"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties."

Day 99:

The plan for today was to go for good stomp around snail beach, we made pizza and wrapped it up for lunch but when we arrived the weather just didn't want to play ball so we drove a little further up to Stiperstones and dropped the backseats so that we could sit in the back of the car and paint. Before we could start painting though Opeie asked whether we could do a drawing activity he had created where we design products for a supermarket based around themes. I love things like this as you end up drawing things that you would never usually think of drawing. 

"The richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten."

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Great film and Wise words! Although I've always known this, the past three years have been a shock to the system at just how true the words are. When you have children everything seems to go in to hyper speed so as a doting parent you need to be taking in every moment and grasping them with both hands. Earlier today Mrs M was looking through some old pictures and inevitably Opeie's baby photos cropped up. It had been a while since we had looked through them and I sat down next to Mrs M and was hooked.

It probably sounds bad and it may be just me but its easy to forget exactly what your children were like in the first weeks, of course I've got an image in my head (how I remember him), for me it was one of the first days I held him on my chest and I couldn't take my eyes off him, I was completely in awe of the little person we had created, but when I looked back on the old pictures and videos I realised just how much I had forgotten. He was beautiful, that has never changed but seeing him so vulnerable and new, made me instantly well up.

Looking through the old photos and videos is always amazing but it isn't great for Mrs M's broodiness which over the last few weeks has been getting considerably worse. Mine thankfully had gone into hibernation, that was of course until we clicked on that folder to be greeted by these baby pictures. I would love another child, maybe a little girl and I know Mrs M feels the same. It's such a shame though that we have such complicated pregnancies. That's probably a blessing though as I could see us with 7 or 8 if situations had been different. Mrs M's ultimate argument being 'what if things were different if it was a girl?" What if? When it comes to the 'wanting more babies saga' there's lots of what if's. sorry, as always I've gone off on a tangent a little.

Seeing the photos made me realise just how independent Opeie is these days, he just used to lay there care free kicking his legs and making funny noises. Everything was a lot more delicate, I was petrified I was going to break him some how so was wary of every little thing I did, a big change from the picking him up and throwing him about play fighting that we do these days. I had no idea what I was doing so in some ways would be looking over to Mrs M for some sort of approval that I wasn't making a huge mess of simple tasks, it soon didn't take long though for it all to come naturally.

Mrs M has been saying for well over a year "i wish I could have him as a baby again just for one day", she says exactly the same about Seth. I thought she was a bit crazy but I'm now starting to understand why. As they get older children need you less and less. Although its amazing Opeie having this new 'i can do it' way about him I do miss helping him doing the little things. He is becoming a great little man though, happy, curious, always asking questions and most importantly beautiful inside and out, when he wakes up in the morning the smile on my face is uncontrollable. I realise every day that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be, and I'm happy.

"Goonies never say die!"

In many ways Seth reminds me of myself when i was younger, he craves adventure and seems happiest when he's investigating forests and just generally being out and about. He loves being on his bike and is desperate for me to get and bike and for his stabilisers to come off so we can hit the open roads (or wooded ares until he's a little older). He's been this way since i met him but there has been a sudden surge since the reintroduction of probably my favourite movie of all time...

I used to watch this film a lot when i was younger and on rainy days indoors the only thing that stopped me putting it on over and over was my sisters wanting to watch either Mary Poppins or Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Seth has seen the film many times but since getting his BMX this week i think he feels like he's one step closer to getting his hands on One eyed willies treasure. There is definitely a big adventure for us on the horizon and there will be many a blog post on the lead up as ive been brimming with ideas. Seth likes to pretend he's data (he was my favourite when i was younger too) and really wants to start making gadgets, so im probably going to have to keep a look out for washing up liquid on the floor from Seth making homemade 'slick shoes'.

Today while Mrs M was at work we jumped in the car and headed down to Ironbridge in search of rocks, not quite the adventure that Seth had invisioned I'm sure but we needed some for a craft session coming up as Mrs M (aka the 24 hour weather channel) has warned us that the weather isn't looking great for the weekend.

Yesterday Mrs M brought Seth a magnifying glass and he has been using it around the house investigating everything. As soon a he knew we were heading down the park it was the first thing he grabbed and stuffed in to his coat pocket. He was hoping to find some bugs to look at but once we were in the park his attentions turned to tree bark...

Opeie was happy just following his big brother round like a shadow, hes started copying Seth so much more recently it's obvious how much he looks up to him and It's great  how close they are.

The detective worked continued for quite some time when Seth stumbled upon some broken wood, we stopped and had a little chat about what it could be and he came to the decision that it was an old broken battering ram. I told him to use his spy glass to look for markings but he informed me "no there isnt any, just bird pooh". Then we found some buried wood and he said he thought it was a secret underground bunker. Kids are great!

Opeie was desperately trying to get in to the woods so we let him do the guiding for a while. we ventured deep in to the woods when we came across a message from one eyed willy...  Luckily i speak fluent graffiti... erm, i mean pirate. So i translated it for Seth and explained that his treasure was near by but we will need to come back with a shovel so i expect Seth will be asking me to search the shed for it tomorrow.

At this point our smallest adventurer started to get tired so we took ourselves and our big bag of rocks back to the car and Opeie fell asleep five minutes after we set off. Seth now has his heart set on the ultimate pirate adventure so i need to start making plans very soon.