Fun Family Car Rally

This post is very overdue but life has been happening ....

The morning of the rally arrived and there was a flurry of last minute preparation and activity. At midnight the previous night, I had seen that the Pink Ladies had advertised the event on their Facebook page and much to my surprise, it looked as if there would be 60 or more teams attending that we knew nothing about!!! We needed plans in place in case of an influx of teams!

There was much excitement as the lunch hour passed and it was time to make our way to the starting point of the rally. The kids could scarcely believe it was finally happening after all the long hours of hard work. Thankfully there was no sudden influx of teams, but just one or two that had not previously registered. Zelda, Justine and Chaeli of the Chaeli Campaign and Carol Bew City Councillor as well as Gran Dessie, founder of the Pink Ladies were all there at the start to wish the teams well and chat to J and K.

15 eager teams took off with their clues and the fun and tension began!

Many of the participants wore pink in support of the Pink Ladies. The route was well thought out and the questions pretty tough but so much fun!

Hubby and little princess were on my team. She was so eager to help work out the answers and be a part of the rally that her mom had been working on tirelessly with J and K. We started out at a shopping centre and raced around crazily trying to figure out the answers...

After counting and recounting bollards down a long road, we were led into a common where we had further answers to figure out. There was some conferring done between teams... some were willing to help others with answers and some were not giving any secrets away!

Some teams raced each other through the common and there were yells of frustration and shouts of triumph. There was a great spirit among the teams who were having loads of fun! We then headed off the beaten track to figure out more answers before heading onto a pit stop....

One of the pit stops was a wine farm and We had fun tasting one of the answers even though it was not required! I loved the apt logo behind us : "Speaking in Pink"! Then it was off into the vineyards to find a vine leaf that was not to be picked off the vines...my little accomplice of seven years old quickly sneaked one off the bottom of the vine....

Team Solartech were a blast and brought a dose of high energy and competitiveness to the rally...at one point they parked their vehicle across the road to prevent another team passing them....lots of fun to have around!

The route took the competitors to this sign board at the outskirts of what was once a pine forest. Teams had a had time counting the baboons on the sign and figuring out other cryptic questions.

From there it was on to another shopping centre where the questions were really tough and a couple of teams decided to head straight to the end point!

We stuck it out and my little accomplice had fun counting the animals at the Barnyard and collecting a feather. Then more gruelling questions at another shopping centre and finally on to the end point of the rally! All along the way there questions to be answered and if one had not read through the questions at the beginning....well, there were a couple of surprises at the end as the teams would have got a number of answers!

Teams picnicked on the grass at the end while the stragglers came in. Thankfully the weather held out to the end. Marking of team sheets was done and the winning team announced.

The Bell family were the triumphant winners. Each team member got to pick a prize of their choice. There were hampers, T shirts and vouchers of all sorts. Local businesses had sponsored generously and every participant got to pick a prize. The value of prizes was over R14 000!

J and K thanked T for all her hard work and dedication . It was a fantastic event enjoyed by all and a memorable afternoon. I am really proud of my kids for organising the event and following through even when it was tough and they felt like giving up!

PS: They are in the planning stages of a new event for this year and we are all VERY excited about this one!

Graduation

2010 Ambassadors and Mentors

At the end of March we had a very special evening celebrating the graduation of K and J for their year as Ambassadors at the Chaeli Campaign. It was wonderful to hear each of the Ambassadors stand up and talk to a crowd of people about their year of service. I have added their speeches to this post for you to enjoy.

J: "I have enjoyed being an ambassador for the Chaeli Campaign over the last year or so. Being a part of the program has encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, which is exactly the kind of opportunity I was looking for when I joined.

For the fundraiser that we each had to do as part of being ambassadors, my sister and I decided to work together to raise funds for The Pink Ladies. The Pink Ladies are a non-profit organization that is partnered with SAPS in order to help find missing or abducted children and provide emotional support for the rest of the family.

After much chopping and changing we decided to do a car rally. At first I wasn’t very excited about the project and thought that it wouldn’t work, but we carried on working and things began to come together. This taught me a valuable lesson: that when you do something that you don’t want to and push through to the end you might find that it actually becomes exciting.

For anybody who would like to take part in the rally, it is this Saturday, the 2^nd. We are starting from Meadowridge Park and Shop and the entry fee is R50 per car (doesn’t matter how many people are in the car). The support we have had from local businesses has been amazing, and we have some really great prizes that have been sponsored.

