LivingwithKids

If you've ever wanted to know more about Ken, aka Barbie's special friend and one of the stars of Toy Story 3, here's a chance to find out. This brilliant in-depth interview reveals a bit more about what goes on in that perfectly coiffed head, his style, why he considers himself to be a 'man's doll' and what he really feels about Barbie.

I particularly love the part where he shows us his moves. Genius.  

OK, I'll admit it. I'm a Big Brother fan. I've watched every series, even the very dull ones, and when the live stream was working I used to watch that too, much to Man of the House's disbelief. When the new series starts on Wednesday, I'll definitely be tuning in.

So I'll be sad to see it go. But I can see that maybe it had run its course. There have been some very memorable housemates, though. Jade. Brian. Nadia. Nicky. Er... OK, maybe that's it.

Will you be tuning in? And if so, who are your favourite housemates of all time?

Unless you’re planning to leave the country for the next month or so, there really will be no escape. No I’m not talking about Big Brother (yet) but the World Cup, of course.

Now obviously Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland did not make it into the World Cup, but there is a dizzying array of England-themed goodies on offer. Here are some of my favourites:

These babygros (£7 and £8) and bibs (£5) from Mothercare are very cute.

I also love the soothers (£2) and baby bottles (£3) from Tesco.

To ensure you don’t miss a single ep of Grey's Anatomy or any of your other favourite shows that clash with an ‘important’ game then you might want to get Sky.

They’ve bought out some new limited edition boxes just for the World cup designed by Wayne Hemingway, Phil Daniels and Gerald Scarfe. (For more details click here).

So, what's the offside rule again?

We’re HUGE fans of Where the Wild Things Are in this house - the book and the film. And to celebrate the release of the movie on DVD, we’ve teamed up with Play.com to offer you the chance to win three sets of exclusive merchandise.

The prizes include: A childs fuzzy monster suit – as worn by the character Max in the film A Where The Wild Things Are Kite A Where The Wild Things Are T-Shirt A Where The Wild Things Are Wacky Wobbler Bobble Head

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to send your answer to the following question from your KidStart registered email address with your name, address and daytime telephone number to competitions@kidstart.co.uk by the closing date 14 June. (Please note that entries from non-KidStart members will be disqualified. If you’re not a member, click here to join).

Q: Who wrote Where The Wild Things Are?

Good luck - let the wild rumpus start! 

So farewell then, James 'Sawyer' Ford. You  (and your physique) kept us entertained for six fabulous, if not always coherent seasons of Lost. Don't worry, in case you haven't seen it yet, I'm not going to spoil it for you. But for me, that was the most satisfying series finale I think I've seen. Bar none. I laughed, I cried, I clung on to the edge of the sofa. And even though there were many questions left unanswered, I will miss Jack, Hurley and the rest.

I was very disappointed with the end of Ashes to Ashes - sorry, I know so many of you are huge fans, but for me it was terribly predictable. Heroes just seemed to fade away (possibly because they didn't know that would be the final episode).

No 1 Son argues that Friends had the best ending ever. But even though I loved it, the characters didn't stay with me in quite the same way as the Lost crew. I'd love to know what you think.

And meanwhile, apparently the boxed set of the entire series of Lost will contain 14 minutes of bonus footage. You can preorder now from Play.com. I know I'm going to.

Our eyes met for a brief nanosecond, and I could feel my knees turning to jelly. Fortunately for Jake Gyllenhaal we were in a room full of press, otherwise I might have been tempted to leap across and give him a big sloppy kiss. Because I’m happy to report that in the flesh he is absolutely gorgeous – easygoing smile, lovely eyes and a fantastic sense of humour (my favourite quote of the afternoon:  ‘I’ve always really wanted to play a prince – some people might say I am in a lot of ways a princess.’)

The occasion was the press conference for Disney's Prince of Persia, and in addition to Jake, Gemma Arterton was also there (absolutely lovely and SO pretty, *sob*), and the wonderful Sir Ben Kingsley. Plus the legend that is Jerry Bruckheimer, and director Mike Newell. Needless to say I was VERY excited.

Before the conference we were treated to a screening of the film which I enjoyed  – it’s a real swashbuckling epic, with blood, guts and sand, romance and drama. There are lots of laughs, too (Alfred Molina is particularly genius).

And Jake? Well Jake is superb, of course. He doesn’t just look the part (although it has to be said he does sport a very impressive six pack - who knew?) and even though he adopts an English accent that sounds as though he’s been hanging out in Albert Square for much of the movie he makes a totally believable action hero.

Later that evening I took the kids to see the movie. They loved it too, declaring it ‘awesome’, although the girls were a bit disappointed that Gemma’s character, Princess Tamina, starts off feisty and ends up soppy over Jake. But let’s face it, you so would, wouldn’t you?

