Profoundly Max!

The other day we went to the mall....not my most favourite of chores, especially as Max was with me....not his most favourite past-time either. As a reward for good behaviour he could choose a toy from the Crazy store (bearing in mind it is the equivilant of the $ store & anything purchase there has a very limited lifespan). He chose a fishing rod, complete with magnetic hook & 5 colourful fishies to catch.



He was in-love......the wrappings came off as soon as we were in the car. He fiddled, reeled & had loads of fun 'catching' his fishies all the way home. We pulled up in the drive & Max was getting seriously worked up in back, trying to get himself unbuckled from his car seat. He was desperate to get out of the car. I, sensing impending drama, hastened the process & bundled him inside the house, expecting an urgent toilet trip or something. I was wrong.......Maxi bolted past me into the kitchen, straight to the drawers where I keep the tupperware. I by this time had realised he was on a mission & asked:

Me: Baba, what's going on?
Max: I am very busy Mama!
Me: With what honey, can I help you?
Max: I need to find a bowl Mama. My fishies need a bowl!
Me: Oh, sure but why babes?
Max: They need to be in the water, cos they can't breathe!
Me: Oh, yes you are so right...silly me!

Once the fishies were safely deposited in their new home {one of Max's juice bottles}, only then did he relax & proceeded to spend the whole afternoon, gazing into his 'fish tank'.


I never knew, he knew, about fish needing to be in water to be able to breathe. Once again I underestimate the power of learning via verbal 'osmosis'.

XXX

...and then he sang. {NOT!}

Today was Maxi's Christmas concert at play school. He was excited & had been 'practicing' his songs all week, {with out provocation from me, I might add} but all by himself, as he went about his business of playing.

This lead me to believe today would go smoothly.......

I was naive!!!

We arrived on time, having dropped Maxi at school earlier this morning. The teachers had gone to an enormous amount of effort to make things look bright & festive,with decor, refreshments & seating around the little stage where the kiddlets would be performing. The performers themselves, were no where to be seen.....or heard now that I think about it.
At the allotted time, the door of the little school house opened & out emerged a troupe of little mini carolers, wearing their santa hats & ringing bells. The excitement could be seen on their faces as they obediently filed down to the 'stage' area...except for one kid at the back {shame} that I couldn't see....but we sure did hear him. I felt a pang of sympathy for the parents of that boy & was glad that my Maxi was a well behaved little tyke & wouldn't do that.
I scanned the group, looking for Maxi so I could take a photo or ten of him, as all good mothers are supposed to do, especially mama's who scrap, but I couldn't see him anywhere. It was around about that moment that the realization hit me, I couldn't see Max because he was THAT KID, the one at the back.....it was my child shouting JINGLE BELLS @ the top of his lungs & racing around like something was after him. It was then that I chose to hide behind Tersh & wondered if anyone knew that I was his mother.


Eventually the teachers managed to get their charges seated & the show began. Julie narrated & on queue the children sang the appropriate song {well in a fashion, after all they are all still little}. My son who {thankfully} was at the back on the left with all the older boys, did NOT sing. He jiggled, pulled faces, made raspberry noises, pulled his santa hat down over his face, at one point the shouted out that he thought "EVERYONE MUST JUST GO HOME!!!". Again I hid behind Tersh & wondered if anyone had worked out the paternity of the unruly child at the back yet.


Over all it was lovely & went very well, considering they are still so small. Having both parents of every child plus most of their nanny's too gawking at them, must have been just short of a freak out for most of the children. 80% of the children handled the overwhelming situation like STARS.....the other 10% {including Max} did not. At three, this is to be expected I suppose. I never thought I would fall prey to the over-zealous-mommy-expectation thing.....we learn about ourselves every day...don't we.

The arrival of Santa bearing gifts, did wonders to put a smile on even the grumpiest of dials. Again Maxi had to do it his own way......he couldn't be bothered to wait until Santa called his out name to receive his present but opted take matters into his own hands & rifled through Santa's bag until he found the gift with his name on it. He then sat unfazed & opened it.

My child..........unique..........different........& in hindsight,
very entertaining.

Situations like these are good for us.......they put 'hair on the chest' of even the most resilient of parents.....& so we learn.


The face of triumph!!

There's always next year.
XXXX

Doing it differently.

