Earlier this year some colleagues and I took twelve of our pupils to perform in Symphony Hall in Birmingham. We performed with pupils from other local special needs schools, and got a standing ovation from the 3000 strong audience. It was, quite simply, the proudest moment of my professional life.

When Hello Canvas contacted me to ask if I wanted to review one of their products, I jumped at the chance. They offered me a 50cm x 70cm canvas, and I knew exactly what I wanted.

I emailed the photo at 9pm on a Tuesday. By 3pm on Wednesday I had received an email telling me my canvas was on its way. I got a tracking number and EVERYTHING which I may or may not have checked a bazillion times.

It arrived well packaged, so the canvas was perfectly safe. When I opened it up I was more than happy. The photo I had chosen had not been affected by being enlarged. The canvas is excellent quality, and now has pride of place in the music department foyer.

Disclaimer: I received a canvas free of charge from Hello Canvas for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.

When I went back to work and Big M started going to nursery full time, we discovered she could do dance there on a Monday. Problem solved.

At least for now.

Big M starts school in September so the dance class problem will reappear.

Hmmm.

And then I got an email from Angelia Ballerina. Or, more accurately her PR, asking if I knew anyone who would like to try her new ballet classes. Well yes, Angelina, I do.

I admit to knowing nothing about Angelina Ballerina, other than she’s a ballerina (the clue’s in the name though, right?). Angelina’s PR very kindly sent Big M an Angelina dressing up set, so we pretty soon established she’s a mouse.

Last weekend Big M and I set off for the ballet class. Because of Big M’s hectic social diary, we had been unable to go to the first lesson, and we were attending week three. When we arrived there were lots of girls in pink (gah) tutus. They were called in by their teacher and Big M and I followed. Big M was a bit shy to start with, but the friendly teacher soon got her dancing.

I know diddly squat about ballet, other than you have to point your toes a lot. The Angelina Ballerina lessons appear to teach proper ballet things (feet positions etc) through the telling of a story. In our case it was about a sleepover. The lesson lasted for 30 minutes which for 3-5 year olds is probably enough.

For me, everything was just a little bit too pink, but given Big M’s favourite colour is pink it was right up her street. When I asked Big M afterwards if she liked it she said she did and would like to go again. Unfortunately for us the classes are a 40 minute drive from home, which really isn’t ideal. If they were closer, then maybe we’d consider going again.  I did think it might be a bit pricey (about £8 for 30 minutes) but they do let you pay a deposit and have a settling in period to make sure your child is going to be happy doing the classes. I also have no clue about how much non-branded lessons would cost.

For more information check out Angelina Ballerina’s website.

Disclosure: Big M was invited to take part in the ballet lesson free of charge for the purposes of this review.

I had an appointment on Saturday at 1pm. Brilliant.

Until I got off the train and remembered it was a Saturday. In town. Four weeks before Christmas.

There is a reason I do internet shopping.

Anyhoo, seeing as you can’t get your hair cut online I fought my way through the crowd to the salon. It is tucked away in the corner of Debenhams in the Bullring, and I honestly didn’t know it was there. I arrived fifteen minutes early as I couldn’t face the crowds any more.

I was given a coffee while I waited for Bev, the salon manager to come and get me. When it was time for my appointment she asked me what I wanted to do with my hair, and what sort of colour I fancied.

I very helpfully said that I would like to have a hair style rather than hair that is just there. And when it came to colour, I quite liked the idea of going reddish. From that helpful explanation, Bev managed somehow to come up with a couple of options for me.

Once we had agreed on a plan, I sat back and let Bev work her magic.

When I had told Big M I was going to have my hair done, and I was going to have some colours put in it she asked me if it would be pink. When I said no, she asked if I would have rainbow hair instead? Umm, no.

Instead I have red with coppery highlights and I LOVE it. Big M seems happy with it too, so that’s a relief.

And the good news? I was able to recreate my new haircut the next day with minimum stress. This is always a good thing.

I had a lovely couple of hours at Regis in the Bullring, Birmingham. I felt thoroughly relaxed thanks to the friendly staff and the scalp massage (mmmmmmmm). I will definitely be heading (badumtish) back when my roots start to show. I would like to thank Bev for giving me hair that looks like it is meant to be big and messy, rather than just being big and messy. There’s a subtle difference.

If you fancy winning a year’s worth of hair do’s and/or a Cannon 550D camera head over to www.haveagreathairday.co.uk/emmawillis.

This is a sponsored post. Regis gave me a free cut and colour for the purposes of this review.

A couple of weeks back we were sent an copy of Justin’s new album, Hands Up to review. As it happened, we were about to embark on a four hour car journey to Dorset for Mr TOPP’s Granny’s 90th birthday. An ideal opportunity to test out a CD aimed at keeping kids entertained, I think you’ll agree.

