Letting go!

I seem to be writing a lot about growing up and independence these days. I guess it is just a reflection of the phase we are in with the kids, especially with the Princess who as the oldest child is always the one to push for new frontiers. As is the usual way it goes in families.

In the beginning of the Easter holidays she left for her first 5 day camp (4 nights) with the Voortrekkers. The longest she has even been away from us before was for two nights.  So this was a huge jump in independence, possibly more for us than for her. Gosh we missed her and worried about her but we all made it through fine and it was great to have her back with us on the Sunday.

I am so proud of how she handled it - she did the "Vasbyt" badge - basically a fitness and endurance specialty that involved a 2,4 km jog, uphill running, push ups, sit ups, climbing ropes and flagpoles, 5km hike etc. and did it with guts and determination. Only 5 of the girls in their group did it - the other 12 did the First Aid badge. Some of the boys even opted out and did the First Aid. I did not realize that it was a big deal if they made it but only the group that did this badge received a special medal for completing it and it apparently has a bit of a brag factor if you have that badge on display on your uniform.

The lesson I guess is that we need to slowly let go - the kids handle this way better than we do. But it's hard! It's a piece of our heart being sent to cope with herself on her own for 5 days. To dig deep and to push through on her own. But the payback came in self confidence - about her abilities to cope and cope on her own. About being able to do things she maybe did not think she could. About finishing very well in that 2,4 km run - ahead of most girls and realizing that maybe she can run after all even if a 100m is not her thing. About trying her best on her own - without our immediate support. And that, I guess is what growing up is all about.

Featurued blogger of the month

Amongst the mommy bloggers the idea came up to each feature another blogger per month - for support and promotion of each others blogs. This month I have been teamed up with Celeste of Surviving Jonkersville - also a mom of 3 that I have by chance just started reading a short while ago.

We agreed on her suggestion to share a batch of questions as introduction and here are her answers:

What is your favourite time of day?
Celeste: All day

Who is your favourite author?
C: Marian Keyes

Do you prefer ebooks or paperbacks?
C: Paperbacks. Nothing compares to the touch and smell of a books (even musty old book smells)


Which TV family is most like your own?
C: My kids say we are like The Russo's in Wizards of Waverly Place. The jury is out on that one because I don't get to watch much TV with remote control wars and all. 

What is something you own or are into that you love, but no one else does?
C: It's a love/hate relationship but it's definitely my Crocs. Not the big ugly ones though but it's still Crocs :(

What is the luckiest thing that happened to you?
C: Winning R5000 in a writing competition a few years ago.

What is the weirdest, grossest or scariest encounter you've had with an insect or household pest?
C: A lizard once ran into the house and I sprayed it with a can of Doom. Still not sure why I reached for the Doom...

If you could earn R2000 by eating the same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner for an entire month, what would it be?
C: Hotcakes

What movie would you watch over and over again and why?
C: The Notebook. It's a love story, need I say more

So now that you know a bit about her, pop over and say hi.

Reflections on the Easter weekend.

There's been a slight chill in the air the last few mornings and we have had light rain here and there. It's definitely autumn and as much as I dislike winter (and love summer), autumn is my second favorite season. I love the beautiful colours, the slightly cooler weather and the rain we often get this time of the year. I also love the hot days in between and the fact that we have the autumn or Easter school holidays. A two and a half week reprieve from the usual mad rush. No need for alarm clocks because even though Hunter and I work we can get up a bit later.

Our Easter weekend was full of fun but interspersed with some sad and ER visits. But I do think we made the best of it never the less and we had some great days.

On Thursday (I took a days leave to spend with the kids) we went to see the Tutankhamun exhibition at the Silver Star casino. Firstly I am no lover of casinos but this was a rather pleasant experience - after the exhibit we had lunch in the outside court with it's very pretty buildings and water feature.

 But onto the exhibit itself - it is such an experience! If you haven't been yet I would highly recommend you get there before it close this Sunday. We all found it fascinating and I loved the fact that they had a special childrens audio guide.

On Friday morning we lost our Rufus to liver failure. The vet thinks that he was very sick as a puppy and that his liver had been damaged for a long time . It took a very ordinary tummy bug to trigger the failure. Our hearts are broken and we miss him every moment. He was the most loving and adorable boy and had a special little something he shared with each and every family member. We know that he has a year with us filled with love and lots of new experiences for him. It is still so unreal. Run free my boy on the eternal beach. We will always love you. It was a very sad Good Friday.

