"After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb."

If someone had have told me four years ago that in four years time you will be signing up to be a member of the national trust I'd have laughed in their face. I was a party boy through and through and I would never have been found traipsing around a stately home or castle ruins. Just goes to show how much my life has changed and as we sat in a valley coffee shop filling out our application i had a little chuckle to myself.

These days I've traded in the alcohol, late night partying and waking up and not knowing where I am for quality time with the three people I love the most. We asked Seth what he wanted to do yesterday and he told us he wanted to splash around in a stream with his wellies on so I packed the car and we headed on our way. Thankfully the weather was great, warm and with a sun that was shining bright. As soon as we had reached our destination, used the facilities and filled out our application it was wellie time and as soon as Opeie had got his famous and very glamorous pink sparkly Peppa Pig wellies on we were being pulled over to the nearest hole with water in it.

I'm not a huge fan of stomping through streams and turning over rocks but if it makes the boys smile then I'm happy to pop my wellies on and get wet. The stream was pretty shallow compared to our last visit, so Seth's plans at catching fish with his bare hands was soon shattered. Opeie soon got bored of looking down at clear water with nothing going on and dragged me to the foot of the valley where there was a rope climb and informed me he wanted to go up. Excellent i thought, my boy is going to be a climber, that's exactly how I was when I was young, always climbing trees and tall hills. It worked out quite well as while me and Opeie went climbing Mrs M and Seth continued their nature hunt.

It was a steep walk but surprisingly apart from steadying himself on my shorts for balance a couple of times he managed the hike by himself. A huge change from the boy a year ago who could only roll to get about. He was more interested in saying "Be careful daddy" every ten steps (i guess he knows first hand how accident prone i am). When we reached the top Opeie let out a loud 'yeah we did it daddy', looking very proud of himself.

Opeie spotted Seth and Mrs M from way up high and gave them a shout which echoed through the valley. They looked up and waved so we took a photo, not a great one but that's them smack bang in the middle of the picture.

After Seth had finished splashing around and me and Opeie had made our way down we went for a gentle stroll as Seth's legs were starting to hurt. Me and Mrs M being the grown ups that we are took it in turns to sprint up the steep hills while being timed to see who won (I'll let you decide for yourselves who you think was fastest). 

It was so nice being out in the middle of nowhere for the afternoon and spending quality time together. Although Seth Struggles to walk to far,pottering about was lots of fun. The only sad part of the day was the amount of dead bees that we saw. We're always reviving bee's at home with honey and our trip out as made us realise that we need a utility belt with a honey dispenser on it. We did spot one interesting bug though that was happily strolling about.

Well i guess being part of the National Trust now we better take advantage of all the beautiful places in the UK. We will definitely making the most of it over the next year and have already spotted some interesting looking places so stay tuned of the coming weeks. 

Thoughtful acts and Opeie's drawings at 2

Little thoughtful acts are so important, they make day to life life so much happier. Yesterday i needed to pop out for an eye test and when i returned Opeie was standing at the front door to meet me clutching a beautiful card he had made me with mommy. I love receiving things like this out of the blue it really makes my day. These thoughtful acts no matter how trivial some may seem make everything seem just that little more smiley.

Opeie seemed very proud of his creation and rightly so. His little scribble drawings always put a huge grin on my face and the fact that he tells you what each one is is just adorable. Another great addition to my ever expanding memory box, thanks Opeie.

"The richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten."

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Great film and Wise words! Although I've always known this, the past three years have been a shock to the system at just how true the words are. When you have children everything seems to go in to hyper speed so as a doting parent you need to be taking in every moment and grasping them with both hands. Earlier today Mrs M was looking through some old pictures and inevitably Opeie's baby photos cropped up. It had been a while since we had looked through them and I sat down next to Mrs M and was hooked.

It probably sounds bad and it may be just me but its easy to forget exactly what your children were like in the first weeks, of course I've got an image in my head (how I remember him), for me it was one of the first days I held him on my chest and I couldn't take my eyes off him, I was completely in awe of the little person we had created, but when I looked back on the old pictures and videos I realised just how much I had forgotten. He was beautiful, that has never changed but seeing him so vulnerable and new, made me instantly well up.

Looking through the old photos and videos is always amazing but it isn't great for Mrs M's broodiness which over the last few weeks has been getting considerably worse. Mine thankfully had gone into hibernation, that was of course until we clicked on that folder to be greeted by these baby pictures. I would love another child, maybe a little girl and I know Mrs M feels the same. It's such a shame though that we have such complicated pregnancies. That's probably a blessing though as I could see us with 7 or 8 if situations had been different. Mrs M's ultimate argument being 'what if things were different if it was a girl?" What if? When it comes to the 'wanting more babies saga' there's lots of what if's. sorry, as always I've gone off on a tangent a little.

Seeing the photos made me realise just how independent Opeie is these days, he just used to lay there care free kicking his legs and making funny noises. Everything was a lot more delicate, I was petrified I was going to break him some how so was wary of every little thing I did, a big change from the picking him up and throwing him about play fighting that we do these days. I had no idea what I was doing so in some ways would be looking over to Mrs M for some sort of approval that I wasn't making a huge mess of simple tasks, it soon didn't take long though for it all to come naturally.

