So long 2010. Hello 2011

I started this blog to document our life as a family.
To capture those little things it's easy to forget in the march of time: the funny things your children say and do and the events and moments which shape you as parents.

2010 has been an amazing year for us.
My children turned 5 and 8 and are of an age where I know we are influencing the adults they will become.
It's really really scary, but so fulfilling when you do feel you've done something, anything right!

A blog really is the most amazing way to document the little things; to share the highs and the lows.
So here is my 2010. In pictures and in blog posts.

And a huge thank you to everyone who visited or commented or just hung around.
I truly appreciate each and every one of you.
Wishing you all a fabulous 2011 x

January: My Girl
February: The launch of The Gallery. And The Negotiator.
March: 8 Life Lessons My Children Taught Me.
April: Eyelashes.
May; 6 Things You Need To Know About Raising a 7 Year Old Boy.
June: No More Babies.
July: A Peek Through The Window of my Sad, Strange Life.
August: How Wonderful Life Is Now You're In The World. And Proud.
September: And Right After My Heart Melted, She Stamps All Over It . . . 
October: A Ghost in the Night.
November: Patience Is . . . 
December: The finally Gallery of the year . . .  Love.

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Lapland. Going in search of the real Santa

Can you even imagine the excitement as we sat in the airport at 7am waiting to go and spend the day in Lapland with the promise of meeting the 'real' Santa?
Oh, it was huge.

We were invited to travel to Lapland with Transun on one of their Winter Wonderland day breaks.
The plane journey was 3 hours. Lapland are 2 hours ahead of us and it was dark when we landed (a photographers NIGHTMARE: Dark and freeeezing. Minus 18 when we landed. It got colder).

So we were coached to a centre where we were all kitted out quickly in snow suits and thermal boots and then a very short ride to the camp where there were reindeer rides, husky sledging, tobogganing and - the big prize - a family visit to the real Santa . . .

The snow suits were warm and toasty but boy oh boy did you need the extra hats, gloves and socks. Multiples of each one.
I actually got frozen cheeks. And had to borrow Dan's spare socks . . .

THIS is how much fun it was . . .

The 'warm-up room' for sipping complimentary hot chocolate, munching on ginger biscuits and sitting around a log fire. If you could shoehorn yourself in amongst all the other cold folks.

No no she wasn't allowed to ride on alone! But she liked to pose.

I could try to describe the look of wonderment which passed over Mia's face when she was asked if she would like to stroke the huskies, but I fear it would never match the moment.

And then we were whisked off to meet the man himself in his isolated log cabin. A sleigh built for 3 took us into the snow-covered woods, where we rode until in the distance we spied some fairy lights.
And there, at Santa's log cabin, we had a personal family meeting with the man himself.
A moment so magical for me as a parent that I swear to you dear internet, I nearly forgot to take a photograph!
I whipped my camera out almost at the last minute and snapped this.
I don't know if you can see it but there is an aura of Sheer Joy surrounding them.
Truly magical.




 
A very long and very exhausting day.
They were back home and in bed at 1am.
I confess there were a couple of things which disappointed me. There wasn't much 'snow' to play in. My kids wanted to throw themselves in virgin snow and make snowmen, but there wasn't any opportunity for this.
Also there was no accounting for the fact that some children were a lot younger than others on the toboggan areas (my 5 year old was too afraid to go down the runs as there were a lot of older children on there going very fast, but there was nowhere separate for her to test out).

Having said that my two cared not a jot.
They threw themselves into all the fun with great abandon and literally crawled back to the coach at the end of the day with my 8 year old shaking his head every now and again and saying, almost to himself, "I can't believe I've actually met the real Santa Claus".

A couple of tips if you do decided to treat yourself:

• Take 2 cameras. And don't take a 'posh' one.
  I seriously struggled. You need to have it constantly zipped up safe and warm (I kept one our for 10 minutes and it suffered with serious condensation after putting away in it's case) and to take a photo you need to take gloves off, get it out of your bag/pocket, unzip from case, take photo in the pitch dark with little or no surrounding lights, then put it all back again and get your gloves back on before your fingers freeze to the shutter button.
  Nightmare!
  
