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.

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!

A current obsesion for the children, particularly the 5 year old is Superheroes.  We’ve done Batman, Spiderman and Sportacus.  After watching Superman 3 a few weeks ago the 5 year old started pestering for an outfit.  Which coincided with the rather superheroish Oliver from Mega Fancy Dress getting in touch and asking if we’d be interested in reviewing some outfits.

I give you Superman and Super Girl.  All shiny and ready to battle with … whatever you battle with when you are 5 and 7; Mainly toilet paper, eating anything more exotic than a tomato, putting your pyjamas on and hanging your coat up.

The site is amazing, just about any outfit you can think of for children and adults, great quality, well priced … and there’s still time to order for Halloween!

I am very impressed with the quality of the coats, the children are toasty. The coats fall just below the waist and the 600 pill power down keeps them warm but  are still lightweight.  We refer to them fondly as ‘the sleeping bag coats’.

My children seem to judge their coats by whether or not they have an inside pocket or not.  These coats don’t disappoint.  Not only do they have an MP3 pocket (keep dreaming) but it also has a ‘stowaway pocket’ which is big enough to put hat and gloves in!  Genius.

The snowguard wristcuffs are a welcome change to their normal coats.  It lets them slip their thumb through the cuff to keep the cold and …. eventually the snow too.

The only small negative is that the boy’s coat hood has press studs and can be taken off. The 5 year old is aware of this and keeps taking it off and putting it in his ‘stowaway pocket’.  Without this pocket I think I would already be dicing with death in the ‘lost property wheelie bin of doom’ at school.

I don’t have to worry about whether this coat will see them through the Winter, I know it will … so long as the 5 year old looks after his hood!

We reviewed the Little Boys’ Down Jacket in Steel Grey and the Little Girls’ Down Jacket in Bright Teal.

So Play Plax is a funny old thing. Within half an hour of it being on the coffee table it attracted each member of the household and each person did something different with it.  The 5 year old instantly started building a tower.  Then the 7 year old came along and built a box. The Teenager came along and started photographing the models for her photography A Level project.  Eventually I got a look in and found it slightly therapeutic and addictive. In case you’re wondering, I built a small scall replica of the Houses of Parliament. Unfortunately the battery ran out on my camera and I was unable to photograph my masterpiece. True story …

So, we love Play Plax and it’s going to live under our coffee table for easy access.

Play Plax is in the permanent collection at the V&A Museum of Childhood and so it should be;  It’s a timeless toy which is being given a new lease of life. This please me!  You can get hold of Play Plax here.

During the last 7 years we have had several car seats and I’ve always found, in particular, matching a car seat to our car difficult. I once bought a car seat (not a Britax) that, even when strapped in, flopped around.  It went straight back to the store. Britax recognise this difficulty and they have a fit-finder which matches your car and child with the correct seat.

Those clever Britax people have also filmed a series of online how-to videos to ensure parents fit the seat safely and correctly.

Thanks Britax, the Kidfix gives us peace of mind and will see our 5 year old through until he no longer needs a car seat.

We have a sunglasses collection in our house.  Big ones, small ones, Ben10 ones, broken ones, Hello Kitty ones, comedy ones … everyone’s a winner.  They were all bought in supermarkets and shops and all costing under £20.

The pair I was sent, called Passion, are really good.  They’re not much different, in looks, to the pair I bought for £18 … but there is one main, amazing difference.  Polarized lenses.  Bright light on a sunny day makes me squint and a bit frowny. These glasses are polarized.  They block glare and allow only vertical light to enter the eye. It makes such a big difference to my frown lines.  Yesterday, in the car, I forgot my sunglasses and as I got to some traffic lights I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.  It was Frownsville, West Yorkshire.

The 6 year old’s glasses, called Crush, are cool, but she’s not that into sunglasses wearing … yet.  Still when we’re on holiday I’d be happier that she wore the Polaroid ones than the £2.99ers from the supermarket.

I have a pair of adult and a pair of children’s Polaroid sunglasses (of your choice) to give away.  All you need to do is leave a comment below.  The funnier the better, it won’t earn you extra points but it’ll make me laugh.

