My Birthday

I turned 46 today. I think that I am at a very good place in my life at the moment and getting very comfortable with who I am. My hair is back to normal brown again, I have ditched my "false" nails and don't feel ugly anymore when I decide not to wear make-up. Maybe I am eventually growing up? Who knows. Colin took this photo of me this morning as I was running out of the door to go do a kiddies scrapbooking party. I had to work on my birthday, how sad is that! I actually enjoyed it very much and it is money in my pocket!
I met my 2 sisters and 2 of my friends for coffee this afternoon and we had a great time. Stefanie took some photos, will let you see them when I get them from her. My sister Ansie gave me these gorgeous roses, 1 1/2 bottles of pink champagne (my favourite), Lindt chocolate and a lovely card.
Carol gave me these lovely lavender goodies and a chocolate on a stick. With a pink bow of course!
Stefanie gave me this gorgeous scarf that she bought in New Zealand. This photo actually does not do it justice, it is lovely!
I forgot to take a photo of the gift I got from Michael and Simone! They gave me a card, snow globe (I had to put on my reading glasses to see it properly - growing old sucks!), a reading light that clips onto a book and a gift voucher from exclusive books.

My sister Herlien bought me a little black dress last year that was for Christmas and my birthday. If it wasn't so cold I would have worn it tonight!

My family will be buying me a new melton jacket for my birthday. My old jacket got to big for me and I decided that my birthday was a perfect time to replace it.
A photo of my baby. After all these years it still amazes me how she can do so many things upside down and then pull herself upright without dropping whatever is in her beak. She must have very strong stomach muscles!

All in all I had a very good day. Colin and the kids made supper, lamb chops and sausage on the braai, carrot salad, garlic bread and a tossed salad. Very yummy! Robyn made the most delicious chocolate tart for desert. Forgot to take photos so you will have to take my word for it.

Uploading the photos for this post reminded me why I stopped blogging, it actually takes up a lot of time!

Back to scrapping!

Today was the first official day for scrapping at Stefanie's house. I ended up being the only "student" so we ended up having a lovely chatty morning. It was nice to catch up a bit after the holidays, not that we ever run out of things to talk about! I started this layout of Michael and Simone at the last class last year and finished it today:This is the front page for my 2010 album:
I am very happy with both layouts! Now I must get myself organised and get back into the routine of scrapping every Tuesday. Have a great weekend!

Back to school!

The long awaited day has finally arrived! The kids went back to school! I sincerely hope that this year is going to be better than last year.
Andrew is going to High School this year, Grade 7 is classified as high school. Robyn is going to Grade 10 and Richard is going back to school to redo maths and do science as he wants to go and study Engineering next year.
First time ever I saw Richard doing homework! After a swim as it is hellishly hot today.
We had a games evening on New Years Eve. My sister Herlien and her new husband Mark came...
Stefanie, her hubby and 2 kids ...
And us of course. We had a braai and played games. Some of us got REALLY competitive, won't mention any names ....

We went to Langebaan from 3 to 10 January and here are some photos:
My friend's hubby bought her this t-shirt in America, isn't it cute! I asked very nicely and he will bring me one next time.
I just love this photo. It wasn't late, but I liked the sun shining on the water ...
We visited the West Coast Fossil Park.
Braving the wind for a walk on the beach.
I had Jamie on my shoulder when I put my make-up on and she promptly climbed into the cupboard.
Colin playing tennis on the Wii. Some men never grow up you know!
Herlien and Mark came to visit for the day. Mark went fishing with the men in the morning and then we went for a lovely boat ride in the afternoon. It was great and very refreshing when the water came splashing over the front of the boat!
We went for breakfast on our last day in Langebaan.
Fed the seagulls.

We had a very enjoyable, relaxing time and we came home with heavy hearts again. I know that the water in Langebaan is really cold, but I will still rather retire there as it is lovely and cool most nights and we slept very well.

I actually contemplated deleting my blog this morning, but then decided that I can still do the occasional post, so keep your eyes pealed!

