The Adventures of Roborex (review)

Our family loves a good movie that we can all sit down and enjoy together. Something not too heavy but with a nice storyline that we can all giggle at and relate to, but given the ages of our kids it needs to be  U or PG rating. We were sent the Adventures of Roborex and I'm pleased to say it fitted the bill (PG rated) and we had a nice Friday evening snuggled up on the sofa.

The film starts with us meeting James, an 11 year old boy who lives with his dad and pet Labrador Rex, we soon learn that James is a bit of a geek and likes to invent things, not all of which are that great or efficient. He is a really likeable character but seems to be being bullied at school and it is an unlikely friend that comes to his rescue.

It is not long before James discovers a robot cat and dog from the future and we soon learn he has been set a mission from the future - to save the world from the plans of the evil scientist Dr Apocalypse. On the dark side we have the robotic Destructo-cat and on James side is his faithful robot dog Roborex. Have a look at the trailer and see if you might fancy the film , it is a very easy watch and at just 81 minutes long it is god for smaller children too.



Once it was finished I asked all my children (10 year old boy and 6 year old twin girls)  what they thought and they all gave the thumbs up and said it was good and they would watch it again.

The release date in the UK for this film is 16th June 2014 and you can pre-order the DVD for just £7.00 on Amazon.

Run Time:  81 minutes
Certificate: PG

Disclosure: I was sent this DVD for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

The kitchen is the heart of your home

For the first time ever I now have a kitchen which is big enough to have a table in it. Do you know how excited I am by this fact? I find it makes such a difference to be able to have the children eat a snack after school and chat to me whilst I tidy up, or they can do their homework. It is also wonderful for family baking sessions as it is a better height level for them.

Whilst my kitchen now is one step further towards the dream kitchen, I still have a long way to go.  The long-term aim is to have a kitchen which is large enough to have a central island and also for it to be open plan onto a family area so everyone can be in one large space but doing separate things. Whilst it might be practical to have closed off rooms, it is so much more friendly to have open-plan living and I really do believe that the kitchen is at the heart of the home.

So what do you think of that kitchen above?  I think this is pretty close to my ideal kitchen - some wood for warmth, use of the beautiful duck egg blue paint, built-in discreet appliances and of course stunning silestone worktops.

Have you heard of silestone worktop? You might not of, I found it was only when I started to look at new kitchens that I learnt just how versatile it is. I'll share with you my top 5 reasons why I believe you should consider silestone for your kitchen work surfaces -

1. Tough - Silestone is an engineered stone, it is made with 94% natural quartz stone particles that are bonded together with resin, this creates a unique stone which is super resilient. It will withstand scratches, knocks, things being dropped on it, stains, scolds and mould too. What more could you ask for with a growing family?
2. Hygienic - When Silestone is made it has silver ions infused into it and this gives it a unique bacteriologic properties, so that when the ions impact with bacteria they inhibit its ability to multiply. Tests find that after several hours there will be fewer bacteria on a piece of silestone, than on a natural piece of marble. I love the piece of mind this gives me as a busy mum.
3. Design variety - As silestone is an engineered product there are so many different colours and patterns to choose from, over sixty in fact. You can have the classic smooth white, right through to bright red and of course there is always room for a sparkly silver flecked black one too (my personal favourite). There is something to suit every design.
4. Consistent - As well as there being a fantastic colour choice, you can also choose the texture to suit your design and family. Silestone comes in high gloss, suede for the softest feeling stone and volcano for something a little more rugged looking. It is brilliant that Silestone is uniform and you can have an ascetically pleasing kitchen without any of the normal blemishes that natural stone can suffer with.
5. Slick - Silestone will give you a really sleek look in your family kitchen. Again as it is engineered it means it can be manipulated more easily and this means that curves and unusual bends in your kitchen should be no problem. It is quite common to see a stylish integrated silestone sink for this inclusive streamlined look.

I bet you are sold now aren't you?  Do make sure you check our silestone when you are planning your kitchen refit.

Review of Wartie Wart & Verruca Remover

Not the nicest of subjects to discuss but needs must. There always seems to be one or another of the kids with at least one verruca and poor little one of them right now has about 8 across her feet. It is for this reason that I happily said yes to review a new product on the market called Wartie.

Wartie uses cryotherapy (freezing) to remove the wart or verruca. We have been using Bazuka extra strength gel on some of the verrucas for about a year now and there has been no improvement so I figured it was worth trying another method out.

Wartie is super easy to use, you press down the lid and turn for 3 seconds and you hear it start to hiss, you then allow it to sit for a couple of seconds and use the metal tip to precisely apply the freezing to the exact site of the verruca or wart. If you press lightly it will freeze a smaller area than if you press firmly. You should apply for 20 seconds for a wart and 40 seconds for a verruca and it is amazing just how long this feels when you are holding it to a child's foot!

