I Won, I Won *Dances*

in , by Jada, August 31, 2012
I just had to share my great news with my lovely followers and reader's, I won a competition yesterday morning, a packet of sweets from Rowntree worth about 60p, but hey a wins a win right? I started comping because other Mummy Bloggers inspired me, it's great seeing so many of them winning so much stuff, I thought I would try out my luck and give comping ago, my first win, maybe small and worth no more then 60p but I was still happy.

Then later on that evening I get a Tweet from Attachment Mummy saying Congratulations Jade.... from the moment I read that Tweet I started shaking, I can only remember entering one competition on her blog, for a Vtech Kids Innotab which is number 1 on Spud's Christmas list, clicking onto her blog site to see if I had entered any more competitions and realising it was just the one I had entered, my heart was beating faster and faster and my hands shaking more faster then I ever thought a hand could shake. Somehow with me on the verge of having a heart attack and my fingers smacking into each other faster and faster with my excitement shakes I was receiving I managed to get back on to Twitter and must of read Attachment Mummy's Tweet over and over again, to say 10 times would be an understatement.

I'm not a lucky person, good thing's don't seem to happen for me and my family, so for me to receive two wins, one so small and one so big in one day, was absolutely amazing for me! It didn't end there though did it? Much to my surprisement.

The first thing I done after Tweeting back a very big thanks to Attachment Mummy I rang my Mum and Dad, I just had to tell them, I was so excited I needed to share my news, I'm chatting away for a good 10-15 minutes, get off the phone, go back onto Twitter and not even an hour later I think, I receive a Tweet from Ren Behan/Fabulicious Food informing me I have won a Bake Me I'm Yours... Sweet Bitesize Bakes: 25 Baking Recipes for Mini Sweet Treats and Desserts book! The book is by the lady over at Maison Cupcake. They say it comes in 3s don't they! Beginners luck or so I'm told =)

Tomorrow me and Spud are off to the seaside for the day with 2 lovely friends of mine, the last big thing before the summer holidays are sadly over!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Until next time,
Jade x
I'm the yellow ranger I said, no I am replied my cousin, OK I'm the pink ranger I said, no I am replied my cousin, the debate lasted all day, and nearly every day. I was about 7-8 years old at the time and a huge fan of Power Rangers, me, my siblings and cousins would sit and watch episode after episode and then argue after about which one of us was which ranger! I was very jealous of my younger brother when it came to Power Rangers, he seemed to have every toy going in regards to power rangers, when the opportunity came from Bandai for me and Spud to review some Power Rangers Samurai figures I jumped at the chance, after all I played with Power Rangers when I was younger, I couldn't wait for Spud to have a play with them.


 
  Spud has watched a few episodes of Power Ranger's on Nickelodean before and has a PlayStation game of Power Rangers too so he knew who and what the Power Rangers were. Before we received the parcel we researched them on Google to find out a bit more on the Power Rangers Samurai collection, we even watched a few episodes on You Tube that Spud hasn't seen and Spud couldn't wait to have a play with the figures he was being sent. I was hoping one would be a girl one :p



 


There are 6 figures from the collection to collect. We received the Red Power Ranger Jayden and the Blue Power Ranger Kevin, Spud just couldn't wait to open them and he did that straight away. Whilst I was reading the instructions, Spud was busy getting to work fixing the swords that came with each Power Ranger into their hands along with a multiple battle gear piece that also comes with each ranger.




 Here is the description for the Power Rangers Samurai figures ''A new generation of Power Rangers must master the Samurai Sword and mystical Symbols of Power which give them control over the elements of Fire, Water, Sky, Forest, and Earth. Under the guidance of their all-knowing mentor and the aid of their devoted animal Zords, they battle the dark forces of the Underworld and a mysterious Warrior bent on destruction''.


They were very easy to set up, Spud done it all by himself which was great as he was able to independently do something by himself, all that needs doing is connecting the sword and battle gear of each ranger into their hands, but you don't have to do that, you can just play with them how you want! Here is a few picture's of Spud battling the Power Rangers against each other.



There is more than just figures to the Power Rangers Samurai Spring/Summer collection, including: Zord Vehicle Set, Samurai Megazord / Samurai Clawzord, Samurai Spin Sword, NEW Mini Figures and the Samurai Morpher.


 Here is Spud showing you the figures he was sent, he hasn't stopped playing with them and cant decide what one he likes more, reminds me of being a child when I was younger, yellow and pink were my favourites, I couldn't choose between them either, but after all they are all great!



