"When one has not had a good father, one must create one."

Day 93:

Fathers day has always been one of my favourite days of the year and this one was lush, I got breakfast and coffee in bed, a lovely card and most importantly lots of cuddles. The weather wasn't great but we managed to find a spot by the river in Jackfield where we could park, open the boot and paint in the back of the car while it thrashed it down, perfection.

'With great building power comes great creativity'

Back in June I wanted to write about fathers day but I really wasn't in the right headspace to be writing anything. I'm kicking myself now for all the things I could have documented from the last year or so because the blog has always been an online journal for the boys to remember all the fun things we have done together. When they do look back on this I don't want them to feel like I was completely lost during the time I wasn't writing. I may have not been posting anything but I was still crafting, adventuring and playing with those amazing boys every single day. 

Last week, while the weather was thrashing it down Opeie decided that he wanted to build the Daily Bugle from Spider-man, A scaled down, solid build that he could transport around backwards and forwards to his friends.

He made a baseplate the exact size floorspace that he wanted for the build and then we started building our way up. I love how Opeie and his friends play with the things that they are creating and the style of the build really reflects that. With something like this, with more than two floors, he really wants to be able to play with each floor in different ways so we built each level separately making it easy to unattached and placed side my side so that all rooms could be played with together.

It's the little quirky bits that Opeie adds to all his builds that really makes me smile. The golden bugle and the stone bugle player really gave Opeie's creation some character.

The great thing about this build was that it made me think about fathers day again and it gave me a chance to tie that build into this one. Opeie had given me the Spider-man kit with Ned in and was desperate to sit and build something together. When it comes to fathers day I just want to be doing something fun with the boys and when it comes to gifts my favourite ones are the ones that get us creating together, its the kind of bonding for us that you just can't beat. Opeie filled me in on his idea and then we sat down with a cuppa and got stuck in. It was the perfect kind of day for a 'dad celebration'.

We seem tone going through a bit of a Spider-man building binge at the moment and we're just finishing off something big so watch this space.

"What can't be said can be written. Because writing is a silent act, a labor from the head to the hand."

Its been a great week this week for being included in peoples top dad blog lists. Today we had a lovely email from the guys over at Dotcomgiftshop to let us know that over on their blog they had added us the their top ten favourite blogs in the run up to fathers day

http://www.dotcomgiftshop.com/blog/blogs-by-dads

Its so nice to know the blog is being enjoyed as i spend a lot of time writing about what we get up to and I'm so passionate about making my family smile. To all the other dads out there i hope you have a great Fathers day. Thanks Dotcomgiftshop.

"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.