Sonic Blast Iron Man 3 Review

Boys and action figures, they kind of go hand in hand don't they?

Rather in the same way that a nice cool glass of wine at the end of the day feels so right in mine, for boys, it has always been and I suspect always will be, the ultimate accessory.

From my Dad's generation of toy soldiers, action man in the 60s, through to the Star wars figures of the 70s and 80s and mutant turtles in the 90s, it has been something that a boy almost instinctively knows what to do with it.

We were asked to review the 15" Sonic Blast Iron Man which I knew would be perfect for either of the boys.   

BoBo aged 6 was super excited when it arrived, but was faced with disappointment as we didn't have any spare batteries in the house which meant he had to wait until I remembered to buy some before playing with it.

It is one of my bugbears that toy manufacturers supply toys without batteries, you wouldn't buy a car without wheels (essential to its running) so why do they insist on doing this?  Some companies are good at supplying temporary batteries but it would be a very profitable marketing strategy for a manufacturer to take the stance of being the first in the World to supply every toy with batteries - think of the ad campaign at Christmas guys!  You'd clean up!

Rant over and back to review.........

Once I'd finally remembered to get the essential batteries, there was no stopping the BoBo.

Action figures are great for fuelling the imagination, and Iron Man was no different.  He instigated many battles and attacks (on poor Pixie) and hasn't left BoBo's side since he got him.  He was even taken into school for "golden time" but sadly got confiscated overnight!

I asked BoBo for his opinion, and this is what he said:

"He is good, I like the fact he has bullets that shoot out and he makes cool noises"

So it seems that if you want a happy 6 year old, all you need to do is get something noisy with bullets.

It seems that action figures really do stand the test of time.

Peace and Love

S.A.M  xoxo 

Discalimer We were sent Sonic Blast Iron Man for the purpose of this review but all thoughts and opinions are our own.

I'm back and the dog is quite literally, shocked.

Did you miss me?!  Well did you????

I've been without the internet now for a few weeks bar my iphone access, but finally BT arrived to sort out the problem.

Sooooooo, what did I miss????

What did you?

Well we have had the end of all the winter sports, the football and rugby seasons have finished and the cricket and golf ones have begun.   We spent the bank holiday in the 'Shire with the crazy gang and the kids were running amok as per usual.  Even Sadie got in on the action and the naughty puppy went batshit during the night.  When we arrived she made light work of some blue food colouring cakes and so I put it down to that, I've since found out the naughty minx had chewed through the electrical wires on Alex's bed and was acting, quite literally, shocked!

The Crazy Gang

"Stay with me and you get to put together flat pack furniture"

The kids also had their first catwalk assignment which they absolutely loved.  Watch out for that, coming soon!

Peace and Love



S.A.M xoxo

How to train your dog to come back to you!

Sadie is now 13 weeks old and thriving.  She is very nippy at the moment so it is just a case of us working with her to let her know that nipping us is not acceptable.  When she does nip we are very quick to give her a sharp "no" and substitute our body part with a toy.  This is definitely a bad phase and I can't wait for it to be over.  I also have a small tin of marbles on the sofa behind me so if she is going for the kids, a short, sharp rattle of the tin tells her that it isn't a good idea.

We started puppy classes with Chantal from CK9 training  last week and we learnt, what I feel, is a very important command and one that I have been practising lots this week with great success.  That command is SETTLE and it is really useful in all sorts of situations.  

This week, we talked about letting puppies off the lead and how to make sure they come back to you!  Of course, this needs to be reward based, and I bought a small packet of IAMS puppy food and use this kibble as her "reward" which she loves.  

Firstly, Chantal encouraged us to put our dogs into the "SIT" position.   Sadie was then held by a trainer and we walked away from her to the other end of the hall.  We then called "COME" or "Sadie COME" and rewarded when she got to us.

I've been doing this in the park with great success but in puppy classes, all Sadie wanted to do was play!  She is far more interested in what is going on around her so I really need to work on her focus and attention being on me.