For a second entry tweet the following;

I’ve entered Laura’s Polaroid competition – Win 2 pairs of Polaroid glasses http://bit.ly/mHCpuB #stopfrowningbuypolaroid

A winner will be pulled from a hat by my glamorous assistant (the one with the head like a bowling ball) on Friday 20^th of May at 7pm.

First up is the Shoulder Chuck (aptly named). I wear a lot of black (it’s slimming you know), and nothing shouts “Scruffy Mummy” round here than Mummy doing the school run with one shoulder closely resembling a zebra’s hide! This is where the Shoulder chuck comes in. Made with a waterproof protective material that absorbs yucky mess quickly and efficiently, this is the ultimate dignity saver. It also has, for the want of a better description, a cow print “pocket” which is the bit that goes over the shoulder so that you can burp your baby to your heart’s content and know that the dribbles will be “caught” in this easy to clean pocket. It’s basically an on hand sick collector, but is effective!!

Next up, the Dribble Bubs Dribble Bibs (DBDB). This highly absorbent bib, which is also made with the same waterproof protection guard as the Shoulder Chuck, is a firm favourite for me. Taylor is a big dribbler and normal “cloth” bibs don’t offer that much protection, which means constantly changing him and having to be extra careful he doesn’t get that awful red dribblers neck! This bib can be use on it’s own or with the attached Length n Loop which is a clever strand use to attach dummies and teethers to safely to keep within reach and save endless rinses when they’ve been on the floor. The bib is made from Organic bamboo cotton towelling which is naturally antibacterial (bonus!) and super-soft!

Last but not least in the set is the hooded blanket. This is so versatile! There is just no end to the things you can use this blanket for. Perfect for out and about, car journeys, extra warmth in the pram or pushchair this really is a useful piece of kit.

Everything in the kit is machine washable and tumble-dryer safe (they looked good as new when I washed them despite the act the dribble-monster spit up on all three of them)!

Would I recommend these items to a friend? Yes I would! Bought individually or as part of the gift set these three items make life with baby easier (never a bad thing) and available in both gorgeous blue and pink, they really are suitable for everyone.

To see more of these fantastic practical, fun and baby focussed products and to keep on top of news and offers, get yourself over to Quack Quack Moo website!

As they’ve got older I still buy cheaper items and mix more expensive items in.  With the rate my children are growing I’m glad that it’s summer. We can move away from trousers, wear shorts and cut offs thereby reducing the embarrassment when yet another pair of trousers gets too short in the leg.

Boden contacted me and asked if I’d like to spend £100 on their Spring/Summer range.  I haven’t shopped with Boden before, assuming they were out of my price range.  Having looked at their website I thought that I wouldn’t get much for my £100.

We got 2 t-shirts, 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair of roll up trousers, a skirt and a vest top.  Not bad going. I was pleasantly surprised.  All the clothes are really good quality and a friend commented the other day that the 5 year old’s roll up trousers looked really good.  She said they looked like a really good fit.  Clearly she can spot quality!

Last weekend we had a trauma.  Shortly after the picture below was taken of the 6 year old on her bike her skirt got stuck in her bike chain and ripped.  If I had spent £22 on it I would have wept.  I’m not cut out for worrying about kids clothes when they’re out and about having muddy,  bike stunting, commando crawling, tree climbing fun.

Johnnie Boden has been bombarding my inbox with vouchers ever since my purchases with tempting offers.  Some very good offers I have to admit. There is currently a Mid Season Sale (40% off) which I will be visiting on pay day.

I’ll definitely use Boden again, I have already spent another £100 in my head!  … but, as before, I’ll be mixing with cheaper items.

As a little extra perk for my readers I have this beautiful shimmering Boden clutch bag to give away.  Hoorah!

All you have to do is leave a comment below and you will be entered into the draw.

The competition will close on Wednesday 27^th of April at 7pm.  A winner will be pulled at random from a hat by one of my glamorous assistants.

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And the winner is @Exmoorjane who blogs at http://exmoorjane.blogspot.com. Well done Jane, I will be in touch.