Red Rose Mummy

Saturday morning saw Jenny from The Brick Castle and I setting off from the North-West headed for Lichfield where we and eight other bloggers were converging on Eileen from ET Speaks From Home's house. From the South and East Coasts, via London and Oxfordshire there were some fairly epic journeys made but we all arrived by late afternoon, ready to chat and spend time together.

This was the first meet up of a group that I started on Facebook early this year. I was in another, larger group with these ladies but a fit of pique saw me hit that 'create group' button on Facebook and add in twelve others who I enjoyed chatting to. A year ago we weren't friends. I was aware of a couple of the others as bloggers, some of our number didn't even have blogs then. We're a really good mix of newer, and more experienced bloggers and our little community has flourished since that fateful day.

We've been there for each other through crisis and celebration. We've supported each other through technical issues and tears. There have been illnesses and injuries, both to our number and their families. Children have started walking and talking, started nursery and school, we've had elation and disappointment. We've asked and received advice, disagreed on many things but most of all we have laughed together. It's my favourite corner of the internet, my first port of call when I log on to Facebook. These ladies are my friends, in every sense of the word. I was so excited to meet them.

I'm sure we all had a certain amount of nervousness and apprehension prior to the event but we needn't have been worried. We had a wonderful evening where we talked and talked, played games, exchanged Secret Santa gifts, all fueled by Domino's Pizza, some very tasty snacks and more than a few drinks. We then got up at a ridiculously early hour to head to Frankie and Benny's, for a much needed and very tasty cooked breakfast before the epic return journeys commenced.

L-R: Tina, Eileen, Me, Angela, Fiona, Mary, Tami, Zoe, Jenny and Anna

I had a wonderful time meeting my girls, it was further proof that the friendships we make online are strong and real. I just can't wait until we do it again when, hopefully the three who couldn't make it this time (Kelly, Laura and Anthea will be there too. I'll be returning to this weekend to share some of the lovely treats we received with you in a few future blog posts.

Recently I was offered £50 of Florence & Fred at Tesco vouchers and challenged to come up with a Christmas Party look for Bud and Little Miss. Of course I immediately replied 'yes' and scooted off to the Clothing at Tesco Kids' Partywear section to start shopping.

We're big fans of Tesco children's wear and both Bud and Little Miss regularly wear their clothes. I especially like their boys range which is often more bright and colourful than other stores on the high street. I decided that I would like an outfit for the children to wear on Christmas Day. We spend our day between both sets of our parents' homes so we need festive, but comfortable clothes to wear when we're eating our Christmas dinner and getting down on the floor to play with new toys.

First of all I started to look for an outfit for Bud. I'd actually been in Tesco a couple of days before and spotted some fab Christmas jumpers and I really loved the idea of getting one for Bud to wear. F&F have a few different styles but the blue reindeer jumper took my eye and, as Bud really suits this colour, it was an easy choice. I think he might wear this for a couple of parties in the run up to the big day too, to ensure he gets enough wear from it. I decided not to go for his usual jeans and spotted these relaxed, grey chinos that would look perfect with the blue sweater. The three pack of long sleeved t-shirts is perfect for the winter months and I really liked the muted palette of grey, khaki and burgundy.

Boy Christmas party clothes F&F Tesco Reindeer Christmas Jumper

When my thoughts turned to Little Miss, the first decision I had to make was what style of clothes to go for. F&F have a gorgeous range of party dresses which I looked at but I was grabbed by this beautiful two piece outfit made up of a pale pink cotton blouse and beige tweed shorts. I love the shorts over tights look on little girls and, as Little Miss is likely to be walking properly by Christmas, I thought this would allow her to move around freely and comfortably. The shorts have a gold shimmery thread running through the fabric which offers a touch of shimmer and sparkle for Christmas Day. I found this gorgeous fur gilet which will keep her snug and warm and matches the outfit really well too, and some tights which co-ordinate too. We were one pound short of our £50 voucher so I added this bargain long sleeved vest which has 'I Heart Santa' written all over it - a fun festive layer for Christmas day.

