Mum In The Madhouse - Parenting without stabilisers

Chris at Thinly Spread and Kate at Kate takes 5 have teamed up to produce an idiots guide to gardening with children.  Even though we have raised beds, I usually leave the gardening to MadDad and the boys, but this year these ladies have inspired me to take charge and join in.

The week before last me and the boys planted tomatoes, sunflowers, peas and beans and put them in a tiny plastic greenhouse that I purchased from Aldi.

  I am really amazed at just how well they have done.  One thing I have to remember is being in the frozen north we have to plant a couple of weeks after Chris does.  So I may need to pot on some of the beans.  I have not been as successful with the kale I planted as none of the weeds have germinated.  We also have planted onion sets and potatoes in two of the raised bed. So my action list for this week is as follows:

• Purchase some sweet pea seeds
• Purchase some more kale seeds
• Purchase some rainbow chard seed

I'm linking this post up to the 'Come sow with me' meme which is being run to support @ONECampaign 'LetsThrive' campaign. For more information read this.

I adore things that I can make and do that take no time at all and use things that I already have in the house.  Perfect when I need a moments "me time" in this house of chaos I live in.  When I saw this fab project on Make It, Do It, I pinned it for when I needed a moments creative space. It is a really simple project and a perfect way for using up any magnets that you get free.  I had a couple that we had received that were on our fridge.  I carefully pealed off the label, which thankfully came away very simply and left some adhesive on the magnet allowing me to apply some white paper on to it so that the tape which can be translucent had a good backing.   If it doesnt all you need to do is take some white acrylic paint and allow it to dry before the next step. I thought it was very apt that my magnet was all about recycling! I then took a selection of my tape and stuck it to the paper on the magnet.  As it is self adhesive this is all you need to do. I used my guillotine to cut between the strips of tapes and  and then used scissors to make the ends look as though they have been torn.

At the moment Bacs the people behind Direct Debit are running a campaign for one special person to win £1,000 each month from February - October 2012 (nine prizes in total).

Do you know someone special who deserves a Big Break for one reason or another? Maybe they deserve to take a break and get away from it all, or to help them realise their dreams, or perhaps simply as a thank you. Why not nominate them to win their very own Big Break? Direct Debit has nine Big Breaks of £1,000 cash prizes to give away in 2012 - and every nomination will count towards a donation from Direct Debit to Marie Curie Cancer Care - so they get a Big Break too.

In order to nominate my sister in law Debbie I had to say in 100 words or less why I think she is deserving of a big break, so this is my nomination.

My sister in law Debbie works tirelessly for her local community Dormanstown, which is an extremely deprived area of Teesside. She is the founder of The Ladies of Steel a charitable group that focus on the local community including providing a youth club for 8 to 15 year olds, a youth dance troop,  in addition to family galas and regular children's parties for Christmas and Easter. The ladies of Steel were awarded the honour of Voluntary group of the year 2010 by the Redcar & Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency.  Debbie does all this whilst managing The corus sports & social centre.

My mum, holding my niece, MadDad and I and My Brother and Debbie on Maxi and my nieces Christening day

I am honored to have such a wonderful sister in law, she was a tower of strength to me when my mum died and is the hub of her family.  At the moment she is trying to put on a special event for 120 local disadvantaged children for the Queens Jubilee and if anyone can help with things for the goodie bags or raffle prizes, then please do get in touch with me.

I have not been compensated for this post, I just think that she really deserves it.

Today my husband is looking after our children whilst I am at Blog Camp UK.  He will have sole responsibility for them until I get back on Sunday. When he is out at work during the week, I do not babysit our children, so why do people insist that when he is taking sole responsibility of Mini and Maxi they insist on calling it babysitting. So just to make it clear, he is not babysitting the boys in my absence.  He is PARENTING.

Do bloggers need business cards?  Many people will have their own opinion on this, but I know that I received a lovely hand made gift last week from Mummy Limited and it came with an adorable Moo Mini card that said a handmade & Homemade gift sent with love.  It was a lovely touch and I have pinned said card on my notice board, so when Moo approached me to see if I would like to give away five set of 100 Mini cards I jumped at the chance.

