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TB hates having his face painted. In fact the last time anyone got near him with face paints, he must have been about three years old. He had his arm painted and almost immediately rubbed the entire image off. Ever since, I’ve always suggested that he give it another go and he’s always stayed firmly away from those paints.

When he opened the first Toyologist box and found a set of face paints he was dead excited. I laughed. Didn’t he remember he hates face paints? Apparently not, because he was determined to get them on his face as quickly as possible.

Monday night he decided he had to have his face painted. Spiderman was the preferred option. I sent him to get a mug of water and he returned with a near-flat plastic tub lid. Water went on the floor. I sent him back again and he returned with a 4l plastic tub. Even more water went on the floor. I gave up and went to get a cup of water myself.

I have never seen someone so incapable of sitting still as TB was when his face was being painted. I started with the sponge to cover his face red and apparently it tickled too much. Next the white around the eyes, this time with the brush. That one apparently tickled so much that his eyes ended up rather pink after he insisted on rubbing them. I carefully traced the eyes black and drew in the spider webs but I had to stop every two millimetres so he could wiggle and jiggle and laugh. Hey, it wasn’t like I was using a feather!

Finally we were done and TB was happy. I can’t help feeling that my facepainting skills leave a lot to be desired, but then I’m more of a perfectionist. Put it this way though, I’m not sure I’m up to doing anything more complicated than Spiderman. Certainly not with that wriggly boy!

We used Snazaroo facepaints which are available from Toys R Us priced £9.99.

Despite a modest salary from my employer I seem to have little disposable income.  All my cash seems to go on the kids.  Time to break out the credit card because I have some serious shoe lust.

From left to right: Alaïa Chain Link leather sandals (£1,555), Jimmy Choo Private patent leather sandals (£550), Christian Louboutin Tinazata 120 cutout boots (£880), Lipsy Multi-Strapped Platform Heel Sandals (£55), Burberry Shearling-Lined ankle boots (£650), Christian Louboutin Clou Noeud 150 studded slingbacks (£755), Paul by Paul Smith Mimi Metallic platform heeled court shoes (£200), Sam Edelman Lorissa spike and diamante trim heeled shoe (£169), Yves Saint Laurent Palais platform leather pumps (£475).

Now, who wants to buy me a pair?

It’s amazing how the tiniest pieces of plastic can amuse kids.  In the past we’ve spent a small fortune on Star Wars Lego kits, but the pieces that TB loves the most are the mini figures.  We have clone armies, police forces and road maintenance crews all running riot in our house.  When they clash with pirates or Robin Hood and his merry men the results can be catastrophic (for my living room floor, at least).

Lego’s Minifigures Series 2 launches today and we were lucky enough to get a sneak peak at some of the new bods.  When TB saw the line-up he immediately decided he wanted the vampire, the Spartan and the pharaoh.  One out of three wasn’t bad.

Of course I then had to ship him off to bed so I could play.

At £1.99 a pack (containing one Minifigure) Lego Minifigures make a welcome alternative to many of the other pocket-money toy options and certainly a better use of cash than other similarly priced collectibles.  I have no doubt we’ll be buying more; I need to keep trying to get that vampire.  But it’ll be mine, not TBs, and I shall name him Eric Northman.

A few years back, before Li’l Mister came along, I wore a lot of jewellery, big pieces that really stood out.  I don’t bother so much these days, but when I do make the effort my accessories are there to be seen.

Clairabella have some gorgeous statement pieces, many of which are fairtrade.  I particularly like these
bangles (£4.99),
necklaces (£4.99) and
earrings (£2.99)
which are all hand made.

Also eye-catching are these decorative book marks (£7.50) andcaoutchouc rings (£9.95) which are made locally to their shop in High Wycombe.

I like sitting down with TB and playing games: board games; card games; anything with a solid set of rules really.  He cheats otherwise.  Only it’s not called cheating in his book, it’s called making sure he wins.  The trouble is, it’s really difficult to find something challenging enough that he doesn’t get bored but at the same time not so difficult that he doesn’t want to play.

One thing TB does love is dinosaurs; he greedily takes in the facts and remembers them, bringing out his knowledge at any opportunity possible.  Last week we visited the Natural History Museum and he was in heaven.  When I brought out Dinosaur Dash he screeched with excitement.  We were off to the parents’ for dinner and he insisted he take the game with him.  He picked who he wanted to play with him (Li’l Mister had to be on the sister’s team; he would have only wanted to eat his dinosaur!) and made sure he’d got the stegosaurus playing piece. 

