Today our (Step) Dad reaches the grand old age of 34!
We hope you have a brilliant birthday – sorry we can’t all be with you today to celebrate – but we will see you on Friday when we will give you the brilliant presents that we have chosen this year!
Have a great day!
Big kisses & cuddles from
Dan, Em & Josh
xx xx xx
We would like to wish our Mum (Alli) and Dad (Tim) a very happy 3rd Wedding Anniversary.
We can’t believe it is 3 years since we surprised everyone at the party!
We hope you have lovely day.
Love from
Dan, Em & Josh
xx xx xx
On the 5th June I went on a Yamaha off road experience in Bolton for my birthday present.
When we arrived we had to go and check in at a little hut.
After we checked in we had to go and get a helmet, gloves, kneepads, boots, trousers and a top, so I went and got ready.
After I got ready the man gave us some instructions on what we had to do on the motorbike.
Once he had done that I got on a motorbike. At the start it was scary but after a while I got better and better.
As the day went on and on it got hotter and hotter and my riding got better and better.
For most of the day we were riding on grass but at the end of the day we went on the dirt track, this was brilliant and I managed to ride round the track twice on my own without falling off.
And then we had to go and get changed so we could go home.
I didn’t want to go home, I wanted to stay and carry on riding and I have asked Mum & Tim if I can have a Yamaha Day again next year for my 11th Birthday!
This evening Tim & I watched Emilie make her Brownie promise, she really enjoyed her year at Rainbows and decided that she wanted to continue in Brownies, so she has been at Brownies for just over a month.
As Emilie took part in the ceremony the words she was saying came flooding back to me who would have though that after thirty years I would remember the line “twist me and turn me and show me the elf, I looked in the water and there saw myself.”
Emilie then made her promise and she has promised to do a good turn every day which I am sure we will hold her to, not that she needs a lot of encouraging to help me make dinner or empty the dishwasher however she does take an inordinate amount of encouragement to tidy her pigsty (bedroom).
So now our little girl is a Brownie Guide, just like her Mummy was!
This afternoon I had to go for a routine appointment with the midwife and as it was after school finishes I asked Emilie if she would like to come along.
I picked Emilie up from school and we went down to the clinic, after a long wait we were finally called in.
There was a student midwife working with my midwife and she asked Emilie if she would like to help her and Emilie said she would.
Emilie watched as the midwife checked my sample & the midwife explained to her why she was doing what she was doing. Next it was time for my blood pressure to be checked and Emilie was allowed to do the first few pumps on the arm cuff.
Next it was time for the midwife to listen to baby’s heartbeat so I got up onto the bed and she pulled a step up next to the bed so that Emilie could stand next to me whilst they found the heartbeat, this happened quicker than normal as baby decided he was going to cooperate today, maybe he was trying to impress his big sister?
Then the last check was to feel baby so the midwife located baby and then let Emilie feel and explained to her what all the bits were that she was feeling, the look on Emilie’s face was priceless, she looked so pleased.
With the checks all done it was time for Emilie & I to leave, as we were walking out of the clinic she said “I might like to be a midwife when I grow up” so who knows maybe she will be!
When we were off school at Easter we were supposed to go on a surprise day out with Auntie Beverly, we did go out with her for the day but it wasn’t on the planned surprise because of the weather – so today we were finally going on our planned surprise with Auntie Beverly.
Mum got up early to make sure she had our picninc lunch ready as we had to leave for the surprise at 10am to make sure we got there on time. Mum & Dad would not tell us where we were going and everytime we guessed somewhere they responded with “you’ll just have to wait & see!”
We set off from home just after 10am and we were desparately trying to guess where we were going but we couldn’t.
Eventually we arrived at a gated park entrance and drove in and followed the signs to the car park – when we got to the car park we saw Auntie Beverly & Uncle Simon waiting for us so we knew we were in the right place, either that or we were all lost!
We got out of the car and Mum insisted on putting sun cream on us as it was very hot & sunny and our surprise was taking place outside.
Auntie Beverly asked us if we could guess what we were going to be doing and eventually it was Emilie that guessed correctly with “swinging on ropes through trees” – we were at Jungle Parc in Croxteth Country Park, it all sounded very exciting and we couldn’t wait to get started.
We walked to Jungle Parc and we were harnessed up ready for some action, Uncle Simon and Dad got harnessed up as well as they decided that they were going to have a go on the grown up course.
