Christmas blessings

Wishing you and all your loved ones a Christmas filled with joy and love.

I was woken up this morning just after 5 by the most wonderful sound of thunder -followed shortly by the sound of the house alarm going off. The promise of rain in a drought is amazing. We had a good few drops following but not the big storm that the thunder promised. The sun is shining again - promising another scorcher of a day in stead of the coolness the early morning weather hinted at.

It pretty much summarize this holiday for us. What was planned for this holiday did not happen. In stead of spending Christmas at the seaside with grandparents and cousins, we are spending it at home without Hunter. He is where he is needed most and the moment - it was clearly one of our best decisions. Our Oupa is sick - very sick and for now it's first things first - which means that dad is spending it with Oupa and Ouma in Port Elizabeth and we are spending it today with our other Ouma - my mom.

But God is amazing - angels are sent on our path all the time to help us over the sadness and disappointment of this holiday. On Monday afternoon during a storm cables in our area were blown off by falling branches in a huge wind storm. This resulted in a 54 hour electricity failure that nearly broke me. Dealing with moving a deep freeze of frozen meat, upset children, not being able to cook as you would normally do and defrosting fridges and freezers in a heat wave of 39 degrees for both the days the power was out all on my own was a challenge. But we had angels sent to us - a good friend that made space in her freezers to house all our meat before any damage was done and an offer for the boys to play and swim the afternoon with her kids - giving me time to do some shopping needed A's BFF parents that housed her for 2 days and night and offered showers, meals and more and my cousin that decided that a sleepover for us all at her place was a great idea. And it was - it was the break we needed to get away from the masses of work waiting at home and take aways or restaurant meals and to just relax for an evening, have a good solid home cooked meal and the best of all - a sleep in for me the next morning.

Christmas eve last night was truly a blessing. When A's BFF's parents heard of the changes of plans they invited us over to spend the night with their extended family. If was such a social and great occasion that brought much much joy to us all - especially the kids that loved the relaxed madness of 11 children between ages 2 and 18 , a 7 week old puppy , gifts, treats and way too much sugar. I am extremely thankful for this evening of joy and hope.

This morning after church I am cooking a Christmas meal at my moms for just us and one family member. I will make it a joyful and happy occasion.

Wishing you all a wonderful day with plenty of joy and hope.

"Don't just stick it. Bostik it"

We all know that little tagline don't we! Well Bostik has added another one: "Smart adhesives" -  because , let's face it, their adhesives are exactly that - smart. They also have a new little brand hero, Gary the Gecko. Geckos are renowned for their remarkable bonding abilities that allow them to cling to just about every surface, run up polished glass and support their entire body weight on a single toe.  Just look at the beautiful new branding featuring Gary.

We received a lovely blog drop from them a while ago and as a mom of 3 kids I was immediately excited about this! All the glue - do you have any idea how many glue sticks I buy a year for 3 kids? The kids on the other hand was really excited about  one particular product - the new very cool Rainbow twisters. The 6 were immediately shared to two each and proudly taken to school to show all. They were the first cool kids with these. 

 The last few weeks have been totally crazy and I had an idea in my mind to do a little craft with the glitter glue we received which I hid away as my kids love glitter glue and it would have long been used for whatever if I did not hide it. So with the kids informally on holiday since Monday I brought out the glue and we made a little Christmas craft.

What you need:
Bostik glue stick
Bostik glitter glue
2 Heart shaped doillies per child
1 Cardboard sheet per child

Position the doillies two on top of each other to form a Christmas tree. Stick with the glue stick. Make a pot and decorate your tree with the glitter glue. Allow to dry. Use as a card for grandparents or as a decoration on the wall.

How cute is this?
Thanks to Bostik! We really enjoyed doing this.

On Friday I celebrated another trip around the sun

Just a warning - if you are hungry, have something to eat first.

It was such a great birthday, honestly. I really needed the positive mood as this year has be a very hard one and may just continue to be so until the end and into next year.

