Generations of children have grown up with the stories of Winnie the Pooh. As a child I remember reading A. A. Milnes’ wonderful books, which were beautifully illustrated by E. H. Shepard.

Over the decades, this honey obsessed little bear has been introduced to new generations of children, largely with the help of Disney, through film, and the vision of toy manufacturers.

So, relieved we were to learn that finally, Winnie the Pooh had arrived in the LEGO family! He along with his famous friends, can now by played with, by even the tiniest of toddler hands, thanks to the ingenuity of the designers at LEGO DUPLO.

The LEGO DUPLO Winnie the Pooh Range features the familiar friendly bear himself, along with Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger. The range is suitable from 18 months upwards, and as with all LEGO DUPLO sets, is fully compatible with all the other LEGO DUPLO ranges.

My 2 year old daughter absolutely adores this range. There is just something so utterly loveable about Winnie the Pooh and his friends, which appeals to her, a lot! These brightly coloured characters and their environments have been brilliantly interpreted by the folk at LEGO DUPLO, and while remaining true to the Disney images of Winnie the Pooh we all know and love, make a seamless addition to the LEGO DUPLO family.

As with all LEGO DUPLO sets, this range can be used for imaginative play, along with helping our littlest folk become introduced to the concept of counting, and introduce them to construction and colours.

We can’t wait to see what the designers at LEGO DUPLO come up with next!

Disclosure.

You know me. I’m always attending soirées and luncheons that require me to be groomed and gorgeous.

*cough*

When M&S asked me if I’d like to try one of their Secret Support Party Dresses, I thought what better way to disguise all those little lumps and bumps, and make me appear even more goddess like! (quiet there at the back, you’re ruining the illusion…)

The Secret Support range isn’t just limited to Bridget Jones style big knickers. They’ve devised other sneaky ways of helping you and me disguise those unwanted wobbly bits. From hosiery and lingerie, to trousers, skirts, and dresses, there are now many ways to give yourself a sleek silhouette, albeit just for the day!

I was sent the really rather fabulous Red Secret Support Structured Short Sleeve Dress. This fabulous dress contains a Secret Support lining, and pulled me in, in all the right places, giving me a smooth, cinched waist and shapely hips.

The dress made me feel like a million dollars as sashayed about, channelling my inner Christina Hendricks!

So popular were the dresses in the Secret Support range, that they have now sold out, although I am reliably informed that M&S are working on a new range, which will be on sale later this year.

Keep your eyes peeled, you don’t want to miss out!

This is a review post.

Something I’ve learnt, from losing a parent at a young age, is that you can never have too many photographs.

People you love, places you’ve been, things you’ve enjoyed, it doesn’t matter what the subject is, it’s the recording of a moment that’s important. A visual clue, a snapshot insight into someone’s soul. Pictures can reveal so much.

It’s very rare for me to leave the house without a camera, in one form or another. And I was more than thrilled when Kodak said they’d like to send me an Easy Share Touch M5370 to use in conjunction with their Big App.

The Big App allows you to super size any image or photograph, and print it out easily on a conventional printer. No need to pay someone to do it for you! The app breaks down the image into A4 sections, which you download as a PDF file, and then send to print, on your home printer.

You could super size your favourite view, make a birthday banner, or create all sorts of different wall art. You could even laminate your prints and make a giant puzzle. And when I say giant, I mean giant! The app can create an image that’s almost 4.62 metres by 5.94 metres in size, which prints on 440 A4 sheets! Of course you can create much more manageable images, starting at just 4 A4 sheets.

I’ve chosen to split this image of my son into 9 sheets, creating a striking A1 poster size image.

The black and white effect was created using the Tri-X film effect on the Easyshare Touch. This camera is a pocket rocket! With 16 Mega Pixels and 5x optical zoom, plus a 28mm wide-angle lens, it’s smaller than a mobile phone, but packed with brilliant features. You can even instruct the camera to ‘share’ you photos on Twitter, Facebook and more, automatically, when you upload your pictures to your PC. Perfect for social network junkies like me!

I’m sure over the coming weeks and months, with the help of the Kodak Easyshare Touch M5370, I’m going to have more photos I want to give the Big App treatment than I can choose from! The question is, will I have enough wall space to hang them all!?

How would you use the Big App?

This is a review post.

We all have jobs that we hate.

You know, those household chores that tip you to the edge of sanity? Well, for me that task is ironing. Lucky for me, I have someone to do it for me!

Noooooo, I don’t pay anyone! My husband does it, along with all the laundry. Yes, you did read that correctly.

When Philips contacted me and asked me if I’d like my husband to trial their new Man Iron (styled like a space ship, designed to appeal to the masculine market, to perhaps encourage more of our less chore minded men to do the ironing), while I relaxed with a pamper kit, I had to chuckle. So, while I languished lazily in a hot bubble bath, book and cuppa in hand, the husband got to work testing his new toy.

His top 5 ‘likes’ are:

1. The iron glides effortless over garments. I was smooth to use and removed creases without having to exert much effort.
2. The iron is lightweight, but has the sturdy feel of a much heavier one.
3. The Man Iron heats up quickly, and is ready to use in no time at all.
4. The settings are simple, no fussing about with digital displays, just turn the dial for heat and slide the button for steam. It’s practically idiot proof!
5. The cord is designed to wrap neatly, without touching the plate, for safe storage.

What do I think of the Man Iron? I couldn’t tell you, I’ve never used it….

Fancy getting your (or your husband’s) hands on a Philips Man Iron, also known as the Philips Azur GC4890? All you have to do is leave a comment below, and tell me, who does the ironing in your household?

For an extra entry copy paste and tweet the following:

I’m entering the #PhilipsManIron #giveaway @InsomniacMummy - http://wp.me/pO1G4-Tv

Good luck, and happy ironing….

Terms and conditions: The competition will close at midnight, Monday 23rd January 2012, and the winner chosen at random . The winner will be contacted by email and will be required to provide name, and postal address. These details will be forwarded to the PR representative at Philips UK. The prize will be posted to the winner by the PR representative at Philip UK.  The competition is open to UK residents only.

It was the boy’s 5th birthday a couple of weeks ago. Where did the time go?!

As a priviledge of being LEGO DUPLO Experts we were sent a fabulous party pack and cake. So we invited round some of his school friends, and had a LEGO DUPLO birthday party.

The pack contained:

• A LEGO DUPLO birthday card, ready for me to write.
• 20 dinner placemats/large colouring sheets (we gave these away with the party bags).
• 20 balloons
• 20 stickers (3 different varieties)
• 20 paper plates
• 20 napkins
• 20 party bags
• A fabulous personalised LEGO DUPLO birthday cake made by Need a Cake.

The party went down a storm! The children spent time playing with our ever expanding stash of LEGO DUPLO. We filled their party bags with the colouring sheets, stickers, balloons, a slice of the delicious cake, and bought our guests LEGO Mini Figure each to take home. Perfect! Happy faces all round!

Now on to the good stuff! You could win a LEGO DUPLO party pack and personalised cake! It can be for a birthday any time during 2012, and the cake will be delivered a couple of days prior to your chosen birthday.

All you have to do to enter is send your details, including the name and birthday of the person you want to win the party pack for, to duplocompetition@docolondon.com. Make sure you quote INSOMNIAC MUMMY DUPLO PARTY in the subject line.

The competition will close on Saturday 24th December so get emailing to be in with a chance!

As parent in a digital age, there are definitely certain products that we’ve come to take for granted.

