Terrific Timelines Dinosaurs Review

We were very excited to receive the Terrific Timelines: Dinosaurs by Richard Ferguson and Isabel Thomas with illustrations by Aude Van Ryn to review. Both my children love dinosaurs and often are wearing t-shirts with dinosaurs from the Jurassic era. My daughter's favourite dinosaur is the Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex) with its big teeth and little arms.

Even though they love dinosaurs, I must admit that we don't really don't know the facts about dinosaurs and even that there was several eras of dinosaurs. This fascinating book features 20 dinosaurs from the from all three prehistoric eras: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Each dinosaur has it own fact file.

Superhero Snap! Card Game - Illustrated by Jason Ford Review

Recently, we were sent the newly released Superhero Snap! Card Game that is illustrated by Jason Ford. I am always looking for new games or activities for Big Sister and allow us to spend quality family time together.

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The Superhero Snap game has been played many times over the last couple weeks. This set of snap cards of 52-card feature thirteen different illustrations of superheroes and villains. Each card has a word that is an imitation of a sound. Our favourite cards included the words: DING! WHOOM! HAHAHA!. There are superhero girls and boys. The villains include monsters, mad scientist, robot, aliens, and other fun villains to discover.

Beauty and the Beast Book Collection - Parragon Books Review

In honour of the recent cinema release of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, we were sent the Disney Beauty and the Beast: Write, Inspire, Create book and Disney Beauty and the Beast: Book of the Film. Both of these books are aimed at 8 - 12 years old.

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Disney Beauty and the Beast: Write, Inspire, Create is written to inspire young writers. There are many different writing prompts to encourage the most beginner writer to create literary masterpieces. This book will help your child create stores, diary entries, and imagine being in the enchanted castle with Belle and the Beast.

Little Learners Book Collection - Parragon Books Review

There was very exciting news at Parragon Books the beginning of 2017 with the relaunch of the Little Learners book collection for babies and toddlers. This refresh imprint of books continues the tradition of creating books that encourage learning and creates special bonding moments between children and parents. 

Little Boy and I were extremely excited to be chosen to review a very special Little Learners Book Buddies Box filled with five adorable new books. Little Boy loved opening the box and unwrapping the purple tissue paper to discover these books. 

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The titles that we were sent were: Mummy and Baby; I Can Say Please; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; Incy Wincy Spider; and Cow Says Moo. All these books encourage exploring with touch and illustrated with very calming colours. 

Festive Yarn Snowman for #CraftsWithWynsors

One of our favourite activities during the festive Christmas season is crafting new decorations for the home. We always adding new Christmas themed decorations to our collection each year but I also love creating decorations that can be used after Christmas within a "winter theme". That is the reason that we decided to create a new snowman this year. We were sent some adorable kids slippers from Wynsors and a box of craft supplies.

My daughter was really excited to receive some Spiderman slippers and little boy loves his Paw Patrol slippers. The really soft fabric stretches with their feet but my favourite part is the rubber soles. These slippers keep their feet warm after school while crafting but also the rubber soles keep them from slipping while running around the house. Both my children had no issues putting them on once they took off their outdoor shoes after school. In the box was also darling reindeer with all the ingredients for hot chocolate. My children love mini marshmallows!

Creating Christmas Wreath with Duck Tape UK

When I growing up, I remember on several occasions when my Father would grab and tear by hand some duck tape to fix a whole in a tarp or water hose. There were always several rolls of this silvery grey adhesive tape sitting on my Father's work bench in garage. In the last few years,  I started to notice new colours and prints available as part of the Duck Tape Family. This newer range has the quality and durability that the original silvery grey tuck tape but opens a whole new world of crafting opportunities.

I was trilled when contacted if I would be interested in creating a Christmas wreath by using some the Duck Tape products. This durable self-adhesive and versatile tape makes a perfect solution for outside Christmas wreaths and decorations.

Little Passports Exploration - Part One

We were very excited to receive an email to explore the world of Little Passports with a 3-Month gift subscription. If you are not familiar with Little Passport, it is a monthly subscription aimed at children between the ages of 3 to 10 years old. Originally launched in 2009 by two moms (Amy and Stella), there is currently three different subscriptions packages available for the UK children. There is "Early Explorers" aimed at 3-5 years olds and each month explore different world themes like: music, oceans, dinosaurs, world coins and celebrations. There is also the "World Edition" aimed at 6-10 years olds and will be sent a package about a new country each month with souvenirs and hand-on activities. NEW "Science Expeditions" aimed at 9+ years old now available in the UK.

Quick and Easy Baked Artichoke Dip Featuring Thomas J. Fudge's

As soon as the leaves starting falling off the trees, I can not help starting to think about comfort food and starting to planning for the Christmas festive period. We have a traditional in my family to have a drink and hor d'oeuvres before Christmas Eve dinner. My maternal Grandmother always made a hot artichoke dip. Not only is the my grandmother's recipe hard to stop eating but also is extremely easy to make.

Surprise Indoor Picnic Lunch - National Picnic Week

June 11 - 19th, 2016, is National Picnic Week and we have been wishing for sunshine so we could have a picnic in the backyard. Unfortunately, we are having a typical British early summer weather with burst of sunshine but mostly rain and clouds. 

My daughter loves having a picnic and especially if it inside on the living room floor where she can invite all your cuddly friends. I thought I would surprise her with picnic lunch. My sweet husband took my Daughter and Son off to the grocery store while I quickly headed to the kitchen to create food that would be perfect for little hands. 

