Since 1^st September, there has been a new attraction to add to the growing list, the Blackpool Tower Dungeons – at the Blackpool Tower, obviously!  A new family attraction (although recommended for children over the age of 8), it takes you through 1000 years of Blackpool’s gruesome history, with 10 actor-led interactive and fun shows to help tell the stories, a scary drop ride, and because we’re in Lancashire, you can also visit the Pendle Witches and dodge the Witchfinder General.  The dungeon is intended to be educational, entertaining  - and good, clean, scary fun. (Well, I’m not sure about the clean, you’re in a dungeon after all; but you get my drift!)

I have a family ticket to the Blackpool Tower Dungeon to give away to one lucky reader of my blog for up to 2 adults and 2 children, remembering of course that it’s recommended for the over 8s. It’s also valid for London, York and Edinburgh venues so you don’t necessarily have to make the trip all the way to Blackpool if it’s not convenient for you.

To enter the competition, first ensure you’re subscribed to this blog via RSS (the orange jellybean above) or email (the red one), then leave me a comment below. I want you to tell me what the scariest thing you’ve ever done or experienced, and I’m not just talking ghosts!

If you want an additional entry (optional), then tweet the following:

I’ve entered to win a family ticket to the Blackpool Tower Dungeon on @kateab’s blog. Dare you enter too? http://bit.ly/v5eBeb

Then leave me a separate comment to let me know you have done. Please don’t forget to leave a valid form of contact so I can get in touch if you win!

Good luck!

Terms and conditions

To enter, leave a comment below, saying what the scariest thing is that you’ve ever done or experienced, along with a valid contact email address or Twitter ID, which will be used to contact you if you win.
An additional entry can be gained by tweeting as stated above.
Please ensure you follow this blog via RSS or email. 
Maximum two entries per person - multiple entries will be discarded. 
The prize is a family ticket (up to 2 adults and 2 children) to the Blackpool Tower Dungeon, although the ticket is also valid for the London, York and Edinburgh locations.

The competition closes on Saturday 26^th November at 8pm.
The winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries.
The winner will be contacted that evening and asked to provide a postal address and contact telephone number within 48 hours or the winner will be re-drawn.

UK entrants only.
There is no cash alternative.

Toyologist Competition - win Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

This month is the final Toyologist competition of the year, meaning this is the sixth one I've run on the blog this year. Time certainly does fly. The prize this time is an Orchard Toys game, called Head Shoulders Knees and Toes. Aimed at children aged 3 and over, it's described as an "action lotto guessing game" and helps children to learn about the parts of the body, as well as develop memory and colour matching skills. Although I've not played this game, we love Orchard Toys games - they're always so bright, colourful and well made.

If you would like to enter to win this prize, then first follow this blog via RSS (orange jellybean top right!) or email (red jellybean). Then leave a comment below, telling me what your child's favourite singalong song is. It doesn't have to be your child actually - it can be any child you're close to, like a godchild, grandchild, niece, nephew etc.

If you want a second entry, then tweet the following:

Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Enter the competition on @kateab 's blog and you could win the game! bit.ly/vPMxUn

Please don't forget to leave a means of contacting you as I have had to redraw prizes before now. Also, if you do win, a prompt answer should mean that you can get your prize before Christmas so it's in your interest to give me a quick response.

Terms and conditions

To enter, leave a comment below, saying what is your child's favourite singalong song along with a valid contact email address or Twitter ID, which will be used to contact you if you win.
An additional entry can be gained by tweeting as stated above.
Please ensure follow this blog via RSS or email.
Maximum two entries per person - multiple entries will be discarded.
The prize is a Head Shoulders Knees and Toes game.
The competition closes on Wednesday 23rd November 2011 at 8pm.
The winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries.
The winner will be contacted that evening and asked to provide a postal address and contact telephone number within 48 hours or the winner will be re-drawn. The prize will be sent out by Toys R Us after 1st December.

UK entrants only.
There is no cash alternative.

It's November so let's talk about the two C words - Christmas, and chocolate.

When someone offers to send chocolate, you don't say no. Even if you are not a chocolate addict, which I'm not - I eat chocolate but I don't have to have it every day. When Hotel Chocolat offer to send you chocolate, you say yes very quickly. We got sent some a few months ago and it really didn't last long.

This time, they offered to send me a product of my choice from their Christmas gift range. Oh yes, the other C word. I've been holding off mentioning it on here but yes, I've started getting ready - my aim is always to have everything bought by the start of December as I don't generally do shops in December (barring the supermarket, you can't avoid those.) But still, I don't like mentioning Christmas too early because I get all bah humbug about it.

