Sunday, December 31, 2006

Science on the blog

We round the year off with a visit to the Science Museum in London as it was Sunday, and it seemed like a fun thing to do! We also had a walk down Oxford Street and Regent Street to see the lights, and supper at the Pizza on the Park in Knightsbridge.

Happy New Year!

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Lego time (again)!

Trying to think of something interesting to say about this with Miranda sitting on my lap wriggling like a little piggy, is quite a challenge! So I'm afraid you'll have to improvise...

Friday, December 29, 2006

Fun and Games

It's been wet and windy here today so we've entertained ourselves with some games, ...some old, some new!. This one I think came from Miffi and involves spotty dogs and counting, but we also played old favourites like Scrabble.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

To be complimented!

After eating our lunch yesterday we were approached by two old dears from the Bournemouth Blue Rinse Brigade who complimented us on our children for their impeccable table manners! It was nice they said to see a "proper family" who still ate with a knife and a fork...

Crikey, the Browns upholding the values of the Moral Majority - whatever next...?

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Surf duder!

We had a visit to Bournemouth today to take the strain off Christmas. On the seafront we found this surfboard which was great fun!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

It's a cracker!

Lewis and Gregory made our Christmas crackers this year and the hats were very fetching! Lewis' joke in mine was "What did the sheep with a sweet tooth say when he woke up at Christmas....... Baaaah Humbug!

......I wrote that one just for you!"

Monday, December 25, 2006

Three boys on the beach at Lepe...

We blew the cobwebs away with a bracing walk on the beach at Lepe, the boys as usual managed to find some debris to play with. This buoy doesn't look very heavy, but Lewis was pushed to his limits lifting it - but once it was in the water it floated beautifully!

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Peekaboo!

All loaded up in the car, and we're off for a walk in the forest! There's just enough time for a peekaboo session with Mippy, whose wearing her Miffi hat!

It's Christmas Eve, the kids have just got their stockings ready by the fire and Father Christmas' nibbles plate has been prepared.

Soon we can go to bed...

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Nonchalant

She floats like a bumble bee, something in each hand, and still not quite sure if she can make those first few steps.

Bump, not quite...

Miranda the minx is nearly there, any day now!

Friday, December 22, 2006

The excitement is building!

Work is history, and the festive season begins. The cake has just been decorated and we are savouring an appetite to eat it now!

It's amusing to hear all the stories of bedlam on the roads, and flights going nowhere fast, mainly because we'll be staying close to home and having a quiet Christmas....

Merry Christmas!!!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

I've got my eye on you!

Miranda's got lovely bluey eyes, and here they look like a pair of matching jewels. She's just gone to bed without any fuss, and it's amazing how much more positive one feels when things go easily!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Art Club

Today the clan went down to the Library for an Art Club session. So here's Gregory showing us proudly the xmas tree decoration that he made...

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Deep Sea Diver

Always game for a bit of fancy dress, and incapable of not posing for the camera, this is Greg moments before disappearing into the coral reef that is our study floor. I also managed to get a great shot of him swimming on his belly, but it means more to me as I know what he was doing!

This portrait has that wonderfully narcisistic quality of a familiar face peering out sheepishly from behind the mask, and I love it!

Monday, December 18, 2006

Christmas Decorations

Our Christmas tree was rather wet when we got it home on Sunday, so we thought it was safer to leave the electrocution until today!

Naturally everyone wanted to join in, but fortunately many hands makes light work...!

Christmas is coming the nut roast is getting flat.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Lewis the Master Baker

Gingerbread men baked yesterday, and today they were decorated, and come to think of it, eaten by the boys (with a little help from Olivia and Archie).

Friday, December 15, 2006

Beaming Tiger

When I see a picture like this I tell myself that I really should work harder at more formal portraits! In general I prefer the more candid approach, but when you have real engagement there's nothing to beat the emotional value of the image .....

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Little Miss Moppet....

