"And on that day Mr. Caper learned how sweet being earthy and acidic could be."

With tomorrow being World book day you would expect every school around the world to be doing something amazing to join in with the celebrations. Not Seth's school though, for the past 3 years they have not done anything and the couple of years before that they decided to have their world book day on a different day??? I have absolutely no idea what is going on in the head teachers mind but clearly there is something wrong up there. When we asked his teacher why they didn't do anything he simply said "we're not allowed". So again this year March 2nd has come around and Seth, much like many children at his school I imagine, is left disappointed.  He loved the costume we made him a few years back and proudly walked across the playground dressed as Mr Twit. What has annoyed me even more though is that this failure to get involved with the whole world on this awesome day has left Seth unmotivated to get involved in what we are doing too, which is really sad.

Opeie and I have been crafting away this week though and decided to have a World Book Day activity week in preparation for the big day, so we've been busy doing all sorts. Opeie wanted to make masks of some of his favourite book characters. So he made the Lorax, the sweet lollipop and sour caper from The great Lollipop Caper by dan Krall, for me and him and for Seth, Bzzd from the DC Super pets from the books that Opeie is reading at the moment. 

Opeie also wanted to make a giant crayon from Oliver Jeffers amazing book 'The Day the crayons Quit'. If you've not read this book already it's a must.

While chatting to Opeie we decided that it would be a good idea to take some chocolates and biscuits down to the staff at our local library, which I thought was a great idea. We picked up some bits while we were out shopping and then we made some book related packaging to go around each thing. It's been lovely seeing Opeie get into all this book-related fun. Opeie finished off his fun world book day treats with a card for the staff at the library and he's looking forward to dropping them off tomorrow. We also gave his scooter a mini makeover too for the celebrations but I'll put that in a separate post.

It's going to be another fun couple of book themed days for us and We hope you all have an amazing world book day too.

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."

As we took down the trees and the decorations last week we all felt a little gloomy as the house looks so bare once all the colour and glitter has gone. As we carefully packed away all the tree decorations we have collected over the years it made me realise that we needed the next installment of our Gifts from the Pirates fox hunt. Whenever we've been out shopping on the build up to Christmas and spotted a festive fox we've snapped them up straight away. So here are the sly ornaments that were making our trees look pretty this year...

Nanny and Grandad added an extra fox themed book to Opeie's ever expanding collection which was lovely. I love how family and friends pick up on the little quirks that make our family what it is.

Each year we pick a toy to sit on top of the tree (angels are so last season). We've had Holly from Ben and Holly, Cat in the hat and Miffy and this year foxes made their way to the top of two of our trees.

Nanny and Grandad again turned up a few weeks before Christmas and gave the boys a very cute Fox each that spent the build up to Christmas keeping each other warm on our stairs. It was a lovely little touch to our festive looking home, thank you Nanny Roo.

I'm already looking forward to what foxey treats next year has to offer. 

"We don't create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay."

Having two boys is great, especially two adventurous boys. Ever since Seth was a little boy he has wanted to recreate all the stories I have told him about my own childhood years. He cant get enough of my past adventures, favourite toys and movies and music I loved while growing up. I do everything I can to fully embrace their ideas and being a big kid at heart myself I love that feeling like I am reliving my adolescent years. Building a den was always top of my list when i was at home playing alone. I didn't have the greatest home life at times with parents that were at each other throats a lot and I remember that throwing a sheet over two chairs or hanging blankets off my top bunk to build a cocoon gave me a chance to disconnect from what was going on around me.

'The base' is something I have integrated into our play times on many occasion but this time around these makeshift hideaways have a much more positive impact on the boys development. There is no need to hide away from anything upsetting and they are something we can enjoy together. Of course they are there for the boys to play pirates or soldiers, pretend they are cowboys camping out with their horses but they are also there for us all to cosy up, read, books and catch up on our favourite shows on Netflix. 