Christmas photo shoot

These photos were to cute not to share!I was motivated to take these photos when I found a "Countdown to Christmas" in one of my scrapbook books. I then obviously had to organise a very quick photo shoot as it is already the 26th of November! Robyn and I went shopping for red T-shirts and a christmas hat when we found this little "pet" christmas hat. Obviously just had to have it. Robyn had to hold Scruffy as the silly dog kept on turning on his back!

Jessie was even more difficult to photograph, so I had to settle for this side view of her. The hat is a bit small for her.
The inspiration for this photo came from the December 2009 CK magazine. It was great fun, and a lot of moaning and groaning. I think Colin's "smile" is more of a grimmace! Michael was also complaining big time because he said his back was sore. We only managed this one photo.
Another one inspired by CK. Unfortunately my family members are a bit bigger than the example in the magazine and we had to improvise!
And then the normal one. Jessie was in the 1st photo, but she gave Richard a huge lick in the mouth and he just had to let her go!

We also took individual photos as I found the most gorgeous leather frames to hang on the Christmas tree, and I want to put a photo of each of us in it.

I hope you enjoy our photos as much as we enjoyed having them taken!

Have a great day!

At the foot of the cross

My mom and I went for a long walk on my last morning in Kidds Beach. We walked with 2 of her friends and then found two other ladies sitting at the foot of the cross.

I find that I feel very close to God when I walk on the beach. Although we were a group I still found that I had time to myself and I sang chorusses and spoke to God as I picked up shells and walked. Each little shell is so perfect that you have to give thanks for such beauty. The sea is also an example of God's power. The sand is soft and the water is warm and gentle as it flows over your feet, but when you look at the rocks and the force of the waves breaking over the rocks you can see the mighty power of God. Soft and gentle, but extremely powerful! I couldn't help but praise Him as I walked along.

We met the lady whose husband keeps the cross in such good condition. She said that he starts picking up the big shells as he walks along and then checks the cross and replaces the shells where necessary. Quite a task as the wind fills the shells up quite quickly and it could so easily dissapear under the sand!

A new haircut!

I decided that it was time for a change and I think the hairdresser did a good job. This is the front view ...And then abviously from the back:
Why is it that I normally prefer the view from the back? Maybe I should start walking backwards! And then not to even mention the blowdrying, it will not look like this when I have control of the hairdryer!

Well, I am back and reality has hit home very hard already. I had a very good time while I was away and phoned Colin on Sunday to tell him that I missed him, but that I was not ready to leave Kidds Beach yet! I couldn't even book a later flight as I didn't take enough medication with me, but anyway, it is impossible to run away from the reality.

I owe you some feedback. We had a horrible meeting at the school. Listening to all that teachers moaning about Andrew and critisising him was terrible and I don't think anybody should ever be in that situation. I was very upset with the psychologist as he arrived late (car broke down) and then didn't add much to the conversation. The psychiatrist suggested that we add a mood stabiliser to his medication and we started that yesterday. We should be able to see the result in about a week or so. We must take Andrew for a bloodtest next Wednesday to see how the meds is affecting his liver and then go back to the doctor the following week. Inbetween all that we are going to Langebaan for a few days. After the bloodtest, I think Colin can take Andrew for that! He is doing okay at the moment as we decided to give him an incentive for good behaviour. If he doesn't get any red cards for a whole week, we will take him ten-pin bowling, movies or whatever on a Friday night. Robyn goes to youth, so a Friday night is actually a good evening to spend time with him. We also went and looked at a private school on Wednesday, it looks very good, but it is full with a long waiting list. I am actually starting to feel that he needs a good kick up the bum, as he has a very bad attitude towards some of the teachers.

On the baby front, Michael is definitely Ethan's father, so know the fight starts to see him. My sister Lynette suggested that we contact the social workers in HER area, and Michael is going to speak to them next week to open a case file. I would love to see the look on her face when the social worker rocks up at her front door! Please pray that we will be able to see the baby very soon, he is already 6 months old and I don't even know what he looks like now. She also lied to the magistrate by saying that Michael can see the baby and then saying "never going to happen" when they left the court. I think Michael should let the magistrate know, but he is struggling to get through to the court.

I will show you some photos of my break over the next few days. Have a great weekend!

