Rock is here!

Thought I would share with the world Caleb's latest work of art. Check out the sound system...he's obviously planning his stadium tour.

Chilled weekends

After Christmas and the unfortunate appendix incident, I began lfe as a working girl. I'm working in a primary school as a child development worker, which basically means working with children and families, mostly on a one-to-one basis. my job is for 16 hours, but it feels like about 60, as our lives have just gone into total overdrive, what with me not sitting at home blogging and checking out e-bay all day. Since my working life began, we have made sure we have had plenty of fun at the weekends. A few weeks ago, the lovely Woodgers came to stay with us. We had lots of fun catching up with them, and Rosey showed us her smiling and vomiting skills in equal measure. (It was payback for all the vomiting Isaac did over Katy) Here they are at Derwent.



We also had a good time at Graves Park the other week, where Caleb decided to do some hardcore climbing, much to the shock of a heavily pregnant woman beneath him, who was clearly quite panicked that he might fall (So was I, but I hid it better).



This weekend, we went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I had wanted to go for ages, and was not disappointed. We had a brilliant game of hide and seek in an elaborate five-piece steel installation, and then went to Ikea for tea and cake - we're so cultured! Our friend Mary has moved in with us for a while, and took some photos. She's a bit good at photography, and managed to work magic even with our average camera.



Life has been incredibly busy, and we're all looking forward to the Easter holidays for a bit of a breathing space. Clynt is on placement at the moment, and has, rumour has it, been seen once or twice in the CA uniform. A very attractive sweater, resembling "Man at C&A" circa 1985. If I manage to get a shot of "Captain Clynt" sporting his polyester number, I'll be sure to post it here! In the meantime, here are the boys indulging in some art appreciation...

Wanted: Have you seen this trampoline?

Local bandits hit a new low the other night, when they stole our family's trampoline. Let's just think about this: A local criminal, who knew we had an 8 foot trampoline in our garden, was passing by one freezing February night. Whilst on his travels, he decided, for a laugh, to lift the slightly bulky, galvanised steel item over a collection of garden walls, and make off with it into the darkness. My feeling is that this required some forethought and planning. Not to mention more than a little hard work. If only these sad individuals would direct their entrepreneurial energies in a more worthwhile daytime direction, they could have a glittering future with that level of dedication.
WHO STEALS A CHILD'S TRAMPOLINE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD???
There. I've got that off my chest, I feel a bit better now.

A sad moment...with a happy ending.

Today, I set my hair on fire. Not exactly full flames, but more of a momentary burst followed by some very sad ash. Burnt hair is not nice. I was leaning over the cooker, blowing on the back ring to light it, only I had turned on the front burner...I won't be repeating the experience.

Anyway, I went to the hairdressers to get rid of the burnt bits, and I now have a cool new haircut.

You'll all be pleased to know that my eyebrows remained intact.

The first snow of the season.

It snowed!! We were really worried that it wouldn't. Clynt has sledged in Sheffield over 12 successive winters, and we thought this year might just break the record, but the snow fell. At least, it fell in Hathersage. We could see white hills from our bedroom window, and Clynt held out a full 24 (twitchy, anxious) hours before venturing out. He allowed Caleb to hurtle down the hill at breakneck speed, towards a wall, whilst a crowd of nervous, tutting mothers ran to save him from impending doom. Caleb saw the wall and threw himself off in time, whilst the mothers shook their heads and scolded Clynt. I wasn't there, but he came back very pleased with himself for being a hard-core Dad.

My future grandchildren.

Thought the blogosphere ought to know that my children have decided on the names of their own future offspring. Isaac is having 3 children apparently, and wants to call them Olivia, Ben and Josh. Caleb is having 5, and will be naming them Frank, Buster, Tom, Slap (His daughter!!!) and Buzz. Lock up your daughters now I say!!

New year...

Looking back over last years blogs, I realised I never talked about our foster child, Matt, leaving. Matt decided in August that he wanted to go and live with his Dad. It was a very sudden move, and came as a real shock to us, which is possibly why we didn't blog about it for so long. Much of the Autumn has been spent thinking through what that means for our family. We are pleased to say though, that Matt is happy with his Dad, and we have managed to see him a few times since he left. He is really missed. Here he is with the boys when he came to visit us recently.

Wild man of rock and roll

This weekend Caleb was in the car when Paradise City by Guns and Roses came on the radio. I watched him make mean faces and play air guitar for a full five minutes. It made my day.

Tis' the season to be jolly...

Well, I had all kinds of ideas about getting on with the Christmas blog, but the onset of appendicitis sadly put paid to my plans...Having cooked the Christmas dinner and breathed in wearing my tightest dress through all the festivities, I finally crashed in the evening, and my appendix decided to steal the show, and burst during the Vicar of Dibley. How inconsiderate.

I experienced the hospitality of Sheffield's Northern General Hospital from Boxing Day to New Years Eve, which wasn't like a usual Christmas... (Nice nurses, scary hygiene)

I'm a bit sad that adults don't get bravery awards, as I would have liked one for not being a wuss on Christmas day!! I am now enjoying my third week off sick from my new job, which I was supposed to start on the 3rd Jan! I am feeling much much better, and am now trying to organise my whole house. (That's what i think I'm doing, actually I am reading peoples blogs and going on ebay)

The boys still managed to enjoy Christmas, although Clynt was a bit sad at the lack of buffets. Caleb added an electric guitar to his collection, and is now rocking even more. Isaac got a PS2, and can now beat Clynt at Fifa.

walk and chips

We went on a fantastic "child friendly" walk from Hathersage station to Grindleford Cafe. We met a very friendly horse that nobody wanted to say goodbye to. We got a bit lost and ended up climbing through ferns as tall as us. At the cafe, we were met by grumpy hosts, but we still enjoyed our chips! Here are the kids, at the end of the day.

Autumn news

This Autumn has been a very busy time in the French household. At Halloween, we decided to celebrate American style and dress up as superheros! Caleb was Buzz Lightyear and Isaac was Mr Incredible, and lots of fun was had travelling around the community giving out sweets, and candles to our neighbours. We had a bit of trouble keeping our smiley face pumpkin lit though...

In November, Isaac finally got over his fear of sparklers, and we enjoyed ourselves at our friends Tom and Katy's house. There were about 30 children, running around the garden, brandishing lit sparklers...by some small miracle, no-one was injured and we settled down to enjoy the longest ever running fireworks spectacle. At one point, the neighbours joined in, with a competing fireworks display...It was all very male. At one point, the women amongst us questioned whether the men might ignite themselves and fire each other into the air.. testosterone has such a lot to answer for!