Christmas is coming.. 33 more sleeps

The excitement is already building in our house. I know some people do not like mention of Christmas too early but as we have been making Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes since early September it feels like we really are in full swing with the festive season. Today nearly 100 boxes have gone off to be delivered to underprivileged children across the globe and the kids school has had its Christmas fete.


Christmas is such an important time to us as Christians and we will be enjoying lots of worship and time with family and friends. The Christian Centre where we live is closed for two and a half days and those days will be spent with us all (about 75/80 of us in total) in the Great Hall worshipping, playing games, watching movies, cooking for each other and sharing gifts. To say that the children are excited is the biggest understatement there is. Already they are looking at my calendar and working out how many sleeps it is until the fun starts.

The kids have started to learn their lines and songs for the Christmas performances at school and at church and I am pleased to say that my shopping is well underway. It will be great this year to be celebrating Christmas with our community as it means I do not have to get sucked into the trap of having to go out and do a silly £200 food shop for the festive couple of days.

I've been inspired by Debbie at Johnson Babies to make some gifts for the kids teachers and the lovely Mary of Keynko who has made the kids a knitted elf ready for us to play elf on the shelf in December but more about these activities as they happen. The children have their advent calendars at the ready (just the bog standard chocolate ones) and now I have enough skills to sew them some beautiful ones for next year (did I tell you I've been taking sewing classes?).

To start getting the kids into the Christmas mood (like it was difficult) Mothercare sent the girls a beautiful padded onesie each, sadly JJ is too much of a giant and cannot fit in their clothes anymore. Such a shame, he would have loved these tartan PJs -

and looking at these little PJ's bought back memories of when I could dress the girls in mix and match clothing. In fact they has some Christmas PJ's similar to this many years back now -

Here they are the very day they received their Mothercare onesies, they literally ran upstairs and put them on and they have been on every night since (excepting wash days).

Mothercare '25 Sleeps' Competition

Ohh and while I am talking Mothercare you might be interested to hear about their '25 sleeps' advent competition.  Go and visit their Facebook page for the full details but basically, you need to upload a picture of your sleeping child and 24 will be picked to feature in the online advent calendar, you'll also bag yourself some Mothercare vouchers if your child is picked.

Here is a picture I could upload for the competition, weren't they cute?

Disclosure: Mothercare have sent us some PJs and vouchers to join in with their '25 sleeps' countdown to Christmas. I'll be posting about what our family gets up to in our preparations for Christmas. They have no instructed me what to write and I'll remain honest.

Look at me and what do you see?

Hello, if you have stopped by to find Reasons to be Cheerful then you need to head over to Lakes Single Mum as Becky is hosting for the rest of November. I'm having a bit of a time out and sorting my own head out. I am of course still completely grateful! Have a blessed week, Mich x

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Look at me and what do you see?

Do you see the exterior, the too much white flesh,

the uneven smile and the baggy chest?

The 40 year old woman who has let herself go.

Or is it the 'front' you see, the confident blond,

the lady who can solve things with the wave of her invisible wand?

Or maybe you see superwoman with the beautiful clean home,

the stunning children and the husband who never moans?

Perhaps it is the successful blogger, rising up the charts,

making it look as if it is easy and takes no art?

Or do you look deeper and see a child of God, 

the little girl down on her knees, ready and willing to please?

The encourager who wants to build you up,

desperate to affirm you and fill your cup?

The teacher who wants to impart what she knows,

to gently lead you and guide you and help you with whatever life throws?

The prayer warrior who is silently holding you near,

the woman who cares and is available all year?

This deeper woman is me. 

I'm not just a shell and if you look properly you'll see.

Michelle Pannell 19.11.13

Hop over and see Vic and the others who are joining in with Prose for Thought this week.

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Come walk with me - Autumn

Back in the summer when I moved to East Sussex I posted about my morning walk and shared lots of photos of the amazing views I get to enjoy every day. Now it is November the views have changed quite considerably, so it is my pleasure to share again. Especially as I have a new star-spangled camera to take these pictures on (However after spending an age creating this little montage of them all I'm not convinced it shows them at their best, so I'll share my 3 favourites below too.