• Take more extra layers than you could possibly need.
  Even the kids' skiing gloves got wet and cold after a while. You're there for a good few hours and you absolutely do not want to get cold. I saw one poor boy have to have plastic bags put on his feet to keep them warm!
  Hats, gloves, scarves, socks - better to have too many than not enough.
  
• Take a rucksack and remember what is in what compartment.
  I'm not joking when I say it's dark there. You'll be fumbling about in the dark forever.
  
• Pretend you're 5/6/7/8 again and enjoy the magic.

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This is why despite all the moaning we LOVE the snow

Sure it snowed at the most inconvenient times.
It made going anywhere in the week leading up to Christmas Day next to impossible.
It made buying even a pint of milk a military operation.
It meant I had my heart in my mouth wondering whether I'd ever get to take my children on a trip to Lapland offered to us by the good people at Transun.

But it sure did snow and we had the best time.
We dug a trench out of our road with all our neighbours.
We rolled in the powdery white stuff.
We sledged until our fingers turned to ice.
And we came home for hot chocolate and DVDs in the warm.
Oh, and the kids managed to 'use' their dad as a makeshift sledge when we went out without one . . .

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Got some Christmas money? Toys you might like to splash out on

The kids thinking of hitting the shops with their Christmas money?
No idea where to start?
We've tested many many toys on the run up to the present-buying season, so let my children and I assist . . .

Lego Atlantis Exploration HQ (8077), £39.97
★★★★★
Described by my 8 year old as "well cool" he actually built this on his own and I have to say it is very very good.
We have an awful lot of Lego in this house, but this set fired up his creative juices and it's a great buy.

Silverlit Radio Control Heli Mission, £39.97
★★★★★
This is one of those buy it for the kids but the dads will probably take over, toys.
It's a radio-controlled SWAT truck, on which the back opens up to reveal a launch pad and mini radio-controlled helicopter inside.
Controlling the helicopter takes a bit of getting used to and the pair eat batteries (only reason for loss of a star), but set up and watch as father and son disappear into an hour of geekiness.
It's not very big, but at £40 I think it's a bargain.

Leapster Explorer Pink Console, £59.97
★★★★★
It takes a bit of setting up (you need to download some software on your computer) but this is an impressive bit of kit for your youngster (my daughter is 5 and adores it). Games, fun, learn how to write letters, she didn't put it down for a week.
A bit like a chunk DS, the touch screen handset has a library of over 35 games and activities including cartridge games and downloadable learning apps.
Hubby even commented on what a great toy this is and he NEVER compliments electronic toys for the 5 year old!

VTech Storio Animated Reading System, £54.97

★★★★★

A bit like a child's version of a Kindle.

It's another toy you need to hook up to the computer first, but it's really quick and easy to set up and easily one of the best toys we were sent as part of the Toyologist programme.

The touch screen system is packed with educational activities (spelling, numbers, word understanding) and really allows your child to get involved in a 'book'.

And they can follow a story as it highlights each word as it’s read aloud. It's certainly no replacement for reading to your children but it is an excellent tool to encourage independence of learning.

Shh, just don't tell them that's it's educational!

(Additional books can be bought, but at £17 a pop, they're not cheap).

Tonka Ricochet, £89.97
★★★★★
We've had some remote controlled cars over the years, but this one is the business!
Robust and chunky like all good Tonka's should be, it's movement is varied and it's a double-sided stunt vehicle so it can travel even when it flips over.
You can also alter the vehicle itself so it transforms from flat car into monster truck.
It's expensive and the other downside is you have to recharge it quite regularly (hence the loss of one star), but this is a great remote-controlled car.

Nerf guns, from £9.97
★★★★★
EASILY the best fun we had over Christmas. Every adult male who entered our house has now left vowing to buy at least one Nerf gun!
My 8 year old's favourite is the Nerf N Strike Rapid Fire which holds 35 foam darts and, as the name suggests, means you get to win when playing Nerf Wars with your 23-year-old cousin and his 72-year old dad . . .
And when the men went home and it got quieter? The grandmas wanted a go!

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Min's Mulled Wine

I visited a friend's recently and she was serving this.
It was divine.
I've badgered her every week for a month for the recipe and I finally have it in my grubby paws.
And lovely person that I am, I'm going to share it with you and spread a little festive cheer.

