I’d like to wish everyone a very prosperous new year, and hope that 2010 brings you all sorts of joy!

This is the moment when Liam showed that he loves his big sister. He climbed up on the sofa and gave her a big hug.

A beautiful moment, I just wish I’d been there to see it in person.

The evening was dark and wet, as you’d expect from a cold November night. For the majority of the journey things had been fairly uneventful. The moment happened just after the halfway point. After passing a fairly busy junction on the motorway, I noticed that the traffic was beginning to slow. I was travelling in the outside-lane of the carriageway and I decided it would be prudent to move to the inside-lane as that tends to be the place that idiot drivers avoid.

It turns out that it was a fantastic decision!

About five or ten seconds after moving from the outside lane, and with all the traffic in front of me practically stopped with warning lights flashing, I looked across to the outside lane as something caught my eye.

It was a car who appeared to be travelling way too fast, and I thought to myself, “he’s not going to stop in time, he’s not going to stop…”. He – I say he, it could have been a she – just carried on, and then there was that moment when they’ve realised that they are running out of road!

The car, which may have been a Ford Focus, or similar, dipped violently at the front as the driver hit the brakes hoping that they were brakes that are fitted to F1 cars. It was to no avail, as the car skidded straight into the back of the poor car who had the misfortune to be at the back of the queue.

The stationary car, which I think was a Nissan Micra, was hit with an almighty force, and it was sent off at speed through the traffic in front, playing pinball with four or five other cars. Bits of cars were flying off in all directions. It eventually rolled to a stop on the hard shoulder.

Who knows what might have happened ten seconds earlier when I was in the outside lane!

I made my way past the scene of the accident, there would have been little that I could have done, and having more cars parked up on the hard shoulder than was necessary would have been more dangerous. From what I saw in my rear-view mirror there were already the other four or five cars involved pulling over.

Driving past the scene yesterday, there was no sign that anything had happened. I can only presume that no-one was seriously hurt in the accident because there were no signs up asking for any witnesses to come forward.

It just makes you realise that you have to have your wits about when driving on the motorways. I think I was lucky this time!

 We have all been very busy bees!

New Business

At the end of July, Gemma and I began our new business venture. We signed up with Kleeneze to make a bit of extra money, which in the current economic climate will be well received.

In these early stages it is a bit of hard work, but as with everything, the more effort you put in the bigger the rewards.

If anyone is , or knows of anyone who would be, interested in earning some extra money then please let me know, or visit our business website. We’d love to hear from you.

You can also take a look at the brand-new Kleeneze TV advert, which I have posted here.

New School

At the beginning of September, Ellie began at “big” school.

For the first few days she was only in for a few hours, as they built up the confidence of the children, and it seems to have helped Ellie to settle into her routine. I think that having spent her time at nursery has helped also. Although in her second week there were a few days where she was not keen on going to school. Thankfully this little hiccup passed very quickly, and it all seems to be going well.

Ellie has her lunch (or dinner, as the Mother-in-Law calls it) at school, and seems to be enjoying the experience. She comes home every day and I have to guess what she’s had that day. It seems that her favourite thing to eat is “cake and custard” which seems to be a common answer, and anything with pasta!

Even at this early stage in her schooling, Ellie is bringing work home for her to do, at the moment they are concentrating on reading skills. She brings home a book each day, and then at night either Gemma or I read it with her.

It really does appear that she is enjoying her time at school.

Going Mobile

It has been a while since Liam got a mention on here. Since that last mention, he has found his feet and is motoring around on two legs.

It has taken a while to find his balance and the first few weeks were very unsteady, but gradually his confidence has increased and he has become very steady. As each day passes he gets that bit faster on his feet. This is really good to see as he can now chase Ellie, and play with her (and also annoy her as he can move a lot quicker now!)

We really have to keep an eye on him now as he can be off like a shot, because if you turn your back for a second he can be up the stairs before you know it!

Trouble is not the word!

Well that’s a quick round-up of what’s been happening lately, and hopefully it won’t be quite as long next time

On Saturday, while having lunch, he managed to empty some crisps over the floor. Then after finishing the rest of his lunch, Gemma watched him stand up and walk across the room to where the toy vacuum cleaner was lying.

Liam then brought it back to where the crisps were lying on the floor and tried to hoover them all up. It was really fun to watch him being all domesticated. He spent a few minutes moving the cleaner forward and backward over the messy area.

Then he noticed us watching him, and he gave us the biggest grin, with the look of “aren’t I a cleverboy!”

Liam does seem to be a child who likes to keep (some) things tidy. He will quite regularly bring a small piece of paper or something that he has found on the floor and give it to us to put in the bin.

