Category: Family

Photo album for January 2019

New Year’s Day 2019 – how else is a girl supposed to watch YouTube these days?

My most popular 9 of 2018. Common themes are Daniel starting at Durham Johnston and Emily bending over backwards.

Big brother celebrating his (belated) 40th birthday presents. Can’t believe my brother is 40!!

Daniel 🙂

See, what happened, was the Bailey’s JUMPED into my coffee just as i was making it and being a conscientious citizen i didn’t want to waste the coffee I’d just made…

“And here we see Man, struggling through the elements, bringing the bin in…” First snow of the year here (17 Jan); gone now but boy did it come down! Six minutes before this picture there was barely a snowflake on the ground.

Photo album December 2018

And here comes Christmas! Hot chocolate and happy sighs 😀

It’s so much fun, when Christmas comes to town…

A cold and frosty morning at school yesterday!

I haz treated myself to my ‘official’ dissertation notebook

Emily fell asleep reading Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls last night 🙂

It just wouldn’t be xbox without a Santa hat.(good luck figuring THAT one out, archivists of the future!)

Wowsers! 😀 look at my gorgeous boy, I can’t believe how big he’s got.

My beautiful girl’s school Christmas party today. End of a cracking term for her!

Daniel got his first secondary school progress report today – and proud recipient of a Recognition Award!

Really lovely Christmas carol concert for Daniel’s school today in Durham Cathedral. And kudos to the soloist – something very special about hearing a child sing Once in Royal David’s City acapella while the entire cathedral—full of 1100 children and their families—is totally silent.

Just seen Mary Poppins Returns which was, of course, practically perfect in every way! 😉 Hope everybody has a very merry Christmas & wonderful things in 2019. Lots of love from The Browns!

The Christmas Eves of Christmas Past and Present!

Good morning world. Not such a happy Christmas as usual for us; poor old Emily has been up since 2am with sickness bug. Lots of snuggles for us today! Hope everyone else has a lovely day.

Patients 1&2 are sound asleep and already the anti-emetic from urgent care seems to be helping Emily. With any luck, a good night’s sleep will do them good, we won’t join them, and we can have Christmas Take 2 tomorrow.

Our creative family time. Emily is very proud of her 3d jigsaw, Daniel made a train, Andrew rocked Daniel’s guitar (in his own way) and I’m rather proud of my attempt at a 3d pen Sorting Hat 🙂

I don’t know about the rest of the uk but Co Durham is seeing out 2018 in style with this lovely sunset. Happy new year to everyone!

What makes a good father?

Reflections on fatherhood for Father’s Day 2017

What makes a good father? I’m sure almost everyone asks themselves this question at some point, whether it’s in curiosity, or panic, or even self-congratulation. Since Beloved Husband first became a father almost ten years ago, I have had the privilege of seeing what makes a good father and I have some thoughts on the subject.

When he learns he is going to become a father, perhaps he feels fear and excitement and anticipation. A good father takes all of these feelings and uses them. Maybe he reads the baby book every day, maybe he talks to the Bump, maybe he near kills himself, trying to make sure Bump will have a safe and secure home. Maybe he goes out searching for the one and only food that Bump’s mother can keep down, whatever time of night it is. Maybe he holds her hair back as she’s sick AGAIN and cools her down because dammit, he can’t do much, but he’s determined to do what he can. And maybe he walks up and down the hospital room all night while she finally sleeps, holding his newborn in his arms. Because he’s a good father.

When the baby is here, Daddy sees this squalling, red-faced little creature and recognises the fragility and potential and commits his entire being to protecting it. He baby-proofs every damn plug socket, every possible source of disaster, and double-checks everything. Twice. He sacrifices sleep, sanity and self-image, thinking nothing of putting a silly hat on or pulling odd faces for hours because it makes the baby laugh.

As the baby becomes a child, there are a hundred new challenges to face. A good father will make mistakes – because he’s trying his best and you don’t get it right until you’ve got it wrong a few times. Maybe he’s too soft, maybe he’s too strict, but he’s trying his best and he’s throwing himself in with everything that he’s got. He teaches his son and his daughter to be strong and to be gentle and to love fiercely and to think and to throw themselves into the world, even when it’s a scary place. And when it’s a scary place, he teaches his children that he is there for them, that they can come back and huddle together for warmth until they are brave enough to go back out there.

I don’t think a good father is perfect. I think a good father recognises his frailties and his faults, and he is unafraid of letting his children learn from these so that they can make their own mistakes instead of repeating his. I think a good father has feet of clay, because really, who wants a golden statue for a father?

I think my children are lucky enough to have a good father.

#project366 Week 36 

One final pic from Clippesby

On the way home from Norfolk (literally,out of nowhere as we were passing through North Yorkshire!) I came down with the most horrendous cold. I rose from my sickbed to get my hair chopped off. I’m sure it was top of Lazarus’s priorities too… The kids weren’t quite as traumatised as I expected, although Emily wouldn’t speak to me half an hour when I picked her up from school!

Self-portrait. Ignore the grey…