Scotch-Brite (Review)

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Cleaning's not glamorous.

You didn't need me to tell you that, we all know how unglamorous it is when we have our hands in buckets of cleaning fluids scrubbing the kitchen counters or the bathroom floor. And I'm pretty sure that I am not the only person in the land to have buckets of swishy-wishy, miracle cleaner underneath the bathroom sink, am I? But they don't actually do it for you, they can loosen the dirt but they won't do it on their own.

When it comes down to it, and with the best intentions in the world, the only thing that really will get something clean is elbow grease; scrubbing and wiping.

I was sent some products from Scotch-Brite to test out and on first impressions they seemed to be just another collection of scourers and sponges.

And this is the main point that I want to make: A scourer is a scourer is a scourer, right? My husband would have you believe that as he picks up the value range from the supermarket which need throwing away within a few uses, mainly because they've disintegrated or the dye is coming off the green sponge. I know (because I'm the person who uses them for cleaning as opposed to dishwashing) that if I want the sponge to last and be economical, then slightly more expensive and better quality sponges and scourers last longer and do a better job.

As you can see the PR was very kind and labelled the cost for me per item and per pack.

  • The heavy-duty scourer: £1.15 for 3 making them 38p each, but these are perfect for cleaning ovens, grills and hobs. It does cost 8p more per scourer than other brands, but it contains natural fibres of cellulose which are absorbent. It's also thicker than one, and (this is technical now) not as rough as the other, which means I'm not going to have scratched surfaces and hands.
  • The super-absorbent sponge cloth: £2.49 for 5, 50p a cloth. This is one of those cleaning products that I seethe inwardly about, they always seem to fall apart once wrung out and leave bright yellow or blue sponge foam over everything. Not the Scotch-brite one, which is as absorbent as the name makes you think: up to ten times it's own weight.
  • The non-scratch scrub sponge: £1.15 for 1. Other sponge scourers retail for around 50p for 3 so this is a lot more. What's different about this is the size and wave-shape, plus it is non-scratch and very absorbent.

In all honesty, the last item is a little more than I would be prepared to pay, however I will certainly consider the other two items in future because the few pence more saves money and time in the long run.

I was provided with these items for the purpose of this post. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

I CAN: Why Oracy Is Important

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Before you can write you need to be able to read, and before you can read you need to be able to speak.

Developing oracy in young children is essential: it helps them communicate with the world, express their emotions, desires and intentions, and encourages social interaction.

"Mummy, I'm trying to concentrate!"

"Actually mummy, that's a hexagon not an octagon."

The Boy talks. A LOT! And yes I'm aware that I sound like every other mum out there who's proud of their child and wants to 'show off', but that's not my intention. I talk a lot, and I have always chatted to The Boy no matter what we're doing. It shows because he chatters away nineteen to the dozen, and is quite confident to start a conversation with someone and explain his thoughts. I put a lot of this down to the parent-facing pushchair that we used to use and the fact that his baby car-seat was next to me on the front seat. We were able to communicate all the time.

Last week I spent time in the nursery unit in school, and it was an eye-opener for me to see 'elective mute' children, among other children who had difficulty articulating the most basic of needs and thoughts. It made me realise that just because The Boy has difficulty pronouncing 'l' or 'r' correctly, it doesn't mean that he has difficulty with his speech. My time there compounded the research conducted which shows that in some areas of the UK, over half the children starting school don't have the skills they need to learn, make friends and succeed.

I was sent a fantastic activity set a few weeks ago called 'Chatting With Children' by I CAN (The Children's Communication Charity). The pack contains a parent guide to the enclosed games designed for 3-5 year olds to support speech, language and communication development. The guide describes why oracy is so important, and that there are specific key skills needed for learning to talk:

  • listening and attention ('Concentrate on what I'm saying' has been a common phrase in this house, to Mr. TBaM as well as The Boy!);
  • understanding what is said;
  • learning and using new words (The Boy is very good at rolling words around in his mouth until he pronounces them correctly);
  • speaking in sentences;
  • talking socially (modelled language from the adults in their life).

The games are on a set of cards (about the size of a paperback) and can therefore be used at home or out and about. The set allows for games to be dipped in and out of, as required, but they are designed to be used every day and a six-week programme has been included. I really like the programme (and cards) because it is split into an activity for each area of Oracy skills, one for each week with a theme assigned like food, animals or clothes.

oracy skills

This set of cards above are some of the activities suggested for the week on 'Animals' and include: 'Name The Animal' (applying information to previous knowledge), 'Guessing Game' (listening to information and drawing conclusions), 'Let's Draw' (learning positional language), 'Story Relay' (linking sentences to make stories), and 'Secret Action Signal' (encouraging eye contact).

