Review: Playing For Keeps DVD

Tonight I realised that at times I can be pretty shallow. I sat down to watch Playing for Keeps, which had arrived for me to review and I looked at the write-up and wondered why I had said yes to this DVD and then I spotted it starred Gerard Butler and remembered that I'd watch anything with him in!

Luckily this film turned out to have more going for it than just Gerard. It is a really easy watch with a simple storyline and some great stars. It is the kind of film that you do not have to concentrate too hard on, you can just enjoy it and relax. A classic romantic comedy.

So what's the storyline?
George is a former sports star who is down on his luck and in need of a break. Realising that he has next to  no relationship with his son he moves to Virginia to be close to his ex-wife and son. Slowly he starts to build a relationship with his son and soon he is coaching his soccer team. Georges good looks attract the attention of some of the soccer mums and then he is busy fighting (but not too hard) off the Mums and starts to let his son down yet again. George then gets a lead on a sports presenters job and get distracted yet again... but will he resist the charms of these women and win back the family that he loves?

Who steals the show?
Generally I think the acting was really good from all the stars, I particularly liked Jessica Biel as the ex-wife Stacie and Noah Lomax does a superb job as Lewis, George's son. Dennis Quaid is a great laugh and Catherine Zeta-Jones rocks the rich bored housewife/ mum character.

There are so many stars in this move it is unreal - as well as those mentioned above there is also Uma Thurman and Judy Greer.

My favourite part of the movie?
When George opens up and tells his ex-wife how he feels about her, very touching and well acted on both parts.

Is it an award winner?
In my humble opinion no, this film is not going to set your world on fire but it is a nice easy watch that is pleasant and great for date night or girlie night in. Go and enjoy.....

Film Details
Rating: 12 (mild swearing a few times)
Run time: 105 minutes
Release Date in the UK: 20th May 2013

You can order the film from Amazon ready for its release, the price is £11.25 for the DVD and £15.50 for the Blu-ray. Both contain some special features -

• Deleted Scenes 
• The Playbook: Making Playing for Keeps 
• Creating An All-Star Team: The Cast of Playing for Keeps 

This DVD was sent to me free of charge for the purposes of this review. 

I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Clothing Labels from The Name Label Company

We are moving house soon and with this move comes a new school for my three children.  So this summer instead of just renewing a few bits of school uniform that my kids have outgrown, I'll be buying three complete new sets of uniform and needing to relabel all those pieces.

It was perfect timing on the part of The Name Label Company to have contacted me about a review a couple of weeks ago. When they offered name labels I nearly snapped their hand off and asked for three packs of mixed school labels. There are various different types and packs of labels you can go for but I was keen to try the tagg-on labels for clothing.  My Mum had used these with my Nan's clothes whilst she was in a care home and had been raving to me abut how good they are.

School label pack 3 consists of 48 tagg-on and 48 stick-on labels and retails for £17.99. I was happy with this price and the customisation that you can choose for the labels. You can state colour, font type and image picture to go on the labels so there is no need for the labels in your child's clothes to look like every other child's. That of course is really important for pre-school kids who cannot yet read.

I was keen to try out the tagg-on labels straight away and I labelled up some of my girls clothes. They have been through the wash a couple of times now and not a sign of them becoming less fixed or of any fading on the writing or fraying of the label. The tagg-on labels are really simple to put on the clothes and that was my main desire for them, I wanted something very secure but which takes just moments and these are the answer to that. No needle and thread necessary and no fiddly ironing which has to be done at a specific heat!

When I first looked at the tagg-ons I did worry that they would poke and hurt my kids but I followed the very easy instructions (which are printed on the plastic pack itself so I can't lose them - I like that) and once you easily snap off the long part they are secure and smooth.

As well as the fabulous tagg-on labels we also received sticky labels and I added one of these to JJ's new lunchbox. This has been through the dishwasher every day for over a week and I'm happy to say that it is staying put, keeping its colour and still looking perfect.

