Funmats - The Art of School Fundraising

We were recently asked to review FunMats. FunMats is a company based in Malvern, Worcestershire, their business is running fundraising art projects, these are aimed at schools so that they can make extra money through fundraising.
The idea is simple each child draws a picture that is used to produce a choice of gifts, you can choose from coasters, shopping bags, glass kitchen boards, T-shirts, place mats and other gifts. (all these products are made in the UK). Parents can choose to as many products as they want or none at all.

FunMats is a way for schools to raise extra money. Projects are easy and fun for the children to complete. To show this Callum was asked to draw any picture that he wanted on the piece of paper we were sent. He drew a picture of himself, his Daddy and Grandad enjoying a days fishing on his Grandad's boat. As you can maybe see from the picture below they had a great time and all caught a fish. This picture would then be transferred on to a product of our choice. We chose the glass kitchen board. 

The picture Callum drew 

The finished project

The projects are popular with  a lot of parents because it creates lasting pieces of their child’s artwork and make fantastic Christmas gifts at the same time.  Projects are also popular with many teachers,as any age child can create a project and most areas within the National Curriculum can be included to feature in the pictures that the children design. I love Callum's picture and it is going away as part of my dad's Christmas present  He will love it as he is always asking the boys to bring him pictures that they have drawn at school.

FunMats fundraising is ideal for schools as it is risk free, so no money will be lost by the school. This is because there is no minimum order and every sale made makes a profit for the school. The money is collected from parents for the products they order before any payment is sent to the company – so there are never any items left over or wasted. If a parent doesn't want any products they do not have to buy them, similarly the parents can order more than one product should they wish to do so. The items are relatively cheap to purchase and make inexpensive gifts for relatives or even as a keepsake for the parent. Depending on the item bought depends on the profit made by the school for example if a child makes a coaster the profit would be 50p but if a glass kitchen board is purchased (like the one callum asked for) a profit of £3 is made for the school. You can see more products and what they cost here.


I will be recommending FunMats to the boys school when they go back after half term as they are always looking for fun ways to get the children and parents involved in fundraising. We give the FunMats a fun-tastic 4/5 rating.

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Roasted Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) with lemon, Parmesan cheese and parsley

Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also known as sunchoke, sunroot, topinambur, earth apple (and curiously, 'earth pear' or maapirn in Estonian) is a great and flavoursome vegetable to grow. Once the tubers are in the ground, they need no attention from you, and you can leave the new crop in the ground until you want to use them. We were shovelling snow and digging out fresh Jerusalem artichokes throughout the last winter and as late as in April were awarded with young and fresh sunchokes looking like this - they're were frost-tolerant:



It's invasive, however, so be careful to allocate it a spot where it can take over and grow in peace!

The recipe for lemon-roasted Jerusalem artichokes is from Nigel Slater, with some minor changes. A lovely alternative to your regular roast potatoes - and a great option for Meatless Monday.

Lemon-roasted Jerusalem artichokes with Parmesan and parsley
(Röstitud maapirnid sidruniga)
Serves 4 to 6



750 g Jerusalem artichokes/Sunchokes
250 g (new) potatoes
1 lemon
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese
fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 220C/450F. Drizzle some olive oil in a roasting tin, set aside.

Scrub your vegetables really well. Do not peel, but cut in halves or quarters depending on their size. Par-boil or steam for about 10 minutes, until crispy tender. (Drain thoroughly, if par-boiling).
Tip the steamed or par-boiled vegetables into the roasting tin, stir gently. Cut the lemon in half and drizzle the lemon juice over the vegetables. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Place the roasting tin into the oven and roast for about 35 minutes. Give the vegetables a good stir once or twice during that time.
Scatter grated cheese and chopped parsley on top and serve immediately.