Mrs M has been saying for well over a year "i wish I could have him as a baby again just for one day", she says exactly the same about Seth. I thought she was a bit crazy but I'm now starting to understand why. As they get older children need you less and less. Although its amazing Opeie having this new 'i can do it' way about him I do miss helping him doing the little things. He is becoming a great little man though, happy, curious, always asking questions and most importantly beautiful inside and out, when he wakes up in the morning the smile on my face is uncontrollable. I realise every day that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be, and I'm happy.

"The fruit derived from labour is the sweetest of pleasures"

Never before have i fallen in love with a piece of machinery, I'm not the sort of person thats ever bothered about 'stuff' and the things that we own. I don't tend to get attached to items like people do to their phones or computers but i would be gutted if anything happened to our new juicer. As we had been using our old one so much we thought it would be a good idea to invest in an industrial one as i don't think we were fully getting the benefits out of our centrifugal juicer.

Its a lot bulkier and doesn't really fit in with the kitchen aesthetics but since having it we've realise we had been slumming it with our old juicer as this beast can take on anything you shove down its chute. The boys are getting in to fruit and vegetable juice more now too which is great for their five a day not to mention all the health benefits that come with it. Seth likes to play a game where I make a fruit juice and sneak a vegetable or two in there for him to guess. Who'd have thought vegetables could be so fun.

There's even attachments for using it to make pasta, pretzels and bread sticks but most importantly for Mrs M is that we've already used it to make ice cream. (although I can't eat it due to not being able to eat banana's, rubbish!). Our healthy lifestyle continues with the help of our new juicy friend.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

Although we put a little aside for the boys where we can and we would never see them go without no matter what age, to me money isn't important, It never has been. Too many people out there obsess about what they have and haven't got and money is the driving force of everything they do. When I was younger we didn't have much money and I've turned out just fine. Although it will be nice to give the boys money towards a house or car etc I think it's so much nicer to be able to give them memories. I do all I can to make sure the boys have got an amazing life to look back on. The blog is part of that, I would have loved something like this to read if I'd have had a happy family life..

I think it's really important for the boys to have things to look back on, photos of family adventures and thoughtful personal gifts and cards that show them just how much they mean to us. Opeie as you know if you're a regular reader is a bit of a bookworm and has been a fan of the Lorax for quite sometime, although he already has the book I thought it would be nice to get him a copy to put aside for when he's older.

While I was having a look on eBay I spotted this eco friendly copy of the book made from 100% recycled paper. I loved the colour scheme and the vintage look so I though it would be a nice edition to add to Opeie's memory box which I have been adding to since before he was born. It's nice for the boys to have books with personal messages in too as books are such a big part of their lives.

I'm going to need something a lot bigger soon for their memory boxes but I know that when they are given to them as adults they are sure to bring back some very happy memories and help them to understand how in love with them I am
.

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."

A few weeks back on the school playground I had a bit if a disagreement with one of the childs grandparents about (in her words) 'arty farty teachers' and how art in schools is pointless and takes away from the important reading, writing and numeracy etc. I strongly disagree, creativity in all its forms should be taught and embraced as much as all of the other so called 'important subjects'. Not all children are academic and some really struggle especially through their teen years so having something in school that they can vent and put everything they can into is the most important thing to them, otherwise all those years of school are just wasted time. 

Both the boys are very bright and aside from Seth's physical issues they are developing excellently with no signs so far of struggle. As a parent it's exactly the position you want to be in as a family. Both myself and Mrs M do spend a lot of time bringing out the boys creative side though, I believe we're all creative in some way it's just finding the right medium. I think it's also important to expose your children to art and culture it teaches them to ask questions. This week I took the boys to the art gallery in Wolverhampton, we've been there many times but because they change the exhibitions it always has a fresh feel without losing the many familiar things that the boys love. When we first got in to Wolverhampton Seth made me laugh by asking for a photo next to the town clock, when i asked him why he told me because it looks like the clock tower in Back to the future (i was so proud, i think a post about educating your kids on great movies will be soon).

 When we got inside the gallery Seth made a beeline for the Georgian room and did his usual dressing up in fancy clothing from the past. Opeie doesn't like it and just wanted to listen to historians talking on the headphones.

And the boys knew exactly where to go to dress up like Sherlock Holmes. I love that the gallery is child friendly and interactive it means the boys have the freedom to walk about without worrying about breaking anything (because everything is safe). Some of the new editions this time round were a magnetic 'build your own sculpture' out of junk which Opeie loved and a room filled with ceiling to floor glow sticks which both boys couldn't get enough of.

We've seen some really great exhibitions during our visits, until this visit my favourite was the Jann Haworth exhibit that me and Mrs M saw a while back but the Ron Mueck exhibit that is on at the moment is breathtaking. I'd never seen his work before so was shocked when walking into a room to be greeted by a naked bearded giant. 

The boys loved it and when we left the room to go elsewhere Opeie kept saying 'big one' as he wanted another look, a proper little art connoisseur in the making. Seth just stared at the pieces taking it all in.