Merry Christmas to you one and all x

Min's really simple Mulled Wine Receipe

For every 1 bottle of red wine add ...
1/2 ltr apple juice
2 shots port
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
1 sliced orange
1 sliced and cored apple
3 desert spoons of sugar

Warm through without boiling. Serve hot with some of the fruit.
......um um delicious!
Enjoy.
(Thanks Marina!)

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Hello from Lapland

Today, if all has gone to plan and it hasn't snowed AGAIN overnight, I will be in Lapland right now with my two children in search of Santa.
The real Lapland.
The one right up there in the very north of Finland.
The one where Santa sits in his wooden cabin in a snowy forest greeting children and making all their dreams come true.

My son is now 8 so I fear this could be the last year he 'believes'. So this invite from Transun to go on an amazing day trip to Lapland for a Winter Wonderland could not have come at a better time.
We get to journey on a sled pulled by huskies, enjoy a reindeer ride, I get to show off on a snowmobile and then we get to go in search of Santa.

I've been waiting all week to tell them they are going. It's been off it's been off with so much snow being dumped on us over the past few days.
But yesterday I got the go ahead from the travel company and I set my plan in motion.

The doorbell rang and Mia (who ALWAYS races to answer the door first) finds a letter in the letterbox.
"Mummy, it's got my name on!" she gasps.
"Hang on, and Daniel's".
I mumble something about it being a card from one of the neighbours but they're not listening, they're tearing the thing open.
(NB. I spent aaaages disguising my handwriting to address the letter. They barely even looked. Huh!)

So, here was the letter I sent them . . .
If I could bottle up the joy in the room as Daniel read that letter and it slowly dawned on him what he was being invited to do, well, it would be a good thing).

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The Gallery: Love

How exactly do you photograph 'love'?
I said I'd end the year on a toughie and I think it's one of the most difficult themes, but also one of the easiest.
Love is, as the song goes, all around.

As a mother, I can honestly say words can never describe the love I felt when my children were born; the love I feel for them now.
But this photo fair makes my heart swell.
My two children really do love each other.
This isn't a one-off photo; they're like this all the time.
Sure they squabble and argue and call each other "poo head" (never changes across the years does it?) but when I catch them snuggled up together reading a book or lying like this to watch a film, I know that they would rather be together than apart.
And that is a love I am immensely proud and grateful for.

This post is for Week 40 of The Gallery: Love.
Now go and show some blog love. Let's spread it far and wide this Christmas season.

If you're new and want to know what The Gallery is, go and read here, and then come right back and join in!
You can also pick up The Gallery code if you want too.

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

(PS: The Gallery is on holiday now until January 8th when a new theme for the New Year will be posted. Until then, thank you all for taking part. You are all amazing x)

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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Our Christmas tree is crammed with wonderful stories.
From the flying sheep hubby and I bought on a holiday in the Lake District together before we were married . . .

The special decorations that Santa leaves in the children's stockings every year . . .

The silver fairy from a very good friend who we hardly see any more but who I think of every time that fairy tinkles . . .

The woodland Santa which cost a fortune but which makes me smile every time I pull him out of his box come tree decorating time . . .

All of these things go towards making our Christmas tree something very special.
Something which makes my heart glow every single year while the children and I put it up and we remember the story of our decorations.
It's one of my very favourite traditions and long long may it continue.

And of course I mustn't forget Rudy. Rudy who watches over our home (and manages to freak me out every time I come down the stairs, convinced there is some creature knocking on our front door).

Merry Christmas to all readers who visit this blog.
Wishing you a fabulous holiday and a happy healthy New Year.
x

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Toys for under £20 for Christmas

Considering some medium-priced toys for Crimbo?
Want to get the skinny on them first?
Right here is the Sticky Fingers equivalent of try before you buy.
We were sent this batch of toys as part of the Toys R Us Toyologist programme to test so you don't have to wonder if they're worth splashing out on  . . .

Blast Lab Messy Mess, £12.97
★★★★★
Eight year old + experiments =  pure joy.
My son LOVED this which basically means lots of messy play to make slime and stink bombs. Oh joy!
Based on the Richard Hammond TV show Blast Lab (which we don't watch), it's a chance to wear silly goggles and make stinky stuff.
Great fun, although it should be noted that some other household items are needed to complete some of the experiments. But they're pretty everyday stuff (washing up liquid, glue, pepper etc).

