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

WIN | GIVEAWAY 2 Family Favourite Games from Pass The Pigs

Christmas in our house is about sharing time together. Sure, this does mean that I am swigging Bucks Fizz for breakfast but after I have made sure to record the stuff I have absolutely no chance of watching in peace on the day itself I love to play games with the family. 

Our go to has always been a certain property related board game but given last year which ended with MrG and I not speaking for quite some time after some pretty ruthless hotel buying we have all agreed that we need to find something a bit different. Pass the Pigs may just fit the bill and I have a set of 2 (original and party) for 1 lucky winner!

Pass the Pigs is so easy to play. Simply throw the 2 piggies up in the air and see how they land. Compare the pigs landing positions with your scorecard and earn points. The first to 100 wins.

Pass the Pigs comes in a handy travel case, pop into your bag and you are ready for a game anytime. So, if you are traveling to see family it’s the perfect entertainment on the go. Pass the Pigs Party are ideal for when you want to play with family and friends at Christmas.

Pass the Pigs

Hours of fun are guaranteed with this exciting Pass the Pigs game. Perfect for taking on the road, the Pass the Pigs game comes in a handy travel case, so there’s never a dull moment to be had!

Pass the Pigs is a game of skill for 2-6 players, it comes with a handy carry case, 2 pencils, 2 pigs and a pocket-sized score card.

Suitable for ages 3+ and available for £9.99rrp.

Pass the Pigs Party

The version for party animals! Now there are EIGHT pigs in the game to play with. Roll your piggies to try and be first to match the position on your card. Get bonus points if you do it on your first go! Be the first to rack up 100 points. £14.99rrp.

 

  •  8 small plastic piggies (four pairs)
  •  Deck of 30 cards
  •  Carry case

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review/Giveaway Vremi Baking Cups and Apple Slicer

Moose attends pre-school from Monday to Thursday. During those days I try to get lots of work done. Sometimes that means working with clay, sometimes it means writing. I am lucky that I love my work so it doesn’t really feel like work at all. Friday though, is our day. Moose and I have the whole day to ourselves to do whatever it is that takes our fancy. I absolutely love our time together and I am trying to push all thoughts of it coming to an end next September out of my mind and just enjoy these moments while we can snatch them.

This week Moose asked if we could make lunch and bake some cakes. It just so happened that I had received the Vremi baking cups and apple slicer to try out so I figured it would be a great idea.

We decided to start with cake

This was entirely Moose’s idea but I didn’t put up much of a fight. We had a Peppa Pig Muddy Puddles cake mix in the cupboard so that seemed the obvious choice. If you know me, you know about my lacking baking skills… Surely not even I could mess up a box mix though!

Moose had great fun making the cake mix and spooning it into the silicone cases. Of course, I appreciate I am late to the silicone baking cup game, this was my first experience of such a thing. I eyed Vremi’s claim of them being non stick with a healthy amount of suspicion. I was however delighted to read that they are dishwasher safe!

Vremi’s set of 24 Nonstick Silicone Baking Cups come in pink, green, blue and yellow and I love how bright and fun they are. Incidentally, the cups did not stick to the cakes at all and emerged from the dishwasher as good as new. There is no going back to paper for us now. 

Slice slice baby

While our cakes cooled on the rack we turned our attention to preparing lunch. Moose loves cheese, apple and grapes with crackers. He is really fussy sometimes so it’s a relief when he requests normal food. 

The Vremi slicer comes with 3 sets of blades designed to cut mango, apple and potato (into chips). I am usually a knife kind of a girl so this too was a bit of a revelation. I honestly thought that this would be one of those faddy gadgets which I would use once and then leave languishing in the back of a cupboard (I am looking at you candyfloss machine). The big easy grip handles means that small (and big) hands go nowhere near the sharp blades so it’s great for when the kids want to “help”. 

I like apples but I have a weird aversion to eating one whole. This handy little gadget though has upped my apple intake by a surprising amount! The kids too. We seem to much prefer to eat pre sliced apple. I am yet to try the chipper but I do believe it will be a game changer

Fancy winning these two great products yourself? Enter via Gleam below: (Ends 17/12)

Win the Vremi Silicone Baking Cups and Apple Slicer #6

Compulsory School Age – to wait or not to wait

After a lovely chat with Mooses “ladies” at preschool about how he is getting on I was feeling less apprehensive. Moose is doing really well at preschool and has made some great friends. He is right where he should be for his age.

boy and a fence

His age is the problem.