In our house, the product that we wouldn’t be without is our digital baby monitor.

Our youngest daughter may be 2½ now, but we still use the monitor on a nightly basis. It’s something that I’m not yet ready to leave behind, and provides us with great peace of mind.

I was recently contacted by Little Pumpkin, an online baby boutique, and asked if I’d like to test a Clarity Digital Video Monitor. Since we’ve always used a regular monitor, we were interested to see what difference the video monitor would make.

The Lindam Clarity Digital Video Monitor comes with a baby unit (the camera eye, and an adjustable bracket wall/cot mount), and the parent unit (the monitor unit itself, with a 2.36″ colour screen). Both units can be either battery or mains operated. The camera and mount were easy to set up and adjust, and we managed to place it fairly unobtrusively in the bedroom. It’s basically a round white camera. An eye in the sky, if you will!

The monitor has a 150 metre range, both audio and visual capabilities, and works well and both day light and at night, thanks to its infrared camera. For the first hour we used it at night, I felt like Yvette Fielding in an episode of Most Haunted. I may have even screamed a bit when, after taking my eye off the ball for a few seconds, there was movement and suddenly a small child standing in front of the camera! I soon got used to the novelty, and it became normal to be able to see, as well as hear what was going on.

The monitor also plays three lullabies, should you need them.

All in all we liked the Clarity Digital Baby Monitor. It was extremely useful to be able to see what was going on in the bedroom. Especially when the children were restless. It meant we could gauge whether or not to intervene more effectively, and also provided peace of mind.

There are a couple of improvements we’d like to see to the monitor. We missed the room temperature feature we use religiously on our regular monitor. Also the Clarity could benefit from a ‘talk back’ feature.

Overall it’s thumbs up from us, and a big thanks to Little Pumpkin!

As a child, I was diagnosed with asthma. Allergies, inhalers and antihistamines have always been a normal part of my life.

When I had children, one of my fears was that they would inherit my genetic predisposition to atopic diseases, such as asthma, eczema and hay fever. Unfortunately, it seems they have.

From being just a few months old, both children were prescribed treatment for eczema and asthma, and then once they were over 1 year old, both developed hay fever symptoms. These conditions are not uncommon and parents, like myself, are dealing with and managing them on a daily basis.

Allergy UK are highlighting the issue of ‘The Rise of Home Fever’ with Indoor Allergy Week (14th – 20th Nov 2011). They predict that as many as 12 million people, in the UK alone, are allergic to their own homes. These hay fever like symptoms, usually a runny nose and sneezing, but experienced out of season, have been dubbed as ‘home fever’. As many as 58% of allergy sufferers react to ‘home fever’s’ main allergen – house dust mites.

Both my children and I are among this number. As the cold weather draws in and we turn on the central heating, perfect conditions are created for the dust mites to breed. It’s not just the dust mites wreaking havoc – mould spores, pet dander, and cleaning products can also trigger ‘home fever’, better known as Perennial Allergic Rhinitis.

Research by Allergy UK has revealed that allergy sufferers aren’t doing enough to reduce the house dust mite allergen. With 55% of sufferers reporting that their symptoms are worse in the bedroom. Me and my family fit into these statistics.

To highlight this problem, Allergy UK were kind enough to send us a Filtrete Air Purifier to test out in our bedrooms, and see if we could gauge any improvement.

The Filtrete Ultra Clean Room Air Purifier boast and amazing 99.9% effectiveness at removing pollen, dust mite debris and mould spores from the air. My eldest son has recently been suffering badly with a persistent asthmatic cough at night, so we have been using the Filtrete in his room at night.

With claims as astonishing as 99.9% I was sceptical, but over the week we have been using the filter, my son’s persistent night coughing has dramatically reduced. The Filtrete purifier uses patented filter technology that allows more air to pass through the purifier. As a result, allergens are removed more quickly.

The Filtrete has 3 speed settings, and low noise level. It’s quiet enough not to wake my boy, and isn’t intrusive. It takes up a small amount of floor space, but that’s a small price to pay for the benefits we’ve reaped! He sleeps better and coughs less, we sleep better as a result, everyone’s a winner. I cannot tell you how impressed we are with this product!

There are, of course, other measures you can take to reduce allergens in the bedroom. These are Allergy UK’s tips:

• Dust regularly but use a damp duster first, then a dry cloth. Otherwise, you are just moving the dust around
• Wash bedding once a week at 60°C or higher to remove house dust mites. Allergy UK’s research revealed 16% of people wash bed linen every three weeks or less. And with 58% washing bedding at 30 or 40 degrees, house dust mites are set to stay
• Regularly steam clean carpets and curtains.
• Use allergen-proof barrier covers on mattresses, duvets and pillows.
• Replace your mattress every 8-10 years. The research found 13% have had their current mattress for 11 years or more, where as 3% have kept theirs for 20 years
• Buy new pillows every year -  don’t wait five years or more like the 25% of allergy sufferers out there
• Buy products that have been tested to ensure they prevent the escape of house dust mite allergen. Look for the Allergy UK Seal of Approval™.

Now, on to the great news – I have a 3M Filtrete Air Purifier, worth £134.99, to giveaway to one lucky reader. If you or your children suffer with allergies then I urge you to enter – this product will improve your quality of life!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post. For an extra entry copy, paste and Tweet:

I’m tackling indoor allergies and entering the #FiltreteAirPurifier #Giveaway @insomniacmummy - http://wp.me/pO1G4-RQ

For more information on allergies and Indoor Allergy Week visit Allergy UK.

Terms and conditions: The competition will close at midnight, Sunday 20th November 2011, and the winner chosen at random . The winner will be contacted by email and will be required to provide name, and postal address. These details will be forwarded to the representative at Allergy UK. The prize will be posted to the winner by Allergy UK.  The competition is open to UK residents only.

If you live under my roof, it’s a prerequisite that you love trains. So, when the National Railway Museum in York offered us a VIP day out, we were obviously going to scream, ‘yes please!’

We’re no strangers the NRM. It’s somewhere we’ve visited time and time again, since the 4 year old found his walking feet.  This Sunday we bundled ourselves, and a none too resistant Grandad, into the car, for our fabulous day out.

This half term The NRM is having ‘Big fun with little trains‘. Alongside its regular exhibitions, there are lots of hands on things to do! From model making with Meccano, crafting a Halloween diorama, rides on pedal trains, miniature train rides (indoors and outdoors) and even a ride on ‘Teddy’ the steam train, there’s an abundance of things to get stuck into!

We found it hard to fit everything in to one day! The children had an absolute ball and both fell asleep on the way home…..as did I!

Here are our tips for a great day out at the NRM:

• Arrive early. The museum opens at 9:30am and tends to get busy around 11am, so early arrival means you can beat the queues for all those fab train rides!

• On a tight budget? Take a packed lunch. The museum has a good-sized indoor picnic area with large tables. We’ve used it  plenty of times before!

• Want to leave the cooking to someone else? Treat yourself to lunch in the restaurant (we had vouchers for lunch). Arrive early as it fills up quickly over lunch time. The food is fairly expensive if you’re feeding a family, as you always tend to find in museums, but is tasty nonetheless.

• If you have bags and pushchairs that you don’t need all day, there are lockers available to dump them in if you want to give your arms a rest, and the toddler’s legs a run about!

• If you want to ride on the outdoor miniature railway/road train etc, make sure you take some cash with you. The charges for these rides are minimal, but you don’t want to get caught short with a 4 year old begging for a train ride and no cash!

