News ...

One more post about Mum's birthday day.

This lady on the left ...  

... had something to tell her audience.

Oh yes, she had some wonderful news to share on that evening.

It went something like this:

"We put an offer on a house today."

Cue lots of oohs and ahhs, and 'Oh, Catherine, that's great news!' 

She went on:

"There are three bedrooms. So, that's our room, the guest room, and ...

come August, the third will be used as a ...

nursery."

Bit by bit, the news sank in ...

deeper and deeper ...

until it had finally sunk in.

And the joy could no longer be contained!

That was until someone explained that if Catherine was having a baby, then my baby sister was going to be a ...

Great Aunt!

Great Aunt sounds WAY older than Granny!

Imagine, my baby sister finally may have to grow up!

Out-takes of our Photo Taking ...

In the previous post, I showed y'all all the lovely photos that made us seem well-behaved and even - dare I say it - normal.

But to get to the publishable-photo stage, we had to go through bits and bobs of, well, drama.

See, this is the kind of thing that happens when you put two sisters next to each other in a photo line up. 

'Hair all sorted for the photo, right?' 

'Well, I'll soon sort that...'

Meanwhile - take note - my folks and all the boys are completely well behaved and beautifully posed.

It's always the girls that cause the problems. Always the girls. 

You just ask any mum with sons .... in particular, ask my own mum. Isn't that right, Marina?!

Mums and their boys. It's simply the way of the world...

Well, finally we pretty much had order restored and we were able to take some pretty decent photos.

*      *      *

Below is a photo of Mum and Auntie Jessie. 

Here, they are beautifully presented and have their 'for the camera' faces on.

But a short while later, I was able to take a photo that totally and completely and utterly sums the pair of them up ...

This. 

This is them. Everyone who knows Mum and Auntie Jessie can actually hear them as they look at this photo. 

Honestly, it is them, summed up in a few inches of photo!

*      *      *

And then we had Neil and Donna and the boys. Remember the lovely photo of them all yesterday?

Well, shortly before the 'good' photo was taken, we had this. Now, all looks fairly normal, but take a look at Mark's hand ...

And now take a look at Mark's face ... He's up to something.

And NOW, see Neil's face! 

That 'butter wouldn't melt in my mouth' nephew of mine had had great fun - very much at his dad's expense.

Dontcha just love kids!

Order almost restored ... but a re-writing of the will may be on the way.

Ross is smiling. And well he might.

Mum's Birthday

Last week, we were able to have an amazing family get-together for Mum's birthday. Over the past few years, my brother, Neil, has missed so many family events because of his work, but this time even he was with us.... 

Marina and I always laugh at Mum with 'her boy', so undoubtedly the day was made doubly and trebly special for Mum with 'her boy' being there. Isn't that right, Marina?!



Although the Builder was missing, all Mum and Dad's children and grandchildren were there - including Catherine who'd come from Northern Ireland - as well as Mum's dearest friend, Auntie Jessie. It was a wonderful providence that had us all together.

In this post I'll show you only the 'good' photos. You know the ones .... the photos that make us all look well behaved and even normal.

It's nice to kid on to folks sometimes.

Mum, her daughters and her granddaughters. Don't we all scrub up well?

And here's Mum and Dad with their three children. Yes, I use the word 'children' advisedly. I am just beginning to learn that no matter how old your family is, they are always your 'children'. This is definitely the case with the wonderful parents God gave us.

*      *      *

Seeing we had families together, I thought I'd click away and get family groups. 


This is Mum and Dad's baby girl with her husband and family. She doesn't need to 'scrub up well', because she is always scrubbed up. When I grow up I want to be like her ...

As I say, in another post, I'll show some of the out-takes ... but in the photo below, Neil's son, Mark, look absolutely like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, right?

Who says the camera never lies...

Of course, the Builder wasn't there, but I still got some photos with my kiddos.

Family is so precious. What a gift God gave us when He placed us in families! What pictures we have of the love God shows toward His family within our own family units. Right now, we are all giving thanks for the opportunity to have met this way because now that so many of the children are older and living in different places, it's always more difficult to actually get everyone in one place at the one time. God is so kind.

Niseach's Deep Questions

Sometimes, I like to philosophise in the snow. I'm a deep thinker, and the silent whiteness of a day like this helps my mind focus on the really important things in life.

Things like:

When will I get my next Rich Tea biscuit?

How can I convince them I need to stay out longer, when I've already piddled-and-pooed?

Why did Daddy take that boot off me when I'd only just begun to tear it apart?

More importantly, why do these sheep act as though I'm not at all frightening? Why do they look at me as if I'm a walking, barking teddy bear?

Every day, the response is the same.

"Mehh, what is that fluffball?"

These are deep and meaningful questions, and I wish not to be disturbed whilst mulling over them.

Not disturbed, Mum, I said.

Unless you have a Rich Tea for me.

You do?!