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.