Monday 30 April 2012

V-TECH STORIO

V-TECH STORIO

V-tech were kind enough to send me the v-tech storio to review for them.
With this you get- storio console, storybook cartridge, instructions, warranty, usb cable, and a stylus.
The v-tech storio is recommended for children age 3-7 years old.
I have to say I was really pleased with this item as it is perfect for DJ, who his 6 years old, as he is dyslexic and has the reading age of someone who is 4years and 3months.

This requires 4AA battery's (not included)
The storio has a touch screen with a keyboard, to use the touch screen you can choose to use the stylus or your fingers, DJ prefers to use the stylus.
You can use this with headphones if you choose to, but these you have to buy separate, There is also space for an sd card (not included).
With this you can connect to the internet using the usb cable to download an extra 3 story's free.
When you turn this on for the first time you can personalize it by adding your name and choosing an avatar,
The first thing we did after personalizing it for DJ was just have a play around with it.
In story mode you can choose to read the story your self or to have a pre-recorded voice read this to you.
DJ does this in both modes, as I am trying to get him to read a little better and believe that this will help.



Not only can you read with the storio but you can also practice your writing skills and play games, These will save on the storio it self.
You will earn certificates along the way to mark how well you are doing, these also save.
We have had this now for around 4weeks and DJ uses it everyday for an hour before bed, We like to sit together and practice his reading.
DJ's teacher has said that there has been a slight inprovement in his writing skills since we had this and he is soon to be tested again with his reading to see if there has been any improvement, this test will also allow us to see if he need's more help than he is getting now.
The battery's in the storio don't last long, approx 3hours, so I would recommend buying either re-chargeable battery's or an ac adapter(can be bought of ebay and amazon), which we have done.
This retails at £70 and comes with 1 story cartridge, although you can buy others, which we have done.
I really like the storio as it is an educational game, and once DJ has finished with it, Ruby will be able to.
I believe that the price of the storio is excellent.
I will update this review once DJ has been tested on his reading and see if it has helped improve his reading age.
V-tech products are available to buy in argos, tesco and on-line

I have not been paid for this review, all opinions are my own.

you can check out v-tech on facebook  http://www.facebook.com/pages/VTech-Toys-UK/107252890730

or at http://www.vtechuk.com/

I would also like to thank emma at v-tech for dealing with me and for keeping in contact and up-dated on everything. Thank you emma :)

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Wriggly Rascals, Single and Pregnant

I have been asked by wriggly rascals to write a post about being single and pregnant.

I will be honest and admit being single and pregnant is not something I ever thought would happen to me but it did. I hadn't been with my second child (Ruby) dad for long when I found out in January 2010 that I was pregnant, I knew within a few days of my period being late that I was pregnant, as my cycle was always as regular as clockwork.
I did test and another, I did 7 all together just to make sure, When I knew I rang my daughter's father and asked him to come round. I spoke to him and told him I was pregnant and his reply was to get on a train to Liverpool and get rid ( The nearest abortion clinic to me is Liverpool).
I told him I wouldn't be doing that as I believe that everything happens for a reason, and he walked out of the door. I sat and I cried myself to sleep.
Anyway I told my friends and family the next day I was pregnant, Most supported me, some told me to have an abortion, I told them exactly what I told the father, and am no longer friends with these people.
For the next few weeks I moped around, hoping that Ruby's father would get in touch, but he never did. I felt scared, worried, I was up and down like a yo-yo, happy one day and sad the next.
But I snapped out of it when I realized how lucky I was, and sat down and worked out the money I was receiving, exactly what I needed for the baby, how much everything was going to cost, and what money I had to pay out, Each week I started putting a bit of money to one side and saved every spare penny I had.
As I got bigger I needed new clothes so I went to charity shops to buy what I needed so I didn't spend to much knowing I needed to buy everything for my baby and I had to do it all myself.
I will admit as I got bigger and closer to my due date I worried more, Was I going to cope, would I bond with my baby, everything got to me and I did start stressing about everything, Thankfully I had some good friends and family around to support me. I also spoke to my midwife about any concerns I had, She was fantastic.
I will admit, That being pregnant and alone isn't always easy, and yes I found I worried more than I did with my first pregnancy.
I planned everything in advance as I also had my son to think about, If your a couple and pregnant you go to appointments and scans together, I took my son and it was magical being able to hear the heartbeat for the first time with my son by my side, He also come to my scans with me and told the nurse at my 20week scan that if the baby was a boy, he wanted her to swap it for a girl.
I arranged for my son to go to his aunty's when I knew it was time to go to hospital, I set out my birth plan and arranged for my aunt to come with me and for my mum to come after work, If i'm honest I actually had a better and more enjoyable labor than I did with my son (I had his father by my side throughout my labor)
I would advise you if single and pregnant to take all the advice on board that you can, plan everything, speak to your midwife, health visitor about any worries you have at all, try not to stress to much (I know it's not always easy). Also if you feel that I could help in anyway please comment underneath this post and I will do my best to help and advise you.

