"Leave no stone unturned."

Our main objective when going to the park two days ago was to find a big bag of rocks for some craft fun, Today was a bit gloomy and cold so after dropping Mrs M at work early we headed back to make use of our findings. I had given them a good scrub in some soapy water yesterday so they were nice and clean for our creative session. The plan was to paint them (which i think i did when i was younger at school) so in preparation we went to Hobbycraft yesterday to buy some Acrylic paint and some new brushes.

Seth was excited about letting his creative flair run wild as always and the mention of the word 'paint' is always going to put a big smile on Opeie's face. I started to get everything set up and Seth wasted no time and ripped the brush packet open and began his masterpiece. I like to draw on mine so i know exactly where the paint is going, Seth takes a more spontaneous approach and just gets stuck in, and Opeie.... well, he likes to pretty much throw the paint at whatever he's trying to create. Three different styles yet the outcome is always amazing with a lot of love and effort put in.

Inevitably after about an hour of painting the boys started to lose interest and wanted to do something else. Seth, still feeling in an artistic mood decided that body painting was his next venture and decided to paint his own hand. Opeie?.... Well he decided to throw a little tantrum because i wouldn't let him walk around the house with open paint pots and a brush that was dripping red paint. Needless to say after ten minutes of crazyness they were back to their calm selves and helped me clean up.... yeah right, they went and watched the Lorax while daddy cleaned up, I'm such a pushover.

The whole activity lasted about an hour to an hour and a half but that was mainly because as we are three men, three impatient ones at that, after every layer of paint i sat and dryed them with mommies hairdryer which skimmed off some of the frustrating waiting time. My favourites at the end of it were Seth's purple and green incredible hulk and Opeie's multicoloured tie dye effect rock. When i asked Opeie what he wanted me to paint he said 'Spider-man' and 'The Lorax' (bet you didn't see that coming).

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

To embrace Opeie's new love of Dr Seuss i thought i would splash out on a collection of books that i spotted on eBay to add to the books we already own. Ive always been a huge fan myself so Opeie's big day seemed like the perfect excuse to treat us both to something we love. It's so nice as a parent to have a special something that you do together and sitting together reading Dr Seuss seems to be our thing. Opeie holds my little finger and we say "Best friends" to each other, it's very cute.

Sadly the books didn't turn up in time for his birthday, they arrived the following day so as Opeie can't have chocolate due to allergies the lateness served as a great Easter present for him. He went straight to bed when we got home from out trip to Chris' on Friday so he didn't get to read them when i opened them but i managed to read a few of them relaxing in the bath.

Opeie's favourite so far has been 'wet pet, dry pet, your pet, my pet", but after not reading it before i have fallen in love with 'Thidwick the big-hearted Moose' what a cute story. Ive been so good since Christmas completely reigning in my toy collections but after buying these i can feel a book collection brewing. I think it's really important to have plenty of books at home for your children's development and Opeie is turning in to a real bookworm.

I'm quite sure Opeie's new books will keep us occupied for sometime especially because he loves hearing the same stories over and over. We've read the Lorax seven times in the last few days, i don't mind though as they are great stories and are fun to read. Plus i love seeing the big smile on his little face every time i turn a new page.

There's something really magical about these crazy books with their pages of insanity, it's probably the same way Mrs M feels about Dick Bruna. It'll be nice to have a collection to give Opeie when he's older. Next on my list to buy is 'Dr. Seuss & Mr Geisel and 'The Lorax' pop up book because Opeie is loving the new pop up books we brought Mrs M for mothers day which i will write about very soon.

"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees"

Opeie's recent obsession is The Lorax and yesterday we watched the film three times with the old film and the book breaking it up (Got to love the variety). I do love it though so it's not to bad at the moment, he was pretty much the same with Bee Movie a while back. I found a free app in the iPhone Appstore which has also been keeping him occupied...

Opeie's been sticking a Lorax moustache on all his pictures but the cutest thing is that he's been continuously telling us how he feels about trees...