More recipes using Jerusalem artichokes @ Nami-Nami:
Jerusalem artichoke gratin with cheese
Silky Jerusalem artichoke and mushroom soup

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Hexbug Nano Review

"What's that coming over the hill? Is it a Hex Bug? Hex Buggggggg" 


This is the tune many parents may be familiar with from TV adverts, my boys love it and always sing along to it and sing it after its been on, usually for long after its finished  - an advertisers dream I can imagine. Recently the boys were very lucky to receive some Hexbug Nano toys through the post. They were really excited and sang "the Hexbug song" (as its known in our house - over and over again)

So what is a Hexbug Nano I hear you ask! Well in its simplest form it is a robot that acts like a real bug. The toys are suitable for children aged 3+. They have 12 legs and scuttle around the room, if they bump into things they change direction and if they flip on their backs they right themselves. 
Below you can see in the video that I made how the Hexbugs behave. They zoom off everywhere. In the background you can also hear Nathan laughing as you can tell just from this he thinks they are great.

The Hexbugs are great fun and the boys have had hours of fun playing with them. They are battery operated and the battery comes included, they only downside to them is that the battery doesn't last long, maybe 3 - 4 hours maximum on the plus side the battery can be replaced fairly easy. 


There are 5 different coloured  Hexbug Nanos for you to collect. You can register your bugs online so you can keep a record of your collection.

They are priced at £8.99 each or can be bought as a full collection here. You can also buy different habitats for the Hexbugs so you can have races with them. This again makes them the ideal toy to have for lots of fun. They would make the perfect stocking filler this Christmas too and I'm pretty sure no little boy would be disappointed if they were to receive one or two of these little beasties this Christmas. My boys have already asked for more of the Hexbugs.


We give the bugs a fabulous rating of 4/5, they are great fun to play with and keep my boys entertained for hours.

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Nathan's Clarks Shoes Review

Once Callum had chosen his new shoes it was Nathan's turn to have his feet measured and choose some new shoes from Clarks'new autumn range of shoes.


Nathan was quite nervous when he was told to step onto the special machine that measures children's feet. The process is pain free but gets an accurate measurement and takes literally 30 seconds to 1 minute to do if the child is behaving. This was Nathan's first time being measured with the machine so he didn't know what to expect. Carol did a great job at reassuring him that he would be fine and that he wouldn't be hurt in anyway. By the end of measuring he was laughing and giggling. Nathan's feet measured in at a 9F.

Carol brought out 3 pairs of shoes for Nathan to chose from, He tried all 3 pairs on and went for a walk in each one to see which ones fitted him the best. We asked him which one he liked best and he chose a pair of StomoBoy infant shoes.

The shoes are available in 4 different colours, blue, khaki, brown and dark brown. Nathan chose the blue ones. The shoes are made from leather and have a toe guard so the shoes will look nicer for longer, Nathan has only been at nursery since last January and has already had 3 new pairs of shoes due to scuffing them. I am hoping that these shoes will last longer than any of the others. The toe guard is shaped like dinosaur teeth. The shoes also have a dinosaurs eye on them and a picture of a dinosaurs skeleton on the underneath. The leather is made to look like dinosaurs scales too. The shoes fasten with 2 Velcro straps so its easier for the little people to put them on for themselves. Nathan used to struggle with his shoes but now he doesn't and thinks its great he can do it himself. 


The StomoBoy infant shoes are available from a size 7 and go up to a size 12.5. They are available in half sizes and 3 different width settings (E,F,G).


Nathan said he loves his shoes because they are dinosaurs and they make him stomp around (I'm sure that's just his excuse so he can make lots of noise and stamp his feet) he says that they are easy to put on and really comfortable to wear. Nathan and I give Clarks and the StomoBoy infant shoes a stomping great 5/5 rating.

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Wild & Wolf Charlie and Lola Money Box

Recently Nathan was sent a lovely money box from Wild & Wolf. The money arrived in a beautiful box.

