Making Packed Lunches Fun

C starts preschool next week and although he won't actually be needing a packed lunch at school, I will be bringing one with me when I pick him up. He will be going five days a week from 9.00-12.15. I don't drive so I need to get the train. The next train home after I collect him is at 12.50 so it falls right over lunch time. Bringing a packed lunch means that he can sit and eat it whilst waiting on the train coming.

C was a fantastic eater when he was a baby and would eat anything that you put in front of him but he's being increasingly picky as he's gotten older. Lunch is probably the one meal that I really struggle with as there isn't a lot that he likes or will even try so I need to make lunches fun for him.

I always give either a wrap or a sandwich. I need to be careful when it comes to wraps though because if it opens and the fillings fall out, all Hell will break loose! With sandwiches, I will always use a shape cutter. These cute LunchPunch jigsaw shapes are C's favourite at the moment and gets really excited when he sees his "puzzle sandwiches".

Fruit is a staple in C's lunch. Berry fruits are especially loved so strawberries or raspberries would be his first choice, followed by maybe a banana or apple. I always include an easy to eat yogurt. As we are on the go, it tends to be a Frube or another type that doesn't require a spoon. 

Sometimes, the sandwich may be replaced with Dairylea Dunkers; either the jumbo tubes or Ritz crackers. Not the healthiest, I know, but he likes them as a treat! 

I pack his little lunch in this gorgeous Joules lunch bag. It's so spacious with more than enough room to pack all of his items in. He loves the shark motif and says it's "so scary." It even comes with a hard lunchbox inside.

Finally, I love these little Lunchbox Love notes which have a positive message of joke on them. C is a bit young at the moment as he can't read himself but they are a really nice addition. I'll definitely be using them in the future with him.How do you make packed lunches fun?

(I received the items mentioned above free of charge. All thoughts and opinions are my own and have not been influenced.) 

Teletubbies Pull 'n Play Noo Noo - Review

I remember watching the first run of the Teletubbies when it started in 1997 (I was 5 years old) and also when my sister was born in 2002. We both absolutely loved it so I was really excited to hear about its revival and hoped my children would love it just as much. As with any remake, I do worry that it won't be on par with the original but I needn't have worried. It's almost exactly the same with a few little changes.

Instantly, my children fell in love. They get so excited when they see the "baby sun" and C kept asking for Teletubbies toys on his birthday list. When we were offered the chance to review the Pull 'n Play Noo Noo I was sure it would be a massive hit with both of my children.

Noo Noo is quite large and must feel like lifesize for my kids and he is just packed full of fun activities. On the top right you have a 3D puzzle type activity. The pieces are the four Teletubby characters and they each have a little handle so you can take them out and put them back again. E (2 years old) especially loved this and worked out quite quickly where each Teletubby went. On the opposite side there is a five piece shape sorter - 4 regular shapes and one is Po's face. C was able to do these right away but I almost saw the cogs whirring in E's head as she tried to work out which shape fitted in which hole. I love the educational aspect of the toy and it has definitely helped her hand-eye coordination. I think she was more inclined to really work hard because she was familiar with the characters.

There are four buttons along the top which when pressed give out sounds of Teletubby speech, music and sound effects. C and E both love to have a little boogie when the music plays. The back of Noo Noo also lights up. As a parent, I love that you can mute Noo Noo without turning off the lights! On so many occasions I've had toys go off in the middle of the night which have frightened the life out of me. More toys should have this setting!

  Much like the real Noo Noo on the show, he has googly eyes (which 4 year old C finds hilarious) and a spinning brush. He also comes with a custard splat which is actually magnetic so when you pull Noo Noo around with the string attached to his front, he will pick up the splat with his nozzle when he comes into contact with it and even makes slurping sounds! All of the pieces can be stored inside Noo Noo too so I don't have to worry about any of them getting lost.





This is probably one of the best toys that we have owned in recent times. It is suitable for children aged 18 months-4 years so both of my children have actually been fighting over it because they love it so much! As it has such a great age range, it would definitely make a great gift that would get played with lots over the years. My two play with it daily!

The Teletubbies Pull 'n Play Noo Noo retails at £49.99 and it is available from Character.

(We received this item for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Look in my Letterbox #69

Last week was quite a busy one. I had more purchases than usual - most of my post tends to be competition wins! I don't think next week's will be as good. I haven't had much coming even though I'm waiting on lots. Anyway, here's what I received in the post last week.

Wins:

LeapTV game

 

I won this from Leapfrog on Facebook. C doesn't actually own a LeapTV but after looking them up I think I'm going to get him one for Christmas so I'll put this away to go with it.

Tealight holder

 This was a little Twitter win from Aldiss. I love having candles, smellies and little accessories around the house so it's perfect!

