This evening our Grandad David has been on the The One Show on the BBC!
Apparently Grandad David looks like an old footballer called Ian Rush, we have no idea whther he does or not as we don’t know who Ian Rush is but Daddy (Tim) says that he does.
The lady on the show wasn’t very nice though as she said that she thought he looked more like a Chuckle Brother – that is just nasty!
We had to get up very early this morning (6.30am) as we needed to drive down to Reading so that we could attend our cousin Joseph’s Christening.
We got up, had breakfast and then got ready into our finery – so that we were ready for the Christening when we arrived. At 7.30am we set off on the 197 mile journey to St Nicholas’ Church in Reading, we made very good progress and we arrived at Uncle Michael’s house at 10.30am, am hour before the Christening started. When we got to the house we could hear our little cosuin screaming and we mean screaming not crying. The poor little man was teething and so he really wasn’t very happy.
Shortly after 11am we left Uncle Michael’s house and drove to the church where we met up with all our family who had also come down for the Christening. We are quite a big family now and we took up a 2 rows in the church. When the service began the Vicar asked for 2 volunteers to go up to the front of the church to light the candles – Daniel and Jake volunteered to do the lighting and they did an excellent job.
The service was quite long and it was quite warm but we were all very well behaved and sat nicely in the church. Joseph was very good during the service and didn’t cry too much.
After the service we went to the Redigensians rubgy club for a bit of a party. We had great fun at the party as we were able to play with Courtney, Jake, Luke, Amy & Callum. Daniel and Josh found a rugby ball and went out onto the rugby field and played rugby for the afternoon – only coming in for food and drink.
We were really impressed with the Christening cakes that were made by “Auntie” Carole Shakeshaft – they looked fantastic (apart from the reference to MCFC rather than MUFC) and they tasted delicious as well – we would welcome cakes from “Auntie” Carole Shakeshaft at anytime!
Sadly we had to leave the Christening at 3pm as we had to make the 197 mile journey back home – it was great to see our cousin Joseph again – he is lovely and we only wish that he lived nearer so that we could see him more.
The future England rugby star – Joshua Marshall started his rugby career this evening as he attended his first training session at Warrington RUFC.
Josh has been a regular attendee down at Warrington RUFC as he has watched many of Daniel’s training sessions and matches. For quite a while Josh has shown a great interest in starting rugby and he was really pleased when we told hm that he could finally start training on a Friday and that come September he would be able to train on a Sunday when Daniel trains.
To start with Josh had a one on one session with one of the senior coaches as they ascertained how good Josh was, as he has played a bit with Daniel he was deemed good enough to join in with the other boys. Josh had loads of fun and he did really well throwing and catching the ball on almost every occassion!
When the training session finished Josh asked when he could next go to training – we think he might like rugby!!
We returned home and the boys went out into the back garden and Daniel continued showing Josh how to throw and catch the ball in the proper manner.
One day we hope to hear “what great play between the “brothers” Agnew and Marshall – they really do play well together”
This week we have been on holiday with Mummy (Alli), unfortunately Daddy (Tim) had to go to work on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
We have had a very busy week – here are the details:
Sunday
Unusually Josh was not with us this weekend (he was on holiday) so the house was quite quiet without him and unfortunately because he wasn’t here he missed the bouncy castle that Bethany had for her birthday party. The bouncy castle was brilliant even Mummy (Alli) and Daddy (Tim) had a bounce on the castle!!
Monday
Josh arrived home just after 4am this morning but he was still wide awake at 8am! We had decided that we wouldn’t do much today as we didn’t know how tired Josh would be and we didn’t want to tire him out too much, so we spent the day at home and played on our bikes.
At lunchtime Daddy (Tim) decided that as summer had arrived that we should go out and purchase a bbq and have a bbq that evening for dinner – so that is exactly what we did! Daddy (Tim), Mummy (Alli), Em & Josh went out to B&Q (Dan stayed playing out with Bethany) and we deliberated over which bbq to buy, eventually we decided on the one that we wanted and then it was time to go and get some food to cook on our bbq.