Lastly I would like to thank Zelda for the opportunity that she gave us to be a part of the Chaeli Campaign for this year. I would also like to say that I am very excited about the next year and the opportunity to achieve the President’s Award. Again, thanks Zelda for putting me forward for the President’s Award and giving me such a great opportunity."

K: " Being a Chaeli Campaign ambassador has inspired me to do greater things with my life and to grow as a person. I learnt that event though I’m so young, I can still make a difference in my community and help other people.

Organizing our car rally has not been easy! And we have been really blessed by my Mom’s friend Tanya. Tanya has done this sort of thing before, and she knows what to do and who to talk to. There have been so many things that have needed to be done in order to make this event a success. First of all the route, we have spent hours working on it and coming up with cryptic clue and questions for along the way, sometimes staying up past 11 working, laughing, falling asleep and brainstorming. My Mom has been amazing; she has been the cook for us and the babysitter for Tanya’s kids and grandchild. The response for prizes, as J said, has been amazing! We went around this morning asking for prizes and got some amazing vouchers! The only thing that has been a bit discouraging has been the response for entries, so if any of you are interested in entering, please let us know tonight! Or support us by buying a raffle ticket from me or J for a wine hamper or a delicious lee hamper.

My most memorable moments so far have been the hours we have spent working on the questions, one in particular. We were sitting trying to think of an anagram for “the Chaeli Campaign”, when J came up with a website where you type in your words and it comes up with loads of anagrams for you. So we typed in “the Chaeli Campaign” and it came up with get a mechanical hip! We were in hysterics the rest of the week!"

Zelda congratulated the Ambassadors for being exemplary social entrepreneurs and competent youth leaders. We look forward to another year ahead working with the Chaeli Campaign, as K is a mentor to the 2011 Ambassadors and Z has been accepted as an Ambassador.

PS: I will be doing a post on their event, the car rally soonest!

The work of our hands

Our hands are busy all the time. Our hands are a blessing to ourselves and to those around us. Our hands are used in so many ways: to work, to create, to love, to pray, to bless, to talk, to express, to nurture, to tickle or scratch, to blog :) and so much more.... I think of my dad's hands and how they save lives. Many would not be alive or have full and useful lives without his hands. I am thankful for my hands and all they allow me to accomplish.

Hubby's hands have been an enormous help to me in the vegetable garden turning soil, lifting heavy tires for our potato stack and just being willing and available. Without his hands much would not be done.

My hands have been busy staking tomatoes, weeding, feeding those plants that need feeding and harvesting broccoli, chillies, herbs and more!

I was thankful for a little pair of extra hands over the weekend to top and tail beans for some delicious curried beans I made!

Those little hands crafted a beautiful magazine rack at technology club this week. The work of those little hands gave much joy to a big sister who received this stunning gift.

The little hands have also been kept busy making a lapbook on Exodus 6 to 9 about the plagues God sent to Egypt in preparation for our study on Passover and a Passover meal next week.

While I read aloud, those little hands just cant be kept still, and need to be occupied with Lego or a maze or something else fiddly!

We are so blessed to hear the sounds of guitar coming from J's room as he strums away with hands and enjoys his guitars. His hands enable him to spend many hours daily working at his studies as he fills books with hand written notes on all that he is learning.

I love the work of K's hands and the creativity that seems to flow naturally from them. Her school work is always embellished with beautifully accurate drawings that she seems to have no trouble producing.

Her hands make sweet music as she practices her piano .

Her hands create pretty greeting cards as she listens to read alouds or they are busy with wool and crochet hooks, never ceasing to be producing something or other that is pleasing to the eye.

This post features on the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers where South African home schoolers share experiences, ideas, philosophies and much more. You can join the carnival too by heading to the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers sign up page. In the meantime, head to the Hayes family where the carnival is hosted this week. We hope you enjoy the carnival as much as we have!

Beach fun!

A spontaneous visit to the beach was just what we needed last Friday, being the last week day of school holidays. It was a glorious Autumn day, no wind , warm sun , low tide with vast stretches of beach to run and play on and friends!

I had a great time taking photos of the kiddies.

Some enjoyed having their photos taken more than others....

The girls just loved the "photo opportunity"......

These two have been firm friends since birth and it is amazing to watch them growing into beautiful young ladies.

My " almost as tall as me little guy" still enjoys being buried in the sand and getting covered in it!

I could not resist my sweet little God daughter's toes peeping out of the sand....

Thankfully there was as shower to wash off all that sand before going to join our friends at their home for lunch.....

A perfect ending to a weeks school holiday!