Chocolate hamper

 Amazing! I won this from Attachment Mummy's blog giveaway. I'd never actually tried Lily O'Brien's before but oh my goodness, it is so good!

Tan

 I won these from Make Believe Tan in a simple like and comment giveaway on Instagram. I'm not a big tan wearer but my sister is the complete opposite so I've given these to her.

Flower Girl dress

This was another like and comment win from Roco Clothing on Instagram. I went a few sizes bigger so it will do E!

 

Purchases:

Wedding Planner

 My best friend got engaged a couple of weeks ago so I ordered this gorgeous wedding planner from Busy B for her almost right away. It's so beautiful and it's making me want one myself, haha!

Marie skirt

I saw @dolittlebows on Instagram were doing an offer on this skirt and I couldn't say no. The Aristocats is my favourite ever Disney movie!

 

Adventure Time DVD

 C loves Adventure Time so I thought I'd buy him all the seasons for him to watch whenever he likes.

Kettlebells 

 Chris has a 16kg kettlebell and I decided that I really need to shift the weight that I've put on since having E. Although I am able to lift the 16kg, there's not much I can do with it. So I bought the 8kg and 10kg from Argos to start me off! They are much easier to work with.

Did you receive anything nice last week?

Weebles Paw Patrol Pull & Play Seal Island Playset - Review

My kids have recently become obsessed with watching Paw Patrol on Netflix so I knew they'd be thrilled to test out some character toys. Weebles were originally released in 1971 and I think everyone knows the "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down" jingle. I didn't own them when I was a child so I was excited to see that they had been refreshed with a new look for the younger generation and couldn't wait to finally get a chance to play with them with my children.

We received the Paw Patrol Pull & Play Seal Island Playset which comes with an exclusive Marshall Weeble and also two additional Weebles - Rocky and Chase. As soon as C saw the box he shouted, "It's Paw Patrol! Is it mine? Can I open it?" so first impressions were great! 

The set is a classic play pattern, it's easy to use and is tons of fun! The set itself is sturdy and doesn't require batteries which is something that I love! It has a path down to the jetty and when you set your Weeble at the top, it wobbles down to the bottom by itself. C's favourite aspect is the little boat attached by a string to the playset. You can place two Weebles in the boat, pull the boat out, press down on the seal's head and the boat will travel over to the playset. There is also a swing to place a Weeble in and button to press to make it, well, swing! Additionally, there are lots of circlular sites such as the one at the top of the tower that your Weebles can stand in. I really like the smaller boat which wibbles and wobbles even more than the Weeble!

  My children are almost 2 and 4 and they have been having so much fun with the set. I definitely think I will be buying the additional Paw Patrol Weebles characters to go along with the set. Watching C come out with little Paw Patrol sayings like, "Chase is on the case!" was so cute! I would definitely recommend this toy mostly for children aged around 3-5 years old but the playset itself is suitable for 18 months+.

The Paw Patrol Pull & Play Seal Island Playset retails at £29.99 and the additional Weeble characters are £4.99 each.


There will be a Paw Patrol Twitter Frenzy at the @UKMumsTV Twitter account using the #WeeblesPawPatrol hashtag on Wednesday 31st August so be sure to join in!

(We received these items for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

 

Num Noms Series 2 - Review & Giveaway

Num Noms are the new craze sweeping the nation and if you haven't heard of them, where have you been!? I first heard of them on social media and through other bloggers then C and E discovered them from advertisements that were shown during Tiny Pop. C instantly thought they looked amazing and kept asking for some. He got his hands on a few of the Mystery Pots (I'll speak more about what these are later) from Series 1. Series 1 were the sweet smelling Num Noms but now they have released Series 2 which have some more savoury scents.

We received a Diner Food Deluxe Pack (RRP £14.99) and two Mystery Pots (RRP £3.00 each). Inside the Deluxe Pack you get a container - we received a tray and spatula, two Noms (these are little motorised items which are activated by pressing the button on the top or you can get lipgloss ones), 5 Nums and a mystery Num. The Nums are made of rubber and they are all scented. They even have character names that correspond to their scent. The Noms in the Diner pack are Ketchup Go-Go and Cheesy Go-Go while the Nums are Hammy Burger, Haley Hot Dog, Lemony Cola, Frenchie Fries and PBNJ. I think the scents are all pretty self-explanatory! Our Mystery Num was Cherry Cheesecake.

As soon as I opened them all out of the packaging I had a little sniff of them all and they all smell scarily true to their scents. I have to admit that the Haley Hot Dog makes me feel a little ill as it genuinely smells so much like a real frankfurter!

