"Music can change the world because it can change people."

Blogging has opened up so many interesting doors over the years, We've been invited to so many amazing events and have reviewed some really interesting products. One product though has stuck out above all of the others recently because of the huge impact it has had (and will continue to have) on Seth. Back in 2016 we had an email asking if we would be interested in reviewing a pBone, the first professional plastic trombone. If I'm honest I read the email and had a little chuckle to myself at the sheer randomness of it, but I was also really intrigued, so of course I said yes. The pBone arrived and we all had a little toot and followed it up with a review. As much as I loved the idea of the boys being musical the following few months left the lovely purple pBone collecting dust in the boys room.

Then another email came through from pBone inviting us to one of their events at the symphony hall which had a real impact on Seth and catapulted him into the amazing world of music. He left the event feeling inspired and asked if he could start trombone lessons. I'm fully aware of the fact that I have covered all this in previous posts but stay with me because the pBone adventure just gets better and better. I wrote about the event and Seth began his trombone lessons at school. He said he enjoyed the lessons but he never seemed to practice at home and I genuinely thought it was going to be one of those things that eventually fizzled out. Until one day he came home and told us that he was playing a song at his schools music show. As I hadn't heard him practice at all I was worried that he may have jumped in and offered prematurely to be a part of it but on the day he completely shocked me and played in front of his peers and the all the parents, with all the audience getting involved and clapping as he played we will rock you. It was one of those moments where a wave of pride washes over you as a parent. So this is where I have covered before in previous posts.

Seth has just finished his final year at primary school so the last few months have been pretty busy with sorting out the transition to secondary school. Seth (like all of the kids in his year) had been visiting schools trying to work out which was the best fit for him. Which, after viewing quite a few was made really clear to him early on. Unfortunately the school was out of our catchment area and we were pretty sure it was going to be a no go. The school however is big on music and their many bands travel all over the world for shows and when entering the main doors you are greeted with cabinets full of the trophies that the amazing children have won over the years. Seth had his heart set on the school. Despite being out of the catchment area the school offered a handful of places for musical children to join their bands. To be in with a chance Seth had to attend an interview and complete a musical aptitude test. On the morning of the test Seth was so nervous but  he went in and gave it his all. Weeks passed and a letter arrived through the post. Obviously you know whats coming, I wouldn't be writing about the failings of an 11-year-old.

Seth had been accepted, which was amazing news. He had only technically been playing a few months but they had seen something in him that they were looking for. Part of the acceptance letter stated that he needed to start taking lessons at the school on Saturday mornings on the run up to the summer holidays to get him ready for the musical side of his secondary school experience. So, he started attending the Saturday classes which he enjoyed and on his third week they asked him to stop the lessons and move into the schools big band. Which again was the most amazing news for Seth and us ever doting parents.

Within a couple of weeks of that his teacher just casually threw in his grade one trombone exam without telling him which he passed no problems and although he came out from his class trying to play it cool I could see that there were secretly fireworks going off inside. Its amazing to think that all of this amazingness has come from a chance email sent our way, for something that we would have never even thought about looking at had it not had been pointed out to us. 

I always wanted the boys to try and take up an instrument because despite wanting to when I was younger it was never an option. Every moment of the pBone being introduced into our lives has been an amazing experience for me as a parent. Not only has it boosted Seths confidence more than I could have ever imagined, it has also ended up putting in some serious groundwork for Seths transition into 'big school' helping him to meet new friends in the band before he had even reached his start date in September. Since starting his first term he has now also been invited into a second school band, adding to the excitement of it all. Watching his big brother learn to play an instrument has also given Opeie the passion for learning to play an instrument and he has started drum lessons too. pBone has had such a huge impact on us all as a family and I can see that its going to get even better. 

Seths passion for the instrument has also got him desperately wanting to share what he has learnt and I find it so moorish that Ive even considered getting one myself (I quite like the pink one) so he can teach me too and we can play together, watch this space.

Thinking of getting your kids into music and want to find out more? Visit the pBone website here.

"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow."

