"The most important educational vehicle in all life is a parent figure."

I love mothers day, probably more than Mrs M's birthday, but then shes the kind of person that stresses about getting older so that may be why. Mothers day and fathers day have been huge for me since having the boys as they are a celebration of parenting, the thing that is most important to me. Becoming a dad changed everything for me and having children makes everything so much more amazing. They are hard work at times and demand a lot of attention, so I have always made it very clear how important it is to say thank you to mommy for everything she does for us.

The boys don't need any prompting when it comes to this time of year, when the words 'Mothers Day' are mentioned they spring in to action. What can we make her? can we buy her something nice? To be fair though, being such caring thoughtful children they are like that all year round, always wanting to put a smile on Mrs M's face (and i know how they feel).

After waking mommy up and presenting her with lovely cards we asked her what she wanted to do and she told us she fancied a walk up Carding Mill Valley, so we wrapped up and headed towards our mothers day celebration. I think as soon as she opened the car door she instantly regretted her decision as it was freezing. But we ventured up the valley and it was a lovely way to spend the special Sunday morning.

After an hour or so we we all craving a hot drink so we headed to the cafe and Mrs M made a bee line for her table, situated right next to the log fire. So we all sweated having our lunch before heading home for an afternoon of family time together.

We're so lucky to have Mrs M looking after us and it was great getting to spend some quality time with her considering she has had so much work on recently. 

To all my mom friends out there...

I hope all you moms out there had an amazing Mother's Day.

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."

Me and Mrs M have never celebrated Valentine's Day as we are always doing nice things for each other throughout the year. I do try though to make the effort for the other ladies in our life, Nanny Roo and Auntie Lottie. Last year we took a trip to build a bear and made valentines bears for them both which they loved. This year I wanted to make sure they put their card making skills to good use. Of course mommy needed a card too.

We're always drawing, painting or colouring but it's nice sometimes to have a special reason for it and someone to give the finished piece too. Making cards is also great because it gives us a fun excuse to get Opeie practising his writing. He seems to be more in to the whole activity when he's creating something for someone he loves too.

Opeie's a big fan of cutting and pasting he loves getting the glue out. We made Mommy a Miffy card using a dog eared book from a charity shop and Opeie wanted to make the most of the packaging from his Paddington Bear he got last week for sleeping in his own bed, as Nanny had taken him to see the movie recently he wanted Nanny's card to be all about Paddington.

Seth drew a lovely picture of mommy for his card and Opeie went on a heart drawing rampage for auntie Lottie's card to show her how much he loves her.

The boys were excited about putting question marks in their creations and although they were written out to 'Nanny' and 'Auntie Lottie' I suspect they had absolutely no idea who their secret admirers actually where.

For me, every day is like fathers day.

Fathers day is my favourite time of year, not because i crave the attention, i get all the daddy attention i need every day, but because its a day that celebrates everything i hold dearest to me. Being a dad has completely changed my perspective on life and it is bettering me as a person more and more as the days go by. After craving children for so many years it so lovely to feel like I'm exactly where i am supposed to be now. it is lovely also to wake up to Opeie though waving a card he has made and shouting 'happy daddies day'.

This year Opeie's card was me if i was an Octonaut.

The card was brought to me in a box made of Duplo that lasted about 20 seconds before crumbling before my eyes, bless his wobbly hands. And a special gift inside a Custom Lego box which also put a big smile on my face especially when Mrs M informed me that it took her an hour and a half to make. 

I feel like the luckiest guy on the plane, I hope all you dads out there had an amazing fathers day.

"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

Although I'm still writing my holiday posts (and there is still lots to come), sadly we are back home in Shropshire where the weather is pretty bleak. Yesterday Mrs M went back to work and understandably she wasn't very happy about it. It's times like this that I feel so guilty that I am the stay at home parent. As she got out of the car and gave us both a smooch I could see she was feeling quite sad so when we got home we put on our scruffy clothes and got out the paint to make mommy a card to cheer her up after work.

First Opeie painted a piece of paper Orange...

You'll have to excuse the stain on the wall from one of Seth's experiments, painting will commence this weekend!

And then we drew around Opeie's hand. It's always nice to add a personal touch to your child's craft and what parent doesn't like to look back on their child's mini handprints...

We carefully cut out the hand print and used it as a stencil on some yellow felt to cut out two hand prints.

Back to the cutting and we carefully cut out the hand prints along with two wotsit like shapes (any idea what we're making yet?).

