Clarks Every Shoe Tells A Story Facebook Competition!

Not long ago I was reviewing the Clarks 6 steps fitting service and their shoes, and now I would like  o let you know about their great competition! Clarks is inviting people to share the story behind their favourite pair of shoes to be in with a chance of winning a £3,000 holiday of a lifetime or one of 7 free pairs of shoes given away weekly for six weeks!

The competition launched on 7^th September and runs for 6 weeks until 18 October - to enter simply visit http://www.facebook.com/clarks.shoes?v=app_125751337471199 and upload a picture of you and your shoes with a sentence or two about their story and how they make you feel. Submission and public voting will be open from 8^th September to 18^th October; the grand prize will be announced on 27^th October. Good luck!

Guest post - Green doesn’t have to be gruelling!

Eco and parenting haven’t always gone together naturally like, say, peaches and cream, or rocking horses and nurseries. But with bills and inflation on the rise, it’s a topic that’s becoming hotter than a chilli ice cream sundae – I’m sure you can use your imagination to draw a comparison if you haven’t tried one!

The issue most parents face is finding the time to make it work for them, and working out which areas are most worthwhile saving money and energy on. Making your own baby food, sourcing good quality second-hand clothes and toys via ebay or Freecycle, and using more eco nappy options – some parents are now even toileting their children from birth - for your cherubs are probably the three biggest areas where it pays to be a bit more thoughtful.

As a myth debuster, babies will happily eat whatever you yourself have had for dinner, so long as it’s pureed, saving you money and waste on pre-prepared food jars. To point you in the right direction, baby food connoisseur Annabel Karmel’s been writing cookbooks on this topic for literally decades, while Fay Ripley’s family cookbook, in which the actress cooks one meal the whole family – husband and two small children – can enjoy. (To save even more cash, be a bit cheeky and ask your friends if you can borrow copies of any of these first to see if they’ll work for you).

Ultimately, the key to running the eco gauntlet is just making a few simple changes to your life, and then sharing the ideas that have worked for you. Kermit the frog once sang that it’s not easy being green – but with great new emerging eco portlets of knowledge out there, it’s becoming a lot easier than it used to be. So what’s worked for you?

Written by Natalia Gameson, the editor of energyrethinking.org, an online tip sharing portal to help parents save money and energy.

New mamaRoo Review and Giveaway!

I have been contacted by the PR of 4mums and have been asked to review their new very innovative mamaRoo. As you know, my daughter is far too old for testing it, so as usually when testing baby products, I had to ask some of my mummy friends for help. When I was checking it out on the website, I thought it looked very cool and couldn't wait to start testing it. Shame Isabelle is too big for it, but it will be handy when we decide it's time for our baby number two.

So what do I think of it? Most of us go for some kind of a bouncy chair or a swing, but this has combined both these together! It took a while to develop and design such a great product and I can see why. The first thing I thought when I saw it,  was that it might take me a while to put it together and to learn how to use it, but I was nicely surprised I was wrong. It's so easy that even  my little Isabelle learnt how to switch it on and change the five motions, the 5 speeds or to turn the music on/off (you can also connect your MP3 player, how great is that?) and turn the volume up/down. I was very impressed by all the great features it has. When designing the detachable mobile they even thought of  such a little detail as removable two sided fabric balls your baby can chew on or play with (one side black and white, the other one coloured for older babies). Oh,  and have I mentioned the seat also reclines? The last but not the least would be to say the seat's fabric is very easy to  remove and is machine washable. 

These are the five unique motions:

A figure eight on its side
Lots of up-and-down, less side-to-side
High on the sides, low in the middle
Low on the sides, high in the middle
Around in a big circle

 

 

My verdict: I absolutely love it and give it a big A+!

mamaRoo is a new product that has just been released in the UK, and you can buy it at Mothercare for £199.99, and comes in silver, red or pink. It's not cheap, but trust me, it's worth it. The mamaRoo is intended for babies who aren't yet able to sit up on their own, and who are under 11 kg (so usually babies from birth to about 6 months old.). And now, I've got some great news! The lovely 4mums have offered one mamaRoo to one of you! Isn't it great?

mamaRoo Giveaway Competition

How to enter?

1. Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect ( on the left hand side) and comment on which colour you like the best (silver, red, pink)
2. For additional entries (max 5 entries per person in total) you can do the following:

• Follow 4moms on twitter 
• tweet I'm entering @Kahanka mamaRoo competition sponsored by @4moms http://bit.ly/cvUWPJ
• Join the 4mums Facebook page
• Sign up as a 4mums Insider

If you decide for the additional entries, don't forget to come back and comment here and let me know what you did. Also if you are an All Baby Advice follower already, don't forget to comment on which colour you like the best to be entered in the competition.

Terms and Conditions:

• The closing date of the competition is 28/10/2010
• The winner will be chosen at random from all entrants.
• The winner's name will be made available on this page.
• Competition is open to residents of the UK and Ireland only.
• The prize is non-refundable and cannot be transferred. No cash alternative is available.

And the winner is:

@lisanorfolk (#112 entry)

Congratulations and please let me know your name and address  (allbabyadvice@yahoo.co.uk) 

The winner was randomly chosen by the mamaRoo PR using the random.org number generator from all 237entries!

Food - Gallery Wednesday

Would you guess I love cherries? I took this photo this summer, when enjoying some cherries with Isabelle in our back garden. I have always loved them and finally this summer even Isabelle showed some  interest in eating them. I still remember going to my grandmother's garden, climging up a cherry tree, picking and eating cherries from the trees she used to have there. They tasted delicious and cost nothing. These days I have to buy them from supermarkets and they are quite expensive, but still not as expensive as in Sydney... I believe they have the most expensive cherries I have ever bought!

Don't forget to check out the other gallery posts!

Would you like to get fitter with me and some other mummy bloggers? Check out our Fitness Tuesday!

Meccano Girls Tool Box Review!

Isabelle has always enjoyed playing with constructive toys. A year ago she got her first Meccano set ( a dog) for Christmas. She loved it, using the screwdriver was something new and she loved we could create not only a dog, but also a duck and an aeroplane. It was very easy to use and she could spend a lot of time playing with it.  Not long ago I was offered to review a new product, a girls tool box, by Meccano and as Isabelle loved her previous Meccano set, I said happily yes. 

The toolbox comes in a beautiful glittery pink storage box and includes the tools, 60 parts, 60+ flexible coloured parts, fun stickers, detailed instructions to build 10 models (only one model can be build at a time). When we opened the box and started playing with it, I thought straight away, it was probably too early for Isabelle to play with these and then I realised it was suitable from 5-8 years of age. There were a few tears, but to be honest, it was too difficult for her to do on her own. She agreed to build the models with mummy, and I can say, I really enjoyed it. She loved passing me the parts and watching me creating different models. Her favourite were the car and the plane. Isabelle is almost 3.5 years old now, so will have to wait a little while before she will be able to construct the models on her own, but she enjoys doing it with me or someone, and that's all that matters to me.

For more info and the whole range of Meccano products, visit the official Meccano website

Fitness Tuesday - Week 10!

It has been already 10 weeks since I started our Fitness Tuesday, would you believe it? I have focused on running and also do the sit ups and push ups at home, sometimes skipping, but would love to do more skipping in the future. 

I am very happy with my fitness right now, but have to admit that lately have been having really bad back pain when I sleep. I don't have any problems during the day, when I am active, but almost every night I wake up because of the back pain in early morning hours. Sometimes it's so bad I cannot fall back to sleep for a few hours. I don't like taking pain killers, so just have to go through the pain without them. Lately it has been so bad, that even my husband realised there was something going on...and wants me to go to see the doctors...which I don't really want to do. 

At first I thought it could be from running, but I have proper running shoes, stretch before and after doing the exercises. Well, maybe he is right, I just hate going to the doctors....

Anyway, sorry for complaining about my back and let's concentrate on you now!

And how did you do last week? What exercises have you done in the last week?

As every week I suggest doing the following exercises every day until next Tuesday. It will not take you long, you don't have to do them all at once. If you feel comfortable doing more, do it, if you feel you might need to do less, don't worry, do less this week and do more the week after. I am not a fitness instructor, I am here to encourage you to do some exercises to get fitter and hope you will be there for me too.

I suggest doing the following for the next week:

• 50 sit ups (towards both knees)
• 50 sit ups (touching your left knee)
• 50 sit ups (touching your right knee)
• 17 push ups
• skipping for 75 seconds (roughly 1 turn per second)

So what do you think? If you have any comments, suggestions or questions, please let me know.