Before we were let loose to climb in the trees we had to have a demonstration of how we had to clip ourselves on securely to the safety ropes. We were shown that we had to unclip clip A and clip it onto the safety rope before unclipping clip B and clipping that onto the safety rope. We were also told to make sure that the fastenings on the clips faced opposite ways to each other.
We showed our instructor how proficient we are at following instructions and finally we were let loose to go and climb in the trees!
Mum & Dad thought that Dan & Em would be a little hesitant & that Josh would set the pace however they were pleasantly surprised. Dan (despite not liking heights) set off on his merry way as did Emilie, who they thought might come over all girlie and not want to take part and surprisingly it was Josh that was bringing up the rear as he was often distracted by what other people were doing around him instead of concentrating on the ropes and obstacles that he was tackling.
Emilie was soon far ahead of the boys as she set the pace, she really was like a little monkey, we think she had an added advantage as she is so light. Dan & Josh made steady progress. In the time it took the boys to complete the course Emilie had done the whole course and repeated the final section!
Dan decided that he was going to have a go on the Black course, Josh & Em were too young & small to go on the Black course. Unfortunately 2 obstacles in and Dan’s fear of heights got the better of him and he decided to call it a day.
So with all the climbing complete (it took us 1 1/2 hours) we headed back into Croxteth Country Park to find a place to eat our picnic. We ate the picnic and then had a play in the adventure playground.
By now we were all quite tired and so we decided that it was time for the obligitory trip to the ice-cream van before heading back to the car and a well earned rest on our drive home.
Mum has said we can definitely go back there again in the summer as she wants to have a go on the grown up course, she wasn’t allowed this time because of the baby bump!
We had a brilliant time at Jungle Parc and can’t wait to go back there again – so a HUGE thank you to Auntie Beverly for arranging this for us.
Earlier this week Mum received the following message from Grandad:
“After many years (11 to be precise) and at great levels of stress encountered The Fat Controller (aka Grandad) has decided that Thomas the Tank will be available to meet all his old and new friends on Saturday coming that is 22nd May 2010.
The first departure will be at 16:10, tickets are readily available from the ticket office, no booking fee is charged.
The sweetie train may also be running dependant on stock availability.
Interviews will be held through the running times as we are looking for staff for the seasonal operation of England’s premier railway”
And yes before you ask our Grandad has gone slightly off the rails!
So just after 3pm this afternoon we set off to visit Grandad & Pauline so that we could see Thomas and the Sweetie train running on the garden railway.
We were very excited, especially about the sweetie train, as were Mollie and Hughie who were also in attendance for the first outing of Thomas on the tracks.
We spent the very sunny afternoon watching the trains go round and round the track, whilst the adults chatted, and eventually Grandad put the sweetie train on the tracks, he was a little bit mean though and made us watch it go round the tracks four times before he stopped it so that we could get our sweets. When the train stopped it took the five of us (Dan, Em, Josh, Mollie & Hughie) a matter of seconds to remove the sweetie cargo!
The Sweetie train then made its way back to the sidings so that it could be replenished so that our Mums and Dads could have sweeties from the Sweetie train (they are all big kids!!!) they had to wait for the train to go round the track four times too before they were allowed their sweeties.
After a few more laps of the tracks by Thomas we decided it was time for us to leave Grandad to play with his trains and we came home, we are looking forward to the next outing of the Sweetie train though, whenever that may be.
Well the week that we Mum & Tim) have been dreading has finally arrived – it is SATs week!
Dan has been working very hard since Christmas on his SATs preparation and now all that remains is for him to sit the actual tests.
We have, as always, told Dan that as long as he tries his hardest in each test we will be pleased regardless of what the final results are.
This morning Dan is not at all nervous or bothered about the tests, he is however bothered that he gets to school on time so that he can partake in toast club!
Good luck Dan with your SATs.
This afternoon we have been to the rugby club for the end of season presentations.
Josh’s age group were the first group to be presented with their medals, his coaches said that the micros had done really well this year and that their ball handling skills were coming along nicely considering they are only five and six years old.
Josh’s name was called out and he went up to the front of the room, with a massive smile on his face, to collect his medal.
Josh has really enjoyed his first rugby season and can’t wait until the season starts again in September as next year he will be able to play in tag matches!
We sat through a few more presentations and then it was the turn of the Under 11s.
The coaches have now been coaching Dan and the rest of the squad for 6 years and they said that this year was one of the best years they had had. They mentioned that this year on the rugby trip to Ireland Dan was christened Rocket becasue he runs so fast!
Like his younger brother Dan made his way to the front of the room with a smile on his face to collect his medal.
