Win a bundle of ACE cleaning products!

I hate cleaning so I am always on the look out for something to make my life a little easier. A few years ago I was sent some products from ACE to try out and now I always make sure to have some in my cleaning cupboard they really are fantastic. When Ellie used to wear white school shirts the stain remover helped a great deal getting pen marks and lunch that she had spilled out. 

ACE cleaning products are fantastic for cleaning around the house and for removing stains. All of ACE products are tough on stains and gentle on clothes.

I am giving you the chance to win a bundle of ACE products worth around £25. Included in the bundle is:

ACE for Colours.

The original ACE fabric stain remover that makes all fabric colours shine. It removes the toughest of stains and is gentle on even the most delicate clothes. It is great for everyday use and removes typical “dingy” dirt caused by soil and mud. It also helps to prevent fabric colours bleeding or transferring to other fabrics. ACE for Colours can be used on silk, wool and is even safe to use on cashmere!

ACE for Colours Powder.

ACE for Colours Powder contains the same stain removal technology as ACE for Colours, but in a powder format with a fully recyclable cardboard box.

ACE for Whites.

Specifically formulated to work better on lighter fabrics; ACE for Whites helps brighten dull whites while still being gentle on delicate clothes.

ACE Stain Remover Spray.
For tackling germs, grease and stubborn stains, ACE Stain Remover Spray is suitable for use around the home and on coloured clothes.

ACE Power Mousse.

Combining the might of bleach with ACE cleaning power, the ACE Power Mousse works hard to keep household surfaces and white laundry bright and clean.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions.

I am giving away one bundle of Ace cleaning products. There will be one winner.

You must be a UK resident aged 18 or over to enter.

This competition will close on the 3rd April 2020 at 12am.

The winner will be contacted within 48 hours of the closing date and will need to respond with a postal address within 28 days or a new winner will be chosen.

You will have to supply your name and address for delivery of your prize but that information will not be used for anything else.

No cash alternative will be offered.

The Beauticology Rudolph Festive Treats for Feet Set Giveaway!

Last month I featured a whole heap of fabulous gifts from the Baylis and Harding Christmas range (which I was given free of charge in exchange that blog post).

I do love Baylis and Harding products, they are affordable but have a bit of luxury about them too. I would be happy to find any of them under the tree for me on Christmas day!

I thought the Beauticology Rudolph Festive Treats for Feet Set would be a lovely treat for someone.

The Treats for Feet Gift Set makes a fabulous stocking filler or secret Santa gift for Christmas. This fantastic gift set contains everything you need for a perfect home pedicure. The 50ml vanilla icing foot Lotion is enriched with vitamins A, B and C for super moisturisation and there's the fun and festive super soft striped socks for cosy toes and toasty warm feet!

To enter use the Rafflecopter widget below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules!

I am giving away the Beauticology Rudolph Festive Treats for Feet Set. There will be one winner.
You must be a UK resident aged 18 or over to enter.
This competition will close on 9th December 2019 at 12am.
The winner will be contacted within 48 hours of the closing date and will need to respond with a postal address within 28 days or a new winner will be chosen.
You will have to supply your name and address for delivery of your prize but that information won't be used for anything else.
I will be posting the prize out myself so hope to get it to you before Christmas.

No cash alternative will be offered.

I was gifted the Beauticology Rudolph Festive Treats for Feet Set for another blog post but it is my choice to give it away.

(Ad - Gifted) Become a spy with the SpyX Micro Gear Set ! Review & Giveaway!

Ellie is a fan of all little gadgets and thought a spy kit would be fantastic for her to try out. The SpyX Micro Gear Set is perfect for children's undercover and secret missions. They can feel like a real spy with this set!

The sophisticated SpyX range offers working features that fuel the imagination, kids can role play with cool crime fighting gear and gadgets, just like real hero agents.

This set includes a handle utility belt with four special tools that no spy should ever leave the home without!

Ellie was very keen to get into the box and try everything out. Everything apart from the motion alarm was ready to use. We had to add two AAA batteries to it. The rest of the equipment already had the button cell batteries included which I thought was great because looking for batteries is the last thing you want to do when a child is keen to play with something!

The four micro tools are:

 An ear spy light!

The ear spy light has a LED flashlight you can attach to your ear. Perfect to see where you are going and to do secret spy things. The flashlight is so bright and great for when you are in the dark. Ellie tested it out in the garden when it was dark and she thought it was fantastic fun. She liked that it was on her ear and her hands were free to use.

