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!

Bedroom makeover

We changed our bedroom to pink and lilac about 5 years ago, and it was really time for a change. Our fitted sheet started to show signs of wear and tear and Colin wanted to buy new sheets. Imagine! Anyway I told him that I wanted to change our bedroom and we slept on the old sheets for a while longer. At the end of March we went out and bought some new linen and then went and chose the paint we wanted. We got the older boys to paint the room for us. Colin insisted on lying on the bed when I took the photo!
And this is the result:

I am very happy with the new look! I got Andrew to paint the bases of the lamps and then found new lampshades at Sheet Street. He also painted my one frame. I didn't mind throwing out the old picture on the wall as it was not expensive and had been on the wall for 2 years already. The new one didn't cost me too much either, but I like it a lot more.

We have been very quiet and laid back since my last post. We took Andrew to see Monsters vs Aliens yesterday and it was really good for a laugh. He thoroughly enjoyed it and that was the whole idea. I can't wait for school to start tomorrow as the same little boy is driving me up the wall today! Colin also started working again today, and I miss him. Richard is still at home as he can only start working once the schools go back and the volume of traffic on the roads are back to normal. Very nice for me as he washed the windows for me this morning - with payment! At least now I can see through them again!

I am looking forward to my life going back to normal tomorrow!

Blogging again

I would actually enjoy doing the "one answer questions" thing, but too lazy to write them down and then type them again.

We took Chillie back to the vet on Tuesday and the poor thing had to have his leg amputated. The leg didn't grow back on at all and his foot was dead. He is managing amazingly well. My sister and I went to the pet shop on Saturday and bought him a new cage. It is actually a hamster cage, but perfect for him at this stage. The bars are much closer together, there is a few platforms for him to sit on and it has a lot of floorspace, but much lower than his old cage. He even climbs to the top of his cage again. He seems very happy. Also using the little stump when he climbs or walks. Last visit to the vet will be in 2 weeks time to remove the bandage. I will be very glad when it is all over.
On the baby front Michael and the mother is not seeing each other any more - just too many issues and arguments between them. Baby is due any day now and I am quite excited to see baby when it comes!

I went to see somebody from church this morning and felt very lonely afterwards. I went and wandered around a local shopping centre and did some shopping. Bought some stickers at Crazy Store, 2 t-shirts (on sale) and a sexy little number (not on sale) from Miladys, Chockies from Clicks and hot cross buns from Checkers. Did phone my mom inbetween all that to invite her to meet me for coffee, but unfortunately she couldn't make it. Feeling better now, retail therapy always does wonders!

I won't say to much about last week as it was a bit stressful, but I am back in bloggie land at least! My mom has now decided when they are going to move. It will be towards the end of March so I must book my plane ticket. Pity that where they are moving to is so far from PE as it would have been nice spending some time with my sister before flying back to Cape Town. Oh well, can't have everything I guess. Oh and I am helping my mom drive her car, that is why I must fly back. I think I will need a lot of prayer for the trip there as I am not crazy about driving.

It is going well on the home front - Richard started working with his dad and will be there for the next 6 - 8 weeks. Very nice experience for him and a regular income, well at least for 2 months! The other kids are well, I just had a revelation about Andrew this morning. I think that he is struggling to learn as he really has a problem with reading. The school offers tape aid, and we are going to speak to them about Andrew trying that out. He basically learns by listening to Colin, so I think it will help him!

Anyway, got to go. Speak again soon .....

Silver and pink

Robyn had to go to the orthodontist today and this time she chose silver and pink elastics. She still has 16 months to go! We left Andrew at home while we went as he didn't want to come with us. When we got home he showed us the "muffins" that he had prepared. I switched the oven on and then asked him if he put baking powder in. He didn't so proceeded to put a bit on each muffin and stirring it in. This is what they looked like at the end. The white bits is the baking powder.
He only told me afterwards that he didn't use a recipe. They weren't too disgusting. I told him that if he ever decides to bake again while we are out I will have to force him to go with everytime as I can't trust him to be at home alone.

