Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

Half term madness - we have a new puppy! We've been talking for a while about when is the right time to have a puppy, do we wait until Scooby is much older,  what type of dog etc etc. Against this discussion we have the girls asking, begging for another dog. Why we need more than one I don't know but there we go. The one thing I was absolutely clear on was we were not having another boxer, definitely not a male and preferably a smaller breed. So, welcome to Bertie, a 5 month old male boxer with enormous paws. He is such a cutie - very chilled out and very much part of the family already. We found him on a website just by chance - I'd decided maybe an older puppy would be best (the only criteria I stuck to!) and just as I was looking up he popped, just put on by a breeder in Wiltshire who had been raising 2 puppies and decided the other was more suitable to continue with so Bertie was for sale. We met her husband at her daughter's house in Devises where 2 other boxers ...

Isn't it typical, you wait all winter for snow, and it arrives on a day when the girls have to go to school, and I have to get to an appointment in Basingstoke which I don't really want to change. We woke on Tuesday morning to a perfect winter wonderland. The garden looked pristine covered in an almost decent 2" of snow. I took Scooby for a walk as the 5am early morning moonlight glinted off the snow and it was just lovely. Of course by midday day the slush had taken over and that was that. In fact I drove (slid) to Basingstoke, parked in an ice rink / car park, watched a bloke get out of his car and promptly fall over, then went to London. By the time we arrived in Waterloo there was no sign of snow and I could have dreamt the whole thing. The girls definitely tried to make the most of it, building the smallest snowman (blob) in the world, but it just wasn't enough to really get excited. Maybe we will go skiing next year... One more week and then it's half ter...

It's always worth wishing for something. If you keep hoping for it, maybe your dreams will come true. Abi has had her eye on a road bike for about the last 2 years, ever since we saw one in Decathlon on our way to France. Back then it was too big for her, she could just about ride it but there was no way she'd be safe, so we said no. Every so often we've seen a bike and she's asked again, but the answer has been the same - not until you're big enough. Finally last weekend Glenn spotted a bike in the local shop and took her to try it and it fits!! Cue a beautiful bedtime letter setting out just how much she loves us, and a wish list which included her much sought after road bike. The wish list worrying also included the following.... - a Great Dane - some more dogs - a brother (baby) - a road bike - a new dog lead for Scooby Clearly we are not having a baby brother or 4 more dogs (particularly a Great Dane), so she had a good chance of the bike in reality. S...