Yob culture!

Why is there such a problem with this? Not all young people are bad or even do bad things, but the small minority who are or do really do blight our society and my neighbourhood. We pay our taxes, vote, work hard and do our best to keep our street tidy, so why do a small group of boys want to kick down my fence and verbally abuse my neighbours and myself when we remind them that they should be in school?
To be fair it is a small group of them, but the damage is annoying as by the time Jamie comes home from school it is always dark and usually raining - thus it will not be repaired until the weekend when we should be enjoying family time together!
Oh well, Emily has a great world to grow up in, maybe yob culture and the complete disregard for other peoples property and life (in extreme cases but sadly it happens) may have passed and people may realise that God and does work in our world and can change our communities.
(The photo is an old one as my battery is charging on th camera from yesterdays damage as I need to email the photo to the local headteacher!The current damage is pretty similar!)

Doesn't time fly

Last Sunday we went for a walk at Dunham Massey. We were halted in our tracks as a herd of deer wanted to pass by. The deer at the front tentatively made its way across the path to check if all was safe to pass. Thirty to forty smaller ones then followed! What a sight.

Emily has been getting better at sitting up. This is her in the Bumbo. Sorry about the abuse of the toy, no animal was harmed during this; she hasn't learnt the art of pressing gently!

My sisters and niece came to visit this week. We had a great couple of days, Jamie was surrounded by five girls (not sure if he has recovered yet!!). It was fun to see Emily and Ellie-May playing, punching, smiling and talking with and to each other.

It was also fun to show Judith and Emma around Manchester, I am still learning myself, this week I found out where Spring Gardens is.

We also celebrated Dad's 'significant' birthday on Saturday with breakfast at one of our favourite places - Saints and Scholars. Emily as usual was on her best form in the moring and provided plenty of smiles around the table as cards and gifts were opened.

Time does fly, last week my headteacher phoned to ask if I wanted to come back to work after Christmas to teach Booster classes in the afternoon. After agreeing I then realised that she meant straight after Christmas! No way!! I am only going to get this chance once to be with Emily so I had to retract and stick to going back in April as planned.

Time is flying;

• Emily is 21 weeks old this week,
• She is 14lbs 4 oz (double her birth weight),
• She is having one formula feed a day,
• Rolling over on her side,
• Turning herself round on her playmat,
• Grabbing everything in sight,
• And flexing her fingers as if she is squeezing an orange!
• Jamie has now been second in the maths department for nearly a term
• And it is only a month to Christmas. Wow. Time is flying.

Hopefully is won't fly too fast as we are all having so much fun.

Family get- togethers

Over the weekend all the McCullochs met together for the annual catch-up. It was a fun time and a great chance for Emily to meet her extended family. (It was a bit busy at the dedication). She was mesmerised by all the faces, noise and laughter. Next year she may well be joining in the carcophany of noise made by the McCulloch Clan. It was also an opportunity to wish Jamie's dad a happy birthday for next weekend. The cake was amazing... Lots of catching up was done, lots of delicious food eaten, lots of games played and plenty of other laughter-filled moments. What a great way to spend a Saturday.

Bubble beard!

There is nothing really to be said, the picture says it all.

(She is going through 8-10 bibs a day to keep her clothes dry!)

What is it about football?

What is it about football that makes grown men turn into children? I was involved in my second argument in a week tonight during my Tuesday night football ritual. Am I starting to loose control of my temper, are people pushing me more than they used to or is it all just unnecessary tosh?
I was accused tonight of being 'petty' for telling 2 lads to stop arguing over a disputed goal. My take on it was 'who cares, let's just play on'. However, they continued to bicker and I continued to tell them to give it up. That's when the accusation came and made me boil up inside!!
I waited until the end of the game to explain to the accuser that criticising your team and yourself during a game is not being petty. However, arguing with someone on another team about whether a goal should stand or not is petty. His reply was he didn't need a lesson from me!