So, it was fairly odd picking out a Christmas product to try in October, but we managed, as you do - although we had to hide them from the children. I'd settled on the Luxury Truffles to Share Advent Calendar. This means there's not one but two truffles behind each window so there's no fighting over the chocolate. Genius. There are six different varieties of truffle - Mulled Wine, Salted Soft Caramel, Gingerbread, Cinnamon Praline, Milk Praline and Simple Dark Truffle. I was a bit dubious about the mulled wine variety but it was really nicely spiced and not too strong tasting of alcohol (I am not a huge fan of liqueur chocolates). I also loved the salted caramel - it was the first time I had tried it but it was a lovely combination and I'll definitely have it again. They are a nice range of different flavours and the truffles are small enough that if you are on your Christmas diet to squeeze into your LBD or whatever colour party dress you like to wear, they'll be a little treat which won't send you off the rails. The nutritional information on the back suggest that a truffle averages out at 41 calories each.

It is a little bit on the expensive side at £25 but Hotel Chocolat do have other Advent calendars available, although those don't have two chocolates for every day. And it's really nice, good quality chocolate so in that respect, it's worth the money.

And the best bit? (For you, anyway). You have the chance to win one for yourself! Yes, Hotel Chocolat are giving away one Luxury Truffles to Share Advent Calendar for one lucky reader of The Five Fs. To take part, you first must be a follower of this blog - either by RSS (click the orange jellybean to set up) or email (red jellybean). Then, all you need to do is leave a comment below and tell me what you would do to win chocolate. Just one thing - and don't say "anything"; that doesn't show imagination!

Optionally, you can gain a second entry by tweeting the following:

Win a lovely Hotel Chocolat Luxury Advent Calendar on @kateab's blog. http://bit.ly/tld7xy I've entered, have you?

and leave me a separate comment to let me know that you've tweeted. Please ensure you leave me a valid form of contact as I've had to redraw prizes before now as winners haven't responded to contact from me. I tend to announce winners on Twitter, so why not follow me there to get the latest news?

By the way, you can also follow Hotel Chocolat on Twitter or like them on Facebook for the latest chocolatey news from them.

Get entering, and good luck!

Terms and conditions

To enter, leave a comment below, saying what you would do to win chocolate, along with a valid contact email address or Twitter ID, which will be used to contact you if you win.
An additional entry can be gained by tweeting as stated above.
Please ensure you follow this blog via RSS or email.
Maximum two entries per person - multiple entries will be discarded.
The prize is a Hotel Chocolat Luxury Truffles to Share Chocolate Advent Calendar.
The competition closes on Thursday 10th November 2011 at 8pm.
The winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries.
The winner will be contacted that evening and asked to provide a postal address and contact telephone number within 48 hours or the winner will be re-drawn. The prize will be despatched by Hotel Chocolat. UK entrants only.
There is no cash alternative.

Toyologist Competition - Win a Pinypon Giftset Travel Pack

This month's competition is a lovely toy for little girls. The Pinypon Travel pack includes 2 dolls, a poodle (cos it's the Paris version), over 30 accessories and 3 postcards. It's worth £11.99 and suitable for ages 4 and over.

If you want to enter to win and already follow this blog, leave a comment below and tell me, as this toy is travel-themed, what your favourite place to travel to with children is. Don't forget to leave a valid method of contact - either email or twitter ID. I've had to redraw prizes before now because people don't respond.

If you would like a second entry, which is entirely optional, then tweet "Fancy winning a Pinypon toy for your little girl? Enter @kateab's competition like me! http://bit.ly/qTxYUf" THEN leave a separate comment to say you have done.

Don't forget to like the Toys R Us UK Facebook page (not a condition of entry) - it will keep you up to date with new reviews and competitions.

Terms and conditions

To enter, leave a comment below, saying what is your favourite place to travel to with children along with a valid contact email address or Twitter ID, which will be used to contact you if you win.

An additional entry can be gained by tweeting as stated above.

Please ensure follow this blog via RSS, email, Facebook or Twitter.
Maximum two entries per person - multiple entries will be discarded.
The prize is a Dyson Pinypon Giftset Travel Pack (Paris).
The competition closes on Tuesday 25th October 2011 at 8pm.
The winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries.
The winner will be contacted that evening and asked to provide a postal address and contact telephone number within 48 hours or the winner will be re-drawn. The prize will be sent out by Toys R Us after 1st November. UK entrants only.
There is no cash alternative.

Good luck everyone!

The breakfast of princes (or princesses...) You could win one too!

I'm a stickler for breakfast. I do not understand how anyone can not eat it - even if you're not feeling hungry, you can still manage a little something, can't you? We tend to give the children cereal these days because they get toast at school at break time (provided I remember to pay the toast money and not walk off and go to Manchester with the envelopes in my pocket, realising just as my train arrives in the station. Ahem.) Cereal is quick and it's cheap, but it doesn't add to their 5 a day, does it?