The figures we got sent are for ages 4+ as are all Power Rangers Samurai toys and they are available to buy from Argos, Toys R Us, Tesco, Asda, The Entertainer,
Smyths, Toymaster and all good toy stores. 

The RRP for the figures are £6.99 and each one is sold separately. 

Check out the full range on www.bandai.co.uk, visit the Facebook page for even more fun at http://www.facebook.com/BandaiUK.


Disclosure - I was sent these products on the basis to review them, I have not received a payment for reviewing these products but instead was compensated as I was aloud to keep the products. All comments and views are of my own/Spud's unless other wise stated and was not influenced in any way shape or form.

Never Take A Park For Granted.

in , , by Jada, August 29, 2012
I came across the picture below last night,and initially I looked and then carried on with what I was doing, but something made me go back onto Blackberry Messenger and find the contact who had it up.

A child in a wheelchair enjoys using a wheelchair friendly swing at a play park.

We as parents can take things for granted cant we? A trip to the park is an easy way to keep children entertained for an hour or even more and it's also free. Not once until I saw this photo last night, have I ever thought about parks for the physically disabled and not once ever, I mean I've never seen a physically disabled child or adult in a park, and it's never something that crossed my mind. In my family, we have Mentally Disabled children, ADHD and Autism, but that doesn't stop the children going to the park at all, or to go to theme parks or to be frank, anywhere really does it. I mean they might be a bit unsettled and to people that don't know the situation they must think they are really naughty children, but they are not restricted like Physically Disabled children are in any way are they?

This picture has really made me think lots over the last 20 hours since first discovering this photo, maybe its getting passed around because of the start of the London 2012 Paralympics starting today, or maybe its something that should be spoken about not just during the Paralympics but all the time, I think we should all pull together and try and have at least 2 of these in every town!

When  Spud was around 6 months old, I joined the local Youth Parliament team, I wrote a few features for Youth Parliament sites and carried on with the role of a Youth Parliament team member for a few months before realising my views were too strong, so I have worked with petitions before. Although I was around the same age as the other youth member's I had to grow up quickly to be able to mother Spud and give him the best in life.

Anyway to get back on the subject of the picture, I am disgusted with today's government they all really do annoy me, why isn't their wheelchair friendly parks? There certainly isn't one in Reading, the town I come from. Something really need's to be done, if anyone out there is into politics please do contact me, I feel a petition coming on. 

As parents we don't think twice about taking our children to the park, or the fair. For the parents of Physically Disabled children it must be horrid to see other children being able to do these things we take for granted so often and so easily. I personally don't know any Physically Disabled children out there, but I would love to help get some parks suitable for them around.

As I said I don't know anyone in the situation but I can imagine the littlest of task have to be really planned to make sure they are accessible.Next time I go to the park with Spud, I shall remember the children who can't do such a thing so easy. So next time Spud start's when he doesn't want to leave, I have a real life story to tell him, and to let him know a little bit more about the other people in the world who can't access things as easily as we take them for granted.

What I want to know is, has anyone seen any wheelchair accessible park's in their area? I must admit I have not done any research into this picture or for the matter wheelchair accessible park's. I'd love to know others views on this subject!

Until next time,
Jada x
MAJOR UPDATE

After a fellow blogger got suspicious of these chocolates, a bit of investigating was done and it seems to be that myself and other bloggers were misled on information regarding the chocolates and the company. I will not post the link to the investigating post as I feel the company has had enough backlash to sadly put them out of business. No best before or use by date on the box, no allergy advice and other things have all led to some people getting suspicious, and I feel stupid that I wasn't suspicious myself!

What once was typed on the official site read, ''Everything from making the chocolates to finishing the boxes is done by hand, making sure you receive a product which is both unique and special, we are a small family business dedicated to making chocolate that is second to none, not any two boxes of chocolate are the same''. Now it reads something completely different.

 Remember if your a company, you should always be honest, a small lie will escalate into more small lies and the truth will be exposed. The blogging community as I am beginning to learn is very large and we do all stick together. We will all stay clear of Genevie.

So my review below, was at the time the truth known to me and other bloggers. I still think the chocolates were beautiful, it would of been nice to of known what was inside but it did make the process of blind eating chocolate fun!

I have suspended Chocolate by Genevie from being company of the month for August, and a new company will be chosen as originally planned for September.