Quick feedback

Almost forgot! We had an appointment with the psychologist on Friday and will also be having an appointment at the school next Monday. The psychiatrist will also be there as well as the school psychologist and some of the teachers. The psychologist reckons that it is a teacher problem.

Please continue to pray into this situation. Thanks!

Smaller clothes

I have now booked my plane ticket to go to PE and Kidds Beach next week, but realised that I actually do not have enough clothes to take with! I bought new jeans, but the rest of the stuff are all getting to big for me now! It also seems hotter there than here. I took some things out that I bought last summer and decided to have it adjusted. I should now have enough. My sister Herlien popped around this morning and we went to Cape Gate after picking Robyn up from school. We saw this blouse at the same time and just had to try it on! The size I tried on fitted me and I bought a size smaller - good motivation! I just love the colours and it is so feminine! As Herlien said, I would never have thought a year ago that I would lose enough weight to be able to fit into this little number. Just a few kg's and it will fit!We had a rather busy weekend again with 2 parties, but it was quite enjoyable. I discovered another little coffee shop in Durbanville that makes the most devine quiche and cake! Will have to go and try their breakfast sometime. Sorry Stef, no Eggs Benedict, but I think it is definitely worth the visit. They had a turkish delight cake there on Saturday that looked very tempting. We went to family on Sunday as it was the one cousin's birthday. Herlien and I also went and looked at the demo of the table for the wedding on Saturday morning. It is absolutely amazing to see how much stuff is out there that you can hire and use. It makes a person want to have a big function just so that you can use all the stuff!

Anyway, enough for now, just wanted you to see my cute little blouse!

My chandelier

I have been wanting to buy a chandelier for our bedroom since our weekend in Montagu. I used some of the money I earned over the weekend (doing parties) and bought one. I got the boys to put it up for me yesterday and I think it looks stunning! And I believe very romantic as well!Herlien helped me with the party on Saturday morning as Robyn was playing hockey, and Robyn helped me with the party on Saturday afternoon. Both parties went very well. We have another 2 this coming weekend, Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon. Robyn will help me with both. The Lord is really blessing me with work at the moment!

We are still struggling with our youngest. I phoned and made an appointment with his psychologist today to discuss how we can handle him. The secretary will phone me back as the psychologist is fully booked at the moment. We don't know what to do anymore and hopefully he will be able to help us. Please continue to pray for us. In the meantime I think I must go to Kidds Beach earlier as I can really do with the break!

Teenagers!

My daughter decided a while ago that she needs to get a part-time job. Colin is not very much for that as he feels the kids miss out on too much, like hockey, for example. He saw what it did to Michael and decided that it was better for them to just stay at home, plenty of time to work when they grow up!

I suggested to her that she sticks to doing parties with me, as it isn't a steady income, but pays quite well when it does happen, which is quite often at this stage. This morning I told her that we have another confirmed party for next Saturday and what did she say? Oh no, not another one! How ungratefull is that? I am thanking God for all the work that is coming my way and my daughter thinks of her social life. I think that it is rather scary having an attitude like that. Maybe I should just find myself another assistant. The problem is that we work well together and she is very good with the kids. Anyway, what do you think?

A bit more info

I usually crawl back into bed once Colin and the kids leave, but decided to check on the blogs this morning while they were still all here. I was inspired by Lynette's blog to be a bit more open and honest about myself, so here goes.

Lynette phoned me yesterday to find out why I am so quiet and that made me feel very good, as I always tend to feel that nobody cares, so why bother. Thanks Lynette I really appreciate the phone call. I suffer from chronic depression and always, when things aren't going well I follow a certain pattern. Try and cope, withdraw from everybody and everything, become very quiet, sleep late every morning, stop cleaning my house, even stop scrapping and so the spiral continues downwards. This is not something that very many people know about me, but my confidant at church encouraged me to ask friends to pray for me, us on a regular basis, so here I am asking you guys to pray for us. When I get depressed Colin is probably affected the most, as he is the person closest to me. I am really struggling with my youngest at the moment and as you can imagine it is causing me to be extremely stressed to the point that I dream strange dreams and perspire terribly at night - more like anxiety. He is extremely difficult, disobedient, abusive, intervering, loud and generally has the whole household upset. He just started seeing a new psychologist, but it is still early days and so far we are not seeing any results. Colin and I chatted last night and decided to put a consequence in place for when he refuses to listen to me. He is now far to big for me to physically drag him down the passage and force him to stay in his bedroom for a time-out. We spoke to him this morning and will see how it goes. So yes, please pray for us!

