A live Q&A will be hosted tomorrow the 1st of March between 12-1pm on the  Facebook wall of A Vogel http://www.facebook.com/AVogelUK

The live Q&A will be questions on sleep problems and giving tips on how to get a better night’s sleep. Everyone could do with some tips on how to get a better night’s sleep, so feel free to join Alison Cullen (not related!) to discuss ways to help improve your nocturnal habits.

As soon as I heard the words Cadburys chocolate and Philadelphia together, my little ears pricked eagerly up.  When I was lucky enough to bag myself a sample for review, I rubbed my hands together in glee and popped a few slices of bread  in the toaster.  I am still struggling to describe what it is like, but my initial reaction was something like ‘OH YEAH! YUMYUMYUM’.  It is neither chocolate, nor Philly, but a smooth cool  combination of them both.  It kind of reminded me of Nutella at first, but cooler and smoother and fuller-bodied.  At 89 calories a serving compared to around 200 for Nutella, it’s the healthier option too.  Philadelphia also suggest that you can use it for dipping things in or making cheesecakes out of, both of which sound delicious options.  Yesterday was pancake day so we tried what was left of it on pancakes. I think the little man liked it, don’t you?

Disclaimer: The product was sent for free. I was not obliged to write this post and the opinions expressed are all my own.

There are many different types of insurance and even the same type of insurance can differ vastly in price. Insurance should act as a financial safeguard and among the most popular are home insurance, life insurance, contents insurance, travel insurance, pet insurance and car and motorbike insurance.

Home Insurance

Home insurance is often referred to as building and contents insurance, as home insurance will traditionally protect a privately owned home and the possessions and contents within the home. Home insurance is a type of protective insurance that will help a homeowner who suffers from severe to minor damage to their home. The insurance can cover damage by a flood or fire, to possessions that are stolen during a burglary. Home insurance companies will typically expect locks to be secure to protect against theft and smoke alarms to be installed to protect against fire. Homes that are situated in high risk flood areas will often struggle to get good insurance deals, compared to homes that are situated in lower risk areas.

Life Insurance

This is an insurance policy that is important to someone who has a family, as it gives peace of mind. Life insurance doesn’t benefit the policy holder financially, as, after death, there is a payout to someone who was designated to receive a sum when the policy was drawn up. This is helpful to relatives and loved ones, regarding, for instance, funeral costs. Insurance companies can dispute a claim, if a policy is in its final year when a person dies.

Contents Insurance

Contents insurance is a policy that can be taken out by both homeowners and tenants. Contents insurance will cover furniture, carpets, electrical appliances and curtains, as well as valued personal items from jewellery to porcelain. As with home insurance, contents insurance will cover damage from natural events to theft. It is also possible to take out contents insurance on specified items, including valuable antiques.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is mainly taken out by policy holders who are worried about family members and loved ones getting ill, or being injured, while on holiday. Travel insurance will also help the policy holder if a trip or holiday is cancelled. This will include refunds, alternative travel arrangements, etc. Travel insurance is sometimes added to a cost of a holiday by a travel company, with customers often unaware that the price of the holiday includes an option to choose not to be insured.

Pet Insurance

Pet lovers who are worried about veterinary costs, when a beloved pet becomes ill or gets injured, will consider pet insurance as a way of easing financial concerns. Pet insurance can also involve a payout if a pet goes missing or is stolen, as well as an insurance company paying out when a pet dies.

Car Insurance

Car drivers require car insurance by law. For young drivers in particular, insurance can be costly, because they are regarded as more high risk than older drivers. Motor insurance compensates both passengers of a policy holder involved in a crash and people injured by a policy holder’s vehicle. Car insurance is also a safety net for a car driver if their vehicle is stolen, or damaged other than by a car accident, or if their vehicle breaks down.

Motorbike Insurance

Motorbike insurance is generally cheaper than car insurance. One of the main reasons for this is that cars are more likely to be the cause of serious injury than a motorbike. Secondly, motorbikes are normally less expensive than cars. Motorbike insurance will not always just cover personal injury, but will also offer a policy holder the chance to recover money from loss of earnings due to the injury. Comprehensive motorbike insurance will cover the policy holder similarly to comprehensive car insurance.

Treasure Island Toys (www.treasureislandtoys.co.uk) has been a popular online store for many parents in the UK since 2008, but as of November 2011 the site became an entirely different sort of online experience.

Treasure Island has created what they like to call a ‘Fun and Party Search Engine’ and is unique in the fact that not only can parents buy toys, furniture and birthday presents from the website, they can now arrange parties and days out for the kids, by finding children’s entertainers, party venues, kids attractions, evening classes, workshops and much, much more – all in one place!

