Kids Eat Free at Coral Island, Blackpool plus win a Mini Cooper

#GIFTED

This summer we are going on a little staycation. After visiting family in Leeds we will be holidaying for a few days at Blackpool. The kids are very excited about going to Blackpool and have been looking at the Visit Blackpool website for ideas of attractions they want to.

As the boys love pirates especially H as he has just been learning all about pirates and the sea at school, once they saw the iconic pirate themed logo of Coral Island they declared we HAVE to visit there when holidaying in Blackpool.

The kids have already had a GOOD old look at the Coral Island website to see what attractions and amusements they can enjoy when we visit. H is very excited that they have a number or ride on kids rides and loves the look of the pirate ships and Circus ride. T is hyped up about the fact that Coral Island boasts Virtual Reality arcade rides, which in his opinion is “super awesome”. They also both want to go on the Ghost Train and Pirate Flyer whilst I can't wait to give the Camel Derby a try.

Win a 6 month subscription for Xbox Game Pass

Are you a non-gaming parent struggling to get to grips with the your children’s love of Xbox gaming?

Perhaps you are clueless when it come to your loved one’s interest in Xbox gaming?

Are you new to the Xbox gaming scene?

Have you never heard of Xbox Game Pass?

If any of the above applies to you then fear not as Smyths has tasked me with the job of helping enlightening new and existing gamers and their loved ones about the new Xbox Game Pass.

BIC® KIDS Young Artist Award 2018 winner

Winner of BIC® KIDS Young Artist art competition crowned

Ayesha Tania, an 11 year old from Wales beat 13 other regional finalists to win this popular art competition. To showcase her amazing talent and inspire other young children to be creative, the young budding artist had her winning piece of artwork was displayed on billboards across the UK and Ireland.

The inspiring art competition received nearly 1,000 entries from across the UK and Ireland. 14 regional winners were selected by a panel of experts and a public vote was hosted between 27^th August and 9^th September to decide the overall winner. Ayesha, the finalist representing Wales, was crowned the winner after parents and children cast nearly 20,000 votes!

BIC® KIDS drawing & colouring products review plus competition information

Bug loves to be creative especially with arts and crafts. He adores a wide variety of arts and crafts where he can let his imagination run wild. He is in his element when painting, drawing, collaging or making sculptures and 3D art.

With him having such a strong love of arts and crafts our house is brimming with craft accessories. As well as play-doh, paint, and craft accessories such as googly eyes and pipe cleaners, his arts and crafts collection consists of a HUGE range of crayons, pencil crayons and felt tips.

In spite of having crayons, felt tips and pencil crayons galore as he loves drawing and colouring-in more than any other form of arts and crafts he is always excited to try out new colouring utensils.

Much to Bug’s delight he was recently sent a selection of BIC® KIDS drawing and colouring products - BIC® KIDS Plastidecor® crayons, BIC® KIDS Evolution Ecolutions and BIC® KIDS Kid Couleur.

Creative writing & NCC Home Learning competition

Having been a bookworm from a young age with a love of the written word, it is no surprise that as I got older I developed a love of writing. When I was a teenager I started dabbling with writing. I’d spend hours writing short stories, poems and songs.

I’ve always found writing to be relaxing, a lovely way to be creative and it can also be very cathartic. My love of writing is what inspired me to start this blog.

Whilst I love writing and adore my little space of the internet here where I can write about anything and everything as well as writing unpublished posts galore, I often wish I had more time to write creatively. Thanks to a hectic life I just never seem to get the time to sit down in peace to write poems, songs and stories as I used to. I miss writing where I can let my creativity shine. I often have ideas of stories to write and lines of poems popping into my head, but I never seem to have the time or energy to do much with them and actually put pen to paper.

Win a Horrid Henry prize bundle to celebrate the Big Box of Pranks app.

Fans of the Horrid Henry books and BAFTA nominated TV series will be thrilled to hear that a delightfully horrid new app, Horrid Henry’s Big Box of Pranks, is now available on iOS and Android devices for £2.99. 

Featuring well-known characters from the TV series, Big Box of Pranks is a funny, action-packed collection of mini-games that showcase Horrid Henry’s love of pranks and mischief!

As you progress through all the pranks and move up the levels the pranks get harder, but if you succeed with the pranks you get rewarded with awards with the star prank prize being crowned ‘Lord High Excellent Majesty of Pranks!’

#DesignedByKids Blinds 2 Go competition.

Whilst being a parent is wonderful and rewarding, it can be very challenging and stressful. For some parents bedtime can be one of the most stressful parts of the day. This fact was highlighted during a recent survey conducted by Blinds2Go who found out that 29% of parents who completed the survey think that bedtime is the most demanding and challenging side of parenting, even beating shopping trips on the stress factor scale!

A further study examined how the environment we sleep in affects sleep. The study concluded that to help get a good night’s sleep a room decorated in cooler colours is the best option. Whilst cooler, plain colours may not be the most appealing option for some people, especially children who find plain bedroom walls boring, a benefit of keeping the wall décor simple is that you can add colour and character to the room with the features and fittings, for example the windows.