Mini cards are half the size of standard business cards and can have coloured images on the front and back and what more you can have a different image on each and every one of them!

I am going to keep this very simple, all you need to do is leave me a comment below letting me know what colour you think my business cards will be.

For an additional entry, just tweet "I want to win one of five sets of Mini Moo cards from @overheardatmoo with @mum_themadhouse http://ow.ly/aphQM " and leave me an additional comment letting me know.

I will then use a random number generator to pick five comments as winners when the competition closes at 12 noon on Friday 27 April 2012

Competition Rules

The winners will be selected at random from all correct entries received. The winner will be notified within 28 days of the closing date.  The prize is as stated: no cash alternatives are available. This competition is open to UK entrants only.

So the winners are Hazel Parker, Rainie Bish, @gingerbread_mum, Sam and Kelly.  Please get in touch with me, so I can organise your cards.

love crafting  with my children, but one of the hardest things for me is to not put my ideas and expectations of a finished article on to them.  We have been asked by Yellow Moon to review some of their products and one of the things I love about Yellow Moon is that there products are perfect for children of all ages.  They do not have preconceived ideas with them and they are super easy for children to use. As you may know Mini's bedroom has been recently decorated with a London theme and the lovely London based Victoria Wallop posted us some I love London wrapping paper, which was perfect for this craft. Materials

• Design your own cube money boxes (£4.99 for 4)
• PVA Glue or Mod Podge
• Brush or foam applicator
• Paper

Method We measured the side of the money box and cut out a template on card so that Mini could cut out the paper for the sides.  He then applied the glue to the box one side at a time using a foam applicator (he found it easier than the brush) and placed the wrapping paper on top. He continued to do that for all the sides of the box and then the top.  I used a craft knife to cut a slit in the paper at the top so the money could still go in. Mini then coated the money box in glue to protect the paper. Overview We both really enjoyed doing this.  It satisfied Mini's "noise with muck on" urges, it was empowering and involved him from start to finish and more than that it left him with an item he was really proud of and uses to keep any money he receives in. I am linking this to A place of my own's Make it Monday

Easter, what does it mean to you? For me Easter is all about new beginnings, about hope, about the possibilities that life brings and this is something that I wish to pass on to my children.   Both the boys have been learning about the Christian meaning of Easter at school and both have a fab letter about Easter, which I published on the blog last year.  We have the boys a fantastic Playmobil Easter Egg each, which had been sent to us by the PR and again which we gave last year and they still play with the toys, but what we didn't give them was chocolate (Those Lindt eggs in the below image are mine from the boys)!.    They have one chocolate egg each from my Mother in law, but that is it. Some of the pictures, I have seen today are just obscene, well the images aren't, but the amount of chocolate in them are!  I do not understand, why would you give your child that much chocolate or allow them to receive that much chocolate?  Now when it comes to foods, both my boys are allowed sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks etc, but in moderation. I really feel that our celebrations are being commercialised.  When I was small there was no such thing as the Easter Bunny and we were grateful when we received one egg.  Nowadays the attitude of entitlement pervades everything.  My children would rather spend time with their family than receive a chocolate egg and I am sure most children would too if asked, but for some reason people feel the need to give or rather over give in my opinion. As a family we look forward to Easter for the traditions we have developed and the memories we are making.  We craft, bake and spend quality time together.  We have an Easter egg hunt, but only for decorative ones.  I give my nieces craft kits or sometimes even nothing. I do not feel the need to purchase them a gift for Easter and do not expect that they receive anything in return. So what does Easter mean to you and how much is too much?