Wriggly Rascals is a site that was set up by a frustrated mum to twins to help other mums, share and gain advice about pregnancy, babies and toddlers, you can find wriggly rascals on their blog, as well as facebook and twitter.
Find wriggly rascals on twitter @wrigglyrascals
Check out their website/ blog at  http://www.wrigglyrascals.com/blog/

Wednesday 18 April 2012

V-TECH OCTOBUBBLE ORCHESTRA REVIEW


I was kindly sent this product to review from v-tech
This is the octobubble orchestra and is suitable for children age 12+months. This come's supplied with battery's and on the packaging it is stated that they are for demo purposes only, But I will say if like other v-tech toy's I have purchased myself the battery's will last a good while.
This come's supplied with a pot of bubbles and easy to follow instructions. When My daughter seen this she got so excited and couldn't wait for me to get it out of the box, So we took it out straight away and had a go with it.
With this you have the choice of music or talking, On the music when she press one of the keys it states what animal it is and the instrument they are playing, then you get a music tune, When you have it on the talking version it tells you the shapes and animals that are on the keys.
You also have the option to have the bubbles being blown or not, this is really easy to use and ruby worked it all out within 5minutes of me giving it to her.

This is Ruby having ago before I even had the chance to get it out of all the packaging, she love's music so was really impressed with this and started dancing away, This comes with a guarantee for you to register your product online and also with a leaflet showing you various other v-tech products.

I decided to test the toy before we went in the bath so I filled with the bubble solution supplied and away we were, Ruby absolutely loved it when the bubbles started coming out towards her, she was laughing and giggling loads.
What I really like about v-tech is that there toys aren't plain and boring, as you can see from the pictures the are bright and colourful which children really like. They are also educational. This v-tech toy teaches you different shapes, music, animals and instruments, I also believe that they teach you colour.

This is ruby in the bath with her new v-tech toy, as you can see from the picture she is smiling, she kept shouting bubbles, bubbles, This toy is waterproof, and at the back of it there are 2 large suction caps, I stuck this to the bathroom tiles whilst bathing ruby and it stuck well and didn't move at all when she was pressing the various buttons.
My son has also played with this in the bath and he is 6years old and loved it himself, I guess I have to also admit to having the bubbles blowing whilst I was in the bath as well, I actully found it quite relaxing. All 3 of us really love this, Since we have had it, there have been no tantrums from the children when I have said it's time for the bath.
I can't recomend this toy enough, It is absolutely fantastic.
This retails at £22.99 and is avalible from the v-tech website.

You can follow v-tech on twitter and facebook.

http://www.vtechuk.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/vtechtoysuk

http://www.facebook.com/pages/VTech-Toys-UK/107252890730

Saturday 14 April 2012

My Eat Healthy And Tone up Diary

I have decided it is about time I started eating healthy and trying to tone up my belly, When giving birth to DJ I tore my stomach muscles and was told I would not get my stomach back to the way it was before my pregnancy, I didn't but I managed to tone up quite well, Whilst pregnant with Ruby I put on nearly 3stone and went from being a size 8 to a size 16, I have lost most of the weight since having her, (Only taken me 17months) but have been left with what I call a jelly belly. I am 8stone 8, Yes this isn't fat or over weight to some people, But for my height I am over weight, This does not really bother me much, What does bother me is the belly and the way is hangs over some of my clothes, making me occasionally look like I'm still pregnant, Which I have to admit gets me down sometimes and because of this I lack in confidence, Also the fact that I don't eat well at all, and don't do much exercise except chasing/playing with the kids, and some walking when the weather is nice doesn't really help.
So my plan is that as of Tuesday 17th April when I do my next lot of shopping is to buy more healthy food and snacks and start eating better, I am also going to start going to the gym and do some more walking. My hopes are that by the summer I will of toned my belly so that I don't look as though I'm pregnant, I would also like to lose 8lbs and get down to my ideal weight of 8stone, So here I am going to write about how well I'm doing, slip ups I have, what I'm eating, and hopefully by July 2012 I will of lost the weight and toned up and gained my confidence back.

Here is a picture of my belly that I have only just taken before writing this, some of you who read this may think that it doesn't look bad, but to me it does, I don't like the way it makes me feel, I hate the fact I have lost most of my confidence, I want to feel like a yummy mummy again.
If anyone has any tips please do share with me.

Easter Day 2012

I thought I would show the pictures from Easter day 2012 in our house and tell you a little about our day.
This Easter we had waffles with warm syrup for breakfast both the kids said it was yummy, Normally I like the children to have a proper breakfast but as it was Easter Sunday I thought we would have something different.
Both DJ and Ruby had 9 Easter eggs each this year, DJ also got 2 games for his Nintendo wii and Ruby had a hello kitty teddy and some hello kitty story books.
My mum took it in turns to have each child for me so I got to have some 1 on 1 time with each off them which was lovely.
With DJ I made some Easter nest cakes and played brain training on the wii for half hour and with Ruby I made some butterfly cakes and read some off her new books to her, It's not often I really get to spend time with them 1 to 1, I really enjoyed it, so did the kids, especially DJ. Afterwards we went to my mums where we all had a roast dinner cooked by my step-dad.
I have added some pictures below for you to see the cakes we made and the eggs the kids got.
 Above is DJ'S eggs, wii games and sponge bob breakfast set he had for easter

 Above is Ruby's eggs, hello kitty teddy and cup, (story books were on the sofa)
 DJ and Ruby together with there easter hats, Ruby was pulling the sticker's of her's
 DJ with his easter hat, he had also worn this in school for the easter parade and won 2nd prize out of his class and won a medium size easter egg
 Ruby pulling the sticker's of her easter hat, Little madam she is, tried to get her to wear it for a picture but she wouldn't.
 These are the fairy cakes I made with Ruby, Because she is still only a baby, (17months) I had never made cakes with her before, We had lots of fun though, and loads of mess, but it was worth it to see her smiling and hear her laughing
These are the cakes me and DJ made together, Again we made a mess, although I think there was more mess on DJ'S face after I let him lick the spoon and bowl, Didn't get a chance to get a picture of him though as my battery's in the camera decided to run out.

Saturday 7 April 2012

PILLI PALAS (BUTTERFLY PLACE)

My step-dad had a day off work yesterday (good friday), so decided to take me and the kids for a drive in the car to get out of the house for a few hours.
We ended up in Pilli Palas, (butterfly place), which has butterfly's, lizards, snakes and a few other animals.
For 3 of us to get in, it cost £21.00, We didn't have to pay for ruby as she is under the age of 3years.
Now the one thing I am scared off is butterfly's, DJ was laughing so much as each time a butterfly came towards me I'd duck, I wouldn't mind so much but these butterfly's are quite big.


First picture is of the butterfly eating, I had to get my step-dad to take that picture for me, I was to scared to get that close, The second picture is my step-dad with DJ and Ruby, both the kids adore him and follow him where-ever he goes.
My favourite part of pilli palas was the meerkats, It was also the kids favourite, They are both meerkat crazy, We had some lunch whilst we were there in the cafe, It was really nice, All in all we spent just over 2hours there, this was seeing the animals, having lunch and spending some time in the play area they have there.
I any off you visit north wales with children, I would recommend going there for a few hours. My kids loved it, not only that but it also helped tire them out.





Here are my favourite pictures that were taken whilst we were at pilli palas.

Mine and DJ'S day to llandudno

I decided to take DJ to llandudno for the day to do some shopping, have some quality time together and go to the arcades.
Off all the days we decided to go it was pouring with rain, really windy and snowing in some places. I asked DJ if he wanted to leave it for another day, but his reply was if we wrap up warm we will be OK. I think he was excited as it was the 2 of us and my brother who we hadn't seen in over 12months, Ruby was staying with her dad, for the first time in 7weeks, so he wanted to make the most of it
This is a picture of us waiting for the bus, I kept saying to DJ smile properly, his reply to that was but mum I don't no how to, cheeky so-so he is, when he does smile properly, he has the cutest smile and dimples.
My brother met us on the train, When we got the the first thing DJ wanted to do was go to the pier, So we went down there but it was closed off because of the weather, so we went into the arcade and played a few of the games and had our picture taken, We collected tickets from some of the games to exchange for prizes. DJ choose a cup for his sister, 2 bouncy balls, a toy gun, teddy bear and a cup for himself.
We then went for dinner and decided to have a kfc, well it was a day out and a treat for him so I didn't mind.
After dinner we decided to go for a walk round, DJ had saved £15 of his own money and wanted to see what he could buy for himself. Bless all he ended up buying was a stick of rock for Nana and a lolly for Ruby.
We then went to the other arcade and again collected tickets to exchange, This time he changed them for a sponge-bob bag, pen and paper, a fairy wand for Ruby and a pirate set for himself.
He was such a good boy all day and didn't once ask for anything, It was also nice being able to spend some quality time with him without ruby(yes that may sound a bit nasty, but I think it's important each child gets some alone child with me)
With his pirate set on the train home,

Sunday 1 April 2012

my wonderful madhouse: 300 likes suprise

my wonderful madhouse: 300 likes suprise: ok my wonderful followers i have decided to do a random small giveaway to one random follower but first id like to reach 300 blog followers ...