Princes sent me a lovely breakfast box last week full of lots of tinned fruit and their fruit juices and some other goodies. Of course, why didn't I think of adding tinned fruit for breakfast? It's great because it doesn't go off like the fruit in your fruit  bowl can and it works out cheaper. Using tinned fruit takes me back to my youth so it's kind of nostalgic about it. It turns out my husband loves the pear halves - and as most pears go from rock solid to beyond use in a blink of an eye, they are about the only way you can use pears consistently. The children love fruit juice with their cereal - which can also count as one of their 5 a day. 

When the hamper first arrived, the children were very excited to see what was in it. As always. Monkey, whose reading ability is coming on leaps and bounds, read the tins as "Princess" so I had to tell him the correct name. Hubby later confessed to me that he always used to think they were called that!

You might spot in the hamper something that looks like a watch. It's a heart rate monitor. Princes sent me that as a bit of an experiment to test my heart rate during the morning routine including the school run to see how stressed I got during that time. Now, I am lucky in that my husband works shifts and does the school run for me quite a bit, thus removing the stress of that time on those days but on other days, I fly solo and it can be stressful if one of the children decide they are not playing ball. 

I monitored my heart rate during the school run for four days over the last week. I found that my average heart rate during that time was more than 35% higher than when I'm resting and relaxed - although admittedly, some of that could be explained by walking and general movement, but the shocking thing was how high my heart rate could get. The highest it got to was 214 bpm - shouldn't I be dead? Admittedly, that was the day I was off to London to the MADs almost straight after the school run and at least one point, Monkey had a tantrum. One of my other days was the same morning I was being interviewed on the radio - but I made sure I didn't put my heart monitor on until after the interview! I'll be very interested to see the results for the other mums taking part in the experiment. 

And now, you've got the chance to win a Princes breakfast box too. It won't include the heart rate monitor but it will include a set of six bowls and six tumblers, table placemats, an alarm clock, a colouring book to entertain the kids, a relaxing candle for the mums, money-off coupons and, of course, a range of Princes canned fruit – including grapefruit segments, peach slices, pear halves, fruit cocktail, pineapple chunks and mandarin segments – and Princes pure juices.

To be in with a chance of winning, leave me a comment below and tell me about your most stressful moment on the school run. Please ensure that you're following the blog via RSS (orange jellybean), email (red jellybean), or facebook (the darker blue jellybean!) and that you leave me a valid means of contact  = either email address or twitter ID. 

Terms and conditions

To enter, leave a comment below as specified along with a valid contact email address or Twitter ID, which will be used to contact you if you win and follow this blog via RSS, email, or Facebook.
One entry per person - multiple entries will be discarded.
The prize is a Princes breakfast box.
The competition closes on Friday 14th October at 8pm.
The winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries.
The winner will be contacted that evening and asked to provide a postal address within 48 hours or the winner will be re-drawn. UK entrants only.
There is no cash alternative.

Good luck everyone!

(Princes sent me a breakfast box and a heart rate monitor. I have not received any further compensation and all opinions are my own.)

Toyologist Competition - Win a Dyson (toy!) Vacuum Cleaner

This month's prize is a Dyson DC14 Vacuum Cleaner worth £22.99. It's suitable from age 3, and it can really pick up bits off your carpet. Perfect for little helpers. We reviewed the Dyson Ball last month which is similar but hopefully doesn't suffer from the same issue with falling over all the time. 

If you would like a chance to win the playset, just leave a comment below and tell me what househould chore you wish your child could do for you (imaginary children allowed if you're not already a parent!). If you're not already following my blog in any way, pick your favourite above by clicking one of the jellybeans in the top right - there's one for subscribing via RSS, one via email, one for liking my Facebook page and one for following me on Twitter. All or any of those will keep you up to date with the latest events on the blog.

Please, please, PLEASE ensure you leave a valid and regularly used form of contact. I've had people lose out on prizes because they have not left an email address or twitter account that I can contact or they haven't checked their email regularly enough.

Leave your comment (one per person, subsequent ones will be ignored) by Sunday 25th September at 8pm.

Don't forget to like the Toys R Us UK Facebook page (not a condition of entry) - it will keep you up to date with new reviews and competitions.