I have removed all links but if you still wish to try out the chocolates please search for the site on a search engine.

I am sorry if you feel this is unfair, but I am not willing to lie to my readers, I was lied too, or mislead as some of you may call it, but this wasn't needed, and Genevie or who ever is behind the company is still sadly claiming that the chocolates was never repackaged, but that seems to be the only way possible to us bloggers.

Sadly I would not want anyone to go out and buy these chocolates as I am not even sure if the company is registered, please read the original review with caution as this is now known to be false information.

Jade x

 Original Review

Chocolate by Genevie is a home made, hand made chocolate company made by a lovely new chocolatiere called Genevie, with help from her Mother, partner and son, Genevie creates beautifully designed chocolates. Chocolate by Genevie was our company of the month for August, and very kindly sent me and Spud a box of chocolates to review.


Everything from making the chocolates to finishing the boxes is done by hand making sure you receive a product which is both unique and special, I love unique and with Genevie's 1 year old son as master chocolate taster we knew we was in for a treat. We was sent this purple box of 24 chocolates worth £20.99 to review.

They were posted with fragile tape across the outer packaging box, and the postie's really did take note as when we opened the chocolates, they were perfectly fine, as though they had just left Genevie's a minute before. Chocolate by Genevie products are only available to buy from her online shop and with free p&p its an added bonus.




Above is the selection of 24 chocolates contained inside the box we was sent. The box contains a selection of dark, milk and white chocolates, from truffles to solids and different flavoured fillings. Both me and Spud prefer white chocolate, and funnily enough we both went for the white chocolate truffle's first of all, I said we prefer white chocolate but we will taste any chocolate, after all they say dark chocolate is the best for you.

The uniqueness about Genevie's chocolates is not only the beautifully designed packaging or the beautifully created chocolates themselves its the fact that they don't come with a chocolate guide, so it is a surprise to as what you are actually eating, I love surprises! Some of them have giveaways though for example the coffee beans, orange pieces and almonds on top give you a pretty good guess that what's on top is going to be what's inside.


 Each and every chocolate is unique to the other, only a few were the same. One of my favourite thing's about Genevie's chocolates is the rich cocoa taste, they are not like shop brought chocolates at all, with one bite of a chocolate its as though you can taste the hard work gone into them. 


Chocolates by Genevie would be a great present for anyone for any occoasion, Birthday, Christmas, Retiring, Leaving Job/Home, New Home/Job, Birth of a baby, Baby Shower, Graduation, Sorrow and loads more, we cant forget Easter now can we!




Until next time,
Jade x

*I was sent the chocolates to review, I was not paid for the review but compensated by receiving the chocolates, all comments are of my own and not influenced in any way shape or form by anyone else. At the time of posting, all the information I was given or what I read from the official website seemed to be true, but after investigations from a few suspicious bloggers it turns out to be we was lied too or mislead as some may call it.



If you have read my Chocolate by Genevie review, then you may be as surprised as me, after reading this blog post here from Fuss Free Flavours, I am so shocked I just don't know what to do.

I am so disappointed, to say the least. I am new to the blogging scene and have never been in such a situation, I never even thought something like this could happen, hopefully I never find myself in this situation again. The situation being, a company misled me and other bloggers into thinking their products were hand-made/homemade or whatever it was they stated.

Is her name even Genevie?? Or is it Liz?
I would like to know if they are even food safety registered! I mean my son ate those chocolates along with me. Thank God none of us come down ill! It is absolutely disgusting at what lengths companies go-to for a bit of publicity, I have learned a valuable lesson here and will be very careful at what products I review from now on.

And as for the review I've already done on Chocolates by Genevie, I will be editing it to include a note at both the top and bottom of the post to explain what I have just fount out.

Jada x
I was recently sent 3 different varieties of Schwartz Perfect Shake's seasonings, Jamaican Jerk, Fajita and Thai 7 Spice. I have mentioned before how I have personally never used spices to cook with before, but after trying these, I now have purchased a spice rack and more spices!

A selection of some of the ingredients used, including the spice mixes, garlic, soy sauce and maple syrup.

