Embrace enthusiasm

I have come to a simple conclusion this weekend - with enthusiasm you can go very far. Also, that enthusiasm about anything is one of the things I love most about my kids. A lack thereof on the other hand just totally makes me sad.

For instance, the Princess did not swim the whole winter - in fact I thought she has lost most of what she knew. And she did not want to swim again as the coach at school changed. So we bumped into the new coach last week, had a chat to her and in no time A agreed to at least go for an evaluation. Which went way better than I thought and guess what? Yesterday at school swimming period she swam lengths with the school swimmers in her class. Something she has never done before. Love the enthusiasm.

I can go on with things each and every child did the last week, each showing enthusiasm - I have to mention how well C is doing in his swimming. He totally makes my heart sing. And L that is very unhappy that rugby is over for the year and told me how much he loved it and his Judo that he totally adores.

But back to enthusiasm and my little word for the year, "embrace". Gosh its been a hard one this year, many things really tested us, we had to accept and embrace a lot.

We had big plans for Saturday night - to take the kids to their very first "grown up restaurant" experience. Then when I called to make the reservation the restaurant was closed for a few days and we had to change plans. As the kids worked hard in the garden that afternoon we gave them the choice for the night - and they chose MacDonalds - possibly the very last choice we would make. But we embraced it - and it turned into a lovely family night out with lost of happiness and enthusiasm. We had a great chat over dinner, ice cream or smarties for desert , looked at the Christmas lights and spent some time in Exclusive books. A good night out. This Saturday with just as much enthusiasm we will try that "grown up restaurant" . I have high hopes.

 

Afrikaanse lesers - het julle geweet Asterix is nou in Afrikaans beskikbaar? 

And the winner is:

No 6 and that is Cazpi Scott's first entry. Congratulations to you. Please drop me a mail so that we can send the prize your way

Loving right now

1. A is loving the Mr Men and Little Miss series of books. At least one gets devoured a day and in 1 story we will run out of the stash at home.

2. Monopoly Jr - the recent rainy weather sparked the discovery of a forgotten Christmas gift to the great joy of C and A.

3. Spending time relaxing with friends and family. That end of the year is near feeling- not to mention the great joy of watermelon.

4. Rice crispie marshmallow treats. These were served at a party the boys attended over the weekend and the parents had possibly just as many as the kids

 5. Sleep. Gosh Hunter and I am both enjoying sleeping well so much at the moment. I guess one need to be as sleep deprived as we were to really appreciate it.

6. The rain - keep it coming. I love the weather at the moment.

7. The Ultimate Braaimaster - I love how we are seeing so much of our country and so much about making good food on an open fire. I love watching it with Hunter with a cup of tea and a biscuit ready. Our time.

8. The Sikworms - This year the kids each have their own 20 worms in a box. I love the learning and joy that goes with the few weeks that these guys are around. I am however happy that they are spinning already. Less is more really worked this year. Never again those 100's of worms.

9. Progress, milestones and achievements. A 100 stars on C's star chart, an A+ in unprepared drama for A and excellent progress in OT for L. I am a happy mom.

10. Being able to once again do our 3 boxes for Santas shoebox - I am 100% sure that this brings just as much joy to us than to the children that receive them.

And a bonus one:
11. Pretoria in her purple prettiness (although the sinus that goes with it had me very sick this year)

So what are making you happy right now - I am talking the big things and those tiny little ones that just warms your heart.

PS Don't forget you have until Friday to enter my competition

A very handy win!

So the wonderful people at Butterfly products sent us a little surprise this week. I bet you all know their fabulous books with multi sheets of paper or cardboard  that's every year on our school stationary lists. Also on every year's list are pocket files - those handy books with a million uses. We got a complete set as below to test.

 The 10 pocket one was immediately added to my work bag to house those recipes I print from Pinterest and only sometimes try and the 40 page one to replace my tired file with house documents like slips, guarantees and immunization cards. The 50 pocket one however was put to the ultimate flip file test - as the very important ultimate sticker book for an 8 year old. These go through a lot of hammering and stickers are paste, swopped and re applied. Our handy tester reports extraordinary sturdy sheets that stand the test of sticker swapping and a good strong backing  to the file - the item that often fails on these overloaded files.

The great news is that you can win these very hand organizing tools (or sticker books if you have a daughter of Primary school age) by winning them on my blog. To win do the following:
1. Entry one - leave me a comment of which item you like at http://www.butterflyproducts.co.za/.There are lovely stuff to choose from - I especially love those 3 case pencil cases with clips that you can re attach.
2. Entry 2 - like their Facebook page and leave a comment that I sent you their way. Please also leave met a comment that you did this.
3. Entry 3 - Tweet this " Win with @catjuggles and @ButterflyStat on http://juggelingactoflife.blogspot.com/ and leave me a comment that you did this.