Zubber Bands, £12.97
★★★★★
Great idea, pretty rubbish finish.
This set allows you to make trendy 'zubber' bracelet bands (zubber being a modelling compound which you can mould like dough but hardens like rubber and in which you can stamp any words you choose).
However it takes a LOT of supervision and the end product is disappointing.
It looks nothing like the examples on the box (and I'm a perfectionist, so I followed those instructions To. The. Letter) and it broke after first wear.
Very disappointing.

Lego Harry Potter Quidditch Match (4737), £19.97
★★★★★
Seriously, Lego can do no wrong in this house. I saw this set which includes five minifigures (Harry Potter, Oliver Wood, Draco Malfoy, Marcus Flint and Madam Hooch) and various fiddly little accessories (brooms, Golden Snitch, goal posts, catapults, trophy) and thought it's not really a 'model' as such which is what we're used to building.
Who's going to want to play with this?
Shows how much I know; it's been played with non stop since being built.
An excellent starter set.

Meccano Construction Starter Case, £14.99
★★★★★
A great starter set for anyone discovering the building system for the first time.
The tough, red case is packed with enough bits and pieces to make simple five models.
An excellent gift.

Sylvanian Families at Home set, £12.99
★★★★★
I confess I don't really 'get' the whole Sylvanian Family obsession. I mean a badger, driving a car? Come on.
But then a friend's daughter gave my little girl her Sylvanian Family narrow boat and it's been love ever since.
This little set doesn't really go with the whole boat theme, but of course Mia has managed to work Tam Tailbury (apparently) and her cute little bathroom in somehow!

Nerf N Strike Recon gun, £15.97

★★★★★
Possibly one of the best toys my 8 year old has received on this programme.
He adores it. It's sat at the end of his bed and anyone who touches it pays the price.
He's also been hinting that he'd like Santa to bring him some more bullets. And maybe a bullet vest.
It is apparently "the ultimate customisable blaster you can modify for any mission with 5 interchangeable parts".
In reality it has seen my husband and son create dens in our living room and yell at the top of their lungs as they instigate Ultimate Nerf Wars.
(NB. It may have been the husband who actually came up with that name. The shame).

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Are you really a size 12/14/16/18?

This is a subject that really winds me up.
How can I go into one shop and fit comfortably into a pair of size 14 jeans and yet I go into the shop next door and I can't even negotiate the waistband over my thighs?
What, did I put on half a stone walking from one shop to the next?
Did some fat genie manage to slap a couple of layers of blubber around my waistline when I wasn’t looking?

Why oh why haven't High Street shops cottoned on to this before now: when a woman comes into your store and finds her usual size only fits a waif-like teen with no bust and minimal curves SHE WILL HATE YOUR STORE FOREVER!

It is a fact of life that women seem to be governed by their clothes size.
Celebrities seem to covet that holy grail of the American size zero and if some minor star is being interviewed in a magazine about their “amazing weight loss” the first thing you’re told is how they went from “a hefty size 14, down to a super slim 10″.
A hefty size 14? That is going to make everyone who is a 14 or above feel like the size of a cow.
And if you’re naturally a UK size 8 or below you’re labelled ‘annorexic’, ‘unwell’ or (this was once levelled at a perfectly healthy but very slim woman I did a feature on in my former life as a features editor) ‘a f***ing disgrace’.
Hmm, I’ve gone off the boil on a bit of a rant there.

So, imagine you’re in a shop looking for a pair of jeans and you’re usually a size 14.
You try their size 14s on and they’re so tight you’re having trouble doing them up. Then – oh no – you can’t actually get them off again.
After struggling, breaking a nail, going all red in the face and then catching your reflection in the mirror do you go back out into the store and get a size 16?
Do you buffalo – you stalk out of that store swearing you’ll never shop there again because there is “no bloody way I’m a size 16!”