This post is a review on the Schwartz Perfect Shake Jamaican Jerk and Thai 7 Spice flavourings, on Friday I used the third spice I was sent - the Fajita Perfect Shake seasoning, you can read the review for that spice here.
As some of you may have read in a previous post of mine, I have had sites before, not blogs but sites. This is my first ever blog and what I miss about my old site (before MSN closed them all down) was the awards certain sites including myself done. So each month, I will choose who I think deserves an award from me. Each month the design will change, and so should the winner's, but who knows. When I say the winner's, they are the winner's in my eyes, and their prize is a graphic from me. This month I chose to do awards for:

My personal favourite blog 
which goes to
Attachment Mummy.
Photobucket

My favourite young Mummy blog
which goes to 
Milk Teeth Mummy.
Photobucket

My design favourite
which goes to 
Sprinkle of Glitter.

Photobucket

The most updated blog
which goes to
Madhouse Family Reviews.

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The best reviews 
which goes to
This Is Life.


It is completely up to you if you would like to add the award to your blog or not. I am not asking for a link back but if you would like to add a link to the image back to my blog that would be lovely, but it's your choice.

In the near future, I may have nomination awards but right now I'm sticking to personal ones which I enjoy.

Jade x

I..

in , by Jada, August 26, 2012
I have the worse headache ever but I'm in charge of not one, but two children.

Two sleeping boys - Spud & Baby Boo.

A messy front room - as in toys everywhere, down the back of the sofa's, on the window seals, on top of the radiators, under the tv cabinet, stuck on the ceiling - well they may as well be, and under my feet.

I want to go to sleep, like NOW.

But..,

I can't, because of my stupid head, so instead, I'm up doing my first set of awards, watching some random film and hoping this horrid headache shifts.

I don't have any paracetamol or any kind of pain killer in the house, apart from some Calpol but considering my age and the age it's intended for, I'd most probably need a full bottle, so I'm trying to ride it out, and hoping it goes - really quick!

Tomorrow I have no plans, I still have to sort out Spud's playroom but I really don't know if I want too now, knowing I'm in for little sleep tonight. However its been something I've been saying I'll do for ages, and I fear if I don't get it done tomorrow, it won't be done for a few more months at least.

Luckily it's not too bad in there, it's just a matter of sorting through toys and books Spud has outgrown and having a general tidy up and re-organisation. It will also be a great time to sort out items for family members and items for the charity shop, we always try to re-cycle when appropriate, unless toys are broken beyond repair, and then sadly they do have to go to landfill.

This is a totally random post, yes I am aware, but I am the writer of this blog, and I am unique!

Until next time,
Jade x


Schwartz Perfect Shake Fajita Review

in , , by Jada, August 26, 2012
I was recently sent three different varieties of Schwartz Perfect Shake's seasonings, Jamaican Jerk, Fajita and Thai 7 Spice.

A jar of Schwartz Perfect Shake's Fajita seasoning.


On Friday, I used the Fajita one to make some Fajita wraps and nachos. Now if I'm totally honest, I normally just buy a packet and whack it in the wok, as you would never see me looking at seasoning or spice jars. I've never used them until I was sent these 3 to review. I've never used spice jar's as I can be quite lazy, pre-made sauces are so much easier and let's not forget so much quicker and I honestly thought a lot of effort would be needed to cook with spices/seasonings, I was SO wrong!

My Last Few Days..

in , by Jada, August 25, 2012
On Thursday, myself, Spud and my Dad went to Legoland Windsor for the day, it was Spud's first time and he absolutely loved every minute of it! We live about 35 minutes away but due to the Paralympics coming soon, and Windsor being so close to Eton Dorney it took us well over an hour to get to the park.

Spud really surprised me, he went on the biggest ride at Legoland, the Mummy Dragon, as he calls it, we had a pizza/salad/pasta buffet for dinner and overall it was a fantastic day out! Spud has now decided for his 7th Birthday he doesn't want a party but instead would like to go to Legoland.

Yesterday we didn't do much, we went to my mother's and then to the supermarket with my sister to get some festival bits, she's off to Reading Festival tomorrow, and I'm having my baby boo for the whole day (from 8:30am) till Monday morning. We live in Reading so thankfully she hasn't got far to travel.

I have avoided town this weekend as when the festival is on its MANIC and the traffic is an absolute joke. I don't think I would ever go to Reading Festival myself, I'm not into that kind of music and loud music, tents, mud and wellies doesn't excite me. I do moan every year about the festival, but it does only last one weekend every year I suppose, I'm just glad I live over the other side of town, I feel sorry for the people who live close by, how do they sleep with that racket going on I wonder!?