• If you’re taking baby, there are changing stations in both the ladies and gents toilets – a small detail but something you don’t often find!

• Parking in the museum car park is currently £9, but entry to the NRM is absolutely free, so in the scheme of things it’s a cheap day out! If you live within easy distance (we live an hour away by car) why not catch the train instead?

Bandai Ben 10 Ultimate Action Figures – The 4 year old is fast developing a fascination with all things Ben 10, and thanks to the folk at Bandai we have the beginnings of and Action figure collection! It started with the Ben 10 Ultimate 10cm Cannonbolt Action Figure and is fast expanding! I’ve a feeling there may be a few more of the sturdy figures in his birthday haul in November. A huge thumbs up from us!

Postman Pat ‘Happy Birthday Pat’ DVD – Did you know that Postman Pat turned 30 this year? Suddenly I feel very old! To celebrate this milestone as the longest running animation in the BBC, Classic Media have released ‘Happy Birthday Pat’ on DVD. The disc contains 8 fun-packed episodes and there’s an party CD included in the pack too! It’s been a favourite in our DVD player since it arrived and would make a great stocking filler this Christmas.

Thomas & Friends – Day of the Diesels Blu-ray/DVD – To say my children are Thomas fans would be a gross understatement, so when we were sent a copy of the latest Thomas & Friends movie – Day of the Diesels – it was destined to be watched non stop. The movie introduces new engines, Belle, Flynn, Den & Dart and showcases the rivalry between the Steamies and Diesels. A must for any Thomas fan!

Jumbo Games – With the weather being that bit more unpredictable and stay indoors being the activity of choice we always like to have a stock of games to keep the children entertained. Our two newest additions, courtesy of Jumbo Games, are Fireman Sam Spin & Rescue and Disney Princess Magic Wand Game.

The 4 year old loves memory games so the Fireman Sam game is very popular! Not only is he having fun but it’s one of those fab sneaky games that also teaches cognitive skills – bonus! As for the Disney Princess game, well what can I say? A talking magic wand for a little girl who adores princesses – how can you go wrong. Both will keep us entertained this winter!

If you’re fans of Lego Duplo, like we are, then you’ll want to read on….

With Christmas approaching, if you’re anything like me you’ll be beginning to wonder what on earth to treat the children to this year. We’ll be definitely adding some more Lego Duplo to our collection. Currently, if you spend £30 on Lego Duplo at Toys R Us you receive a free Duplo cuddly bear worth £10!

I think that’ll be us making a swift trip over the weekend!

Now onto the good stuff! To celebrate the exclusive Toys R Us offer, Lego Duplo are running a fabulous competition over The Lego Duplo Expert’s Blogs whereby you could find yourself winning some bumper prizes, just in time to put away for Christmas!

You could win:

First Prize (2 winners)

• 1 x Cars ‘The Pit Stop’
• 1 x Cars ‘Tokyo Racing’
• 1 x Cars ‘Agent Mater’
• 1 x Cars ‘Luigi’s Italian Place’
• 1 x My First LEGO DUPLO Set
• 1 x DUPLO Brick Box

Second Prize (3 winners)

• 1 x Cars ‘Tokyo Racing’
• 1 x Cars ‘Luigi’s Italian Place’
• 1 x DUPLO Brick Box

Third Prize (10 winners)

• 1 x My First LEGO DUPLO Set
• 1 x DUPLO Brick Box

To to enter the competition email duplocompetition@digital-outlook.com, making sure you quote INSOMNIAC MUMMY in the subject line of your email, and provide your full name and postal address. Easy peasy!

The competition closes on November 6^th and winners will be picked and notified, by Digital Outlook, soon after.

Good luck!

When the postman knocked on our door with a huge unexpected parcel, we had no idea what was inside. From its gargantuan size, we knew it promised to be something good!

The four year old eagerly peeled open the paper, then had what I can only describe as a ‘Christmas morning moment’, when he realised that inside were no fewer than four boxes of Cars 2 Lego Duplo! What little boy wouldn’t love Lightening McQueen & Mater!? The excitement instantly rubbed off on his 2 year old sister, and the mission to build it all began. I happily joined in, and between us we created a fantastic Cars 2 world!

The Pit Stop – Item 5829

Agent Mater – Item 5817

Luigis’s Italian Place – Item 5818

Tokyo Racing – Item 5819

We love Lego Duplo. It’s fantastic quality, as you’d expect from this well-loved brand, and not only is it fun to play with, it’s great for helping smaller children learn fine motor skills.

When all the other toys are banished back to the toy box, and the upstairs to the children’s bedrooms, our Duplo is the only toy we keep out in the living room. It is played with every single day, and never fails to keep them entertained! All Lego Duplo sets are fully interchangeable (did you know Duplo was fully compatible with Lego too?), so there are limitless creations to be made!

I’ve no doubt that our Cars 2 Duplo will be happily played with for many years to come!

Disclosure – As Lego Duplo Experts we receive various toys from the Lego Duplo range to review. 

Before I begin this sorry tale I feel I must let you know that this was not a ‘blogger trip’, this is not a sponsored post – this is our experience of a bought and paid for stay at The Drayton Manor Hotel. A special trip, that became especially memorable, but for all the wrong reasons….

With Big E about to start school, and a part of his childhood coming to an end, we wanted to mark it with a special treat for him. He’s always loved Thomas & Friends, so when I found out there was a hotel opening at Drayton Manor – the home of Thomas Land – I knew that this could be the perfect treat.

The Drayton Manor Hotel opened on Monday 15th August 2011, and the website boasted a four star status with all sorts of family friendly features – a Thomas themed playroom and two outside play areas among them. It looked and sounded like the perfect place for a family trip with young children, so we booked ourselves into a family room for Thursday 18th August 2011.

The website advised that check in was from 3pm onwards, so eager to get into our room, after a long day travelling from London, we arrived at 3:40pm, expecting to be able to spend the afternoon resting and playing in the advertised play areas.

When I tried to check in I was told there had been a delay and they were just awaiting the head housekeeper’s approval before the room was released for us to enter. We were asked to take a seat in reception and someone would let us know when it was ready. Time passed, 25 minutes later the children were tired and fretful, Little E needed her nappy changing, but we couldn’t find a baby changing station so I decided to queue again to find out if our room was ready, and to ask where the baby changing facilities were.

I was shocked to find that not only was our room still not ready (despite check in being from 3pm), but there were no baby changing facilities whatsoever. To add insult to injury I was told to change my child on the toilet floor! I was dumbfounded. I told them that wasn’t an option and I’d wait at the reception desk until our room was ready, and change her once we were checked in. I was assured the wait wouldn’t be long.

The advertised Thomas playroom and outside play areas simply didn’t exist. In fact, none of the outside areas were completed. Something which we really should have been told when we arrived (tellingly, references to these have now been removed from their website). Two train tracks had been set up in a coridoor, but there were no trains with them to play with. There was nothing at all for the children to do, and in an increasingly crowded reception area, they were becoming very restless.

After another 10 minutes, I asked the receptionist to check again on our room. She rang through to housekeeping who said it was ready, and we were given our room keys, breathed a sigh of relief and headed up to our room.

Upon opening the door to our room, this is the scene we were faced with:

The room hadn’t been touched since the previous guests left! There were dirty sheets and towels on the beds, and rubbish on the side tables! By this point I was shaking and in tears. I took a picture of the room and went straight to reception to ask what on earth was going on!