The idea of Num Noms is to create scent combinations. You take your container (in our case, the tray) take a Nom then stack Nums on top. C's favourite combo was Ketchup Go-Go, Frenchie Fries and Hammy Burger - I think that would be mine too! E absolutely loved the motorised Noms and thought they were really funny. I think she was impressed that she could turn them off and on herself.

The Mystery Pots are really cool! They look like little yoghurt pots then inside you get a Num and a Nom inside a blind bag. Ours contained Phili Roll which is a sushi Num and Mozza Rella. Both of the Noms were lipgloss ones. E was especially taken with these and kept reapplying it to her lips.

I can't quite believe how quickly both of my children have taken to these toys and with so many to collect, I'll definitely be picking more up for Christmas. C has his eye on the Café Playset! 

They are recommended for children aged 3+ but I do let E (she'll be 2 in a couple of weeks) play with them whilst supervised. You can find out more about the entire range and other characters at the Num Noms website. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Want to win a Deluxe Pack and two Mystery Pots for yourself? Just enter via the Rafflecopter widget below.

T&C's:

• The giveaway will run from 22nd August until 4th September
• One winner will win a Num Noms Deluxe Pack and two Mystery Pots
• The prize will be sent to the winner directly from the PR company
• Open to entrants aged 18+
• UK residents only
• No automated entries
• One entry per person

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(I received these items for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

 

Look in my Letterbox #68

I have been entering so many more giveaways than usual as Christmas is coming and of course I want to win presents (mostly for the kids!). I tend to have a set amount to spend on each child then anything I win is given as extra. Due to this I've had tons of prizes arrive this week. The postman even said to me, "Is there ever a day where the postman isn't at your house?" I replied with, "No, never" and when he said I must always be buying online I had to admit my comping and he asked for tips - ha!

Anyway, here's what I received in the post this week! 

Wins:

Bows

 Regular readers will know how much E (well, I!) love bows! I won these from It's a Bow Thing on Facebook and they will be perfect for E's pigtails. Apologies for the rubbish lighting, the bottom set are pale pink.

Suicide Squad merchandise

 I won this giveaway with Empire Cinemas on Facebook. The prize was stated as a t-shirt and fake tattoos and I was honestly expecting a men's one that I would give to Chris but I was absolutel thrilled that they had sent a Harley Quinn one and in my size too! One of my favourite prizes recently!

Babymel Lucky Dip

Babymel hosted a lucky dip giveaway on their Facebook page recently where 50 people would win a surprise. I was one of the 50 so I couldn't wait to see what I'd get. They sent a gorgeous little snack bag and Sophie the Giraffe keyring. The bag will be really handy and Sophie is so cute! 

Bracelet

 I won this gorgeous bracelet from Jon Richard on Facebook. I actually already own my wedding dress (yes, I won it. Well, the vouchers to buy it!) but I've never shared it on the blog, obviously, so I think I will be saving this to go with it. They always run giveaways on Facebook and Twitter so it's worth keeping an eye on their accounts.

Bow

 I won this gorgeous big bow from Marylin's Creations Gift Shop on Facebook in a flash giveaway. It is so sparkly and E loves it!

Miffy bundle

 I won the breakfast set in Miffy's Twitter party and they sent all the extras too! I'll probably use the bunting for E's birthday in two weeks' time. She loves Miffy.

Elsa print

I won a print of my choice from Looby Doo Letters (on Facebook and Instagram) and of course I had to choose Elsa as E loves her. She even had to wear her dress for the photo!

 

XXX Mints

 XXX Mints were giving away tons of 5 packs of their mints on Facebook throughout the Olympics. All you had to do was comment on their posts with your support for Team GB. I won the first day I entered! Apologies for my face in this pic - they wanted selfies with your prize!

Glitter glue

I won these glitter glues from Trimcraft on Instagram. They will come in so handy, especially when making hair accessory holders for E!

Scooter

This was a surprise win that just turned up in the post! I sussed out that it was a competition in Thomas & Friends magazine. I had filled out a postcard and sent it off last month (in C's name) and he won! 

 

Pregnancy cards

 I won these for a friend on Twitter from The Bump Company. They are almost making me want to be pregnant again!

 

Reviews:

Ravensburger Puzzles

 It's always been really important to me to introduce puzzles to the kids at a young age as I loved doing them when I was younger - and still do! E will love these. 

Peppa Pig Campervan

I am so excited to be able to try this. The kids both love Peppa and it teaches phonics - a win for all of us!

 

Other: 

Irish Legends book

 Chris actually purchased this but I thought I'd still include it. I think he's a little sick of reading generic kids stories and wanted to introduce them to C. I remember learning all about them myself so it will be nice to teach them to him.

Did you receive anything nice this week?