ebabee likes:March 2016

Entries from March 2016

How to sleep better + the Leesa mattress (and discount)

March 31, 2016

When I was pregnant a friend of my mum’s jokingly said to me ‘be prepared not to sleep for the next 18 years’! I laughed. Little did I know that her joke wasn’t quite as funny as I had thought. Seven years into parenting, I am still sleep deprived. Just because your kids aren’t babies waking up for night feeds, it doesn’t mean that the sleep depravation and tiredness ends, right? I mean when was the last time you had a lie-in? Or woke up feeling really refreshed?

While it may not be possible to change the number of hours of sleep you get, it is possible to get a better night’s sleep and that’s what really counts. It’s scientifically proven that better sleep is more important than more sleep. I’ve been doing a few things recently to help myself get a better nights sleep so that I wake up refreshed in the morning and these may help you too. I’ve tried to suggest things that you can do immediately and that have worked:

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Rat-a-tat-cat: An addictive card game for any age

March 29, 2016

$card games to help with math skills$

If you love a fun, fast-paced card game like us, you will love Rat-a-tat-cat. Anya was gifted this card game a little while ago and we are addicted! And the bonus is that this is a card game that helps with maths skills, especially addition.

Rat-a-tat-cat is a card game all about numbers and memory with the aim being to get the lowest total. Each of the cards has a number value and they are all either rats or cats on the cards. The rats are the dirty higher numbered cards you want to avoid and the cats are the cool lower value cards that you want to get. The player with the lowest total wins. It’s an easy game to get to grips with and has good mix of chance and skill so it’s not only the adults who can win. In fact we are so often beaten by Anya!

Each individual game lasts no more than a couple of minutes so the game is easy to squeeze in anytime and you never get a chance to get bored. But if you want a longer game which is always what we go for, you just keep totalling up scores to a set number like 100 or 150 and the first player to get this loses. The game is basically a pack of cards so really easy to take along with you on a trip away – great for plane or train journeys . It’s probably best for ages 6 years and up and is a fun way to sneak in a bit of maths too.

Rat-a-tat-cat is such a simple game, yet so addictive. And since its a card game that helps with maths skills in a really fun way, it just makes it even better for me. It’s won many awards but it’s not difficult to see why. My UK readers can find the game here and my US readers here.

9 of the cutest Easter bunny crafts

March 24, 2016

Easter is almost here. What are your plans for the long weekend? We are planning a trip to the Natural History Museum, lots of down time, some delicious food and of course a few crafts. I love Easter crafts, especially Easter bunny crafts that can be so, so cute! So I’ve been collecting some ideas to try out over the weekend and in the holidays. I’ve rounded up 9 of my absolute favourite ones that include some edible ones too. Most of these Easter bunny crafts are easy to make and perfect to keep little people busy over the holidays:

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Black & white Easter egg bunnies

March 22, 2016

I can’t remember doing many crafts as a kid but the one craft I remember doing each year was painting and decorating Easter eggs. After we made our eggs, no matter how hideous they were, my mother would treasure them and almost treat them like they were priceless faberge eggs. Only a mother could do that! I haven’t painted an egg in years so this year I remembered in time and decided to make these cute black and white Easter egg bunnies.

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Airside Andy (learning through creative play )

March 21, 2016

We’re not huge on repetitive games apps in this house – you know the kind where the only aim is to progress to level 2000! For me, I love an app that makes my life easier or more organised and for Anya I like creative or stimulating apps. Once in a while a new game comes along that does more than being just a repetitive game and that’s when it gets my attention.

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Unmissable edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

March 17, 2016

Recently, I was so excited to discover this gem of a book. While Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a book we’re all very familiar with, it was finding this (fairly) rare edition that got me so excited. One look at this book and I knew it had to be added to our shelves.

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How to design a room your kids won’t outgrow

March 16, 2016

There are so many styles and ways to decorate a kids room. When decorating it’s always worth keeping in mind that kids grow so fast. It feels like one minute they’re little babes in arms and the next, they’re telling you what to do! As they grow, their tastes change, their favourite colours change and so you don’t want to end up re-decorating every year or two. Whenever I’m asked for help on decorating a kids room, I discourage themed rooms as they don’t usually stand the test of time. Instead I suggest a neutral colour palette with decorations layered on top for a pop of colour and unique personality.

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Miffy inspired DIY Easter treat bags

March 14, 2016

I love Easter. Not just because of all the divine chocolate you’re allowed to eat but also because of the four day weekend which is a rarity in the UK. It’s a great time to switch off, spend time with family and of course eat more than your own weight in chocolate. What’s not to love?

Last year I shared these free printable Easter treat boxes and this year I decided to make little DIY Easter treat bags that Anya can give to her friends. One of my favourite bunnies out there is Miffy so he was the inspiration behind these cute little treat bags. And the best part is that you don’t need to sew to make these bags, just use a glue gun instead. Here’s what I did:

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A healthy deodorant that works

March 10, 2016

A few weeks ago I shared this app that tells you how toxic or not your cosmetics, toiletries and kids toiletries are simply by typing in the name on the label. I have been addicted to the app ever since and as a result have decided to switch quite a few of my products including the kids products I use on Anya.

One of the first things I ditched was my deodorant because even the one I was using was considered relatively toxic. But of course I needed a replacement quickly! I searched around and I liked the sound of the 100% healthy Lavanila’s pure vanilla deodorant. Naturally I checked it out on my app and it got a score of 0 which means no nasties whatsoever.

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DIY making clay necklace pendants

March 8, 2016

I never considered myself a DIY’er or a crafter but since I started some crafts for this blog a while ago, I can’t seem to stop. It’s so addictive. My latest crafting obsession is making stuff with home bake clay. Oh the possibilities! My first DIY clay project was making clay necklace pendants for kids. We chose moon and star shaped pendants but you could go any any shape you like. Here’s what we did:

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