The presentation came to an end as did the 2009/10 season, we now get a few months of Sunday morning lie ins before the 2010/11 season starts!
In preparation for our Baby Brother’s arrival in a couple of months we have had to do some room moving.
Over the last couple of weeks Mum (Alli) and Dad (Tim) have had the builders and the decorater in. All the work and painting is now complete so over the bank holiday Dad (Tim) was very busy and moved lots of furniture, Mum (Alli) just had to supervise and make refreshments as she isn’t allowed to do lifting and carrying because of the baby.
Dan is now in a new Manchester United bedroom downstairs and Josh has moved into what was Dan’s old room which was re-painted to freshen it up. Josh still has his Cars theme but he now has a lot more room to play in & he loves his new room & all the film pictures that have been put up on his walls.
The Baby’s room was Josh’s old room but this has all been painted and soon Mum (Alli) and Dad (Tim) will get his room ready, but there is no rush yet as we still have 12 weeks until he is due to arrive.
Emilie & Mum have been at the hospital today as Emilie needed an operation.
Emilie suffers a lot from ear infections so the doctors decided that they would fit grommets in her ears to see if this helped and they would also look at her adenoids & remove them if required.
Emilie & Mum had to be at the hospital for 8am this morning so it was an early start for them and Emilie wasn’t allowed anything to eat, she was only allowed to brush her teeth and have a few small sips of water.
When they arrived at the hospital Emilie was shown to her bed and told to get back into her pyjamas, when she had done this the nurse came to put magic cream and teddy bear plasters onto the back of each of Emilie’s hands – this was so that when she had to have a needle put in there later to put her to sleep it wouldn’t hurt.
Emilie then spent the next couple of hours doing some colouring and watching the television.
At 10.30 it was Emilie’s turn to go to the operating theatre so Mum accompanied her on the journey to the theatre and into the anaethetists room where Mum read a story to Emilie as she was given the medicine that sent her to sleep. Emilie had chosen the story of Robin Hood and she listened very carefully as Mum read it to her, Emilie was very brave as she was put to sleep and so was Mum (she only cried when she had to leave Emilie.)
Mum then spent an hour sat outside the operating theatre waiting for Emilie to come round from her operation, the hour dragged for Mum but eventually the nurse came out and said Emilie was starting to wake up and so Mum wenr into the recovery room so that Emilie would see her when she finally woke up. The nurse explained that Emilie had had the grommets fitted but that when they had investigated she had no adenoids to remove, this was good news as it meant Emilie would recover quicker.
By 12 noon Emilie and Mum were back on the ward and Emilie was starting to slowly wake up, she was quite groggy to begin with but by 12.30 she was demanding a drink and some toast as she was starving! Emilie and Mum had to stay on the ward until 2pm so Emilie did some more colouring and then she was told that she could go home!
Emilie & Mum spent the afternoon at home sitting in the sunshine in the garden doing more colouring and reading and at 5pm Emilie declared that she was hungry and would like chips and gravy from the chippy for dinner – Mum obliged as Emilie had been so good.
Emilie was really brave and confessed to Mum later on in the day that she had been a little bit scared and was shaking inside whilst she was at the hospital but she didn’t say anything as she was being brave – Mum told Emilie she knew that she was a little bit scared as she had been a lot quieter than she usually was!
Well done Emilie – you are a very brave girl!
We love school holidays especially when Mum & Dad have time off work as well as it means we get to spend some quality time together & this week has been no exception.
Monday
We travelled back from our weekend away in Dover on Monday – see the previous blog!
After dinner Dan played on his X-box in his room with his friend Ciaran and Emilie & Josh watched Alice in Wonderland.
Tuesday
This was also the day when Daniel turned 11, he made it! When we woke up we went into Mum & Dad’s room, where we usually congregate for family cuddles and we watched as Dan opened his birthday cards and the one present that he had – he didn’t have a lot of presents to open as he had asked for money this year so that he could buy games for his X-box and his present from Mum & Tim was a voucher for a yamaha motorcross day that he is going to be doing in June.
When Dan had finished card opening we had our breakfast whilst Mum started baking Dan’s birthday cake – she needed to have the cake ready for Dan’s party later in the afternoon.
We spent the morning playing and Dan was visited by his girlfriend, Elle. Dan had invited Elle round for a birthday lunch of tomato soup and crusty rolls – how romantic! Shortly after lunch was finished Grandad & Pauline arrived with a birthday card, birthday money & a birthday cake for Daniel (Pauline had been as busy as Mum in the kitchen!) Grandad & Pauline had the pleasure of being introduced to Elle and for once Grandad behaved himself and didn’t take the mickey out of a girlfriend!!!
