Month: August 2017

 

We were extremely excited when asked if we would like to try out the brand new and exciting table top game King Pong from Drumond Park and even more excited when it arrived. In fact it didn’t stay in the box very long at all. Once the younger children were in bed it was game on!

So What is King Pong?

King Pong is a fantastic new game designed for families from ages 8 – Adult. Everyone has different coloured balls and the idea of the game is simply to get rid of all of your balls in your try by getting them into the cube. However, whilst playing the other players balls can land into your tray. The winner is the person who empties their tray first.

This game is incredibly addictive and we played it for hours. As there were 5 of us playing and only 4 spaces we would play until only one player was left and they would then sit out of the next game.

I actually found the game a fantastic way to get everyone moving because the balls most definitely don’t stay on the table and you could quite often hear “ The yellow ball on the floor is mine” We are quite a competitive family so it was great to see everyone trying their best to win!

What did we think?

When the box arrived we were immediately drawn to the colourful and exciting packaging and couldn’t wait to see what we were supposed to do. Gareth opened the box and discovered that we would need to put the game together. He managed to do this very quickly and in fact after the first time even Annabelle was able to put it together herself if she wanted to play.

One of our favourite things to do is to have a family game night so this is the perfect game for those times. Everyone was super excited and I can honestly say from Annabelle (8) To myself (35) there was a lot of laughing and fun giggles. Even Ellie who is a sluggish stroppy pre-teen managed to drag herself away from her phone and the sofa to get involved. She couldn’t resist enjoying herself with the rest of us.

Would we recommend the game?

YES!! Without a shadow of a doubt this is the best game we have played for a very long time. I love the fact that it is not only exciting but it’s also quite an active game so everyone is moving around. I would recommend playing it in an area with quite a lot of space because those little ping-pong balls can bounce everywhere. Oh yes and be prepared to be sweaty from running around!  This game gets an incredible 10 out of 10 from us.

If I HAD to find a criticism it would be that there is nowhere to put the balls when you pack the game away. When it arrives they come in a plastic bag and it would be nice if there was a little drawstring bag or something to place the balls in to stop them becoming lost.

For more information and stockists visit www.drumondpark.com

How can you win your own version of the game?

To have a chance of winning your own King Pong game( RRP £24.99 ) please follow the simple steps in the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Entrants must follow the directions given via the Rafflecopter widget.
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Thank you for reading and if you have enjoyed our review why not take a look at some of our others.

Sylvanian Families Ballet Theatre

Persil Powergems

Logitech Doodle Collection Mouse

 

• All thoughts and feelings about the game King Pong are entirely our own. We received the game in exchange for an honest and open review.

 

I just thought I’d write a little post just to let you know that we are still very much around it has just been incredibly busy with the school holidays As we aren’t able to do much due to lack of funds and transport we have been trying to find ways to entertain all of the kids without it costing us a fortune.

I’d highly recommend the rocks thing if you haven’t already done it. Around where we live there is a craze called Shropshire Rocks and basically you paint rocks and then hide them for other people to find, they then post a photograph on FB before re-hiding it. You can also just go out hunting for rocks. This has taken up loads of our time this week and we’ve actually spent loads of time as a family out and about. As well as being out in the fresh air it’s also helped with our health kick.

Bethie had a birthday barbecue

We went to my brothers yesterday to celebrate Bethie’s birthday. On Tuesday 29th she turns 1 and I am absolutely devastated! It’s going so quickly and I really wanted her to stay a baby for as long as possible but seen as I don’t have a time machine I decided we should probably celebrate. My brother has a bar in his garden so we spent the afternoon enjoying a healthy barbecue and drinks. ( I had spent the morning making food that was suitable for my diet so I could still enjoy but be healthy at the same time)

My sister-in-law made her a gorgeous chocolate cake ( not so good for the diet) and she thoroughly enjoyed getting tucked in.

I will write about her birthday and how it went on Tuesday. Oh I almost forgot she has started standing up!!! She did it for the first time yesterday without holding anything and today she stood and had a little dance.

The big uns have joined the gym

Both the elder 2 have joined the gym. Where we live they have this great thing called NRGize which is gym sessions for 11- 16 year olds and they had their first week this week. To begin with Ellie wasn’t so sure about if she would enjoy it or not but by the end of the week she was loving it.  I think she felt a little overshadowed by the girls who went who appear to be quite a bit older than she is but she seems to be enjoying it now.

Harry has made us incredibly proud, his determination is really admirable. Harry had a rough time in his old school and has had a few problems at this school so it’s nice to see that he is determined not to be knocked down and stay down. I have a very good feeling that in 6 months time Harry will be a totally different child to the one he is today and will have bags more confidence.

Annabelle has exciting news.

I can’t say anything yet purely because I don’t know if I am allowed to or not but she is appearing to do very well at something we may have coming up so watch this space!