A little more cutting (two white paper circles and two blue slightly smaller circles) and then it's time for sticking. A touch of colouring in with black pen and two mini orange pom-poms and our creation was complete.

Meeting the Lorax on holiday at Islands of adventure was one of Mrs M's favourite things so what better way to cheer her up after a gloomy day at work. Plus it was a quick craft session that kept Opeie occupied for an hour on this gloomy day in the house trying to keep warm.

Thoughtful acts and Opeie's drawings at 2

Little thoughtful acts are so important, they make day to life life so much happier. Yesterday i needed to pop out for an eye test and when i returned Opeie was standing at the front door to meet me clutching a beautiful card he had made me with mommy. I love receiving things like this out of the blue it really makes my day. These thoughtful acts no matter how trivial some may seem make everything seem just that little more smiley.

Opeie seemed very proud of his creation and rightly so. His little scribble drawings always put a huge grin on my face and the fact that he tells you what each one is is just adorable. Another great addition to my ever expanding memory box, thanks Opeie.

"By sticking out his tongue and curling it sideways to explore the hairy jungle around his mouth, he was always able to find a tasty morsel here and there to nibble on"

Seth requested that we have a craft session a couple of days back, he had been reading the blog to catch up on what he had missed last week and saw mine and Opeie's mask making craft post. Seth was desperate to get in on the action so our craft activity became mask making part II. Opeie was shattered and due his nap so we all lay on our bed and read some of Roald Dahl's 'The Twits' which is Seth's favourite book. Opeie soon dropped off (probably because of the lack if pictures) and Seth said 'can we make a Mr Twit mask?'

Seth wanted to make sure he got the details right so grabbed his book and used it for research, he knows the story so well that he didn't really need it but it was cute anyway. It was most important that we included the "slimy tail of a tinned sardine", "mouldy old cornflake" and piece of "maggoty green cheese" in the beard. We shredded lots if card to make his beard hairs that "stuck out straight like the bristles on a nailbrush'.

The mask was a great little craft activity and only took us about 40 minutes to make before we moved on to something else. Mrs M was very impressed when she go home and has now requested a Mrs Twit later in the week (something to keep us occupied for another afternoon during this dreary british summer).

"It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father."

 Fathers day is obviously one of my favourite days of the year, not because i love gifts or being made a fuss of but because being a dad is what takes up all of my time, my family is the most important thing to me and having a day where that is celebrated is lovely. To be honest though everyday is like fathers day really, i am rewarded daily by two beautiful children who never cease to surprise me with how loving, thoughtful and intelligent they both are and a fiance that treats me like a princess and shows me every day how much she loves me. What more could a boy ask for?

Yesterday i was woken by Mrs M and Opeie who was clutching a beautiful card that they had made for me. It was 6am and because of not going to bed till 1am last night because i was playing with Lego i was shattered. I couldn't get my eyes to focus to read the card so Mrs M kindly ready for me. I love home made cards from the boys and this one was amazing with a Dr Seuss origami shirt and tie on the front (clever) and Opeie's trademark drawn round hands which he loves doing, in keeping with the Seuss theme there was a Seussian rhyme inside.

Mrs M and the boys had also brought me some Dr Seuss books that I'd not seen before for our collection which was really thoughtful and will keep me occupied for a while.

There was one more gift and Mrs M was beyond excited about giving it to me (she's so cute). I had no idea what it was but it put a huge smile on my face. Mrs M had found me a limited edition Dr Seuss print 'P for Papa', I love it obviously for what it is/says but also because the image is taken from the Seuss ABC book which was the first Dr Seuss book i read to Opeie, I can't wait to get it framed and on the wall it's going to look amazing.

I had such a great day which of course was made better when Seth came home, we had really missed him this weekend. Seth said he really loves me and wishes there was a stepdad day which i thought was really sweet. There was a lovely end to the day when we got to spend the afternoon with more people that i love being around, Mrs M's Mom and Dad.

I thought today about my friends Danni and Dave who have just had a little boy and Andy and Sarah who have just had a little girl, i bet its really exciting for them having their first Fathers day, i remember how i felt last year it was such a great feeling (if you remember the post last year).

I feel so lucky everyday for the amazing family i have, there's so many dads out there that don't want to make any effort with their children (mine included), they don't know what they are missing. I give my boys everything i am but i get so much more in return, they are my best friends and are a permanent reminder of the man i was always meant to be.