Sometimes it is healthy to break out of the usual routine of things & do something differently. Why you might think.....the chores of life are what they are, why mess with it? Well for most of us who's lives are nothing less than ordinary, the chance at a bit of variety is rather exciting....especially when you least expect it. Take the evening meal for instance......we cook, we prepare, we eat @ an undressed table {to minimize the tidying & washing up}, we watch in horror as our 3yr old children experiment with just how far a teaspoon of food can be flung straight up into the air without much effort.....you know.....just ordinary everyday LIFE.

Yesterday, I decided it was time for a little bit of variety. I laid a cloth on the table with matching napkins, unpacked the silverware, poured our drinks into wine glasses {including Max....seriously!}, lit candles, put on some soft music and then spent half an hour explaining to Max the severity of my actions if he caused his usual havoc @ the dinner table. Tersh arrived for supper & stood there speechless...along with Max, just staring. To cut a potentially very long winded story short......supper was a roaring success. Max sat quietly & drank like a big boy from his wine glass, Tersh & I chatted & ate supper as if we were somewhere special, the world went on hold & it felt good! My husband was so touched by the small sentiment that I have realised sometimes it is worth just a small about of effort to make him feel appreciated, loved & valued for all his hard work.



Try it & be rewarded with the sparkle of candle light in the eyes of your 3yrs old trusted with a a big person's glass :o)

XXX

P.S For all those who are regular readers of my blog, I would love to send you a little something from Canada. Please can you mail me your postal addresses. For those who don't have my email address, you can use my www.kjstarre@gmail.com account. Thanx

Getting creative.

Samantha is a friend I met on the CKMB. She is a creator of cards & other lovely things. If you get a chance pop onto her blog to see some of her creations. Anyhow.....as you all know i am not much of a card maker.... for no reason in particular, other than I just haven't done it much. After seeing some of Samantha's cards, I was inspired to try. Luckily it coincided with Mel's Birthday, so it was a perfect opportunity to make one for her.

This was the result.
{The hardest part of the exercise, was photographing it afterwards haha!}

The cover, I stitched & stamped.

Inside is a contrast colour insert, that I secured with a
ribbon tie through the spine of the card & a photo of Mel
with my message.

While I am show casing this card, I thought it a good idea to post some pic's of a little exploding box I made for Cass a little while back. It was something for her to take home with her to remind her that we love her. Don't be put off it, looks far more complicated than it really is. If you are keen to try & make one too, here is a link for an "Exploding box " that I found on Samantha's blog. It is an amazing alternative to a mini album, for someone near & dear and it holds loads of little photographs & allows you space to journal too.

I hope this helps? Have a super day!

KJ
X

P.S For anyone interested in Maxi's passport saga......it CAME yesterday....Yahoooo! that means were are definitely off to Canada next week. Yowzer, I can't believe it is next week already, the time has flown super fast !!!!!!

My heart goes out!

SA has been experiencing the most unbelievable weather in years. It supposed to be summer, warm & dry. Well things haven't quite worked according to the usual plan....we have had ridiculously high amounts of rain which has resulted in flooding along huge areas of the East coast. This area is where most people I know head {including our family} during holiday season for time, on the beautiful beaches, rivers, forests & wine lands.....well look @ it today~

Sedgefield, Groote Brak, George, Glentana all look like this~

There is a speed boat racing down the main N2 highway here....
I never in my lifetime thought I'd see something like this~

My heart goes out to family, friends & strangers who have been effected by this disaster. Those who have lost homes, businesses & possessions, I pray for you for strength to see this horrible thing through.

XX

Thanksgiving!

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in SA, with an official day, but I have friends & family over the seas who do & I wanted to say:

A very Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

All of you have blessed my life in small & special ways, through gifts,
emails, sweet messages. It is through you that our Lord whispers His words of encouragement, support, love & laughter to me. I have enjoyed so very much being allowed to share your lives, through your blogs.
You are all VERY special people & I am glad we 'met'.

Be Blessed & feel *HUGGED* all the way from down-south...........waaaay down south.

Lots of love
Kim

This photo is so funny, I took it
holding the camera & ended up
looking a bit Siamese.

XXXX

It never rains, it pours!