We had a big trying on session today and the clothes look wonderful. Bud was very excited by his Reindeer jumper and Little Miss looked so sweet in her outfit. The fur gilet is beautifully soft and finished off the outfit perfectly. I'm so impressed with both outfits and amazed to buy all of these items for a smudge over £50. All of the items are the excellent quality I am accustomed to when purchasing from F&F at Tesco. The only problem I had was trying to get Bud to take off the reindeer sweater.

Baby girl and small boy modelling their Christmas Party F&F Style Clothes Christmas

This is our entry into the F&F Tesco Children's Party Wear Competition. We received a £50 voucher to put together outfits for the children's Christmas party. One winner will receive a £200 voucher to spend on the F&F range.

Last year on the first of December we received our visit from our Christmas elf, Merry. He got up to a great deal of fun and excitement over the next three and a half weeks and Bud loved seeing what he got up to. He was a little too young to fully understand what was going with Merry last Christmas but, this year Bud is extremely excited about Christmas already and I think that Merry's antics will be thrilling for him. He's due to arrive on Sunday, with our advent calendars but we've been wondering if he will come back already and, when the lovely people at The Magic Door Store got in touch to see if we would like to review one of their Elf Doors I knew it would be the perfect way to get the excitement building in the run up to Merry's arrival.

Our bright red door arrived securely packaged in its cardboard box and I was delighted to see we had received the festive red colour and that we'd also been sent a cute little wreath to hang on the door. Each door is accompanied by a bottle of sparkly magic dust which can be made us of to leave an elvish trail behind or to simply look decorative in its own right.

Magic Elf Door Red Wooden Shelf Christmas

The Elf door is beautifully made. The doors remind me of the Georgian villas I used to stroll past in my university days in Bloomsbury, London. I very much like that it isn't a 'cutesy' door as I think that it means that the door can be used for years to come, even when the children are much bigger. I definitely think that our door will add to the magic of 'Elf on the Shelf' this year as Bud will be able to identify Merry's 'home' and will love seeing how the door changes each day in the run up to Merry's arrival. I have a few ideas of how to build the excitement, like leaving glittery footprints one night,and adding the Christmas wreath another. I think he might leave some sweets behind one night perhaps, and maybe some empty 'milk bottles' another. If you have any ideas or suggestions I'd love to hear them. Each door attaches to the wall using blu-tack which is enough to fix it securely. It isn't a toy so children shouldn't be allowed to play with it.

Magic Elf Door Red Christmas Wreath Magic dust

The Magic Door Store sells a range of Elf and Fairy Doors and accessories, with prices starting at £20 for the doors. That may sound expensive but I can envisage using the door for many, many years to come so it does represent value for money. You can also buy the Christmas wreath, presents and a stocking and a pillar box, to add to the magic of your door. I really like the staging of various doors shown on the website and they have given me lots of ideas for ours. Ours is firmly affixed at the top of our stairs and I can't wait for Bud and Little Miss to see it tomorrow in preparation for Merry's arrival.

If you'd like to find out more about the Magic Door Store you can 'like' them on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter. They will be exhibiting at Belgravia Christmas Sunday on Sunday 1st December 2013, 12 - 5pm, if you would like to see the doors in person.

Disclaimer: We received a Magic Elf Door in return for an honest review.

Christmas shopping is really starting to gather momentum in our house and we're finding that our list is, thankfully, getting smaller by the day. As Bud is now three and a half he really understands Christmas this year and is already starting to get excited about it so I'm keen to complete the shopping as soon as I can which will leave our December weekends free to enjoy the build up and get out to for Christmas activities and outings with the children.As I'm at home during the day with the children I turn to online shopping rather a lot and have my trusted retailers that I tend to turn to straight away. I used to order a lot from Rakuten's Play.com but it is a good few years since my last order, so many that my old login details wouldn't work and I had to create a new account. They offered me some of their SuperPoints to go shopping on their site and I was happy to put them to good use.

