Mama's Haven

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Professor Scrubbigton’s Fab Giveaway!

Published by Oana

Once in a while, I get to work with a brand I really love, not only for their products but also for their ethic!

Professor Scrubbington ticks, hands down, all the boxes for me as a brand. Their luscious products are designed with the children who use them in mind (and make them smell divine, too!). Their professionalism is exemplary. Their prices are more than reasonable. And their branding is so much fun, it makes children want to scrub up, for real!

But on top of everything, they do things that make my heart beat. They are mindful not only of the environment and their little customers’ skin. They have also been aware of the humanitarian crisis taking place in Europe this year and they have been donating discreetly yet generously, “to preserve the dignity of the young people of Syria”, as they put it so beautifully on their Instagram page.

So, what are Professor Scrubbington’s magical concoctions?

The full emporium kit is comprised of five items (each priced at £5), which can also be bought separately on the website: our absolute favourite, Scrubbington’s magically foaming hand and face wash; the magically foaming hair and body wash; the hair conditioner(by which I swear lately, as Emma generously gifted it to me); the magically foaming shampoo, which makes hair-washing so much fun!) and Scrubbington’s magically fragrant deodorant.

We have put them all to the test here and we can honestly testify that they are easy to use, smell beautifully and leave one feeling squeaky clean and giddy with freshness!

They are also fun-conducive and encourage play and creating memories :-), as you can see below:

The lovely Professor Scrubbington is very eager to get my young readership on the cleanliness boat and has generously offered a suitcase gift box full of goodies(worth £20) to one lucky reader! For full details and ways to enter the giveaway, please follow this Gleam link. The link can be found on our Facebook page too.

We were also offered a unique code to share with our readers, BM20, which will save you a hefty 20% any purchase on the website!

So go ahead, do indulge your little ones, they are most certainly in for a treat they will be grateful to you for!

Winner Announcement(04/11/2015): The Gleam app chose Wendy Montgomery as our giveaway winner. Congratulations, Wendy, we have dropped you an email with further details!

A good night sleep…

Published by Oana

As you all know, I have been suffering on and off from insomnia, for the past two and a half years, since I got pregnant with Georgie.

Recently, it has become so bad that it did affect my capacity to function well and work and I have had to take a bit of time off my day job.

Sleep is extremely important to any of us and it is one of those things we never realise the importance of, until we go without for a length of time, just like our health or our holidays.

I have recently been invited by MattressNextDay to look into UK’s sleeping facts and figures and I must admit, it left me wanting to make some drastic changes to the way I unwind each night.

I am partially self-employed so I spend my evenings working in front of the laptop and, to my shame, I carry work into the bedroom when the pressure is there to do so!

Looking at the below infographic, using your tablet or mobile phone in bed increases significantly your chances of poor sleep, as does stressing over matters left unresolved during the day. With half of us admitting to using our smart devices before bed time, I think it is high time we claimed our bedtime back, leave the world outside the bedroom door and revert to a time when going to bed with a cup of warm milk and a good book was all the rage!

Disclaimer: we were compensated for writing this blog post but the opinions expressed are true and entirely our own.

Easy Weeknight Meals with Old El Paso

Published by Oana

Which family does not strive to make the most of their time together while, at the same time, aiming not to compromise on health or great taste?

We live fast-paced lives, to the tempo of school bells, train schedules, after school activities and tight deadlines and more often than not, family meal times become also rushed and an end of line rather than a nourishing time, both for body and soul.

We were invited to make the most of our weeknights by Old El Paso and put their new Smoky BBQ soft taco kits to the test.

As luck has it, the day the package arrived, I had planned on this slow cooker quinoa and turkey mince recipe so using my soft tacos seemed like the logical thing to do!

I found the tangy combination so tasty and versatile that every time I had a chance, I reached for my Old El Paso. And it never stopped at tacos, I did put the sauces to good use with a burger, as you can see below and also, in soups and omelets!

I will definitely use Old El Paso meal kits again, especially now that they have launched their new soft taco wraps, of which we are great fans. I have also seen in the recipe section on their website a great prawn and mango taco salad I would love to serve for dinner some time soon!

What are your to go to ingredients and reliable recipes you choose to use every time you get a chance?

Blogging Edge Blog Awards

Published by Oana

Once again, I have had the great honour to be shortlisted for a bloggers’ award.

The Blogging Edge Parenting blog award, this time.

