Way back WHEN sday

Today we are going way, way back..... almost 39 years to be exactly.

Timeline: December 4 1969.
My age: 1 year

Me and my mommy on my first birthday. Yes, none of my kids looks anything like me as a baby.

So, hop over to Cheryl's and play along too.

A jam-packed weekend of fun.

It literally was completely! We were so busy, I am still catching my breath. Add to that 95 degree plus weather and you have lucky but tired kids.

On Friday night was off course The Little Miss' long awaited school concert. The change in one little girl in one year was amazing. Last year she was sort of shy, and not doing much of what was expected. This year she went all out for it - sang so hard that we could hear her little voice and diligently did all the movements required.

The Boys waiting to see the concert.

The concert was outdoors and the weather was perfect - just close to sunset. The banner had Merry Christmas in many languages, and lights in the trees and under the banner completed the decor. This is the under 3 squad doing their 3 songs.

They were shepherds and angels.

One of the cute little angels.

And then came the 3 to 6 year old group. The Little Miss is the most left hand bell in orange. Here they are singing "We three kings" after they entered on "The Little Drummer Boy".

The stars are the 6 older girls in the school. Below, a little drummer boy and 4 Christmas trees. Here they are singing "Away in a manger".

And this is "O Christmas tree" - the other boys were sugar canes and reindeer. Also on the programme was: Jingle bells, Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, A Rhyme about the clock ticking for Christmas eve, a rap version of Twinkle Twinkle little star, Silent night (2 verses) and ending with We wish you a Merry Christmas.

Receiving her medal for sports achievement from coach Annique. They do a sports programme involving basic gymnastics and ball skills.

They couldn't get the medal to go around the bell!

And our sweet little Christmas bell.

And then Christmas father came and each child got a present.

Getting some loving from Grammie.

And a hug with Teacher Annique.

And best friend at school Fedario who will move on to "big school" next year.

She told Christmas father that she wants a kitten for Christmas. No such luck, mom thinks.

On Saturday afternoon we had the Christmas and year end function of the local chapter of SAMBA (South African Multiple Birth association). This time we did not take a group photo - the organization would have been huge - present were 18 pairs of twins, two sets of triplets and parents, grandparents and sibling.

The Boys enjoying the special baby party packs that SAMBA made.

Our little princess with her twin friends Courteney and Nicole. They handed out the party packs and did such a good job!

They were the first to spot Santa!

Having a chat with Santa. She loved her Tinkerbell make-up bag and make-up.

Well, I for one had enough of Santa! We had our family pictures done on Sunday morning and I am so happy with them. And Dad was a star - he agreed the night before to be on a family picture and the happily went on doing everything the photographer wants. Just one of the reasons why he still rocks my world - he would set aside his own opinions to please me. And the kids did great! What helped is that the photographer was so professional - I got 97 pictures as proofs and all these were taken in 40 minutes! I just can not choose - there are so many gorgeous ones. So I just bought the whole lot as electronic files and will then print as I need. I promise to publish some tomorrow - getting the DVD today!

Today I am thankful for my hubby's great spirit in posing for the photos.

Merry SITSmas!

Welcome to Christmas in sunny South Africa, where off course, we have a summer Christmas and for most South Africans it means our long summer holiday at the pool or the beach.



The Little Miss on the beach Christmas day 2006.
Santa, in our part of the world, might come on a surf board or a jet ski, but never the less, still loves his milk and cookies.

May you and yours experience all the warmth and love of a summers day this Christmas.

With love, from Africa.

It's International Aids day.

As you no doubt know, today is International HIV/Aids day. Please spare a thought and keep South Africa in your prayers today. HIV/Aids has reached pandemic proportions in our country. We have come far in terms of education by government and big companies, but we have millions of people affected by the disease. I am most touched by families where the parents have both died and that are now headed by older siblings having to grow up and literally bring up the younger kids or by grannies who should be enjoying their old age. Off course the little babies still being born with the disease is tragic - we have come far with anti-retro virals, but in the rural areas some moms still go undiagnosed. If you would like to support a worthy cause please look at the website of Heartbeat who support such households. Remember that due to the exchange rate, your money is worth ten times here (if you donate in US dollars) than in the US and almost as much elsewhere. Even 10 dollars can make a difference.

Today I am thankful that God has thus far kept our direct family and friends free from this horrible disease.

Baby picture Sunday

Yes, I know it's Monday, but I just can not resist playing along with this one from Debi. Pop over to her blog to see some more Christmas baby pictures.

Little man C, Christmas last year. The Boys were exactly 3 months old on Christmas day.

Little man L on Christmas morning.

This year will be totally different and I can not wait!

Just before this weekend, a bit about the last one...