Another time, Liam picked up our cordless telephone and tried to place it back in the cradle, because I’d left it lying around. Granted he needed a little guidance to get it set in the cradle, but it was the fact that he’d picked it up by himself and put it back in a place on the other side of the room. He really does take notice of everything, and doesn’t miss a thing!

I doubt this will last!

As someone who has an active interest in photography I have entered this photo in a competition. I’m just interested in how my photos compare to other people’s.

The competition is run by The National Trust and The Sunday Times, and is open to everybody.

If you like this photo then you can vote for it at the following address:

https://myphoto.nationaltrust.org.uk/entries/show/2761

Even if you don’t like my photo, there are still loads of photos for you to look at.

New business ventures and family life are taking precedence over my blog, which I hope to rectify at some point in the near future.

I have a few updates to post, but it is finding the time to sit down and write it all, and get the photos to go with them!

Until such time I ask you for your patience for the next update!

I was messing about with the camera trying a few different ideas that I’d read about.

Let me know what you think.

I was putting the shopping away in the kitchen and Ellie was giving me a hand. As she was passing me some of the shopping she noticed one item in particular in the bag. It was a carton of apple juice, that she had asked me to get for her.

“You’ve got apple juice,” she said.

After handing the carton to me, she put her arms around my legs and gave them a big hug.

“Ah! Thank you Daddy, for getting me the apple juice.”

It was one of those special moments when you realise that in between all the little tantrums that we have a little girl who is growing up with respect and thoughtfulness to other people. We’ve always taught her to say please and thank-you to everyone, but there was something really different in the way that she said this to me today.

It was a heart-felt moment. And then off Ellie ran into the other room without a care in the world and left with me with a warm feeling inside.

The nursery put on a “Graduation” Party for all the children and presented them all with a scroll.

It’s a little milestone for Ellie, as she will now be starting school full time in September.

This evening we all went to Ellie’s first parents evening to find out how she has been doing at nursery. After a bit of a wait to see her teacher, we finally sat down with him to hear what he had to say.

It was a very glowing report that she received. We were told that she was exactly where she should be at her age. She is a very sociable little girl, who cares for other children, is always good in class. Her speech is very good and she is very articulate, with a good grasp for conversation, which if you know Ellie, you will perfectly understand. The girl can talk!

We were also told that Ellie will also ask questions if she is unsure of anything, which is a very good sign of her curiosity of the world around her. She has always been an inquisitive little girl.

We were told that she is definitely ready to jump up to the next step of her education when she starts in “big” school in September. She has achieved all that she can do in nursery. There should not be any problems with her making the next step.

All in all, it was a very good report and both myself and Gemma are very proud of our little girl.

Well Done Ellie!

Click photo above to see them all.

I hope that you have a wonderful day – I wish I could spend it with you!

I love you so much, and are the best thing that ever happened to me.

(This post should have been posted yesterday, but it never appeared)

Happy Birthday Liam.

I can’t believe that it is 1 year ago that you were born. The time has gone by so quickly.

We had a party for the little man on Sunday, and we all had a great time with lots of family and friends turning up. The weather was very kind to us, with the sun shining pretty much all day.

Thanks to everyone who gave Liam presents – he’ll have hours of fun playing with them all.

Many thanks to my Mum again for  making Liam’s cake. I’m sure you’ll agree its a great job.

I will be posting photos very soon.

As I mentioned in one of my previous post this weekend has been pretty busy, with the highlight of the weekend being Ellie’s Birthday party.

With all the food prepared in the morning, it was just a case of setting up the room that we had hired for the afternoon. The theme for Ellie’s party was “High School Musical”, which she went to see the previous day.

All we had to do was sit back and wait for 20-odd hyperactive kids to arrive!

Once all the kids had arrived we let them run around for a little while before getting them all sat down for their food. We’d prepared the usual party food; ham and cheese sandwiches, sausage rolls, pizza fingers, and crisps. Gemma had also made some fairy cakes that she decorated in line with the party’s theme.

After the kids had had their fill of food, it was time to play some party games. We had a couple of games of pass-the-parcel, and also musical bumps and musical chairs. They all seemed to enjoy the games and four of them went home happy with prizes.

Its been a while since I’ve been to a kids party, and it was quite an experience to be confronted by all those screaming children! I’m hoping next year’s party is a little quieter!

By the end of the party there were a lot of tired children, especially the birthday girl. After dispatching all of the guests with their party bags, and birthday cake, we did a quick clear-up and headed for home. I think that all of the kids (and some of the parents) enjoyed themselves.

I would just like to say a big thank you to Gemma, for doing the organising for the party. Also, I’d like to thank my Mum for making a really amazing cake, and to Mandy for your help in getting things ready.

Happy Birthday Ellie.

Hope you have a great day!!