Behind the desk along with the receptionist was Gerry Ross – Food & Beverages Operations Manager. When shown the state our room had been released to us in they were obviously embarrassed. They were extremely apologetic and said they’d arrange an upgrade to an executive room ASAP, with a trundle bed for Little E and a single bed for Big E. Little E still hadn’t been changed, so my husband had no choice but to go and change her as best he could in our car, while Big E and I were ushered into the bar area for complimentary drinks.

Time passed, and we waited. At 5pm we were asked by the restaurant manager, Christian Green, if we’d like a complimentary meal from the buffet in the Parklands Restaurant, while we waited. We accepted gratefully, as having not yet checked in, we couldn’t go out to feed the children. The food was adequate, if not slightly over cooked (the beef was particularly dry). Christian was very polite and courteous indeed.

Unfortunately some of the other staff were clueless in basic customer service skills. When I went to get the children some desserts there were no serving implements to lift the cakes from their plates. I asked the two young staff behind the counter if there were any cake slices and they just said, “No”. I had to then prompt them to go and find me something to serve myself dessert with, as it wasn’t exactly appropriate to pick it up with my hands. I was duly presented with three huge frying pan spatulas! If I hadn’t laughed, I would’ve cried.

The restaurant manager tried to appease the children (who were by this time very fed up and tired) with crayons and paper, which was a good distraction for them for a few minutes.

Just before 7pm (four hours after check in began) we were eventually taken up to our room by the restaurant manager. When he opened the door and led us in, the children’s beds hadn’t been made up! Even with a second chance to get it right, we then had to wait for housekeeping to come back and make the bed. The room was also not an upgrade as promised, if anything it was a downgrade from our park view room, to a room with a view of nothing more than a sloping roof.

I kicked off my shoes, sat on the bed, shed a few tears and tweeted:

Within 5 minutes Gerry Ross – Food & Beverages Operations Manager – was knocking on our door. He apologised for the mix up, and when challenged about the room not being an upgrade, said that I should’ve been told there were none available, and he was sorry. He offered to refund our breakfasts and send us up some complimentary drinks. He also said he’d write a letter offering us a complimentary stay, on another date, in an executive room.

I was pleased he was trying to make amends, both he and Christian (oddly both from the catering team) were the only staff trying to address the problems, but I was still upset that our trip, that was supposed to be extra special, had been ruined and had been extremely stressful for us all. I accepted his offers and tried to relax for the rest of the evening.

I was tweeted by @DraytonManHotel who apologised again and said they hoped the next day in the park would help make up for the problems. I hoped that’d be an end to the chaos, and that the next day would be better.

Morning came and we headed down for breakfast at 9:20am. When we walked into the restaurant we were faced with a queue to be seated and a restaurant full of empty tables stacked high with previous diner’s plates.

We were asked to wait to one side for a table. The family behind us were asked the same, while what appeared to be the only waitress in the building, slowly cleared tables. Once a table was cleared (almost ten minutes later), the girl who’d taken our details at the desk proceeded to try and seat the family who were queuing behind us first! Thankfully, they pointed out that we’d been waiting longer.

The breakfast buffet left a lot to be desired. There were no pastries/muffins/croissants as advertised. The work surfaces in the cereal area were filthy and looked like they hadn’t been cleared since service began, and there was no milk. The cooked breakfast was tasty, but again, cleanliness/general tidiness on the serving area was an issue.

I sat at my breakfast table, surrounded by tables piled with dirty crockery, and cried. I’d had such high expectations of what our stay was going to be like, and at every turn we’d been let down. Even the check out experience was disappointing – no questions about our stay, plus were expected to drive our car an outer car park, even though we’d booked theme park tickets as part of our package. I refused to move the car. I’d simply had enough.

The Drayton Manor Hotel has a long, long way to go before this can be considered a 4 star experience. There are quite simply not enough staff, and those they have are in many cases, lacking adequate training and basic customer service skills. Overall our experience was appalling. It is without doubt the most stressful experience I have ever had staying in a hotel.

Update – Since the review went live I have been contacted by both Gerry Ross & the Drayton Manor PR team, both of whom were very apologetic. We have been offered a stay for two in a Presidential Suite with dinner & breakfast, subject to availability. I’m also very glad to say that baby changing facilities have now been fitted in the disabled toilets in reception. We’re grateful that both the operations team and the PR company have listened to our complaints and are hopefully taking steps to improve the service offered at the hotel.

I’m not the gambling kind.

Aside from the lottery and a single trip to a bingo hall for a friends hen night, gambling just isn’t something that floats my proverbial boat. The one time I decided to put a bet on the Grand National, the race was cancelled! I kid you not.

We’ve all seen the online bingo adverts on TV. They’re pretty hard to avoid during primetime. So, when I was asked if I’d like to dip my toes in the world of online bingo I was intrigued to see what the insatiable draw was.

Netmums Bingo is set up in partnership with Sky Bingo, and is an online bingo room/chat room. The Netmums Bingo room is available on Monday & Tuesday evenings between 8pm & 10pm, and is accessible by any player logged into the Sky Bingo site.

In order to access Sky Bingo I had to fill in an online registration form and deposit at least £5 into my new account, then using the promo code BINGO I had a further ‘bonus’ of £20 added to my account.

Armed with my £25 I logged into Sky Bingo and clicked through to the Netmums Bingo room. As a total online bingo virgin the layout seemed very confusing at first. There were a lot of elements to process – ticket buying, chat, and the games themselves which move at an incredible pace! It took a few minutes to figure out how to even begin to play.

The games vary in price per ticket from 1p per ticket upwards, and there are a minimum, maximum and sometimes fixed number of tickets you can purchase per game. With ticket prices so small it’s very easy to get carried away and buy the maximum 120 tickets on a 1p game. Each game has a prize for 1 line, 2 lines and full house, with the prize fund being increased by funds deposited into the game by the players involved.

During the game the numbers on your tickets are stamped off automatically, and tickets change colour depending on how many numbers you need to complete the game. I was very relived that I didn’t have to stamp numbers off myself, as I wouldn’t have had a hope in hell! At least the automation levelled the playing field somewhat.

The game involves no skill whatsoever, it’s simply a case of crossing your fingers and hoping your numbers are called. Once a game was in full swing the cameraderie in the chat section was great fun. There is a bit of bingo lingo to get accustomed to, and there’s always a moderator leading the chat to ensure that everything runs smoothly. When you’re one number away from a win your heart definitely beats that little bit faster!

It wasn’t long before I was winning a couple of pounds here and there with the odd line, and I even won £16 for a full house. At the end of the night I came away with £40 in my account. Not bad for a couple of hours playing bingo online.

Now, I have to say, I was extremely frugal in buying tickets. It would’ve been all too easy to fritter my money away, and very quickly too. I’m certain that the adrenaline rush a win, however small, brings is certainly addictive.

Withdrawing my winnings has proved to be far more difficult than depositing my initial £5. With £40 in my account I expected to be able to withdraw the balance back on to my registered debit card, but no. I managed to withdraw £20, then another £10, but still have £10 stuck in my account which I cannot withdraw. I’ve had my flirtation with Sky Bingo, and now I’d quite like my winnings and for us to part ways once more.

The bottom line – would I recommend Netmums Bingo? Yes and no. Unless you’re very good a quitting when you’re ahead, I’d say no. I saw plenty of people leave the game because they’d quickly run out of cash. It’s very easy to get carried away with what seems like small amounts of money, but played at speed, these soon add up. Of course, if you have a few pounds that you don’t mind losing in the name of fun, then go for it!