We put it on when we got on the motorway (about ten minutes into our journey). The first song was Justin’s new single “Hands Up”, which quite frankly we were a bit “meh” about. Song number two, however, is the Hokey Cokey (or Hokey Dokey if you’re BIg M) and that won us back. A few songs in Mr TOPP commented that it was all a bit “techno-y” but Big M was loving it. I have to say the dance beats and Justin’s performances make it a much more enjoyable listen than other nursery rhyme CDs we have where they use a dramatic key change as a means to prolong the agony song.

Since our initial listen, Justin’s Hands Up album has become a permanent fixture in our car CD player. Our current favourites are Frère Jacques and The Hokey Cokey. My personal favourite is I do Like To Be Beside The Seaside, because HELLO!!! *ahem*

I do, however, have one problem with the album. In Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes, Justin does the usual thing of missing out the words so you sing “mmmm shoulders knees and toes, mmmm shoulders knees and toes” etc. All good fun I hear you say. Well yes.

UNTIL…

All the words have gone and Justin just wants you to sing the “ands”. Ok then Justin, whatever you say.

*tiddlyompompom sings:*

“mmmm, mmmm, mmmm and mmmm

mmmm and mmmm”.

WRONG!

*Justin sings:*

“mmmm and mmmm and mmmm and mmmm

mmmm and mmmm”.

Can. Not. Cope. We may or may not skip this track for the sake of my sanity.

The rest of it is awesome though, and I’m sure most normal people could probably cope with the And situation.

Justin Fletcher’s Hands Up album is out today, as is his single of the same name. For more information have a nosey at his Facebook page or follow him on twitter. Actually, I might just tweet him about the Ands…*

*I’m not going to let this lie.

EDIT: Turns out they put the release date for the album back to March next year. Maybe it’s because they’re re-recording Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes. You never know.

Disclosure: we were sent a copy of Justin’s Hands Up album free of charge for the purposes of this review. All opinions are our own.

Anyhoo, I was about to turn down the Photobox request when I had a stroke of genius. Even if I do say so myself. We don’t use a diary, but my Granny does. My mum and aunty write in it to let her know what is happening day to day. When people go to visit her they write in it so that she can remember they have been. At the moment she has a regular diary, functional but not very pretty.

I emailed my family and got them to send me photos of themselves, and while I waited I emailed Photobox and said “Yes please, I would LOVE to review one of your photo diaries“. They gave me the choice. I opted for the Deluxe Photo Diary, which is 14.9cm x 8.5cm. This didn’t mean much to me, but it was the biggest one available, and we need a big one. Turns out it is A5 size (approx).

Once my family had emailed me elevnty hundred and four photos I set about creating the photo diary. It was easy to upload them to the Photobox site, although if you do it in great numbers like I did, it can take some time. You can choose the layout for the page (which I didn’t realise until I was half way through. Tsk.) On some pages I went for one photo, on others two or three. You can also put a photo on the front and back covers.

The diary is ring bound and has a transparent plastic cover so you can see the photo you have chosen for the cover. For an additional charge you can have a more durable cover, but given this diary is just going to sit on the table I stuck with the basic option.

Once you have created your diary or calendar you have the option to check it before you buy it. You can look at it page by page and Photobox will let you know if the quality of your photos are ok. I have to say I panicked when I was told a couple of my photos were “average” quality. I changed most of them for high quality ones, but there were the odd few I wanted to keep. I changed the layout on those pages so they were smaller and I have to say they all look fine. If I had opted for a full page print of them I may well have been disappointed.

I am very pleased with the quality of the photo diary, and I hope my granny will enjoy seeing her family smiling up at her each day as she looks to see what’s happening that day.

Photobox say they’ll deliver your diary within 6 -8 working days. I ordered mine on Saturday and it was here on Thursday. Can’t say fairer than that now can you? Well, maybe you can: if you’re quick, there’s a buy one get one free offer on photo diaries and calendars at the moment until Thursday (27th October).

Disclosure: Photobox sent me a photo diary free of charge for the purposes of this review. All opinions are my own.

Everyone knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Even me. In the tiddlyompompom household we are creatures of habit. Mr TOPP has muesli, I have crunch, Big M loves her some cheerios and Little M is a weetabix girl through and through. When Plum asked me if we would like to try some of their new breakfast pouches I thought it might be an opportunity to mix things up a little bit.

We love plum foods, and always have some of their pots in the cupboard for emergencies. Not that we ever forget to do the shopping you understand. Ahem.

Anyhoo, the reason we love Plum food is because it’s tasty, looks like “real” food and the M’s demolish it. Oh, and it’s organic too so that makes it even better.

We were sent a pouch of Banana, Apricot and Oaty Porridge and a pouch of Prune, Peach and Baby Rice (which is gluten and dairy free). The pouches are suitable for babies just starting weaning upwards.

At 15 months, Little M is well past stage one weaning. She wasn’t up for giving up her daily 1.5 weetabix, but the pouches came in very handy as snacks when we were on holiday. Because of the packaging they are really easy to have in your change bag ready for when The HungryBadMan strikes. The Banana, Apricot and Oaty Porridge was the first one Little M tried. She couldn’t shovel spoon it in quick enough.

