Mummy & Moose
clapping, napping and yapping our way through the day

Living Arrows Week 29 2019

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth”

This week was the children’s last one in their current years at school. Moose will leave reception and Bess will be finishing year 8.

In September Bess will begin her GCSE’s. It used to be a 2 year course but this year her school have decided that it should be spread over 3 years. Hopefully this way of doing things will work to her advantage! She wasn’t phased by having to pick her GCSE subjects but when she heard that instead of being accepted for her choice of Italian, she was being assigned Geography. Well, let’s just say that she was a little upset..

This pic was taken on the day she found out and she really was gutted about it – hence the brooding. She went to her Italian teacher the next day to explain why she wasn’t happy and was thrilled to hear that it had been an admin error and that of course her Italian teacher would welcome her into her classroom. Phew!!

 

To celebrate the end of their reception year, Moose and his classmates had a drive-in cinema experience. They were assigned family homework a few weeks ago which was to make a cardboard car for the drive-in cinema. Moose quite liked this although I maintain that it was actually a homework designed for us, the parents. Some of the other cars were awesome but Moose was so happy when he won the prize for the boys! (between you and me, his dad was pretty chuffed too!)

 

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Smashers Epic Dino Egg Review

This product was sent to us in exchange for our honest review. All opinions remain our own. 

 

Moose absolutely loves Dinosaurs. His favourite CBeebies programme is Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures and he can happily reel off a whole list of obscure Dinosaur names at any given opportunity. As well as Dinos. he also loves collectables and surprise eggs. You can imagine then how pleased he was to receive the new Smashers Epic Dino Egg to play with!

Smashers Epic Dino Egg Smashers Epic Dino Egg

What’s inside the Smashers Epic Dino Egg?

The egg itself is a plastic casing which can be reassembled so you can use it to store stuff inside. When you smash it open you will find a yolk bag and a small map. On one side of the map is a list of the collectables you might find and on the other side a a scratch and reveal style map.

Inside the yolk bag you will find 5 compounds hiding Dino binos. To discover which Smashosaurus Dino you might have you need to scratch the panel off the map and use the compound. As well as this you will also find 6 of the smaller Smashers eggs, an egg stand to help when rebuilding the eggs and an excavation tool.

The rebuilder tool is SO handy. We have played with Smashers previously and I found them difficult to put back together again. With the rebuilder, it’s a cinch! I would recommend also purchasing the collectors tin. This comes with one smashers egg plus an exclusive dino inside. It’s great for storing all of the smaller Dinos inside.

How to find your Dino bones

Dino Dirt: Yellow kinetic sand style substance which you pick apart to find the bones! This comes in a resealable bag.

Fossil Rock: This was a solid bit of what I think was chalk. We eventually had to call for back up in the form of a big sister to help with this one though. It took a long time for Moose to use the tool to get into it and he did start to get a bit frustrated.

Fizzy Lava: This was Moose’s favourite. Basically an orange bath bomb. He dropped it into a bowl of water and watched in delight as it fizzed and bubbled away.

Smashers Epic Dino Egg Smashers Epic Dino Egg

Glowing Slime: Moose described this stuff as Bright green Dinosaur snot. I couldn’t prove otherwise so I just nodded along and thanked my lucky stars that I had chosen for us to open the Smashers Epic Dino Egg outside!

Ice Age Putty: Moose quite liked this stuff. Not as sticky as slime but still nice and tactile for little ones to search through for the hidden Dino bones.

What Did We Think

This toy was pleasantly surprising. There was a lot to do. Loads to keep Moose occupied for well over an hour. I would highly recommend opening the Smashers Epic Dino Egg outside. A Tuff Tray would be ideal for it. The Fossil Rock in particular creates a lot of chalk dust. I really liked the little collectible dinosaurs. The larger Dinosaur was really nice quality, easy to assemble and Moose will definitely get a lot of play out of it.

Smashers Epic Dino Egg

The Smashers Epic Dino Egg is not a cheap toy but I do think it is good value. There is a lot going on here and the toys that you get to keep after all of the activity is over with is a good quality one.

