Brilliance in Blogging Awards - Nomination Time!

If you are a blogger then you can't fail to have seen all the buzz this week about the Brilliance in Blogging Awards, organised by Britmums. Last year over 200,000 votes were cast making it a pretty big deal in the blogging world!

My blog is still relatively new but I'd love to be nominated - I'm proud of my little blog and being able to share what Elliot and I get up to. If you enjoy reading it, please consider nominating us! The more nominations you get, the more chance of getting short listed for the next round :)

There are 12 different catagories but I feel that 2 are the perfect fit for me:

• Fresh Voice - "This award celebrates newbies and their fresh approach to blogging and social media (blog must be less than 18 months old)"
• Family - "These blogs celebrate, amuse, lend insight and reveal a no-holds-barred look at family life"

If you'd like to nominate Entertaining Elliot, then please follow the link here. You will need the following info: 

Blog Name: Entertaining Elliot

Blog URL: http://www.entertainingelliot.com

Twitter ID: eelliotblog

Email: Entertainingelliot@gmail.com

Why do you feel this blogger deserves to win? Put what you want here :)

URL of your favourite post from this blog:  Again, your choice! 

Obviously there is a lot of stiff competition but I'd love to be nominated! Thank you xx

Dinosaurs, dates and googly eyes #LittleLoves

Excited to be joining in with a new linky this week. Stumbled upon #LittleLoves hosted by Morgana at "But Why Mummy Why?" so here is our round up of the week :)

Read

Elliot is a little book worm and we generally buy a new book a week! Kids books are so cheap in the supermarket and I'd much rather spend money on something educational for him than a magazine for me. This week we picked up Dinosaurs in the Supermarket, By Timothy Knapman - yet another dinosaur themed book to add to the collection!! 

Blogwise I have read some really good posts this week. Faves include:

• Life With Baby Kicks - Christmas Markets in Belgium (made me want to eat waffles!!)
•  Dolly Dowsie - Hi There Blogger, Work For Free?
• Dear Mummy - Working Nine  to Five

Watched

Fortitude has us gripped at the moment - it's filling the hole left by Broadchurch! 

I've also been catching up with First Dates on Channel 4 - I love being nosy and it's sometimes so awkward!! 

Photo Credit: Sky Atlantic/Channel4

Wore

Nothing new in our wardrobes this week but I am loving all the Spring collections in the shops at the moment. I'm going shopping in Southampton next week to buy a wedding outfit so hopefully I'll be able to show you a new outfit on next week's #LittleLoves! 

Heard

Since my husband came back from the US in January he has been banging on about this song...I assumed it was a random song he'd heard on a random US radio station but imagine my surprise when I heard it on radio here! It's so bloody catchy, it'll get stuck right in your head!

Made

We finally organised our craft box this week and we now have tons of stuff for rainy days at home! Elliot wanted to make a picture for his daddy so he came up with this masterpiece this week...I love the random googly eyes at the bottom ;)

And lastly...

Elliot is off to his Grandparent's for a sleepover at the weekend so my husband and I are going out for a nice meal, I can't remember the last time we were child free on a Saturday night!! It also means a lie in on Sunday - woohoo!

Throwing some shapes at Baby Goes Clubbing

Taking your toddler clubbing isn't normally something you think you'd ever do but today I found myself in one of Bournemouth's most popular clubs dancing along to Boyzone with Elliot by my side!

Minky Moos Children's Entertainment run regular baby clubbing sessions and it gives little ones a chance to get their groove on whilst enjoying a new sensory experience.

The sessions are usually themed and this week's was a celebration of all things Irish especially for St Patrick's Day. I love a bit of Irish pop music and I spent many an evening warbling along to The Corrs in my bedroom when I was a teenager!

The nightclub it is held in is fairly small and the dance floor filled up quick - there were a real mix of ages from newborns being rocked around the dancefloor to crazy toddlers (mine!) jumping around to the music. Elliot loves music and he was so excited to be dancing with me ("Mummy, dance!!!) , I thought he was going to explode with excitment when his little friend arrived! As well as the music, there were also lots of bubbles and the kids were following the lady with the bubbles around the dance floor like she was the Pied Piper ;)

Notice how Elliot is right at the front for the bubbles!!

I loved the playlist today - there was Boyzone (yay!), The Corrs (double yay!), Westlife, U2, Cranberries and even a bit of the Boomtown Rats...maybe I'm showing my age there ;)

The sensory part of the session was really fun - we got to listen to Enya whilst lots of flashing balls/toys were handed out to the kids, and the Minky Moos ladies walked round with handheld flashing lights. Elliot wasn't satisfied with just one, he had 3 on the go at once!

The session was packed and it's obviously really popular amongst the local mums. Elliot really enjoyed it and we will definitely look into attending the next event!

All this dancing is exhausting ;)

Drone Testing and Seashell Collecting!

The weather has been beautiful here today and it really feels like Spring is on it's way. My husband finished work early so we decided to make the most of the nice weather and head out to our local park with Elliot...and a new drone!

My husband Paul was lucky enough to attend the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in January, which is the biggest of it's kind in the world. He saw all kinds of new innovative technology but it was unmanned vehicles/drones that really caught his eye. Paul owns two computer/gadget shops (The Laptop Fixers) in our local area Poole and he couldn't wait to get his hands on some drones to sell in the shop....and test out! 