Yes, I KNOW it’s ridiculous and you should just buy the size that fits and what does it matter if it’s a 6 or a 16? I know there will be men reading this and thinking, well I probably can't print what they're thinking.
But it’s Woman Nature. We know it’s ridiculous but psychologically we buy into the fact that we must fit a certain size and we WILL NOT venture out the other side of it.

All of which is my way of telling you that shopping for something new to wear of Christmas is depressing me. So I gave up.
So instead, I emptied the contents of my wardrobe onto my bed and sorted it out into 3 sections:
1. Stuff I can wear now
2. Stuff I can wear in the very near future
3. Stuff that when I can wear it I will post of picture of me on here in just my underwear.

NOTE: Those trousers in the picture were my pulling trousers. In my pre-married days, those trousers did me proud. I loved them so much I had two pairs! I wore them on my hen night (not as pulling trousers, obviously!) and now they just sit there in my wardrobe as a grim reminder of, well, of how hot I used to be!
I want to wear those trousers again!

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Carving out a career

We've had many many toys to review in this household.
From Lego and Nerf guns to heinous crafty sets, board games and a terrifying doll whose presence here has left a scar across my very brain.
Yes, we've sampled them all.

But nothing like this.
When we were sent The Real Construction Deluxe Workshop (£29.99) to test we were told it's tipped to be one of this Christmas's 'must haves' by Argos.
I'm actually wondering if it's one of those 'dad' toys which get bought for the kids, but actually the kids can't get a look in once dad is on the scene.

Anyway, the box comes complete with 'Kid Wood' (I'm not even kidding), various tools, screws, nails and you're supposed to be able to build 8 projects from it.
Kid Wood is a foamy, plastic material which is easy to cut and NO MESS. Yes, I said no mess.

However, I'd like to see the 6 year old (for that is the age range this starts at) who built the projects featured using this kit. They must be a professional.
Also you couldn't really hit the nails into the wood properly with the hammer as it kept bouncing back! We found the screws much more effective.
And actually, the instructions on how to build the projects are terrible. Or non-existent - nothing telling you how big to cut the wood for starters. We gave up on them in the end and just did some free-style creating, which went down much better.

Plus hubby nearly had heart failure. He's an engineer. This kind of less than precision toy drives him MAD!
Great for budding carpenters or craftsmen though . . .
(PS. I would have posted a picture of our creation here, but it got taken outside in today's snow, never to be seen again . . . Maybe we'll find it when the Big Thaw comes).

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Toys R Us Toyologist Guest reviews

Sometimes you just need to spread the love a little and get other children to test stuff for you.
So here are a selection of Sticky Fingers approved Guest Toyologists . . .

Tomy Aquadoodle Animal Magic Sounds and desk, £21.99 and £24.99
Reviewer: Moo
Age: 2
Mum: Bumbling Along
Score: ★★★★★

Moo, recently celebrated her second birthday. 2, I tell you! How did that happen...
Anyway, Tara asked us to try out this Aquadoodle set for her birthday and Moo loves drawing, so I knew it would go down well. (And I was particularly happy with the no mess aspect!)

This was the first present she opened on her birthday. And the last one she opened for a while! As soon as she saw the box, she insisted I opened it. And filled the pen with water. No hanging around.
The set has a special attachment for the pen, which can be pushed into special docks around the edge of the mat next to animal pictures. Once done, the pen will make that animal's noise every time it is pressed down. Yes. I know.
Hmmm. I didn't think the noises add anything to the experience, so I'm not sure it's necessarily worth the extra money, hence the 4 stars. But as a newly-2-year-old, Moo thinks different.

The Aquadoodle Desk is an opportunity for Moo to do her favourite drawing without mum stressing over the mess, and sit at a big girl desk at the same time! Perfect to keep at Nanny and Papa's, after the recent incident of multicoloured paint splatter absorbed into the stone mantelpiece...


Twist and Spin Jewellery Maker, £17.97
Reviewer: Heather
Age: 8
Mum: How I Like My Coffee
Score: ★★★★★

Forgive me if I sound technical, but you have to attach three strings to these hooky things and to the winder at the other end. Eh voila!
It is a bit fiddly and an extra pair of hands was required - the extra hands were also needed to get the beads on. It took about 10 minutes to get it all set up and then you get to wind . . . which Heather says is the best bit.
And with some clipping you end up with your piece of jewellery.