When we got back home Daddy (Tim) assembled the bbq and just as he started to cook the food it started to rain a little bit – however, this didn’t stop us! Daddy (Tim) cooked burgers, sausages, chicken drumsticks and chocolate bananas and we ate them underneath the patio umbrella. Unfortunately Josh didn’t get to eat his chocolate banana as he fell asleep eating his sausage!
Tuesday
Emilie & Josh had an early morning appointment at the swimming baths as they had extra lessons booked for this week so that hopefully when we go on holiday in August they will be able to swim. Daddy (Tim) took them to the swimming baths for 8:30am, as this would be the only chance he got to see them swimming this week as he was working the rest of the week. Whilst those three were out Mummy (Alli) and Dan took Holly to the vets as she had a little operation.
At 11am we left home to go and meet Auntie Jennifer, Uncle Mike, Amy & Callum at Walton Gardens. Mummy (Alli) and Auntie Jennifer had arranged for us all to meet up to have some fun and a picnic. As soon as we arrived at the gardens we found our perfect picnic spot and settled in, then we were off playing in the park. After an hour of playing we decided it was time to crack open the picnic, we had lots of food to eat and just as we finished the savouries we surprised Uncle Mike with a birthday cake (a day in advance of his birthday).
After lunch Daddy (Tim), Uncle Mike, Dan & Josh played football whilst the girls and Callum went to look around the childrens zoo. When Callum came back from the zoo he asked Uncle Tim if he could have an ice cream knowing that Uncle Tim can’t refuse his requests! We had ice creams and then all the children had a go on the big inflatable slide, Callum was a little bit small but he managed to get to the top a couple of times with the assistance of Dan. Unfortunately it was soon time for us to leave and go home as we had other activities planned for the evening and we needed to have dinner before we could go out.
On the way back from Walton Gardens we collected a very subdued Holly from the vets and then when we got home we had our dinner. At 6pm the boys and girls then went separate ways, the boys (with Bethany) headed off in the direction of the Trafford Centre to watch Wolverine at the cinema and the girls made their way down to Fuss for a manicure and pedicure. The boys had wanted to watch Wolverine but Emilie didn’t so we decided that the boys should go and that the girls would have a girl’s night, so Mummy (Alli) took Emilie to Fuss to have a manicure and pedicure and then they both came home, got into their pyjamas, got some chocolates, cuddled up under the settee and watched Alice in Wonderland!
Wednesday
After Em & Josh’s swimming lesson we came home and we played out on our bikes again. After lunch Mummy (Alli) took us into Warrington as we needed to choose some presents for Daddy (Tim) as it is his Birthday and Father’s Day in the not too distant future. We think Mummy (Alli) thought this would be relatively quick and painless however we proved her wrong!! It took us nearly 3 hours if traipsing around the shops to finally settle on things that the 3 of us could agree on! We went in almost every shop and picked out some highly unsuitable items before we finally struck gold and all managed to agree on the gifts. When we had purchased the gifts (we can’t tell you what they are, as this will ruin Daddy’s surprise) Mummy (Alli) treated us to a drink and cake. The rest of Wednesday afternoon was spent playing out and then at 8pm we all settled down to watch The Champions League Final – needless to say we were not amused by the result – but we didn’t let it spoil our holiday!
Thursday
After yet another early start we made our way across to Auntie Kimberly’s house, we then left there and made our way to Camelot with Auntie Kimberly, Uncle Dave, Jessica, Jordan, Liam & Ryan.
We had a brilliant day going on lots of rides and watching the jousting show. Mummy (Alli) went on a really scary ride with Jessica – only her & Jess were brave enough, or stupid enough, to go on it!
We were rather amused to discover that Uncle Dave likes to mind everyone’s bags when they go on rides rather than go on the rides himself – we think he is actually scared off the rides!