The money box is beautifully decorated with a picture of Charlie and Lola from the massively popular Cbeebies programme. On one side of the money box is a picture, on the other it says "If you know how to count coins you can save for the things that you like". Nathan is a huge fan of the show, so was really happy when he saw the money box.

The money box is ceramic so we have stored it up high on a shelf so it wont be dropped or broken. Nathan loves nothing more than asking for pennies to put in his box. It is priced around £8 - 10 depending where you buy it from, it can be purchased online from retailers such as John Lewis and Strawberry Fool.

The money box would make a lovely gift for any Charlie and Lola fan, and with Christmas not far away it would be a perfect gift idea, I doubt any child would be disappointed to receive this.  If looked after properly the money box will last for years. We give the money box a rating of 5/5. It is beautifully decorated and reasonably priced. What more can you ask for.

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WOW Toys Review

Nathan and James were sent some WOW Toys to review. WOW Toys was launched in 1997. Since then they have gone from strength to strength and are now available to buy from over 900 UK retailers and are available in over 40 other countries around the world. 

WOW Toys are designed with children aged 18 months to 5 years in mind. The toys are designed to help children gain more through play, the toys help children gain sensory skills, help them to interact with adults and help them gain fine motor skills. The boys were sent a Jurassic Jimmy Set and a George's Dragon Tale set. Both these toys are aimed at children aged 18months to 5 years. So perfect for both Nathan and James.

WOW Toys don't need batteries to operate so are toys that will last and ones that are extremely parent friendly. I think that because they don't need batteries WOW Toys help children to develop their own imaginations. Nathan and James love toys that makes sounds and interact but I also noticed that they played with their WOW Toys just as much but made the car sounds themselves when pushing the car along or making a roaring noise when playing with the dragon and the dinosaurs. All wow toys are really chunky and made from good quality plastic, this is great for my boys as they can sometimes be heavy handed and break toys not long after they've been bought, this is something I always look for when buying my boys toys to ensure that they get the most from them.

The Jurassic Jimmy play set is priced at £15 - £20 depending on the retailer where you purchase the toy. The set is made up of  7 pieces. This comprises a Motorised truck with trailer (this has a magnetic hook), a dinosaur egg, a caveman figure and two dinosaurs. James loves this play set and loves pushing the car along and making car noises, he makes funny noises when he is playing with the dinosaurs too, I think in his own way he is making them talk to each other as all I can understand from him is a roar and a giggle. Nathan makes the caveman talk to the dinosaurs too. He also makes the caveman have races with his other toy cars.

The boys also love playing with their George's Dragon Tale play set. The set comprises 4 pieces, a chariot, a boulder, a knight and a dragon. The set is priced at £7.99 and available to buy from many shops and online retailers.  James has been using both play sets together. He makes the dragon "roar" and calls it a dinosaur. Nathan loves to make the dragon "attack" the dinosaurs and he loves to make the catapult throw the ball at the dino egg. 

We give WOW Toys an amazing 5/5 rating. The toys are great value for money and will be played with for years to come in our house.

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Sea-buckthorn and Amaretto cheesecake

There's a little deli in our neighbourhood, Delicato, and they sell a lovely cheesecake with a sea-buckthorn and Amaretto topping. A cheesecake so good that I immediately wanted to make something similar at home. They use a rich mascarpone layer in their cake, I went with my favourite cheesecake instead. A lovely and not-so-sweet baked cheesecake that uses one of the nature's superberries (Sea-buckthorn - the new acai berry?).