Here is a few early morning photos I took last week. The cockatiels love the door to their cage being opened and performs until I do. They then just sit their looking out! I guess it gives them a sense of freedom:
Andrew getting ready for school. Jamie loves him and tries her utmost best to get to him whenever he is around. A bit frustrating in the mornings because he dawdles like crazy and it is a fight to get him out of the house almost every morning.
Richard having breakfast before work.
Robyn having breakfast: (not impressedwith having her photo taken!)
Colin and Jamie having breakfast! She gets very excited when she sees him bringing his breakfast to the lounge and thoroughly enjoys sharing with him! She then has breakfast with me as well when I eat at about 09H00.
I was very priviliged to spend the day with my sister Herlien and her daughter Stephanie on the day of her matric dance two weeks ago. We picked her up after she had her hair done and then went with while she had her make-up done. She wouldn't let me take photos of that, but I got a few in when she was getting ready to go. Here she is straightening her hair again because she wasn't happy with the way the hairdresser did it:
My favourite photo, taken from the back to show all the detail:
With a very proud mom and dad!
She has really grown up to be a very lovely young lady and I am very proud of her!

I had a very bad hair week last week, but Scruffy didn't. We took him for a wash and trim last Tuesday and he really looked gorgeous!
On the Ethan front we are waiting for the results of the paternity test (will only get the results in September when they go back to maintenance court). I am really hoping that the baby is not his, but don't think that that is going to happen! In the meantime I get my baby-fix when I baby sit my friends baby from time to time. I looked after her last Thursday and almost had to lie on my stomach to take this photo, gorgeous isn't she:
Well that is about it for now. Just enough time to quickly warm up in bed before I have my nail appointment at 09H00 .....

A week in my life (more or less)

My father was in Cape Town last weekend as he is here to prepare the boat and to then help in taking it over to the Carribean. We all met at my sisters house for supper. It was a really great evening and it was really a pleasure seeing him and spending time with him. He loves living in Kidds Beach and can't wait to go back!
As I said in my last post, we bought a new car. Here is a photo of our old cars that we traded in. Michael's Mazda and my Monza. They gave us such a good trade-in on the cars that it was well worth it! The salesman had a possible buyer for my car.
And in with the new! It was actually very nice that they added the red bow, just up my alley. Andrew was also very impressed and wanted to know if we could take the bow with us. A very proud hubby with his new car:
Well, we spent the weekend in Langebaan. We had a lovely relaxing time and I was amazed when my friend showed me how cute her parrot is. Her name is Casper and I haven't ever seen a bird quite like her!
The guys went fishing on Sunday and came back with 2 fishes. Colin and Andrew each caught a little shark, but they obviously had to let it go. The ladies went for a ride afterwards. It felt very weird being on the boat with thick jackets on, but it was extremely ex
The best news of all is that I went shopping for jeans today and fitted into a size 14! They are a bit tight, but I don't think it will be uncomfortable. I was so excited when they fitted that I told Robyn that she could also choose something in the shop. She came out with a wallet.

I am a bit bored

I am sitting alone at home, had to print an invoice for tomorrow's party and then got sidetracked to look at the blogs. Very strange for me, I generally just go to bed at this time of night. Colin and Andrew are in Langebaan tonight. Colin and I were supposed to go up today to look after our friends son while they go out. I got confused with the dates (my diary was in hubbies car) and accidentally booked a party for tomorrow morning! I will be driving up to Langebaan after the party with Robyn and Jamie to join all of them. Apparently it is going to be a lovely day tomorrow so at least our friends can go out on their boat, alone, as we will be looking after the son. It is very sad, but they normally don't get the opportunity to go out alone as their son needs somebody with him at all times.