Enjoy -

Never before have I had photos with this kind of detail, can you see the dew on the apple?

The beautiful autumnal colours delight my soul

I adore the reflection in this photo

My picture: His words - Sunset

Last week I treated myself to an early Christmas present and I am now the proud owner of a Panasonic Lumix G5 CSC camera. It is a beauty! Now comes the task of learning how to use it - what on earth do all those functions do?

I'm going to enjoy sharing my photos from now onwards and you can hopefully see how my skills progress. The first way I'll use them is by creating a new Sunday feature called 'My picture: His words' where I'll share a photo and some scripture. It will be inspired by where I have heard God talking to me in the last week.

Just recently God has been drawing my eyes heavenward and telling me to take my focus off myself and start to focus on Him more.  At Church Sunday I had the message that I must start to ask myself before I undertake any tasks - is this Kingdom focused, will it glorify God and do His work? If yes, I should go right ahead and dive in.....

We had the most amazing sunset here in East Sussex this week, just look -

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Christian mummy blogger would like to meet...

...other Christian mummy bloggers.

In fact not just mummy bloggers but any female bloggers who are dedicated Christians. Particularly if you are based in the UK or are an expat. I know there is a whole community of Christian mommy bloggers in the US but I am sure there are more of us here than just the handful I know about. I want to be inspired by you, encouraged by you and yes, even challenged by you.

I have a wonderful community of blogging friends around me at the moment and I am sincerely grateful for all the love and time they offer to me and each other but I have an unfulfilled need and that is to talk blogging and digital media with other women who share my faith.

We are called to be in this world and not of it and I want to have a strong group of women around me who can challenge me when I get too caught up in worldly nonsense. Women who are willing to use God's word to encourage, strengthen and rebuke me. And I want to do the same for them, let's be grateful together and rejoice in His goodness and ask the really tough questions and work through them together.

I have a vision for a group of strong Christian women coming together in a safe and private space where we can spend time in a virtual pastoral group and help each other. I was thinking of setting up a Facebook group.

Are there any Mary's out there who might like to chat to this Martha and help her develop more of the dedication and peace they know? Or I'd love to know a few more Martha's too because you can always rely on them to get things done.

So tell me, are you up for joining me in a private Facebook group where we can talk blogging and faith and get to know each other more and challenge each other to live differently and with purpose?

Leave me a comment or send me an email if you want and then friend me on Facebook, so I can invite you to join.

I really hope this works, I feel such a need for challenging Christian conversation with like minded ladies and whether you want to join the group or not if you are a Christian women who openly expresses her faith on her blog I'd love to read it and I know others would too, so please put a link in the linky below.

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Guinness World Records Book 2014 - Review & Giveaway

Big congratulations to Taylor Jones and Kate Jordan, you are the lucky winners. I have emailed you.  Please send me your addresses so that GWR can send the book direct to you. Many thanks, Mich x

You might have seen that a couple of weeks ago my family visited the head office of Guinness World Records in London. We had a fabulous day and one of the highlights was that the kids were each sent home with a new copy of the Guinness World Records 2014 book (GWR). I'll be honest, I did not think that my 6 year old twin girls would be that interested in the book and I thought I'd be able to syphon them off into the future gifts box!  How wrong was I? Apparently this book rocks for girls and boys alike and at age 6 with limited reading skills it is still fantastic fun.

So now I have three little GWR fans in our house and it makes me smile to walk into their rooms before bed and find each one of them reading the book and admiring all the big glossy photos. I think the GWR 2014 book is a really super gift for a child, not only are you providing them with entertainment but it is also educational and at school they encourage children to read all kinds of books not just straightforward fiction ones.

There is so much in this book, both fabulous quality and interesting photos and facts to blow your mind. There are some really bizarre snippets a whole ton of cuteness. Miss M was thrilled to see her favourite band ONE Direction in there and has been asking me ever since, if she can do twitter with them!