*Prince of Persia is released on Friday

Now I'm not *really* a football fan. I have a team I support (Chelsea, since you ask) and I do watch the World Cup - when England are in it. I love having a big barbecue with the whole family and settling down to watch a big game and saying in the middle 'what's the offside rule?' and 'which team is winning?' (Just to annoy the males, obviously. I understand it really *cough*)

Of course the rest of my family are actually proper footie fanatics - No 1 Son has even been a mascot at Stamford Bridge - so this summer I imagine we'll be spending a lot of time in front of the box. And if you're thinking of getting a new TV then Argos  have the most amazing competition on at the moment. They're offering the chance to win £5000 worth of goodies including TVs, laptops, games consoles, sofa and BBQ, plus lots of footie stuff!  To find out more about how you could win simply click here.

And not only that, KidStart are giving everyone who shops at any of their retailers between now and 11 June the chance to win a 42" LG LCD TV from Argos worth over £1000! To find out more, click here. Good luck!

I can’t wait for the release of SATC2 (May 28). Not really because of the plot (I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end), but because of the clothes! Of course their designer gear is out of price reach for most of us – but you can still steal their style.

The good news is Debenhams, the movie’s official retail partner, has launched a gorgeous SATC-inspired collection. The halterneck dress is Principles by Ben de Lisi (£65), the Grecian dress (£55) and strapless dress (£50) are Star by Julien Macdonald, and the printed dress is Butterfly by Matthew Williamson (£80). And the Matthew Williamson tie-dye bikini is £18 for the top and £8 for the bottoms, the J by Jasper Conran green maxi dress is £40, the swimsuit is also £40, and the Red Herring maxi dress is £35.

You could also smell like a Big Apple fashionista with DKNY’s fabulous Love from New York fragrance (£29.99, available from FragranceDirect)...

or Be Delicious (from £38, available from John Lewis and Boots).

And if you want to know what Carrie and co get up to in the new movie, here's a taster. If you had to be one SATC character, which one would you be? I’d love to know.

I absolutely love fashion and beauty but I’m not ashamed to admit I haven’t always got it right. The new SATC movie has a segment where they go back to the Eighties, and that got me thinking about my own style faux pas. Now no photos exist of me wearing these (or if they do they may be under lock and key, in a vault somewhere) but hopefully you’ll get the idea:

1. The Princess Diana flick. Actually, this wasn’t intentional, but at the time it seemed to be the only haircut any hairdresser near me could do. When I also went blonde I realised I had to stop having that particular cut.

2. Dynasty-style shoulder pads.  I had just started working on newspapers and several of the columnists wore jackets and dresses with these. What I should have remembered, of course, is that they were a good 10 years older than me. Fortunately I didn’t wear them for long but long enough.

3. The curly perm (usually left wet). You have to remember I went to school in London. That’s all I’m saying.

4. Dungarees. What can I tell you, I was a big fan of Dexy's Midnight Runners. They were baggy dungarees, not the Rainbow style, but even now I cringe at the thought. Fine for children ONLY.

So there you have them, the skeletons in my closet. I’m going to make this a meme and I’m tagging Baby Baby , If I Could Escape, New Mummy, 3 Bedroom Bungalow  and Mummy's Shoes. Photos of yourselves actually wearing the offending looks are optional.

*What were your fashion and beauty faux pas? I’d love to know.

I've been tagged by Karin at Café Bébé and asked to provide my 'Words of Wisdom'. She was inspired by Martha Stewart but I'm a Degenerate Housewife (thank you English Mum), so here are mine:

Don’t worry about what you can’t control. As parents we have enough stress in our lives already. Some things you have to let go.  Say you’re stuck in a traffic jam, or you’re waiting in a long queue, or your flight is delayed. These are things you have no control over, and you just have to ride them out. Instead, concentrate your energies on the things you can control. I promise you it’ll do wonders for your stress levels.

Always make the beds before leaving the house. This is something my Irish grandmother drummed into me from an early age. It stemmed from the time my grandfather was kicked by a horse and, with slightly skewed logic, Granny said she would have ‘died of shame’ if the beds hadn’t been made when they brought him in (fortunately he was OK). But anyway, it’s something that’s stuck, and being honest, it IS much better to go into a bedroom where the bed is made at the end of a long hard day. It also makes you feel as though you’re vaguely on top of things, domestic-wise.

Life isn’t just too short to stuff a mushroom, it’s also too short to iron. If you want to iron (because you like it?!) go for your life. But once you’re past the babygro/bib stage, well, personally I’d rather be doing other things. I buy school and work shirts and sheets made from non-iron cotton, and I never wear anything that needs ironing. No one has ever accused me of looking creased. Well, not to my face. (We do have an iron. And a board. I just don't know where they are.)

*What are your words of wisdom? I'd love to know - please share them below