All posts filed under: Reviews

What made our Christmas beautiful: Febreze Winter Scents

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I need to give credit where credit is due and mention the people who made our Christmas beautiful, despite the painful circumstances and the unbearable built up to it. We enjoyed immensely having people over on Christmas day. People like us, with no family living here and nowhere to go to on Christmas day. People who would have been lonely otherwise. We were told we were being kind but in all honesty, it was as helpful for us as it was for our honoured guests. It filled a dreaded day with companionship, laughter and chat. And good food, loads of it, was consumed :-). I love cooking for a crowd and I was so pleased they all enjoyed their meal. What also made our Christmas period enjoyable was surrounding ourselves with nice things, beautiful decorations, soothing music and having the house smelling lovely. It was a treat for the senses and everyone who came to visit us over the holiday period mentioned the beautiful smells in the house. I have that to thank Febreze for, …

Littlest Pet Shop Review

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The latest in the review series on the blog has been generously provided by Hasbro via Tots100 and it is a whole set of the Littlest Pet Shop small toys: Blythe’s Bedroom (RRP £29.99), The Spa (RRP £14.99)and The Treat set (RRP £14.99). The playset is inspired by the TV series with the same name, which is running on POP, the children’s TV channel. Blythe, the teenage protagonist of the series,  lives a great new life adventure when she moves into an flat above Littlest Pet Shop where she learns she can talk with the pets who hang out in the shop. Emma is only 5 and the recommended age group for the Littlest Pet Shop sets is +6 but she took to them immediately. She, indeed, needed a bit of help assembling the structures (which, as you can see in the picture, come as flat packs) but had no issue letting her imagination run wild with them, as you can see in the picture below. We found the small bits a bit fiddly and …

Santa Letters

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Just like any other five year old, Emma loves Santa. I have blogged about how we introduced Santa in our family and about how we have tried to reconcile the idea of Santa with that of Jesus‘ birthday and celebration. Last year we used this beautiful image I had found online to explain to Emma that Santa doesn’t have to replace Jesus: This year Emma has been asking more questions about Santa and a couple of times she has even asked me if he is real. I feel uncomfortable telling her fibbs so instead I kept saying to her that he is God’s helper and that he is bringing gifts that God has for her. Emma also wrote her first letter to Santa this year, with daddy’s help, asking for a “guitar, my size” and about Georgie’s whereabouts in Heaven. Too sweet!! This morning, Santa replied to her letter, via the Lapland Mailroom! Back in October, the elves in Lapland were looking for mummy bloggers to review their Santa letter service and we happily volunteered! …

On the first day of Christmas…

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“On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me: A Partridge in a Pear Tree.” 45 days to Christmas, hard to believe, isn’t it, where has this year flown? Today marks the beginning  of my blog’s Christmas advent calendar of posts and my invitation to share in the anticipation: the next month and a half will delight my readers with a variety of reviews of beautiful products and Christmas gift inspiration. Of course, for us as a bereaved family, this Christmas will be very difficult as it will be the first one without our Georgie. But I am trying very hard and making a conscious effort to see the beauty in this season, despite the anticipated pain. For Emma’s sake, most importantly. And for us, as a couple, as this could be a time to recharge and grow closer if we prepare wisely for it. Preparation, per definition, is “the action or process of making ready or being made ready for use or consideration”, “something done to get ready for an event …

#Morning Stories

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I live with my heart split in two. I have two lives at the moment. One is a “normal”, day to day existence where I go shopping for clothes with my four year old and we share a bun in a coffee shop. The other one is the world of central lines and chemo treatment and tube feeds. The heart-breaking bit is that they are all for my wee baby who is not even four months old… Days before Georgie was diagnosed, I signed up for the #MorningStories Challenge. Back then, the challenge would have been to get both kids dressed and ready by 8.45, in time to get Emma to playgroup! Oh, if I could turn back the time… Now, the challenges are much more complex. I try not to think at the other side of my life while I am with one of the children. Try not to worry about them missing me and me missing essential tidbits of their daily existence. A smile, a gurgle, a picture being painted, a deep thought …