Aldi Christmas Hamper

We love December in our home, not only do we have Christmas to look forward to but its also the twins Birthdays.  Lots of fun and excitement, but also its our most expensive month. Thanks to the lovely folk at Aldi we received a wonderful selection of Christmas goodies yesterday.  They will certainly help towards the Christmas cheer.  If you haven't yet shopped at Aldi you really should pop along.  Full to bursting with food products & home goodies for cost conscious families, they combine quality with great value style. 

Yummy Yummy !

Now that's my kind of bottle of Chardonnay !

We can confirm the Stollen is absolutely gorgeous.  We gobbled it all up last night whilst putting up the Christmas decorations.

Baby rabbits at Christmas ?  nooooo they are yummy chocolate baby reindeer .

We received the above food and wine items above from Aldi.  All views expressed and photographs are my own.

Many thanks once again to Aldi xx

All About The Boys - Cyber Monday giveaway

Many thanks to all who entered this giveaway.

The winnner picked by Birthday boy Jarvis this morning is :

CONGRATULATIONS -  Karen from @missingsleep

This Giveaway is now closed.   Another one coming soon xx


If we are to believe all the hype that is "Cyber Monday"  i.e the Monday that follows Black Friday in America, all to do with Thanksgiving and the start of shopping for Christmas.  Everybody will be online shopping like mad today.

I thought it might be a good day to offer a giveaway from my own online shop All About The Boys instead.

I sell discounted authentic designer clothes for children.  All upto 60% below the UK RRP.  Stock sells fast and new items arrive on a regular basis.  I buy direct from trusted suppliers in America, who I have been trading with for over seven years.

To take part in the giveaway, just pop over to my website All About The Boys  have a little look around and leave a comment below telling me what item you would like me to send you if you win !  Simple as that.

You can have one additional entry for each of the following :

Follow this blog & leave a comment

Tweet the following  :  I've entered @allaboutheboys designer clothes giveaway

Facebook the following  I've entered All About The Boys designer clothes giveaway

Giveaway will end at 8pm on Monday 5th December.  Open to UK residents only.  Winner picked at random.  No cash alternative.

Thank you and good luck xx

Hot Wheels Wall Tracks

Hot wheels are always a big hit in our house.  We were recently contacted by Mattel and asked if the twins would like to review the new Hot Wheels Wall Tracks.  This is a genius toy that fits on the wall for play !  Perfect if you are short on floor space or just like to try and keep a tidy home !  We love how it looks on the wall in the twins room, really adds to the decor.  You do need approx 3 sq ft of wall space to fit it on but it can easily be removed from the wall if you only want to put it up for play.    It comes complete with 3M command strips which stick to the wall to secure  the tracks.  They do remove very easily, although it does say they might not be suitable for walls with wallpaper.

Milo set to work building several variations of the suggested layout and preferred not to use the easy to follow template.  Mattel has a great  video tutorial. 

You can continue on the track on the floor with the traditional Hot Wheels floor tracks so the combinations are endless.  Milo has spent hours discovering which combinations work best.   Not just a fast track game but also great for teaching children about problem solving, basics of design etc.

The video shows the Hot Wheels starter set and drift valley spin out set.



There are several sets to choose from, the basic set starts at around £16 with the starter set retailing for around £28.  A great value for money classic toy.

One of the things I love most about this toy is NO BATTERIES REQUIRED ! Woop! 


We were sent Wall Tracks to review and keep, no payment was received and all views expressed and photographs are my own.

First Love

I made dinner for Jacob and his girlfriend tonight as it is the anniversary of them meeting two years ago today.    When I went into the dining room to clear up afterwards, I found this on the table.  I'd like to think it was a little thank you to me for making them a special  dinner, but actually would be more thrilled to think I had taught my son how to be a romantic soul.

Christmas is Coming

The twins were born in December, as you can imagine that particular Christmas was not quite as organised as previous years.   Jacob, Nigel and I spent most of the time in our PJ's staring at these two strange creatures who just cried, ate and slept ! 

Out of that time a new tradition in our family was born. 

I buy the whole family new pajamas for us all to wear on Christmas Eve.  We get changed into them in the early evening and all cuddle up on the sofa to watch something Christmassy on the tv (well in my perfect "this is how christmas should be " imagination).  It usually turns into  "ouch, your foot is touching me" or "I can't see, stop leaning on me" .

I try to buy as much as possible from independent retailers all year round and even more so at Christmas.  Being an independent seller myself I know just how hard it is out there at the moment.  Trying to compete against the big chain stores is not easy.  Whilst browsing through independent online shops I came across some lovely ideas for Christmas presents.    Please do pop over and take a look at these great sellers and when you are next in the shopping mood please consider shopping independent.

Gorgeous Organic Ella & Otto Sleepsuit & Moose hat from Baby Duck Store

Perfect snowflake shoes from Baby Not Included

I thought we were the only household where all the men make a point of wearing odd socks !  Looks like somebody else likes the idea too. Fab set of 3 mens weekend Oddsocks from   Two Magpies 

Too die for Oilcloth pink flower bag from Funky Diva Designs

What can I say !  A girly chocolate gift pack from The Chocolate Library

Beautiful Bouy pendant from Sea Sparkle

Hope you find something to inspire you to buy from an independent retailer.  Please do leave a comment if you have come across any great independent retailers you think might like a mention on the blog.