Wartie claims that it has outstanding freezing performance and can successfully remove a wart or verruca with one treatment, but you can treat additional times if necessary and you have to leave it about 14 days between treatments.

I first froze three verrucas about three weeks ago and sadly two of them are still there, but these are ones that have been there for about a year, so I figure they are stubborn and need some more applications to shift them. I therefore made another application a few days ago and am yet to see the results. One of the verrucas did disappear within a couple of weeks of the first application but this was a much newer one, so perhaps the key is to use the Wartie product when the verruca is new.

You can see how easy the product is to activate and use by watching this short video -



I tried to find where you could buy Wartie in the UK and my goggling came up with very little. I can see it for sale direct from the manufacturer on eBay for £13.99 for a 50ml canister which is says will give 18 treatments and the Wartie website says it is on sale in larger Boots stores but it does not appear to be available from Boots online.

I found Wartie an easy product to use and my daughter told me it tickled rather than hurt her. I think it is a well priced product given how many applications it can make and I like the fact that the application tip is very precise and therefore lessons any risk of burning unaffected skin around the verruca or wart. Wartie is suitable for children aged 4 plus years

July 2014 update - we used Wartie a number more times on veruccas that have been around for a while and sadly they are all still there, so personally I won't be buying this again.

Disclosure: I was sent the Wartie product free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Organix No Junk Campaign

Have you heard about the Organix No Junk Campaign yet?

As the name suggests, it’s all about healthy food – and healthy children, two things I'm sure we would agree are very important? I have to be honest and say that whilst we have a very varied diet I've not always been the best example to my children of how to avoid convenience foods and to make sure your diet stays junk free. This is one of the reasons I started with Slimming World this week to try and adjust my eating habits and to make a difference for life, not just go on a diet!

The No Junk Campaign starts on 28th April but the pledge to join in is live from today at - www.organix.com/nojunk

Next week will be all about finding out what’s in our food and tucking into simple meals made with real ingredients. I think this very short video gives us a real revelation of how things have changed over the last fifty years and how we now all eat things that we have no idea what they are. I think we consumers have become more aware of flavourings, colourings and sweeteners in the last decade or so but there are still all the preservatives and enhancers put into food that we cannot trace back to a good food source.



On the Organix website there will be loads of contests, prizes, and ways to share your kitchen adventures.
What it’s really about, though, is starting a food revolution. Organix is calling for the government and the food industry to do their part. That means tough controls on salt, fat, sugar and artificial additives in what our little ones eat and it does not just have to be toddler little ones. It is all children, my kids are now 6, 6 and 10 and they still require good food and not a meal full of artificial rubbish.

I’m right behind the campaign and will be blogging more about it next week – that’s why I’ve already signed the online pledge: www.organix.com/nojunk  Why don't you sign up too?

“I pledge to eat and feed my family only real ingredients 

I can recognise or spell.”

Disclosure: This is a commissioned post and I will actually be joining in with this and being very aware of what I feed myself and my family in the coming weeks.

Get ready for an Adventure with Mothercare and ELC

I was so pleased to learn that Mothercare have launched a range of clothes this year to encourage our children to get outside and to explore the world around them. They say the Adventure range captures the world of summer camps and caravan holidays, of children enjoying life's simple pleasures, like nature watching and the rediscovery of small everyday things through the spontaneous eyes of a child. Sounds great doesn't it? Certainly the kind of childhood I want my kids to be enjoying.

Earlier this weekend the kids and I grabbed the ELC explorer kits we were sent and headed out round the lake to see what creepy crawlies we could find and to watch some birds. We had a whole load of fun.

Mothercare sent the girls some clothes and they will be great when the weather is just a bit hotter. 3/4 length leggings and a couple of t-shirts. The coral coloured one is Miss M's favourite (s it says 'sweet as a strawberry') and I was amazed to see it was such a fabulous price at £2.50 for a 100% cotton top.  Miss E took a fancy to the white one which has the slogan 'pretty as a peach' on the front (very appropriate) and this is £7 in her size, the largest that Mothercare do - age 7-8 years.

They also received a 3 pack of leggings and these retail for £11.00 and I can imagine how cute my twins will look in them. One pair is the deep coral colour, another a coral gingham and the last one have little strawberries all over them. The girls did a bit of modelling for me, naturals aren't they?

The girls did end up wearing the outfits as the sun shone and I've washed them since, I was super pleased that the leggings did not really crease up at all and the tops just needed an light iron to make them look smart again. All items kept their shape well and were tumble dryer friendly. We have had Mothercare clothes before and I always find them to be good quality.


Disclosure: We received the clothes and activity packs for the purposes of this review. I have not been insctruted what to write and I remain honest. Many thanks Mothercare.