Dressed for success

Today Opeie has been really excited about getting to wear a new T-shirt. I'm always so jealous of the great T'shirts that we find for him. He's my little super hero accessory. I'm still on the hunt for matching T-shirts for us all this summer so watch this space.

An hour at the park after school

 Just a few pictures from the park today...

"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone"

 I haven't written one of my waiting in the car posts for a while and now I find myself parked outside the supermarket with that little cutie asleep in the back. Recently I have found that time on my own as brief as it is has been a bit grim, my mind wanders to thoughts of people that have let me down in the past. I do everything in my power to make sure that the boys are happy, the main reason being... well I'm a dad what dad doesn't want to see a big smile on his children's faces! But a small fraction of it is to make up for my own relatives who have turned out to be a huge disappointment. I tend to hear "you can't chose your family' quite a lot, but can you imagine if you had that option, being in a position where you wouldn't actually choose a single one of your apparent family members? 

I've come to realise over the last 2 years that in regards to my relations I am all alone. I like to think that despite this I embrace my situation. It means all that love and attention that I was spreading about isn't wasted, I can concentrate on the important people, the people that appreciate me and want to be a part of my family. I'm thankful for them and they are the reason I smile 99% of the time. I honestly don't know how i'd cope without the boys and that beautiful lady of mine. Coming to terms with the reality of things was hard, no one wants to admit that their family members have no consideration for them, but I know my life is better without them and is moving forward and blossoming the way it should.

So why is it that on these rare occasions that I am alone my mind wanders. I'm not angry, I'm not really upset I just feel low? I guess that over the years i have expected far to much of these people and was innevitably setting myself up for a fall. how hard is it for people to just be nice? I didn't really want to write anything negative on the blog and i certainly didn't want this to come across as a rant but as its for the boys to read when their older I think it's important for them to know how I have been moulded into the father that I am. I take having a family very seriously and I would give them boys everything I had. I will never give them reason to be disappointed in me.

"The only way to be sure of catching a train is to miss the one before it"

The great thing about old grown out of toys is that when you have a second child they can inevitably be brought out again and given just as much love and attention. A few years back Seth was Thomas and trains mad, I remember one Christmas desperately trying to find 'Rocky' for his collection, I did eventually find him but not until new year. Over the years we built up quite a collection to go with the wooden train track that he had. I've been wanting to write a post about them since I started the blog but they've not really come out over the last 2 years.

I figured today was as good a day as any to properly introduce Opeie to the smiley locomotive and all of his friends from the island of sodor. I've tried to get them out before but Opeie loves breaking things up so putting the track together didnt work. While Opeie was having his morning nap I built my own Sodor so that he could play with it as soon as he woke up.

I love wooden toys, their sturdy and kitch and are safe for smaller children to play with, perfect for if you need to briefly leave the room while they play.

Opeie woke up and was very excited at what he saw. I've tried him with the TV program briefly but he wasn't interested. With toys though its a different story as he loves really investigating every thing.

We had a great time with the trains and I loved watching Opeie chase the battery operated Thomas round the track shouting 'choo choo' and saying 'Oh No' with his hands in the air after knocking him off. I love the versatility of the wooden track, after a while we rebuilt the track starting from Seth's room then headed through the hall and all round the lounge. Opeie was very impressed.

The trains and track are definite keepers, when Opeie out grows them they will go in to storage for possible grandchildren in the future, fingers crossed.

Check out that bed hair!!!

"Don't play what's there, play what's not there."

Yesterday afternoon while i was washing up Mrs M came in and said 'come and see what Opeie is doing'. We both stood at Seth's bedroom door and watched him playing so nicely with his toys. He was talking to all his super hero figures and acting out some sort of story. It was so lovely to watch, Seth would never sit and play on his own but Opeie is happy playing alone sometimes. I'd love to be a child again for just one day or see things through the eyes of Opeie. I know I'm a big kid but there's nothing quite like a child's imagination.

I finished washing up and joined Opeie playing with his toys. I decided to give him something new to play with. I don't think Mrs M has noticed yet but i gave him one of his birthday presents early (oops), I'm a sucker for that excited curious look on his face when he has something new to investigate.