A couple of days later we were in a hurry to get off and out but Little M needed her snack. The first thing that came to hand was the Prune, Peach and Baby Rice pouch. I opened it and passed it to her. Before I knew it the pouch was empty and being handed back.

Because I am lactose intolerant we had to be really careful when introducing dairy to the M’s diets when they started big girl food. We struggled to find a dairy free breakfast option. Had Plum come up with the Prune, Peach and Baby Rice pouch back then it would have been a perfect breakfast option.

So, to sum up? Little M is still a weetabix girl at breakfast time, but the Plum pouches made a very convenient and healthy snack for when we were out and about. We give them a big thumbs up.

The teething necklace is the brain child of Jenny McLaughlan. The necklaces are made from silicone and strung on a waxed cotton cord. They are BPA, lead and pthalate free and meet the same standard as other teething items. Gumigem teething necklaces are available in two designs in various colours.

I was really looking forward to receiving the necklace as I have long ago given up accessorising. In our old house my necklaces hung proudly in colour coded groups (I know, I’m sad) from hooks on the wall. Since we moved they have stayed in the box they travelled in, tucked safely away from little hands.

Gumigem sent me a purple heart on a black cord.

I took it out of the pretty pouch it came in and tried it on.  Little M took a while to notice it, but once she did it was soon in her mouth.

She loves it and picks it up for a good chew when ever she is on my lap.

The cord has a breakaway clasp so if she pulls it too hard it doesn’t break your neck comes off. This also means I am happy for Big M to wear the necklace too, as she feels really grown up looking after her baby sister. Another really great feature is the fact that you can pop the chewy bit (not the cord, obviously) into the dishwasher for a proper clean.

If I’m honest, the necklace isn’t really my style (I’m more of a chunky bead kid of girl) but I realise that beads aren’t quite as safe for babies. I think I would prefer wearing it if it was a simple disc. Gumigem are looking to expand their range though, so maybe there will be a few more styles soon.

Gumigem teething necklaces are available retail at £10 and are available from here.

This is a sponsored post. I received a gumigem teething necklace free of charge for the purposes of this review.

I signed up for an account (very easy), uploaded my photo (again, easy) and played around with the options. In the end I opted for a small square canvas print of this photo.

I ordered the canvas on Friday evening. On Monday evening as we were having our tea, our neighbour knocked on the door with a parcel he had taken in for me. I was very impressed when I realised it was the canvas.

Photobox send the canvas with everything you need to hang it on the wall, but as I have yet to decide where it will go, it is currently free standing on the mantelpiece.

You can choose to have white edges, but I opted to have the picture wrap around.

I am extremely impressed with the service from photobox. The website is easy to use, and once you have an  account you also get sent special offers. The quality is really good, and the delivery was fast.  As an added bonus, when you sign up for an account you automatically get 40 free prints (you just pay for p&p). Can’t say fairer than that. I suspect that they might be a bit busier than usual over the next couple of weeks, so if you want pictures for christmas, you may need to order soon.

This is a sponsored post.

Our grumpy post lady popped the song time album through the letter box last week, just as we were about to go out. She didn’t look impressed as we squealed with excitement, but what does she know eh?  We took the cd with us and had a listen as we drove. Big M thought it was really funny, hearing the songs she normally hears from the tv, but in the car. How did that happen?

Big M really doesn’t watch that much tv, but she seems to know an awful lot of the songs. If I’m honest, we have skipped past the songs she doesn’t recognise, mostly at her request. I’m sure we will grow to love them too as she discovers other shows on cbeebies. Her current favourite is obviously the Zingzillas. However, we also get very excited when we hear the Charlie & Lola and Timmy Time songs.

I think this album will be one that we’ll be listening to for a long time as I fully expect to be watching cbeebies for at least the next gazillion five years. If I am honest, I am a teeny tiny bit disappointed that the theme tune for Everything’s Rosie isn’t on there, as I am forever singing that as I potter around the house. I would also have liked the cbeebies season songs on there, but hey. The song time album does have 50 cbeebies songs on it,s so really I’m just being picky.

As a friend, let me give you one piece of advice: do not listen to the album on your way to do the weekly shop. Otherwise you may find yourself walking around the supermarket singing Gigglebiz. Not that this happened to me you understand. Ahem.

You can buy the album here (or elsewhere, it’s up to you…).

This is a sponsored post.

The towel has a hood and is a cute brown/cream cow pattern. It even has ears! Ahem.

The label says it is suitable from walking to three years old. Big M is not 3 until February. She’s tall for her age and it covers her comfortably. Little M is not walking yet but the towel would, I think be ok for her too. There is plenty of towel to wrap around a toddler, and because it is thick, it’s ideal for keeping them warm after a bath or swim.

The Cuddledry Cuddlemoo towel is made from organic cotton and bamboo, and is unbelievably soft. So soft, in fact, that I get a teeny tiny bit envious as I wrap Big M in it after bathtime.  Does anyone know where I can get one in a grown up size?

This is a sponsored post.