"But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold."

When Paper Mario was released on the N64 it somehow completely slipped my attention and Ive never had the chance to play it since. When Paper Mario on the Wii was release though I was completely hooked. The story was completely different to any other Mario game I had previously played and there was a new villain to try and defeat. Playing as my favourite mustachioed plumber with the added bonus of flipping from 2d to 3d was AMAZING and I became a hermet for a couple of days while I completed it. It did take me a while to work out one part from what I could remember because there was a glitch, but it was worth every minute spent playing.

When Paper Mario: Sticker star was released on the 3ds we rushed out to get a copy because I had told the boys how much I had enjoyed playing the previous game. The boys were not disappointed and they still love playing the game now. So when we were doing our usual mooching around on the Nintendo website and spotted the upcoming game Mario & Luigi Paper Jam Bros we couldn't wait to give the next installment a try. Nintendo do such a good job of dragging you in to the games and most of the Nintendo fans I know have been following many of the characters since early on.

Unlike any of the other Paper Mario titles, Mario & Luigi Paper Jam Bros includes both Paper Mario and his more lumpy counterpart when two alternate universes collide and they need to join forces to help each other out. One of the things that I loved from the very start of the game is that you are controlling both Mario and Luigi on the same screen using one button to make Mario jump and another to make Luigi do the same. When Paper Mario then gets thrown in to the equation too you can perform trio moves to get past obstacles and progress through the game. You can use the trio to add power in to your attacks, totem like The legends of Zelda Tri Force heroes and send the slender brother through tight squeezes With puzzles to complete and Pokemon style battles to take part in along the way the game has something for everyone. 

With two princess' to rescue and two Bowser's to defeat, Mario & Luigi Paper Jam Bros is shaping up to be a fantastic game and I am looking forward to getting stuck in over the festive season. Now I've got to try and get the boys off of the game for a bit of Paper Jam craft, I've made my Goomba!

Happy gaming.

"Daddy, whats inside a Sprout?"

I don't know where the Christmas holiday went, one minute I was binging on mince pies and the next minute Christmas was a distant memory. Seth went back to school today, that's when you know Christmas is over. After dropping Mrs M off at work it was back to being just me and mini me.

I'm ashamed to say that over the holidays the TV had been on more than I'd like and because the boys got new games for Christmas the consoles were on a little to much too so today was going to be a tv/ipad/ds and laptop free morning, plus I put my phone to one side too as I'm a bugger for checking and replying to blog related emails throughout the day.

First on our morning agenda was drawing and painting. As opeie has become a huge Nintendo fan over Christmas he requested that I draw him Luigi and Toad so that he could paint them which he did a sterling job of.

After painting we picked a few of Opeie's new books from Christmas and sat down for a cuddle and story time. Our friends Sam and Jamie brought him 'Bear's song' which he loves as he get to search for baby bear on each page who is hiding. We also read Hugless Douglas, Zog and Happy Birthday Santa. I was kind of hoping the reading would send him off for a nap but no chance of that.

After reading a few books and my unsuccessful attempt at getting him down, we practiced his alphabet for a bit using his Bigjigs alphabet board, I'm trying my best to get him to remember which letter is which but its taking its time. He definitely knows which is 'A' and which is 'Z'.

Before we knew it it was time for lunch. Since the Opening of Opeie's diner on Christmas day Opeie has been really getting  involved with the food prep at meal times and today was no different. he happily sat with me at his table hacking away at vegetables while i sliced some up to make pasta sauce. The hacking away then led to a very curious Opeie asking 'daddy whats inside a sprout?'. I asked him what he thought, which was interesting and then i explained that there was only one way to find out and handed him a sprout.

Opeie happily sat for about 30 minutes with a look if intense concentration on his face and peeled that sprout until it looked like a tiny bean. "so Opeie whats inside a sprout?".... "More sprout!" he said with a very disappointed look on his face.

Well it kept him occupied while i made lunch (which was delicious) and then it was time to pick the princess up from work and give her all the love and attention she deserves. Opeie finally had his nap although with the time he went to bed this evening i think it may be a good idea to try and phase his daytime naps out. I need to get back in to the swing of finding fun things for me and Opeie to do during the days now because he'll be starting nursery soon (which is filling me with dread).

Now to search the internet for something fun to do tomorrow, Goodnight.