Monthly Archives: September 2009
Less is more when it comes to gluing 1
MiniMad loves gluing and sticking, it is one of his favorite craft activities and he would do it all day and every day if given the chance. My one tip for this is to have everything accessible and easily seen, so that children can do all of this themselves. In my sticking box, as he calls it I have: Feathers Pom poms Foam shapes Lolly sticks Glitter Sequins Googly eyes Bits and bobs Various glues Having all the various things that he likes to use in one place means that he can get it out of the craft cupboard and it is an easy and mostly mess free activity for any […]
You will be assimilated, resistance is futile 4
Every afternoon since last Wednesday I have been taking MiniMad to Preschool. every afternoon without fail I have received a phone call asking me to come and collect him early. It happened again today. He is fine when I drop him off, he runs and pops his name on the board and gets stuck in to something, coming back to give me a quick kiss, but then about half way through his session the tears come from nowhere. He can seemingly be fine, he was coming down the slide this afternoon, when all of sudden he bursts in to floods or tears and becomes inconsolable. I took in his dummy and […]
Easy Homemade Cards 5
We have lots of birthdays to celebrate in September and we are big fans of homemade cards. Now that MaxiMad is at school, time to make elaborate and complicated cards are a thing of the past. We needed a quick, all inclusive idea. So we made …………………… Chicken cards, which are ever so easy and very effective. All you do is take a piece of card and trace round a plate, cut it out with pinking scissors, add a few feathers, a foam beak and a googly eye. The only part I do is the cutting, MaxiMad does the tracing and both the boys love gluing and sicking. It makes for […]
Spiritual Sunday 4
Motherhood There is no one way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a great one. A very powerful statement, that I try to keep in mind on those days that I am feeling less than successful in the mum department.
Tesco are getting on the Green Bandwagon… 2
Tesco has just launched a Greener Living website, which is aimed at assisting the “environmentally aware shopper make the right decisions” The Green in me thinks that Tesco should concentrate on trying to make the ordinary shopper more environmentally aware. It should offer incentives for people to purchase green. Many of the suggestions include a link to a purchase from Tesco or Tesco direct and it comes across as somewhat of a marketing ploy aimed at making shoppers feel greener for shopping at Tesco. I try to balance being environmentally friendly with cost, especially in today’s climate, being frugal is a must. It allows me to spend time at home with […]
The Mad Family 2
MaxiMad had to learn his address last week as homework, which was great as he knew all bat the postcode already!! This was for his excursion this week to the sorting office to learn how letters are posted. He was asked to draw a picture of his family and this is what he did. His teacher then filled in the address and they franked their letters and when to a post box and posted them. A friendly postman then collected their letters and the children started walking to the sorting office to see the next stage of the journey. The above postcard arrived in the post the following day and I […]
MiniMads First Day at preschool 1
My baby is grown up. MiniMad his first time at preschool today without me. It was so hard leaving him there, but he was really happy until 4 minutes before I collected him, when he wanted to come home. They think that was because he was asked to tidy up. I am so proud of him, he looked like a little man. What is it about putting a uniform on children that all of a sudden makes them look at least a year older than they are. He loves his “work” outfit, as he calls it, although it makes it harder for me in the park after school now, as I have […]
Autumn is here, the season of change 3
It seems apt to me that it is Autumn, it is a season of change, a season of colour and a season of harvest. I love Autumn and Spring the most. I love crisp days walking through leaves, hearing them crisp underfoot. I love hats and scarfs, I love hot chocolate when you get in to warm up. I love watching the ever changing landscape around us. I love berry picking and eating! I love the closing in of the evenings and closing the curtains. I love that I can peek into other peoples houses when I pass. But what I am trying to say is it just seems right, for […]
Capri-sun pencil case 3
I have been practicing my sewing again whilst also thinking about affordable homemade Christmas presents for my niece’s and the children’s friends and found a recycled drinks pouch pencil case on the great Skip to my loo blog. My mum had some 8 inch zips in her stash, so I though I would give them a try and you know what the boys love there’s. So now we need to drink more Capri-sun, so that I can make more for all the youngsters. I am thinking of putting together art bags for them all. But best of all they cost me nothing and are a great way of recycling and are fun, […]
Spiritual Sunday 2
