Will it be Harry? (with scar and realistic looking wand) (Amazon £5ish for the tie, £10 for the robes, glasses and wand)
Will it be Lucy? (she’ll need to carry around a cardboard wardrobe if so) (ebay £5ish)
You’ll have to wait and seee…….
(as will I as I have no idea which H will choose)
The Human Body Factivity Box Set has a book inside – part of the Gold Stars range, ‘The Amazing Human Body’. With H only being six she hasn’t got a lot of knowledge about the human body, so she found this box and book fascinating – and here’s why.
Introducing Elvis the Pelvis (her name).
Inside the box you get 20 pieces of plastic bones to put together to form your own skeleton on a stand. H found it fascinating. “Do I really look like this?!” she queried, I asked her to stand and she felt all the various bones she was able to feel. It was a huge eye opener. As she’s starting to get older and to be more aware of herself, it was good to point out parts of her body and where they are on the model.
Inside the Human Body Factivity Box Set is the book of course, which has loads of activities within. No topic (other than periods really) is skipped – farts get featured (always funny for six year olds), and I’m liking the section on ears which is good for showing H where she sometimes gets infections too.
You know when a book opens up someone’s eyes and they start to discover a brand new world? This is it – it’s definitely age-appropriate and is something H will continue to learn from as she progresses through the book. She’s definitely more of a reader than someone who does activities in books, but has already come out with several facts she has picked up.
There are hundreds of facts in The Amazing Human Body too – so plenty!
It is also the first book we own which covers hiccups. Whenever H laughs too much she gets them, and hates it – she’s had this since she was a baby. It drives her mad – so reading what it all means was fascinating for her.
The Human Body Factivity Box Set is available now – including from Amazon
We were sent the book for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own.
We headed over to Hampton Court Palace, as newly signed up members of the Historic Royal Palaces gang – we figure we can visit three times and make our membership fees back, so it’s worth it.
Hampton Court Palace is somewhere I’ve visited since I was very young. My Great Aunt and Uncle lived in Teddington, and we’d stay with them whenever we visited London. This would always involve a visit to Bushy Park, with a walk through to the maze at Hampton Court. Living so close to it these days, there was no way H was going to miss out on something I’d loved when I was her age – the only question was, would it still be the same?
Having the Historic Royal Palaces membership helped a lot – they’ve just finished a 50% off entry offer, and prices are increasing – plus of course there are additional things to do when you’re there. But as the gentleman who showed us to our seats in the ticket office said, “with this membership you’ll never need to queue again” (I like it already!) We also get 10% off food and any purchases in the gift shops – every little helps!
Hampton Court has a lot to offer. There are the gardens, which are enormous and largely unaltered since the early days of the Palace, as well as the maze. Oh the maze. I would go in it when I was young, and did manage to get to the middle once in record time. Today it wasn’t to be, all I could remember was keep around the outside and you get to the middle, which didn’t work at all (even though it was the right thing to do). H has decided she has “a terrible sense of direction”!
Inside Hampton Court Palace there is so much to see – and we’re going to need to go back to finish off. Somehow, weirdly, I had never been there when we’ve visited in the past. I don’t know why, but that is no longer the case. We wandered around rooms Henry VIII will have dined and existed in – H was excited about this – one of her favourite subjects at school is history. You can see a crown of Henry VIII’s however they were starting to set up in the church part, so weren’t letting people in any more – another thing to go back and do!
Inside Henry VIII’s kitchen there were displays of cookery as well as how to make ink. H got to use a quill to write with too.
We arrived around midday, and left at 4pm, tired and having walked for ages – and yet there’s still so much to see – and having our Historic Royal Palaces membership we can go back as often as we want!
Okay, so things are on track. I had a blip though, it was almost like I was doing so well I had to sabotage it, and so put some weight on instead – thanks to eating badly and making sure it was really bad.
I have no idea why I do this.
I worked hard the following week and by weigh-in day I’d still managed to lose weight, so I must be doing something right.
My last weigh-in had me at 13 stone 5, a loss of 9lb, and having joined on the 10th January, I’m 1lb off qualifying for the Weight Watchers deal to get my money back (10lbs in 8 weeks)!!
I just hope the WW app doesn’t tell me off for not tracking my food every day. I’ve also stopped tracking my steps – my data usage on my phone went through the roof, so I’ve disabled everything in the background for now – and am looking for a good pedometer.
I know what I should and shouldn’t eat, and I also know I’ve probably got points left, but quite frankly, I’m too tired to eat more. Work is busy (and even the blog is suffering for it) – and I’m busy.
But most of all, I’m losing weight. I’m being sensible with food. I’m being stricter with myself apart from weekends when I will have a glass or two of wine as I’ve behaved through the week. We even went out on Tuesday night with H and her “boyfriend” and I had pizza and didn’t put on weight. I know this is fine for a one-off and not something I can keep doing, mind. That was my problem last time.