Creating the right environment for children to sleep in is very important so they get a good night’s sleep and help keep the bedtime routine stress at a minimum. Blackout roller blinds are ideal for nurseries and children’s bedrooms to help dull outside noise and block out outside light, which is useful if you live in a noisy area or somewhere that is well-lit at night. Blackout blinds can also be handy for blocking out the sun from the lighter mornings of this time of year, helping to keep your children asleep so they are not wide awake at the crack of dawn wanting to get up and play!

Following on from their research and wanting to help make bedtimes a little less stressful, Blinds 2 Go have created new digital print blinds. The new range of 24 playful designs are a fun addition to any child’s bedroom and thanks to being printed onto blackout roller blinds they provide the benefit of blackout blinds blocking out light and noise.

To celebrate the launch of their new digital print blinds they are currently running a fun competition, #DesignedByKids where children are encouraged to get creative and design their own blind for the chance of winning their very own custom designed blind. The winner’s entry will be made into a real blind to be fitted in their room along with an extra £250 to spend at Blinds 2 Go.

My First Home Competition.

I must admit I do enjoy taking part in competitions especially ones where Bug can get involved, so when we were recently invited by Keepmoat to take part in their competition exclusively for bloggers and their children we could not resist accepting.

For their My First Home competition Keepmoat want to know what it is the children taking part love, or loved, the most about their first home. To showcase what they love the children are encourage to tell Keepmoat about their favourite spaces around the house or favourite memories of their first home by taking photographs and/or creating a video.

To help Bug show them what makes his house a home, and show why he loves his home, Keepmoat sent him a VTech Kidizoom Camera to help him do a tour of his home.

2015 Calendar.

As we welcomed in the New Year a new calendar covering 2015 was hung in our house to help us count down the days and keep track of our fun and adventures throughout the year.

Just before 2014 came to an end we were sent a lovely calendar from Wilo that includes one of my own photographs. To celebrate their Love Water competition Wilo put together a beautiful calendar featuring 12 of their favourite photographs from the huge selection of entrants.

As 2015 passes we will have a gorgeous selection of photographs to admire, leading up to December where one of my favourite photographs of Bug will be showcased.

Superhero School Uniform - #DebsDreamUniform

I’ve mentioned before when Bug made his Superfruit how much he loves superheroes. He is superhero mad. A day does not go by without me hearing the name ‘Batman’, ‘Spiderman’ or ‘Superman’ uttered by Bug and he often declares he is a superhero; being either his own unique superhero or one of his favourite superheroes or a mixture of all them rolled into one – Super-Bat-Bat (Superman and Batman), Captain-Iron-America-man (Ironman and Captain America) or another imaginative mixture of Superheroes.

He loves wearing clothes emblazoned with his favourite superheroes.

Win £500 with The Money Press e-book.

I love a good competition especially when the prize is something I have been lusting after as a treat to myself, Lee or close family, or a fab prize that Bug would love. Whilst I love entering competitions for particular prizes that would be appreciated by myself or my family, the competitions I cannot resist entering are those with a gift card or cash prize so that we can buy whatever we fancy, or put it towards our Christmas/birthday fund.

As I love competitions with cash prizes and am I a lovely, sharing kind of gal I wanted to tell you all about an interesting ‘write-a-review' competition to celebrate the new e-book 'The Money Press'. This competition on www.cashreview.co.uk is a little different from standard fill in a form competitions and has an impressive prize of a whopping £500!

Family time with FAGE - #YogArtist competition.

As you may have noticed I love competitions, especially competitions where a touch of creativity is required to enter rather than simply filling in a form. I especially love competitions that inspire creative session with Bug.

As I love competitions that inspire quality family time with Bug having fun and getting creative I love the sound of the FAGE #YogArtist Competition.

Educating parents about the taste, versatility and health benefits of FAGE yoghurts FAGE have set up a Family time with FAGE campaign that also inspires parents to encourage their children to become #YogArtists by creating yoghurt inspired art.

Entrants into the competition who share their children’s yoghurt art on social media, before the closing date of Monday the 22nd of September 2014, using the hashtag #YogArtist will see their creative entries uploaded onto the dedicated Family time with FAGE Tumblr page where the best submissions selected by a panel of judges will win family days out and a spa day for mum.

My Shining Light.

Goodnight my love, my shining light

Sleep well, sleep tight

Have sweet dreams tonight

As the stars above twinkle bright

I dim the lights and kiss you goodnight

Leaving your night light to shine on you tonight

Guarding you from the darkness so you don’t have a fright

Your beautiful face lit by the soft light

In my darkest days you a bright shining light

Glowing and twinkling with all your might

Your love and happiness making everything right

Goodnight my love, my shining light

* This is my entry into the Lighting Majestic blogger competition *

Voting open for the Canvas Holidays character competition - win £500 Canvas Holidays vouchers!

The other day I wrote about the fab Canvas Holidays character competition where one lucky winner will win £500 of Canvas Holidays vouchers.

The prize.