Sea-buckthorn and Amaretto cheesecake
(Toorjuustukook Amaretto-astelpajuželeega)
Serves 8

125 g Digestive-biscuits (about 8 cookies)
50 g butter, melted

Cheesecake layer:
600 g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
3 large eggs
85 g caster sugar (100 ml)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Amaretto-seabuckthorn jelly:
200 g sea-buckthorn berries, fresh or frozen
3 Tbsp caster or soft brown sugar
3 to 4 Tbsp Amaretto
3 to 4 Tbsp hot water
4 gelatine leaves (and some cold water for soaking)

Preheat oven to 180°C/350F.
Grease a 24 cm/10 inch round springform/loose-bottomed cake tin with butter, line the base with parchment paper. Process biscuits into fine crumbs, add melted butter and combine. Press the cookie mixture over base and sides of the prepared tin. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until combined.
Pour over the biscuit base and bake in the middle of a preheated 350F/180C oven for 30 minutes, until the filling is more or less set (it shouldn't wobble too much, when you lightly shake the cake tin).
Remove from the oven and cool completely.
To make the jelly layer, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes.
Place the (defrosted, if necessary) berries into a blender and process until smooth. Press through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Season to taste with sugar and Amaretto.
Squeeze the gelatine leaves to remove excess cold water, then stir into hot water (about 4 Tbsp) until dissolved. Stir into the sea-buckthorn purée. Pour the mixture carefully over cooled cheesecake.
Place into the fridge for at least 4 hours to set.


Sea-buckthorn berries @ Tallinn Central Market, September 2007

More sea-buckthorn recipes @ Nami-Nami:
Sea-buckthorn jelly with kama mascarpone cream
Sea-buckthorn sorbet
Topless sea-buckthorn and apple tart

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Bob The Builder Giant Floor Puzzle

As previously mentioned in an earlier post, you may remember me telling you all the fantastic news that the boys and I have been chosen as one of twelve families to be part of the Ravensburger Puzzle Club. Each month we will be sent a puzzle to review. We were sent our first puzzle earlier this month and this is our first review.

Callum and Nathan were really excited when I gave them a parcel to open. Once they looked inside they saw that they had been sent a Jigsaw puzzle. The puzzle was the Ravensburger Bob the Builder 24 piece Giant Floor Puzzle.

The jigsaw puzzle is made up of 24 large pieces so is easy for small children to grab and put in place. The pieces are made from strong and sturdy cardboard. The puzzle is suitable for children aged 3 years +. 

The boys found the puzzle quite easy to complete and needed very little help from me. Callum could do the puzzle really quickly, whereas Nathan took a bit longer to do it. I explained to Nathan that he need to find all the edge pieces first. This puzzle has a blue stripe around the edge so this helped him to find these pieces.

The boys love this puzzle and are always asking to play with it, they have completed it at least once a day, everyday for the last week. We give this puzzle a rating of 4/5. We are looking forward to reviewing another puzzle from Ravensburger soon.

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The Turnpike Brewers Fayre Pub

Brewers Fayre pubs pride themselves on being the perfect place for families to enjoy classic pub grub at fantastic prices. They are very family orientated as most pubs have family zones and play areas. They are the perfect place to come with your family.

We were invited along to our local Brewers Fayre pub. The one nearest to us is called the Turnpike. We had a table booked for 6pm for the 5 of us to have a meal. When we arrived we were greeted by a lovely member of staff who showed us to our table. She told us what was available on the menu and showed us the members of staff who would be serving us.

All Brewers Fayre Pubs have a menu that has a vast range of meals for you to choose from. They have a different all you can eat buffet throughout the week for a great price of £5.99 per person. You could have Chinese on a Monday, Curry on a Tuesday and Thursday, Mexican on a Wednesday, Fish Shop on a Friday and on Sunday a Carvery that is priced at £9 per person. If none of these tickle your taste buds you can choose from many of the other meals that the pub has to offer.

It was really hard choosing what we wanted to eat as there was so much choice and everything looked absolutely gorgeous. None of us fancied the buffet so we all chose a meal from the menu. I chose smothered chicken.  This was served with chips, coleslaw, side salad and barbecue sauce and costs £8.50. Matthew decided on the beef and ale pie. This was served with chips, garden peas and gravy and costs £6.99. James had a meal from the children's menu, this cost £3.99. He chose chicken nuggets with chips and beans. Both Callum and Nathan wanted beef burgers. They were asked if they wanted the adult meals as these were on offer within the 2 meals for £10 range, they both said yes (I'm sure this was so that they got a bigger burger). This was served in a toasted bun with salad, chips, onion rings and coleslaw.

