Al and I discussed the idea at one of Dad's legendary bbq's. Liam was just a baby and Ella was but a twinkle in her mothers eye, but I took him up on the idea and have written some stuff in the past that I will put online at some point in the future - there's some fine tales there!
It seems apt to mention Al just now, as he convalesces in a Thailand hospital following an operation there recently. We hope he gets well soon and is back in Jersey as quickly as possible.
January has been a cold month as you'd expect and we had some snow during our stay in Jersey for Dad's birthday. The kids loved it, well for a little while at least, until their little hands got too cold to touch the snow any longer - even with a couple of pairs of gloves and socks on!
The kids stayed at Lian and Graham's lovely new house on the night it snowed, so they all built a snowman in their garden when they woke up...well, a little while after they woke up as they rose at 6am! When Mum, Dad and I arrived we went to St Andrews park for some make-shift sledging and the men partook in an impromptu snowball fight!
Maria was due to arrive in Jersey that day but was stranded in Southampton by the poor weather. The kids and I were gutted she couldn't come that day as playing in the snow is one of those amazing moments you share with the kids that you'll remember forever. That said, she did manage to take them both sledging at Hatch Grange when we got home, so that was great!
We recently went to Ella's nursery school for a parents evening. Despite her Diva-esq persona at times at home, Maria and I were thrilled to hear Ella is doing brilliantly at school. Making friends - she now has a small group of girl friends that she plays a lot with - and is advancing well with her writing, whilst wanting to play with all the toys on offer there. Ella's teacher said if she could have 15 kids like her, she would be very happy.
We were so proud to hear that. Ever since Liam left Jack in the Box for big school, Ella seems to have gone from strength to strength, developing more as she stands on her own two feet. Ella is such a character, in Jersey she made us laugh as she told us that her "attitude" was responsible for her jumping up and down on her bed. "How's your attitude," you could ask ask her, and she would reply with a forthright, "Okay!"
Ella had a bad belly when we were out there too, dirtying the tights Nanny had put on her a short while earlier. "I told you not to put those those tights on me Nanny, they've got poo on them now!" She exclaimed!
Meanwhile Liam has been doing really well at St James school. He has learnt the alphabet now and is also getting really good at reading. We read together every night and he can now read stories to Mummy and Daddy, with just a little assistance. He is also working on "sticky words" like "the" and "shoe," words that aren't pronounced as they appear using Fred Talk. He is also learning how to recognise numbers up to a hundred, which is amazing.
Liam has said in the past he would like to be a zoo keeper when he is older, which is fine by us as we are determined to keep the kids out of office work if they can possibly help it when they grow up. We want them to do something they love with their lives, and animals are definitely something he loves.
He is also a keen photographer and at Paul's 30th birthday in Jersey, Liam was on camera duty and you can see some of his shots further down in this blog!
Something else he is fond of is playing football, and we were delighted last week when he was named Man of the Match at his football fun session. He was beaming as his name was called out to collect a medal from the coach, as were his Mummy and Daddy! Nanu brought him some football boots for Christmas and since then, he's looked the part and seems to be really enjoying it!
Meanwhile JoJo continues to settle into life in the Huey household. He recently turned one and is completely part of the family now, as you can see in the picture of him cosying up on the sofa recently! We had to have his fur clipped a few weeks back as he was all matted. He looked like Skelator for a while there, but he's starting to look cute again now! Ella has inherited her mummy's obsession for gritting her teeth and saying, "yeah," to the dog, which is quite funny!
In other news, we all went swimming last week, and both Liam and Ella were determined to get rid of their arm bands and take to the water au natural! They did really well and we are committed to taking them swimming more often now, they loved it.
Finally, last weekend we had Maria's parents over for dinner. I have really got into my cooking of late so I cooked a nice leg of lamb for us all, and we had a lovely afternoon together. Later when the kids were in bed we retired to the drawing room and watched Guy Richie's film, Snatch. It's not every day you watch a gangster movie about travellers and the East End of London with your in-laws, but they seemed to enjoy it none-the-less!
On Sunday we went for a cycle ride with our good friends the Hammett's. Liam is especially close to James, but all the kids seem to get on well, as you can see in the photo of them all on their bikes!
Well that's it for now. Lots of other stuff has happened, some of it tragically sad with the loss of our friends daughter, Amelia. Their lives have been changed forever and we are devastated for them.
For me it re-affirms the fact that we have to make the most our lives, treasuring the gift we have been given in having two perfect children and enjoying happy times with our loving family and amazing friends. X
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