5 for friday - week 4/2017

1. Vaping. Who knew that a non smoker like me would become a fan of vaping. The boss man swopped over December and it was a rough 2 weeks before his body adjusted. I never had an issue vir Mr K's smoking but now that he has stopped everything just smells better.

2. Suits is back!!! This is by far one of my favourite tv shows. I have missed Harvey and Mike... Who takes a 2 month long production break in the middle of season?

3. A certain brother and sister Afrikaans singers recently started their own tv show on VIA. This week the sister went home with her domestic worker for a night. What a shock to hear that her 92 year old mother has never had a bath and that they have NEVER had running water. We are truly living our lives with blinders on.

4. Childhood cancer suck. A boy in Mr W's year group was diagnosed with cancer in 2014. It breaks my heart to see him struggle and have to fight so hard to just do normal things like going to school. Here is the article...

http://maroelamedia.co.za/nuus/sa-nuus/terminale-6-jarige-begin-gr-1-jy-is-so-braaf-ek-vergeet-hoe-jy-ly/

5. Miss M is back at ice skating academy and Mr W played his first Bev cricket game this week. Its rough because both activities are on Wednesdays but both are the kids SO happy. Definite firm favourites on the activity list.

Counting the hours till the weekend...
Have a GOOD one.
xxxx

5 for Friday - week 2/2017

School and activities are back to the usual craziness. So much so that I wondered if I really just had a 3 week holiday.

• Its proving to be a challenge scheduling after school activities in such a way that I only have to drive home once a day. Last year Mr W's activities were mostly during school hours but in Grade 1 everything moves to after school. Its a different ball game with 2 kids taking part in various activities especially because I know neither would be happy sitting around at school waiting for the other to finish.

• Voortrekkers... end of the year last year I offered to help with admin for Mr W's Voortrekker group as I am total admin queen. It turns out the dad in charge of their group doesn't really want to do it after all and I was asked to be their "officer." (That sounds SO strange!) I accepted ... then I doubted my decision (Where am I going to find time in between all the craziness!!) but I am slowly getting more and more excited.

• Miss M is rocking at grade 4 and so far we have not had one homework disagreement. Mr W is another story though... His standard answer is "I don't really feel like it right now... " I tried cooking dinner while helping him at the dining room table but every time I turned around he was missing! Little sh@t snuck out the door the minute I turned my back! Wish me luck, I still have 12 more years of this ahead of me!

• Mum seems to be doing okay. Lots of people ask me how she is doing and my standard answer is that she seems to be okay. She has "moments" and of course her life is going through a period of adjustment but I think that is normal. I often want to call Daddy to have a chat which makes me incredibly sad and I think Mum have the same kind of "moments" of overwhelming sadness.

• Have you tried the new Crunchie ice cream? It is covered with delicious Cadbury's chocolate and popping candy! This is definitely an ADULT treat as they are quite expensive. Mr K and I enjoy rewarding ourselves after getting the kids into bed at night for making it through the day. Kind of like a "high five" you made it!

Have a good weekend! 

xxx

5 for Friday - week 1/2017

Its FRIDAY!!! YAY!!! Some weeks I am SO happy that I made it to Friday that I want to give myself a high five. I loved reading everyone's "5 for Friday" posts last year and I am determined to do a weekly one this year!! Haha... I will probably skip one or two but I'm going to try my very best!

1. School started and my kids are HAPPY. That is a huge one for me. No drama, no tears... just smiles and excitement.

2. Friday morning coffee club - We are 3 friends who meet up for coffee on Fridays after drop off and before work starts. Its easy and there is no pressure if you can't make it. This morning we had a nice brekkie with our lattes!

3.  I am back in the office since Monday and to be honest I love to work. I love my job... I enjoy designing, meeting clients and hanging out with the crazy girls in my office.

4. Last year one of our reps in the office gave me the most fabulous facecloth. It works SO much better than any face cloth for wiping your face. It gets ALL the makeup right off with just a few wipes. I started using it it last week and I am hooked. 

5. I cannot ever have enough notebooks. Look at all these stunning notebooks (and diary) I received for my birthday.

Grade 1 AND 4 here we come....

School started yesterday for us (like for most of SA) and it was a big day, as our little man started grade 1! He is normally a shy, reserve boy but he totally rocked his first day. Confident and sure of himself, he showed us where his classroom is and where he should leave his school bag. The attitude was very much one of "Please can you just LEAVE?" and "Enough photos already... so not cool, Mom!" I told everyone I that I was probably going to sob my heart out but my boy didn't even give me a chance. He had ME out the door before I could even have a "moment"!

Miss M started grade 4 yesterday. A big year in terms of starting exams and having different teachers for each subject. She has been eagerly awaiting this year and was very excited to go to school yesterday. I am so grateful for moms at school with older kids who are willing to share some wisdom in making this transition as easy as possible. I think being super organised is going to be very important this year.