Today, we sorted out all the review's we have to do, all of the products look very good and I cant wait to share them with you! Some are going to be featured nearer to Christmas so keep your eyes peeled! I also have some fab competitions that I will be hosting so keep checking back guys its the only way you will know what's up for grabs!

Also today, I changed my page navigation bar, I hope you all like it? I now have images for my pages instead of the average page navigation bar, I am unique don't you know! Ahaha, plain Jane in a lot of other way's but still I think I'm unique.

Ohh and we didn't get onto the Toyologist scheme, boo :( always next year right? I just wish we had personal replies, not just a generated one that went to every unsuccessful applicant, it would have been good to know why we weren't chosen! BUT hey ho, we still have some fabulous companies that myself and Spud are working with, reviewing the best products around, that we will be sharing with you very shortly so make sure you do check back, as we have some very exciting products to share with all of you.

Talking about reviews, I was sent 3 Schwartz spice jars and one of them was a Fajita one, it is absolutely delicious! I added a bit too much so some did taste a bit powdery, I must remember to read instructions first and not just wing it!

Tonight we are having a Chinese whilst watching X-Factor, oh yes the Funny Factor's back on, excited much??

Tomorrow I've got my baby boo, I love my nephew's so much, each and every one of them is unique in their own little way and each and every one of them has a special place in my heart.

Also tomorrow my all-time favourite Disney film is on TV! Beauty and the Beast <3 I've got it on DVD (3 copies) but I can never miss an opportunity to watch a Disney film, especially my ultimate favourite <3

I hope you all have a lovely bank holiday weekend!

Until next time,
Jade xx

A Bad Day

in , by Jada, August 22, 2012
Grrr... So yeah today's been a bad day, the first part of the day was great, my family are back from holiday and I couldn't wait to see them, thankfully I didn't have to wait long as my Mum arranged with me to take me shopping (another reason why I want to learn how to drive, not having to depend on people or public transport!). 

Myself and Spud got in my mum's car and greeted my mum and little sister, they tell us we are going to a toy shop before the supermarket, so off we set for my little sister to spend her leftover holiday money. When we got inside the toy shop my little sister picked a Lego item and had £6 left which she very kindly said Spud could have. So off we go aisle after aisle looking for something Spud liked within the price range, we finally found a Toy Story 3 Jessie for £4.99, he has the Woody product out of the range so wanted Woody's 'girlfriend' as Spud call's her.

We set off for the tills and Spud's toy scans at £7.99 so I notify the assistant serving us that they are on the shelves for £4.99 and it wasn't the only one there, and there is still plenty left, her reply to us was ''no, I don't think so''! My reply was sorry, are you calling me a liar!? Can you just call a manager please, I wasn't happy, to say the least! I was fuming with humiliation and embarrassment as her comment was said in front of all the other customer's waiting to be served by her (she was the only person on a row of 5/6 tills serving). So she picks up the phone, informs who I thought was a manager about the problem and the product and hangs up.

Then she asked my little sister for the Lego product back and puts them behind her, I asked what she was doing and she said that until someone could come and speak to me she will serve other customer's. I felt myself getting angrier and angrier and said loudly, no you won't we were here first so we will be served. Really I should have apologised to the other customer's as they were being kept up, but why should I apologise and why was she the only one serving? That was my next question to her which she ignored, lovely!

So a lady comes over in staff uniform (this is how I know she wasn't a manager, as managers wear their own clothes and not uniform), didn't bother greeting me which I found rude and tell's her colleague - the assistant serving us that they are in fact £7.99 and not £4.99, she goes on to say she remembers because she see them earlier. So I say can I show you where they are please, the look I got from this woman!!! Like I was a piece of dirt, I am so angry, still now, hours later whilst I'm writing this post.

So after a flump she replies with 'if you can show me', so me and the kids in tow, walk to where the Toy Story 3 figures are and show her the stand with every single price ticket saying £4.99, £4.99 - £4.99! This woman just didn't want to admit that I was right and her colleague was wrong, so she starts taking the other products down and telling me they have been dumped there! There was at least 12 of them, how could they of been dumped, if they had been dumped whoever had done it clearly had time on their hands as they weren't dump -dumped, they were put back on the stands correctly.