About half an hour later Elle had to go home, Dan was sad until he realised that Auntie Nicola, Laurie & Jules were pulling up oustide. Auntie Nicola had wanted to surprise Dan on his birthday so he had now idea that she was coming, she came laden with cards, presents & more cakes.
It soon rolled round to 3:30pm which was when Dan & Em were going to see their Dad. Dad took advantage of their departure and took Josh out to get some new trainers and Mum stayed at home to decorate the birthday cake.
When everyone arrived home at 5pm we decided to have a game with the Nerf guns, sadly this game came to an abrupt halt when Josh ducked to miss a foam bullet, that he didn’t need to duck to avoid, and banged his eye on the radiator. Crying and blood quickly followed!! Fortunately the cut wasn’t too bad and the bleeding soon stopped and we had the added distraction of a Laser Quest party to attend.
Dan had decided that he wanted to a Laser Quest party for his 11th Birthday and so he was joined by 7 of his friends, Tim, Josh & Em for 3 games of Laser Quest – once again Mum had to sit this one out (she is carrying a precious cargo after all!) Mum watched us all running around on the screen outside the dark room, she said it looked like we were all having a good time – infact we were having a brilliant time, even Emilie loved it! Sadly the 90 minutes of LQ soon ended but Dad promised that he would bring us back again soon.
When we got home we all had showers, as we were very sweaty, and then Dan opened his presents from his friends. Then before we knew it it was time for bed AGAIN!
Wednesday
Today Mum had planned a surprise for us, but unfortunately the planned surprise had to be postponed because of the weather, it was very wet and very windy – we don’t know what that surprise was as Mum is saving it for a sunny day.
Fortunately for us Mum was able to arrange something else for us to do so at 10:30am we set off for Liverpool where we were meeting Auntie Beverly as she was coming to the surprise as well.
We were blown across Liverpool to the Albert Docks where we went to The Bug World Experience – we had a brilliant time here. There were lots of bugs to look at and lots of interesting facts to learn about the bugs – we even held some insects – well some of us did.
Mum & Auntie Beverly held an African Millipede (Auntie Beverly didn’t sream!!), Dad, Em & Josh stroked the millipede and Dan refused point blank to go anywhere near it!
Everyone, except Dan, held a stick insect, which tickled our hands!
After a visit to the Bug World shop, where Josh convinced Dad that it was a good idea to buy an ant farm, we went for a spot of late lunch and then we went to the amazing sweety shop in the Albert Dock that we had been keeping a secret from Dad – once he realised the sweets that could be found in there he was like the proverbial child in a sweet shop – his bag of pick and mix was so big it cost £10!!!!!
When we got home Dan went to call for his friend Ciaran and Emilie & Josh decided that they wanted to watch The Simpsons movie.
Then it was bedtime.
Thursday
The morning started with Dad and the 3 of us all going for haircuts – Mum stayed at home ironing!
When we got home we played out on our bikes and then after lunch earlier than expected, but as promised, Dad took us to Laser Quest for some more games. Mum stayed at home and had a well deserved rest.
After an hour of laser questing we came home and played until it was time for dinner, which was one of our favourite dishes tonight – chicken curry noodles.
Dan had to go to bed early this evening as he has an early start on Friday morning, Emilie & Josh lounged on the sofa with Mum and watched James & The Giant Peach before going to bed.
Friday
Mum & Dan’s Good Friday started very early, at 4:30aqm to be precise! Mum had to take Dan & Grandad to Manchester Airport so that they could catch their 8am flight to Dublin.
Mum arrived home at 7am having deposited Dan & Grandad at the airport so that they could go on the rugby tour to Dublin. On her way home Mum had called in at McDonalds and bought us all breakfast so we sat in Mum & Dad’s bed and had breakfast in bed. Once we had devoured our breakfast and drank our hot chocolates we came downstairs and watched Edward Scissorhands whilst Mum & Dad had a lie in.
At 12noon we decided that we should get ready as we were going for our final holiday treat at 1pm – a trip to the cinema to watch Nanny McPhee. We arrived at the cinema in time to buy drinks and popcorn and we sat down in our seats just as the lights were dimmed. We really enjoyed the film and were really pleased that Mum & Dad took us to see it!
And that was it the end of another action packed, fun filled holiday – roll on May, when we have more holidays, but only with Dad this time as Mum has to work.
