Monthly Archives: July 2012

Simply Swimwear Review – Boys wetsuits 2

 in Review  tagged review / swimming / swimsuits by

I was starting to despair that we would have no sun this summer to be able to review these for you. but finally the sun has come out and so have our supersoakers!

These shorty wet suits are £18.50 each and will see them throughout the summer. The service we received was suburb as the first ones they sent were the wrong ones, so we received a paid return label and the replacements by return. They are much less restrictive that the full neoprene ones, so your children will be more comfortable in them and I like how they cover more of them up than just trunks or swim shorts.

Let’s Make Dairylea 1

 in cooking  tagged cooking / dairylea / days out by

I have an admission to make. Maxi was my PFB (Perfect First Born) when it came to food. Nothing processed or shop bought passed his lips until he went in to hospital at 6 months and even then we were soon back on to the mummy made stuff. When Mini was born it was more of the same. I used to beat myself up to produce a family meal that would feed us all. I had sleepless nights over the amount of salt in food and would get all paniccy at the thought of someone giving either of the boys something proceseed.

Summer Holidays – The write way! 5

 in writing  tagged encouraging writing / writing by

This summer is going to be the summer of writing at The Mad House and we would like you to join us. I have blogged about encouraging and nurturing writing in boys and why writing is so important. Good writers make good readers and vice versa, but good writers also make great students. The speed and ease or children’s writing has been found to gave an impact on children’s success. Efficient writing (legible, almost effortless and quick flowing) helps ensure that children’s pencils can keep up with their thoughts.

So the plan is to have weekly tasks and to make time to do them in our days. They are going to be both fun and enjoyable and something that we can do as a family and I would love for you to join in with us.

Create a writing Center

Raising Olympians #RaisinganOlympian 7

 in mini mads  tagged minimads / parenting by

But then it came to me. Both my boys are very academic and sporty and excel in these areas. However, Maxi is a pretty sensitive young man and although he is more than happy to get up and speak in front of an audience, he finds dressing up and expressing himself challenging. This year he was asked if he would like to be part of a drama group and even though it was way out of his comfort zone, he accepted and did an hour after school every week leading up to a show this week.

Both MadDad and My sister in law took the time off to come and see the show we me. We didn’t know a lot about it as Maxi had kept us in the dark, all we know was it was Joseph and His Technicolor Dream-coat and that he had a solo in it. What can I say, my boy astounded me and left his Daddy speechless. He was amazing., He stepped out of his comfort zone and put his whole heart in to his performance. He smiled through the play. He sang with gusto and his solo brought a tear to my eye. But the best thing about it was that he enjoyed the whole experiance.

Crafting with Boys 5

 in childrens craft  tagged craft / craft with boys / key rings by

I love crafting. More than crafting myself I love crafting with my boys. I love watching them get all excited about the things they make and the way that they glow with pride when they present people with their finished makes. Being creative isn’t something that should be left just to girls and I have and do encourage my boys to be as creative as possible. for me this means not only with art work, but with cooking, making music and just life in general.

Sometimes though I find that other things take over and we need something that we can fit in with Beavers, reading and being outside, this is where Yellow Moon comes in to its own. More often that not they have perfect craft activities which are quick and the boys can do with minimal or no supervision.

Encouraging and nurturing writing in Boys

 in Featured and Guest  tagged ecouraging writing / minimads / writing by

o this summer we will be doing the following:

Sending postcards – my boys love receiving mail and postcards are a great starting point to encouraging writing. They do not need a lot of completing and are great fun to collect, write, stamp and post.

Keeping a scrapbook – We are going to keep a book and include in it all the things we do over the summer. Keep receipts, ticket stubs, print out photographs and add personal notes to it

Make our own note paper – I thing that by making our own notepaper of letterhead then I can encourage the boys to do paper work whilst I am.

Write our own Newspaper – Everyday is filled with news, but looking at what has happened over the day we can p

Give Girls Power #givegirlspower 3

 in children / Uncategorized  tagged contrception / Save the Children by

The family planning summit, backed by the Gates Foundation, UNFPA, charities, campaigners and attended by governments from across the globe, is a chance to make a real change in the lives of millions of women which would have knock on effects in whole communities and nations.

David Cameron is hosting a family planning summit on Wednesday 11 July (yes, tomorrow). This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help girls and women make decisions over when and whether to have babies. Save the Children we want him to lead the summit to take action on empowerment, sex education and health care as well as providing more contraceptives.

As a woman, I am a true believer in empowering other women to be able to make the right decisions for themselves. I was fortunate enough to visit a town ship in South Africa with a friend of mine who works for a charity

My Midsummer Baby turned six 8

 in minimad  tagged Birthday / Mini / sixth birthday by

Mini was born six years ago on 24 June. He is and always will be my midsummer baby. This year I have not had the urge to blog about his birthday, for some reason I have wanted to keep it close to me for a little longer. I felt irrationally that by not blogging about it I was keeping him five for a little longer.

We gave him some options of what he wanted to do for his birthday. Did he want a party, a day out or a quiet birthday tea? Not one for a party, he said that we would rather have a family day out and then we were invited down to London by Dairylea and it was just perfect as London is his favorite place in the whole world. He didn’t even have a birthday list, when asked what he wanted for a present, he wasn’t sure!

Monthly Mentions – June 2012 5

 in Monthly Mention  tagged monthly mention / reviews by

I am introducing a new feature on The Mad House.  Each month we are lucky enough to get sent things to review or just use things that really float our boat.  So I am introducing a monthly round up.  Some things will have links to larger posts, somethings might not.  I will always disclose if an item has been received as a free sample or we have attended an event. Mr Men Sports Day – We love, love , love this book.  Go buy it now, it is only £2.99 – Review based on a free sample Huntfun – Looking to turn a walk in to an adventure, then look no further. Huntfun produce treasure more »