He is an August baby and that means that he is due to start reception aged just 4yrs and 3 weeks. I know that there always has to be a youngest child but I feel/felt really sad to think that he will be that child. That it will put him at a disadvantage before he has even begun.

Physically I don’t think we will have a problem. His dad is 6ft2 and Moose has always been big so he will probably look quite average alongside children who might be anything up to 11 months older than him.

The bits I worry/worried about though is the little things. Things like getting his uniform on and off for PE. Putting his coat on to go out to play. Being able to write as well as and be able to hold a pencil for as long as his peers. His little fingers still being too clumsy to be able to keep up.

boy and tablet

It was for those reasons that I seriously considered keeping him in preschool for another year and starting him in reception when he is 5.

He wasn’t due until September. If he had just stayed put he would be going to school in 2019 and I wouldn’t have worried (alright, maybe a bit)

Problem is that it would be quite a fight to delay his start because everyone I have spoken to has told me that he would have to start in year 1, not reception. I don’t want him to miss the social connections kids make in those first few months. Applications for school need to made by January 2018 for a September start so I really need to get my skates on!

Seriously, how can I be more clueless with my third child than I was with my first?! Why is there not more information made available to parents about this? 

Did you delay your child until they reached compulsory school age? Tell me about it by leaving a comment. 

We Should Talk About Umbilical Cord Blood

I have experienced 27 months of pregnancy. Some good, a fair amount pretty rubbish actually. With pregnancy comes a lot of choices. You first of all (quite rightly in my opinion) get to choose whether to stay pregnant. You decide on how you plan to give birth, what kind of pain relief you might like (top tip: all of it) and you get to decide on a whole host of other things along the way. Some of it is important, some not so much. Nobody really talks about the umbilical cord though.

In all of those 27 months though not one medical professional ever mentioned umbilical cords and stem cell research. There wasn’t even a pamphlet anywhere as far as I can remember. 

It was introduced to me by another Mum. One who was in the same Facebook due in group because we happened to be due to give birth at the same time – incidentally if you are pregnant and reading this, and you haven’t already, go and search on facebook for your own due in group. It’s a great way to find a tribe and trust me during those 3am feeds you will want your tribe. She happened to mention in passing that she intended to donate her umbilical cord for research. 

pregnant woman holding heart

About Stem Cell Collection

I had no idea but there are companies you can use who bank the cord blood from your babies umbilical cord for potential use later if needed. Considering that this is a non invasive procedure and could have monumental benefits I wonder why it isn’t something which is talked about more readily?

Cord blood contains precious stem cells which can be used as approved therapy for over 80 serious illnesses such as blood disorders, cancers and metabolic conditions. Additionally, cord blood stem cells could hold great promise in the field of regenerative medicine.  Regenerative therapies often use a patient’s own stem cells and cord blood often provides the perfect source.  

Netmums and Smart Cells have teamed up to create this informative video for anyone wanting to find out more. 

This is a collaborative post. All opinions remain my own.

 

 

 

Shnooks – From bubble to best friend

Shnooks are SO FLUFFY

As die hard fluff fans we were really excited to be sent 2 from the Shnooks range to play with and review. Each Shnook comes in its own blister pack. Once you have freed the Shnook from it’s bubble, you give them a shake and POOF! They claim to grow to 8x their packaged size!

 

 

There are 6 to collect and each Shnook comes with their own comb, hairbands and hair clips. Each Shnook also has its own

To be honest I am not convinced that they do actually grow to 8x their size (though there is a LOT of hair) but they do appear a bit bigger after their shake and their cute factor more than makes up for this.

A really special touch I think is that all of the Shnooks have special best friend powers. Shweetly will always be by your side and Shmiley brings happiness you can’t hide. Shine gives you warmth so bright and Sheebah gives you courage and might.  Shnuggles gives cuddles so true while Shazam goes on adventures with you!

Each character is very cute and Lydia couldn’t wait to get stuck in! After a little trouble popping the shnubble-bubble on her own we helped out with a handy pair of scissors. 

Lydia gave them a good shake and was most impressed at the transformation. The shnooks reminded us a little of trolls with their very colourful hair and Lydia loved the little accessories with each of them and spent ages combing and playing with their hair. 

We were sent 2 shnooks for an honest review. All opinions are my own