With Seth's first day of secondary school being tomorrow, I should be really thinking about starting the home ed for Opeie tomorrow too. In great home ed style though I'm not. Instead we have decided to have a 'home ed appreciation day' before getting into all of the adventuring and creative learning. We both feel really lucky to be in a position to be educating/learning on our terms and were going to spend tomorrow really thinking about that as we see the local children leaving for school. Tomorrow will be a day of staying in our pj's, reading, baking and playing because... well we can.

I think its amazing how far we have come as a team and I often think back to those unnerving few months around (what would have been) his official 'start date', all the 'what if's' and 'Am I doing the right thing'. It seems crazy now to think that I had that little confidence in not only myself, but Opeie's ability to learn outside of a classroom environment. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't still have the same occasional thoughts every now and again when I am having an off day, but luckily on these days (which thankfully are getting less and less), I take myself back to a single moment.

We had decided to go on a spur of the moment mid week camping trip (because as home edders you can do that kind of thing). As we pulled into the campsite car park at Devils bridge the heavens opened. Not a light delicate shower but the sort of rain that meant that we couldn't park next to the tent pitch for fear of getting stuck on the field. We managed to get the tent up in the rain and flopped onto the beds to read for a while. The rain died down and the sun came out and we saw that as an opening to go exploring. We decided to walk Devils bridge falls (which is beautiful) while reading the local legend that surrounds the bridge.Within 5 minutes of the walk the rain came down even harder than before. We were drenched! usually I love the adventure, but I felt like the trip was going to be a flop and I seriously started questioning the whole 'Home Ed' thing. As we walked up the waterfall though with the rain still coming down and the spray from the falls almost hitting us too, the sun came out behind it all and what appeared a few feet in front of us was the most beautiful sight. 

In an instant, all of those negative feelings I had about Home Ed seemed to vanish and as we stood and stared at a rainbow (that we could almost touch) curving over the waterfall in front of us, I was left with an enlightened feeling of 'This is exactly where we should be right now'. 

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that"

I genuinely had no idea that the transition to becoming a single dad was going to be so difficult. I'd felt like a single parent for such a long time, so I figured everything would just fall into place. Being there for the boys though during this confusing and upsetting time has been so exhausting. Its hard enough dealing with my own confusion around why someone could walk out on their family for what seems like no reason at all, without having to also be damage control for those two very special boys in my life and the hurt and disappointment that they are feeling. Keeping busy is all I've got these days and I'm trying to desperately hold on to my passions and creativity, while keeping it together.

LEGO for me has always been so much more than a building toy, it has become a way of life in our home and a way for the boys and I to not only explore our imaginations but to also communicate with each other. Recently LEGO is the one thing that is keeping me sane of an evening, which may sound dramatic but there have been moments over the last few months where I have felt like I'm not coping very well and the evenings can be quite lonely. The rummaging, the designing, the entire process of building has become like my evening meditation and Ive started using that to build things to make the boys home more interesting. 

All the heartache aside, it has actually been pretty nice transforming our home into the home that we want and the first thing we did was to scrap the lounge and turn it into a LEGO room. It made so much more sense to actually make use of the space that we have and it has really helped the boys to look at our family home in a new way now that its just the three of us. 

The past couple of nights Ive been busy making small changes to things in the house. A couple of damaged picture frames have been replaced by frames made of bricks and (not being a fan of the main lights in the house) I decided to create some new table lamps for the house for a little more relaxed lighting (we could all do with a little more 'relaxed' these days). Opeie recently bought the Powerpuff girls kits with his pocket money and after building them they were just sitting on the shelf not doing much, so I decided to build the first lamp around them, mainly because of all the bright colours. It came out looking pretty cute and fit perfectly into the room.

Well, I'd got the buzz, so the following evening I started to build a Spider-man themed one for the boys bedroom. As I sat there clicking those bricks together it was the first time in what seems like such a long time that I really felt like myself again. Not only did the lamp come out looking really fun  but it really got me thinking of more things that I wanted to create over the coming weeks. I think it has been good for the boys to see me getting excited about something again.

Ive always had a thing for lighting around the house, especially of an evening and I can't believe I've not thought about doing this before. The great thing about building the lamps with LEGO is that if we get bored of them we can take them apart and change the theme. The boys also pointed out that we can create lamps for Christmas, Halloween, Valentines etc. It looks like this may be a new family tradition and as Opeie keeps saying 'Im glad we are are making new fun memories over the bad ones'.

