Ten Questions

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I have been tagged by The Crazy Kitchen in Ten Questions, another bleeding meme! However, as I am not one to walk away from a tossed gauntlet, here goes:

1: Describe yourself in seven words:

I am a stroppy, sensitive, tired bugger blogger.

2: What keeps you awake at night?

Not much, when I've gone, I've gone. However, floating off on that cloud can often be disturbed by husband's snoring. If he falls asleep before me then I've had it, and so has he because I elbow or belt him one to make him stop. I once held his nose for a few seconds; it worked, he didn't breathe for thirty seconds and I was worried I'd killed him.

3: If you could be anyone for a day who would you be and why?

Me, but a less tired version with an infinite amount of money. Just one day, that's all I need.

4:  What are you wearing now?

Black top, underwear, vest-top and cropped trousers. My full-length ones need ironing and I can't be arsed at the moment. I'll do it before we go out to the fireworks!

5:  What scares you?

Death. Or rather not being here anymore with my loved ones, and them not with me. I'm absolutely petrified of general anaesthetics because of that, to the point where I have a panic attack and cry.

6:  What is the best and the worst thing about blogging?

The opportunities I've had, both with events or products, but mostly the opportunity to make new friends who I click with. There are now three bloggers (and one tweeter) that I've met that I consider real-life friends, and a few more that I can't wait to meet because I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same.
The worst thing is the arrogance of some bloggers who think they are better than everyone else. They don't bother to talk to the little people (forgetting that they themselves were once there) and they harrass people who don't blog the way that they think every blogger should. They criticise people who review calling them blaggers, but would themselves turn up to the opening of an envelope. I think that envelope should contain the word 'humility' written on it.
7:  What was the last website you looked at?  

Twitter, unsurprisingly. Other than that this morning I've been on Facebook to post a Toyologist review, Amazon to copy it across (it wasn't a good one), The Crazy Kitchen, Mummy Mishaps and Gmail. Was that interesting?

8:  If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?Physically: in general it would be how hefty I've become, although specifically it would be to have slender upper arms; I struggle in the Summer months.

Personality: my low levels of self-esteem.

9:  Slankets Yes or No!?

What the hell is a slanket? <goes to look it up>

Um no, I'm 34 not 84.

10: Tell us something about the person who tagged you?

Helen is kind, caring, funny, down-to-Earth and a good friend. She's also a sh*t-hot cook.

Now I tag Mummy Central, MammyWoo (she won't do it though), SAHDandProud and MotherVenting (I want to see what she says about slankets).

The rules of the game are:

1) Answer the 10 questions
2) Tag someone to do the same
3) Come back to the original blog post by Super Amazing Mum and comment that you have done so in order for us to find out who has been tagged and therefore find out more about our fellow bloggers!

TRU Review: Fast Wheels RC

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My initial reaction for the Fast Wheels RC was positive. Then I started to undo the packaging which was a nightmare in itself and my opinion was tainted. There is no need for the packaging to be that difficult to remove from a toy, especially one aimed at six year olds and over who might be attempting to free their 'snazzy' car from its confines.

I'm not one to stick to age limits on toys, which is why this morning The Boy has been playing with a toy aimed at nine month olds, alternated with the iPod Touch. I genuinely thought he could have handled this; push the levers and the car moves. However, when I saw my 36 year old husband having difficulties getting to grips with it, I decided against letting The Boy play with it. Instead I gave it to my nearly six year old nephew.

It's a tricky car to navigate. Usually on remote-control cars, there are two joysticks to control forward/backward and left/right. The Fast Wheels RC has two joysticks which each control one of the wheels and go forward/backward only. Therefore to get the extremely plasticky car to move forward, you have to move both levers forward. If you want it to turn, then one gets pushed forward more than the other. It's difficult to figure out.

Generally the quality of the product does not justify the pricetag of £19.99. I would have hoped for a metal die-cast car at least for that price, and certainly a better manufactured remote-control. If you have a limited budget and spend half of it on this toy, you'll have wasted your money. I personally think this looks and handles like something that you'd buy from a market-stall. I'm not impressed, but then I'm not a six year old little boy.

For more reviews by the Toys R Us Toyologists, click on the image below.

We were provided this free of charge to review. My opinion is, as always, honest.

