Home About Me My Faith Contact Me Work with Me PR Mummy from the Heart

Monday 27 February 2012

Review: Pillow Pals are a Big Hit at our House

You'll know that I have 2 little twin girls and also my older son.  What perhaps you do not know is that I have 3 kids who are crazy about their cuddly toys. JJ goes to bed each night with about 20 stuffed toys down the side of his bed, he spends a good few minutes organising them before he sleeps. Miss E will not even consider bed without her beloved and battered Alfie and Miss M has a real penchant for dog toys - spaniels, pink poodles, golden labs and many, many more.

Miss E and Miss M are going to be very happy little ladies in a few weeks, because they will be receiving these Pillow Pets -

A dog for Miss M and a pretty Unicorn for my girlie girl Miss E

I have been sent two Pillow Pets for my girls and I want to give them as an early Easter gift when we go away at the beginning of April, so at the moment they have no idea about their existence but they have seen adverts for Pillow Pets and have asked me if they can have one each for their birthday.  Ohh yes young ladies, I think we can do better than that! lol

As the girls are totally unaware at the moment I got JJ to help me out with this review and that has created one small problem.....  he wants his own Pillow Pet too! Yes, apparently 8 is not at all too old for a gorgeous, soft and cuddly pillow - the dog one please Mum! Ohh OK babe, seeing as you can get a beautiful Pillow Pet for anywhere upwards of about £6.00 on Amazon at the moment I think I can stretch to that.
Tall JJ showing off just what a good size the pillow pets are

...and a generous sized pillow when laid flat too! Perfect for a quick snooze!

In case you have not clicked yet, a Pillow Pet is a dual purpose toy. When closed it is a classic cuddly toy for your child to play with and love and open the velcro tab on the tummy and it lays out flat to be a beautiful large pillow. Made from super-soft chenille it feels absolutely gorgeous.  Any adult would be happy to snuggle up with it too I am sure. There are lots of different animal designs to choose from, my favourite is the yellow bumble bee.  There are also some special Easter toys being released soon - bunnies and a duck.

I am happy to recommend Pillow Pets as a premium product that will not disappoint. It is machine washable which is superb as of course it will get grubby when cuddled by a child all the time. The RRP is £19.99 and even at that price I believe it represents great value and will be something that will be enjoyed for years rather than just weeks or months. Do not be fooled by the inferior imitations that are out there.  Pillow Pets have been around since 2003 and are the original, we are now just lucky enough that Mookie Toys will be distributing them here in the UK as of this month.

Recommended for age 3 years and upwards.

Disclaimer:  We received 2 pillow pets free of charge for the purpose of this review.  I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest. Many thanks to Mookie Toys.

Saturday 25 February 2012

Warner Brothers have managed the Impossible...

...they got my kids to all, yes all and at the same time be quiet for a good hour or so....  and yes, I absolutely loved it!  Thank you so much to Warner Brothers who sent us a boxed set of Looney Tunes DVD's to enjoy for the half term and beyond. 

Here is JJ and Miss M taking a first peek, see that look on Miss M's face - 'ohh look JJ there is Taz, I love Taz!'


The Looney Tunes Big Faces box set is currently available for sale on Amazon at the price of £22.49  and I have to say I think this is a total bargain for 10 quality DVD's. In total there is over 800 minutes play time and with a U certificate it is suitable for all to watch.  My 4 year old twin girls and 8 year old son have gone back to this set time and time again and when they have had friends over in the last two weeks it is always the first thing they get out and show them. 

Everyone seems to have their own favourite - Miss M loves Taz, Miss E likes Tweetie Pie & Sylvester, Daddy likes classic Tom and Jerry, I am rather partial to Speedy Gonzales and JJ's favourite is Daffy Duck. 

The set is really well presented, with a large characters face on the front of each DVD, I would be most happy to buy this for a child as a gift.

The 10 DVD's included in the set are - Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Road Runner, Speedy Gonzales, Taz, Tom and Jerry (Jerry), Tom and Jerry (Jerry), Tweety Pie and Wile E. Coyote.

I expect most people remember the Looney Tunes cartoons from when they were a child but if you don't, then let me tell you that you are seriously missing out. Looney Tunes are classics, the humour is slapstick and involves lots of chases, near misses and even complete hits but luckily the characters always manage to get up and walk away again to live another amazing tale.

If you are a lover of Looney Tunes then do take a look at the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes page as they have some superb material there - games for the kids, character colouring pages, wallpaper for your computer and loads more.



Disclosure: This is a review post, the box set was provided by Warner Brothers free of charge.  The opinions expressed here are my own and I remain honest.  Many thanks to Warner Brothers.