By entering a postcode or place name, parents can find a whole range of child friendly activities and more which are in their local area. They then have the ability to refine their search by using hundreds of different keywords ranging from Ballet, Balloon Modelling and Paintball, right through to Peddle Boats, African Drumming, Theatres and everything inbetween.

The website uses the latest technologies to make it super quick and utilises great features like ‘Favourites’ lists, videos of entertainers, date ranges for events, reviews, social networking (Facebook/Twitter/Google+) integration and much more.

The website is also what is known as a ‘wiki’ site, meaning that anyone can add a listing to the website for FREE, quickly and easily by themselves. So if you are an entertainer or are a parent that knows of any great kids’ attractions and local events in your local area, you have the ability to add them in seconds and let other parents benefit from your knowledge.

With thousands of listings already on the website, and more being added each day, we are confident that Treasure Island is the place for parents to go when in need for some great ideas to keep the kids entertained.

For parties see www.treasureislandtoys.co.uk/parties.aspx
For fun days out see www.treasureislandtoys.co.uk/fun.aspx

Feeling safe and secure in the car is important for any woman. Even if the risks are minimal, peace of mind is important.

Here are five tips to keep you and your car safe:

1) Lock your car immediately when you get out. Don’t dither unnecessarily or get distracted, allowing potential thieves an opportunity to swipe your phone or handbag. And even if you’re only going to be away from your car for a very short time, don’t take the risk of leaving it unlocked.

2) Keep valuable objects out of sight. Leaving a bag or purse on show provides a blatant opportunity for a would-be thief. Try not to leave valuable items in the car but if you have to then make sure they’re out of sight and ensure that no one can see into your boot. Remember that even carrier bags can also tempt thieves. There might be nothing valuable inside, but you don’t want thieves breaking into your car just to find out, so keep them out of sight.

3) Lock your doors when stopped in traffic. If you’re driving through busy, urban areas, play it safe by locking all car doors. In fact, if it makes you feel more secure, keep them locked at all times while in the car. Don’t worry about being over-cautious – your peace of mind and safety are what counts.

4) Don’t be tempted by road rage. It is frustrating if you’ve been cut up, or if someone is driving badly, but try to cool your road rage and not antagonise other drivers. Statistics have shown that 80.4% of us have been victims of road rage, and while most of the time it is just a beeping of horns and a waving of fists, it can sometimes turn into something more sinister. Try to keep out of it – and avoid any hassle that may arise.

5) Make sure you’re well covered. Adequate car insurance cover will give you peace of mind, so check that your policy provides all the cover you need. Also check you have sufficient breakdown cover for your needs.

This is a guest post by Sainsbury’s Finance

It doesn’t happen very often but I love it when it does and so do my son and dog.  Here are my 4 favorite snow pictures:

This weeks prompt was to take a picture of whatever you were doing when you read the prompt.  I usually use my laptop in bed, and today my son decided he needed a nap after hours and hours of playing in the snow.  It’s a bit of a cheat because the first time I read this was not today, but I WAS also on my laptop in my bed.  Do you like the walls? Yes, my room looks like Mr Tumble’s bedroom – the previous tenant must have had her kids in this room and I’ve not got round to decorating it yet.   Then I thought I’d add a few extra effects to it in line with my ‘learn how to photoshop’ resolution last week.  So….here’s me on a snowy Sunday afternoon snuggled up next to my snoring son and getting a bit of peace and quiet for a change. Lovely.

The others can be seen on Sticky Fingers Blog here.

Well, we love food and we love a spot of creativity so we sat down one rainy morning to make our entry into the Appliances online ‘Yummy food competition’ hosted on the “A boy with Aspergers” blog and on the Madhouse Family Reviews blog.

Also “Here’s our entry into the Appliances Online Cookers Yummy Food competition.” at Nurturestore

My son is two, so I helped him draw his favourite fish fingers, potatoes and little cherry tomatoes, and a little pot of yoghurt and asked him to colour them in with his paint and stickers.  I explained we were drawing dinner and he quite intuitively stuck stickers of sweets, bananas, strawberries and a cake on. I’m not sure if this was intentional but he surprises me with his cleverness quite often.  I’m not sure where the rainbow fits in but maybe he was telling me that this meal wasn’t very colourful and i should have stuck some greens on or something.  There’s also quite a lot of smudgy bits which I’m sure reflect the state of our table after the meal has finished. Clever eh?

Anyway, here’s our entry: