The best thing about this blogging malarkey is being given the opportunity to review some awesome new products. I often have to pinch myself because it hardly feels real and I am always grateful for everything we receive – from snacks to toys and beyond – this summer Arlo has had the time of his life, and kept our postman extremely busy. The best thing however is that we have been lucky enough to be able to secure prizes from PR companies and toy manufacturers we have worked with, to share with you, our readers.

I’m going to work as hard as I can to get some more fun projects lined up in time for Christmas (and beyond) because sharing is caring – so watch this space! There’s nothing like the buzz of a competition prize win, and even better when it’s a prize which you can choose for yourself. I have collaborated with some awesome bloggers to bring you this awesome giveaway.

For today’s competition, we have two prizes to offer you. The first prize is a £100 Amazon Voucher and the second prize is a £25 Amazon voucher. Both of these awesome prizes will come in handy for Christmas this year. What will you buy with your voucher?

Who Brings You This Competition?

A collaboration of bloggers have got together to bring this prize to you, the prize comes out of their pocket as a thank you for supporting them over the past year. You will find the links below, please pop over and visit them. You never know, you might find a blog that you really relate to. Sometimes we think we are the only person going through something, when in fact there are others. These bloggers share their ups and downs so that nobody ever feels alone. 

Miss LJ Beauty /Me Him, The Dog And The Baby / The Little House By The Sea / Miss Tilly And Me / Mindful Slow Life / Jennie Pennie / The Heaton Fam / Mum Making Money / Just Average Jen/ The Free From Mummy / We Made This Life / Blog Bay Bee / Claire Mac / Ricecakes And Raisins / Life With Jupiter and Dann/ Childfree / Fruit Picking Farms / Best Lodges With Hot Tubs / A Suffolk Mum / At Home With Alice / Its Me Chrissy J / Simple Reveries / The House That Never Rests / Two Hearts One Roof / Lilac Storm / My Healthy Temple / Real Girls Wobble / The Amazing Adventures Of Me /

 

How Can I Enter This Competition?

In order to be entered to win the vouchers, you need to leave a comment on the blog post. Click on the rafflecopter and it gives you the instructions to do this. Then there are other options to follow the bloggers on their social media. The more entries that you complete, the more chances you have of winning a voucher (or even both vouchers). You don’t have to complete all ofthe entries to be entered, but each one you complete is an entry.

Terms And Condition▪ UK Entries only.▪ Blog comments must be over 8 words long otherwise it usually goes to the spam file.▪ This is a collaborated competition and is not associated with Tesco or any other company.▪ You must be over 18 to enter this competition.▪ You don’t need to enter all of the other requirements but if you do say you have completed them, please ensure that you have. Otherwise, your entry is void.▪ You have 28 days to claim your prize or another winner will be chosen. ▪ After you have claimed your prize, you will receive the voucher within 28 days

Let’s talk about boobs.

Bazooka sized boobs which make you feel like you’re carrying watermelons strapped to your front 24/7 and not in a way which is going to make a Patrick Swayze look-a-like swoon all over you. I’ve got them, and I always have, regardless of my dress size and weight I have been blessed (or cursed) with an hourglass figure since puberty.

There’s going to be some people out there reading this who just can’t identify with the struggles of having big boobs, and think it must be incredible to have such an asset but trust me, it doesn’t make life easy at all. Along with the backache and the constant worry about gaping buttons on blouses, there’s the constant need to wear a supportive bra and thus sacrificing style. I’ve never been able to wear a strapless or spaghetti string top because I never wanted my inch thick beige bra straps to be on display. I’m the woman who takes my bra off as soon as I get home so that I can relax and feel free.

When I was younger I used to see friends pick up new colourful lacy little numbers every week from affordable and fashionable stores whilst I ended up heading to stores you’d normally associate with your grandma to spend a whole days wages on an ugly looking bra just because it was the only one in the store which would fit. Once I found the style of bra which worked for me I would buy it in the three shades it came in – black, white and nude. I used to wear these bra’s until the elastic gave in and then go back and try and find the exact same style.

Whenever I plan my outfits, be it work wear, casual day outfits or my Saturday night dresses – everything would have to work around the bra. Nothing low cut would work for me and nothing backless either. Every so often I would fall in love with a new dress and head out to a shopping centre to try on a new style of bra supposedly for “fuller breasts” – heading to nee and upcoming lingerie stores only to find that the design of the DD+ bra’s were simply not supportive enough, with no adjustments made to accommodate the bazookas. I can’t even begin to tell you how many claustrophobic changing rooms I’ve encountered.