The drone Paul was testing (Parrot Bebop Drone) has an onboard camera and you can even control it using your smartphone or tablet! It took some amazing pictures and video of our local park...

Whilst Paul was playing with his new toy, Elliot was having fun down on the beach collecting seashells and seeing how far he could throw them. It was such a simple thing but he was having so much fun and in a little world of his own! He was even brave enough to paddle into the water, thank goodness for wellies!

We spent many a school holiday down on this beach when we were kids and I have very fond memories of swimming and splashing about with my sisters and cousins. Yesterday wasn't quite swimming weather but the sea looked so clear!

We are so lucky to have this beautiful coastline right on our doorstep! 

 

Chad Valley PlaySmart Reading, Writing and Spelling Pack - Review

Elliot is at the age where he is just so keen to learn new things and his brain is like a sponge absorbing it all up! He loves to count and will line up his dinosaurs, counting as he goes along. With a bit of prompting he can count to 30...I say a bit of prompting because he always gets a bit confused at what comes after 20! We've also been working on his ABC's recently and he loves pointing out letters on books and saying "A is for.." etc. Although we did have a funny moment recently when he broke wind (loudly!) and announced "F is for Fart!"....typical boy ;)

I am always on the look out for education toys and I was excited to see that Chad Valley have a new PlaySmart range featuring toys that make learning fun by stimulating children's imaginations while they develop key skills along the way. The toys are designed for kids between 2-8 and with prices starting a £6.99. it won't break the bank!

We were sent the Reading, Writing and Spelling Pack which is aimed at 3-6 year olds. Elliot isn't 3 yet but as soon as he spotted the alphabet cards he couldn't wait to investigate!

Photo Credit - Argos

The pack includes:

• 26 x wipe clean alphabet writing cards
• 50 x double sided word cards
• 12 x wipe clean spelling puzzles
• 1 x pen
• 1 x reward stickers
• play ideas leaflet

With so much to do in the pack, this would be ideal if you had children of different ages because there's something for every ability. 

Elliot is a bit too young for the spelling at the moment but I am looking forward to introducing the word cards when he's a little older to enhance his learning. 

We really enjoyed playing with the alphabet writing cards and Elliot loved naming all the things, he even had a go at writing the letters but that's going to take a bit of practise I think! 

The PlaySmart toys are fun, affordable and educational - I would definitely consider buying more from this range. 

Disclaimer: We received the item for the purpose of this honest review. All views are my own

Hotter Loves Mums!

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting my local Hotter store in Bournemouth for a special #HotterLovesMums event - and I got to take my Mum along too!

You may remember I blogged about Hotter shoes last year (see here) and I became the proud owner of the Pixie boots. The boots have been firm favourites in my winter wardrobe and I couldn't wait to see what Hotter had to offer in the SS15 collection. 

What I love about Hotter is that the shoes are just SO comfortable! You know when you buy a pair of heels and you get those gel pads to stick in so they don't hurt as much after a night out? Well Hotter heels include special Pyramid Technology which adds soft cushioning to every step - no more sticky gel pads needed! 

My Mum was a newcomer to Hotter and I think she was pleasantly surprised how much choice there was and how well made the shoes were. She tried on a few different pairs but eventually decided to go for a pair of Sorbet Shoes, velvety loafers in light taupe. Well...that was until she spotted the Shipley! The Shipley is a stylish, slip-on kiltie and mum chose this style in tan. She can't wait for the warm weather to arrive so she can wear them with cropped jeans! 

As somebody with big wide feet, shoe shopping is sometimes a chore but Hotter offer so many of their styles in extra wide fitting so I was spoilt for choice really. I love a bit of a nautical and one of the new styles for this season was the Kate, a stylish boat shoe which came in 5 different colours. Unfortunately they didn't have my size in stock but I will definitely be popping back to try these on!

After much deliberation (practical or pretty!) I chose a pair of Mist shoes,a stylish waterproof walking boot which isn't the sexiest of shoes but something I've needed for a while now! My husband always tells me off at weekends when we go for walks and I wear inappropriate footwear (his words, not mine!) so now I'll be able to walk through mud and not worry about losing a trainer ;) 

Whilst Hotter prices are not for everyone's budget, you really do get a quality product and the customer service you will receive is first class. My mum is now a convert and says she won't hesitate to return when she is looking for shoes for a special occasion! 

 Disclaimer: Mum and I received a free pair of shoes for the purpose of this honest review. All views are my own

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing all the mums out there a Happy Mother's Day - hope you've had a lovely day! I would love to say I had a long lie in and breakfast in bed but sadly I got woken up at the crack of dawn by Elliot shouting "Mum! Dad! Done a poo!"...sigh!!!! By the time I'd dealt with that I felt wide awake so we left Daddy snoozing in bed whilst we watched Cbeebies. So one of us had a lie in at least!

I was very spoilt though - Elliot (and Daddy) got me a lovely bunch of flowers and a pot plant and apparently Elliot picked the card out himself!

We spent the afternoon at my parent's and it's always lovely to spend time with the whole family. Mum made two giant cottage pies (one meaty and one veggie!) and we were all stuffed by the time dinner was over. My mum does a brilliant job of feeding us all - it can't be easy with 2 vegans, 1 vegetarian, 1 who doesn't like vegetables, and the rest of us meat eaters doing Weight Watchers!

So Happy Mother's Day to my Mum who does so much for us and is always on hand to look after Elliot. And here's a picture of us looking much younger ;)

Did you get spolit by your children today?!