I am a member of the Netmums Blogging Network, a unique community of parent bloggers from around the UK who have been handpicked by the Netmums team to review products and brands on their behalf. I am paid an expenses fee to cover my time but Netmums have no editorial control whatsoever over what I blog about. Being a member of the Netmums Blogging Network means that I get to try out products and brands and get my expenses covered but that I retain full editorial integrity.

With that long awaited summer holiday just around the corner, I’m betting that just like me *cough* you’re probably in a sudden fit of panic wondering how on earth you’re going to fit your derriere into that new designer bikini?

Fear not! There is a way! And I may have just the little bit of the help you need…

Courtesy of the lovely folk at XBox I have a copy of ‘Your Shape: Fitness Evolved‘ for XBox Kinect to giveaway to one lucky reader.

‘Your Shape: Fitness Evolved’ takes the world of fitness gaming up a notch. With Kinect for XBox it uses the most advanced fitness technology available for your workout, whether you want to be taken through your places by a personal trainer, do a full latin workout session or simply have fun with some fitness games . Plus unlike any fitness DVD, you can download new workouts from XBox Live on Game Marketplace , so your workout can be as new and varied as you choose!

If you’d like to be in with a chance of winning a copy all you have to do is:

Leave a comment by midnight on Sunday 3rd July 2011 and tell me how you keep yourself in shape. Plus for an extra entry copy, paste and tweet the following:

I’m fighting fit to win the #XBoxYourShape #competition @InsomniacMummy – http://bit.ly/ml8KQl

Good luck!

Terms and conditions: The competition will close at midnight, Sunday 3rd July 2011, and the winner, chosen using a random number generator, announced the following day. The winner will be contacted by email and will be required to provide name,  and postal address. The prize will be posted to the winner.  The competition is open to UK residents only.

There’s nothing nicer than arriving home after a long day at work to find flowers as gorgeous and wonderfully scented as these beauties from Interflora sitting on your windowsill!

A huge thank you to the wonderful florists at Bouquets and to Interflora for brightening my day up no end!

Disclosure – Interflora sent me these gorgeous flowers free of charge.

Alongside flower delivery London and Worldwide Interflora are also stocking a fantastic range of father’s day gifts.

If your children are anything like mine they probably spend half their time wanting to play with whatever toy the other one has.

So, when I find a toy that they can actually play with together without wrestling one another to the ground for ‘dibs’ it means they’re happy, and I can give the auto pilot, “Stop! No! Give her it back! Share please!” commands a break, and breathe a huge sigh of relief!

When we were asked to review the Chad Valley Blocks – Mega Pack I knew before it even arrived that we’d be on to a winner!

I sat back and watched, late one afternoon, as the husband and both children excitedly opened the parcel. The box itself large enough to fit both children inside with room to spare! The blocks were hurriedly emptied on to the floor as they decided between them what was to be built.

At first, in my mind 86 blocks didn’t sound like enough to me, but when you consider that these are huge in comparision to similar smaller scale brick toys, 86 was more than ample. With Daddy’s help, they created a shop front with a roof and a counter, and had just as much fun taking it all apart again!

Suitable for children aged 12 months upwards, the blocks themselves are good quality. Made from plastic, they are sturdy yet light weight and the corners are rounded off so there are no sharp edges to worry about when the tall tower (they will inevitably build!) comes tumbling down. They can be used either indoors or outdoors, for some summer fun.

We’ve given the Chad Valley Blocks – Mega Pack a big thumbs up and I’m sure they’ll live quite happily on the decking this summer!

This is a review post.

I’m partial to the odd lengthy stroll or two….

Anyone who’s ever set off on an hike of any kind knows that the right equipment is absolutely essential. When you’re carrying everything you need on your back, your rucksack has to be sturdy but lightweight, and big enough to fit in the essentials without being bulky.

A few weeks ago, when we were in the organisational stages of ‘The Miles for Mencap Challenge‘ I heard that Chelston Direct were looking for reviewers for the Beyond Dart 22L Daypack. Perfect, I thought. Just the piece of kit one of our walkers could do with!

Made by Gelert, the Beyond Dart 22 Litre Daypack is ideal for carrying those vital pieces of equipment up and down hills. It is hydration pack compatible and has ergonomically shaped, padded shoulder straps for extra comfort. The sliding chest strap offers additional support and there is plenty of room inside the daypack. There is even space on the outside to securely attach walking poles and a bungee mesh and side pockets to store those bits and pieces you need to grab in a hurry.

As with any daypack or rucksack, it’s important that you try it on before you walk any distance in it to check for comfort, fit and possible chafing. As someone who is short in height but blessed *cough* in the chest department, I didn’t find the fit as comfortable as my usual rucksack. The taller ladies in the group found the fit much more comfortable than I, so it made sense that one of them used the daysack for our walk.

The Beyond Dart 22L Daypack certainly stood up to the elements and made it through some fairly tough conditions. From scaling crags, to hail and heavy rain, it withstood every situation, was comfortable, and spacious for more than enough equipment including water, food, spare clothing, waterproofs and even a make-up bag! There was room still to spare. For a bag much cheaper than others in this category, it certainly exceeded all our expectations.

The Beyond Dart 22L Daypack Rucksack certainly gets a big thumbs up from us and is available from Chelston Direct for £22.99.

This is a review post.

We’re big Lego Duplo fans round these parts, so being Lego Duplo Experts obviously has its benefits!

And, when I say ‘we’ I don’t just mean the children, the husband is pretty smitten too! A few days ago the postman knocked with a parcel that I knew would go down a storm with the three of them…

The brown paper was ripped open and to the obvious delight of Big E, inside was a Lego Duplo Police Station (Item 5681) for him and Little E to put through its paces! The pieces were unpacked, the instructions read, and within a few minutes, between them, he and Daddy had created their masterpiece. Along came Little E to add a few ‘special’ finishing touches of her own and away they played.

This is an impressive play set which includes the Police Station, a cell (complete with sink!) for locking up ‘the baddies’, three policemen, a robber, a helicopter, a police car with lights and siren, and a motor bike. Suitable for children aged 2 plus, as with all Lego Duplo, it’s fully interchangeable with other sets (including it’s older sibling Lego) and is a great addition to any collection.

Little E got so carried away that she may have incarcerated her poor Minnie Mouse in the cell. Who knew Minnie could be so bad!?

Both the husband and I have memories of playing with Lego Duplo as children, so for our own children to be able to play and learn with it on the same way as we did is really special. Both the brand and the toys themselves have endured the test of time. How often do you throw Lego Duplo away because it’s broken. I’m guessing never, right?

Lego Duplo allows my children’s imaginations to run riot, from construction and role play, houses and cars, robots, cakes and much much more, there’s nothing that they can’t build with the fabulous little bricks! They’re a great pre-school learning tool too, we’ve often used them to help the children learn their colours, and with Big E to help him learn to count.

There are a thousand and one ways to play!

Now, you must excuse me, serious business to deal with – Little E has just taken a very important call from Minnie Mouse’s Lawyers regarding her being ‘locked up’…

Disclosure – As Lego Duplo Experts we receive various toys from the Lego Duplo range to review. Lego Duplo are also my CyberMummy 2011 sponsor.

I’m a sensitive flower *cough*.

When it comes to stepping out in the sunshine, you’re more likely to find me covered head to toe in a full body UV suit than topping up my tan in a bikini. Being as pure white as the driven snow means the sun and I aren’t exactly easy bed fellows, and it’s not just my freckled skin I like to protect, my eyes are always fully UV protected too.