Miranda having eaten her curds and whey, in happy bunny mode. Today we went to Waterside School Xmas Show and although sadly I did not take my camera, Miranda had fun heckling Lewis and Gregory as they did their best to be willing participants in Jack and The Beanstalk!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Smiler!

Greg on my lap, camera in one hand tickling with the other!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Lewis reading

This is another picture in my ongoing set of people parts. Just small fragments of life that reflect the individual, I love the intimacy between the reader and the book that comes over in this picture.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Feel the energy

Greg gets very animated sometimes, and he's always acting the clown. This photo captures some of that raw energy that drives him forward, sometimes perilously into our bad books!

You simply can't tell him to "sit down quietly and read a book" when he's fired up. He bounces around like a jack rabbit - a man on a mission...

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Cornwall revisited

A few nights ago Lewis and I were doing some picture editing, and this was one that we thought worked well in black and white. I took it earlier in the year at Portholland near Mevagissey, and brings back all those memories of scampering around in the rockpools - a nice change to some of the stormy days we've had of late!

Friday, December 08, 2006

Count your lucky stars

Miranda doing some mental arithmatic - two bowls of pasta, one sticky pudding, one mince pie ... how many does that make Gregory?

Thursday, December 07, 2006

THE CAT IS BACK!

Lewis and I have been having some fun with Photoshop, and I'm not sure what Greg is going to say when he sees this!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Whilst the cat is away...

Miranda will play...!

Normally the boys would be interfering when they catch Miranda playing with their pickup trucks and cargo. Normally they would remember that the bits ".....are too small for you Miranda...!" or some such excuse.

However today they left some things out on the study floor, and Miranda simply could not resist. Just wait until Lewis sees this picture.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

I'm having one of those days

One of the best hair conditioners money can buy is egg sandwiches, but the application can be a bit tricky!

When her teeth are hurting Miranda massages her poor little head, and it's funny how often the dark side passes and it becomes a moment of light...

Monday, December 04, 2006

Like father, like son!

It's usually me urging the boys to complete a task, but this afternoon Lewis encouraged and helped Greg to produce a lovely Greeting Card, with a Quad Bike on the outside and a lovely hand written message on the inside... all before I had left my workroom.

I was so proud of them both!

Saturday, December 02, 2006

In the Wild West

This is one of Lewis' drawings from Thursday or Friday morning before we came downstairs. There was no book out and it's unlike one of his drawings, so I asked him what his inspiration was...

In school the day before they'd had a talk about the Wild West, and the cowboys and all that stuff - and this is what flowed from Lewis at 7am.

Friday, December 01, 2006

The Bread Maker

Whilst many would argue that getting their kids to eat Brown Bread was a challenge, we can be proud of our Lewis who not only made Bread in school today with his choice of ingredients; sundried tomatoes and assorted herbs - but also ate half a loaf with his tea!

What's left we are shortly going to have ourselves.

I commend it to the nation!

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Lewis Cartier Bresson

Lewis has been practicing using my camera to take photos, and here's one of us during the instruction process. He has been given a film camera by Gran and Grandan so I thought I'd improve the hit rate by experimenting with a digiSLR.

Greg also took a few but I didn't think one of the top right hand corner of my head would be very interesting to look at.

The light was falling, so difficult to get a result especially when Daddy won't let you use the flash!

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Last of the Mohican's

There's one thing the boys love doing and it's hairdressing, which is funny as they used to bellyache about getting their hair wet. Now however, the merest mention of " ....it's Sunday!..." and spontaneously they are under the water ready for the shampoo.

The mohican is by far the favourite hairstyle although many styles have been experimented with...

Monday, November 27, 2006

Thwarted!

The threshold between living room and hall creates an interesting challenge for a stairgate, but I managed to get it in place on the weekend - Miranda has met her match, and don't the boys just love teasing her from the other side!

Rocket to the Moon...

It's Lego time again, and Greg is building a Rocket to take us all to the Moon. Miranda is testing the Lunar Module, and Lewis for some strange reason is nowhere to be seen!

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Can I just check your pulse?

