I am really excited to announce that Nic and Jon have now returned home from Nepal.  We can’t wait to see them as it’s been 18 months since we spent the day together in Epping Forest.  Last week we stayed with Nic’s parents Tim and Marlene in Ross on Wye on the eve of their return.

Epping Forest with Nic and Jon

Tim and Marlene with baby me

Rugby!

Tim took Daddy to see Gloucester play Rugby against Harlequins at Kingsholm which Gloucester won 46-6 (unfortunately Leicester thumped them 33-11 at the weekend).

Gloucester thump Harlequins

Lifetime Gloucester fan

Puzzlewood and Clearwell Caves

On Monday morning Tim and Marlene left us in their home to collect Nic and Jon from the airport.  Whilst they went off excitedly we went to Puzzlewood and Clearwell Caves in the heart of the Forest of Dean.  Puzzlewood is reputedly the place that inspired Tolkien to write The Hobbit and the Middle Earth of Lord of the Rings.  It was fascinating but very cold and I have to confess that I moaned quite alot – OK alot according to mummy and daddy.

Puzzlewood

Middle Earth

Raglan Castle

The following day we went to Raglan Castle near Monmouth and pretended to be medieval knights – I only moaned a little bit.

Raglan Castle

Taking a break from the Knight shift

Walking with a famous person (that I’d never heard of!)

On the way home we stopped off at Symonds Yat where we bumped into Julia Bradbury who had just finished a canoe trip down the Wye for Countryfile.  She told me that she’d been walking since she was 6 years old so I should get walking seriously now – that’s a lot of moaning I imagine.  Julia was very friendly and boy could she walk.  Daddy and I could hardly keep up with her as we walked back to the car.

A bit about Emily

Finally, Emily now has a blog of her very own.  It’s called the Butterfly Blog but there is nothing to see on it just yet.  If you think updates on the Bathtime Blog were fleeting then you’ll have to be very patient for updates on Emily’s view of life – Mummy has taken responsibility for helping her write it.  I forgot to mention that Emily recently celebrated her 1st birthday.

Happy Birthday Ems

Bye Arnold

Finally, I am sorry to announce that daddy’s beloved cocker spaniel Arnold has died at the grand old age of 14 and 3/4 – he was never quite the same once Nanny died last year. As much as we’ll miss taking him out for walks, none of us will miss the smell (wet dog might be great for Mike Wosalski but not for me).

My pal Arnold

Here’s a picture of Arnold a few years ago.  Believe it or not that’s me looking less than happy to be strung up on the door frame.  Thanks Mum.

On Friday 13th we laid nanny to rest at St Mary’s in Hellesdon.  Although it was a sad occasion it was also wonderful to share memories of her life with friends and family who loved nanny.  The celebration service was lovely; we sang nanny’s favourite songs and friends read tributes to her.  The chapel was full to bursting, with possibly 400 people attending to say their own goodbyes and to support our family.

The following day we returned to St Mary’s during a rare moment of sunshine on an otherwise blustery and rain sodden day.  Here are a few pictures of Nanny’s final resting place.

Flowers from Taylor, Lydia, Emily and me

Thank you for all of your kind words and support

On Friday 30th October 2009 my Nanny lost her struggle against cancer.  She died in hospital with Grandad and all of her children beside her.  Nanny is now with Jesus enjoying her new heavenly body.  We all miss you so much Nanny.  Thank you for all the fun times we had together.

Love Isaac and Emily

A proud mum on my first day at school

What a summer it’s been. Busy busy busy. In many ways I’m glad it’s over so that I can get on and concentrate on my studies. Yes, I’ve started school. Who’d have believed that the little lad eating the icecream on the first entry of the bathtime blog would now be embarking on a scholastic journey that will take me to the very top (of something).

"Here's looking at you kid"

Emily’s Growing!

Of course I’m not the only one around here who’s been growing up fast. My little sister Emily is not quite so little now. At 7 months old she’s establishing herself well in the family and it has to be admitted she is even more cute and cuddly than me.

"Can I help you?"

"cute and cuddly boys, cute and cuddly"

Mum and Dad have been very busy over the summer holidays as well. Mum, with the help of a few others organised the Gt Witchingham Village Hall fete which was great fun. It helped to raise lots of money and brought the community together. Dad came 3rd in the Marrow competition.

Village Hall Fete

Norman and Liz

Mummy and Becky, fete organisers

Marrow in the Barrow, 3rd prize

But Dad’s been obsessed with something else throughout the summer, since the Spring in fact when he decided to have a go at building a wall, yes, a wall, my Dad. Not just any old wall, but a wall to make Hadrian think twice about starting. Well, I thought I was determined but no more so than Dad who brick by brick, block by block, stone by stone has nearly finished the thing (in about the same time it took the Chinese to build their wall).

Still, he looks rather proud of his accomplishment. Bless him. Go on, indulge yourself Dad.

Don't lean back too hard Dad

"Did you actually use that spirit level Dad?"

So, that was our summer folk. Until next time, adios

40 years ago my Gran and Grandad got married. Here they are just moments after completing the deed. Didn’t they look happy?

Where has the time gone?

On March 6th we had a party to celebrate their ruby wedding anniversary and all the family and a few friends gathered together to remember those 40 years. We played lots of games most of which involved reminiscing about the past.
There were loads of funny photographs on display and you had to think of a witty caption to go with it.

Here is just one of the pictures to give you a flavour

"This is all very nice but did anyone bring the key?"

Incidentally, we were also celebrating Gran’s **th birthday – so a great excuse to stick a balloon or two on my head. I don’t know what happened to the other 58 balloons? Whoops, sorry Gran.

