As soon as the snow came down and began to lay, Joe and I were outside!  Joe was excited and I have to admit that I was too – I grew up in the North East, where snow was snow and I recall some years when I was living in County Durham where the snow came half way up the door and if you banged the back door too hard you ended up with snow on your head and everywhere else for that matter.  So yes, I was very excited too.  I eventually talked Joe back in doors and this is what we saw when we woke up the next day…

After breakfast we wrapped up warm and went out to play!  Chris couldnt get to work because of the snow so he was home too.

and 5 days later, the snow is still here!  However, as much as I love it, it does need to be gone by 28th which is when we will be travelling up North to see my family!

I don’t seem to have time to fart these days so needless to say that I haven’t had much time to blog, take photos or do most things really.  Whats changed?  Well, I’ve gone back to work for 4 days a week instead of 2 and a half and boy is it busy.  My new job, Data Manager, is a new role in our school and a new concept so nothing is really set up, I don’t know the software (I’m waiting for a training course) and if I’m completely honest, I don’t really have a clue whats going on half the time but I’m sure that with time it will all become clear.

Joe is now at nursery for the days I am working and I’m really missing him, I think its mostly because we did so much over the holidays and I feel like Im missing such a lot but he really enjoys nursery and has quite a few little friends there so really, I know there is nothing to worry about.  We desperately try to squeeze everything in to a Friday, swimming on a morning then off into town to either meet a friend or two and then back home in time to cook tea and take out the dog.  Fridays are most definately my busiest day.

Oh, I am finaly coming to the end of my tomatoes – four bowls later, I decided to do something with them.  Chris’s Mum told me about Nigella’s Moon Blush Tomatoes and they sounded yummy so I gave the a go.  I altered it slightly by not adding sugar and I also allowed the tomatoes to cook a little before turning the oven off as they weren’t dried enough for me.

Moonblush Tomatoes

A tray full of tomatoes – halved

Thyme

Malden Sea Salt

Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to GM9 or the highest setting and leave for a good 15 minutes.

Chop tomatoes in half and place on the baking tray, cut side up.

Sprinkle the thyme and sea salt over the tomatoes – to taste.

Drizzle a light coating of olive oil over the tomatoes.

Pop the tomatoes in the oven and set the time for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, turn the oven off and leave overnight or for most of the day.

Remove from oven and enjoy.

Up until a couple of weeks ago Joe would not leave my side if we went out anywhere.  If we went to play areas both indoor and outdoor, I had to take him on the play things; if we were out walking, he would hold my hand; with swimming, he would always hold on to me.  That was until the Summer.  Maybe, it was the fact that we went to our local park almost every day, that gave him a confidence boost or that we went swimming for fun where he could jump in as many times as he wanted, I’m not sure but he runs off to play ahead of me in the park now and at swimming he swam on woggle which was completely out of character as he would never go near one, let alone swim on his own on one!  Not that I’m complaining, its fantastic to see him swimming from one side of the pool to the other with his arms resting over the woggle, while he frantically kicks his legs and reaches out with his arms.  It certainly makes 2 years of swimming with Merbabies worth it.

Today, we went swimming as usual and then stopped by a local family pub for lunch with a friend and her little boy who is Joe’s age – we met when they boys were about 5 weeks old so they have pretty much grown up with each other.  Anyway, in this pub they have a room with a ball pit, slide, climbing stuff for kids and the boys were so excited that I think they were fit to burst!  I thought I would be in for an afternoon of climbing up and sliding down an throwing balls around, however the boys ran straight to the play area when we got into the room and that was that.  There was a twisty, covered slide which Joe went down, he loved it, so much so he went on it about 12 times!  He was quite happy to climb and run and shout, “Hello Mummy!” from the top of the play area… so out of character for him but equally fantastic at the same time.

You never quite know what is going to happen next with toddlers!