Its ALMOST holidays...

The year is racing towards the finish line with such speed I really don't know which way is up most days. I am counting sleeps with the kids because I really need some downtime to regroup and get all my ducks in a row again. I'm constantly looking for my notebook to add more things to the holiday list or the Christmas pressie shopping list. I'm going totally OCD with my lists and driving the rest of the family crazy. 

We fetched report cards this morning and said thank you and goodbye to the teachers. We did some fun bracelets for teacher gifts this year. I think they are pretty awesome. Sometime different to the usual chocolates and hand creams. 

I usually reflect back on the year a little bit later in December but I was chatting to Mr W's teacher this morning and she reminded me how far he has come this year. He started the year off as a shy, reserved boy and grew into a little chap with self confidence. He really came into his own this year. He made a really good friend and I can see that this is going to be a long friendship. I have never seen 2 little boys just totally "get" each other like these two. They have even developed their own special way to communicate! With a few nods and shakes of the head, they are totally on the same page whilst the rest of us are still wondering what on earth is being discussed! Once in a while the kids have a teacher who just means the world to them (and to their mom) - Mr W had one of those this year. These teachers are so much more than just mere teachers - they make a profound change to your child's life and I will forever be grateful for this teacher for doing that for Mr W. 

Ms M rocked this year like she always does. She thrived in so many areas and got an amazing opportunity to represent SA at the Commonwealth Chess games in India. How many 8 year olds go to India to play chess? She worked hard this year and it makes me so proud. She started out the year with clear goals and she did everything she set out to do and more. We hit a bit of a rocky patch in the middle of the year with girls bullying her and making her life miserable but even that she faced head on and I can see she is not even giving it a second thought anymore. Her rapport card reads like a bit slot machine according to Mr K... 7 - 7 - 7! She has a great teacher next year and a very good friend who will be in the same class. I am so glad for her because she deserves a bit of happy to end this year with! 

Onto other news.. I found this on my desk this morning with the new Joel Osteen book. I am overjoyed about the book as I was planning on buying it for myself anyway but even more I didn't know that all the nonsense I talk on a daily basis made such an impact on this lady's life. She is a single mum with a son the same age as Mr W so Mrs Bossy Boots is always offering advice and an opinion on various mommy things. Her fiance was killed in a car accident last year, right before she started working here and her mom the beginning of this year. I burst into tears when I read her card... how SWEET! Just shows that a little friendliness (or is that bossiness??) can make a huge difference to someone's life. How cute is the drawing? She calls me the Queen. I think its SO funny cause I can be a bit of a drama queen at work! :) I am so humbled by her kindness and generosity. This surprise gift has definitely made my week! 

End year functions, Christmas parties and more

This weekend was one of those crazy ones where you think it was weekend but you are not really sure cause you were just so busy that you didn't spend much time at home.

Friday night we finished up at holiday camp swim school. We have had such special instructors this year and both kids have really made so much progress in the last 3 months. I am very grateful that we decided to stick it out even when its a real pain to take them cause its quite far from school and because it means that we get home late on Tuesdays with very grumpy tired kids. The reward for completing the camp was a chocolate medal and a beautiful embroidered t-shirt. The kids LOVE t-shirts with logos and slogans on so this was such a treat for them.

I promised the kids that we can attempt gingerbread houses this year and although the houses are not made from ginger bread biscuits (I cheated and used Golden Cloud's cookie mix) it was such a fun project. What I really loved that it kept all of us busy for quite a long time. Mr W demanded a break from all this baking after about 1.5 hours of decorating :)

Saturday afternoon was our work year end function. As always there was lots of laughs, lots of pressies and fun to be had. As usual the "unwanted" gift was the hit of the party. The rules state that you have to bring an unwanted but unused and unopened present to the party to swop with someone else's unwanted gift. The gifts are wrapped so you never know what you are getting. There was a a set of wooden cats, the ugliest candle I have ever seen and a really old unopened board game from 2005 that made their rounds. The gifts are REALLY awful but its so funny ending up with someone else's unwanted gifts. Printing is an incredibly stressful industry to work in with tight deadlines and incredibly demanding clients. I love it that at the end of the year we can all sit around a table and just be friends in spite of it all. 

