Home alone.

I'm a bad blogger... I know!!! But when all I've have been doing all week is scrapping & playing Mama...there isn't much deep 'n meaningful to blog about. So here is a few bits 'n bobs!

I had a bit of a scrappy challenge this week, in that x2 different mags selected the same L.O for publication....yikes, huge dilemma! Thankfully one of the mags is happy to see some other options as a replacement....no pressure or anything!! :o) :o) I am almost finished & will be able to get them off to the editor by Monday! I hope they like them.

This pic is just because....my boys are so cute!

With Tersh being on being on mens church camp,it is just me & Maxi at home this weekend. All the guys at our church look forward to it each year....it is a 5 day testosterone laced affair, with much male bonding, eating & generally letting go of all inhibitions. They go Kloof diving, fishing, play rugby, hang out & spend quality time seeking God. T only made it up to Ceres on Friday...(a 3hr drive into the mountains), so it will only really be 3 days for him.

Maxi & I have made the most of our 'date' weekend though & chilled out together. We've been to the mall, bought x2 new DVD's...The Bee Movie & Peter Pan, ate hot chips, hit the toy super store to buy a present for a school friend & he helped me choose a new pair of coloured flip flop's. It's been great. This arvi we are heading to a 4yr olds, Power Ranger party....who knows what that will be about? Exciting stuff & tell you...hahahahaha!
A far cry from my life before kids hey; fashion shows, garment showings, textile fairs & tons of traveling. But as weird as it sounds, I wouldn't trade the life I have now for anything.

This is how Maxi passed the time last night while I cooked supper. Tummy art......the design: 'Beautiful flower garden'....according to His Nibs :o)

Doesn't come off though, I've tried everything....who would have know the lovely pen he is using, would have Tattoo quality ink inside hahaha! Well I am off now to rub shoulders & have polite conversation with the Mommies of Maxi's class mates...I am no good at small talk, so wish me luck.

Chat again in a couple of days.
Over & out.
KJ
x

Man down!

I put my back out yesterday....what a pain it is {literally haha!} I can't twist or bend forwards...eshhh! I feel like a geriatric.
So much for: "I'll just find the heat gun in the garage"....all I got from that little exercise a large pain in the back & no heat gun. I had to give up a rather great sounding coffee with mates this AM because of this, so here I sit feeling mighty sorry for myself, trying to squeeze out a blog post. {OK I'll get myself together & try not bore you to tears.}
I really wanted to try heating embossing...& to do that I needed T's heat gun. I mean why do we have all this art stuff lying around our scrap rooms, if we don't use it. At the time I bought the embossing powder, I thought I'd just use my hair dryer....NOOOOO~bad idea! {This I found out the hard way.}
Oh dear, another project shelved until further notice....well, at least until I find a heat gun somewhere...hey Jo, maybe Gumtree will have one :o)

On a more cheerful note...I baked choc chip cookies with Maxi after school yesterday & he is so patient in the kitchen. He carefully measures the ingredients, breaks eggs, pours milk...even chops chocolate; it is so sweet to watch & his effort was well worth it'...look at this delish plate of cookies!

If you want the recipe, let me know & I'll mail it to you.

Well that's all I can muster up folks...not very riveting was it?? Ok... I'm going to go now...I need a large glass of pepsi... to help me drown my sorrows :o)
Chat later!
XXX

P.S Don't forget about the scrap challenge...deadline is the 10th...tomorrow but I could stretch it until the end of the weekend if you need it?

It's cultural!

I took Max to the theater again on Friday morning, to see "The Just so Stories" by Rudyard Kipling.

He has been asking me repeatedly to go again, since the last school holidays when we went to 'The Ugly Duckling'. And I am not sure if you will remember...but our last experience of the theater was UGLY indeed....so I was apprehensive to say the least, about this little outing. Thankfully it was different theater company putting this story on, so there was a glimmer of hope that it would be worth the effort.

Well I am pleased to report it was MAGNIFICENT!! Not that the performance was something out of Hollywood...but rather that it was real, very well acted & had just enough child & adult humor included into the dialog, to have the starchiest of Moms twittering. Max got thoroughly involved throughout the show...shouting answers to the actors & laughing at everything. We both loved every minute of it...& if & when the theater puts another production on...we will be first in line for tickets.