My family woke me up with lots of hugs and kisses and the most beautiful cross necklace I have ever seen. As it's sort of holidays already it was a slower than usual morning. I just had to drop A off a school (the twins stayed home) - A only went to school as she had a birthday party directly after school where the clever parents rented a small bus to take the whole party off to Bounce. I then met up with two friends that I have really grown very fond of this year. When an old school friend of mine told me years ago that my friends will later be the moms of my kids' friends I honestly did not believe her. But it turns our that cool kids have cool moms and that you will find friends among the moms that you may very well have been friends with in any case. The 3 of us are planning to have a coffee club on Friday mornings next year - after dropping the kids and before work. I am really looking forward to this friendship initiative. We had a lovely breakfast (and I got some really lovely gifts too) and the work day started.

 At work I was spoiled with some very pretty gifts too. I really try to never work the full day on my birthday - in all honesty I feel I can get that for being a business owner. So I spent the afternoon with my two boys - while they played Lego and watched a DVD I mostly slept - peacefully on the couch. Great way to spend your birthday. As it was a Friday night and the au pair is already on holiday we had a family dinner out in stead of our usual spoil dinner for just the two of us. We had a lovely meal at Cappuccinos at Brooklyn Square and drifted to Exclusive books - something we all enjoy. We had small rain showers 3 times on my birthday  - I see it as a blessing. The Christmas tree in Brooklyn Square looked particularly beautiful reflecting in the rain.

We headed to Wakaberry for desert just because no calories count on your birthday !

It was such a lovely evening our with my little family - I felt truly and honestly blessed beyond words.

On Saturday morning I met a few friends at Isabellas at the Greenlyn centre. It was sort of a last minute idea and I invited them as they called or messaged on Friday. It was basically - join me if you can, no problem if you can't-and it really worked out well. It has such a nice atmosphere with the Hazel foodmarket next to it and the general market spread through the centre. Isabellas go to so much trouble if you book a table and the brought huge pitchers with cold water with mint and lemon. Perfect for a hot day.

We had wonderful decadent cake galore and a great chat while the smaller kids played in the kiddies area and the bigger girls strolled the market close to the shop. It was great to see some old friends and some new ones and my heart was light and happy when we left.

My very tasty but way too big piece of rainbow velvet cake.

It was honestly a lovely birthday - one I will remember for the many happy moments.

So much to be thankful for

I have been quiet - because we have been busy. Busy with prize givings and end of year business. And we have been blessed. Extremely blessed. I am filled with a total joy deep in my heart. Every one of our 3 precious children exceeded our expectations of them. Every time it was a surprise.

It started with our Bear, Mr C who on the morning of his prize giving at school won one of only five academic trophies in his grade - the one for spelling. I had no idea - no idea whatsoever that he even had a chance of winning any trophy. In a group of 150 children that is no mean feat.  I could not contain my joy!

The next morning our Lion, Mr L surprised us by receiving a general academic mention and one for Maths. To think that a year ago we were trying to get him into a special needs school and that with the help of a wonderful teacher and a lot of hard work he managed to end the year like this totally blows my mind. I was walking on air for the rest of the day. He also got a very special award on Saturday night at the stables award ceremony. He was the runner up for the inspiration award (won by an old man that at the age of 72 is learning to ride for the first time) for his guts, determination and huge improvement that has served as such an inspiration for the management and staff there.

This morning it was our Princess' turn for the prize giving ceremony at school. Grade 4 is a big year - there are tests, exams, projects and a whole different way of work. We prepared her not to expect to be in the top ten awards as they are an extremely strong academic group - in fact in sports and culture too. She surprised us and herself by achieving top ten in Natural science and technology, Social sciences and English. This already had me totally overwhelmed with joy. Then she was called for the top ten overall academic achievers. My heart almost burst.

So yes, this is a mommy bragging post - I am allowed to it's my space here. But I need to journal my feelings here and now - I need to acknowledge their achievements and hard work. I am so very proud - but over all, I am so humbly filled with total gratitude.

The last two weeks...

 Is best described by this photo - beautiful twin rainbows against a dark and cloudy sky - and threatening storm that never happened.