We finished off the weekend with our monthly dinner club's Christmas party. I can't remember when last I spent the entire day in the pool with the kids. I love our dinner club buddies. We are all so different but every month the conversation just picks up where we left off last month and we spend the entire day/evening chatting away.

What an incredibly nice South African Summer day. The entire family was in bed before 8 last night ...tired and happy. 

rapport cards and end of the year drama

M started going to Mr's W school in January of 2011 and now after 5 years we are done with "baby" school. Next year Mr W is in grade R and Miss M in grade 3. I'm so sad yet also happy about this new phase. My babies are growing up so quickly! 

The teachers put so much effort into the school's last rapports for the year. I have never cried about a rapport card before but this one with all its special memories of 2015 made me bawl. 

Mr W - I am SO proud of you and I am so excited for the journey ahead of us. 

Mr W is 5!

Dear Mr W,

You are 5! I almost can't believe I am typing this. I can still remember when you made your dramatic entrance into the world in the ward at 3:26 instead of the labour room no less. I can remember your lifeless blue body when the doctor had to grab you from me and start CPR to keep you breathing. I remember the time we spent in the NICU. Me telling you how much I love you, how long I have waited for you and how much I wanted to take you home to meet your sister. I have clear memories of us having long chats in the small hours of the morning while the rest of the world was sleeping. The excitement of finally taking you home... And now you turned five.

You are such a special little dude. Me and you still have long chats but luckily they are not in the middle of the night anymore. You are my little kitchen helper and the one who is always first to ask "How was your day, mommy?" You are a super star in making sure all our furry friends get their treats before we leave in the morning. You detest colouring in and art is hard work and you do not enjoy it at all. Your teacher says what she admires about you is that you will finish every project even though one can honestly see that you would much rather be doing anything else.

You love your Minion duvet and gets very upset when its wash day. You love swords, guns and anything army. Favourite cereal is still weetbix with water (yuck) and you wont eat if if you didnt see me put the sugar in. Favourite lunchbox treat is a chocolate muffin from Wild Bean Cafe and your least favourite popcorn. You are not a morning just like me. We avoid the other 2 members of the family and their cheery conversation first thing in the morning. Actually we run in the opposite direction if we hear them coming!

My boy... My little man... I pray that you will soar and that you will be a true man of God. I pray that your life will be filled with the fruit of the spirit and that you will never forget the important things in life. All those things that seem important when you are young... They are not. Forget the fast car, the perfect girl, the great body... Find the things and people who give you joy and keep them close. I love you with all my heart x

Bucket list for December 2015

I saw this on SUPERbusyMOM 2.0's blog (https://superbusymom2point0.wordpress.com) this morning and I immediately couldn't wait to write my own! Life is so busy and a while ago I thought to myself I should plan more outings, do more things... the kids grow up so fast and then all we are going to have left from this precious time growing up are the memories! (And lots of photos of course!!)

First on our list is definitely a visit to Dinokeng.  I designed a vistor's guide for them a while ago and since then I have been dying to go. Who knew there was such a nice game reserve right on our doorstep!

I think a follow up visit to the super fun water slides at Zambibush is defintely on our list.

I might not be able to walk the next day because that red slide is not as meek and mild as it seems but I cant wait to let my inner 5 year old come out.

We are super blessed to kick off our holiday with a week at the beach! Wooohoo! 

Lots of sand, water, sun are vital ingredients to recharge our batteries.

I love ice skating but we haven't been there in the last 6 month even though its literally 5k's from home. Miss M is a little pro but Mr W still hangs onto mum's hand all the way around. Nice outing for daddy to show off his cool moves and its usually nice and cool to be inside the rink when its a 40 degree summer day outside!

The kids have been Acro Branching quite a few times this year but I haven't tried it yet.

I am deadly afraid of heights and I am probably going to wet myself but I think this is my birthday outing for the year. If I'm brave enough...  Every year I pick something fun/extreme/nuts to do on my birthday which I usually end up regretting yet loving at the same time!

