In this fantastic summer of sport, with the imminent start of the Olympics.  We were extremely excited to receive a set of four ‘Team Barbie’ dolls to play with and test out.

With four champions in the team each wearing different sporty clothing, and additional accessories, including a trophy.

They are led by Barbie Swimming Champion: What’s so cool about the swimming Barbie, is it really does swim in the water, together with her dog which is also included. You simply wind her up, and flick a switch.  Really easy to do, even for small hands.

The next three Champions are: Miss N and Miss A were so excited to play with them. I love the idea of encouraging children to get involved in sports through play. Learning through play is so important. I also love that this Barbie series is from the  ’I can be……’ range.  I truly believe that exposing children to the concept of them being able to be whatever they want to be from an early age, has a massive impact. Encouraging them to think, however far into the future in such a positive way ….DREAM BIG!

Here is Miss N, and her thoughts on the range:

As you can see, we really enjoyed the Team Barbie range.

They are available from all leading toy departments priced from £17.99 (Swimming Champion) and £12.99 (RRP correct at time of publishing this post) in my opinion a fantastic price for such well made toys.

That leaves me to say ‘Go Team Barbie’ and thank you for reading…

Today when I was walking, I noticed so many flowers.  So started to snap them with my phone as we were walking. None were taken from gardens, just from rough hedgerow or pathway near where I was walking.

We live in a beautiful world don’t we?

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The song will be used in the Music Monkeys classes, but they have also decided to release it as a charity single to raise money. The chosen charity, is the really fantastic music therapy charity - Nordoff Robbins.

Angie Coates founger of Monkey music has said:

“Both Monkey Music and Nordoff Robbins offer children fresh opportunities and life changing experiences through music. We believe that by working together we can raise awareness of the benefits of music for everyone. It’s lovely to use 2012 and the summer of sport to engage the very youngest of children in the excitement of sport and the joy of music.”

The single (which I have had a sneak preview of, its great!) will be available to purchase online from the 18th of May.  We at The Ana Mum Diary, really hope that they raise lots of money for Nordoff Robbins. Go buy it, all the profits will go to the charity!

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Unfortunately my colour wasn’t available, I have VERY pale skin.  Well I am Irish after all ;)  So I picked the lightest shade (medium 03) with the idea, that I could add moisturizer so it matched my skin tone.

I don’t wear foundation, and only wear tinted moisturizer occasionally.  However I do always wear a moisturizer with a SPF, even in winter. So I do love the idea of combining these things, however I  needed convincing that you can get this without it feeling heavy in the daytime.

Here it is priced at £27 for 50ml.  It seems good value when you think that it replaces upto 3 products – moisturizer, sun screen and foundation.

Great packaging again from Origins, I love the colours that they use, very natural looking.

I at first tried the colour on my face, without any added moisturizer, to alter the colour, I wanted to give it a fair trial.  It went on very easily and the texture was smooth. It felt very light to me, one of the reasons I don’t wear foundation is I feel, a little like I am wearing a mask.  This did not feel like that at all! So light, I could almost not tell I was wearing anything, other than moisturizer. It had a matt appearance, not at all shiny too.

What does it do?

•  Immediately reduces appearance of pores.
•  Immediately reduces appearance of fine lines.
•  Boost skin’s radiance, immediately and over time.
•  Available in 6 shades.

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I was lucky enough to win a cookery book last week on twitter. Eat Your Veg, by Arthur Potts Dawson  and it is such a good cookery book.  I’ve spent so much time looking through it, well not just me, even my friends has been leafing through it.  Yes it has fantastic photography, that makes your mouth water, but this is no coffee table book. The recipes are achievable, and do not have a ridiculous amount of ingredients either.

The main thing I have found though, is it has pushed me to try new things.  Including using vegetables, that I perhaps have tried before in a restaurant but a little scared cook at home. A good example of this is celeriac.

What a strange vegetable, you can’t exactly describe it as pretty, I’ve always steered clear of it before.  However I really felt I should take courage into my hands and give it a go – thanks Arthur!  This is an amazing delicious recipe. In fact everyone cleared their plates, including Miss A my 3-year-old picky eater. Such a fantastic vegetarian recipe, as it’s a bit different and so full of flavour.  I will definitely be cooking this regularly now.