Thursday 16 February 2012

Reasons to be Cheerful - Week 7




Reasons to be Cheerful at Mummy from the Heart
 
Hello all,

I know, I know this is on the wrong blog but that is the beauty of having 2 blogs, I can use this one when I need to! New Bloggers Fortnight is in full force over on my other blog and hence I am over here.

Keeping it simple this week, here are 3 reasons why I feel grateful right now -

  1. New Bloggers Fortnight has been a pleasure to host again. There have been soem great posts and I have foudna  few helpful hints too which have helped me.  Yourb,log is never too old to accept a few good bits of advice
  2. It is half term and I have been taking it so easy.  My Mum is here and I am in super relaxed mode, I am not quite sure what has happened to me but I'll just go with it.
  3. I had a lovely Valentiens day and dh really excelled himself. Not only did he mastermind a fabulous present for me, he also agreed that I could go away with some women from my Church in June for a retreat - result!
Now write your post, link up and head over to Clares, as she is our hostess with the mostess this week.

Have a brilliant weekend.  Mich x

Saturday 11 February 2012

Review of the Skirtle from Skeanie

I bet some of you read that title and thought 'the what'?  What is a skirtle then?  I know I certainly did when I got offered one to review.

Here is what they say -
SKIRTLE [Skir-tl] noun. A garment hanging from the waist with a snug stretchable garment covering the legs from the waist down.
SKIRT [skurt] noun. A garment hanging from the waist.
TIGHTS [tights] noun. A snug stretchable garment which is not only fashionable but extremely practical.

What do I say?
It is basically a pair of trendy footless tights/ leggings with a stretchy ra-ra style skirt attached over the top. You can currently purchase it in brown, navy and pink.  There are both spot and stripe designs to choose from.

It is made from 80% cotton, 18% nylon and 2% elastine. There is really good stretch and the fabric feels nice and a very good quality. 

The RRP is £19.99 and the skirtle is available to suit little girls aged 1 - 5 years, although I would say the size is quite generous as Miss M normally wears age 6 clothes and she was quite happy in the 4-5 years size. You can buy the Skirtle directly from Skeanie, who are new to the UK having established themselves as a leading footwear brand for children in Australia. They do some stunning little shoes, sadly both my girls feet were too big!

The Plus Points
  • Both my twinnies tell me it was super comfortable to wear all day
  • Looks really stylish
  • Easy for the girls to dress themselves in and sometimes they struggle with tights
  • Machine washable and does not need to be ironed
Areas for consideration
  • The price is quite steep at £19.99
  • Being tight material, there was some slight piling after a couple of washes
  • I did have to pull the girls skirts down a couple of times as they had ridden up but they are ultra active girls, so it could just be them!

Overall opinion - Lovely item of clothing that my girls are really happy with and seem to want to wear most days when they are not at school!
3.5/ 5

Trying to look cute!
Showing how stretchy the Skirtle is.

Disclaimer:  This is a  review post. We received 2 Skirtles free of charge for the purpose of this review.  I was not instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Saturday 4 February 2012

DVD Review: A Dolphins Tale

I was invited to a preview blogger event before A Dolphins Tale was released at the cinema and sadly I could not make it, so when Warner Bros. asked me if I would like to review it on DVD I nearly snapped their hand off.

The DVD arrived yesterday and what better to do on a very cold and bitter Saturday afternoon than to sit under the duvet with my little ladies and watch the movie. I proved to myself yet again that since becoming a mum I have turned into a blubbering wreck, this film and knowing that it is based on true events really moved me and I absolutely adored it.  I expected the film to be a big hit with JJ but due to his friends being here he has not even watched it yet, it was me and Miss E that it really touched.

I did not expect a 4 year old girl to be able to get so much of the film, but she was really engaged and enjoyed it and now keeps chatting about Winter the dolphin and her tail that died. The plot in a nutshell, is that Sawyer, an 11 year old boy who is struggling at school finds a hurt dolphin washed up on the beach and caught in a  crab trap. He starts to set the dolphin free and in those moments develops a special bond. When the dolphin is moved to the Clearwater marine hospital and named Winter, Sawyer breaks in to find her and ends up bunking off summer school so that he can spend time with Winter and nurse her back to health along with the staff at the hospital. He manages to engage a specialist to help build a prosthetic tail for Winter and organises a special event with his friend Hazel and her family so that Winter and the hospital can be saved.


This is a real feel good movie and one I would definitely recommend for great half-term viewing for kids of all ages. We will most definitely sit down and watch it again, with JJ this time. Take a look a the official trailer below and see if you fancy it too.
Dolphin Tale is out on DVD on 13th February 2012, it is available to pre-order on Amazon for the cost of £9.99 and Blu-ray is £14.99.

Run time - 108 minutes
Rating - U, suitable for all
Cast - There is  superb cast, including Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jnr and Kris Kristofferson



Disclaimer:  This is a review post