Don't forget to come back next Tuesday afternoon and add a link to your comment on how it went and please visit as many of the others' posts as you can. We are here to help each other. Can't wait to see all your comments ;)

Daddy, we miss you so much!

I took this picture last night, when I was just thinking about where my darling husband was. I knew he was on his way to New York again, on a business trip, and after just a few hours of him away I felt very sad. We took him to Heathrow and Isabelle was much better this time, much braver as I agreed on taking daddy only if she would be very brave and wouldn't cry like the last time.

I know, it's not the greatest thing to ask your 3 year old toddler not to cry when their daddy is flying somewhere without them... But the last time she was so upset, I had difficulties putting her back into our car and that night she was allowed to sleep in our bed. The following morning she told me: "Mum, I can smell daddy on his pillow." So the day started with my eyes filled up with tears.

It hasn't been that long since we got back from our Czech summer holidays and he is flying away again. I know it's his job and because of that I can still be at home with Isabelle, but it's not easy to explain to her why it's only daddy going away. Anyway, it's going to be only 5 days, we will survive. He is very good and usually calls us every day and I can always reach him on his blackberry. I cannot wait for this Friday evening, he will be back and we will have a nice weekend together. We both love you very much, daddy!

Can You Be Creative with Conkers?

 From reading my blog, you know, I have strated being more creative with Isabelle. I think it has something to do with her age and that things are not that messy. She is very creative and when she used to go to the nursery I saw some very creative things she did and have them all in her folder in her bedroom. One day when she is older she will laugh, but they are all very precious to me!

You might know that autumn is not one of my favourite seasons, but there are a few things I remember about the season from my childhood. One of them is creating animals from conkers. I have spoken to my English hubby and he has never heard of that, but maybe there are some of you who have done it. If not, there is a great activity for you and the kids. It's very popular in the Czech Republic, and my Isabelle loves it too. 

Last week we went for a nice walk to collect some conkers. Isabelle was very excited and me too. So what will you need?

• conkers
• PVA glue
• thin paint brush
• cotton wool
• toothpicks
• acrylic paint
• scissors

Creating the animals is quite easy. You just use a toothpick to connect the head and the body, also use the toothpicks for creating the legs, tails and ears, and cut off the sharp ends. We have created a giraffe, a sheep, a dog and a caterpillar, but you can create any animals you wish for. Connecting the conkers is not that easy, so it's better if you help your kids with that, also the toothpicks are quite sharp. Once you have the animals ready you can paint them with some acrylic paint or use some glue and cotton wool for making a sheep. We have run out of acrylic paint, so have to get some, but as you can see the sheep is ready and one rainy morning has turned into a lot of fun!

Cath Kidston Maclaren Quest Pushchair - The Cutest Design Ever!

When I was contacted to review the new Cath Kidston Maclaren Quest Pushchair, this absolutely amazing and beautiful pushchair, my heart jumped. I have never seen any cuter girly design for a pushchair. Have you? I don't think so. Maclaren pushchairs are well- known and most of my friends have one, and now I have this one too. It took a little while before it arrived, as we missed a few deliveries just before our long holiday in the Czech Republic, but it was worth waiting for it. I took it out of the box, unpacked and put together literally within a few minutes. First I read the instructions, which by the way are very clear and easy to follow, and the buggy was ready to use in no time! I did it all at night, when Isabelle was in bed as I wanted her to have a great surprise in the morning.

I left the buggy by our dining table and went to bed. In the morning I couldn't wait for Isabelle to see it. She woke up a bit earlier than usually, which normally I wouldn't tolerate, but as I knew I had a huge surprise for her I let her stay up. When we came downstairs she went past the table and didn't even realise... I thought she would see it straight away, but I didn't say a word. A few minutes later I was making breakfast and suddenly hear her shouting: "MUMMEEEEEE, look, there is a buggy here!" She looked so surprised and very happy at the same time, I wish I took a picture. 

