We are very sorry about this especially as it comes at a time when we are all trying to watch our pennies,

Sherilyn and Kim x

As a family business you can expect to see an excellent service and most certainly you will not be treated as a number.

Thier frames have been sourced from a very reliable European manufacturer and are not the flimsy overpriced product that can be seen in most garden centres or high street toy shops. We are the sole distributor of this product in the UK and can offer excellent deals on delivery.

So if your thinking about buying your children a climbing frame this summer then read on for some great advice

Size -

remember to add a 2m safe surround.

Growth -

All Climbing Tikes climbing frames will allow you to add on extra components.

Age range -

choose something that all age ranges can play on

Assembly

This is how they are delivered

All the wood for climbingtikes climbing frames come pre-cut to size.

They are delivered to us on a pallet.

The photo on the right was from a delivery of 4 Jackpot (twintower) climbing frames.

http://www.climbingtikes.co.uk/Jackpot.aspx

Full instructions come in the box with the accessories for the frames. These are very easy to follow.

When assemling the climbing frame make sure you:-

* Read the instruction book don’t just look at the pictures.

* Sort the wood into piles so that they are accessible when required.

* Have some extra people on had to assist you with the build. There will be times when you need help supporting the structure.

* site your climbing frame 1.8 – 2m away from any obstructions including hedges and trees

* Make sure you use a concrete base to stop any sinkage of the frame.

* Check all fittings and fixings on a regular basis.

Sherilyn and Kim x

Sophie la Girafe is certainly fabulous at fifty!

Please spread the word at the school gates, at the nursery or during your parent and baby morning – absolutely everyone is welcome to enter, the more the merrier… I for one cannot wait to get started – I love Sophie!

For all the details please visit www.sophielagirafe.co.uk .

Entries can be posted to:
Happy Birthday Sophie la Girafe, 1 Noel Street, London, W1F 8GA

You will Need

• Large Pine Cones – the more open the easier to fill
• Peanut Butter – smooth or with nuts
  
• Bird Seed
  
• Ribbon, Garden Twine or Wire Large bowl

How to make them

Step 1 Tie the ribbon or wire to the top of the pine cone, create a loop at the other end to attach to the tree
Step 2 Cover the pine cone with peanut butter, making sure the pine cone is fully coated.
Step 3 Fill large bowl bird seed, place the pinecone into the bird seed and roll to cover

Thats everything – all you need to do now is hang on a tree, bird table or anywhere else birds frequent.

These are so simple to make, get the children out and about collecting pine cones and hanging the feeders and children will love watching the birds tuck in!

Affected batch numbers are 150209, 150409, 150509

Read more on the Silver Cross Website

This article was kindly provided by Michelle Wright from ColourWheel Creative

Some days my life feels a little bit like being in a Mr Benn episode! Do you remember that programme – or am I just showing my age? Lol!

Mr Benn was a character on a televison series who wore a black suit and bowler hat. Every day he left his house at 52 Festive Road and visited a fancy-dress shop, where he was invited by the shopkeeper to try on a different outfit. Once the outfit was on, Mr Benn left the shop through a magic door at the back of the changing room and enters a world fitting to his costume… and this is where his adventure began.

For me though, I don’t have to go to a fancy dress shop and through a magic door – like most mums who run businesses my role seems to change throughout the day!!

7.30 am – a mum dashing around at trying to find that missing school sock and discovering that my daughters only school uniform in the wardrobe is covered in paint from where she seems to have been painting with her elbow! Oh to be nearly 5 years old!

9am – taxi driver mum, battling to get my daughter to school before 9am so she doesn’t get a black mark against her name, whilst trying to get her to eat a little more breakfast on the way to school, finding her vitamin tablet and then pulling out the ever so valuable wet wipe to give a quick swish around her face and look respectable for the day – well the start of the day anyway! When she comes home, her hair is so messy that I swear she has been an extra in Harry Potter, her coat slung on and her t-shirt not tucked in – and lets not forget the scuffed black school shoes from when my ‘delicate little princess’ has been climbing trees in the play ground!

9.30am – I’m me for about 5 mins – back home for a brew to start the day.

9.35am – a graphic designer/ business lady – I hear the familiar yet comforting sound when I boot up my mac and check my emails to see what I need to add to my ‘to do’ list! I then spend blissful hours off in my own little design world, singing away to the radio, stopping occasionally for a cuppa or 2! I love my design bubble – it’s a happy place where things look pretty and everything sits well with everything else… I ‘m boss and nothing can back chat or moan!

11am – cleaner/house wife…. My design bubble has just burst when I remember my daughters painted school uniform and have to put the washing on, tidy her room, wash the pots etc etc…

It’s 1pm – how did that happen?! Better stop for some lunch and a bit of loose women! So I sit down, finish my soup, stare aimlessly at the tv whilst my mind is thinking about all the things I should be doing!! What’s the point – might as well go and do them!!