What am I turning into? I know these lads have a different attitude to the game than me. I was brought up on the back lawn with older players around me who encouraged a healthy attitude to critical team play. However, I am too verbal. Obviously this doesn't fit in to Tuesday night football (shame I've only noticed after 5 years of playing with them!).
I have confessed to Julie-Ann that I don't feel comfortable with how tonight went and have promised myself to be more positive than critical next week. It seems that I am finding it difficult to be a Christian role model whilst playing sport whole-heartedly (I was even wearing my Christians in Sport t-shirt underneath my drill top! What irony!).
Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.

p.s. Any women out there who are currently dating.... a piece of advice - always check out your potential husband playing competitive sport because often that is when they show their true colours! (J-A says I used to be a nice boy!)

Muse

Dave and I went to a concert at the MEN on Saturday night to hear Muse. I've been listening to their stuff for a little while now so I thought I would take up Davy's offer to go and see them.
Well, I have to say that it the best concert I have been to in a very long time.
They are a pretty heavy outfit but the whole show was immense. I have never seen such a magnificent guitar player whose fingers just took control of that fret-board.

On top of the music the whole stage show/production was excellent. The picture below shows the moment when they sent out huge balloons across the front of the stage. They were filled with feathers and when burst caused a downpour of red fluff!!

It was a brilliant experience and I will make sure I try and see them again at some point.

If you are interested in hearing them play live here is a link to them playing in concert a couple of years ago. I enjoy listening whilst I'm marking books after work!

Playing or eating whoozit whilst sitting in Bumbo

It is amazing the toys and things that they make for babies these days. When we were little we were propped up with cushions and given keys and rattles to play with. (I am sure there were other things too!) We are grateful for all the things we have been given by family, colleagues and friends; Emily is a blessed child, in so many ways, and has so many things. Her toys are cool and this chair is really useful as she can't wriggle out of it and it encourages her to sit properly too! So it's two for the price of one!

Cars!

Well, most of you may know that I have been out and about driving again. I say driving but my parking and turning need to be improved! We are really grateful as we have 2 cars at the moment and it is really convenient for our life. Last week our bigger car went into the garage for the annual MOT, of which it was ok. They said the exhaust was corroding but nothing too urgent.
What happenend to me today? Put it this way ...have you ever tried reversing a car when the exhaust is dragging on the floor? Less than a week after it's MOT the car is back in the garage getting a new exhaust. Tomorrow we will feel the benefit of having 2 cars!

Blowing bubbles... or spitting? You can choose!

Sorry it is so dark, but it's the sounds that are funny.

Another first.... baby rice

A rare trip out as a twosome ... without the nappy bag!

Yesterday Jamie and I went out for the afternoon to Old Trafford to watch Utd against Portsmouth. It was a good match with most of the action happening at the opposite end to us - Vidic's goal was at our end.

The corner that was played Neville the to Vidic and GOAL!!!!

It was great to leave Emily in the capable hands of her auntie Nic and uncle Dave. She had a great time visiting John Lewis and Bramall village. For those of you who were watching the Battle of the bottle... we won! She now takes it and seems to enjoy it. On other news, half term is now over for Jamie, it is back to work tomorrow for 7 weeks and then it will be Christmas break. Our car passed it's MOT but now needs a new exhaust (if we don't want to sound like a boy racer.) We have also been looking at new houses and are having another valuation on ours this week. We have already had 2 but as they are over 30000 apart we need another opinion. We have been to Chester, done some Christmas shopping, been swimming, started writing the dedication thankyous and have started Emily on baby rice. A busy half term; Jamie is going back to work for a rest!

Catching up ... Dedication and beyond.

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

19 seconds which will make you laugh!

This little laugh cracks me up every time so I had to share it with you all!

Great is Thy Faithfulness!