Anyway, after breakfast she climbed in the buggy and wanted me to strap her in. The first thing we realised was how soft and firm the fabric is. Of course we love the white dots on red, how could we not? Isabelle spent a little while sitting in her buggy and according to her, it is very comfy. I'm sure that many of you would like to know how was it when we went for a walk. It was very easy to push. I prefer not have the swivel wheels locked, but you can have them locked too. Another great thing about this amazing pushchair is how lightweight it is. It's perfect when I just want to pop into the local shops, as there is a shopping basket underneath, but mostly I put the shopping bags on the handles. It has never happened the buggy would tip over, but make sure you don't over load it. It came with a footmuff and a raincover, which both will be greatly appreciated especially now with the seasons changing. Also if you have a younger child and count on her sleeping in it, there are 4 reclining positions, so no problem at all. 

Folding and unfolding using just one hand!

My verdict: I love it, Isabelle loves it and I am absolutely sure, if you have a little daughter, she would fall in love with it too.

The Main Features:

• 5 point harness
• washable seat
• compact umbrella fold
• weight 5.5kg/ 12.1lb (without hood, shopping basket or raincover)
• Carrying Capacity up to 15kg/ 55lb
• foot-operated brakes
• shopping basket
• high performance aluminium
• water resistant hood
• Appropriate From UK/US: three months
  EU: six months
• Recline - four positions

 For more information go to the official Maclaren website http://uk.maclarenbaby.com/objects-of-design/cath-kidston?lang=en

Does the weather influence you a lot?

I have to admit, that I am a typical example of a weather person, a person that does everything according to what the weather is like at the moment. I love summer, spring is nice too, absolutely hate autumn and don't mind winter, but not the rainy winter here in England, the beautiful white winter I used to have in the Czech Republic. The only good thing about winter here for me is, that it's not so dangerous to drive here in winter, as there is rarely snow on the roads. And when that happens...I don't use the car. In the Czech Republic I had to get my tyres swapped for the winter ones, which are quite expensive, but you cannot drive without them.

Why do I hate autumn? It's not just the rain, but also the darkness and that the days are getting shorter and shorter and the vision of not having much sun for a few months. I didn't used to be like this when living in the Czech Republic. I think the whiteness of snow, that kind of glow you get from it, the crisp fresh air didn't make me feel sad and depressed. I think the main reason is that we spend 5 wonderful years living in sunny Sydney, where I spent almost 9 month in a year on the beach. Yes, I am a beach person and could spend hours and hours there. I also love diving, so living in Sydney was just perfect. Unfortunately my and my husband's family live here in Europe, so just too far. We moved back because of our families, but I still regret moving back when the autumn comes and wish we were in Sydney. I am trying to concentrate on my running and blogging, twittering, and of course being a mum and a wife, but there are many morning sI just don't want to get out of bed. In the Czech Republic I was used to very cold weather, I mean -20 degrees Celsius easily, but I didn't mind that. It's the rain that gets under my skin... Cannot wait for the winter at least as we will go skiing, Isabelle is very excited, she started last year and I hope she will love it again this year. And you, are you easily influenced by the weather?

Trendy Edgykid Review and Giveaway!

I love Twitter. One reason is that you can come across some very interesting new products or websites. Edgykid is definitely one of these. When I was contacted by Prim from Edgykid, I checked out the website and replied straight away. I absolutely loved what they have on offer. She was so generous to let me choose a brand and review any products I was interested in. It wasn't easy, as there were brands like French Connection for Kids, IKKS, MEXX, YOU and Jean Bourget. At the end I decided to test and review a few samples of a great French designer Jean Bourget. I can tell you that when the items arrived I was having my mummy friends over at our house and when I showed them the samples, they just awed and oohed. The first thing Isabelle wanted to put on was the lime green round neck cardigan with button down front. The colour is gorgeous, and it fits her just perfect. When deciding which size to get for Isabelle, I was advised by Prim to get a size 4year, and I am happy I listened to her, as the size is just right for her (by the way she is almost 3.5 now!). Isabelle had no problems with doing the buttons up, which is a big plus, as she gets frustrated when she isn't able to do so. The next item she put on is my favourite, the sporty waterproof navy bomber jacket with chunky zip front fastening, absolutely stunning! It is very light, has a lime green lining and a hidden hood, also comes with a drawstring pouch. Now, the problem is, that I want one too! Next she tried the fine knitted navy blue cardigan with round neckline. Again, perfect fit, easy for her to put on and very soft. She thinks it's black, but it is navy. And the last was the dark grey dress shirt with layered sides and frill detail down front, which comes with a flower accessory and can also be worn as a summer jacket.