When it comes to the way we entertain the boys, many of our experiences of our own upbringing is recycled and I believe its a lovely thing to pass on as it shows a real connection. The boys had been introduced to Dr Seuss early on as his stories were my favourite growing up and Mrs M has installed her love of Dick Bruna into them too with her huge collection of Miffy books. Thanks to Netflix there is an ever growing catalogue of cult shows that I remember rushing home from school for. Although its not in their catalogue at the moment, I got to re-watch the X-Men animated series which was one of my favourite shows growing up. Danger mouse has now been added which the boys are getting into over dinner (I'm hoping Count Duckula will also appear at some point too). This evening I noticed Pete's Dragon is also there too (I loved that film as a boy), So I'll be looking forward to showing them that too.

 The effort we put in as parents and the way we communicate with these little versions of ourselves is so important. The experiences we have gone through, our hobbies and interests and the things that made us happy growing up can build some pretty strong foundations for an amazing parent/child relationship. 

Build a base, go on an adventure, share the TV shows you loved as a child because as a parent whatever effort and love you put in you will get back tenfold.

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."

Me and Mrs M have never celebrated Valentine's Day as we are always doing nice things for each other throughout the year. I do try though to make the effort for the other ladies in our life, Nanny Roo and Auntie Lottie. Last year we took a trip to build a bear and made valentines bears for them both which they loved. This year I wanted to make sure they put their card making skills to good use. Of course mommy needed a card too.

We're always drawing, painting or colouring but it's nice sometimes to have a special reason for it and someone to give the finished piece too. Making cards is also great because it gives us a fun excuse to get Opeie practising his writing. He seems to be more in to the whole activity when he's creating something for someone he loves too.

Opeie's a big fan of cutting and pasting he loves getting the glue out. We made Mommy a Miffy card using a dog eared book from a charity shop and Opeie wanted to make the most of the packaging from his Paddington Bear he got last week for sleeping in his own bed, as Nanny had taken him to see the movie recently he wanted Nanny's card to be all about Paddington.

Seth drew a lovely picture of mommy for his card and Opeie went on a heart drawing rampage for auntie Lottie's card to show her how much he loves her.

The boys were excited about putting question marks in their creations and although they were written out to 'Nanny' and 'Auntie Lottie' I suspect they had absolutely no idea who their secret admirers actually where.

"One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak."

I'm determined to take full advantage of this glorious weather we've had over the last few weeks and with Seth being off now too there's even more reason to get out and about and soak up some vitamin D. Before Mrs M left for work she put the words Carding mill valley in the boys heads so thanks to that there was nowhere else we would be. It was a beautiful morning and after packing a lunch we piled in to the car and headed to our destination (but not without grabbing the usual bulk of toys).

Being up, dressed and ready for action to drop Mrs M at the train station is great as like this morning when we arrived at Carding Mill it was quiet and peaceful, there was only one other car on the car park... Bliss! Seth wanted to head straight towards the waterfall as he had never been before, I knew it was going to be quite a struggle for Seth because of his muscles but I don't ever want to hold him back. With plenty of patience, long stops and a bit of carrying I got the boys there safely and from the look on Seth's face it was well worth the wait.

I'd never ventured any further than the waterfall but Seth being the adventurer that he is insisted we climb to the top. This part was a little more difficult and it meant I had to carry one of them up and sit them somewhere safely while I went back for the other. When we got to the top we spotted a small flat piece of land for our picnic that was next to the stream running down to the waterfall. It was such a beautiful spot and gave us the chance to cool our feet off in the cold water.

After messing around for a while, chatting about everything and nothing and hunnting for grasshoppers we headed back in the direction of the car throwing rocks in the stream a long the way. The boys were clearly shattered but we still managed to stop for a game of frisbee before heading home.

Within five minutes they were both asleep in the back of the car and because of the heat I felt like I could have joined them. I really hope this weather carries on because its beginning to shape our summer holidays perfectly.