Last year we were kindly sent three pairs of Polaroid Polarized Sunglasses to review as a family. All three pairs are still going strong, with the children’s pairs always causing a stir when we’re out and about. Apparently toddlers in cool pink shades are quite cute. Who knew?

This year I’ve been lucky enough to receive another pair!  ‘Honey’ have a fabulously feline eye shape, and golden fleck detailing on the brow line. Shimmering with 50′s influences, these shades ooze glamour.

As you’d expect with a brand like Polaroid, the sunglasses very are well made and offer 100% UV400 protection from the sun’s damaging rays. Plus with filter category 3 Polaroid Ultrasight premium polarized lenses they also offer excellent anti-glare protection – a must for driving (or being chauffeured) in the sunshine.

They can be purchased from Polaroid Polarized Sunglasses for £59.99, which for glasses that offer this level of protection and style, is a great price! There are plenty of other great styles to choose from too.

Polaroid Polarized Sunglasses definitely get a big thumbs up from us! Now you must excuse me while I waft off looking like a glamour puss in my fabulous shades, darling….

This is a review post.

It’s got to be said, my affections are pretty easily won over with good food and a bit of pampering.

I’m not taking gourmet meals and spa days (although that would be lovely), even the simplest pleasures can make my day. I’d like to send out to some thank yous to a few companies who’ve put a smile on my face recently.

A while back the children and I were invited on a day out by Nutella, but work commitments meant we were unable to attend. I’d forgotten all about it until one Friday evening I returned from work to find a huge wicker basket of gorgeous fresh bread had been delivered, all courtesy of Nutella!

That weekend we breakfasted on lovely soft bread, spread with Nutella and topped with sliced banana. It was a real treat, and even low in WeightWatchers ProPoints (only 1 ProPoint for 2 teaspoons).

Happy faces all round!

Continuing with the breakfast theme, the fab people at Innocent sent us a lovely bag filled with apples, cereal and a carafe each of smooth orange juice and apple juice from their new juice range. The apple was a particular favourite, and was gone almost as soon as it was opened!

These juices are more than your average breakfast fix, they contain only juice, no concentrate, no sugar, no added nasties, just delicious pure fruit juice, which of course all counts towards those all important ’5 a day’.

Cue more smiles from us!

Then on to the pampering. One morning, whilst having a moan about the weather and my hair (as you do) on Twitter, as if by magic, I was offered some organic hair care products from Aubrey Organics to tame my unruly mane! Don’t mind if I do, I thought, and a couple of days later arrived a parcel containing a bottle of Aubrey Organics Island Naturals Replenishing Shampoo and Jojoba & Aloe Desert Herb Revitalising Conditioner.

I have to say, I love the shampoo! So many shampoos these days are chemically enhanced to within an inch of their lives, but putting this shampoo on my hair really did feel like I was pampering myself. The shampoo has a wonderful spiced mango scent and left my hair smelling and looking wonderful!

There’s nothing like a good hair day to put a smile on a girl’s face!

This is a mini review post.

When you live under my roof, it’s practically the law that you must worship all things Thomas and Friends.

Little E, being born with an obsessed older brother, had no choice in the matter, but as many little girls do, has recently been developing a love of all things pink and girly.

When the fabulous folk at HIT Entertainment (the home of none other than Thomas himself) asked if we’d like to review the new Angelina Ballerina DVD ‘Pop Star Girls’, we (and more specifically Little E) were more than happy to oblige.

Those familiar with Angelina Ballerina will no doubt be aware she is based on the books by Katharine Hollabird, illustrated by Helen Craig. The ‘prancing mouse’ has been many a little girl’s introduction into the world of ballet and dancing.

In the new release ‘Pop Star Girls’ Angelina has undergone the same CGI makeover as her stable mates Thomas and Fireman Sam. The animation purists will probably prefer the old Angelina Ballerina, but with ‘Pop Star Girls’ being our introduction into Angelina’s world, we didn’t feel bereft and nostalgic for the old Angelina.

Both children (yes, Big E too) love this DVD. The running time is 60 minutes, with 5 fun packed episodes on the disc. I’m not exaggerating when I say that they’ve asked to watch an episode everyday in the last couple of weeks! The stories keep them entertained, and they particularly enjoy the music and dancing. Little E’s developed quite a passion for Angelina. So much so, that we’re going to be buying her some Angelina related gifts for her second birthday!

We’re absolutely positively giving Pop Star Girls a big thumbs up and can’t wait for Angelina’s next DVD release!

Angelina Ballerina ‘Pop Star Girls’ is available from all major retailers and HIT Store UK with an RRP of £12.99.

This is a review post.

With spring dragging its heels this year and the cold weather clinging on for dear life, getting out in the cold air has become a bit like wrapping up for a Siberian trek! Hat, coats, gloves and winter boots are a must and with a toddler in a pram a footmuff is essential.

Until recently our main pram was bereft of a footmuff, and we’d been using a fleece blanket instead. No mean feat when you have a wriggly 21 month old to contend with who insists of repeatedly throwing the blanket off her legs! So, when we were offered a Buggysnuggle to review we grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

The Buggysnuggle is one of those must have baby items that I’ve coveted since becoming a parent. Made from four layers of top quality polar fleece it’s the perfect accessory to keep your baby or toddler snuggly warm. The ‘new’ design  fits most prams and can be used year round, in winter as a footmuff and in warmer weather the top half can be zipped off with the bottom half used as a comfy seat liner.

With over 40 eyecatching designs to choose from and machine washable fabric, it’ll always look fabulous whichever style you decide to go for!

We decided our late winter/early spring week away with the family was the perfect opportunity to put the Buggysnuggle through its paces and it did not disappoint. Much of our week was spent outdoors, enjoying the spring air which in the UK in March is often bracing to say the least!

Little E remained cosy in her Buggysnuggle in spite of the frosty mornings and choppy breeze. She even managed to snooze in the pram, which never usually happens! I’m putting this down to the fact that Buggysnuggle was so comfortable and snug. There was more than one occasion when I wished I could join her under those warm fleece layers!

The Buggysnuggle is without a doubt a product that I’d heartily recommend. Now all I need is a matching Mummy sized Sofasnuggle….

This is a review post.

As a parent of two children with mild eczema I’m constantly searching for products that are gentle on their often fickle skin.

We never know when a new product is going to cause an eczema flare up. It’s always random and often frustrating, for us and them!

When we were asked to review Simply Pure Non-bio Powder-tabs for the Netmums Blogging Network I was very happy to see that the product was not only eco friendly, but also fragrance free, hypoallergenic and approved by the National Eczema Society. On first impressions I was expecting to be able to give Simply Pure a definite thumbs up.

Having sensitive skin myself, we decided that before washing the children’s clothes in Simply Pure, we’d first wash mine and the husbands. Usually, if I have a reaction then we know not to even attempt to try a product out on the children. So we were relieved when my skin had no problems at all adjusting to the change in detergent.

We were certainly impressed with the cleaning power of Simply Pure. It did the same job as our usual detergent, and I actually preferred more subtle un-perfumed smell.

It was all going so well….

After the initial thumbs up we then washed all the children’s clothes in Simply Pure, packed our suitcases and went off on hoilday, the children sporting a full outfit each washed in the new detergent. By the time we arrived at our destination Little E’s limbs were covered in an itchy rash and Big E was complaining too.