I spent the morning with my mother and we had quite a pleasant time walking around and looking at stuff. We then went and met my sister for lunch. She works in Rondebosch in the most beautifull old house that has a view of Table Mountain. We went to a coffee shop that is part of a church next door to where she works. The food and service was excellent and we enjoyed it a lot. We decided that we would have to do lunch again before my mother leaves for Kidds Beach.

Colin and I went to a meeting at Andrews school this evening where they introduced a new computer program that can be used by voice recognition. Even people without arms can use it as it responds to your voice. I think it is going to help a lot with the children that battle with reading and writing. The teachers are quite excited about trying the program in the school.

Anyway, let me go and spend some time with the hubby. He has inflamation in his colon and is feeling very sorry for himself.

Yeh! School has started

The kids, my mom and I went out a bit yesterday. We first went to draw money and then ended up having smoothies (the lovely unhealthy kind with icecream) at the Wimpy. At the particular shopping centre they have a chess set with little water fountains all over it. Andrew was fascinated and got VERY wet. Fortunately the pants dried very quickly otherwise he would have sat at the movies with wet pants on! We watched the movie about the brave little mouse. Know the name just can't remember how to spell it! It was actually quite a nice movie and we enjoyed it very much. My mom dozed of every so often, but she also enjoyed the bits she saw!

You do know by now that I am actually very lazy to do certain things. One of them is sewing. I did sewing at school and I think that put me of for life. Anyway while we were at my moms house after the movie Robyn mentioned that she wanted to shorten her school dress but that I refused. Anyway my mom sort of convinced me that it could be a bit shorter than on her knee, but I made her do it when we got home. I helped her and showed her how to pin the hem and then how to sew it, and she did a great job! I did shorten Andrews pants though. The one actually, the other one is still waiting to be done. Richard asked me how he can shorten his pants this morning, and yes you guessed it! I pinned it and then showed him how to sew it in himself. I am a firm believer that kids must be able to do everything when they are adults. Colin learnt in the army and he is pretty good at sewing as well.

On the work side Colin decided to stay where he is. I am very pleased and believe that he made the right choice. He is getting a nice promotion with all the perks that go with that. Will tell you more once everything is official. His parents and my mom were all very impressed!

The 2 kids went of to school quite nicely today. Forgot to take a photo but will do that tomorrow morning and show you. It will be the first year that Andrew went to school by bus on the first day and I think he deserves a big reward for that, but we don't want to make too much of a fuss over it. And another year starts .....

Other than that I am supposed to clean house today and will probably get stuck in soon, as I want to go out tomorrow morning and then we start scrapping again on Friday. I guess I have to get my priorities straight. House has to look reasonably decent for the weekend.

Boring Monday!

It has been a very quiet day today. I only got up at 9H00 this morning and then took a while drinking my coffee and waking up. Decaf coffee, I can't handle normal coffee very well! I then went outside and watered the part of the garden that Colin didn't get to last night. It is such a peaceful time of the day (a bit later than usual) and I really enjoy looking at the plants and watching them grow. I just get extremely frustrated because some of the plants droop so quickly and are very "demanding" on time. My "shady" garden is also a battle as the silly thing gets more sun than I anticipated!

The hubby now has both offers on the table and has to decide on which job he wants. I think he is really struggling with this one.

The rest of the day consisted of washing, cleaning up and vegging on the couch. Don't feel to great today.

We are going to my mom for supper tonight and I made a pudding (new recipe) that doesn't taste as good as what it does in the book! I am sure the kids will eat it though!

Tomorrow is the last day of the holiday and the kids and I are going to go to the movies with my mom and thereafter going somewhere for milkshakes. I rather fancy going to Stodels as it is always nice to spend some time outside. Anyway, I can't wait for Wednesday!

Enjoy your evening!