Friday
Josh & Em had their final early morning swimming lesson and then when we got back from the swimming baths we decided that we would have a play at home day.
At lunch time Dan went round to Bethany’s and then they headed off to the cinema, whilst Em, Josh and Mummy (Alli) met Daddy (Tim) for lunch. Daddy (Tim) didn’t want to go back to work after lunch and we didn’t want him to either but he had to!
When we all got home Dan & Beth decided that they were going to have water fight, whihc resulted in a very wet Daniel an hour later – his clothes were dripping by the time they had finished, he was so wet that Mummy (Alli) made him strip off at the back door before he could come in the house!
Em & Josh didn’t want to join in this time, which is unusual for them, and they decided that they would play “Babies” instead which involves one of them being a parent and one being a baby. It was a very realistic game this time as Josh was being the baby and he was put to bed by “Mummy Emilie” and he actually fell asleep!!!
Sadly at 5pm our week together came to an end as Dan & Em had to go and see their Dad.
Never mind only 10 weeks until we get to spend 2 weeks together on our summer holiday!!!
This morning Dan (the fish) was assessed during his swimming lesson and his teacher has decided that he is now good enough to move up to the next class.
During his lesson he was asked to show the other boys & girls how to do the “wiggly worm” stroke properly (butterfly without the arms) – he is amazing at this and it is very funny just watching this bottom stick up out of the water every couple of seconds.
Dan is now on level six and they wear blue hats (if they want to – which Dan doesn’t!!)
Well done Dan – keep up the hard work!!
We are delighted to announce that just a few minutes ago Emilie & Joshua simultaneoulsy rode their bikes with NO stabilisers!
Grandad David did attempt the riding of bikes with no stabilisers when he stayed with us in October but Emilie & Josh were not interested. However, today they both declared that they wanted to go out on their bikes and try with no stabilisers so we were only to happy to oblige.
Mummy (Alli) supervised Emilie and Daddy (Tim) supervised Josh and virtually at the same time they both shouted “you are doing it you are riding with no stabilisers.” The looks on Emilie & Josh’s faces were brilliant they looked so pleased with themselves.
Unfortunately a few minutes later Daddy (Tim) wasn’t looking as happy as Josh didn’t use his brakes and ended up srcrapping his handle bar down the side of a neighbours car, and the neighbours saw what happened, the car is now going to have a respray and Daddy (Tim) is going to have to settle the bill!
Never mind though – at least Emilie & Josh are riding without stabilisers and they don’t want to get off their bikes now!
We have just completed our annual Easter Egg hunt – this year the Easter Bunny tried something a little bit different.
He left us a note on the stairs with a chocolate bunny, the note told us that he had hidden the eggs and that we needed to look for eggs with our designated coloured star on them.
So off we went on the big search – we hunted high and low – we found eggs in the lounge, dining room, conservatory, kitchen, office, garden(!) and even on the cars!!! Easter Bunny had really gone to town this time on hiding the eggs!
As usual we received lots and lots of eggs (10 each) and we can’t wait to eat them all!!!
Emilie also declared at breakfast that she knew where the chocolate eggs come from – chocolate chickens of course!!!
Daniel and the rest of his team mates from Warrington RUFC were playing in a tournament at Preston today.
We are delighted to tell you that Warrington RUFC Under 10s won the tournament!
Mummy (Alli) has just spoken to Daniel and he is over the moon that the team won and that he scored a try against Ormskirk in the qualifying matches this morning.
Well done to all the team!!!
Shortly after we got in from school this evening Grandad and Pauline arrived at our house to wish Daniel a “Happy Birthday.”
Pauline had once again been baking, something we all enjoy eating the product of, and she bought a birthday cake for Daniel to have. We waited for Tim to come home from work and then we all sang “Happy Birthday” to Daniel and then set about devouring the delicious sponge with lemon icing cake – it was so delicious we all had 2 pieces and the cake was all gone within 5 minutes of the candles being blown out!