As always, another amazing win for LEGO in our house, Its amazing that something as simple as plastic bricks, could have such a huge impact on us three boys.

"If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind."

A few weeks back we had a visit from one of our friends Kayleigh, who's been a friend of mine since Uni and unlike me she went on to do amazing things with the skills that she picked up from her course. Kayleigh is a skilled glass designer who specialises in hot sculpting and iridised surface design (I took that last bit straight from her website 😂). Like myself she's a big fan of the brick and one evening we had a chat about how she would really like a brick version of her combined furnace, glory hole and Lehr setup from her work place so that she could use it to be able to explain how it works to her customers a little more easily. Obviously I love a challenge when it comes to LEGO, I didn't expect it to be as much of a challenge as it was though, when she arrived at ours with no photos of what it was I was building. 

As she explained each part of what she wanted building we had a good chuckle as I had no idea what half of the words meant. So it was down to Kayleigh's skills with a pencil to try and give me what I needed to start building. While I started putting bricks together, asking lots of questions as I went, Kayleigh kept Opeie entertained with some building of her own. 

When you complete a build that is a representation of something that you have never seen before its really difficult to get excited about it. It wasn't until Kayleigh added this image of the LEGO with the actual furnace behind it, that I realised I hadn't done a bad job at all even if it was a little off scale.

You can see Kayleigh's work over at KayleighYoungGlass

"Get out of my way, you Cakesniffers!"

Its been a tough few months with our lives changing so much with the split. As I said in the last post I feel like I've really lost myself in all of it and I know the boys are feeling the same way, Opeie especially. With his mom not being around I've been trying as best I can to keep him busy and in the company of the people that love spending time with him. This has not been difficult at all because we have the best group of friends around us and they definitely more than make up for our lack of family. 

Over the last few months we've spent a lot of time hanging out with our friends Charlotte and Rich, usually walking the streets of Shropshire in search of Pokemon. To continue the love of all things Pokemon and our blossoming friendship, they invited us round to theirs today to bake cakes and decorate them in a way that only Pokemon enthusiasts know how.

As the saying goes 'A baking session isn't successful unless you've messed up a couple of batches first'. No you're right, no one has ever said that, but as we all had a good laugh about the mess we made and Rich pointed out that the one batch looked like it needed vegetables and gravy with them, it was clear that the muck ups really add to the memories of the afternoon.

We soon had a decent batch to work with though so we set about adding some flair to our cupcakes. While we created our masterpieces we chatted about all sorts and I was reminded yet again how in awe I am of that amazing 7-year-old of mine. He loves being around other adults and is such a confident kid when it comes to general chit chat, everyone seems to adore him as much as I do.

With the first couple of cakes finished it was time for an action shot, Pikachu... I choose you!

The cakes ended up taking so much longer than we expected but thats the great thing about being around amazing friends, you get lost in all the fun and the time just flies by. With the cakes finished the only thing left to do was check to see if our creations tasted as good as they looked...they totally did.

These may be some of the toughest months we've been through but being surrounded by such amazing and caring people has made us realise that we really are the luckiest three boys.

"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time."

Pretty much every night I lay next to Opeie after reading to him thinking 'I'm going to write a post tonight' and every night I head downstairs, lie on the sofa and get overwhelmed by the mass of emotions that seem to stop me doing anything that I enjoy recently. If you've got this far into your life and you've not been faced with the reality that life, at times, can be an absolute arsehole, then you are doing pretty well. I've had my fair share of utter crap throughout my many years on this earth, some (not many though) I take full responsibility for, but the bulk of it has been thrown at me by the unpleasant people I have met while navigating through this storm of a life.

I had however thought that 8 years ago that had all ended and that my life was on track for the celebration of love and kindness that I felt like I deserved. Sadly I should have known better. When you finally meet 'the one' (and for me it was the one that I wanted to start a family with), It feels different than than any other previous relationship. For me, this was the rest of my life and I can honestly say that I put everything I have into developing that into a relationship I could be proud of. Unfortunately, there were two people in that relationship and only one was really putting in the effort when it came to matters of the heart.

