Win a Blocktech Pit Stop Transporter Set

If I was more organised, this would have been a 'keeping children amused over halfterm' giveaway but I'm not, so it will have to be a 'Christmas is coming' giveaway. Or, maybe, a 'building sets aren't just for kids' giveaway. Whatever you like, just make sure you enter using the Rafflecopter thingy below.

Win me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blogs I am Loving Right Now

You know when you have a job, and all of a sudden you become really interested in that profession and other people who do a similar job? Or when you get a new car, and you start noticing the same cars everywhere you go? It's a bit like that with blogging. Since I started, I have collected an assortment of friends who blog, as well as discovering some brilliant blogs that I read myself. So, I thought I would share with you some of my favourites, as I figured; if you like my blog... What? You don't?! You were googling parent blame and you fell in accidentally?! Oh, ok then, as you were. Moving on...

Making Halloween Fun for Everyone

Like a lot of parents, I'm a bit unsure about Halloween. There are aspects of it that just feel a bit... wrong. Like Trick or Treating, it can easily turn into begging with menaces, really, if not properly organised. When Jade was small, I managed to avoid it completely, because we lived in an upstairs flat. We just turned the door buzzer off and no one was any the wiser! She never even learned about Halloween until she was quite a bit older. So, fast forward ten years or so and things have changed a bit. We live in a house now, on a development with a lot of similar aged children, so it's impossible to avoid. Perhaps because she had a somewhat deprived childhood, Jade embraces L's Halloween adventures, especially dressing up.

My Sunday Photo: Finding Fun up a Tree

Toad Diaries Review and Giveaway

I am not the most organised of people. I forget things and find myself having to write more and more of my life down, as I get older, so that I can be where I should be and not double book myself. But then, you see, there's the losing things, I write things down then lose the list. My poor hapless daughter, Jade, who writes lovely guest posts for us, strives very hard to fight this unfortunate heriditary character trait. When she started her new University course, I was really keen to give her all the help I could, to help her stay organised. I enlisted the help of Toad Diaries, a company I have a lot of respect for, because they don't stick to the rules. With Toad, you don't have to wait til Christmas to get your diary, you can pick any month you like. You can also choose the page format. If you like to see what your week holds, try the week per page option, or, if you have an awful lot going on (or massive handwriting!), you can choose a day to a page. There are too many options to list, but you are sure to find one that suits your schedule.

How Direct Line Made my Daughter's Day!

It's often said that it isn't the value of the gift that's important, but the thought and time that went into it. I am a great believer in this. It's not that I don't appreciate extravagant gifts, but my best presents will always be the ones that mean somebody was thinking about me. The trinkets my daughter used to find at car boot sales or charity shops, because she knew I would really love them, the cards and gifts the children have made me over the years, and not forgetting the card with a recording of my son saying 'Happy Birthday Mummy' when he had not long learned to talk. For my birthday this year, it made me so ridiculously happy that my nephews, aged two and four, took time out of their day to draw me lovely pictures, I could have exploded with joy! So, that's me, a great believer in; 'It's the thought that counts'.

Win Two Accessorize Tablet Sleeve Gift Sets!

With Christmas creeping up in the distance, this week I am giving away two gift sets, one to keep and one to give to a friend, perhaps? Or maybe you have two children who would like one? Either way, I wish you lots of luck in the competition.