For those dads in our lives who may have outgrown there childish nature or are just a little bit more refined there is a great selection of gifts available.

Royal Worcester Mugs   

available in Football, Rugby, Golf and more you are bound to find a mug to suit.

Available from Royal Worcester for £9.75

353 Mens Grooming collection

On February 9th 2011, Private Conrad Lewis became the 353rd British soldier to make the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan. Inspired by the heroic work that Conrad began, his family launched 353, a non-profit organisation, with the aim of delivering long-term support to a variety of charities, soldiers and their families. The men’s grooming range sees all proceeds from the sale of the products going to 353 causes.

Available from 353 for £5 each

Wahl Lithion Ion Li+ total Grooming set

Designed for top to toe grooming. It has four interchangeable cutting heads; to define facial hair and create the perfect neckline. It is perfect for removing unwanted ear, nose and eyebrow hair. 

Available from Amazon for £31.97

Dreamboats and Petticoats CD

This is the ultimate compilation album for the 6o's and is perfect for grandad. We will be reviewing this later in the week to see what we think of the variety of songs available. Its not available until 4th June but you can pre-order it on the link below.

available from HMV for £9

Glenfiddich 3 whiskey gift set

This is the small version which is a great taster set but if that man in your life loves Glenfiddich then why not buy the bigger set with 3 x 20cl bottles for only £32.99

Available from the main supermarkets for £13.49

OpusOne in Manchester - Gentlemens Tea

For a real treat and one that I am looking at bestowing on my dear husband is a lovely gentlemens tea. just £16.95 per person.

If you wanted to really spoil that man in your life or if you are like us and try to do family things on this sort of occasion you can always have a look at some of the ideas below for great family fun treats.

Lollibop Festival - the big bash for little people

A fun filled festival with acts for all ages, loads to do and a perfect family day.

A family of 4 can go along for just £92 or you can keep your eyes peeled for my competition which will be live in the next few days for a free family ticket.

Bestival Tickets

If you really wanted to spoil him and only if he deserved it then you could get him (and the rest of the family) a ticket to Bestival. Even the kids will be thankful for this with Mr Tumble and more in there own children's area as well as a great grown up lineup.

Some of the dads out there love the personal touch, the handmade card, the painting from their kids or even a little clay model but why not get him something that will last a lot longer whilst still having that handmade or personal element. I have tracked down three great products that do just that.

Recordable Artwork from Hallmark
Now this is a little sneak peak for you as this is not even available at the moment. This should be available from June 2012. Comprising of a framed blank canvas board,paints and a paintbrush, the kit also features a unique recordable panel that uses innovative voice capture technology to allows messages to be recorded.

Available from Hallmark for £12.99

Create your own Mug from Great Gizmos

Using the included Markers kids can draw and write to their hearts delight and a quick wipe with a tissue to make the masterpiece permanent.


Available from Bright Spark toys for £4.49

Personalised gifts from Photo fairy tales

If you want personalised then this is the place to go and with so many gifts to choose from I just couldn't choose which one to talk about, with mugs, plates, canvases, photo art and more you are bound to find something for your dad or grandad here.

available from Photo fairy tales starting at around £10

Acrylic Blocks from Busypictures.co.uk

Why not turn dads favourite family photo into a nice acrylic keepsake and if you order today you can get 2 for the price of 1 using code "father12" so you can get one for Grandad too!

Available from Busypictures.co.uk for £29.99

Maybe the man in your life is more of a big kid or even prefers some family fun or maybe he is a more refined gent, which ever personality he is I have a gift guide to suit him so why not have a look.

We all know that men can be big kids at times so why not give him a gift that he will really enjoy playing with.

Lush Fathers day gift set

Nothing screams being a kid than splashing around in the bath so make the man in your life smell gorgeous with this little gift set.

Available from Lush for £12.95

Is the dad in your life is more of a Family fun man or maybe he enjoys homemade gifts? Or is he a bit more refined? Check out my other gift lists for more ideas.

Our poor forgotten fathers are being ignored at the moment in favour of the Jubilee or the Olympic torch but let us not forget that Fathers day is in a few weeks and if you are like me you love to be prepared. I have been searching the web and harassing PR firms to find out what the best fathers day presents are this year. I have split the best of them into the following categories.