It has been two weeks of incredible highlights but seriously busy. Exhaustively busy. A wrote her first end of the year exams and what I expected to be the storm that never happened. She studied well ahead (on our prompting) and coped well with the fact that despite her exams we spent a lot of time on the side of the cricket pitch - as C played his first school premier league. L very patiently enjoyed watching the matches (the grade 1 do not play this league) The Premier league is a fun league based on the concept of the Indian Premier league with fun names and coloured  caps to distinguish the teams. Two grades are combined to play with captains as leaders (no coaches) and the team spirit is truly something to experience. The grade 7-4 play before the exam season but the grade 2 and 3 league is during the senior phase exams and serves as a step up tool for the grade 2 boys to move from Bev (mini) cricket to the full size version of the game. With 4 matches per team in the group stage and a possible semi final and final it is a lot of cricket to cram into two weeks. C and the Blue Warriors made it to the semi finals and the third place. They were disappointed but a bronze medal is nothing to be shy about too.

We also had two prize givings, two school grade parties and two class parties. Lots of happy, lots of busy. And I am not even mentioning work that is always busy this time of the year. I will tell you about the prize givings later - simply because I feel they deserve their own posts. But suffice to say I have a permanent smile on my face at the moment.

This weekend we have a few commitments but we are planning to rest up a bit, to go a bit slower. So how has your week been?

Weekends are so much fun!

There are medals to be won

The boys' Judo medals tally for 2015 - I was so extremely proud when they fought like tigers on Saturday with C taking silver and L bronze. I love it that they often swap who wins the other - I guess there is a whole post in competition between twins waiting

Charity bookshops to explore

The Hospice bookshop had some great finds - who remembers Nancy Drew? A loves the books but they are very hard to find. 

And among the studying (A is writing history and geography today and tomorrow), koppies to be climbed and streams to be explored.

It was an exceptionally great weekend - there was a lot of happy and joy and much relaxing. We need more of these.

So what are your 3 weekend highlights?

On fun, events and more

This morning we had the yearly Ladies' breakfast event hosted by our Institute for Architects. It started out years ago as the Secretaries' breakfast but as it was always the most fun event with the best goodie bags, it was changed to include all ladies in architecture. After all why should us architects attend all the boring CPD events but not be able to attend the one fun day of the year. It's a lovely morning being spoiled a bit before the year ends.

We have had many wonderful presentations for this event. One year we made mosaics, another one taught us beautiful gift wrapping ideas and we also learnt how to make concrete art works the one year. This years' offering was simply fabulous!

The theme was "50 Shades of bra's and panties". It started out with a fabulous performance by Lillipip Performances . I laughed literally until I cried. Good clean fun - and a fabulous idea for a Kitchen or even Stork tea or any ladies type event. I can really recommend it. Then we all had our bra sizes checked by La Senzas' team of fabulous ladies. In the meantime breakfast was served and tea after.

Then we made our own room fragrance thingy - you know those bottles you buy with the bamboo sticks in? We were given a "recipe" and all the ingredients to mix our own. It was great fun and smells divine.

 We were once again spoilt - a Woolworths gift voucher of R150 (for new undies) from Floorworx (with Sally Williams nougat!), a beautiful vase with rose from Ceasarstone,  a R200 off voucher from La Senza (plus a lariat and measuring for bra size), cute undies cookies from The Yellow Hat chef and our room fragrance we made with bamboo sticks. There was also a lucky draw where two of the ladies won undies - one a set from La Senza and one from Victorias secret. It was fun and just what I needed after a long tiring week.

I myself am no lover of the traditional kitchen or stork teas and attend just for the sake of my friend that is being celebrated. I do however love these type of events when I do get the chance (usually this once a year one and maybe a blogger event now and again). It's good to be in the company of other women and it gives the girls in the office a chance to spend time together in a social setting. After all they are always extremely well organised.

So I would love to know what's your take on events like these?

A bit more about me

Cassey tagged me on this one:

Are you named after someone?
Very traditionally after my gran on my mom's side - the same long official name - she was commonly know as Cate

When was the last time you cried? 
Last night in the shower - I am a bit tired and emotional. It was just an outlet.

Do you have kids? 
My 3 not so little any more loves that keep my feet on the ground and my heart filled with love.

If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself?
I have always seen myself as a good friend but the last few years I guess I need to up my friend game. So I think yes - if I find the time.