I think this is an excellent set of cards to help prompte Oracy with young children. Even though The Boy talks for Britain, we still love having a go at the games and it has helped him to develop deeper Oracy skills; essential to help him when he starts school next year.

The I CAN Chatting With Children pack is available directly from I CAN for £7.99.

I was sent this product for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

Cooking Italian For GOSH

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My absolute favourite cuisine is Italian food. I've never been happier than sat in a restaurant on the Isle of Capri trying to choose between all the pizzas, pastas and risottos, let alone the sumptuous desserts and liquers.

And it stands to reason that if I can't be on the Amalfi coast, then if you hand me an Italian cookbook and put Dean Martin on, I'm going to be just as happy.

The ASK Italian Cookbook contains a variety of easy-to-prepare recipes straight from the ASK Italian kitchens. Over 100 recipes have been contributed by the chefs who work there, plus TV chef Theo Randall, author Carla Capalbo and plenty of other experts to create this new Bible of mine for starters, mains, sides and desserts. There are even ideas to make with children.

What makes this one different?

For every one of these cookbooks bought in an ASK Italian restaurant, £4 of the £15 will be donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. If you buy it through a bookshop or another third-party retailer then a minimum of £1 will be donated. Over the past few years ASK Italian have raised money to build a ward kitchen and an adolescent recreation and dining room in the hospital's new Cardiac ward, they hope to continue to raise funds to help with physical and emotional support of patients and their family.

I've had a go at one of their recipes: ravioli di spinaci e ricotta.

Ok, so it's not ravioli because I've tried making that before and the results weren't worth a mention. However the sauce is straight out of the book and it took me a matter of a few minutes to cook. In fact, it took me longer to find the bottle of white wine than it did to make the entire sauce. And it tasted delicious. I can't wait to try the salads and puddings.

ASK Italian is just one of three companies who have chosen to support GOSH, The White Company and Disney are two others. Look out for specially marked products to help support the charity.

My son has spent four nights in a children's hospital, and it was the worst 96 hours of my life. He left there healthy and happy because of the attention given to him. I can't even begin to imagine how it must feel to have a child who needs long-term health treatment.

GOSH needs to raise at least £50 million every year to help rebuild and refurbish Great Ormond Street Hospital, buy vital equipment and fund research to pioneer new treatments and cures for childhood illness. Through donations and special product purchases, they provide hope to very ill children and their families.

For more information log on to www.gosh.org

I received this book free for the purpose of this post. I have since made a donation of £10 to GOSH.

'The Adventures of Abney & Teal' (Book Review & Giveaway)

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One of the most captivating CBeebies programmes at the moment is 'The Adventures of Abney & Teal' during the tea-time slot. It's been a part of the schedule for the past year or so and completely captures our imagination; it's often the last programme we watch before the television is turned off (for the screen-free hour before bed) and I think it's a lovely calming programme to end the day with.

Abney and Teal are two of the characters who live on a series of islands, in the middle of a lake in a park in a busy city. They have fun and games, plenty of hijinks with their other friends Neep (a small burrowing creature), Bop (a seal type of creature who lives in the water), the Poc-Pocs (a set of 7 comma-shaped wooden objects or seed creatures), and Toby Dog (a melodeon-playing dog who always sits upright on the same place on the lake's mainland shore).

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Ecover (Review)

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Since The Boy was born, we've used Ecover laundry liquid and conditioner, dishwasher tablets and washing-up liquid. I spent a long time growing and perfecting my son, I'm loathe to taint his precious being with  contaminants. Plus we all have sensitive skin, and the Ecover laundry liquid is the only one that doesn't cause us to break out into rashes or eczema.

Ecover have launched a new range of cleaning products called Zero. Quite simply, they have zero fragrances in them! For those folks who have even more sensitive skin than us, this is perfect as it can help to reduce allergic symptoms. The Zero fragrance-free cleaning products range includes Laundry Liquid, Washing Powder, Fabric Conditioner and Washing Up Liquid; all dermatologically tested.

We were sent some of the Zero non-bio laundry liquid to use and it is fantastic! Fragrance-free and made of gentle plant-based and mineral ingredients, it cleans as well as any other leading detergent. We were also sent some of their multi-action wipes which have an ecological antibacterial agent in them. And very useful they are too with my mucky pup…

I was sent these products for the purpose of this post, my opinions are honest and unbiased.

The Scent Of Christmas

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Christmas is a special time of year for me and I love the whole festive season. I can't wait to get the decorations out and dress up the house with sparkling lights and shiny decorations everywhere; the main living areas are alive with colour and twinklinh fairy lights. To add to this sensory overload, it's the one time of year that I use scented candles to add the slightest hint of cinnamon, nutmeg, pine, velvety wine and all the other warm Winter smells.