We had such a lovely time in Northumberland last August that we booked for Easter before we left the site! We knew it was going to be rainy and windy for the  first couple of days, which was and is a real shock after last weeks 20 degree weather, but we came prepared with hats, gloves, winter coats and boots. But we didn't plan for the gales that we had today.  It was so windy that Mini blew away.  I have never run so fast in my life and when I got him his feet were off the floor. But not ones to be deterred, we had fish and chips for lunch and then made our way to Barter Books to dry off and fall in love with the place, all of us. We warmed and dried ourselves by their toasty fires and immersed ourselves in their shelves and then the boys came back to the van with a bag full. We then came back to the caravan which is rocking in the wind and curled up and watched a DVD together. A perfect couple of days.  Here to more this week.  

I bake a lot and I cook a lot, in fact I pretty much cook from scratch each day and if you want to see more of my cooking then take a look at Frugalicious Food, where I blog about all things food related. Sometimes I get stuck in a baking rut and just keep on making the tried and tested things like my banana muffins, knowing that they will go down a treat with the boys and MadDad, but then sometimes I get adventurous. This week I tried out Toffee Apple Sauce Muffins from Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard (recipe replicated with their approval) Ingredients, Sauce

The wonderful Is there a Plan B?, who is gorgeous and makes adorably perfect babies (I know I have met one), did a fab post with her small stuff in.  It has been going round and round my head, like a great blog post does, so now I want to blatantly copy pay homage to it, with my small stuff The smell of freshly cut grass, especially the first cut of the year.  Catching a hint of the smell of cut flowers as I walk past them. Warm milk in my favorite cup. Homemade chips, preferably made by MadDad.  listening to my children laugh at each others jokes that make no sense at all to me.  The way the sun makes rainbows through the grass on my front door. My Iphone. The hollow sound you get when you tap a perfectly baked loaf of bread.  Eating that bread in thick slices with butter and homemade jam.  Plotting what vegetables to plant in the garden.  The sweet anticipation of the garden harvest. The sea on a wild day.  Walking barefoot on damp grass.  Hanging out laundry to dry. Being inspired.  Stories of people that find their soul mates. camping. Ribbon. Having my CD's in alphabetical order.  Building LEGO.  Playing with Playmobil. Board games with the boys. Everyone in the kitchen on a Sunday morning. picnics. Woodland walks. The North Yorkshire Moors. Slipping in to a freshly laundered bed with ironed bedding, especially after a bath.  Waking up to find a small person snuggled in next to me and knowing I have time to enjoy the moment before getting up.  fairy lights. Sequins. Newly sharpened pencils.  Note books, especially new ones with all that promise a new unwritten page brings. Cartridge pens and writing with antique coloured ink. Fonts. Inhaling the smell of my children. Losing myself in a good or bad book.  Immersing myself in a craft project or sewing.  Baking, both the making and the eating (food for my soul and body)!.  Food generally.  I like food, I like producing it, cooking it, eating it and more importantly watching others eat and enjoy what I make. White china plates.  Chai Tea Lattes and Devon scones. The Instagram App. The feel of MadDad's hair after he has had it cut. A good blow dry.  The beach.  Music, dancing to it, singing to it and listening to it. Fabric, I think I have a fabric addiction.  Oh and I love buttons too. Homemade, handmade and artisan products. Craft books.  Dr Who.  Liz Earle Products and L'occitane Green Tea and Jasmine perfume. Hot baths on cold nights.  Aromatherapy Associates bath oils. Living by the sea. Fishing boats. Friends. A hand to hold. Comfortable silences. Secret jokes.  Blogging.  Being able to thread a needle.  Teapots. Boots. Driving and my sat nav. Jack Daniels.  South Africa. Boston. Adventures with my men. wrapping a present just so with crisp folds. Masking tape, especially washi tape. My family, indecently so, we fit together so well and I love their company.  I quiver at the way MadDad's wrists show when he wears his shirt and suit jacket.  MadDad's backside is very pleasing too! Posting small gifts. Finding the perfect present.  Reading bedtime stories. The photographs on my stairs. Tea made from tea leaves and out of a tea pot. Cats. Watching my children sleep.  The house when it is silent. Gift cards. Making tape. Learning something new. School church services. Boys in school shorts even with scuffed knees.  Idle chatter.