I just can't believe the weather we are experiencing at the moment! We are officially supposed to be on the brink of Summer...HA! no chance of that. We have had VERY unusual rain & hail storms that have resulted in wide spread damage. And to make matters worse our house is still leaking.....2 years since the renovations & still we are finding water coming in in the weirdest places. So as soon as the rain decides to give it a break we must get our builder back to sort the leaks out. As the saying goes..."It never rains, it pours!", well in our household over the last couple of weeks ,it has been doing just that!


* The salt chlorinator for our swimming pool decided to meet it's maker & die. R4800 later to replace the jolly thing!
* The rain water caused the garage door motor to blow, we will have to replace the whole thing~ R2800
* We put sun reflecting film on all the huge windows in our loft only to discover that the glass company that our builder used to install them, failed to glaze them properly. We now have large cracks running from top to bottom of every glazed window. They will all have to be replaced along with the film~ R14 000
* Our glass front door wasn't wedged open properly yesterday & it slammed shut, shattering it into a million slithers. Luckily it is amour plated & sand blasted so the bits are being held in place....for now. It will have to be replaced~ R8 000 {& this is wholesale}.
* I will stop now before I have a complete hernia.....put into a list like this, the reality of all the repairs needed, seem HUGE!!

This is our ex-front door~YIKES!!!

The reality of being a big person who owns property, gives me a new found respect for all the stuff my parents tried to tell me about, when I was growing up. At the time I thought they were being far too sensible about stuff that was obviously NOT important to me nor ever would be. It is times like these I wonder if we should rather have opted for a small, manageable, cozy home....instead we went for light, space & glass. Dumb!!

Oh well the Word never said it would be a bed of roses all the time but that trials of many kinds will befall us, in an attempt to help us grow & become more like Jesus. Flip, it is really hard sometimes!! Roll on heaven :o)

Bye
XX

....& sometimes we just need to sleep!

I've been MIA I know but I just haven't been up to blogging much this week! In a nutshell I am dog tired because of lack of sleep...again!....if you have been following the saga of my NASTY bed over the past months....I have a new update on the incredibly boring subject that seems to be dominating my life right now.

We are now on mattress no. 6 & nowhere nearer to getting a good nights sleep. I am NAKKERED to put it lightly!! I now have dreams, where I fantasize about actually sleeping the whole night through, instead of tossing & turning to the music of my back protesting in E major. In my slightly delirious state I picked up the phone & for 20 minutes vented my frustration at the regional manager of the bed company from whence I bought the article in discussion. I am ashamed to admit, I felt much better afterwards!

He instructed me to go to any other bed shop within driving range of my home, find the mattress I liked & he would find it for me. So I did just that! My bed of choice after laying down on countless beds to the audience of an excited & hopeful sales person. It was near 11.30 this morning when I laid my weary bod on the 'Kay-way~elasto foam body form', oh my CAT is was like lying on a piece of heaven. It is made from materials formulated by Nasa for the astronauts....the biggest challenge I face tho', is convincing the regional manager, that for all the sleepless nights, stress & emotional scaring caused by dealing with their company over the last 12 months, is worth.....wait for it.....a price tag of R15 000 ($2 500) & that is only the mattress {as we have a suede bed base already}. It is worth a try don't you think??? Oh I am sooooo going to argue my point until he caves & delivers my NASA BED!

This is the bed that has given us so many hassles.
Maxi doesn't mind it tho', he has taken to crawling under the duvet
& reading a book while I am busy in the room.

A few of my blogging buddies were curious about why Maxi's new school teacher in called Aunty Sue. Here in SA, we are taught from young that someone our senior, blood relative or not, is called Aunty or Uncle before their first names. When we get to Grade 1, it changes to Mrs or Mr with their surnames afterwards. Until now I assumed it was the same all over the world....maybe it comes from our country's British heritage....I don't know for sure tho'.

Have a great day....& don't take your good nights sleep for granted....for some it is a pipe dream. Hahahahaha! that is until I get my NASA bed!

XXX

New school!

It was open day @ Maxi's new school he will be attending next year! He is SO excited, especially as x2 of his favourite friends from his current school are joining him there too.

We arrive......Maxi is anxious to get inside.....