I'd be really happy to use The Name Label Company again as I found their service super efficient. The labels came so quickly that I asked if I got special treatment and was told that all orders placed prior to 2pm on week days are shipped the same date and that UK postage is free of charge.  I like the fact that the price I see if the final one I pay, very up-front. My labels arrived in a weather proof package and looked very professional.

I will happily give my labels 10/10 - there is genuinely not anything I am unsatisfied with.

I was provided with these labels free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Robosapien (Family DVD)

I sat the other day and watched a great movie with the kids, we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Robosapien reminded me of a modern day 'Short Circuit', the film I grew up loving in the 1980's. The robot character is cute and really endearing, all my children now want their own robot best friend!

Not only that but the other central characters in the plot are likable and well acted too. Henry is a little boy who running away from the school bullies jumps in a dumpster to hide and finds Robosapien all broken up. Being the smartest kid in school he is able to fix Robosapien and names him Cody. From there Cody and Henry form a firm friendship and you watch Henry grow and mature with the confidence boast from his new mate.

Of course Cody is no ordinary toy robot, he is a highly intelligent search and rescue robot that has been set free by his inventor so that the evil Kinetech Labs can not use him for military purposes. I won't give too much away but the rest of the film is a tale of friendship and good fighting evil. You can feel the love between Cody and Henry and Cody very much becomes part of Henry's family.

This movie contains a bit of everything - fun, action scenes, a love story. I kid you not when I say that this will become a firm favourite with my children, especially my near 6 year old twin girls. They have already watched it a few times. The film was sold to me as being aimed at 5010 year old's but I think the appeal is wider than that, it really is very good and watchable.

There is a limited cinema release with it showing at Empire Juniors on 4th and 5th May.

Robosapien the movie is based on the popular toy range of the same name.

Take a look at the trailer -



Film Details - 
Run time:  85 minutes
Rating:   PG
Release Date:  28th May 2013 in the UK
Staring: Robbie Coleman, Penelope Ann Miller, David Eigenberg and Jae Head

You can pre-order the DVD on Amazon now for the great price of just £9.75 for the DVD

I was provided with this DVD free of charge for the purposes of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Silentnight luxury feather pillows from The Bedding Company

Last May I managed to hurt my neck at a pilates class and it has taken me nearly a full year for it to feel better. Sleeping has been the worst thing, I wake in the morning feeling achy and tired with a stiff neck. But I can thankfully say 'not any more'.  I was very pleased to be sent a pair of pillows from the Silentnight Luxury Naturals range. These 100% duck feather pillows are really good, I love the feel of feathers and the fact that the pillow stays so cool in the night but the old one I have (kept from when I was a child) really has had its day.

What are the Silentnight pillows like?
My new Silentnight pillows mould really well to the shape I want but they also give good support and I'm extra pleased to report that there are no nasty feather sticks poking me in the head at night!  I did have a fear about that, it certainly happened with my old one, that must be what happens with age!

The cover on these pillows is 100% cotton and feels very silky to the touch. I'm very happy with them and getting a full nights rest. The pair of pillows I receive retail for £49.99.

Who are the Bedding Company?
The pillows were sent to my by The Bedding Company, a family owned on-line store which has been established for over four decades. I have to admit I have not heard of them before but then I'm not a big Internet shopper, I like to get my fix at the shops.  I'd use them again though as I found the staff friendly and efficient and the pillows arrived very quickly and where packed in a good sturdy and waterproof covering.

Supplying British made products
It was nice to read that The Bedding Company offer a large range of products from the tried and trusted British bed maker SilentNight. They feel it is important to support a British manufacturer and 90% of their range is made in Britain. I'm sure there are not many retailers who could say that nowadays.

Delivery Options
There are three options for delivery, you can opt for it to be free and your goods will be with you in about 7 days or alternatively there is an Express, next day service and a 2-3 day priority service.

Silentnight 3 year Guarantee
That's right, if you register your product when you purchase it, you then have a 3 year guarantee for any defects that come about due to workmanship. Not something you see every day and of course not something I'd worry about for some pillows but a bed or mattress I would.

Disclosure:  I was supplied with the pillows free of charge for the purposes of this review.  I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Butlins Minehead - Silver Bungalow

We enjoyed staying at Butlins Minehead over Easter and I was so pleasantly surprised by the standard of silver accommodation nowadays that I l felt I had to blog and share with you.