As she stands there silently, with me getting even more shocked with the customer service in this store I then say so what's going to happen, she then says they are £7.99 so in a raised voice I said to her ''where is one single ticket stating that any of these products are £7.99? They all say £4.99, you have to honour the price I know my rights''. We then went looking for a manager, to cut a long story short the manager agreed with me, no description or ticket to say the product was £7.99, I was allowed the product for £4.99 I said goodbye to the manager and that was all. Then it gets even better... NOT!

Off we go to the supermarket, I am annoyed, hungry and thirsty so pick up a Dr Pepper, I love Dr Pepper by the way, you'll soon get to know this I'm sure!  I pick up a chicken tikka slice to have when I got home as a late lunch, I do my shopping pay and leave.

I get home and unpack the shopping, whilst putting it all away I leave my Dr Pepper & tikka slice out the fridge, once done I sit down ready to enjoy both of them and notice the date on the packet! It's two days out of date! I ring the supermarket and they say OK thanks for letting us know, I hung up, I couldn't be bothered with any more bad customer service, I've had my fair share for today! I wonder if the company knows selling out of date products can carry a £5000 fine for each item? 

I'm just glad Spud's chicken and bacon one was OK as giving something to a child then taking it back off them is just horrible, and I am also glad I never ate the slice before realising or before I started throwing up, out of date meat could easily be disguised by the strong tikka sauce!

On a better note, Legoland tomorrow with my Spud, his very first time, excited much!

Hope you have all had a better day than me!!

Until next time,
Jade x

Our Toyologist Application.

in , by Jada, August 22, 2012
I have never heard of the Toyologist team before until last week when I see a few other bloggers posting their application's for it. I am glad I know this year as I feel Spud is just the right age to take part in such a great scheme. So here is our 2nd part of the application. Wish us luck =).

When I read the part that you have to review your child's favourite toy it took me ages to think of what I could choose, if you personally ask Spud what he loves he would say Mickey Mouse but he honestly couldn't say what his favourite Mickey Mouse item is, he has over 35 Mickey DVD's, over 20 books, every toy going, games and loads more.

However, Spud doesn't play with one certain Mickey Mouse thing on a daily basis, each day he plays with something different from his Mickey Mouse range, one thing he does play with every day though is his V-Tech Kidizoom multimedia digital camera.


If he isn't snapping away taking pictures, he is recording video's, editing photo's or playing games. I can't say for sure I think Spud is going to be into photography because he may end up like me, I have changed path's so much in life, but one thing I am sure of is since he purchased the camera in March for his 6th Birthday out of his Birthday money, he has not gone a day without using it. One of his favourite things to do is to take photo's of everyone who visit's our home, here is a picture of the camera screen of one of his little friend's who he took a picture of. Spud's friend's love having a go themselves on the camera taking photo's of anything and everything with fascination.


Believe it or not Spud's camera has flash with a 1.8 inch colour LCD screen and is 2mp which I think is very good for a child's camera. I trust Spud to take his camera out with us because it is very child proof, the number of times he has accidentally dropped the camera is unbelievable considering it doesn't have 1 single scratch on it.


Included with the camera was a usb lead and a few cases we could easily clip onto the camera, every now and again Spud will change the clip but that doesn't effect the camera's use in anyway. Using the usb lead and setting it up to our laptop is incredibly easy, connecting the camera to the laptop allows you to play games, view video's and edit photo's on a larger screen (don't worry though you can still do this on the camera it self). Spud finds the games useful for car journey's and loves the photo editing he can do, he loves taking pictures of Mummy and making my photo into a funny face or adding fishes to my photo.


The camera's design is also great, very easy for a child to use and understand, the camera also has a 16gb internal memory and accepts memory cards as well, another great thing I have actually just noticed since starting this post is that the batteries have not ran out once since March! Considering Spud is on this every day taking photo's, making video's, playing games and editing photo's is amazing! 



So who knows my Spud may become a photographer when is older and I can show him these photo's of his early days, or it may be a phase he is going through, either way it educates him on camera's a little bit and photography of course. Above is a photo of spud getting the settings right on his camera ready to snap a picture of his 2 little cousin's, he of course shout's commands at them too, 'put your hand down', 'look straight at me', and we cant forget ''say CHEESE''.

I love my little boy and my little boy loves me (& his blue Kidizoom Multimedia Camera too!).

V-Tech Kidizoom Camera's come in pink and blue. Since purchasing this product for Spud there are newer versions of Kidizoom camera's available.

You can buy them from Toys R Us and many other top toy retailers. 