The books pages are all thick and glossy and it has a hard cover so it will last. JJ's book from 2013 was so well read and it still looks like brand new, so they stand the test of time. The book has an RRP of £20.00 but you can easily buy it in major supermarkets and book shops for £10.00 and I see it is £8.00 on Amazon.

When we were at head office Craig Glenday, the editor of the GWR book showed us the augmented reality app that you can download for free onto your ios or android product. It is super, I think it really adds to the reading experience, rather than detracting from it. Children can engage even more with the book by seeing life-size how tall the shortest lady is or charming a snake out of its basket, or maybe they want to climb Mount Everest and see what the view would look like. It can be a bit tricky at first to make sure you keep the book in the screenshot from your phone or tablet but with practise even my 6 year old's could do it.

I'll happily be buying copies of the GRW 2014 to give to my nephews as Christmas presents. It is a super book for kids and to be truthful, adults too if they like facts and figures.

I have 2 copies of the Guinness World Records 2014 book available for giveaway, would you like to win one?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Lamb always wins

Hello, if you have stopped by to find Reasons to be Cheerful then you need to head over to Lakes Single Mum as Becky is hosting for the rest of November. I'm having a bit of a time out and sorting my own head out. I am of course still completely grateful! Have a blessed week, Mich x

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I'm joining in again this week with Vic for her #Prose4T linky and also Faithful Friday. I gather that the more I write the better it will become. It is an overtly faith based piece of writing this week but I don't think it should offend anyone. Here goes -

As I walk, I see the evidence, your hands creeping in and trying to choke the lifeblood out. You won't win you know? You do surely realise that. The Lamb always wins, He might get wounded or tire for a time as your efforts are so vast and so, so tiring but He will always conquer. It is a simple fact - the Lamb always win.

As I walk, I feel the need to speak out loud. To proclaim this land for the Lord, it is too special here for it to be lost. This is scared ground and it must be preserved. I see the ivy strangling the trees and the disease trying to take the life from them too but I also see the fight of the forest, the good growth comes and pushes away the old. The storm takes branches from those diseased trees and chops off the bad, leaving only room for the good to grow again.

As I walk, I know that you are trying to attack us here but I don't fear you. There is no need, the Lord is here, His spirit is with us and we welcome Him and rejoice in His presence. Where He is strong, you are weak. You are nothing. You have no power and I say it again the Lamb will win!

Be gone Satan, you have no right to here, for this is scared ground.

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Feminism - Women for Women #blogfest

I'm writing this today as a woman with a first degree, a masters degree too and a number of professional qualifications. I've earned lots of money in my professional life and now I stay home. I look after my children, I enjoy time with my husband, I volunteer, I blog and I love it.

Do you know what that is called?

Choice.

Free choice. I'm allowed to do what suits me.

I was so frigging mad at the woman on stage today at #Blogfest (I cant even be arsed to grace her with a link) who told us that she had to return to Uni after having her baby or she would never be a good mother.

What a load of bollocks. How absolutely demeaning. OK that worked for her and it was her choice. That is OK, we can all make our own choices and I'm fine with that (well unless you are beating your kids or such).

Mums without any formal education can be brilliant parents and they can be not-so-great ones too. That's how it goes in life.

Great mothers teach their children good morals, strong values, to be kind, to be inquisitive and entrepreneurial and not to judge. Important lessons and ones that need to be taken on board by the women on stage today.

I have no idea where Mumsnet were going with the session 'can you be a mummy blogger & a feminist'?. The answer is obvious, of course you can.

I'm a mum, I'm a blogger, I make a difference, I influence people and today I learned I'm a feminist - who knew it?

Being a feminist for me is being a woman for other women, I expect equal opportunity and respect for all.

Simple really!

What's your take? Are you a feminist and a mum who happens to blog?

I'm linking this post up with Mumsnet as my entry to the Mark Warner holiday competition. They have asked for us to share one tip about having a successful family holiday.  Mine is to change your expectations - holiday's with children are wonderful when you realise that they will be different to those holidays of old. Plan your days around the needs of your children - meal and nap times and you can still have a whole ton of fun in between, especially as they get older.