Thank you Pauline for the cake.
We should mention that whilst Grandad was here he tried to pinch our dinner and at one point he was caught eating cold baked beans out of the tin!
We were very excited on Friday evening when we were picked up as we knew that Finley was arriving for his first visit to our house! We were a little bit disappointed that he hadn’t arrived when we got in but apparently Auntie Alex, Ellie and Finley had what is known as a nightmare drive up north!
Mummy (Alli) and Daddy (Tim) had been a little sneaky though and had not told us that Ellie was also coming up to visit us. The reaction on Daniel’s face was a sight to behold when Ellie popped her head around the door and said very casually “Hi Dan” we think the hug she got from him nearly broke her back!
We enjoyed our Friday evening with Finley even if it was quite short as being a baby he has to go to bed early, but not until he had had fun in our “big” bath as at his house he only has a little baby bath. He splashed Auntie Alex a lot!!
Apparently the adults stayed up quite late on Friday night and were drinking dirty beer and champagne, Mummy (Alli) and Auntie Alex thought it would be a good idea to drink 2 bottles of champagne which they regretted on Saturday (some more than others!)
Saturday was an early start for some of us, surprisingly when we got out of bed Daddy )Tim) was already up – this is unheard of in our house and even more unheard of is that fact that Mummy (Alli) stayed in bed as she wasn’t feeling too good!
Daniel went out for the day with Beth from next door to go and watch some cars racing at Oulton Park. This meant that Emilie & Joshua could have lots of fun with Finley and Ellie! Ellie became their own personal climbing frame and also “assisted” (some would say hindered) them when playing Indiana Jones on the wii. Auntie Alex and Daddy (Tim) had to find a garage to take Auntie Alex’s car to as it had become poorly on it’s way up north. Once a garage had been located and the car dropped off the 7 of us went out to The Stretton Fox for some lunch – which was delicious!
When we got back from lunch we played some more and then it was time for baths again before we put Finley to bed and then we all sat down to eat lots of sweets and watch Madagascar 2 – which was brilliant! When the film had finsihed it was time for us to go to bed ready for Sunday which was going to be an exciting day as on Sunday we were all going to Dan’s birthday party!
On Sunday morning normal service was resumed, we got a bit of a lie in this morning as the clocks went forward which meant Finley wasn’t awake as early as he was on Saturday, and when we came downstairs Mummy (Alli) was busy in the kitchen and Daddy (Tim) was in bed having a lie-in. The morning was quite hectic as Mummy (Alli) and Ellie were busy making sandwiches for the party and then Mummy (Alli), Ellie & Emilie started preparing a roast dinner so that we could eat that at lunch time before we went to the party and we also had to watch Daniel open his birthday presents (see Dan’s Birthday post for details).
We all had our roast dinner apart from Finley who had mashed banana, advacado and yoghurt which when we tried it was actually quite pleasant! After the roast we went to Dan’s party and had lots of fun and then we came home. When we got back from the party we all went into the back garden and watched Daniel open more presents, then he disappeared with Beth and we stayed to show Auntie Alex, Finley & Ellie how good we are on our roller skates and we also had a go on Dan’s new skateboard, Emilie did quite well as she only managed to fall off once! Daddy (Tim) had a go as well and was trying to do some tricks but he didn’t have a lot of space so was unable to show us his full repertoire.
Unfortunately rather quicker than we wanted it was time for baths again, at first we thought Mummy (Alli) and Daddy (Tim) were kidding as it was still light and Emilie even plucked up the courage to say “Why are we going to bed when it is still light? We go to bed when it is dark.” Daddy (Tim) explained that it was because the clocks had gone forward and despite us still having our doubts we went and got ready for bed as we knew we all had to get up early in the morning for school.
Monday morning arrived all too soon and it was the usual manic Monday, we are sad that when we get home this evening Auntie Alex, Finley & Ellie will be gone but we are happy that we spent such a brilliant weekend with them, it is times like these when we wished we owned Airwolf so that we could go on flying visits to see our family in the south!