It you are interested in reading Ruyard Kipling's 'Just so Stories....you can download a free e-book of them here:
 
These are some of the stories:

How the Whale Got His Throat
How the Camel Got His Hump
How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin
How the Leopard Got His Spots

We have also been making the most of the warmer Spring weather although we are still dealing with the effects of all the blasted rain.

These are some pic's I took of Max at the park....or should I say swamp!!
I really hope the water drains away soon...otherwise we are going to be seeing swarms of resident mosquitoes moving in to the neighborhood. Now when it comes to mozzies...or any biting bug for that matter...they LOVE me. Tersh can be lying next to me when a swarm hits & who will get bitten....ME...no-one else...me! Now it wouldn't bother me so much if in their vain attempts to drain my blood, I get to lose a coupla kilo's for the pain & itchiness. But I don't...I just end up mighty grumpy...covered in red spots & itchy like my life depends on it...I HATE mozzies with a passion!!

Well that's my contribution to the world of blogging today. I hope you are having as good a Monday as I've had?

Cheers until later.
KJ

Airshow!

Saturday was our city's annual airshow. We together with hundreds of others queued for ages to be WOW'd by some of the most amazing air displays I have ever seen.Unfortunately, unless you were privileged enough to be classified as VIP, you couldn't get up front, or even see the runway for that matter; so we had to make ourselves comfortable to just park our bums on the tarmac between hangers & look up.
They had an amazing mixture of commercial, military & private aircraft showing off their expertise at hanging upside down long enough to make us all cringe. It was all alot of fun....just so FAR to walk from the car parking, then to each hanger display, then to the airshow. I was mighty grateful we had the bright idea of packing Max's old buggie from the far recesses of the garage, for him to sit in just in case he got tired. Being too wide for it he really looked funny squished sideways the whole time...but he didn't care....he didn't have to walk & for him that was heaven.
The highlight of the whole day for Max, was watching the army divers do their thing in an enormous yellow water tank....he kept exclaiming :

"SEE Mama...that's what I want to do!!"

Anyone who knows Max, knows that it is his hearts desire is to be a diver/astronaut one day.....the diving thing I can help with...the astronaut thing...um...do they even have a Space center here in South Africa...or Africa for that matter??? We'll have to see about that one. For the moment he is happy to be riding in the back of the plane....complete with in flight movies....juice & snacks on tap & the promise to be in a different country by morning. Cosmo kid in the making.
It was certainly fun to be outdoors with the sun shining....for the moment Spring has decided to grace us with her presence...but for how long :o) :o)

KJ
XXX

:o)

A little while ago I discovered that I could get a regular supply of beautiful dark wood 12x12 frames to be able to showcase some of my L.O's. Well, my darling bloke put his handyman hat on & mounted some of them them on a wall for me. Initially when I was selecting the ones to hang, I was worried they would look too busy all together in a group but now that they are up, I am pleasantly surprised....they look amazing!

On the scrappy front...I did this little project for the Cocoa Daisy blog, using scraps from the last two months kit, an old CD & x1 jumbo photo...if you are keen to know how...pop over to their blog & take a squizz.

Cocoa Daisy's Sept kits are up for sale....they are really cool, bright & perfect for summer photo's. There are also loads of fantastic add-on's too, so if you are looking for something funky...head over to their shop & take a look-see.

In the spirit of Spring...which is what we are supposed to be experiencing right now....but aren't :o(....I bought a pair of cute, stripy pink pumps. I am not one for shopping much but when I saw these I just had to have them.....& the reasonable price of R49.99 (which is about $6.44) certainly helped in my speedy decision to buy them because when it comes to clothes & shoe, shopping I am a procrastinator of note~ hahaha!

This close up, doesn't actually do them any justice...now that I re-look this photo. In real life they are cute tiny size 5's, not nearly as HUGE as they look here!

Well on that note I must go & see to Max & his friend Joshua...they are eating dried guava roll on the trampoline, playing with dinosaurs. The incessant roaring, tells me they are still having fun together. At 4yrs (Max) & 5yrs (Joshua) old, they tire of each other so fast & get rough just as quickly. It is all about perfect timing with Max to ensure they get his permission to come & play again...if the memory of the play date is ugly, he tends to not want to have them over again.
Kids...you need a degree to raise them :o)

Have a great day guys!
XXX

Makes it all worth it!