The trying on process always begins with a well meaning assistant brandishing a tape measure, throwing it around me and then counting up the alphabet on her fingers. I only go shopping for bra’s when I absolutely have to because I hate the experience so much. It always starts well, with the enthusiastic checking of the tags on the styles of bra’s I like, only for me to be told that they don’t go up to my size. I wait whilst store assistants end up checking the computer system to find which two or three styles do come in my size and then rummage around on the shop floor to find the one that is in stock. I always sit and wait patiently, and then try to feign happiness when the same boring beige number is eventually presented to me through the gap in the curtain.

So here I am, a mid thirties woman who’s only ever worn a handful of different bra’s successfully, and so when I was asked to review some lingerie from Tutti Rouge which was suited to fuller breasts I was sceptical to say the least – especially when ordering from an online retailer. I went off to scrutinise the size guide and was greeted with a series of questions which made me feel like finally this was a company which understood my needs. I confirmed the size of bra I currently wear and then also described the fit of the straps, cups and band to be presented with my size to shop the website. Not quite the size I usually shop but I thought I would trust the process.

I clicked over to the online shop and filtered the shop by my size. Not only did they have something in stock in my size – I had options. Clicking through different styles and colours available gave me a reason to be happy. Each style was displayed on the search landing page on a model with a full bust, and clicking through I managed to get views of the straps and band which made me feel confident that these bra’s indeed were designed with big boobs in mind. Having different options for the first time was a joy and feeling confident I clicked through to look at bralettes too.

As I browsed the website I felt ridiculous for even thinking that they would have a bralette in my size but then I clicked through to the ocean blue colour of the Ana. I’ve never worn underwear in a colour before and I added this to my wishlist immediately just for the novelty of having something bright blue. I hadn’t even thought about how I would style clothes over a bright blue bralette, but I knew I had to have it.

I never usually go for a matching set of briefs and a bra, I usually try to find myself briefs which compensate for the lack of style in the bra’s I wear – the matching granny pants always get left behind by me in the department stores – I can usually find something in the black, white or beige which works and doesn’t break the bank on the high street. Clicking through that website I noticed I had yet more options. Matching briefs in more than one style, and going all the way from XS to 6XL to accommodate all shapes and sizes. This was so refreshing, the online plus sized bra shopping experience with Tutti Frutti was fun in itself.

My order arrived via Royal Mail tracked delivery within a few days of ordering – discreetly packaged in a mailbag with my four items individually wrapped. I tore open the packaging of the Nika bra first. I say tore – even at this stage I was very careful to keep all of the packaging to be able to send everything back if it didn’t fit. With its Lacy black trim across the nude cups I had to try this bra straight on. I noticed immediately that the band felt strong and wider than I’m used to. The clasps at the back are spaced apart well enough to provide a strong and supportive frame. The cups themselves are made from a robust material which gives a smooth shape.

There was no side boob spillage, or appearance of the dreaded four boobed monster. I stood in the mirror and checked myself out from all angles – the Balconette style gave me a lift and a shape I wasn’t used to experiencing and I found myself reaching for a tight t shirt to see how the fabric would fall. I found myself standing just that little bit taller. Very impressed with this style and just to have matching pants was enough, but the same quality in design was represented, both well fitting and strong without losing any style or delicateness. I didn’t even need to adjust the shoulder straps – but I did notice the heart shaped detail on the sliders which is a lovely finishing touch.

The bralette had me feeling nervous – I wasn’t sure how this would even work holding up my boobs, but as soon as I opened it I realised that it had five hook and eye fasteners to the back and the double banding was not just part of the aesthetic but also served a function too. This bralette is basically a marvel of engineering! I was reaching for my high waisted jeans and a blazer and totally ready to rock that look before I realised that the cups were slightly transparent and I’m not quite brave enough to walk out of the house with nipples on display.

Just the feeling of walking out and knowing I have a matching set of beautiful underwear on underneath my clothes is enough to give me added confidence, I can’t believe it’s taken me twenty years to find underwear for big boobs which fits well and looks great too.

(The toys featured in this blog were provided by Zuru for the purposes of review)

I have been working with Zuru toys over on social media and they have sent us across some epic PR packages. Arlo was delighted to receive the Bunch O Balloons box which was packed full to the brim with all sorts of surprises. Everyone loves a water balloon battle when there’s a heatwave but no one likes inflating the balloons – until now!

