Wednesday, 28 September 2011
I'm a Finalist
I now officially have a 1 in 10 chance of being crowned Café Collection Queen of Chat by fabby wine brand FirstCape.
Now I know what you're thinking... What? But Leanne is just so shy and timid, how can this be... ok, maybe not!
Yes, those of you that know me know that it can be difficult to get a word in edge ways when I'm about, whether I'm with friends, at the doctors, in work or on the train - no one is safe from my constant chatter - not even strangers.
So, moving on... you're probably wondering what the Café Collection Queen of Chat is all about, right?
Well, a few weeks ago I was on the interweb when I came across a competition...
At first I was a bit down hearted when I saw that I need to make a 3 minute film to enter. I have never entered a video contest before but then I something caught my eye...
Yes, you did see that right.... FREE WINE!!! I checked the site and no other entries had yet been added to the site. I went in to panic mode. Quick as a flash I grabbed my Flip camera and sat down to film my entry. I didn't even brush my hair or put on any lippy, never mind think about what I was going to say. I just knew I wanted to be one of the first 10 entries - who cares what it looked like, I'd never make it to the final anyway!! I set up the camera, pressed record then ran back to the sofa to sit down and begin my entry.
After what seemed like 3 minutes I got up and turned of the camera... 6 Minutes... Damn! I tried again... 6 minutes 30 seconds. Every time I tried to do it I was over the time limit.
Next I tried looking at the clock but I got so in to my 'chat' that I couldn't work out how many times the second hand had been round. FAIL. Eventually I managed it, I went just a little over and managed to trim the end off. I uploaded it and prayed Id be one of the first 10 entries. I was. Hoorah - mission accomplished - the wine would be mine!
And here it is, my entry in all it's greasy haired, no makeup glory...
...only it didn't end there, with the free case of wine. No, I've made it... Made it to the FINAL 10!!!
So now it's not just wine we are talking about, it's £2,000. (Which in my world would mean a new boiler so we can have hot water ALL the time from our taps and not just sporadically when our old one feels like working!)
Unfortunately it is a voting competition so I will need your help - please?!?!
If I won then I'd attend an amazing event in the big smoke to be crowned and get to meet fellow Queen of Chat, Alesha Dixon. Eeeeeeek - exciting!!
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Review: Cars 2 Duplo
As you might already know, Mister A is lucky enough to be a Lego Duplo Expert and regularly reviews (and tests to extreme limits!) lots of Duplo, either giving it the thumbs up or thumbs down.
This time around he received a magnificent haul of Cars 2 Duplo and I have to say these are one set of toys that have been out almost every day. Usually Mister A gets bored after a week or so and certain unfortunate toys are cast to the back of the toy box never to be seen again (sorry Slinky) : ( The Cars 2 Duplo however is even getting a road testing from Little E whose favourite job is to stick together 2 small Duplo pieces and then break them up over and over again.
So... here are the fab sets we were sent....
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| LEGO Duplo (5829) Cars 2: The Pit Stop |
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| LEGO Duplo (5818) Cars 2: Luigi's Italian Place |
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| LEGO Duplo (5810) Cars 2: Tokyo Racing |
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| LEGO Duplo (5817) Cars 2: Agent Mater |
Mister A wasted no time unpacking the pieces but asked the same question as usual. "Muuuu...um...my, why do all the pieces come in different tiny bags." - Now this is something I have often wondered myself. Ever since I was a young girl building my Lego house on Christmas day circa 1988, I have have struggled to work out whether there is any logical wrapping of Lego pieces. I used to think that maybe they were wrapped according to different stages of the build but on several occasions this was proved wrong. Then I thought maybe they were all similar kinds of pieces - like all the long ones were maybe packaged together, but that doesn't seem to be true either. It's not a colour thing either so I'm still left guessing, maybe I'll ask them when we all meet up? Maybe I won't just in case it's really obvious and I look totally silly! Anyway, I don't answer Mister A but instead cause a distraction by opening all the bags - gah - imagine if I've messed up the system by not opening the bags in the order they were intended. I guess we'll never know!
Anyway, I digress. Mister A has been playing with these sets for a good couple of months now and he literally LOVES them. His particular favourite is the 'Agent Mater' - this is because it fires missiles.*
He absolutely loves setting them all up on his 'car mat' and wheeling them round doing diff rent voices for each character so they're really stimulating his imagination. He loves that he can build the sets himself (even if Daddy does try to get involved!) and more often than not he constructs what he calls a 'mega-garage' out of all the Duplo bricks from all of these and previous sets - very creative. Unfortunately, Little E thinks it's hysterical to obliterate said structure and the mayhem commences.
All in all these Duplo sets come highly recommended by Mister A and slowly but surely Little E too. A big thumbs up from us - hours of silence can be had when Mister A is in construction mode. Go buy...NOW!!
*Mister A has since been banned from using Agent Mater within a 5 metre radius of his sister due to several 'accidental' hits. "But Mummy, I didn't mean to hit her, she moved in front of the missile" - you get the picture!
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Next - Great prices, Great Quality
Right... hands up... who thinks that Next is expensive? Yes? Well that's what I thought too - only it seems that it's just an urban legend. Over the past few years I've always avoided going in because I know I'll want to buy everything in there but there just aren't enough pennies in my purse. I have always trusted the quality that Next delivers but I struggled to afford all the lovelies inside - instead awaiting Next clothing as gifts for the kids rather than heading in there myself.
Well, over the past few weeks I've popped in to Next a few times and every time I go in I'm so surprised by the price of clothes. I've been looking for Winter coats for the kids for a couple of weeks and thought I'd end up going to ASDA or Tesco to get something reasonably priced but today I ventured in to Next and found THE cutest coat for Little E - and it was only £22.
