Blogmas Day Five

Having two boys only three years apart makes Christmas shopping quite difficult! Especially when the youngest has a birthday near Christmas as well! When we have been looking for gifts this year we have also been looking at things the boys can share or that we can get for Freddie and James can play along with him. 

First up we have this awesome power dough set from Canal Toys. This set is a bit like modeling clay but you can make the the creations light up and move thanks to battery power! We were sent the small unicorn set. 

The boys have loved playing with this. James was able to show Freddie what to do and Freddie loved seeing their creation come to life! This set retails at around £13.00 on Amazon and it is for ages three and up! This was a perfect activity for a quite weekend at home in the run up to Christmas. 

Next up we have a lovely floor puzzle from Crocodile Creek. This is the one all about the different seasons, but there are many different ones. While having a look online I found pirates and also unicorns!

 This is something that James would love and that Freddie would grow into as he is only just 3 and is only starting to take a small interest in puzzles. Crocodile Creek products can be bought online from Trotters. 

Prices start at £12.00

Now we have something a bit different - Jofli The Journey of Life Bear. The idea for Jofli came from a 1998 school project for Suzi O'Neill. Jofli was created to encourage families to have adventures and record them in a journal

Both my boys have their special bears or in Freddie's case a cow! CB who is James and Freddie's cow Moo literally go everywhere! 

When we were on holiday both CB and Moo came with us, while CB stayed in the hotel room during the day Freddie literally had Moo attached to the straps on his stroller! 

The idea of the Journal is a brilliant one! I really wish we had thought to write down some of the adventures of CB and Moo from Majorca! These are priced from £30.00 for a mini pack to £50.00 for the double pack. You can also buy extra journals and outfits etc. Jofli is available from jofli.com

**This is a collaborative post**

#Blogtober17 Day 5 Education

The prompt for Blogtober day 5 is education!

For me this means everything I have done! So where I grew up it was a three tier school system with kids starting school at four rising five, then moving to middle school at the end of the school year you turned nine. Then again moving to high school at the end of the school year of turning thirteen.

So after completing my GCSEs at high school I had the option of staying on at school for another two years and doing sixth form or I could leave school and go to the local college for two years. I chose to go down the college route. I did a BTEC National Diploma in Media Production.

I then chose to go onto Manchester Metropolitan University, but the course I started was not the course I had been told about at the open day, so I chose to leave the course after the first year.

I then worked for a year for the camera shop Jessops where I learned so much about photography and digital cameras and also how prints were developed. 

I then went onto Salford University and did an HND in Media Production. I absolutely loved my time on the HND. Sadly when I went back to the university to do the one year top up degree it was a horrible experience, which ended up with me appealing my results and eventually resitting some of my modules.

I eventually graduated in 2012, but I was pregnant with James at the time so deferred the ceremony till the July 2013. James was eleven months old when I walked onto the stage in the Lowry Theatre in Salford Quays to receive my degree. So I ended up with a BSc Hons Professional Broadcast Techniques 2:1 Degree.

Do I want my boys to go to university? Well I would love it if they did, but it will be there choice. If they dont want to then I wont force them. Its their happieness that means the most to me.