"I only work in black. And sometimes, very, very dark gray."

For those of you that know us or are regular readers, you may have wondered how the Lego movie had gone by without a mention. It was obviously going to be a huge thing at gifts from the pirates, a full length Lego movie featuring batman, a new series of minifigures, kits and video games, all the things we love. Well it obviously didn't slip our attention. The movie was amazing and me and both of the boys loved it and although I was going to write about it when we saw it a couple of weeks back it seems the movie was all the motivation the boys needed for some new custom builds. After coming out of the cinema we headed to Smyths. I had parked the car outside and walked down to the cinema as I knew the boys would be in a Lego frenzy itching to buy minifigures. One of the characters we ended up with was Wyldstyle and it gave Seth the idea of building Wyldstyle a house. Work began the minute we walked through the door and Lego building has taken up an hour here and there over the last two weeks ever since.

Seth knew exactly what he wanted and was quite clear about the end result he had invisioned. He wanted to keep the colours of the minifigure in the building so we stuck to black, pink, purple and blue which looked great. He also wanted saloon style doors because of the Wild West theme in part of the film and a robot butler (just because he wanted one).

The building apparently needed a garden with trees I guess to give the exterior a softer look...

Something that always makes me chuckle about Seth's Lego builds is that whatever he is building it always seems to come with some sort of holding cell. I'm sure a child psychologist would have a field day and come up with some explanation for that. But I think it's just because he knows already in this life that there's a huge need to lock up bad guys. We do always add into the build some sort of escape route though like this swinging slide out roof.

It's not all guns, getaway vehicles and action. Sometimes the heroes need to be able to pop their feet up with coffee and the daily paper, you can't be fighting crime and master building all the time.

But when it is that time you need to be fully aware what's going on which is why on most of our larger builds Seth includes some sort of CCTV command centre.

As the bulk of the bricks were black there wasn't much light being let in for playing so when Seth decided that the second floor needed to be a dance floor we built a see through floor that could fully slide out making it easier to play in the lower levels. The reason Seth wanted a dance floor is because in the movie people keep day 'wyldstyle' sounds like a DJ name.

We've been collecting the recent series of minifigures  (as we do with every series) so they inevitably appeared on the build too. I love it when a new series comes out and in the first few weeks of release I can be found feeling up bags in our local toy shops. Minifigures are educational too. If it wasn't for Lego Seth and Opeie wouldn't be asking who both Shakespeare and Abraham Lincoln were. So it's nice for them to be learning these things early. I'm quite sure they will both have had enough of Shakespeare by the time they reach their teenage years.

It didn't take us long to complete Wyldstyle's house and Seth and Opeie have been playing with it every day since.

And then all that was left to do was make use of the dance floor on the roof.

Seth being Seth though wanted to get stuck in to a second build. It's only fair that the star of the movie gets his own place too. I wanted to wait till the build was complete but Seth came up with the idea of photographing it mid build with all the Independent contractors present and working hard.

Seth even made a digger carrying bricks for the photos which I thought was an amazing touch. I really love the way he gets into the building. He reminds me so much of myself. Emmett's house is coming along nicely. It looks like a work site exactly how Seth wanted and is shaping up to be a great build with hidden trap doors, fun touches...

...and of course a holding cell for the less desirable characters from the movie.

Our Lego movie themed creating hasn't just stopped at buildings. Wyldstyle needed a way of getting around so we designed her a fun motorcycle with rocket launchers

And Mrs M made us all proud by getting involved too, building a garage for Wyldstyle's wheels, the boys love it when mommy plays and I love it when she gets involved too. Lego is a great for spending quality time as a family.

I'm sure there will be a post soon with the finished build and possibly a new one started. Seth has big ideas of building a whole town so it will be interesting to see how that all pans out.

"A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves."

After getting over the initial shock of the sun being out and it being a lovely looking morning, I decided that We needed to make the most of the weather that was lighting up our back garden. We quickly hopped in the car before there was a sudden change and made our way to Shrewsbury to adventure around the castle and hit the charity shops looking for books.

It was such a nice change for the sun to be lighting up the sky and it put us boys on a great mood. If it hadn't have been for the wind blowing us about we might not have noticed the chill in the air.

We had a walk around the grounds and scaled the castle wall. Opeie had packed an adventure bag for himself, a book to read, some toys and a telescope for just in case, well you never know where we're going to end up.

