We have our annual West Yorkshire Egg Rolling Championships coming up where family and friends gather to eat, drink and roll our beautiful eggs.  This along with grandparents and other family offerings means that by the end of the day the house is teeming with chocolate eggs.

Don’t get me wrong, we love chocolate, I love chocolate.  And that is where the problem lies.  If there is chocolate in the house I have to eat it.

Which is why these Playmobil Gift Eggs are a great idea. It’s a large plastic shell which doubles up as a money box with a toy inside.  We’re going to give them to our friends for Easter. It’s my good deed, saving a friend’s parent from gorging themselves on chocolate.

Me?  I’ll just have to suffer.

Available in blue, green, red and pink and only £5.99, there’s something special for everyone. Available to buy from: Toys R Us, John Lewis, the Playmobil online shop playmobil.co.uk  and other good toy shops.

Greeted by a fire-breathing dragon, bright colours, Lego at every turn and a talking lift the hotel is perfectly aimed at children. The reception has a wall of 5000 unique Minifigures and there’s a huge play pit of Lego.

The rooms are all themed, we were pirates. From the carpet, the wallpaper, gift bags and little Lego animals adorning the walls there are lots of little touches that just made the children’s stay extra special. There was a treasure chest with a combination lock which you the children could only open once they had answered four questions about our room.  The childrens’ sleeping area and the parents’ area is separated by the bathroom, giving you a bit of privacy and the bunk bed, wall puzzles and flat screen TV were a bonus.

The opening night saw us having dinner in Bricks Restaurant followed by drinks in the bar as the children played in the play area. It was great to spend time with Tara, Becky and their families.  The children finally got to meet each other and got along really well. The character breakfasts were fun and I had one of my all time ambitions realised when I had my hair ruffled by a Star Wars Stormtrooper.

When we arrived we slowly realised that there were also some celebrities staying at the hotel. I’d like to say that these celebrity spottings passed without incident but that would be a lie;

• Whereas I managed not to run up to Vic Reeves and rub my thighs, The Husband managed to say ‘UVAVU’ rather loudly as he sat behind us in the bar.
• The 7 year old’s face when she saw Dom from Dick and Dom was a picture especially when he posed for a picture with her. I may have stood slightly closer to Tom Hardy’s beard than is polite in a public place.
• Tim Minchin was a star and posed with English Mum and her handsome boys.
• The 6 year old looked in awe as Warwick Davis walked past.
• When I spotted a famous comedian in the reception area I started texting my sister ‘OMG, Dom Joly is here’. It was in fact Micheal McIntyre.
• Another text to her said ‘Tom Hardy, Zoe Ball, Warwick Davis, Michael McIntyre, Warwick Davis, Tim Minchin, Jeff Brazier & Philippe Firewater are in the building’. Just for the record, predictive text, Philippe Firewater is in fact Philippa Forrester.

We spent the following day in Legoland, which is accessed from the hotel.  As residents of the hotel we got an extra hour in the park before the general public descended.  I’m putting this down to bad organisation on the first day of the season … but no one in the park seemed to be aware of this and we struggled to find any rides that were open before 10. Favourite rides included Atlantis, Laser Raiders, the Dragon rollercoaster and the Driving School where the children earned their driving license by driving sensibly, although we did witness some road rage incidents. The Vikings’ River Splash was great fun, and as designated chaperone to the smaller children, and with an exceptionally wet bottom I vetoed the third round.  Take emergency ponchos … unless you like having a wet bum.

We had a great stay at the Legoland Hotel, it was a dream come true for the children, and we all returned home exhausted.

A themed family room at the Legoland Hotel in Windsor – sleeping two adults and up to three children – is from £247 per night. That includes breakfast and park tickets for TWO days including special legoland benefits such as early ride time. Book on Legoland.co.uk or call 0845 373 2640.

