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!