On Friday evening after a day spent mostly at home (the kids amongst other things decorated masks) we decided to go out for dinner and lift the spirits. In the play area Mr L hit his head in an uncovered bit of steel in the trampoline enclosure - and lo and behold bad enough to have it attended to. So we spent a fair amount of time in the ER and he now proudly displays two staples in the back of his head.

On Saturday we fulfilled one of the items on the "we want to do this year" list with the kids - we went fishing. Boy did it turn out a great day and we all felt so relaxed (and very tired) that we all passed out pretty early on Saturday night. I am sure it is going to be one of the highlights of their year and something we will have to repeat at a stage.

On Sunday morning I woke up looking like an unbalanced chipmunk and in pain - turns out I have an apses in a tooth - after a trip to our doctor (no dentist to be found over the long weekend) I am on my way to recovery and then to the dentist to do what will need to be done. We did however spend a great day at my moms where the kids did some Easter egg hunting and played with one of her friends' little girls, about A's age.

Monday was spent quietly at home doing some necessary household tasks and generally chilling around. All and all it was a good weekend despite losing our furboy.

So how was your long weekend?

Bats, balls and ballet shoes

Last night as I was staring into the eyes of the most gorgeous little 3 week old boy it hit me once again - we have 3 kids in primary school! Gone are the days of bottles, babies and bums. We are solid in the bats, balls and ballet shoes years. And gosh, I am loving it. I am loving seeing them growing up, developing interests, finding their own ways. More and more independent almost every day.

Sometimes I wonder if maybe I wished those earlier years away. Did I take enough notice of the little things - the small wonders that makes up our daily lives? I love doing Project life as it retains the memories of so many of those daily little things. Years ago I made photo books and paging through them brings a flood of memories. But how often did I live with the "this too shall pass" mantra in my head in stead of living life to the full - watching 3 little lives blossom. Yes, we had few a rough cards dealt to us that sometimes made life a lot harder than your run of the mill family's. But we dealt with them best we could and we were incredibly blessed as a family.

I also realised that I should read more books to them because the days of bedtime reading (and I am willing to admit that sometimes I really did not want to do it - I was tired, hungry, ready for adult time) is almost at an end. Mr L read his first little book this weekend - we now have 3 readers. Maybe reading to them should never stop.

This morning I dropped off the kids like every school morning . Mr L the most independent grade 1 I ever had give me a quick hug and made for the gate running into the school grounds and to his class. I quietly watched him from the pavement to make sure he makes the walkway in front of his class. A typically 10 year old- unhappy with me for some reason I do not even recall - turned her back to me and I had to hug a reluctant shoulder with a backpack as she stomped away all angry. My grade 2 took my hand and asked me to walk to his class with him. Bliss - I obliged because it was such a welcome feel of love after the 10 year old. In front of his class we met his teacher that had a quick chat with me while he ran away happily with a friend after a hug and a kiss. And as we were standing there I got a huge hug from behind and a head that sits above my shoulder these days popped around my side. She kept hugging me until I said goodbye to the teacher - gave me a kiss and a "I love you".

I am so thankful for that little blessing - for her possibly deciding in her walk into school that she was wrong. These are indeed the days of miracles and wonders - the days of bats, balls and ballet shoes. Because yes, this too shall pass. Unfortunately.

Thankgiving Thursday

It's been a while since I counted my blessings - I should do this more regularly. Years ago we had a blog linky where we counted them every Thursday. But this morning a few things happened that's just not how I like to start my day. So I intend on making this a great day by counting my blessings.

1. The boys both brought home report cards yesterday that made my heart fill with joy. If you know the history of Mr L you would know just how much this means to us for him to get such a great report card in a main stream school. C held his usual high level which is great. My heart is just filled to the brim with happy.

2. A had a fabulous first show night for her ballet concert. My mom and two of her friends went to see it and they all 3 raved about how great the whole show was but also how refined her troupes performance is. We are seeing the show tonight and I really can not wait. I love how all that hard work comes together in a beautiful show of dance.

3. No more Saturday ballet until exam time! This ballet every Saturday 8-12 for most of a term is exhausting for all. Yes my friends, that is the level of dedication these girls have (and has had for the last 5 years - this is our 5th concert)

4. The lovely cool and rainy weather - although I am a total summer person I missed these type of days we usually have dotted over the summer months and this year almost totally missed. Yes, technically its autumn but with 30 degrees C weather the last few weeks you can hardly call it autumn.

