“Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.”

The autumn/winter weather is definitely here to stay for a while and although its been all big coats and winter boots, Opeie is not letting the change in seasons hinder his fashionsta ways and is still donning shades when he goes out. 

I love how confident he is when it comes to what he's wearing, he reminds me so much of myself when I was a kid trying to find my own style. These retro style cats eye glasses were from Smartbuyglasses and they've got a great selection over Black Friday if (like Opeie) you are looking to stick it to this drizzly wet weather.

Check out the latest deals here.

"Water is the key to life, but in frozen form, it is a latent force. And when it vanishes, Earth becomes Mars."

Despite the coldness and having to layer up this time of year, there is something so exciting for the kids when the temperature drops, especially first thing in the morning. being able to look out of the window and see what has frozen over is great. Opeie spotted a bowl of rocks from the beach that we had left outside and he was fascinated by the sheet of ice on top and the cold water sitting below.

It didn't take long for the ice to melt, especially as Opeie had been stabbing it with a knife so we ventured out into the garden to see what else had frozen over. Luckily we had nor really done mush in the garden so any container that was left out there was full of water from the rain and had a great frozen sheet across the top. Our frozen finds had us taking a trip to the supermarket for balloons and food colouring to fill up and leave outside for making bright coloured ice orbs. Sadly it wasn't quite cold enough last night and tonight's weather is looking the same, so we've now given them a head start in the freezer Brrrrrrrr!

"Sometimes, walking with a friend, I forget the world."

I was having a clear out of my old phone today and found some pictures from a walk me and Opeie went on a couple of months back. I wanted to put them in a post because i thought Opeie looked adorable. Sadly i never got round to it after we had been out so I'm putting them up now.

When you are a parent blogger its handy to have photogenic children, even better when they love getting in front of the camera.

I'd love to be able to look back on pictures like this from when i was younger so i really hope that the boys enjoy visiting the blog when they are older and taking a not so frosty walk down memory lane.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."

This week has been the first chance we've had to venture outside of the car around the new area we've moved to. We've done a lot of driving in and out over the last few weeks but I really wanted to get a feel for the surrounding area.

A few days back I realised Opeie's library books were a few days overdue. As we are only about a mile away from the library me and Opeie packed a backpack, got the Microscooters out of the boot and went on a mission in search of new literature. It was a a lovely scoot down there and everyone was smiling at us scooting together which was really cute.

Yesterday we decided to go for a drive to Carding mill valley, our popular summer hang out. The sun was out but the wind was fierce and it was freezing and when we arrived and realised that between us we had failed to put a big coat in the car for Opeie we hopped back in the car to drive home. Despite the disappointment We were still in the rambling mood when we got home so after kitting Opeie out with the correct winter attire we walked away from the house with no plans on where we were going (just the sort of adventure I love).

It turns out that if you walk 5 minutes from our road in the direction we hadn't been before there are miles after miles of farm land and a 6 - 8 mile woodland walk, it really is quite beautiful and i love having that on our doorstep.

It was cold and wet but the country walk was keeping us in great spirits. It was like being in a completely different part of Shropshire. Originally I'm a Birmingham lad but this is my home and the place I've always felt most comfortable.

Opeie is a huge fan of that classic toy 'the stick' and no adventure goes by without a new stick joining him along the way (well how else is he going to fend off trolls and hold back brambles?).

There was no shortage of animals along the way and Mrs M and Opeie fell in love with an adorable donkey we passed called Penn. Despite the weather (my hands were freezing), it was the perfect afternoon stroll and it is great to be a little more familiar with the surrounding area.

"To cease to admire is a proof of deterioration."

Well it seems that we've had our fill of the snow for this winter. I think we made the most of it though. We did all of the usual snow activities, We made snow angels, had a snowball fight, Made a LEGO  snowman, built an LEGO igloo, all with our own little twist. Although we had lots of fun and I do love the snow I'm glad it's cleared as getting out and about in the car was a bit of a pain at times. It was great while it lasted but lets please all stop to think about the casualties of the snow. The deteriorating snowmen with missing arms and eyes and the igloo's that would be no good to any of the passing Inuit's we may have in the Shropshire area. Today I will be thinking about you all. Until next year my fallen frozen comrades.