From recipient to donor - Meet Kymbat

Anyone that has read this blog for any length of time will know of my love affair with Operation Christmas Child.  I adore putting the shoebox gifts together for children abroad who otherwise might go without a smile this winter. I know there are other far more important and life-saving projects and I'm involved in those too but I see no issue with giving to the big picture projects and also donating my time, effort and money to projects like Operation Christmas Child that are about offering a small bit of joy in a shoebox and also showing many children that someone, somewhere cares enough for them that they took the time to make a gift just for them.

It has been an absolute blessing to me this year to meet and get to know Kymbat, she is from Kyrgyzstan. Not only because she is a beautiful soul and part of our pastoral group but because Kymbat received shoeboxes as a child in her home country. You read the stories of adults who received boxes as children and how it touched them but nothing prepares you for meeting someone who felt the love and care of receiving a shoebox gift them-self.

This is Kymbat in the summer as she helped to pick in our kitchen garden

Kymbat came shopping with me recently to buy some items for the shoeboxes we would make as a community this year and as I picked up the toothpaste, an item that I consider really boring to add to the boxes she told me about how she loved her toothpaste in her box as it was especially for a child and had a great flavour, something her mother could not afford and that was not readily available in Kyrgyzstan ten years ago. Of course, this lifted me and showed me yet again that I must trust God and his plan, things that I think boring and unnecessary are actually seen quite differently by others.

This weekend at church Kymbat's testimony of receiving her shoebox was read out by a friend of hers and there was many a wet eye in the church as we heard about how proud Kymbat was of her pink hat, no other child had a hat as beautiful and colourful as hers. She knew for sure that someone cared when she received such a special shoebox gift.

It was with great love that Kymbat joined myself and some of the other international volunteers the other night to put together quite a number of boxes. We had a lot of fun and feel sure that many children will be blessed with these boxes filled with love.

As well as box packing, some of the fun came about as Haribo had sent us some chocolate Christmas cupcakes and fairy cakes to get us in the festive mood. These were great and the price is very reasonable at £1 for 6 fairy cakes or £1 for two very big buttercream topped cupcakes but the kids favourite was by far the 12 pack of smaller cupcakes, which I think retails for about £5. Very good value. These are all available from Tesco, Morrisons and Asda and JJ tells me we will definitely be buying more Christmas.

I think by the time we finish up, there should be about 70 completed shoeboxes from the local church and community here and that is a fabulous effort, well done all. Mich x

Disclosure: The cakes were sent to me free of charge.

Reasons to be Cheerful - time for a change?

How can you stay down for long, when you live here?
This is the view from my front door a couple of nights ago.

Hello all,

How are things going with you? I'm in a bit of a flux at the moment, I don't know whether I am coming or going much of the time. The worlds most organised person seems to have lost some of her skills. I keep having moments of feeling sad, unsettled and turbulent. If you saw my post from yesterday you'll know that I'm in a state of discontent.

Nothing is wrong really, just the realities of living in a new place and having to make new friends, establish where my purpose is right now and come to terms with not being in paid work any more. Lots has changed in the last three months and I think I have stayed strong whilst I made sure the kids and my husband got settled and now I've remembered I've got to take care of myself too.

My instant response is that I need to take the pressure off and have a break from blogging, I know this is always a good thing for me, I've done it many times before.  I'm not imposing any rules on myself, I'm just going to go with the flow and blog if I want to but free myself to not have to be pressured to post for anything. Therefore I won't be running Reasons to be Cheerful for the foreseeable future. If any of you reading this want to host it then leave me a comment below and we can chat but I'm wondering if it is just time for a change. Maybe no more #R2BC.

So this is supposed to be Reasons to be Cheerful and I don't want it just to be me moaning, so my main reason to be grateful this week is the supportive blogging community.  I shared with some blogging friends a couple of days ago how I was feeling and I had such an amazing and overwhelming response. People said really encouraging things and I felt so built-up and good about myself and my blog. Thank you ladies for being awesome, you know who you are.

Then talking of blogging mates, I am also super grateful that I get to see Seasider Clare this weekend for Mumsnet Blogfest. We plan to have a fab time with loads of bloggy friends and some catch up time alone too, it is too long since we last got together in June.

You never know Blogfest might even recapture my love for blogging and I might feel enthused to get straight back on the horse - we will see.....

Wishing you all a fabulous week. Do link up with me for a last time with your Reasons to be Cheerful and I'll be over to visit you (probably after the weekend).

Bless you, Mich x

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A state of discontent #Prose4T

Life is good
How much more blessed could I be?
The move went well, the kids are happy, the husband too
Yet there is this unease
It's not right, something is up
What is it?

It feels so love-hate right now

I can't be arsed with you

But I can't keep away from you

You are like a drug, giving me highs
Stealing my time and offering little reward

You draw me in and then make me feel sad

Those feelings of inadequacy

That self-doubt that rears it's head

And I wonder what is wrong?

What is creating this unease, this imbalance?

Something needs to change

It is time to stop

To stop and take account

Where should I go?

What should I do?

My priorities need a good shake-up
A break might help
Can the answer really be so simple
Yet so darn difficult?

I know I need guidance
Lead me Lord
Hear my prayers

I'm taking the opportunity this week to link up with Vic over at Verily Victoria Vocalises for her #Prose4T link up. I don't really get involved with writing poetry or prose very often at all and I think a lot of that is down to being embarrassed of not having much skill in this area but today I feel like it and it is my blog and that is the way it goes!

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Living life outdoors

All parents know there is a problem nowadays, kids want to stay indoors and play with their computer games or watch TV or generally just chill-lax (such a funny word!) and whilst all those things are fine in moderation, it means a whole generation of kids are missing out on the fun and wonder of getting outdoors and exploring our natural world.

Naturalist, author and TV producer Stephen Moss pulls on years of academic research and surveys in his Natural Childhood report, he highlights how a generation of children are losing touch with the natural world and this is really sad. His report outlines a clear need to tackle the rise of ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’, a term coined by the US based writer Richard Louv, to describe a growing dislocation between children and nature.

I thank the Lord that my husband has been a scout leader for as long as the kids have been alive. This means that all three of our children are happy to get their wellies on and get muddy. In fact they would all cite camping as the ultimate in great family times and for a southern softie I'm pretty tough and all-weather too and we have had many a trip to the play park in the pouring rain or nature walks along a boggy path.

Out last week in the pouring rain

Of course since moving to the countryside three months ago it has become even easier for us to get out and enjoy nature and the great outdoors, but the weather is on the change and that is when the challenges will come. Yes we headed out in torrential rain last weekend and had some fun conker collecting but how often will we want to keep doing that? Very often I hope.

My best memories this summer have definitely been those created whilst we were outdoors -

• Lying in our private garden with Miss M and watching all the beautiful coloured dragon flies over our heads
• Taking my lakeside morning walk each day and watching the scenery change
• Blackberry picking with Miss E
• Basketball with JJ and some great friends
• Discovering the fungi and nooks and crannies of our estate as the girls and I go exploring the woods yet again
• Getting charged at by a stag in Richmond Park (yes really!)

Let me share with you some scary statistics from the National Trust -

• Fewer than ten per cent of kids play in wild places; down from 50 per cent a generation ago
• The roaming radius for kids has declined by 90 per cent in one generation (thirty years)
• Three times as many children are taken to hospital each year after falling out of bed, as from falling out of trees
• A 2008 study showed that half of all kids had been stopped from climbing trees, 20 per cent had been banned from playing conkers or games of tag

Go back 6 months ago and this little lady would never have dreamed of climbing a tree,
but now - just look at the joy on her face!

OK, I get why some parents are scared to let their kids climb trees but stop them from playing conquers and tag, that really does reek of wrapping their children up in cotton wool. We surely all know that we need to allow our children to grow and learn and just provide some boundaries and safety nets for them. Accidents will happen of course, Miss M has her arm in a cast right now, but I pray she will learn from it.