Every day I wrack my brains for ideas for what to cook for supper. You know not the open the bag & pour, type of supper but the balanced, low fat kinda supper that is good for all & tasty enough to be eaten by Max. As I stand over the chopping board dicing & slicing veg & or whatever....I mumble & moan about what a pain it is to have to cook every day. Over the years I have had a very tumultuous relationship with eating...or not for many years... (but that is another story entirely).
So my favourite kitchen mantra, heard countless times by all who know me, is:

"Why is it that we can't just take a pill"....or "Why haven't they developed a replicator machine like in Star Trek yet?"

moan, moan, moan, whinge, whinge, whinge.....blah, blah, blah!

Well last night, my 100's of hours spent pouring over a hot stove were all made worth it....at the dinner table Max turns to me, puts his hand on my arm & says:

"Mama, you are the BEST food maker in the whole wide world....I love your food!"

....well, I melted into a puddle under the table, along side the remnants of spilt pasta supper....suitably chastised for my pathetic attitude. I am pleased to say I have a renewed lease on my kitchen duties, as I once again haul out my recipe books looking for inspiration. God knew when he gave us these little ones, that their uses far surpassed torture, sleep deprivation, harassment & drastically reducing bank balances...but that they were given to us to poke, prod, teach & endure us back to the reality that things aren't so bad after all.

KJ
XXX

Weekend pic's.

We had a bit of a quiet weekend this last one, having a ton of school homework for Cas to do. She is 10years old in Grade 4 & sometimes is faced with really difficult projects & assignments to do for homework that are way beyond her capabilities unaided. Boy, with the amount of parental help needed, I wonder if they actually end up learning anything from the exercises? Needless to say I took NO photo's, so I will share a couple from the weekend before last. Get comfi...because there are quite a few.

Max caught on film inside the dirty washing bin....he had dragged it into the dining room & climbed into it, when I took this pic. How blue are his eyes?

My bloke got a surprise visit from the courier the other day....his birthday pressie had finally arrived. It was a 6x11 inch Wacom tab....his glee is evident on his face. This baby is an absolute must for any serious designer...(OK I don't quite qualify but maybe I'll get to play on it a little too?)

Tersh went surfing with the epic swell that hit the Cape that weekend. We went with him for an outing & had a blast. Max built sand castles & played in the sand, I took a million photographs.

He tried his hand at sand surfing...& had already informed us that as soon as he can swim properly in the sea, he wants to learn how to surf.....oh dear!

Running down sand dunes was such fun for big & little alike!!

Tersh hitting the waves....he is such a babe in black rubber heehee!

To end the weekend off perfectly I tried my hand at homemade cinnabun's. They turned out FANTASTICALLY!! & were really easy to make too. These are going to become a firm fav in our home, I just know it!

Well guys I hope you enjoyed looking at these pic's, as much as I did taking them.

(PS: if you need the recipe for the cinnabun's let me know)
Cheers for now.
KJ
XXX

Late!

I'm late with posting the L.O's for challenge no #6, I know! Sorry guys but my life has been a bit hectic over the last week with my family being here, so I haven't had any time for scrapping....I'll do it tomorrow, OK!
Thanks for understanding, you're the best!
~KJ
XXX

P.S My quote of the day~ Life according to Max.
Mama, I love buildings & I love art; they are so beautiful to look at!
(this was said whilst we were driving past some lovely period buildings in Muizenberg)
4 yrs & appreciating architecture...I wonder what lies in store for us?

Evidence.

You know it's been weekend in our home by the debris that lies around the house. If you look carefully, it tends to be debris with purpose, courtesy of Max. Yes, we have a boy in the house!

Have a look......cars in a boot...........(because boots have handles...easy to carry around, duh!)
Piles of puzzles, bits of wire, modeling clay, books & other such things...
Crazy clay critters....
Neat rows of cars being led by Mr M&M, dragging a large silver padlock.....important stuff this.
Various containers filled with a treasure trove of bits 'n bobs.....
Meet 'Clucky-benalyn-phil-notty'....our resident rubber toad, who has been responsible for the raised heart rate of more than one unsuspecting visitor.