On Saturday morning I took the kids and The Little Miss' BFF Emma to my mom's for a visit. She had her 3 friends from her teaching days there - all now retired for more than 10 years but still meeting often. We call them the Golden Girls - if you remember the TV show? One of them brought her grandson Charles along and the bigger kids had great fun playing with plastic dinosaurs. At the end they buried them and had an archaeological dig - I can remember us playing in mud and water as kids but we certainly did not know at age 4 that dinosaurs were dug up by archaeologists. Maybe this all had to do with our local museums great dinosaur programme for the pre-schools that all 3 did with their respective schools.

The archaeological dig'

Rushing to get water to make a bit bigger mess, no doubt.

The team of intrepid archaeologists - nice an clean! Wow! Took me two days to get the mud out of the two girl's clothes.

And washing their finds. Look at granny's fountain - in general all clean and sparkly. Took her and the gardener a whole day to clean out but being a gran just laughs about it and says they can do it again any day they want.

And the two little men, suppose to take a nap, but had none of that. Enjoyed all the attention from the 4 grans and slept for hours the afternoon.

So, what did we do the rest of the weekend?

The kids gave us the gap (and we planned around it) to do some major tasks in the house. We just don't seem to find the time to do very much needed work. And with some clever planning and very good kids we did it! It is just a start (but a very good one).

Today I am thankful for a great staff team at work - without them I would be lost.

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

We are attending the local chapter of SAMBA (South African Multiple birth association) Christmas party and year end function tomorrow afternoon. Below is the photograph taken at our Spring meeting on the 27th September. Attending were 8 sets of twins and one set of triplets with siblings, parents and grandparents.

Head over to Carrie to see who else is playing along. If I take a wild guess there will be many Thanksgiving pics to appreciate.

5 Things Thursday...

I just love lists. I make lists of everything, I even make lists of my lists. And I love ticking off items on a list. I even have a special little Moleskine diary with your days of the week on the left side and place for lists on the right (ok they say notes - I say lists).


So a while ago I started doing "5 Things Friday" to address my list addiction and I have to say that quite a few readers love the lists. But Fridays have miles of other things going on in the blogging world, so I thought I'll do this on Thursdays. And maybe, just maybe some of my blogging friends will join in.

So, for today:
5 Things I am looking forward to in the next two weeks:

1. Friday night is The Little Miss' school concert. This was up to last week disguised as just a "Carols by candlelight" but we parents were surprised by an invite to the concert on Friday. I just love events like this to see your little one grow and express themselves.

2. On Saturday afternoon we are attending our local chapter of SAMBA (South African Multiple birth society) Christmas party. Santa will be visiting so the Little Miss should be thrilled. I am expecting laughter from little man L and tears from little man C.

3. On Sunday we are having our yearly family photos done. I have made a conscious decision that I will enjoy it and have banished thoughts of last year. Dad has promised to come along to help but will not pose. I am ok with that.

4.On Thursday I will hit the big four-oh! Yes, I am entering the naughty forties! Wow, I am still not even used to being 30. But yes, I will celebrate this birthday! With all of my heart.

5. On Saturday we will celebrate my birthday in the way I chose. No party. We will be doing an adrenaline activity. Yes, I am not going to say more - but watch this space next week.

So girls, why not join in? Maybe you have 5 things to look forward to. Maybe you have 5 things to do today. Or whatever. Why don't you join in and let me know.

Today I am thankful for my daughters sweet sweet prayer last night. And because she said at the end:" I love you Jesus. Amen"

And a happy thanksgiving to all the American girls.

Playing along!
Barbara at A Tale of toe twinkies is the first one to play along. Check out her list.

Way back Wednesday

Timeline: September 2005
The Little Miss was about 8 months old and Granny Annie was visiting from Port Elizabeth. What I love about this photo is the way the two grannies are completely absorbed by their first grandchild.

Join Cheryl at Twinfatuation for some more great memories every Wednesday.

Today I am thankful for a quiet morning in the office (and not on a building site and time to catch up on my administration and other work).

Crazy times!

Let me try to explain why I am so quiet at present. Well, in South Africa everything comes to an end at the end of the calender year. The schools close for our long summer holidays, the building and industrial sectors close for a month for the summer holidays. And yes, we also have Christmas. This off course means that we have a hectic social and work calender at present. I have 3 projects finishing, and am spending days on end on building sites in extreme heat. And I am tired, really tired. This year had been way too long.

Off course, socially it is heating up to being very very busy. So much so that until the end of our work year, our weekends are packed. And some weeknights as well - there are Christmas functions, end of project functions etc.

So please do not feel affronted that I am not visiting or commenting - I promise I will catch up. And ditto for publishing posts - I am really doing the best I can. Love and light to you all.