Snake!!!!

There was much excitement today when we had out tea break. On going outside to hang up the washing, there next to our veggie patch ...... was a ....... SNAKE! It is quite small, about the length of my fore arm. The snake is brown, with orange cheeks. It is dead and already has ants crawling all over it, thankfully! Otherwise I would not have known what to do with it. Well, we took the opportunity to have a quick zoology lesson, but Caitlyn and Jaina can't believe that we have living creatures like this in our very own garden (neither can I) - they are supposed to be behind glass at the zoo! I have gone further to find out what kind of snake it is, but to no avail. If anyone has a clue, please post, as we would love to know who this visitor was.

Mmmm, Chicken Pie!

It's chicken pie for supper tonight, YAY!

Caitlyn and Jaina also had a "finger in the pie" ha ha. Yes, they made the pastry cut outs to decorate the top and had such fun painting the egg on the finished product.

Who knew leftover chicken ala king could be such fun!

What is your favourite thing to do with your leftovers?

I Do Love to be Beside the Seaside!

Last week we went to Umhloti in Kwazulu Natal, for the week. Now bear in mind that we have not been away for over 2 years (not even a weekend).

We have been counting down the sleeps for such a long time. Caitlyn and Jaina had a great time in the sea (I must say that I did too!).

As you can see in the pic below, we had "visitors" that came looking for food most mornings! What a great life they must have, free food and look how peaceful he looks, gazing out to sea (or is it a biscuit he has spotted on the next balcony??).

At the swimming beach, the tide went out to reveal 2 beautiful swimming pools. There were swells and waves that the girls were "surfing" on.

On the rocks were huge groups of green anenemies(sp?) or sea flowers. It facinated Jaina who spent ages closing them all ("putting them to sleep for their mommy" - is what she said).

At night we toasted marshmallows over a fire. Notice the sea in the backround?

Then one morning, I was walking along the rocks and walked by a group of girls with a very broad American accent. I asked them where they were from and they said Michigan, USA. They told me that they were students touring South Africa. I told them that we were actually from Johannesburg and were enjoying an extended summer. Yes, here in JHB we are having very chilly weather right now.

Well, summer is officially over for us and it is back to the school books (next to the heater) for us!

Mmm...mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all!

I was woken up this morning by Caitlyn and Jaina walking into my room with a breakfast tray, complete with heart shaped toast, fruit, juice and a cup of coffee.

They made me a card and in a beautiful bag was . . .

Lindt Chili Chocolate, my favorite!

What is your favorite chocolate?

Homeschooling and Loving it!

We only started homeschooling at the beginning of March as we ordered late and had to wait for our books to arrive. So, during the school break over Easter, we worked through. Not that it was too much of a punishment, as we are all loving the learning!

In South African history we have been learning about the Bushmen or San People. No one really knows why they did these beautiful drawings on their cave walls. Some say that it was done during story telling or braging sessions, others say it was to teach strategy for hunting the next day. It could even have just been for decoration. Whatever it was for, it tells us the story of the people who once lived there.

Jaina had to draw her own bushman art and Caitlyn had to write a story as if she were a young bushman, explaining why she did this drawing, what materials she used to create it and what her family thought about it when she was done. I must say, even though I am her mother, she is quite the story writer. One day I will post one of her stories and you can tell me what you think ....

Yeeouch!

Today is the day that the stitches came out. Oh, the dread, oh the horror. Caitlyn has been asking all morning "how long is it until they come out" and "are you sure they have to come out today"! and "what happens if my knee pops open after they are out"?

But, bravely she marched in after the nurse and 2 minutes later and a few tears shed, out she came, brandishing a brand new knee. I had been putting on tissue oil the last week and it has healed quite nicely.

Whew, glad that is over and done with and Caitlyn please don't ever do that again!

Oh Christmas Tree

My favorite time of the year!

There is excitement in the air, children playing, birds are singing, the smell of gingerbread, spicy peaches, fudge been made in the kitchen and Christmas music playing gently in the backround. What more could a mother ask for.

As the song goes "It's the most wonderful time of the year". My children are what makes Christmas so special for me, we didn't actually have a Christmas tree and decorations until Caitlyn was born.

This is just a little peek of how Christmas looks in our home, it has been lovely to see everyone's homes decorated in their own special way.

It is a reminder to us that we received the greatest gift of them all. That this is the time of our Saviour's birth and the great love that our Father has for each and every one of us.

It's Today!

Finally, the day has arrived - the last day of school as we know it!

From here forward I will be officially homeschooling my two daughters. What an exciting privillege. We are all looking forward to this adventure before us. The road will be long, at times will seem tiring but all good things are worth it in the end.

We have done the end of year concerts and the school Christmas Parties (the last was this morning for Jaina). Caitlyn, has been off school for 2 days due to sun stroke and a bad case of sunburn - due to the survival day they had on Wednesday. She just went in this morning to say goodbye to friends - one is moving back to Sudan - then came home with a big smile and Christmas presents under her arm from them.

Next on the list is getting out the Christmas music and decorating the tree. What fun!!

It's Concert Time

Hooray, we had counted down all the sleepies and finally it was here.

Jaina's end of year concert went off very well! The theme was "We are the World" and the girls of Jaina's class represented the country of France. Yes, they did the Can Can.

We also had a good chuckle at boys doing USA, throwing their arms up in the air, one boy hit another in the face, who turned around with a punch on the offending boy's shoulder - it turned into a full on war! All this during "Wish they all could be Californian Girls".

They finished off the concert with a class doing South Africa and got the whole crowd going with "Hier kom die Bokke" and "Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika". They all then sang "Don't Kill the World". Needless to say, there was not a dry eye in the house.

When we went to fetch her from the waiting room, Jaina announced to her father that a group of boys in another class had told her that she was the most beautiful in her class. WELL, I must say, my husband kept his composure very well because this is his little girl that we are talking about!

Finally, here we are - 2 exams to go for Caitlyn and 5 days left of school!

YIPPEE!!

Zoo Snooze

This morning at 08h45 I was standing with anticipation in front of the entrance gates at the Johannesburg Zoo, just waiting to get a glimpse of Caitlyn.

I had already got many anxious calls last night from her, so all I wanted was to see that my little girl was really ok. She had many exciting stories about the animals (including one about how the polar bear bit someones finger off, that's why they had a yellow line there that you had to stand behind), but they had walked round the entire zoo in the rain. She had got back to the education centre exhausted and wet, changed her clothes and had to get ready for the evening tour of the nocturnal animals, some of which she said didn't know they were nocturnal because they were sleeping when they got to them (ha ha, so cute). They got back at about 10h00 and were supposed to go to the bonfire. Caitlyn was too tired, so she brushed her teeth, got into her sleeping bag and phoned me to say goodnight. How strange it was for me not to be able to kiss the sleep into her eyes.

Well, all in all, she seemed to have a good time with her friends but it was into bed early tonight as tommorow she has to study science for her first exam on Tuesday.

It is so good to have my little girl home again and to be able to hold her in my arms and kiss the sleep into her eyes again before she went to sleep!