Entries close at at 2 pm on Friday 1 November - winner to be chose by random.org. Winner must have a South African address.

The last few weeks

Really just rushed by, filled with the school revue mainly, but so much more. I am totally overwhelmed by trying to cover everything that happened so let me just share a few moments:

Pretoria is all purple and pretty right now - and I have the hayfever mixed with a cold to show for it.

 We went to a Dumbo themed birthday party and got a fun family shot as a result.

 A little man C learned that it's more fun to jump into the pool than to climb into it.

My wonderful MIL visited us over the revue period and I truly have no idea how we would have handled those 2 weeks without her help.  In return she fulfilled a bucket list item in seeing Pretoria's Jacarandas in bloom.

The boys had a Horse farm themed birthday party which was hot, windy and filled with laughing, running, jumping dirty kids. By all accounts every single little person enjoyed it and fell asleep very early that night.

The school revue (musical production) really took my breath away - I could not believe what they managed to accomplish with every single child in the school. It is the school's 60th birthday this year and they did an oversight of the last 60 years in news, school news and music. You all know "itsy bitsy yellow polka dot bikini that Mr C took part in but the Princess' number may be unfamiliar - have a listen here:

Mr L got funky new glasses - just slightly different in shape and colour than his previous pair but the same nice and sturdy frames.

 On Friday the Princess danced her grade 2 RAD ballet exam - the girl's hair was so beautiful and a bonus this year that she danced in the same group as 3 of her very best friends.

 And on Friday morning Mr L was the last of our kids to loose a baby tooth - and the very first to do it all by himself! Now we have 3 kids with loose teeth - the tooth mouse /tooth fairy (depending on the child ) is going to be very busy!

So that's most of our news - what's happening in your corner of the world?

Of thunder and adrenaline filled 6 year olds

Last night we had our first wonderful big thunder storm for summer. It was glorious - rain pouring down in buckets accompanied by lightening and thunder. I was helping at the grade 0 class getting 22 5/6 year olds ready for revue - make up, hair etc, and then the rain came filling the little people with some additional adrenaline on the already filled little bodies. But is was such fun getting them ready, laughing as we rushed them through the rain to the hall and watching them backstage performing. I am amazed at how independent these little ones are - how they know exactly where to be, what to do and where to go. I was also taken by the little gentlemen our boys are - after rushing through the rain the kids were all a little chilly waiting under the canopies to go on stage. 10 of the little boys (including Mr C) have towels as props for their number and soon enough they each had a towel wrapped around a cold little girl and none on themselves.

We are hearing great things about the revue and I am totally looking forward to seeing it tomorrow.

With tea and a lemon cream biscuit....

Yes I know I have just been doing these random little updates and nothing more. So be it - I know that when I can/need/ want to "speak" this vehicle is there. But this morning I am feeling nostalgic.

Possibly because my MIL arrived last night to watch the kid's revue concert next week, but also to help during this busy time. You all know that I adore her - not only for the stunning mom she is to me (because honestly she is no MIL in the negative sense of the word) but also because she is the type of grandmother she is. The type that immediately noted the kid's requests the moment we walked into the door last night after the concert. The type that this morning assured C that they will play snakes and ladders later this afternoon, that even last night had A read a book to her for her book list and that ate her dinner last night in discomfort as L just could not resist sitting on her lap even during dinner. The type of gran my granny Anna used to be.

Gosh I loved her. She was the most amazing woman and a total lady (not to mention totally OCD but that's all part of the package) until the day she passed away at age 90. Anna Boshof was born in a concentration camp in 1902 during the Anglo Boer War. I do not know much about her early years and really want to find out more. She married my grandfather, a Coetzee and a health inspector from the Cape and had two sons, one being my father. By the time I was born she was a widow and my only two cousins were already teenagers. She showered all her grandmotherly attention on me and I totally loved her for it. I remember making rice crispie cookies with her, obsessively cleaning after, but still having fun while doing it. I remember the OK bazaars Pick n Mix in a bowl on the dining room table from which I was allowed only one while my parents where there. But the moment they walked out of the door, I had free reign of the bowl and she would fetch my favorite mint creams out of the side board where she specially kept some out. I remember visiting her for school holidays in her little flat in Sunnyside where we used to walk to the bakery for fresh white bread, xxxx mints for her and a poodle meringue for me. Afternoons at Peter's pancake place in Sunnypark and listening to LM radio with her. They used to vacation in Lorenzo Marques(now Maputu) for years and I sat with the the day LM went off air.

