Monthly Archives: May 2014

Mini’s favorite way to spend a sunny day outside is ……. 10

 in day out  tagged comeptition / Day trip / days out / flamingoland / Mini by

We have been talking a lot this week about our favorite way to spend the day together as a family.  This is Mini’s (aged 7) and is also an entry  to the MAD Blog Awards Kid Blog of the Year, in collaboration with Vita Coco Kids naturally fruit-flavoured coconut water. My favorite way to spend a sunny day outside is with my friends.  I am lucky to be best friends with three brothers who live on the same road as us and we play together a lot. We all like to go to Theme Park’s together.  They are much more fun of you have a group of friends with you to laugh and stop more »

How to survive your child’s first sleepover

 in Featured and Guest  tagged parenting / parties / sleepover by

If you’ve asked your child what they’d like to do this weekend, then a likely response is ‘sleepover!’ This can be a request that parents dread— doesn’t it mean hyper children, a sleepless night and the potential for tears and arguments in the early hours? It’s understandable that you might be a little nervous, especially if this is the first sleepover you’ve hosted. There are, however, a number of steps you can take to ensure a stress-free experience, so get that sofa bed out and give your child the go ahead. Image by Jolante van Hemert, shared under a Creative Commons Licence The invites It makes things much easier for you more »

Let’s talk tea 25

 in tea  tagged #talkteawithheston / kitchen / review / tea / tea maker by

I am a simple soul I think.  I do not crave expensive diamonds or flash cars.  Instead I have things in my life that make me happy there and then.  I have learned over the years that the small stuff is what keeps me ticking over. I was recently invited to Twinings and this really made my heart sing.  Anyone who knows me will understand why.  I love tea.  I am a tea monster, but I am something of an old fashioned tea drinker as I still use loose leaf tea (my granddad did and so did my parents). Then something rather serendipitous happened and Sage asked to review their Tea more »

Our Perfect Family Day Out 1

 in day out  tagged Day trip / day trip. days out / days out / family days out / family fun / parenting by

This week is half term in the UK and typically this has meant rain, rain and more rain.  Which to start with wasn’t too bad.  We have been spending our week at Sand Le Mere Holiday Village, but eventually even the rain got to us, well more specifically me and Mini and I developed a chest infection and Mini tonsillitis.  You could tell that Mini wasnt well as he didnt even want to go swimming in the fantastic swimming pool.

Father Day Mugs 32

 in crafts  tagged crafts / cricut / cricut explore / fathers day / kids crafts by

We love giving homemade personalised gifts here in The Mad House and we have been busy pinning personalised and monogrammed mugs for ages.  Mini decided that these would make a great Fathers Day mug for MadDad (don’t panic Father’s day isn’t till the 15th June this year).  These are so simple to make and if you do not have a Cricut Explore then do not despair as you could either use letter stickers or even print some out on your printer and cut them out.

A weekend in the garden 25

 in garden  tagged gardeing with kids / garden / gardening / grow your own by

I married a farmer’s son, so it was inevitable that we were going to grow stuff in the garden and not just flowers.  This became even more important to us when we had children.  We wanted to show them where their food came from and to encourage them to grow their own.  This year we are growing shallots, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, peas, runner beans, broad beans, cabbages, cauliflowers, salad leaves, radish, spring onions, tomatoes, strawberries (in hanging baskets) and an array of herbs (dill, basil, cress, flat parsley, chives, mint, sage and fennel). Center Parcs challenged us to share with you a day in our garden for this months Tots100 Center more »

Making Magic with Innocent Kids 25

 in crafts  tagged activities / kids activities / magic by

We were challenged by Innocent kids to reproduce a magic trick from the back of their Kids Juices packets as part of their magic circle.  There are seven #innocentmagic tricks and seven of the Innocent gangs favourite bloggers have been chosen to perform. We were sent a sample of Innocent’s new juice flavour tropical, which both the boys loved.  Mini isnt a fan of orange juices, but really likes the tropical flavour, which is a blend apples, oranges, pineapple, mango and passionfruit and even better it has no bits, so no funny faces!  I love that these are the perfect size for lunch boxes and I will be putting them in when the boys more »

Encouraging picky eaters – kids in the kitchen 32

 in recipes  tagged cooking / cooking with children / cooking with kids / kids in the kitchen / recipe / yoghurt by

I am blessed to have kids that eat pretty much everything I put in front of them most of the time.  However, we still have times when they are under the whether or just being kids when they refuse food. I find that a great way of getting them and me out of a funk it to bring them in to the kitchen and make things together.  However, when that fails this is a failsafe way to encourage picky eaters!