What an amazing weekend. We had a wonderful day on Saturday with many friends and family from all over the country as well as Northern Ireland, Scotland and Canada. We feel truely blessed by the presence of so many - and for all the well wishes and thoughts from all of you who couldn't be there.
It was an amazing sight to see our fathers dedicate our daughter, our brothers and sisters give vows to support us and godparents promise to nurture and pray for Emily as she grows up.

The vows

The Patterson/Croker/Fawcett/Cully/McCulloch Clan

The McCulloch Clan

Deirdre & Andrew (Godparents)

Greg and Sara (Godparents)

The happy family... what an amazing day!

We are really amazed at the joy that Emily has brought to us. We are reminded constantly of God's faithfulness in the good times and the bad... these times are the really good times!

Thanks to all who were there, those who couldn't make it... you were missed.

Still more catching up to do, but that's enough for now!

Proud grandparents with their grandaughters!

All laughs with Granny

Sleeping with Juniper, one day she will be bigger than him!

Bibs are the height of fashion with all the dribbling going on at the mo!

Sleeping peacefully and through the night!

A big day for Grandad, but Emily and J scrubbed up well too!

The past weeks via photos

No smiles on her first visit swimming!

Auntie Jude and Auntie Emma give cuddles

Little and Large the 2 cousins chilling out together.

Telly addict already with Baby Einstein
Chilling out with her cousin, Ellie-May
A day out shopping with Grandmum and Great auntie Ann

Still getting used to life on her tummy,(eating her whoozit water mat)

Finally!

Well, after months of trying (or not!) I have finally found a way of suitably storing some of my songs on the internet in case by some odd chance somebody may want to listen to them. JA has always been reminding me that it is something I should do and with our return on line I have found a web page that has helped me.
I will not be posting anything about those songs here on this blog but have put a link on the right-hand side called Jamie's songs (great name hey?!). Writing has always been something that I have enjoyed doing and continue to do so even with current time restraints.
So, if you have any inclination to put yourself through it, check out the link and have a listen.
Don't expect any masterpieces!

Clever Clogs

Big Congratualtions to Greg!

Today we celebrated Greg's graduation as he picked up his MA with distinction!! His work was on a guy called Yoder, ( not Yoda) as Jamie thought and was subsequnetly disappointed that he was not going to read a thesis about the attack of the stormtroopers!

We had a fabulous time with Emily attending her first graduation outside the womb, and what a cool one to be at with one of her godparents graduating.
We are now back on line and I have load to tell you all... if you are interested, but the Chronicles of Emily will have to wait as we are all tired. It is off to bed we go!

Sweet dreams

A quick update

Emily and I are here in Belfast for 2 days visiting granny and granda and aunts and uncles. It is also another chance for Emily to spend time with her cousin.
We are well, Emily is now 12lbs 8oz. We have been to baby massage which she loves. It has been nice to meet other mums as well as for Emily to see people of the same size as her.
We are having a great time at home and are starting to develop our own routines. I thought I would be lost without work but it is just so great to work with such a repsonsive little baby. She is now giggling ans chucking as well as spontaneously smiling.
That's enough for now, I don't have my camera cable so I can't upload pictures so you will have to put up with one from a cd instead.
We are still off line so we are waiting not so patiently to be reconnected. Only one more week to go!

A time for silence....

Unfortunately our internet connection is now down for the next 3 weeks as we change provider (long nightmarish story). We apologise for those of you who may have a small interest in the progress of our little daughter but we will not be able to inform you about her wonderful daily acts! Hopefully you will all find some way of entertaining yourself in this period of drought!!
See you in 3.

All by myself....

...I don't wanna be!

I take my hat off to my sister and any other mums out there who have been looking after their new little ones when their husbands have gone back to work 10 days after the birth. I have been spoilt. I have had Jamie for 52.5 of Emily's 56 days of life. It has been great and we have had so much fun learning to be parents together.
Today has been my first day on my own with Emily. It was fun but it is hard doing everything by yourself with a little bundle who wants your undivided attention. We did some laundry, went to Tesco to get the shopping, cooked tea and even had time to squeeze in a visit from grandmum!
A busy day, we had a cool time but we both missed J, but for many mums and babies out there daddy going to work is a normal thing; well for Emily and I from now on it will be normal to wave Jamie off every morning at 7.15 am.