When you are in a relationship with someone that holds their career in higher regard than anything else then there is only one direction that relationship is going in. I shouldn't have been surprised when I heard those heartbreaking words because there was a 3 year build up to that point, but then hope can be a very dangerous thing. And I did hope that she would see that her actions were destroying the magic we had built in the early years and that there is more to life than climbing the career ladder.

I wanted this blog to be a happy place for the boys to look back on and see all of the amazing things that we have done together and I hope that it still can be. I felt that it was important to write this post though, not only to mark where life changed for us all but also to break down the wall of negativity I had built, stopping me from doing the things I love most. The last 4 months have been a real learning curve, There have been more tears than I think I have ever cried, thoughts and feelings I thought I would never have and I've ended up really losing myself in all of it. 

If there is one huge thing I have learnt from all of this though it's that I have the most amazing group of friends that I could ever ask for. Not only for being there for me but also being amazing support for the two most important people in my life. The love, kindness and effort of all of them (and you know who you are) has got me through what could have been my lowest point. Life can seriously throw you about at times and I'm not expecting this new life as a single dad to be easy, but honestly, aside from the upset and confusion, so far it has been more fun than I've had in a long long time.

The boys and I have a whole new life ahead of us and I plan on embracing every moment I have with them, Its time to claim our lives back, there is so much fun to be had.

"A frisky spirit makes my trombone sing."

Despite opting to not send Opeie to school this year, I still at times run 'Daddy school' (as Opeie calls it) much like school in regards to the subjects. Outside of the reading, writing and numeracy we cover a lot of science and art, we use museums to cover history and also the cultural side of art galleries and museums to cover geography. PE is covered by all manner of things but mainly the Micro scooters, whizzing around on those is all the exercise we need.

One subject that doesn't get covered though is Music, unless of course you count all the dancing about to Justin Bieber that we do. I was desperate to learn an instrument when I was at school but it just wasn't on my parents list of important experiences for us so it just never happened. I don't want that for the boys and I hope their lives are full of amazing experiences during these important years.

The blog has been amazing for making many of their fun experiences possible and a couple of weeks ago we were asked if we would like to try a product that I probably would never have heard of if it hadn't have been for the email, or unless the boys decided brass instruments were the way forward. The pBone, in their own words is  "the world’s first plastic trombone; it's a lot of fun but also a quality instrument, perfect for beginners and professionals". Now when considering an instrument to learn, the trombone wouldn't have been anywhere near the top of the list for the boys. In fact I probably would have ruled out any instrument from the brass section of the orchestra. The reason being the weight. for a 4 year old and a 9 year old with a muscle condition that affects his hands I imagine a brass instrument wouldn't be the most comfortable to hold up, but this is what is so amazing about pBone as an instrument. The lightweight design opens up the trombone to any age and makes holding this instrument a lot easier for people that would find the brass alternative difficult.

The trombone arrived and we couldn't wait to have a go, I couldn't get a peep out of it but in great Opeie style he picked it up and made a huge sound, I started laughing because I was so shocked. Seth also had a go and after Opeie explained what to do he let out a toot too. Its great seeing the boys have a try because of the size of it, but as I said because of the weight issue being taken care of this instrument is now accessible to anyone, a truly amazing product.

So where are we now? Well we live in a world now where if you want to know how to do something right away you go on Youtube! I have learnt so much over the years from watching video's of tutorials and people doing various things. I made an awesome lamp a few weeks back (which I'll write about soon). With this kind of information readily available to the boys I never want them to feel like they cant do something, they know that if there is something I cant do or need inspiration, that's usually where I turn. The initial induction in to learning to play the Trombone has been no different and Opeie has sat and watched a fair few videos.

The pBone has opened up another fun avenue in the boys development and I really hope that it is something that they stick with as I am interested in learning with them. Since receiving the pBone we have also noticed the pTrumpet too and I wont lie, the thoughts of a possible Gifts from the Pirates brass quartet has come to mind on more than one occasion so watch this space.