2pm – time to be an account, so I create some invoices – always useful when you have completed the work and wonder why your bank balance hasn’t changed! Whilst emailing the invoices off I get side tracked onto Facebook! It’s an addiction… ‘hello my name’s Michelle and I’m a Facebookolic’… I comment on a few posts (convincing myself that I am actually networking, you know, ‘maintaining my colourwheel creative presence on todays modern social networking platforms’ when in fact I am wishing my cousin happy birthday, looking through someone else’s photo albums (how do I get there?!) whilst thinking of something amusing to say! Suddenly I see a link to a You Tube clip – fatal… if I follow that I will also get lost in the world of You Tube and before I know it will be 5pm!! Note to self: ‘must not go there!

3.30pm – Back to my design bubble again – it’s lovely here… I do love working for myself… I love being a designer as I get to work with lots of different people, different businesses each and every day – I never know what will come into my inbox at any moment! Engrossed in newsletters, flyers and logos,… it’s suddenly dark… I look around me and the only light is from my mac – no wonder my eyes are hurting! I realize that it’s 5.45pm – blimey, how did that happen!

5.45pm – I am now a mad, frantic woman, running around the house tidying up, putting the washing out, feeding the cat, putting lights on and generally doing all the housework in 15mins!!!

6pm – I dash to the childminders to collect my daughter (my childminder lives literally in the house on the opposite side of the street – so how come I am always rushing to get there?). My daughter comes sidling out proudly holding a cardboard box covered in paint and glitter (apparently a princess castle). ‘Wow, that’s fantastic” I say with a big smile on my face (– when all the time I am thinking ‘Blimey, where am I going to put that?!’) We chat about her day – well I chat about her day receiving the usual answers:

Me: ‘what did you do today?’ Her: ‘nothing’.

Me: Who did you play with?” Her: ‘nobody!’

I smile and think how I wish I was nearly 5 years old again!

7pm – Mummy role of bath time stories and bed… we read about the BEST things….dancing polar bears, pirates, monkeys with blue bottoms and aliens who steal underpants off washing lines; and of course beautiful ladies who live in big castles who meet the man of their dreams and always live happily ever after! When she closes her eyes and I close the door to her bedroom a sense of calm and tranquility fills the air… how I wish I was nearly 5 – have I mentioned that?!

8.10 – just check my email and respond to facebook messages – oh, must also just check all the other forums that I post on.. I could really do with a brew but it is almost 9pm now…

9pm – downstairs, making lunch boxes up for tomorrow and making sure my daughters uniform is clean, dry and respectable… all ready for another days adventures!!!

Bed time –wow what a busy day… in an episode, just as exciting as a Mr Benn one, I have been a mother, housewife, cleaner, business lady, accountant, designer… oh and me, for 5 mins at lunch time!

Night all…..wonder what will be in my inbox tomorrow? X

Colourwheel creative – graphic design for your business and family

www.colourwheelcreative.co.uk

info@colourwheelcreative.co.uk



We are delighted to announce that we have recently opened another online store through Kiddiebase - your one stop shop for shopping for bump, baby and children, why not pay our store a visit – all items listed can be purchased directly from Kiddiebase and paid for via Paypal or you can still order directly through the TotsCorner Website

This article was kindly provided by Alison Pinto of Menus4Mums

Wondering how to make ends meet?  Want to get your grocery costs down but keep the quality high?  Menu4Mums, the online family meal planners, have given us these top tips to help you save on your grocery shop.  Why not challenge yourself to see how much you can save?

Tip 1:  Plan your meals. Look online at supermarket offers (or look at the Menus4Mums Bargain Spotting page) and build meals around these ingredients.  Plan a suitable meal for each day with a good balance of protein (eg meats, pulses), carbohydrates (eg potatoes, rice, pasta), and vegetables.  See what needs using up in your freezer or fridge. Think about using up leftovers too.  And try to include an interesting variety of tastes and textures.  Then write your shopping list.

Tip 2:  Never shop on an empty stomach. If you do, you just know you’ll end up at the checkout with a trolley brimming with cake, crisps, and chocolate – and a huge grocery bill to boot!    Instead, if you are feeling a bit peckish, have a banana or a quick snack.  It could save you a lot of money.

Tip 3:  Beware of BOGOF and Buy 2, Get 1 Free deals. You might find it is still cheaper to buy a different brand or an own brand product.  Be particularly wary of deals on perishable foods – just because you can buy two bags of pears for the price of one doesn’t mean to say that you will want to eat them all!    Finally, many of the deals are offered on foods which are high in salt, sugar and fat, so beware.

Tip 4:  Taste test lower range products. We don’t mean suddenly going from premium brands to the most basic products.  But if you give some of the middle range brands a try, the chances are you won’t notice a difference.  Look at the health data on the packaging too – some lower range foods are actually healthier than the premium varieties.

Tip 5:  Give the supermarket a miss sometimes. Try buying your meat at your local butcher – you’re likely to be impressed by the quality.  Plus if you want just 3 chicken breasts, you don’t have to fork out for a pack of 4 so you only end up paying for what you need.  Seasonal fruit and veg is often cheaper at your local market or farmer’s market, and you could turn it into a trip out with the family.  Or check out your local farm shop for quality, local, seasonal produce.

Menus4Mums help busy parents ditch the takeaways and ready meals and serve up tasty, healthy food for their families, saving them time and money in the kitchen.  Find out more at www.menus4mums.co.uk.