An Invisible ink pen.

The invisible pen is great to write and decode secret messages. This was Ellie's favourite of the spy tools. At one end of the pen there is a pen with invisible in and at the other end there is UV light which you shine on what you have written to make it visible.

Micro motion alarm.

Use the micro motion alarm to set up a secret alarm trap to surprise your opponents. This worked so well. You put it somewhere where you think people might walk or on something that you want to protect and turn it on. Once the red light has flashed it is ready to go. Whenever anyone walks in front of it an alarm will sound. Ellie has put this in her bedroom to let her know when her sister is going in it. lol

Micro listener.

Use the Micro Listener to listen to conversations from far away and out of sight. You put the earpiece into your ear and you can then hear any noises the other end picks up. It was a shame that the cable is so short so it's not like you can put it in another room and hear what people are saying but I suppose that is a good thing so Ellie doesn't hear something she shouldn't. hehehe

Ellie and I both think this a fantastic set and it's already given her a couple of hours of fun and I can see her playing with all the micro tools for a long time. All of the spy equipment can be attached to the utility belt so you can keep everything together and carry it around.

This set is suitable for ages 6 years+ and can be bought from Amazon or Argos for around £19.99. I think it would make a fantastic present for Christmas.

I have one of the SpyX Micro Gear Set's to give away! Please enter using the rafflecopter form below. All entries are optional. You can do just one or all of them and you can  come back each day to gain extra entries.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions:
I am giving away one SpyX Micro Gear Set. There will be one winner.
You must be a UK resident aged 18 or over to enter.
This competition will close on 26th of November 2019 at 12am.
The winner will be contacted within 48 hours of the closing date and will need to respond with a postal address within 28 days or a new winner will be chosen.
You will have to supply your name and address for delivery of your prize but that information won't be used for anything else.
No cash alternative will be offered.

I was sent the SpyX Micro Gear Set free of charge in exchange for this blog post.

(Ad - Gifted) The BIC KIDS Young Artist Award is back!

For the 3rd year running the BIC KIDS Young Artist Award is back to encourage creativity in children across the country.

It is giving proud parents across the UK and Republic of Ireland the opportunity to see their child’s drawings graduate from the fridge door to billboards and it can also give the kids something to do for the first couple of weeks of the summer holidays.

Open to all 5 to 11 year olds, entrants are encouraged to exercise their artistic flair, let their imaginations run wild and draw with complete freedom. 

To be eligible to enter, entries must:

Be from children aged 5-11 years old.

Be drawn on plain, landscape A4 paper.

Be drawn in pencil, felt tip and/or crayon.

Be the original work of the entrant, and not include any recognised characters or logos.

Be received by 11.59pm on Sunday, August 4th, 2019.

Be submitted to the BIC® KIDS website by the child’s parent or legal guardian.

Be the only entry of that child.

Judges will award points for everything from creativity and use of colour, to composition and subject matter. The expert judging panel will select 13 finalists to represent their region, with their work being displayed on their very own, local billboards from late August. A public vote will then decide the ultimate winner, whose drawing will go nationwide in late September. In addition to priceless public recognition of their work, the winner will receive BIC stationery goodies and a creative art party. 

If you need any new colouring products to help with your child’s entry, why not visit  Asda, WHSmith, Ryman or Amazon to stock up! 

We were sent a selection and Ellie was overjoyed. It's a brand we all recognise and use. My two girls are a little too old to enter this competition (Ellie will be 12 by the time it's judged. Hmmf. hehehe) but if they were younger they would be joining in. Ellie is instead using these pens and pencils to get creative and draw plenty of pictures.

We were sent a selection of BIC products in exchange for this blog post.

Father's Day gifts from from Cadbury Gifts Direct and Green & Black’s!

Both my dad and my fella Stu love their chocolate and of course I will be buying them both some for Father's day. Obviously Stu's will be off the kids and they will probably help him eat it too!

Cadbury have a whole range of gifts for our amazing dads. There is the firm favourites such as Cadbury Dairy Milk or Heroes in a variety of boxes and hampers or go for something personalised to give it that extra special touch. Then there is fancier gifts from Green & Black’s. I always think of their chocolate as a real grown ups choice!

We were sent a couple of the gift boxes to have a look at!

The Cadbury Chocolate Dad's Gift is available from Cadbury Gifts Direct for £10.00.