I can't wait for the holidays. A whole month of relaxing with my family. There is a lot of other things on the kids lists like another visit to BOUNCE Inc and the Snake Park in Harties which we will probably also fit in somewhere.  I know we will be spending a lot of time in and around the pool,  having braai's with friends and generally just hanging out and having fun. We play lots of board games, legos, Miss M and I read a lot while the boys watch their "stories" on TV. Its such a special time of the year for me and there are only 19 sleeps left! WOOOOHAAAAA! x

Be thankful

I wrote this about a year ago and its so relevant to how I feel lately so I'm going to post it on my "new" blog! 

I am a worrier. I over think and over analyze things. I have been feeling hurt and unsure because of various things that has happened the last few weeks. Tonight I had dinner with a dear friend who put all my irritations right back into perspective for me. I feel awful for judging someone instead of loving. I let my own human nature get in the way of what God wanted from me. She is such an inspiration to me and I walked away with so much food for thought. I need to learn to let go... of people... of past hurts... of doing too much... of seasons that are over in my life... When we hold onto past hurts and by not forgiving we are actually only hurting ourselves. Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. I am so guilty of this, time and time again. I need to learn to let go of things. I realise that this is something I need to work on.

That being said... the other thing that has been on my mind is competitiveness. Miss M is like me, we push ourselves harder than what is needed but because we work hard, I don't know why we cannot be proud of what we have achieved. I don't mean bragging about being better than someone else but being happy about succeeding. Miss M, like me, competes with herself and she is happy for anyone who does well in something. God blessed us all with different talents and its our job to use it to God's glory. I think we honour God by working joyfully. Kahlil Gibran writes, "Work is love made visible and another one. Keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life."

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people do that but the really great make you feel that you too, can become great. Hang out with friends who are likeminded and who are also designing purpose filled lives." Mark Twain

I think its fair to say that we all have different priorities. Things that are important to me might not be important at all to the next person but thats okay. Its okay to be different and to care about different things. I wish people would stop the hurtful comments and embrace being different. At the moment I feel like I need a break from all of it.  I want to crawl under a rock and hide. I have realised that I need to go back to the drawing board... put God first.. and then all the rest of it. Sometimes being busy even with good deeds are not a good thing. Its not necessarily God's plan or will for your life right at that moment. I think I have blogged about it before but finding your balance in life is hard work cause the "target" keeps on moving. It is something that I need to work on daily. I am drained by all the bad things that have happened to people around me lately... its time to focus on the good... to have HOPE... to focus on things and people that give me JOY.

I remember reading this once ...

Its easier to be sad than to live a happy life.  Its easier to complain than to be happy. Its SO true. Some people love to complain. They LOVE drama and feeling sorry for themselves. I have to remind myself often to not get dragged into that negative way of thinking. Being healthy, having a good marriage, raising kids that are well behaved is hard work but its WORTH it. I try my best to focus on being thankful and to not get drawn into the drama but let me tell you, some days its DAMN hard!

This is my desktop background at the moment. A constant reminder to be thankful!

We love weekends!

Mr W took part in his first judo tournament this weekend and boy, it was SO  much fun! I am so impressed with his Sensei and with the amount that Mr W has learnt in the last 6 months. I could see that he was having a blast and for once it took no convincing from me to go join his friends and take part. I am overjoyed that we have finally found something that Mr W loves to do. This is one proud mama bear!

How cute is this boy? I just want to eat him right up

After a lot of backwards and forwards Mr W decided that he wants to celebrate his birthday at the new resort in town, called Zambibush. The agreement was cousins and one best friend because its a swimming resort and I am terrified of kids getting hurt on my watch. Last year I learnt the hard way that people love to drop their 4 year olds in your lap and fetch them later. I was a bit skeptical cause Mr W has only recently got the hang of swimming and I was worried that Zambibush catered more for the older kids. I was pleasantly surprised but they have more than enough to do for young and old. All the adults and all the kids swam almost the whole day. Just stopping long enough for a quick hot dog on the braai and something to drink. You can take in everything you need for the day so pack a well stocked picnic basket. Its very well priced at R70 per adult and R50 per child. Zambibush is definitely on our December holiday to do list.  

Mr K embracing his inner 5 year old :)

An easy peasy army cake for an army mad 5 year old!