After logging in I was surprised to see that Rakuten's Play.com have stopped selling their own range of products. Every item now sold on their website is fulfilled through merchants in their marketplace facility We always make a list of what to buy for various relatives and I was pleasantly surprised by the range Rakuten's Play.com offered to match up with my list. First point of call was clothing. I have a couple of brothers-in-law who enjoy t-shirts associated with particular TV shows and the range offered by Rakuten's Play.com is extensive. You can find t-shirts for all of the main cult shows of the moment - Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and The Big Bang Theory to name but a few - most of them aren't official but there are some seriously witty and entertaining designs and I was happy to snap up a couple. I also added two truly epic bags to my order which I can't show you as their future recipients do read this blog.

From there onwards I moved onto the toy section where products at opposite ends of the spectrum - Nerf and wooden baby toys - were soon popped into my basket. I then moved onto gifts which has a, frankly, epic range of fun gifts, ranging from stocking fillers up to more expensive presents. My final item was a particular book that I know Red Rose Daddy has on his list.

Whenever you select an item it is immediately clear which merchants sell it and the prices offered by each one. Alongside this information the feedback score for the merchant is presented to help with deciding which seller to use. You can add products from a variety of different merchants to your basket but only have to check out once which was great, and saved a lot of time. All of the prices shown include free delivery and, when this is taken into consideration, I think that they are competitive against the sites who would be regarded as their main rivals. The SuperPoints scheme means that, for every pound spent on the site you receive one point, these can then be used against future orders.

I was really impressed with the ease of use of the site and the way that, essentially, Rakuten's Play.com positions itself in its own niche in a crowded market. I think I'll definitely be checking the site out when I'm shopping online in future and I'll be back to look at their 'daily deals' in the run up to Christmas too.

Disclaimer: I was supplied with Rakuten Play.com SuperPoints to try out, and write about, my shopping experience there. All opinions are honest and my own.

I've recently been chatting to Grace Sandford, the author of 'Tell Me a Story: 250 Great Books for Kids', which is a book that recommend fifty great books across five age groups - from birth to early teens.

Grace is, above all, a mum and draws upon her experiences to form the bedrock of the book. She clearly has a passion for books and this shines through as you read. Each age group is broken down into lists, so in birth to two the categories include 'clever concept books' and 'perfect bedtime stories', whereas the early teens section includes 'must-read classics' and 'contemporary classics'.

The author is American so there are certain books that you may not be familiar but, having read through a few descriptions I might have to go hunting for them. It's refreshing to see a real mixture of books from victorian classics to brand new releases included and I was pleased to see how many of the books in the first two categories that we have accumulated already. I was a little surprised to see that 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' is recommended for age 3-5 year olds but the author's explanation for each title being included explains everything.

We love books and I think I will certainly refer back to this title in the future, especially as Bud and Little Miss get bigger and I am looking for ideas for more challenging reading material, or new series to get engrossed in. I think the paperback version of the book would make a more unusual gift for new parents who may not have a clue where to get started in selecting books for their little ones.

Tell Me a Story is available in paperback and for the Amazon Kindle and, if you're speedy, you can purchase it for the Kindle free of charge before the end of tomorrow, 21st November 2013. I would really recommend that you do.

Little Miss wears disposable nappies and I do get concerned about the environmental impact of using them. I really liked the idea of using cloth nappies but never found myself in a position to set up with re-usables. Naty nappies are an eco alternative, to both traditional disposables and offer the same environmental impact as washable nappies.

I've used Naty nappies before, with both children, but haven't tried them since Little Miss become more active and started cruising with the furniture and toddling more independently. I often find that a brand of nappies which works perfectly well for an infant may not work so well once your little one is on the move. We were sent a packet of 27 size 4 Naty nappies for Little Miss.

