Experimental MumScience + Children = Fun + Mess

Thank you to Tom at Shine Communications for sending us the brand new Nintendo DS Flips to review. Flips are a new range of interactive books designed to get children exicted about reading.

The video below gives an overview of the cool features.

We received the Cathy Cassidy Flips and here is Freya’s unedited review:

I love Flips, I think there very good.

My mum got sent a Flip for free and they asked me and my sister to try it out.

Flips is about making kids enjoy reading by the more you read the more games and puzzles you unlock, plus you probably want to play games.

Also if you’re not a big fan of reading like me Flips will help you enjoy it.

I’ve been reading Scarlet and I think it’s very good. It’s so good!!!!

My favourite bit about Flips is when you read more you unlock more games and puzzles…

My worst bit is nothing, I like all of it.

That’s why I enjoy Flips and I think they’re very good!!!!!!!!!

My Mum hopes they makes some adult ones too, she thinks they’d be cool at her bookclub!!!

Writing by – Freya Riddell (age eight)

Cling Film Boots!

My Mum is a very inventive women!

In the last week of the Christmas school term the girls had a unexpected day off school after being snowed in at Grannies house. They celebrated by having a snow day, whereas me and their Dad celebrated a further night without children by going out for dinner – thanks Mum x!

The girls were keen to  fully embrace the snowy fun but there was one slight snag, Freya didn’t have waterproof boots with her. So clever Granny made her some…

Here is Freya wearing her suede boots wrapped in cling film and topped with a pair of slipper socks!

Tara over at Sticky Fingers has started a photo meme and is going to compile a photo gallery of all the entries.

The challenge is simple, choose your favourite photo and tell us what it means to you. Then invite someone else to join the fun.

Like most Mums I have 1000’s of photos of the kids, so choosing just one is pretty tricky.

But the photo below is stuck on our fridge and makes me smile each time I look at it.

Frozen Fern

It was taken in Abriachan Wood in February 2009 and it is a picture of my girls Freya, Erynn and our cocker spaniel Fern.

This slightly crazy dog  had managed to find the only unfrozen puddle of water and rolled in it, only to instantly freeze herself. She was covered in icicles and we had to defrost her in a warm bath when we came home. Which resulted in a very muddy bath chock full of forest twigs! The girls thought it was hilarious and Fern loved the pampering, especially the blow dry.

I love the expression on the dogs face, the kids rosy cheeks, the frosty scenery, even Erynn’s wonky fringe following a rather rubbish haircut by me!

I’d like to invite Kathryn at Crystal Jigsaw to submit a photo too. I’ve just discovered her blog but enjoyed reading very much.

About a hundred years ago I replied to a request on British Mummy Bloggers to put Ecover cleaning products to the test alongside some well known brand name cleaning products. Ecover have developed a range of ecosurfactants that they claim to be extremely powerful and supremely ecological. They have a cool website too, love the wipe effect!

Although I like the environmentally friendly idea of Ecover products I was sceptical that they could work as well as the petrochemical alternatives. I know it’s clever marketing but brand name cleaning products like Flash are so shiny looking and clean smelling they just “appear” as if they will work better.

Now where to start in my cleaning spree! First up was the gas cooker top and hood which was in need of a good scrub. In this test I compared Ecover Power Cleaner with Cillit Bang. I’ve always been rather wary of Cillit Bang after once leaving a permanently “clean steak” while over zealously scrubbing a plastic shower cabinet. So, I was pleasantly surprised that the Ecover product worked equally well in this test even on the greasy cooker hood. I did take before and after photos but managed to delete them seconds later. Which is probably just as well, it was pretty embarrassingly crusty!

Time for a tougher challenge…Next up was the very grotty jacuzzi bath vents. I had only just realised (after 3 years of use) that they were removable so they were revoltingly manky and I can’t quite believe I’m posting this photo! To tackle the grot I used both Ecover Multisurface Cleaner and Flash Multisurface Cleaner. Both effectively removed all the hidden grot pretty easily, in fact I had to fill the bath and run the pump to get rid of all the scale which floated away. I had a bath that night to celebrate it’s shininess! I must admit I did prefer the stronger fragrance of the Flash product, although I notice both are fragranced with Liminol. Again clever marketing makes us believe if it smells clean it is clean!

Bath - Before

Bath - After

Lastly I tackled the back door, which has a glass panel that is constantly marked with our spaniels muddy paws. This time I compared Mr Muscle Window & Glass Spray with Ecover Window & Glass Cleaner. This time Ecover won hands down, it polished the glass up really quickly and without any streaks, unlike Mr Muscle and lots of previous products I’ve used. I’ll definitely buy this one again.

Enjoying the Skating Rink!

Happy New Decade Everyone!

After an unplanned long absence, the reasons being far too boring to document, I’m back.

The last few months have been a bit of a juggling act and one of the many things that didn’t get done was the emptying of the paddling pool, which is now frozen solid and been enjoyed by the girls during this very cold spell!

Sometimes not getting things done can have unexpected advantages …