Although it was extremely busy in the pub we were only waiting 20 minutes before our food arrived, it was all cooked perfectly and we all really enjoyed it. We would highly recommend The Turnpike and other Brewers Fayre pubs to our friends. We all enjoyed our meals and hardly left a thing, we were asked if we'd like dessert but said no as we were all so full. The puddings looked amazing and were also great value for money, its a shame we didn't have more room in our tummies.

The boys asked if they could play in the play zone but we said no. The main reason was that it was extremely busy in there with children that were much older than my 3 boys, had it been quieter we would have happily let the boys play as there is lots for them to play on. We have promised the boys that we will come back at a time when it will hopefully be quieter so that they can have a really good play in the play zone.

All the staff were really nice and helpful, they were all really friendly and made sure that we had everything we needed. I think this was really good of them as they were all rushed off their feet, it was nice to see that they were doing the same with every customer and not just us.

We would highly recommend a visit if you want great tasting food at fantastic prices. We give The Turnpike and Brewers Fayre a fantastic 5/5 rating. We cant wait to go back, were even planning on making our visits more regular.

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Ravensburger Puzzle Club

Most children love playing with puzzles and my 3 boys are no different. Callum likes to think himself as something of an expert whereas Nathan can just about complete a jigsaw on his own and little James has only just discovered wooden puzzles but thinks they're great all the same.

We are so pleased to tell you all that we have been chosen by Ravensburger to be part of the Ravensburger Puzzle Club. We are one of twelve families that will be reviewing a puzzle each month for Ravensburger. They have been making puzzles for over 100 years so have plenty of experience and lots of great puzzles for children and puzzle fans of all ages. The Ravensburger Puzzle Club is a blog where all us members will be posting our reviews on the puzzles that we have been sent. You can follow The Ravensburger Puzzle Club via Google Friends Connect in the same way that you follow us.

We can't wait to start reviewing some puzzles and telling you all about them. We are currently reviewing the Bob the Builder 24 piece Giant Floor Puzzle and will be writing up our review very soon.

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The Jet storm Review - don't let your money go down the drain

I was recently asked to review a new energy saving showerhead by Ecocamel called the JetStorm. 

As a family we try to do our bit for the environment and to keep our bills down too. We recycle as much as possible, only boil as much water in the kettle that is needed and use a teapot for tea. I am always looking for other ways to help the environment and save money.

With 5 of us in the house using the shower we use a lot of water which means our water bill is high. I was pleased to find out that the JetStorm can cut your water bills by a whopping 40%. 

So... How can it be so good whilst also using less water I hear you ask.

Air is forced into the water stream through a small hole located at the bottom of the handle. 

When the air and water mix the mixture spins around at high speed causing turbulence which increases the pressure in the shower head. This forces the water out of the shower head with all the power of a conventional shower but uses up to 45% less water.

An Ecocamel Injet shower has a big advantage over its rivals. The water droplets are much softer and lighter so when they hit the skin they burst easily soaking you rather than splashing  everywhere. Normal droplets bounce off of the skin which means you have to use more water to get you wet and more water means more money down the drain.

Ecocamel products go through a rigorous testing to make sure we meet the strictest water efficiency criteria.

