The MAD Blog Awards Sponsored By Parentdish.Co.Uk

* More than 1,000 blogs were nominated in this year's MAD Blog Awards.

* During a period of six weeks this spring, more than 150,000 nominations and votes were cast.

* Seventy six finalists were chosen.

And this week, the parent blogging community gathers at the annual MAD Blog Awards to find out which blogs will win the coveted MAD Blog Awards trophies. The Parentdish team will be at the ceremony at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington to support the finalists (and perhaps sneak the odd glass of champagne).

The MAD Blog Awards is about more than trophies, though. It's a celebration of the extraordinary stories and achievements of very ordinary mums and dads.

The finalists include bloggers who are raising children facing enormous physical and emotional challenges. There are families who break moulds, and encourage us to look at the world through different eyes. We share stories about families doing extraordinary things and inspiring whole communities.

Many of the finalists are gifted writers and photographers. Their blogs are a riot of compelling words and pictures, spilling joy from every post. A parent blogger can make you laugh, make you cry, or inspire you to change the way you live. It's powerful stuff.

What we've learned from four years of running the MAD Blog Awards is that ordinary life and ordinary families are worth celebrating. That there's great craft and skill in capturing your family life, and sharing that story with the world, online.

If you'd like to discover this year's MAD Blog Awards finalists, why not click through some of the links below?

You can follow the awards LIVE on our live blog, which will be available via our website (www.the-mads.com). If you're on Twitter, you can also follow @madblogawards for regular photos and updates from our awards ceremony.

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