The Big Kids

Homemade gifts

Family Fun gifts

The refined gent

And why not give your dad a promise this fathers day?

Photo fairy tales have created this great free download so you can promise to do something nice for that special Dad in your life, whether it’s a promise for a lie in, a promise to let him watch the football without moaning or maybe even a promise of a trip to the pub he is sure to appreciate it. Here’s the link: Photo Fairy tales Fathers day Promise just download it and print it off.

As I sit here in the office watching the clock and waiting for 2:30 I have realised that this is the last day that I will be working in an office for a long time. I have never left a job before without having another office job to go to and apart from leaving to go on Maternity leave in which your brain is full of babies I have never had this feeling of freedom.

I know that as off tomorrow I am registered as Self employed and I know that in just over 2 weeks I will be taking on my first mindees in what will be my newest adventure in life but I still feel free. Maybe it is because I know I now have full control of my money and my taxes (as an accountant that is a good feeling) or maybe it is because i know that if the sun is shining I can go out for the day and enjoy it or if it is raining like today I can put my welllies on and jump in puddles with my kids. Wherever the feeling has come from I dont care

Due to Beth being ill at school on Friday I left work early and left my phone charger there. This led to a Phone free weekend after my battery died on Friday evening. No emails, no phone calls, no texts and no twitter.

With the weather being amazing this weekend this wasn't really an issue and I didn't even notice on Saturday as we spent the day in the garden with friends. Today however I missed my phone but not for contacting people or for them contacting me and not even for twitter, today I missed my phone camera. I have got so used to taking pictures on my phone that I didn't even think to take my camera with me when we headed off to Camelot today.

There was so many great moments that I wished I could have captured on camera including the rather ravishing Sir Lancelot, I know you girls would have liked to drool over him.

So a great day was had by the whole family but I don't have any photos to show of it needless to say next time we go anywhere I will definitely remember my camera!

You may remember me telling you about the fact that Elizabeth didnt get a place as school. I wasn't too worried because I knew of parents who had moved and not reported it. Well today I found out that they are not doing anything about it.

Apparently the schools admissions team passed the information to the schools head teacher who held a meeting with the governors to discuss the case and they have decided not to remove the places from that parent.

Well I am not having that. I am contacting the head teacher today and I want copies of the minutes taken at the governors meeting, I want to know how they think they can justify giving these places to one parent of 3 children who now live over a mile away when they could have given them to three parents who all live less than a mile away. Our place wasnt give based on distance and I live

I am not just fighting for my daugter here I am fighting for two other children. Two other children whos parents are going through the same stress and agonising wait as me. I am also fighting for the injustice in the system that says its ok to lie, its ok to purposely not disclose information like this and that it is ok to steal the places that should rightfully belong to other children.

So far I have been professional, polite and courteous now it is war!

The suns shining, I have six days left at work, my Ofsted certificate has arrived and I have more people wanting my full time childcare places than I actually have places.

But as much as I am loving this weather I wish that May would just hurry up and bugger off. June is a good month, June is now my all time favourite month, June is the month it all happens.

I am going out drinking to celebrate never working in an office again (I hope), we have 2 bank holidays, Beth is off school, she turns 4 and we have two parties lined up and then we have a holiday to Butlins, I get my first mindees starting with me and then there is Britmums.

What more could I possible ask for in a month?

Obviously I will keep you posted on all these exciting adventures and thanks for putting up with me over the last few months I know I have not been around much but between training for the Great Manchester Run, attending Childminding courses and trying to do all my paperwork I just haven't really found the time to write to you.

My legs are feeling a bit better today after the Great Manchester 10k run on Sunday and although I am still convinced that I may never run again I am looking for my next challenge.

As luck would have it today I found out about The Manchester Sky Ride that is taking place on 15th July so I have quickly booked myself and Elizabeth to take part.

Unfortunately today I also discovered that someone has stolen Elizabeths new bike from our back garden and I am devastated that someone could be that horrible to take a little girls bike. Now not only do I need a bike for July but I also have to get her a new one.

Sky are working together with British Cycling and partner councils to close down streets and open up parks so members of the public can enjoy some traffic-free cycling.

Last year over 200,00 men, women and children took part across 17 UK cities and this year there is 18 so hopefully even more people will be getting involved.

You can find out more about Skyride and what they are up to by clicking on the button below. Why not sign up for your local ride, I did!