As far as how this time compares to last time, I’m definitely much more relaxed about it all. I know I can lose the weight, it’s about keeping it off and staying sensible, but knowing I can have an occasional takeaway and not beat myself up. I’m doing a lot of walking and this helps too.
But anyway, I’m pleased – those pounds are going – while they’re not dropping off, they’re going and that’s all I want!
Sunday 7th February. Having had a lazy Saturday, we had a busy Sunday, heading to Hampton Court Palace and taking out a Historic Royal Palaces membership (as we intend to go to the Tower of London again this year, H claims she has never been though I’m sure she has – can’t find any photos though so maybe I was pregnant with her). For £90 a year we’ll need to do a few trips, but with the added discounts in the shops (food and merch) we should make our money back – especially with the Tower! Anyway, it was great to go into Hampton Court for the first time and walk around properly (my mum’s family came from Teddington so we’d often visit the grounds when I was little) plus the maze was still difficult – H and I got lost even though I kind of remembered what you had to do to complete it… kind of. Shaun did it straight away of course…
Monday 8th February. Almost forgot to take a photo so got one of H’s Dream Catcher her nana in Australia sent her.
Tuesday 9th February. I took a photo of some of my Scritti Politti albums for reasons I cannot go into. But it’s a photo, and it was taken today.
Wednesday 10th February. Went to my knitting group. Realised I’m using different sized needles – quite obviously different sized needles. Whoops.
Thursday 11th February. Last day of term and Parent’s Evening. H did well as we’d expected and I had this Smiggle light bought as a treat for her for doing well (it was half price in the sale) – it makes a fabulous night light and is battery powered (good when you don’t have many plugs in your room). It works, too.
Friday 12th February. Again, almost forgot to take a photo, so here’s my Peak update for this week. Still strong on language I see….
Saturday 13th February. We headed into Central London, something H and I don’t do very often (Shaun does, he works there), and went to Kensington Palace, somewhere I’ve never been. I’ve been to Kensington itself tons of times, just never the Palace so knew very little about it. It’s on our Historic Royal Palaces membership and I know we’ll go back. One of the guides was casually talking about how one of the Kings who lived there pops by in his ghost form. I’m DESPERATE to see a ghost so I can believe in them, so was kind of sad he didn’t pop by to let his presence be known. We popped into the Science Museum afterwards and went to their Cosmonauts exhibition, and came home shattered. 10,000 steps done today, according to the pedometer on my phone (which is usually around the 3500 mark, so probably not the most accurate, but a good indication of how much walking we did!)
Sunday 31st January. We were lazy today. Super lazy. To avoid being super lazy two days in a row I insisted we went out for lunch so we headed to a local Farm Shop we hadn’t visited before (who also do PYO when the season is right). They had a cute, very quiet cafe anyway which served generous healthy plates of food.
Monday 1st February. I love this Potato Chart photo I took at the Farm Shop, I’ve never known the correct ones to get!
Tuesday 2nd February. We love our Toughees shoes H wears every day, but the velcro came away from the strap, so I had to get them repaired. Her regular trainers weren’t really going to be any good for school so we went to Clarks and bought these. Size 13.5 now… no longer able to wear shoes with sparkly things on the sole (which she has never had, so she got upset I said she had big feet. But it’s true!).
Wednesday 3rd February. Too old now to “drive the bus” – I’m not sure what I think about this growing up thing.
Thursday 4th February. My impatient face. Got H to take a photo of me in my new Sport Relief Orla Kiely apron, because I love it. In my head I look like a domestic goddess. In reality I just look like me in a nice pinny.
Friday 5th February. Every morning I do Peak Brain Training. Language is my strongest thing, and the rest are catching up. I’ve been doing it since around November time, just the free app. There are some games I hate, and some I love. This stops me from reading books on the train, so I need to find a balance, but it takes most of my journey before I hit my daily target now they’re moving it higher…!
Saturday 6th February. H was so happy as we got our preorder of the brand new Pamela Butchart Book ‘Attack of the Demon Dinner Ladies’ of which she is already on her second read.
There. I’ve said it. I’ve officially come out again. I got too fat. I comfort ate through a lot of last year for various reasons. I reached 14 stone just after a large Pizza Hut pizza that I had scoffed in next to no time, thanks to being unhappy and hungry. I’d always said when I reached that weight that I’d go back on – so yes, I’m back doing Weight Watchers.
This time I’ve paid for it myself, I’m not working with them, and I’m turning around my bad habits I’ve fallen back onto. You can’t beat a takeaway on a Friday or Saturday which we were doing – just the one, mind. But the weight crept back on. It got really bad around my birthday when we went for Afternoon Tea, followed by a further, posher one a few days later where I ate cakes, cakes and more cakes and oh boy it was GOOD.
I know the score. Track your food and track your activity. Fortunately my phone has a step tracker in it, so that’s switched on and I’m hitting my targets a couple of times a week which is good – and the steps I’m achieving give me three or more points a day, which don’t end up being used.
So from weighing in at the start of the year at 14 stone, I’m already down to 13 stone 7.5 which I think is bloody good going. I didn’t even try very hard, just stopped helping myself to the biscuit tub at work – although yesterday found out one Oreo Cookie is 2 points – the same as a Weight Watchers Chocolate Bar. Heheh.
I’ve been stocking up in Poundland, whose selection isn’t as good as it was when I last did Weight Watchers – and getting additional bits in my weekly Ocado shop. With me making progress I am starting to feel better about myself, so that’s progress.
Weight Watchers has changed though since I did it. I can now track things easily on my phone (I couldn’t before), and when I can’t find it straight away, I can scan in the barcode which makes life much easier. I am rubbish at tracking every day, but know that, and also know I don’t go anywhere near my daily allowance. For example – here’s the food I’ve had today.
Breakfast
Apple and Pineapple (0 points)
Snack
Pack of Quavers (3 points)
Lunch
Sainsbury’s Be Good To Yourself Egg and Cress Sandwich (7 points)
Evening Meal
Butternut Squash, Ginger and Parsnip soup (3 points – damn you parsnips) in the Soup Maker plus 1.3 Weight Watchers Naan Breads 4 points). This is not the soup, it’s an old one but the picture will do.
I have a daily allowance of 30 points, and that only uses 20 of them, leaving me 10.
I have walked 6050 steps today, which gives me an additional 7 points I can use, so 17 in total that could be used on treats if I fancied it. (I earned 12 yesterday doing pilates for an hour as well – but I was too tired when I got home and fell asleep from 9pm!)
So far, so good. Plus Weight Watchers are doing a deal at the moment, where if you lose 10lb in 8 weeks they’ll give you your money back – now if ever there was motivation to try, that’s it! Well I’m three and a half weeks in and I’ve lost seven. I reckon I can do it. You can still try too – you can register with that deal (and Quidco offer cashback too) until the end of February.
Shaun said at the weekend “I don’t want to get diabetes” – something we’re both at risk of getting – and it gave me yet another kick up the backside. Although I do worry when I hear H on the Wii Fit saying “oh I just want to lose two calories doing this” – at least it means nothing to her right now….
Emer Stamp is an author and illustrator, and has created the three diaries by Pig. We have been sent all three Pig books, as an introduction to Pig’s life, and indeed his diaries. The books are 2013’s The Unbelievable Top Secret Diary of Pig, 2014’s Pig – The Super Amazing Adventures of Me, Pig and finally the brand new book, The Seriously Extra Ordinary Diary of Pig which is available from the 4th February 2016.
So who is Pig? Pig is an ordinary pig on a farm. He lives with his best friend, Duck and in the first book, some Evil Chickens and he also keeps some diaries. Pig reckons he’s the farmer’s favourite as he gets fed all the best slops and received special back scratches that only a favourite would get. The Evil Chickens are making a special Tractor-Rocket in which to send Pig to Pluto, where there’s no food. Obviously Pig isn’t up for this. However, it then becomes apparent that the farmer is feeding Pig so well because he’s going to be eaten – after all, the farmer does call him Roast Pork… Duck tells him as much, so Pig realises that his only option is to take the Trocket and go to space… what will happen next?
Well, we know Pig has two more diaries so if we fast forward, Book two finds Pig at a Vegetarian Farm where he feels much safer! He has a new friend, Kitty who laughs at his jokes, so he loves her. Duck is still around too, and can see right through Kitty – a cunning, jealous, killing cat. Pig doesn’t believe Duck, and in fact only realises once he’s half way to the pie-making factory… will Pig make it back?
But of course he does – as Book three is almost set to be unleashed! Pig is now safely back on the farm, playing games with Duck and having plenty of fun. However, a game of hide and seek goes wrong, Pig tries to make it better and it gets even worse, as Cow gets kidnapped. Pig and Duck are the only ones who can save her! So that’s what they try to do.
I like these Pig diaries – and it marks a different style of writing to that which H is used to. Lots of “I is Pig” and “I is doing this” type of language. We’ve read some of the books together, and H has read them mainly in her head. We talked about the way it is written, and in doing this somehow I’m reading Pig out loud in a West Country accent (it does work too).
The Emer Stamp books are funny – I’ve heard H laugh out loud on more than one occasion too (this may be due to mentions of poo and farting which she tells me happen a lot – and I’ve yet to meet a six year old who doesn’t find either funny). I like that the language is written from Pig’s perspective – you get a feel for the character and the silliness too. The books are funny and lovingly illustrated as well – and I love that they’re in a diary format, as H writes her own private one, so I’m hoping it will inspire her even more!
H has asked Emer Stamp some questions, which should hopefully follow soon, she is getting into asking authors questions!
We were sent the three Emer Stamp Pig books for the purpose of review – all opinions are our own. You can buy all three books via Amazon, The Seriously Extraordinary Diary of Pig
Thank you to Scholastic and Faye Rogers for organising this!