A confused Emily as I can't look like Jamie or sound like him no matter what I do.

Last few thoughts

Well, Sunday has arrived which means the Monday get-up is just around the corner. Six weeks have flown by as usual and I am now facing the prospect of a restless nights sleep knowing I have to wake to the alarm tomorrow - rather than the cry of Emily next door!
In a way, starting back is going to be good for the 3 of us. Alot of the activities JA wants to be a part of start up in September (baby massage, mum and baby library sessions etc) so it will be nice for the ladies to get in a routine of fun during the week. I'll let you know how things have been next Sunday!

On another note, I managed to get tickets to the England vs Andorra match the other night. Not that there was a problem with availability or anything but I have never been to see England before so Dave and I gave it a crack. When speaking to a few others about going I was surprised to hear "I wouldn't pay to go and see England." I have to say it wasn't that bad and I just enjoyed the experience. Maybe next time I'll see better opposition!

A lovely gesture during the national anthems!

So, I will leave you now as I am off upstairs to kiss Emily goodnight. I am going to miss having all that time to spend with her during the day but I know that things will settle quickly.

How could you not miss seeing this during morning play?!?!

A few thoughts

JA is describing how our weekend went but I just wanted to share a couple of extra things.
1) I can't believe how much Emily is smiling at the moment. She really fixes her eyes on you, listens intently to the gibberish coming from your mouth and then cracks into a huge smile. Not only that but she loves to chat back in her best cooing and gurgling. The only downside (when she's on her back) is that she ends up getting hiccups from taking in too much air from her talking!
2) Getting the chance to use the baby carrier has been wonderful. Spending last summer with the Hendricks and seeing Soren enjoy his Bjorn put me in the mood for one of my own! JA kindly bought one for me last Christmas and this summer has provided me with some opportunities to use it. In fact, Emily is strong enought now to face outwards which I'm sure is much more exciting for her. I may even let JA use it the odd time!!
3) I had my strangest ever purchase over the weekend - a J shaped marrow from the Hampton Court organic garden!! It only cost me £1 and as you can see was value for money. What I'm going to do with it I don't know. I think if I give it to Andy he may have some idea on a tasty outcome.

Well, work starts for me next week and I not sure how I'm going to cope after 8 weeks with the 2 ladies. I am going back to a new responsibility and am looking forward to it but the thought of leaving these 2 behind is quite hard. However, they will have a great time together and it will be a start to another new adventure in Emily's life.

Bank holidays with family

This weekend we spent with the McCulloch clan. we went to the a beautiful cottage near Woscester and Leominster. We spent our time playing 'settlers of catan', drinking coffee, enjoying cooked breakfasts, sampling the local produce and putting the worlds to right!

We also visited Hampton Court (Herefordshire) where we enjoyed the beautiful flowers and vegetables ) Jamie bought an interestingly shaped marrow and showered under sunflowers that are taller than him! We especially enjoyed the maze that led to the sunken garden complete with an Indiana Jones style waterfall.

The gardens were great, the organic food in the restaurant tasted delicious. Emily enjoyed her day out... she was transported in her Bjorn carrier (first seen in Canada with a cute Hendricks on board). We had an amazing weekend, the weather was great and it was so nice for Emily to spend concentrated time with the McCulloch clan. She has slept through the night for the first time. Sunday night to Monday morning from 10.30 pm to 6.30 am. Less than 8 weeks old and she has slept through the night! Wow!

That's the end of the bank holiday but we look forward to more time spent with both the McCulloch and Patterson Clans.

trail and error

For the grandmothers

Let sleeping babies lie! Thought our mums would like this one!