At the MAD awards 2010

When you look at Jean Bourget products, the word "perfection" sums up what I think about them. I adore all the little details they have and when Isabelle wears them, she always gets some mums admiring them and asking about them. We were very lucky for getting these for testing, but one of you will be very lucky too as the lovely Prim has offered one of the dark grey dress shirts to one lucky winner!

Competition

And now it's our competition time! One lucky winner will get a chance to win the dark grey dress shirt. Isn't it great?

How to enter?

1. Follow my blog and
2. Comment on why you would like to win
   
3. For an extra entry mention this competition on Twitter including @Kahanka in the tweet
   

If you are an All Baby Advice follower already, don't forget to comment on why you would like to win to be entered in the competition.

Terms and Conditions:

• The closing date of the competition is 15/10/2010
• The winner will be chosen at random from all entrants.
• The winner's name will be made available on this page.
• Competition is open to residents of the UK and Ireland only.
• The prize is non-refundable and cannot be transferred. No cash alternative is available.

And the winner is: 

'Cross the Pond

Congratulations, please e-mail me ( allbabyadvice@yahoo.co.uk) or DM (@Kahanka on twitter) your name, address and what size of shirt you would like to get.

QuinnyCasters Meet & Greet!

Name: Mirka Moore
Blog: All Baby Advice Blog
Website: All Baby Advice
Twitter ID: @Kahanka
Height: 168cm
Hair: Long dark brown
Eyes: Chocolate brown
Likes: Blogging, twittering, social media, SEO, learning foreign languages,
travelling, teaching ESL (English as a second language), shopping
at T.K.Maxx, running, swimming and spinning...... and of course being a mummy to my 3 year old Isabelle

If you are one of the lucky Quinny Casters why don't you add your link too?

Snuguns - big hugs for little hands!

The first time I saw these was at a baby show at Earl's court in London. I thought they were very clever, but was so busy looking at other products that I forgot to go back to buy them. Not long go I was approached to review them, and I said happily "Yes". They come in beautiful colours, but I thought to ask for the purple version, as it is dark and will not get dirty that easily.

When you look at these you have to think straight away that they look like socks for hands, don't they? Except the beautiful colours they come in, there are a few other features to mention. They are so easy to put on, that Isabelle can do it by herself. It says they are suitable for 6-36 months old kids, but they fit even my Isabelle who is 41months, so the size is generous, they are very stretchy. What I also like is that you can tuck Isabelle's sleeves into them, which means they protect her hands from wind and snow. She can also have them under coat, they are very long, so they will always keep her arms warm. They are made of merino wool, acrylic, nylon and elastane. All mums will appreciate that they are hand or machine washable (wool/gentle 30C). You can buy them from Amazon at £9.99. To find out more go to the official website http://www.snuguns.com/

How much sleep do you really need?

I have been very tired lately. Since we got back from our long holiday in the Czech Republic, I have been trying to catch up with all the things I missed when being away for a month. Also Isabelle didn't start pre-school until last Thursday, a week today, so I had to be entertaining her all the time. It's great she goes to pre-school, but what can you manage to do in 3 hours? Not really 3 hours anyway, as by the time I say goodbye and get back home is 20 minutes gone already.... I am planning to run my first 10k soon, so am trying to go running more often, which counts for another hour... then have a shower, cook lunch and then I can just go and pick her up. So my plans of doing so much stuff in those 3 hours... are not really working.

Anyway, since being back from my holiday I am always tired. I don't even spend that much time on twitter, as by the time you my cyber friends get on it, I feel exhausted and go to bed. Last night I agreed to watch a movie with my dear hubby. A movie we both were interested in, do you think I saw the end of it? At 9pm I knew I couldn't keep my eyes open for much longer, at 9.30 my husband woke me up, but I refused to accept I was asleep and said I was just listening and resting my eyes.....

This morning I woke up before Isabelle, around 7.20 and was feeling worse than after sleeping for just a few hours.... Is it the season change or what could it be? I think I'm pretty good with doing a lot of exercise and eating healthy food, so what else could it be?

New Organix Jars Review and Giveaway!