Naty nappies are:

Authentically green, they are made from 70% biodegradable, renewable and natural materials.
They contain a natural GM free cornstarch leakage barrier, which is as effective as plastic, yet allows baby’s skin to breathe, reducing the likelihood of nappy rash. It also keeps harmful bacteria and pathogens out.
Industry tests show they perform on a par with the leading brands in leak protection and dryness.
They are made from FSC and SSNC certified wood pulp.
They have a unique drainage system which reduces the need for high levels of Super Absorbent Polymer chemicals currently used in standard disposable nappies
They are recommended by Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association and are 100% chlorine and fragrance free.
They are at the same recommended retail price as the leading brands and are available from selected Tesco, Sainsbury, Boots, Mothercare, Waitrose stores and Ocado nationwide.
They can back up all their eco credentials (unlike some other high street brands claiming to be green).

We're now almost through our pack of Naty nappies and I'm pleased and impressed with the results. Little Miss is very active, constantly toddling and climbing and we've experienced no leakages. The nappies are absorbent and effective. She can suffer nappy rash from time to time and we've only had one instance of this using Naty, which has coincided with a heavy cold. The biodegradable plastic used feels soft and comfortable against my girl's skin and the elastic around the legs stretches gently but hugs to stop leakage. I'm very pleased with the nappies and confident in using them.

If you are interested to find out more about Naty, you can do so here.

I've teamed up with Naty to giveaway a week's supply of eco disposable nappies to one lucky winner. To be in with a chance of winning please complete the Rafflecopter widget below. The blog post comment is mandatory then there is the opportunity for you to receive bonus entries too. Please read the terms and conditions at the bottom. One winner will be selected who will win a week's supply of nappies in their choice of size.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

I've been searching through an awful lot of online retailers to tick off items on my Christmas shopping list recently. I love trawling through to find the perfect gifts for all of my loved ones, especially when it means I get time to look at my favourite online stores.

I've recently been browsing through Joules.com and have found some beautiful gifts that I know would be just right.

For Red Rose Daddy:

Ian loves v-neck sweaters for work and this Retford V-Neck Sweater is the perfect colour for him as he loves blue. He could team it with a Hewney Shirt, Westby gloves and hat to look smart, and stay warm whether on the commute or at weekends.

Joules for Men Hewney Shirt Westby Gloves, hat and Retford Sweater

For Bud and Little Miss:

I really love Joules' childrenswear, their clothes are stylish, practical and are that little bit different from the usual high street ranges. This Kitty dress is wonderful and Little Miss would look amazing in it. It is dungaree style so will be perfect to layer over thick tights and a long sleeved t-shirt, like these Mirin tops, to keep her warm in winter. The gorgeous SlipsockG and SnapG slipper socks and gloves will keep her warm and toasty on the coldest of days.

Joules Kitty Dress Mirin t-shirts, Slipsock slipper socks and snap gloves for baby girl

As we've been redoing Bud's bedroom recently I've been browsing the Joules range of nightwear and Joules range of duvet covers. This Circus Duvet Cover set would provide a real pop of colour in his room, and the brightly coloured Raiden pyjamas and Roban dressing gown would make bedtime a super stylish affair. I'm a huge fan of Joules' wellies and this new 'Scary Fish' print pattern would be a big hit with Bud.

Joules Circus Duvet Cover set, Raiden pyjamas, Roban Dressing Gown and Scary Fish wellies for boys

And for me...

I couldn't resist picking out a few items that I love from the Joules range, just in case someone reading wants to know what I would like. I'm a huge fan of their dresses and this Leila dress would be perfect for staying comfortable, but stylish on Christmas day and all through the rest of the year. I love this beautiful Richmond Leather tote bag, it is a good size to ensure I can carry everything I need and looks great too. I think most mums find a cosy dressing gown really useful and the Rita robe, and navy slippersocks would keep me warm on winter mornings, or when I'm curled up on the sofa in the evening.