Hulk and his little truck were a hit but i knew they would be. After being driven around the floor for a while the green hero decided that he was going to take over the Batcave for a while...

I love playing with the boy's, partly because I'm a big kid myself but mainly because of the interaction. Sitting down and spending time with your children doing what they want to do is really important and builds a great relationship. All the action figures aside though i can go to bed at night with a smile on my face knowing that i will always be Opeie's favourite toy.

A little bit of craft to break up the day...

Today while we were out getting our food shopping for the week we popped in to a couple of shops to get some Easter craft bits for Seth's school. We picked up some plaster of Paris chicks and bunnies for Opeie to paint which we got straight to when we got home. It meant that i could keep Opeie occupied while Mrs M made us a tasty lunch.

I can never work out whether its the actual painting that Opeie loves or just making a mess, he had used up most of the paint painting the plate before it hit the Easter decorations, he had a lovely smile on his face though so he was having fun.

I probably shouldn't find it funny but I'm always entertained when Opeie gets paint on him or food down himself, he has a mini panic attack and needs it off him straight away. So it was most important that i had wet wipes at the ready.

We finished the painting and Opeie had a well deserved snack break before moving on to his Batman sticker book.

Opeie loves stickers (or stickies). They usually end up being stuck everywhere but he will happy work a room sharing out his stickers making sure that everyone is well covered, he's generous like that. No to think of a craft activity for tomorrow...

For more craft activities check out our other blog giftsfromthepiratescreate.com

A few hours with mini friends.

Fun in the park with Seth, William and Matthew..... I don't think i need to say much more!!

The little scientist gets a day out at Thinktank

We've all been having such a great half term and have managed to really make the most of it. Seth has decided recently that he's really in to science so we've been doing experiments at home. Yesterday we decided to take the boys to ThinkTank to fuel Seth's new passion and we were really pleased when auntie Lotty said she was going to come with us. We all love Lotty she's so much fun and yesterday was the first time Opeie said 'Charlotte' which was so cute.

 After picking Lotty up we headed to Birmingham, we were looking forward to having lunch at TGI's to start our adventure, Opeie had other ideas...

Typical Opeie, he's such a cutie though. Lunch as always was lush but in great Opeie style he didn't want to eat his. Lotty decided she was skipping lunch and went straight to dessert (my kind of girl).

After lunch (and colouring) we headed to ThinkTank and as soon as we walked through the entrance we were hooked, there was so much to do everywhere you looked. We really didn't know what to do first so after having a little wander about looking at fossils and a crocodile in the floor we asked Seth what he wanted to do and he decided he wanted to go to the 'Big bang Show'. The show was great with lots of explosions. I was so busy taking in what was going on around me that i didn't take as many pictures as i would have liked.

  My favourite part was the old cars and motorbikes...

After looking out of one of the windows and seeing the outdoor play area the boys were itching to get outside and play so even though it was freezing outside we headed out to explore the activities.

After the play area we headed home, it was getting on a bit and we wanted to miss the rush hour traffic (didn't really work out though). We didn't manage to get round even half of Thinktank as there was so much going on so were going to buy a years pass and go again soon. Only 3 days left of half term i cant believe it's gone so quick. Ill be counting down the days till the Easter holiday.

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. "

Were doing our best to make the most of the school holiday and today we took the boys to Wolverhampton art gallery. A couple of days this week they have activities on for families. The event took part within the David Hancock exhibition: Cosplay. So in keeping with the theme of the exhibition the gallery had laid out a great selection of fancy dress items.

There was also some manga themed images for the boys to colour in, which they both had lots of fun doing and a big bowl of multi coloured plasticine for making models, Seth made a selection of monsters and robots and i made a vampire.

 

 The boys enjoyed the activities they had on but were both more interested in looking round the rest of the gallery. Seth loves taking in everything and Opeie is happy following his big brother around. They are so cute when they are together.

We didn't spend ages there, within a couple of hours we were all getting a little hungry so we headed back to the car to eat our 'car picnic' that Mrs M had lovingly prepared. Half term seem's to be flying by but we've still got some fun things planned for the rest of the week. Tomorrow Seth's friends William and Matthew are coming out with us so visit us again tomorrow to see what we get up to.