The one thing I would say is, I think the portions are very generous. I used half of the ingredients and it was enough for 6 people, when served with a salad as suggested. However that meant leftovers….nom!

Thank you Octopus Books, this is a fantastic book championing fresh seasonal vegetables. With over 250 recipes, there really is something for all times of year.  I love that these recipes are peppered with outstanding photography, but it doesn’t look too ‘cheffy’ which I always find daunting. Deliciously tempting, I’ll end with this quote.

“The more of the rainbow you eat, the better you’ll feel”

Thank you for reading

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It was made up of 12 cupcakes with lilac wrap-arounds and (Tangled) illustrated rice paper discs. Butter icing, I tried to make purple icing by adding blue and red food colouring, but it turned out brown?! I also really wanted to pipe this, but unfortunately the piping nozzle I ordered didn’t arrive on time.  I was gutted as Christy of Chris Tea And Cakes, who makes the most impressive cakes, had given me so many tips I wanted to try out.

I also sprinkled them with white chocolate stars. The stars play an important part in the movie, as she maps them, in order to work out what the strange lights are that she sees each year on her birthday.

I then pushed 8 ring doughnuts onto a kitchen roll holder for the tower. The roof being a party hat, which Miss N painted for me.

She loved it, I felt so pleased when she exclaimed “WOW!” when she first saw it, even with the dodgy icing! My VERY easy Tangled Birthday cake.

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In essence, it is that I need to believe in myself, and go MY way. It’s something that I had been thinking a lot about before Cybher, but this weekend has concreted this in my mind. I need to blog about the things that I love and interest me, and have fun doing them. Blogging is my release and a way for me to record my life, and my loves.

I also really want to explore the design of and the photography side of my blog, and perhaps include more diary like entries.

I think what I’m trying to say is I need to be a little braver, and keep in my head and heart why it is that I blog. I found it interesting hearing and overhearing why people blog. We all do it for very different reasons. All those reasons are valid, but they really do effect I think how a blog is read by a reader.

It’s this that I personally find quite interesting. As the blogs I like the most as a reader and therefore go back to time and time again, are the ones that go their own way!

So I sit here on this train taking me home, to my Ana Mum Diary team and remember that the reason I started this was for my family.

And finally….

The friendships that I have made through blogging and twitter are now even more tangible. Not only have I made new friends this weekend, but met up with old ones too. We all share this passion, why ever it is that we do it. And as a group of people we couldn’t be more powerful. That’s amazing isn’t it?

Thank you to Sian and all of the organisers and sponsors involved in the event. It really was GEEK, CHIC and INSPIRING.

Special thanks to my sponsor CommentLuv, for allowing me to represent him and the brand at this event.

Thank you for reading

The Ana Mum Diary

• Dyeing my eyebrows, then realising I didn’t have any instructions. Caterpillar alert!
• Miss A going to the toilet and forgetting to lift the lid. Flood alert!
• Miss N, leaving her cricket kit behind, and the schools telephone not working to let them know. Hissy fit alert!
• Spilling sugar, all over the kitchen floor. Sticky floor alert!
• Not being able to fit everything into my bag, so leaving out……the wine! Blind Panic and RED ALERT!!!

Image thanks to Graphics Fairy

Thank you to Andy Bailey, of Commentluv fame for being my sponsor for Cybher. Cybher here I come!

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So many households have Innocent smoothie magnets.  I had the idea that I wanted to try to re-purpose the ones that I have.

Here is what I did:

• First take the protective film off the magnet.

• Soak the magnets briefly in hot water and remove the remaining paper:

• Do not worry, if they have any residue of glue on them, that will help with the next stage.

• Stick decorative ribbon or Washi tape onto the magnets.

• Trim, as required, I went for rounded off corners here, but I also, tried making it look like the washi tape or ribbon was torn.

Here they are in place:

So quick and easy, what do you think?

Thank you for reading

I am linking this up to Handmade Thursday with The White Lily Green Blog:

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