"My painting does not come from the easel"

Since our recent visit to the Tate modern a few weeks back Opeie has developed a new love of art. So much so that he has informed me that when he grows up he now wants to be an artist and wear a pencil behind his ear, which is a big change from the palaeontologist/rockstar that he wanted to be for the past year. During the Tate visit Opeie took a shine to Piet Mondrian's simple grid style pieces using the three primary colours and couldn't wait to get home and recreate the piece in his favourite media, LEGO.

This week at 'Daddy school' we have decided to embrace his new interest and have an 'Art week'. Researching artists and their styles and then having a go ourselves, a different artist for each day. To kick start our week of creativity we chose Jackson Pollock, simply because Opeie liked the sound of flicking paint all over the place. Firstly though Mrs M had to make him look like an artist. So with a dashing moustache that Dali would be proud of we began our artistic endeavours.

I love that most pound shops these days stock A4 or A3 canvas' and I usually keep some in the house for these kind of activities. I found an empty box to fit the canvas into to try and contain some of the paint splashes and then we found all of the paint and brushes we could find in the house. As soon as Opeie started flicking that paint around he was completely focused and he was loving the art that we were creating together.

 

After going through the variety of colours we had in the house we turned the activity on to colour mixing which was a great lesson for our budding little artist. The finished piece came out so much better than I was expecting and most importantly Opeie was really proud of the work he had created.

In 2006, Pollock's piece No.5 which he had created in 1948 became the worlds most expensive painting, when it was sold for $140 million. So I'll be holding on to this for the future, just in case.

"The fruit derived from labour is the sweetest of pleasures"

Never before have i fallen in love with a piece of machinery, I'm not the sort of person thats ever bothered about 'stuff' and the things that we own. I don't tend to get attached to items like people do to their phones or computers but i would be gutted if anything happened to our new juicer. As we had been using our old one so much we thought it would be a good idea to invest in an industrial one as i don't think we were fully getting the benefits out of our centrifugal juicer.

Its a lot bulkier and doesn't really fit in with the kitchen aesthetics but since having it we've realise we had been slumming it with our old juicer as this beast can take on anything you shove down its chute. The boys are getting in to fruit and vegetable juice more now too which is great for their five a day not to mention all the health benefits that come with it. Seth likes to play a game where I make a fruit juice and sneak a vegetable or two in there for him to guess. Who'd have thought vegetables could be so fun.

There's even attachments for using it to make pasta, pretzels and bread sticks but most importantly for Mrs M is that we've already used it to make ice cream. (although I can't eat it due to not being able to eat banana's, rubbish!). Our healthy lifestyle continues with the help of our new juicy friend.

An introduction to Natural Vegan Eco Mom

In our house the food that we eat and products that we use are so important. We're really picky about what we buy when shopping. It wasn't always like this for me though. Taking care of my physical well being definitely took a back seat and going out, partying and generally living a care free life took president. It's amazing though how dramatically things can change. Although I have always been a good eater when it came to fruit and veg, years ago i would (as much as it sickens me to say it now) frequent KFC more than I would have liked (gross I know). 

Back in 2010, Mrs M while pregnant became really ill and it changed our opinions about food and pushed us into making some dramatic lifestyle changes. It wasn't just about what we were eating but also about where it came from and it's life before reaching our mouths. To many it probably sounds insane but with pesticides and other chemicals on the supermarket veg, unnatural sweeteners in food and just the general unnecessary rubbish that is put into food for preservation you've got to eventually start to wonder what it is doing to our bodies. I for one want to live a long and fruitful life and to do that these changes needed to be made.

Our diet isn't to most people's taste, we know that from the reaction we get when it's talked about but it has been the necessary element firstly for our weight loss (which will be in a post I have written and will publish soon) but also for having the best possible lifestyle for us and the boys. Eating this way has given us all the extra energy and motivation that was needed for us to fully take advantage of our time together.