Potters Crouch is a company who create scented candles and these are like the Hotel Chocolat of candles; exquisite.

"Each candle is handmade, hand–labelled and hand–finished in our 300 year old converted barn nestled in the heart of the English countryside in Hertfordshire…

We believe our candles are superior to any others crafted in the UK as we only ever use the finest of ingredients and original scents created exclusively for us. With our added special ingredients we are also able to offer you candles with a superior burn time of approximately 50 hours…"

I was sent two of the seasonal candles: Festive Spice and the aptly named Christmas.

festive spice

Festive Spice has an orange, mulled wine and eastern spices scent to it and is finished with small green and red crystals on the top. Christmas has spices blended with pine forests and rich orange scents with gold crystals on the top. These additional decorations really make the candles seem that little bit extra-special along with the labels which have come from hand-drawn prints.

I can't wait to crack them open come December, and with fifty hours burn time each, they're bound to last for the festive season.

The Potters Crouch Christmas candles are available individually for £8.50 or in a set of five (with three other fragrances) for £35.50.

I was sent these for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

"When I Dream Of Christmas" (Book Review)

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Christmas is such a special time of year for young families; the excitement is almost tangible, the cold Winter days are filled with laughter and squeals of delight as the magic weaves its way through each new exploration. Our house is no different to anyone else's, stories are delivered through elf-filled films and books with Santa delivering presents galore.

Every family has their favourite books and we are no exception. I've discovered a new book which is an absolute delight to share with The Boy.

In the same style of When I Dream Of ABC the book covers a different element of Christmas, and Winter in general, on each double page. These associations (like sledging, holly, carol singers, Christmas cards) are depicted in beautiful, full-colour illustrations on one page and explained in a humorous prose on the opposite page.

I really like the range of Christmas associations covered in a fun and friendly manner, it's definitely a Christmas treasure to keep for years to come. The cover of the book is embossed with 'snow glitter' and the pages inside are thick and glossy.

'When I Dream Of Christmas' is available from Top That! Publishing for the excellent price of £6.99

I was sent this item for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

CBeebies CD (Review & Giveaway)

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During half-term I dropped The Boy off for his normal nursery session and drove away singing to the CD. It was half a mile before I realised I'd been singing the theme tune to Rastamouse. Hastily I turned on the radio trying to regain my credibility.

Earlier today I could hear The Boy singing in the living room, I listened carefully and could hear him beautifully singing the tune to Woolly and Tig, getting every word correct.

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Rock Of Ages (Review)

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Tom Cruise, bare-chested in leather trousers and guy-liner.

I'll just let you think about that for a few seconds shall I?

…

need a bit longer?

…..

I know, I didn't think it would work either. Especially not when I heard he was going to be singing '80s classic soft-rock anthems.

But the thing is, it really does!

And I think it's because it's such an unexpected sight to see the usual clean-cut Cruise acting in such a racy, rock-star manner that it completely works.

The concept of the film is of a young girl who follows her dreams of heading to Hollywood in 1987 and making it big as a singer alongside all the other soft-rockers. Through a fateful mugging, she ends up working as a waitress in The Bourbon Room which had launched many a career. A relationship between Sherrie (for she has a name) and Drew (another wannabe singer) starts up, as it was always going to, and provides many a beautifully sang duet.

That bit is all lovely and sweet, but I'm 35 and a bit beyond a 'young love' story now (unless it involves Chuck Bass on the Upper East side).

After about 25 minutes the secondary storyline (and possibly the most important) starts up. Enter Stacee Jaxx, otherwise known as Mr. Mission Impossible himself. He returns to play at the bar which helped launch his career and whose owner (Alec Baldwin – I know!) is being threatened with a campaign to close it, led by Catherine Zeta Jones.

And this is where the film gets good.

Really good!

I cannot, and will not, tell anymore about the adults' escapades because it would spoil it. However, this film is way more than a sweet love story between Sherrie and Drew. It's about Tom Cruise showing he's actually a very comedic actor using an incredibly funny script, while showcasing the best songs of the era. And unlike Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia (because this film has come from a stage-show as MM did), this action figure doesn't let the whole film (and the fans) down by not being able to sing. He can, they all can. Especially Mary J. Blige who also makes a surprise appearance.

Rock of Ages has become my new favourite film, I've watched it three times since being sent it, and I only haven't watched it more because I lent it to a work colleague and she's not given it back yet! Hire it, buy it, download it, but watch it! It's really air-guitar rockingly good!

I was sent this DVD for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

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