Freddie’s Potty Training

Freddie is doing super fantastic at his potty training. We had to stop for a couple of days as he had a bad tummy but he’s now back at it and has only had one accident today and that was purely because I was out and Gareth was busy so didn’t manage to get him on the toilet in time. He was a very good boy though and tried to sort it himself and put his seat on the toilet etc. He just wasn’t quite big enough.

 

Gareth and I

We are doing good. I think spending a lot of time as a family has helped us. I very nearly ended up on ITV’s This Morning but as I was due to go on Bruce Forsyth died so they had to make the show about that.  Sad news but the guy had an amazing career and brightened up many lives.

 

I think that’s all the news I have for now. My posts will be more regular once the kiddies go back to school and I’m not busy trying to make memories.

Thank you for reading

 

School uniforms these days are so expensive especially now there are no longer bog standard schools around and everything seems to have been turned into an academy. Long gone are the days where you could buy cheap uniforms from supermarkets. Asda, Tesco and Aldi all do great uniforms and I mean yes they are still available the only problem is once your child hits secondary school they are no long allowed to wear it!

Is it unfair to expect parents to pay so much?

I understand that uniforms are there for a reason, they are designed so that everyone looks smart and they help prevent bullying for students whose parents maybe can’t afford the latest designer wear, but this doesn’t quite work when they become so expensive that parents are now trying to get as much use out of them as possible meaning that children are wearing clothes that are too small or tatty looking.

My children’s school have gone even further in the fact that they have managed to prevent you from being able to pass down the uniform to siblings. How you may ask? Because their P.E Kits have to be embroidered with their initials on meaning that they can’t be passed on unless your child has the same initials as their sibling.

Ellies P.E kit got stolen just before they broke up for the holiday. I was and still am more than a little peeved about this as they were quite new to the school and the uniform was only a few months old not only that but now I have to fork out again for a new P.E kit. As I mentioned above at their school the uniform has to be embroidered so I can’t even get away with getting her a replacement from somewhere cheaper.

Here is an example just of her P.E Kit, not forgetting her blazer, jumper, shirt, trousers, bag, stationary, shoes, coat , trainers.

P.E T-shirt – £17.50

P.E Shorts – £15.95

P.E Skort – £22.95 ( A SKORT!!! I CAN BUY A WHOLE NEW OUTFIT FOR THAT!)

That is the very basic of a P.E Kit they also have fleeces, joggers, socks.

Why do I feel its unfair?

I don’t think that its unfair children have to wear uniforms. I think they look smart and I can see why there is a school uniform however I don’t agree with the fact that it is so expensive. If I was in a position where I couldn’t afford to buy my daughter or son a blazer for example, My child would then be punished with a detention even though it was no fault of their own. For some children the meal they get at school is the only hot meal they get because people are becoming too poor.

Imagine how much those same parents struggle to get the uniform money together. Now I know there will be some of you out there with the whole “Shouldn’t have kids if you can’t afford them” attitude but situations change and as hard as you try to plan for the future you can’t guarantee whats ahead and everything can suddenly change. When Harry was born I was working in a high paid job, married to his dad who also had a very good job and we were comfortable. I couldn’t foresee the health issues and marriage breakdown that would follow. Not everyone who is at home and not in work is lazy some have very valid reasons for it.

Schools keep your uniforms but for everyone’s sake lower the cost or be a bit more lenient on what you accept.

 

Christmas is fast approaching and if you are a keen follower of my blog or know me personally you will know that I am completely and utterly Christmas obsessed, some people would even say I live and breathe Christmas ( though I haven’t quite got to the point of leaving my decorations up all year round just yet!)  I was thinking about our little traditions and was wondering what do YOU do for your christmas tradition?

Our Traditions

Every single year without fail our Christmas Eve has a series of events that we follow. If we have a car then we take a journey to Haughton Village to see their Christmas lights. Haughton is around half an hour from our home and the whole little village decorate their houses with incredible lights and things to see all whilst collecting for charity. The kids absolutely love watching all the lights and animations and ever single year it just gets better and better.

We then come home where there is always 1 present each and ever single year it is brand new pj’s. Everyone has a bath and gets into their new pj’s then we sprinkle reindeer food outside to show the reindeer where to go before hanging up Santa’s key and heading back inside. We sit and watch a Christmas film ( usually whichever one is highlighted that year) with hot chocolate with squirty cream and marshmallows.

Tracking Santa on Norad Santa tracker is an absolute must and we do this from it starts until he hits the UK ( yes even when the kids have gone to bed , what can I say I’m a child)

For us Xmas Eve is more exciting than Christmas day as it’s all about the magic and excitement and build up. We LOVE IT!!!!

Christmas morning the children wake up to a parcel at the end of their beds and every year is colouring book and felt tips. This is something I intend on carrying on until I’m no longer around so they could be 30 and married and I will make sure that they somehow still get their colouring books and pens!

