The next Max Boyce?

And we were singing, Hymns and arias...

 

Lego-boy

Somebody is very, very, very pleased with all of the Lego presents that he had for Christmas!

 

All Christmased out

Too many days of constant partying can quickly tire out a five-year old and a two-year old!

 

Waste not, want not...

There's only one thing better than Christmas presents - the boxes that the presents come in! Thomas & Will jumped into a perfectly sized box for some adventures.

 

And were in fits of laughter whenever it fell over!

 

Christmas tea

The food just didn't stop coming! It was back to our house for Christmas tea with Granny and Grandad!

 

Musical entertainment provided by Hannah 'One Girl Band' Hurley!

 

Christmas dinner

Even being 8 months pregnant did not get Auntie Jan out of her turn for cooking Christmas dinner this year! And she did a very good job of it (with the help of Uncle Mike!)

 

 

 

Judging by the face he's making, though, Will may have eaten too many sprouts...

 

Christmas presents

Even though Hannah, Thomas & Will have been in trouble almost every day this year, Father Christmas still was kind enough to visit our house last night!

Thomas was chuffed to bits with his new Star Wars Lego X-Wing Fighter (and Daddy is quite excited, too!)

 

Hannah is planning to build a lamp from her Magnext kit, to allow her to read in bed.

 

And Will is going to help Bob the Builder fix it wherenever he possibly can...

 

Losing our marbles

Can't remember who gave us this marble run when Hannah was little, but it's seen a huge amount of use as each of the children has grown up. It's Will's turn now to ask for it at every opportunity, and then to proceed to scatter marbles in every possible direction around the house.

 

Christmas cake

Time to make the Christmas cake again. Bring on the child labour...

 

Driving school

It comes to something when a two-year old is giving driving lessons to a teddy bear!

 

A boy's best friend...

...is his pet zebra.

 

A boy's best friend...

...is his pet tiger.

 

Perrygrove Railway

We had a spooky day out at Perrygrove Railway, taking part in the Halloween Treasure Hunt. Any excuse for Will to do his trainspotting thing...!

 

Judging by the smiles, it wasn't just Will that was enjoying himself!

 

 

 

Bed-time

Now that we've taken the bars off Will's cot, he's got a lot more freedom to sleep how he wants.

Not sure how comfy this position is, though...

 

St. Fagans

We made the most of an unexpected sunny day and headed on a 'big-family-trip' to St. Fagans, with Nanny and Grumpy, Uncle Mike, Auntie Jan, James and Bethan.

The play area called first...

 

Then the bakery...

 

Then, running around playing Star Wars...

 

 

 

The cow's bottom provided lots of laughs!

 

But we did eventually manage to do the 'history thing' and visit the castle and some of the houses!

 

 

Hair raising!

A close-up of some beautiful plaits in Hannah's hair.

 

Andy is jealous that he hasn't got enough hair to have his styled like this!

Say cheese!

Any mice in our house wouldn't stand a chance with Will around. He is Mr Cheesy!

 

He ain't heavy - he's my brother!

Watching TV is more fun and more comfy for two!

 

Music corner

 

 

Reading corner

 

Only doing it for the camera

Don't let Hannah fool you - this isn't normal practice in the Hurley House!

 

Safety first

We've already mentioned how important safety is to our children. Well, they're still at it, now wearing crash helmets on the slide, too!

 

I think we'll need to see about buying Will a proper pair of Doc Martens with steel toe-caps, though!

Back to skool

It was the first day back to school for Hannah and Thomas today. Will was sorry to see them go, after having a fab summer with them.

 

It's just a shame that they don't look this clean and tidy when they get home, too!

In the Night Garden

We had a late-night visitor tonight, as this cute little hedgehog decided to make an appearance.

 

 

He (or she!) is more than welcome to eat up the slugs that seem to love our garden at the moment!

Jenga

It's amazing how much concentration it takes to play Jenga...

 

 

But Daddy looks a little constipated...

 

P.S. Will isn't smoking a cigarette in these photos, but sucking a lollilop!

The not-so-great outdoors

The plan was for Hannah and Thomas to sleep outside in the garden tonight (in a tent, before anyone calls social services!)

The excitement was palpable as we put up the tent and brought in the books, magazines, sweets, etc...

 

 

Unfortunately, Daddy (who was sleeping in the kitchen by the door, in case of emergencies) was woken up at 11:30 that night by a Hannah who couldn't sleep. Which also woke up Thomas, who then couldn't sleep. So, everyone ended up in their own beds that night by midnight!

The Family That Went Up A Hill And Came Down A Mountain...

We took advantage of a sunny Saturday and headed up Garth Mountain today.

As seems to be becoming usual, the children left the oldies behind...

Some great views from the top.

And the opportunity for a family photograph, care of the timer on the camera!

We nearly got a wet Will, though - this photo shows him about to lose his balance and fall in a stream because he was waving so vigorously! Luckily, Ruth managed to catch him before he went splash!