maximad

tassimo, how a coffee machine has revolutionised our lives (no exaggeration) 1

 in maximad  tagged maximad / review by

I never thought that a coffee machine would make such a difference to our home. I am not a coffee drinker, but MadDad loves a good coffee and it is his affordable luxury in life. So when offered a Tassimo machine I thought it would be something that he would really appreciate. I was right, he is really impressed with the quality of coffee, however, this months challenge was to create our own drink, but MadDad’s coffee is sacred and he would not allow me to fiddle with it at all!

The only time I drink coffee is in the lead up to Christmas when I add Baileys, so I decided to add some and yum, very nice grown up coffee.

But the thing that has been most wonderful and completely unintentional is the freedom the Tassimo machine has brought to Maxi and our morning routine. Maxi has always been an early riser and he loves to have a hot chocolate on a morning, but at 8 I feel that he is too young to operate a kettle, so one of us has to make him one. The Tassimo machine means that Maxi can make chocolate for both him and Mini. I love instilling independence in children and Tassimo has certainly revolutionised our mornings. They are calmer, more relaxing and we get a little longer in bed!

The things they say and do – Singing out of tune and girlfriends at 5 2

 in mini mads  tagged maximad / MiniMad / minimads / the things they say and do by

Whilst they were playing, Miss Frugal (who is the eldest of the bunch) taught the boys kiss, dare, truth or swear, which led to much hilarity in the car when Mini was picked truth and told me he had a girlfriend, but he had to share her with his friend at school too and that they took turns on which days they could kiss her on the cheek!

This is our happily ever after, Life lessons from the summer holiday 14

 in parenting  tagged depression / life / maxi / maximad / MiniMad / parenting by

I used to be a control freak, a planner, an organiser and have always needed to be in charge. I am very good at planning and getting things done, hence the fact that I manage projects. However, over the years since I had my children and worked on my depression I have learnt that perfectionists are more likely to suffer with depression and that I have to let go.

Normally over the summer holidays I would make sure we had activities planned in for each day. I would make sure that we had a schedule and an itinerary to ensure that the boys were kept busy and I was kept in my comfort zone. However this year due to recovering from my operation and lots of other reasons I couldn’t make these plans, so we had to wing it and I had to learn to let go. It was such a hard learning curve, but has taught me some great life lessons.

When good words turn bad! 6

 in maximad / mini mads  tagged Maxi Mad / maximad / Maxisms / parenting by

arly on down the journey that is raising children, MadDad and I decided that we wanted to call the boys sexual organs by the correct names, so Penis, Testicular, Scrotum, it is. Along the years Willie has nipped in too, but we don;t have pet names for them. Partly this was down to my experience growing up. My vagina was called a “frou frou” and my brothers penis was his tail. For a long time I thought that boys had tails to help them balance like animals and I don’t remember when I learned

The tooth fairy made her first trip 13

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I asked about on twitter to find out what the going rate was and settled on £1 per tooth. Maxi went to bed and popped his tooth in to a small lavender heart with a pillow on that I had made out of an old baby blanket and just couldn’t get to sleep due to the whole excitement of the tooth fairy. We kept on telling him that the tooth fairy only comes when you are asleep, so finally after what seemed like an age, but was only 20 minutes he was sound a sleep.

I made sure we had £1 and when we went to

Overstretched, underpaid and giving it their all 29

 in hospital  tagged dad / hospital / Mastectomy / maximad / MiniMad / NHS by

have never made my admiration for the NHS a secret. I am one of the few who has seen them when a real emergency occurs. Who have seen them give their all when people where in life or death situations and watched as they provided amazing acute health care. Whats more this health care, which in other countries would costs tens of thousand of pounds is free.

nearly 12 years ago my wonderful dad was involved in an industrial accident, He was resuscitated at the scene by his work mates and the first responder (a paramedic in a car) and then blue lighted to hospital in an ambulance. Upon arrive to the A&E department he was provided with top notch trauma care, including x-rays, scans, pain relief, breathing assistance and medication. When my mum arrived at the hospital she was ushered in to the trauma department and keep pretty much informed and updated as the situation would allow.

Now we are Six 11

 in maximad / Uncategorized  tagged Birthday / maxi / maximad / six / sixth birthday by

Today you turn six.  It seems like somehow we have blinked and all of a sudden I have a six year old.  We have been blessed to watch you grow and develop.  To get small glimpses to the man you may become. I look at you with wonder at the way you view the world, the ever generous friend, always there to hold someones hand or give them a pat on the back and words of congratulations. Maxi’s last sleep as a five year old You are an amazing big brother, who encourages Mini ever step of the way.  You give him wonderful kisses and cuddles, but boy the two of more »

Discussing the Bad Stuff 9

 in minimad  tagged charity / disasters / maximad / MiniMad / news by

The world seems to have had more than it’s fair share of disasters over the last couple of years, the floods in India, situation in Haiti, the earthquake in Christchurch and then overnight the massive earthquake in Japan. It seems to be a pretty scary time to live at the moment. I am all too aware of how tragedy can affect children, we have experienced enough in our family and my boys have been exposed to illness and death from an early age, but this does not mean that I no longer feel the need to shield them from the hardest realities of the news. I find the news footage shocking more »

Encouraging boy’s to write 16

 in minimad  tagged art / children / craft / learning / maximad / minimads / parenting / school / writing by

My boys are like chalk and cheese, as I have said before.  Maxi was writing by age three, whereas, Mini really doesn’t enjoy mark making or writing.  He is a perfectionist and gets upset that it doesn’t look like he thinks it is supposed to, this isn’t helping in mu opinion with the school teaching cursive handwriting from Reception. Up to now this hasn’t been an issue for him, but it is really starting to get him down and also to hold him back.  Why you ask?  Well he knows all his letters and sounds and is a great phonic reader, but he is so reticent about writing that the school more »

We are too LOUD 27

 in mini mads  tagged loud / maximad / MiniMad / noise / parenting by

My boys are LOUD. Which means that I have to shout to be herd over their noise.   I didnt realise this until we stayed with friends this last week and it really brought it home to me just how much noise me and the boys make. So the fact that I woke up with no voice on Sunday morning, well I took that as an intervention from the universe.  It is time for The Mad House, to become quieter.  For us to regulate our volumes. Wish me luck!

Emotional Exhaustion 28

 in minimad  tagged death / maximad / MiniMad / school by

Sometimes, I bite off more than I can chew.  Sometimes, I have no option.  But I am laughing through my tears. Today has been a challenge again.  A day spent with my sister in law working on clearing out the house again.  Mini’s glasses to pick up for the opticians and then parents evenings to go to.  MadDad is sore and possibly overdoing this as his wound is weeping and I am tired to the core. But then we hear a voice with a guitar and we both sit and listen.  Mini sings a song and I sit with tears in my eyes.  For his song is about his grandma who more »

Mummy can you scratch my bum? 20

 in maximad / mini mads / minimad  tagged bathtimes / funny things / maximad / MiniMad / the boys by

We had a pretty quiet weekend consisting of football practice and then a football party for the boys on Saturday and a Sunday which mainly included lots of comfort food and cuddles, which was fine by me. One of the plus point of buying the boys DSi’s for Christmas is that me and MadDad get a lie in on a weekend as the boys tend not to wake us at silly o clock.  So this morning we were both lounging in bed and the boys came in for a cuddles with the DSi’s and we had a lazy, snugly morning. All was peaceful until Mini asked me to scratch his bum.  more »