My greatest project, the one that is always ongoing, is my family.

There are so many amazing ways you can entertain and educate your children and I like to think that I'm pretty good with plucking fun activities out of the sky and embracing any crazy idea the boys come up with. It's important to motivate their creative side and I've found that having a couple of projects on the go is great for spending quality time together, It's great Father/Son bonding. We started building Seth a BMX last summer which has been great for teaching Seth the ins and outs of owning a bike. It's great riding about and having fun but it's just as fun to get to know how the parts work. Things went a little quiet on the build over the winter but with only a seat and brake levers and calipers to buy Seth is eager to earn some extra cash doing odd jobs around the house to pay for his parts. We try our best to teach them that you don't always get things just for being awesome kids, sometimes you have to earn the things that you want, it's an important lesson to teach early.

While we were out on an adventure last week we walked past a house and there was a BMX at the end of the drive. We were unsure whether it belonged to someone of whether it had been left there as scrap. Later on that day I drove past the house on my way to somewhere and it was still sitting there which sparked more interest. That night I went out on one of my scoots and on the way home I thought 'I wonder if it's still there?', so I took a detour and sure enough it was still sitting there. I had a quick look at the wheels and realised that it flat tyres and banged up wheels, it must have been left as scrap. So I picked it up, held it on to the scooter handle bars and carried it home (which wasn't the easiest thing to do).

As it was so dark I didn't really get to look at it properly but the following morning I went straight into the back garden to check out our find. It turned out to be an old school Diamond back and although there was minor rust and paint chipping, the frame was in pretty good condition. Seth was over the moon when he saw it and that afternoon we spent a few hours in the garden taking it apart and cleaning up the parts worth keeping. It was great to see the skills I had taught Seth being used. He used the rivet extractor to take off the chain and took the tyres off of the wheels to check for punctures. We also managed to sell a few things that we found in the shed that day to fund the project and buy new parts that we need, which was great.

We should have everything we need this week to start rebuilding the bike and I am really looking forward to getting stuck in with him. It's always great to see the end product of anything we create together but for me (and I am quite sure the boys feel the same), It is far more about the quality time spent together.

"There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents, and only one for birthday presents, you know."

I'm not sure why but every time I have started to write this post about Opeie's birthday over the last two weeks I have drawn a blank. I honestly think that I'm in some kind of shock that he has already been around as long as he has and it has thrown a spanner in the works as far as writing has gone. It doesn't matter how many times you hear the words 'they grow up so fast' or 'they'll be a teenager before you know it!' nothing prepares you for just how fast the time with your child really does go by. The day he was born is so fresh in my mind and that look he gave me when I held him for the first time is permanently etched.

Becoming a dad completely changed my world, it took every thing I had thought about 'family' and turned it right on its head (for the better). After a pretty confusing upbringing from a family so wrapped up in themselves, I had got to my late 20's with no real value for family and now that I think about it that was pretty sad. Then Mrs M came along with Seth and put me back on the right path, a path I felt like I should have been on many years ago. When Opeie joined us our family felt complete and having him there really gave me purpose.

I get a little emotional around Opeie's birthday and I kind of feel like I'm not myself for a few days. I think its because in a way it does take me right back to all of the bad times that we were living with on the build up to his arrival. It was a tough pregnancy, physically for Mrs M and emotionally draining for me, watching the person I adored really suffering. All through the year I think about how lucky we are that Opeie is here and how much respect I have for our independent midwife Amanda who was there right by our sides through the entire pregnancy. Amanda not only made sure that Opeie was brought into this world safely but she also made me and Mrs M realise just how strong we are as a couple. 

I obviously didn't plan on Opeie's birthday post being so bleak but then there are a lot of emotional events surrounding his amazing day. 5 years old, I still cant believe it, although that time has gone fast we can happily say that we have filled those years with many amazing experiences for him and he is growing up to be a really amazing child. Not a day goes by where his dancing, skateboarding, amazing vocabulary and general glowing happiness doesn't blow my mind. There is always something he is doing or saying that is really special and as a dad I am completely smitten.

I too will pass on the message to any expecting parent that the parenting years (especially the early ones) really do go in to hyperdrive but I will always follow that with 'Embrace every parenting moment you have!.

Happy birthday Opeie x