5. The luxury of being able to get a free Friday afternoon to attend a mother and daughter farewell for a friend of mine and her daughter ( a friend of A) that are leaving for Oz at the end of the month. We are going to miss them so much!

So what are you Thankful of? And who wants to make this a weekly thing once again?

Never a quiet moment.

I kid you not! Sometimes it feels as if there is never a quiet moment in the household. Unless you count the lovely nap/sleep time we had yesterday afternoon and the odd moment now and again. Sometimes its the tv in the background - specifically now with rugby and cricket over weekends, at other times its the general noise of playtime and I guess soon, as it happens more often, it will be the sound of music from their rooms. All this I can deal with with a smile. It's the stuff our lives are made of - interspersed with the odd bark from the puppies. It's part of my happy space at home.

What does get to me however is that it seems as if there is ALWAYS at least 2 people talking at the same time. And by people I refer to little people. Gosh I wish I can get the message over that we need to talk one at a time. I do admit that with Mr L sometimes just impulsively talking and talking it does make it a tad more difficult that in the run of the mill household but he also needs to learn to be quiet at times. We have all had our fill of rugby and cricket and I am totally scared by the thought that the rugby world cup is also this year. And the others that just start to talk over his ramblings need to learn to take their chance. I once again on Saturday explained to them that I simply do not have the ability to listen to two people at the same time - although I have two ears -  I have one brain only.

It's like you live your life on running commentary - I guess I am not the only one that feels that way. Or am I?

Yesterday was a great day - for competition wins.

Yesterday morning I picked up a parcel posted to me by Kim Mari with two of the "Saurus street" books that I won on her blog  My Boys Hood  .I just knew at first sight that the boys would love them. But I will post reviews soon as C is already almost half way into one of them.

Less than an hour later a Mr Price parcel was delivered to our offices. I won a gift voucher on Lindsay's  blog What happened to my body? (one of the Cape Town meetup vouchers) and really did not expect the delivery so soon. It was my first experience with Mr Price's online shop. I let the kids each choose a winter item on Wednesday morning on the iPad and "bag it" - we were ready for school early so we spent the time waiting doing this. I placed the order at the office at 9:23 - and added a tanktini on sale for A at R29,99. I really did not expect it to be delivered, very neatly packaged at 10:25 the very next day - almost to the minute 25 hours! Way to go Mr Price - fantastic service. I will definitely use the site again.

The kids all loved the items they chose and I think it was almost like magic to them for it to arrive so soon and that they loved to do their own online shopping. I had to add a few rands to get a warm something for 3 but still great value for money. Let me show you what they chose:

L's hoodie - he loves hoodies

C's sweater top - it has a C on.

A's denim jacket - stunning and well cut

The R30 tanktini - a great fit and buy

Need something to read?

We haven't talked books in a long long time. Almost 6 months! And then Julia mentioned that she can always trust me for a good fiction read and I felt a tad guilty for not providing them.  So I thought that I should do some book reviews and catch up on the great books I have read in the last few months.

I have read two books over the last two months that had children or teens as the main character - both really great reads that show a lot of sensitivity to kids that do not fall into the usual cookie cutter type. I thoroughly enjoyed both and will recommend them if this is the type of book you enjoy - think of "The curious incident in the night time" or "Wonder". I was also deeply touched by both of them.

What Milo saw by  Virginia Macgregor:

I had to swallow very hard not to just cry and cry at the end of this book. Milo Moon has Retinitis Pigmentosa and is slowly loosing his eyesight. He sees the world literally (and figuratively) in a different way. His dad left him and his mom to look after gran. Then his mom moves his gran into a nursing home and together he and his teacup pig Hamlet set out to save Gran from this horrible place. I was deeply touched by this book and it's lovely colourful characters - my favorites being Tripi and Mr Overend but it's very hard to choose in this gallery of wonderful people. Do read!

The Universe vs Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

Alex Woods is the only child of a fortune teller and unknown father. Bookish and and easy target for bullies, Alex does not have the easiest of childhoods. At age 10 he is struck by a rare meteorite in his own bathroom, leaving him a minor news celebrity and with a scar and epilepsy to boot. Also resulting in him being more of a misfit than ever before.

Then he meets Mr Peterson, a Vietnam war veteran and an unlikely friend. A wonderful friendship develops that teaches not only Alex but many others close to him what life (and death) is all about. A great great read.