The perfect gift to wish someone a Happy Father's Day! A gorgeous little box full of treats.

Inside the Cadbury gift box you get a Cadbury Dairy Milk 200g bar in a special No 1 Dad sleeve, a Cadbury Heroes Carton and your favourite Cadbury bars including a Crunchie, a Wispa Gold, a Curly Wurly, a Double Decker and a Flake Bar!

I think this is a great box with lots of my fella's favourites. I think the only one he isn't too keen on is the Curly Wurly but it won't go to waste as the kids will snaffle that from him.

The G&B's Father's Day Chocolate Gift is available from Green & Black's for £13.00.

G&B's mini organic chocolate gift, the perfect luxury gift for Father's Day. Green & Black's classic organic dark, white and milk chocolate flavoured bars along side the Organic Treat Collection with a selection of mini bars. All delivered in a recycled gift box and hand tied with satin ribbon. An indulgent chocolate gift for any Father's Day! 

I think this is a lovely gift for a dad. I know my dad will love it! He likes the fancier chocolate and I think I might have to pinch the Green & Black's Organic Milk with Butterscotch Chocolate Bar which sounds amazing!

Cadbury Gifts Direct are giving you the chance to win personalised chocolate for your Dad this Father’s Day!

Do you have a funny or unusual nickname for your father? Maybe something based on his job, personality or hobbies, or even how he looks? Or, do you have a special name for another father figure in your life, perhaps a stepdad or grandfather to show how important he is to you?

If you do, tell them his nickname and you could win 1 of 10 delicious Cadbury Dairy Milk 850g bars with the nickname printed on the sleeve!

Visit Cadbury Gifts Direct to enter.

All entries must be submitted by 23:59 on Sunday 9th June 2019. The winner's will be notified by email by 11th June 2019 and prizes will be posted directly to the winners choice of address within the UK. Good luck!

We were sent these gift boxes in exchange for this blog post.

Aquafresh Advance just for Tweens!

Ellie hates brushing her teeth but it's one of those jobs which we have to do....We have tried various toothbrushes and different toothpastes over the years. It has taken 10 years but I think we are on to a winner with Aquafresh Advance!

Aquafresh Advance specially designed by dental experts for children aged 9-12 years. Did you know that when kids reach the age of nine special care is still needed for their new, vulnerable adult teeth?

More permanent teeth arrive between the ages of 9-12 years than at any other time, and the enamel is 50% more vulnerable to sugar acid attack. This is because the enamel is softer and new permanent teeth take up to three years to reach full strength.

To give parents of pre-teens one less thing to worry about, Aquafresh Advance toothpaste has been specially designed by dental experts for children aged 9-12 years.

Like I said Ellie has never been keen on brushing her teeth it has always been a nightly battle until last week.....I told Ellie that this toothpaste and the new toothbrush was just for her and she seemed so excited by it. She took great pleasure in telling her sister that the Aquafresh Advance was all hers...hehehe

For the first time ever Ellie asked to brush her teeth! She was keen to give it a try...She was also very eager to try her new toothbrush too. The dental experts have also designed a new Aquafresh Advance 9-12 years toothbrush to help provide care for permanent new teeth. The 6 key features include a small head, soft filaments, mixed bristle length, flex zone, ergonomic handle and a cool design. It is just the right size for Ellie to use. She loves the flexible part and thinks it's very cool....

Ellie has used Aquafresh in the past but not for a long time.....She forgot that the toothpaste was 3 colours and she thought it was so pretty....She compared it to something like a unicorn tail. Pretty, pretty, pretty....

To be honest Ellie still isn't keen on the minty taste. Personally I don't think there's anything wrong with it but it's just one of those things Ellie doesn't like BUT every day for a week she has brushed her teeth without an argument which has never happened before so the fact that the toothpaste and brush are especially for her age group is making a difference to the health of her teeth and the effect it has on our family life.....

I will continue to buy the Aquafresh Advance. It is available in Boots and other retailer stores with a recommended retail price of £2.00...

We have also started using the Aquafresh Brush Time app. Which is basically a timer which has a fun characters and catchy songs...It has been keeping Ellie brushing for the 2 minutes which dentists recommend. It's free and I can't believe we haven't used it before.....

This month they have launched the Aquafresh Inventors Academy competition to help make brush time more fun and reinforce the importance of having healthy teeth.

