“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
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"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/

"The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most."

I generally try and pick one thing a day to concentrate on with Opeie's learning. Some days it letters others its numbers but over the last few days me and Mrs M have been working on his colours which is going really well. While doing her usual window shopping on amazon Mrs M spotted some colour flash cards that were perfect for Opeie and and great for us too.

Both being quite arty and coming from a creative background we have both used pantone referencing in the past so these pantone flash cards are great. On the one side of the card is solid colour with the colour name and reference code and in the other side is cute drawings relevant to colour and description (very cute).

  

These have been stuck all around the house and we ask Opeie throughout the day what each colour is. He's getting a lot better at knowing his colours now which were really pleased about. I love watching Opeie develop and he seems to have changed so much over the last few weeks with his speech. Its great to know everything is moving in the right direction and he's not struggling to much with anything.

"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).

Movin' to the country gonna eat a lot of.... Raspberries?

Yesterday was our first day of the summer holiday with Seth because of him being away. Mrs M woke up and came in to us in the morning and mentioned going to Essington farm for some PYO fun. We went a few weeks back but Seth wasn't with us and missed out on the fun, plus they didn't have much in season. Mrs M had completely run out of her beloved beets and I was low on greens for juicing so we got ready and headed out.

It was a sunny morning but as soon as we pulled away in the car it started to rain, typical. We debated turning around but Mrs M was in a positive mood and said 'let's just go', luckily when we arrived at Essington the rain was just coming to a halt and the sun had definitely got his hat on (hip hip hip hooray). There was plenty more in season this time round so after filling a basket with beets we moved on to the onion field (yummy). Seth doesn't like onions but as long as he got to pull something out of the ground or rip something off a tree he was in his element.

We soon moved over to the raspberry field and Mrs M turned in to a gannet. Stuffing her face like they were going out of fashion, that was until PC Seth pointed out that she needed to pay for those before consumption. This was followed by Mrs M shiftily sneaking them every time Seth wasn't looking (never underestimate Shropshires finest I wouldn't put a citizens arrest past him).

Me and Opeie walked off up the field and I spotted what I thought was a grasshopper jumping through the grass but when I bent down to have a closer look i realised it was the smallest little frog I had ever seen. He was adorable, Opeie was excited and kept repeating 'Ribbit' and Seth told us he wanted a pet frog. Mrs M offered to pitch him a tent up there so he could live there but he thankfully declined.

We spent a good hour or so picking and our baskets were full of raspberries, onions, beet root, gooseberries and peas it was a good little haul and should keep us covered for the next few days at least. We do go through so much veg though that I'm sure we will need to visit again soon.

Its great having Seth with us during the week, we always feel a little guilty when were out doing things and he's cooped up in school. we will certainly do our best to make sure he has a fun holiday while he's with us. As for me and Opeie, well were always joined at the hip but he's clearly a much happier boy now that his big brother is here to look after him.