• Cuts hot water bills by 40%
• Significantly reduces the water you use in the shower (a typical family of four can save up to 56,000 litres a year)
• Cuts energy use and carbon emissions
• Payback periods typically just 3 months (with annual savings calculated to be £240 a year)

*Test results based on a family of four taking a daily seven-minute shower (Independent testing conducted at Liverpool John Moores University)

The JetStorm is available from www.ecocamel.com/ and is priced at £49.99 + P&P


I actually love using the new shower head and give it a rating of 4/5, the 3 boys hate any shower and would give it a rating of 0/5 but that is purely because they hate having the water pour over their heads. They do however love it when the shower is turned off and any water left in the head pours out of the air hole, they giggle and say that the shower is having a wee. 

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Dill and mustard sauce - hovmästarsås - for smoked salmon or gravlax

This Swedish dill and mustard sauce - gravlaxsås/hovmästarsås/senapssås - was one of our favourite sauces this summer. We served this with smoked salmon and gravlax to our guests quite often, and never got tired of it. Although the season for al fresco lunches is sadly over, there's nothing that keeps us from enjoying thinly sliced smoked salmon indoors. Long and leisurely Sunday brunches, anyone?

The sauce keeps in the fridge for a few days, covered.

Swedish dill and mustard sauce
(Tilli-sinepikaste)
Makes about a cup



2 Tbsp sweet Swedish mustard (you can use Honey Dijon)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp caster sugar
0.5 tsp salt
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1-1.5 Tbsp white wine vinegar
200 ml mild oil (rapeseed, grapeseed, canola)
a small bunch of fresh dill, finely chopped

To serve:
smoked salmon or gravlax

Put the mustards, sugar, salt, pepper and vinegar into a bowl, and mix until the sugar has dissolved.
Using a small whisk, whisk in the oil little by litte. Finally, mix in the chopped dill.

See similar recipes:
Anne's Food
Rosa's Yummy Yum

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FreePhotoPrinting

FreePhotoPrinting is a website dedicated to helping people get free photo prints and cheap photo gifts such as books, canvas', mugs, calendars and many more.

If your anything like me you will have lots of photos sitting on memory cards or on the computer hard drive. I am terrible for just storing them and never actually printing them out. The main reason for this is the cost of printing lots of pictures out at once and the fact that our printer at home doesn't print out good quality photos (even though it claims that it does). FreePhotoPrinting.Net shows which websites has the best offers for getting your photos printed online, they also have a section that shows you where you can get free photo prints. This could come in handy when printing out all your Christmas snaps. Currently on the site they are showing you can get 828 free photos from top photo printing companies, and as it even says on their sites these offers are per customer so you could do them in your partners name too and order even more free photos - how great is that? I know what I will be doing this weekend.


For those of you looking to purchase photo gifts online, you can browse some lovely photo gift ideas on the FreePhotoPrinting.Net website. Here you can compare the best deals to be found from top printing companies. With Christmas only a few short weeks away you may just get yourself some lovely personalised gifts at a bargain price.


We give FreePhotoPrinting a rating of 5/5. We will certainly be using them in the future and recommending them to all our friends.

* We were paid a fee to write this article*

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Callum's Clarks Review

The boys and I were invited along to our local Clarks shoe shop to review Clarks' new autumn range of shoes. We were greeted by sales assistant Carol and store manager Jane. Both ladies were really friendly and very helpful and were even still smiling after the 3 boys had them running around after them.

We were asked who wanted to go first for their fitting and as Callum is the oldest he said that it should be him who went first.

Callum was really excited when he was told to step onto the special machine that measures older children's feet. The process is pain free but gets an accurate measurement and takes literally 30 seconds to 1 minute to do if the child is behaving. Callum's feet measured in at a 13F.

Carol brought our 3 pairs of shoes in Callum's size. He tried all 3 on and even went for a walk around the shop to make sure they were comfy. He had a hard time picking a pair from the 3 as he liked them all. Eventually he decided upon a pair of Jack Nano Jnr Shoes.

The shoes are made from black leather and are perfect for school, they also have a rubberised toe guard, and as any mum would know boys love to scuff the toes on their shoes almost immediately after purchase. The shoes fasten using 3 Velcro strips, this makes them really easy for a child to fasten and adjust them correctly.