I know that eating healthy can come at a higher financial cost, especially if like us you also eat as much organic produce that is available but there are so many more benefits. With the ridiculous GMO foods scenario looming over us in the UK and the pressure for the country to get on board this seems like it was the best time for us as a family to make this change. This post isn't supposed to be healthy living shoved in your face like many, (not all) of the vegan sites that are out there, promoting how amazing they are as a person for being a vegan. I'm not concerned with what other people eat apart from the people who are closest to me and anyone that asks, But as the blog is written for my boys it's an insight into why sometimes we say 'we would rather you didn't eat those sweets' or we offer the boys a healthy alternative to something that to them seems harmless to eat. They will understand when they are older why we don't allow them to have McDonald's or most processed foods and I think they will appreciate the effort we (especially Mrs M) go to to prepare their daily meals. 

Which brings me to the main reason for this post, i thought that a post about food would be a perfect introduction. If healthy living is something that interests you or like us you or a family member suffer with food allergies then Natural Vegan Eco Mom (written by my beautiful wife to be) is a must read for spicing up what could possibly be a boring diet. I know that without her cooking flair or crazy food prep knowledge I wouldn't have shifted the weight I have. Having a stash of her homemade healthy peanut butter cups has been motivation enough to keep me eating well knowing that there is a chocolatey treat waiting for me as a reward for my healthy eating throughout the day. To have a mooch through some great recipe's Please click on THIS LINK .

Thanks for reading xx

"The only way to be sure of catching a train is to miss the one before it"

The great thing about old grown out of toys is that when you have a second child they can inevitably be brought out again and given just as much love and attention. A few years back Seth was Thomas and trains mad, I remember one Christmas desperately trying to find 'Rocky' for his collection, I did eventually find him but not until new year. Over the years we built up quite a collection to go with the wooden train track that he had. I've been wanting to write a post about them since I started the blog but they've not really come out over the last 2 years.

I figured today was as good a day as any to properly introduce Opeie to the smiley locomotive and all of his friends from the island of sodor. I've tried to get them out before but Opeie loves breaking things up so putting the track together didnt work. While Opeie was having his morning nap I built my own Sodor so that he could play with it as soon as he woke up.

I love wooden toys, their sturdy and kitch and are safe for smaller children to play with, perfect for if you need to briefly leave the room while they play.

Opeie woke up and was very excited at what he saw. I've tried him with the TV program briefly but he wasn't interested. With toys though its a different story as he loves really investigating every thing.

We had a great time with the trains and I loved watching Opeie chase the battery operated Thomas round the track shouting 'choo choo' and saying 'Oh No' with his hands in the air after knocking him off. I love the versatility of the wooden track, after a while we rebuilt the track starting from Seth's room then headed through the hall and all round the lounge. Opeie was very impressed.

The trains and track are definite keepers, when Opeie out grows them they will go in to storage for possible grandchildren in the future, fingers crossed.

Check out that bed hair!!!

Help us plan our Summer!

Hey! It's Mrs M here.

I've been thinking alot about getting out and about more with the boys this Summer, and have been compiling a list of things I'd like to do: A 2013 Summer wish list. Exciting hey?

Somethings on our list.

• Seth wants to make some huge den's in the garden. (He wants to make a tree house but our tree is too puny)
• Visit Windsor Legoland 
• Throw a family BBQ
• Go Camping with the boys to Shell Island and St Ives. 
• Go hiking to a waterfall in Wales
• Go camping near the beach for Pauly's Birthday
• Visit Warick castle so Seth can see the knights
• Play lots of cricket  for fun with the boys and our family 
• Visit the theatre, can you recommend anything good for us to see? 
• Have a big family picnic( after all we have so many Nuby products we can use ) 

 Seth is so excited about going camping! SO SO excited. Opeie on the other hand shouts ''Tent!!''
( which he learnt from Peppa Pig , when they get a tent too small and Daddy Pig has to sleep in the car) which leads me to ask... have any of you been camping with a 2yr old / 6 year old for a few days? Is it fun? Or is it stressful with two little ones? Can anyone recommend a tent for us??? One that doesn't take long to put up / take down / store?

Since we were invited by Lego to  Lego Manchester Legoland we've been so excited , and can't wait to go to the Windsor outdoors LegoLand attraction, have any of you been? What were your favorite parts for little ones? Did you stay in any of the hotels near by?

What are you planning for your Summer? I am so hoping for good weather as we really want to get into camping with children and share our adventures with you! Can you recommend any good campsites for families? I really hope you can share your experiences with us!