It was nice to see that Seth wasn't just pointing at the naked pieces laughing like I think many children his age would. I think he's really mature for his age, I did notice the corners of his mouth twitch up though when we entered the pop art room and he noticed this beauty hanging on the wall. Seth said it was a bit rude and I asked him why? He said he wouldn't like his bottom up on a wall for all to see.

In one of the rooms there was a kaleidoscope that we all had a bit of fun with but each time we found something new Seth wanted to go back to the glow stick room and Opeie wanted 'big one'.

Me and the two art historians spent a good two hours walking around taking it all in but inevitably they soon got hungry so we headed back to the car. It was a fun morning and as always it was a joy watching Opeie follow his big brother round and copy everything he does. They are so adorable when they are together, I'm a very proud daddy.

"Excuse me sir, but might I inquire as to what's going on? "

We always have a good dance when we're in the car, music is a big thing with me and Mrs M, it was our love of music and similar taste that brought us together. We both have quite eclectic taste and we try to introduce lots of different kinds of music to the boys. Today while driving to pick Mrs M up from work we were having our usual 'on the go dance contest' when Opeie started robot dancing, me and Seth obviously saw that as our cue to shake or steel hinges too. It got us on to the conversation of 'what is the best song to do the robot too?" a question that probably crops up daily for most families, right?

We all decided to take it in turns to pick a track and bust a move, Opeie was first up with:

I'm not a big fan of Will i am but i still let my rusty bolts creek, Seth chose something a little more up my street but i had a pretty good idea what he was going to choose. Great song choice Seth:

 And me? well there's only one sure fire track to get me throwing shapes that C3PO would be jealous of:

It doesn't matter where you are or where your going, there's always time to squeeze in a little dance, me and Mrs M can be found quite regularly having a mini dance off when the boys have gone to bed, its great exercise and a great way to shake off the stresses of the day.

If any of you guys can think of another dance I'm sure we could come up with a mini track list to compliment it.

Bigjigs Play Patrol Agents take on mission 3: Making a creative video review.

Becoming Bigjigs Toys Play Patrol agents has been great, the boys have loved being able to review their wonderful toys. Each mission has been a little adventure and as you may well know, we love adventure. Play Patrol mission Three came two weeks ago and this time round was something a little different. Our mission was to create a video (which is really out of my comfort zone) and be as creative as possible. I had a few great idea's but as you can imagine with two young excited boys it was difficult to get them to perform at the level i needed, i put this down to them both being method actors.

Anyhow after changing my idea half a dozen times i finally got the video finished using some videos i had taken over the last few days and some photos from previous missions. So for your enjoyment Bigjigs Toys Play Patrol mission Three:

All toys featured in the video can be purchased at http://shop.bigjigstoys.co.uk/

"It's like my heart is a tooth, and it's got a cavity that can only be filled with children."

I bet the people if Gotham feel very protected knowing that the dark knight is watching everything they do. Here in Shropshire we can do one better, our batmen come in two's. I for one feel extremely relaxed knowing they are around even if they are more like the chuckle brothers in costume. Yesterday apart from Opeie changing for a brief craft session the boys stayed in costume all day and were running about solving crimes that I had made up.

After a couple of hours they both started to get a bit tired so we sat down at the table for a bit of craft. The day before while Mrs M was at the gym we went for a walk through the park near by looking for pine cones, me and Opeie had found some last week and bless Seth he wanted to be a part of it. I filled my pockets and as we ventured back to the car and Mrs M, we talked about how we were going to paint the pine cones to look like minions (the boys love despicable me).

I set the paint up along with googly eyes, card and extras and got to it. Firstly if you are going to have a go at this wash the pine cones and leave them to dry. We didn't and as soon as we started poking it with a paint brush all manner of angry bugs came running out. The minion idea turned out to be a great idea as we had left the lids off our paint in the garden during a previous craft activity but had huge bottles of the primary colours.

Okay so it wasn't one of our greatest craft ideas but it kept the boys entertained while the weather was looking pretty bleak outside. We've still got plenty of pine cones left so we will have to think of something else interesting to do with them. The afternoon flew by and before we knew it it was time to pick the boss of the house up from work so the dynamic duo jumped back in to costume, climbed into the Batmobile and the adventure continued!!!

 (Blurry i know but its virtually imposible to take a none blurry picture of two very excited crimefighters )

"His passion for his boys and the family is both infectious and inspiring"

Last week i was contacted by my friends over at 'It's My Generation', if your a regular reader you may remember that they kindly put us in the top 5 dad bloggers in an article they wrote and are fans of the blog. They wrote some really great things about the blog and the admiration i have for my family. This time round they were writing a parenting article to the parents of the countries most recent edition to the royals, titled 'Wills and Kate: Parenting the Prince', a kind of what to expect now that your child is here. As i love talking about parenting (it controls everything i do) i was happy to give them my input.

 

 To view the full article please click the link below. Thanks 'It's My Generation, I look forward to working with you guys again in the future.

http://www.itsmygeneration.co.uk/the-blog/wills-and-kate-parenting-the-prince/