The shoes are available from a size 13 and go all the way up to a 4. They also come in 4 different widths (E - H). The shoes are priced at £38. I think what swayed Callum to choose these shoes is the little Jack Nano figure that comes with the shoes. The toy is cleverly hidden in the heel of a shoe but can be seen in the heel underneath. Callum loves his little toy as does his brothers so he loves the fact that he can hide the toy from them.

Callum said the shoes are really comfy and easy to put on even when he's in a rush. He really likes them and tells his friends they should have some too just for the Jack Nano toy. It is all he has spoken about since we got the shoes. Both Callum and I give these shoes an impressive 5/5 rating.

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Nami-Nami on Spanish TV

Free Wi-Fi: Estonia. Report by Ángel Varela Pena. (Andrew Poole voice-over)



Earlier this year (in May, to be precise), a Spanish film-maker Ángel spent couple of hours with us, eating rhubarb cake and filming us for a report on free wi-fi and work-life balance. The report was aired on Spanish TV in September, and here's the clip for you to see (Nami-Nami section begins at about 2:10).

I'm making Anne's mango shrimp, sing praises to my dear friend Ximena, show off my "Nami-Nami cookbook", mention Nami-Nami gardening blog, and leaf through the pages of the book where this popular apple cake recipe comes from.

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Aldi Halloween Products

I don't know about you but when this time of year starts to come around I start dreading it with a passion, from September right until December our house is full of birthdays, parties and celebrations. We have Joshua's birthday in September, it was my birthday last week, November sees my mum, brother and Nathan's birthdays. In December we have both the inlaws birthdays (the mother in laws is on Christmas day too) and this is all without festivities such as Halloween, Bonfire night and Christmas. So when the boys start asking for things like Halloween parties and costumes I usually look for the cheapest outfits (and hope they are invited to a friends party) I can possibly find as it is just another expense that we really shouldn't pay out for - but how can you say no to your children especially when they ask so sweetly? the answer is obvious you cant. Plus as the boys are still so little I'd like them to be able to enjoy all the festivities and celebrations whilst their still young and interested in doing so. If your like us though and on a strict-ish budget money doesn't stretch to ever demanding children and all their wants all the time. This is where Aldi step in and can help you considerably.

We were sent a lovely box full of Aldi Halloween items to review. All the items pictured below and many more are "Special Buys" and are available to buy instore now whilst stocks last. But please remember that stock does vary from store to store and that not all stores will stock all the items and many of these items will be popular and may sell out quickly.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
The great thing about Aldi products it that the quality is fantastic even though the prices are so low. Many people think that because prices are low that the quality is on par with other supermarket own brand value range foods and products but this isn't the case if anything Aldi foods and products are just as good as supermarket Finest and Luxury products but cost a lot less.

We were sent some face paints and a child's Halloween costume, these are available to fit children aged 3 - 8 years old and are available in assorted designs, such as a cat, a witch, a vampire and a pumpkin. They are available to buy in store priced at £3.99 a set.

Also within the box was lots of yummy Halloween sweets and chocolates, this was definitely what the boys wanted to try. They loved them all and said they tasted very yummy. The spooky mallows are priced at 99p a bag as are the Chocolate bugs. The string bags of chocolate treats are priced at 79p a bag. These are great value for money and would please any party goers or trick or treaters that you may have call around. We will definitely be buying some of these treats from our local store soon.

 As it is national baking week Matthew decided to try his hands at using the pumpkin shaped cake tin we were sent from Aldi. the cake was really yummy and decorated with melted chocolate and icing. We think it looked great. There is also a skeleton shaped tin for sale too. These are priced at £1.99 each. He will definitely be making another one for the boys Halloween party.

To use at our party we were also sent some party ware items, we were sent some disposable cups and plates. These are very reasonably priced at 99p for a set of 8. They are also available in 3 different designs so you have plenty to chose from. The ice cube tray were sent will come in handy too as it will add a little something spooky to the children's drinks.