Terms and conditions

To enter, leave a comment below stating what household chore you wish your child could do for you, along with a valid contact email address or Twitter ID, which will be used to contact you if you win and follow this blog via RSS, email, Facebook or Twitter.
One entry per person - multiple entries will be discarded.
The prize is a Dyson DC14 toy vacuum cleaner.
The competition closes on Sunday 25th September 2011 at 8pm.
The winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries.
The winner will be contacted that evening and asked to provide a postal address and contact telephone number within 48 hours or the winner will be re-drawn. The prize will be sent out by Toys R Us after 1st October. UK entrants only.
There is no cash alternative.
Good luck everyone! 

125 years of Anchor

We always have butter in this house. Yes, we really do. I may do healthy eating but I don't really like low fat spread - it tastes all wrong, you can't use it for baking and if you use butter sparingly, it's not that injurious to a healthy lifestyle. Butter is a great choice and I only ever buy margarine to make one particular cake that calls for it as the recipe is designed around having a softer fat.

Anchor sent me some memorabilia to commemorate their 125th birthday. They sent a rather fancy cake stand (surely too posh and fancy for this house!), some oven gloves, a mug, a hessian bag, and two eggcups. Unfortunately, Monkey was so excited about receiving "presents" in the post, he dropped one of the eggcups on the floor and broke it, even though it was wrapped in bubble wrap. Hey ho. Here they are anyway:

I love the cow! I believe that's Doreen the Anchor cow looking very regal there. You can win these and other items of birthday memorabilia - I've got my eye on the cake tin and the butter dish to complete the set - over at Anchor's facebook page where there are 125 prizes on offer over 125 days - which is a lot of prizes! You need to enter codes from packs of Anchor butter, Anchor Spreadable or Lighter Spreadable to take part in that day's draw. They're currently about halfway through so you have a couple of months left to have a go if you want. There is also a huge prize of £50,000 and 75 prizes of £1,000 to be won so it's worth having a go.

If you don't fancy trying your luck, you can also buy your favourite items of memorabilia from the same place. So, I might just be forking out for the cake tin.

Thanks to Anchor for sending me all this lovely stuff - and happy 125th birthday!

(I was sent the items above to try out for free. I have not been paid to write this post and all opinions are my own.)

Toyologist Competition time - Win a Zoobles Playset!

This month's prize is a Zoobles Blossoming Garden Playset worth £19.99. It's suitable for ages 4 and upwards. If you want to know more about Zoobles, we got sent one to review back in March so take a look at that.

This set comes with a Flower Zooble, a mini Zooble friend and 8 accessories. The set has a slide for the Zoobles to roll down and they will spring into life when they reach the hotspots.

If you would like a chance to win the playset, just leave a comment below. If you're not already following my blog in any way, pick your favourite above by clicking one of the jellybeans in the top right - there's one for subscribing via RSS, one via email, one for liking my Facebook page and one for following me on Twitter. All or any of those will keep you up to date with the latest events on the blog.

Please, please, PLEASE ensure you leave a form of contact. I've had people lose out on prizes because they have not left an email address or twitter account that I can contact.

Leave your comment (1 per person, subsequent ones will be ignored) by Saturday 20th August at 8pm.

Terms and conditions

To enter, then leave a comment below, along with a valid contact email address or Twitter ID, which will be used to contact you if you win and follow this blog via RSS, email, Facebook or Twitter.
One entry per person - multiple entries will be discarded.
The prize is a Zoobles Blossoming Garden Playset.
The competition closes on Saturday 20th August 2011 at 8pm.
The winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries.
The winner will be contacted that evening and asked to provide a postal address and contact telephone number within 48 hours or the winner will be re-drawn. The prize will be sent out by Toys R Us after 1st September. UK entrants only.

There is no cash alternative.

Toyologist Competition - Win a Jumbo Colouring Pad - Princess & Fairy

July's competition is to win a jumbo colouring pad by Melissa and Doug, worth £4.99.This has 50 sheets with Princess and Fairy designs on them; perfect for budding princesses. It's aimed at the 4-6 age bracket - Missy Woo would love it but she's not getting her hands on this one!

Packing a (Summer Fruit) punch - win tickets to a Tatton Park picnic concert

Going along with the theme of people sending me things, Shloer sent me a couple of bottles of their new limited edition flavour Summer Fruit Punch to try. It has flavours of mint, strawberries, orange and cucumber. To me, it tastes just like a Pimm's and lemonade with all the trimmings added, making it a great non-alcoholic alternative for parties if you've got to drive, or just cutting out alcohol. The children have got a taste for it and so I can see I am going to have to hide the second bottle because the first one went in an afternoon! Being a summer drink, it's best served chilled - either over ice or straight from the fridge.

Competition: Win tickets to Pandamonium in the Park at Althorp House

The lovely people at Kellogg's offered me some tickets to an event taking place on Saturday 9th July called Pandamonium at the Park at the Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire. I can't go but Kellogg's have said I can give away tickets to some lucky readers.