I’d forgotten all about Not On The High Street contacting me a couple of weeks ago asking if I wanted  to review something on their site. I did remember though that it took hours of deliberating to decide what to get.  The website is full to brimming with beautiful bespoke gifts, jewellery, homeware, prints and lots of funky, pretty things that I am now coveting.

This “Rules To Live By” print looks fantastic in our kitchen, I’m calling it the Driver Manifesto. We can all get something from this, there are lots of good messages in there which will hopefully rub off on the children.

I make no bones, my head has been off somewhere else this past week.  I’ve been glum, unable to find the happy … just not myself, but this made me smile a little smile. I think maybe I need to study it a bit harder, particularly the bit that says ‘Accept that sometimes life is not fair’ and ‘Always think positively and laugh lots’.

I think everyone needs reminding, every now and again, about the rules to live by.

Polly Price’s Totally Secret Diary : On Stage in America by Dee Shulman. Published in paperback, by Red Fox, February 02, 2012, priced £4.99

Polly Price is SO embarrassed by her actor mother, who loves to draw attention to herself and hog the limelight. Now Polly’s worst nightmare has come true as her mother heads to America to appear in a stage show and Polly has to go with her! Not only that, but she’s forced to hang around with the young stars of the show, who aren’t exactly lining up to be her friends. Read Polly’s wonderfully funny diary as she records the mishaps and mayhem backstage, before all of a sudden the spotlight is on her!

The 7 year old loved reading this “funny and exciting” book, she really enjoyed the cartoon format illustrations. Each page is set out like a diary with illustrations and handwritten notes. She found it difficult to put down, reading it in two evenings, before bed.  Since finishing the book the 7 year old has picked it up several times to read again and is now pestering me for the other books in the series … Polly Price’s Totally Secret Diary: Reality TV Nightmare … and then we’ll have to wait until August for the next one … Polly Price’s Totally Secret Diary: Mum In Love.

We would definitely recommend this book for anyone aged 7 upwards and we look forward to more books in the series.

My wife and I were very pleased to given a Morphy Richards Flavour Savour slow cooker to try out. It seemed a convenient way of cooking meals for our still busy life; despite being of retirement age I still work as a driving instructor and returning home late at night is a way of life. So it’s wonderful to walk in the front door to a house suffused with appetising smells an evening meal that is ready whatever the hour.

Our lives follow the traditional pattern; my wife cooks and I don’t. But fascinated by this new piece of kitchen equipment I decided to road test it myself. As a cook I am more Michelin tyre than Michelin Star. My signature dish is Chilli con Carne and my other edible dish is scrambled eggs.

As luck would have it Chilli con Carne seemed ideal to put the Morphy Richards Flavour Savour slow cooker to the test. Prior to my career as a driving instructor I spent over 40 years as a professional designer. With my designer head on I was struck by the elegant shape which not only makes the cooker look good on the kitchen work top (alongside our Morphy Richards kettle and toaster) but makes the pan very easy to clean. There is also the clever practicality of the way the pan can be separated from the heating component to be used on a separate hob. Although I have only delved into the manual as far as the ‘Easy set-up guide’ I found the instructions easy to follow and the digital display simple to understand with numbers big enough to see without my spectacles.

I browned the mince and onions, threw in the kidney beans and plum tomatoes and sprinkled the powder stuff gave it a quick stir and left it to slow cook and set off to visit a member of our family to help out with a small crisis. Fortunately, I had set the cooking timer for eight hours; predictably resolving such predicaments are subject to mission creep. So when we did eventually arrive back home we enjoyed a beautifully cooked meal.

While writing this I have ventured further into the instruction booklet and discovered some interesting menus which I think I will try out. Perhaps I may be awarded three Michelin tyres.

I have a love hate relationship with school uniform. I love that the children all look the same, cutting out any decisions about what to wear in the morning. But I hate the palaver that comes with it; That being growing children, stains and school lost property. After 4 years I’ve worked out that certain things need more money spending on than others;

White polo shirts – come home covered in the nuclear school dinner sauce of the day and/or mud from lying on the floor during playtime (still not sure why lying on the floor is necessary). The appearance of ‘stain away’ polo shirts amused me a few years ago, absolute codswallop.  No protective barrier could see off the school spaghetti bolognese. So now I buy quantity over quality.

Cardigans and Jumpers – I prefer to spend a little more on knitwear. Due to my childrens’ scatterbrain nature they regularly come home without the cardigan or jumper they left the house in.  A little part of me dies as I realise that I’ll be spending half an hour with my head in the lost property wheelie bin of doom.  Usually they appear 3 weeks later in a school bag with no explanation.

Trousers and skirts – Skirts with a ridiculous amount of pleats are an no-no for me unless, of course, you like spending an inordinate amount of time swearing and ironing. Trousers need to be good quality, especially if you have a 5 year old who spends most of his breaks playing football and practicing some sort of sliding knee tackle.

I would definitely buy cardigans, jumpers and trousers from Trutex.  The fit and quality is second to none.  As for polo shirts, until my children stop using their t-shirts as a serviette and a goal stop I’ll be buying the cheapest that money can buy!

On another school uniform note … My Name Tags sent us some iron on name tags.  I could kiss the lady at Name Tags, they are so easy to apply, it takes seconds to do and they stay put.  The tags come in a variety of colours with a full range of pictures.  Along with iron on tags they also sent some stickers which are useful for bags, water bottles, packed lunch boxes and anything that leaves the house that you want to come back.

Then there’s the dogs.  We now have two dogs and have discovered some new dog walks, over the Christmas holidays, which would probably be useful to anyone wanting to take up mud wrestling.  It is fairly standard now for us all to troop into the kitchen, post walk, and strip to our underwear due to the amount of mud on our clothes.

That’s why I may have punched the sky and run a lap of the garden with joy when Samsung sent us the Samsung Ecobubble WF0702WKE. The Ecobubble has a 15 minute programme which just freshens up clothes, just in case you’re the type of family who wear something once and then hurl it in the wash basket cough. There are several cycles which make more sense to me than the usual settings ‘dark wash’, ‘bedding’ etc and I’m a big fan of the self cleaning programme.  It also gets rid of the dog walking/football mud on low temperatures.

The technical bit … “Samsung’s Ecobubble Technology uses a bubble generator to dissolve detergent into the water and then inject air, producing a rich soapy foam cushion. The detergent is so thoroughly dissolved into the water, it doesn’t need as much hot water to aid the cleaning and penetrates deeper into clothes up to four times faster than conventional washers. The Super Eco Wash programme washes at just 15°C, with the results of a 40°C wash, using 70% less energy as a result.”

Anything that saves us money, cleans our clothes, sits quietly in the corner and has instructions that I understand is a winner in this mud-filled house!

White Rabbit England sent us one of their nightlights. The minute I saw it I fell in love and realised that I would be unable to hide it away in a bedroom.  It now has pride of place on our living room shelves.  It’s stunning and everyone who has seen it has commented.  There is a fluffy white rabbit doll with a story book to compliment the lamp.  Co-founder, Charlotte says “The idea is to get little ones in to a bedtime routine, switch on our rabbit lamp, read the story and cuddle the rabbit!” Buy it for a child or buy it for yourself *cough*, one thing’s for sure, I love the passion which oozes from White Rabbit England and I think everyone should have a white rabbit watching over them, be they 5 or 33.

Great British food experts, Forman & Field,  decided to surprise me by sending me a luxurious hamper.  The contents didn’t disappoint. There was wild salmon, potted lobster, lemon curd, a selection of cheeses, a box of chocolates, a pork pie, a chocolate brownie cake, a banana loaf and some mince pies.  It’s the sort of food that screams out to be savoured, not shoved into one’s mouth and swallowed without further thought. They sent me a brochure which I lingered over longer than I probably should. I worked my way through the sections; fishmonger,  cheese monger, butcher, deli, hampers. By the time I got to the patisserie section I was salivating a little. I like the idea of giving the gift of food, whether it’s London Smoked salmon or Dorset Knob Biscuits *snigger*.

