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A Healthy Snack

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Walkers have brought out a new healthy range of snacks for kids, called “Hoops and Crosses”, & I’ve been lucky enough to have received some.

As you can see, the packaging is great:

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Not only did I not have to fight any big-eared TV football presenters for them but they even came with a cute, cuddly monkey! Which, of course, the twins love.

And do they taste as good as they look?

Well, yes. The ones I had were roast beef flavour, & they were delicious, thank you very much.  They also come in prawn cocktail and salt & vinegar flavours.

And their healthy credentials? Why listen to me when the nice monkeys can tell the story?

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We’ve always been keen on Jake & Ellie eating a healthy, balanced diet, even in their snacks, so a tasty & fun snack made from wholegrains & with no artificial colours or preservatives will do very nicely.

We’re very fussy about salt here though, so the only downside for me is that the sodium content is a little bit too high for us to want to include it in every day’s lunchbox – but for a weekly snack they would be fine.

It’s a nice touch that they’re in the shape of noughts & crosses, so while they’re eating you can also make the snacking into a fun & educational game.

And if that footballer does turn up I’ll fight him for it!

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My Old House & My New Headphones

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I’ve got a brand new pair of headphones. They’re great. If you want some ‘phones you should buy them, OK? If you insist on wanting to know why, read on…

But I also want to post about my current living conditions, the 4 of us. It’s been difficult since we moved, & we’re stuck until we can sell our old house. I’ve been quiet about it: I tend to clam up when things aren’t as I’d like them to be.

It’s called ‘context’, but it’s also something I’ve meant to post about for a while now.

I enjoy blogging, listening to music, gaming. But the cramped conditions I live in can make this difficult: I no longer have a space of my own to escape to when I need to. There are 4 of us – me, the Mummy & the now 2 & 3/4-year-old twins – in a small mid-terrace 2-up, 2-down. Upstairs we just have 2 bedrooms, 1 of which doubles as their nursery, & a small bathroom / loo. Downstairs there’s just a small kitchen & the lounge / dining room; my PC, surrounded by papers in what now also passes as my office, is on the dining room table there.

When the twins are at home they’re mostly there; a lot of the time I’m looking after them; when I’m not doing that there are jobs around the house that need doing. Even when I have so-called ‘spare time’ – even if I could concentrate enough with the noise & activity around me – if I try to blog or listen to music or play a game the twins will sooner or later interrupt, wanting me to play with them or help them with something. Which is fine: I’m their Dad, that’s what I’m here for. But it’s also very frustrating.

In the evening after they’re asleep – the time of which is getting progressively later as they get older – after I’ve cleared up & done as much washing-up as I can bring myself to do I’m often too tired to manage much more than collapsing on the sofa in front of the telly.  If I do manage something more mentally active like blogging & playing music or playing a game I then often have to do so while the Mummy watches TV.

Which means 1 of us has to shut up. And that would be me as I have the magic wonder of technology that is known as Headphones.

Would it surprise you to learn that they’re no good? They were once; they are Sennheiser noise-cancelling jobbies. They’re just a bit broken. They work OK in normal mode but have a really annoying hum in noise-cancelling mode.

So enough about me; I know I have no right to complain, really, & the twins even though demanding are a joy & a delight.

No, it’s time to introduce the brand new & very shiny pair of headphones I’ve recently received & was asked to review. Bass Buds, they’re called, the 2012 Collection.

They’re in-ear ‘phones. I haven’t got on with those before & I wasn’t expecting much different with these; I find that before long they irritate & then hurt my ears. That was my first surprise: they fit inside my ears perfectly & are really comfortable; they’re really well designed.

My second surprise was the sound quality: again not something I expected from ‘phones which I’d think of as ‘basic’. They’re not: the sounds are crisp & clear, the bass booms, the treble trills & all the in-between bits are where they should be. They’re actually significantly better than my old Sennheisers: that was a big surprise.

The only negative – & it’s a trivial one – was that I found that if I pushed the jack all the way into my soundcard connector the sound wasn’t quite right. When I pulled it out a smidge it was gorgeous.

They also have a built-in mike, especially good when you use them with your mobile ‘phone or iPod. The mike controller can not only take & end calls but also play & skip tracks & enable voice control.

Surprise no. 3: they look great! They come in a variety of colours & styles, there’s 1 to suit any lifestyle or mood – as you can see from the website.

And they’re reasonably priced, as you can also see from there. And in addition quoting the code BB48265 will gain an extra £5 off.

Headphones that sound great, that look great & have a great price: I wholeheartedly recommend them.

Good, so that’s my headphones sorted. Now can someone get me a bigger house please? Thanks.

Also? Happy New Year!

My Son the Model

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We don’t buy ‘brand’ clothes for our twins. We want them to look their best of course but we’ve always thought it was unaffordable; as a result we try to dress them well but economically.

So when I was sent some clothes from Vertbaudet to review we were delighted. Even more so when I looked at the website & found that they are actually also very reasonably priced. Affordable, fashionable children’s clothes – wonderful.

I was tempted to end the review there & just let you look at the pictures: they pretty much speak for themselves I think, even with my very basic camera.

I’ll just add though that they fit really well, the fabric is tough but nice to the touch: well-made quality clothing. The T-shirts have 3 little buttons at the back to help with putting on & taking off. And children + clothes = stains, right? They all washed out easily. And even on the white trousers, which will obviously stain more easily, they were easy to wipe away where necessary.

We particularly loved the sleeveless hoody: really stylish but also perfect for the very changeable weather here in our new Welsh home.

So as promised, here’s Jake the model:

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