"Dad! don't you think it would be cool if batman had an AT-AT? He could call it the BAT-AT!"

"Dad! don't you think it would be cool if batman had an AT-AT? He could call it the BAT-AT!" was pretty much all the motivation I needed for a couple of nights building while the boys were in bed. I don't like Star Wars at all... but I do like Batman and if I can have some fun giving those boring Star Wars kits a DC twist to put a smile on the boys faces I'm all over it.

Turns out that having a quick flick through the instructions, I had pretty much every part in our LEGO collection, it was just a case of rummaging and finding every single piece (in black of course).

In great Opeie style, Not being completely satisfied that I made his crazy BAT-AT comment a reality, his usual critical self explained that it was far too black and needed a little something extra. I was informed that there needed to be a disco in the back with Batman DJing (that kid always needs a bit of glam). So being the LEGO lovin' Dad that I am, always aiming to please, I added a disco in the back and a mixing desk into to the front (My dad points have gone through the roof).

I'm not sure that Snuffy likes his new friend though!

"Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling."

While most families are reaching the peak of their Christmas excitement this evening, in anticipation of the visit from that jolly red chap. For us at the Gifts from the pirates HQ it is just another night, as every other year Santa makes a special delivery to us on boxing eve as Seth isn't with us. Although December 25th doesn't feel the same without him here, we can't avoid the festive cheer as we have had an amazing month in preparation for the big day.

Making the house look Christmassy is such a huge thing in our house, last year thanks to the boys grandparents we ended up with a second Christmas tree and this year the boys were desperate for one in their room so two became three. Me and Opeie spent some time making paper chains from extra copies of The Grinch we had to make their room feel even more festive.

We had had a LEGO Santa and Reindeer (wearing a dickie bow and polka dot jumper) that we had built, adding a splash of colour to our kitchen window since late November but Mrs M and the boys were desperate to get some lights up. They did make a huge difference to everyone's festive cheer, which was awesome.

Last weekend in preparation of the special day we all went out for a walk (in the cold wet weather) in search of holly, ivy and other greenery to make our annual wreath for the door although the night we were all going to make it the boys were off playing with their friend so Mrs M made the lovely wreath herself.

This morning we were all feeling really festive and tonight technically not being our Christmas eve, the opening of the final doors on the boys LEGO calendars meant that we couldn't get away from the fact that it was the day before Christmas day.

So today we fully embraced the fun filled family day and spent the afternoon together making (Opeie friendly) gluten free gingerbread cookies...

And a pretty awesome gingerbread house if I do say so myself.

The weather hadn't really been great so me and the boys did our usually Christmas LEGO building session and came up with a festive looking mini Star Wars AT-AT and Tie Fighter.

Although we wont be celebrating the big day officially tomorrow it will be nice to have that extra day for preparation. A HUGE Merry Christmas, however you are spending your holidays this year. We hope you and your families have an amazing time together.