I asked Heather if she enjoyed making it, and she said yes and when could she make some more?
I asked her if she hadn’t been given this to play with, would she have liked to buy it anyway. She said, yes she would have spent her Christmas money on it.
So a big thumbs up here!


LeapFrog Tag Junior and Winnie the Pooh software, £29.99 and £9.99
Reviewer: Noah
Age: 2
Mum: Mocha Beanie Mummy
Score: ★★★★★

Noah is 3 in 3 weeks. I can't get my head around that; in fact the only clue that he's growing so fast is his sudden development in speech and understanding since starting school. He comes out with stuff we had no idea he knew, and his understanding of books and stories often blows us away. He has his favourites. And we're fast approaching the stage where we can't, um, "gloss over" parts of the story.

So this system has been good fun. It's hard to get going with him, since he has his obvious favourites and isn't quite ready to embrace new stories yet. But he's thoroughly enjoying the concept of creating his own. Using "Tag Junior", he was keen to press everything on the page repeatedly, quickly realising that pressing the same thing over and over didn't always produce the same sounds.

After he got over the initial distraction of the buttons (volume, on/off) on Junior Tag, he quickly paid attention to what it was saying, and what was happening in the story. "My lion is yellow. What else can you find that is yellow?" (here he puts Junior Tag on the Sun in the corner.) Add to this the various songs and tunes played by the characters on the pages, kept him entertained a good while as he discovered something new each time. Creating "versions" of the same story? Awesome.

As a parent, I'm impressed by how it seems to work; it's a board book, offering a lengthened life span in the hands of little people, as well as being able to connect Junior Tag to the internet to download more content for the various books available. Perfect for his age, now all I need to do is find stories that appeal to his nature and this system is a winner!

You can also catch the reviews from the bloggers who won the chance to be guest toy reviewers:
The VTech MobiGo at All Baby Advice.
The General Grievous Spinning Lightsaber at Jane Howarth's blog.
Tomica's Big City Set at Susan K Mann's blog.

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Oaty Cookies. Nom nom nom

My 5 year old would live on yoghurt alone given half the chance.
She is a Big Fan.
When we were recently sent a box of yoghurty goodness from organic people Rachel's her eyes fair lit up and I could hear her brain plotting ways to stash the lot for her own personal consumption.

But what what to do with yoghurt that's a bit different?
Make biscuits, obviously.
Granola biscuits to be precise. Easy to make, easy to eat, squidgy in the middle scrumdidilyumptious biscuits.
This is a recipe Rachel's sent me for Yogurt Oaty Cookies, but I fiddled about with it and thrown in a few extras.

INGREDIENTS
110g light soft brown sugar
100g caster sugar
80g unsalted butter/margarine
80g low fat natural bio live yogurt
splash of vanilla extract
180g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
130g oats
Handful each of raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds

METHOD
Pre-heat the oven to 195°c/gas mark 5. Line or grease two baking sheets.
In a mixing bowl or food processor cream together the sugars and fats until light and fluffy.
Stir in the yogurt and vanilla extract then add the flour and bicarb and mix until all the flour is incorporated.
Add the oats. Mix.
Add the raisins and seeds. Mix
Drop tablespoons of the mixture onto the sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown on the edges (don't make the mistake I did and drop too much mixture on or your cookies will be like plates and bend in half when you try to pick one up).
Leave to cool slightly before removing onto a wire cooling rack and scoffing.
(You can also add chocolate chips for extra nominess!)

Seriously I never bake. But after making Chocolate Pistachio Fudge for the children's teachers for their Christmas presents, I just got carried away.
Feast your eyes for it won't happen again until this time next year . . .

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The Gallery: Week 40. End of the year!

Hello and welcome to week 40 of The Gallery.

The final Gallery of the year! And what an amazing year it's been.
I launched The Gallery in February and have watched it grow and grow into something I have to say I am hugely proud of.
I've met so many new bloggers, I've seen people discover a new love of photography, seen people make friends and generally watched as blogs and bloggers have created this wonderful weekly feature which showcases each other's work.
I have seen some amazing writing, seen people really open themselves up and seen people blossom.
Give yourselves a pat on the back; you really and truly have make this feature a huge success.
Yes you. You. Stop turning around, I'm looking at YOU.