Luckily, this was our next lesson,  Chantal told us the command "WATCH" where you start off by showing the dog the treat, then putting it on YOUR nose whilst saying "WATCH".  This encourages your dog to look at you and we practised this, again to great success.

I love Chantal's methods of training.  It is all about praising (and rewarding!) the good and ignoring the bad.  Now if only I can carry that over to motherhood!!!!

Peace and Love

S.A.M xoxo

Puppy Socialisation - What happens at Puppy Training - Week 1.

If you are reading this as the owner of a new, four legged friend, then firstly, may I congratulate you.   You are obviously doing your research and reading up on all sorts of puppy related matters.  One of the key things we are told, is that socialisation is crucial, nay some would say critical from 8 weeks to about 16.  The problem that this leaves though, is that until your puppy is fully vaccinated, you are housebound.

We overcame this by using a "puppy sling" (INSERT LINK) which meant I carried Sadie in a dog sling to get her out and about and used to all sorts of experiences.

"Hello World"

This worked really REALLY well for those first few weeks, but the one thing that everyone recommends is Puppy School and after a lot of research, I came upon CK9 Training which is owned and run by Chantal Karyta.

Chantal has many years experience working with dogs, she started out as a volunteer in rescue centres before embarking on traiinng as a career.  She has a BSc (Hons) in psychology and is a member of the Association of Pet Dog trainers and the COAPE Association of pet behaviourists and trainers.  She is also a trainer for dog AID (Assistance in Disability) which is a national voluntary organisation which provides specialised training for people with physical disabilities who want to train their dog up to assistant dog level.  I actually think Sadie would be AMAZING at this as when she visited my friends the Woods with me, she instinctively knew that Alex was in a wheelchair  and was so amazingly gentle with him, Tamsyn and I couldn't believe what we were seeing.  There was no nipping, biting, she literally settled on his lap and licked him whilst he stroked her.  

I knew that Chantal had the credentials we were looking for, but more importantly she trains with POSITIVE REWARD ASSOCIATION which works for the kids and is my way of thinking!!!

We had our first class on Tuesday and I took BoBo (aged 6) with me as I want each child to see what happens.

There were about 10 puppies in each class, and initially, we all stood outside to let them "meet and greet".  There was plenty of play fighting and interaction and once we were in the class, Chantal asked 3 dogs at a time to come off their leads.  This was great, rather than a "free for all" it gave the less confident dogs the opportunity to explore without some of the more boisterous ones commanding all the attention!

Chantal was great, she asked us all what problems we were experiencing so far, and the winner by a long way was biting!  She explained that puppies at this age need to learn about bite inhibition which basically means having a soft mouth.   Puppies MUST learn how to inhibit their bite and so when playing with your puppy, if they bite you, you MUST give out an "ouch" or "ack ack" sound and the turn your head and ignore them so they know it is not acceptable play.  Even if it doesn't hurt you must do this consistently so that they learn that the "fun" stops when they get nippy!

We then had a break outside which was so lovely for the puppies - they got to play fight and practise their bite inhibition!

We then worked on the command SETTLE.  This is crucial as it teaches the dog to chill out!  Sadie picked this up quite quickly and Chantal advises to practise for about 10 minutes a day, always using a treat.  It is a superb command to know and one we are now working on.

As well as training, what I really liked is that Chantal spent 10 minutes at the end teaching us how to handle our dog - this covered the ears, paws, eyes and mouth (I need to work on this!) as it is all about getting your dog used to being handled and touched.

What we learnt this week

• Settle Command (see above)
• Puppies need no more than 20 minutes exercise at a time.  I had been taking Sadie out for over an hour twice a day and this is too much for their bones and joints.  Even though a pup *looks* as if it  can handle this, it does their joints no good in the long term
• Mental stimulation (ie training!) tires them out more twice as much as physical! 
• Bite inhibition is totally normal in puppies but is a key skill they MUST learn

Chantal can be found on twitter as @CK9_training so please do give her a follow.  I'll be tweeting using #puppytweets if you want to talk anything puppy!

Peace and Love

S.A.M xoxo

If only I'd known...A story of Birth

Motherhood is a journey.  A journey that started for me 10 years ago and is still ongoing.  I can't see the end destination and there are many twists and turns along the way, I am learning something new every day, good and bad, yet how grateful I am and truly blessed to be your mother.  

As I look back to my first pregnancy with my beautiful Beansey, the most traumatic by far, I offer these words of wisdom for anyone in a similar situation.

We were thrilled to find out we were expecting, yet our World was shattered when at 20 weeks we were offered a termination as he wasn't "perfect" to us, there was no question whatsoever of that being an option.  So we spent trimesters two and three, worrying, stressing and not enjoying our pregnancy.

Finally, we were told to come in to be induced.  Our bags were packed and we settled into the maternity ward at a top London hospital, looking forward with trepidation and excitement to finally be able to meet our baby boy.

I was admitted on the Monday night around 8pm and had a sweep to get things going.  Nothing happened and so the next day, I was given another.  Yet still nothing happened!  Finally, they decided on a pessary and on the Wednesday, I went into labour.  Things were very slow, we had an M+S picnic  and after lunch on the Wednesday, my waters finally broke and labour commenced.  

Things were going slowly but well, I was enjoying it and feeling empowered, after all I was doing what has come naturally to women for thousands of years.  

The midwives kept checking me and slowly as the pain intensified over that Wednesday, I got up to 9cm at 11pm.  I knew the time was coming, I was shattered after being in since the Monday night with little or no sleep and I just wanted my baby in my arms.

Then, panic set in, his heartbeat was slowing down and so I was rushed into the theatre for an emergency cesarean.  All my plans and thoughts for a natural birth were thrown out of the window, your life was in danger.    You were then brutally and quickly taken out of my tummy, your screamed blue murder and were whisked away for checks and then up to the neo natal intensive care unit.

I told HAW to stay with the baby and I was whisked into recovery where I had a very surreal out of body experience that still haunts me to this day.    

My Beansey then had to endure an operation at 4 days old and was in the neo natal unit for 14 days.

It wasn't the easiest of starts, and the traumatic C-section wasn't how I had envisioned my first birth to be, but looking back I can offer this sage advice to others in this situation or indeed any other first time mums!  You can also download a free app called from aptamil called aptaclub that is full of good and useful advice on the go.

So, looking back, If only I'd known:

• That when they say bring in several pairs of knickers, what they really mean is buy old fashioned granny knickers and not your usual g-strings  as wearing these with a huge old maternity pad isn't going to cut the mustard - I learnt the hard way!
• You can never guarantee that your delivery will go according to your birth notes.  Nothing is 100% guaranteed but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter.  What is important is that your baby and you are both safe and well.  I was very upset about having to have a CS but 10 years later, I can live with it as I have you safe and here with me.
• That you'll not sleep for a very long time!  If you can get a private room in the hospital then it is worth its weight in gold.
• If you are not happy with anything then make it known.  
• Breast feeding a baby is NOT an easy thing to get going.   It is painful and tricky and doesn't come as second nature.  I was on the milking machine whilst Beansey was in the neo natal unit and lots of midwives were telling me to give a bottle.  I persevered as wanted to give my baby the best start I could and it paid off.
• Try and get into a routine as quickly as you can.  We had 8 weeks of no routine, baby sleeping all day and awake all night and only snacking at the boob constantly, but the minute I instigated a routine, chaos descended into calm.
• Accept that your life is going to be very different!
• Take as many photos as you can, babies change beyond recognition those first few weeks and are only a newborn for so long
• The biggest tip?  Sleep when your baby does!

This post is my entry into the Aptaclub "If only I'd known.....competition.

Peace and Love

S.A.M xoxo