Children can draw their very own invention. From maraca toothbrushes, to bathroom disco lights this is their chance to get creative, get involved and get inventing. The winning invention will actually be created by Dominic Wilcox, Chief Inventor at Little Inventors and the lucky winner will win a class sleepover at the Science Museum on 6th July 2018 and up to £1000 worth of equipment for their school!

Just visit The Aquafresh Inventors Academy and upload a picture of your child's invention or innovative idea.



We were sent these products mentioned free of charge in exchange for this blog post.

I only went & won a Cinema room for The Freeman Hospital!

A couple of months ago I wrote a blog post sharing a competition where you could nominate your local hospital for a Cine-makeover....Obviously I nominated The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle where my girls both had their open heart surgery.....

I filled in the nomination form and forgot about it....I don't think I even asked people to vote but they did and I thank you for that....It was shortlisted and a panel of expert judges, including Mark Craven, editor of leading consumer magazine, Home Cinema Choice, Margaret Jeal, acting chair at the Action for Sick Children’s Charity and Heart Radio Yorkshire presenter, Rich Williams all choose the Freeman Hospital!!!

Through my nomination our hospital has only gone and won a cinema room worth more than £15,000 with a full suite, top-of-the-range equipment including a HD projector and 100 inch screen, state-of-the-art surround sound, Blu-Ray player and games console, as well as a series of children’s movies all from Finite Solutions!

I was emailed this afternoon to inform me of the news....I was in shock and cried happy tears....

Ward Sister Lesley Hamilton said of the win for Freeman Hospital: “We are absolutely delighted to be receiving the cine-makeover and couldn’t be happier to receive such a fantastic prize. We have a hard-working community of medical and care professionals at Freeman Hospital, and we are dedicated to ensuring our patients’ stays on our wards are as enjoyable and relaxed for all as possible. The prize will greatly assist us with bringing joy and relaxation for our child patients and visitors to our wards.”

I am so happy that something I have done, something as simple as a nomination is going help children and their families during what can be the worst time in their lives....

Thank you if you voted and Eek! I am a little bit in shock!

****Edited**** The news has sunk in a little more and I blogged a more about it in my Word of the Week post and about how grateful I am to the Freeman Hospital. Without the Freeman hospital my girls might not have been here today!! 

Outdoor play and turning #TearsIntoSmiles

It is important for kids to get outside and play. Some fresh air and exercise is good for them but sometimes it is easier said than done....My girls are at that age where they will happily stay indoors and play on electronics but when the weather is nice I will encourage them to go out to play....As soon as they get outside they have a great time!

When the girls play outside they are either out the front on their scooters, at the park or in our back yard. We only have a small concrete yard so play is limited but that doesn't stop them having fun. They have a slide out there a paddling pool filled with sand, another we fill with water in the summer, skateboards and bats & balls.

We were sent the traditional game of Quoits to have a play with....I had played the game when I was at school but I didn't know what it was called....The girls had a great time with it. I like old games like this which you don't see around so much now. It is also a great way to improve children's number skills with the adding up of their points.....

Ellie is a bit of a daredevil. A few weeks ago I found her sat at the top of the slide on her skateboard just about to go down....That could of ended in disaster. Last week she came in asking for wood to make a ramp to do jumps on her scooter. Thankfully we had none....She is an accident waiting to happen.....

Britmums gave some bloggers a challenge to talk about their best strategies to soothe and cheer their children after minor scrapes, cuts and other injuries....

When my girls were younger I had a huge tub of Sudocrem which was our magic cream....It could fix anything along with a kiss and cuddle and of course we had novelty plasters....Peppa pig, Mickey mouse and Hello Kitty one's....

Times have changed. My girls have got older and now they don't believe in magic cream.....They are 14 and 9 so "kids" plasters are not going to cut it. Star Wars and Frozen plasters will though. They are cool so my girls say! My fella has even said he is looking forward to cutting himself so he can use a Star Wars one....lol

I have had to change the tactics a little to calm things down after my girls have a fall, scrape or bump....They still happen. Kids will be kids....With my girls the best way to soothe and cheer them up is:

Food - I can usually distract them with chocolate, ice cream or some cake.

Say something silly - Say if they've hurt a limb I will joke and say "Oh dear, that needs to be chopped off". They say no and start moving the affected body part just to prove that it is OK...

Counting to ten - I tell them to count slowly to ten and it calms them down as they are concentrating on something else.