Rows of keyboards...right up Maxi's alley
{not that he is in anyway computer literate...yet!}

Max & Josh getting down to some serious playing......right up until
Max decided the room was too messy & tidied up. His new teacher is
going to take full advantage of this newly discovered skill of his
...it was the glint in her eye that did it!

His new teacher Aunty Sue.

Beautiful big yard with enormous trees, to play in, with a myriad of play apparatus.....just what an energy charged boy needs to blow off steam before coming home to the weary mama.

I know he is going to love it there. They have a "play ball" teacher & a drama teacher come once a week too. The Lord really intervened for me here because as of a little while ago I had no idea where we were going to send him.

Our God is indeed GOOD!!

Contact-at last!

The title reminds me of that Jody Foster movie from the late 90's called "Contact", did you get to see it??. She plays a scientist who was the first person to make contact with an intelligent life from another planet......GREAT movie....obviously a load of drivel but FAB entertainment for those of you out there, who are SCI-Fi fans; like me.
Mel, Jo... I know you are both rolling you eyes right about now :o)

Anyhow I am getting horribly sidetracked....how have you all been? Cos....from looks of things & the obviously lack of comments.....you guys have been otherwise occupied, just like me. It has been a 4 whole days & I haven't blogged. Not that I haven't thought about it, I have wanted to but with a house full of kids it has been impossible. Funny I started out blogging for fun but as time & life have evolved into something different & I have less time to blog, I feel real pressure if I haven't posted......or is this just me.

Steph I finished my L.O!!! I actually finished it on Friday night but haven't laid eyes on my laptop for days, hence no scan or post. But I made the challenge deadline tho'......by skin of my teeth but hey I made it didn't I? It is called....

Believe....

It seemed so sacrilegious to tear this BEAUTIFUL flocked paper but it worked so amazingly well with this L.O. that I just closed my eyes, gritted my teeth & tore! The flowers I cut out of card stock to resemble Hambly transparency.

* Creative Imagination~ P.P
*7 Gypsies~ rub-ons
* Autumn Leaves~ buttons & rub-on journal block
* Alpha's from M.M's

A L.O encouraging us to all take a stand for something in this life.....
for without purpose we all perish.

This weekend wasn't a complete write-off because I managed to take a few photographs of the kids horsing around on their slip-n-slide.......oh I seriously I LOVE my zoom lens!

Well I will keep it short & sweet & hopefully I will be able to post more often this week.
Enjoy!

XX

The best Uncle in the WHOLE world!

These are the words of a little boy in-love!!!! He is completely taken with his Uncle Steve. I have had my brother & sister-in-law staying with me....& have loved every minute of it!!! Being with family you haven't seen in ages, has gotta be the best thing ever!!!

Maxi's Uncle Steve has been tireless, patient, tolerant & a great play mate for the last couple of days. They have romped, laughed, tickled & played cars for hours. Now for a childless guy this is quite something wouldn't you say!

Three cheers for Uncle Steve!!!!!


Boy rough stuff!!

I now from tomorrow, I have no excuse not to be scrapping, I have a heck load of scrapping commitments to catch up with......like Steph's challenge... how have the rest of you gotten on?

Mel, Jo, Anita....& you Steph???

Me you ask???? ......well I have otherwise been engaged BUT do not fear I will get to it gal's, probably not by the Friday deadline but soon after, I promise. And I still haven't gotten any further with my Arty L.O I started on the weekend....shucks, I getter get my A into G!

So nitey-nite all...I must go & visit some of my fav blogs....I feel like I am out of the loop, not having checked in for the last couple of days.
Bye!
XXXX

All about Art!

Hi guys.....I am so busy this morning that I don't have time for much of a post but wanted to post a few pic's while I have 2 minutes. I am trying to track down Maxi's passport through our government department, "Home Affairs" . 18 phone calls later I have only managed to speak to 3 people of which one of them ended up being from the Immigration department......I am now on hold...AGAIN! So while I wait I will blog.

I had tea with my FAB!! friends ,Mel & Jo, on Friday. We yakked for ages about all manner of things, scrapping featuring strongly...I wonder why that could be hahahaha? This was a highlight of my week. When I got home, my week got even better.....the mail man had been, he had delivered my long awaited "Life Artist" book by Ali Edwards. I was so excited I did my customary little *Happy dance* in the hall way & felt incredibly GOOD!!! I do admit tho' that my excitement was being further fueled by the fact I was clutching to my chest, some of the most, "to-die-for", dye cut printed papers & felt trims I had ever seen. Now to get my life organised to allow for some SERIOUS scrap time!