So to the last one of the year.
I'm going to make it a toughie. Only because you've had it quite easy for the last couple of weeks and because I actually think you thrive on toughies!
So, this week's theme is: Love.

And about a MILLION possibilities exploded in your brain right there didn't they!

I'm taking Christmas off, so the next theme won't go up now until January 7. Hope you don't mind.
And from me, a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who joined in. You have totally blown me away.

Now get clicky clicking on this week's theme. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Don't forget to come back on Wednesday (December 22) to add your link.

And as ever, once the links go up, visit as many others as you can, say hi, discover new people, welcome them in when they discover you.

Appreciate the wonderful words and photos that are opening themselves up to you.

The link stays open until the following Tuesday, so don't worry if you don't manage to post on Wednesday.

NEW HERE? NOT SURE HOW TO ENTER?
If you're new here and want to find out what The Gallery is all about and how to enter visit here.
And if you want to make sure you don't miss any prompts or entries in future, make sure you subscribe to my RSS or email feed.

Go on, clicky click away, you know you want to ...

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Toys for under a tenner this Christmas

And so the Toys R Us toy reviewing continues. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.
Today I bring your stocking fillers. Or gifts for friends. Or pocket money toys.
Toys for under a tenner.

Galt Bouncy Balls Kit, £5.99
★★★★★

Ah yes, messy creative play. I'm not a fan I confess.
This one you get to create your ow bouncy balls from coloured crystals. Mess!
On top of that, these thing never really turn out how they look on the box. Well ours don't anyway.

But actually, this set was OK. Not that messy, easy to do and the resulting balls actually bounced! Bonus.
Be warned though. They don't stand up to much playing. Ours are looking rather worse for wear now and starting to show signs of crumbling. Mess!

Not bad given the price though.

Galt Cute Cupcakes Kit, £5.99
★★★★★
Ah, more messy creative stuff. This time it's a plaster moulding kit that has you make and decorate four little cupcakes along with a cake stand to display them on.
It comes with glitter glue (inward groan) and acrylic paints
and I can safely say our end product looked NOTHING like the very pretty cupcakes on the front of the box . . .

Disney Fairies Magic Glow Fairies, £8.99 each
★★★★★
These little figures made my 5 year old daughter's face light up - especially as she's been watching a lot of Tinkerbell lately.
Mini fairy figures which, when you press their belly, their wings light up and change colour.
I thought they were a bit lame - especially for £9 a pop - but she just adores them.

Blendy Pens, £9.97

★★★★★

Oh lordy these are a faff. They're basically felt tip pens and you can twist two together to 'blend' colours to create shading and add another dimension to your colouring. The 5 year old just couldn't get them to blend and I got bored of helping so she ended up just using them as felt tips!

However her 8 year old brother totally got it and was quite taken with them.

Nice if you have children who love their crafts and colouring (and who have the patience to keep going until they 'get' it!)

Liv Hayden doll, £9.97
★★★★★
We loved this doll. She comes with a great range of clothes and accessories and the bonus was the one we had was an 'outdoorsy' girl (she's called It's My Nature). My 5 year old hasn't put her down. Even chooses her over her array of Disney princesses which is unheard of!
As she is an animal lover she comes with a bunny, a butterfly net, a butterfly chart, a magnifying glass and bag. (And they're reduced in price at the moment from the usual £19.99).

Sprayza Art Studio, £7.99

★★★★★

Airbrushed pictures? Holy moly, this sounds like a job for a giant sheet on the floor and dressing the kids in head to toe boiler suits.

But no! These clever pens allow you to blow paint onto your chosen stencil to create really quite fabulous pictures. No mess. Well, not until the children try to blow it at the other, then yes, it's a bit messy.

The pack comes with 15 coloured pens, 8 sheets of paper, 8 stencils and 1 'sprayza' (the device you spray through).

Painting By Numbers, £3.99 each
★★★★★
Blimey, don't these take you right back?!
A great way to introduce your children to art (although our pictures never quite look like they're supposed to . . .!
We had a great Manga picture that my 8 year old son loved - all swords and mean, moody faces.
The pack doubles as a paint pot holder and prop for your pictured to make it easier to work on.
Great little gift and a bargain.

