Why you should vote for me

Today is the final day for voting in The Mads.  I am one of the final five who are up for the Best family Fun Blog, so I am putting in a shameless, last ditched attempt to gain your votes.

So here are some reasons why I think we fit the bill

Crafting with Children

Fathers day is June 20th, so here I have some great ideas for Fathers day cards and gifts you can make with your children.

One of my most popular posts via search engine is the rain catchers we made inspired by Cbeebies.

Do you have lots of broken wax crayons?  Don't throw them away, try out recycling them in to make your own funky multi-coloured crayons.

Cooking with Children

Get creative in the kitchen with this recipe for home made naan bread and dahl.

best carrot cake in the whole wide world, don't believe me take a look at the comments!

Try out our home made pizza dough recipe

Great Ideas

.  Well my car packs came in so handy when we had a breakdown

When I was teaching the boys to set the table, I made a printed table mat and also made a fabric one for each of them too.

Rewards and Incentives for children.   Read about our method of positive reinforcement and rewards to encourage good behaviour

Wonderful Readers

One of the most inspiring things I have learned from blogging is the support and comments I receive from my readers and commenter's. A great example is that fact that Mini suffers from terrible tantrums and the advise and support I received was life changing for us all. Read about the recomendations and how we implemented the ideas.



Voting closes tonight at midnight, so if you haven't voted for TheMadHouse yet, then please click here and give me your vote!

My 10 Favorite Things MeMe

Baking Mad Mama, yep a girl after my own hear, who loves to bake has tagged me to list 10 of my favorite things that are free, so here goes:

1. Waking up in the dark to find one or two little bodies snuggled in asleep next to me.  The mini's always start the night in their own beds, but don't always end it there, I don't mind, I can not see them sharing with us at 15, so I am making the most of it!
2. The boys getting into Star Wars, it is great they are turning into little nerds and geeks and they now too know that Jango Fett is Bobo Fetts Dad!
3. The smell of solvents/fuels.  Strange I know, I used to hate them, but whilst pregnant with minimad I developed a love of them and would offer to go and fill up the car with fuel just to have a good smell.
4. Tea, good tea.  I am a Tea Monster and love real tea.  I have my own tea cup and saucer and have blogged about my love of tea before.
5. Clean sheets, crisp, freshly ,laundered and ironed.  I need the duvet to be in the cover correctly, no spare fabric at the top, but it is worth the effort.
6. Living by the sea, I grew up by the sea, it is my internal compass, it always guides me home and when we were landlocked for 10 years, It was one of my most missed things.  OK we don't live right next to the sea, but you can just see it from the study if you are on tiptoes
7. Saturday Mornings, MadDad lets me have a lie in and the joy of not having to get up, to be able to sleep or just lie in that half asleep, half awake zone.  I am able to get dressed at a leisurely pace, I don't dress the boys or get their breakfasts, bliss.
8. Sunday Mornings, MadDad gets a reciprocal lie in on a Sunday and I used to not like being forced up in the cold with the boys far too early, but I have come to love watching the sun rise with them, curling up under a blanket watching starwars, staying in our PJ's having quality mum and boys time.
9. My wonderful husband, he is just wonderful, he brings me a cup of tea in bed every morning.  After nearly 15 years of marriage he knows me better than I know myself sometimes.
10. Being told that I am doing a good job bringing up my children.  Feedback, well positive feedback is great.  When you are employed you always get told us you are doing a good job or not, you have appraisals, recognition and rewards.  This is what is missing in motherhood, every one is keen to tell you what you are doing wrong "I would do it this way", but so few people let you know you are doing a good job, so that when they do I feel wonderful.

I think this is a great Meme, so I am passing it on to:

Sew Scrumptious, Louise is a very talented sewer and has a great giveaway on at the moment.

The very clever Tia at Who Ate My Crayons, she also has a giveaway on too, but just go and take a look at her geeks valentines cards, they are beyond cool.

Pink Milk is yummy, who takes uber cool photographs whilst being a mum to two little ones

Suzie over at Itch 2 Stitch, now she may only blog once a week, but it is always a great read and wow this lady can create.

Penny at The Hen House, who has had a bit of a blog wobble, she is a mum of two with a artistic side, with a menagerie of animals.

Abi at Mutterings from the Moor, again a very clever sewer (she made my birthday bear, dontcha know!), who has hens and takes great photo's too.

Anyone else who hasn't been tagged, consider yourself tagged by me, just give me a holler and I will add you to my list.  Have fun.