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| Pink Double Breasted Jacket £22-24 |
In fact, Little E is certainly becoming a little 'Next lady' - she wore this fab Cupcake Tutu Three piece set on her 1st birthday...
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| Cupcake Tutu Three Piece Set £22 |
...and that was only £22 as well! Every time she wears the tutu everyone always asks where it's from - everyone loves it. The great thing is that the 3 pieces can be mixed and matched with other outfits too.
So if like me, you think Next is a bit pricey then give it a try - you might be pleasantly surprised by the prices!
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Review: Baby Blooms
Little E was recently sent this fab BabyBlooms Cupcake Pyjama Gift Set to review and I was very impressed. The 'cupcakes' come in a high quality presentation box, tied with ribbon and they come with a gift tag attached.
First impressions were great, you could tell that this was a great quality item. We took of the ribbon and lifted the lid to reveal an expandable box.
First impressions were great, you could tell that this was a great quality item. We took of the ribbon and lifted the lid to reveal an expandable box.
The pyjama cupcakes are so cute, I almost didn't want to unwrap them! Here's the cakes out of the box...
Eventually, Chris managed to stop me thinking of cupcakes for long enough to allow me to un-cupcake the pyjama's....
Ellissia is wearing the neutral pyjamas but they also come in blue or pink too!
So what do we think?
I absolutely love the BabyBlooms cupcakes as a gift idea - who wouldn't! The pyjamas are 100% cotton and have washed well at least 10 times now with no bobbles. This set is available in size 0-6m and 6-12m. Ellissia is 11 months on this picture and as you can see they are perfect for her. I would highly recommend BabyBlooms for great gifts. This set costs £14.99. Check out the full range from BabyBlooms including the amazing baby bouquets at http://www.babyblooms.co.uk/
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Challenge me: What 30 things do I need to do before I'm 30?
Now don't get me wrong, I'm still very much on the 20's side of 29 but... unfortunately for me.... next July I will hit 30. *sad face*
I'd like to think that I've lead quite an eventful life so far but there are still quite a few things that I had hoped I might have done before I hit that fateful age.
I did just set about writing an immediate list of things that I wanted to do but quite frankly - not wanting to be arsed with the challenge - I included quite a few things that I'd already done. I'm lazy like that!
So, with that thought in mind I thought I'd ask you to set me (at least) 30 challenges instead. I promise that I will put my heart in to anything that you people of the blogosphere suggest (within reason!) but I'm hoping you come up with some truly amazing things for me to do over the next 322 days.
I realise tis is a big ask but I would love for you to write a post about what you think some of my 30 things should be. You don't have to give me 30, just one will suffice and even better if it benefits a good cause. The only rule is that I must be able to complete the challenge by 28th July 2012.
I've even created a badge...
<div align="center"><a href="http://www.secondtimemummy.com/2011/09/challenge-me-what-30-things-do-i-need.html" title="Second Time Mummy"><img src="http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i376/second_time_mum/Badge/30things.jpg" alt="Second Time Mummy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
So go on - what are you waiting for? Tell me what you're 30 things were/would be or even better challenge me!
I wont publish the ideas so be daring!
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Mister A : First Day At School
We had wanted to walk but the weather denied us the short stroll and so we drove, all of us together, our family. I took him in via the wrong entrance - obviously - and he got settled in straight away.
Anxious parents gathered in the classroom - each one not wanting to leave first but not wanting to hang around long enough to look too clingy. I stood awkwardly, it was my first day too!
I watched him for 7 minutes. These 7 minutes lasted longer than any other 7 minutes of my life. A little bit of my heart broke seeing him run off and start playing without even a second thought for the enormity of the day.
A part of me wanted him to say "Don't go Mummy" but I knew that he was loving the 'new school experience' and I know in my heart that I'd much prefer him to be nonchalant than cling to my leg and beg me to stay.
I kept calling him over, "Mummy's going now" "Ok, Bye" he replied not even looking at me.
"Mister A, come here, I'm going, have a nice day" "Ok Mummy, Bye" he kissed me on the cheek and wandered off.
I called him again, "Bye, Mister A, can I have a kiss?" He returned to me and kissed me, I pulled him close, hugged him tight and then let him go - I could sesnse I was beginning to p*ss him off with my constant calling across the classroom! That's when it hit me. That is when I realised that it was me that wanted to cling to his leg and ask him not to go.
I am sad, I am happy, I am proud.... I am a Mummy.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Help me - please?
My little boy starts school tomorrow - God - I got a shiver right down my back as I typed that.
I don't understand how this has happened, i know it's a cliche but it only seems like yesterday that I was pregnant and shopping for little baby boy clothes. My little tiny 6lb 9oz baby is now 4 and a half years old and an independent little man. This has hit me like a tonne of bricks - no one tells you about that in the baby books!
As I type, my other half has appeared with a glass of rose, he knows I don't drink on a school night. Gah! I say that when I'm in work not because it's usually an ACTUAL school night. I've accepted the wine, I must drink it to calm me - if he's such a big boy now, does this mean I'm old?
How does this school malarkey work anyway? He has his uniform (and he looks soooo old in it) but do I need to dress in a certain way? Why can't mums have uniforms too? Then there's no judging to be done. Do I need to mingle with the other mums? Arrgggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Someone tell me the rules!
Help me!!
Saturday, 3 September 2011
Another One On the Way!
The Britax B-Agile!!
We are lucky enough to be road testing this little baby for the fabulous Pushchair Trader. We saw that Puschchair Trader were looking for bloggers to put a mystery pushchair to the test for 3 months. We applied on the very last day and a few days later we found out that we had won a place! Yay!
Here's a brief overview of the B-AGILE features taken from the Britax website:
Over the next few months we'll be putting the brand new Britax B-Agile to the test - watch this space!
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