I have stayed at Butlins at least 20 times now, so I am no stranger to what they offer and one of the things I love about Butlins is that they are continually updating their accommodation, but I feel this last upgrade has been a real steep improvement.

Butlins offer standard, silver, gold and deluxe accommodation and for what we stayed in being the second to bottom grade I think it presents amazing value for money.

Have a look -

Things we loved -

• Modern furnishings
• Iron and ironing board in each chalet
• Newly refurbished bathroom with a great power shower
• Heated towel rail 
• Comfortable beds and really decent duvets and pillows (and enough of them)
• Comfy leather sofas x 2
• Good heating in the chalet, which we could control and was included in the price
• Large dining table, big enough for 6 to comfortably eat at
• Hairdryer in the drawer in the bedroom
• Towels were provided
• The kitchen is really well equipped with cutlery, crockery, cooking utensils etc - all of a good quality too
• You get a welcome pack on arrival with tea/ coffee etc and also washing up cloth, tea towel
• Flat screen TV in the lounge
• Really well lit outside at night time

 and a peek into the kitchen -

What could be improved?

• The outside of the chalets still do look very 1970's and some need maintenance attention, our door was a little rickety
• A couple of the wardrobe doors do not close properly, they are built in and just need planing off so they fully shut
• At times the TV tuning was a bit out and we had a bit of fuzz, however I know from our experience whilst I was there that if I had reported it to reception someone would have been round quickly to sort it out for us.

I can happily say that we would most definitely stay in a silver bungalow again, as the standard you receive for the price you pay is very good.

I'm rating the Butlins Minehead Silver Bungalow accommodation as 9/10

Disclosure: I have a relationship with Butlins as I am one of their Mumbassadors, which means I will review their new hotel at Bognor Regis in May. However my family paid full price for this break and my review is honest and impartial. Butlins were kind enough to upgrade us from standard to silver accommodation.

All of the fun of the fair at Butlins Bognor Regis

In May my family and I are off to Butlins Bognor Regis to stay in the new Wave Hotel, I am very excited and the kids have no idea as yet that we are going but after our recent week at Minehead they are begging dh and I to take them to 'the real Butlins'. By that they mean the full Butlins experience, when all the shows are on. Often we are at Butlins as we are attending Spring Harvest and the services are limited at Spring Harvest request.

One aspect of the 'real Butlins' that we really enjoyed this year at Minehead was the traditional British fun fair. JJ loved the dodgems and the girls enjoyed the trampolines.

Bognor Regis should be even more fun as the funfair has just been refurbished and relaunched. There is an abundance of traditional fun there now and the ride I am really looking forward to enjoying is the Chairoplanes - that is if they are wide enough to take my bum!

there are loads of other great rides and attractions too - Carousel, Helter Selter slide, Dodgem cars, Paragliders and on and on...  I just know we will have a ball

Take a look at this short video about the new funfair at Butlins, Bognor Regis.

Disclosure: I do have a relationship with Butlins as I will stay at the Bognor Regis resort to review our family's experience in May. I have not received anything to post about the new funfair.

Review: Badge It!

The girls were sent a Badge It! metal badge maker from Ban Dai and they had a lot of fun making themselves some badges, take a look -

Badge It! is recommended for children 6 years plus but my 5 year olds were find doing it once I had showed them how. I found the instructions easy to follow and the actual piece of badge making equipment was far more sturdy than I thought it might be.

The starter kit is £20 and you can make 15 3cm badges with this and then you can buy refills of the pieces of make a further 30 badges for £9.  That works out at 30p a badge which is pretty reasonable I feel.

Miss M decided to use one of the designs that was supplied with the kit but my crafty one Miss E, wanted to draw her own designs and this was easy to do with the small template that was supplied, she could ensure that her design was in the right place.

The badges are really good quality and will last well.  I have used badge makers in the past that were tricky and hard to make and Badge It? really is very simple and it worked first time for us.

If you are looking for a badge maker then we are happy to recommend this.