"You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend."

The last few months have been all about making the house ours, moving rooms around, de-cluttering and making use of all of the space we have. We decided that one of the rooms downstairs needed to be a relaxing reading space. We couldn't quite decided what to put on the wall though in a relaxing space dedicated to one of our favourite past times. That was until I thought about a gift that my bestie Helen had got me for my birthday. She has really helped me through a lot of the harder parts of all this heartache and she was eager to help with putting some personal touches into the house. She had very Kindly bought me 3 canvas's so that the boys and I could create one each.

I asked the boys if they would use their artistic flair to create something each around a book (or series of books) that were important to them. I knew straight away that mine was going to be based on A Series of unfortunate events as Ive been reading them to Opeie at bed time and Ive really loved how excited he's been as we have ploughed through them. I didn't want to draw an obvious picture of the Baudelairs or even their nemesis Count Olaf so I went for a random singer from the Volunteers fighting disease, as the song about the heart shaped balloon always stuck out for Opeie.

I wasn't at all Surprised when Opeie decided he was going to base his canvas design on Beetle boy by M.G. Leonard. The Beetle boy trilogy will always be very special to me as they were the books that really opened up Opeie's imagination and made him realise just how amazing the world of books can be. He hung off every word of those stories and after the first and the second books we were both eager for the release of the next one. I was genuinely gutted when Battle of the Beetles ended.

I not quite sure what I expected Seth to choose, as he mainly reads on his own these days and he gets through so many books that I can't keep up with him.  I was pretty surprised that he chose Enid Blyton's 'The Secret Seven' as they are books that I have been reading to him at bedtime. The secret seven and the Famous five were books that I grew up on and I wanted to share those adventures with the boys.When I asked Seth what was so special about the Secret Seven books he said that he loves me reading to him and finds my voice really relaxing (which made my day).

Emotions may be all over the place at the moment but these little personal touches around the house are making fun new memories and giving us the relaxing home that I think we all need.

"The colors live a remarkable life of their own after they have been applied to the canvas."

Last Christmas I wrote a post about a present I had received that really touched me. I met my friend Steve last year in Smyths while toy shopping and we got talking, LEGO of course. It turned out we were both huge LEGO enthusiasts and our friendship blossomed from there. I love that the boys are in to LEGO as much as i am but every now and again its great to talk shop with other nerds and Steve has been a fountain of brick information for me.

When I opened his Christmas gift to us, much to his disappointment (Steve's a mans man), it bought a tear to my eye as I'd never had anyone make a gift quite like it, it was one of a kind.

I loved the personal custom LEGO kit and it meant so much to me that when were contacted by wallcreate.com And asked to review one of their canvas' I knew straight away that it had to be a LEGO print for the house and what better than a LEGO image of my beautiful family, created by a great friend. 

Moving into a brand new house in December left us with literally a blank canvas. Getting prints up and personalising the space where you spend most of your time is very exciting. I had never had a canvas printed before so I was blown away by the quality of the print that Wallcreate Sent back, especially as the original photo was taken from my phone. 

I was desperate to get the print up on the wall but I am yet to put it up still as I know exactly where it's going to go but I am awaiting the arrival of something else (none canvas related) to compliment it, so stay tuned for a future LEGO related post and you'll be sure to see this lovely print hanging proudly next to it.

Wallcreate have kindly included a 15% discount also (Code - giftsfromthepirates). So go and fill that empty space on your wall with something beautiful, we've all got one. This great canvas has got me looking at all the other spaces that need a little customising too and has given me lots of inspiration.

Celebrating Mama's Day the Gifts From The Pirates way

Although today is a really happy day I still get a little sad this time of year due to a bad relationship with my own Mom. When i was very little i wasn't really interested in Mother's or Father's Day, I even remember moaning to my sisters once that there should be a son and daughter day. Now I've got older I have realised that it wasn't just me being a selfish little shit but more that neither my Mom or my Dad made much of an effort with the others big day and if they did i honestly don't remember it? Which really just showed how unhappy they both were. I may not have my own mom in my life but i feel very lucky to have Mrs M's Mom, She more than makes up for what i am missing and i know she really loves me, Mrs M and the boys.

Mothers day is really important in our house because... well Mrs M is AMAZING. She really looks after all of us, not just the boys. Plus with everything that she went through during Opeie's pregnancy, treating her like a princess on Mother's day is the least we can do as a family to say thank you for being around (not that she's not treated like a princess every day). Mrs M puts everything she has in to the development of our boys, I think we're a great team. We have the same parenting views and I think that's really important when you have children plus (and it does help) we are so in love with each other and I have so much respect for her.

  Opeie is too young at the moment but I think i have explained to Seth how important the day is. He gets really excited so I know he understands. We've had sneaky half hours here and there over the last few weeks to prepare for the big event and the boys have been their usual creative selves. Seth decided that he wanted to make a card and create a canvas with all the things Mrs M loves. This included Giraffes, Miffy, Elf (the movie),Katy Perry, Trees,  Make Up, Singing, Orla Kiely, Rod Campbell, Flowers, Yankee candles and of course the four of us...

Opeie decided that he wanted his to be a reminder to Mommy of all the things he loves... well Spider-man to be precise...

What i loved most about this year was that Seth had some surprises of his own that even I didn't know about, Seth had obviously been busy at school and had brought home some things that he had made, wrapped and hidden in his school bag. Mrs M was very touched by the decoration he had made and the Certificate for 'Best Mom Award', It's quite an achievment but we all knew eventually she would get some serious recognition for it.

I'll leave you with Mrs M now as she wants to finish off this post and I'll excitedly but patiently wait for the next 3 months and 6 days (you know what I'm talking about).

I've had SUCH a lovely day! Yay for Mother's Day! My boys have made me some lovely things, bought me some lovely books, and drawn me some cute cards! Mother's day is such a lovely day, not just for myself, or my own Mom... I like to thank all Mother lovers, especially Midwives, Doulas, and other lovely people. Being a Mom is the best thing in the world, ever- creating a lovely family, full of lovely memories. The boys make me laugh so much, Seth, Opeie and Pauly 33.3% equally!

Seth said to me today " I'm not having a day off anymore, yesterday I had Tae Kwan Do, and had to tidy my room, and today I've had to do numeracy, I'm more exhausted when I'm at home than when I'm at school, I need a Holiday!"

Last night right before bed, Opeie counted to 10 by himself, without any prompting from us, and then looked so proud of himself. He then did some funny talking!

And Pauly, well, where do I start? We have the same humor, and be laugh all the time. I'm so lucky. He puts up with my crazy dancing in the midnight hours, and doesn't take the micky. I could sit and write all night about our crazy humor, and silly things we get upto. 

Being a Mom to my boys is lovely, I 'spose I kind of Mother Pauly too, as his Mother is a waste of space and hasn't been much of a Mom to him. However I don't mind, being a Mother to three is lovely, even if their combined age is 41.