Do you have a guilty pleasure? 
Reading - I would read anywhere, anytime . And Sally Williams nougat.

Do you like handwriting? 
I do - I make all my notes by hand in note books and diaries. I do however if at all possible prefer to always write in colours with my favorite kokis.

What is your favorite cereal? 
I am not a great lover of cereal but eat Special K with yogurt almost every week morning at the office.

What is the first thing you notice about people? 
Their eyes and if they make proper eye contact with me. If they do not I find it difficult to connect.

What color are your eyes? 
Brown

Scary movies or happy endings? 
I do not watch scary movies. Love happy endings.

Favorite TV show?
I do not watch much TV at all! But I do watch Masterchef, Survivor and the Amazing Race.


Summer or winter? 
100% Summer - I am totally ok with 30 degrees as long as it rains. The 39 degrees and drought we had the last two weeks got to me but not as much as the winter. I hate the cold.

Hugs or kisses? 
Depends who - but mostly hugs

What’s the furthest you’ve been from home? 
Europe and Turkey. I backpacked as a student. It was a very fast growing up experience and one I will always treasure.

Do you have special talents? 
Does being a mom of twin boys count?
But I do doodle, draw and can make a very pretty party table.

And I think for an amateur photographer I take pretty ok pictures.

So whoever wants to do this or need a filler, please do this. See yourself as tagged.

It's almost as if I can not get going without writing this morning.

We live in a world where on Saturday morning I woke up with a joy in my heart. We had a few drops of rain over night and a cloudy and cool morning with the promise of maybe some rain welcomed us. A part of why I love summer is the rain and thunder storms that the drought has robbed us of.

The origine of this image seems to be untraceable by now

Then as I checked social media the news of Paris started to filter through and the horror hit. Followed by the attacks in Kenya and in Lebanon. And the world we live in all of a sudden is a horrible one. Not that we do not live without horror on its own scale in this country. It's just that the co ordinated effort to destruct the most charming city hits hard. Paris is supposed to be the city of love, the city of romance and art. I wonder if Paris will ever be the same again?

Other terrors of years past reminds us just what the horrible consequences are. I immediately remembered London and the co ordinated attacks there. And of course there's 9/11 and the wars that followed on that. Today the news came that France hit ISIS. A new war has started - or are we continuing the war on terrorism on another front?

I am not political commentator and this post is without a doubt not meant to be political at all. As the photos of drowned immigrant children hit us hard, the photos of Paris hits too. I have no answers, there are simply none.

Our grade 4 has to know what is going on in the world. They write monthly general knowledge tests for which they are not supposed to learn, but to take notice of the world around them. When your children are smaller you can protect them against the brunt of the news. At 10 I can not do that any more. There will be talk about Paris at school today. They have to deal with the horrors the world present. No matter how we sheltered them from movies, games and other media that we see as violent, we have to present to them a reality that is just as violent. This is the part that I find most difficult. Sharing the horror and trying to explain this world we live in.

Book review: The House in Carnival street

Last year I read "The Little Coffee shop of Kabul" - you will find my review here. The book and her lovely style of writing really stayed with me and when I saw her new book in Exclusive books when it was my turn to buy for the Bookclub, it was the first book I picked up.

What I did not realize at the time was that I bought and autobiography and not fiction based on real life events as in "The Little coffee shop of Kabul".I am no lover of biographies or autobiographies. Fiction is my poison of choice. And while I loved The little coffee shop of Kabul, it is in the fiction realm. This book is definitely and autobiography but one that reads very easily- almost like fiction. It does however deal with the harsh reality of what really happened at the end of the previous book and why she left Kabul. Dealing with all that and Post traumatic stress disorder is the real crux of the book - mixed with the lightness of making a new life in Mexico with it's harsh realities of poverty and suppression. I really enjoyed reading it and Deborahs' life story and never for a moment lost the slightest bit of interest. A very personal and enjoyable read. 

Now I have to find the very first of her books "The Kabul Beauty school" which she refers to often. 

So who has read any of Deborah Rodriguez' books? Or did I spark some interest? And who likes to read book reviews or not?