"i can do it myself daddy"

Seth has started his next big craft idea which so far is looking great (even though its only had about 30 minutes work on it). I will write about it when it's finished which could be some time away. As part of his new creation he needed some old fashioned wooden clothes pegs. I thought they were going to be a nightmare to find but luckily I found them in the forth shop I went in to, good old Asda living.

He needed white paint too and before I knew it I had a basket full of craft bits and bobs. It wasn't a great day weather wise so a craft session for me and Opeie was just what we needed. As soon as we got home we set the table up and began creating. Because Mrs M works all week we try and make plenty of cards to say thank you for taking care of us.

Using foam letters and getting them straight with a 2 year old is difficult but we managed it and it looked great. Opeie told me that he wanted to make one for nanny and grandad too so we quickly got to it.

After all the tag team precision foam letter placing, Opeie grabbed himself a new piece of paper and freestyled himself his own creation, which definitely had more character than the ones we created together, proving once more that "i can do it on my own daddy" (his new favourite saying).

Ho! Ho! Ho.....ld on a minute that's a Gnome not Santa.

When i was younger there seemed to be Gnomes everywhere, people would proudly show them off on their front gardens and although some of them were a touch creepy they always gave the garden character. I'm not sure if not seeing them about much is because they are not seen as 'cool' anymore or more likely a sign of how our world is these days. People seem to pinch or break anything if you leave it out.

Despite the lack of them on gardens we can be sure that recently they are making a comeback in our local Asda, giant ones. Opeie loves them and always says "Ho! Ho! Ho!" as he thinks they are Santa.

 While we were in there a few days back Mrs M noticed a paint your own Gnome and she picked one up for me and the boys to paint while she was at work. The boys were really excited about getting stuck in. It seems that painting a Gnome is far more entertaining than the rocks we had painted a few days back. But luckily because of our previous craft session we had all the acrylic paints that we needed.

I usually find when painting things with the boys the finished item ends up an all over greeny brown colour as Opeie seems to dislike washing the brush off between colours. This time though the boys took their time and did their best not to go over the parts they had already painted. It kept us occupied for an hour which was great because the boys lose interest in things not long after that (unless it's Lego of course). When Mrs M came home from work she was greeted by our new friend proudly flaunting his amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I'm not sure how well he will hold up in the garden through British weather conditions but either way Mrs M was very impressed. I'm determined now to buy a few more and let the Gnomes make a comeback in our garden.