I have been campaigning shamelessly on my Facebook after I recovered from the shock of being nominated as one of the 5 best parent bloggers in the UK but now, I need to take this publicly and invite you all to spare 30 seconds and cast a vote in my direction:

This blog has seen me go through the hell and back in the last year and a half.

And even if numbers do not always mean everything, right now, and this time, I do need this public recognition so, so badly.

I need to know that to you all, Mama’s Haven has been and continues to be an encouragement and beacon of light. To you on the dark road of cancer diagnosis, loss, bereavement and beyond the funeral service.

To the rest of you, I need to know that it is an inspiration and not only a source of amusement, a display of raw emotion and a joke.

Please click on the picture above, look for the Parenting section and vote for Mama’s Haven.

It would most certainly mean the world to me.

Thank you for reading!

Emma’s October Reviews

Published by Oana

The weather has been absolutely glorious in Northern Ireland this October, to make up for the horrid summer, they say :-), so I was absolutely thrilled when Emma was offered the opportunity to review this brilliant sandpit from Wickey, a great German company, of which I had not heard before, to my shame!

The communication with the brand was swift and extremely professional, from the very beginning, and the wooden sandpit flip, measuring 110x125cm, was send out as soon as we agreed on the review terms and arrived within two days, by courier, all the way from Germany and smelling wonderfully of pine and forest adventures!

Alex was a bit reluctant when he realised that it hadn’t come assembled and had to be put together manually but with a bit of encouragement, he proceeded, all to Emma’s delight and excitement! The instructions were clear and simple to follow, the wood cut perfectly and packed helpfully and before we knew it, we had a beautiful sandpit sitting in our back garden and a deliriously excited young girl, ready to try it out!

As we hadn’t bought the sand for it, Emma was happy to get a blankie out and her dollies and they had an al fresco picnic as soon as the last nail and hinge were in!

As you can appreciate from the picture above, the sandpit (retailing usually on the company’s website at £74.95 but on sale at the moment for £56.95) is a great size, very sturdy and would serve for a number of years as a reliable family toy.

Emma has been so proudly telling all her friends who have been visiting since about her “play bench” that we decided to use it as such until the spring and even beyond. These last couple of weeks, it has been a pleasure watching Emma itching to get home, change from her uniform and run outside for a bit of fresh air and playtime.

Here she is, “teaching” her good pupils about autumn and pumpkins and seasonal changes :-).

If you think your back garden and family could benefit from a sandpit, here is where you can find the brilliant ones from Wickey. The company is running a supersale at the moment, on sandpits, climbing frames, swings and wooden beds, do stop by and have a little look for yourselves! I guarantee you’ll be tempted!

Our verdict: the professionalism of the PR team, the quick delivery, the more than reasonable price and the great quality of the wood make this into a product we would recommend highly time and time again!

Jumping to our second review item but staying with the seasonal theme, “My Big Book of Monster Fun” is the first book we had the joy to receive as part of Parragon Book Buddy program we joined this September as bloggers. The book couldn’t have been more appropriate a read, now, with Halloween approaching at fast pace!

Titanic Quarters 003

Emma started working on it as soon as we received it in the post, as the book cover is attractive, with bright colours and friendly monsters invitingly coaxing the young reader to sit down for a bit of fun. The book came with us that Saturday and kept Emma busy during our car journey.

The book promises 180 pages of fun and it does deliver it fully, offering something for every taste. From adorable stories with Scaredy Boo monsters who are afraid of the dark to solving monstrous mathematical problems to colouring in pages in theme with the October celebrations, the book is a must have for the Halloween week. It is also a fun way to make children feel involved in a safe and fun way into what can be quite a daunting holiday, especially for small children.

The book retails at £6.31 plus delivery on Amazon at the moment.

The last product we loved reviewing this month has been Naturelly, a lovely new drink made of natural fruit juice and jelly(hence the abbreviated name, obviously!).

As any health conscious mother out there, I am always on the lookout for foods that are healthy yet tasty and nutritious for Emma.

I was immediately impressed when I heard about Naturelly. With only 7 grams of fruit sugar and 37 calories per 100 grams, the pouches are the snack I would choose for Emma any day, over sugary treats loaded with artificial sugars and colouring.

Emma loved the taste of the summer fruit pouches in particular and gave them overall, a big thumbs up:

Naturelly was only launched last month so it hasn’t reached the big stores yet but if you would love to give it a go, you can order them online.