As you might know I am a big fan of Organix food and love participating in testing and reviewing their new products. I know you love them too, as there are always quite a few of you participating in my Organix competitions and I don't blame you. We all want to give our little ones the best food we can and their products are definitely what we want. As my Isabelle is too old for testing the new jars by Organix, I have asked one of my friends, whose daughter sometimes helps me with testing baby products. She tried the new six flavours and absolutely loved the Organic Banana & Mango Rice Pudding and Organic Peach & Yoghurt Rice Pudding, but also really liked the Organic Tomato & Beef Risotto. I think it's great that Organix is always coming with new flavours and products, which makes it much easier for us mums, doesn't it?

The new Organix flavours:

• Organic Banana & Mango Rice Pudding (from 7months)

• Organic Tomato & Beef Risotto (from 7months)

• Organic Chickpea & Red Pepper Lasagne (from 6months)

• Organic Vegetable & Chicken Sunday Lunch (from 4 months)

• Organic Pear & Mango Breakfast (from 4 months)

• Organic Peach & Yoghurt Rice Pudding (from 4months)

Competition

And now it's our competition time! One lucky winner will get a chance to win all six new flavours. Isn't it great?

How to enter?

1. Follow my blog and
2. Comment on why you would like to win
   
3. For an extra entry mention this competition on Twitter including @Kahanka in the tweet
   

If you are an All Baby Advice follower already, don't forget to comment on why you would like to win to be entered in the competition.

Terms and Conditions:

• The closing date of the competition is 06/10/2010
• The winner will be chosen at random from all entrants.
• The winner's name will be made available on this page.
• Competition is open to residents of the UK and Ireland only.
• The prize is non-refundable and cannot be transferred. No cash alternative is available.

And the winner is:

squeakymom (@meedja)

A Smile - Gallery Wednesday!

My favourite photo of Isabelle & daddy

Me smiling nicely!

That's how you can see me most of the time!
Many people say they have never seen a bigger mouth!

My crazy laugh!

Don't forget to check out the other gallery posts!


Would you like to get fitter with me and some other mummy bloggers? Check out our Fitness Tuesday!

I Love My Swiggies!

A few weeks ago I was participating in a 5k Adidas Women's 5km Challenge
Thanks to twitter I found out about Swiggies, as some of the other mummy bloggers had them. I didn't manage to get them for that run, but the following week I had a chance to test them. When they arrived my Isabelle was at home and wanted them, but I explained mummy needed them for running. She wasn't very happy about it, but couldn't do much about it. I promised her one day when she starts running with mummy we would get her a pair as well. They come in different colours and are also available in a smaller size for children, which I think is great, as this could encourage children to drink while they can be doing other things at the same time. Theys are made of the safest FDA approved, food grade, BPA-free plastic. They are freezable and also dishwasher safe.

When I go running I usually run for about an hour, and have to admit that I never used to carry water on me, as a bottle is just too heavy. Since having these, I always have them with me, and I feel much better, as getting fluids when exercising is very important. I love them and they will always be with me when running!

Fitness Tuesday - Week 9!

As running has become the main type of exercise I do these days, I think I'm getting fitter and fitter. I am quite pleased that if I don't manage to go running for a few days and then I do, there is no aching afterwards, my body still remembers despite not running for a few days. I think that's a great achievement. Last time I went running, it was a disaster, but that was a different story. As Isabelle is at pre-school every morning, I will try to go more often, I would love to go every morning, but I am sure once the weather starts to be cold and wet, it will be much more difficult. It would be much easier if I had a running buddy.... but unfortunately I don't. It's great we have our Fitness Tuesday, at least I get some encouragement on twitter and some of you really nice people even participate in the Mr Linky thing, which is great and thank you so much for doing so ;)))

And how did you do last week? What exercises have you done in the last week?

As every week I suggest doing the following exercises every day until next Tuesday. It will not take you long, you don't have to do them all at once. If you feel comfortable doing more, do it, if you feel you might need to do less, don't worry, do less this week and do more the week after. I am not a fitness instructor, I am here to encourage you to do some exercises to get fitter and hope you will be there for me too.

I suggest doing the following for the next week:

• 50 sit ups (towards both knees)
• 50 sit ups (touching your left knee)
• 50 sit ups (touching your right knee)
• 17 push ups
• skipping for 75 seconds (roughly 1 turn per second)

So what do you think? If you have any comments, suggestions or questions, please let me know.


Don't forget to come back next Tuesday afternoon and add a link to your comment on how it went and please visit as many of the others' posts as you can. We are here to help each other. Can't wait to see all your comments ;)

Isabelle's First Camera - Kid Tough Camera!