The aim of the game is to evolve your dinosaur through geoologic periods with the fastest dinosaur winning the game.  A bit like snakes and ladders, there’s the chance to fast-track through to other periods (or get busted back to the Triassic period!) or you can evolve at a more regular pace.  There’s also the chance to have a go at dinosaur-related activities (why oh why did someone give TB the card that told him to roar like a T-Rex!) or test your knowledge with dinosaur trivia.  Each dinosaur trivia card contains three questions of varying difficulty so our kiddie experts can play along with us ignorant adults.

We had great fun with Dinosaur Dash and can see the game being brought out again and again.  Our game came from the fabulous Clairabella, priced at £15.  Clairabella sells a great range of traditional toys and games – definitely worth a look! 

Moon Sand is available from Toys R Us priced from £6.99.  The Moon Sand Demolition Set which TB featured in his vlog is priced at £14.99.

Lego Hero Factory is available from the Lego Shop (and by now probably in your local supermarket) priced from £7.99.  You can also let your kids loose on the Hero Factory section of the Lego website – it’s kept TB quiet for hours.

^{*We were sent these products for review.}

I love my food.  You’ve only got to look at me to realise that.  What I also love is good food.  I can eat some old hash that I’ve thrown together in 15 minutes but I much prefer the finer things.  Don’t we all?  One of my favourite meals is sitting down with bread, olives, charcuterie and continental cheeses, just being able to pick my way through little nibbles of the food I like. 

unearthed brings together some great regionally produced foods from around Europe.  unearthed foods – which are available in Waitrose and online through Ocado and (organic lines only) Abel & Cole – are easy to prepare and easy to share. 

unearthed sent us a few items to review from their rather extensive range.

I must admit, before trying some of the unearthed range I wasn’t convinced that there would be much difference between their products and the things I’d pick up in the supermarket.  How wrong was I? 

We started with the Hot Chilli Olives. Comparing their punch to a supermarket version is like comparing a bonfire to a forest fire.  I have never tried anything quite like it.  Neither the husband nor I were man enough and ended up taking all the chillies out of the olives and still they were obscenely hot!

We also tried the Serrano Ham and the Barrel Aged Greek Feta (cows milk seems to be a problem so I can still eat the mix of goat and sheep milk).  Both have given me a new appreciation for two of my favourite foods.  The feta, especially, makes me wonder why I ever bothered with the prepackaged junk from my local supermarket. 

Luckily for me, there’s a Waitrose only 15 minutes drive away so I’ll be able to indulge frequently.  I thought I might have to invest in something better to present things on before I invited guests to share unearthed.  Then I realised I wouldn’t want to share anyway!  It’s too good.

I remember our yearly trips for back to school stationery.  Every year we’d rock up to Woolworths in Castle Douglas eager to find pens and pencils, cases and rulers.  Without fail we’d always end up with a protractor each, even though for most of our primary school years we never really knew what to do with one.  By the time we finished out two week holiday, and most often before the middle of August had passed, we were stocked up for the new school year.

TB does have to take his own stationery to school yet but his box of pens and pencils is already enough to drive me up the wall.  Blunt pencils, bits of paper peeled from crayons, pens with the lids left off – they’re all there.  He also seems completely incapable of sharpening a pencil, despite spending hours in the shop choosing the right sharpener.

When Crayola sent him some Twistable pencils and crayons I could’ve jumped for joy!  The pencils look like regular pencils and have a #2 HB graphite lead just like regular pencils but the twistable feature means that there’s no sharpening and no annoying wood shavings littering the floor.  There’s also no problem with the kids sharpening the pencil to within an inch of its life and then complaining it’s too short to use!  They come in regular grey or colour as well.  The crayons feature a similar casing which is perfect to stop the kids from snapping them absentmindedly.

You can buy Crayola Twistables from just about everywhere and they’re priced from as little as £1.29.

Do you see the gorgeousness in that picture?  The rich colour?  The smoothness?

You’re right, I’m not talking about me!  I’m talking about my newest home accessory: this amazing abstract rainbow mirror mosaic which Clairabella sent me to review.  Mine, as you can see, is a square with oily glaze glass mosaic frame and three decorative glass pebbles.  The mirrors, which are hand made in Bali, are also available as circles and in varying colours.  You’d expect them to cost a fair bit, but this one is only £20.99!  A bargain if you ask me. 

Clairabella is an independent family run gift shop based in High Wycombe and owned by two sisters who have a passion for great customer service and a genuine love of retail.  They believe in trading fairly and being as environmental friendly as possible; this has been a consideration for all their products.  Whether you are looking for jewellery, candles, ornaments or unusual musical instruments, there is something for you. There is also a range of traditional toys and games, a few of which I’ll be testing out in the coming weeks.