Until next time,
Jade x


*I was not asked to do this review, we purchased the camera for Spud out of our own pocket and have done the review for the Toys R Us Toyologist 2012 application. All comments are of my own/Spud's and have not been influenced in any way shape or form.

Chocolate By Genevie Review

in , , by Jada, August 21, 2012
Please read the important update at the end of this post.

 Original Review

Chocolate by Genevie is a homemade, hand made chocolate company made by a lovely new chocolatier called Genevie, with help from her mother, partner and son, Genevie creates beautifully designed chocolates. Chocolate by Genevie was our company of the month for August, and very kindly sent me and Spud a box of chocolates to review.

Chocolate by Genevie main box, decorated with butterflies but rather plain looking.

World Of Popagami Giveaway..

in , , by Jada, August 21, 2012
Thank you to everyone that entered the competition, the competition is now over and the winner has been notified by email.

If you weren't a winner this time, don't forget to come back next month and enter as we still have another 4 pack's to give away!

To read my review on Popagami click here.

Jade x

Although I'm Only 22...

in , , by Jada, August 20, 2012
As a lot of you may know I am quite new to the blogging scene so over time you will read more about me and discover more about my life. I have had quite a few emails about my blog design, I must admit, this is not the first time I have worked with templates/graphics. 

The thing is with me is that I get bored very easily if I don't enjoy what I am doing, I will not carry on with whatever it is that I am doing. So although in my about me section I have told you I done Beauty Therapy at college, I have done so much more. Before college, as I had Spud when I was 15, I went to a Young Mum's Course 3-4 times a week, there I did NVQ Maths and English level 1 and lots of other mini causes including First Aid, Computer courses, Cooking and much more.

My first ever college course was a Business & ICT course, I passed the ICT class within 2 months, so never had to do an ICT class again. Not to be big-headed but I do know a little about computers. Secondly, I then did a Beauty course, then a Nail Technician course and finally a Construction course.
I was the only girl on the course and at first I felt like I wasn't accepted by the boys, I felt like an outcast, I used to eat my lunch alone and just sit there by myself, but it never stopped me from finishing the course, I never once felt like I was going to give up, because whilst they used to laugh at the way I walked in the big heavy boots or the way I looked in messy dirty overalls whilst turning up with my hair extensions in and my makeup dolled on I wanted to prove that this wasn't just a blokes job. In time the boys started to trust me, and in time I would eat lunch with some of them, or go shop with them and take the mick out of them just like they did me, the Construction course was the best course I have ever done, it made me feel a little bit more unique then I already felt.

My partner at the time come in on my last full day and took some photo's of me lol. The banter I received on this course for having my nails done and little stuff like that now makes me look back and laugh. Sadly at the time I had a partner who was quite jealous and I lost all contact with the boys, it would be good to meet up and have a reunion, see what we are all doing with ourselves now and for them to see how big Spud has got!




My last college course to date was an Access Course in Health & Social Care, a 4-year course crammed into 1 year, very hard work but very rewarding and worth while, the gate way to Uni (if and when I decide to go).

Back to the graphic talk, I wasn't out playing at the park with my friends when I had Spud, getting my parents to look after him like one manager from a very well known sports shop I once worked in said to me. I only ever left Spud when he was in a private nursery so I could carry on with my education. I was starting to get bored at night times when Spud was a baby so I went onto fan sites of the band I loved back then and created my own website for fans. My Mum purchased Coral Paint Shop Pro for me and from that day onwards my graphic designs were seen everywhere, sadly MSN decided to close down the groups and all work was lost, and as time went on my life become busier as Spud become more active. Although I am now back and will hopefully be able to pick up on the gifted graphic designing.

Don't worry about me becoming bored though, I won't do it with my blog, I love it!

Until next time,
Jade xx

Jungle Mania Woodley Review.

in , by Jada, August 18, 2012
Yes, another soft play centre! Where we live we have 5 within 10-15 minutes from us, The Madhouse, Krazy Kids, Monkey Mates, Jungle Mania and Kids'n'Action so we are quite spoilt for choice. Yesterday we visited Jungle Mania, and with permission, I was allowed to take pictures of Spud, my little big man and my baby boo. This was our first visit to Jungle Mania, as it hasn't been open for very long.

We paid the entry fee, £5.50 for children above 4, £4.50 for 2-4 year old's and for children under 24 month's it's £1.50, parking is also available for free in selected spaces which is good as some play centre's don't have their own car park so your left paying the car park as well.

