A new chapter begins

Finn has started at Pre-school and goes two mornings a week. He has settled in without any traumas thanks to the great staff and a mum who knows when to stay or go. He also goes to a nature group called little seedlings where he made this great collage after an Autumn walk along the Delph Donkey. He now goes to;
- Denshaw Smarties,
- Little Acorns,
- Little Seedlings,
- Baby Boogies
I'm tired just thinking about it!

gimme shelter

Little blue tractor

Great fun and it tastes nice too!

Mark making

He must be concentrating - look at that tongue. Just like his Mum

















Get it on Ebay.

its grim up north - i dont think so

We have been here nine months and love it. The sun comes up over the hill and if we are awake early the sunrises are fantastic. We are usually joined by cows and horses who sleep just behind our back wall. We have seen weasels playing by the farmers pond and have had a woodpecker, a sparrowhawk, gold finches, gold crests, long tailed tits feeding in the tree. There are plans in the pipeline for the land behind in the future but we will keep our fingers crossed and enjoy it while we can. There is supposed to be a beast of Saddleworth that roams the moors between here and holmfirth. A big black cat - probably a puma - released when the licensing laws changed in the 1970s. There are articles in the local paper about farmers whose sheep have been mauled with lacerations that could have only been caused by an animal with large claws. I'd have to see it to believe it - but not too close.

Sixty years old

bad blogger

I can't believe it is nearly two months since I posted. We have been busy but thats no excuse. Anyway a bit of a catch up. For those that don't know already Ali is pregnant. Still early days but due to it being an IVF pregnancy we have already had two scans - three actually one being a bit of an emergency but all was well. We have twins. We implanted our last two embryos and we have twins. I have to keep telling myself in the hope that it will sink in a little more. We dont know the sex so we could have Bert and Ernie, Max and Paddy, Thelma and Louise or Bonnie and Clyde. Trev has christenened them Wallace and Gromit with Finn playing the part of Shawn the Sheep. We will find out at the end of November no more surprises thankyou very much. They are due around the end of March. Ali will be fifteen weeks on Wednesday but she looks more like 21. They are not identical and both have their own placentas. This is good as if they share a placenta one tends to grow bigger than the other. Baton down the hatches. I start my Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education in May with my dissertation starting in September - gulp... The focus of my study is recognising boys creativity and achievement. I may not need to go far to carry out my research :-)
We have been doing the usual family stuff. We take Finn swimming every Sunday morning. He has lacked a little confidence until realising that he can touch the bottom. A teddy bear float and off he goes walking on his tip toes like Shaggy and Scooby Doo.
He has also got the hang of his two wheeled bike. It happened over night really. It doesn't have any stabilisers or pedals and encourages them to balance independently before moving on to a pedal bike. His balance is amazing. The only downside is that it doesn't have any brakes. Heart in the throat time. But you don't learn about taking risks by not taking risks!
Tour de France here he comes.

little red tractor

Scream if you want to go faster!

Went to Chatsworth house which had the most fantastic children's play area. More sand than Southport - alright maybe thats going a bit far - but great fun for all! A definate must.