I haven't read this little darlin' yet but did flick through it looked @ the pictures over the weekend. I had it lying on my scrap table waiting for the gap to get to it. But having it lie there calling me was too much for me to bear, so with out opening it, I decided to tinker using the cover as inspiration. I took every 2 minute gap to do a bit here & there & had such fun trying things a bit more "Arty" than I usually would. The L.O isn't finished yet but here are some pic's of the work in progress.

Now for all those in the know.......please look @ that BEAUTIFUL dye cut felt trim, in the right bottom corner of the right hand photo. Is that amazing or what????

Who's you ask........AUTUMN LEAVES....of course? Is there any other? :O)



Now talking about art......I thought I'd share a little about what my son considers to be his ART. To put you in the picture, I have friends with kiddies the same age as Max.....you visit them and are shown beautiful pieces of craft & art......Maxi on the other hand is an abstract man. He hasn't quite taken to the crafty side of life yet. If he does produce something {mostly a school project}, he is able to give me a detailed description of whatever mish-mash of colour he is showing me.

To the average untrained, non-kiddie sensitive eye, it is just that....blobs of colour but to him it is ART.

These are some of the ....totally cute descriptions he has given me of his art:

*Tadpoles changing into frogs {seriously}
*Dolphins diving under the waves
* Leaves blowing in a storm
*Lots of birds flapping
*Space with stars & planet Saturn & Venus & Jupiter & the green and blue one is planet earth where we live {seriously!}

This is Maxi's latest CREATION......he has taken to colouring in over the pictures of his wipe-able books. Who knows why but at least he is wielding a pen, I suppose. Maybe it is all in the name of fun??? Oh ya, that is why we create isn't it???

It is so easy sometimes to look at a child's artistic efforts and pass criticism for not being 'right'. We have camera's to take photographs, so why is it that we expect art to be perfect? Art is supposed to be an impression of whatever we see, in whatever form we choose. So like our children, I think it is time to be brave girls.....we need to try something creatively new this week. Then we can post it on our blogs for everyone to drool over. What to you think??

Anyway girls, I am tired of being on hold on the phone, it is time to try another number.
Enjoy getting paint on your hands, I look forward to seeing your creations.
Bye!

XXX

Today I am Leo!

Do your kids go through a faze of being someone other than themselves??? Well Max does...he has had his moments of being being everything from Timmy the mouse, to Roxy the kitten, to Zoom Zoom the red racing car.....you name it he has "been it". Today he decided he was Leo, the boy who helps find things. He has been watching the Baby Einstein Mission series & the leader of the pack of children is .....Leo, a bright self starter.

Today it was my day to mind Maxi, so to help the Mama ease into the chores of the day, he got a treat this morning after breakfast & was allowed to watch a DVD. He couldn't believe his good fortune & I was rewarded with a big porridgy kiss & "thank-you Mama...you are very nice!!!". I put the DVD on and went to tidy the kitchen, make beds etc. About half an hour later I went to peek on him & this is what I found....heeheehee!

MAX.................LEO

Maxi had gone into Cas's room & scratched through her dress up kit, found himself these {glassless} frames which he had on to watch TV. I asked him why he was wearing glasses & was told with a {you can't be that dumb, mama...look on his face}...."I am Leo, the boy with the orange hair, who wears glasses & here are the rest of the team....June, Quincy & Annie", pointing around the playroom. He had gotten so engrossed in the story that he was acting it out...silly ' nana!


About two minutes after this I was promptly informed......

" Mama you must go to the kitchen & make
Daddy some food because he is very hungry!"

In other words I was being not-so politely dismissed, so he could be alone to watch his show.....definitely a Watson kid!! hahaha!

{a change of subject}

FAMILY UPDATE!!

My brother & sister-in-law arrived safely after nearly 24hrs of traveling {the price you pay for less expensive air-tickets :o)} It was wonderful to see them....they were shocked at how grown up Max was....probably because the last time they were here, Max was only 6 months old. They have gone up country to spend some time with Mandy's parents & get some well deserved R&R. Hopefully they will be back in Cape Town in a couple of weeks & we can spend some real time together.