Monkey cuddles - When Ellie hurts herself while I am dealing with her I am scanning the room for her toy monkey. He is her favorite toy and makes everything better.

Tell them do dust themselves off and carry on - My girls are drama queens. I know this. It may sound harsh but half the time my girls bump or scrape themselves and they don't need actual medical attention I tell them to dust themselves off, give themselves a shake and get back to what they were doing.

Cuddles from me - They will never be too old for a cuddle from their mam....

What works best for you when your children have a bump or scrape?

This post is an entry for the BritMums #TearsintoSmiles Challenge, sponsored by Elastoplast. I was sent the plasters and a garden toy free of charge to help write this blog post.

Nominate your local children's hospital for a Cine-makeover!

Today I am sharing a fantastic opportunity where you can nominate children's hospitals and wards across the UK to receive a new state-of-the-art cinema room for the patients and families.....A Cine-Makeover!

My girls both spent time in hospital when they both had open heart surgery in 2009.....The play room was fantastic but a super cinema room would have been even better!

Finite Solutions, a national company specialising in smart home technologies and bespoke home cinema design and installation, is looking to provide a children’s hospital with a full cinema room installation worth more than £15,000...

The total cinema system value is more than £15,000 and comprises of:

A high definition high quality projector 

A 100” wide projector screen

5x high quality Kef wall-mounted speakers and subwoofer

A Blu-ray player with a selection of popular children’s movies and TV series

A top-of-the-range games console

A Freeview box and wi-fi router

A wall-mounted touch screen control panel and more….

People can enter their local children’s hospital or ward by simply submitting a short written suggestion describing the first thing that the facility could use the new cinema room for such as hosting a Disney film marathon, a console gaming tournament or a pyjama party with popcorn.

The closing date for nominations is 4pm, Friday 12 May.

The nominated children’s hospitals will be then be opened up to an online public vote to decide which facility will receive the cinema makeover. This vote will also be coupled with the opinions of an expert panel of judges.

Hasbro Boggle & Win with Pork Farms.

We love board games here especially one's we can play as a family....We were recently sent Boggle by Hasbro to try out. 

Find as many words as possible on the 4x4 letter grid before the sand timer runs out. You’ve got 3 minutes to search out as many words as you can see spelled out on the cubes. The longer the word, the higher your score, but you only score points if nobody else has the same word. Add up your points and see who the winner is....

Ellie is 9 and is at an age now where she can do with improving her spelling and knowledge of words....This game is perfect for that. She is learning and having fun at the same time.....

Boggle is so easy to set up and within minutes of opening the box the girls were playing....Making up words from the letters they rolled....

They had a great time playing Boggle and ended up playing for over an hour....Ellie my youngest actually beat my teen in a couple of games which was a great boost to her confidence. We did put a rule in that that you could only have a maximum of 4 letter words which kept things even between the girls which worked well. I think we are going to have to up it to 5 letter words as Ellie is doing a little too well. heheh

Boggle is a fantastic family game and it will be one we can all play together.

From the 8th to the 14th May it is National Board Games Week and Pork Farms are inviting you to host your very own Family Board Games Night....Families can get involved by downloading a free family bundle to help plan a board games activity night at home and you can potentially win prizes including a stack of board games, special certificates and a year’s supply of Pork Farms’ pork pies! 

We were sent the board game Boggle free of charge to review and in exchange for this blog post. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

HARIBO Starmix - Join Your Team.

We of course love HARIBO. Who doesn't? We are particularly fond on the Starmix bags.

For a limited time you are being invited to choose your favourite piece within the Haribo Starmix and join their team for a chance to win prizes inspired by their chosen piece.

There are over 4000 prizes to be won including mugs, towels, sunglasses, keyrings and shopper bags. There are giving away 25 prizes per day.

Make sure you join your team at Team Starmix!

I was asked to choose my favourite piece within HARIBO Starmix. It was a really hard choice. I love everything but I decided to go for the Fried egg and a special treat was sent out to me.....

It really was a treat. We were sent a selection of the prizes you could win!

Ellie has claimed the sunglasses, Becky the mug and Stu the shopping bag so it was only fair that all the HARIBO eggs were mine....hehehe

Which is your favourite? Is it the Heart or the Egg? Or do the Rings make you feel like a princess? Or maybe it’s the Cola Bottle or Bear?

We were sent a box of Haribo goodies in exchange for writing this blog post.