(Uniquely named by Master M. Watson himself)

We also had Bambi visit us.....but shame, the hunters caught him & put him in a cage. See his sad face...? (M is such an act!)We went to Levi's birthday on Friday, where Mel had these super cool rides for the kiddies. Had to share this really bad happy-snap of Max perfecting his, 'I'm tired of flash bulbs & Mamarazzi' face. One of the downfalls of being a scrapbooker....too many camera's around all the time.
And that's all folks...I'll post something scrappy a bit later.
XXX

Small stuff!

My day was made of snippets of small things that I probably won't remember in a week, so I thought I'd about blog it...now, it'll forever be immortalized in cyber space for me to read when ever I want....don't you just love blogging!!!
This bunch of yellow flowers was a 'gift' from Maxi. He pulled them off some bush in a neighbours front yard, whilst walking outside in the street. I love the sincerity in his eyes as he reaches up to me & says...' I have something special for you Mama, because I love you SOOOO much!'...tweaks the heart strings believe me & distracts me enough from reprimanding him for stomping in someone else's flower beds.
This was taken at 8AM this morning...Max dressed himself....his PJ's with his Aloha T-shirt over the top & sweats....Joscie, yes he is reading the beautiful book you sent us about Hawaii....he loves it!! He is so crazy about anything to do with Hawaii...thanks to Lilo & Stitch & you guys!
To make sure I got my daily dosage of adrenalin...'both' our hot water geysers over our bedroom decided to burst today. By the grace of God I heard something strange & went to investigate only to find hot water running down the walls in my bedroom & out of the light fittings. I YELLED! for Tersh, who improvised while we waited for the electrician & plumber. We have to have both majorly overhauled but better that than having the roof cave in through water damage. God is indeed very good!
We had supper of rice Paella on the floor in front of the fire place this evening...I love watching how much my boys love eachother....makes this Mama's heart very happy.
I even baked this afternoon....no, don't be fooled I wasn't being the epitome of domesticity. Max was driving me NUTS & I had run out of activities to do with him. He is a gr8 helper in the kitchen when I bake...& he has been nagging me for days for cinnamon muffins. So cinnamon muffins & a choc-chip vanilla loaf it was. Bad for the waistline...excellent for the state of mind. I'll diet in heaven.
XXX

Britches too big!

I forget that because Max has such an advanced grasp of spoken language, that he is only just 4yrs old after all. The little wise nuggets that pass from his lips, often leave me astounded. Like the other morning.....he woke up early & snuggled in bed with us for a bit before we got ready for the day. In the dark he whispered to me, the following:

"Mama...I was thinking....I don't think Bambi (he had watched Bambi #2 that day before on DVD) realised that those hunters were tricking him. He was confused by that whistle that sounded just like his Mum calling. But it wasn't his Mum because his Mum was dead....she was in heaven after those yucky hunters shot her. And he froze...just like this (he proceeded to act frozen stiff)...even though his Father called & called him to run away. Then his Father boofed him over & he remembered to run into the forest. Mama,afterwards, I think he was embarrassed that he froze.......hmmm yes, I think he was embarrassed!!"

Words like......realised, confused, embarrassed......weren't words I expected to hear from his mouth until he was in at least grade 2. I have now realised (haha!) that we must never underestimate the power of spoken language in the form of stories, they absorb & assimilate every word spoken to them. Maxi is proof of that.
So during one of those tear-your-hair-out moments when my articulate 4yr old is having a hissy fit in the library because his favourite book is out & all the mommies in the vicinity are looking at me with that look of absolute pity & disapproval. I will endeavor to remember that he uses the words realised, confused, embarrassed in every day sentences. :o) :o)
XXX

Spice it up!

My cute kid does like a hundred cool & interesting things in a day...all of which I could never note down or photograph for that matter. This one however, I got on camera.

He decided watching TV on the couch was too boring, so he opted for the squished inside a red plastic bucket, with a large fluffy blankie approach. Can't say it was too comfie but he couldn't have cared less because he stayed put for the duration of Max Lucado's: "The praying mantis who couldn't pray" DVD. He even ate his rice cake & cheese snack in there. Max...uniquely himself even in the most mundane of daily chores.

Find the fun stuff in your day to focus on...no matter how small.
*Hugs*
XXXX

I have never done a movie clip before.....so here goes!

{A little snippet to start your day}

I hope it worked.....?

I'm off to help my friend Jo with her Virgin make-up presentation. It's going to be loads of fun, so I'll blog again later
XX