2 down, 2 to go!

Yes, the boy finished his last exam yesterday and is now officially finished with school. He threatened to burn his school books last night, but I don't think he got that far! He will get his results at the end of December. He started working as a waiter today, so out into the cruel world he goes! Lol

And specially for Lynette - Layout of Christmas 1999. Please note that my albums are all in my bedroom so this photo was taken on my bed.

My mom and I went for our normal Wednesday breakfast today and I requested that we go to N1 city so that I could have some photos developed. I suppose I should have gotten the hint when I filled up my flash drive plus more photos on the other one, 180 jumbo's later (including 2 ups and 4 ups) we left the photo shop. I have enough photos for about 12 layouts, plus one for Scruffies album and quite a few for my memory album. I will scrap till it comes out my ears!

We had a very good morning. I am really going to miss my mom when they move away next year, but I think we won't think of that now and make the most of the Wednesdays we have left!

4 sleeps to go!

School

I have to write about this as I am totally gobsmacked about the fact that our high school kids seem to be spending less time with school work and far to much time with extra mural activities!

My son is in matric this year and so far he has been at home for about 4 days as they are not doing any schoolwork because the kids are practicing for the co-ed. And not for the athletics, but for the singing of all things. It has become such a huge competition between the schools that it seems to take up ALL the time for the first 4 - 5 weeks of the first term. Am I missing something here? When I was at school we practiced for a little while during schooltime and still carried on with our schoolwork for most of the day. If I look at the work the kids have to complete in a year I just cannot understand how the teachers can justify wasting such a lot of time!

My other pet hate is the kids staying at home while they are writing exams and then finishing with their "school term" about a week before the school actually ends. Last December I actually ended up having my eldest at home for 3 weeks before school ended.

Anybody have any ideas as I can definitely not understand how they get that right?

RE : Reflections

Well, I spoke to soon! Forgot that Colin had to fly up to Johannesburg today and Michael had to be at work at 07H30. Sooooo, was up at 06H00, woke Andrew and Robyn up, made Andrew's breakfast, got his bag ready, took out our tablets, fed the dogs, made myself a cup of coffee, did not climb back into bed and took ALL 3 kids to school! It was actually not that bad, I took Scruffy with in the car, Richard drove as he must practice the silly K53, dropped Andrew off, the other 2, and was home again by 07H45. Not bad at all!

I am looking forward to going to scrapbooking this morning as I went and had a whole lot of photos printed yesterday and will be able to pick and choose what I want to scrap today! I always enjoy going to Stefanie's classes as we always have fun and she has great ideas! AND a lot more stuff than what I have!

Enjoyed aqua aerobics yesterday and will try and go 3 times per week!

Reflections

I decided to water the garden this morning as it is supposed to be a very hot day, and as I was watching the hundreds of cars passing our house with parents dropping off their kids at the school, I couldn't help but realise just how blessed I am to have a husband like Colin. I basically get up in the morning, feed the dogs, get our tablets out, check that Andrews bag is ready for school, make myself a cup of coffee and climb back into bed! Colin gets the kids up, puts Andrews clothes out, makes his breakfast and takes Andrew to the bus. And if Colin is away for some reason, Michael takes Andrew to the bus, and just by the way, he also drops Richard and Robyn off at the high school! I am truly blessed with my husband and my kids!

Of course then I started looking around at the rest of the world and noticed the guinea fowls running around at the top of the field and it made me think of the cartoon "Roadrunner" that used to be on TV long time ago - the guinea fowl were running just at fast.

I had Jamie on my shoulder while watering the garden and she was happily "cheaping" away on my shoulder and then I also noticed the doves and other birds on and over the field. Their life is just as peaceful as mine! I had to watch Scruffy like a hawk though, as he just runs if he sees another dog or cat and with all the cars I really didn't want a dead dog.

Anyway, I start gym today and must admit that I am looking forward to it. Hopefully the first time of many.