If you loved Jojo Moyes "Me before you" do read this book too - it shares a subject matter handled in a very sensitive way.

Another weekend.

Gosh we had a lovely weekend once again. I think all this grade 4 stuff has left us with a huge sense of appreciation for a weekend without school work.

Fruit alien at the mornings party

The boys and I attended a friends' party the morning - just as the party started winding down the rain started. Then after an hour downtime at home we all attended a friend of A party - her parents invited the whole family and I have to say that we spent a very delightful afternoon with good food and drinks, entertained children and great company for us.

What a cool alien cake

This week is one of the weeks in the year that is traditionally a bit tight for us on time and organization - A has ballet rehearsal every day Monday to Friday from 4 -7 . I am so thankful that we have the au pair as I usually had to either take off early for the week or negotiate with other moms to get her to the studio for 4 days running.Thank goodness too that the test series is behind her and she has term marks for two subject already. The boys are both busy with assessments and I am hoping and praying that it goes well with both of them.

With the Cricket world cup and the Superrugby series Mr L is in sports heaven. His current obsessions are both of them and he is driving some of us (ok maybe all) nuts and it's literally all he is talking about. I guess it's all part and parcel of what makes this very special little boy tick. Other parents with neuro atypical kids may know what I am talking about. Most of his previous obsessions have passed with time but this one unfortunately is very attractive to most adults and you will often  find a parent (specifically the dads) at school or at a party having a long discussion with him about the sport. In fact, a good chunk of his Saturday morning was spent having a conversation in English with the birthday boys' dad about the rugby much to the dads' delight. Most of them will express the wish that their own little boys would be interested as much as he is and be able to talk so well about it. So I guess we need to see what is good in this but encourage him to talk about other things too.

We saw the Spongebob movie on Friday evening - I still love Discovery for the free kids movies up to the 5 o clock show. It literally cost us R35 for a 3 D movie for me and the kids. Although I can really enjoy most kids movies this one was pure and total junk - but the kids did enjoy it. But not as much as Paddington - the last one we saw which in the car after they all agreed was the best movie we have seen in the last year or so. It was also the very first 3D movie L and C saw. Up to now with L's glasses we were warned that a 3D movie will disorientate him with his very specific issues. Now, with the contact lenses he truly enjoyed it. BTW we saw the trailer for the Charlie Brown movie - we can not wait. We all love Peanuts (I even have a Moleskine Peanuts diary this year).

Friday was Mr L's grade 1 swimming gala - a fun event where the kids do the shallow side of the pool in laps for a fund raising event. I was really a bit stressed that with the noise and the people he would not do it but he was full of enthusiasm and energy and did so well. I am really proud of how far this boy has come.

And with that - hope your week is a great one!

It was really a good weekend.

Flowers for my mom

I had such a great weekend - and I do think the rest of the family had a good one too. I was really spoiled with time for myself this weekend. On Friday night I went to a Stef Bos concert with 5 other ladies and it was such fun. Three of my favorite cousins went with and it was a night of good music and lots of laughter. I always forget how much I enjoy live music and although not one for big venue concerts the smaller scale ones totally fill my soul with joy.

Great eats by Loft restaurant

On Saturday morning I attended the #mombogmeetup and boy, was it a great event. I am not going to go into the details - so many others have already done that but I enjoyed the diverse and great speakers, good food, lovely venue and it was so very well organised by Laura and Heather. I loved putting some faces to the blogs I read and discovering some totally new blogs and the girls behind them. The goodie bags were excellent - I am not going to go into the details but check out the photos:

Thanks to all the wonderful sponsors - who you will find at the link above. I will go into some details about one or two in later posts. I have to mention the lovely creative food Margie made right in front of our eyes. It was fun and very yummy.

I returned home to the boys in the household making bows and arrows. It's the "in thing" in our home right now and as this develops I may give you and insight into it. Suffice to say the rest of the weekend was spent aiming at targets.

On Sunday my mom turned 79 and as she is still not very mobile (knee replacement pending) I went to help early with the many guests that came over. The kids and I made her a secret centre pinata cake which she cut to lots of laughs discovering the inside surprise. It was really tasty - the dark rich cake with the smarties inside. I will definitely make it again.

It was the first weekend in a month that we did not have a lot of grade 4 stuff going - projects, orals, tests etc. Although she does have 3 small tests and a poem to learn for this week we only did about an hour's work for the maths test. It was great having our weekend back!

How was yours?