From the outside you would never guess how big it is inside, you would not even know what was in the inside from the outside, they do say to never judge a book by its cover, don't they. There was us thinking it's going to be tiny, well we sure had a surprise when we walked in. We did not bring the buggy for baby boo, but if we would of, we would have had no problem's as you can walk straight in! No stairs to climb, no lifts to wait for, just walk straight in.


 

Seeing as it is the summer holiday's we expected the play centre to be really busy, but we were wrong. I liked this as sometimes these kinds of places get way too busy and your child does not experience the full effect of the play centre. Jungle Mania has some soft play that I've not seen in other centre's, it is to me unique. With little big man loving animal's he was in his element loving every minute of it, and my Spud, of course, we live in a flat so for him to be able to run riot and not have a care for the neighbours below us was fantastic, watching him use up loads of energy of something he was enjoying made me happy.

Jungle Mania has a large play area for older children and also a smaller part for babies and toddlers, the smaller part has a ball pit, a mini slide, activity stations, and loads of soft play for the babies/toddlers to play with. Baby boo climbed steps for his first-ever time here!

The large play area has a large slide, a spiral slide, a medium-sized ball pit and loads loads more. What I most liked about Jungle Mania is that unlike other soft play centre's I fount it really easy to follow the children around, It was really spacious and I had no problems getting to each part of the soft play area, I even took baby boo down the slide a few times.


Baby boo was having a great time getting to explore his different options, he has just recently started crawling, so for him to be able to crawl off using his independence choosing what he wanted to explore was good to watch. One thing he loved was the ball pit and climbing the soft play stairs! This was the first time he had ever tried and the first time round he was able to do it all by himself! Proud auntie moment!


Actually, all 3 children loved the ball pit, jumping around and burying themselves under the balls


Jungle Mania also sells cold food and drinks. Ohh and don't worry hot drink fan's, they also sell hot drinks and food too. The kids lunches come inside a animal food box.



Jungle Mania also has some ride-on toys, below is a picture of Spud on one of them, and the other picture is my little big man and spud in the ball pit.


So this is my review on our time at Jungle Mania, where baby boo climbed steps for the first-ever time <3.


Until next time,
Jada x

Disclosure*I was not paid to do a review on Jungle Mania, nor was I compensated in any way, we paid for the children from our own pocket. This is my own personal review on Jungle Mania and all comments are of my own opinion.

A Trip To Reading Museum

in , , by Jada, August 16, 2012

Today I had to pop into town to sort something out that literally took 10 minutes, instead of making it a wasted journey (£5 on bus fair) I asked Spud if he would like to take a visit to the Museum where he could dress up as a King, he very quickly said yes! We live in Reading and was in the town centre anyway so all we had to do was take the 5 minute walk to the other side of the town centre and we was there. The Museum is free to enter and also has a cafe and little shop.

 Outside the Museum


 
Once inside the Museum we left Spud's balloon with the reception and asked for permission to take photo's, we were aloud too apart from the art gallery's. Leo picked up a summer holiday pack containing a number of work sheets and a laminate picture bingo sheet. Spud really liked the bingo sheet, every time he fount a item from his bingo card he placed a sticker on the top, he was also interested to see how thing's were different many years ago for example the centre and end picture below show a old pram and a Salon's pricing list, 60p for a haircut! I wish!


















































































Spud with his fun and bingo pack.
The old pram's
A hair cut from 60p



There was lots of things for us to see and lot's of little fun task to participate in, we lifted little flaps to smell different herbs. we used Roman mini tiles to write Spud, and Spud also made a pattern from them. We played a mini Roman game with a Museum volunteer and visited the animal section.

Smelling the herbs.
Spud from Roman tiles.
A stuffed Dear.

We also visited the Victorian section, this is my favourite History era. I showed Spud how in Victorian times there was no white boards and everything was done on a chalk board including some of the pupil's work, he sat down at one of the Victorian school desk and had a look at the slate.

Victorian workers.
Victorian classroom board.
Spud at a Victorian pupil desk.

And finally the part Spud was most excited for, to dress up as a King, here is my little man on the throne complete with the crown.

My Little King

We handed the bingo sheet back to a Museum worker and Spud was gave a sticker saying I took part in the fun at Reading Museum. A nice few hours discovering lots of new things and taking part in lots of fun for free!

Until next time,
Jade x
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