Toyologist Review - Badge It! Badge Maker

Missy Woo is a creative little soul. You can forever find her drawing something or trying to make something. Whenever we get given some kind of craft item, she wants to do it straight away. The problem is that most things either take longer than her attention span, and on top of that, it makes a mess. Now, I am not the perfect housewife; our house is not the tidiest but it's lived in and livable. But children's craft things seem to be made to create mess, and I get landed with the clearing up. And not just mess, paint on clothes, glue on tables (even if covered), crayon on walls, pen on children. Arrrrgh.

So, when we were sent Badge It! Badge Maker to try, I was a teeny bit reticent about having a go, expecting it to be a) a lengthy process and b) a bit messy. I saved it for an afternoon after school and decided to take the plunge with the children.

My Fitness Story... - Sharon

It's Thursday and there's a post so it must mean I have got myself some more contributors to My Fitness Story... Thanks for everyone who read my post last week and offered to help. I always need new contributions so please don't think your story is not worth telling - be brave! 

Anyway, my willing volunteer this week is Sharon, who blogs at My lot. Sharon always seems to be out running - but it wasn't always the case. Here she shares her story of how and why she came to start running and complete her first marathon, the first being the hardest of course. 

So, without further ado, here's Sharon's story. 

My Grandad

I had a lot more to do with my dad's parents than my mum's. My maternal grandmother died before I was born anyway and although we did see my grandfather, my mum had had a distant relationship for most of her life, given that her parents divorced when she was a small child. Consequently, we saw little of them.

My dad's parents, on the other hand, lived less than ten miles away from our home, so we visited regularly. I remember going for tea and being made to eat ham sandwiches with mustard in them (which I hated) and being offered tomatoes, (which I also hated as a child). We'd get given arctic roll for pudding and my nan would cover it in evaporated milk. 

Five

Sparkly girl

When you are five, life is simple. As long as you have the same as your brother, something pink in your life and a teddy to cuddle in bed, you're happy.

When you are five, life can be complicated. I mean, why isn't July followed straight away by December? They're the two best months of the year!

When you are five, life is interesting. You already have a boyfriend. You tell me in the car one day, then shout "Mummy" sheepishly when I tell Daddy what you said. Then you tell me afterwards it was a secret.

Meal Planning Monday

So, here we are again. And into July! First week of July means Missy Woo's birthday (tomorrow) so the week is slightly different - we're going out for tea for pizza on her birthday and we're taking some of her friends with us to the cinema on Sunday.

Silent Sunday

Toyologist Review - Nerf N Strike Barricade MREV-10

I've said before that I don't really like guns as toys for children. I'm just uncomfortable with the concept. However, I know that it's impossible for me to ban them; they'll play with them anyway.It's just it makes me uncomfortable to hear children talking about shooting each other - even if they don't generally watch programmes with scenes of shooting.

That said, we've been sent Nerf guns before and at least they aren't harmful or anything. So, this time around, we get sent the Nerf N Strike Barricade to try out. It's smaller than the other Nerfs we've been sent previously - we got sent the Recon and the Rapid Fire Blaster before which are both huge. This size is far better for a boy of 6, which is the suggested lower age limit for Nerfs - and easier to run around with and perhaps the odd "stealth" mission.