January 2011

Welcome to our Review of 2011. This 12 part summary of our year allows family and friends (those who are interested) find out what we have been up to. It's also nice for myself and Mrs K/C/KC to look at it in future and remind ourselves of how our children have grown.

January was a relatively quiet month for us, although a few things stand out from memory. Firstly, Little T lost her first tooth (she was particularly excited as she was the first in her school year to lose one !). In true Little T style, this couldn't have just happened at home - instead it fell out at 70 mph on the M25 motorway...

Little O also found a new pastime - that of doughball consumption. Not only did his favourite pizza restaurant serve them for starters with garlic butter, they also introduced them for dessert with Nutella. Yum !

Little T also started her swimming lessons, which have gone... well, swimmingly !

February 2011

Although there were several events in February (including a rather funky 70's disco which I was allowed to wear my special flares for !), the highlights really centred around some birthdays.

Mrs K/C/KC was first on the 25th of the month and was very pleased to be taken to Fortnum & Mason for high tea, which was reminiscent of the first time she took me out when we first met. What added to the special occasion, was that her best friend from college (and her husband) joined us as surprise guests. This resulted in one of the few times I have ever found her to be lost for words !

3 days later, we celebrated my birthday and as it coincided with a teacher training day at Little T's school, I took the day off so that Little T and I could go to the cinema (for the very first time !!!).

March 2011

The month of March included our annual pancake party for Little T, Little O and some of their close friends. Mrs K/C/KC kept order whilst I slaved over 2 hot pancake pans !

Also this month saw the birth of a little boy to our friends and this meant that Little T's friend (Little R) gained a brother. Congratulations to them all.

April 2011

April saw some fairly warm weather in the UK so a lot of outdoor fun was had by all.
We took part in our friends' annual Easter Egg hunt and Little T and Little O managed to procure a large collection of chocolate !

Later that month, Mrs K/C/KC went to Lourdes with our charity HCPT to help disadvantaged / disabled children have a week away from their family. I stayed behind with the dynamic duo this time around. During this week, we managed to celebrate the Royal Wedding with a little 'street' party with our neighbours.

Little T and Little O were then overjoyed when Mummy returned and formed a rather delightful welcoming committee.....

May 2011

May was one of the busy months for us all.
Little T had a class assembly (when she was a narrator), Little O was toilet trained (after Mrs K/C/KC had finally had enough of nappies !) and Little T managed to strip a cherry tree bare at our friend's barbeque in Reading (an overdose of cherries apparently is not lethal).

There were fun times had at J&J's hen and stag weekends, which were very kindly arranged on different dates, so that Mrs K/C/KC and I were both able to attend the respective events.

The boys had a lot of fun caving....

Whereas the girls had a more sedate, relaxing weekend in Bath, in a lovely house they rented....

Also in May, Mrs K/C/KC and I celebrated our 10th (church) wedding anniversary. I was taken away for 4 days to the beautiful city of Florence. We had an absolutely fabulous time and consumed delicious food and wine during our stay.
There was even time for some sightseeing and shopping (much to Mrs K/C/KC's delight)...

June 2011

June saw the wonderful occasion of our friends' J&J being wed. Myself and Mr Badkama were given the honour of ensuring the bride safely crossed the road to the church.

After the lovely ceremony in our local church, the reception was held at a picturesque farm and we were blessed with good weather.

Little O certainly 'made his mark' on the bride on her special day during the photoshoot as unknown to all involved, his shoes were covered in goose droppings and he came into close contact with her wedding dress !!! Luckily he has been forgiven (which is fortunate, as she is also his godmother).

We were very pleased to help J&J celebrate their special day.

The month of June was also tinged with sadness, however, as Grandpa Floyd passed away in America and his love of the Detroit Tigers, his plethora of stories from years ago and his unending pride for his family will be sorely missed.

Later in June, we all traveled up to Liverpool to celebrate Grandpa I's 60th birthday. It was fantastic for everyone to meet up again (the cousins particularly had a lot of fun together, but so did the grown ups).

July 2011

July brought more summer weather and it was, of course, school sports' day !
Little T competed in her Reception year races, including the 'Fireman race' which involved getting dressed up along the way :

Little O was not left out, as he also took part in his own events organised by our fantastic childminder (from whom the dynamic duo sadly 'graduated' this year).

Other events this month included Little O's first visit to the cinema to see Cars 2 (although he saw more of the boys' toilets than anything else - must have been too exciting !).

We were also very excited to meet up with a friend of mine whom I have known since I was tiny. She and her family have been living in New Zealand for several years, so we do not normally get to see them. Little T got to meet some new friends and we shared a wonderful day of food, drink and laughter.

August 2011

Most of August was taken up by our trip to Manistee, Michigan to visit with our family.
Click here for a link to our regular blog and its many entries / photos during our visit.

We all had a great time eating, swimming, visiting family & friends, shopping etc
Little T had plenty of opportunity to practice her swimming skills.

September 2011

In September, I volunteered my medical skills to help out with our friend J and a scouting event he was involved in. This enabled children with disabilities to camp with the scouts and enjoy plenty of outdoor activities.

Happily there were no major medical emergencies (although one of the children came very close to shooting me in the face with an air rifle !!).
As it was relatively calm, this enabled Little T to have a go on the climbing wall, supervised by Uncle J. I was very proud to see her make it all the way to the top.

September also saw Little O's 3rd birthday and he was delighted to have a cake party to celebrate this. He also started nursery school, 3 mornings a week which he has enjoyed and the dynamic duo look very smart in their school uniform together. Furthermore, he was very excited to take delivery of a brand new bunkbed, which has proven very popular.

October 2011

On the first of the month, Little T turned a ripe old age of 6. In true Little T style, she gave up the option of a full blown party and instead opted for a trip to London with 3 of her best friends.
This was a fun-packed day, starting with many rounds of I-Spy on the train, a trip on the London Eye and then the highlight of the day which was a hands on lesson in sushi making (which was great fun, aided by an excellent teacher).

Later in the month, we had several sets of guests visiting, firstly with Little H and her family coming over from Salisbury for the day. Later on, we then had the Isle Of Man crew having a brief stop-over on the way to New York. This enabled the cousins to catch up once more, over a lovely pub lunch.

November 2011

Following the fun of Halloween and the school firework display (which was rather impressive), November was a somewhat calmer month.

Mrs K/C/KC and I managed to get a day away in London for a spot of lunch and shopping. We had cream tea in a boutique hotel in central London, which had a rather 'pink' theme.

We also had a lot of fun at a murder-mystery night which was hosted by our friends. Although I myself was implicated as the prime suspect, only Mrs K/C/KC correctly identified who-really-dunnit !

Mrs K/C/KC and my co-conspirator :

December 2011

And so we come to the end of the year. It has flown by as usual and been filled with fun memories. Little T and Little O have both changed considerably since last year and they give us such joy.

December has been busy, even before Christmas comes. The school nativity play featured Little T as the angel announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds and Little O as a goat ! Both looked great, but poor Mrs K/C/KC had to watch it on video as she was attending a conference in Scotland at the time.

We also had a trip up to see our family in Liverpool. It was good to catch up with everyone and the dynamic duo had plenty of fun. Little O was certainly entertained by his cousins :

We also had a lovely brunch with the dynamic duo's great Gran, as an early celebration of her 90th birthday (on the 21st Dec). Many happy returns....

Finally, we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.