"Dad! don't you think it would be cool if batman had an AT-AT? He could call it the BAT-AT!"

"Dad! don't you think it would be cool if batman had an AT-AT? He could call it the BAT-AT!" was pretty much all the motivation I needed for a couple of nights building while the boys were in bed. I don't like Star Wars at all... but I do like Batman and if I can have some fun giving those boring Star Wars kits a DC twist to put a smile on the boys faces I'm all over it.

Turns out that having a quick flick through the instructions, I had pretty much every part in our LEGO collection, it was just a case of rummaging and finding every single piece (in black of course).

In great Opeie style, Not being completely satisfied that I made his crazy BAT-AT comment a reality, his usual critical self explained that it was far too black and needed a little something extra. I was informed that there needed to be a disco in the back with Batman DJing (that kid always needs a bit of glam). So being the LEGO lovin' Dad that I am, always aiming to please, I added a disco in the back and a mixing desk into to the front (My dad points have gone through the roof).

I'm not sure that Snuffy likes his new friend though!

"Treasure your relationships, not your possessions."

There has been an envelope sitting on our tall boy at home amongst the tin robots since last Thursday, addressed to me and the boys with the strict instructions not to open until 4pm today. As you can imagine me and the boys were very eager for that time to arrive as we had no ideas about the contents of said envelope. Mrs M had left us this as she is working away and we've all been missing her very much.

Excitement was in the air when Seth finished school today and we raced back to see what Mrs M had planned for us. Inside, a clue and the start of what turned out to be a very exciting treasure hunt. I loved how personal the treasure hunt was, some of the the clues were things that only we would know and were aimed at us individually. Considering Mrs M is always so busy with work I don't know how she found the time to organise it.

Not only were we running about the house searching for well hidden items, we also had to take our hunt online and get clues from Mrs M's Twitter page. As excited as the boys were getting, I was starting to get a bit of a headache by this point as because the excitement was too much. I loved the effort that had gone in knowing that she would be away for a few days and it really meant a lot to us that she had gone all out with this surprise hunt.

With clues zipped inside sofa cushions, within the pages of books, inside pen lids and hidden in the barbecue in the garden it was just what the boys needed to perk them up because of mommy working away. I was getting so much out of the smiles on the boys faces, it was lovely to watch. there was one point where there was a clue in a box of Amsterdam shortbread and Seth thought that was the end but the search continued.

The final clue was a memory stick with instructions to play a video and when the boys saw Mrs M wearing a pirate hat and explaining where the surprise was  they were on the edge of their seats. She told the boys that even though she had told them where the surprise was they had to watch the video till the end. She told Seth not to run off and that she knew he was giggling (which he was, he thought that was amazing).

As the video ended they both darted for our bedroom to the lever arch folder in the bookcase that was hiding their surprise. Mrs M notched up some serious super mom points today, not for the surprise itself although we've all been so excited about getting this game and it really will keep us entertained while she is away but for the effort and love that went into organising this without us knowing, so that she can continue to put smiles on our faces even though shes not with us.

I feel so lucky to have Mrs M as a best friend and i know the boys feel exactly the same way. Now to go and play LEGO haha.

Thanks Mrs M there really is no one quite like you x

"Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice."

I seriously need to catch up on whats going on in LEGO Chima, the last time we watched it Cragger was doing everything he could to get one over on Laval but when we opened the box to the Laval's fire Lion kit that we were sent it was clear that they are now best buddies and are even shopping at the same clothes store. This kit looked awesome and we couldn't wait to get building.

The usual building rules applied and Opeie got stuck in straight away with the minifigures and who could blame him opening the bigger of the three characters first. Mungus is a great minifigure and since getting the larger Hulk and Green goblin minifigures from the LEGO Marvel heroes range the boys had been desperate for some more larger characters. Mungus was built and put to one side but as he watched the boys building, he set in to motion evil plans to defeat Laval and Cragger.

The boys, unaware of their possible impending doom continued to follow the instructions for Laval's Fire Lion. Seth was really in to this kit as it combines the standard LEGO with pieces and joints from the LEGO Technics range. The kit was a little more intricate but the boys loved that as it took them longer to build and they really felt like they were achieving something because of the extra effort needed.

Mungus watched on and as the Fire Lion was being built he realised he had probably bitten off more than he could chew and wasn't going to stand a chance against the boys, this huge Fire Lion and his two Chima hero counterparts.

The pieces soon started to come together and Opeie and Seth were getting excited about the end result. I was eyeing up all the bright orange pieces for future builds as we hadn't got any LEGO in that shade until we bought the Guardians of the Galaxy kits a few months back. I love building the kits with the boys but I'm always planning what I'll be using the parts for further down the line. The hand pieces were my favourite from this kit so I'm sure I'll be using those soon.

Despite being able to see the size scale on the picture on the box between the vehicle and minifigures the end result seemed a lot bigger than I expected. With 450 pieces to put together it did take the boys the best part of an hour and a half to build but the grabbing claw mechanism and the weapon that shoots out four missiles at a time made this kit a really interesting build.

Mingus didn't stand a chance and attempted to make a speedy get away followed closely by the heroes. With the Fire Lions grabbing action and snapping jaws Mungus had soon been captured and the CHI was safe. Seth loved the mechanisms on this kit, because of his muscle condition he can find using some of the smaller joints and accessories fiddley but operating the levers on this kit were a lot easier due to the size.

Apart from a few minifigures and the Gorilla Legend Beast set this is the first large set we have had from the Chima range but after looking more in to the great range released recently i think that Maula's Ice Mammoth Stomper is definitely making its way onto one of our letters to Santa.

The good guys win again, I think its about time the bad guys win in one of these posts, but until next time, happy building.

For the full LEGO chima range click here.

"There's not a note of mine that's worth the noting."

I guess this is the start of how things are going to be from now on. I should have really seen this coming, when opting to be the stay at home parent it was inevitable that some sort of 'To Do List' would appear around the house. Before leaving for work yesterday morning Mrs M wrote post it notes of what needs doing around the house and stuck them on the wall in the hall, a list of chores for me and the boy. To keep us out of trouble I imagine. I wasn't sure whether it was to aid my apparent loss of memory at 33 or just Mrs M being her usual dominant self but either way i don't mind.

Luckily as the boys know very well I am super dad, guardian of the house and defender of the little ones and i think i have a broad understanding of what needs doing around the house. After completing all of my tasks and right before we headed out to get our glorious leader from work I made a little list of my own. And it was all packed in to 4 hours, so Ner!!!