Lots of Love

Mummy, Daddy and Liam x x x

It is Ellie’s 4th Birthday on Sunday, and she is having a big party for it. So as you can guess, there is going to be lots to do in the run up to the event.

Its still hard to believe that our little girl was born 4 years ago, the time has gone so quick! She’ll be starting school in September, which is a scary thought.

Anyway, I digress! Back to this weekend, on Saturday, Gemma and Ellie, along with Nana Mandy, are off to Liverpool to go and see “High School Musical – The Stage Show” at the Empire Theatre.

Ellie is very excited as she loves High School Musical. It is going to one big day out for her, with trips on the bus and train, and having lunch out. It’s not often that you turn 4 years old!

For the party there is lots to do. All the food has to be prepared, which is a job and a half. We have 26 children (plus parents!) coming to the party on Sunday, so you can imagine the amount of sandwiches and sausage rolls that will need to be made. Hopefully, it shouldn’t take too long to do once we work out a little system.

Quite a bit of the food can be prepared in advance, like the sausage rolls and pizza fingers, but the sandwiches will have to wait until Sunday so we can keep them as fresh as possible. Luckily, there’ll be an extra pairs of hands to help out, as Nana Mandy is staying over. Not sure if she knows this or not!

There is also the balloons to blow up, and the games to prepare. There is so much work that goes into organising one of these things! Luckily Gemma has done the most of it, sending out the invites etc, getting all the necessary supplies like cups and plates.

All being well there shouldn’t be any hiccups and everything will go according to plan! And as long as I’m not too tired I’ll give you an update on how it all went.

Ecstatic in fact!

Today, I got offered a new job – which is a huge relief, with the uncertainty that has been hanging over us lately. I start on Monday, and I can say that I’m really looking forward to it.

My new position is an Application Engineer. I will be designing actuators for the automotive industry, yet another car part! A good thing about his job is that I will also be able to expand my experience with the project management side of projects, which I’m really looking forward to.

So, here’s to a new start.

In this picture he doesn’t look too impressed by the whole experience.

It was a bit of a struggle at first. Liam kept turning his head to look at the clippers, but eventually he settled down.

He looks so different now.

Daddy, who makes us?

“Who makes us?” I replied, hastily thinking of an answer. What do you say to a little girl who is nearly 4 about where she comes from?

Initially my response was that Mummy and Daddy made her. Thankfully though, Ellie threw me a lifeline.

I grow in Mummy’s tummy?

“That’s right,” I said. “You grew in Mummy’s tummy. Mummy made you.”

Phew, I think we got away with that one. Or, maybe not!

Ellie then asked about Liam, and I explained to her that Liam grew inside Mummy’s tummy too. Thinking that everyone must have grown in Mummy’s tummy, Ellie asked me if I’d grown in Gemma’s tummy. I explained to her that I didn’t grow in Mummy’s tummy, but I did grow in my Mummy’s tummy. Ellie then told me that my Mummy was Nana Jen.

You grew in Nana Jen’s tummy?

“That’s right,” I said. ” And Mummy grew in Nana Mandy’s tummy.”

This seemed to satisfy her curiosities. Until next time – I’m dreading what she’s going to ask next!

I am still unsure where the question came from, it was completely out of the blue. It’s not the sort of thing that I would have expected to discuss over breakfast with my daughter. I think that it’s a good sign that her little brain is working and is intrigued by life’s questions. I just wish she’d given me more time to wake up and think about an answer.

He has finally worked out how to get mobile. So, now we are going to have to have eyes in the back of our heads. He’s going to be into everything.

Last night I was not happy.

We had been away all weekend to visit some friends, and were travelling back Sunday afternoon. Knowing that this would be the case I had the Monaco F1 Grand Prix set up to record so that I could watch it when I got home.

All of yesterday whilst travelling, I had managed to avoid hearing the result from the race. Purposely we didn’t have the radio on in the car, and when we got home I managed to avoid all of the news and sports reports. So, you would think that I’d be safe watching “Britain’s Got Talent”. There’s no sports report or news updates during that show.

Not on this occasion!

After the first act had performed, one of the judges, Piers Morgan, compared the act to the winner of the Monaco GP.

You remind me of Jenson Button, who won the Grand Prix today……………………

It took me a moment to realise what he was saying but then it was too late to do anything about it. So annoyed!

Of all the programs to reveal to me the winner of the Grand Prix!

We went with Gemma’s friend, Charlotte and her two children, Abigail and Oliver.
It was a fantastic day out. The weather was very, very kind to us all day – hardly a cloud in the sky. All the children has a great time, even the big ones! But by the end of the day everyone was pretty tired.
I hope the photos do justice to the day.

British Touring Car Championship, Oulton Park 2004