I fetch the kids yesterday afternoon and they were all still smiles and super happy about school, their teachers and of course, seeing all their friends again. We are ready for 2017!
How was your kiddo's first day back?

xxx

Ramblings of a chess momma...

If you asked me what chess is 3 years ago, I would have said its a game with black and white pieces where the object is to checkmate the other side's king. Three years later my answer would be way different. Now it would include words like - ratings, forks, openings, end games, notation, strategies... The list is endless. I have gained a new vocabulary, I can talk chess baby.

Miss M wanted to play chess as an extra mural so I filled in the forms, paid over the fees and promptly put it at the back of my mind. I am a working mom... There is a lot of thoughts racing around my head all day. "Whats for dinner? Who is fetching the kids today? Shoot its me... Better move that meeting quickly..." Chess just did not really come up on my radar as something that I needed to worry about until Missy brought home her first tournament notice and begged to take part. I guess you can say the rest is history. Miss M has earned her SA colours in 2014, a mere year after she started playing.

There are two things that I really want people to know about Miss M's chess career.  Its all her. I don't even play chess. All the fancy chess terms that I know she taught me.We put no pressure on her to take part. I encourage her to take part in lots of extra murals but she seems to naturally gravitate towards chess again and again.

The second thing is that chess is damn hard work. Memorising all those openings and practicing tactics takes up a lot of time. Coaching, tournaments, playing at a club somewhere... It all adds up. Chess is expensive... both financially and time wise. I think its save to say its a "family sport" because sooner or later everyone gets involved.

Advice for newbie chess moms...

1. Learn to pack a mean cooler bag full of healthy snacks and invest in a good flask. Tuck shop coffee before 8am on a Saturday morning doesn't hit the spot. 
2. Invest in a good camping chair because you are going to sit around a lot. 
3. Most tournaments you are not allowed to watch so find something that you like doing. I read... Some parents work (laptop on a camping table) while others make friends and socialise a bit. 
4. Don't plan anything else for the day of the tournament. We learnt this this hard way. Inevitably somewhere along the line, you are going to have to call a mom and cancel at the last minute for a birthday party you had planned to attend. 
5. Win or lose its still just a game. The main focus should be to enjoy it. 

Last bit of vacay vibes

We have been hanging around the house for the last week, relaxing and recharging for the new work year thats starting way too soon. Miss M started her extra chess lessons last week so we can only plan fun things for the afternoons. Usually we hang out around the pool or binge watch series... Until today... When this happened...

The kids (and their mum) have been dying to try gourmet milkshakes but it seems like a lot of the places here in P-town are still closed so we decided to make our own crazy milkshakes. It was loads of fun. We added everyhing chocolate we could lay our hands on and topped it off with mint sweetie pies. Happy memories are made when there is a ton of chocolate involved.

Hope you are enjoying your holiday! 

Why o why does time seem to fly when you are having fun?

xxx

Last few hours of 2016.... Roll on 2017

The year is a few hours from being over and I still cant make up my mind about what my "word" (focus) for 2017 should be.  This year I focused on having hope in all circumstances. I don't think I always succeeded but it was a good year on the whole. Losing daddy was the lowest point of my year and I know we still have quite a road ahead of us as far as that goes. The rest was really pretty awesome.... I know I worked and stressed way too much with times.. Perhaps I will manage things better in 2017.

Highlights of 2016
- Getting to know my brother's quirky wonderful girlfriend and welcoming her to the family.
- Two of my friends fell pregnant after a bit of a struggle.... Super excited for all the babies next year.
- Friday morning coffee club was a definite highlight. Spending time with like minded moms are always fantastic.
- Both kids joined the Voortrekkers this year. I loved it as much as what they did.
- Mr W played Bulletjierugby once again and he totally rocked. It makes all those late nights and early morning worth it when you see how much your child enjoys an activity.
- Being a bridesmaid again and celebrating my friends wedding with them. Very few people share a love like theirs. O yes and I baked a killer chocolate wedding cake :)
- Miss M totally rocked at chess this year. She had to work really hard after missing the SA champs in December 2015. We met and employed an amazing new coach for her. Coach S is fantastic and I cant stop singing her praises to everyone. Miss M won all her games at the SA team event December 2016, playing for the under 10 girls A team. She received her first board prize ever. Super proud mom!
- Looking back I am so grateful for all the time we spent with Daddy this year :)
- Both kids did really well at school and it gives me hope for next year... Gr 1 and 4 in one year does just sound like its going to be terribly hectic.
- I read so many good books this year. My favourite by far was the Rose Gardner series by Denise Grover Swank.

Cheers 2016... Thank you for the memories and the lessons learnt. I am waving goodbye as I waltz lightly towards 2017.
Xxx