The unique feature of Bunch O Balloons has been designed to enable you to inflate water balloons in seconds. Each bunch comes with dozens of Ballons and a screw cap which you attach to your hosepipe. Simply turn the water on and watch them expand before your very eyes.

Bunch O Balloons are available to purchase from supermarkets, toy shops and on Amazon in a variety of different formats and colour options. The best thing about these is they are made from 100% recycled plastic and are also recyclable too.

We had so much fun setting up our battle stations, filling up buckets with water balloons ready for a big splash – our Top Tip is to add a little bit of water to the container you use which helps the balloons to inflate and drop off their stems smoothly. Of course it’s optional for you to sit in the bucket too.

I’m not quite sure who won round one, in the end I stopped taking pictures, kicked off my flip flops and joined in with the kids, which was utter chaos but so much fun. I’d hidden washing up bowls full of balloons behind the shed and bench to surprise them and the kids were also able to top up their own stashes, until we eventually called a truce.

Luckily this heatwave has been sticking around and so we had the chance to up our game with these water blasters which are just as fabulous, and the play lasts even longer because these blasters refill with water in seconds and so as long as you have a water source you can play until it’s bedtime!

Zuru sent us out a box featuring six blasters, including three different kinds and so I invited the cousins and nanny along to the park for a battle to end all battles and it’s safe to say that there’s a blaster in this range for everyone.

The intuitive refill system took us no time at all to figure out, each blaster has a button/switch which you press to release a watertight cap and then submerge the hole in water to refill instantaneously. The entire process takes a second, as claimed on the packaging and this delighted the little ones who usually have to ask for help with water refills on fiddly toys.

We had an hour of running around in the park and running back and forth to the stream to refill. We swapped and shared the blasters to try out the different sizes and surprisingly Paloma and Arlo seemed to really get along with the water warfare blaster which was the biggest in the box. The older boys kindly conceded them the first choice of weapon which I think they later regretted because Paloma was fearsome!

I think she liked this best because it had the longest range, water was blasting over 30ft away so she was a safe distance away from the boys and managed to avoid getting soaked in return until she decided to run a campaign through the stream with Arlo. I think they worked really well together as a team, inventing their own tactics before turning the water on to me!

Nanny was also a fan of the warfare blaster and employed some great tactics attempting to defend the stream water source but when the kids decided it was four against one she stood no chance and was surrounded from all sides. Paloma and Arlo were also just as happy to test out the Smaller X shot fast fill which also had an over 30ft range – and we launched streams of water across the stream to put this claim to the test.

In the end it was every man and woman for themselves, and once everyone got soaked we called a truce and head across the park to nanny’s house for supper – what a way to finish the weekend! The kids are already planning summer holiday trips to local parks with streams for another epic battle.

For your chance to win an awesome Xshot blaster set including six blasters from Zuru Toys then enter our giveaway here or click the image below. Competition closes at midnight on 14th August.

Terms and conditions apply – click here for full details

There are four adorable little interactive characters with BIG personalities to collect. They come with the cutest accessories to match! Arlo was besotted with Dot and his little glasses and cap, and he ran off to find his own accessories to match. My Squishy Little Dumplings are the perfect pal that fit in the palm of your hand. You squeeze their cheeks to pop out their unique personalities, and they spring in to life.

They have a whole host of funny noises, from a funny little laughter like sound when their body pops out to all sorts of other quirky little giggles and I think I may have even heard a hiccough too. They have over 50 reactions so Arlo has been playing with Dot to explore exactly what he can do, and when you throw them up and down his hair and cheeks light up too. The colours all mean different things – there’s no surprise Dot is often green which shows he’s feeling energetic – the perfect companion for Arlo!

 The more you squish their cheeks the more they say – this little guy sings a little song and then when you turn him upside down he sings “weeee wooo Boomba” – it’s hilarious and our parrots love the noises too – this new language is called Squish Pop and the box gives you a handy guide or “squishionary” to get to know these little dudes.

They are available now for £14.99rrp from Smyths Toys, The Entertainer, Amazon.co.uk, Very.co.uk and other retailers and we have been kindly given the chance to host a competition for you to win your very own.

Click the image below to enter.

(Terms and conditions apply, competition closes at midnight on 10th August, click here for more details)