Bit of a BUZZ!

This post is very much a 'gush-about-the-kid' for the grandparents, type of post, so be warned hee!hee!

Today our house was filled with the laughter of a Star Ranger......Buzz Light year, to be precise. It is the first dress up costume Max has ever had & he is SO in love with it that he had to sleep in it too LOL! (Without the wings....thankfully) It is 2 sizes too big (even tho the label says small) but he cared not one little bit. The wings I fashioned from a extra piece of ceiling board & a strap...so now BUZZ can fly!
You know.... midst the aaarh! times we experience in life, I am realizing more & more that it is moments like these that help fuzz out the icky part of parenting. It is moments like these that I draw on when I am blurry eyed, tired & ratty from being up 5 times in a night for every excuse imaginable. The $ spent on this costume is now irrelevant as I listen 'To infinity & beyond.....! being yelled from on top the drawer unit in Max's room', it is a moment I will never forget. My child, happy, is enough!

Here are a few pic's from the Watson Mamarazzi~Now is this little imp just the cutest??? (Well most of the time anyway :o)
XXXX

Reveal!

Yaaay! I can now be more specific about my happy scrapper friend I mentioned yesterday, (now that I have her permission that is). Her name is in fact not Michelle (alias) but Bridget Louw and for any SA-ian scrappers out there reading this, and who have in their possession a Silhouette, Wish blade or RoboCraft cutter or the likes; this spunky chick is the lady to take lessons from, on how to get the darn thing to work. If you are anything like me and had it spew nothing but rubbish....then she is the lady to contact. Now the thing is, that she has a SERIOUS day job, but due to the high demand of unhappy scrappers....about ready to kill their machines....she is worth hooking up with for a lesson or two. If you would like her email address or contact details please mail me(it's the envelope icon on the comments bar) & I will forward them to you.

Well I am happy to report, that I got the machine to cut 48 red crosses for a party Jo is going to....even if Bridget created the file for me :o) I still got it to cut......ha...ha good hey??? And after a million pieces of card stock....I actually got it to cut numbers 1-10.....(expensive numbers I might add). My gripe with QuicKutz is that their manual is so ineffectual....it doesn't have nearly enough information & clear instructions on how to use this bloomin' machine. My biggest problem is that the thing is really sensitive to other programs you might be running on your PC in the back ground...like skype, virus software, wireless internet...you know all the usual stuff. It causes the old dear to cough, splutter & hiccup along whilst cutting.....no I am not talking about myself.....

A question to all of you successful DXF girls out there (file name for files created in a vector program like Inkscapes), how did you overcome the software compatibility problem the Silhouette seems to have with any external vector program? Because i can't be the only person with this problem????

Anyway I will stop talking scrap now & love & leave you with a snippet from Maxi....

He asked to watch a 'little' bit of TV yesterday...I said yes. 2 episodes later of Little Einsteins, I hear him say: " Mama, I have had ENOUGH of this TV now! Because too much TV will change me into a fish!" hahahahah! I dunno...maybe that's what he is learning at play school.....TV bad...books good????

Sleep tite you lovely bunch!
I'll blog again tomorrow.
XX

Going a-partying!

We are off bright & early this morning, to the other side of the world (boerie curtain) for Maxi's cousin's 4th birthday. It should be fun...I know Maxi is SUPER excited about seeing everyone and the distraction from yesterdays DRAMA is a good thing.

Last night our orange drawer unit fell on Max. Some how he unbalanced the unit by opening too many drawers......and CRASH! it landed on top of his legs...his right leg took most of the weight & he has a very swollen right foot &knee. I got such a fright & so did Stef who was on the phone with me at the time & heard everything....thanks for your prayers my friend. Max, once he had calmed down, was so good about sitting still with frozen peas on his leg, to reduce the swelling.....@ 10 minutes he announced that he was 'all better' & that was the end of that. It is amazing how resilient kids are.....the Mama on the other hand buzzed from the adrenalin rush for hours afterwards. I haven't downloaded the pic's of the boy & the peas yet...I will post them later when I get back.

Stef, your new blog header ROCKS! girl. You sure learn quick...a 10 minute tutorial on the phone & it's done. I am impressed!

Have a super Saturday.
KJ~x

...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

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

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

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

Not much.

Not much happened this weekend. I am still trying to recover from this nasty viral thing I have had, so I kept a low profile this weekend & tried to do not much of anything.

I haven't scrapped much but did pop on to the CK message boards..........oh! what a surprise I got... have I been out of the loop!!!!! Howz the DRAMA with the one of the HOF finalists?? Apparently she {KC} broke one of the HOF rules by using photographs in some of her L.O's, taken by someone other than herself. Oooh! boy I am shocked at how aggressive some of the scrappers out there have gotten about the way the CK powers that be, are handling things. If the subject is Google'd.......there are some well known scrapping blogs that are screaming their opinions from the rooftops. Woweee! I am very glad I don't mix in those sorts of circles, cos right about now someone is bound to get a black eye with the amount of punching & back stabbing that is going on. I will watch the course of events with interest.

Anyhow....I am amazed to say that in the last 3 days I have taken all but 10 photographs. 8 of those were an attempt to get the perfect pic of Max for his passport renewal form. Boy I never knew how hard it would be to get him to stand still......haha! I am glad I was able to do the pic's myself.


The other pic being a funny one of Cas, horsing around in the bath. She was with us for the weekend & spent 80% of the time in the pool with some of her friends from around the neighborhood. Bearing in mind that is still just Spring here with the temps around 21 degrees and the water...even with solar panels.....is bloomin' cold. I must be getting old because to my big toe the water felt like is was 10 degrees. Brrrrrrrr!


Well thats all folks...I have got a ton of mails to catch up with & my gap is small while Max is @ 'school'. So enjoy your day & I post again soon.

KJ
XXXX