"Of course you're not an elf. You're six-foot-three and had a beard since you were fifteen."

So it's day 2 of the snow filled fun. I woke up with Opeie early and we had cuddles on the sofa under the blanket and watched the usual Yo Gabba Gabba/Aquabats Super Show marathon while Mrs M and Seth were still asleep. Looking out the window it was obvious that i wasn't going to be doing the Saturday morning trip to Tae kwon do so i knew i could keep my Giraffe onesie on for a couple of extra hours.

Seth woke up around 7 and we pretty much played with the Lego until Mrs M woke up. Seth was itching to get outside but Opeie's teeth were giving him jip so Mrs M took Seth sledging and we stayed in the warm. Opeie started to feel a bit less groggy so i decided to get him ready to go in the garden

Again it seemed to take forever to get him ready and by the time we got into the garden Mrs M and Seth were just getting back. Seth stayed in the garden with us for a bit making perfectly round snowballs, sledging and writing our names in the snow but as he had already been out for a while he was cold and decided to go in.

Opeie was wrapped up nice and warm in snow trousers and his fancy pink wellies so he was good for a bit more snow fun, so next on our agenda was a snow man. It was Opeie's first snow man so i wanted it to be something fancy. Opeie loves playing with Lego minifigures, he will sit there for ages swapping the heads, bodies and giving them new hair and hats so i decided to make a snow minifigure...

I gave him a crash course in how to roll a body out in the snow and we was having lots of fun but unfortunately he started to get cold and wanted to go in and play with Seth. I decided to stay outside and make Opeie his Snowy Lego man. I did feel a little bad because the house was a bit of a mess but then how often does it snow?! 

It didn't take to long to make and ended up looking pretty good, the hardest part was the hands. The boys loved it and it's another nice thing for them to look back on. Hopefully the snow will still be here tomorrow and we can have yet another afternoon of snow fun.

"Then come the wild weather, come sleet or come snow, we will stand by each other, however it blow."

It seems that everyone in the UK has gone 'snow mad', Every time it snows in this country people act like it has never snowed before. Mrs M has been hilarious this week, checking the Met Office every hour and updating me on when the snow is coming and how long its staying for. I love the snow but I'm patient and much prefer the surprise of it coming round. Ive avoided the social networking sites as much as i can as it seems that each one has turned into weather.com and there's only so many 'it's snowing' updates i can take.

Well the snow is actually here now so i thought i would write a post about what we've been up to (snow related of course). We didn't have any last year so this is the first bit of snow that Opeie has experienced so he has been excitedly sitting at the window desperate to get outside.

There wasn't much on the ground when we woke up this morning so i got Seth ready for school as usual but as we walked through the gates it was clear that he wouldn't be in school very long. After the slightly dangerous drive home, brakes locking and skidding all over we sat patiently waiting for a text from the school which came at 11am saying we could get Seth. It took me three times as long to get to the school but i was happy to have Seth out so that we could concentrate on having some fun. 

After what seemed like an hour and a half getting the boys dressed we were ready to head out. I know the boys need to be warm but Mrs M seems to want them both looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow man in all their layers. They each got in a sledge and we pulled them down the road, although Opeie soon lost interest in that and wanted to be carried. We headed up to  a local school where there were some hills for us to make the most of the sledges.

We all had a great time but Opeie started to really get cold it was very cold and we all had bright red cheeks. Silly daddy should have put Opeie in a balaclava (I'll know for tomorrow though).

Mrs M decide to take Opeie home, i think they had both had enough of the snow. Me and Seth stayed for some more sledging and a 'snow battle' as Seth called it. We went down the hills on the sledges backwards, on our tummies and i even used mine as a snowboard which made Seth laugh.

We had a snowball fight but sadly the inevitable happened and i hit Seth in the nose with one (Oops), he was Ok though and soon got over it after giving me a big snow beard to get me back...

Soon after we both started to get really cold so Seth got back in his sledge and i pulled him home so that we could have a nice cup of tea and a cuddle under a blanket. It was a great couple of hours and we will definitely be making the most of snow over the next few days. Tomorrow we'll be making a snowman i think so be sure to keep reading.