Just before going on our holiday to the Czech Republic I was contacted to review the new version of the Kid Tough Digital Camera. I was really looking forward to my long holiday, but also I knew, once Isabelle sees the camera, she will be really happy. Let me tell you why. As you know, I take part in Gallery Wednesday and my lovely husband bought me a new SLR camera for my birthday in June. Since then I have been taking hundreds of pictures using all the great features, and have been learning something new all the time. It will take me a while, but I am really enjoying it. As Isabelle loves anything her mummy loves, and wants to be like her mummy, she also wants to be taking pictures with mum's new camera. I have to admit, that sometimes I let her take pictures with my new camera and sometimes she manages to get some good ones, but most of the time not. Why, because my camera is huge and she really struggles to hold it on her own, and of course she doesn't let me help her... So that's why I couldn't wait to get back and see Isabelle's face once she sees it.

And the result? You should see the look on her face when I gave her the camera! She was soooo happy and grabbed it and couldn't wait to take pictures with HER OWN digital camera. Of course she loved the beautiful pink colour and the little flowers on it. We put 4 AAA batteries inside and she started taking pictures. There are a few brilliant features I would like to mention. The first one would be the the two- eye viewing, which makes it much easier for her to look through. We also loved the big child-friendly controls, that are very easy to press, and the LCD colour screen that lets her see the pictures she's taken instantly! You can also download some free photo editing software to your computer. I am sure Isabelle will be taking it everywhere and taking hundreds of pictures as it stores 1000+ digital images. There is also a blue version available.

Will see, maybe one day she will become a professional photographer and am sure she will always remember her first digital camera!

Peppa Pig's Party Show

My 3 year old Isabelle is a big fan of Peppa Pig and when I told her I got some tickets to review the show, she was so happy, jumping around and shouting hoooooray! As we had 4 tickets we were able to take her very good friend Lilly with us. Originally daddy wasn't so keen on going, but I insisted and he agreed. I just think it's amazing watching them when they are so taken aback by what's happening on stage. That's why I love taking Isabelle to shows like this, just to watch her.

It didn't start all well as we were running a bit late and Isabelle said she needed to use the toilet, so we had to go back home.... Anyway, we made it on time, managed to find some parking space for our car. As we entered the Alban's arena both girls looked very excited. There were all these t-shirts and other promotional products with Peppa Pig, George and so we bought these light-up kind off pinwheels and that kept the girls very happy. Then we were shown to our seats, by the way great seats, just a few rows from the stage. A few minutes later the show started. Both girls were sitting nicely and watching. There was a lot of interacting with the audience, which was great and also plenty of singing and dancing (not only the children, but many parents, me as well). There was a break in the middle, which could have been a bit shorter, but all in all, we all really enjoyed it. The girls were talking about it the whole journey home and am sure they were dreaming about it too. To find out the venues and dates go to the official website http://www.peppapiglive.com/

We love MEGA Bloks!

Can you read what it says?

MAD Awards 2010 - Butlins Bognor Regis!

I am so happy I was one of the lucky people who were invited to the MAD Awards 2010 as a guest. When the nominations for the MADs started back in March or so, I just started really being interested into blogging and had no idea what these were about. I just knew they were pretty important as everybody was talking about them on twitter and many people asking others for being nominated. I also entered, but completely forgot about that. Then I met http://www.beingamummy.co.uk/ and we talked about it a lot and I decided to contact http://www.whosthemummy.co.uk. She was so nice to me and explained everything and I couldn't wait for the awards. I wanted to go to see some of my mummy blogging friends, but also I wanted to have a little holiday break with my Isabelle. My husband wasn't able to come, which was a shame, hopefully next year. And here are some of the winners revealed:

I would like to say a big thank you to Sally for organising such a great successful event and am very happy I was there. Not only I managed to catch up with my lovely friend http://www.beingamummy.co.uk/ and her family, but also many others. Can you recognise them?

And our stay at the Butlins resort? It was fantastic. we stayed at the Shoreline hotel, which was very comfy and straight opposite the conference centre where the awards took place. Isabelle absolutely loved all the indoor activities, stage performances and especially the water world. I'm sure we will be back with my husband. Isabelle was also impressed by the beach and we took only about 20 pebbles back home...