Gormiti Magic Egg, £4.95
★★★★★

Basically a plastic figure from the TV show in a fizzing egg.

I know, sounds, well, rubbish doesn't it?

But no, the 8 year old tells me it's 'way cool' as he drops said egg into a Pyrex dish of water and watches it fizz and dissolve (like a giant bath bomb) until only a figure remains and a sludge of yellow water.

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I made this!

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge to be exact.
For the children to give to their teachers for Christmas.

I slaved over them. Sweated (nice image there).
In truth they were embarrassingly easy and I swiped them from Violet Posy's Thrifty Christmas feature where Cherished By Me was bigging them up.
I now know why.

Ingredients? Shed loads of chocolate (see how good I am to their teachers?), condensed milk, butter and pistachio nuts.
A word to the wise: Never ever buy pistachios still in their shell. Travel that bit further and hunt down shelled pistachios. It could save you the tedium and the snapping at your other half when he peers over your shoulder and asks: "You still shelling those things?"

Oh, and for the record? One of the jars may have a couple of fudge chunks missing . . . .
To find out how to use all these ingredients, hop on over to Cherished By Me's blog.

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The Gallery: Sparkle

Christmas bling is great isn't it?
All that brightly-coloured cheer on a dark, dreary night.
Little children's eyes wide in wonder, the houses looking inviting and festive and like carollers will break out into song if you hand around for a while

This house is a 10 minute walk from our home. Every year, we wait until it's dark then we stroll up there, wind-up torches in hand, as we navigate the dirt track under the railway bridge, down by the field with the bizarre looking sheep in and emerge to this sight.

They hand out mince pies, Dan complains that he hates them and why don't they just give out chocolate, and everyone who has come to visit stands around and chews the fat on a cold, pre-Christmas evening.
Lovely.

This post is for Week 39 of The Gallery: Sparkle.

If you're new and want to know what The Gallery is, go and read here, and then come right back and join in!
You can also pick up The Gallery code if you want too.

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

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How do you make Christmas something special? I mean really special?

How do you make sure it's not clogged with commercialism?
How do you make sure it's never something to be dreaded or hated or celebrated for all the wrong reasons?
How do you make Christmas a time of reflection, of love, of thinking of others; a time to cherish?

These are things I have agonised over since having children.
How can I stop Christmas becoming a time given over to presents and excess and I want, I want? Of worrying about money or hammering the credit card or, heaven forbid, getting into debt so you can buy Aunt Vera a cashmere cardigan.

There is such a wall of noise at this time of year: Brightly coloured shop fronts, a constant flow of adverts for expensive toys and an air of stress hanging over everyone.
We aren't religious in this house, but I love the values it brings to the festivities; To think of others, to be with family and friends, to show kindness for kindness sake - and for heaven's sake, buying something you know someone will love and not because of how much it costs (Ok, that one's not such a church one as a Tara one).

All year round I try to teach my children to be kind to others. To treat people as they want to be treated, to be considerate and compassionate, to think how their actions impact on others.
Then at Christmas that is in danger of going out the window as they see people roll their eyes at 'having' to write the Christmas cards or pulling their hair out because they haven't bought 4 chocolate logs for Boxing Day.
Madness.

It is hard. Really really hard.

This year my son was helping me package up some toys and games for a family in Ireland who have hit hard times. We don't know them, but a call for help was sent out and we were in a position to do just that.
And that evening Dan and I are reading at bedtime and one of the words he comes across in his book is 'poverty'. He asks what it means and when I explain to him, he says "are those the sort of people we help at Christmas?"
And I say yes, swelling with pride that my 8 year old now sees this as a part of our festivities.
"We help them because they don't get anything at Christmas . . . " and the minute those words leave my mouth I know, I KNOW, I've made a big ole mistake.

Dan. His little brow creased in puzzlement says: "But why doesn't Santa delivery to them? Surely they need it the most? Surely he would go to them first?"
Bugger bugger bugger bugger.
He's looking quite upset and I truly do not know what to say.
"I don't like that mummy. Why would Santa be so mean?"
Oh god, I'm ruining his childhood . . .

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Going to school in a toga. He really kinda liked it!

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