We bathed them, doused them head to foot in Diprobase, crossed our fingers and hoped it would pass. Unfortunately, for Little E the itching was so intense that she spent much of the first night of our holiday screaming blue murder. We ended up booking her an emergency doctors appointment via the on-site medical centre and getting her a prescription for Piriton to ease the itching and Eumovate to clear the rash.

Not exactly the way we’d envisaged spending our holiday. It also meant that for the first two days we were unable to take her swimming.

I’m happy to report that a week down the line both the children are fine and no permanent harm done, but our experience does mean that I am unfortunately unable to recommend Simply Pure Non-bio Powder-tabs.

I am a member of the Netmums Blogging Network, a unique community of parent bloggers from around the UK who have been handpicked by the Netmums team to review products and brands on their behalf. I am paid an expenses fee to cover my time but Netmums have no editorial control whatsoever over what I blog about. Being a member of the Netmums Blogging Network means that I get to try out products and brands and get my expenses covered but that I retain full editorial integrity.

There are some toys that stand the test of time. That are played with from generation to generation. Toys that barely change yet still manage to capture the imagination of children whether they were born in the 1970 or 2010.

Lego is one of those brands.

Etched into every parent’s consciousness, those familiar brightly coloured bricks are a staple in toy boxes across the world. Of course, our household is no exception. We’re big Lego Duplo fans, which as it turns out is quite handy, since we’ve been lucky enough to be asked to be Lego Duplo Experts!

We’d already built up quite a collection on our own. We love Lego Duplo because it’s suitable for both Big & Little E. It’s not a gender specific toy and can be enjoyed by children from 18 months upwards, so it’s just right for my two to play with together.

Our first parcel from Lego Duplo fitted in perfectly with our collection, so much so that I had almost bought the same set only a few days previously!

The Lego Duplo Large Brick Box (Item 5506) and the Lego Duplo Baby Zoo (Item 4962) are played with here on an almost daily basis. The larger bricks are just right for Little E’s tiny hands and although she’s not yet 2 years old she enjoys building towers and playing with the zoo animals. That’s if she can grapple any bricks away from Big E, who can be found building castles, cars, trains, dinosaurs, robots and all manner of weird and wonderful things.

That’s the beauty of Lego Duplo, it’s great for little imaginations and the possibilities are endless!

This is a sponsored post. A huge thank you to Lego Duplo who are my official CyberMummy 2011 sponsor.

Grocery shopping. It’s one of those necessary evils that the ‘fairies’ take care of in our house.

I remember the days BC (Before Children) when grocery shopping was decadent task. There was no need to think ahead. No menu planning to be done. We’d just eat what we fancied when fancied it, and if the cupboard was bare? Takeaway, all the way.

These days, with spare time being scarce and every second of every day planned with almost military precision, you can find me each and every Sunday afternoon, planning the following week’s menus and ordering my groceries online. There is no time to idly meander around the supermarket aisles, no extra cash to splurge on dinner out. All I’m interested in is getting good food in our bellies, for the best value I can.

Like most people I have certain brands that I favour, and tend to stick with week in, week out. So when Ocado asked me if I’d like to sample their new range I grabbed the opportunity with both hands!

I’ve always associated Ocado with Waitrose, and Waitrose with expense, which means I’d normally write Ocado off as out of our price range. It seems I was very wrong! Ocado recently launched its own range of groceries, simply named The Ocado Range.  Billed as an ‘extensive range of supermarket must haves’, just take a look at what we received, courtesy of the lovely folk at Ocado, that cost a mere £52.31.

• Broccoli
• Wild Rocket
• 2 Salmon Fillets
• British Beef Mince
• Chicken & Mushroom Slices
• Chunky Tomato Salsa Dip
• French Ripening Brie
• Houmous
• Mild Cheddar
• Parma Ham
• Pink Lady Apples
• Roast Ham
• Sour Cream & Chive Dip
• Spanish Chorizo
• Cheese & Tomato Foccacia
• Ciabatta Style Artisan Baguette
• Wholemeal Split Tin Loaf
• Vine Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Easy Peel Clementines
• 3 Mixed Peppers
• Fair Trade Bananas
• Potatoes
• 4 Tins of Baked Beans
• Bakewell Slices x 3
• Chocolate Bean Cookies x 4
• Italian Tomato Puree
• Penne Pasta
• Spaghetti
• A bunch of Fairtrade Yellow Roses

This little lot was delivered by a very polite gentleman, and we managed to dine on it for almost a week! We made (with the help of a few store cupboard ingredients) Parma ham & tomato bruschetta, Thai style salmon with rocket salad, spaghetti bolognese, roasted vegetable and chorizo pasta, beans on toasted wholemeal bread, focaccia bread pizzas, and the children enjoyed the chicken and mushroom slices with vegetables for lunch on Saturday afternoon.

It’s been a while since we’ve managed to eat for a week on less than £60, and these aren’t your bargain basement choices, the Ocado range offers excellent quality foods at very affordable prices, especially when you consider that the roses alone were £9.99, the single biggest expense on the receipt!

We’re more than impressed with both the quality and the prices of the range, in fact we felt positively spoilt rotten!

Guess where our shopping is coming from again this week…..

This is a sponsored post.

Technology changes at such a fast pace these days. It seems like only yesterday the mobile phone was simply for texting and talking, and people navigated a journey using the good old fashioned A to Z.

Not so much anymore.

These days smart phones are causing us to completely rethink the way we use our mobile phones. Calling and texting are a given. Now we want to be wowed with apps, astonished by the phone’s photographic capabilities, led safely on our journey by first class sat nav, and listen to our favourite music. Not to mention watch film & TV, organise our diaries, make our presence known on social media, and access the internet wherever and whenever we want. Nothing is too much to ask!

Any smart phone worth its money should become indispensable.

When we were lucky enough to be sent a Nokia N8 to review I was keen to see if it could compare with my usual (and some might say ubiquitous) iphone. Would I be tempted to ditch my precious iphone in favour of the Nokia N8? Would the husband and I disagree over it? Maybe….

The Nokia N8 is a great looking piece of kit. It’s sleek, and light and has a good sized touch screen.  The GPS is very sensitive and is far better than our actual in car sat nav system. Own Voice,  Ovi Maps voice personalisation tool, allowed us to get rid of the annoying woman on the sat nav, and instead replace her less than dulcet tones with the rather more cute and amusing tones of our 4 year old son!

Hearing the words, “Turn left NOOOOW Daddy!” is so much less enraging and made us listen to the sat nav, rather than switch off and get lost less than a mile from home *ahem*. You can also upload your ‘voice pack’ to Ovi Maps to share with the world, or you can keep it just for yourself.

The camera on the N8 is no less than fantastic! Boasting 12 mega pixels with a xenon flash, it can record video in 720p HD. That’s pretty astonishing for a phone. You can edit your videos on the phone and watch them on your own TV, in HD, using the HDMI connection. To put this in perspective, my brother, who owns his own production company, bought the N8 because of it’s camera capabilities!

As someone who used to use Nokia handsets a lot, I remembered them being fairly intuitive to use. Uh-oh, for me, this was the major stumbling block. The Nokia N8 seemed quite ‘clunky’ to use. There were excessive layers in the menus, which I found endlessly frustrating and time consuming. It just didn’t ‘flow’ for me.

Overall we liked the Nokia N8, the husband more so than I. He’d be quite happy using it as his regular phone. I, on the other hand, can’t quite get over the few niggles I had. Is the Nokia N8 indispensable? I’m not so sure. If only the iphone had a camera like this….

This is a review post.

I’m not a natural gamer. That’s the husband’s department.