The prize of £500 Canvas Holidays vouchers can be used at any of Canvas Holidays’ family friendly campsites.  As I mentioned in my previous post a couple of Canvas Holidays’ campsites are perfectly located near magical Disneyland Paris and the fantastical Parc Asterix, making them the perfect base site if you enjoy family holidays with a trip or two to fun-filled amusement parks.

To enter the competition entrants had to send Canvas Holidays a picture of their child dressed as their favourite character with fifty words describing who the character was and why their little ones had chosen to dress as that character.

Sadly the competition has now closed for entries but for those of you who entered the competition and sent in a picture of your child dressed as their favourite character the voting element of the competition has now opened!

Voting time!

It is now voting time in the Canvas Holidays character competition and all the entries will showcased in a public gallery where they will be open to public voting.

Win £500 Canvas Holidays vouchers with Canvas Holidays’ character competition.

Holidays can be a wonderful time for families, where lots of fun and adventures are had as families make memories that can be treasured for years to come.

I look forward to the family holidays we will have over the years and cannot wait to experience fun and adventures with Bug (and hopefully his siblings if we are blessed in the future) on holidays in the UK and all across the globe, experiencing a range of cultures and attractions as well as experiencing a variety of different types of holidays including camping, beach, self-catering, winter and safari.

One of our dream holiday destinations is Disneyland Paris.

As I have amazing memories of a family holiday we had as a child to Disney World in Florida I would love to take Bug there one day to create more amazing memories with my own little family. Not only would I love to go to Disney World in Florida but I would also love to go to Disneyland in Paris too.

Having never been to France I would love to have a family holiday to France where we could combine our want of a camping holiday and our desire to visit Disneyland Paris by camping near Disneyland Paris. It would be dream holiday for us to explore France, camp in a rural setting where we could experience the beauty of the French countryside and visit Disneyland Paris where we could be enchanted by the magic of Disney.

As the costly expense of taking family on holiday can be a hard hit to the bank balance, especially when it is a dream magical family holiday, it always comes in handy if a family holiday can be snapped up on offer to save money or even better still when holiday vouchers are won that can be put towards buying your dream family holiday.

If like me you would love a dream holiday to Disneyland Paris then Canvas Holidays may well be able to help make your dream holiday come true with their latest competition which has an impressive prize of £500 Canvas Holidays vouchers.

Fingers crossed for a win with Thou Shalt Not Covet and her superb 30th Birthday Big Blog Giveaway.

As I love entering competitions that give me the chance of winning prizes that I would love for myself or that would be relevant to my family I could not resist entering Thou Shalt Not Covet’s impressive 30th Birthday Big Blog Giveaway.

Photo taken from www.thoushaltnotcovet.net 

To celebrate her 30th birthday Michelle  from Thou Shalt Not Covet has organised a prizetastic giveaway with over £1000 worth of amazing prizes going to one lucky winner……how amazing is that?!!!!

Win £100 Leisure vouchers and Multipower UK Fruit & Natural Energy Bars.

I am delighted to be teaming up with Multipower, who are experts in the sports nutrition, to host their latest competition.

Multipower are offering you the chance to win some brilliant Multipower prizes ~

*  1st Place – 70 Fruit & Natural Energy Bars from Multipower UK plus a £100 Leisure Voucher

*  2nd Place – 20 Fruit & Natural Energy Bars from Multipower UK plus a £20 Leisure Voucher

*  3rd Place – 14 Fruit & Natural Energy Bars from Multipower UK

Excel Clothing Summer Wish List.

As I love entering competitions and love creating wish lists, dreaming of what I would love to buy if I had plenty of money, I could not resist entering Excel Clothing’s exclusive blogger competition where one lucky person will win a whopping £500 to spend at Excel Clothing.

To enter the competition I had to create an Excel Clothing wish list of my favourite items of clothing for summer.

Celebrate Father’s Day with Hallmark and win big for your Football Dad.

Bug’s dad is football mad, he loves playing and watching football and is especially excited about the upcoming FIFA World Cup. 

As Lee is mad about the beautiful game I have entered a fab competition perfect for the footie mad dad in our family, and with Father’s Day fast approaching the footie prize would make an awesome gift to show him how much we love and appreciate him. 

Hallmark are offering you the chance to win an amazing experience for your dad with the Hallmark Father’s Day Prize Draw.  If you are the lucky winner you will win Two Tickets To Tour Your Dad’s Favourite Sports Stadium!!

The winner of the Hallmark Father’s Day Prize Draw will be able to choose a stadium tour of their choice from a variety of stadiums including Man United’s Old Trafford stadium, Liverpool’s Anfield stadium, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Fulham’s Craven Cottage stadium.

Vote for the Little Face of Venture 2014.

For the past couple of months, Venture Photography have been on a quest to find the next Little Face of Venture.

Entrants of Venture Photography’s Little Face of Venture competition have been given the chance to be crowned the proud title of being the new Little Face of Venture and win some amazing prizes.  With their Little Face of Venture competition Venture Photography have also been supporting the fantastic children’s charity WellChild by raising money for the charity with a £1 being donated for every child that enters the competition.