Oh hallo!

Golden hour pretty at the koppie

After my full 10 days of my little holiday and silence from my part I was actually surprised to see how many bloggers took the same little break - or a part of it. It's been a good break - and we did not even go away. I loved a lot of things about it and am glad we stayed at home. It was just good solid time together - and we got some tasks done. I have to also mention that magically there has been very little fighting. The odd usual scrap but none of the "I am bored" fighting. The kids have been palying imaginary games, reading books and just doing crafts - I am so glad that they are big enough to do on on their own with this.

My dear Hunter, anchor and compass in my life, had his birthday on the 21st. Honestly I can not imagine my life without him, his love and his special ways. A and I baked him a chocolate cake - just the way he likes is. Dark, moist and no icing. For special effect we added his favorite chocolates , Whispers, inside the cake before we baked it and it turned out super tasty.

Incredible how Autumn arrived smack bang with the Easter weekend. It's cooler in the mornings and nice and warm - well hot , in the middle of the day. As much as I am no fan of Winter I do love Autumn. With it came babychinos and hot chocolate for the kids.

C made us chocolate drops on Saturday - out of the "Cook and enjoy for kids" . He did everything himself - I just stayed and checked that he went about it safely. I can really recommend this book if you want your kids to start cooking and baking on their own.

We spent this last Sunday resting - purely and simply resting. And the kids joined in with gusto. We just had time out - slept, read, watched some movies. We rested. It was magical.

We found the most wonderful mushrooms in our garden after a week of lots and lots of much needed rain. There were 3 different types that were all quire spectacular in size and count. We carefully removed them after the photos - I was scared that the puppies will eat them.

The boys started their holiday with 3 days of solid rugby in their first full on rugby Prestige week. They were exhausted by Wednesday but I think it played a good part in keeping them occupied and happy - and that they learned a lot - especially how to tackle.

Poor A had to have a tooth pulled - a permanent one. It transpires that her jaw is too small and the other 3 similar ones on the other sides will no doubt follow - as will braces later. I was much impressed with our dentist who handled her so well that she says she is not one bit scared to have him do the others when needed. And he is contracted in with the medical aid. Big win. This whole episode actually deserves a blogpost about dentists and medical aids.

I took her and her friend KR for a "little miss manicure" at Sorbet on Tuesday. It was something that I promised to her for the December holidays and that we did not get to with all the things that happened.  It is amazing how special R55 makes them feel.

A with the red and glitter - her friend with the sea colours

I de cluttered all but one of our bookshelves - I donated all the books to Hospice - apart from a few that friends wanted. I just kept 2 categories of fiction - those that I want to read (or read again) and those that I feel is essential reading matter for my kids in the future. It felt great and I had shelf space to store my Project life and photo albums where I want to.

We went to church on Good Friday and Eater Sunday. Although none of the kids believe in the Easter Bunny anymore I did get them a bunny, an egg, those small bantam candy covered eggs and a marshmallow egg or two. They then hid the eggs for each other in the most challenging palces and played "hot and cold" to find them. Great fun. I also did a night time hunt with those "loadshedding' Easter eggs - I love that one can refill them every year with whatever you want to.

We went for a hike up the Koppie - our usual spot and took some friends along. It was great to do it at a more leisurely pace this Sunday as Monday was a public holiday and there was no rush to get home.

Hunter took the kids to see "Kung fu Panda 3" while I went to see "My big fat Greek wedding 2". We all had fun and it was a huge treat for me to see a "non kiddie" movie in the theater. I love my hubby for this idea. Also if you live in Pretoria go have a look at the umbrella feature in The Grove mall - really something to see.

We also baked muffins, had a few braais at home and A baked Barbie cupcakes from one of those premix boxes - totally without me even seeing it.




Every single photo above was taken with my iPhone - why? Well my trusty Canon is refusing to power on - I feel a tad lost without it. It is still under warranty so I am hoping Canon can fix this soon.

That about sums up our last 10 days - so what were you up to?

Fun in and around Pretoria (and at home)

As many of you have read our December holiday has been anything but what we planned. In stead we spent it mostly at home - and a while without electricity too. I was not prepared for entertaining the kids for the holiday at home, but we did some great things - worth sharing I think.

We went to the movies - being on Discovery with the kids' movies for free (and limiting the snacks we buy) this is a very affordable outing for us. We saw all 4 of Ster Kinekor's kiddies movies this season. By far the kids' favorite was :

 By far my favorite was:

We spent a day at Zambibush. The venue has had some criticism after one slide broke and about overcrowding etc but we went after they imposed their bookings only rule and spent a lovely Friday there and never felt crowded or such. The kids had an absolute ball between the slides, lazy river and zipline into the water. I would definitely go there again but not sure if the weekend are too busy.

We played a lot of board games and cards - everything from Trump cards to Uno to Ludo and Chess. When the kids got Cluedo for Christmas it turned into many many Cluedo games.

Our Lego friends Advent calendar was a huge hit and daily distraction. We also build lots and lots of other Lego creation - I think most time in the holidays were spent around Lego (as was most Christmas gifts)

 Our completed Lego Friends Advent calender

 And a meetup of the advent calendar girls with all the other Lego figurines in the combined Christmas gifts.

The kids made lunch or snacks - like they wanted.

 A's idea of a light lunch (it's mussels in the small bowl)

C's idea of a fruit snack plate

We did a bit of crafting - I forgot to take pictures of the completed projects but it was fun.

We tried to get the kids to read  - L read his first ever chapter book on his own, C read his first Roald Dahl in English on his own and A read and read (she is a bit of an addict like me). I am not quite sure of her final count but it must be well over 15 books.

I bought the Rolad Dahl collection as a family gift. A has read through half of them this holiday - re reading many she has read before in Afrikaans. C has just started and L can not wait to start.

We coloured - mostly in adult colouring books.

We build a 1000 piece puzzle - well I build most but the kids helped a lot.

We went to Acrobranch - what a lot of fun! The kids all adored it and with friends in tow it was huge fun.

We went to Monte Casino and saw Swan Lake on ice with the Imperial Ice stars. Not only did we enjoy the absolutely wonderful breath taking performance, but the kids have also never been to Monte Casino and was quite taken by the little artificial bit of Italy.

And of course, being high summer we swam - as much as possible. (and painted funky nail colours for the girls).

We made the best of the situation and really enjoyed all of it.

Staycation time!

Our 9 day staycation starts tomorrow! We are going to visit some local sites, rest and recuperate. Although I know it might even be more tiring than working - we have 2 public holidays and 2 weekends in between. But I am looking forward to spending time with my family. On Tuesday we are seeing Little Man L's eye specialist and we are planning to have lunch, just the two of us. We never get the chance to do this. On Wednesday and Thursday we each will spend one day sleeping at my moms! Sounds radical, but we both need it. The other one will have time to do tasks at home as Lucy will be working on Tuesday to Thursday. For the rest, some quality family time and studies for Hunter.

I might be able to blog a lot, I might not! If I don't blog or comment on yours, please know that I will again soon!