Review: Snapfish

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I take an inordinate amount of photographs, on a daily basis I can upload well over fifty shots from my digital SLR. I take part in Silent Sunday every weekend, most of The Gallery prompts and have kept my 365 project going with under sixty days left to complete. That amount of photographs are absurd to leave festering on a hard drive somewhere.

With the Christmas period coming up, it's an ideal opportunity to get these photos off the silicon chips and displayed somewhere proudly. There are a variety of websites out there that have a range of photo-products, only a few that can be trusted to produce good quality products: Snapfish is one of them.

I was invited to try out the range of products that are available from Snapfish and I was impressed! There are the usual cards, canvasses and photobooks, to supplement the obvious digital prints. However, they also have calendars, mugs, coasters, Christmas ornaments, notebooks, magents, personalised toddler storybooks and a range of Disney gifts.

I chose three products:

Wooden Photo Panel

This is a fabulous alternative to the normal canvasses which adorn walls around our houses. This photo panel is perfect for rooms that have high humidity, like a bathroom or kitchen. The photo is printed onto the wooden panel, then protected with UV-resistant, scratch-free coating which has a glossy finish to it. It's available in 7" x 5",10" x 8" and 14" x 11" sizes, we ordered the 10"x8" photo panel and have displayed it in the best place to show a washing line of pants: the downstairs loo!

Individual Placemat

As The Boy is now sitting up to the dinner table with us, as opposed to using his high-chair, I decided to get him a personalised placemat in order to tempt him to eat nicely like mummy and daddy. The placemate is cork-backed which makes it heat-resistant and has a high gloss finish. Snapfish sell the placemats individually, in pairs or in sets of six.The Boy adores his placemat and feels like a big boy, the only problem is that he keeps moving his plate out the way to see his picture!

Photo Jigsaw

The Boy has really developed his ability to complete jigsaws over the past few months. He's now capable of a 35-piece jigsaw (with a bit of help) so I ordered him a 40-piece jigsaw which is 7"x5". The jigsaw is really glossy, thick pieces and a very high quality. However, it's too tricky for The Boy to do at the moment because I picked a picture which had a swath of one-coloured background.

I was really impressed with the range of products from Snapfish and the quality of the finished products. The prices are variable; some are really good value, others are a little more top-end of my budget. However, bearing in mind the quality of the products, I do think the prices are worth it. The website was relatively easy to use as the photos upload quickly and instructions are straight-forward. I did have an issue at the checkout, but I suspect that was due to inputting the gift code at the wrong time.

High quality items that are good value for money.

I was provided with a gift-code in order to choose items for review. My opinions are honest and unbiased.

Friday Funny

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He was sat in the middle of an adult bed holding Oliver Monkey. He looked tiny and so pale, but colour was slowly returning to his cheeks. He shouldn't have been able to come out with a funny.

The doctor came over for her discharge assessment and checked him over. The Boy looked at her and said, "Lady, I not very well!" She asked him what the matter was. He came out with the same thing that he has been saying for months (it's fake by the way), "Lady, I have got a cough. Listen… ahuh, huh!"

She laughed and told us to take him home.

—

Sticking with daddy at the dining table:

"Have you had a good day?"

"Yes daddy, I did have a sleep."

"Was it a nice sleep?"

"Yes, when I woke up, I was a little boy!"

Friday Funny

Last Time!

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I love my garden, it is without a shadow of a doubt one of the favourite areas in my house and I feel truly relaxed and at ease in it. When I was a child, I spent hours daily in my garden, it was my playground, my theatre, my wonderland.

I want this for The Boy.

That is why I took part in the Bosch Garden Makeover Challenge. That is why I've worked hard to make our garden a safe, educational, fun place for The Boy so that he can have somewhere to run freely, play, explore, learn.

Update: I didn't win, but thanks to everyone who voted for me. It meant a hell of a lot. I'm content in the knowledge that I have a fabulous garden anyway, which all three of us enjoy immensely.

Competition: The Little Green Sheep

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Thank goodness this week that I've had a good selection of bed-sheets. Quite frankly The Boy has gone through more than enough of them with this gastritis.

However, one of my favourite sheets to put on his cotbed is this really pretty, cool-green one from the Little Green Sheep:

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