I do everything I can to encourage the children to keep going outside and to enjoy nature and our natural world. Not only is it educational, it is great for their fitness and it is fabulous fun too. Feel free to share with me any tips you have for getting outdoors in the not so great weather.

Disclosure: I am writing this post on behalf of Blacks.co.uk, suppliers of great outdoor wear products. JJ is the happy recipient of some new hiking boots to keep him snug over the winter months.

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Record breaking party popping!

Last week, in half term all the family headed up to London to join Guinness World Records at their office for their #GWRdayout for bloggers. We have been to a couple of events before with them and had a great time and thus the kids were very excited.

JJ has attempted some world records before and sadly not managed to achieve one yet but he did get very close with balancing the most hats on his head last June. I feel really confident that within the next couple of years he will have one of the coveted Guinness World Records certificate and be a verified record holder. For now he is making do with a face paint tattoo.

There were three records that we could attempt last week and JJ took on them all. The most sticky notes on your body in 30 seconds, the most lemons caught whilst wearing a blindfold and the most party poppers popped in 30 seconds. You can see he had good fun -

...and here is dh attempting to catch the lemons blindfolded whilst JJ throws them to him -

For Miss E she was not so much interested in attempting the records as she was looking after the animals in the petting zoo. We were lucky to be able to meet lots of cute (and not so cute!) creatures because Guinness World Records have a free to download ebook called Awesome animals.

Miss M, I rarely saw during the day as she made herself very comfortable in the Guinness World Records office and befriended a few of the staff, specifically Marco Frigatti and his dog Nero. With a broken arm the records were beyond her, which was a shame as she wanted to get involved but she tells me she still had an amazing day.

In the true spirit of it, I also tried out the record attempts and I can honestly say I have not laughed so much in ages as my husband chucked lemons at me whilst I was blindfolded. We managed to catch 2 of them, which was not so bad! I seriously attempted the sticky notes and party poppers task. The record for the sticky notes is 32 on yourself in 30 seconds and I managed 26, dh got 27, so respectable efforts but the party poppers was where I excelled. The record is 36 popped in 30 seconds and I did 33 on my first effort but sadly only 28 on my properly adjudicated attempt. If only I had time to practise more, I know I could beat that one! lol

We had a great day out with Guinness World Records and I want to say a big thanks from our family. The kids are loving their 2014 books and I'll get a review up in a week or so when we have had a chance to really devour them.

These are the kind of great days you want to remember forever, so I'm linking up for the first time with Jaime at Olivers Madhouse

A great nights sleep is so important

I find that I can cope with just about anything as long as I've had a great nights sleep, even when the twins were tiny as long as I got 4 straight hours I could manage. Nowadays I like it to be a minimum of 6 or 7 hours and if I can squeeze in even more then perfect!

I don't want to tempt fate but I have to say that I'm a good sleeper. I don't have much trouble getting off to sleep and I tend to stay there for the whole night through unless a child is waking me but I have heard that it gets more tricky as you get older and particularly as a women, with changing hormone levels and such.

I do have a few simple rules that I follow to ensure a good nights sleep -

1. If I have stuff on my mind I do a brain dump, either on my computer or in a notebook, that way it does not have to go round and round my head as I try to drop off to sleep
2. I keep a notebook by the side of my bed and then if I wake in the night with an urgent thought, I can just jot it down and happily forget it
3. I make sure I go to the loo before I drop off as I find that with age (and babies I suspect) my bladder if not what it used to be
4. I like to leave one of my windows a little open. Sleeping in a slightly cool room really works for me
5. Probably my favourite way to drop off is to read a chapter of a good book as soon as I lay down. It helps my eyes start to feel really heavy and then I drop off within minutes

You can also check out some posts with tips for a great nights sleep on Pinterest too.

The right bedding
Of course, having the right bed and bedding makes a real difference to how you sleep as well. In January dh and I bought a new bed and it is too hard for me really but he loves it and my body is learning to live with it. I keep considering what I can do to help improve this bedding situation for me, so it was with a whoop of delight that I said yes to reviewing one of the new Breathe duvets from The Fine Bedding Company. I wondered if having a good duvet might take my mind off the too hard mattress and I was right, it does. I'll tell you more about my duvet below but let me just start by saying, I love it, like really love it, it is so silky soft.

