Barefoot Books Review and Give-away

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We love books in this house so when Barefoot Books asked us to review some and give away another we were very excited. The children were so keen to look at the new books that we had read all of them the same night we got them!

First up The Princess and the Pea which is a reworking of the classic story for 4-8 year olds:

It tells more of the Prince's travels in find of a princess who meets his expectations of being a real princess. Of course he fails and comes home and the Queen uses the pea test to discover a suitable bride. My daughter was very taken with the beautiful illustrations:

It is a lovely re-working of the story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it to her and having her read some of it to me. It would make a beautiful gift as its hardback and comes with a CD of the story teller Xanthe Gresham reading the story herself.

For my son we had The Little Red Hen which is another reworking of a well known story:

It's good to have a story about people not pulling their weight but wanting to share the rewards any way. It has really fun illustrations on every page:

The book was in paperback format and again came with a story CD narrated by Debra Messing. It also includes a recipe for making your own bread which my son is keen to try (watch this space!).

Our final book was A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea which is a singalong with cumulative lyrics:

The book is a great way for children to learn about how the food chain works under the sea:

After the song has finished there is a simple explanation of the marine food chain and blue holes that exist at the bottom of the sea. I wish my laptop had a CD drive so I could make full use of the enhanced CD with audio and video animations.

Any of these books would brighten up a child's Christmas and bring much enjoyment. 

Competition finished! There is also a chance to win your a book using the Rafflecopter widget, just browse the web site and comment as to which book you would like to win:

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Reasons to be Cheerful week 47, year 3 #R2BC

Whilst Michelle is taking some time away from Reasons to be Cheerful she had kindly let me host the linky for the month of November. It was lovely last week having so many people joining in and sharing what was making them happy. So here are my reasons this week:

1) Proud Mummy

My daughter helped serve afternoon tea at a fundraising bridge tournament in memory of her great grandmother. We helped to raise nearly £500 for Kendal Mountain rescue which is brilliant. My daughter was complimented by plenty of the participants which made me proud. The next day she went to help her injured granny by doing housework and assisting with cooking tea. She has offered to go back again next weekend whilst I entertain her brother and his friends! Meanwhile my son was doing his bit for Cancer Care with the Santa Dash so I am very proud of him too. 

2) Operation Tween Bedroom

Between us my dad and I got the replacement second hand high sleeper from their garage to our house and its finally all up today:

I am a bit worried that there isn't much room for her to grow as the bed is higher than I thought!

#WordlessWednesday Frosty Day

Toy Review: Trashies in Toilets

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Since we were sent our first Trash Packs in the summer my son has been asking me for more! So you can imagine his reaction when I asked him if he'd like to review the new Toilet Trashies... 

They really are designed to appeal to boys as they appear revolting to grown ups:

We were sent a 5 pack collection worth £4.99 which is about average for this kind of collectable. Each trashie comes in its own little toilet:

They are all very gruesome (my son's description) with their own unique details:

Like the original versions they can be used for playing games or make mum's stomachs churn! They would make a fun stocking filler for young boys. And with 2 packs priced at £2.49 they are aimed at the pocket money bracket to encourage a collection of them.

Feeling Festive with the Kendal Santa Dash

Christmas does seem to get earlier every year in the shops but to me it's not proper Christmas until Advent. However yesterday it was the Christmas light switch on in Kendal with the Santa Dash and lots of entertainment. 

It was a damp, mizzling day which meant a lower turn out for the Santa Dash but my son and I were keen to get going:

Honest he was keen!

After warming up with a local dance troupe the town crier set us off for the dash through the streets of Kendal. There were a few surprised faces from people who obviously weren't expecting a crowd of Santas and reindeer to be on the pavements! My son was much faster than last year and in fact about a third of the way round I gave up trying to run at his pace and went back to my normal steady one...

We went along one side of the river and then went over 2 bridges to end up back at Abbott Hall where Santa's reindeer were waiting to see us:

My son was an amazing 5th whilst I was about 10th but the first lady! We retired to the cafe for a well earned snack:

Then we went back outside where Santa was preparing to board his sleigh whilst Kendal Concert Band played festive tunes:

The magic of it all still gripped my 7 year old:

Then we got into a good position to follow Santa back into town:

The Queen Katherine School samba band led the procession up the road. Then we listened to more music before the big countdown to Santa turning on the lights. By this time my phone battery had gone flat so no more photos... There was a big crowd now despite the damp and there was a huge cheer when the lights went on. So now Christmas shopping can properly begin as we have festive lights!

We ran in aid of Cancer Care so if you want to sponsor my son's fabulous achievement then please pop over here: