Get ahead of Father Christmas: Double DVD giveaway

I don't know about you, but I pretty much have all the presents my sons will ever need, but I keep seeing things I know they'd love. It's far too tempting to overspend so being generous and all that I've got not one, but two giveaways for you. Wow, Father Christmas has got some competition !!

When it comes to lovely bits for the Christmas Eve box you can't beat a great Christmas movie for the kids to watch the night before the big day. Hasbro have released Peter Rabbit's Christmas Tale, a  DVD featuring 8 episodes that will delight smaller family members.

The DVD features the following collection of eight delightful stories:-

Peter Rabbit’s Christmas Tale - When Mr. Bouncer gets too sick to make the important holiday supply delivery, Peter and Benjamin take it upon themselves to brave a blizzard (and Mr. Tod) to get the job done and meet a new friend along the way.

The Tale of the Uninvited Badger - When Tommy Brock decides he's had enough of the cold, he takes shelter by the fire inside the Bouncer's Burrow. It's up to Peter and his friends to devise a way of getting the grumpy badger out and to make sure he doesn't come back!

The Tale of the Runaway Rabbit - Peter is left to babysit Cotton-tail but can't resist an exciting event at the Squirrel camp. He brings his sleeping sister along but soon must rescue her when she wakes up and crawls away

The Tale of the Stolen Firewood - When Peter, Lily and Benjamin go out to collect firewood, they soon find that not one but three predators are after some too. Can the rabbits stage a series of daring raids to retrieve it?

The Tale of the Grumpy Owl - When Old Brown takes Peter's Journal, Peter must choose between saving his most precious possession and saving a friend.

The Tale of the Lucky Four-Leaf Clover - When Benjamin finds a four-leaf clover, Peter tricks him into thinking it brings good luck. It's harmless fun until Peter's prank accidentally leads Lily into Mr. Tod's dangerous clutches!

The Tale of the Big Move - When Lily's father decides to move the family out of the Lake District, Peter comes up with a clever, but dangerous, plan to change Dr. Bobtail's mind.

The Tale of the Greedy Fox - When Peter tells an impulsive lie, which leads Jemima Puddle-Duck into Mr. Tod's clutches, he must act fast to stop her from becoming the fox's dinner!

For more information visit www.facebook.com/PeterRabbitClub

Of course let's not forget the older members of the family and if they are fans of Transformers they will love Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters.

This features all 13 episodes of the complete season three including the full length movie Predacons Rising.

Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters – Battle for Darkmount
This explosive season begins immediately following the shocking cliffhanger of the monstrous war on earth between the Autobots and Decepticons. An heroic Optimus Prime sacrificed his own safety to ensure the escape of his army, but the Autobot base has been thrown into ruin. Now the only chance of survival is for the Autobots and humans to work together to defeat a common foe, protect their homelands and overthrow Megatron’s tyrannous regime once and for all.

Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters – Race for Salvation
In this volume, the Decepticons battle the Autobots for control of fossilized Predacon bones. The Decepticons plan to use the bones to clone a nation of savage Predacons and unleash fear and terror onto the earth. Will the Autobots be able to defeat their arch rivals in time and save our planet?

Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters – Predacons Rising
The Autobots hit a whole army of problems when Megatron and his Decepticons destroy their base, scattering the team and when Shockwave becomes the brand new Decepticon weapon will it prove too much for the Autobots to face?
With one more powerful weapon against them is this the time that Optimus Prime and the gang will fail to save the Autobots? Will this be the end for planet Earth?

There are lots of ways you can win either or both DVDs in time for Christmas: 

• Follow me on Twitter 

• Tweet about the giveaway

• Follow my page on Facebook

• Share the giveaway on Facebook

If you'd like to enter to win both you will need to complete a separate entry for each DVD.

Please leave a comment below to let me know how you've entered the comp and which DVD you'd like.

The winners will be drawn on 1st Dec so winners should receive the DVDs in time for Christmas.

Good luck :)

Please note: DVDs can only be posted within the UK.

Confessions of a milk monitor

When I was in primary school we still had free milk - before it was 'snatched' from us. I didn't really have a taste for it so I volunteered to be milk monitor. That way I was responsible for giving it out to the other children and no one would notice that I wasn't drinking it myself. I can only explain my early dislike of milk because I'd seen how it was left out so by the time it came to the classroom it was warm and I really didn't want to drink it. As an adult I continue to have this uneasy relationship with milk and really only have it in tea or porridge. Then I found out a few weeks ago that I am perilously low on Vitamin D that helps the body retain calcium and leads to poor bones, teeth and nails. I had wondered why my nails were peeling and my teeth were so porous and now I know why.

So, my mission was to find ways to increase my intake of vitamin D and to build up my calcium stores. The nice folks at Cravendale asked us to try some of their filtered milk and comment on what we thought of it. I've known about it for years as friend of mine have always bought it, but we'd never tried it before. Despite my own attitudes to milk I've always encouraged everyone else in my family to drink it and we get through a lot.

Breakfast milk

In the morning I put out a variety of cereals for the boys to choose from and they love to pour their own milk. This can get messy, but I try to park my neat freak tendencies so as not to discourage the boys. I try to vary my own breakfast so I will sometimes make porridge for myself using had skimmed milk and half water. When we bought Cravendale and put it out the boys were fascinated by the different bottle and wolfed down the cereal as usual. So far so good. The test for me was if they would notice any difference when it was in a glass as a drink.

After school milk 

Baby Boy still has a bottle when he wakes up and when he goes to bed. I'm trying to encourage him to use a cup now so I give both the boys both a special cup that they like with a biscuit or a cake as an after school treat. Big Boy has to have a bendy straw with his Minions cup and Baby Boy likes his sippy cup. They both loved the fresh taste of Cravendale and I was more than happy that it keeps for a long time and I don't have to keep checking if it is ok for them to drink.

I'm even trying to drink more milk on it's own to break the associations I have with the stuff I had in school. Cravendale is nothing like those small glass bottles. It's fresher, lasts longer and could make me want to join the boys for a glass of milk and a biscuit. Why not - there is plenty to go round.

Lots of milk

 This post is an entry for BritMums #MilkDrinkersMilk Linky Challenge, sponsored by Cravendale linking to the Cravendale Twitter account https://twitter.com/cravendale

Babysteps scratch off calendar - a review

I took they boys to meet their new baby cousin last week and they were fascinated by him. He is - and I accept I may be biased here - absolutely gorgeous. I was talking to my sister about how she is managing and I remembered random facts that had helped me when I was expecting Big Boy. I asked everyone questions all the time about everything. I read lots of books and checked the internet all the time. Anything I wasn't sure about I would check then ask someone who had children already to confirm what I'd found out was correct.

It's difficult enough when you're having your first baby with myriad things you don't know you don't know. I would have loved something that gave me bite sized chunks of information before he'd arrived. That way I wouldn't have been in permanent panic mode about any little thing that someone mentioned in passing.

Splash Brands have created the Babysteps calendar to help explain the stages of pregnancy in daily facts that you scratch off as pregnancy processes. I would have given this to my sis if I'd known about it in time. Now I do know it's going to be a gift for the next friend who tells me they are pregnant. It's presented beautifully in a hexagonal box and has some really nice (gender neutral) images on it. Starting from 5 weeks and with scratch off panels starting at 9 weeks the calendar contains 236 facts, tips and trivia about the different stages of pregnancy. It's pretty large so you won't forget it's there !

You can find out more about Splash Brands here

and you can buy it on Amazon: Amazon

Disclosure: We were sent a Babysteps scratch-off calendar to review 

A clutter-free zone - for how long though ?

The great declutter of 2015 continues. It's picked up since I watched a programme about obsessive compulsive cleaners and hoarders. I fall somewhere between the two. I have far too much stuff and I aspire to a clean and tidy home. Not in that minimalist way that indicates no-one lives there or where you wonder how on earth they have such clean lines when kids live there. I mean I am constantly making lists of all the things that need tidying, cleaning and sorting. Except I often find I'm so overwhelmed by how much needs to be done that I just put it off until another day and sit down with a cup of tea and a programme that I've recorded for later.

Except last weekend when I decided to take a different approach. Just do one room and finish it. I know it's pretty radical isn't it ? Well the first one was the kids' playroom and while I found it arduous sitting on the floor sorting through boxes of small cars, plastic toys from McDonalds and those 'gifts' you get on the front of magazines it was worth it for the end result. 

Decluttered (not for long)

Of course now I don't want the children to actually play in there - they'll only mess it up. And here we come to the crux of my problem with decluttering - it's always temporary. I throw out papers and more come through the letterbox. I give away toys and the boys get given more. I donate clothes and then go against my own plans by getting more because they look cute or like something I threw out earlier that I now have to have. It's a never-ending carousel really. The main thing is once I've actually made somewhere look like home instead of Steptoe's Yard I want it to stay that way for more than an hour. The only way to ensure this is to make sure that none of the boys go into the room or touch anything. 

As a friend once wrote on the toilet wall (relax, it was allowed, it was a freedom of expression thing) when he was training with the military, 

"No plan survives contact with the enemy."

Getting Big Boy into good habits early. 

All you need is love...

Don't make me choose

When it comes to people talking to me about adoption and specifically about Baby Boy there are a few topics that always come up. How long did it take ? Was it difficult ? Why adoption ? However, I'm most often asked one question and it's always preceded by an apology for bring 'too personal' or 'offensive' neither of which it is. All questions asked about adoption are pretty personal and it's only offensive if it's ignorant or judgemental - even then I'll do my best not to rise to it. I may not talk to you again, but I won't rise to it. How it's worded varies:

It's not the same is it ?

Obviously it's not natural at first ?

When did you realise you did ?

How long does it take ?

Did you know if you would ? 

What if you didn't ? 

The long and short of it is this - do I love baby boy as much as I love big boy ? 

I'm tempted to be flippant in my answer and present a list of pros and cons. 

• My favourite child is the one who's cutest - except they're both gorgeous. 

• I have a preference for the one who makes me laugh the most - they both make me cry with laughter. 

• Maybe it's the one who annoys me least ? Well that's between two kinds of tantrum - one with words and one with loud screaming. Both drive me equally mad. 

Ok. So think about it this way. If you have more than one child you probably had a moment when you worried that you couldn't love another baby as much as your precious first born. Then there was the new child and you found plenty of love for them too. The human heart has an infinite capacity for love - if we let it. 

What's not to love ? 

I knew I'd love baby boy when I saw his photo almost a year ago. When we met him in person I couldn't bring myself to get too close in case he rejected me. The day before I'd said to Hubbie, "I know I'll love him, what if he doesn't love me ?" He smiled and said, "Of course he's going to love us." 

You see at first it really is a one way street. For some adopters it's that way for a long long time. In our case we adopted a young child so he has been able to form an attachment to us and I like to think he does indeed love us. At first though, he was crying for affection and comfort and pushing me away when I went to hold him or comfort him. It was heartbreaking. I'd pick him up and he'd throw his head back and kick me or hit me and I wanted to cry. I kept on giving him unconditional love and hoped that he would eventually accept me and want to be held. 

Then one day as I was holding him close to me his tiny arms went round my neck. I realised that this was something new and hadn't happened before and it made me see what had been missing between us - trust. I breathed a big sigh of relief and held him even closer. He had tested me and was willing to let me love him. 

When I'm asked about how I love my son I want to say, how do you explain how you love your children ? Is it logical ? Does it make any sense to you ? Do you have a method for understanding something so primal ? It's pretty simple to me really. He's my son. I love the bones of him and no matter how much he pushes me away I'm his mother and that isn't going to change.

Mind you I used to say that about the cat too. 

Cat and dog in loving harmony 

From chaos to calm - that's why a Coombe Mill Christmas is perfect.

What ? Christmas posts already ? You may well think it's too early to be planning Christmas, but I have a good reason for writing this post about Christmas. You see the lovely Fiona and Farmer Nick of Coombe Mill are offering an amazing prize win a fab festive break at their lovely family run farm. Alliteration aside I want to win this for me and my boys so please bear with me while I explain what is so special about Christmas with the Coombe Mill family. 

I think I should explain that I haven't always been the biggest fan of Christmas. I usually look like this in the run up to it. 

Bah Humbug

As a result I've wanted to go away for Christmas for many years and me and Hubbie spoke about it so many times. We always felt guilty so we didn't do it, then we visited Coombe Mill last Summer and the idea to go there was planted in my head. I mentioned it to Hubbie and we decided to go away with Big Boy as we had such a lovely summer break and we wanted to spend time in beautiful Cornwall again. 

Everything at Coombe Mill is geared toward children and families having a great time and Christmas is even more special. Before we arrived Fiona asked me if we wanted a real tree or an artificial one and when we arrived we found this waiting for us: 

A home away from home - complete with tree 

I brought some decorations from home to make it personal to us and we loved getting the tree ready and lighting the fire. We never really got the hang of this and had to ask Fiona and Nick's oldest son Ali to help us, we are such townies ! Thanks Ali for this - all the family are so very helpful.

A warming fire that we did not make

The great activities that are on all year round still go on with a festive twist so the train that runs every afternoon is transformed with a magical grotto with lights and trees. Guy - the driver - had Christmas helpers to operate the flag and signal and there was even a special visitor who gave gifts to the good children one evening.

The train shed transformed into a twinkly grotto 

We're not terribly religious as a family, but I've often heard mother in law say she'd like to go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. To date she's never made it as something always gets in the way (gin usually) so when we were invited to see Guy and Clio (two of the triplets) take part in the Christingle service at the local church I really wanted to go. The service was so child friendly and Big Boy loved being part of it. As a bonus we also saw Father Christmas on his sleigh outside the church before he had to go and give presents to all the children in the world.

We made reindeer food with Fiona 

As a bonus the clear skies enabled me and Big Boy to look out for the International Space Station in the sky (well I told him it was Santa's sleigh actually) and that made it even more magical. The night before Christmas Fiona and Nick host a party for all the guests staying on the farm which is a lovely idea. We could have a drink, not have to cook and Big Boy dressed up as Olaf for the occasion. We both wore our Christmas Jumpers and had a short walk back to our lodge ready to put out a drink and mince pie for Santa and the special food we'd made with Fiona for the hardworking reindeer.

The view on Christmas morning 

If you want a traditional white Christmas you may not appreciate the view that greeted us on Christmas morning. We, however, were delighted to see sunny, blue skies. The highlight of any stay at Coombe Mill is the feed run and Big Boy is an enthusiastic volunteer tractor driver. When he knew that Farmer Nick was going to dress up he decided to make a special effort as well. If you've not seen Father Christmas driving a tractor with Spiderman as his assistant you just haven't lived !

Santa Nick and Spiderboy

Spidey feeding a donkey Christmas breakfast

The feed run on Christmas morning is the perfect way to start a day that will descend into chaos, presents and overeating. It's refreshing in a way that you can only know if you have woken up to this view from your bedroom. When it comes to animals it's pretty hard to beat waking up to see Alpacas outside your window. Baby Boy has been delighted to spot these and it makes missing our cat Neo much less harrowing.

I spy with my little eye an Alpaca

I asked Big Boy what his favourite things about Coombe Mill are. Unsurprisingly he drew a tractor, the sword in the stone and the train rides every afternoon. If I asked Baby Boy I'm pretty sure he'd say, "animals, animals, animals." Big Boy drew those too.

It's our first Christmas with Baby Boy and one of the things that his birth family really wanted was for him to celebrate Christmas. I can't imagine anywhere else that would be more perfect to spend with my boys who love everything about being here.

Baby Boy's thoughts 

We're no different from any other family in wanting our children to have a wonderful Christmas. The thing that we really want them to remember is not opening presents, but the experience of waking up somewhere beautiful, being in nature and enjoying time as a family. That is what we come to Coombe Mill for.

This post is my entry to win Christmas 2015 at Coombe Mill for my family. If you want to enter you can find out all about it here: Win Christmas at Coombe Mill

Visit the Rainforest and the Mediterranean in one day at the Eden Project.

One of our favourite places to visit when we stay in Cornwall is the Eden Project. Well I say 'we' when I mean me really. The boys tolerate a is it because I make sure they have plenty to do when we are there. There are proper Cornish pastys for Hubbie, local ice cream for Big Boy and Baby Boy just goes wild for all the dogs that he sees all over Cornwall, but especially at Eden. 

I first visited when the Eden Project opened and it was a much smaller attraction back then. It was mostly a quarry with a car park and the biomes were new and the main reason for visiting. Since then the site has been developed further and you now have plenty to see and do on a day there. We've been 4 times in the last two years and still haven't done everything.

When we visited earlier this week we knew we'd have a large part of the day, but wanted to make the most of our visit. When we arrived we all decided to walk down - you can also take the land train which is great fun and goes every 20 minutes taking around 15 minutes to go from the top to the bottom and vice versa. Me and Big Boy decided to walk down the playful steps which are great fun and a lot faster then at the path that we usually take. 

One of the things that makes repeat visits so much fun is that the activities at the Eden Project are seasonal. When we visited last Christmas we went to see Father Christmas and had an ice skate - more of which later. For half term there are special events for 'Halloweden' including a 'wishcraft' area.

Something else that is lovely to see is the changing colours of the seasons. This is more evident in the Mediterranean biome which has a temperate climate and varying displays. It's also where they stroytime is held and we've taken the boys to see this a few times. They really enjoy the craft activities and stories and singing. You can check the times for these on arrival so you an plan your day in advance. On the day we went there was also a tea tasting of Pukka Teas - they're wonderful and hearing about the origins of the ingredients was really interesting too. 

Inside the Mediterranean biome there is room to roam and my boys like to explore. It's colourful and spacious and you will often see school parties taking part in challenges that encourage them to visit all the different zones. Last time we visited I took Baby Boy to the Rainforest Biome with me, but this time I asked Big Boy if he wanted to come with me. We left Baby Boy with Daddy to listen to stories and went for a wander.

In the past we have had to cut short visits to the Rainforest Biome as it does get very humid and on a hot day this can be very difficult to deal with. When Big Boy was younger he really didn't like it at all. This time we took our time and it wasn't too crowded so we were able to take it at our own pace. I showed Big Boy the waterfall that provides a dramatic centrepiece for the biome and showed him the highest point you can stand to view the whole thing. We've made a deal that when he's older we will climb all the way to the top.

I'm very proud of my boys for taking an interest in something that I love so much. As a reward we had planned something very special for Big Boy to do with me at the end. Because he enjoyed the ice skating so much at Christmas we booked to go again this time. The rink is open now and there are sessions every day with sessions for toddlers, lessons and half price times. We booked a penguin aid for Big Boy to help him skate and he did amazingly well. By the end we were gracefully gliding across the ice - sort of. Baby Boy and Hubbie watched from the side and popped outside for a stroll when they got bored. While we were skating a wheelchair user also joined us on the ice and she was having a whale of a time. It was fantastic to have the room to enjoy the rink on a not so busy day.

We were lucky to be able to visit on a day outside half term and I imagine it will be much busier next week, but even when we've been during the summer months it's always a great day out. We have lovely food, walk lots and spend time together doing fun things.

You can book tickets online for the Eden Project and get a green travel discount if you walk, cycle or take public transport.
You can gift aid a ticket so it's valid for a year and you can visit as many times as you like - it's worth it ! You can also book Ice Skating online.

Disclosure: The lovely folks at the Eden Project gave us complimentary entry and ice skating.