Anyway I hope you are having a fine day....I will chat again soon.

XXXX

Anti-God movie coming.

Hi guys...this is something I received from a friend about a new movie coming out in Dec.....I have verified its truth...but you might want to do the same by Googling it.

For evil to triumph it is sufficient that good men to do nothing.
Enough said....

XX

I don't just generally dismiss a movie or book just because someone 'says' it's meant to be something else...but this is worth knowing if you plan to see it (or plan to take your kids).

"Hi! I just wanted to inform you what I just learned about a movie that is coming out December 7,during the Christmas season, which is entitled THE GOLDEN COMPASS. It stars Nicole Kidman and it is directed toward children. What is disturbing to me is that this movie is based on the first of a trilogy of books for children called HIS DARK MATERIALS written by Philip Pullman of England.

He's an atheist and his objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism. I heard that he has made remarks that he wants to kill God in the minds of children, and that's what his books are all about. He despises C.S. Lewis and Narnia, etc. An article written about him said "this is the most dangerous author in Britain" and that Pullman would be the writer "the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed." Pullman said he doesn't think it is possible that there is a God and he has great difficulty understanding the words "spiritual" and "spirituality." What I thought was important to communicate is what part of the agenda is for making this picture. This movie is a watered down version of the first book, which is the least offensive of the three books. The second book of the trilogy is THE SUBTLE KNIFE and the third book is THE AMBER SPYGLASS. Each book gets worse and worse regarding Pullman's hatred of God. In the trilogy, a young girl becomes enmeshed in an epic struggle against a nefarious Church known as the Magisterium. Another character, an ex-nun,describes Christianity as "a very powerful and convincing mistake." As I understand it, in the last book, a boy and girl are depicted representing Adam and Eve and they kill God, who at times is called YAHWEH (which is definitely not Allah). Since the movie would seem mild if you viewed it, that's been done on purpose.

They are hoping that unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the movie, that they will enjoy the movie and then the children will want the books for Christmas. That's the hook. Pullman says he wants the children to read the books and decide against God and the kingdom of heaven.

If you decide that you do not want to support something like this, I suggest that you boycott the movie and the books. I Googled a synopsis of THE GOLDEN COMPASS. As I skimmed it, I couldn't believe that in a children's book part of the story is about castration and female circumcision.

Scrappin good!

I've been scrapping quite a lot recently....so I thought I'd post a few of the 'non-submittable' ones {as in the ones I don't think are up to scratch for magazine submission}. Thanks to our "Aunty Jo", Autumn Leaves product features a lot...as usual. The freedom of having photo's already printed & waiting is what allows me to get pages done in super quick time....I mean these three were completed in x2 mornings...which is saying something for a slow coach scrapper like myself.

Beware....shredder @ work!!!
A concoction of AL P.P's which I cut up to create
embellishments. Hows that cute face???

Le Artiste!~
I used fabric paint to create the background P.P & cut up
sticker packaging for the red & white frame.

Goggle mania~
this little darlin' had me stumped for ages. It started as a
double L.O & ended up single, so the photo's are too big for a 12x12
but it didn't end up too bad. Admittedly not my best L.O hahaha!

Yip, I know these L.O's all have Max in them....it is just that the others I have finished have been sent to some mag's for consideration, so I'll have to post them at a later stage. Well I have got 25 minutes until lights out so I must go now...I have a L.O to finish before my brother & his wife arrive on Wednesday...they are flying in from the UK. It has been nearly 3 years ago that they visited us, so we are all flippin' stoaked!!!

Nitey-nite! Chat soon!

XXXX

The x3 B's!

{I need to warn you....there are Gremlin's in the fonts again.....look @ all the sizes hahahaha!}

My weekend went in installments of "B's".....sort of like this but in no particular order!