Here's Tiger looking handsome as ever, ready to conduct his business!

Friday, November 24, 2006

The other side of Greg

Greg has a capacity to melt almost any determination to persuade him to do something. Well I can be fairly determined!

But this shows him at his most resourceful, cheeky and sly. Greg "butter wouldn't melt" Brown turning it on for the camera, when there's a mince pie at stake.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Rounding up the cattle...

This one from the weekend as it's not been possible to take any pictures today for one reason or another. I love watching the boys when they are out in the woods, sometimes they jabber away to each other acting out some role, other times they are lost in thought.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

We free kings

Greg went to his friend Toby's "King Party" dressed up in all his finery, and doesn't he just look regal!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Pop to the Shops...

The boys love playing games when there's a bit of time spare before bedtime, which is not every day! However this was last night's game which Lewis managed to win, although I'm not sure if his dice was loaded.

Monday, November 20, 2006

It's my birthday!

Today is the official birthday, but unfortunately Gran and Grandan had to head for home! So there was lots of hugs after breakfast and then everything was back to normal for the clan. All except for Miranda who was wearing her beads and badge, who headed off for Playgroup in the village, to tell her friends all about the visitors, ...and the party.....

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Birthday Girl...

Today we had Miranda's birthday party with the Brown Hall clan. Ron and Ann seeing if they can get Miranda to look towards the camera, and proving it's possible to get one person to look forwards but not three at the same time...

The cake picture may have to wait for another time...!

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Do the Smurf!

Gran and Grandan playing Pooh sticks with the boys on Saturday morning near Rans Wood in the Forest. We had a lovely walk in the glorious sunshine and autumnal colours, before stopping for a little smackerel of something - as Pooh would say...

Friday, November 17, 2006

The Ferryman cometh

Another picture from yesterday, as I didn't take any today.

Miranda in action mode as she sends her little boat into the harbour, whilst on two feet. Tonight whilst she was standing at the bath, she left go and turned around, before suddenly realising she was in trouble... Phew that was close!

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Terrible Three, Famous Five, Secret Seven...

Miranda was standing next to the chair in the study when she started looking at the book which happened to be sitting on the chair, so this shot is a nice follow on from the one of Lewis reading a few nights ago.

She's very good at turning pages, although a bit too quickly to manage to read them.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

National Book Week


This was the scene at our house this morning as the boys set off to school in fancy dress! Lewis aka James Herriott, has got Scrufty on his lead, and Greg aka the (medium size) Billy Goat Gruff is ready for action.

So look out Trolls, you may have met your match!

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

No more Mr Nice Guy!

The days when Gregory would smile for the camera, or simply ignore me at my pleasure, are almost gone for the time being. He enjoys teasing me and depriving me of my photo opportunities - or at least that's how I see it!

Really he's just creating his own image - make your own mind up...

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Shall I call an ambulance?

Our neighbour Brian walked past as I was laying on the ground taking this picture - "Shall I call an ambulance, because someone's bound to get injured!" he joked...

On this occasion I was not flattened and the boys didn't come off their bikes as they stunted over the ramp (which you can't see in this picture). Lewis is making it look very easy

Tomorrow I'll post one of Greg who is also quite good at taking air!

Friday, November 10, 2006

A bigger Splash!

Fun and frivolity at bathtime tonight. I dont normally have the patience for getting my camera at the same time as trying to get the kids bathed and ready for bed, but tonight I took a few pictures and this one capture the vitality of carefree playtime...

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Busy hands

Cars and Jigsaws, you can't really go wrong with this combination where Greg is concerned - he's a natural when it comes to this sort of activity - he just picks up pieces and they seem to fit into place.

....and if they don't go, he just pushes them into place!

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

The adventures of the Secret Seven

Lewis engrossed in his bedtime story, which tonight is the "Secret Seven Fireworks"

Sometimes it's difficult to accept that he's happy to read on his own now, having done bedtime story with him nearly every night for eight years.

It's a good job I've got Greg to entertain me instead!