birthday Archives - ET Speaks From Home

The Book of Everyone Review

The Book of Everyone is a personalised book that is designed by super-talented artists, illustrators, photographers and writers. To mark Mr C’s 40^th birthday, I decided to make him The Book of Everyone Milestones edition. Besides this edition, they also have books for everyone, mum, dad, quickie and romantic.

Wicked Uncle Gift Website

Do you often run out of ideas or find it hard to buy presents for your children or other people’s children? No worries as Wicked Uncle is brilliant for this and here to help. It is a gift website that stocks interesting and unusual children’s presents. They are essentially a present service for birthdays, Christmas and other occasions.

The website is easy to navigate. You can shop by gender of the child, age or categories. It will show you a range of toys that should suit that child. It allows you to easily find gifts for girls who are science mad or boys who like crafty things, and it allows you to search by areas of interest like creative, outdoorsy things etc. There is also an option to just search ALL so you can see all the cool items they stock.

As it is Ms C’s birthday in May, I browsed for aged 7 and for girls. It showed me a range of fun and unusual gift ideas for her that I would not have thought of. I am very pleased with the choices. It has loads of games, toys, play kits and puzzles that all offer something a bit different. This is a fantastic selection of gifts that will stretch the child’s imagination. There are a mix of quality brands like Interplay, Marvin’s Magic, Meccano, etc. and the prices are reasonable.

Happy 8th Birthday to Mr K

Mr K is eight year old now! Time passes so quickly. I still remember how difficult he was as a baby. A lot of the sleepless nights were caused by his reflux which thankfully he grew out of.

For his birthday weekend, we went to a golf lesson at our local golf driving range on Saturday. This was Mr K’s second lesson and he is currently obsessed with it. Now his Christmas list is to own a proper set of junior golf clubs. Well, we shall see!

FloraQueen International Flower

Need to send flowers to your family or friends overseas? Not sure which website to use? For over 10 years, FloraQueen has overseen delivery of gorgeous flowers to people in over 90 countries around the world with their 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.

Having looked through their website, their flowers are very affordable and elegant. Besides ordering flowers for your loved ones, you could also add a box of chocolates , a card, vase, teddy bear, ribbon, flower food and even wine on top of that! I love the convenience of having one site to be able to send flowers internationally, especially as my family and friends are all over the world!

Ms C’s Birthday Wish List

I can’t believe my daughter is going to be six next month and she has been to writing out a long list for her birthday wish list. If money was not a problem for her, she would probably buy the whole toy shop plus a few pets like dogs, cat and ponies! She is a charming and persistent girl who would trick you to buying her presents. Hence I hardly take them to toy stores and prefer to shop online! Last time, for my birthday outing, I inexplicably bought her a My Little Pony castle and it was not on sale! So I try to shop online for toys as much as possible. I need to try to be more sensible and not be influenced by the children!

Harry Potter Experience with Tiger Feet Party

Planning a party can be so easy when you have everything you need under one roof. Tiger Feet Party have it all offering a one-stop shop without leaving home. If you want a Frozen or Pirate party, simply look under the Disney theme for ideas. The site is sorted by type of party for children or adults, or party by age and it makes shopping so easy. They have decorations, tableware, accessories, balloons, fancy dress costumes, weddings, cake decorating, gifts and personalisation gift.

Surprise! A Balloon in a Box! Review

Do you have any upcoming events to celebrate? How do you normally choose and send your gift? There are so many ways of sending your love to your loved one. It can be a present, a phone call or even a balloon in a box. Not heard of a balloon in a box? Me too! This is quite an unusual way of sending a gift!

What is a balloon in a box?

Your balloon will be wrapped, boxed and posted with your special message. They come in three cluster helium balloons inside a large box. It costs £17.95 plus delivery of £3.95.

How is the delivery?

We ordered it to arrive on Thursday and received it via Royal Mail. It is surprisingly huge but when I held it, it was so light!

Surprise in a box!

When I opened up the box, it was covered with a long piece of paper to prevent it from flying out. Once I took out the paper, the balloons surprised me! As Mr K loves his superheroes, he loves it! These balloons came at just the right time for his 6th birthday!

Miioon Ruckjack with Moshi Monster

As winter is approaching it is time to get out your coats. Ms C has outgrown her old white coat and we were very lucky to try a new website Miioon that allows the children to design their own clothes and accessories.