* Brats *Baking *Bikes

I nearly went off my head with the kids this weekend....yes it was raining most of the time & that probably compounded the problem. I dunno if it just me but I sometimes wanted to hit my head against the wall in frustration at their inability to do anything without an adult lurking in the vicinity to cheer them on. We had Cas too which meant we had a menagerie of neighborhood girls under the age of 9yrs through our front door in a continuous stream, adding to the already ridiculous stress levels. Especially as Max was completely hyper @ having his sister for the weekend & Cas & the friend of the moment insisted on swimming....yes in the rain....& yes it was freezing! {Please note round about here that Tersh is a one-thing-@-a-time kinda guy.....I will say no more}. Now not only did we have 2 rug-rats to 'baby-sit' but 3 & sometimes 4 with Cas doubling up on any friend who was prepared to share her company with another. I vowed that if I heard the word, I would do something discouraged by most Parental self help magazines...you know the ones...with the lovely unstressed mommy gazing into the doe eyes of her beautifully passive toddler. HA! I say...we underestimate the limitations of a photograph in the hands of a Photoshop fundi!

That word being:

Mama
Mommy
Mum
Mummy
Cas's-Mom
Hey you!

I actually thought I was going to lose my marbles....PLEEEZZZ can someone put me out of my misery & re-assure me that they will actually get to the point sometime in the very near future when we can all actually do our own thing alongside each other & get from start to finish in an afternoon?????


To drown my woes & keep me distracted I baked....& baked.....& baked.

....................... Muffins, Scones, Bread & Bread rolls.

Evidence:

The problem I have now is what the heck do I do with a kitchen full of baked goods??? Because my thighs seriously won't be needing any of it any time soon!

The next "B" so to speak was Max & his new bike. It is weekend which means the ever present parents had to make a plan so Poepie could ride his Blue bomber. The challenge being that our house rule is "No bikes inside".....OK I got worked! I caved!
Mum & Dad.....I can hear that hysterical laughter! but what was I supposed to do Hmmmmmm?

Rain....bored....frazzled parents..... :o(

We moved the dining room table to the side of the room & let him ride inside. Thankfully there was no lasting damage, except for black tyre skid marks on the floor. He was ecstatic & we got the reprieve we so badly needed.

Blissful Bike rider in full biker regalia:

This photo is one of max after he informed me......I will not
look @ your camera anymore Mama!!!

No need to worry about my mental state folks.....there is silence in the halls which means things are definitely looking up. Cas went home & Max was fast asleep by 6.45pm...so normality returns. I have a renewed respect for all those parents of more than one child, consider yourselves Mexican waved!!!


Anyhow, I am about to plonk my backside on my comfie leather couch, arm myself with a plate of home baked goods,chuck back a large mug of vanilla coffee & hopefully watch some "one-eye'd-monster".

Heavenly!!!

XXX

It's Back!

I ran out of internet cap 2 days ago....frustrating having to wait until today to post again.

So whats been happening, in your lives??

Nothing to really report on my side except I finally did all my filing. You know all that stuff that gets rammed into your mail box everyday, that you never know what to do with....well that stuff. I have it accumulating for months, in cupboard no. 13 {the one that closes with the help of large pieces of duct tape}. The surprising thing was that most of it ended up in a garbage bag to be thrown out....I wonder how many trees 'died' to produce all that rubbish???? Sad but part of the circle of life I suppose! and the rest was mostly bank mail.......& insurance. BORING! to say the least.

The highlight of this feat, was I found my CK cheque for the 1st page they published of mine. I had 'lost' it & had no idea where to start looking.....I suppose cupboard 13 should have been the obvious place to start! LOL!

I have managed to get quite a lot of scrapping done lately...but alas no pics yet....maybe I will get a chance to post them later...still got to scan them etc,etc. The trick I find is to have photo's already printed & waiting.....I did a whole marathon fix & print session last week, so had pic's for 5 pages ready. Such a sense of achievement to get them done in almost no time at all. With my life being SUPER uninteresting at the moment......I am grateful for our 'hobby' it keeps me sane!

Yaaaay! 5 weeks and counting until we fly......I am so excited I could just pop! Yes I know we have our hopes set on Tersh finding a job to facilitate us moving there....but I also have made peace too with the fact that it might not happen....& that's OK too. Tersh has also had some interesting offers from the UK, so there is other avenues to pursue if when we get back to SA, we find we still want to move. I will keep you posted tho'.

Anyhow lovelies.....I must go & be useful somewhere......like make supper or something.....but it is only 11.30am why now??? All part of being a SHAM I suppose....this is where I have my AAAARHH! face on.

XX