We found Crazy Eyes the Brachiosaurus inside this one but there are also a T-Rex and a Triceratops (my favourite) to collect.

Although we were sent this Smashers Epic Dino Egg I am planning to purchase another to give to Moose for his birthday. I have no idea how I will wrap it mind you.

The Smashers Epic Dino Egg retails at RRP: £24.99, is suitable for ages 5+ and is available at Smyths, The Entertainer, Argos, Tesco, Asda, B&M, SAINSBURY’S Supermarket and all the major retailers.   https://smashersworld.zuru.com/

 

 

Living Arrows Week 26 2019

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth”

Bess went along to the Peterborough Pride march and Carnival Of Love last weekend. It was a celebration with a turnout of more than 1000 people and Bess really wanted to go with her friends. I love how happy she looks in this photo, she said it was a really awesome day and that she utterly loved the experience. Any occasion which encourages acceptance and love in these troubled times is, in my opinion, to be encouraged.

Moose has been out in the garden enjoying the sun this week. I took this pic while he was playing with his Dad. I believe he was instructing him to fill up the paddling pool here.. He got his wish of course.

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Time to begin again, again. My Slimming World update.

I look pretty happy in this photo, don’t I?

Well, the truth is that I was happy. I had just joined Slimming World and I had decided that I was going to do something positive for myself and try to switch to a healthier lifestyle. Years of ignoring what I had been putting into my mouth had taken their toll and that it was time to make a change.

I didn’t have a weight target in mind. It wasn’t really about weight. I do of course want to look my best. However, I have found that since turning 30 my worries about what others see when they look at me have diminished at a pretty stealthy rate!

For me, my focus was on my health.

I already knew that 2 litres of cola each day and a penchant for drive thru food was costing me an arm and a leg. My habits needed to change. For my health and my purse!

So, the planets aligned and off to Slimming World I went. Determined that I was about to commit properly to something which would improve my life.

Fast forward nearly 6 months. Drum roll please..

..I AM THE SAME WEIGHT I WAS WHEN I STARTED THIS!

To say that I am not where I thought I would be by now is something of an understatement. I cannot pretend I’m not disappointed. I’d imagined I would be at least 3 stone down by now. Admittedly I am amused by it all too. But…

I was supposed to feel more like me

Because that’s it in a nutshell. I don’t really know the person I have become. She is certainly not who I was or who I imagined I would be. Maybe that’s just what nearly 40 feels like? Does 40 feel like giving up?

The fact of the matter is that I was ready to give up. On Slimming World. On myself.

Slimming world works. I know it works. I have seen the numbers in my book going downwards each week when I was making an effort to stick to it. The problem isn’t Slimming World. The problem is me. I have been sabotaging my own lifestyle. I wish I could say why but it’s not going to be that simple, is it?

I got a phone call on Friday night. It was my local chinese takeaway calling ME to let me know that their loyalty discount was ending that weekend and did I want to order food so I could use my discount? I shit you not. My takeaway phones me. That’s a problem.

Did I order food? Obviously I did. I enjoyed it too.

Actually though, I deserve better. So, today I will take a deep breath and walk through those doors into group. I will set aside a couple of hours for me. When I get home I’ll curl up with a cuppa and my Slimming World books and I will read through them again.

I will treat myself like a friend.

Hopefully this time around I will be able to make better choices. In a few months time maybe I will start to see a change. Not just in my body but my health too. Who knows. I will try to give myself a chance though. Wish me luck!

Living Arrows Week 24 2019

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth”

Moose had an inset day on Friday so he was home for an extra day. Yay! Of course I had nothing planned for us to do and it turned out that my car was still in the garage while they waited on a part for it anyway. So, I had to get a bit inventive.

We ended up having a pretty good day. Cakes were baked (with minimal input from me) and LEGO was played with and we managed to shoehorn in a movie with popcorn – not to mention the epic battle sequence Moose and I sat down to draw.

Moose likes to make up Superheroes and draw them having a battle. We don’t call it violence <ahem> it’s “action”…

 

 

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