After investigating the area we sat down to read the book Opeie had chosen for the outing 'what was I scared of?' By Dr Seuss. It was nice to be sitting outside reading and it made me think how much I want to be using the trampoline again this year for lying in the back garden and reading books like last summer.

It wasn't long before my little companion was feeling tired so he hopped on his favourite spot, perched on my shoulders and off we went in search of the car.

But not before helping one of the charity shops part with a few Dr. Seuss classics.

“If you like books with happy endings then put this book down immediately.”

Never underestimate the determination I have for completing a collection. I'm a regular visitor of charity shops, wherever we end up on a day out if Theres a charity shop near by ill sniff it out. I've found some great things over the years but mainly (like the basis of this short post) it's all about books. The boys plough through them so picking up cheap books is a necessity. About 8 months a go I found a copy of A series of unfortunate events book one in a charity shop in bridgenorth, I remember the books well from when I was younger and although I'd not read them all I was sure that Seth would really enjoy them despite the gloomy undertone. When I walked in to the next charity shop along and spotted book three staring back at me I took that as a sign.  Vowing never to buy a full price copy of the books our collection began.

Over the first three months we had managed to track down another four of the books and was well on the way to a complete collection of all thirteen. As with any collecting that appears in our day to day life, hunting down Lemony's melancholy works was becoming addictive.

On month 6 of our 8 month literacy adventure it was clear that Opeie was fully on board with the cause when he single handedly tracked down another five of the books (which cost me £1 for them all). We were a little disheartened when we realised at home that we already owned book six and now had two copies but it was a learning curve and I made a note of the copies needed in my phone.

Within two weeks book 4 and book twelve were in our possession our collection was coming to an unfortunate but exciting climax...

For a month and a half the Elusive book 8 had got the better of us,until this Saturday, while house and dog sitting for a friend we took Ferris the dog for his daily bowel movement escapade and walked him into Lichfield town centre where I quickly spotted an Oxfam. Myself and the boys excitedly entered the shop as if we were going to buy a wonka bar in the hopes of a tour around the Wonka factory. On one of the shelves sat book 11, Seth dived towards the fixture incase another Lemony Snicket enthusiast was in store and there tucked neatly behind book 11 was the final book in our collection.

 Book 8 had done it's best to elude us but this time it was myself and my mini readers that came out on top. There was nothing unfortunate about this book adventure and it made it even more clear just how exciting a good read can be.

"BIG M, little m, Many Mumbling Mice. Are making midnight music in themoonlight... Mighty nice"

After the disappointment of not being able to attend Opeie's dance class last week due to illness and not being able to show off our fox masks for the 'f' themed class, we were eager to find out this weeks theme. The letter 'M' (for March) was this weeks theme and as I consulted my partner in crime bringing forward some possible options for the day Opeie made it quite clear (as he does a lot these days) that he would be attending the morning as 'Mario'. I love to get stuck in creating something for a Monday morning but it seemed that we were practically sorted with only a minute craft session needed (which gave us more time to high five each other - Mrs M).

We were missing a moustache so we quickly drew an outline on some black paper, cut it out and attached it to a chopstick, voila! 

Our mini plumber entered Clatterbugs confidently holding his moustache with pride (until someone spoke to him and then he pulled his hat over his face, classic Opeie). Opeie's letter 'M' themed morning was complete. All he needed to do now was save our own beautiful princess peach from work for cuddles and our adventure would be complete...

And daddy??? Well Mario's trusty Mushroom sidekick was as always, by his side and ready for action. "Lets a go".

"Constant use will not wear ragged the fabric of friendship."

Poor Opeie has been feeling grotty for a week now. He very rarely gets ill and this has been the first time that he's ever had to see a doctor so we knew it must be bad. His sleep routine is all over the place, he's been napping 3 times during the day which means he's been up till late most evenings. Because of all the sleeping and his general fatigue we haven't done a lot aside from cuddling and lounging around (no complaining from me though i love cuddles with my boy).

As I've had a bit of unexpected time on my hands during the day and have been fairly good at keeping up with the washing and housework, I have taken full advantage by playing with my new toy (yes I'm a big kid). It turns out the Nintendo 3ds is so much more than a cartridge playing console. I had clicked on the StreetPass Mii Plaza a few times over the last week but was greeted by 'there doesn't seem to be anybody in your plaza' or words to that effect. Basically a gaming loser!! 