Miioon is a co-creation site that is all about getting kids getting creative and designing their own clothes (Ruckjack, T-shirt, Swoopercape, and Pyjamas) selecting their own accessories, with some of their favourite characters – e.g. Moshi Monsters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In October, Miioon are also launching a gift card through Asda which makes it a really easy Christmas gift – particularly for god children, friends’ children, young relatives etc.

We have chosen to design a Ruckjack. A Ruckjack is a coat that cleverly transforms into a rucksack in four easy steps, making it perfect for rain or shine – ideal for school trips or running around the playground.

The website is fairly simple to use. We went for a red jacket with Moshi Monster inner linen. We picked three characters out of 10 choices for the Oonits which you use it for the zip pulls on her Ruckjack. Each Oonit costs £1.99 extra and is optional. Add in the treasure box and select the size. It come with 5 sizes from 3 to 12 years old. I had a few problems with the free code and I tweeted them at @Miioon1. Within awhile, they tweeted back and help me solve the problem. We received the jacket within two days and it was very nicely packed. I am very impressed with the quick service and delivery!

Fisher Price Bubble Guppies coming to play!

Any fans of Bubble Guppies out here? We sure do in this house! Ms C loves bubble guppies especially Molly.

For those who don’t know Bubble Guppies, it is shown at 9.30am on Nick Jr. It is an interactive show that teaches kids about a wide range of topics – from dinosaurs to dentists, rock & roll to recycling, and colours to cowboys. Through these topics, kids learn about science, maths, literacy, and much more in this preschool musical comedy set in a vibrant, aquarium-inspired underwater classroom.

My Big Family School Year Diary 2013 – 2014

Both of my children will be at school in September, starting reception and Year 1, and they already have a lot of friend’s/classmate’s birthday parties, activities and there are appointments too. This Big Family School Year Diary has come just in time! With only 3 days left until August, it is time to get organised. This book is dated for 13 months from 1st August 2013 through to the 31st August 2014.

The Big Family School Year Diary 2013 - 2014

Should I let my 5 years old stay at his friend’s birthday by himself?

Yesterday, as we are getting ready to go to Mr K’s classmate’s party, he told us that he did not want us at the party as he is a big boy now. We know that some parents leave their child as young as 3 years old at a birthday party but we were still shocked to hear that.

So we asked him a couple of questions:

1. If a stranger offered to give you sweets or food, would you follow him out?

2. If your friends decide to go out to play, would you follow? If not, how do you tell them?

3. Would you let a stranger touch you?

He had answered his questions confidently. He had passed his test. But before we allowed him to be left at the party, he was given a set rules to follow and they were:

He is not allowed to go out by himself to the toilet or outside the party venue.

He must tell the assigned parents/ birthday boy’s parent if he need something or where he is going.

As this is our first time, letting him to be by himself, we was quite nervous about it. Luckily, I had a few mums who I always talk to who stayed at the party who were happy to keep an eye on him.

Soon after, we went to pick him up and he told me that they had also sung a birthday song for him as he shared the same birthday as the birthday boy. It was very thoughtful of them!

Mr K was spoilt and had a lot of fun on his birthday. These are all the Spider-man presents he received:

Happy 5th Birthday to Mr K

Today is my son Mr K’s 5th birthday. Five years ago, I had a show on the afternoon of Wednesday 14th Nov, followed by a strong contraction just after midnight (into Thursday 15th Nov now). Being 40+ weeks pregnant, I was so ready to go into a labour. I had to get to the hospital to have antibiotics as I carried group B streptococcus. I still remember calling the hospital begging them to admit me. They refused and said come back when I had 10 minute contractions. It was another 18 hours before I had 10 minute contractions. We went into the hospital and had two course of antibiotic before I requested my midwife to have my water bag broken. The next 10 minutes was a blur. Suddenly, Mr K’s blood pressure and heart rate dropped. Emergency bells rang and suddenly approximately 10 medical professionals ran in. Within seconds, Mr K was born. There was a moment of silence followed by the most beautiful sound came. He cried! (Now, this is the most annoying sound from him!)

Personalise Photo Book by love2read

The premise of the personalised photo book by love2read is to help your child develop a love of reading. It does this by presenting photographs which reflect your child’s world and relating them to simple words. Research shows that if your child loves books they will learn to read much faster and you will be encouraging a lifelong love of reading. The key words in each book are known as “high frequency ” words, which are some of the first words your child will be taught to recognise when they start school.