We also get visitors in the form of elves who get up to mischief every year and its very exciting waking up during the days of December to see what they’ve been up to.

My Blogging Friends Shared Their Traditions

Rebecca from I Always Believe in Futures – “We always let Jack choose and buy a new decoration for the tree. We will be doing the same with Olivia now too”

Katy from Katy Kicker –  “We always put the star on the Christmas tree together – the three of us!”

Kerry from Kerry Louise Norris – “We always take a night-time drive with hot chocolate in flasks and look at everyone’s outdoor lights ”

Erica from The Incidental Parent – “I insist on watching A Muppets Christmas Carol while we decorate the tree”

Emma from Our FairyTale Adventure –  “We always have a Christmas Eve buffet / picnic on a blanket, while watching a Christmas movie. We normally eat incredibly well, so the boys have a field day with lots of pizza, fish fingers, chicken nuggets, chips and chocolate. We do at least attempt to balance it though and add a bowl of fruit in as well. We also make a point of doing a charitable act in the lead up to Christmas, last year we did Christmas shoeboxes”

Nadine from Then I Became Mum – “We always buy a new bauble for the tree and we put snacks out for Santa and his reindeer, even as a childless adult (luckily I have my little one now so I don’t look so crazy!)”

Eileen from 2 Nerds & A Baby – “We do the same opening pyjamas on Christmas Eve, there’s always small presents in a stocking and a mandarin to make sure we ate something before the madness. My dad used to tape the door shut so we couldn’t sneak in to open presents”

Tracey from Pack the PJs –   “Every year, on the evening of the day the children break off from school, we pile in to the car (dogs as well) and head off on an ‘adventure’. One year it was a road trip to Germany in the quest to find a genuine Black Forest Gateaux. One year it was to visit as many Christmas Markets as we could. Last year it was to make a snowman in Chamonix, France and this year – well, we tend to decide last-minute. We head back to the UK on Christmas Eve, ready for the festivities to kick in. I hate the build up to Christmas – so many adverts trying to convince you to buy items you don’t need – so we go away and chill out/have fun instead!”

Lianne from Anklebiters Adventures – “Go on a boxing day walk up the mountain and come back and have turkey curry and watch Xmas movies ”

Collette from Truly Madly Cuckoo – “We walk around the town where we live to look at the Christmas lights, have a hot chocolate and come home to open a Christmas Eve hamper. We then order takeaway of choice and watch a Christmas movie.”

Sarah from Whimsical Mumblings – “We get our whole family together on Christmas Eve. Aunties, Uncles, Cousins and have a big party and exchange presents. Then on Christmas Day it’s just our little family at home.”

Lisa from Mummy Gummie – “Going to pick a Christmas tree together, stockings at the end of the bed/outside bedroom door in the morning of course with obligatory clementine in the bottom too! We always have ‘Santa’ presents for first thing in the morning and then the rest of the presents after lunch to space it out. Buck’s Fizz first drink of the day! Christmas breakfast of smoked salmon, scrambled egg and croissants”

Jessica from Beauties and the Bibs – “We always go to my friends moms house and she makes roast pork sandwiches with stuffing and gravy”

Jade from Mummies Waiting – “We read the same Christmas story on Christmas Eve. My mum read it to me and my sister every year since we were born and now me and my sister read it to our kids every year. It’s Judith and Jed, 2 mice who are hungry.”

Kerry from Kerry Shaw Mummy of Four – “We always go on a steam train on Christmas Eve, the kids get a gift from santa and the adults have sherry. We come home to open the Christmas Eve boxes that the elves have left under our tree, put on our new pyjama’s and watch a Christmas film before the big day”

Lucy from Momma Mack -” We aren’t allowed to go downstairs to see our present until everyone is awake and then we have to go downstairs in age order, youngest first. There are now 16 of us that do this in one house ”

Suzanne from Meandering Wild – “We go to our local beach whatever the weather, put glow sticks on the kids and dogs and walk along the dark beach to town for a chip supper, then back to a warm fire, hot chocolate and marshmallows.”

Emma from Emma Reed – “My son was born on Christmas Day 2013 so our day is now very different! We spend the morning celebrating his birthday and doing his presents and then the afternoon is about Christmas. I think if anyone has a birthday on this day you need to get the balance just right.”

Emma from Ready Freddie Go –  “My husband and his family always have pork pie and mustard for breakfast and so that’s what we do now too!”

Jo from Mummy Needs Wine –  “We always have Buck’s Fizz on Christmas morning and whatever festive film is on the tv at the time”

Vikki from Family Travel with Ellie – “We have Christmas Eve boxes that our Elf on the Shelf leaves for them on Christmas Eve – inside they have Christmassy PJ’s, a Christmas film and popcorn/candy. That’s Christmas Eve evening sorted . ”

I have absolutely loved diving into other peoples traditions, some of them are so cute!! Thank you for sharing them with me… What’s your tradition? Tell me in the comments below!