Story of my life. So with my spare time since yesterday I've been finding out more about it. First you need your Mii Maker to create your personal avatar, which you will have gone through when first switching on your console after purchase.

It has become tradition that when there is a new Nintendo console introduced into the house we all have to have Mii characters made, having a bald head, beard and glasses means i can get a pretty accurate and rather dashing avatar...

Once you have created your Mii character and have sorted your internet settings you're ready to head over to the StreetPass Mii Plaza. As I said, I had a little look prior to this but was told I was basically a Billy no mates. I couldn't play any of the games because... Well I had no one to play with.

To get friends on your Mii Plaza you physically need to go out looking for them, which if I'm honest seemed a little insane but then 'don't knock it until you have tried it' has been a moto that has worked out 9 times out of ten for me in the past (that one time jumping off a garage roof on my BMX was a bad choice but at least I tried it). To prepare yourself for a Nintendo friend hunt expedition all you need to do is keep your console switched on, close the lid make sure the wireless button is on (yellow light) or slide the sleep switch if it's a 2ds, pop it in your pocket and go out walking, preferably somewhere busy. I wouldn't fancy your chances of befriending anyone while out rambling.

My first thoughts were 'this is crazy who goes out walking around with their console on looking for friends?' But then... I was walking round with my console on looking for friends!! So I answered my own question. I only popped to the shops to get Seth some new school shoes and by the time I got home my green light was lit indicating I was no longer alone in the Nintendo avatar world, Lizbee was my new friend. What I love about this is it's perfectly safe for children, there's no personal details only a nickname and there is no live interaction, no messaging the person or chatting at all. Your literally just collecting Mii characters to play with in your Plaza. Seth is gong to love this when i explain it to him

One friend doesn't seem like much but then I wasn't expecting any so a great friend hunt in fair. I was intrigued and found it a little addictive. We popped out yesterday and again I took my 3ds with us. We were out a little longer that afternoon and when we returned, green light again. This time though my 3ds had interacted with 10 others who were added to my plaza...

There are puzzles and games to complete using your new found friends, One is a series of jigsaw puzzles where you collect a piece off every Mii you interact with while out and they do the same with the pieces you already have, another where you use your new friends to battle ghosts in hope of rescuing you from your prison. In not sure what happens when these are completed but I'm interested to find out. There are also other games available to buy in the Nintendo store through your console which i will buy over the next few weeks.

There is so much more going on with this console and if it's going to be a few more quiet days in then I will be fully taking advantage until it's back to my usual busy days. Until then, if you own a console from the 3ds family and see me out and about walk past and give me a big Nintendo 'hello'.

"Big F little f, F..f..F. Four fluffy feathers on a Fiffer-feffer-feff"

Despite the lengths we go to to teach Opeie about letters and numbers sometimes I think he's a little to young to fully understand. Other times though he surprises me and completely blows me away with what he's picked up. Last week at the end of Opeie's music class, Julie revealed the theme for this week, the letter 'F' and as she reeled off some relevant words Opeie turned to me quite to the point and said 'Like Fox or Feet!'. It really did take me by surprise but it's so nice to know that what we are teaching him is sticking.

So yesterday morning's craft session was all about the letter 'F' and it was clear from the get go that we would be attending Clatterbugs this week as Foxes. If you've read the blog before then you'll know that the Fox makes a regular appearance with our 'fox hunting' posts where we take photos of foxes we spot while out and about. We do own a fox mask that we bought a while back but it's more fun to create something ourselves.

We managed to find all the material we needed to create our masterpieces so we got to it. Opeie's been really unwell this weekend so the activity was partly to try and take his mind off feeling grotty. The Poor little soldier sniffed and coughed his was through our craft session but he was having fun. 

We were making one each, so we made mine which was really simple and then I gave Opeie the option of any famous foxes he might want to create, fox in socks, fantastic mr fox, tails (from sonic), Robin Hood, Mr Todd, but in the end he went for Swiper the fox from Dora the explorer.

Our masks were really quick to make which they needed to be because poorly Opeie soon lost motivation and just wanted to have a cuddle on the sofa with mommy and who could blame him, it's exactly where I wanted to be too.

Sadly Opeie was to poorly to show off his cunning creations this morning so we stayed in the warm with the promise of a foxy dance later when he's feeling up to it. We'll just have to get working on next weeks theme instead.