I was planning on putting some photos on the blog of my hubbies new car, but can't find the cable for my camera - not very good at all! He got his new silver Toyota Corolla on Wednesday and he is very chuffed with it. It is our first new car since 1990 - I guess that is enough to make anybody happy! As a result of him getting a new car, I am now driving the Mazda Etude. I am very happy as the thing has airconditioning and will be a pleasure to drive in summer!!

We spent last Sunday rearranging the garage so that the new car can fit in. Our garage is very small and it was quite funny, but at least we got rid of a lot of junk!

Anyway, my bed is calling!

You are my King

I'm forgiven, because You were forsaken
I'm accepted, because You were condemned
I'm alive and well, Your Spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again.

Amazing love, how can it be
That You my King would die for me
Amazing love, I know it's true
It's my joy to honour You
In all I do, to honour You.

You are my King
You are my King
Jesus, You are my King
You are my King.

We had an amazing time of worship at church this morning and this song really spoke to me. It is so amazing that God loves us so much that He gave us His Son so that we can have everlasting life, how sad for the people that do not believe or know Him!

It also made me realise what a big responsibility we have in showing unconditional love to others, because that is the instruction, to love others as God loves us. Not easy at all as we tend to critisize other people very easily and think that we are in some way better than them. I have learned to love my husband, children, friends and family unconditionally, but it is the "unlovable people" that are the challenge.

The truth

I finally exceptedthe fact that I am a housewife with a hobby that brings in a bit of pocket money. It took me quite a while (more than a year since our full time maid left) and I must admit that I am not very good at it. I keep on telling myself that I am supposed to do everything I do to the best of my ability (for the Lord), but I normally find some reason not to. My new decision is to stay at home 3 days a week to clean house. Not very exciting I know, but I keep on reminding myself that I want to be at home and therefor I have to do my part. And the hubby does expect me to do it anyway! I also know that I am very blessed to be able to stay at home in this wonderful economic climate, so many people out there are not that lucky! We live a pretty good life and can still go out and have fun on a regular basis and cleaning the house is not such a high price to pay for not having to work in an office!

Anyway, I know that it is a whole month since I last blogged, but I am also not much of a blogger, it just seems like such an effort to think of something to say, but I also can't see it changing anytime soon as I am sort of allergic to my computer! Will try though!

Are you an ogre or a princess?

I was listening to Kfm in the car yesterday and they had a competition on about Shrek and it made me think:

Princesses are happy, loving, gorgeous, thin, perfectly groomed and will NEVER (unless it slips out) break wind in public!

Ogres are happy, loving, green, fat, untidy and won't give breaking wind in public a second thought.

In Shrek 2 Ogre and Fiona could choose whether they wanted to stay a prince and princess or if they wanted to go back to being ogres. Their choice - they chose to stay ogres. Why do you think that is?

I think that it is much easier being an ogre because of all the above reasons. I have come to the conclusion that I am a mixture of both. My ogre side loves eating with the result that I am overweight, I am happy most of the time and I am loving. My princess side likes to be well groomed and we won't speak about breaking wind at this stage! I think my ogre side is the dominant side at the moment and until my princess side decides to take over, that is what I will be!

So which one are you?

Fathers Day

I invited a friend to come and play at my house on Thursday. We scrapped of course! She only has 2 weeks left before she has to go back to work and we will have to make the most of it! Here is a photo of my daughter with little Amber-Rose. Isn't she just beautifull!
My friend scrapping away!

It became sort of a tradition to take the grandparents out for breakfast on Fathers day. In my parents absence this year, we invited the in-laws for brunch. We were on duty at church and only got to the Wimpy at 11H30 - perfect time for brunch! They enjoyed it even though the kids can get a bit crazy!

The children, including my son's girlfriend:

Did you notice the mischief in their eyes? We had a lovely meal and the kids were very entertaining! The hubby and I:

Three generations of fathers:

It was also my father-in-law's birthday yesterday, and we went around to their house in the afternoon for tea and cake. Not a bad day at all! Now all I have to do is swop the hubbies fathers day gift for a bigger size!