Thanks Auntie Alex, Finley and Ellie for coming to see us, we hope to see you all again soon.
Happy Birthday to our very eldest rock band wannabee, Daniel, who is 10 today!
Love from
Mummy, Tim, Emilie and Josh
x x x x
Officially Daniel is 10 tomorrow but the decision was made that as tomorrow is Monday and he will be at school all day and it is “manic” Monday which means we all have to be up and out of the house by 7:45am that he could have his “birthday ” today which meant he got to open his presents and play with them before going to his party this afternoon.
So at 11am we all gathered in the lounge and watched Daniel open his presents, as is usual he was spoilt rotten by all our family and friends here is the list of the presents he got:
Mummy, Tim, Emilie & Joshua – Electric guitar and amplifier and a skateboard
Grandad & Pauline – MUFC bin, dvd and some t-shirts
Grandad David – Network south east trains (for his train track)
Ellie – Remote control car and wallet
Uncle Simon, Auntie Melissa & Hughie – Why do we fart book & a terrys chocolate orange
Beth – Build a car kit and a long sleeved top with a black skull on the front – definitely a rock stars top!
Harry (school friend) – MUFC canvas, MUFC pencil case and MUFC wine gums!
Money from all of the following people, which he has used to pay for half of his ticket to see U2 in August and a stand, tuner and headphones to use with his guitar:
Uncle Michael, Auntie Alison & Joseph
Auntie Alex, Uncle Jerry & Finley
Josie
Auntie Jennifer, Uncle Mike, Amy & Callum
Auntie Beverly, Uncle Simon & Conrad
Auntie Kimberly, Uncle Dave, Jessica & Jordan
Auntie Sarah, Sam and Mollie
Jack (school friend)
He also got presents from Auntie Carol & Uncle Harry and Uncle Graham, Auntie Carrie, Courtney, Jake & Luke but Mummy (Alli) can’t remember what they were – it must be her age!
Anyway Daniel would like to say a very big THANK YOU to everyone that sent him something for his birthday.
The look on Daniel’s face when he opened his guitar was amazing and before you could say “rock star” the guitar was plugged into the amp and he was happily strumming away! Then he decided to go and call for Beth so that she could look at his guitar but more importantly so that she could bring round her electric guitar and amp so that they could have their first jamming session.
At 2pm we all piled into the cars – Auntie Alex, Finley and Ellie included to go to Dan’s Birthday Party. He decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to have a football and bouncy castle party so as usual Mummy (Alli) and Daddy (Tim) came up trumps and that is what he got! We arrived at the leisure centre and that is when the fun began, we were joined by the usual suspects that attend a family get together as well as a few of Dan’s friends from school. The party was brilliant we loved playing football and bouncing on the bouncy castle, although a few of the grown ups had regrets later on in the day (Eliie & Daddy (Tim) had sore legs and Auntie Sarah had a sore neck!) We played for an hour and then it was time to go and have the birthday tea which Mummy (Alli) and Ellie had prepared earlier in the day.
Uncle Simon particularly enjoyed the dairylea sandwiches and strawberry jam sandwiches – so much so that he took the spare ones home with him to eat later on in the day!
When we had devoured the sandwiches, crisps, chocolates and cakes it was time to sing “Happy Birthday” to Daniel and for him to blow out the candles on his cake. Daniel didn’t know what cake he was getting, but he was really pleased when he saw that he had a massive green football pitch cake! We sang Happy Birthday and then devoured some of the birthday cake and then sadly it was time for the party bags to be handed out and for us to go home.
We all loved the party and Dan says that he has had a brilliant Birthday.
Mummy (Alli) thinks Daniel might quite like his guitar as just before he got into bed he gave it a hug and said “goodnight” to it – he really is mad sometimes!!!!!
We are glad Daniel enjoyed his “birthday.”
