"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.

"You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what's in your heart."

A couple of weeks ago we were having one of those relaxing weekends where we had nothing to do but play and take it easy. I was pottering about tidying up and I could hear Opeie and Mrs M chatting excitedly so I went to have a look what they were up to. They had come up with the idea of writing their own newspaper. They were using Opeie's toys and making up news stories like 'Mr Broccoli wins strong man competition'. Mrs M had bought us a Polaroid Pogo printer a few years back which was coming in really handy for printing out stickers for their paper and she was writing the words in pencil for Opeie to go over, to practice his writing. I loved watching how excited he was so as with everything in our house 'if they love it, we embrace it'.

 Since that afternoon me and Opeie have continued to write the first edition of his new monthly paper 'Happy Times', documenting some of the things that we get up to, which has been so much fun. Opeie likes to think of it as his own blog which I think is adorable. We scrapped the drawing over penciled letters though and have changed it to me writing the words, explaining the sounds and structure of the sentence and then him copying it in his very best handwriting. The outcome has turned in to an insight in to the things that Opeie loves, If only all papers were this happy.

I have found this new way of learning for Opeie fascinating and it has made me realise even more that home education was the right thing for us to do. Most days Opeie is motivated and really excited by what he is doing but every now and again he really isn't in the mood and really who can blame him. One afternoon he wrote the letter 'C' wrong and got really worked up about it and was adamant that he was incapable of ever writing it. We stopped writing, put on our helmets and went out scooting and he was fine, when we got home we wrote the word 'confidence' and I explained what it means (he didn't even mention the two 'C's').  We all have off days, but in state education if a child has one of these days, in many cases they are branded the naughty child and made an example of through lack of awards or special time at the end of the day to do their own thing.

I love that we have effortlessly managed to create this in a few weeks despite all the other things we do throughout our days, but then with no distractions and fun 1 to 1 learning I guess its no surprise.  So many people have commented over the years at how switched on Opeie is for a 4 year old and it is clear to see the impact mine and Mrs M's way of educating is having on his development, especially his emotional development.

The great thing about the newspaper aside from the literacy and numeracy side of things is the confidence that is building up and the pride he has in his work. Opeie is so excited about what he has achieved that he wants to show everyone that visits the house. Which has now got me thinking about an extension for this fun activity, so watch this space.

As we finished off our final page (the sports section) a few days back, I was so proud of Opeie's sentence 'we did exercise at the park' the letters were clear, the same size and he wrote confidently in a straight line. It was a great end to the first edition of Happy times...

and now our excited mini journalist is eager to get the ball rolling on issue 2, stay tuned!

"By sticking out his tongue and curling it sideways to explore the hairy jungle around his mouth, he was always able to find a tasty morsel here and there to nibble on"

Seth requested that we have a craft session a couple of days back, he had been reading the blog to catch up on what he had missed last week and saw mine and Opeie's mask making craft post. Seth was desperate to get in on the action so our craft activity became mask making part II. Opeie was shattered and due his nap so we all lay on our bed and read some of Roald Dahl's 'The Twits' which is Seth's favourite book. Opeie soon dropped off (probably because of the lack if pictures) and Seth said 'can we make a Mr Twit mask?'

Seth wanted to make sure he got the details right so grabbed his book and used it for research, he knows the story so well that he didn't really need it but it was cute anyway. It was most important that we included the "slimy tail of a tinned sardine", "mouldy old cornflake" and piece of "maggoty green cheese" in the beard. We shredded lots if card to make his beard hairs that "stuck out straight like the bristles on a nailbrush'.

The mask was a great little craft activity and only took us about 40 minutes to make before we moved on to something else. Mrs M was very impressed when she go home and has now requested a Mrs Twit later in the week (something to keep us occupied for another afternoon during this dreary british summer).