I have vivid memories of her and her purple rinse friends playing bridge on a Wednesday afternoon and after 4pm I had to wrestle ice out of those old steel ice trays and bring it to the dining room table for their gin & tonics. I was allowed a tonic with lemon - I still love the taste of it, and to sit with them while they took a break. They were such a great bunch of ladies - they always loved to hear my little stories. For the rest of the time, I entertained myself - being an only child makes you a great reader and she was the first to offer me a Danielle Steel book to read. She was funky like that.

Funny enough her appeal to me never wore off and different to some other grandmothers and granddaughters (and me with my other grandmother) our relationship grew and grew. Maybe we were just kindred spirits, maybe we shared the gap my father left. I really do not know. What I do know is we totally loved to spend time, right up to her death. She always was my go to person, the one to discuss things with. She would never judge. She would seldom complain. She always saw the beauty in life and she was always a self sufficient lady. I will never forget how she treated all that was wrong in your life. Regardless if you bumped your toe at 6 or your boyfriend broke up with you at 16, she could fix everything that was wrong with a strong cup of tea - always served out of a proper Royal Albert teapot and cups- and a lemon cream biscuit. Occasionally it was an Eat some more biscuit.

Best I go buy some lemon cream biscuits now, or do you think I will get Pick n Mix anywhere?

6 years ago today

 two little /big boys came into our lives What a ride! Although I think we may have underestimated the storm that descended on us, we certainly underestimated the joy we would receive in return. This morning they were totally surprised by their gifts - C has been wanting one for so long, but the Leappads hit the spot for both. I usually write a letter to the kids on or around their birthday but today I am overly emotional so it is better left for another day soon.

My little boys, I love you to no end. There is no way that I can describe how you fill my life with joy, every day. Love you to the moon and back.

A bit of a catch up.

Life on a trot. Yes, that's about what's happening in our part of the world. Work is keeping me extremely busy, life at home and the school has been hectic. Leaving blogging (and reading) just about the last item on my to do list.

But we are all doing fine - I am also extremely happy that this term is ending on Friday. Mock ballet exam is done, first Voortrekker camp is done, yearly Ophthalmologist appointment is done (new glasses being made as we speak), hockey season is something of the past and dress rehearsal for the revue done.

Of course, we have a BIG event next week - a certain awesome twosome are turning 6. Gosh 6! Wow. And as they have their birthday in the school holidays we are taking cupcakes for the kids to decorate themselves at school tomorrow and we will only have a party after the school re opens and when Ouma is visiting from PE. But the boys are ok with it - I think they are big enough to see the sense in it. No doubt we will have to repeat it a 100 times in the next 3/4 weeks until the party, but so be it.

It's been a good term academically for the kids. The Princess is continuing being a good student, Mr C surprised us by learning to read in grade 0 (it does sometimes happen that they just "grasp" it themselves without actively being taught - he is not the only one in the class) and Mr L has made great progress and is on his way to grade 0 at our school. I do not think I have mentioned it before but we got the formal ADHD diagnosis a while ago and although he is not on meds yet (to follow soon) our new OT has concentrated on this and he is growing in leaps. I am sure that the horse riding therapy has a big part to pay in it too. 

I am still keeping up with Project Life- 2 weeks ago I was behind but managed to catch up about 4 weeks in one weekend. I am way behind in posting the layouts though but if you are interested there may be some you have not seen yet.

Hope you are all doing well. I will pop in soon.

At the Princess' baby shower almost 9 years ago

my one cousin, whose two kids was almost grown up at the time gave me a wonderful bit of advice. She said that she believes that one of the most important things to teach children these days is self confidence - and by that she meant to tackle the world with no or little fear, with the confidence to proceed and achieve what we set out to do.

It is a difficult balance to keep kids humble but with self confidence. Often I wonder if we achieve this - the humble part is relatively easy - our competitive world sees to this . Often I wonder if we install enough confidence, but sometimes I know we are on the right track to achieve it. Our kids are relatively fearless on rides at the school fete for example.

Mr L on the top of the 3 story slide - they repeatedly did this. All 3.

A surprise us every time at the English schools speech festival on the left and at the Drama Eisteddfods where she competes with great confidence. 

And what really prompted this post - the 3 of them with friend D in a cave on Sunday. They were fearless little explorers - in fact, we had to keep them back from not going in too deep.

I truly love the sense of adventure. I hope we can keep it going in them all.