Pretty Snow (again)

We woke up yesterday morning to four inches of snow, very pretty! Toby obviously couldn't remember snow from earlier this year as he looked amazed and rather confused by it. Beth definitely could and wanted to get straight out in it. So, before 7:30am we were all wrapped up and ready to slide . . .

The snow's too icy to build a snowman - it just sticks to your gloves or crumbles away so instead we got the sledge and headed off round the village. It was very picturesque though a bit chilly. Toby was very happy to be pulled along, quite a change from January when he would not sit on the sledge for anything and we had to endure painfully slow walks to get anywhere.

We had a few runs down a hill in the village - probably not the best one since it was a road (though hardly any cars) and that satisfied the kids. We'll have to look for a better hill in one of the fields.

The snow's still here today and is likely to be around for a while so we'll be able to get a bit more fun out of it though not so much with Beth being in school and it getting dark by about 4pm. I'm sure it'll be enough as the temperature here this morning was -7c/20f.

Bonfire Night 2010

Bonfire night this year was on a Friday. We weren't celebrating until the Saturday so Friday night we decided to 'gatecrash' and enjoy other people's fireworks by going on a walk around the village to see what we could see. There were quite a few around but still not enough for Beth who needed a revolving head!

On Saturday we went to a friend's do for their bonfire and fireworks. It was a fun, relaxed evening with hot dogs, burgers, sparklers and a smidgen of wine. Not much else to say about a lovely evening, except for Toby who wee'd in his wellies and got very cold feet. :)

Half Term and Halloween

Last week was half term here so both kids were rattling round the house. At the beginning of the week we went to visit grandma and grandpa. Grandma had been carefully cultivating pumpkins all summer so we would have something to carve! She had done a great job and Beth immediately adopted the largest pumpkin and laid into it with a big black marker. Her design was pretty good - it's the one in the middle, right. Toby wasn't in the slightest bit fussed so I had a go with his - middle, left. The other two pumpkins were ones I picked up for Steve and I to have a go on. It turned into a bit of a carve-off with no winner declared - Steve's looked amazing with the light on and mine had a slight edge when lit at night.

Beth also planted her daffodil bulb that she was given at school. It came with very specific instructions for planting, watering and general care. It is intended that all the kids bring their daffodil into school one week next year and they all be in flower at the same time . . . a little hopeful I'm thinking! Grandma mentioned the idea of planting a few back-ups; probably not a bad thought. ;) Although Toby didn't get too interested in the planting activity, he was on hand ready to water.

Back at home we spent one day over at Clumber Park. They had a pumpkin trail set up around the walled garden. Beth was very excited to follow it - she's getting to the point where you can't fob her off and do your own thing - she figures things out far too quick. Toby wasn't bothered and he just wanted to run round and do his own thing. We followed the clues and found all the pumpkins - the photo is from pumpkin number six. The cauldron beside them is filled with witches snot and spiders (lovely), disgusting as it was, it did promote much discussion over what they could have used to make it (Beth's final thoughts were either jelly or glue).

For the last few days of the holiday grandma and grandad came to stay with us. Toby showed off his dance moves - both he and Beth love one of the dance games on the wii and can use up a tremendous amount of energy bopping to the beat. Beth did a great job, with a little help from grandma, decorating cakes for the Halloween party. Toby did not want to wear a costume so he went as 'Toby' but Beth of course wanted to be a princess fairy witch. They had a really good time chasing round the village hall, eating sausages and cake and generally causing havoc! Beth was really excited to see her school friends and thankfully had no encounters with dead arms!