Winter Waves

Dear Jay,

Here's a sound I know you miss, almost as much as we miss you:

Love Naomi x

Sunday Stroll

We love to vist the Ten Commandments Tor on Dartmoor:

There's Beauty In The Struggle

What do you do to avoid Saturday afternoon errands? We enjoyed a winter walk on the beach:

Tuesday's Smile Lines

Me: Did you tell your teacher your pupils were still dilated and you had to be careful?
Ethan: Yes. (Looks disgusted.) She made me play hockey still, even though I couldn't see the ball!

Me: Do you need help?

Noah: No thank you... actually, yes please.

Me: (Laughs.)

Noah: Are you laughing at me?

Me: Yes.

Noah: I'm always funny.

Me: What are you doing?

Rosie: I'm crazy.

Snow Patrol

This video made me laugh... my sister did this when she was a police officer!

Battle Of The Rocker #2

Cooking dinner is never dull, the younger children always end up standing in the doorway dancing to whatever music is keeping me sane! Watch Rosie's crazy in full swing:

I promise you she didn't learn those moves from me!

Blue

Peculiar blue men have been spotted, appearing at random in the Miles household.

But It's So Pretty

We Brits love to talk about the weather, usually to moan that it's too hot, cold or wet. We live in the mildest part of England and it's taken a while for us to get the snow that's been dancing about since mid December, but I refuse to join the moaning. I love the freezing conditions that are rivalling Russia, it finally feels like winter should, and the snow makes everything so darn pretty.... even from space!

Precipitation In The Form Of Ice Crystals

We have snow! The UK has been bathed in the white stuff for the last 3 weeks on and off, but it has avoided our neck of the woods until now. The youngest three children were due back at school today after the Christmas break (Ben returned on Monday much to his disgust) but we had a snow day! It's hillarious that our country falls into chaos with a couple of inches of snow. There was only one mission on the agenda today: find a hill and slide down it!

Here's a video of Rosie with her friend, showing the boys how it's done:

And here is Ethan (at the front) crashing with style:

Battle Of The Rocker

My niece Olivia loves Noah's dancing in this post so much she watches it over and over. She recently sent us a video of her rocking out to Muse... the battle is on! Here's a clip of Noah dancing while I cooked dinner:

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

Dear Jay,
I'm sorry it's taken so long to post about our Christmas festivities! We basically opened presents...

...and played Band Hero all afternoon. Amy was on form singing Kung Fu Fighting (and may kill me for posting this!):

I cooked a gorgeous roast and we ate plenty of chocolate in between.

Boxing Day was spent visiting Leah's family for food and Beatles Rock Band (see a theme here?!). Mum knew all the songs of course and totally relived her concert going days! We missed you guys not being there to share the madness. The day ended with James taking to his bed with Man Flu where he stayed for 4 nights and 3 days.

He arose on the 4th day (probably a stone lighter) in time to welcome in the new year at the Cockram's house. The children managed to stay up all night (James managed to nap on their sofa for a while!) and crashed when we got home at 1:30. For the first time ever they all slept in the next day! I know... my kids sleeping in! Noah and Ben got up at 9:00, and Ethan and Rosie were out until after 10:00. We opted to stay in bed rather than to go to the New Year's Day ward football match, it was much warmer and safer that way!

Happy New Year to you all,

Love Naomi xxx