It was also the first opportunity for Emily to meet many of my friends. Nic and Jon will be particularly jealous that Marlene got to have a cuddle with her before they did. Sorry! Marlene was rubbing her hands with glee.

Opportunist

If it’s any consolation Nic, Emily threw up shortly afterwards – though I suspect because she got rather greedy with her milk than for any other reason.

We all had a lovely time and send our congratulations on a wonderful achievement.

Love Isaac

Yesterday, whilst I was busy playing at Montessori my Mummy gave birth to a little baby.  Now those of you who know me well will be aware that I desperately wanted a little sister.  A boy simply wasn’t an option.  I sensed it would be a girl from the moment Mummy and Daddy told me about the imminent arrival and hey presto, just as I thought, I have a lovely sister.

Would you like to meet her?

Would yer?

Would yer?

OK.  Introducing Emily Rose Cate, born at 12.12 on Tuesday 10th February. Weighing in at 7lb and 4oz.

Click the pictures to make them bigger!

Emily

As you’d expect Daddy had to get in on the action so got into his scrubs ready to deliver the baby.  He was most disappointed when they said he wouldn’t be required on this occasion.

Scrubbed up nicely

Bonding moment

Me and my girls

Full House

Gran and Grandad took me to meet Emily.  Gran was just a little excited to meet her latest Granddaughter.

"Give her to me David"

Yawn, yawn, yawn, yawn, yawn

In October 2007, yes 2007, we began the extension to our house.  Today the building inspector signed off on it some 15 months later.  It has been a nightmare and along the way we have encountered some extremely challenging times and people.  We’ve also met some terrific, honest tradesmen for which we are grateful.

It’s been some time since I last updated you, largely due to the sheer despair of trying to finish the project.  In the run up to Christmas I spent every waking minute trying to get the house decorated.  Alas, our final carpets were laid the week before Christmas.

A huge note of thanks to all those that have supported us through this trial of all trials.  So, here’s the moment you have been waiting for.  A few pictures of the completed house.

Heidi enjoying her new kitchen

The Dining room

The Lounge

Hallway

The Gallery

Fireplace discovered behind plaster

Partition screen and study

Exterior view with porchway

I still have an awful lot of landscaping to do when the weather gets a bit warmer and I manage to find some money growing on trees.

These pictures are especially for Nic and Jon who have just completed their first full year in Nepal.  By the time they return to the OK not only will our house be completely finished, including the garden, but our latest arrival will also be a year old.  What a frightening thought.

Look out for more updates just as soon as ??????????????????? is born.

Adios

What a misery summer (again).  If last year wasn’t bad enough.  Still, we’ve had a nice summer despite all the problems with the building project which is still not finished.  More about that another time perhaps.

So, what have I been up to – here’s a brief snippet.

We went to London to visit Uncle Jon and Auntie Nic who returned home from Nepal for a couple of weeks.  They are doing very well and it was lovely to see them albeit for such a brief time.  Here we are in Epping Forest

We also had a walk around Hyde Park in the rain and enjoyed some time at the Diana Memorial Fountain, which, despite its critics, we thought was well worth a visit.  The fountain is constructed to express the wide and varied qualities of water, much the same as Diana’s life expressed her many attributes.

I also met up with my cousin Eleanor and went paddling at Ringland.

… which reminds me, Eleanor now has a baby sister called Jessica.  She is lovely.

I should also add that I am also going to be having a new baby brother or sister, so that should be interesting.

Stay tuned

Well, it has been a while since my last update.  I’m afraid little has happened since I last wrote, at least regarding the house.  Almost 10 months have passed and my poor house is still looking in a very sorry state.  So no new pictures to update you with yet.  I think we’ll wait for the grand opening before showing you any more pictures, whenever that might be.  The situation is so bad that I’ve had to resort to doing the work myself.

We went to Pettits Animal Adventure Park last month which made a refreshing change.

Our village also held a garden open day and the sun shone on us.  This game is called Top That and was made by my grandad.  Unfortunately, this isn’t our garden.  We didn’t open our garden even though it is the most open garden in the whole village, given that we no longer have a front wall, unless you call the 10 foot pile of builders rubbish on the driveway a wall.

We’ve also been to a wedding when the sun sadly didn’t shine.  In fact it drizzled all the time that poor Naomi and Jimmy sat huddled together in their horse and carriage.

The situation has got so bad that Daddy needed some serious cheering up.  Neither Mummy nor I expected him to go out and buy a new car though. 

As for me, I’ve been spending a lot of time with my marble run that Daddy made for me using all of the pipes and guttering that have been lying about the garden.  When Wimbledon was on Daddy extended the run with a long narrow pipe that went through the garden chair and into the lounge so that we could shoot the marbles down whilst sitting on the sofa.  Ingenious.

More updates will follow on a more regular basis my Daddy assures me.  So keep tuning in.

I’ve finally decided that if this project is ever going to get finished then I was going to have to get stuck in myself.  Most of the house has now been plastered and so the first coats of paint are being applied. 

After I’d finished in the utility room I got on with mummy and daddy’s bedroom.  Not bad for a 3 year old.

The bedroom carpet is being laid next Friday.  The end is finally in sight.

Today, Dominic the ‘chippy’ started to fit the kitchen.  I was going to have a go but it looked a bit tricky.

Of course, I have been doing other things.  Life must go on.   I met up with my cousin Eleanor at the weekend.

Here we are being very active watching Fantasia. 

Last week I even went to the beach with Taylor and Lydia.  It was a bit windy though and it wasn’t long before our little tent was flying along the beach.

I even went for a long walk on Friday at Brandon Country Park with Eleanor.

Unfortunately I must get back to the day job as somebody has to pay the bills.  I’ve just started working on a new extension on my Gran and Grandad’s house.  Though perhaps I ought to have told them before I got started.