All in all we are delighted with the Halloween range at Aldi, we have been asked by lots of friends if we can recommend a place as to where is best to buy Halloween things and we have recommended Aldi to all of them, purely on the basis of price and quality of all their items, plus the amount of products they have to offer you seriously cant go wrong. I would give the Aldi Halloween range a terroriffic 5/5 rating.

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Linksys X2000 Router Competition

We were recently sent a Linksys X3000 router to review on the blog, this is a post that will appear on the blog soon but I thought I would get the competition up and running for my lovely readers.

Many people have the issue of going into a store without a clue that they need to have a specific router that can work with their phone line so buy the wrong one. I certainly wouldn't have a clue about which one to buy.

The X2000 uses MIMO technology this means that no matter where you are in the house you will still get a great signal even if lots of other family members are connected to the internet at the same time. This is the perfect router for mums who work from home or like to escape and watch movies from a laptop or iPad in peace, or if your like us - me on the laptop whilst Matthew is playing COD online with his friends.
The router also has parental controls so you can control what the kids view online and for how long. This will certainly be a useful feature for us once the boys are old enough to use the computer on their own.

The x2000 router is easy to set up and use
It can be used on both DSL (BT) or cable (Virgin) phone lines

The X2000 RRP is £84.99 and is available to buy at Argos, Amazon and Maplin

We have one Linksys X2000 router to giveaway here on the blog and another one over on our facebook page.

To be entered into the draw please comment below and tell me how many devices you have that run on your home Wifi network. Leave me a way of contacting you (Email or Twitter ID)

* Make sure your following the blog via Google Friends Connect or Networked Blogs

* For an extra entry please tweet "I want to win a Linksys x2000 router with @herestrouble11"

The competition is open until 8pm 17th November 2011. UK entrants only please. A winner will be picked at random from all entrants.

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Dr Oetker Halloween Apple Decorating Kit

The boys and I were sent a Dr Oetker Halloween Apple Decorating Kit. As I already stated I am no master chef.

The kit contains everything you need to make 4 chocolate flavour apple faces. It includes milk chocolate flavour drops for melting, lolly sticks, black & white sugar strands and edible paper faces to decorate. The only thing you need to add is the apples.

The boys loved creating their apples, I had to help them spread the chocolate as they found this hard, but they loved putting the sprinkles and scary faces on the apples. I'm not sure which they preferred creating them or eating them.

Although the Apples were a bit tricky to decorate we really enjoyed making our scary treats. The apple decorating kit can be bought from all good supermarkets and is priced at £1.99. We would recommend the kit to anyone who wants a bit of Halloween fun, we give it a hair raising rating of 3/5.

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Dr Oetker Halloween Bat Cookie Kit

The boys and I were sent a Dr Oetker Halloween Bat Cookie Kit. Now I'm no Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson and I don't pretend to be either as my culinary skills aren't all that great. But kits like this were invented just for me. They making baking easy and fun with very little effort needed.

The kit contains cookie mix, bat cookie cutter and black Writing Icing so you can decorate your finished cookies.  

The directions are really easy to follow and all you need to add is 85g butter to make your bat cookies. it took me about 10 mins to make the cookie dough and probably about the same to roll out the dough and produce the cookies. The cookies take 10 minutes to cook in the oven.

Once the cookies were cool enough it was time to decorate. I let Callum and Nathan do this, they copied the picture off the box. I am really quite impressed with their efforts as they were so much better than mine. I am so not good with anything that requires neatness especially if its icing related.

The boys loved the cookies and ate them all up even asking if there were more (The famous scene from Oliver! comes to mind) I said to the boys that if they were really good we would buy some more to make for their Halloween party. The kit can be bought from all good supermarkets for £1.99. We give the kit a fangastic rating of 4/5.

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