Messy Mat from Messy Me #Review

Our living room is the "heart" of the house. If the wooden floor could talk, it would probably tell you about how it is often covered with food crumbs, drops of paint, glue, and water. We were recently sent a Messy Mat from Messy Me, an English family-owned business. We loved the teal colour with stars. This oilcloth mat is 90 cms x 120 cms and is perfect for our daily use.

Disney Art Therapy Colouring Books - Parragon Books #Review

As a member of the Parragon Books "Book Buddies" Team we received the Disney Frozen Art Therapy Colouring Bookand Disney Princess Art Therapy Colouring Book this month. These books are filled with beautiful complex black and white designs that are truly magical. My four year old daughter enjoyed looking at all the designs and colouring in a few pages but these books are more suited to older children or adults.  

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Moodles Presents HAPPY - Moodle Your Way to a Smile #Review

I was very interest to review the Moodles Presents Happyfrom Parragon Books. A normal day for me includes chasing after my children and bouncing from one activity to another in hopes to complete a task from my endless to-do list. One of goals for 2016 is to take some time to focus on me. Find a moment each day to relax and reflect on my life. Most days I ride a rollercoaster of emotions. One minute I am happy and the next minute about to cry in frustration.

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The idea behind this book is to take a fews minutes to change your mood. By doing the activities you may find you changing your mood from sad to happy or mad to glad. It is not a "happy pill" but a way to reflect and maybe distract your mind from negative or overwhelming thoughts. Each person reading this book will have an unique experience but hopefully positive.

Fire Station Activity Book and Playset by Parragon Books #Review

We were very excited when after Christmas we opened our newest item from Parragon Books to review. We were sent the Fire Station Activity Book and Playset. My daughter loves fire engines. The set includes a fire station and fire engine to assemble, multiple firefighting pieces, and an activity book.

REVIEW: The Gruffalo Live London Christmas 2015

We were very excited when we are invited to attend a performance of The Gruffalo Live at the Vaudeville Theatre, London. The Gruffalo is one of Little Ladybug's favourite books and she probably knows most of the words by heart.  Our baby son was also welcome to come and we were all looking forward to this family adventure in London, England.

Wicked Uncle Wish List 2015

As a mother of a very inquisitive and imaginative daughter, I am always looking for gift ideas for her birthday and Christmas. Recently I won a voucher for Wicked Uncle. Wicked Uncle is an online toy store with the "a mission to provide brilliant toys for boys and girls".

I enjoyed looking around the online store. The website is very user friendly and loved the idea that toys can viewed by the age of child.

The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen - Parragon Book Buddies #Review

We have lots of books around the LadyBug Home. My husband and I also love buying new books for our children. Every once in a while, we buy or are given a book that just feels very special. This month, Paragon Books sent us a copy of The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen retold by Mandy Archer. This book cover is a gorgeous purple cloth-effect cover with silver foiling and colourful swan illustration.

Gro-Clock Review by LadyBug Home & Designs

One of the constant challenges as a parent is dealing with lack of sleep due to your child's sleeping patterns. Little LadyBug (LL) is like most children that has phases of sleeping through the night until 7:00 am but then there are times when she wakes at 5:00 am for snuggles. Now that LL is 3 1/2 years old (almost 4), she is still a fairly good sleeper but I was very interested in learning more about the Gro-Clock by The Gro Company.

The Gro-Clock is a clock designed as a sleep trainer to help children understand the concept of when it time to go back to sleep and when it is time to wake up. The clock is designed with a yellow sun face that indicates when it is awake time and a blue moon face to indicate when it is sleep time. You set the ideal "wake up" time and then at bedtime with press of a button the sun disappears and the moon appears surrounded by stars. The stars disappear as the time gets closer to the set "wake up" time. The idea is to teach your child that if they wake up in the middle of the night and see the moon with stars that they should stay in bed and go back to sleep. If they wake and the sun has appeared, they can get up out of bed. 

Pumpkins Pumpkins Everywhere - Parragon Book Buddies #Review

We were very excited when our new book arrived from Parragon Books for October. This month's book is "Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere" by Smriti Parasadam-Halls and Lorena Alvarez. Halloween is one of our favourite time of year in our home so we were thrilled to receive a new Halloween themed book with its colourful glittery front cover. 

Oglee Poglee "The Invention" Craft Box #Review

Oglee Poglee is a business that was created by Claire Gillespie of Hertfordshire that specialises in imaginative craft boxes, children craft workshops and party entertainment. We at LadyBug Home are extremely lucky that we have previously attended several of her craft workshops in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.
We were very excited when Claire sent us "The Invention" craft box for an afternoon of crafting. The craft boxes are aimed at 3-8 years old and retail at £18.00 + shipping. My 3 1/2 daughter loves robots, cars and planes so this was a perfect box to keep her entertained. I really enjoyed playing with the items in the box also.

Spot A Lot: Vehicles Storybook and Jigsaw - Parragon Book Buddies #Review

One of my highlights of attending BritMums Live 2015 was meeting the team of Parragon Books that were looking for "Book Buddies". It is no question that we love books in our home and truly can never have too many. I was very excited when I was accepted to be a "Book Buddies" and then just waited for our first book to arrive. 

On a rainy day the end of August,  we excited to receive package from Parragon Books. Little LadyBug (LL) and Bumblebee Boy (BB) were getting a little restless being trapped inside for the day but very excited to discover we had been sent the "Spot a Lot: Vehicles Storybook and Jigsaw".