I Experience Love Wherever I go Love is everywhere and I am loving and lovable. Loving people fill my life, and I find myself easily expressing love to others. I guess that this being only the second week of school for MaxiMad, I was reminiscing about my early days of schooling and it brought to mind Magic Penny, which we used to sing…. Love is something if you give it away Give it away, give it away Love is something if you give it away You end up having more It’s just like a magic penny Hold it tight & you won’t have any Lend it, spend it & you’ll have […]
Cooking with Children 4
Mini and Maxi Mad both love helping out in the kitchen, but I am as guilty as others of often not letting them get stuck in due to time constraints or only allowing planned projects. Today we had no such time issues, so me and MiniMad weighted out the ingredients for a basic pizza dough and popped it in the bread machine: 540g of strong white flour – Lidl do a really reasonably priced one 1 sachet of yeast 1 tablespoon on oil 1 tablespoon of honey pinch of salt (you can leave this out, but it helps it prove) 350ml of warm tap water. Maxi Mad then pretty much did […]
Football Practise 3
Every Saturday morning finds MaxiMad and MadDad at our local AFC doing Football practice. MaxiMad is in the tots group and spends a blissful hour come rain or shine learning new skills, enhancing the ones he already has, learning to play in a team and learning to take instruction. He really enjoys these Saturday mornings with his dad and the one on one time they get. They play on what used to be the old senior school playing field and the council charges them £70.00 per week just to open the changing rooms and toilets in the community centre, which I think is rather excessive considering that our subscription is only £2.00 per […]
Mummy Bloggers Do It with Integrity 2
As I have just posted my first review I thought I best clarify my position on this. I am more than happy to do reviews, preferably with a giveaway if possible on things that are relevant to me and my family. I will always be honest with my opinions when sought and I am proud to display the “British Mummy Bloggers Do It with Integrity” badge. The “British Mummy Bloggers Do It with Integrity” badge stands for blogging with principle. By displaying the badge I agree that I will: Make transparent any relationships with products or companies Clearly label advertising, advertorials and/or sponsored posts Always write as truthfully as possible about a […]
The indignity of being Mr Smudge 3
This wonderful post from Bad Penny at The Hen House made me think about our cat. He was one of a pair that we got many moons ago (14 years in fact) after I miscarried twins at 20 weeks. They were our first baby’s and we love them dearly. We only have one left in our life now a wonderful OAP who goes by the title of Mr Smudge. It used to be just smudge, but so many people kept calling him a she that we didn’t want he to get a complex so the Mr was introduced. Now you wont find me saying this often, as I always though Mr Smudge […]
Polygons – oh no its the dreaded maths 1
I was going to post today of my great counselling session and my coming to terms with my post surgery body and all that, but I cant. “Why” I hear you ask, well my four year old has entered the magical, mythical and ah so dreaded world of mathematics. We always knew that he was that way inclined, but up to now I have been able to keep up and MadDad has always been on hand, but today all that changed. I went to collect him from school to take home to the park and then for a friend to take him to swimming lesson, when his teacher pulled me to one […]
We have a date 2
Well my minimad, my littlest munchkin will be starting preschool next Wednesday afternoon. He had his home visit this afternoon and kept telling the head of preschool that he was starting tomorrow!!! I have a few forms to fill in and return and some preparation work to do with him. He has already tried on his uniform, which he calls he work clothes and is definitely ready for a little more interaction and play with more children his age. He will be doing an hour on the first afternoon and I will remain there, behind the scenes so to speak and then he will go 2 hours per afternoon. He is […]
Spiritual Sunday 3
I am Flexible and Flowing I am open to the new and changing. Every moment presents a wonderful new opportunity to become more of who I am. I flow with life easily and effortlessly. This is true for me and many other mothers of children this week, as it will have been the first week of school for many and the return to school for others. it is also particularly applicable as MiniMad has his home visit from the head of Preschool amd one of the other teachers tomorrow afternoon. I had been looking to keep him with me for as long as I could, what with him being my last baby and […]
Makig the most of Summer 1
We are very lucky and we live 5 minutes away from this wonderful beach. MadDad is not a fan of the beach, but I on the other hand grew up 2 mins from the sea (you could see it from my bedroom window and out of the sitting room window of our first flat) and love it, as do the minimads. The weather today has been wonderful, not a cloud in the sky, so we waited until after lunch and decided to have an afternoon at the beach. we quickly packed a few things together (I keep wet suits and towel ponchos in the car anyway) and departed for an afternoon […]