Super zipped packaging bag, which can be used again for storage

We have never been able to afford a natural down duvet and I have always been led to believe they are the best on the market. We stayed in a very exclusive hotel a couple of weekends ago and both enjoyed the down duvet there but our new 10.5 tog superking Breathe duvet is just as good. Genuinely there is no way this duvet feels man-made, firstly it is really light. When I lay down with it over me I can hardly feel it as it just drapes and changing the duvet cover is a dream too as it is lighter than my kingsize duvet that we used to have. Secondly, it keeps us super warm, for something so light I can hardly understand how it can keep me so snuggly as the nights are getting colder but the goods news is that I can use this duvet all year round as it is designed for those who love to sleep in perfect temperature-controlled comfort.

The science bit!

• The duvet is filled with Smartfil synthetic (clever sleep technology) micro-fine fibres so they settle evenly. 
• It traps in about 30% more air than ordinary fibres and allows you to feel warm and snug.
• The Smartfil filling is as soft as down but can be washed regularly at 60 degrees and will retain its shape time and time again.
• The Smartfil is mixed with naturally derived modal to actively transfer moisture from the skin and help to reduce the build-up of excessive body heat & perspiration bought on by night sweats and overheating. Any moisture is absorbed and dispersed.
• It has a textured microfibre cover, which is highly breathable and wicks away moisture faster and more effectively than cotton.
• It's non-allergenic

My duvet arrived by courier on an evening when my husband was working, I had a friend over and we were watching a movie with the kids. Not thinking much of it I unpacked all my post and parcels from that day and that included my new duvet. Within minutes my friend was stroking it and I had an offer that she would come and babysit for a weekend (if you could use our new duvet) and this is how Miss E ended up once she had grabbed it off my friend -

Overall verdict for The Fine Bedding Company exclusive Breathe duvet
We are super happy with our duvet, it is lightweight yet warm and very comfortable. It does not slip or move in the night and my husband and I have been enjoying a good nights sleep under it. If you are looking to buy a new duvet or other bedding then I would definitely say that the Fine Bedding Company are worth looking at. I even had a sleep consultant advise me what might be the best duvet for my husband and I, you can ask them too.

I've also reviewed the Spundown double all-season duvet for my teenagers bedroom in 2021,

Thanks to the Fine Bedding Company for choosing us to try out one of their new Breathe duvets!

Disclosure: I received this duvet free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest. 

Walking the dog

I actually think perhaps this post should be titled 'the dog walking us' because until Archie gets to the park and has his good run around all he wants to do is pull us there!

This week whilst Daddy was working, the kids and I escaped to see Nanny and once the storm had passed we were keen to get outside and run some energy off. Who better to help us than Nanny's dog Archie?

We all headed to the local park together and enjoyed playing ball with him and chasing each other. It really is the simple things that provide the most fun at times. JJ wanted to stay home with his iPad and play some games as we had been out shopping most of the day but I'm so glad I put my foot down and told him he had to come with us as he really enjoyed himself once out.

This the last post in my series posted as part of the Mark Warner Family Active challenge. They asked us to get active as a family for at least 4 hours in October. I can confirm that we have probably had at least 2-6 hours active as a family every week in October and much of that is thanks to Mark Warner and their prompt. It is fairly easy to get younger children moving but the key I think, is in the adults setting the example and this is where we have a made a real effort this month.

• First we all played basketball together
• Then we barn danced the night away, what a blast that was
• Next the girls and I went out on a wet woodland walk
• Last week I shared with you some of favourite our 'all family' activities such as beach walks and giant hula hooping
• Then this week it is the dog walking. I'm sure you'll agree we have made the most of the October family active challenge!

Have you had a good week, how have you managed to get active this week?

I'm also linking up this post to Fiona's Country Kids - click on the badge to head over and see what others have got up to in their Country Kids exploits.

 

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