We were sent The Secrets of Mercy Hall by Garth Edwards. The 7 year old was VERY excited at receiving this book having already read the first book from The Thorngate Trilogy, Escape From Mercy Hall.  The books are full of intrigue, mild peril, strong characters  and perfectly suited for a 7 year old with an appetite for chapter books.  The book follows the exploits of eight year old Milly, and nine year old George and Samuel, as they escape from the grey world of a Victorian orphanage into a land of curious and unsettling modernity. The books remind me of a mixture of The Magic Faraway Tree, Narnia and Alice in Wonderland which I find exciting. Do you hear that?  That’s the 7 year old tapping her finger impatiently urging Garth Edwards to get on and publish the third book.

Garden Games sent us a Jumbo Connect 4 and a Giant Chess set.  For an old fashioned gamer like me these games are heaven. I love the competition, the frustration and the sense of achievement when we play non-electronic games together. We’re a big fan of these over-sized games from Garden Games, and have a Giant Jenga  which always gets an airing during parties. The Connect 4 has caused a few arguments between myself and the 5 year old, who seems to think it’s Connect 3.  Although it’s a ‘Garden Game’ it’s not so big that it can’t be used inside during the Winter month.  We’re saving the chess set until Spring when we can get it out in the garden. I’ve promised I’ll teach the 7 year old how to play and I can’t wait.

This year, though, I have found My List Is Here which lets me build lists from over 500,000 products across more than 300 high street and online stores (including Selfridges, Debenhams, Play.com, Gap and Vodafone).

I signed up (easy peasy) and started building my Christmas wish list. I can even add hilarious notes for people next to each item, for extra hinting purposes.  Here is my list. You’ll see I’m not asking for much, but what I am asking for is something that I DEFINITELY want and need.

If you’re buying a new home, planning a wedding or birthday the possibilities are endless. I’m planning on starting up a ‘dream home’ list … all the things I’d like to have when I win the lottery cough.

I love my list is here. I love that I can share it, easily, with family and friends and I’ll definitely be using it in the future for all manner of events.

If I was really bitter about The Husband’s lack of hint uptake I could do a Wedding List for when I marry the man who will get my gifts without prompting cough. But luckily, with the help of my list is here I won’t have to. Will I?!

At the weekend we visited Clarks who had offered to furnish the childrens’ feet with Winter boots. The 7 year old had seen an advert for Clarks and had her eye on a black pair of riding style boots.

The assistant measured the 7 year old on the magic measuring machine and we selected two pairs, the riding pair and another pair which were similar. The assistant went off to get them in her size. Sadly the shape of the riding boot at the front coupled with the 7 year old’s svelte foot and ankle (she doesn’t get that from me, sadly) meant that the boot flapped about when she walked. A short burst of sadness ensued.

Sensing the 7 year old’s disappointment, the assistant jumped into action and looked for some more styles. There was a pair on the shelf,  with a fur trim. Everytime the 7 year old said “What about these?” my inner “No, I don’t like those” demon kicked in. Five other pairs later and it seemed that the svelte ankled child would not be wearing a pair of Winter boots this year.

When I thought all was lost the assistant threw caution to the wind and brought out a pair I’d repeatedly said I disliked.

It turns out though that she was right. The boots looked totally different on to what I had imagined and fit really well.  More’s the point, for practical old me, I discovered they were made from Gore-Tex so they’re waterproof.

Thanks Clarks I have a happy 7 year old and whaddayaknow … the customer’s mother isn’t always right.

The boots are Zannia GTX Inf in brown leather. They are priced at £55.00 and available from Clarks stores or online.

http://www.clarks.co.uk/find/department-is-girls/producttype-is-boots/technologies-is-gore2dtex/product-is-20347713