The prospect of spending hours twiddling my thumbs while staring at a TV screen doesn’t exactly fill me with glee. So, when we were asked to become Xbox Family Ambassadors I was intrigued to see if Xbox could convince me that their console was indeed ‘family friendly’.

In recent years, other games consoles had really stepped up to the plate and made leaps and bounds out of the ‘boy’s only’ market, into a more interactive market, focussed not only on the adolescent boy and twenty something lad, but aimed at women and families too. The advent of social gaming and health & fitness gaming sparked a whole new level of interest. Suddenly I found myself wanting a games console, and among my female friends I was not alone. But, all the while Xbox was still the brand I thought of as ‘boys own’.

Not anymore!

At the end of last year, Xbox released it’s radical new technology, Kinect. Kinect is a motion sensor that puts you fully in control of your console. You no longer need a remote control of any kind. You are the controller! After the initial calibration you’ll soon find yourself flicking through menu screens like Tom Cruise in Minority Report, and controlling your Xbox with voice commands and motion. This really is the stuff of the future, and I like it. A lot!

I’m not exaggerating when I say the Xbox Kinect is revolutionary in the world of gaming. From being at the bottom of the family friendly, interactive, and social gaming pile, it has catapulted Xbox firmly to the top.

The controls are so intuitive that even my 4 year old can play with ease! He runs, jumps, kicks and rolls around to control his pet tiger in the fantastic ‘Kinectimals’ and has almost beaten his Daddy at bowling on ‘Kinect Sports’. We still can’t figure out how he gets so much left handed spin when he scores the most amazing strikes!

The Xbox Kinect is exactly what family gaming should be about. It’s social, interactive, makes exercising a blast, makes you take your butt off the sofa, and removes gaming from the realm of  the sedentary and un-healthy, to a hobby that can actually become a workout for both your body and mind, no matter what your age.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that our love affair with the Kinect has only just begun!

This is a review post. As part of the Xbox Family Ambassador Programme we were given and Xbox 360 with Kinect Motion Sensor plus various games.

I’ve always loved the idea of having a playhouse for the children, but with limited space it was never an option for us. Or so I thought. That was until we were given the opportunity to review the Tube Town Gingerbread House.

The Tube Town Gingerbread House is a revolutionary new playhouse from The Ninja Corporation which inflates in just two minutes. Made from heavy duty polyester material, and its frame made from double layer air filled tubes, it’s perfect for indoors and outdoors.

We’ve been giving our Gingerbread House some pretty regular and rigorous testing! Firstly, we attempted the 2 minute inflation challenge. I was very sceptical so sat with my stop watch as the husband did the ‘hard work’, but 1 min 56 seconds later, after using the high volume pump provided, we had a fully inflated Gingerbread House and had two extremely eager children ready to dive in!

Suitable for children aged 3+, the Tube Town Gingerbread House is a fairly substantial size (inflated 135cm high x 90cm wide x 125cms long) . It’s certainly big enough for my two children and at a squeeze their 6′ 4″ Daddy. They’ve played for hours with this toy every single time we’ve had it out, and will often cry when I insist that Mummy wants her lounge back!

The Tube Town Gingerbread House makes a great den and is brilliant for imaginative play. It would be a perfect playroom accessory for any family. The fact that it can be deflated in minutes (yes really, thanks to a quick release valve) means it never has to take up space for longer than you want it to and it can be stored away very easily in its own little storage bag.

No poles, no lengthy instructions, no fuss! Simply pump up, play all day and pack away!

Retailing at £49.99, it’s not exactly cheap, but it is worth every penny! Tube Town also have a spectacular Disney Princess Castle for £69.99! We’ll be using our Gingerbread House both indoors and outdoors with the pegs provided, in the garden, for a long while to come!

There’s nothing quite so sweet as watching your child singing. Especially when they haven’t exactly grasped language yet.

Little E, my youngest at 18 months, loves nothing more than singing and dancing to ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, especially the version on an album ‘Lullaby’, which we were kindly given to review earlier this year. We absolutely adored the album, and were thrilled when the people at the Rainbow Collections, sent us two more CDs to complete the collection.

Toybox is the second album in the trilogy from Zero 7′s singer Sophie Barker and producer KK. Filled with favourite nursery rhymes such as ‘Ring A Ring O’ Roses’, ‘Old MacDonald’, ‘If you’re Happy and You Know It’ this CD is so much more than your usual brash sounding children’s music. Rich sounds, often bewitching arrangements, and Sophie Barker’s velvety tones, make this beautiful album easy on the adult ear and a treat for children.

To complete The Rainbow Collections, ‘Snowflake’ is a wonderful collection of old and new Christmas songs. From classics like ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, to nativity staple ‘Little Donkey’ and the sing along loveliness of ‘Jingle Bells’, yet again Sophie Barker and KK, bring their own special magical twist to these well known festive favourites.

Both CDs are accompanied by beautifully illustrated songbooks and make a wonderful addition to any little one’s music collection.

Fancy getting your hands on a copy of ‘Toybox’ as the perfect stocking filler this Christmas? Look no further! I have a copy to giveaway to one luck reader! All you have to do is leave a comment below and tell me your earliest memory of music.

For an extra entry copy, paste and tweet the following:

I’m entering The Rainbow Collections #ToyBoxCD #Giveaway @InsomniacMummy – http://wp.me/pO1G4-z3

Good luck!

Terms & Conditions: Entries are limited to one comment and five tweets per person. The giveaway will close on Wednesday 15th December at 11:59pm. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator and announced the following day. Giveaway open to UK residents only.

Remember back in the 80′s when the most technologically advanced Christmas gift Santa delivered was Major Morgan? My, my, my how times have changed!

These days my both my 4 year old and 18 month old can play games on my iPhone with ease, with the 4 year old also developing a budding interesting taking photos and recording short videos. So, when the people at Argos contacted me and asked me if I’d like to review the Vtech Kidizoon Video Camera, I could’ve kissed them!

The Vtech Kidizoom Video Camera is one of Argos’  ‘Top Ten Toys for Christmas‘. Suitable for children aged 4+, it’s a little miracle of modern technology. Retailing at £59.99 and available in blue or pink, it’s incredibly robust, yet perfect for small hands to hold. The controls are simplistic, and the technology is brilliant! It records VGA movies, can take real 2.0 megapixel photos and has a 256MB internal memory, which can be expanded with an SD card.

Not only can you record digital video and take photographs, you can also edit your videos, add effects and animations, plus with the in built face recognition technology you can virtually ‘custard pie’ your family and friends. There are also three fun games to play. I cannot sing the praises of this toy enough!

Want to get your hands on one? Well here’s your chance!

Courtesy of Argos (who provide a wide range of toys including Lego and Barbie Dolls), I have a fabulous Vtech Kidizoom Video Camera, in either pink or blue, to giveaway to one lucky reader. To enter all you have to do is leave a comment below. Plus, for an extra entry, copy, paste and tweet the text below:

I’m entering the #ArgosVtech Kidizoom Video Camera #Giveaway @InsomniacMummy – http://wp.me/pO1G4-xR

Good Luck!

Terms and conditions: Entries are limited to five per person (one comment and 4 tweets). The competition will close at 11:59pm, Saturday 4th December 2010, and the winner, chosen using a random number generator, announced the following day. The winner will be contacted by email. The prize includes one Vtech Kidizoom Video Camera in either blue or pink. The winner’s details will be passed on to Argos, who will contact you directly to arrange your prize. The competition is open to UK residents only.